Increasing your scimitar to 2d6 damage with advanced weapon training would be a solid move. However, making your scimitar oversized will probably reduce your damage, not increase it. Going from 2d6 to 3d6 damage is only going to average an extra 3.5 points of damage, but you will take an attack penalty for doing this. Missing even a single attack you would have otherwise hit will completely negate the damage bonus. If you want to increase your damage, unequip your shield and two-hand your scimitar to increase your strength and power attack damage bonus. Your AC is past the point of diminishing returns anyways (your biggest defensive concerns comes from stuff that doesn't target your AC in the first place) so defaulting to a two-handed fighting style to quickly eliminate threats makes a lot of sense.
Vital Strike feat chain isn't really worth it. It's too small a damage increase for how many feats it costs, and it doesn't even help you when you're full attacking. Vital Strike builds need to be utterly dedicated to getting more and bigger dice, and 4d6 isn't nearly enough to make it good. More intimidation feats would be a very solid pick, though.
Equipment-wise, the fact that you're still stuck with only a +1 cloak of resistance is a huge problem. You should have a +5 cloak by this point in your career, and your saving throws are much lower than they should be as a result. While I can understand that this may be out of your control, anything you can do to get a better cloak would be huge. Your AC is largely going to waste because of the massive defensive shortfall you have in that department.
* Get Gloves of Dueling ASAP to get your bonus to +3. Sell gear if you need to.
* Spend (or retrain) a feat on Advanced Weapon Training: Weapon Specialist, and earmark WF, GWF, and Improved Critical -- You now spread those feats to EVERY weapon in the Heavy Blades group!
* Trade the scimitar (see "Sell gear" above) for a nodachi.
* Trade up the heavy shield for a Ring of Force Shield (which are quite reasonably-priced, and improve touch-AC). Usage: deactivate ring as free-action, make attacks with two-handed weapon, then reactivate. Limitation: can't make AoOs with your nodachi held in one hand, so get some armor spikes. (With 5' reach and no Combat Reflexes, get the impression you weren't making AoOs much anyway.)
Result: attack bonus +2, damage +11 (WT{+1>+3} + {scimitar> nodachi}d6>d10 + {1hPA>2hPA}[6+8]>[9+12])
-- Given that your average damage (not counting crits) is currently 28.5, jumping up 11 to 39.5 represents a 39% increase in output (and more than that when you consider the increased chances to hit further elevating DPR).
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
* Spend (or retrain) a feat on Advanced Weapon Training: Weapon Specialist, and earmark WF, GWF, and Improved Critical -- You now spread those feats to EVERY weapon in the Heavy Blades group!
* Trade the scimitar (see "Sell gear" above) for a nodachi.
Given his current level, it'd be way less convoluted to pick up the Focused Weapon AWT, which would increase the damage dice of the scimitar to 1d10, and would automatically increase to 2d6 at 15th. Since equipment availability seems to be an issue in his campaign, I would advise against locking into an exotic weapon.
The nodachi is a martial weapon. Still, that does not invalidate your point, Dasrak. A scimitar can be used one or two handed, a big advantage when you suddenly find yourself grappled by a monster with an (usually) incredbly high - or better: ridiculously high - CMD/CMB.
OP: your AC is (not bad but still) too low to really matter. Against low-level enemies you don't need it, because you kill them too fast, against higher CR enemies it's not enough to be of importance. I also think you should go two-handed.
A good indicator (only my experience from play) for Martials is the following: Can you reliably hit your own AC with your first attack? If the answer is yes, either bring it up or use your resources for other things.
Other people say that around level 10, a good AC is 20+level, a very good AC is 25+level and that's presumably the better benchmark. Of course, this may be different at your table.
I'd advise against dazzling display and the like, because at this level fear immunity is quite common - many monsters are outright immune to mind affecting effects. Besides you already have Cornugan Smash, which is way superior to Dazzling Display (because: Action Economy).
Two important things already mentioned in the thread: up your saves and get Gloves of Duelling, ASAP. Your accuracy is slightly above mediocre, same is true for your saves.
EDIT: I hope this does not come across as rude - I don't know your group or your GM, it's all just based on my experience, so take it with a grain of salt.
EDIT II: I should read before I write. You already aim for gloves of dueling and you have a bard for accuracy. He effectively doubles your damage. Be thankful, protect him. So, increase damage ouput (go two-handed!) and improve your saves. All in all the character is already a solid build.
As far as Intimidate how's, it's true that many enemies become fear immune at higher levels. Still for those who don't, the Dreadful Carnage feat can be quite nice. As can a cruel weapon.
How can accuracy be mediocre?
I got WT, GWF...
I guess I wasn't looking correctly at your to hit: It's +22 with PA included, right?
(BAB 11 Str 8 weapon 2, weapon training 2, WF/GWF 2 = +25 -3 PA = +22
+25 to hit is not mediocre, it's good. Especially when your bard's haste (+1 haste) + inspire courage (+3 comptence) come into play. +29/+29/+24/+19 or with PA +26/+26/+21/+16 is really good.
I would say you are a bit too focused on offense at the expense of defense.
Not your AC. That is more than sufficient for a melee guy. As others have said, your saves. It is boring but many PC's get a lot more mileage out of Iron Will than they do just some more damage.
I know you said gear is low in your campaign. Is that all gear or just high level gear? Does anyone in the group craft anything, like a wizard with Scribe Scroll? Any NPC's that you can bargain for gear rather than gold?
Usually when I play a fighter or barbarian, I end up buying a bunch of little stuff for the casters to use on me.
Wand protection from evil (for that second save vs mind control).
Scrolls of remove fear, remove paralysis, resist energy, etc...
Given his current level, it'd be way less convoluted to pick up the Focused Weapon AWT, which would increase the damage dice of the scimitar to 1d10, and would automatically increase to 2d6 at 15th. Since equipment availability seems to be an issue in his campaign, I would advise against locking into an exotic weapon.* Spend (or retrain) a feat on Advanced Weapon Training: Weapon Specialist, and earmark WF, GWF, and Improved Critical -- You now spread those feats to EVERY weapon in the Heavy Blades group!
* Trade the scimitar (see "Sell gear" above) for a nodachi.
Keep the heavy shield, take Shield Brace.
The nodachi is also in the polearm weapon group.
Given his current level, it'd be way less convoluted to pick up the Focused Weapon AWT, which would increase the damage dice of the scimitar to 1d10, and would automatically increase to 2d6 at 15th. Since equipment availability seems to be an issue in his campaign, I would advise against locking into an exotic weapon.* Spend (or retrain) a feat on Advanced Weapon Training: Weapon Specialist, and earmark WF, GWF, and Improved Critical -- You now spread those feats to EVERY weapon in the Heavy Blades group!
* Trade the scimitar (see "Sell gear" above) for a nodachi.
Keep the heavy shield, take Shield Brace.
The nodachi is also in the polearm weapon group.
Shield Brace requires Shield Focus (so you're down two feats), and you eat the shield's ACP on attack-rolls. His heavy steel shield is 2 ACP, so he'd have to sell it for a mithral shield -- at which point he may as well go for the Ring of Force Shield instead of mithral and get two-handed strength and Power Attack functionality in his weapon. Going 2hPA over 1hPA results in an immediate +9 damage gain from that alone at his level, and another +3 in one more level (BAB12). If he picked up a level in a rage class (and advisedly retraining a feat to Extra Rage), he'd pick up another +3 going 2hPA, on top of +2 to attack bonus.
The damage increasing from changing weapon die size is comparatively trivial.
Given his current level, it'd be way less convoluted to pick up the Focused Weapon AWT, which would increase the damage dice of the scimitar to 1d10, and would automatically increase to 2d6 at 15th. Since equipment availability seems to be an issue in his campaign, I would advise against locking into an exotic weapon.* Spend (or retrain) a feat on Advanced Weapon Training: Weapon Specialist, and earmark WF, GWF, and Improved Critical -- You now spread those feats to EVERY weapon in the Heavy Blades group!
* Trade the scimitar (see "Sell gear" above) for a nodachi.
Keep the heavy shield, take Shield Brace.
The nodachi is also in the polearm weapon group.
Shield Brace requires Shield Focus (so you're down two feats), and you eat the shield's ACP on attack-rolls. His heavy steel shield is 2 ACP, so he'd have to sell it for a mithral shield -- at which point he may as well go for the Ring of Force Shield instead of mithral and get two-handed strength and Power Attack functionality in his weapon. Going 2hPA over 1hPA results in an immediate +9 damage gain from that alone at his level, and another +3 in one more level (BAB12). If he picked up a level in a rage class (and advisedly retraining a feat to Extra Rage), he'd pick up another +3 going 2hPA, on top of +2 to attack bonus.
The damage increasing from changing weapon die size is comparatively trivial.
He finishes up with an eventual +8 to AC instead of +2. That extra AC is very expensive to obtain by other means.
Shield Brace + nodachi is a two-handed attack, with all the relevant damage bonuses.
He finishes up with an eventual +8 to AC instead of +2. That extra AC is very expensive to obtain by other means.
By "eventual" you mean high-level -- where things there are very expensive quickly become relatively cheap.
-- I get the impression that "upgrade the stuff you already have now" isn't really the advice that the OP is hoping for.
~ ~ ~
One of these days, I'm going to have to get around to a fighter with the close weapon group and AWT:Weapon Specialist, and go to town with a waveblade and a heavy shield.
He finishes up with an eventual +8 to AC instead of +2. That extra AC is very expensive to obtain by other means.By "eventual" you mean high-level -- where things there are very expensive quickly become relatively cheap.
-- I get the impression that "upgrade the stuff you already have now" isn't really the advice that the OP is hoping for.
~ ~ ~
One of these days, I'm going to have to get around to a fighter with the close weapon group and AWT:Weapon Specialist, and go to town with a waveblade and a heavy shield.
At level 1, it is a +3 instead of a +2.
Shields are one of the cheapest forms of AC to advance from that point.
The Ring of Force Shield was good advice for THFing before Shield Brace came out. Post Shield Brace, not so much.
The Ring of Force Shield was good advice for THFing before Shield Brace came out. Post Shield Brace, not so much.
Well then you're not two-handing.
-- If you're a one-hander with Shield Focus and are an 11th-level fighter, then Shield Master is right there waiting for you to take instead! In fact, retraining all the fighter levels after 6th into Brawler would let him TWF his existing scimitar and shield (whose enhancement bonus is then doing double-duty for bonus AC and as a magic weapon).
It's not like his Fighter11's current Weapon Training (Bows) is pulling its weight at present with a measly +1 bonus.