Critique a fighter newbie's first build

[Mosch]

Hi everyone,
I was thinking about retiring my bard and making a fighter. Now I have never played a fighter before, but I fiddled around with some veteran trash builds and I think I got the basic idea.
Now I was kinda thinking about going the holy grail route of fighter: A tank that does decent dps. My ambition is not helped by the fact that I am pretty poor - no tomes, no money from other characters, no 32 point build, no items. I also have a certain idea of how a fighter should look: A heavy plate armor, a longsword and a shield is my equipment of choice.
This is my basic idea of a level 1 character:


Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 3.16
DDO Character Planner Home Page (http://www.rjcyberware.com/DDO)

Calynar Ironsong
Level 1 Lawful Good Human Male
(1 Fighter)
Hit Points: 35
Spell Points: 0
BAB: 1\1
Fortitude: 4
Reflex: 2
Will: -1

Starting Feat/Enhancement
Abilities Base Stats Modified Stats
(28 Point) (Level 1) (Level 1)
Strength 16 16
Dexterity 14 14
Constitution 14 14
Intelligence 14 14
Wisdom 8 8
Charisma 8 8

Starting Feat/Enhancement
Base Skills Modified Skills
Skills (Level 1) (Level 1)
Balance 4 4
Bluff -1 -1
Concentration 2 2
Diplomacy -1 -1
Disable Device n/a n/a
Haggle -1 -1
Heal -1 -1
Hide 2 2
Intimidate 3 3
Jump 7 7
Listen -1 -1
Move Silently 2 2
Open Lock n/a n/a
Perform n/a n/a
Repair 2 2
Search 2 2
Spot 1 1
Swim 7 7
Tumble n/a n/a
Use Magic Device n/a n/a

Level 1 (Fighter)
Feat: (Selected) Combat Expertise
Feat: (Human Bonus) Toughness
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Weapon Focus: Slashing Weapons


I was going to take improved crit slashing, improved trip and defend it up with shield mastery, improved shield mastery and dodge. I have not thought much further... would such a build be viable in the mid- and high level game? Can I even hope to achieve a decent AC with my limited resources?
I will (hopefully) be in a regular group with a rogue, sorceror, cleric and wizard - should this influence my build in any way? I am somewhat concerned about being able to hold aggro in the face of two firewall casting maniacs...

[Trillea]

I would suggest 1 of 2 things - with your idea of a fighter (full plate, sword and board), you could either stay Human and get the Deneith dragonmarks (for Intim boost) or go dwarf with dwarven axes and go for the extra DR for dwarven shield mastery enhancements. The intim would probably be smarter if you trust the cleric in your group. With sword and board intim will probably be the only way to keep the aggro off the casters.

Don't forget to bring a nice 2-handed weapon (falchion or greataxe) for the times when DPS and nothing else will do (many boss fights).

Drop the Dex and Int to 12 each and put the points in Con. More HP are good on a fighter. Take the house D dragonmark at 1st lvl and take toughness later, it will serve you better later on.

As for the AC issue, you will probably not have too much of a problem until around the time you hit Gianthold. At that point, your group will have access to blur and displacement however, so AC is not QUITE as important, and the higher BAB will help your DR while shield blocking.

[Morrissey]

Hi everyone,
I was thinking about retiring my bard and making a fighter. Now I have never played a fighter before, but I fiddled around with some veteran trash builds and I think I got the basic idea.
Now I was kinda thinking about going the holy grail route of fighter: A tank that does decent dps. My ambition is not helped by the fact that I am pretty poor - no tomes, no money from other characters, no 32 point build, no items. I also have a certain idea of how a fighter should look: A heavy plate armor, a longsword and a shield is my equipment of choice.
This is my basic idea of a level 1 character:


I was going to take improved crit slashing, improved trip and defend it up with shield mastery, improved shield mastery and dodge. I have not thought much further... would such a build be viable in the mid- and high level game? Can I even hope to achieve a decent AC with my limited resources?
I will (hopefully) be in a regular group with a rogue, sorceror, cleric and wizard - should this influence my build in any way? I am somewhat concerned about being able to hold aggro in the face of two firewall casting maniacs...

BTw, if you design a char in the planner, make sure to have the level 20 version highlighted when you export. We can't really see where you're going when all we get is your level 1 stats =)

[Mosch]

Thank you for your answers.

While I agree that the Dwarven enhancements are really nice, I was eyeing Human Improved Recovery and Human Versatility. I will think about this some more... I kinda want that classic medieval knight flavor ;)
If I dropped my Int I would lose access to Combat Expertise... dropping Dex would lose me access to dodge, 1 AC and 1 Reflex Save. Dropping both Int and Dex to 12 would afford me two points of Con which translates to +1 Con modifier. Is this really worth it?

As for posting level 20 stats: I know where I want to go (tank-type fighter with some dps) but do not know really well how to get there or where "there" even is :D Though I was thinking of becoming a Stalwart Defender.

[EKKM]

Thank you for your answers.

While I agree that the Dwarven enhancements are really nice, I was eyeing Human Improved Recovery and Human Versatility. I will think about this some more... I kinda want that classic medieval knight flavor ;)
If I dropped my Int I would lose access to Combat Expertise... dropping Dex would lose me access to dodge, 1 AC and 1 Reflex Save. Dropping both Int and Dex to 12 would afford me two points of Con which translates to +1 Con modifier. Is this really worth it?

As for posting level 20 stats: I know where I want to go (tank-type fighter with some dps) but do not know really well how to get there or where "there" even is :D Though I was thinking of becoming a Stalwart Defender.

I was going co make the same comments re dex and int, leave them as is. If your intim is high enough you will be able to keep aggro from the casters (ie where an item and have a heroism pot active). You will likely want one or more of these intim boosting feats - skill focum intim, bullheaded (+2 intim, +1 will), dragonmark of the sentinel (+2 intim, SoF clicky and enhancement avail for another +1).

Note that intimidate does not work on "mindless" mobs such as animals and some undead.

I would also invest in some will save boosting feats like luck of heroes, iron will or bullheaded.