What Are Your Favorite Fighter Builds?

[Vaern]

We all know that what makes fighters unique is that they don't actually have class features. The large number of bonus feats they gain makes them a blank slate with endless possibilities. This usually results in players choosing to specialize in a single type of weapon, but I want to see what unique builds you guys can come up with.

I'm interested in seeing any shenanigans you have to offer, but in particular, there are two things I'm hoping to see:
First, there was a thread ages ago where someone was asking what it was that made monks so bad. In this thread, someone posted a full 20-level progression plan for an unarmed fighter which resulted in significantly higher damage potential than a monk. I have since been unable to find it and would very much like to see it again :P
Second, a good ranged build. Everyone I've personally seen using a bow has been a ranger or a scout, due to the ranger's free archery feats and scout's skirmish, while most people I see play fighters with either a greatsword or a sword & shield. I know most, if not all, of the ranged combat feats are available as fighter bonus feats, so I'm sure it's possible for a fighter to build up to be a seriously badass sniper.

[OldTrees1]

How much multiclassing is allowed?
Are we talking straight Fighter 20?, Fighter/Martial Rogue 20?, Fighter + Prestige Classes?, Mostly Fighter but some levels in other martial classes? etc...

[thorr-kan]

Wizard 20.

What?!

Seriously, I thought following would be funny in an E6 game to take advantage of the width of fighter bonus feats:
1 - Weapon and Torch (Weapon Style), Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Bastard Swoard) (bonus), Martial Study (Desert Wind) (bonus)
2 - Rapid Reload (light crossbow) (bonus)
3 - Close-Quarters Fighting
4 - Martial Stance (Desert Wind) (bonus)
5 - N/A
6 - ? , Einhander (Tactical) (bonus)

[Vaern]

How much multiclassing is allowed?
Are we talking straight Fighter 20?, Fighter/Martial Rogue 20?, Fighter + Prestige Classes?, Mostly Fighter but some levels in other martial classes? etc...

In looking for mostly fighter. The undaunted builds was full fighter 20, and bonus points if you come up with a good build with just the core class. But I know that with most basic weapon specialization builds you kind of start running out of relevant feats to choose from after a while, so if cross-classing and presiging for class features becomes more appealing and practical than the endless bonus feats for your build then have at it :P

[OldTrees1]

In looking for mostly fighter. The undaunted builds was full fighter 20, and bonus points if you come up with a good build with just the core class. But I know that with most basic weapon specialization builds you kind of start running out of relevant feats to choose from after a while, so if cross-classing and presiging for class features becomes more appealing and practical than the endless bonus feats for your build then have at it :P

Sounds good. Here we go:

ECL 15
Dragonborn(Wings) Goliath(Races of Stone)
Barbarian(Spirit Lion Totem, Goliath Barbarian, Wolf Totem) 2
Rogue(Martial) 1
Fighter(Dungeoncrasher) 4
Rogue(Martial) +1
Warblade 1
Fighter +4

Feats & Features:
1: Extra Rage(HD), Combat Reflexes(Flaw), Power Attack(Flaw)
1: Mountain Rage 3/day, Pounce
2: Improved Trip(Bonus)
3: Improved Bullrush(Fighter), Knockdown(HD)
5: Exotic Weapon Proficiency(Awl Pike)(Fighter)
6: Imperious Command(HD)
6: Dungeoncrasher
7: Weapon Focus(Morningstar)(Fighter)
8: Cleave(Fighter)
9: Three Mountain(HD)
9: Maneuvers(Steel Wind,White Raven Tactics,Iron Heart Surge), Stance(Bolstering Voice)
12: Martial Study(Fighter), Martial Stance(HD)
12: Maneuver(Wolf Fang Strike), Stance(Leaping Dragon Stance)
14: Robilar's Gambit(Fighter)

Using a morningstar(with an awl pike ready) this flying bodyguard uses Cower, Knockback, & Trip to control the battlfield.
Outside of combat this Dragonborn is quite adept with the art of silver tongue and velvet glove.

[D&DPrinceTandem]

In looking for mostly fighter. The undaunted builds was full fighter 20, and bonus points if you come up with a good build with just the core class. But I know that with most basic weapon specialization builds you kind of start running out of relevant feats to choose from after a while, so if cross-classing and presiging for class features becomes more appealing and practical than the endless bonus feats for your build then have at it :P

Non-gestalt
THE MOST RACIEST ELF EVER
Wood elf
Fighter10/artificer10
as an atrificer he had replaced his Right arm to make him a Dragonflesh half golem, then his left leg to make himself a brass half golem. He had also made himself a +1 Distance, explosive, Shocking burst, splitting Composite greatbow. I had the feat Extra ring so i could were 4 rings at a time.
1)ring of arrow storm (SC16) continuosly
2) ring of greater teleport continuosly
3) ring of invisibility
4) Ring of true strike continuosly
he also had Goggles of true seeing and a belt that summoned treants at will.

so he was a scout for the group once and he was up on top of a small hill in some trees. he saw a horde of orcs headed there way. Being the most races elf out there he setup and let loose.they were pick of by the thousands. Fun times
==========================

Gestalted
KING OF DEM SOULS
feral, changling
fighter/barb6, warshaper4, souleater10
what he did was he grew 1 tentacle the first round, then 2 per pe-existing tentacle , then 4 per pe-existing tentacle, then 8 per pe-existing tentacle ans so on. He never made it past 4 rounds
number of tentacle per the round
1/1
3/2
15/3
135/4
would have made it to 5 once which would have been 2295 tentacles... Fun times:sabine::sabine::sabine::sabine:

[Flickerdart]

I like Knockback + the reach-improving feats + Shock Trooper. Someone runs at you, you score an AoO, you push your enemies into your other enemies, they all take damage and fall down.

[J-H]

For straight Fighter, Archer is a decent way to go.
Weapon Focus
Weapon Specialization
Ranged Weapon Mastery (PHB2)
Point Blank Shot
Rapid Shot
Improved Rapid Shot (CW)
Ranged Disarm (why not?)
EWP: Greatbow?
Woodland Sniper (ROTW, when one of your shots misses, every successive shot in the same round gets +4 to-hit, does not stack with itself)

Get strength boost items, strongarm bracers (Large weapon) and a composite greatbow with strength+5, and you're doing around 2d6+9, with +3 to-hit from feats, 5 times a round starting at level 16 with Improved Rapid Shot.
Add on splitting (+3), Force (MIC, bypass wind wall and all DR), and make it a +5 weapon (or get +5 arrows), and now you're shooting 2d6+14 (average: 21) 10 times around.

There's room on top of that for improved critical, a weapon crystal for +1d6, and for a few other feats I am currently forgetting.
It doesn't out-damage an ubercharger, but unless enemies have a very high AC, it does a respectable amount of damage. Use items to mitigate miss chances.
You can also stack on feats to further improve your maximum range, so that you're shooting at enemies 500' away with only a -4 on your to-hit rolls.

Assuming DEX 28 (18 start +5 levelup +5 tome), the above feats, and a +5 weapon, your attack routine is +38x4/+33x2/+28x2/+23x2. If I remember correctly the average monster AC for CR~20 is about 35, so you have six nearly-guaranteed hits (126 damage average), and four that will likely hit. With a 19-20 crit range, you should threaten an x3 crit once per round on average, with a very good chance of confirming it (42 additional average damage).

150 damage per round, at range, ignoring DR, is nothing to sneeze at.

However, you still will lack skill points and will be dependent on magic items for mobility and most utility functions. You will do one thing very well, but that will be it.

[Jack_McSnatch]

I came up with a seriously twisted iaijutsu build that throws daggers. It works because while you have to draw a melee weapon, it doesn't specify that you have to make a melee attack. (Subject to DM approval)

Anyway it goes like this. Human Fighter 14/Master Thrower 5

Greater Twf and rapid shot, master throw gives you quick draw so take mercurial strike, enemies are flat footed on attacks of opportunity. Fight unarmed with daggers sheathed everywhere. Take expertise and riposte, so enemies provoke attacks when they miss. Defensive strike allows you to throw daggers in melee, palm throw lets you throw two daggers with one attack, and deadeye shot brings your daggers crit multiplier to ×3. Strength is your dump score, because you're taking dead shot asap, getting dex to ranged weapon damage. Combat reflexes is going to be very very important. Trade ride for tumble, and take deadly defense anyway, because if you aren't fighting defensively you're doing it wrong.

So basically you do two Iaijutsu attacks with every one attack, because it applies to both daggers. You don't get strength to palm throw, but you get everything else, including that dex and the key skill of this build. Your full attack is slightly underwhelming unless you can catch them flat footed, but once you get in melee and boost your AC through the roof, your enemies are going to hate their very short lives.

Optionally, you can drop some fighter levels for Iaijutsu master prc, or for scout or rogue levels, but I like this one cause of all the feats. Another option is to trade bonus feats for sneak attack, and/or be a drow fighter so you can get double dex to all those ranged Iaijutsus.

[Seerow]

The gold standard for me in 3.5 is Dungeoncrasher + Thug + Zhentarim; basically giving up 3 of your feats and some proficiencies to gain some extra skills, fantastic intimidation, and battlefield control. Pick feats to synergize (particularly Knockback) and you're set.


as far as pure feat builds, Jack B Quick is a classic. At its core you pick up Karmic Strike, Robilar's Gambit, Double Hit, and the weapon style that gets you a free trip attempt when you attack with two specific weapons. It boils down to every time an opponent attacks you in melee you make 6 attacks back at them.

I had fun once optimizing defensive fighting in an E6 game; it was super feat intensive so if it was going to find a place in a regular game it would have to be a fighter build... but honestly I suspect outside of E6 it's just not going to be worth it. This was the list of feats I either had or planned to eventually pick up, not in any particular order.

Combat Expertise
Weapon Finesse
EWP(Broadblade Shortsword)
Combat Reflexes
Allied Defense
Deadly Defense
Martial Stance(Island of Blades)
Shadow Blade
Dodge
Mobility
Einhander
Combat Cloak Expert
Elusive Target
Cobalt Expertise
Cerulean Will
Bonus Essentia
Keen Intellect
Sidestep Charge
Deceptive Dodge
Karmic Strike


You could probably trim some fat there and turn it into a half-decent build, but the best tricks would come online really late and by the time it came online picking up +11 AC or giving an ally +8 AC would be basically worthless.

[Ruethgar]

Just recently I did a cleave tripper build, abusing the fact that drop isn't a D&D defined term and Punishing Stance's lovely bonus damage on all melee attacks... such as a touch attack to trip and another with Improved Trip. A little Martial Monk for Robilar's Gambit and retrain the redundant proficiencies away for the Parry feat line. Ended up with abysmal Str for a melee, very high Dex though, BFC in a 20' radius is decent.

[stanprollyright]

OP never specified 3.5...I made a PF fighter with a rogue dip in another thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?509676-Poor-Man-s-Warlord). I would have preferred to take the Myrmidon PoW archetype and/or a Bard VMC instead of a rogue dip if either had been allowed. So, best case scenario: Drow Martial Master/Lore Warden/Myrmidon Fighter with Drow Nobility chain and an elven curve blade, who takes the Evangelist PrC :smallcool:


The gold standard for me in 3.5 is Dungeoncrasher + Thug + Zhentarim; basically giving up 3 of your feats and some proficiencies to gain some extra skills, fantastic intimidation, and battlefield control. Pick feats to synergize (particularly Knockback) and you're set.


as far as pure feat builds, Jack B Quick is a classic. At its core you pick up Karmic Strike, Robilar's Gambit, Double Hit, and the weapon style that gets you a free trip attempt when you attack with two specific weapons. It boils down to every time an opponent attacks you in melee you make 6 attacks back at them.

Dungeoncrasher/Thug/Zhentarim Soldier with Imperious Command and something resembling Jack B Quick or ye olde Shock Trooper/Leap Attack/Combat Brute Ubercharger for feat builds. That's probably the best you can get with Fighter 20.

[Xerlith]

OP never specified 3.5...

They said about ranger/scout with Skirmish. It's safe to assume they're talking 3.5. Whether PF material is allowed is a different thing altogether.

[Vizzerdrix]

I have a rough draft for one, but Im still looking for good ways to boost cha and wis a bit for stunning weapon enchantment and shapesand.

[Darrin]

I'd like to try this one out sometime:


Race: Human.
1) Simple Barbarian 1. Feat: Power Attack. Human: Cleave. Pounce (Spirit Lion Totem). Favored Enemy: Arcanists.
2) Fighter 1. Bonus: Improved Bull Rush. Bonus: Tower Shield Proficiency (lost via Dragonborn)
3) Fighter 2. Feat: Three Mountains Style. Bonus: WF Morningstar.
4) Simple Barbarian 2. Bonus: Improved Trip (Wolf Totem). Bonus: Rapid Shot -> Dragon Tail (via Dragonborn).
5) Fighter 3.
6) Fighter 4. Feat: Prehensile Tail. Bonus: MWF.
7) Fighter 5.
8) Fighter 6. Bonus: Oversized TWF.
9) Fighter 7. Feat: Improved MWF.
10) Fighter 8. Bonus: Shock Trooper.
11) Fighter 9.
12) Fighter 10. Feat: Leap Attack. Bonus: WS Morningstar.
13) Fighter 11.
14) Fighter 12. Bonus: MWM Morningstar.
15) Fighter 13. Feat: Greater MWF.
16) Fighter 14. Bonus: Power Lunge.
17) Fighter 15.
18) Fighter 16. Feat: GWF Morningstar. Bonus: GWS Morningstar.
19) Fighter 17.
20) Fighter 18. Bonus: Weapon Supremacy.


And I just put this one together for daremetoidareyou's "Optimize this Feat #16: Bloodspiked Charger from PHB2 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?506408-Optimize-this-Feat-16-Bloodspiked-Charger-from-PHB2)"


Race: Spiker (Planar Handbook).
1) Feat Rogue 1. Feat: Travel Devotion (CChamp), Bonus: Power Attack, Flaw: TWF, Flaw: Improved Bull Rush.
2) Fighter 1. Bonus: WF Spiked Shield
3) Fighter 2. Feat: Improved Shield Bash. Bonus: WF Armor Spikes.
4) Fighter 3.
5) Fighter 4. Bonus: Shield Charge (CWar).
6) Fighter 5. Feat: Leap Attack (CAdv).
7) Fighter 6. Bonus: Blood-Spiked Charger (PHBII).
8) Feat Rogue 2. Bonus: Shock Trooper (CWar).
9) Fighter 7. Feat: Shield Slam (CWar).
10) Fighter 8. Bonus: Improved TWF.
11) Fighter 9.
12) Fighter 10. Feat: WS Spiked Shield, Bonus: MWM Piercing (PHBII).
13) Fighter 11.
14) Fighter 12. Bonus: WS Armor Spikes.
15) Fighter 13. Feat: Greater TWF.
16) Fighter 14. Bonus: GWF Spiked Shield.
17) Fighter 15.
18) Fighter 16. Feat: Power Lunge (Ghostwalk), Bonus: GWS Spiked Shield.
19) Fighter 17.
20) Fighter 18. Bonus: Weapon Supremacy Spiked Shield

[Fizban]

Weapon Mastery line gives better attack and damage than rage, without stopping you from dipping for rage. Shields and AC work, two-handed is for scrubs and pounce is for losers. Defenses against special attacks are nice. Haven't actually built it yet though, let's take a look at my current ideal fighter:

Barbarian 2/Fighter 18
Rage 1/day, fast movement, uncanny dodge

1st: Block Arrow (rage, fast movement)
2nd (uncanny dodge)
3rd: Close-Quarters Fighting, B1 Parrying Shield
4th: B2 Weapon Focus
5th
6th: Quick Recovery, B3 Weapon Specialization
7th
8th: B4 Combat Reflexes
9th: Enduring Life
10th: B5 Greater Weapon Focus
11th
12th: Expert Tactician, B6 Greater Weapon Specialization
13th
14th: B7 Combat Expertise*
15th: Overwhelming Assault
16th: B8 Defensive Sweep
17th
18th: Extra Rage, B9 Blind Fight
20th: B10 Weapon Supremacy

Alternatively, Warblade 2 instead of Barbarian 2 for weapon aptitude and a couple manuevers, but once you involve manuevers the pressure to just go full initiator is strong and you usually need at least one other feat to enable a different style. I'd like to cram Hold the Line in there as well. Leaving many of the later feats as generic stuff you might want earlier or decide you don't need is partially intentional, since it allows room to switch them around as needed as you see how the campaign runs. Locking yourself into a build that doesn't allow choices on level up, why bother leveling?

The following feats have no level based prerequisites and can be rearranged as desired (not counting ability scores): Blind Fight, Block Arrow, Close-Quarters Fighting, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes (as long as it's before Expert Tactician), and Parrying Shield.

The following feats have no level based prerequisites but are also not fighter feats: Enduring Life, Quick Recovery, Extra Rage.

Block Arrow is the throwaway feat, can be dropped to squeeze defenses sooner or pick up an exotic proficiency or improved buckler defense, but if actually playing from 1st the ability to just say no to arrow hits when mooks with bows are dangerous should be awesome. Race is left open, allowing whatever race or a human bonus feat without losing Block Arrow. Weapon is relatively open. Scimitar as-is for crit range to go with that attack bonus, longsword if expecting frequent enlargement, or a longspear or chain weapon can be squeezed in. Halfspear with Quick Draw allows for a surprisingly decent mid-range attack, or main rapier with javelins. Proper selection of magic items for AC and covering weaknesses as always, with Close-Quarters Fighting, Quick Recovery, and Enduring life letting you wait until you really need to activate your immunities/get out of jail effects until absolutely necessary.

What does this guy do? He participates in combat by hitting things accurately for damage while resisting a number of common special attacks at all times (arrows, grappling, low AB touch attacks, stun, daze, and negative levels). All of his natural abilities stack with buffs, giving him a higher ceiling than people who rely on buffs to function, and basic attacks can't be foiled by trip/grapple/bullrush immunity. While he lacks innate lockdown abilities to trigger Defensive Sweep/Overwhelming assault, these still allow him to exploit foes locked down by his allies' much more efficient magical methods of lockdown (and a cheap item or two can prevent 5' steps enough to power Defensive Sweep in a slug match).

*Combat Expertise would be great earlier as well, but requires int you might not be able to afford and wants more attack bonus to burn. By 14th you can more easily afford to boost int, while attack bonuses are getting high enough you might want be hurting for another source of AC.

[CaPtMalHammer]

There are two I like a lot:

1- The two handed reach weapon fighter straight 20 fighter with melee mastery. Hit hard and stay at weapons reach away. Take Short Haft if you need to for tight quarters. (Goliath is awesome because why not make your pole arm large)

2- Whip Fighter- you know that guy who dual wields whips from any awesome action movie ever. Use might whip daggers to do lethal damage. Some fun magical whips that entangle etc. Quick draw is always useful as well. May take a dip into exotic weapon master for some neat tricks but mostly a straight 20 build. Combat reflexes, cleave and improved trip a must for this build.

[Karl Aegis]

Either Deformity Fighter or Aberrant Fighter. Both have their pros and cons. I don't think Aberrant Deformity Fighter is low enough level for my tastes.

[Darrin]

First, there was a thread ages ago where someone was asking what it was that made monks so bad. In this thread, someone posted a full 20-level progression plan for an unarmed fighter which resulted in significantly higher damage potential than a monk. I have since been unable to find it and would very much like to see it again :P


I did some digging... Eldariel posted a link to a Fighter 20 build in this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?142487-3-5-Building-my-Unarmed-Fighter(As-in-the-Class)). This "Interesting brawler build (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?70277-Interesting-brawler-build)" might come close.

A while back I submitted an E6 build (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=11175045&postcount=52) for Iron Chef Appetizer Edition II that tried to do "Monk 6" without taking any levels of monk. Table wasn't fixed, but here's the gist of it:

Race: Frostblood Half-Orc
1) Battledancer 1. Feat: Travel Devotion. Bonus: Improved Unarmed Strike.
2) Barbarian 1. Spirit Lion Totem -> Pounce. Whirling Frenzy ACF.
3) Barbarian 2. Feat: Shape Soulmeld (Thunderstep Boots). Wolf Totem -> Improved Trip.
4) Planar Ranger 1. Bonus: Track. Spiritual Connection ACF.
5) Planar Ranger 2. Bonus: TWF.
6) Planar Ranger 3. Feat: Open Least Chakra (Feet), Endurance -> Snap Kick (Dragonborn), Track -> Dragon Wings (Dragonborn).

If you don't take any monk levels, Superior Unarmed Strike gives you an unarmed damage progression that scales up by level. Battledancer, Fist of the Forest, and maybe a couple other PrCs can give you the monk's unarmed strike ability without monk levels. If you add Improved Natural Attack and Shape Soulmeld (Totem Avatar) + Open Lesser Chakra (Shoulders), then you can get up to 6d8, but the RAW is kinda dubious:

Superior Unarmed Strike goes up to 2d6 at 16th-20th level. If we have Fist of the Forest 3, then our unarmed strike already does at least 1d8 and 1d10, and has gone beyond that. As per Fist of the Forest: "See the monk class feature (PH 41). If your unarmed attack already deals this amount of damage, increase the base damage to the next step indicated on the monk class table." So we essentially bump up the unarmed damage by two steps: 2d6 -> 2d8 -> 2d10. Now if we have Totem Avatar bound to our shoulder chakra, then: "Your natural weapons (whether from soulmelds or other sources) deal damage as if you were one size category larger." Since our unarmed strike damage is 2d10, the same as a medium-sized monk 20, we can now consider ourself a large-sized monk 20, which gets 4d8 unarmed damage. Improved Natural Attack improves that 4d8 -> 6d8. From there, you can greater mighty wallop up to 6d8 -> 8d8 -> 12d8 -> 16d8 -> 20d8 -> 24d8.

Fighter 20... It's doable, and the Melee Weapon Mastery line should easily outdamage a monk. The question is how to get Pounce into it, and there are several methods: Lion Tribe Warrior, Shape Soulmeld/Open Least Chakra: Sphinx Claws, and the Barbarian dip. Spirit Lion Totem is probably the most efficient way to get it, and you can either pick up Improved Trip with Wolf Totem or dip Battledancer for Improved Unarmed Strike. But for giggles let's say we want Fighter 20 all the way.

Race: Human, Azurin, or Strongheart Halfling
1) Fighter 1. Feat: Travel Devotion. Bonus: Improved Unarmed Strike. Human: Shape Soulmeld Sphinx Claws.
2) Fighter 2. Bonus: WF IUS.
3) Fighter 3. Feat: Superior Unarmed Strike.
4) Fighter 4. Bonus: WS IUS.
5) Fighter 5.
6) Fighter 6. Feat: Open Least Chakra Hands. Bonus: Power Attack.
7) Fighter 7.
8) Fighter 8. Bonus: MWM Bludgeoning.
9) Fighter 9. Feat: Snap Kick.
10) Fighter 10. Bonus: Power Lunge.
11) Fighter 11.
12) Fighter 12. Feat: Leap Attack. Bonus: GWF IUS.
13) Fighter 13.
14) Fighter 14. Bonus: GWS IUS.
15) Fighter 15. Feat: Shape Soulmeld Thunderstep Boots.
16) Fighter 16. Bonus: Improved Bull Rush.
17) Fighter 17.
18) Fighter 18. Feat: Open Least Chakra Feet. Bonus: Weapon Supremacy.
19) Fighter 19.
20) Fighter 20. Bonus: Shock Trooper.

Hmmm. Kinda late for Shock Trooper. Barb 2 would move things up.

I'll look at the ranged thing later, although my preference would probably be a Ranger 2/Fighter 2/Warblade 6/Eternal Blade 10.

[gr8artist]

Hamatula Strike (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/hamatula-strike-combat) + Shield Slam (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/shield-slam-combat---final) + TWF (Spiked Shield & Flying Talon (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment---final/weapons/weapon-descriptions/flying-talon)) + Viking (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/fighter/archetypes/paizo---fighter-archetypes/viking) Fighter; that's probably the best I've worked on.
Crowd control options include Intimidate (as a Swift Action), Trip, Disarm, Bull Rush, and Grapple.
Augment the build with whatever feats and items you like, though obviously Gauntlets of the Skill Maneuver (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/wondrous-items/e-g/gauntlets-of-the-skilled-maneuver) are pretty handy. Savior Shield (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/saving-shield-combat) and Raging Brutality (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/raging-brutality) look promising, and if you throw in some Paladin levels you can get some neat support abilities.

Shield Slam into Bull Rush, then you get AoO's when they try to stand up. It's similar to the Spiked Chain shenanigans, but you can hold your ground and you have the option to grapple with your weapon if you want to.
You just get up near them and ruin their day. Add Bloodrager if you want some extra damage and neat powers. My character was actually a Tiefling, using the Shackleborn (from a chain devil / Kyton Evangelist) variant. The DM was kind enough to let me embed the chain in my arm to mimic the physiology of the chain devil, ruling it like a Locked Gauntlet (I couldn't be disarmed, but drawing and sheathing it took a lot longer). The character was, in retrospect, extremely "edgy" ~ a half-Kyton half-Azata, who sought to avenge his mother by killing as many of his father's infernal brethren as possible. It helped the "Tiefling Paladin" concept make sense, and made for some interesting character flaws (ie taking advantage of paladin code loopholes that let me abuse evildoers to satisfy demonic urges), but I think looking back it was a bitt too "special snowflake."

[Darrin]

Here's my stab at a Fighter 20 archer:

Race: Human.
1) Fighter 1. Feat: PB Shot. Bonus: Rapid Shot. Human: Precise Shot.
2) Fighter 2. Bonus: WF Longbow.
3) Fighter 3. Feat: Dead Eye
4) Fighter 4. Bonus: WS Longbow.
5) Fighter 5.
6) Fighter 6. Feat: Manyshot. Bonus: Improved Rapid Shot.
7) Fighter 7.
8) Fighter 8. Bonus: Ranged Weapon Mastery.
9) Fighter 9. Feat: Shape Soulmeld Astral Vambraces*.
10) Fighter 10. Bonus: Woodland Archer.
11) Fighter 11.
12) Fighter 12. Feat: Open Lesser Chakra Arms. Bonus: GWF Longbow.
13) Fighter 13.
14) Fighter 14. Bonus: GWS Longbow.
15) Fighter 15. Feat: Hover.
16) Fighter 16. Bonus: Combat Expertise.
17) Fighter 17.
18) Fighter 18. Feat: Sense Weakness. Bonus: Weapon Supremacy.
19) Fighter 19.
20) Fighter 20. Bonus: Improved Precise Shot.

*Note: I'm still prevaricating over the soulmelds. Astral Vambraces (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20060217a) bound to the arms chakra lets you pick a 20' Fly speed from Astral Construct Menu A, but there are other ways to get flight. Notably, Dragonborn of Bahamut can get you a 30' fly speed at ECL 6, which frees up two feats... so you could switch the soulmeld to Sighting Gloves and take Bonus Essentia instead. Instead of losing your human bonus feat, lose Tower Shield Proficiency. Switching the race to Azurin would give you at least 1 essentia, and you could switch the flight to Airstep Sandals (perfect maneuverability). I'm not all that happy with Combat Expertise, but it's a prereq for Sense Weakness... which comes way too late. The Dragonborn version might look something like:

Race: Dragonborn Human.
1) Fighter 1. Feat: PB Shot. Bonus: Rapid Shot. Human: Precise Shot.
2) Fighter 2. Bonus: WF Longbow.
3) Fighter 3. Feat: Dead Eye
4) Fighter 4. Bonus: WS Longbow.
5) Fighter 5.
6) Fighter 6. Feat: Manyshot. Bonus: Improved Rapid Shot.
7) Fighter 7.
8) Fighter 8. Bonus: Ranged Weapon Mastery.
9) Fighter 9. Feat: Hover.
10) Fighter 10. Bonus: Woodland Archer.
11) Fighter 11.
12) Fighter 12. Feat: Sense Weakness. Bonus: Combat Expertise.
13) Fighter 13.
14) Fighter 14. Bonus: GWF Longbow.
15) Fighter 15. Feat: Plunging Shot.
16) Fighter 16. Bonus: GWS Longbow.
17) Fighter 17.
18) Fighter 18. Feat: Air Heritage. Bonus: Weapon Supremacy.
19) Fighter 19.
20) Fighter 20. Bonus: Improved Precise Shot.

[Fizban]

You fly speeds don't have hover, so Improved Rapid Shot is only useful on the ground, might be worth dropping. Accepting the Incarnate dip would get you a feat back and a Monk dip can get you Combat Expertise without even needing the int, two feats instead of the one from Fighter 20 without losing Weapon Supremacy at the end. Having Incarnate and Combat Expertise earlier also give some serious quality of life enhancements in addition to hitting your prerequisites sooner.

Give in. Reject the purity of the Fighter-only challenge, you know it to be false.

[Darrin]

You fly speeds don't have hover, so Improved Rapid Shot is only useful on the ground, might be worth dropping.


Good point. Airstep Sandals can hover (perfect maneuverability) when bound to the feet, so maybe switching the Soulmeld to those would be better. Azurin to pick up 1 essentia at least improves the fly speed to 20'. I'm a little fuzzy on whether Airstep Sandals bound to the feet chakra still requires you to land each round, but I'm inclined to say they shouldn't.



Accepting the Incarnate dip would get you a feat back and a Monk dip can get you Combat Expertise without even needing the int, two feats instead of the one from Fighter 20 without losing Weapon Supremacy at the end.


I like the Incarnate dip because it also gets you the Sighting Gloves. Too bad the Crystal Helm only adds [force] to melee attacks, although Serren bow can fix that for 4000 GP (BoED). Passive Way Monk is useful if you really need to tank your Int score.



Give in. Reject the purity of the Fighter-only challenge, you know it to be false.

Fighter 20 is more challenging. As I said, my preferred archer might look something more like Ranger 2/Fighter 2/Warblade 6/Eternal Blade 10. If White Raven Tactics can be used on yourself, then maybe the Eternal Idiot Crusbow:

Race: Deepwyrm Half-Drow
Stub: Duskblade 1/Fighter 2/Warblade 1/Crusader 2/JPM 3/Crusader +1/Eternal Blade 10.
ACFs: Hit-and-Run (DotU)
1) Duskblade 1. Feat: Versatile Spellcaster.
2) Hit-and-Run Fighter 1. Bonus: PB Shot.
3) Hit-and-Run Fighter 2. Feat: Heighten Spell. Bonus: Rapid Shot.
4) Warblade 1.
5) Crusader 1. [5 Known/2 Granted]
6) Crusader 2. Feat: Manyshot.
7) Jade Phoenix Mage 1. +1 Known Maneuver (Warblade).
8) Jade Phoenix Mage 2.
9) Jade Phoenix Mage 3. Feat: Weapon Focus. +1 Readied/Granted Maneuver (Crusader), +1 Known Maneuver (Warblade). [5 Known/3 Granted]
10) Crusader 3. White Raven Tactics. [6 Known/3 Granted]
11) Eternal Blade 1.
12) Eternal Blade 2. Feat: Improved Rapid Shot.
13) Eternal Blade 3. +1 Readied/Granted Maneuver (Crusader), +1 Known Maneuver (Warblade).[6 Known/4 Granted]
14) Eternal Blade 4.
15) Eternal Blade 5. Feat: Extra Granted Maneuver [6 Known/5 Granted]
16) Eternal Blade 6. +1 Readied/Granted Maneuver (Crusader), +1 Known Maneuver (Warblade). [6 Known/6 Granted]
17) Eternal Blade 7.
18) Eternal Blade 8. Feat: Martial Study (Stance of Alacrity).
19) Eternal Blade 9. Time Stands Still. +1 Readied/Granted Maneuver (Crusader), +1 Known Maneuver (Crusader). [7 Known/7 Granted]
20) Eternal Blade 10.

Every round, two full attacks (10 arrows) + White Raven Tactics. You can act on every initiative count until there's only one creature that hasn't acted in the round, and then delay your action until the first person in the next round acts.

I can't recall exactly why I chose Deepwyrm Half-Drow... I think it was mildly more interesting than all the other elf/half-elf options.

[Fizban]

I meant false in more a ye olde metaphorical sense, like accepting the pure challenge is bad because it's not high op enough, but it wasn't a great line.

[prufock]

One that I don't think has been mentioned yet is the Super Mario build using unarmed strike with Dungeoncrasher and Leap Attack along with other related abilities to goomba-stomp enemies into the dirt. Bonus points if you grab Enlarge Person. Also fun if you can find a dinosaur mount.

[Eladrinblade]

Everybody says you run out of core feats as a fighter, but if you use a spiked chain, which is the best anyway, you can make use of every feat chain except twf which is for rogues anyway. Take two levels of monk to fit in effectively four feats.

[Eladrinblade]

Now that I'm home I can post mah build:

Dwarf Fighter 18/Monk 2

Power Attack
Cleave
Great Cleave
Improved Overrun
Improved Bull Rush
Spiked Chain Proficiency
Combat Expertise
Improved Trip
Improved Disarm
Quick Draw
Improved Unarmed Strike (monk feature)
Improved Grapple
Combat Reflexes
Point Blank Shot
Precise Shot
Improved Precise Shot
Dodge
Mobility
Spring Attack
Whirlwind Attack

Why?

Be enlarged, use spiked chain, threaten 72 horizontal squares (hundreds if you go 3D). Great Cleave means a ton of potential extra targets per attack. Improved Overrun when you need to be elsewhere in the fight and someone is blocking you, of if you just need to make a path out for your allies (I read it to mean you can allow someone to avoid you, but they can't make that choice themselves: they try, you allow it or not). Improved Bull Rush for when you want to position someone. Improved Trip and Disarm for control and extra attacks, via: Combat Reflexes for those sweet, numerous spiked chain AoO's, and getting them before your first turn. Quick Draw for using those iterative attacks that would otherwise get wasted (if you drop all your melee enemies) with throwing weapons, or if you are holding your chain and decide you need some extra range for disarming/tripping/entangling via whip/bola/net. Grappling is self-explanatory. PBS line for the spiked chain (and quick-drawn thrown weapons), actually, because a reach weapon is treated as a range weapon when it comes to concealment and cover.

And the big one: why Whirlwind Attack? Well, remember those hundreds of threatened squares? Sometimes they're full of enemies you probably can't drop in one hit (so no cleaving), so you whirlwind attack to damage all of them, making them more vulnerable to cleave in subsequent rounds (or an ally's blasting spells). Also, if you're only doing one attack in a round, you can afford a higher power attack penalty.

I wish I could fit Improved Sunder and Blind-fight in there, but they just didn't make the cut.

[stanprollyright]

Dwarf Fighter 18/Monk 2
[...]
I wish I could fit Improved Sunder and Blind-fight in there, but they just didn't make the cut.

Why not human?

[Eladrinblade]

Why not human?

Dwarf is a generally superior choice for fighters. The benefits of the dwarf race outweigh either of those feats.

[TheCorsairMalac]

I'm currently playing a single class fighter all the way to level 20.

Craft(Alchemy) and Craft(Superhero Gadgets) has been a fun combo. Electrified lassos, projectile armor spikes, grapple guns...

Also, I've got the Dungeon Crasher substitution levels. I tear out every door we find using a big two-handed crowbar. Very fun!

I got Craft(Alchemy) through the Craft Alchemical Item feat in Unearthed Arcana.

[Darrin]

Here's an idea I've been toying with...

Race: Human
Ability Scores: Con 18, rest whatevs
1) Fighter 1. Feat: Toughness. Bonus: Mounted Combat. Human: Mounted Archery.
2) Fighter 2. Bonus: Ride-By Attack.
3) Fighter 3. Feat: Trample.
4) Fighter 4. Bonus: Spirited Charge. +1 Con = 19.
5) Fighter 5.
6) Fighter 6. Feat: Improved Mounted Archery. Bonus: Tremendous Charge.
7) Fighter 7.
8) Fighter 8. Bonus: Cavalry Charger. +1 Con = 20.

Now spend 100 GP on Ritual of Rebirth and become a Dragonborn of Bahamut. You have to remove 11 bonus skill points, so remove all your ranks in the Ride skill. You no longer qualify for Mounted Combat, so all those feats can be swapped for something else... such as Roll With It (Savage Species). Now you have DR 16/-. On a mundane battlefield, you'd be nigh-invincible (although energy damage and spells would *suck*).

Some other Fighter bonus feats that have skill point requirements:

Improved Diversion
Tumbling Feint
Combat Acrobat
Combat Intuition
Mage Slayer
Pierce Magical Protection
Einhander
Intimidating Strike
Acrobatic Strike
Combat Panache

That's enough to fill out a Fighter 20 build with DR 36/-.

If you did something similar with Dragon's Toughness (Masters of the Wild), you could get +219 HP on top of 214 HP (average of 10 + 19d10 with 20 Constitution).

[Thurbane]

Human Paragon 3/Fighter (thug variant) 16/Warblade 1 (not necessarily in that order). Alternatively, Human Paragon 2/Fighter (thug variant) 18.

Feats:
Able Learner
Bind Vestige
Improved Bind Vestige
Practiced Binder
Shape Soulmeld etc.

...all about versatility: with good skill variety and utility feats, you should be able to contribute out of combat as well as in combat. Load up on skills like Use Magic Device, Autohypnosis, Lucid Dreaming etc.