Rebuilding my Dwarven Fighter

[Nitesco]

I have an old pre-U9 32-point THF Dwarf Kensai III Fighter with just all Toughness, the DPS feats and Stunning Blow/Quickdraw. I want to use the free LR to bring him up to date. Stalwart seems to be the way to go now, I can't see much benefit in being Kensai anymore, the survivability increase in being a Stalwart Defender III just seems too great.

So I'm looking at the following feats:

Toughness
Cleave
Great Cleave
Improved Trip
Stunning Blow
Improved Sunder
Power Attack
Combat Expertise
Weapon Focus: Slashing
Weapon Specialization: Slashing
Greater Weapon Specialization: Slashing
Improved Critical: Slashing
Two-Handed Fighting
Improved Two-Handed Fighting
Greater Two-Handed Fighting

I don't fully understand the new combat system yet. So I'm wondering if there's any reason to take feats like Dodge and Mobility. If I can get around 10 MDB/10% dodge chance with these feats and some gear, it would seem worthwhile. What I've included here is what I am pretty much set on taking. Just wanted to run it by the community to see if I've missed anything obvious. But I welcome any feedback or advice concerning my options.

[unbongwah]

Stalwart seems to be the way to go now, I can't see much benefit in being Kensai anymore, the survivability increase in being a Stalwart Defender III just seems too great.

AFAICT, Kensais still have higher DPS & DCs than SDs and there's a downside to using Defensive Stance: the threat amp. Yes, you have a lot more HPs in stance than a Kensai does, but that's because you're drawing a lot more aggro too. And since it looks like you don't want to tank, that may be a bad thing, since an SD tank is usually also counting on PRR, AC w/shield, Dodge chance, and dmg reduction from shield feats to help them survive all that aggro.

You can see my take on a U14 dwarven Kensai here.

[Nitesco]

AFAICT, Kensais still have higher DPS & DCs than SDs and there's a downside to using Defensive Stance: the threat amp. Yes, you have a lot more HPs in stance than a Kensai does, but that's because you're drawing a lot more aggro too. And since it looks like you don't want to tank, that may be a bad thing, since an SD tank is usually also counting on PRR, AC w/shield, Dodge chance, and dmg reduction from shield feats to help them survive all that aggro.

You can see my take on a U14 dwarven Kensai here.

Thanks for the link. I'm not building this Fighter to be a 'tank' in the sense of a 'raid tank'. But it will use Heavy Armor, Dodge bonuses, Incorporeality and Concealment to mitigate damage. I won't be able to reach the highest Intimidate numbers, but in the absence of a better option, I expect to be able to tank well enough. I will probably solo a lot, so I want to have as many tactical options as possible, good damage mitigation in DPS mode while swinging an Epic Antique Greataxe. The ability to turtle up with a Dwarven Axe and Tower Shield for increased mitigation and threat is something I can hold in reserve for when it's needed.

[Feithlin]

As unbongwah said. Additionnaly, the kensei PrE will add to your tactical DCs.
Drawing aggro implies you can handle it. That's fine if you're alone, but if you work in a group, ppl will expect you to be able to mitigate damage (AC, PRR, Dodge, Saves) and be easy to heal (Healing amp.). I think the hidden message behind the Heal spell's *nerf* is that healing a tank implies having a *real* and not only a bag of HP.
Don't overestimate HP. Sure they are very useful, but at some point, you have to replenish them. As a dwarf kensei, you should have no problem reaching over 1,000 HP (try to start with a least 18 Con, so you could apply for the epic toughness feat with a +3 tome).

[lugoman]

I would add that you need to decide how many buttons you like to press during a fight. Trip, sunder, stunning blow, cleave, great cleave plus the new ones in dreadnought ED - it's a lot of spamming. I like tactics but seeing how short trash (most of the stuff that can be stunned/tripped) stays alive and how many monks I play with (mobs already stunned) I only seem to use tactics when soloing.

[Nitesco]

I don't like having to rely on the Power Surge for tactics anymore. Tactics are too good to pass up though, even if my DC's are down slightly. My Stunning Blow DC's will still be in the high 40's self-buffed. I have a good amount of gear so I will always have options there. I don't think aggro will be an issue, if a designated tank can't hold aggro against just the base threat from SDIII stance, something else is wrong. I think it's impossible for a THF SD to lose aggro to an S&B one in tanking mode. If they do all they have to do is hit Intimidate once and it shouldn't swap again.

I'm not new to Fighters, I was really just wondering if I am missing any key feats for qualifying for some uber Epic Destiny or Feat. I have 3-piece Abishai set, a ToD ring with 20% healing amp, Purple Dragon Knight Gauntlets and other goodies, plus I will be geared for Silver Flame Healing penalties. I just think that overall, an SD is superior for the times I'm soloing and solid for the times I'm in a group. Kensai is a bit extra DC's, few extra Action Boosts and +1 crit range. Cleave and Great Cleave are situational for debuffing swathes of mobs, or to break out of the delay between activating item sets or Action Boosts.

I just wonder if Shield Mastery is worth taking for tanking. I left a feat out as a placeholder for the Student of the Sword PL feat. I'll take that when I TR into a Human or Half-Elf after the Enhancement pass.

[unbongwah]

It's pretty easy to take the build I posted and respec it for SD, since it takes Combat Expertise for Imp Trip. If not going Kensai, you can also drop part of the WF/WS/GWS/GWF/SWF chain to squeeze in other feats, like Dodge+Mobility or a couple of the shield feats; at the very least I would drop SWF:S (only necessary for Kensai III). While it's not essential, Power Crit now provides a +2 Seeker bonus; and GWF:S will let you add Weapon Spec II enh, so both would add a bit more DPS. Precision (base DEX 13 pre-req) dropped the half-dmg penalty and is sometimes more useful than Power Atk now; so having both might be a good idea. You appear to have all the pre-reqs for Overwhelming Critical; and if you go base CON 18 + 3 tome like my build you can take epic Toughness too.

[Nitesco]

It's pretty easy to take the build I posted and respec it for SD, since it takes Combat Expertise for Imp Trip. If not going Kensai, you can also drop part of the WF/WS/GWS/GWF/SWF chain to squeeze in other feats, like Dodge+Mobility or a couple of the shield feats; at the very least I would drop SWF:S (only necessary for Kensai III). While it's not essential, Power Crit now provides a +2 Seeker bonus; and GWF:S will let you add Weapon Spec II enh, so both would add a bit more DPS. Precision (base DEX 13 pre-req) dropped the half-dmg penalty and is sometimes more useful than Power Atk now; so having both might be a good idea. You appear to have all the pre-reqs for Overwhelming Critical; and if you go base CON 18 + 3 tome like my build you can take epic Toughness too.

Yes your build is similar to what I had in mind. I've taken +3 Int, Dex and I think Cha tomes already, I just need a +3 Con to qualify for Epic Toughness as well. So I have the option of leaving Dex and Int at 10, I'm not building for AC and the only Skills I will pump are Intimidate, Balance, 1 in Tumble and the rest probably in Jump or Spot. I will have to reconsider if the Greater Weapon Focus feat is worth the +1 damage or whatever it is from Enhancements. I'm a Dwarf though, so I will take the axe damage enhancements. I will also take some racial and class tactics enhancements. I might also pump my saves a bit too. I guess I want to build a well rounded Fighter.

[unbongwah]

So I have the option of leaving Dex and Int at 10

Where were you thinking of putting those two extra pts? STR is max and it's not enough to boost CON to 19. CHA 8, maybe? Then all your base stats will be at least 11 post-tomes - hello, Silver Flame potions!

BTW, remember that your Dodge bonus is capped by your MDB; so if you're trying to max out Dodge, be sure to take it into account when planning your gear build etc.

[Nitesco]

Where were you thinking of putting those two extra pts? STR is max and it's not enough to boost CON to 19. CHA 8, maybe? Then all your base stats will be at least 11 post-tomes - hello, Silver Flame potions!

BTW, remember that your Dodge bonus is capped by your MDB; so if you're trying to max out Dodge, be sure to take it into account when planning your gear build etc.

I was thinking of just evening out Dex and Int for the extra save and skill point bracket. I'll most likely be using the Epic Helm of Frost to keep Cha over 10. I haven't really planned the nitty gritty yet, I'm more concerned with feat selection first.

[Nitesco]

Just getting back to this again.

I haven't read through all the Epic Destinies trees yet. Are there any MUST HAVE prereq feats needed to unlock any of the better melee stuff? I have already committed to Cleave, Great Cleave and Weapon Focus for Overwhelming Critical. I have the base Constitution covered for Epic Toughness should I decide to take it. Are there any other 'oh f*k I didn't take X so now I have to get a lesser heart and start again or I'm gimped' type feats, skills or stats I should be including?

I haven't really seen any definitive U14 melee builds posted yet.

[Nitesco]

I'm thinking that it's going to be quite hard to flesh out a high dodge bonus while wearing heavy armor, even with the various sources of max Dex bonus available to Stalwart Defenders. I am thinking that medium armor might be a solution, but at a substantial PRR cost. With gear I can get a 10% dodge bonus (4%, 3%, 2%, 1%), which is already a substantial MDB requirement for heavy armor. Add the Dodge feat, Mobility (provides its own MDB) and other potential sources like Spring Attack and Epic Destinies and I'm finding myself running out of MDB pretty fast.

It comes down to the question of which is better, 5% dodge or 20 PRR?