Asheras wrote on Oct 14
th, 2015 at 10:13am:
OK. Give me 18 "must haves".
I've got: (typical strength based melee fighter)
3 - Combat style chain (SWF,TWF,THF,S&B)
1 - Improved Crit
3 - Weapon Focus
2 - Weapon Spec
1 - Power Attack
3 - STR feats (Cleave/Great Cleave/Stunning Blow)
1 - Overwhelming Crit
=14 feats
What am I missing? Power Critical? Oversized TWF/TWF defense for TWF? None of those classify as "must haves".
I'm not even sure all the above are "must haves".
Even if you switch to a dex build and go precision and the dodge/mobility/spring attack/whirlwind route you still have at least 3 free feats at the end.
Don't get me wrong, fighters are at the ass end of the melee tree right now. But their enhancements are the main reason they are garbage. Kensai is a joke in comparison to Swash, Ravager and Tempest. But trying to say there are 18 must have feats doesn't make sense.
Overwhelming Crit is an Epic Feat so you can knock that off the list.
But you're missing Greater Weapon Focus, Greater Weapon Spec and Khop or B-Sword.
I wouldn't take Stunning Blow but would take Power Crit.
Then there's Superior Weapon Focus which OK maybe I can skip.
A TWF build is likely to want at least Dodge. {But I've noticed these new Armour feats seem to be strictly for Hvy Armour so probably won't affect Light/Medium Armour Builds anyway.}.
Resilience and Combat Expertise both have their uses {as does Precision}.
Magical Training for Cocoon usage.
Force of Personality if PDK Charisma spec.
And finally there's Toughness {Not the required feat it once was but still not bad.}
And my personal favourite Feat - Augment Summoning {Which I will skip if I can't fit it in - Would be nice if I could fit in a personally preferred Feat however without instantly becoming Gimped!}.
Maybe not a specific 18 Feats for every Fighter Build but close enough that 8 new Feats {4 of which will be Must Haves} is going to hurt!
Oh and there's Improved Trip of course {pre-req Combat Expertise} and I don't see how it makes sense to take 4 Trip Enhancing Feats without taking Imp. Trip?