Pathfinder Sword and Board

[Nanshork]

Alright, I accidentally threw away some build notes and I'm trying to figure out what I had.   

This is Pathfinder material only, no 3.5.

Dwarf Phalanx Soldier Fighter going into Student of War.

Phalanx Fighter 6/ Student of War 10/ whatever

1 - Breadth of Experience, Improved Shield Bash
2 - Two-Weapon Fighting
3 - Skill Focus (Knowledge skill)
4 - Combat Reflexes
5 - Dodge
6 - Combat Expertise
7 - Shield Slam
8 - Power Attack
9 - Improved Bull Rush
11 - Shield Master, Greater Bull Rush
13 - xxx
15 - xxx
16 - xxx

The goal is to attack opponents right next to me to get a free bull rush and then attack them with my reach.

Feel free to help me get the build up to 20, I put this together in a rush when I realized I threw away the build notes. 

[juton]

Are you starting out at level 1? That will affect how the build goes.

If you are starting at level 1, I recommend actually going Ranger. The thing about a Ranger's combat style feats is that you don't have to meet the pre-reqs, so you can get Shield Slam at level 2 and Shield Master at level 6, then go into Student of War if that's what you really want. You'll be giving up the ability to use a reach weapon and a shield though, I don't know if that's a deal breaker for you.

Student of War's best feature is Anticipate, which is like Iron Heart Surge from 3.5. If you're not taking your PrC for this ability you'd probably be better off just progressing your base class.

If you went Ranger I'd recommend Human and the Guide variant. For feats:
1: Improved Shield Bash
H: Dodge
R2: Two Weapon Fighting
3: Combat Exp.
5: Skill Focus
R6: Shield Master
7: Shield Slam

With this you don't need a 15 dex since TWF is a Ranger feat.

[Nanshork]

The whole point of the build for me was reach weapon + shield.  It isn't for a current game so I don't know what level I would start out playing this (if I ever get the chance to).  That means that Fighter 3 is required.  Student of War is because I like the class and it works flavor wise.  I don't play with any optimizers so I'm not trying to squeeze every ounce of power I can (and I think that Student of War is a pretty decent class overall).

I've worked the build out more, I'll post when I get home.  I'm glad somebody out there is listening to me.

[Nanshork]

Build has been updated.

[StreamOfTheSky]

Juton,

I'd just get the dex.  Shield Slam at level 2 is nice.  If starting at 6+, I guess it matters much less.  Still, if you're TWF, you presumably want ITWF and maybe GTWF later, and if you can't afford the dex for TWF, you'll have a hard time reaching those.

[Nanshork]

How do you get Shield Slam at level 2?

[StreamOfTheSky]

Weapon and Shield style for Ranger gives Shield Slam at level 2, just as it makes Shield Master available early at level 6.  Why pass up those big level discounts?

[juton]

Shield Master is a nice feat, in general cases I think it's probably better to make your primary attack the shield and your off-hand attack a light weapon. This way your primary attack doesn't get the -2 penalty to-hit. Not as useful to Nanshork's polearm fighter, but good to know. Remember that even with Shield Master, your non shield attacks will take a to-hit penalty depending on the size of your off hand weapon/shield.

@Nanshork:

Can we get your stats? In this case it may make a big difference. Do you have a preference for what type of shield you use? If not a light shield is probably best, as it will give the smallest penalty if you TWF .

@StreamOfTheSky

If Nanshork gets generous stats then you're right, the TWF line is probably something nice to pick up.

[Nanshork]

As I said before, you can't get my stats because this is a theoretical build not being meant for any specific game.   

[StreamOfTheSky]

Yeah, if you're going to TWF it should be two shields, or if not that, heavy shield in the main hand and a kukri or some other light weapon in the offhand.  W/ a 18-20 base crit range light weapon and keen, Bashing Finish at level 10 gets very nice.  I still prefer 2 shields, but heavy+kukri is decent.

But definitely heavy in the main hand.  You want a heavy shield, the damage boost when spikes and bashing are thrown in over light is significant, and it's +1 AC.  But if it's in the offhand, that's an extra -2 to hit for your non-shield weapon.  Obviously, if you're doing 2 shields, you can use 2 heavy shields no problem.  Shield Master is awesome.

[Nanshork]

Yeah, if you're going to TWF it should be two shields, or if not that, heavy shield in the main hand and a kukri or some other light weapon in the offhand.  W/ a 18-20 base crit range light weapon and keen, Bashing Finish at level 10 gets very nice.  I still prefer 2 shields, but heavy+kukri is decent.

But definitely heavy in the main hand.  You want a heavy shield, the damage boost when spikes and bashing are thrown in over light is significant, and it's +1 AC.  But if it's in the offhand, that's an extra -2 to hit for your non-shield weapon.  Obviously, if you're doing 2 shields, you can use 2 heavy shields no problem.  Shield Master is awesome.

You do realize that goes entirely against what I want to do with this build right?

[StreamOfTheSky]

Which was what, exactly?

"The goal is to attack opponents right next to me to get a free bull rush and then attack them with my reach."

So...use the build I said, and add the Lunge feat?

I'm not sure what that's accomplishing.  You push them back 5 ft, stab them, then 5 ft away so they provoke an AoO and can't full attack you back if they're dumb enough to just keep approaching you instead of readying an action for you to make a move?

Were you just really determined to make a "hoplite" despite the system not supporting it that well?

[Nanshork]

Yes, the goal is to make a hoplite.  As I said in an earlier post, I don't want to make the most optimized build that I can.  If I do that, I'll overshadow everyone that I play Pathfinder with.

This is a theme build.  I like the theme and I am sticking with it.  Please accept that.