|
So I'm working on a npc zombie lord fighter lvl 5 in full plate and wielding a halberd. Stat array is 17, 14, -, 10 or 12, 12, 16. What are some good feats for a tanky halberd wielding fighter who is basically meant to represent a group of unstoppable juggernaut guards in an arabian style merchant city?
ok dude first, choose if you want him to specialize in combat maneuvers or sheer damage.
If you go for Combat maneuvers, i recommend you going for the Trip, combat reflexes, step up/back line, disruptive perhaps?
if you go for sheer damage obviously power attack, furious focus, weapon specialization, etc.
Don't know if you want it for an undead, but give a try to Deadly stroke, it offers some cool debuffs and bleeds.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I would strongly recommend a reach weapon if you're going for a combat maneuver build. Strangely, halberds are not reach weapons in 3.5/PF.
If you want to spend an Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat on a Fauchard, that gets you Reach and Trip combined with an 18-20 base crit range. Otherwise just go with a Guisarme. The Trip property is important, as it allows you to add weapon-specific bonuses (like an enhancement bonus on the weapon, and Fighter Weapon Training) to the Trip check.
If it's an NPC meant to fight in formation, give him and his fellows the Tandem Trip teamwork feat. I am definitely not a fan of teamwork feats on players, but they can be great for NPCs.
One last thing to note: Improved Trip requires Int 13 for some reason, so you may have to pull a point out of Wisdom.
If you don't want to bother with tripping, make him an Antipaladin instead, and waive the alignment restriction if need be. Pick up Power Attack, Furious Focus, and Cleave, and go to town.
phalanx fighter might be an option.
|
I will second the idea of going with a Fauchard over the halberd: you can flavor it as an Arabian style polearm, but the stats are awesome for a reach fighter.
Your INT as described is too low for tripping, which would certainly make the build (and the fight!) more interesting.
Phalanx Fighter
1) XWP: Fauchard; Weapon Focus: Fauchard
2) Combat Reflexes
3) Power Attack
4) Weapon Specialization: Fauchard
5) Dodge
Armored with full plate and a heavy shield, his AC will be 23 with Dodge (which I am not usually a big fan of, but works well here to make him very hard to hit) - and he can still trip the melee guys as they come within his reach, without much fear of being tripped himself (or he can just take a big swing for damage when they come in, if you would prefer).
One thing you might want to invest in for the future would be the Roughrider archetype. With a reach weapon, you can dismount, use your mount as cover, and get a full attack action off in a couple levels.
|
The Trip property is important, as it allows you to add weapon-specific bonuses (like an enhancement bonus on the weapon, and Fighter Weapon Training) to the Trip check.
it's actually not that important at all. Per the FAQ, you do not need to have the trip property to make a trip with a weapon. You can use your weapon enhancement and class/feat bonuses for the weapon on any weapon based trip attempt, not just on one with the trip property.
The only thing trip does is give you the option to drop the weapon if you fail by 10 or more instead of being tripped yourself.
Hereditary Weapon trait can get you the Fauchard proficiency (I think).
Cleave, Fury's Fall and Cleaving Finish are nice adds to the feat progression, but Greater Trip is the ultimate goal, with Tripping Strike later on.
Personally, I would invest in a bladed belt item so you can change to any piercing or slashing weapon, including a reach pole arm, as the situation demands. It acts as a +1 weapon no matter what shape you make it take and when made keen, applies that property to all its forms.
I strongly recommend looking into a way to get the shield spell handy with a reach build or going for the phalanx fighter archetype to pad AC. Fighter 3 (lore master) / barb 2 (wild rager) / alch 2 (vivisectionist) is a winning combination.
Finally, consider this routine. It's awesome:
Delay initiative and ready an action to attack anyone who enters a 10' threat range and take an immediate step backward. When the bad guys come within 10' and it triggers, you hit them and step back. When they continue toward you, leaving a threatened square, they provoke and you trip them. When they are tripped with Greater Trip, they provoke again - from you and your adjacent allies. When they stand, they provoke again. Brutal, eh?