Why is pumping both str and dex the worst way? He doesn't need to waste feats and investments on DEX junk. Saving that feat and trouble is worth bit in early point buy, from my perspective. And really, he is not taking from his other defenses so much as lowering his strength from 18-19 down to a 16.
I congratulate him for realizing that you only need a 17 in dex to get all the good TWF feats. The only one that I can remember off the top of my head that needs 19 was greater TWF (and really...a feat for an attack at BAB-12?)
I will say you over invested though. You only need a starting 16 in dex for everything to work out. You just need to put your 4th level ability score adjustment to raise it to the sweet spot of 17. Then you can just forget it.
But I do think you have one serious misconception- are you using 2 one handed weapons from the get go? And you only have the extra penalties on the offhand? No...sorry, not how it works. If your offhand isn't light, you get a -4 to all the attacks. At least, that is until your archetype changes that at level 11 (which is kind of a long way away- most games do not even reach that unless they start at a high level from the get go; you might also have to go through the trouble of retraining and getting new equipment for 'rule of cool' with 2 one handed weapons, since you likely invest in light early on)
Switching weapons, remember- damage dice are usually not that big a deal (until you make the jump from 1d8 to 2d6 at least), so that is not the problem. The problem is having different weapons, which is a problem as a fighter (since fighters tend to focus on weapon focus and weapon specialization a lot). Having 2 different weapons means you need to spend more feats to get to par. So always try to match things up.
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If you want to go TWF with a fighter - the 'OP' way to do it is to dip a level into Swashbuckler and go dex to damage with Sawtoothed Sabres.
For strength TWF - except in very high point buys - you're better off to go Ranger or Slayer for the bonus feats. (no dex requirements) And you should probably get a double weapon. (half-orcs get it for free)
Fighters can now get TWF feats without pumping dex by using Artful Dodge. This also shores up their bad skill points, tho admittedly you have exchanged your DEX dependency for a different one.
That...actually might be worse.
A lot of fighters usually have at least a moderate dex since it is for reflex and AC (which works for even heavy armor builds, due to armor training- not relevant here, but still a general concern). But they might only have a bit of int since they are not going to get too far out of the skill hole. At the very least, they would only get 14 at best (and that is them really trying).
It takes less to bet a moderate dex to a somewhat high dex. Taking a 'meh' int to a somewhat high int takes a lot more.
You would need to follow something like duelist (which adds int to AC) to make that 'good'.
Artful dodge seems more for like...wizards maybe?
Really, the feat would only be worth it if it was the other way around- using dex for int prerequisites. That would make things like combat expertise and the maneuver feats much more accessible.
Fighters can now get TWF feats without pumping dex by using Artful Dodge. This also shores up their bad skill points, tho admittedly you have exchanged your DEX dependency for a different one.
this is a perfect feat for a edrich knight i am making
but for the build i would suggest taking the step up line it is great for two weapon fighters to get those full attacks, take it soon.Thunder_TBT
Well, it is due to the whole 'extra penalties for dual 1 handed'. A lot of people are wary of TWF early on even when the penalties are just -2.
That stops problem at level 11 due to your archetype (where you only take -2 with 1 dual one handed weapons, and -1 when the offhand is light)...but again, that is a long time off.
There is also probably some optimization reason like a focus on criticals, since you get a ton of hits (which means a lot of chances to crit). But that can be a bit of a personal preference.
I mean....hammers have an advantage with bludgeoning damage. When skeletons and liches show up, you won't have to abandon them and grab some cheap golf-bagged items that you do not have weapon focus/etc. in. So meh. It is the classic large crit vs. wide crit range debate.
Someone also mentioned that warhammers did not make good TWF weapons but they didn't say why. Is this a personal opinion or is there an official rule saying that Warhammers cant be used this way.
There are extra penalties when TWFing with a one-handed weapon (as opposed to light) in your off-hand. You could do a warhammer in one and light hammer in the other, but it's generally better to keep the same kind of weapon in each hand to make maximum use of things like Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, Weapon Training, Improved Critical, etc. So 2 light weapons is the way to go, and the kukri is probably best for the large crit threat range.
Of with a strength build TWF - I like double-weapons. They let you get 1.5x strength damage when you move.
I wanted to suggest that too...
But the problem with this archetype is that a lot of the traditional advise eventually goes out the window. At level 9, he can hit with both weapons as a standard action, removing the majority of a double weapon's advantages.
Although, if it still tickles your fancy, they did release the weighted spear recently. It is a simple weapon, and it is just as it sounds: a spear with a nice heavy bashy bit at the other end. So options.