Warblade or Fighter

[Rhino0501]

Hello everyone, I was looking to get some suggestions for where to take my 3.5 character next. She is currently Ranger 4, Barb 1. Due to party needs/roleplay reasons, I want to take more of a Frontline fighter role next level. I really like tome of battle, but I can't figure out if it's better to just take the warblade class or take something like Dungeon crasher fighter and get maneuvers through feats? I would also appreciate any gear suggestions. My character has low con and lower wisdom at the moment than I would like. Thank you!

[Particle_Man]

I would say Warblade gives you more options.

[liquidformat]

Can we get a bit more info, what race, what path you took for ranger, did you take any variants for your barbarian and ranger levels, what feats you have?

In general warblade is going to be a much better option for you since Dungeon crasher will take 2 levels to come online and another 4 to come to fruition. Whereas, you will see some very nice benefits from your first level of warblade, you get better hd, more skill points, and with effective IL of 3 you will be able to take 2nd level maneuvers. With one more level of barbarian you can take wolf totem barbarian (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#wolfTotemClassFeatures ) and Wolf Berserker then at level 9 take Knock-Down (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineAbilitiesFeats.htm#knockDown) which will make you a very powerful BFC frontliner

[MaxiDuRaritry]

I like dungeon crasher more and would be more likely to add it to a character I'm building as a central part of its melee strategy, but I think warblade would give you more versatility without going out of your way to build around it.

[Rhino0501]

Can we get a bit more info, what race, what path you took for ranger, did you take any variants for your barbarian and ranger levels, what feats you have?

In general warblade is going to be a much better option for you since Dungeon crasher will take 2 levels to come online and another 4 to come to fruition. Whereas, you will see some very nice benefits from your first level of warblade, you get better hd, more skill points, and with effective IL of 3 you will be able to take 2nd level maneuvers. With one more level of barbarian you can take wolf totem barbarian and Wolf Berserker then at level 9 take Knock-Down which will make you a very powerful BFC frontliner

Half Orc, Archery focus for ranger. STR 18, DEX 16, CON 8 (This is currently my big issue, although I have thankfully rolled well on hit die so far) INT 10, WIS 13, CHA 6. All levels so far are non variant, but I was considering variant barbarians before I found Tome of Battle. So the default ranger feats plus Precise shot and Point blank shot. I'm currently wielding a falchion and do plan on getting improved critical when I can. Just so I'm clear, are you suggesting getting that second level of barbarian at some point regardless of what my next class choice is?

[Gruftzwerg]

I would suggest to dip 1 lvl into Warblade (get one Iron Hearth maneuver and stance each) and you qualify for Bloodstorm Blade (BSB). BSB 2lets your throw melee weapons and let the attack count as melee attack again (allowing ranged power attack; disarm; charge; and so on..).
Imho the most elegant solution. This way you keep benefiting from your ranged feats while becoming more tanky.
You need 4 lvls of BSB to be able to make ranged full attacks with your (single) melee weapon (or you need multiple weapons).

[liquidformat]

Half Orc, Archery focus for ranger. STR 18, DEX 16, CON 8 (This is currently my big issue, although I have thankfully rolled well on hit die so far) INT 10, WIS 13, CHA 6. All levels so far are non variant, but I was considering variant barbarians before I found Tome of Battle. So the default ranger feats plus Precise shot and Point blank shot. I'm currently wielding a falchion and do plan on getting improved critical when I can. Just so I'm clear, are you suggesting getting that second level of barbarian at some point regardless of what my next class choice is?

No I was just thinking that that was a potential way to go but everything depends on what you have already done. It seems a shame to waste three feats of your build so going with throwing weapons might be a decent way to proceed. Hum, so that is a bit of a headache, I probably wouldn't go with Dungeon crasher based on what you already have, you should be concerned about being all over the place and having a character that is bad at doing anything if you jump around too much.

A couple of Fighter levels could do a lot of good for you if you want to have a throwing build. Tormtor School from Drow of the Underdark might be a good feat for you, it requires PBS and Weapon Focus (Javelin), if you damage someone in melee with a Jav you can throw the same javelin as a swift action. To leverage that you would need quick draw and Weapon Focus (Javelin) though. Brutal throw, power attack, power throw, and two weapon fighting would be worthwhile feats, and Master Thrower would be a decent choice for this path and gives you quick draw at level 1. Alternatively or in addition you could go with warblade focusing on Iron Heart and tiger claw maneuvers and Bloodstorm Blade to build out a thrower.

[pabelfly]

Hello everyone, I was looking to get some suggestions for where to take my 3.5 character next. She is currently Ranger 4, Barb 1. Due to party needs/roleplay reasons, I want to take more of a Frontline fighter role next level. I really like tome of battle, but I can't figure out if it's better to just take the warblade class or take something like Dungeon crasher fighter and get maneuvers through feats? I would also appreciate any gear suggestions. My character has low con and lower wisdom at the moment than I would like. Thank you!

If you want manoeuvres, it's much cheaper to go with a Tome of Battle class. You get stances, several manoeuvres at each level and you fully advance your initiator level. Dungeon Crasher fighter is something you want several feats to use to it's best, which it doesn't seem like you have done.

If you're worried about low WIS, consider picking up a feat that let's you key your Will save off a better stat. Alternatively, two levels in Fighter would let you pick up Resolute, which let's you temporarily halve BAB and boost your Will save by as much. Channeled Rage is also a great feat for you.

Gear suggestions - Cloak or Vest of Resistance, Amulet of Health, Gloves of Ogre Strength, any of your other Big Six items.

[Particle_Man]

Also a level of Warblade could net you a "Moment of Perfect Mind" maneuver, which lets you use a concentration skill check in place of a will save. Could come in handy.

[Arkain]

Also a level of Warblade could net you a "Moment of Perfect Mind" maneuver, which lets you use a concentration skill check in place of a will save. Could come in handy.

Only outside of rage though, unfortunately.

[Thunder999]

There's an argument for taking 1 more level of barbarian or a single level of fighter before warblade, that way you've got an even number of levels in other classes, which is ncie since you get to add half your other class levels to initiation level (it won't put you ahead of going straight warblade, but it will get you an extra feat and functionally the same maneuver progression).