Hi there. I have been a long time DnD player in the ancient past, but my experience with d20 systems is a bit rusty and my knowledge of the Pathfinder system is sketchy a bit.
Since I was a huge Book of Nine Swords fan - the new Path of War got me excited enough to join an ongoing local Pathfinder campaign.
Although I don't know the other characters in the group (their classes are Barbarian, Sorcerer, Bard and Monk, but I have no further details) - I am pretty familiar with the players and I would say their optimization level is 5/6 (nothing totally game breaking or 100% theory crafted, but solid characters overall). Since I am totally at a dark about expected character benchmarks I would appreciate if you can evaluate my warlord and let me know if you see any major flaws with it. The game is 25 point buy, standard rules.
Human warlord (Vanguard Commander) 12
Martial Tradition: Black Thorn Knight
LN Medium humanoid
Init +4; Senses Perception +20
Defense
AC 36, touch 16, flat-footed 33 (+11 armor, +3 Dex, +8 shield, +1 natural, +1 protection, +2 luck)
hp 95 (12d10+24)
Fort +14, Ref +15, Will +8
(+2 profane bonus to saves. vs. chaotic beings or mind affecting spells and abilities; +4 morale bonus to Fort saves vs. death effects, fatigue or exhaustion effects, or poison effects; +4 morale bonus to Will saves versus fear, death effect, or compulsion effects)
Offense
Speed 20 ft.
Melee +3 Darkwood Spiked Heavy Shield Bash +20 (1d6+8/20x2 and bull rush)
Melee +1 Keen Kukri +18 (1d4+6/15-20x2)
Ranged touch Abyssal Lance +15 (8d6 profane and (DC 18 stun for 1 round)
Full Attack:
Shield Bash +20/+15/+10 and Kukri +16.
Special Attacks Vanguard Shield, Shield Slam
Special Qualities Dual Tactical Presence (usually Indomitable & Victorious), Daring Defense (Cha to Reflex), Tactical Flanker, Defensive Prowess +2, Heightened Defenses 5/day
Gambits: Brave Gambit, Deadeye Gambit, Gatecrasher Gambit, Pinhole Gambit, Guardian's Gambit
Warlord Maneuvers Known (IL 12th) and (R)readied
Boosts: (R) Black Seraph's Wrath, (R) Taunting Laugh, Pride Movement, Leaping Dragon, Encouraging Roar
Strikes: (R) Abyssal Drive (DC 19), (R) Abyssal Lance (DC 18), (R) Circle of Razor Feathers(DC 17), Swift Claws, Voracious Drive, Throwing Shell
Counters: (R) Vengeful Riposte, (R) Enduring Shell, (R) Intimidating Force, Iron Shell, Defensive Shell
Stances: Stance of the Defending Shell, Black Seraph's Glare, Black Seraph Battle Stance, Walk in the Dark, Razor Winds of the Black Seraph
Statistics
Str 20, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 9, Wis 10, Cha 18
Base Atk +12; CMB +17; CMD 31
Feats Skill Focus (Intimidate), Intimidating Prowess, Improved Shield Bash, Shield Focus, Power Attack, Shield Slam, Improved Bull Rush, Greater Bull Rush, Skill Focus (Perception), Shield Master
Traits: Fate's Favored, Bloody Minded
Skills Intimidate +36, Sense Motive +17, Perception +20, Diplomacy +24
Languages Common
Combat Gear: +2 Vigilant Mithral Hellknight plate, +3 Darkwood Spiked Heavy Shield, +1 Keen Kukri, Circlet of Persuasion, Jingasa of the Fortunate Soldier, Cloak of Charisma and Resistance +2, Ring of Natural Armor +1, Ring of Protection +1, Belt of Giant Strength +2, Stone of Good Luck.
The idea behind the character is to be durable melee beatstick and to assist the casters in the party with save penalties on his enemies, the barbarian and the monk with granted AoO and layer that with a top on semi-nasty conditions. The kukri is actually wielded in the off-hand since the shield bashes are doing most of the heavy lifting, but next level it will have a nice synergy with Bashing Finish.
Defensively the character is mostly suppose to answer the first attack from an enemy with a counter and count on his good (is it?) AC to soften the irrelative blows. His saves are nothing to write home about, but his tactical presence (does it actually affect himself, the text is a bit unclear) and the +8 bonus from the enduring shell counter (+11 in Stance of the Defending Shell). Black Seraph's Battle Stance actually offers outright immunity to mind control thanks to it's protection from good benefit and walk in the dark deals with precision attacks who can't deal with the darkness concealment (or have weak saves vs. fear). Heightened Defenses from his archetype is also quite more convenient than Dual Boost for his action economy (as usable more often)
His offensive combos mostly consist of Circle of Razor Feathers + Black Seraph's Wrath for AoE situations that potentially leaves every enemy in 30 ft. radius both sickened AND shaken (not to mention a fireball level of damage) for a nice -4 penalty to attacks and saving throws, while for single targets Taunting Laugh + Abyssal Drive, leaves the enemy sickened, shaken and flat footed, while also sending them away with the AoE Bull Rush train. Also everyone of his strikes or counters is followed by shield bash and bull rush for free which is nice.
Abyssal Lance is mostly there to deal with flyers that can't remain aloft while stunned or with mobile creatures truing to stay away from his engagement range. For more persistent flyers - there is always the Razor Wings stance.
I am mostly concerned about his shield bash attempts being successful, his AC being worthwhile for the investment and the opportunity cost of the Vigilant armor property... those 27k could certainly help with getting a few more points of Strength and Charisma (2 more points of each) that will more subtly contribute to his efficiency than an emergency button for 1 combat per day when the shit hits the fan.
Any suggestions or feedback will be appreciate. As a concept it sounds nice to me, but I'm not sure how all his numbers will work out in actual play.
