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Ricter
2007-02-18, 11:26 AM
Okay, I've already posted this on the wizards.com boards, but I figured that getting help on more than one forum isn't a bad idea.

First, allowed books:

Everything official 3.5, some 3.0 stuff. Preferably no Psionics or Ebberon, but Faerun is okay. Psionics is allowed, but I don't know that it adds anything to this build.

Fractional BaB is in effect. Initiator level is rounded up, not down. Wands are of whatever the spell is. Swift action spell = Swift action wand. I'd need to blow a feat on Quickdraw to use it unless I want to be dropping wands across the battlefield. I think those are the only house rules, but ask and I can probably get others. Flaws I could get, for example. I can also get custom items.

He has to playable from 1 - 16. I don't see us getting past 16, so I don't really care beyond that point. I'd like him to be playable at epic just in case.

Anyways, here's the character I'm looking at:

2 Flaws (Two-Weapon Fighting)(Leap of the Heavens)
Human (Battle Jump)
(1)Scout 1 (Two Weapon Pounce)
(2)Scout 1 / Ranger 1
(3)Sct 1 / Ranger 1 / Swordsage 1(Adaptive Style)
(4)Sct 2 / Rgr 1 / Swordsage 1
(5)Sct 3 / Rgr 1 / Swordsage 1
(6)Sct 4 / Rgr 1 / Sws 1 / (B-Swift Hunter) (Improved Skirmish)
(7)Sct 4 / Rgr 1 / Sws 1 / Bloodclaw Master 1
(8)Sct 4 / Rgr 1 / Sws 1 / BcM 1 / Warblade 1
(9)Sct 4 / Rgr 1 / Sws 1 / BcM 2 / War 1 (Improved TWF)
(10)Sct 4 / Rgr 1 / Sws 1 / BcM 3 / War 1
(11)Sct 4 / Rgr 1 / Sws 1 / BcM 3 / War 2
(12)Sct 4 / Rgr 1 / Sws 2 / BcM 3 / War 2 (Free - Suggestions?)
(13)Sct 4 / Rgr 1 / Sws 2 / BcM 3 / War 3
(14)Sct 4 / Rgr 1 / Sws 2 / BcM 3 / War 4
(15)Sct 4 / Rgr 1 / Sws 3 / BcM 3 / War 4 (Greater TWF)
(16)Sct 4 / Rgr 1 / Sws 4 / BcM 3 / War 4
(17)Sct 4 / Rgr 1 / Sws 5 / BcM 3 / War 4
(18)Sct 4 / Rgr 1 / Sws 5 / BcM 3 / War 5 (Free - Suggestions?)
(19)Sct 4 / Rgr 1 / Sws 5 / BcM 3 / War 6
(20)Sct 4 / Rgr 1 / Sws 5 / BcM 3 / War 7


I think by front loading my feats, I'm able to start off with pretty effective charges right out the door, which is nice. Much better than having to wait multiple levels for that to go down.


After that, the idea is to do large amounts of damage through skirmish, maneuvers, and getting full attacks on a charge, and then using Jump/Tumble to charge the next guy.

Bloodclaw master levels go to swordsage, each time. But they do add to my IL to each class, so that's nice. Somewhere after getting BCM I retrain TWPounce into Snow Tiger Beserker.

I think the Scout - Ranger combination is important, but I'm willing to change it if something better is suggested. First, I get Skirmish damage against favored enemies, even if they're normally immune, which I think is big. Especially important considering the campaigns are undead heavy. Also, I can use all Ranger spells in wands, which is nice, considering we may not have a dedicated healer. On top of that, a lot of Ranger spells synergize well.



Class Taken With/Level Taken/Discipline Name:Summary. Why taken.

Level 1
SwS/1/DM Moment of Perfect Mind:Conc check instead of will. Taken for pre-reqs laters, but also because my will save starts to suck later on. I'm stuck at +3 Will until level 12.

SwS/1/DW Burning Blade:+1d6+IL fire damage boost. Synergizes nicely with TWF, and extra dmg on TWF = good.

SwS/1/SH Shadow Blade Technique:2d20 attack roll, if both hit, bonus cold. Basically taken because I want Step of the Dancing Moth later on. This is likely to be cut depending on the DM, and if someone has better ideas, I'm listening.

SwS/1/SH Clinging Shadow Strike:20% miss chance on strike. See SBT above.
-Traded out at SwS 4.

SwS/1/TC Wolf Fang Strike: Hit twice with standard action. Pre-reqs basically, but still a solid maneuver anyways.

SwS/1/TC Sudden Leap: Jump as a swift action. Really nice for moving around the battlefield, and satisfying Battle Jump.

War/1/IH Steely Strike: +4 to hit vs. one target. Basically to get Surge, and there's nothing really good.
-Traded out at SwS 4.

Stance
Sws/1/TC Blood in the Water:+1 hit/dmg for each crit. Cumulative, bonus disappears after 1 minute. Synergizes very well with kukri, and none of the other stances are really remotely interesting.

War/1/WR Leading the Charge: Allies get +dmg/IL on charges. Good stance, and satisfies WR pre-reqs.

Level 2


Level 3
BcM/1/DW Death Mark:Target 'splodes with fire damage, bigger means bigger radius explosion. Basically taken because I like fire, explosions, and lots of damage. This seems to combine all of those well. This is also more a campaign-specific choice, as the DM has a liking of giants. Also, I'm getting the other important maneuvers of the level anyways (Although I might drop this so I can take Iron Heart Surge with Warblade sooner. Good idea?)

War/1/TC Soaring Raptor Strike: +4 hit, +6d6 dmg against larger targets. Seems good, and doesn't seem to be anything better to take. The DM usually likes big stuff, but in case he doesn't this time around, any suggestions?

War/1/WR White Raven Tactics: Lets an ally act again. Looks really, really good.

War/3/IH Iron Heart Surge: Remove adverse effects. Really good, as we might not have a dedicated cleric or arcane to remove stuff. Is this worth taking over level 4 and 5 maneuvers? What should I take instead? I could take anything from DM, DW, IH, SH, TC or WR.

Level 4

BCM/2/DW Searing Charge: Fly, +5d6 dmg on charge. Yay charge damage, and it could be really good. Does this work with TWF and other ways to get bonus attacks?

Level 5
Sws/2/TC Dancing Mongoose: Two extra attacks. Yes please, especially on a charge. Really good, and the staple maneuvers I'm looking for.

War/4/DM Rapid Counter: Two attacks on attack opp. Sounds good, I guess. Basically in there so I can take Hearing the Air. Better ideas please? hearing the air might not end up being important, so I'd like other options if anyone has good ones.
- Traded out Steely Strike to acquire.

Stances
SwS/2/SH Step of the Dancing Moth: Ignore terrain, walk over liquid. Seems very, very useful, especially for the potential party scout. But it's heavily campaign dependent. Any ideas if it's not needed?

War/4/DM Hearing the Air: Blindsense 30', +5 listen. Seems very useful to the scout as well, but again, like SotDM, campaign specific. Any ideas if it's not necessary?

Level 6
Sws/3/DM Moment of Alacrity: +20 to init for all future rounds. Because being able to go three times in a round (if I'm low in init) will make my DM cry. Or throw books at me. Whatever. However, very situational. Basically would only use when I recover and know I'm low. Anyone actually use this? It looks great on paper, but that doesn't always turn out well in game.

Sws/4/DW Ring of Fire: Make a burning circle, Human Torch style. Basically because it sounds sweet, and synergizes well with my ability to move fast and jump really far. Rabid Bear doesn't seem useful as I'm mostly a charger, and Shadow Noose probably won't be used enough. Or would it? Any better ideas?

Sws/4/SH Shadow Noose: Chokes enemy with ranged touch, may stun flat-footed target. Again, sounds sweet. Plus, the stunning could be very nice. However, does this actually work in practice, or should I skip it?
-Traded out Clinging Shadow Strike to acquire.

Level 7
Sws/5/DW Inferno Blade: +3d6+IL fire damage. Synergizes very well, obviously. Might be a bit overkill with the extra boosts that I already have. However, Salamander Charge might be better, and I could do Avalanche of Blades / Stromguard Warrior. Is that really any good this late?

War/5/TC Swooping Dragon Strike: Jump to do +10d6 and stun. Easy to do, great damage and utility, and look sweet doing it, which is basically all that matters.

Stance
Sws/5/TC Prey on the Weak: AoO for every foe that drops w/in 20'. Seems kind of weak actually, but there aren't any better stances that I see. Fiery Assault seems sub-optimal, especially considering the bonus damage I can get through Blood in the Water (Funny that I'd still be using a level 1 stance at this time). I really don't think this stance will activate enough, so what would be better?

Level 8
War/7/TC Raging Mongoose: Four extra attacks. Really, was there any question? I might get GWFR just to yell that any time I use it.

Level 9
None for me :'(



Questions:
Is Catfolk good enough? Is the LA worth it? I can use LA buy-off, but I don't want to suck levels 1-5 or whatever.

Any ideas welcome. I'll look at psionics and ebberon ideas, but they're not preferred. OA and MoF seem like books I'm getting / back. Any more suggestions?

And yes, I've seen the D&D version of the FF dragoon thread. Let me know if I missed something important though.