I've been thinking more and more of a ninja13/horizon walker 3. I've never played through with dimensional agility chain though, so I'm not sure if it would be preferable to the shatter defenses chain. Shatter defenses should still be taken.
Ayone have any thoughts or experience with these? Mike must have something to contribute ;)
Dimensional Agility is a tough, tough chain to recommend. Agility and Assault are basically a feat tax for Dervish, and then you still need Savant if you want to self-flank for sneak attacks. For a class with few bonus feats, that is a heavy penalty. For all this, you get to pull a neat trick 3+Wis times a day (given the preexisting MADness of Ninjas, probably not more than 4 or 5).
Shatter Defenses, on the other hand, requires Weapon Focus (not bad) and Dazzling Display (synergizes with your Charisma based Ki). You can use it all day, and it can improve your chance to hit (great for notoriously miss-prone rogue types). Because the starting feats can be taken earlier, you can save some of your later feats for other high level options (instead of being stuck in a chain from level 9-13 or 15).
Honestly, the only reason I can think to recommend Dimensional Agility over Shatter Defenses is awesomeness. If Awesomeness > Mechanical Effectiveness for you in this case, go Dimensional Agility.
Dimensional Agility is a tough, tough chain to recommend. Agility and Assault are basically a feat tax for Dervish, and then you still need Savant if you want to self-flank for sneak attacks. For a class with few bonus feats, that is a heavy penalty. For all this, you get to pull a neat trick 3+Wis times a day (given the preexisting MADness of Ninjas, probably not more than 4 or 5).
Shatter Defenses, on the other hand, requires Weapon Focus (not bad) and Dazzling Display (synergizes with your Charisma based Ki). You can use it all day, and it can improve your chance to hit (great for notoriously miss-prone rogue types). Because the starting feats can be taken earlier, you can save some of your later feats for other high level options (instead of being stuck in a chain from level 9-13 or 15).
Honestly, the only reason I can think to recommend Dimensional Agility over Shatter Defenses is awesomeness. If Awesomeness > Mechanical Effectiveness for you in this case, go Dimensional Agility.
I suppose by 16 you could do both. Probably be pretty low on ninja tricks besides the normal stuff though (weapon focus, combat trick, bonus feat, maybe unarmed strike if you went sap master route)
But yeah, my initial feeling was something like that. Shatter Def you get earlier, and can use all day. But the awesomeness (nightcrawler) of Dimensional Assault is just so sweet.