Feat advice please?

[Kuzon]

okay, my friend is going to host an effective level 15 DnD 3.5e game and i've been invited to play--the problem is that i have very little experience playing and we have access to every 3.5e scourcebook and expansion. I'm completely lost here, and i could really use some help.

he said beforehand to try and make our characters as powerful as we can because he 's planning something challenging.

everyone else whose playing is making these scary-powerful mage characters with lots of bonuses and planet-fragmenting spells, so i wanted to go in a different (and simpler i hope) direction and just play as a level 15 human fighter. unfortunately *again*, level 15 human fighters have LOTS of feats, and since we've access to every 3.5 book, there are a staggering list of feats to choose from.

I'm aiming for a well-balanced fighter that can dual-wield and fight unarmed with little difficulty.

can anyone point me in the right direction on which books i should look at, or even list a few helpful feats? it would be much appreciated, and thank you for your time.

[Escheton]

First too suggest warblade unless I get swordsaged.
Yeah, check out Tome of Battle for effective fightertypes.

[Zaq]

I agree with the suggestion of Warblade. Tome of Battle is a superb book. You'll still be horrifically underpowered compared to 15th level full casters (Rule #1 of D&D 3.5: More magic = more better), but you'll at least be on the same continent, while a pure fighter wouldn't even be on the same plane of existence, especially without some game experience under your belt.

Warblades, thankfully, are moderately self-optimizing... just take stuff that looks cool and seems like it works together, and you probably won't be totally useless. The Tiger Claw school is good at dual-wielding, so look at that.

If you want to fight unarmed, use the Unarmed Swordsage adaptation, also from Tome of Battle. It's just a swordsage that trades away I believe its armor proficiency for the monk's unarmed strike ability, and that's it. Swordsages, too, have access to Tiger Claw. In either case, I would recommend focusing on Tiger Claw and Diamond Mind, though Iron Heart (for Warblades) and Setting Sun (for Swordsages) are a hell of a lot of fun as well.

Try to find some handbooks or something, especially when it comes to item usage. Buying items for a level 15 character will take ages, unfortunately, and will be a major part of your power. Hint: Don't waste money on a sword with straight pluses. You want a +1 [adjective] [adjective] [adjective... etc.] weapon, not a +4 weapon. Remember to get some way to fly, ideally some way to teleport, and some way to see better than with your normal vision.

[Vizzerdrix]

When it comes to making a big scary optimized character, fighter is a very hard way to do it. Look in Tome of Battle for better melee options.

You could also make a Melee focused Cleric. With all the buffs, healing and utility spells they have access to, they can be rewarding to play.

[HunterOfJello]

A Cleric 4/Crusader 1/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10 could cast as a 12th level cleric and would have tons of maneuvers to fight with in battle.



If you're more interested in a warblade, then you could go straight Warblade 15 for godly fighting action or go Warblade 10/Eternal Blade 5. The Eternal Blade is a pretty great prestige class that has tons of fun flavor to it.

The Duskblade class is always an option too. They are on scale with Warblades and far better than fighters at such a high level.