I have just started playing Pathfinder and picked the fighter as my first class. I wanted to make sure that the game mechanics came easily before I ventured into another class. I have done some research about the "builds" that people have come up with the fighter. I just wanted to know what "builds" you had fun playing and why. I can figure out which builds do damage and defend, but the game is still new to me.
Have you asked your GM to help you out? Mine was a great help in getting me on my feet in my first few sessions.
If it's advice you're looking for, however... Well, there are a few pointers I have for a fighter that wants to maximise his stopping power. Or rather... Two feats.
a) weapon specialisation, and the prerequisite weapon focus.
One of the peculiarities of the game is that the dice are fickle. Nine times out of ten, a flat bonus to damage is whole lot better in the long run than rolling a lot of dice, and a +2 bonus to EVERY HIT is a very, very big deal. (Plus, nothing feels better than watching the poor wizards face when he rolls 5d6 on his fireball for a measly five damage, when you're dealing triple...) You won't be able to take it until 4th level, but you can take weapon focus right away!
b) power attack (and it's ranged equivelant deadly aim)
They're an amazing boost to your stopping power. Whether you're a duelist with 13 strength, or a brute with a greatsword, or an armored juggernaut hiding behind his shield... you want this feat. Nothing will top it in sheer damage potential, and the penalty will be more than canceled out by weapon focus and your class abilities... If you like to switch between melee and ranged, take both feats! Lord knows you have the slots.
From here, explore your options. There are a tonne of great options for fighters in pathfinder, and you really can't go wrong with the feat trees in the core rules. Decide who or what you want to play, and stick to feat paths that compliment that.
As a side note, you shouldn't worry too much about your defenses. If you look at the "Actions in Combat" section, you'll find a marvelous little gem called "fighting defensively", which coupled with your armour and maybe a shield, can keep you alive when the s%%@ REALLY hits the fan. Proper magic treasure, which hopefully your GM will put in your path, should cover the rest of your woes.
Past the mind boggling size of the rules, the most important thing in having a good time, I think, is your roleplaying.
Try to come up with something memorable about your personality. Your character should have something unique about him. Put on a cockney accent, perhaps. Put on your hammiest "Prince Charming" voice and go around rescuing princess and stealing the glory. Play a grizzled old veteran who's seen and done everything, and is getting "too old for this s#+~".
It's your first game, so just find something you have fun with. It's admirable of you to build your first character on your own, so be sure to ask your GM or here if you run into any trouble.
Oh and uh, come back and tell us how the game goes, too. We love that kind of thing, here.
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I have just started playing Pathfinder and picked the fighter as my first class. I wanted to make sure that the game mechanics came easily before I ventured into another class. I have done some research about the "builds" that people have come up with the fighter. I just wanted to know what "builds" you had fun playing and why. I can figure out which builds do damage and defend, but the game is still new to me.Firstly, what's YOUR thought on 'who' the character is? Is he a great axe/sword hulk smash guy? A nimble duelist? A guy who uses a shield? What about a guy who slams enemies with his shield?
In your first few games don't be focused on the "perfect" build. Have fun first and play the character as something havings it own style and personality
This.
Actually, strike out the "in your first few games" part. There's nothing wrong with character optimisation up to a point, but having an actual character other than a one-dimensional twink is just as important.
Piece of advice: If anyone tries to tell you that you must "build" a perfect character, optimised to the exclusion of anything that would turn that set of stats into (the simulation of) a living being with actual character, hit him in the face as hard as you can.
And if anyone tries to tell you that a "proper" character is someone who is the opposite of optimised, a misfit that can only survive if the GM keeps him alive, hit him just as hard.
The objectively best way to do it is combine making a real character with making an effective character. You might not always go 50/50 with the ingredients, but they're both needed.
I have just started playing Pathfinder and picked the fighter as my first class. I wanted to make sure that the game mechanics came easily before I ventured into another class. I have done some research about the "builds" that people have come up with the fighter. I just wanted to know what "builds" you had fun playing and why. I can figure out which builds do damage and defend, but the game is still new to me.Firstly, what's YOUR thought on 'who' the character is? Is he a great axe/sword hulk smash guy? A nimble duelist? A guy who uses a shield? What about a guy who slams enemies with his shield?
In your first few games don't be focused on the "perfect" build. Have fun first and play the character as something havings it own style and personalityThis.
Actually, strike out the "in your first few games" part. There's nothing wrong with character optimisation up to a point, but having an actual character other than a one-dimensional twink is just as important.
Piece of advice: If anyone tries to tell you that you must "build" a perfect character, optimised to the exclusion of anything that would turn that set of stats into (the simulation of) a living being with actual character, hit him in the face as hard as you can.
And if anyone tries to tell you that a "proper" character is someone who is the opposite of optimised, a misfit that can only survive if the GM keeps him alive, hit him just as hard.
The objectively best way to do it is combine making a real character with making an effective character. You might not always go 50/50 with the ingredients, but they're both needed.
Totally going with previous posters, I want to give you my character creation process checklist.
1. What type of character do I want to play (i.e. melee/caster/ranged/FoP/skillmonkey/etc.) <--- Roughly translated - what kind of fun am I looking for
2. What class/feats help me get to that character type? <--- Mechanical mumbo-jumbo - This is a short list, typically 2-3 feats long
3. What is my character's personality/backstory? <--- Essential RP fluff
4. What feats/skills make the most sense for the personality/backstory? <--- Merging 1-3
I am a more mechanical player than RP, but I have very specific RP sticking points. "What makes my character interesting?" is far more important than "What is my build?". Also, if there's one word I hew to in character design, it's "strange." Unusual = interesting 95% of the time.
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That said, I tend towards a mild specialization. You might consider taking one (maybe two, probably just one) combat maneuver feat set and a bunch of generally useful feats (like Weapon Focus/Spec as mentioned above).
I have just started playing Pathfinder and picked the fighter as my first class. I wanted to make sure that the game mechanics came easily before I ventured into another class. I have done some research about the "builds" that people have come up with the fighter. I just wanted to know what "builds" you had fun playing and why. I can figure out which builds do damage and defend, but the game is still new to me.
I'm going to take a different approach to this question than some of the other posters. I just got my girlfriend into the game, and I found that some of the questions I'd normally ask a person to help them build a character fell flat, because she didn't know what she'd like. She was completely new to this whole thing.
So, with the emphasis on fun in mind, and assuming you don't necessarily know what you'd enjoy because you haven't played, I would give you these few hints, all with the idea that you are new and don't want the rules to come crashing too hard over you:
- One weapon > two weapons. Trying to balance all the numbers flying around when using two weapons gets kinda crazy when you're first starting. Using one weapon keeps the math much simpler. Plus, with two weapons you start missing more, and you need a small army of feats before it starts to come together. So I'd make a fighter that uses one weapon. I'd recommend a two-handed weapon myself, because if you're asking for fun, not much beats bringing a giant sword down on wide-eyed goblins.
- As someone mentioned above, Power Attack. Fighters, to me, are at their most fun when they are devastating anything in their path, plowing through monsters like a semi truck.
- If you ARE up for some trickier math, make a ranged fighter, going down the feats of Deadly Aim/Point Blank Shot/Rapid Shot. One of the most satisfying things you can do as a player is roll a bunch of dice at once, watching the damage pile up. It doesn't take long before you're doing that with a ranged fighter.
- If damage isn't your thing, the next fun thing to do is look at combat maneuver feats like Improved Trip or Improved Sunder. Playing the guy that just wrecks havoc on an opponent's capabilities can be really fun. There's something very enjoyable about watching the enemy's favorite weapon break, or watching the enemy waste all its good turns trying to get off the floor or break out of your grapple.
- If you're open to taking a level in other classes, I find taking a level in Barbarian to be awesome, as it gives you the ability to fly into a rage, making all of your attacks hit like Mike Tyson going all out in a room full of babies. Or, if you have someone else in the party that is a close up person, take a level in rogue so you can get sneak attack whenever you and your new best buddy flank someone.
I hope that helps :)
1. What type of character do I want to play (i.e. melee/caster/ranged/FoP/skillmonkey/etc.) <--- Roughly translated - what kind of fun am I looking for
2. What class/feats help me get to that character type? <--- Mechanical mumbo-jumbo - This is a short list, typically 2-3 feats long
3. What is my character's personality/backstory? <--- Essential RP fluff
4. What feats/skills make the most sense for the personality/backstory? <--- Merging 1-3
This isn't a bad little start, but I'd actually flip 2 and 3 in order. You need a basic idea of what kind of character you want to play, but from there I usually start asking questions of a different, more penetrating type: Where was he born? What kind of culture did he grow up in? What were some major people/places/events in his early life? Why did he decide to become a warrior/magic-user/priest/etc? Who were his heroes, especially in his field? These things will help you custom fit a class/feat selection that makes sense for a character.
If you know what kind of person he is, and what the people around him growing up were like, you probably know how he functions and what he holds dear. That should make class/feat/spell selection simple, because you know what he needs to be the person you see him as being.
Warning: you will not be tweaked out by this approach. Characters built this way make more sense as people, but will probably have lower numbers. If you enjoy high numbers more than depth, abandoned all and go right to a tweaking guide for a strong build.