I'm not understanding how someone could optimize something like this.
Prerequisites: Dexterity 13, Weapon Finesse, Perform (dance) 2 ranks, proficient with scimitar.
Benefit: When wielding a scimitar with one hand, you can use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier on melee attack and damage rolls. You treat the scimitar as a one-handed piercing weapon for all feats and class abilities that require such a weapon (such as a duelist’s precise strike ability). The scimitar must be for a creature of your size. You cannot use this feat if you are carrying a weapon or shield in your off hand.
You use a one-handed weapon to deal damage, and it's the only weapon you use. I mean, I could understand if you combound it with a dex-based magus, but even then, that's wasting feats.
Would someone mind explaining how this feat could be useful?
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Crane Wing (pre "nerf") & Dervish Dance was a popular combo. Some people choose concept over optimization as well. Crusader Monks of Sarenrae can flurry with it and don't lose much in exchange for an expanded threat range weapon.
There are lots of ways to make it functional, but it's admittedly tough to make it optimal (at least for me; there are those with minds creative enough to abuse this I'm sure).
hmmm
I made a fighter....
Sylph, Fighter 6/Duelist 10/Shadow Dancer 4
She was to come in at level 13 and had some basic magic items.
She had an AC of 37 and +26 damage per strike (4 when hasted) with a critical range of 15-20.
A friend of mine had created a low Con, low Str fighter and we all laughed at him at the time so I wanted to see if I could build one.
She has a low Will save; which was a problem...but she looked like fun. Others could do better.
It's most useful for a dex based magus as you said; it allows you to make strength a non-issue at the cost of a feat. You could argue that you could just get an agile weapon, but whether or not a specific magical item is available is up to table variation; I tend to find it better to have things built into the character as opposed to the item as much as possible unless I'm sure I will be able to buy exactly what I need.
Would someone mind explaining how this feat could be useful?
You get dex to damage and it has amazing sync with dex and free hand builds. Don't be MAD! Get Dervish Dance today! There's little reason not to get it if your doing either of those things.
Why do you say its a wasted feat?
The two issues I see with this feat that I'd like to work around is that it's one-handed so you can't two-hand it, and you don't get additional attacks like a TWF build. I also saw the dervish dancer bard archetype, but that's a real stretch when you compare the magus to the bard. I don't know. I just want to make it possibly optimizable for a paladin, but I'm having a bit of trouble trying to get it to work.
Here's the situation:
20 point buy
Any Core Rulebook/Advanced Player’s Guide/Ultimate Combat/Ultimate Magic
No traits
Dex-based Paladin Build with Dervish Dancer
Is it optimizable?
If you're OK being a paladin of Sarenrae, 1 level Dervish Dancer bard and the rest of the levels Paladin.
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My archaeologist uses this; at mid levels he's a formidable damage dealer. Scimitar is a +1 keen (adamantine) scimitar, with the Butterfly Sting feat as well.
Tack on haste/good hope/arcane strike/archaeologist's luck, you are laughing. All the way to the bank.
Should work similarly well with a paladin and smite, I'd imagine. Get your buddies to assist with buffing spells/abilities as well.
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It indisputably results in less damage than two-handing a weapon with a Strength based build. On the other hand, it makes you entirely Dex based for both offense and defense. Strength? You can just dump it, and use the points to buy more Dex, which you now use for literally everything in combat except HP and Fort Saves.
This results in some pretty ridiculous AC and initiative (and at high levels, initiative wins fights), among other things.
Is it completely optimal? No. Not outside a few specific builds anyway. Is it potentially very effective? Oh, yes.
Interestingly, there's nothing in the feat that says the attack has to be with the scimitar...
Therefore, some people abuse things like flurry or occasionally natural attacks and add the damage from their dex.
Not quite so nice as taking 4 levels of Paladin (sarenrae probably) and Crusader's flurry, but nice until you can get that combo off the ground. Or, of course, the Sohei's ability to flurry with a scimitar when that comes online.
Get this outta here right now.
DD is great for reducing MAD on a lot of characters. Healbot clerics of Sarenrae do it best after the magus.
Not needing a whole other stat really helps out the class and allows you to optimize AC, Reflex Saves, Initiative, and several DEX based skills.
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I'm not understanding how someone could optimize something like this.
Prerequisites: Dexterity 13, Weapon Finesse, Perform (dance) 2 ranks, proficient with scimitar.
Benefit: When wielding a scimitar with one hand, you can use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier on melee attack and damage rolls. You treat the scimitar as a one-handed piercing weapon for all feats and class abilities that require such a weapon (such as a duelist’s precise strike ability). The scimitar must be for a creature of your size. You cannot use this feat if you are carrying a weapon or shield in your off hand.
You use a one-handed weapon to deal damage, and it's the only weapon you use. I mean, I could understand if you combound it with a dex-based magus, but even then, that's wasting feats.
Would someone mind explaining how this feat could be useful?
Dervish Dance is very popular with the magus class. He's already restricted in fighting styles, might as well make the most of the options remaining.
Many magus builds excel at crit fishing and scimitar is an optimal weapon choice for crit builds.
It is the only way for dex based characters to use dex for damage without a specific magic item. I usually see Dervish Dance on 7 str characters and thats about it. I suppose you can make the case it would be good for casters who don't use shields, but other than the Magus who rocks weapon and spell style anyway I don't see many characters wanting to give up using two hands, two weapons or a shield for something with a 2 feat investment. It works well for races with a dex bonus and a str penalty, but in general the being forced into the worst melee style isn't made up for by being able to dump str.
My bf has a halfling bard (of Sarenrae, lol) dervish dancer. It's currently the damage dealer of the party at level 3, overpowering the sorcerer, the ranger and the heavy cleric. I'll see if I can convince him to share his build here. It requires a bit of wandering about the build, but it works.
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I have Dervish Dance on my Paladin of Arshea, who's dex 18 and cha 18, and has bless weapon as her prime spell. Things get disgusting when she threats against an evil creature.
I'm going to be buying up Improved Crit asap, so she threats on a 15 then will autoconfirm against all evil critters. So it's quite useful for her. She's not built to be the heavy tank. She's still super tanky, but it all comes from being able to not be hit, not armor.