The concept of sneak attack optimization in the context of Tome of Battle is obvious at the abstract level, however an actual optimized progression has been elusive to me, and I think many others. The Feral Assassin is my best attempt thus far.
Optimization Objectives•Maximize Attack Bonus & number of attacks
•Maximize Sneak Attack dice
•Incorporate a "guaranteed" Sneak Attack method by the time sneak attack is acquired in an appreciable quantity (2d6 sneak attack or more).
•Optimize Saves, HP, AC, and initiative for general combat effectiveness.
•Optimize for mid-levels (should bloom at 8-12th level); this is for practicality purposes.
b]Race[/b]: Human, Azurin, Strong Heart Halfling, or Silverbrow Human
----CLASS-#-----------FEATS/CLASS ABILITIES OF NOTE------------------------IL: WB/SS--SWAP?--BAB--Saves
1.-Swordsage 1: Shadow Blade, (Two-Weapon Fighting), (Weapon Focus: SH)-------0/1------------0---0/2/2
2.-Warblade 1:----------------------------------------------------------------1/1------------1---2/2/2
3.-Warblade 2: Weapon Finesse, [Uncanny Dodge]--------------------------------2/2------------2---3/2/2
4.-Warblade 3:----------------------------------------------------------------3/2------------3---3/3/3
5.-Warblade 4:----------------------------------------------------------------4/3------X-----4---4/3/3
6.-Rogue 1: White Raven Defense, [Sneak Attack +1d6]--------------------------5/3------------4---4/5/3
7.-Blood Claw Master 1:-------------------------------------------------------6/4------------4---6/7/3
8.-Blood Claw Master 2: [Superior Two-Weapon Fighting]------------------------7/5------------5---7/8/3
9.-Swordsage 2: [Assassin's Stance], Clarion Commander------------------------7/6------------6---7/9/4
10.Blood Claw Master 3:-------------------------------------------------------8/7------------7---7/9/5
11.Rogue 2: [Evasion]---------------------------------------------------------9/8------------8---7/10/5
12.Warblade 5: (Improved Initiative), Improved Two Weapon Fighting------------10/8-----------9---7/10/5
13.Night Song Enforcer 1: [Sneak Attack +1d6]---------------------------------10/9-----------10--7/12/5
14.Rogue 3: Sneak Attack +1d6-------------------------------------------------11/9-----------11--8/12/6
15.Warblade 6: Greater Two Weapon Fighting. [Improved Uncanny Dodge]----------12/10----X-----12--9/13/7
16.Warblade 7-----------------------------------------------------------------13/10----------13--9/13/7
17.Warblade 8-----------------------------------------------------------------14/11----X-----14--10/13/7
18.Warblade 9: Craven --------------------------------------------------------15/11----------15--10/14/8
19.Warblade 10: (Iron Will)---------------------------------------------------16/12----X-----16--11/14/10
20.Warblade 11----------------------------------------------------------------17/12----------17--11/14/10
•HP: 14d12 + 3d8 + 3d6
•Int Bonus to: Reflex saves, Critical Hit Confirmation, damage against flat-footed or flanked foes, checks to oppose the following: disarm, feint, trip, bull rush, sunder
•Dex Bonus to: Attack, Damage
•Full Strength Bonus on both attacks, no TWF penalty
•5d6 sneak attack when in Assassin's stance (which is essentially always)
•Initiative = 5+dex and we'll have a good dexterity.
This character, at 9th level -- the same level it gets 3d6 sneak attack, can use the tactical feat Clarion Commander. At this level the character is assumed to have full ranks in intimidate (and hopefully no charisma penalty). The character must make a DC 20 intimidate check to render his opponent flanked for 1 minute. This requires a standard action, so the first round of combat against an opponent is typically wasted, at least we can move to melee range. The next round we make a full attack sequence. The first attack deals no sneak attack damage just yet, but any subsequent attacks will gain both flanking bonus and sneak attack damage. The real trick is to acquire a blade with the blurstrike enhancement from Races of the Wild. This allows that first attack to get sneak attack (because the foe is considered flat-footed against the attack). Essentially, you have to waste a round of combat to set it up, but for the next minute you can full attack away, getting sneak attack and attack bonuses the whole way home.
Really, there's nothing sneaky about this sneak attacker. He calls out his opponent in the first round, then procedes to gut him like a fish in subsequent rounds. Makes for a pretty good image and cool role-playing aspect. Your d12 HD and combat prowess also add to the Feral Dreadlord's theme.
Common worry for those making sneak attack builds. You'll note that this guy is far from helpless against golems, undead, and the like. He can switch to island of blades (the other shadow hand stance that he has) and improve his chance of flanking his opponents. Once he accomplishes this, he gets full strength, dex, and intelligence to all his attacks. Kind of MAD, but dexterity and intelligence are the character's two most important statistics. Unfortunately I was not able to cram stormguard warrior into this build as well, as that would have been the ultimate answer to crit-immune critters. Note that many, if not all, of this guy's maneuvers function against crit-immune creatures and thus he'll still have a trick in the hat when fighting them.
Interestingly enough, swordsage also helps out a little bit in this department. Burning blade will offer a substancial boost to damage figures, though it is feasable to use it once per encounter.
It has also been brought to my attention that Castle Ravenloft has a varient feature which allows you to retain 1/2 sneak damage against crit-immune foes, so long as you flank them. This would be an obvious choice for the build, if the book is available to you. I personally don't have the book, so I can't comment much further on this ability.
I rarely satisfy all my objectives, but this build comes close. 17 BAB, 5d6 sneak attack, Full TWF tree, craven feat, Dancing Mongoose and Raging Mongoose, and a focus on flanking all help to satisfy the first two objectives. The build clearly has an enabling trick for sneak attacks. HP are about as good as I can make them, AC may be a little lacking but with a little money one could wear a mithril full plate without incident. I recommend celestial armor, if you can get a hold of it. The nice thing about this build is that it works for only one good stat: DEX, but has a lot of expansion room for characters with multiple good stats. Literally every statistic can contribute to this character in some way: INT helps with skills and damage, Dex helps with attack, damage, ac, initiative, reflex saves, and skills, Wisdom can increase AC (if in light armor) and helps will saves, Charisma helps the intimidation check, CON is good for obvious reasons, and strength helps damage. If I had to rank the stats it would go: DEX>INT>CON>STR>CHA>WIS.
One of the weaknesses of this build is his relatively low will saving throw. I tried to mitigate this with iron will, but the fact that his dump stat is obviously wisdom doesn't help much. If you're worried about your will save, I recommend replacing craven with shape soulmeld (Planar Ward).
It should be clear to any astute disciple of Tome of Battle builds that this build is out of phase by 1 level. I struggled to construct the build in a manner which would cause certain attributes (like sneak attack and clarion commander) converge on specific points. I really wanted this build to have its main damage trick by 9th level and so that is why I ended up out of phase with an optimal ToB progression. Alas. Suggestions for fixing this are welcome.
Additionally, though I doubt it can be mended, is the fact that chracter takes a hit to BAB at low levels. This is almost unavoidable, but it still hurts. My hope is that flanking bonuses, weapon focus, a good dex score, and no TWF penalty will make the impact of the BAB loss more tolerable.
