Please critique my Duelist

[JFK68]

Hi All,

Looking for some constructive criticism for the build below. I am designing him for the Carrion Crown AP. Playing him as a traveler/refugee from Qadria, skill monkey/linguist/reluctant fighter.

Rogue-5 Fighter-4 Shadowdancer-1 Duelist 10

Pathfinder Materials only please.

20pt build Str 7, Int 15 (bump at 8), Wis 14, Dex (15+2)17 (bumps at 4, 12, 16, 20), Con 14, Cha 10

Half-Elf--Bonus Feat--Skill Focus Stealth

Traits: Watching Taldor (+1 to Init, draw weapon as a free action in surprise round)
Rich Parents (Starting gold=900)

1-Rogue SA 1d6, Trapfinding, Dodge
2-Fighter Mobility
3-Rogue Evasion, Finesse Rogue, Dervish Dancer
4-Fighter Improved Initiative
5-Rogue SA 2d6, TS +1, Weapon Focus
6-Fighter Armor Training 1
7-Fighter Weapon Specialization, Stealthy
8-Duelist Canny Defense, Precise Strike
9-Duelist Improved Reaction +2, Skill Focus Escape Artist
10-Duelist Enhanced Mobility
11-Duelist Combat Reflexes, Grace, Critical Focus
12-Shadowdancer Hide in plain sight
13-Duelist Riposte, Bleeding Critical
14-Rogue Uncanny Dodge, Fast Stealth
15-Rogue SA 3d6, Iron Will
16-Duelist Acrobatic Charge
17-Duelist Elaborate Defense, Pirahna Strike(Power Attack for Dex base)
18-Duelist Improved Reaction +4
19-Duelist Deflect Arrows, No Retreat, Toughness
20-Duelist Crippling Critical

With select gear--which I know never happens--his AC is 47, Base 10+ Int 6+ Dex 12+ Nat Ar 5+ Dodge 1+ Deflection 5+ Armor(Bracers) 8--or there abouts.

HP average about 180, we max the first 3 levels, then offer a DM re-roll if we don't like our roll.

Initiative +19
Base Attack +17/+12/+7/+2
with feats,abilities, and magic +31/+26/+21/+16--+3 if SA, Holy Scimitar of Subtlety.
Damage: d6+25/or 28 if SA +2d6 Holy +3d6 sneak--crit, normal multipliers and add 4d6 bleed,(not sure if the bleed can stack, I'm negotiating with my DM, if not, then take some Str or Dex)

He turned out being a lot tougher fighter than I had initially imagined, Saves are so-so, +15/+28/+12.

So any suggestions, I like the build, just looking for things that I might have completely over-looked, or did not consider.

Thanks for your time looking this over.

Jeff

[james maissen]

JFK68 wrote:

Hi All,

Looking for some constructive criticism for the build below. I am designing him for the Carrion Crown AP. Playing him as a traveler/refugee from Qadria, skill monkey/linguist/reluctant fighter.

Rogue-5 Fighter-4 Shadowdancer-1 Duelist 10

Here's my first question to you, what is rogue5 giving you over fighter5? Best I can see is that it gives you 6 more skill points.

The 1d6 sneak damage lost would be made up by weapon training (as you are going to be fighting with scimitar exclusively). The BAB increase and weapon training will give you +2/1 over the d6 sneak loss, with duelist gloves (and who deserves them more than you?) it would increase to +4/+3 which would balance out the sneak damage on average even when you wouldn't be getting sneak and give you a +4 to hit all the time.

Now keeping rogue4 is reasonable for uncanny dodge as a lot of your AC can be lost when denied DEX. Also you get to pick up the 2nd rogue talent. Personally I'd go for trap spotter over fast stealth. There's a trait that can lessen your stealth with full moves, but I think it might conflict with watching Taldor (not sure).

It's a shame that you can't pick up shadowdancer3 as the shadow companion is very strong.

Also you'll want to check with your DM that the Duelist Combat Reflexes (which is limited to certain weapons) qualifies for entry in Shadowdancer.

-James

[JFK68]

Thanks for your feedback James.

The reason why I'm at Rogue-5 is because the character started off as a Rogue as I wanted the Trapfinding ability. Then as so often happens, I added a few levels to get to Uncanny Dodge, then I saw the additional d6 on SA and added the 5th level of Rogue. I love the Trap spotter talent and actually have that penciled in next to the Fast Stealth Talent--my Stealth should be high enough to take the -10 penalty for moving full speed--so I'll be going with Trap spotter. We plan on taking this to Epic levels, so I plan on finishing up my Shadowdancer. Thanks for the tip in Combat Reflexes, I will have to clear that, but I don't think he is going to have a problem with it, nice catch.

Thanks again,any further thoughts woould be appreciated,

Jeff

Now that I look at it again, I think I will go with 2nd lvl Shadowdancer and 4th lvl rogue, I'll still get the +1 to hit, and gain Improved Uncanny Dodge and Darkvision, I'll also not take as big a hit on skill points, and my saves will increase---DAMN GOOD IDEA!

[wild_captain]

Hi there. I read your post and i found some mistakes. How can Dex modifier go +12? base 15 + 2 racial + 4 from levels + 6 from item = 27 DEX which gives you +8 mod,and even with tome of +5 Dex it goes up to 32 for a +11 modifier, so your AC will be 43(46 with tome). Also piranha strike can not be used with your scimitar because scimitar is one-handed weapon and piranha strike requires light weapons. Finally your dmg is 1d6+13(+23 vs living creatures not immune to critical hits)

Now i suggest a build : Human 6 free hand fighter(apg)/3 rogue/1 shadowdancer/10 duelist

You get Elusive(+2 Dodge to AC), Singleton(+1 Dmg & Attack roll) and Deceptive Strike(+2 Disarm CMB & CMD, +2 Bluff to feint) abilities from fighter and as bonus feats get Dodge, Mobility, W.Focus & W.Specialization Scimitar

from rogue you get SA +2d6, trap sense +1 , trapfinding, evasion, finesse rogue

from shadowdancer you get HiPS

from duelist you get all the abilities it offers

nice feat selection from levels is : toughness, iron will, combat expertise, stealthy, skill focus stealth, improved disarm, greater disarm, dervish dance, improved critical scimitar, critical focus, bleeding critical

Gear : +5 scimitar, +8 bracers of armor, +5 amulet of NA, +5 Ring of Protection, +5 cloak of resistance, Belt of Physical Might Con & Dex +6, Headband of Mental Superiority +6

Skill ranks : acrobatics 20, bluff 20, diplomacy 20, disable device 20, know.arcana(from headband) 20, know.religion(from headband)20, linguistics(from headband) 20, perception 20, perform dance 2, sense motive 20, stealth 20, UMD 20

Stats: Average HP 230, AC 45 (touch 30, flat-footed 28), Fort +19, Reflex +26, Will +18, Initiative +12, CMB +16/disarm cmb +23, CMD 40(flat-footed 31)/disarm cmb +45 (flat-footed 36), BAB +18

Attacks: +33/+28/+23/+18 1d6+16(+26 vs lining creatures not immune to critical hits)

or +28/+23/+18/+13 if you use Combat expertise but if you do so your AC goes to 50

(the character didnt used any stat tome)

Hope i gave you some ideas

[JFK68]

Hi Captain,

Thanks for catching the Piranha Strike mistake, I thought Dervish Dancer allowed the weapon to be used, I was wrong...obviously. You were right on the Dex adjustment as well, I actually caught that one myself when I was going back over my paper copy.

I'm going to take a closer look at this today as I plant my but on the couch and watch footbal this afternoon. To be honest I really do not want to give up uncanny dodge, but your build looks very tight and looks like I gain much for what I give up.

Yes, you certainly did give me some ideas. Thank you for taking the time to go through my build and for your excellent advice.

Jeff

[wild_captain]

I'm glad i've helped you. You see i really love the game both as a DM and a player (even if i have to play dnd or pathfinder as a player for over 1 year or so), and i like to see other people ideas

[Mr Dice Guy]

ummm.... I dont think the duelist can use a scimitar for his abilities. "...light or one-handed piercing weapon...." Might I suggest rapier? I don't know what pirahna strike is, or what weapon you can use for it though. :-(
Hope I helped :-)

[wild_captain]

With the feat Dervish Dance he can :P