I'm joining an ongoing campaign and the DM is running a (from what I'm told) quite difficult module. I have a general idea of what I want to play and have fleshed out a build, the reason I am posting this is to get some advice on feats, hear some feedback on my choices, and possibly go a different route if someone has a way better idea.
Ok so as I was making this character I had a few things in mind... I wanted him to be a stylish melee character, that also served his purpose a primary damage dealer in the group. I'm told by my DM that the module he is running is very challenging, and I'm not sure about the rest of the party, but my 2 friends who will be joining with me don't know how to build characters or how to be efficient in a tactical situation, so I may need to cover some slack.
These are the parameters:
- Starting at 7th level.
- No LA beyond +3. Buy-off allowed.
- Most 3.5 published work, no Pathfinder.
- Flaws allowed, but I don't want to to take more than 3.
- No access to other planes, so no summoning.
- We are stuck in a network of underground citadels, so to speak. So little or no access to towns, shops, ect...
THis is what I've got so far. I'm including up to level 9, because once I get Storm Guard Warrior, I feel like the build starts to shine.
Catfolk
RotW +4 Dex, +2 Cha. 40 base speed.
Base Stats: 16, 16, 14, 10, 9, 8
Base After Racial ModsStr: 16 Str: 16
Dex: 10 Dex: 14
Con: 16 Con: 16
Int: 14 Int: 14
Wis: 8 Wis: 8
Cha: 9 Cha: 11
Progression: 1
WB > 2
WB > 3
WB > 4
WB > 5
Fighter > 6
Fighter > 7
WB > 8
WB > 9
SwordsageFeats1-Power Attack, [Flaw] Dodge, [Flaw] Adaptive Style,
3-Karmic Strike
5-[Fighter Bonus] Improved Bull Rush
6-Leap Attack, [Fighter Bonus] Shock Trooper
7-[Warblade Bonus] Ironheart Aura
9-Storm Guard Warrior
I also took the Twisted Charge and Never Out-Numbered skill tricks.
Maneuvers1-Stance: Blood in the Water (Tiger). Moment of Perfect Mind (Diam), Sudden Leap (Tiger), Steel Wind (Iron)
2-Sapphire Nightmare Blade (Diam)
3-Wall of Blades (Iron). Swap Sapphire Nightmare Blade for Action Before Thought (Diam)
4-Stance: Leading the Charge (White)
6-Swap Leading the Charge for Pearl of Black Doubt (Diam)
7-Flesh Ripper (Tiger)
8-Swap Action Before Thought for Bounding Assault (Diam)
9-
Swordsage Dip: Stance: Child of Shadow. Moment of Perfect Mind, Action Before Thought, Insightful Strike, Shadow Jaunt, Bonecrusher, Haven't decided on last one.
So I tried to get stances for different situations. At the beginning of a fight I will start in Child of Shadow (concealment when you move at least 10ft), this is my primary charging/skirmishing stance. Then Blood in the Water (+1 att/dmg for each crit I score,stacks.) when I'm on the offensive, or Pearl of Black Doubt (+2 AC each time an enemy misses, stacks.) for when I need to mitigate damage and not die
.
As far as maneuvers go, at level 9 I can have 4 readied from Warblade and 4 from Swordsage.
From my Warblade pool I figure I will ready:
Bounding Assault (free double move, allowing for charge+full attack),
Sudden Leap (swift action jump check, allowing full attack),
Flesh Ripper (attack + Fort save or -4 att/dmg for 1 round) *I don't like this one, might sub out for a higher dmg maneuver
Wall of Blades (sub attack roll for AC for 1 attack)
From Swordsage:
Moment of Perfect Mind (use Concentration check as Will save),
Action Before Thought (use Concentration check as Ref save),
Bonecrusher (+4d6 dmg, Fort save or +10 on crit confirmation until fully healed),
Shadow Jaunt (tele 50 ft) -or- Insightful Strike ( use Concentration check as + to dmg)
The idea is to go into Child of Shadow stance and charge in at the highest priority target (without surrounding myself), rolling a jump check for Leap Attack in conjunction with Shock Trooper. This allows me to take the minuses from my AC instead of my hit chances, then to triple the damage from power attack, putting up some impressive first strike numbers. (PS. dont bother telling me about charging smite or any ways to boost the charge dmg, I don't want to be an Ubercharger) Obviously at this point, I'm at high risk because of my low AC. Which I hope to mitigate with Wall of Blades and heavy armor thanks to the fighter levels.
Once I have blown Moment of Perfect Mind and Action Before Thought, I will Shadow Jaunt out, use Adaptive Style to refresh them, then charge back in.
While brawling, I will make full use of Storm Guard Warrior coupled with Karmic Strike to give up AoO for +4 to hit and dmg. Then bounce around the battle, charging and leaping to decimate casters and high risk targets.
Ok, so give me some thoughts on this. I realize that I will potentially be taking lots of hits from my weakened AC, and that may be too much if the module is as tough as it sounds like.
Should I maybe use a greataxe or greatsword instead of a katana so that the trades come out in my favor?
