A friend is currently running a gestalt campaign and I was looking for some advice on how to optimize a character I have in mind in case I have to reroll. All of the armor the characters in our group come is spiked armor and are proficient in it. Also, guns widespread, so we can expect to see at least one person toting a boomstick in each encounter.
Dwarf Shielded Fighter/Skirmisher
Level 1: Power Attack, Improved Shield Bash
Level 2: Two-Weapon Fighting, Improved Bull Rush, Endurance (bonus)
Level 3: Steel Soul
Level 4: Dorn-Dergar Master
Level 5: Darting Viper
Level 6: Quick Bull Rush, Shield Slam
Level 7: Spiked Destroyer
Level 8: Vital Strike
Level 9: Cleave
Level 10: Shield Master, Combat Reflexes
Level 11: Cleave Through
Level 12: Greater Bull Rush
Level 13: Greater Cleave
The basic idea is to just charge in and bully enemies around the battlefield. He can hit enemies at 10 feet away with his dorn-dergar and anyone within five feet will eat a shield bash, bull rush, and damage from armor spikes. Picking up the cleave feats will let him spin like a top and hit anything within 15 feet and make people who pick up whirlwind attack just look silly. I'm debating getting rid of darting viper since he'll probably be doing more damage with the bash + spike combo and he can just use the bull rush to move enemies back out to be in the dorn-dergar's range. I'm also unsure if vital strike would be a good choice for this build, so there's that, too.
Just making a few changes (removing darting viper, moving feats to when I actually have enough BAB to qualify, etc.)
Dwarf Shielded Fighter/Skirmisher
Level 1: Power Attack, Improved Shield Bash
Level 2: Two-Weapon Fighting, Improved Bull Rush, Endurance (bonus)
Level 3: Steel Soul
Level 4: Dorn-Dergar Master
Level 5: Spiked Destroyer
Level 6: Quick Bull Rush, Shield Slam
Level 7: Cleave
Level 8: Vital Strike
Level 9: Greater Bull Rush
Level 10: Shield Master, Combat Reflexes
Level 11: Cleave Through
Level 12: Greater Cleave
Level 13: Rhino Charge
Level 14: Greater Shield Focus, Step Up
Level 15: Following Step
Level 16: Step Up and Strike
It's occurred to me that I could probably use Improved Initiative, Iron Will, and Lightning Reflexes, among other things. I'll be getting +4 to saves against spells and spell like effects from Steel Soul and picking up Grounded as a trait, which gives you +1 to reflex saves.