Sunder Optimization

[Biggus]

There doesn't seem to be a list of things that boost sunder attempts anywhere, probably because it's not a very popular strategy. Here's what I've found so far, please let me know if I've missed anything:

Improved Sunder (PHB p.96) (+4 to opposed attack roll, do not provoke an attack of opportunity)

Two-handed weapon (+4 to opposed attack roll)

Increased size (+4 to opposed attack roll per size category)

Goliath greathammer (RoS p.154) (+2 to opposed attack roll)

Sundering weapon property (MIC p.44) (grants benefits of Improved Sunder feat, +1d6 damage when sundering)

Adamantine weapon (ignores hardness of less than 20)

Helm of Battle (MIC p.111) (+2 to opposed attack roll, 3/day, swift action to activate)

Raging Sunder (Dragon #310, p.31) (+4 to opposed attack roll when in rage)

Epic Sunder (CW p.151) (AKA Mighty Sunder, online (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ei/20030215a)) (doubles damage derives from Strength when sundering)

Honourable mention: Combat Brute (CW p.110) free melee attack against an opponent whose armor or weapon you just destroyed with sunder

[MaxiDuRaritry]

The reason why nobody really optimizes sundering is that you're literally destroying your own treasure by doing so. Exceptions exist (such as fighting hydras and attacking mages' spell component pouches), but they're few and far between, to the point where optimizing it is a waste of resources.

[Biggus]

The reason why nobody really optimizes sundering is that you're literally destroying your own treasure by doing so. Exceptions exist (such as fighting hydras and attacking mages' spell component pouches), but they're few and far between, to the point where optimizing it is a waste of resources.

Yes, I know all that. I'm the DM, I use it occasionally against PCs.

[Silva Stormrage]

Marshal's minor aura can give bonuses to sunder checks equal to their cha mod (As well as Trip/Bull Rush/Disarm checks). You can even have some low level mooks focus on tripping etc with that aura as it affects all allies within 60ft.

Ranged Sunder is an option if you wanted to use force projectiles to sunder items and ignore hardness.

Also sunder is still an opposed attack roll. So anything that pumps an attack roll works here. Low level mooks with True Strike + power attack can be brutal in mass.

[Falontani]

Since sundering is almost always damaging objects, Eagle Claw Strike, and the Vestige Aym's Ruinous Attack are both things. I believe that the Destruction Mantle also gave something.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Various Stone Dragon strikes from ToB such as mountain hammer ignore hardness and deal extra damage to targets. You can't sunder attended objects, though, unless they're intelligent objects (which count as creatures).

[PoeticallyPsyco]

The Doomlord PrC has Improved Sunder as a prereq., and lets you ignore hardness and DR a few times per day. Probably not worth your time.

Much better is the Mountain Hammer line of Stone Dragon strikes, from ToB. Ignore hardness and DR, get bonus damage, win. What's nice about these is that none of them require knowing any other Stone Dragon stances/maneuvers; you can pick up any one of them with a single feat as long as you're high enough level, or if you are an initiator, you can save your precious maneuvers known for other disciplines and still get the best Stone Dragon has to offer.

[Saintheart]

Weapon materials that bust through hardness are a de facto boost to Sunder, since they bypass or lower hardness. Adamantine is a significant one in that department.

EDIT: There's also a weapon quality, Wrecker, from Dragon 315, which allows the weapon to bypass hardness entirely. +1 bonus, but can only be applied to a bludgeoning weapon.

Also, critical hits are possible on attack rolls, which would also count for Sundering.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

If you're going to take EWP, use a Greathorn Minotaur Greathammer in MMIV p101 instead. That gets the same stats as the Goliath Greathammer including the sunder bonus, but crits for 19-20/x4.

The Crystal of Adamant Weaponry and Crystal of Adamant Armor (can be used on shields) can easily bring an item's hardness above what an adamantine weapon can overcome. I'll agree that Stone Hammer and similar maneuvers are a must-have.

Brumal Stiffening (FB) reduces a weapon's hardness by 5, and if the wielder rolls a 1 with it, the weapon takes damage equal to what the attack would have dealt.

There's also the Shatterspike (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicWeapons.htm#shatterspike) (+2,000 gp effect) that adds +4 to your attack and damage rolls when sundering an opponent's weapon. It's also got some verbiage it inherited from 3.0 edition, when only a weapon with an equal or greater enhancement bonus could be used to sunder a magic item.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Much better is the Mountain Hammer line of Stone Dragon strikes, from ToB. Ignore hardness and DR, get bonus damage, win. What's nice about these is that none of them require knowing any other Stone Dragon stances/maneuvers; you can pick up any one of them with a single feat as long as you're high enough level, or if you are an initiator, you can save your precious maneuvers known for other disciplines and still get the best Stone Dragon has to offer.Mountain hammer and its ilk can't sunder attended objects. They can affect unattended objects and creatures only. So you could sunder a weapon that's used as part of a trap, or you could sunder an intelligent weapon (since it's considered a construct creature), but you couldn't sunder other types of attended items, like non-intelligent wielded weapons, or belt pouches.

[SangoProduction]

With spheres on the table, I've got a guide to sundering.

https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?540424-Best-Sunder-Possible

It's fairly trivial to back port sundering. And you don't lose your loot, with the Blacksmith class,

[Saintheart]

Also, not really useable, but Iaijutsu Focus damage also applies to objects (albeit halved).

[aglondier]

How would you go about optimising sunder for a swashbuckler with a rapier? Because I can see endless amounts of fun sundering belt buckles, straps, ropes, etc...

[MaxiDuRaritry]

How would you go about optimising sunder for a swashbuckler with a rapier? Because I can see endless amounts of fun sundering belt buckles, straps, ropes, etc...Can't sunder with a rapier. Get a fanged ring for Improved Unarmed Strike and Improved Natural Attack for it? Or give him a gauntlet?

[Gruftzwerg]

How would you go about optimising sunder for a swashbuckler with a rapier? Because I can see endless amounts of fun sundering belt buckles, straps, ropes, etc...

ubercharger:

1. pounce
2. Shock Trooper feat
3. Combat Brute
4. Charge multipliers
4. use your rapier as 2h for 1.5 x Str bonus

Charge Multiplier for a Rapier:
1.Valorous Weapon
2. Dive Attack (with access to flying)
3. Spirited Charge feat

So, if you get yourself a flying mount, the valorous weapon and the feats, you'll be sitting on a x4 damage multiplier on charge. That should skyrocket your dmg enough to sunder any weapon with a single attack. Combat Brute gives you now a free attack after successfully sundering a weapon, shield or armor.
The lil problem here is that if you have enough dmg for that, you most likely have enough dmg to kill your enemy in a single strike too. So why bother with the items first (and destroying possible loot)? Besides from Spell Component Pouches there is lil reason to really use sunder over a regular hight dmg attack.

[Saintheart]

ubercharger:

1. pounce
2. Shock Trooper feat
3. Combat Brute
4. Charge multipliers
4. use your rapier as 2h for 1.5 x Str bonusk.

Can't do that last step, the rapier specifically rules it out. That's why it got Weapon Finesse despite it being a one handed weapon.

[aglondier]

Can't sunder with a rapier. Get a fanged ring for Improved Unarmed Strike and Improved Natural Attack for it? Or give him a gauntlet?

???

The rules don't say anything about rapiers being unable to sunder. At least none I can find. And with leather having a hardness of 2 and 5hp per Inch of thickness, I would say that sundering belts and armour straps would be well within the damage range of a rapier. So what is the problem? Haven't you watched any swashbucling movies lately? They're full of that stuff.

Just can't picture Athos, Porthos and Aramis flying around like a superhero though...just doesn't fit the genre...

[MaxiDuRaritry]

???

The rules don't say anything about rapiers being unable to sunder. At least none I can find. And with leather having a hardness of 2 and 5hp per Inch of thickness, I would say that sundering belts and armour straps would be well within the damage range of a rapier. So what is the problem? Haven't you watched any swashbucling movies lately? They're full of that stuff.

Just can't picture Athos, Porthos and Aramis flying around like a superhero though...just doesn't fit the genre...Rapiers are piercing weapons. You can only sunder with a slashing or bludgeoning weapon.

This, of course, makes picks useless for breaking rocks. Guess what damage type they are.

[Saintheart]

Rapiers are piercing weapons. You can only sunder with a slashing or bludgeoning weapon.

This, of course, makes picks useless for breaking rocks. Guess what damage type they are.

Branching into cutlasses helps with this IIRC - they're slashing or piercing. Alternatively, the un-updated saber from Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting is suitably swashbuckling and does slashing or piercing, and gets you a +1 to attack rolls while mounted.

[aglondier]

*sigh* Okay. The rules say a piercing weapon cannot sunder. So how would you optimise feats and such for a swashbuckler wielding a slashing weapon of approximately the same stats as a rapier? What would let a character emulate Zorro or the Musketeers and humiliate an opponest by shredding their clothes, or slashing a rope in order to swing from it?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

*sigh* Okay. The rules say a piercing weapon cannot sunder. So how would you optimise feats and such for a swashbuckler wielding a slashing weapon of approximately the same stats as a rapier? What would let a character emulate Zorro or the Musketeers and humiliate an opponest by shredding their clothes, or slashing a rope in order to swing from it?

Attacking unattended objects is different from sundering. And those characters you mentioned mostly disarm their opponents rather than sunder their weapon.

The Elven Courtblade in RotW is a two-handed piercing/slashing weapon that can use weapon finesse. Any light bludgeoning or slashing weapon can be used to sunder, so a dagger, kukri, handaxe, light mace, etc. are all suitable.

[ShurikVch]

Classes:
Cleric with Token of Destruction (Dragon #327) - +1 Sacred bonus on the attack roll of a Sunder; token is not a magic item, costs 100 gp, and may be used as a Holy/Unholy Symbol
Monk - Sacred Path of Moradin fighting style (Dragon #346) - When making a Sunder action with a Warhammer, you receive a bonus to the damage equal to ½ Monk level.
Rogue - Rapid Demolitionist - Dwarf Rogue sub. level 5 (Dragon #338): +3d6 damage to Constructs and objects; Saboteur special ability (Dragon #326) - When striking an object or making a Sunder action, you ignore an amount of the object's Hardness equal to half your Rogue level. Also, you can Sneak Attack Constructs.
Exotic Weapon Master - Exotic Sunder stunt - do +1d6 damage when attempting to Sunder with an Exotic Weapon.
Paragnostic Initiate (Complete Champion) - +2 damage to inanimate objects and Constructs
Feats:
Cobalt Power (Magic of Incarnum) - "... insight bonus on attack rolls or ability checks made to succeed on a ... sunder attack equal to the invested essentia."
Combat Engineer (Dragon #334) - +2 on attack and damage when making a sunder attack
Deadly Concussion (Dragon #333) - in case of successful sunder of armor or shield with bludgeoning weapon, you deal an amount of damage to your opponent equal to the amount of damage you dealt to destroy his armor or shield.
Fragile Construct (Complete Champion) - [Reserve] feat; by touch attack, target's DR and hardness are reduced by number equal to level of highest-level spell from Destruction domain available to cast
Great Sunder (Psionics Handbook) - When you strike at an opponent's weapon, you ignore half of the weapon's total hardness (round down). You can also sense the stress points in any hard construction, such as wooden doors or stone walls, and can ignore half of the object's total hardness (round down) when attacking that object.
Initiate of Kord (Dragon #342) - +4 size modifier on Sunder attempt; adds to spell list Champion of Kord (4th-level spell, gives +CL - up to +10 - sacred bonus on sunder attempts, and lasts minute/level)
Ranged Sunder (Complete Warrior) - you may try to sunder from range (up to 30'); slashing or bludgeoning weapon will do full damage (piercing is still just 50%)
Spells:

Bebilith Blessing (Drow of the Underdark) - The target can sunder objects with its claw attacks as if it had the Improved Sunder feat.
Brumal Stiffening (Frostburn) - The targeted weapon becomes brittle, reducing its hardness by 5 for the duration of the spell, thereby increasing the effectiveness of sunder attempts against the weapon.
Wood Rot (Spell Compendium) - In combat, you can use the spell to attempt to sunder any wooden or wooden-hafted weapon; the weapon or its wooden portion is destroyed on a successful melee touch attack.
Stone Dragon's Fury maneuver - +4d6 damage against Constructs or objects (including held or carried objects!)

Items:
Breaking Blade (Arms and Equipment Guide) +2 halberd with metal haft (hardness 15 and 20 hp); when attacking simple and martial reach weapons, it deals double damage; 18310 gp
Doomstrike special ability (Champions of Ruin) after successfully sundering an enemy's weapon, the wielder of a doomstrike weapon can cleave into the enemy, as though using the Cleave feat; +1 bonus
Gauntlets of the Siegebreaker (Dragon #334) +2 enhancement to Str; at sunder attack, the attack ignores hardness and deals 2d4 points of damage to objects; CL 15 knock 3/day; 11000 gp
Necklace of the Marauding Beast - Rampaging Boar Necklace (Arms and Equipment Guide) wearer gets Improved Sunder feat, +1 Con, and +1 round of Rage duration; 12440 gp
Weaponeater (Arms and Equipment Guide) +3 club which can cause stricken metal weapon to make Fort 16 save or crumble to dust; after 50 uses of rusting ability, a weaponeater crumbles to dust itself; 58300 gp

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Strength Devotion feat in CC: Swift action, you melee attacks ignore hardness of items for 1 minute. Usable 1/day, beyond that it costs one turn/rebuke undead use to activate. Better than an adamantine weapon, better than the stone dragon maneuvers.

[Biggus]

Thanks to all for the replies, especially ShurikVch for that long list!