# Sword & Shield Fighter build



## Settembrini (Nov 12, 2006)

I´d like to play a human fighter, with sword and shield.
I don´t like the power attack tree, and "two handed" is harsh on the DEX needed. Which other ways are there to make an effective Sword&Shield Fighter?
Improved Shield Bash is a no brainer, but is there somethign else? What can I aspire to?
Where to go for in Levels 10+?

Any help appreciated.


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## Klaus (Nov 12, 2006)

Settembrini said:
			
		

> I´d like to play a human fighter, with sword and shield.
> I don´t like the power attack tree, and "two handed" is harsh on the DEX needed. Which other ways are there to make an effective Sword&Shield Fighter?
> Improved Shield Bash is a no brainer, but is there somethign else? What can I aspire to?
> Where to go for in Levels 10+?
> ...



 Player's Handbook II.

Hum Improved Shield Bash
Ftr1 Shield Specialization (heavy), Agile Shield Fighter

Ftr2 Shield Ward

Ftr3 Weapon Focus (your main weapon)

Ftr4 Weapon Specialization (your main weapon)

Ftr6 Active Shield Defense, Quick Draw

Ftr8  Melee Weapon Mastery (your main weapon)

Ftr9 Greater Weapon Focus (your main weapon)

Ftr10 Improved Critical (your main weapon)

Ftr12 Shield Charge, Greater Weapon Specialization

Ftr14 choose one that matches your main weapon's type: Crushing Strike (bludgeoning), Driving Attack (piercing) or Slashing Flurry (slashing)

Ftr15 Armor Specialization (medium or heavy)

Ftr16 Improved Toughness

Ftr18 Weapon Supremacy (your main weapon), Shield Slam

Ftr20 Power Attack


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## Legildur (Nov 13, 2006)

Speaking of PHBII, don't neglect the new feat tree (Combat Focus?) that relies on a Wis 13+.  One of the feats allows you to add your shield bonus against a whole range of special attacks, such as grapple, disarm, trip etc.


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## EyeontheMountain (Nov 13, 2006)

Legildur said:
			
		

> Speaking of PHBII, don't neglect the new feat tree (Combat Focus?) that relies on a Wis 13+.  One of the feats allows you to add your shield bonus against a whole range of special attacks, such as grapple, disarm, trip etc.




Shield ward as Klaus said above.

Really an excellent sword and board feat, nearly as required as Natural spell for a druid.


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## Settembrini (Nov 13, 2006)

Cool Stuff! All this is in the PHB II? Seems the Shieldfighter finally got some lovin`


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## Legildur (Nov 13, 2006)

EyeontheMountain said:
			
		

> Shield ward as Klaus said above.



Oh yeah, right... I'm mixing up my feats here.  The Combat Form feat I was confusing Shield Ward with is Combat Stability: +4 bonus (+8 if 3 or more Combat Form feats) on checks or rolls to resist bull rush, disarm, grapple, overrun, and trip attempts.


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## nittanytbone (Nov 13, 2006)

Without PHBII don't expect much love.

THF is VERY superior in terms of damage output.

Skip improved shield bash unless you're willing to invest in the TWF tree (high dex) AND have bonus damage on each hand (sneak attack, favored enemy, bard song, etc).

Complete Warrior has some shield stuff, but its kind of overwhelming.  I guess if you have a cohort or buddy and can convince them to take Phalanx Fighting that could be interesting.


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## Settembrini (Nov 13, 2006)

So would a non TWF shielded Fighter be very ineffective?
Is there any way to have an effective fighter who fights with a one handed weapon? I´m really sick of the Power Attack Game.

High damage output surely is needed, as we will play STAP.


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## TheGogmagog (Nov 13, 2006)

In PHII also consider the classes.  Knight For defense, Duskblade for damage.  Both make good sword and board builds.

The shild spec and shield ward feats are exceptional as is, and even better for the knight who gets bonuses applied to the shield anyway.

Outside duskblade, I haven't seen much damage output unless you go with two handed weapons and power attack.


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## Settembrini (Nov 13, 2006)

Knight is not an option, as I´m aiming for a run down mercenary type. Same for Duskblade. Thanks for the pointers, though.


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## nittanytbone (Nov 13, 2006)

Settembrini said:
			
		

> So would a non TWF shielded Fighter be very ineffective?
> Is there any way to have an effective fighter who fights with a one handed weapon? I´m really sick of the Power Attack Game.
> 
> High damage output surely is needed, as we will play STAP.




TWF is only efficient if you have bonus damage on each hand.

A prime example is a rogue's sneak attack.  There are several other sources;  in core, I can think of Ranger Favored Enemy, Bard Inspire Courage, Fighter Weap. Spec. (feats), Cleric Divine Favor (spell), and elemental damage weapons (flaming, shocking, etc.).  Add completes and you get the Swashbuckler's Insightful Strike and others.

The problem for you is that fighter's weapon spec. (A) sucks and (B) is feat intensive, especially if you have to take two trees (one for your heavy shield, one for your short sword).  Also, as you noted, the TWF chain is very dex intensive, which means you now need good dexterity (for TWF), good strength (to hit), good con (to not die), and good wisdom (so you don't fail will saves).

To build a TWF shield-basher, I'd design it like any TWF character.  Probably start with a Rogue 1/Ranger 2 base then add more levels of each (Ranger 6 = ITWF, Rogue 3 = 2d6 SA + evasion) until I hit the PrC of your choice.

The problem with building a straight "sword and boarder" (without TWF or PHBII feats or anything) and really focusing on defense (example, a dwarf with a waraxe and a tower shield and full plate) is that you'll be a tough nut to crack, but your damage output will be relatively low and it'll be tough to force enemies to pay attention to you.


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## Settembrini (Nov 13, 2006)

How about a "Sword&Board" PHBII special attacker? One who also gets himself sunder, trip, bull rush etc. stuff?
Along with the Shield Ward, that might be workable?

A bit like Captain America?


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## satori01 (Nov 13, 2006)

Weapon Focus,  Weapon Specialization, (and the greater versions of those), Weapon Mastery (PHB II),  Weapon Supremacy (PHB II), Improved Critical or Keen Weapon.

You are not going to do the huge flurries of damage, but you want to stack as many miscellaneous bonuses as you can, so over the long haul, you will be pumping out damage.  I would also recommend a x3 crit weapon, to make criticals devastating.

I think the key to Sword and Board is being versatile, you want to be able to confound the enemy in a lot of different ways, while still able to survive.  Combat Expertise, Mobility, Spring Attack and Bounding Assualt (PHB II), Short Haft (PHBII) and a reach weapon, maybe some of the Tactical Feats.


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## satori01 (Nov 13, 2006)

Settembrini said:
			
		

> Knight is not an option, as I´m aiming for a run down mercenary type. Same for Duskblade. Thanks for the pointers, though.




Knight could work thematically for that, alignment requirement is Lawful only.  The Rock in the movie , Rundown, was definitely, lawful.
A sword and board Knight/Dwarven Defender could be interesting.


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## Magesmiley (Nov 13, 2006)

One of the biggest advantages you gain over a two-weapon fighter is the added AC gained by the shield. Build that edge up into a massive advantage by concentrating on upping your AC. There's a curve that you want to stay ahead of - ideally, your opponent should always need a 20 to hit you. If you can manage this, you'll be able to take hits constantly and keep the enemies at bay while your allies blast them to smithereens. I've been watching this style in the campaign I'm currently DMing for and, if played properly, it can be very very effective.

To that end, I suggest for feats: Combat Expertise, Improved Combat Expertise, Improved Toughness, Dodge, Heavy Armor Optimization (RoS), Improved Heavy Armor Optimization (RoS), and there's a feat in PHB2 which improves the shield bonus that's escaping me right now. You'll probably still want Power Attack at some point too. If you can get up to a 20 Con, Roll with It (Savage Species) is another great feat too.

Pump that AC mercilessly by any means you can. Get magical bonuses to AC that stack well together. Ask your friends for AC enhancing spells. Also remember that you can enhance both the shield and armor bonuses. A single +3 bonus costs 9000 gp. Two +2 bonuses costs only 8000 gp.

The dwarf is really better at this style of fighting than humans (due to the extra Con, the dodge bonus vs giants, and the dwarven defender PrC).


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## nittanytbone (Nov 13, 2006)

One other suggestion -- paladins, naturally, make pretty good sword & boarders due to Smite Evil.  The smite damage just adds onto one strike (not two, with TWF), and its not multiplied by 1.5 for the two-handers, so a longsword wielding paladin gets similar benefit out of his smite compared to a greatsword wielder (of course, the bonus to hit slightly benefits the greatsworder...).

There might be other abilities out there similar to this (clerics of destruction have a Smite, I know), and that combined with Extra Smiting from the complete warrior could boost your damage output significantly.


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## Legildur (Nov 14, 2006)

nittanytbone said:
			
		

> The problem with building a straight "sword and boarder" (without TWF or PHBII feats or anything) and really focusing on defense (example, a dwarf with a waraxe and a tower shield and full plate) is that you'll be a tough nut to crack, but your damage output will be relatively low and it'll be tough to force enemies to pay attention to you.



Agreed.  You really need a strong archer or sorceror to pound on the opponent while you hold them back.

There are a couple of ways 'to force enemies to pay attention to you'.

1. Fight in a corridor (or channel the enemy in some other way);
2. Use the Knight's Challenge? ability for the Knight base class in PHBII;
3. Take the Goad feat (Comp Adventurer and ???).

The latter works on intelligent (Int 3+) enemies if they fail the Will based saving throw.

I played a gnome Ftr1/Pal3 in a one shot last Friday and had an AC of 29 against medium-sized or larger creatures: 10 base + 9 (+1 full plate) +4 (tower shield) +1 (Dex) +1 (Dodge) +3 (Titan Fighting, RoS) +1 (size).  Next steps are to get Combat Expertise and Divine Shield which could punch it through to high 30s by level 6!  Mind you, theory broke down in practise with the Winter Wolves cone of cold.....


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## Dross (Nov 14, 2006)

Another thing to think about is tripping, it limits the opponents ability to attack you by making him stand up (giving an AoO) or a -4 to attack from being prone. Flails etc allow tripping without the use of the feat (which requires INT13 & Combat Reflexes).


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## Elder-Basilisk (Nov 14, 2006)

TheGogmagog said:
			
		

> In PHII also consider the classes.  Knight For defense, Duskblade for damage.  Both make good sword and board builds.
> 
> The shild spec and shield ward feats are exceptional as is, and even better for the knight who gets bonuses applied to the shield anyway.
> 
> Outside duskblade, I haven't seen much damage output unless you go with two handed weapons and power attack.




There are other damage output options.

Fighter/Cleric/Pious Templar or Fighter/Paladin/Pious Templar with Divine Might and Extra Smitings will end up with a pretty good damage output. You'll notice the build has Power Attack (since it's the prereq for Divine Might), so pick up some Armbands of Might (Complete Adventurer) and get in on the Power Attack game yourself (Power Attack for 2 with Armbands of might nets +4 damage and is often a good deal; Power Attack can be a good deal anyway as it can be used to punish low AC foes when you have a good attack bonus).


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## Settembrini (Nov 14, 2006)

Thanks again for the pointers.  Right now I´m thinking that the most attractive thing could be an UA Variant: exchange bonus feats for sneak attack damage. Along with two flaws to buy the PHBII shield feats, I could be a nasty "Sword&Boarder". With the regular feats I´d be aiming for the spring attack and blitz tree.


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## nittanytbone (Nov 14, 2006)

Settembrini said:
			
		

> Thanks again for the pointers.  Right now I´m thinking that the most attractive thing could be an UA Variant: exchange bonus feats for sneak attack damage. Along with two flaws to buy the PHBII shield feats, I could be a nasty "Sword&Boarder". With the regular feats I´d be aiming for the spring attack and blitz tree.




I'd skip the Spring Attack tree.  It has poor synergy with TWF.

To TWF effectively, you need to make a full attack.  The basic premise of Spring Attack is to only make a standard action attack.  Thus, your two feat intensive chains are mutually exclusive.

Also, you're focusing a lot on enhancing your defense through your shield.  You don't need to focus even more resources into defense (spring attack).

Why not front load some levels of rogue?  You'd get much better skills (including tumble), the sneak attack, and evasion, all at the cost of +1 BAB.  Not bad, IMHO.


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## frankthedm (Nov 14, 2006)

EyeontheMountain said:
			
		

> Shield ward as Klaus said above.
> 
> Really an excellent sword and board feat, nearly as required as Natural spell for a druid.



Then that is too good for a feat. While I will agree touch attacks, notably rays, hit way, way, way too often, something that changes the dynamics of the game that much should be a quality of shields, not a feat. If the user of the feat had to let the shield suffer the results of those touch attacks as an unattended object, it would be far more reasonable.


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## EyeontheMountain (Nov 14, 2006)

frankthedm said:
			
		

> Then that is too good for a feat. While I will agree touch attacks, notably rays, hit way, way, way too often, something that changes the dynamics of the game that much should be a quality of shields, not a feat. If the user of the feat had to let the shield suffer the results of those touch attacks as an unattended object, it would be far more reasonable.




Depends on how much you dislike the current touch spell mechanics. INHO, touch spells are out of hand, as it is very hard to get a touch ac in the high teens, let alone into the 20s where a medium level mage even has to worry about missing with a touch attack. 

WOTC made the touch attack and ranged touch attack spells as a balancing mechanism (for both spells and some feats/special abilities), and except for the automatic 5% chance to miss, most touch attacks have a no greater chance of missing. I can actually live with that with spells, but with special combat abilities, (where Full-BAB is the norm), it is too easy. Fighters should have a decent chance of outright avoiding these abilities, rather than having to rely on opposed rolls to not be hosed (trip, grapple anyone?)


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## Mustrum_Ridcully (Nov 15, 2006)

In our Shackled City Campaign, I play a Sword and Board fighter. Keep in mind that I "cheated" at higher levels and picked up an Animated Shield, so I could use my main weapon two-handed. 

I did not pick up the Weapon Focus feat chain. Instead, I concentrated on getting basically all the other fighter bonus feats out there (with, naturally, a lot of exceptions). 

Combat Expertise, Improved Trip, Combat Reflexes, Improved Unarmed, Improved Grapple (very useful under the right circumstances), Defensive Throw* (Complete Warrior), Dodge, Mobility, Blind Fight, Quick Draw, Defensive Sweep (PHB II, very recent addition to the character) and some none-fighter bonus feats: Run, Iron Will (with 25 point buy, I had to sacrifice wisdom and charisma)

The net result was that I was prepared for most types of enemies. I could run to catch enemy archers or wizards (without opening myself up to sneak attacks or other nasty effects). I can go into grapple against a lot of dangerous opponents (especially spellcasters). 
I can always draw the weapon I need for the job (Holy Cold Iron Longsword +2 is my primary weapons, but if required, I can pick up my Admantite Battleaxe of Construct Bane or my Silver Guisarme of Undead Bane). 

*For use of Defensive Throw, I suggest using a tripping weapon as primary weapon (Flail). Thanks to the Cheating, err Animated Shield, I can use my unarmed attack to trip missing opponents, but normally, you would (depending on your DM's interpretation) not allowed to make trip attack while wielding a weapon.

At this level, I am actually considering if I should try to pick up Weaon Focus, but I decided against it - it is against the concept of the fighter and it would also take to long to get a significant benefit from it. I instead picked up a home brew PrC, Master of Martial Arts (http://www.gweb.de/ttt/news/news.php?exns=1&xnsmid=7), which grants some nice benefits along the theme of my Fighter (1-3/day a bonus feat for one encounter, improved unarmed damage and combat speed, AC Bonus when fighting lightly armed - everything to be prepared in situations where you aren't actually prepared...)

So, my advice: If you want more than just hitting the hardest and instead want to experiment (and "win") with combat techniques available in D&D, ignore Weapon Focus and instead focus on all the nice Improved [Insert Combat Option here] feats. If you want to focus a bit more on your shield, the Shield Specialisation feat chain is certainly a good choice (and it can be combined with the combat technique feats, you just have to be a more picky)


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## brendan candries (Nov 15, 2006)

Paladin (or Cleric for that matter) also opens up Divine Shield through turn undead. 

Duration is half character level, so dipping in other classes is no real problem.

You do need a high cha though (for more uses and increasing the effect of the feat).


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## Ryngard (Nov 15, 2006)

PH2 added a LOT of shield lovin. I'm playing a Knight who is awesome with his shield.

Also if you use Weapons of Legacy check out Quickspur's Ally. Its SWEET.


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