So, I have these two Warblade builds, and I'm trying to decide which one to take. The second of these builds is more theoretical because I didn't know about the Legacy Champion until rather recently. The two builds in question are:
Fighter 1/Cleric 1/Psychic Warrior 1/Barbarian 1/Warblade 16
and
Fighter 1/Cleric 1/Psychic Warrior 1/Barbarian 1/Warblade 7/Legacy Champion 9
The key thing to note is that the Legacy Champion advances any base class features by 1 upon level up for 7/9 levels. This can be used to advance Warblade class features, and it stacks with fact that half of each cross-class level counts towards a Warblade's initiator level. So, the second build's Wartblade level is effectively 14, and its initiator level is 20. However, I recognize that there are some tradeoffs to taking the second path. The things I lose from choosing the second build includes the following:
- Two points of BAB (if using partial BAB rules)
- Less Fortitude
- Battle Mastery
- Two new maneuvers known
- One maneuver replacement
- One maneuver readied
- One new stance
- One general feat
And what I gain includes:
- More Will
- Possibly two more 9th-level maneuvers
- A lot of class features involving legacy items on top of regular class features
Now, the question is, from an optimizer's perspective, which one of these two choices is a better commitment here? It looks like I'd lose a lot if I were to opt for the second build, but 9th-level maneuvers are undeniably powerful. The opportunity to get the same amount of 9th-level maneuvers as a 20th level Warblade seems like it could be worthwhile. Which option would you choose?