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Races
Azurin (Magic of Incarnum): Grants you 1 point of Essentia and Cobalt Expertise as a bonus feat; 2 essentia is all you need to optimize Cobalt Expertise.

Human: Can't go wrong with an extra skill point and feat; azurin is outright better, though (saves you a feat to get that extra 1 essentia).

Base Classes
Swashbuckler (Complete Warrior, page 11): Full BAB, d10 Hit Dice, Tumble as a class skill, Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat, Int (required for Combat Expertise) to damage at level 3. Also see Shield of Blades under Alternate Class Features.

Monk: With Carmendine Monk/Kung-fu Genius, it's Int to AC. Those bonus feats could be awesome - check the variant fighting styles under Alternate Class Features.

Warblade (Tome of Battle, page 20): Full BAB, d12 Hit Dice, Tumble as a class skill, adds Int to many things, gains standard-action strikes that goes well with Einhander.

Alternate Class Features:
Shield of Blades (Player's Handbook II, page 63): You lose the Swashbuckler's Dodge bonus and gains a +2 shield bonus to AC when fighting (defensively) with two light weapons. It also increases with levels, if you have room for more than Swashbuckler 5.

Fighting Styles: The Passive Way variant grants you Combat Expertise as a bonus feat at level 1. The Sleeping Tiger variant grants you Weapon Finesse at level 1. Either is good, you'd probably want both feats anyway. Denying Stance grants a bonus on grapple checks and disarm attempts (kinda meh). The Invisible Eye variant can get you an extra +1 to AC while using CE, fighting defensively or using total defense, but you need to take Agile as a feat and the bonus feats it grants are pretty worthless in this kind of build (Combat Reflexes, Lightning Reflexes, Blind-Fight). Undying Way gets you DR2/- while fighting defensively, but it sucks so hard I can't even explain it.

Traits
From Unearthed Arcana, traits are a very interesting option that adds flavour and cool stuff to a character. It's rarely used, it seems, but I think it's way better than flaws.
Cautious: +1 bonus to AC while fighting defensively. You can't be immune to fear and you suffer -2 on saves vs fear. It's worth it, I guess.

Feats
[b]Allied Defense (Shining South): Why not share your AC bonus with your team mates, uh?

Combat Expertise[/b]: Already mentioned, but I added it for completion's sake. Combat Expertise is not required to use most of the abilities listed here; some don't even work with it (Einhander, for example), actually. It can increase your AC even more if you combine it with fighting defensively and it has a better cost/benefit ratio when used alone.

Deadly Defense (Complete Scoundrel, page 76): No requirements, +1d6 damage when fighting defensively (or using Combat Expertise with at least -2 penalty) with finesseable weapons.

Einhander (Player's Handbook II, page 95): Easy requirements (BAB+6 and Tumble 6), +2 dodge bonus to AC while fighting defensively or using total defense with nothing in the off-hand and other minor bonuses. Nice and flavorful.

Quickstaff (Complete Warrior): +2 to AC while fighting defensively with quarterstaff. I still like Broadblade Shortsword better for some reason, though.

War Devotion (Complete Champion, page 63): Increases your bonuses for fighting defensively while it reduces penalties, gets better as you level up. It does not require a swift action to activate (it requires no action at all other than fighting defensively, actually), so it stacks with Defensive Surge/Vest of Defense. Unfortunatelly, it's just 1/day unless you grab a level of Cleric, 4 levels of Paladin or 2 levels of Dread Necromancer for burning turn attemps to fuel it. If anyone knows other ways to gain turn attemps (Sacred Exorcist and similar PrCs that need casting to qualify won't work, you need your levels to get stuff like Shield of Blades and Agile Fighting).

Prestige Classes
Exotic Weapon Master (Complete Warrior, page 30): If you are using broadblade shortsword (or any pair of exotic weapons), a single level dip (requiring a few skill ranks and Weapon Focus) reduces your penalties for TWF to -1. Pretty neat with d10 Hit Dice, also.

Bladesinger (Complete Warrior, page 17 or Races of Faerun page 179): While not amazingly powerful as gishes, Bladesingers really add something to Einhander-users. You are restricted to a one-handed weapon anyway, adds Int or class level to AC and eventually gains a flurry-like ability. Races of Faerun version is arguably better - it has higher requirements, but has it's own spellcasting (allowing you to qualify with Duskblade and actually gaining spells on a useful pace) and you gain 3 bonus feats. You have to be an elf of half-elf in both cases, so think carefuly. Very flavorful, too.

Dervish (Complete Warrior): +4 to AC when fighting defensively. Feat intensive, but a very good PrC that everyone has heard about already.

Thief-Acrobat (Complete Adventurer, page 83): 3/4 BAB and low Hit Dice, but increases bonuses for fighting defensively by +2 with 4 levels (you only lose 1 BAB). Requires evasion, though.

Duelist: Adds level as a bonus to AC while fighting defensively. Requires Dodge and Mobility, though, and is a late bloomer gaining this ability only at level 7.

Equipment:
Bradblade Shortsword (Complete Adventurer, page 117): Adds +1 dodge bonus to AC while fighting defensively or using Combat Expertise with at least -2. It was +2 on release, but it was nerfed in the errata.
Vest of Defense (Magic Item Compendium, page 146): As a swift action, 3/day, +2 on AC while fighting defensively or using Combat Expertise.
Defensive Surge (Magic Item Compendium, page 32): As a swift action, gain a +2 bonus to armor class while fighting defensively or using Combat Expertise for 1 round. Usable 1 + Int modifier times per day. Sadly, it can't be combined with Vest of Defense, since both use your swift action. You should probably use Vest of Defense on lower levels and then switch to a Defensive Surge weapon.

Builds:
Daring Defender
Human Swashbuckler 11/Rogue 4/Thief-Acrobat 4/Exotic Weapon Master 1
Feats: Combat Expertise (1), Cobalt Expertise (Azurin bonus), Weapon Finesse (Swashbuckler bonus), Exotic Weapon Proficiency: broadblade shortsword (3), Weapon Focus: broadblade shortsword (6), Two-Weapon Fighting (9), Deadly Defense (12), Daring Outlaw (15), Extra Essentia (18)
Take Shield of Blades with Swashbuckler and Twin Exotic Weapon Fighting with Exotic Weapon Master.
Equipment Needed: +1 defensive surge broadblade shortsword, other broadblade short sword

Spoiler: Show

Ruby Knight Defender
Human Rogue 3/Swashbuckler 4/Cleric 1/Crusader 1/Ruby Knight Vindicator 7/Thief-Acrobat 4
Feats:
Combat Expertise (1), Cobalt Expertise (Human bonus), Weapon Finesse (Swashbuckler bonus), Exotic Weapon Proficiency: broadblade shortsword (3), Weapon Focus: broadblade shortsword (6), Two-Weapon Fighting (9), Deadly Defense (12), Daring Outlaw (15), Extra Essentia (18)
Needed Equipment: Vest of defense, +1 defensive surge broadbade shortsword, broadblade shortsword

Spoiler: Show

The Bladesinger
This uses the Races of Faerun version:
Half-Elf Duskblade 2/Passive Way Monk 1/Fighter 2/Swashbuckler 3/Bladesinger 10
Feats: Einhander, Carmendine Monk
Some Int synergy - Carmendine Monk for Int to AC x2, Insightful Strike for Int to damage with rapier. You get a few bonus feats, cast one Bladesinger spell per round as a swift action and you gain a flurry ability. You fight defensively for -4 and gets +6 to AC (+5 if your DM is a jerk and can't accept Oriental Adventures on Tumble even if it follows the progression of ELH).

Defensive weapons are great for this too.

Kalastar are one of the best races for fighting defensively since they can take the tactical feat Dancing With Shadows from Races of Eberron.

Dancing With Shadows
Prereq: Kalastar, Perform(Dance) 8 ranks, Path of Shadows, BAB +4

You get 3 tactical maneuvers. You can only benefit from one of these maneuvers each round:
Flowing Motion, Still Mind: If you fight defensively or use combat expertise for at least a -2 penalty for 1 round, you get a +2 bonus on will saves that lasts as long as you continue to fight defensively or use combat expertise, plus 1 round thereafter.
Graceful Lunge: To use this maneuver, you must fight defensively or use combat expertise for at least a -2 penalty for 1 round. On the next round you get a bonus on your first melee attack roll equal to the dodge bonus to AC granted by either fighting defensively or using combat expertise in the previous round. (whichever dodge bonus is higher if you do both)
Lingering Defense: To use this maneuver, you must fight defensively or use combat expertise for at least a -2 penalty for 2 consecutive rounds. In the next round, you continue to receive the dodge bonus to AC granted by fighting defensively or using combat expertise, but no longer receive the penalty on attack rolls.

The second and third maneuvers are very good, but you can only use one each round.

Edit: Path of Shadows--Kalastar, Perform(dance) 5 ranks. You get a +2 bonus to Tumble checks and can use a perform(dance) check in place of concentration to cast or manifest defensively.
Not a great feat, but required for the better feat above.

true_shinken wrote:

Yeah, I'm making a whole section focused on the Dancing With Shadows feat.

Alright. Then also note their racial substitution level for Monk 2, which lets them take a bonus psionic feat--Interesting for Carmendine Monk/Duelist builds. Psionic Dodge and Speed of Thought both come to mind

@War Devotion.--Read the feat. It's ONE ROUND. Not 1 minute like the others. The Turn Undead recharge is THREE Turn Undead attempts.
"1/day I'm slightly better for 1 round" is good for a magic item, but not good for a feat; even with Cleric levels the turn attempts required to make use for this could be used for better things.

Edit: Kalastar Monks also have access to Ectoplasmic Fist if they dip into Psy War/Fist of Zuoken/Warmind (for Manifester level 1) ML 6 also nets them the ability to get 5 Ectoplasmic Armor shards for an Armor bonus of 10 (at the cost of 6 HP total); 2 levels of Psy War, with the second level feat of practiced manifester does the trick...can you tell that I love Kalastar Psi-Monk hybrids?