Low level AB

[Draccus]

After a dozen or more rerolls, I finally have an alt that I'm actually interested in playing. I had a vault full of good khopeshes that I'd never used (vorpals, banishers, disruptors, lowbie DPS'ers, etc.) so I decided on a Human TWF Barbarian/Rogue. He's level 5 now (Barb4/Rogue1) with 20 str. With a few TR's to get Blademaster's Gauntlets, he'll be at 22 str.

While he is certainly a blast to play, I've found that I'm having trouble hitting things when I get into a quest that's a little above level or on hard/elite at level. I do not have OTWF yet.

Should I consider OTWF for my level 6 feat? If I take it, can I assume that my str will eventually catch up and give me a good AB and allow me to respec out of it? Would I need to keep it? My 16 rogue dual wields rapiers and has an insane AB without OTWF mainly due to a) high bonus on SA and b) I'm always sneak attacking.

If my str will eventually catch up and give me a good AB, another option is to carry a good greataxe to use when running quests with mobs I can't hit. Is that the better plan?

TIA

[Freeman]

I wouldn't worry about it yet. If you are having trouble hitting, just pull out a two-handed weapon and go to town without the -4 penalty. At that level, particularly on the harder difficulties of higher level quests, twf chars can have a tougher time hitting, but your attack bonus will catch up eventually, to the point you may not even need OTWF, depending on your build.

[rimble]

You can get another +2 (or +3? I dunno, forgetting right now...) from Korthos items--Goggles + Pathfinder set.

Get something small in the off-hand for now, maybe a nice cheap Sickle of Sypheros.

Definitely whip out a a nice big two-hander when you need that little extra +2 ToHit.

Also the low-level buffs in clickie or potion form:
Heroism (+2)
Haste (+1)
Bless/Aid (+1)
Bull's Strength (+1)

[Trillea]

After a dozen or more rerolls, I finally have an alt that I'm actually interested in playing. I had a vault full of good khopeshes that I'd never used (vorpals, banishers, disruptors, lowbie DPS'ers, etc.) so I decided on a Human TWF Barbarian/Rogue. He's level 5 now (Barb4/Rogue1) with 20 str. With a few TR's to get Blademaster's Gauntlets, he'll be at 22 str.

While he is certainly a blast to play, I've found that I'm having trouble hitting things when I get into a quest that's a little above level or on hard/elite at level. I do not have OTWF yet.

Should I consider OTWF for my level 6 feat? If I take it, can I assume that my str will eventually catch up and give me a good AB and allow me to respec out of it? Would I need to keep it? My 16 rogue dual wields rapiers and has an insane AB without OTWF mainly due to a) high bonus on SA and b) I'm always sneak attacking.

If my str will eventually catch up and give me a good AB, another option is to carry a good greataxe to use when running quests with mobs I can't hit. Is that the better plan?

TIA

With a 22 STR (+6 atk bonus), BAB of 4 from barb levels, +2 to-hit from the Korthos set, and +1 to-hit with Korthos goggles, that's a total to-hit of +13. With the -4 penalty from no OTWF, that drops this to a +9. This may sound bad for a level 5, but with your BAB going to a +5 next level (with the 3rd attack and extra +5 to-hit on it), this makes your attack bonuses be +10/+10/+15 before counting the +*s on the weapons that you are using. You should not need to spend the feat to get that extra +2 seeing as a 6th level character you are going to be able to use +4 weapons or +3 elemental weapons. The +3 elemental weaps would make you have a +13/+13/+18 and that really should be plenty to hit whatever you are swinging at. If not, you can rage and boost that to-hit even higher.

[Draccus]

Thanks. With that settled, what feat to take next? I can't take ITWF yet because of my rogue level. I could take Power Attack, which I'll want eventually, but that is going to make my AB even worse when active so it's not something I'll be using any time soon.

I have these feats:
TWF
Toughness
Khopesh

(EDITED: +9 is my current AB as listed above. I have the Korthos set and Goggles of Insight. I'm using dual +1 Keen Khopeshes of PG but could swap those for a higher + if I can find some. I might even have a couple in the bank somewhere)

[Coldest]

Your to-hit will catch up. You will be able to trade out OTWF when you get higher. Personally, I don't bother with TWF until level 8 or so, so I would suggest not taking the feat. I'd go with the great axe until then.


Cold

[Freeman]

I'd go ahead and take Power Attack, even if you won't use it yet. The rest of your feats probably have a BAB requirement, so it would be best to save the later slots for those.

[rimble]

Thanks. With that settled, what feat to take next? I can't take ITWF yet because of my rogue level. I could take Power Attack, which I'll want eventually, but that is going to make my AB even worse when active so it's not something I'll be using any time soon.

I have these feats:
TWF
Toughness
Khopesh

** To be clear, I haven't played a Barbarian **

That being said, I'd just take Weapon Focus for now, and swap it for Power Attack in a few levels when you're at a point where you can turn it on more often. It's a good time to take Power Attack, but why take it and get no benefit? You can at least bank a +1 ToHit for a few levels.

[Trillea]

Thanks. With that settled, what feat to take next? I can't take ITWF yet because of my rogue level. I could take Power Attack, which I'll want eventually, but that is going to make my AB even worse when active so it's not something I'll be using any time soon.

I have these feats:
TWF
Toughness
Khopesh

(EDITED: +9 is my current AB as listed above. I have the Korthos set and Goggles of Insight. I'm using dual +1 Keen Khopeshes of PG but could swap those for a higher + if I can find some. I might even have a couple in the bank somewhere)

I would make your next level Rogue and take Lightning Reflexes to boost your reflex save. Level 6 and above is where evasion starts coming in handy.

[Freeman]

** To be clear, I haven't played a Barbarian **

That being said, I'd just take Weapon Focus for now, and swap it for Power Attack in a few levels when you're at a point where you can turn it on more often. It's a good time to take Power Attack, but why take it and get no benefit? You can at least bank a +1 ToHit for a few levels.

That's a pretty good idea, I'll second that instead of my previous suggestion.

[Trillea]

** To be clear, I haven't played a Barbarian **

That being said, I'd just take Weapon Focus for now, and swap it for Power Attack in a few levels when you're at a point where you can turn it on more often. It's a good time to take Power Attack, but why take it and get no benefit? You can at least bank a +1 ToHit for a few levels.

While in current game this would not be a bad idea I wouldn't do it because the restrictions for feat changing are going to be much more restrictive with Mod 9 (needing much higher level dragonshards than currently needed) so I would be careful with anything that requires feat respec at this point.

[Draccus]

While in current game this would not be a bad idea I wouldn't do it because the restrictions for feat changing are going to be much more restrictive with Mod 9 (needing much higher level dragonshards than currently needed) so I would be careful with anything that requires feat respec at this point.

I'm assuming the free respec you get for completing the Harbor quest still applies, right?

Also, why would I want Weapon Focus instead of OTWF if I'm going to swap it out later? OTWF should give me a +2 to AB while WF gives a +1. Yes, the WF also heals with a two-hander but my AB is fine with a two hander.

[Angelus_dead]

Should I consider OTWF for my level 6 feat?

Absolutely not. You have only two choices:
1. Take ITWF at level 6.
2. Stop dual-wielding.

For a character with BAB of 5 or more to dual-wield without ITWF means discarding all damage-causing ability.

[Draccus]

Absolutely not. You have only two choices:
1. Take ITWF at level 6.
2. Stop dual-wielding.

For a character with BAB of 5 or more to dual-wield without ITWF means discarding all damage-causing ability.

I can't take it at 6 due to the rogue level. But I do see what you're saying about TWF without ITWF. Greataxe and Power Attack it is.