Dirty Tactics + Sword & Board?

[Palanan]

I need to build a basic longsword fighter, probably with a buckler or light shield, but I’d like to flavor this with some dirty tactics.

This will almost certainly be human, third or fourth level, with all official Paizo material allowed—but obviously with an emphasis on the Dirty Tactics Toolbox and related material. Given this, what would make for an interesting build?

[legomaster00156]

The Dirty Fighting feat will likely be the first, after which you can pick up Improved Dirty Trick and related feats.

[Psyren]

There are some shield (and scabbard) Equipment Tricks that your tricky Fighter can draw from. There are also sword-and-board Weapon Tricks. If you're using a buckler (or a Folding shield of some other type), consider the Upsetting Style chain.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by legomaster00156
The Dirty Fighting feat will likely be the first, after which you can pick up Improved Dirty Trick and related feats.

Hmm. The need for flanking could be a problem for a swordsman who goes after targets individually. I hadn’t realized that was an underlying requirement for dirty tactics in general.


Originally Posted by Psyren
If you're using a buckler (or a Folding shield of some other type), consider the Upsetting Style chain.

Upsetting Style looks interesting, thanks. I don’t have the Armor Master’s Handbook, though, so I’m not sure how many feats there are in the chain. What others would be useful here?

[legomaster00156]

Hmm. The need for flanking could be a problem for a swordsman who goes after targets individually. I hadn’t realized that was an underlying requirement for dirty tactics in general.
Well, you can take Combat Expertise instead. Dirty Fighting is just generally considered the better feat. Combat maneuvers never require flanking to perform.

[Psyren]

Hmm. The need for flanking could be a problem for a swordsman who goes after targets individually. I hadn’t realized that was an underlying requirement for dirty tactics in general.

The point of that feat is to let you get into feat chains that require Combat Expertise without needing 13 Int. The flanking stuff is just gravy.

Basically, treat the "Special" stuff as the feat's normal benefit, and the normal benefit as an extra.



Upsetting Style looks interesting, thanks. I don’t have the Armor Master’s Handbook, though, so I’m not sure how many feats there are in the chain. What others would be useful here?

All Style Feat (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/style-feats/) chains are three feats long.

[Kurald Galain]

Hmm. The need for flanking could be a problem for a swordsman who goes after targets individually. I hadn’t realized that was an underlying requirement for dirty tactics in general.

It's not. For a fighter, the easiest way to use dirty tactics (and tripping and disarming, for that matter) is to (1) do it on flat-footed enemies or enemies that already have used their OA for the turn; (2) have a sufficiently high AC that their OA is likely to miss; or (3) do it from 10' away, with e.g. Enlarge, Lunge, or a reach weapon.

(trip/disarm normally use a weapon, and there's a few ways to use a weapon for dirty tricks).

A good dip here is to take one level in cleric with the Plant domain, so you can enlarge yourself as a swift action.