Dervish Conversion

[Anxe]

I'm toying around with the idea of converting my campaign from 3.5 to 4E. I've got one PC that might be a problem to convert. He's playing a 15th level dervish who wields two scimitars and has mutliclassed into the occult slayer prestige class as well. Capturing all these elements with the 4th edition rules seems impossible. Right now I am thinking of doing a Ranger/monk hybrid and just dropping the occult slayer part of the build. I want something that has high mobility (monk) and with the ability to attack with two weapons at once (ranger). Is this actually a decent build? What powers and feats would you guys recommend for high-end paragon character with this build?

Please and Thank You!

[Tegu8788]

I'm not familiar with the occult slayer, but a mobile dual weilder can be a straight ranger, or a barbarian even. A Hexblade using a Pact Blade Half-Elf that picks up Twin Strike would be overly complex but doable.

[Anxe]

The occult slayer was an fighter prestige class with an anti-magic focus.

I don't have the book that Hexblade is in, also what's a Pact Blade? Not familiar with that one.

How exactly would barbarian capture the feel? I didn't think they got to use two weapons.

Perhaps I should describe the dervish in more detail. The dervish prestige class enters a stance where they can attack many times per round, but they must move one space between each of the attacks. Obviously, there won't be something that captures that mechanic precisely, but I was looking for a build that would allow lots of shifting as well as using two weapons.

[theNater]

The occult slayer was an fighter prestige class with an anti-magic focus.

I don't have the book that Hexblade is in, also what's a Pact Blade? Not familiar with that one.

How exactly would barbarian capture the feel? I didn't think they got to use two weapons.

Perhaps I should describe the dervish in more detail. The dervish prestige class enters a stance where they can attack many times per round, but they must move one space between each of the attacks. Obviously, there won't be something that captures that mechanic precisely, but I was looking for a build that would allow lots of shifting as well as using two weapons.
The dervish is well covered by the ranger. The at-will Hit and Run gives nice mobility, and the daily powers Sudden Strike(level 1), Two-Wolf Pounce(level 5), and Cruel Cage of Steel(level 19) all include multiple attacks interspersed with shifting. Encounter powers usually ask you to choose either attacking with both weapons or including movement in the attacks, but with utility powers like Weave Through the Fray(level 6) and Expeditious Stride(level 10), you can be all over the battlefield even if the encounter powers aren't moving you.

Occult Slayer is a bit trickier. You might get what you want by tweaking a paragon path that targets a specific kind of foe to targeting spellcasters. I know paladins get a dragonslayer, a demonslayer, and an undeadslayer, any of which might be a good starting place. Let me ask, though: what are the mechanical aspects that your player finds most important about the Occult Slayer? Is it the saving throw bonuses, the bonded weapon, the spell reflect, the bonus damage, the immunity to mind-affecting effects, or what? It will probably be easier to replicate just the important parts of the class than the whole class.

[Anxe]

Thanks for cluing me into the ranger's mobility. Been a while since I looked at the class so I forgot that it can cover that as well. The parts he liked best in occult slayer were immunity to mind affecting and spell reflect abilities. I'm pretty much at a loss with that one. I may end up homebrewing something, but anything you guys can think up would be welcome.

[Tegu8788]

Whirling Barbarian can use two weapons, and the fluff text says its more mobile than normal. Considering how mobile the barbarian is, I'd imagine that's pretty darn mobile.

Marauder Ranger would also be quite good.

There is also an actual fighter build, Tempest, that uses two weapons, and has some shifting building in.

Hexblade is the essential warlock, and pact blade is a warlock implement made from any light blade.

5 is the highest I've ever gotten, so paragon paths are something I'm unfamiliar with. Sorry I can't help with that.

[theNater]

Thanks for cluing me into the ranger's mobility. Been a while since I looked at the class so I forgot that it can cover that as well. The parts he liked best in occult slayer were immunity to mind affecting and spell reflect abilities. I'm pretty much at a loss with that one. I may end up homebrewing something, but anything you guys can think up would be welcome.
The ricochet shield and reflective shield from the Adventurer's Vault seem like a good place to start for the spell reflect.

Mind affecting immunity is trickier, because flat-out immunities are few and far between in 4e. The flipside is that there are also very few effects that last for days or hours, or even full encounters. Boosting the character's Will defense will provide good protection from mental effects, and finding saving throw bonuses will help the character shake off any that do land.

I also note that many of the kinds of things that were mind-affecting in 3e are charm effects in 4e, and the Eladrin get a huge boost to saves against charms. Plus, their racial paragon path lets them save against such effects at both the start and end of their turn, so they'll often be effectively immune. (Halflings treat fear in a similar way, and some mind-affecting abilities from 3e are fear effects in 4e).

[Anxe]

I actually did notice the eladrin thing. Seeing as he's playing an elf in 3.5, I don't think it'd be a big stretch to make him an eladrin in 4th.

I'll think I'll go with Eladrin Ranger with magic bracers that reflect stuff (he uses two weapons, so a shield wouldn't work. Bracers fill the same slot, so I figured that'd work).

[Ashdate]

I wanted to chime in that the Ranger 15 Daily "Cascade of Blades" is a suitable replacement for the Dervish capstone ability, "thousand cuts".