Color spray and heavens oracle.
Yes a witch would be great at it witht he slumber hex
Yes a witch would be great at it witht he slumber hex
This. Render them asleep and CDG away with a Scythe.
Alternatively, you can become a grapple monster and tie people up (which renders them helpless), then CDG them. Also works, takes longer, but reliable against weaker foes.
Dastardly finish is worth it if you regularly run into lots of enemies you can terrify. If you're sneaking around killing people by surprise, then there shouldn't be anyone else around to see you slaughter your foe mercilessly, which ruins the benefit.
I might throw it in if I were making an Intimidate-build fighter, since it works so well with that, but if I were doing a build focused strictly on CDG, I'd rather use the feat slot for something that improved my chances of rendering them helpless.
Really, the important part is rendering them helpless. Sleep, paralyze, catch them asleep, whatever. If you can't do that, no amount of CDG optimization will be effective. If you can, then you just need a x4 crit weapon and a little bit of positive damage modifier. If you're doing 4d6+12 damage, on average that's a DC 26 Fortitude save -- and that's only Str 14 and a +1 light pick.
Of course, you don't have to do the helplessness-inducing yourself. You can team up with a friend to do it. ("I delay. The wizard casts hold person. Now I jump in and act before the opponent can get a new save. Coup de grace.")
The only other major thing I can think of is: have some defenses against attacks of opportunity, since doing a CDG provokes one.
Poison Use, maybe, especially for a Red Mantis. Get some kind of sleep poison on your weapons, and then you have an additional chance to knock them out.
I'd suggest the Tri-bladed Katar as coup-de-grace weapon. It is exotic, but you don't need proficiency for this purpose.
It is light, so it deal less str/PA damage than a pick or scythe, but being small and handy, it makes a lot more sense for an assassin.
Is there any deadly weapon that is really worth it to CDG with?
I only know katana and wakizashi and both have a high crit range (useless with CDG), low crit modifier and not the biggest damage dice.
Don't get me wrong, every weapon with deadly is better than a similar weapon without it but just that there is stuff that's worse doesn't make it good.
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The scythe: 2d4 damage and X4 crit range. It's also two-handed, so 1.5 Str damage.
I've got this idea for a cleric who casts Hold Person, then announces: "This is a spiritual trial. If you can't muster the willpower to free yourself in time [before my next turn], you will die..."
Get a x4 crit weapon. Skip deadly and get an extra +1 instead. The extra 4 damage will boost the save DC by 4 anyway, and it will benefit you on all the times when you are not CDGing. And the extra 4 actual damage might make a difference in killing them anyway.
Honestly, it really doesn't matter: unless you have a strength penalty, if you have any bonuses to damage at all, the x4 crit will boost the save DC to "roll a nat 20 or die" levels.
Deadly is a weapon special ability like reach or brace, not a magical property. So no skip it and take an extra +1.
Right, my mistake.
I still think that the weapon is a secondary thing for the specialist in CDG -- get them helpless, and just about any weapon will do the job.
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When you have a low str score (like a witch) you have no problem getting peoples helpless...
Getting a coup de grace to work is a more problematic thing.
Step 1: have 14 or better Str
Step 2: have a x4 crit weapon like a scythe or heavy pick
Step 3: have a caster in the party with hold person/slumber/color spray/whatever
Step 4 (optional): laugh maniacally at all solo monster encounters