The Veiled Blade
The Veiled Blade
The veiled blade is about making a dexterity and stealth based combatant. We make a number of dips for extremely compatible profit. With Swashbuckler we gain early BAB, Weapon finesse and some panache. The Magus dip for both spell combat and a nice grab bag of feats. Shadow
Dancer gains us fast stealth, and Cleric dip is a little for magic but mostly for the domains. 16 rogue levels give us sneak attack, plenty of feats, tricks, and skill points.
Dancer gains us fast stealth, and Cleric dip is a little for magic but mostly for the domains. 16 rogue levels give us sneak attack, plenty of feats, tricks, and skill points.
Feats/Rogue Talents
Elf or Half-Elf if permitted as we will be taking a Spire Defender Dip. We will assume elf for this build, if your GM permits half-elf the extra feat for skilled is quite welcome. For Elf I’d trade elven magic for the
Envoy alternate race trait for some bonus SLAs and enjoy the favored class bonus with minor and major magic rogue talents.
Envoy alternate race trait for some bonus SLAs and enjoy the favored class bonus with minor and major magic rogue talents.
1: Elf Swashbuckler 1: Combat Reflexes (for free weapon finesse, panache, deeds)
2: Magus 1 (Spire Defender and Spell Dancer*): (for free- Spells, Spell
Combat, Scorpion Whip Prof, Combat Expertise, Dodge, Arcane Pool)
Combat, Scorpion Whip Prof, Combat Expertise, Dodge, Arcane Pool)
3: Rogue 1 (Scout, Swashbuckler): Mobility (1d6 SA)
4: Rogue 2: Weapon Training Weapon Focus Cutlass
5: Rogue 3: Slashing Grace (Cutlass) (2d6 SA)
6: Shadow Dancer 1: Hide In Plain Sight
7: Rogue 4: Spring Attack Fast Stealth (gain ability to sneak on a charge, maintain stealth until you hit, then run to cover)
8: Rogue 5: (3d6 SA)
9: Cleric 1: (Domains: Travel and Darkness) Arcane Strike, Domain adds free Blindfight feat
10: Rogue 6: Combat Trick: Whirlwind Attack
11: Rogue 7: (4d6 SA) Wind Stance
12: Rogue 8: Combat Trick: Jaguar Pounce
13: Rogue 9: (5d6 SA) Moonlight Stalker
14: Rogue 10: Feat Moonlight Stalker Feint
15: Rogue 11: Moonlight Stalker Master
16: Rogue 12: Opportunist
17: Rogue 13: Toughness
18: Rogue 14: Skill Master
19: Rogue 15: Improved Initiative
20: Rogue 16: Hunter’s Surprise
Attributes
Dexterity>Intelligence>Wisdom>Charisma>Constitution>Strength.
Intelligence should be 13, it doesn't need to be any higher, but it
shouldn't be any lower. Wisdom should be 11 or 12, Charisma 12 or
higher.
Intelligence should be 13, it doesn't need to be any higher, but it
shouldn't be any lower. Wisdom should be 11 or 12, Charisma 12 or
higher.
Point Buy 20
Str: 10
Dex: 18 (16+2)
Con: 12
Int: 13
Wis: 12
Cha: 12
Attribute increases should go into Dex or optionally Charisma, favored class bonuses should go into hit points when not going into rogue talents.
Skills
Max Intimidate, Use Magic Device, Perception, Disable Device, Stealth, possibly Bluff and spread the rest around to remain versatile. Equipment that shores up mental attributes can be key.
Traits
Reactionary (+2 Initiative)
Any trait that shores up will saves
Variables
This build is about damage stacking and action economy. You get a flanking companion from Eldritch Heritage. This assumes you have a Animal companion, if you instead have a Familiar you might want to go with
Evolved Familiar to give a Skilled +8 to UMD. Another option is to take Leadership if your GM allows, this would speed up the build to a 1 feat investment or alternately you can take a different bloodline power.
Evolved Familiar to give a Skilled +8 to UMD. Another option is to take Leadership if your GM allows, this would speed up the build to a 1 feat investment or alternately you can take a different bloodline power.
Tactics at Level…
Level 1: Wait for foes to come to you or try to position yourself in a spot to gain extra attacks, you should hit easily and well for your level.
Level 3: Great bag of tricks between the spells, whip, and general utility of being a rogue. Hitting might be tough but you should have decent AC..
Level 5: Should have decent damage now, particularly with a flanker.
Level 7: Build comes together with ability to charge, get off a full attack. Next round hide in plain sight even on a full move.
Level 9: Enhance Mobility options even further and gain an invisibility like power and blindfight, your BAB is a little lacking but you can Truestrike with the magus level if need be and the combat feats are keeping you very viable.
Level 11-15: All this builds on mobility, stealth, and the assured ability to deal SA
Level 16-20: At this point you are simply shoring up weaknesses
Even in a desperate situation of enemies with immunity to SA you have a few spell options and you can almost always get away.
You average half BAB until level 11 and before that only edge above it at level 5. You are not focused on touch attacks. You only have a handful of truestrikes. This doesn't add up to a competent character.
ReplyDeleteWhen you are out of Truestrikes there's always ray of frost which targets touch AC, personally I'd simply use gear to ensure an fair ability to hit. You will run into issues hitting when everything that isn't full BAB suffers (CR14+) but most games are over by then.
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