So I had an idea for a Dwarf Fighter build that takes 2 levels of Monk (Sacred Mountain archetype). It seems like you get a lot of benefit from this and by focusing on AC and with the save bonuses from Dwarf and Monk you could make a pretty tough defensive warrior. For bonus feats I'm thinking Dodge and Improved Grapple. The other benefits you get from your dip are +3 to all saves, +1 to natural armor, Toughness, Stunning Fist, and an unarmed strike for rare situations. With other feats and early fighter bonus feats I'm looking at Shield Focus and Ironhide to further pump AC. After his Monk dip I'm thinking straight Fighter with full plate, shield, and waraxe.
So at early levels I'm thinking the build basically looks like this:
Str 17 Dex 13 Con 16 Int 13 Wis 14 Cha 6 (with 25 point buy)
Ftr 1 - Ironhide, *Shield Focus
Mnk 1 - *Stunning Fist, *Dodge
Ftr 2 - Weapon Focus (Waraxe), *Combat Expertise
Mnk 2 - *Toughness, *Improved Grapple, +1 natural armor
Any thoughts on this type of build? Specifically, what should I be looking to do with feats after taking the easy AC bonus feats? Also, are there any better choices for bonus feats? Would you stat him differently?
Ray Shield is very, very nice, if you ever get there. Missile Shield is also very good, but only against archers (witch are for some reason quite rare in pre-made adventures - at least serious archers).
Combat Reflexes, Gang Up, Outflank is nice combo, if there are many characters usually in melee.
And then you are quite close to Spring Attack, witch is also very good for repositioning in combat, retreating and closing big monsters with huge reach.
Obvious answer is of course to make your character more viable offensively, so he wouldn't just sit as a roadblock. Meaning Power Attack, Furious Focus, Weapon Specialialization etc.
I wouldn't take Combat Expertise early, if I wouldn't use it to gain combat manouvers.
Monk of the Sacred Mountain mixes with Drunken Master or Ki Mystic, witch both would give you access to KI at 3rd monklevel. Ki can be used even in armor to gain +4AC for a round.
And for the stats I would drop Cha to 5 & raise Dex to 14, especailly if you are doing the basic fighter (=getting Armor Training).
All excellent ideas. I love Drunken Master. But I think both Ki Mystic and Drunken Master don't actually get access to the normal Monk Ki pool powers until 4th level. Am I reading that wrong? That 4th level might be worth it anyway, an extra 20 feet would be nice for a charging Dwarf.
Also Furious Focus requires using a weapon 2-handed. I've been worried about this build offensively, do you think I should just drop the shield and use a 2-hander with power attack?