Glaive of the Dungeon Crasher (3.5e Optimized Character Build)

"People always seem to run into walls whenever I'm around. Stop that. You're just hurting yourself."

Introduction

Using the Dungeon Crasher variant from Dungeonscape along with the Eldritch Glaive invocation from Dragon Magic and Large and In Charge from Races of the Dragon you can have a great hybrid defender/striker who combines damage with zone control.

References

Flaws (Unearthed Arcana) LA Buyoff (Unearthed Arcana) Complete Psionic Complete Champion Complete Arcane Dragon Magic Draconomicon Races of Stone Tome of Battle Player's Handbook II Magic of Incarnum Expanded Psionics Handbook Fiendish Codex II

Game Rule Components

Spells, Powers, Soulmelds, Stances, etc...

Expansion from the Warmind levels to get big for a boost to Large and In Charge, Bull Rushes, and a bigger threat area. Get Eldritch Glaive from Dragon Magic.

Items

Armbands of Might from Magic Item Compendium will raise your damage by another 2 A Nightstick from Libris Mortis will let you use Travel Devotion a few more times per day. No need for the cheese of multiple Nightsticks, since one use of Turn Undead will last you a whole encounter.

Progression

Starting Ability Scores (Before Racial Adjustments): (Assuming 32 Point Buy) 16 14 15 10 14 8

Race (Templates): Goliath (or Human, see Variants)

Starting Racial Traits: +4 Strength, -2 Dex, +2 Constitution, Powerful Build, +1 Natural Armor

ECL	Class/HD/LA	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Feats	Class Features	Special
			Fort	Ref	Will
1st	Ardent 1	+0	+0	+0	+2	Weapon Focus (Eldritch Blast), Power Attack, Improved Bull Rush, Knockback (Races of Stone)
2nd	Fighter 1	+1	+2	+0	+2	Combat Reflexes		Dungeon Crasher variant from Dungeonscape
3rd	Cleric 1	+1	+4	+0	+4	Travel Devotion (Complete Champion)	Turn Undead	Travel domain and any other you like
4th	Fighter 2	+2	+5	+0	+4		Dungeon Crasher
5th	Warlock 1	+2	+5	+0	+6		Elritch Blast
6th	Warmind 1	+3	+7	+2	+6	Large and In Charge (Draconomicon)	Chain of Personal Superiority +2	Pick up Expansion here
7th	Warmind 2	+4	+8	+3	+6		Chain of Defensive Posture +2
8th	Warmind 3	+5	+8	+3	+7		Enduring Body I
9th	Crusader 1	+6	+10	+3	+7	Martial Stance: Thicket of Blades (Tome of Battle)		Pick up the prerequisites required for Thicket of Blades, and another good maneuver would be White Raven Tactics
10th	Warmind 4	+7	+11	+4	+7			Strength of My Enemy might be a good power to take here
11th	Fighter 3	+8	+11	+4	+8
12th	Fighter 4	+9	+12	+4	+8	Weapon Specialization (Eldritch Blast), Melee Weapon Mastery (Player's Handbook 2)
13th	Warmind 5	+10	+12	+4	+8		Sweeping Strike	Now you can hit 2 enemies with every attack
14th	Hellfire Warlock 1	+10	+12	+4	+10		Hellfire Blast +2d6
15th	Hellfire Warlock 2	+11	+12	+4	+11	Shape Soulmeld (Strongheart Vest) (Magic of Incarnum)	Hellfire Blast +4d6, Hellfire Infusion, Fire Resistance 10	Now you can use Hellfire Blast without worrying about Con damage
16th	Hellfire Warlock 3	+12	+13	+5	+11		Hellfire Blast +6d6, Hellfire Shield
17th	Fighter 5	+13	+13	+5	+11
18th	Fighter 6	+14	+14	+6	+12	Practiced Manifester	Improved Dungeon Crasher	You have now reached the pinnacle of the build, able to expand to Huge, act Gargantuan, and add 8d6+str x4 to every attack when pinning your enemy against a wall
19th	Warmind 6	+15	+15	+7	+13		Enduring Body II
20th	Warmind 7	+16	+15	+7	+13		Chain of Personal Superiority +4

Other Components

For your ardent mantles, pick up Conflict for Weapon Focus: Eldritch Blade and Force for Force Screen to boost your AC at lower levels.

Highlights

Hit things against a wall with your Eldritch Glaive while power attacking freely due to using touch attacks. Use Thicket of Blades combined with Large and In Charge to stop enemies in their tracks, and use Travel Devotion to move around freely while still being able to use Eldritch Glaive (which requires a full-round action).

Assuming 20 starting strength after racial mods, your strength will be 20 + 4 (level) + 4 (tome) + 6 (item) +4 (Chain of Personal Superiority) = 38 at level 20. Full attack (every attack is a touch attack) will be 14 (Str) + 16 (BAB) - 16 (Power Attack) + 1 (Weapon Focus) + 2 (Melee Weapon Mastery) = +17/+12/+7/+2, with damage (assuming you're bashing them against a wall with the Knockback feat) being 7d6 (Eldritch Glaive + Hellfire Blast) + 21 (Two-Handed Weapon Strength) + 8d6+42 (Dungeon Crasher) + 2 (Weapon Specialization) + 2 (Melee Weapon Mastery) + 32 (Power Attack with a two-handed weapon) = 15d6+99 or 151.5 on average, all the while keeping the target locked down. Should all attacks hit, that comes out to 606 damage per round on average.

Use Sweeping Strike to deal this damage twice if two enemies are adjacent to each other, as well as to punish two enemies at the same time if only one moves, AoOing both of them.

Munchkin-Size Me

Find a way to fly (such as Winged Boots, or a 5' by 5' Carpet of Flying) and fly above your opponent, considering the ground as a "wall" with which to bash them into.

Limitations

Due to being kept at Light armor, your armor class might suffer which could be a problem before you pick up Thicket of Blades.

Also, Spell Resistance can completely cripple this build due to the low caster level for Warlock.

DM Counters

Add creatures that can teleport as a swift action, ranged attacks and AoE spells that do damage.

Spell Resistance. 'Nuff said.

Miscellaneous

This build assumes that the retarded multiclass xp penalty rules are not used.

Variants

If using the multiclass xp penalty rules, go Human and take the Jotunbrud feat from Races of Faerun to effectively give yourself Powerful Build.

An alternative to Large and In Charge is Stand Still from the Expanded Psionics Handbook.

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