Crusader lockdown build?

[Jackofalltrades]

Hello everyone.
well i been looking working at making a crusader for the past few days when heard about the Lockdown build. but i couldn't find a list of what feats to take.
could someone post a chart that shows what feats to take at each Level for a human lockdown Crusader with flaws? also I plan on using a Glaive, so i won't need to wast a feat on Spiked chain proficiency. (i know spiked chain is highly recommended, but it won't fit the character flavor).

[Red Fel]

It depends on what material is available.

If 3.0 is on the table, Improved Trip + Knock Down + Robilar's Gambit/Karmic Strike, when in Thicket of Blades stance, is extraordinarily effective. Any enemy who so much as breathes in your threatened area provokes an AoO; if he moves, if he attacks your allies, if he attacks you, he gets hit. When he gets hit, you make a trip attempt and he spends his time getting up (and provoking more AoOs) instead of attacking.

If it isn't, you can still do a lot with Robilar's Gambit/Karmic Strike, along with feats like Stand Still, which can stop an enemy cold. After that, it's just smart use of your maneuvers and stances.

Specifically, your lockdown stance is Thicket of Blades. Iron Guard's Glare is useful, but ToB is what gives you the AoOs you need to keep your target smacked. Either you'll wind up killing him, or you'll use some form of debuff. I like trips, but if you have other tricks that work on-hit, such as stun or paralysis, those are good. (For example, the Ironsoul Forgemaster has a stun-on-hit effect with weapons he crafts himself; that's every hit, and with Thicket of Blades, you make a lot of those.)

[Jackofalltrades]

It depends on what material is available.

If 3.0 is on the table, Improved Trip + Knock Down + Robilar's Gambit/Karmic Strike, when in Thicket of Blades stance, is extraordinarily effective. Any enemy who so much as breathes in your threatened area provokes an AoO; if he moves, if he attacks your allies, if he attacks you, he gets hit. When he gets hit, you make a trip attempt and he spends his time getting up (and provoking more AoOs) instead of attacking.

If it isn't, you can still do a lot with Robilar's Gambit/Karmic Strike, along with feats like Stand Still, which can stop an enemy cold. After that, it's just smart use of your maneuvers and stances.

Specifically, your lockdown stance is Thicket of Blades. Iron Guard's Glare is useful, but ToB is what gives you the AoOs you need to keep your target smacked. Either you'll wind up killing him, or you'll use some form of debuff. I like trips, but if you have other tricks that work on-hit, such as stun or paralysis, those are good. (For example, the Ironsoul Forgemaster has a stun-on-hit effect with weapons he crafts himself; that's every hit, and with Thicket of Blades, you make a lot of those.)

I'm not sure if my DM will allow 3.0 stuff. i guess it depends on what the feat does. "note" he did allow Weapons master for my brothers fighter if he got that LV. so maybe.

note: i should mention that Pisonics are not allowed.

[Red Fel]

I'm not sure if my DM will allow 3.0 stuff. i guess it depends on what the feat does. "note" he did allow Weapons master for my brothers fighter if he got that LV. so maybe.

note: i should mention that Pisonics are not allowed.

See, this is another thing that irks me: Stand Still has no reason to be a Psionic feat. It's not Psionic. It shows up in a book about Psionics, sure, but it is not, itself, a Psionic feat.

I'm not venting on you, I'm just venting. You should talk to your DM about that, though; there are occasionally things in splatbooks that really needn't be exclusive to those books.

With regard to Knock Down, the feat is very simple - if you do 10 or more damage with a melee attack, you can make a free trip attempt. This is incredibly useful with lockdown builds, because if you load up on your AoOs (acting when it's not your turn is one of the hallmarks of a great lockdown build) any one of them can trigger a trip attempt. Enemies who attack you provoke AoOs (thanks to Robilar or Karmic), enemies who attack your allies provoke AoOs (thanks to maneuvers like Defensive Rebuke), enemies who move within your threatened area provoke AoOs (thanks to Thicket of Blades). Knock Down allows any of those hits to trigger a trip attempt.

Even if you can't use Knock Down, there are ways to make your attacks count.

Now, if you have Large size or larger, and a natural reach of 10 or more, you could take the Large and in Charge feat from Draconomicon. When you make a successful AoO against an opponent moving inside of your threatened area (and as mentioned above, you'll make a lot of those), you can force it back to where it was before it provoked the AoO, and stop any future movement this round, with an opposed Str check. In other words, if somebody provokes an AoO by moving, you can end their movement without losing the AoO they provoked. You still get the attack; they, however, suffer a net loss, damage taken and movement aborted. Of course, the prereqs are beastly, but such is the way of things.

[Jackofalltrades]

See, this is another thing that irks me: Stand Still has no reason to be a Psionic feat. It's not Psionic. It shows up in a book about Psionics, sure, but it is not, itself, a Psionic feat.

I'm not venting on you, I'm just venting. You should talk to your DM about that, though; there are occasionally things in splatbooks that really needn't be exclusive to those books.

Whoops!! i didn't even know stand still was from a Psionic book. what i meant was that can't play psionic classes, races that are psionic(maybe if take out the psionic parts). feats that require you to be psionic or have something Psionic. i would think a feat that has nothing psionic about would be okay.

sorry about that i should have made it a bit more clear. my DM has never dealt with pisonics before. I'm just lucky he's expanding his campaign by allowing ToB books. though I'm hesitant though, i heard Lockdown Crusader is a little OP but by all means not a Pun Pun. Also what is the benefit of the whole Spike chain lockdown? if people want to have a nice exotic weapon that trips why not just get proficient with Talenta Sharrash. (18GP, 1D10 damage, reach, Trip, 19-20X2 critical. (was mad when i saw the errata that made the X4 to a X2 critical) it seems better in most ways except you can't attack adjacent foes and can disarm.

[Red Fel]

though I'm hesitant though, i heard Lockdown Crusader is a little OP but by all means not a Pun Pun. Also what is the benefit of the whole Spike chain lockdown? if people want to have a nice exotic weapon that trips why not just get proficient with Talenta Sharrash. (18GP, 1D10 damage, reach, Trip, 19-20X2 critical. (was mad when i saw the errata that made the X4 to a X2 critical) it seems better in most ways except you can't attack adjacent foes and can disarm.

A solid lockdown Crusader build is only OP when pitted against other purely melee builds. Against anything with ranged attacks or spells, it suffers as all melee builds do. It's not all that OP at all. A good lockdown build, very simply, is designed to prevent the enemy from acting; if it can't reach the enemy, it can't do a lot to stop it.

The advantage of a spiked chain over the Talenta Sharrash, as you noted, is the same advantage the spiked chain has over most reach weapons - it also covers your 5-foot radius. Most reach weapons can't attack adjacent targets, creating a threatened ring, rather than a threatened radius, around your character. The spiked chain, however, can attack adjacent targets. Particularly for a Crusader, whose abilities key off his threatened area, it's important to threaten as much as possible. If an enemy can be adjacent to you and be perfectly safe, you're missing the point. You want your enemies to have no safe place to hide.

[Jackofalltrades]

A solid lockdown Crusader build is only OP when pitted against other purely melee builds. Against anything with ranged attacks or spells, it suffers as all melee builds do. It's not all that OP at all. A good lockdown build, very simply, is designed to prevent the enemy from acting; if it can't reach the enemy, it can't do a lot to stop it.

The advantage of a spiked chain over the Talenta Sharrash, as you noted, is the same advantage the spiked chain has over most reach weapons - it also covers your 5-foot radius. Most reach weapons can't attack adjacent targets, creating a threatened ring, rather than a threatened radius, around your character. The spiked chain, however, can attack adjacent targets. Particularly for a Crusader, whose abilities key off his threatened area, it's important to threaten as much as possible. If an enemy can be adjacent to you and be perfectly safe, you're missing the point. You want your enemies to have no safe place to hide.

okay that does make sense. so i would basically be a wall to stop my foes from reaching my allies. so i should really consider spiked chain.

[Troacctid]

Armor spikes and spiked gauntlets work too, but you have to enchant them separately, you can't trip with them, and they do less damage, so they're not as good.