Looking for Shield wielder build advice (6th player joining group)

[Woodoodoo]

So I have been looking to make a single(or possibly dual) shield wielding build. But as usual I find so many different ways of making some build I want to do I can never decide what build to go with.

So here is the gist of it: I am joining a group that is starting at lvl 7 for a serious dungeon crawl the current players are

Tank paladin(I believe sacred shield)
Life oracle
Archer paladin
Wizard
and an Alchemist

So right off the bat you can pretty much tell you might need some sort of melee combatant. I also thought maybe trap finding could be useful and going back to a build using a shield(twf or 2h) I thought slayer would be the perfect fit because of the ranger combat feats giving you shield master at lvl 6 and even letting me pick up the trapfinding slayer talent. Nice! Combining that with spiked destroyer and a couple levels in siegebreaker fighter(after lvl 7) should provide you with impressive damage numbers. Although you are quite swift action reliant.

But what if I could take it further? What if i just completely disregarded the need for a trapfinder?
Siegebreaker mutation warrior fighter5(6?)/Barbarian2(1?) Mutagen + rage + weapon training + furious shield spikes sound like they would increase my damage by a LOT without really losing anything from not getting shield master especially if two handing it.
With this version I could have up to 28 strength at lvl 7. All while leaving that swift action alone for spiked destroyer.

Hell I could even just make a Brawler that gets 4 attacks on a flurry funny thing is I think the base brawler is still better at it than the Shield Champion.

Another idea is just to ditch the shield and go rogue3/fighter-barbx
Archaeologist bard might be fun but seems underpowered.
Investigator seems strong as well but not THAT strong in combat and I don't want to step on the alchemists toes.

Any ways I was wondering if you guys could give me some insight into my dilemma. I honestly can't decide what to play, damnit!

Thanks in advance.

[Scott Wilhelm]

I really like the Phalanx Soldier Archetype. You can use a Shield in 1 hand and a Pole Arm in the other, even a Reach Pole Arm like a Lucerne Hammer. Then take Great Cleave and simultaneously hit everyone adjacent to you and 10' away.

Take a look at the Shield Slam Feat: free Bull Rush with every Shield Bash. You can Slam adjacent opponents away from you then tenderize them with your hammer with reach.

Then take Greater Bull Rush and give attacks of opportunity all around with every Bull Rush. Take Paired Opportunist via 3 levels in Inquisitor or Holy Tactician Warpriest, and you get an Attack of Opportunity, too. Make that AoO another Shield Slam, and it's AoO's all around again!

Take Thunder and Fang. Klar (shield) in 1 hand, Earthbreaker Hammer in the other!

If you can acquire a Blinkback Belt, thrown weapons instantly return to it after thrown. A Throwing Shield is thrown as a Free Action, instantly returning. If your Throwing Shield is also a Quickdraw Shield, and you have the Quickdraw Feat, you can draw the shield as a Free Action, too. And well, that's an infinite Free-Action attack loop. It's hard to beat Infinity Damage. Check in with your GM unless he really likes surprises.

I really like the Bashing Shield Enchantment.

[Mark Thomas 66]

Shield Champion Brawler is Captian America as a character archetype.

[Oxylepy]

Optimizing the dual wielding of shields

Optimized for speed of getting the feats, Slayer is the way to go. Dual wielding shields to slam enemies, get a combat maneuver, deal damage if successful, they provoke AoO, you gain an attack of opportunity for your allies getting them, a second combat maneuver, if successful you deal damage, they provoke, if your allies get AoO you do to. Repeat the cycle for your first AoO, repeat the cycle until you run out of dex modifier, continue standard attacks. The bonus damage from combat maneuvers alone can easily be 130 damage by level 20, not including damage from your shield.

As for brawler/Warpriest, often people think you stack the size bonuses to your shield with their base damagr adjustment, but many believe this is wrong since it changes out the base weapon damage (after size adjustments). Check with your DM about doing that.

There is also the returning belt, quickdraw throwing shield, and quickdraw feat. Each is a free action, leading to an infinite loop. Check eoth your DM because they're going to limit the number of free actions when you start doing this.

It is my opinion that the absolute best build for shield bashing is a Half Orc Ulfen follower of Gorum Siegebreaker 2/Inquisitor 3/Slayer X. Start by going 6 slayer to get Shield Master, then Siegebreaker, then Inquisitor. You need your dex to hit 19 for GTWF, also for the 4 attacks of opportunity. Otherwise stats are yours to play with (so a total of 15-16 in dex starting)

[Movin]

You'll also find the Maelstrom shield something quite desirable if you happen to like combat maneuvers.
Freebie trips are nice to have.

I'd still say your group looks like a trap finder would be appreciated. Any proper crawl isn't complete without a hefty number of horribly lethal traps. Eyes of the eagle are always good as well. Seeing the trap is significantly more important than actually being able to disable the trap. Though being able to both is very nice.

Its going to delay other stuff but you could also play around with a dexterity build.
The shield trained trait would let you finesse heavy steel shields which could net you dex to damage with agile enhancement or the unchained rogue's finesse training stuff.
Eats one feat at the very least and you are going to need at least 13 str to qualify for power attack/bull rush feats.
paired leveraging, agile steel shields would be glorious to see in action with shield master and the trip/bull rush feats.

[Oxylepy]

Note: If you are going Siegebreaker, you CANNOT dump strength down for the purposes of Dex. Strength is your second most vital statistic for damage output and 1 point of modifier can easily (with only your full bab attacks being considered) add up to 6-12 (combat maneuvers, successful bull - bull+overrun) and 5 1/2 from attacks. So 1 point of strength= 11 1/2 - 17 1/2 damage per round on full bab attacks (standard, twf, and assuming 4 combat reflexes, 2-3 points more for every dex modifier after that).

Assuming you start with 14 strength, pump dex from 16 to 19, your strength should be about 16 base when you hit 20th level. So if you want to run Weapon Finnesse for 1 point of bonus to your attack bonus, go for it.

Again, that's Siegebreaker math, ignore it if you aren't going for that combat maneuver nonsense.

[Melkiador]

If starting that late, you should take 2 levels of ranger or slayer to get shield slam at level 2 with no prerequisites. Then take the rest of the levels as an abberant bloodrager. You now get a free bull rush against most enemies trying to close to melee with you. I'm assuming you are two handing the shield with this option. This option loses out on shield master but that's not as huge of a lose, if your party has a weapon enchanter.

[Woodoodoo]

Yeah, man, this build seems to be pretty damn complicated. With a ton of different build options. I think unless you are dual wielding the shields getting shield master early really doesn't matter that much and even then it might be better to get the TWF feats without the massive dex. I really just want to focus purely on offence with this character, the defence is just a bonus.
I think this whole trapfinding deal is really holding the build back so I think I have to decide to either drop it or make a different build.
I like the idea of the teamwork infinite. But I still think(most likely for the 2h build) just siegebreaker mutation warrior fighter+perhaps barbarian or bloodrager will give you the highest ammount of damage through if going for a siegebreaker build.

[Markov Spiked Chain]

There's a Shield Mastery "feat" in Armor Master's handbook that replicates Phalanx Fighter's ability. You can take it "free" at level 7 in place of the ACP reduction.

[Oxylepy]

I mean, I'm presenting it, and then following up the other poster's comment on weapon finnesse (don't sacrifice strength for the bonus to hit from dex).

It's definitely complicated, but should be about the closest to max damage/round from beating things with shields.