Tunnel Fighter!

[Gwendol]

Rolled up a character and ended up with a tunnel fighter. Here he is at level 1. Any pointers for the future?

STR 19
DEX 14
CON 15
INT 9
WIS 12
CHA 5

Feat: PAM
Skills
Athletics
Acrobatics
Perception
Survival

Background: Outlander

[Lollerabe]

Pick sentinel at 4 and + 1 str con at 6 - proceed to break the game? :)

[X3r4ph]

Cha 5 ouch :D

Also consider the new Sword Mastery feat to make sure those Sentinel AoO hits.

[Gwendol]

Isn't sword mastery not going to work with polearms?

[Knaight]

Isn't sword mastery not going to work with polearms?

It's not, although technically you could dual wield a quarterstaff and a sword to quickly switch between PAM and sword mastery options. It's not particularly powerful, and the mental image that conjures up doesn't exactly fit tunnel fighting.

[X3r4ph]

Isn't sword mastery not going to work with polearms?

You are absolutely right. Sentinel and Sword Mastery are good together though. But that is something completely different. My apologies.

[Gwendol]

It's not, although technically you could dual wield a quarterstaff and a sword to quickly switch between PAM and sword mastery options. It's not particularly powerful, and the mental image that conjures up doesn't exactly fit tunnel fighting.

Can you? The wording of PAM has me thinking otherwise:
When you take the Attack action and attack with only a glaive, halberd, or quarterstaff, you can use a bonus action to make a melee attack with the opposite end of the weapon.

Of course, if we only consider the second benefit of the feat (OA's when entering reach) it is possible to rules-wrangle a combo out of it. You kind of have to squint your way through the requirement of wielding the polearm, and not just holding it.

[X3r4ph]

Polearm Master lets you make an attack with the end of the weapon as a bonus weapon. It states nowhere that you have to wield the weapon in two hands. Since quarterstaff is versatile you can wield it in one hand and still get the benefit of the extra attack.

[Gwendol]

Polearm Master lets you make an attack with the end of the weapon as a bonus weapon. It states nowhere that you have to wield the weapon in two hands. Since quarterstaff is versatile you can wield it in one hand and still get the benefit of the extra attack.

Correct, but you can only attack with the polearm anyway (see quoted text above) to get the bonus action, which makes it an inferior choice to regular TWF, unless I'm mistaken?

That aside, I guess I have a choice of scout, champion, banneret, battlemaster, or monster hunter at 3. This game has the alternate rest rules (eight hour short rest). For that reason my choice is champion, but I'm willing to hear other proposals.

[X3r4ph]

Actually I am playing a 11th Monster Hunter right now. He is a Dual Wielder. We have very few short rests, so it hurts a lot to go this way. Another thing is, the anti-concentration strike he has is tied off of damage. This makes TWF even worse than it already is. Poor choices so far :D

In a game with almost no resource replenish I would also consider the Champion. Champion 3/ Totem Barbarian (Bear) 17 is a pretty good choice.

Pam is better then Dual Wielder because PAM gives you a Bonus Action Attack even if you hold a shield in your off hand. Sure it is only 1d4, but right off the bat you get to add your strength/dexterity modifier to the attack. Combine it with Duelist fighting style and you are better than Two Weapon fighting Style and Dual Wielder feat in every way.

This is what Mearls and Crawford think a warrior should look like:
https://i.warosu.org/data/tg/img/0392/65/1428709654511.jpg

[Gwendol]

Thanks, always good to get actual experience. Also I was about to ask about the bonus damage for the PAM bonus attack. In that case it is a plus. The second fighting style is a plus in the champion column. If this character sticks with the quarterstaff he will get another +2 damage from dueling on every attack.

[X3r4ph]

Yeah man, that would be a solid choice for the second fighting style.

You could consider multiclassing into Ranger to pick it up as well. 3 levels of Deep Stalker or Hunter would give you Hunters Mark (a great damage boost when you plan on making a lot of attacks); Horde Breaker (a situational extra attack) or Underdark Scout (a safe extra attack); and of course a Fighting Style. If you don't like spells that you never regain, you could make it a Spellless Ranger instead to get some more Superiority Dices.
I have considered this many, many times with my Monster Hunter. It is a dirty way to get a few extra attacks and some more versatility. Considering going Ranger (hunter) from level 13.

But Champion is more clean. I am sure you DM will love you for not optimizing more than just the PAM and Shield thing. Which is a bit cheezy.

[Democratus]

What does tunnel fighter mean?

Makes me think of the tunnel rats from the Vietnam War. If your main task is to navigate narrow tunnels then a polearm would be a poor weapon.

[Gwendol]

What does tunnel fighter mean?

Makes me think of the tunnel rats from the Vietnam War. If your main task is to navigate narrow tunnels then a polearm would be a poor weapon.

It's a fighting style from the UA "Light Dark Underdark!": It allows the fighter (term used generically) to enter a defensive stance (bonus action) that lasts until next turn under which the OA's don't count against the reaction (unlimited OA's). Alternatively, the fighter can use a reaction to make an attack against a creature moving more than 5' within reach.

[Gwendol]

If I ever get the chance to reach such high levels I might consider multiclassing. For now I'll stick with what I have.