Lore Warden / Duelist combo critique

[Derek Weil]

So I've been putting together a Lore warden, and tentatively planning to take levels in Duelist when available.

I'd like to be able to deal useful amounts of damage while maintaining a stylistically swashbuckling air.

I'm doing this for PFS, which allows a 20 point buy:

14 STR
16 DEX (+2 human here)
14 CON
14 INT
10 WIS
10 CHA

Feats:

Level 1: Weapon Finesse; Power Attack; Dodge
Level 2: Combat Expertise (bonus); Weapon Focus
Level 3: Iron Will
Level 4: Improved Disarm
Level 5: Mobility
Level 6: Improved Feint

beyond???

As few questions on Duelist -

1) Do you lose further iterative attacks if you only go fighter for 6 levels and then stay with Duelist?

2) Do you get to add +1 Int bonus for every Duelist level as long as Int is 12 or more? Or do you cap out at your total Int bonus?

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

[RainyDayNinja]

1) If you're talking about the extra attacks from having high BAB, the class it comes from doesn't matter. BAB stacks no matter what.

2) The entire AC bonus is capped at your Int bonus.

What weapon are you planning on using? Rapier? There aren't a whole lot that can use both Weapon Finesse and Power Attack.

Improved Feint isn't going to do much for your build. You don't have sneak attack, so going against flat-footed won't get you much but a slightly lower AC (and at the cost of only getting one attack). I'd try to fit Weapon Specialization in there somewhere.

[Artanthos]

Iterative attacks are determined by BAB, not class. You will receive your second iterative when your BAB reaches +11.

Canny Defense is capped by intelligence mod. That said, raising intelligence by 2 is cheaper than a lot of other options for getting that next +1 to AC.

[LoneKnave]

1)No, you keep getting iterative attacks like a fighetr.
2)You cap out at your max INT bonus.

Tip: use a Scimitar and get the Dervish Dancer feat. Probably focus on Tripping and Dirty Tricking instead of Disarm and Feint (although Disarm is fine at low levels). Prepare to be a bit disappointed, the Duelist isn't especially strong.

[Artanthos]

RainyDayNinja wrote:

What weapon are you planning on using? Rapier? There aren't a whole lot that can use both Weapon Finesse and Power Attack.

Rapier

Aldori Dueling Sword
Dervish Dance scimitar

are the most popular options. A one level dip into Aldori Swordlord would also allow dexterity to damage and +2 shield bonus to AC while using the Aldori Dueling Sword with one hand.

[Derek Weil]

Thanks guys!

My original plan was to use a rapier.

What source is the Aldori swordlord in?

As for duelist, I realize it's not optimal but that's not the point of this character. Still, if it's too underpowered that could cause problems.

Another route I thought of going was straight Lore Warden with either a reach weapon or two-weapon fighting.

[XMorsX]

Chack this build, specializing in trip and using Snake style and eventually Crane style with 1 lvl dip in MoMS monk.

Human Lore Warden Fighter 6/ MoMS Monk 1/ Duelist 5

STR 7
DEX 19
CON 14
INT 14
WIS 14
CHA 7

1 Lore Warden Weapon Finesse, Dodge, Mobility
2 Lore Warden Dervish Dance, Combat Expertise
3 MoMS Snake Style, Snake Fang
4 Lore Warden
5 Lore Warden Improved Trip, Fury's Fall
6 Lore Warden
7 Lore Warden Crane Style, Crane Wing
8 Duelist
9 Duelist Greater Trip
10 Duelist
11 Duelist Crane Riposte, Combat Reflexes
12 Duelist