I'm currently playing a 4th level Dervish of Dawn bard, and I'm not quite sure where to take the character...
Muse touched Aasimar Dervish of Dawn Bard 4
Str 9
Dex 20
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 08
Cha 16
4 Favored Class points put in the Aasimar favored class option to increase Inspire Courage.
Versatile Performance in Sing, looking to add Dance at the next threshold.
Feats:
1. Dervish Dance
1. Arcane Strike
3. Weapon Focus (Scimitar)
So... Where should I take this character? I'm especially interested in feat suggestions, since I'm struggling to find something that really shines for a dex-based melee build.
Well, Imp Unarmed Strike + Dodge + Crane Style + Crane Wing is a great combo for a Dervish Dance build since you have the hand free anyway.
Alternatively, you can make use of the free hand with the Flagbearer feat to grant yourself and allies a +1 to hit and damage.
I like to combine the Enforcer feat with Blade of Mercy trait.
Crane Wing is interesting, but without dipping it wouldn't come online till level 11 - a bit late for my tastes.
I really like the Flagbearer, but is there any way to cast spells while holding a scimitar in one hand and the banner in the other?
Enforcer is interesting, but my traits have already been selected - I'll update the OP with the extra information.
Edit: is there a time limit on the option to edit posts? I'm unable to edit the op, while I can still edit this.
Either way, my traits are:
Performance Artist: Sing
Love Lost: Dance (AP trait)
Reactionary
And I'm currently playing in the Curse of the Crimson Throne AP.
You could use a glove of storing to free action store the flag or scimitar, cast, then free action get the item back.
You could also attach a weapon cord to the scimitar (a good idea if not using a locked gauntlet already), free action "drop" it so it hangs on the cord, cast, then swift action get the sword back, as per the weapon cord description.
You can only edit posts for like an hour or so after posting, after that paizo owns it and you can't ever modify or delete it w/o asking for them to do it. I'm not a fan...
As for Enforcer, you can always take Additional Traits feat for more traits to get Blade of Mercy.
I've actually recently fallen in love with the Dervish of Dawn archetype and have been working on one in preparation for the upcoming Wrath of the Righteous AP (we might even have twins, a male and female, with the same builds). I too have also been trying to figure out exactly what to do with feats, but I'll share with you what I've come up with so far...
Aasimar 16th level Dervish of Dawn / 4th level Weaponmaster
Azata-blooded, Favored class option for Bards
Attributes: (20 point buy)
STR - 13
DEX - 16 (+2 racial bonus, +1 @ 4th, 8th, 12th & 16th level)
CON - 14
INT - 13
WIS - 7
CHA - 13 (+2 racial bonus, +1 @ 20th level)
Traits:
Maestro of the Society
Threatening Defender
Feats:
1st - Dervish Dance
1st - Combat Expertise
3rd - Skill Focus: Knowledge - Arcana
5th - Arcane Strike
7th - Eldritch Heritage: Arcane Bloodline (Arcane Bond)
9th - Weapon Focus: Scimitar
11th - Power Attack
13th - Improved Critical: Scimitar
15th - Quicken Spell or Harmonic Spell
16th - Critical Focus
17th - Tiring Critical
17th - Improved Initiative
19th - Weapon Specialization: Scimitar
19th - Exhausting Critical
Now none of this is etched in stone by any means - I'm looking at the Crane Wing option and others right now. I've taken the Eldritch Heritage Arcane Bloodline feat because an Arcane Bond is too good to pass up; bonus spell of any level and a weapon I can enchant? Yes, please - and I'm pretty sure you can cast with a weapon in your hand if its a bonded item without penalty. Our GM has even house-ruled that you could enchant arcane bonded items like weapons or rings the same way you might wands (same costs, triggers, actions to use, etc.).
I'm comfortable taking things like Power Attack and Combat Expertise because between Inspire Courage, Dance of a Hundred Cuts, etc. your attack bonuses get very, very high high. I wanted to do something to take advantage of the Scimitar's high crit range. The Fighter levels come at 16th - 19th since 1) 6th level Bard spells don't really blow my skirt up, 2) I could use the extra feats (Weapon Specialization?)and boost to fort saves and 3) I get access to Weapon Training at 3rd level as a Weaponmaster which in turn opens up Gloves of Dueling for a nice little boost late.
This archetype is great from the start but really begins to come into its own in my opinion at 13th level when you can begin playing games with Bardic Performance... like making a full attack with Inspire Courage up giving you +8 attack and damage then as a swift action changing performances to Inspire Heroics to grant a +8 AC and saves bonus during your opponents turn, only to switch back using a swift action when its your turn again before full-attacking... or 'cycling' performance to continuously refresh temporary hit points using Inspire Greatness at 4d10+CONx4 a clip. It eats up swift actions sure, but why have them if you're not going to use them?
Seriously though, I'm looking hard at taking a couple of levels of Master of Many Styles instead to go Crane Wing... I just don't like the fact that when you fight defensively you are limited to a standard attack action, though I could see it having its place.
@Streamofthesky
The weapon cord looks like a good bet, I'll make sure to pick one up! Gloves of storage might be the long-term plan but at the moment the 10 000 gp sticker price puts it a bit out of my price range.
The editing policy seems a bit... Excessive. Oh well, I'll keep it in mind for any future edits.
@Mercurial
Wow, lots of good stuff here. Eldritch heritage is an excellent idea! My strength is too low to consider power attack, but I'll ask my GM if I can have the piranha strike feat function with scimitars.
Also, I may be wrong here but I believe you can still perform full attacks while using the fighting defensively-option. It can be a bit hard to find since they have separate notes on using it as a standard action and as a full round action.
You can choose to fight defensively when taking a full-attack action. If you do so, you take a –4 penalty on all attacks in a round to gain a +2 dodge bonus to AC until the start of your next turn.
@Streamofthesky
The weapon cord looks like a good bet, I'll make sure to pick one up! Gloves of storage might be the long-term plan but at the moment the 10 000 gp sticker price puts it a bit out of my price range.
The editing policy seems a bit... Excessive. Oh well, I'll keep it in mind for any future edits.@Mercurial
Wow, lots of good stuff here. Eldritch heritage is an excellent idea! My strength is too low to consider power attack, but I'll ask my GM if I can have the piranha strike feat function with scimitars.Also, I may be wrong here but I believe you can still perform full attacks while using the fighting defensively-option. It can be a bit hard to find since they have separate notes on using it as a standard action and as a full round action.
You can choose to fight defensively when taking a full-attack action. If you do so, you take a –4 penalty on all attacks in a round to gain a +2 dodge bonus to AC until the start of your next turn.
That's... frustrating. the document I have is actually titled 'Fighting Defensively as a standard action'. They need to clean these rules pages up.
I'm still not 100% sold on Crane Wing as an option, but its definitely one I'm looking in to.
I know its a little ways off, but look at the spell Dance of a 100 Cuts - not sure there is a better combat spell out there. It'll be my bread and butter once it becomes available, and being able to enchant my scimitar as a wand will let me store away plenty of uses.
EDIT: Looking at Crane Style, I'm thinking something like this - I'll still take the first 15 levels as a Dervish of Dawn, but levels 16 & 17 will be as a Master of Many Styles. After that I could keep going Monk or switch back to Dervish, assuming we reach play at that level. This is what the new build would probably look like (through level 17).
Aasimar 16th level Dervish of Dawn / 4th level Weaponmaster
Azata-blooded, Favored class option for Bards
Attributes: (20 point buy)
STR - 8
DEX - 16 (+2 racial bonus, +1 @ 4th, 8th, 12th & 16th level)
CON - 12
INT - 12
WIS - 14
CHA - 13 (+2 racial bonus, +1 @ 20th level)
Traits:
Maestro of the Society
Indomitable Faith
Feats:
1st - Dervish Dance
1st - Dodge
3rd - Skill Focus: Knowledge - Arcana
5th - Arcane Strike
7th - Eldritch Heritage: Arcane Bloodline (Arcane Bond)
9th - Weapon Focus: Scimitar
11th - Improved Eldritch Heritage: Arcane Bloodline (New Arcana)
13th - Improved Critical: Scimitar
15th - Quicken Spell
16th - Improved Unarmed Strike
16th - Crane Style
17th - Crane Wing
17th - Crane Riposte
Evasion and the bump in saves serves as a nice little bonus over those two levels, I'll get the +2 AC for only -1 attack AND I'll get the Wisdom bonus to AC as well for another +2. I think the free nullification of an attack every round (and a riposte to go with it) is more than worth the two level dip and the shuffling around of feats. Not 100% sure about dropping Power Attack, but I won't really be hurting for damage and taking the next Eldritch Heritage feat opens up some options for me as a caster...
Here is the build I came up with...
Aasimar (Azata-Blooded) 16 Dawnflower Dervish/2 Monk (Master of Many Styles)/ 2 Paladin
We use similar to a 38 point buy.
Stats:
Str: 10
Dex: 20 (18 + 2)
Con: 12
Int: 14
Wis: 12
Cha: 18 (16 + 2)
Feats:
Class: Dervish Dancer
1 - Dodge
3 - Improved Unarmed Strike - Monk feat
3 - Crane Style
3 - Crane Wing - bonus Monk feat
4 - Crane Riposte - bonus monk feat
5 - Arcane Strike
7 - Enforcer
9 - Combat Expertise
11 - Discordant Voice
13 - Osyluth Guile
15 - Toughness
17 - Combat Reflexes
19 - Improved Initiative?
Traits:
Blade of Mercy
Threatening Defender
My reasoning for this is to have the character act as a secondary tank, while being able to still inflict a lot of pain. Fighting defensively, with the saves from Paladin will make this character exceptionally hard to kill.