Heroic Fighter, Help!

[Crasical]

I've come to the embarrassing conclusion that despite how I've been behind the DM screen for so long I've never actually rolled a PC of my very own. Now that someone from the group has stepped up and asked to run a module or two, I get to play... And now I need some help realizing my character. Can you guys give me a hand?

WHAT I WANT TO PLAY
The long and short of it is that I want a fighter who dual-wields a pair of light weapons despite wearing heavy armor, using two short-swords are to be spring-loaded wrist-blades that are part of his armor.

Backstory here, spoiled for those who don't care much.

Spoiler

Show

Dr. Liedner, humble apprentice to a kindly old maker of clockwork novelties and toy soldiers, is forced to take up the cause of revenge when his beloved peasant village is visited by a fiendish knight with a demonic sword. Finding that he had no talent for arcane or divine magic nor any skill with a blade, the good doctor fell back on the skills he did possess, and built himself a suit of clockwork armor that was nigh-impervious to blade and arrow, and gave him the strength of a mighty barbarian. Despite the suit being finicky and prone to malfunction, Liedner sets out on his quest to prove his artifice a match for any warrior, and eventually find and slay the evil knight who wronged him so long ago.

WHAT I HAVE SO FAR
Starting as a 1st level character, will end the campaign at ~10th level

Race: Human
Class: Fighter
(Tempest, Combat Superiority)
Trained Skills: Athletics, Endurance, Streetwise
Human Bonus Skill: Heal
Ability Scores (After racial bonus): STR 16, CON 16, DEX 11, INT 11, WIS 14, CHA 8
Backgrounds/Themes: None

Planned Powers by Level:

1. • At Wills: Dual Strike (MP 7), Grappling Strike (MP2 8)
   • Encounter: Funneling Flurry (MP 8)
   • Daily: Seize and Stab (MP2 10)
2. Utility: Forceful Drag (MP2 10)
3. Encounter: ???? Slamming Rush (MP2 11) ????
4. N/A
5. Daily: Dervish' Challenge (MP2 12)
6. Utility: Dauntless Endurance (HotFL 136)
7. Encounter: Come and Get It (PHB 80)
8. N/A
9. Daily: Jackal Strike (MP 13)
10. Utility: Clearheaded (HotFL 161)

Feats: Plate Proficiency, Two-Weapon Defense (Tempest), and Practiced Study (Human)

Equipment:
Plate Armor (50g)
Short Sword x2 (10g each)
Spiked Gauntlet (5g)
Standard Adventurer's Kit (15g)
10gp in spare change

OH NO WHAT AM I DOING
I've got no idea what feats to pick past first level... I don't know what's good or considered 'necessary', what will make me stronger if I take it now and what I can put off until paragon tier.

At the moment I'm planning on picking the powers as presented above (Except for third level, I don't know what I really want there), and increasing my WIS and STR on each levelup.

I could use some help. What feats should I pick? Which powers have I selected that you feel underperform? What makes sense, and what doesn't?

[Drglenn]

With that backstory you could probably get away with making your race Warforged (ask you DM, remember fluff is mutable), which'll give you (slightly) better stats and access to living construct equipment.

Stat Wise, you're a point under 22 point buy as it is, I'd reccommend a stat array of something like this (pre-racial):
Str:16, Con:13, Dex:14, Int:10, Wis:14, Cha:8
If you stick with Human as your race put your bonus into strength.

Class-wise: is there any reason you want to go TWF Fighter? Ranger does TWF better (dual bastard swords/waraxes/craghammers!), Fighter does sword-and-board and/or 2-handed weapon better.

Feat-wise: assuming you're not getting it given to you at some point (I know some DMs, myself included that give it to you for free), I'd reccommend getting an expertise feat in your chosen weapon. Note that I mean X Expertise, not Weapon Expertise X, the former will have an extra little ability attached to it which is always better than none.

[Crasical]

With that backstory you could probably get away with making your race Warforged (ask you DM, remember fluff is mutable), which'll give you (slightly) better stats and access to living construct equipment.

I'll ask my DM about it, thanks.

Stat Wise, you're a point under 22 point buy as it is, I'd reccommend a stat array of something like this (pre-racial):
Str:16, Con:13, Dex:14, Int:10, Wis:14, Cha:8
If you stick with Human as your race put your bonus into strength.

I need 15 con to qualify for Plate Armor proficiency, unfortunately. If I could get Con 15 and Dex 13, that might be optimal, but I don't see that happening without tanking my other stats.

Class-wise: is there any reason you want to go TWF Fighter? Ranger does TWF better (dual bastard swords/waraxes/craghammers!), Fighter does sword-and-board and/or 2-handed weapon better.

Our group already has a striker, part of my idea for this character was 'heavy armor, small, dual weapons' instead of double bastard swords, and It's easier to spend one feat on plate as a fighter than spend three feats on plate as a ranger. I'm aware it's not exactly the best choice I could make, which is why I wanted someone who's got more experience to take a look at it, so that I'm at least kinda-functional instead of being useless.

Feat-wise: assuming you're not getting it given to you at some point (I know some DMs, myself included that give it to you for free), I'd reccommend getting an expertise feat in your chosen weapon. Note that I mean X Expertise, not Weapon Expertise X, the former will have an extra little ability attached to it which is always better than none.

I'm pretty sure we're not getting free feats, or using backgrounds/themes. I'll ask the DM to clarify.

[Drglenn]

I need 15 con to qualify for Plate Armor proficiency, unfortunately. If I could get Con 15 and Dex 13, that might be optimal, but I don't see that happening without tanking my other stats.

Well, if you end up going Warforged then that point is moot, you'll get to 15 con with the Warforged boosts. But a fighter shouldn't really need plate armour, scale should suffice.

You've also taken a few powers that rely on you having a free hand (grappling strike, seize and stab, slamming rush), these are either going to require you to invest in quick draw or spend your actions putting your weapon away and getting them out to attack with your other powers

[Crasical]

Well, if you end up going Warforged then that point is moot, you'll get to 15 con with the Warforged boosts. But a fighter shouldn't really need plate armour, scale should suffice.

You've also taken a few powers that rely on you having a free hand (grappling strike, seize and stab, slamming rush), these are either going to require you to invest in quick draw or spend your actions putting your weapon away and getting them out to attack with your other powers

It's only a minor action to sheathe or draw a weapon. Didn't seem like much of a problem, as I'm not overburdened in stuff that uses a minor.

Good point on the Warforged bit. And I don't need plate, I just want it to complete the image of a guy in a clockwork suit. It's more for image than mechanical benefit.

[ghost_warlock]

You might consider superior weapon proficiency - Gauntlet Axe for your 1st level feat. It does slightly more damage than a short sword, albeit at a +2 proficiency bonus instead of +3. Being a defensive weapon, it'll bump your AC up by another point if you dual-wield them. Also, it'll let you better utilize that high Con score with all the Con-based axe powers/feats available.

[Crasical]

If I was to hypothetically change to another armor type like chain or ring mail, what would you suggest I change in the build?

[ghost_warlock]

Well, as Drglenn said, the first thing I'd do would be to rearrange your stats. A pre-racial array of Str 16, Con 14, Dex 13, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 8 would increase your attack/damage by 1 each as well as help you qualify for feats requiring a higher Dex score, which would also make sense as a Tempest fighter. If you go human you'd put your racial stat bonus in Str and warforged would get +2 Str & Con.

Also, to get the full benefit of your Tempest fighter talent you'd want to stick to chain or lighter armor anyway. Otherwise, all you get out of that talent would be Two-Weapon Defense, which is okay but not great compared to what else you could get from your talent.

Until mid-to-late heroic, the AC difference between chain and scale is only one point. Obviously, going two-weapon rather than using a shield broadens the gap, but that's where Two-Weapon Defense comes in. Again, if the difference bothers you, grab a defensive weapon, such as the gauntlet axe I suggested above. You could easily wield a gauntlet axe in your main hand and, say a short sword in your off-hand to effectively get the best of both worlds while also getting the full benefit of your Tempest talent damage bonus. With this arrangement, your starting AC at 1st would be 18.

For feats, you may want to consider the multiclass ranger feat Two-Blade Warrior, which allows you to use a one-handed weapon as if it were an off-hand weapon. The official builder doesn't grant a one-handed weapon wielded this way the full Tempest talent damage bonus, however. Warforged Superiority allows you to knock a creature prone when you hit it with a opportunity attack. In a similar vein, Savage Axe and Focused Superiority each add an additional stat modifier to opportunity attack damage (Con & Wis, respectively). Of course, you'll want to pick up an expertise feat sometime; Master at Arms would be a good choice for you since it applies to all weapons and lets you swap weapons as a minor action. Otherwise, you can't go wrong with Improved Defenses, Improved Initiative, and Resilient Focus.

If you do go with the gauntlet axe, Reaver's Hook would be a decent choice for your 3rd-level encounter power. 2[W] damage with some soft control, but when using an axe you can also shift 1 and pull the target into the square you vacated. Otherwise, Sweeping Blow or Sweeping Slash have their uses. If you can scrounge up the points for a 15 Dex, Rain of Blows is fun.

Otherwise, your power choices aren't terrible. Thicket of Blades might be a stronger choice for your level nine Daily, since Jackal Strike will eat up your immediate in place of Combat Challenge.

For your 10th level utility, Clearheaded is good. You may also want to consider Reactive Surge (Endurance skill utility).