I don't know if I'm in love with the flavour/imagery more than anything.
First off, this will only go ahead if my GM agrees to give me all exotic weapon proficiencies, without any non-exotic proficiencies.
Also, this will start at around level 8, depending on when my current character dies.
The character was going to focus on coup de graces, sneaking up behind opponents (very stealthy, helped by a ring of invisibility) to incapacitate someone, that sort of thing, so both weapons having deadly would help that a lot. I was also going to make them both keen for two 15-20 crit range weapons.
The slayer's combat style feats would all be used for two-weapon fighting, and I was going to dip one level of swashbuckler to get swashbuckler finesse so I wouldn't have to spend a feat on weapon finesse. Then get slashing grace (katana) to complete the build.
What are your thoughts on this? And are there any other, better ways to make something like this?
You can be guaranteed proficiency in both Katana and Wakizashi if your character is a Tengu. Totally RAW.
Alas, tengu doesn't quite fit the idea I had in mind. This character is drow, probably should have mentioned that.
The Quest for Sky!
(Because the topic's going up. Clever, eh?)
Does using a katana not grant the benefits of weapon focus and slashing grace?
And do you think it would be worth selecting slashing grace for both weapons?
Thanks for the reply!
Does using a katana not grant the benefits of weapon focus and slashing grace?
And do you think it would be worth selecting slashing grace for both weapons?
Thanks for the reply!
Wakizashi is a light weapon. Slashing grace only works with one handed weapons.
Agile Wakizashi fixes it.
Why not Daring Champion, instead of Swashbuckler?
If he's only taking one or two levels, swashbuckler is mechanically superior. Daring Champion doesn't get deeds and panache until 4th level. Would you rather have challenge 1/day and tactician 1/day or deeds and panache?
No.
1- Slashing Grace doesn't work with light weapons.
2- TWFing with Slashing Grace on 2 different feats will require between 6 to 9 feats (Well... 5 to 8 for SBs).
3- I think Swashbuckler's Finesse doesn't work on katana (not sure, though).
Paizo really dropped the ball on this one...
If he's only taking one or two levels, swashbuckler is mechanically superior. Daring Champion doesn't get deeds and panache until 4th level. Would you rather have challenge 1/day and tactician 1/day or deeds and panache?Agile Wakizashi fixes it.
Why not Daring Champion, instead of Swashbuckler?
If I would only have 1 Panache? Bad challenge once per day.
Opportune Parry requires you to spend one panache, meaning you don't have 1 available to riposte. At that point, I'd go Cav.
Depends on the cha score, obviously.
3- I think Swashbuckler's Finesse doesn't work on katana (not sure, though).
It does if you take Slashing Grace, since that feat makes the Katana count as a 1-handed piercing weapon for all feats & class abilities that need you to use such weapons.
I wonder if the Human alternate racial trait Adoptive Parentage(Tengu) could possible allow you to gain Weapon Familiarity with all swords, such as the Katana, and Wakizashi. Maybe not.
I've wondered about that too. Not sure since it's not listed as a standard 'Weapon Familiarity'.
Thanks to everyone.
Sawtooth sabres look good, but it would mean I lose the crit range and the coup de grace aspect.
Agile wakizashi is fantastic, cheers!
*Digs upwards*
Thanks to everyone.
Sawtooth sabres look good, but it would mean I lose the crit range and the coup de grace aspect.
Agile wakizashi is fantastic, cheers!
The deadly quality wont really mean much after a few levels. Not to mention a target needs to be helpless in order to perform a coup-de-grace. Unless you commonly find yourself sneaking up on sleeping targets, it's not that easy to get CdG without having others help you out with spells like Hold Person. Since the CdG save DC is calculated based on the damage dealt, when you're dealing 30 or more damage (and this is easy since CdG is automatically a Critical Hit) you're looking at a Save DC that is likely to only ever be met on a natural 20. Adding 4 more it is largely irrelevant.
My vote is to either use Saw-tooth Sabers with Slashing Grace, or to use twin Kukri's and being strength based instead of dex based.
Good point on the coup de grace, I see your point.
Is the extra damage on the off-hand weapon worth losing the 15-20 crit range?
Sawtooth Sabres with Improved Critical (or Keen) will have a 17-20 crit range. Not as good as the Wakizashi, but still decent.
Wakizashi is 1d6 18-20x2 and is a light weapon
Sawtooth Sabre is 1d8 19-20x2 and counts as a light weapon for 2 weapon fighting, but as it is a one handed weapon works with slashing grace. So it has the advantage of not costing extra money to get dex to damage, nor will it drive up the cost getting your normal striaght + enhancement bonuses. Remeber that quadratic cost increase, weapon bonus^2*2000. We could do the DPR calculations, I'm not sure which comes ahead at what levels, also needing to account for extra cost of agile enchant and subsequent weapon enhancement cost increase. It's not a clear choice in either direction, IMHO.
Personally I would rule out the wakizashi altogether because of the existence of the kukri.
For comparison:
kukri is 1d4 18-20x2, is a light weapon. It lacks the deadly quality which is terribly important. And, it's not an exotic weapon. Is 1d6 vs 1d4 worth the cost of a feat? Heck, if you're a class that qualifies for weapon spec then it's strictly worse to pickup EWP(Wakizashi) over Weapon Spec (Kukri). Even if you don't, its only 1 more point of damage, but the extra feat could be used to do much more.
And remember more importantly than anything, as a slayer you qualify for feats when using the Combat Style Trick without needing to meet the prereqs. Till level 10 you get the same number as a ranger. You can pickup TWF, ITWF, and Double Slice and ignore dex for the most part. You only want some minor low amount of dex for defence, you don't actually need it for offense. Doing this you also don't need to worry about weapon finesse, or about the agile quality. The only feat you'll really miss out on is Two Weapon Rend, which is nice but not huge.
Thanks for all your help, you've been great!