What's the best build for someone who wants to focus on critical hits?

[Jackinthegreen]

Favored Critical [General]
You know how to hit your favored enemies where it
hurts.
Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +5, at least one favored
enemy.
Benefit: Select one of your favored enemies that is
normally subject to critical hits. Whenever you attack
this type of creature, the threat range of whatever
weapon you are using is doubled. For example, a longsword
usually threatens a critical hit on a die roll of 19 or
20 (two numbers). In the hands of a character with Favored
Critical using it against a favored enemy, its threat
range becomes 17 through 20 (four numbers). If it is also
a keen longsword, its threat range becomes 15 through 20
(six numbers: 2 for being a longsword, 2 for being
doubled as a keen weapon, and 2 for being doubled again
by Favored Critical).
Special: You can take this feat multiple times. Each
lime you do, it applies to a new favored enemy. The
effects ot this feat do not stack with those of Improved
Critical.

Keen is the only one mentioned explicitly as stacking and then Improved Critical is mentioned as not stacking.  Those are the only two effects mentioned.

[Yirrare]

Keen is the only one mentioned explicitly as stacking and then Improved Critical is mentioned as not stacking.  Those are the only two effects mentioned.

Thanks for the text Jack.

RAW, I would say it stacks with Iron HewsPower. This since Improved critical is mentioned as the exception. "It will not stack with..." The part with keen is only an example --> everything except improved critical should stack.

RAI, I would say they never meant a threat range to go down to 6-20. I mean, really! 75% chance of threating a critical?

Kindly
Yirrare

Edit: Also, depending on what he thinks he's foes are going to be, he could go for some other favored enemy. Arcanists is a pretty wide group aswell.

I want to watch my foes drop with crit after crit after crit.

/Yi

[linklord231]

Isn't Masters of the Wild 3.0?  Meaning stacking with Keen is par for the course, and Favored Critical not stacking with Improved Critical is an exception?

[Noliar]

Or you could have an alignment change.  Start Evil, initiate into the cult of Dispater, then change your ways and become Exalted.

I'm pretty sure Dispater would have something to say about that

[zook1shoe]

Why not just play a nimblewright disciple of Dispater?

 

Isn't Masters of the Wild 3.0?  Meaning stacking with Keen is par for the course, and Favored Critical not stacking with Improved Critical is an exception?

So is the BoVD and BoED

[McPoyo]

Hmm, after the 3.5 update, their threat range is 15-20, so with DiD, it'd be 3-20 threatening, without using the Imp Crit feat at all. Is it worth a +6 LA on top of its 10 hit die, though?

[linklord231]

Hmm, after the 3.5 update, their threat range is 15-20, so with DiD, it'd be 3-20 threatening, without using the Imp Crit feat at all. Is it worth a +6 LA on top of its 10 hit die, though?

Nimblewrights are constructs, right?  Sounds like it's time for some Incarnate Construct stacking 

Why not just play a nimblewright disciple of Dispater?

 

Isn't Masters of the Wild 3.0?  Meaning stacking with Keen is par for the course, and Favored Critical not stacking with Improved Critical is an exception?

So is the BoVD and BoED

Right but my point was that the specific/general rule would be reversed in the case of Favored Critical.  The specific rule would be "this doesn't stack with IC" while the general rule would be "this stacks with everything."

[McPoyo]

Hmm, after the 3.5 update, their threat range is 15-20, so with DiD, it'd be 3-20 threatening, without using the Imp Crit feat at all. Is it worth a +6 LA on top of its 10 hit die, though?

Nimblewrights are constructs, right?  Sounds like it's time for some Incarnate Construct stacking 

Would be pointless. Loses the tripping thrust, SLAs, and Augmented Critical abilities.
 Would be better off playing a Fighter 14.

[zook1shoe]

Symbiotic incarnate construct dustform muckdweller-'templated' nimblewright

Gives you 11 ECL

[Nunkuruji]

Last campaign a PC had a dual-scimitar Dervish, Telling Blow, and a reasonable amount of precision dice. Crit fairly often and did plenty of damage in a lower tier of play.
Can be improved on easily enough.

I saw a sniper PrC in Dragon #323 while skimming for Chocobos. Looked like the class ups the critical multiplier and threat range for ranged weapons only.

[Jackinthegreen]

Why not just play a nimblewright disciple of Dispater?

 

Isn't Masters of the Wild 3.0?  Meaning stacking with Keen is par for the course, and Favored Critical not stacking with Improved Critical is an exception?

So is the BoVD and BoED

BoED is 3.5 actually.

[zook1shoe]

Lol well really early 3.5

[Jackinthegreen]

Lol well really early 3.5

Kinda like Savage Species: 3.25ish

[McPoyo]

Lol well really early 3.5

Kinda like Savage Species: 3.25ish

BoVD was 3.25ish.

BoED was full 3.5

[SorO_Lost]

Since Endarire hasn't really voiced anything and we're following this line pretty well I guess we're pretty much spot on.

Playing into the Constantine theme, ie a guy that was going to hell seeks to "win" his way into heaven by killing evil eventually does via self sacrifice only to be resurrected by evil in hopes that he'll screw up again, using the mechanical rules of acquiring an Alignment subtype to maintain qualifications but also paying attention to Exalted requirements. You could go two ways, evil gone good or good pretending to be evil.

For example if Alignment change is ok you could do something like
Ranger 1 (fe:arcanists) / Warblade 1 (blood to water stance) / X Y / @7 Disciple of Dispater 4 (iron power) / X Y / @16 Harper Paragon (fe:evil) 2 / X Y
Feats: Favored Critical(arcanist)^6th/9th, Sacred Vow^12th, Vow of Obedience^15th, Favored Critical(evil)^18th
Where levels 11 to 12 is your transitional area and sacrificing all but your combat style. It's very much evil trying to save it's self that eventually does concept.

Or a build like this one, which gets out of an Alignment change and will probably see more forum reposts because of it.
Ranger 1 (fe:arcanists) / Warblade 1 (blood to water stance) / X Y / @6Harper Paragon (fe:evil) 2 / X Y / @11+ Disciple of Dispater 4 (iron power) / X Y
Feats: Sacred Vow^1st, Vow of Obedience^3rd Favored Critical(arcanist)^6th/9th, Favored Critical(evil)^6th/9th.
Where you slip into the church's special forces, pick up your secret identity tag and convince your target group you're a homie.

You should have room to figure out if you want Arcane Dualist or even Dervish.

[linklord231]

Soro, you left off Lightning Maces.

[SorO_Lost]

Soro, you left off Lightning Maces.

Or did I!

It a four Feat investment, haven't quite worked out if Fighter, Psychic Fighter, or Monk would be more viable to suggest. Flaws could work too through.

[zook1shoe]

Soro, you left off Lightning Maces.

Or did I!

It a four Feat investment, haven't quite worked out if Fighter, Psychic Fighter, or Monk would be more viable to suggest. Flaws could work too through.

~2 less with feat binding items

[Endarire]

And less with a continual source of heroics!

[muktidata]

I'd go with:

Barbarian 7 (Streetfighter and Lion Totem variants; possibly Craft Hunter if you want Favored Enemies and Combat Styles to save on feats [Strong-Arm grants Power Attack and Improved Bull Rush])
Mythic Exemplar 2 (Choose the path that grants an extra 1 to the threat range)

-from here I'd decide whether I wanted to be good or evil-

Good:
Stalker of Karash favored critical route

Evil:
Disciple of Dispater route

Either way:
Lightning Maces + Aptitude Greathorn Minotaur Warhammer

Both builds leave several levels to toy with. You could go with things that grant bonuses to confirming threats, things that grant reach, immunities, whatever. Both builds are fairly feat-intensive, but if you have extra feats, I'd max initiative. There are several feats that combo with bludgeoning weapons. One from the Dragon Compendium stuns, I believe. Just charging something and attack them near-infinitely seems like a decent crit build.