warblade//fact gestalt

[Cuddly]

What feats & maneuvers should I be looking at? I know get lots of Fonts of Inspiration, but what else?

I don't have much experience with ToB, so I need guidance on the good moves. Preferably ones that don't run off strength, since race will be gray elf. Also, I'll be going sword and board, for flava.

[tyckspoon]

Diamond Mind, Diamond Mind, Diamond Mind. You're looking at a character with a massive Int score. You have tons of skill points. Concentration is a class skill. Many Diamond Mind maneuvers allow you to use a Concentration check in place of various things (attack rolls, damage rolls, saves, AC..). Ergo you should take Diamond Mind maneuvers. Fill out your list with whatever else looks good to you.. some of Stone Dragon is always useful (Mountain Hammer- ignores DR and Hardness) and there's really neat stuff in Iron Heart and White Raven too. But Diamond Mind is going to be your mainstay.

[RTGoodman]

Off the top of my head, while I don't have ToB on me, some good maneuvers to pick up might be the ones that let you use a Concentration check instead of saves or whatever (since you've got the Int to keep it maxed and can use your Factotum abilities to get REALLY high skills checks), as well as maybe Iron Heart Surge in case you do fail a save. You can focus on boosts and strikes alongside your Factotums Sneak Attack for damage, but make sure you grab that maneuver that lets you reroll an attack roll just in case. You could pick up Power Attack and Tiger Claw maneuvers and use your Arcane Dilettante to pick up wraithstrike for TWF full PA goodness. Also, the White Raven school works if you want something that fits flavor-wise with your ability to take extra actions at higher levels, and it's a pretty good school in general.

[Cuddly]

I'm going to get Clarion Commander (tactical feat), which, combined with extra standard actions and WRT, means I can scare the hell out of an enemy and wail on it for a long time.

I'm not sure I want to go Diamond Mind, since I can only add my fact. level to conc 1/day. Also, due to the wording, since I'm making a skill check in place of dealing damage or making an attack, I don't get to add int. Though picking up an item familiar would be pretty damn sweet.

What about snap-kick? Would every standard action I make an attack grant me another snap kick? Cause that would be gnarly, esp. combined with power attack & wraithstrike.

[edit]
Wow, Diamond Mind is really sweet.

[tyckspoon]

Consider:
Your Concentration skill starts at +4, goes up by 1 every level after, and is increased by Intelligence, which is your primary stat for your Factotum side, and which you will probably be increasing by any means you can acquire.

Your attack bonus starts at +1, goes up by 1 each level, and is increased primarily by your Strength, which you will probably not be focusing on.

Your concentration check will almost always be higher than your attack roll (especially if you can get a Concentration-boosting item.. like a Third Eye: Concentrate), so if you can use Concentration in place of your normal attack roll that's a good thing. Even if you aren't using your Factotum special abilities to improve it.

Similarly, your damage rolls are weapon base + 1.5xStrength, assuming you're going for a two-hander. Your Concentration check is 1d20+(level+3)+any other boosts you can find. Your static Concentration bonus will probably be higher than your static Strength bonus, and 1d20 is pretty much guaranteed to be larger than your weapon die.. so you're better off if you can roll Concentration for your damage result too. And when the base Concentration roll starts lagging behind, as it might if you use Power Attack well and raise your Strength a bit.. you can step up to strikes that double or quadruple the result of your Concentration check.

[kamikasei]

A major advantage of Diamond Mind, as I understand it, is that the maneuvers which replace or augment weapon damage make wielding a one-handed weapon more feasible. Since you're sword-and-boarding, this seems like a good idea for you.

[Cuddly]

I'd like to point out that concentration is con based- factotum doesn't modify it in any way, save by a 1/day ability to add your factotum class level to it.

[namo]

There's a Wb//Fa build called "Factotum of War" on the WotC boards. Google...