Whats the best fronline guy??
Fighter? Barb? Fighter 4/Barb x? Monk?
What are the stats of the ultimate frontliner:
race,class,skills,feats,attributes... ?

At the moment i have one halforc fighter4/barb 4(barb+ in future)
with 22str,18dex(or 16),18con,min int,14 wis,min ch i think

and one monk human 8 with
str 18 dex 18 int min wis 16 ch min

oh i forgot: the fighter/barb uses long swords (at the moment this moonblade)

one thing real quick Kirdie, welcome to the forums, but don't forget you can always edit your own posts, so you don't have to a whole nother one. As for your strongest frontline guy, it's a matter of opinion... but probably NOT a monk at first, as they are definitely a class slow to develop. The 4fight/xbarb is a good choice, as plenty of HP and str are good up front. However, don't forget with Min/max stats that you will be very susceptible to charm style spells, so when your barb starts beating on your mage, you'll be in quite a pickle... though on a side note i have direcharmed my own guys back to my side after the enemy charmed them first... was pretty funny...hehe.. quick edit about weapon choice, for such a high str barb, you might want to go with 2 handed weapons, and get a huge bonus to dmg, so he can dish out more. they get 1.5 times str bonus vs just normal str bonus on 1handed weapons.

[ 09-13-2002, 03:32 PM: Message edited by: ratchild ]

Honestly I have a Ranger/Barb and a straight Fighter as the main tanks in my party and I have found that the plain vanilla fighter with Longsword/Shield has been my best all-around tank. My Ranger/Barb does slightly more damage than my fighter, but my fighter lasts way longer in a fight so over time he probably outdamages my dual-wielder, who always seems to need to retreat from the front for healing [img]smile.gif[/img] Just to put the two characters in context, my Fighter has 19 str 14 dex and 18 con at lvl 10 and the Ranger/Barb has 19 str 18 dex and 14 con. My fighter has a way better AC with full plate and a +1 shield than the dual-wielder does in +2 Studded and he actually has about 20 more HP's. (But this is due mainly to my Barb's low con.

My opinion, for you frontline damage absorber/blocker you can't beat a 1-H weapon and shield Fighter with a good selection of bonus feats. It's not exciting but it works.

The half-orc ftr/barb actually sounds pretty good. Will saves are based off Wisdom instead of intelligence, so all you are missing out on is personality when you converse (let someone else be your "front-line talker") and skills, which a fighter can do fine without. Unless I was fighting someone that required a plus 2 weapon to hit, I wouldn't use the Moonblade for this character. It does not allow for any strength bonus to damage. I agree with Ratchild, a two hander would be the most effective for this type of fighter.

Another option would be to use a dwarf, and you could have two extra stat points for wisdom to build up your will saves. You lose two strength, but gain 2 constitution which really makes this guy last and last. The Dwarf has a few other perks as well, but a half-orc is definately a bruiser.

[ 09-14-2002, 05:03 AM: Message edited by: Zateel ]