New player help with build

[Arcasus]

Hi,
I'm currently the DM for my group running ROTRL. We have a five person party a barbarian , a Druid (caster focused),war priest ,monk, sorcerer. I've been trying to get a good friend of mine to play pathfinder for about two years now and he's finally agreed to play. He mentioned that he like playing sword and shield characters In dark souls and Zelda. I'm not going to cater to his character since that would be unfair to the other players but I want him to have a fighting chance at enjoying the game . I've looked at many sword and board builds but can't decide which one to suggest to this new player. He contacted me and is already swamped with the amount of information pathfinder has.I've been searching the forums and the two that I've been looking at is the ranger who uses shields and twf along with the standard fighter twf build. Does anyone have any suggestions that would let really let me give my friend a fighting chance at the game ?
Thank you for your time
Arc

[VoodistMonk]

Slayer.

Just good old base (no archetype), Slayer.

Use the Slayer Talents to pick up the Ranger's Sword and Shield combat style feats...

Shield Slam @ level 2.
Shield Master @ level 6.
Bashing Finish @ level 10.

Everything else is totally up to him on how and what he wants to do as a character, but that is the easiest sword and board build there is.

As a slayer it has simplified the Ranger's favored enemy class feature into a much easier to use studied target ability.

Slayers do not have to worry about spells, either.

You have decent skills and weapon/armor proficiency, full BAB, and D10 hit dice.

[Tyrant Lizard King]

Fighter.

Armor Training allows him to wear Full-Plate unhindered by level 7. Weapon Training and all the bonus feats will ensure he is very proficient with his weapon and shield as he desires. Whether a two weapon fighter or a tower shield tank and deadly with a blade.

Feat Recommendations for Awesomeness:
(anti-caster, 2 weapon fighting)

Fortified Armor Training
Quickdraw
Blind Fight
Weapon Focus
Greater Weapon Focus
Shield Focus
Greater Shield Focus
Missile Shield
Weapon Specialization
Greater Weapon Specialization
Power Attack
Imp/Greater Overrun
Imp/Greater Bullrush
Spiked Destroyer
Disruptive
Spellbreaker
Step Up
Ray Shield
Two-Weapon Fighting (Imp/Greater)
Double Slice
Improved Shield Bash
Shield Slam
Shield Master
Stumbling Bash
Bashing Finish

[Arcasus]

VoodistMonk wrote:

Slayer.

Just good old base (no archetype), Slayer.

Use the Slayer Talents to pick up the Ranger's Sword and Shield combat style feats...

Shield Slam @ level 2.
Shield Master @ level 6.
Bashing Finish @ level 10.

Everything else is totally up to him on how and what he wants to do as a character, but that is the easiest sword and board build there is.

As a slayer it has simplified the Ranger's favored enemy class feature into a much easier to use studied target ability.

Slayers do not have to worry about spells, either.

You have decent skills and weapon/armor proficiency, full BAB, and D10 hit dice.

thank you for the advice. I started looking at the slayer in more detail after your recommendation. It seems like a great class for a beginner to start with. I didn't realize they had sneak attack either !

[DungeonmasterCal]

Slayers are a great class, IMHO.

[Meirril]

You might consider a Ranger with Fortune Finder archetype. Advise the player to select Giant as his favored enemy from 1st level. This gets rid of the animal companion, which saves on a lot of grief over the long run.

Adaptable Study lets the ranger grab half his favored enemy bonus against any opponent at the cost of a move action. I think that is an acceptable cost.

The loss of tracking isn't really a big deal if the player doesn't understand rangers to be trackers in the first place. Getting climb and swim bonuses effectively gives the Fortune Finder 2 skills that aren't generally high value at a reasonable level without spending points on them.