So, using a Human Swashbuckler (Mysterious Avenger) archetype, you can gain Whip proficiency at level 1 for free. Whips are considered to be Slashing weapons, and so qualify for Slashing Grace.
Blah blah blah, you know the drill: shares a weapon group with Morningstar > grab Weapon Focus and Slashing Grace with Whip > now give Slashing Grace to the Morningstar via Martial Versatility. Now you get Weapon Finesse and DEX-to-damage with the Morningstar. Huzzah.
The question is: disregarding flavor, is there any way to make this worth it? The morningstar is a favorite weapon of mine because it's both bludgeoning and piercing at once; it's got a cool aesthetic; but in the end it's a 1d8 x2 crit weapon, and that's not exactly top of the line.
I suppose I'd be more effective against constructs and certain undead (such as skeletons) due to having a weapon that's bludgeoning? IIRC, undead and constructs in Pathfinder are no longer immune to precision damage automatically, so this should work. But that only helps against very specific opponents.
Is there anything I could do to make this worth it or will it simply be a sub-par setup?
Morngingstars are piercing weapons. Do you need to jump through that many hoops to get swash damage? You can use Military Picks with Swash...morningstars should fall right in.
==Aelryinth
Morngingstars are piercing weapons. Do you need to jump through that many hoops to get swash damage? You can use Military Picks with Swash...morningstars should fall right in.
==Aelryinth
It works for Precise Strike. But Precise Strike is usable alongside Slashing Grace which gives the DEX to damage. Unless I'm missing something, that's the only way to get both.
I'd rather be using Precise Strike AND DEX-to-damage if possible for maximum ka-smack with a morningstar.
|
Whirling Dervish Swashbuckler from ACG Origins. This will give you Dex to damage with the Morningstar and Precise Strike with it. It also allows you to be any race, and more importantly it actually works.
Martial Versatility doesn't work, because Slashing Grace requires Weapon Focus and Martial Versatility only gives you the ability to swap weapons for one feat. There is also the fact that Slashing Grace requires a Slashing weapon, so you would need to pick up Versatile weapon to make the the morning star slashing for it to work.
This is going in my gallery in some form or another.
What's allowed?
Anything's allowed. I'm going to shove this at my GM as one of my possible replacement characters if my current character dies.
Whirling Dervish Swashbuckler from ACG Origins. This will give you Dex to damage with the Morningstar and Precise Strike with it. It also allows you to be any race, and more importantly it actually works.
Martial Versatility doesn't work, because Slashing Grace requires Weapon Focus and Martial Versatility only gives you the ability to swap weapons for one feat. There is also the fact that Slashing Grace requires a Slashing weapon, so you would need to pick up Versatile weapon to make the the morning star slashing for it to work.
How did I not see that 4th level ability before?! Aish! That makes this a heck of a lot easier to do.
AND I can be any race.
Okay, so I can make it work at this point, but have to be wielding only a single morningstar (as compared to dual-wielding silliness). How can I best make use of that empty off-hand? Potion chugging seems like something I'll have zero problems doing, but what else would work well?
This is going in my gallery in some form or another.
Hopefully you devise some awesome means of using it. Again, I'm at the phase of "Okay, so this works, but how do I make it GOOD / SPECIAL?"
Taldan scissors don't count as a shield, and yet they grant a shield bonus and occupy your off-hand.
I like that. Does that hand count as holding a weapon for purposes of the Whirling Dervish' special DEX-to-damage ability?
A whirling dervish can treat a scimitar as a one-handed piercing melee weapon for the purposes of the swashbuckler's finesse and all feats and class abilities that refer to such a weapon. She must not be carrying a weapon or shield in her off hand to gain this benefit.
If not... And I note that the hand itself IS empty; the weapon's just attached there... then this would be a perfect use for that hand, yeah.
Pretty sure Scizore counts as a weapon.
Morningstars are useful and cheap, but I don't think this specific idea is going to go anywhere unique or powerful.
I just created a character using a similar combo for my gallery.
He gets Weapon Finesse with one-handed piercing weapons as a class ability. Then he takes Weapon Focus and Slashing Grace (battleaxe), which makes it so battleaxes are treated as one-handed piercing weapons for the purposes of feats and class abilities. Then he takes Martial Versatility (slashing grace) to apply those benefits to all axe-like weapons, allowing him to treat his heavy pick as a one-handed finessable piercing weapon that adds Dexterity to both attacks and damage.
I'm failing to see how Martial Versatility wouldn't work. You can take it multiple times if need be, having it apply to multiple combat feats.
I just created a character using a similar combo for my gallery.
He gets Weapon Finesse with one-handed piercing weapons as a class ability. Then he takes Weapon Focus and Slashing Grace (battleaxe), which makes it so battleaxes are treated as one-handed piercing weapons for the purposes of feats and class abilities. Then he takes Martial Versatility (slashing grace) to be able to treat his heavy pick as a one-handed finessable piercing weapon that adds Dexterity to both attacks and damage.
I'm failing to see how Martial Versatility wouldn't work. You can take it multiple times if need be, having it apply to multiple combat feats.
I think he was worried that Slashing Grace wouldn't work because it specifies slashing weapons, but Martial Versatility explicitly states that it allows you to apply the feat to ALL weapons in that weapon group. Ergo, even though a weapon may not be slashing, it should work.
BBT previously pointed out you can get DEX-to-damage with crossbows by using the Pirate weapon group available only to the corsair.
I've been toying with making a character that throws DEX-to-damage axes instead, but their range is so tiny (throwing axes have a range of 20 feet once you apply Far Shot). Still, could be an interesting skirmisher character. DEX-to-damage daggers could be fun, too, thanks to being usable in melee and at range. (Daggers are doable with the Sawtooth Sabre; haven't checked all the weapons in Blades, Light for applicable weapons.)
There's a lot of possibilities with Martial Versatility + Slashing Grace.
EDIT: Though feat-intensive, I can imagine the throwing axe build working great with Sliding Axe and Agile Maneuvers and trip feats. DEX-to-damage, free trip attacks against people you chuck axes at? Can be used with ANY attack roll you make with the axe? Sign me up.
I'd call him Draven.
Okay, so I can make it work at this point, but have to be wielding only a single morningstar (as compared to dual-wielding silliness).
Whirling Dervish may not be using a weapon or a shield in the offhand while using a *scimitar*, but there's nothing that says you can't use the standard Swashbuckler Finesse with weapons that normally qualify for Swashbuckler Finesse - making a buckler work.
Alternately Crane Style is a possible use of a free hand, eventually netting +5/7AC at the cost of 1ab and giving you a ferocious counter-attacking streak when crossed with Opportune Parry and Riposte. Takes a bunch of feats to do it though, unless you grab a level of Unarmed Fighter.
|
|
I just created a character using a similar combo for my gallery.
He gets Weapon Finesse with one-handed piercing weapons as a class ability. Then he takes Weapon Focus and Slashing Grace (battleaxe), which makes it so battleaxes are treated as one-handed piercing weapons for the purposes of feats and class abilities. Then he takes Martial Versatility (slashing grace) to apply those benefits to all axe-like weapons, allowing him to treat his heavy pick as a one-handed finessable piercing weapon that adds Dexterity to both attacks and damage.
I'm failing to see how Martial Versatility wouldn't work. You can take it multiple times if need be, having it apply to multiple combat feats.
You can take Martial Versatility more than once, but it is a very large investment to do so. It's also debatable if it would apply to a non-slashing weapon without also taking versatile weapon to change the damage type.
To my knowledge, you don't even need to take Martial Versatility (weapon focus) before you can take Martial Versatility (slashing grace).
Don't think it works.
Slashing grace does not apply to a SPECIFIC weapon it applies to a group of weapons.
Martial versatility says take a feat that applies to a SPECIFIC weapon.
The first sentence under the Benefits section of Slashing Grace literally says ""
How does that not qualify as a single weapon choice?