Spiked chain master

[Master Thrower]

Well im building an 9th level character who is using a spike chain.
So far heres my build. any advice would help. (Note core+first four completes only)
Human
Fighter 7 Barbarian 1 exotic weapon master 1.
1- Exotic weapon pro (spiked chain), monkey grip, dodge
2-combat expertise
3. improved trip
4. mobility
6 spring attack, weapon focus (spiked chain)
7. Rage+fast movement
9 flurry of strikes. whirlwind attack.

Next level im thinking of getting weapon specalization. any advice would be helpful.

[Greenish]

Next level im thinking of getting weapon specalization. any advice would be helpful.

Got ToB?

Anyhow, Monkey Grip is a trap, Whirlwind Attack chain isn't worth it, Fast Movement you can trade for Pounce (CChamp), fighter 7 gives you absolutely nothing, and I seem to recall that Flurry of Strikes was only for exotic double weapons (Whirling Frenzy [UA/SRD] rage variant would work better).

[Edit]: Managed to miss your book list.

[JKTrickster]

Okay...is there a specific purpose? I"m assuming lockdown with the standard improved trip and all, but I'm confused as to why you have spring attack then....

Are you trying to go for the mobile attacker type?

First of all drop Monkey Grip. Really it does your build no help. At all. No not even then.

And then I have to ask why you want Dodge, Mobility, and Spring Attack. Those feats could be better spent elsewhere and would improve your ability to lockdown. Otherwise, these three feats really don't do you much good....

And no, Whirlwind attack isn't really worth it for giving up so many feats. No not even then.

I forget but are the Spirit Totem ACFs in the first four Completes? Probably not, from what I'm guessing.

I would advise against Weapon Spec in every sense of the word. A small damage bonus is pretty useless at your level.

Are you including PHB 2 in your book list? I generally count it as core but others may not. If you do, look towards Robilar's Gambit definitely.

And do you allow the srd, which is pretty much core anyway? Look for the Stand Still feat (I think its in the psionic feat section, but it is 100% normal and has nothing to do with psionics. at all.)

[Urpriest]

Got ToB?

Anyhow, Monkey Grip is a trap, Whirlwind Attack chain isn't worth it, Fast Movement you can trade for Pounce (CChamp), fighter 7 gives you absolutely nothing, and I seem to recall that Flurry of Strikes was only for exotic double weapons (Whirling Frenzy [UA/SRD] rage variant would work better).

Flurry of Strikes is normally for Exotic double weapons, but it also includes the spiked chain as a special exception.

[Master Thrower]

ok so taking out dodge, mobility. ect. what should i use instead. and sadly no ToB or PH2. And the reason i use monkey grip is to get a spiked chain with a 15 ft reach.
Also past fighter 4-6 and exotic weapon master 1 im not sure what levels to take. swashbuckler for int damage?
edit- also yes im looking for a lock down character

[Urpriest]

ok so taking out dodge, mobility. ect. what should i use instead. and sadly no ToB or PH2. And the reason i use monkey grip is to get a spiked chain with a 15 ft reach

Improved Trip is good with Combat Reflexes. I've forgotten what the requirements for Karmic Strike are, but it synergizes well with a "tank" build, once you have aforementioned Combat Reflexes.

Have you seen the Horizon Tripper? It's a core build that is quite versatile, and while it doesn't use a spiked chain, that's just due to the preference of the build's creator for something less silly looking. There should be plenty in there to give you food for thought.

You could focus on charging. While you wouldn't have Pounce since you can't use Complete Champion, you can still get the prerequisites for Shock Trooper and Leap Attack (Complete Warrior and Complete Adventurer), which together will lead to some nasty charges.

[Master Thrower]

Have you seen the Horizon Tripper? It's a core build that is quite versatile, and while it doesn't use a spiked chain, that's just due to the preference of the build's creator for something less silly looking. There should be plenty in there to give you food for thought..

Could i get a link/explanation of the horizon tripper?

[Urpriest]

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80415

[Greenish]

And the reason i use monkey grip is to get a spiked chain with a 15 ft reach.

Larger weapons don't give you any more reach than properly sized ones, by default, but if that's a houserule I could see it being worth it.

[Master Thrower]

yeah DM house ruled larger reach weapons=larger reach

[JKTrickster]

yeah DM house ruled larger reach weapons=larger reach

In which case nevermind. Take Monkey Grip. It officially rocks now.

[Master Thrower]

But i Still dont know what class levels to take. So far my updated one is this

Spiked Chain wielder.

Human
Fighter 6 exotic weapon master 2.
1- Exotic weapon pro (spiked chain), monkey grip, Combat Expertise
2-Improved trip
3. improved disarm
4. Combat Reflexes
6. weapon focus, weapon spec. (spiked chain)
7. Flurry of strikes (trick)
8. Exotic trip. (Trick)

Im not sure about weapon focus and specilization though. other good feats and or class levels i could take

[Urpriest]

A level of barbarian is still nice, especially with the Extra Rage feat (CW) that should give you enough rage for most combats in a day. Improved Disarm is somewhat situational and Weapon Focus/Spec are still rather weak. Spiked Chains are two-handed weapons, making Power Attack actually a pretty worthwhile feat: since you're tripping people, you can afford to drop your attack bonus because they've got -4 to their AC for being prone. Throw in some charging stuff (aforementioned Shock Trooper and Leap Attack) if you want to do large amounts of damage occasionally.

[Godskook]

In which case nevermind. Take Monkey Grip. It officially rocks now.

I was thinking what you are thinking here.

[herrhauptmann]

Human
Fighter 6 exotic weapon master 2.
1- Exotic weapon pro (spiked chain), monkey grip, Combat Expertise
2-Improved trip
3. improved disarm
4. Combat Reflexes
6. weapon focus, weapon spec. (spiked chain)
7. Flurry of strikes (trick)
8. Exotic trip. (Trick)

Well weapon focus you'll need for EWM. Oh well, EWM is pretty nice, you should still ditch Weapon Spec unless you need it as a prereq.
Perhaps a level or two in barbarian or ranger, perhaps ranger would be best to help boost your reflex save (reflex and will are going to suck for this build), use either of those to fill up your survival skill, then go into Horizon Walker. Go to at least HW 6, and take shifting planar terrain mastery. Underground will get you darkvision.
Had my own build recently, an ubercharger base, which grew into Horizon Walker for one version, and Abjurant Champion for another. The HW version also used a bludgeoning weapon for Deadly Concussion sundering
Was about to suggest ToB... But that's not kosher for you.
How about Barbarian for a level or two, then Bear Warrior?
Go to the SRD and take the racial paragon classes? You can get into the Human one of course, which is 3 levels, does not affect your limits on multiclassing, and grants a stat boost and a feat.
Or be an oddball, dip into Races of Stone for 'stoneblessed', and you now count as a dwarf for all PrC and other restrictions. That includes dwarf racial paragon.

[iphynx]

I've always wondered this about the Trip Attack stunt EWMs get, but does the +2 on trip attacks with weapons that can already trip apply to the melee touch attack, or the opposed strength roll?

[nyarlathotep]

You might want to look into master of chains as well. It's in sword and fist.

[mikethepoor]

I'd actually advise switching one of those fighter levels for another in exotic weapon master to get the two tricks good for a chain wielder (the other being the trip bonus) to start.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Is SRD considered Core? If so, you may wish to get into either Pyrokeneticist or War Mind, if you really want to break people's brains. Pyro adds more damage per attack (Weapons Afire for +2d6), and Flame Lash for another way to trip people at quite a ways off. War Mind 5 nets a very interesting ability which can range from useful to break-the-game, depending on how badly you (ab)use it.

[Eldariel]

Power Attack should be in there somewhere; tripping someone gives them -4 to AC which conveniently flows into a lot of damage Power Attack-wise. I also don't like 6 levels of Fighter; I think 2 levels of Barbarian or some such would serve you much better (Totem Barbarians and Whirling Frenzy help a lot with getting feats).

If you feel so inclined, you could also use two levels of Monk granting you a lot of feats, and pick up Stunning Blow on level 3 of EWM later on; this provided you have some Wisdom of course. Too bad it's a Fort-save; something that's gonna be good for the people hard to trip anyways. Meh. Oh, and do note that Shock Trooper & Combat Brute are fine feats with Spiked Chain if you ever happen to go down that road.

[Tyndmyr]

Im going to pop in to recommend the feat Stand Still, which allows you to force a ridiculously high save on an AoO to immobilize someone. It's crazy good for lockdown builds.

Combat Reflexes is generally fairly handy on spiked chain builds. After all, when you have 20+ feet of reach, you generally can lock down multiple people at once.

And, of course, there's ToB to consider. Thicket of Blades is always a favorite.

[gorfnab]

Is the SRD or Expanded Psionics considered core? If so look into the feat Stand Still. With Combat Reflexes and a decent reach it can be quite good for tripping builds.

[weenie]

Weird nobody mentioned this, but Knock-Down is great for a tripper build. Free trip attempts rock!

[Dark_Nohn]

If anyone knows any anti-tumble-through-threatened-square feats, suggest that to him too, because a DC 17 skill check can completely bone all aoo builds. There's some ways of adding even more reach to your character, but one that I know of is in a different book, and the other requires about 9 levels to go for it.

[Master Thrower]

core= dmg guide, ph, first four cores. we also allow some use of planar handbook, and draconmicon. Also kensai? worth it?

[herrhauptmann]

For those of us who can't remember publishiing order and don't want to check copyright data, which books in teh Complete Series are the first four?

[gorfnab]

For those of us who can't remember publishiing order and don't want to check copyright data, which books in teh Complete Series are the first four?

Adventurer, Arcane, Divine, and Warrior.

[Dark_Nohn]

Adventurer, Arcane, Divine, and Warrior.

First four release dates: Dec 2003-Jan2005
Mostly covers revisions of the 3.0 supplements along with the original three races books (Sword & Fist, Song & Silence, Tome & Blood, ...) Usually allowed due to being considered close enough to core as the classes are revised versions of 3.0 supplemental material (and thusly more balanced?)
Last four release dates: Apr 2006-May2007
Covers "new" materials, starting with "Complete Psionic" having absolutely no use to anyone except people who want the Soulknife to suck less. Followed by Complete mage, which has some broken materials (like a PrC you can take with the prerequisite of having 3 levels of wizard, making it essentially an almost required 2 level buy in for many batman builds (Note that the batman text is pre-complete mage, as nothing in it gets even a mention.) As well as a complete mockery of a class which requires DM ruling to not be groundbreakingly rulebreaking (find a way [Alacritous Cogitation, Mage of the Arcane Order] to spontaneously cast any level 1 spell as a wizard then take Ultimate Magus and get 17 levels of spell progression to one class over 10 levels.) This book also features feats which practically give you at-will abilities in exchange for spell slots (Reserve feats) which make the spell-hording type players even more encouraged, but the actual brokenness of this debatable.
Complete Scoundrel seems to be a book for (and only for) spellcasting-type rogues, and complete champion seems to be a sort of Complete Divine 2: Electric Boogaloo.

[Tyndmyr]

Complete Scoundrel seems to be a book for (and only for) spellcasting-type rogues,

I suppose. If you hate luck feats, locations, and skill tricks. Those offer quite a bit for rogues.

In fact, non-rogue specific stuff appears frequently in the book.

[Keld Denar]

Cleave (not Great Cleave, just Vanillia Cleave) would actually be a good investment. With PA, your damage should be in the realm that you SHOULD be able to drop a foe a round. That means you'll get your bonus cleave attack nearly every round while you are in combat. With your awesome reach, there is likely to be at least ONE extra person in your range nearly all of the time. Its an extra attack per round...definitely worth it.