If you would.
Feats:
Improved Critical -- Double threat range
Power Critical -- +4 when confirming
Weapon Properties:
Keen -- Double threat range
[Energy] Burst -- Extra damage
Maiming -- Extra damage
Class:
Psionic Weapon Master -- +1 to threat range (stacks)
Optimal Weapon Choices:
Scimitar -- 18-20 x2
Falchion -- 18-20 x2
Pick -- 20 x4
Scythe -- 20 x4
...Like I said, these are just the basics to get you going. If I can get to my books later, I'll try to add more.
Psychic Weapon Master increases the range and multiplier.
1) A weapon with a low modifier but high threat range. This means using a scimitar or falchion. Disciple of Dispater, if you can convince your DM to let you use it, supposedly "does not stack with Keen Weapons but does with the Improved Critical feat." In that case, get Improved Critical. Else, get a Scabbard of Keen Edges, which will save you a weapon enchantment bonus and a feat. With Psionic Weapon Master, your threat range will be either 11-20 or 14-20. Of course, you'll also want your weapon to have as many thundering/energy bursts as possible; thundering for +1 will add 1d8 damage, energy burst for +2 will add 1d6+1d10. If you can get maiming, this will increase the multiplier by 1, adding nice damage bonuses.
1.5) TWO such weapons. More expensive, but twice the crits! Wield a scimitar with an offhand kukri. You might need a few fighter levels to get all the dual-wielding feats.
2) A weapon with a low modifier but high threat range. In this case, weapon damage becomes more important. Using strongarm bracers (6000 gp) you can wield a Large scythe, for 2d6 damage. Make this Maiming, and that's 10d6 damage on a crit! Not to mention the fact that thundering will now give 4d8 bonus damage, while energy burst will add 1d6+4d10. If you can get all the threat modifiers listed earlier, that's a crit range of 17-20.
2.5) Two such weapons; use a pick and a light pick offhand. Sure, it's money and feat intensive, but your crits do a lot of damage and you have a lot of attacks to try and get them in.
3) Get the Death Blow feat, which will let you coup de grace as a standard action. If someone in your party can sleep or paralyze enemies, you can coup de grace them for an automatic critical; with a +1 large maiming thundering flaming burst scythe (cost: about 50,000 gold) your critical hit damage is 11d6+4d8+4d10, an average of 113 + str mod. When you make a coup de grace, the enemy must make a fortitude save (10+damage dealt) or die instantly. Thus, a coup de grace would let you instantly kill an ancient prismatic worm or hecatoncheires , with room to spare.
Warblade gets INT bonus to crit confirm. Synergizes well with a Swashbuckler dip. You want any hit that is a possible crit to automatically confirm on anything but one. This can actually be done if you can access Aura of Perfect Order, at least once / round. Which is enough for BitW to kick in.
Class:
Psionic Weapon Master -- +1 to threat range (stacks)
No. PWM increases the multiplier +1, not the threat range. The threat range increases by +2, if the PC already has the Improved Critical feat.
Crits with a regular weapon are actually less powerful than you think; the modifier only increases the weapon's damage, NOT your str bonus, power attack, or sneak attack.
you are correct about sneak attack, but im not sure where you get the idea that the STR bonus and power attack bonus are not also multiplied. from the text it seems to me that ALL static modifiers are included in the multiplication. the only things excluded are extra damage dice, like sneak attack, energy qualities, etc.
Streetfighter option for Barbs gives "At 7th level, the critical threat range of any charge attack he makes, or any attack he makes against a flat-footed foe, increases by 1. (Thus, a greataxe would threaten a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.) This ability stacks with the Improved Critical feat or the keen weapon enhancement."
Crits with a regular weapon are actually less powerful than you think; the modifier only increases the weapon's damage, NOT your str bonus, power attack, or sneak attack.
That is wrong (or at least misleading). All damage gets multiplied, except for extra damage dice. So, extra damage from high STR, Smite Evil, Favored enemies, power attack, weapon enhancement bonuses, etc. are all multiplied. Sneak attack and elemental enchantments are not. (edit: ninja'd)
1) A weapon with a low modifier but high threat range. This means using a scimitar or falchion. Disciple of Dispater, if you can convince your DM to let you use it, supposedly "does not stack with Keen Weapons but does with the Improved Critical feat." In that case, get Improved Critical. Else, get a Scabbard of Keen Edges, which will save you a weapon enchantment bonus and a feat. With Psionic Weapon Master, your threat range will be either 11-20 or 14-20.
It's generally accepted on this board that the PWM's +2 is added to the total threat range, and not multiplied by the Improved Critical feat.
Of course, you'll also want your weapon to have as many thundering/energy bursts as possible; thundering for +1 will add 1d8 damage, energy burst for +2 will add 1d6+1d10.
Thundering and burst enchantments are a waste of money even if you crit a lot. An extra 1D6 (average 3.5) elemental damage is a +1 enchantment and works on all hits. The extra +1 for an elemental burst only adds 1D10 (average 5.5) in less than 50% of all cases(*), so it's a +2.75 damage max. Another elemental enchantment is clearly better.
Add to that the fact that elemental resistances are common in mid-to-high-level play, and it's a bad idea overall.
Better enchantments for high-crit characters' weapons are the Collision enchantment (set +5 to damage, gets multiplied and is not subject to resistances), Enfeebling (automatic STR damage with no save), or the Prismatic Burst enchantment (fun random effects).
1.5) TWO such weapons. More expensive, but twice the crits! Wield a scimitar with an offhand kukri. You might need a few fighter levels to get all the dual-wielding feats.
It's not twice the crits, your off-hand usually has less attacks. Also note that with TWF you have a lower chance to hit and to confirm.
(*) For anything except DoD and Kaorti Resin weapon cheese.
BLOOOOOD in the water!
Warblade gets INT bonus to crit confirm. Synergizes well with a Swashbuckler dip. You want any hit that is a possible crit to automatically confirm on anything but one. This can actually be done if you can access Aura of Perfect Order, at least once / round. Which is enough for BitW to kick in.
Keeping two stances on is quite difficult though.
Human, using 2 flaws
Ardent-1 (Take the Conflict mantle for Weapon Focus) Dodge, Psionic Dodge, Practiced Manifester(ardent), Psionic Weapon
Ardent-2
Ardent-3 Combat Expertise
Fighter-1 Power Attack
Ardent-4 (Choose a 3rd Level Power)
Fighter-2 Spring Attack, Mobility
PWM-1
PWM-2
PWM-3 Improved Critical
PWM-4
PWM-5 Combat Reflexes
PWM-6 Whirlwind Attack
PWM-7 (+2 Threat Range)
Wpn Mstr-1
Wpn Mstr-2 [Open Feat]
Wpn Mstr-3
Wpn Mstr-4
Wpn Mstr-5 [Open Feat]
Wpn Mstr-6
Wpn Mstr-7 (+2 Threat Range)
A lot of goodies in there like increasing the multiplier 6 times per day, Attacks of Opportunity equal to Dex+Wis, whirlwind as a standard action, etc.
Save yourself a feat by getting The Mobility armour enhancement (+1, MIC). Also, if you choose the Life mantle, you may not need the Practiced Manifester feat.
If you can use both the 3.0 Weapon Master and the Psionic Weapon Master you won't have to be evil to have a nice threat range.
Can't really happen anyway.
Disciple of Dispator needs to use Steel or Iron weapons and Psychic Weapon Master needs to use Crystal Weapons.
Wonder if you can pull something out of the MIC?
Use Lightning Maces and Two-Weapon Fighting for those open feats. Threat range becomes (10-20x#) in the end, correct?
I see now that it also says "A critical hit means that you roll your damage more than once, with all your usual bonuses, and add the rolls together." However, how does one interpret "usual bonuses?" I'd agree this includes str bonus to damage, but I'm still not convinced that it multiplies enhancement bonus, power attack, or collision bonuses to damage: Power attack is not a "usual bonus." The bonus for collision damage is worded exactly the same way as for regular energy-imbued weapons.
As for energy burst weapons doing only 1d10 extra damage, that's assuming you're focusing on using a 2x weapon; I realize now that in such a case, it's not advantageous. However, wielding a 4x weapon, that becomes 3d10 extra damage (3d8 for thundering), which is enough to overcome some enemies' energy resistances. Also, if you're fighting enemies immune to critical hits, burst weapons still deal that extra damage, which can be quite useful if you've got no other ways of hurting them.
EDIT: I've been referencing maiming weapons gaining a bonus to crit multiplier, but I've seen other explanations of what it does as well. If, however, this does increase multiplier, then with psionic weapons master you could get a 6x weapon, giving 5d10 from burst and 5d8 from thundering.
Psionic Weapon Master (+2 Threat Range, +1 Multiplier)
Disciple of Dispater (X4 critical threat range)
Barbarian (+1 threat range with cityscape)
Warblade (Blood in the Water, Int to confirm criticals)
Warmind (Every hit hits two people, allowing double the chances to critical)
Master Thrower (Like the warmind for throwing)
Enchantments:
Aptitude (allows feats for any one weapon to apply to any other, so Lightning Mace and Roundabout Kick with Kukris... yehaw!)
Enfeebling (1d6+2 Strength damage with any critical hit)
Keen (doubled threat range, doesn't stack with DoD or Improved Critical)
Impact (as keen, for bludgeoning)
Materials:
Katori Resin (increased critical multiplier)
Solarian Truesteel (+1 to confirm critical hits)
Feats:
Improved Critical (Double threat range, doesn't stack with Keen)
Eviscerator (Every time you critically hit, all living enemies in range are shaken for one minute)
Martial Study (For Blood in the Water)
Weapons:
Kukris (18-20/X2)
Rapier (18-20/X2)
Chatkas (18-20/X2 Throwing)
And yes, putting this all together yields infinite attacks with infinite critical hits. Whee!
JaronK
Whoa. I feel like an idiot now. Somebody in my campaign just recently pointed out that "Extra damage over and above a weapon’s normal damage is not multiplied when you score a critical hit." I assumed this meant any kind of enhancement bonus or extra damage from magic properties was NOT multiplied, and neither was STR bonus or power attack.
I see now that it also says "A critical hit means that you roll your damage more than once, with all your usual bonuses, and add the rolls together." However, how does one interpret "usual bonuses?" I'd agree this includes str bonus to damage, but I'm still not convinced that it multiplies enhancement bonus, power attack, or collision bonuses to damage: Power attack is not a "usual bonus." The bonus for collision damage is worded exactly the same way as for regular energy-imbued weapons.
Pg 140 (PHB 3.5 ver): Nutshell version is numerical amounts stack (power attack, +enchantment, Strength, smite evil), but xdX amounts do not (sneak attack, skirmish, flaming).
I haven't heard a ruling on channeled spells. Spells that have an attack roll are able to critical (rays, touch) and spells that have no attack roll (lightning bolt, magic missile) cannot critical. It might be interesting to build a Duskblade built around the idea of making the weapon have as high of a critical range as possible to trigger critical damage on spells.
Pg 140 (PHB 3.5 ver)
Ah, this is what I get for not buying any books that are available SRD. There is a lesson to be learned!
It might be interesting to build a Duskblade built around the idea of making the weapon have as high of a critical range as possible to trigger critical damage on spells.
Unfortunately, channeled spells can not critical. You are using the weapon to deliver the spell, after the weapon damage is applied. (ie, you roll weapon damage and then the effect of the spell is applied). I am away from my books, but I am sure someone else cant point you in the right direction.
EDIT: Oh wait, I forgot. I saved the newest FAQ to my work PC. Here is a quote from it
If a duskblade scores a critical hit when channeling a
spell through a melee attack, is the spell’s damage
multiplied just like the weapon’s?
The rules aren’t as clear as they could be, but the Sage is
inclined to say no. Here’s the key sentence, from the PHB II,
page 20: “If the attack is successful, the attack deals damage
normally; then the effect of the spell is resolved.”
If you score a critical hit, the attack deals the normal
(critical) damage. Then the spell resolves normally, but it’s just
a rider effect applied due to the successful attack roll—you’re
not actually using the spell in the normal manner, so it can’t
score a critical hit.
Keeping two stances on is quite difficult though.
True. Only Mo9 or Warblade 20, to be precise. :/
Going for AoPO is probably not worth it, if you can get around 6-8 hits per round anyway, and your crit confirms on a 2.
Now, 3.5 being 3.5 this generally means that you'll have something like +5 to +10 to hit and damage at the end of any given combat, which isn't all that much, in real game. Still, it's theoretically uncapped. Also, there's a fun mob effect if you combine this with Bloodstorm Blade and Far Shot. (remember, you're not limited to your first range increment...)
Anyways, with the DoD, it says cold iron, that means He's only useful if i DONT add magic to the weapon? That seems like a large downside to me. And Anything that only allows me to add to the crit's once or twice a day also isn't very great in my opinion, I'm looking for static abilities.
This helpful hint brought to you by the SurrealDex, and the number 3.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031014a
Works just fine when I click it. Weird.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031014a
Yes it is a functioning link in both posts for me...