Yevaud333 wrote:
The Man In Black wrote:
Ranger or fighter with two-weapon fighting + ambidexterity, statistically an extra attack is better than an attack/damage bonus. Everything else is gravy.
Really? Sweet! :D
I've always liked the thought of two-weapon fighting, but had relegated it to a roleplaying thing rather than an effective strategy since most other online analyses I've seen have claimed it to be less effective (damage-wise) in the long-run. But if The Man In Black has spoken... well, they can all go soak their heads. 8) (And two-weapon fighting was made even more effective in v.3.5 - no more Ambidexterity feat [Two-Weapon Fighting does it all now] and you can gain second and third attacks with the secondary weapon earlier [assuming your Dex is high enough]. Basically they turned it back into a fighting strategy which will primarily be open to Rogues, although lightly-armored Fighters [think swashbuckler types] will naturally be even better at it than Rogues are.)
[OT, for Yevaud's pleasure]This is the type of character I normally play, and she has become significantly more powerful in 3.5. I used to use short swords, but have recently found out that rapiers are the single most effective weapon for this strategy. Start as a human fighter. Take Two Weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse, and Weapon Focus(Rapier). Make sure you have Dex 18. By level 11 you should have Dodge, Spring Attack, Mobility, Expertise, Whirlwind, Improved Two Weapon Fighting, Improved Critical(Rapier), and Weapon Specialization(Rapier). You now switch to Weapon Master Prestige Class, picking Rapier as your weapon (It's in the Oriental Adventures book, but they also put in in Hordes of the Underdark, so it's Canon as far as I'm concerned). By level twenty, you should also have Greater Two Weapon Fighting, Power Attack, Cleave, and Great Cleave, as well as the benefits from the Prestige Class, which are as follows: 10 times/day, you can make your weapon do max damage. You have a natural, non-magical, +2 to the weapons you wield. You get an extra multiplier on your critcals, as well as +2 to your critical range. Add up all your bonuses, and you're doing +23/+23/+18/+18/+13/+13/+8 to attack, plus your dex mod, which should be +6, doing +2 damage with each strike. If you have a keen rapier, your crit range is 10-20/x3 (18-20/x2, keen makes it 15-20, Improved Critical makes it 12-20, Weapon Master makes it 10-20/x3) (Basically, with that range, hit=crit). You can also choose to instead make an attack on everyone within your range. You kill something, you get an extra attack on everyone in your range. Epic feats only make you that much more powerful. Switch back to Fighter, get Greater and Epic Weapon Focus and Specialization, Perfect Two Weapon Fighting, Overwhelming Critical, Defensive Two Weapon Fighting, Improved Whirlwind Attack, Epic Dodge, Combat reflexes, and Improved Combat Reflexes. You get the idea.
I guess I should at least respond to the debate, so [/OT]
1. I agree with MiB. It's successful, so it must be good. Especially when you can buy a giant book of Prestige Classes that people have come up with.
2. In D20, I'm not sure that there's a whole lot of restriction. You've got alignment to worry about, but that's pretty much it. You can say you do Origami in your spare time, but not well enough to do a +1 at it. In points based, it's a lot more structured in that regard, so I say make an interesting character, then see what fighting ability he'll have. Had a person take so many disadvantages in GURPS that he was a god at fighting, but as soon as he took a step, he would collapse into epileptic fits as his four Enemies swooped in for the kill.
3. See above. That, or a Samurai with a focus towards Iaijutsu. You get one attack that does about 100 damage, then go into normal combat. Or go Monk. Monks own.
4. Both. Our GM almost always plays a character alongside us, and yet that character is almost never the center of attention. That way he can guage our fights for good challenges. He is also god, though, and rules with an iron fist.
5. Honestly, I like class-based more, but I haven't played a whole heck of a lot of points based.