Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Terraism Apr 22, 2008 13:06:10	Hi, all. I'm going to be playing in a "last 3E bash" dungeon crawl fairly soon - a five to six session game that'll run until 4th Edition hits and the group converts. We're mostly looking at pushing the system as far as it will go this last time, so going for optimization. I'm helping a friend with her character, though, and running into a block. She wants to play a duskblade. Dexterity/finesse-based, which makes me cringe to begin with... especially since she still wants to be a solid damage-dealer. Moreover, she's set on not being either a human (so I'm down a potential feat for any build) nor an elf. I've been working on this for a few days now, and I'm just failing to come up with much - she doesn't have enough spells to reliably count on those to do extra damage, and without spells, she won't be doing much. Rules in effect: 32 point buy All WotC sources (setting-specific or otherwise) available Flaws not available Dragon magazine available Weapon Finesse is free 4th level Standard 4th level wealth Anyone have any ideas to toss out? Right now, I'm about ready to give up on meeting her concept of a high-dex, low-strength, solid damage duskblade.
#2 blargney_the_second Apr 22, 2008 14:32:24	Xeph with Shadow Hand.
#3 operation_shoestring Apr 22, 2008 14:49:13	Hi, all. I'm going to be playing in a "last 3E bash" dungeon crawl fairly soon - a five to six session game that'll run until 4th Edition hits and the group converts. We're mostly looking at pushing the system as far as it will go this last time, so going for optimization. I'm helping a friend with her character, though, and running into a block. She wants to play a duskblade. Dexterity/finesse-based, which makes me cringe to begin with... especially since she still wants to be a solid damage-dealer. Moreover, she's set on not being either a human (so I'm down a potential feat for any build) nor an elf. I've been working on this for a few days now, and I'm just failing to come up with much - she doesn't have enough spells to reliably count on those to do extra damage, and without spells, she won't be doing much. Rules in effect: 32 point buy All WotC sources (setting-specific or otherwise) available Flaws not available Dragon magazine available Weapon Finesse is free 4th level Standard 4th level wealth Anyone have any ideas to toss out? Right now, I'm about ready to give up on meeting her concept of a high-dex, low-strength, solid damage duskblade. hmn..... Warblade1/Duskblade1/OA Samurai1/Paladin4/Abjurant Champion4/Monk2(ascetic mage)/Arcane duelist2/Iaijustu Master5 Crazy CHA synergy (Cha to saves, CHA to AC twice, CHA to damage on Iaijutsu attacks with Sapphire Nightmare Blade), and it's *technically* a Duskblade. or Bard1/Duskblade9/Sublime chord1/Sacred Excorcist4/Abjurant Champion5 Channel Spell + Irresistible Dance = TEH LULZ Just some silly ideas.
#4 gaffer Apr 22, 2008 14:56:02	Shadow Blade + Arcane Strike + TWF chain + Haste = many attacks with extra damage on them?
#5 Terraism Apr 22, 2008 15:09:21	Hey, all. Xeph is a good starting point - I'd been looking at the lesser air genasi from the FRCS/PGTF, but especially if I go a +Charisma or +Wisdom route for the character, the Xeph will work better. Shadow Blade is definitely interesting, but it buts into the same problem I'm having - getting it. The game is, as mentioned in the first post, 4th level. With 4-5 sessions, we'll probably level up, at most, once. So the character needs to be running solid out the door. Which, yeah - where I'm finding it problematic. As a 4th level character without a bonus feat, she won't be able to have Shadow Blade without at least a level of swordsage. A swordsage 1/duskblade 3 may be the best bet (shadow blade and arcane channeling), but it seems like I'm missing something. She's looking at a fairly hefty attack bonus right now - any decent ways to drop her attack bonus in exchange for more damage? Power Attack is the obvious candidate, except, well, Strength. Any weakling feats that do anything similar?
#6 bluedsteel Apr 22, 2008 16:05:26	Okay, I like duskblades a lot... I'm running one right now... but... this idea won't work. Dex builds CAN'T deal a lot of damage without some sort of extra goodness on attacks... like sneak attack or something similar. Duskblade spells won't cut it. Shocking Grasp would do it, except that she's not going to have enough spells per day to keep going for long. She needs to reconsider. Give her a Goliath Dungeoncrasher, that'll work fine. If she's determined to go with dex-based, a Thri-Keen rogue with multiweapon fighting would be able to dish out a lot of sneak attack damage. Get a ranger buddy who makes things flanked when he shoots them, and you're good to go.
#7 blargney_the_second Apr 22, 2008 16:10:48	Swordsage 1: Shadow Blade, WF(Shadow Hand) Duskblade 1: Combat Casting Duskblade 2: EWP(spiked chain) Duskblade 3: Arcane Channeling Starting point-buy: Str 15, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 8 After racial + levels: Str 14, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 8 Attack: MW spiked chain +9 (2d4+7) AC: 19 in chain shirt +1 Stance: Child of Shadow Boosts: Burning Blade, Distracting Ember, Wind Stride, Sudden Leap
#8 maeglin_dubh Apr 22, 2008 16:19:50	I did this once, but only because I did it as an Elf with a Courtblade, and the two-handed high-crit weapon made up for the fact that my Strength wasn't that high. I was also making a support character, and he was equally proficient with the Elven Doublebow,(Improved Weapon Familiarity) which allowed me to support from the rear with spells and arrows when I knew I didn't have the damage output to deal with combat. EDIT: It's almost more of an assassin, with the ability to Quick-Cast True Strike and channel a Shocking Grasp into a called shot on a vulnerable area, or something similar. Depends on how your DM feels about called shots.
#9 blargney_the_second Apr 22, 2008 17:09:44	An alternate build to the one I posted above would be to substitute EWP(spiked chain) for TWF and use paired short swords. The full Dex bonus on offhand attacks is nice, and Burning Blade would count on both of them. You could also shift stat points from Str to Dex to get another point of Dex modifier for lots of goodness.
#10 wih Apr 22, 2008 18:07:46	Consider Illumian as a race to get your Bonus Spells based of DEX. A level in Swordsage to get Shadow Blade is a good idea, though picking it up at 5th level would be optimal with the feat at 6th, but this may not be an option depending of the lifespan of your game.