
Ripcord153 |

I am making a human fighter in a party of 5 that has 2 other melee characters designed for dps a support and a magic dps. My goal is to disrupt the battlefield and protect my allies. Dps is a third priority. We are starting level 1, this is the plan.
Weapon:
Bec de Corbin (you could argue some weapons edge this out, but they are not as cool)
Spiked Gauntlet (threaten all the squares)
Armor: Chain Coat (with armor training this will change over time)
Epic adventure, so we rerolled anything under 10. I had good rolls.
str 16
dex 19 (17+2) less than 16 dex and this build is no good.
con 16 con over str
int 14 I chose an extra skill every level over +1 will save
wis 13 these are interchangeable depending on preference
cha 10
Feats:
1st - combat reflex, dodge, bodyguard (AC for all)
2nd - mobility (prerequisite and nice bonus)
3rd - in harm's way (who needs a shield to be a tank?)
4th - power attack (prerequisite. No weapon focus feat, so use with discretion)
5th - combat patrol (By this time I will have 5 AOs. The field is mine)
6th - improved trip (I plan to trip a lot)
7th - improved overrun (I want to be over there and someone is in the way)
8th - greater trip (use more AOs)
9th - greater overrun (see above)
10th - advanced weapon training -> combat defense maneuver (more AC)
11th - pin down (stay put, we are not done with you)
I'm not overly experienced with optimizing builds and am curious to know what people think I missed and what I got right.

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Hi
Armor spikes works better than Spiked gauntlet, because you are wielding a two handed weapon. Yes it is a free action to release one hand - attack - and grip the two handed weapon again, but only on your on turn, which spoils AOO either adjacent or with your reach weapon.
And I think you missed combat expertise in your build.
A way to enlarge your self (sadly a full round spell) will really help your build to control the battlefield.
The Accelerated Drinker trait lets you drink a enlarge person potion as a move action.
Growth domain gives swift action enlarge person (only 1 round, so best in builds that dont rely on other swift actions alot).
Abyssal Bloodrager free enlarge when raging at level 4.
1st lev. Bloodrager spell Longarm is a nice add on.
Enlarged with longarm spell provides you with a 25ft radius reach with a reach weapon. No need for combat patrol in most cases.
Phalanx Formation is a better choice to prevent allies from providing soft cover to enemies you want to hit.

Ripcord153 |

@*Khan*
I sure did forget combat expertise.
I was unaware of armor spikes being as effective as they were, nor did I fully understand the restrictions of the gauntlet. I looked into it and understand now. Thank you.
There are two members in our party that will be able cast enlarge person on me and both agree it is worth a round of casting since I will protect them. The other options might be something I dig deeper into if I ever want to reinvent this build for a different party.
@Kurald Galain
Some of the abilities of siegebreaker are cool, but it restricts a lot of bonus feats. I am going to make a few dummy characters and play with myself through a few combat scenarios at a couple different level to see which is best for the party.

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Actually Dirty Fighting feat is much better than combat expertise in most cases.
Weapon focus also helps on trip maneuvers with your chosen weapon.
I dont think combat patrol is worth the 3 feats.
Grab Dirty Fighting and take improved trip way earlier.
if you invest in aid another, then also take the adopted trait to pick the halfling trait Helpful.
Harrying Partners Teamwork feat is also worth it, if you can share it.
Dragon order Cavalier increase aid another as well.
Exemplar Brawler gains inspire courage at lever 3 and share Teamwork feats at level 5
If you go Battle Herald, you could get aid another even higher with the inspiring comand Teamwork.
But it is difficult to combine aid another with af fighter trip build.

Temperans |
If you want to use Bodyguard, In Harm's Way and Combat Patrol I recommend going the full Vanguard Style feat chain. I know its a lot of feats, but that style makes it so that you can use Bodyguard regardless of where your ally is. If you go with this I recommend using Shield Brace instead of Combat Defense Maneuver.
1st - Shield Focus, Shield Brace, Combat Reflexes. (This will increase AC and let you use shield with a 2-h polearm)
2nd - Bodyguard
3rd - In Harm's Way
4th - Defended Movement
5th - Combat Patrol
Multiclass into Golden Legionaire
7th - Vanguard Style, Stand Still
9th - Vanguard Ward, Saving Shield
11th - Vanguard Hustle, Combat Expertise
13th - Swift Aid, Improved Trip
The reason for going Golden Legionare is that it grants a large number of benefit for exactly what you want to do. At 8th level Golden Legionare you can: Grant 4 allies a +2 to hit as a swift action, you get +4 vs a host of dangerous abilities, you get +4 to land Stand Still, give yourself +2 morale bonus if an enemy attacks an ally, increase Bodyguard bonus by +2, and an upgraded Pin Down (1/day/opponent)
You effectively become a battlefield commander aiding your allies and stopping enemies in their track. The cost is that the trip and overrun feats would get pushed way back.
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Regardless of my previous suggestion. I didn't see you list Advanced Armor/Weapon Training are you using an archetype? If you are not I recommend using those options since they are extremely useful.
Remember to grab a Fortuitous weapon enchantment so that 1/round you may make 2 AoO vs a single trigger.
As for Combat Expertise vs Dirty Fighting both are very useful. I think that people severely understimate Combat Expertise, yes it gives a penalty to hit but what they fail to consider is that it greatly increases your AC. There are very few ways to get that much AC from a single feat that stacks with everything. Not to mention that it opens up the way for Stalwart and I Stalwart to actually do work (taking -5 to hit for DR 10/- that stacks seems extremely fair).

Azothath |
I'd look at Cestus(better than spiked gauntlet), Tonfa(defense), Obsidian daggers(cheap), Gladius(shortsword), and light steel quickdraw shield or buckler. There are threads about the best polearm and two handed weapons, they boil down to a few choices (mainly it is all about what feats you took until weapon mastery) and for a few gold you can have two favorites from each category.
mwk cold iron, elyz bronze, mithral, adamantine, cryptstone, blood crystal are useful options. Durable arrows if you go that route.
Check out Items that can save you thread.
on Feats, Combat Expertise {Int ≥13} is a prerequisite for many other feats. Dirty Trick relies on CM & BAB with it's own chain of feats (some require Cmbt Exp). Retraining means you can switch some feats around if needed (costs time & gold).

Trokarr |

You may also want to consider the adopted trait and taking the Half-orc trait Tusked. Gives you a bite attack for the cost of a trait and allows you to threaten adjacent squares while wielding a reach weapon. Also works with armor spikes to give u an extra attack at -5 on a full attack. If u can spare a feat Lunge is also good to increase your reach by 5 feet. If u can’t spare a feat then consider taking a weapon (or amulet of mighty fists if u have improved unarmed strike or a natural attack) with the Training enchantment to take Lunge or any other combat feat u may be lacking. Helm of the Mammoth Lord is another fairly easy way to gain a natural gore attack if u aren’t interested in giving up a trait for Tusked. It also works with Tusked if u are interested in having 2 natural attacks as well.

Azothath |
hmmm, a basic fighter dip to snag Endurance and Die Hard which can keep you operational below 0 HP is to take a level in Unbreakable Fighter archetype. It has its pluses and negatives but very good for classes that use Rage powers, Warpriest doesn't need it.
Personally I like taking two traits for +1 on Rflx & Fort or Will saves. If you were a caster choices would be on metamagic boosts.
If you can duplicate a Feat with a low level spell (0-3) always choose to get the spell via a magic item. Long Arm, Lead Blades, Gravity Bow, and physical ability score boosts are classics.

Wonderstell |

FYI, you can actually get a free Advanced Weapon Training option at level 9 in place of choosing another weapon group.
As for feats:
In Harm's Way is a deceptively bad feat. It has negative synergy with the AC bonus from Bodyguard and the attack also completely ignores your own AC. Most Bodyguard builds would by level 8 grant a +6 bonus to AC (a trait and Benevolent armor) so you're effectively turning a likely miss into a certain hit.
Combat Patrol is... fine. But if you'll often be enlarged and wielding a reach weapon then you'll threaten 20 ft out. The extra +5 reach from Combat Patrol is not worth forgoing the full-round action at level 5-9, and probably not at lv 10+ either.
Imp/Greater Overrun is spreading yourself a bit thin as you already have the Trip focus.
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I also recommend Phalanx Formation as *Khan* said so that you don't lose out on AoOs because of poor positioning.
Additionally, Friendly Switch is a great feat that opens up a lot of tactical choices. With it, you can displace your squishy allies away from threatening enemies by walking into them. Or move bloodthirsty allies within full-attack range of another enemy. It's even possible to negate their attacks completely if you have out-of-turn movement by making your ally an invalid target by moving them out of the enemy's threatened area.
This would have good synergy with the Combat Patrol route if you choose to go with it. Otherwise there's some cool stuff you can do with the High Guardian archetype.

Temperans |
In Harm's Way is a deceptively bad feat. It has negative synergy with the AC bonus from Bodyguard and the attack also completely ignores your own AC. Most Bodyguard builds would by level 8 grant a +6 bonus to AC (a trait and Benevolent armor) so you're effectively turning a likely miss into a certain hit.
Combat Patrol is... fine. But if you'll often be enlarged and wielding a reach weapon then you'll threaten 20 ft out. The extra +5 reach from Combat Patrol is not worth forgoing the full-round action at level 5-9, and probably not at lv 10+ either.
Let me respond to these two points really quick.
In Harm's Way doesn't have negative synergy its meant to reinforce the idea of a bodyguard by doubling up on protection. You use bodyguard to grant AC, IF the attack is still successful and you think that whoever you are protecting wont survive if they get hit you can then use in Harm's Way to protect them.
You are underselling Combat Patrol for a large creature with a reach weapon. Combat patrol gives a bonus of 5ft + 5ft/5Bab, at level 5 its 10ft, at level 10 its 15ft so a large creature with reach at level 10 would create a 30ft zone. Also the purpose of combat patrol is that you can move out of turn and literally body block the enemy.

Wonderstell |

Let me respond to these two points really quick.
In Harm's Way doesn't have negative synergy its meant to reinforce the idea of a bodyguard by doubling up on protection. You use bodyguard to grant AC, IF the attack is still successful and you think that whoever you are protecting wont survive if they get hit you can then use in Harm's Way to protect them.
Huh, for some reason I've never noticed the "successful" part of the feat's text. Complaint withdrawn.
You are underselling Combat Patrol for a large creature with a reach weapon. Combat patrol gives a bonus of 5ft + 5ft/5Bab, at level 5 its 10ft, at level 10 its 15ft so a large creature with reach at level 10 would create a 30ft zone. Also the purpose of combat patrol is that you can move out of turn and literally body block the enemy.
The feat increases "your threatened area by 5 feet for every 5 points of your base attack bonus". So it starts at 5ft at level 5.
(And if it was 15ft at level 10 then a large (tall) creature with reach would create a 35ft zone.)
The move out of turn part is good, but will only stop an enemy if they were charging. If it's a move action they can just alter their course. The feat is a "round 1" kind of play that falls off hard after enemies have closed in (if they choose to do that in the first place). So unless you often win initiative and begin combat with advantageous positioning its a "maybe" feat.

Temperans |
Temperans wrote:Let me respond to these two points really quick.
In Harm's Way doesn't have negative synergy its meant to reinforce the idea of a bodyguard by doubling up on protection. You use bodyguard to grant AC, IF the attack is still successful and you think that whoever you are protecting wont survive if they get hit you can then use in Harm's Way to protect them.
Huh, for some reason I've never noticed the "successful" part of the feat's text. Complaint withdrawn.
Temperans wrote:You are underselling Combat Patrol for a large creature with a reach weapon. Combat patrol gives a bonus of 5ft + 5ft/5Bab, at level 5 its 10ft, at level 10 its 15ft so a large creature with reach at level 10 would create a 30ft zone. Also the purpose of combat patrol is that you can move out of turn and literally body block the enemy.The feat increases "your threatened area by 5 feet for every 5 points of your base attack bonus". So it starts at 5ft at level 5.
(And if it was 15ft at level 10 then a large (tall) creature with reach would create a 35ft zone.)
The move out of turn part is good, but will only stop an enemy if they were charging. If it's a move action they can just alter their course. The feat is a "round 1" kind of play that falls off hard after enemies have closed in (if they choose to do that in the first place). So unless you often win initiative and begin combat with advantageous positioning its a "maybe" feat.
I guess we both misread something .
As for when is combat patrol useful I agree that it depends on the encounter. But I don't that having more tools is ever a bad situation.
You can use combat patrol vs flying/swiming melee enemies to respond to their 3d movement. You can use it when acting as a lookout for the party, since it gives a sort of "pseudo initiative": You still have not acted, but you can still move and respond to things. As you mentioned it can block charging, but when large it also forces enemies to move around you which can cause problem if there is difficult or Slippery terrain around. You can combine it with walls to suddenly block a seemingly open path. Etc.

Ripcord153 |

I've been playing around with a few builds and found tripping is really effective. I did not find dirty fighting when I was building the character, it makes the build come together so much faster. Level 1 is locked in, I'm thinking of this might be the next couple levels.
1- dirty fighting, combat reflexes, bodyguard
2- improved trip
3- in harm's way
4- power attack
5- improved overrun
There will be a lot of dungeon diving, so I assume there will be battles in tight spaces. I want to get to the backlines to make dirty trick better, so I really want improved overrun faster than my original build.

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1 level dip i Blood Conduit Bloodrager can give you rage and improved overrun or trip without combat expertise/power attack.
Then choose the bloodline you like or skip that and add Id Rager archtype on top.
If you choose Id Rager, the choose Anger (emotional focus) and get power attack feat as well. And +2 str -2 dex.
Bloodrager also opens up wands with spells on the bloodrager spell list.

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High Guardian archetype as already mentioned is perfect.
This way you have 2 extra feats to choose:
Human build
1. Level: Blood Conduit Id Rager Bloodrager: Improved Trip, Extra Rage, Power attack, improved overrun,
2. Level: High Guardian Fighter:
3. Level: High Guardian Fighter: Combat reflexes (str based!!!), extra feat
4. Level: High Guardian Fighter:
5. Level: High Guardian Fighter: Body Guard, In harm’s way, extra feat