I'm starting a new character for PFS. He's going to be a big stupid fighter, and I'll probably start with pretty standard feasts of power attack, cleave, and weapon focus. I'm planning on swinging a big two hander, so that's probably all I'll need to be effective, though not optimal.
What I'm looking for help with is picking some feats that will give my big stupid fighter some interesting flavor or utility, in or out of combat.
Hi, Neils. Thanks for the atomic energy.
Anyway, my advice:
- Cleave is a trap, forget the feat. You'll rarely be in position to use it.
- It's fine to be big and stupid, but that doesn't mean you should forget your defenses. Things like Iron Will and Improved Initiative will be much more useful.
- I suggest you pick up Weapon Master's Handbook. It has a ton of interesting options for Fighters to make them more interesting.
- The Mutagenic Mauler is extremely fun and adds some really weird stuff to the Fighter, plus it fits with a HULK SMASH type of character. You can find it in the Advanced Class Guide.
If you want, I can post a build using this stuff.
Thanks for the advice, I'll look into these options.
You're more than welcome to post a build secret wizard, but it's not necessary.
Your ideas about the atom are dated and incorrect...
Feat-wise... if you use light armor take Fleet, and Vital Strike.
Skill Focus: Acrobatics MIGHT be worth considering, as Fighters often have to charge, and a lot of stuff will have reach on you... so tumbling will come up a LOT.
I prefer to think of my Theories on the Atom as incremental improvement.
I plan on using heavy armor, going along the lines of the old joke "Good thing he didn't hit anything important, my head stopped the blow for me!"
I hadn't considered the amount of charging I'd have to do, I'll look into acrobatics and maybe some feats to improve my charge.
Your ideas about the atom are dated and incorrect...
Feat-wise... if you use light armor take Fleet, and Vital Strike.
Skill Focus: Acrobatics MIGHT be worth considering, as Fighters often have to charge, and a lot of stuff will have reach on you... so tumbling will come up a LOT.
Just remember that tumbling only works in light armor; lots of people seem to conveniently forget this...
Just remember that tumbling only works in light armor; lots of people seem to conveniently forget this...Your ideas about the atom are dated and incorrect...
Feat-wise... if you use light armor take Fleet, and Vital Strike.
Skill Focus: Acrobatics MIGHT be worth considering, as Fighters often have to charge, and a lot of stuff will have reach on you... so tumbling will come up a LOT.
Good point about light armor - I had forgotten that one. Note that the rule is: "You cannot use Acrobatics to move past foes if your speed is reduced due to carrying a medium or heavy load or wearing medium or heavy armor. If an ability allows you to move at full speed under such conditions, you can use Acrobatics to move past foes." So, for example, a Dwarf with the Slow and Steady racial trait can still wear medium or heavy armor. Ditto anyone wearing Mithral Medium armor.
Just remember that tumbling only works in light armor; lots of people seem to conveniently forget this...Your ideas about the atom are dated and incorrect...
Feat-wise... if you use light armor take Fleet, and Vital Strike.
Skill Focus: Acrobatics MIGHT be worth considering, as Fighters often have to charge, and a lot of stuff will have reach on you... so tumbling will come up a LOT.
Hence me saying 'if you use light armor'...
I always use it, even though Fighters can ignore a lot of the penalties of heavy, I just lean towards high DEX/lightly armored people.
Touch AC being high is nice. :D
Ooh, Dodge feat!
Good point about light armor - I had forgotten that one. Note that the rule is: "You cannot use Acrobatics to move past foes if your speed is reduced due to carrying a medium or heavy load or wearing medium or heavy armor. If an ability allows you to move at full speed under such conditions, you can use Acrobatics to move past foes." So, for example, a Dwarf with the Slow and Steady racial trait can still wear medium or heavy armor. Ditto anyone wearing Mithral Medium armor.
Or... a fighter with armor training, the class feature we all love to hate. I won't lie, I had pretty much missed that caveat at the end.Thnks for pointing it out, Abraham. (I'm not saying it's a great idea, just it can be done.)
And alex, I wasn't trying to single you out, just wanted to highlight that bit that isn't always fully comprehended (including by yours truly :) ).
Good point about light armor - I had forgotten that one. Note that the rule is: "You cannot use Acrobatics to move past foes if your speed is reduced due to carrying a medium or heavy load or wearing medium or heavy armor. If an ability allows you to move at full speed under such conditions, you can use Acrobatics to move past foes." So, for example, a Dwarf with the Slow and Steady racial trait can still wear medium or heavy armor. Ditto anyone wearing Mithral Medium armor.Or... a fighter with armor training, the class feature we all love to hate. I won't lie, I had pretty much missed that caveat at the end.Thnks for pointing it out, Abraham. (I'm not saying it's a great idea, just it can be done.)
And alex, I wasn't trying to single you out, just wanted to highlight that bit that isn't always fully comprehended (including by yours truly :) ).
No worries.
I didn't realize you couldn't tumble in medium armor, so this whole thread has taught me something:
Fighters can do something other classes cannot! Yay!
You could pick up improved dirty trick and play it off as clumsy or playful. Pocket sand to the eyes, swatting a fly you thought you saw on an enemies crotch, etc... it plays off of strength since CMB, and should give you some fun options.
Another potentially interesting feat (for me), is catch off-guard. If something takes your weapon away, you use a rock, chair leg, etc...
If you really wanna be a tornado of death, and don't mind the stupidly high feat cost, you can grab Whirlwind Attack and Lunge and make attacks against everything within 10ft (or 20ft with a reach weapon, or would that only be 15ft?).
I think that schtick only costs you... What, 6 feats? Totally reasonable! /sarcasm
I'm liking the idea of making my charges more useful, adding a dash of leroy jenkins to an already dull witted character could prove to be fun.
That said, would improved overrun or improved bullrush be a better choice. I know bullrush wouldn't be specifically for the charge, so would be useful in more situations, but I'm thinking along the lines of which to grab first.
Are there any other feats I should be loking at to spice up my charge?