I want to be a weapon master in real life. Where can I go to learn this?

I want to be a weapon master in NWN. Dammit.
I thought I had it out of my system already. Isn't 1000 hours enough for one damn game? :(

Weapon master requires way too many useless feats and gives you far too few feats...
But its still good for AT MOST 7 levels to get the +1 crit multiplier and +2 crit range. The epic progression for the +1 to attack are the suck.
Crit range is the best thing that class gives because that synergizes really really well with the overwhelming critical.

Ftr vs. CoT: Ftr gets more feats in epic (as already stated). The key in building an efficient toon is to take only epic feats like EWF, EWS, Epic Prowess, Armor Skin for the bonus feats and Great STR (or Great DEX for a DEXER) for the general feats every 3 levels. A pure fighter will ALWAYS reach a higher AB than a Ftr/CoT for that reason. Also, there are occasionally alignment limitations which the ftr never need worry about. Divine Wrath, except for CHA builds, like smiters, is totally worthless. Duration is over by the time you spit. Smiting itself is essentially a worthless feat, definitely in PvP, because is so easily countered (vs. any neutrals). So the main benefits in selecting CoT is for the save boost, especially the typically weak Will save of a fighter-type and Great WIS in epics to qualify for other feats. Also, keep in mind that a BAB of +7 pretty much necessitates taking a fighter (+1BAB/lvl) class to qualify for CoT quick enough in pre-epic to actually begin realizing the benefits of Sacred Defense save boosts. Usually, 10 levels CoT are enough to reach the point of diminishing returns (loss of feats). And, BTW... FEATS rule! You just need to learn how to allocate general vs. bonus effectively. Monk/CoT has an excellent synergy, especially to reach a high level Stunning Fist DC, excellent saves and elevated AC levels.

WM: Hands down the highest INDISPELLABLE AB melee build possible. My personal favorite is the DWing kukrimaster which will crit over 50% of the hits with keened kukris, and especially effective when combined with DevCrit. But as with MANY builds, WM is committed to a theme ... CRIT percentage and CRIT damage. So WeaponMaster could have been called CritMaster and relate exactly the same value. Against Undead, PMs, or Iron Golem mage polymorphs, for example, WM is anemic and there are better ways to achieve higher damage (like battle cleric, for instance). But for what it was designed for, mainly PvP DevCritting, it excels like no other class. The only other class that rivals WM AB would be ArcArcher, but that is a relatively low-damage range attack with poor crit range. There is a price to pay for reaching those high-crit stats (like the uber damage WM scyther does) and it is lots and lots of prereq feats. Keep in mind, though, that especially those DEX feats like Mobility and Spring Attack (AoOs) are huge boosts to a typically low AC WM build so they are not wasted. Even Expertise, when getting flanked badly, can aid in survival. Whirlwind is usually buggy and requires a lot of practice to get the timing just right but can be extremely devastating in PvM. Generally speaking, electing only 7 levels of WM is nothing more than a statistical exploit. Looks great on paper until you try to compete and then will discover how limited that so-called crit exploit is in practice. For most WM builds, the real strength begin at WM13 so a minimum of WM 19 or more levels is best, assuming your goal is to vie with elevated AC levels of the environment.

Bottom line: It all depends on what your goal is. Once you've outlined that goal in detail, it becomes pretty automatic deciding which class or class combo will achieve what you want.

No, it won't. A FTR/CoT can take exactly the same feats as bonus feats while still taking the GRT STR or GRT DEX feats every 3 epic levels and will end up with the same AB as a pure FTR.

While this is true, I feel that is more representative of the situation in PvP. In a PvE situation, I feel the "stop at 7" advice is fairly sound. Against other players every point of AB is invaluable due to the arms race with AC builds, but that arms race is rarely seen in other kinds of settings.

I feel that for the vast majority of non-PvP characters it makes little sense to put 5 dead levels into weapon master to start racking up the epic bonus. Such a character is more likely to have problems hitting skill checks in the non-combat portions of such modules, and is probably better served putting his remaining levels into rogue or bard to bolster his skills and diversify with UMD. That I'll agree with; if maximizing AB is your aim, then taking weaponmaster epic is a no-brainer. If you need to tackle a more diverse module where combat is just one of the challenges you'll face, then you've hit the point of diminishing returns in WM at level 7 and sinking more levels into it makes little sense.

The reason the "stop at 7" advice is so ubiquitous is that casual players are disproportionately likely to fall into the second group.