Ok, so now that it seems my bard is complete, I want to move on to a concept that I had wanted to do for my monk but couldn't - a two-weapon fighter.
Looking at the classes, the best choice seems to be unchained rogue. Rangers can get Two-Weapon Fighting and related feats as bonuses without needing the 15 dex, but that would mean they couldn't take any of those feats outside of the bonuses as they wouldn't qualify.
An unchained rogue can just go straight for the dex build and gets free dex to damage at level 3. So I don't have to worry about str aside from carrying capacity or about qualifying for the feats.
I am wondering how dex to damage would work for the offhand attack. RAW says that the offhand attack only gets half str to damage, so one could assume you'd get the same with dex. Though would Double Slice work for dex that same way it does for str? Most likely an 'ask the gm' type of thing.
I want to do a race I haven't done before, so that rules out all core races and kitsune. Goblins get +4 to dex, making it easier to get 15 for the feat. Though their -2 to str means I'd have to push it up to be able to carry stuff.
Tieflings have a +2 to str and int and can carry more stuff. They can also use an alternate racial trait to get a tail that can grab stuff.
Using the tiefling and a 20 point spread, I can go with this:
13 Str, 16 Dex, 14 Con, 12 Int, 14 Wis, 10 Cha
Class proficiency means the best weapon choice is the shortsword. It's got the best base damage and crit range of the light weapons a rogue can use.
The first feat would of course be Two-Weapon Fighting. Maybe Two-Weapon Defense at level 3. Improved Two-Weapon Fighting needs BAB 6 so not until level 9.
No idea what traits would be useful.
So... any feedback?
There are significant dex requirements on TWF, yes, and it's hard to have decent Str and Dex. Unrogue dex-to-damage is one solution, ranger (or slayer or nature fang druid) combat styles to skip the dex prereqs are another, vigilantes and fighters can get half-level to damage when using weapon finesse, there's a feat which switches all dex feat prereqs to int (artful dodge), or you can pile up enough damage from sources other than an ability mod that your str hardly matters (lots of ways).
A dex unrogue basically builds itself. You don't need 13 Str for that BTW, and tiefling doesn't add that much to what you're doing. It doesn't hurt...but a sylph (or bat skinwalker or gathlain or strix) offers access to flight, or a fetchling has max shadow sneakiness, or a goblin has the best dex.
There's a few good ways to go with TWF using ranger combat styles. One is that you go str-based almost entirely, accept your low-dex light/medium armor squishyness and get useful non-TWF feats with your general feats. It's better than it sounds, especially as a generalist. Another is to bite the high str & dex bullet, use the combat style for early shield feats and get TWF via general feats. 2 shields looks silly but can be very effective.
Fighters and vigilantes (and a few others, but usually too late on) with the right AWT or vigilante talent can add half-level to damage when attacking with weapon finesse but adding str to damage. With a moderate str and good dex this works fine.
Artful dodge is for odd arcane or psychic gish builds basically.
Just adding lots of damage: lots of ways, but warpriest and daring champion cavalier (Ed: not with TWF) stands out to me.
Re: Rogues and Double Slice - yes it works the way you think (you need it and it treats DEX the same way it would treat STR).
For my mind TWF builds need (or at least want) a few things:
1. Bonus to hit. TWF gives a penalty to hit, so a bonus to hit from somewhere is important. Add to this the slower progress of upgrading your weapons and you end up at -3 to hit by level 10 or so (compared to the greatsword guy).
2. Flat bonus damage per hit. Power Attack etc give better bonuses for bigger weapons, but if you have a flat +2 damage per hit then you get more damage if you hit more often.
3. Bonus feats. If you take Power Attack, TWF and ITWF and you have 2 short-swords you'll be doing the same damage as someone who took Power Attack and a greatsword - but you've spent 2 more feats. You want more feats so you can get more stuff.
4. A way to be less MAD (Multi-Attribute-Dependant). TWF needs high DEX, but you want STR for attack/damage. Weapon Finesse helps your to-hit, but you still have STR for damage.
So if we look at some classes from the Core Rulebook:
Barbarian: Not great for this, they a bonus to hit, but no flat damage boost, no bonus feats and no help with MAD (they also get great bonuses to the big weapon style)
Bard: Not terrible, they get a flat bonus to hit and to damage, but no bonus feats and they'd be pretty MAD.
Cleric: They CAN do this with enough buffing, but without some serious prep they get no help for any of the 4. With prep-time Clerics can do anything =P
Druid: See Cleric.
Fighter: Good choice. Great accuracy boost, Weapon Training and Weapon Specialization give a flat damage boost and thy have feats out the wazoo. The only thing they're missing is help with the MAD-ness, but they're not especially MAD to begin with.
Monk: Why 0_o - kinda. Monks don't get much of a bonus to hit/damage, and they're really MAD, but they do get bonus feats. More importantly though Flurry already does this so why waste feats on this?
Paladin: Bad choice unless smiting. Paladins get no bonus feats and are really really MAD, but when smiting they have a great accuracy boost and an AMAZING damage boost that kind-of makes up for everything. (This is probably better with a Double Weapon so you can just smash most of the day and then TWF when smiting, just thought of that).
Ranger: Great choice. Favoured enemy gives an attack/damage boost, Ranger Bonus feats are fairly plentiful and let you ignore DEX (so you can just go STR). They tick every box as long as you're fighting favoured enemies (or using spells to make enemies count as favoured enemies).
Rogue: Reasonable choice. Bonus damage from sneak attack is amazing and can take some chouce feats as talents. Unchained Rogue gets Weapon Finess for free and eventually gets DEX to damage (amazing). The only thing they're missing is an accuracy boost, which unfortunately kind-of kills this unless you really know what you're doing. If you know how to get the most out of your accuracy Rogue works, but for newer players this is a really good-looking trap (if you don't hit you don't damage).
Sorcerer/Wizard: I mean ... no.
So with all that said, the best choice in all the classes (not just CRB) is probably ... the Warpriest! They get enough accuracy/damage boosts to do some serious damage and they can have almost as many feats as the fighter. The only thing you're missing is help with MAD-trouble, but there's enough static damage there that you only need 12-14 STR, so you can pump DEX.
Ok, I'm going to read through all of that a couple of times.
The 13 str was more for being able to carry stuff rather than damage. I looked at stat spreads for both races, and even with goblin I pushed it to 12.
Barbarian was mentioned but I will throw my lot in with Unchained Barbarian for those non-str dependent bonuses and martial weapon proficiency. Add three levels of rogue to reign in stat dependency and you're only down one base attack from a normal barbarian. Your attack bonus will appreciate this as well as benefit early on from rage. You already have 2d6 of sneak attack and should be more durable than most rogues so you can flank with kukris to great effect.
As for race, I like aasimars and they have several stat bonuses depending on where you wanted them. I also just find them more appealing than their fiendish counterparts.
Barbarian was mentioned but I will throw my lot in with Unchained Barbarian for those non-str dependent bonuses and martial weapon proficiency. Add three levels of rogue to reign in stat dependency and you're only down one base attack from a normal barbarian. Your attack bonus will appreciate this as well as benefit early on from rage. You already have 2d6 of sneak attack and should be more durable than most rogues so you can flank with kukris to great effect.
I was kinda just going through the core classes as single classes. Unchained Rogue/Urban Barbarian (+DEX) would probably be a fairly strong multiclass option for this, as you'd get some nice accuracy boosts from Barb and DEX-to-damage from Rogue.
Also I'm pretty unfamiliar with Unchained-Barb, but if they get a static damage boost then they'd tick most of the boxes pretty well.
My list was more about examples of classes with synergistic features to give an idea.
I actually think Investigator makes a pretty good TWF build thanks to Studied Combat - the accuracy boost is almost the best in the game and there's enough static damage that they don't have to worry as much about being MAD (12 STR is fine). The only thing they're missing is bonus feats (and it won't really come online till level 5, but that's the investigator for you).
I am assuming that it is common knowledge that Greater TWF is a trap, and that Two Weapon Rend is the capstone of the feat chain...
Two Weapon Rend requires BAB +11 and a 17 Dex. One of which is going to happen on its own, but gives you plenty of time to address the other.
You can have a 17 Dex by the time you reach BAB +11, even with a Strength build. Don't be a moron with your point buy, and spend the gold. Gold is precious in a TWF build, but you do what you have to do.
I think Slayer is a great TWF build...
First and foremost, full BAB is going to be the least affected by the hit to accuracy, AND gets you to Two Weapon Rend the quickest.
Second, Studied Target affects your attack and damage. This will make up for the hit to accuracy AND help you get the damage you want (without having to spend gold to enchantment your weapons).
Third, you get access to Ranger Combat Style feats, and can avoid prerequisites to your bonus feats.
Fourthly, you get a decent amount of class skills and 6+Int skills per level... hopefully you aren't completely useless outside of combat.
Fifth, you have a list of Talents to choose from, giving you (the player) control over your character.
Blah blah blah... somewhere on this list of the benefits of being a Slayer is that stupid Sneak Attack damage bonus... but it's at the very bottom.
PS. Only the off-hand has to light to reduce the penalties (I like the Broken-Back Seax, personally)... you can use a Split-Blade Sword in your main hand if you want a 2D6 one-handed weapon. Or a Morningstar for two types of damage simultaneously (all three types simultaneously if you have the Broken-Back Seax in your off-hand). It's funny, too, that the Broken-Back Seax requires a 15 Strength and the Split-Blade Sword requires a 15 Dex.
Personally I'd go for mobile fighter with Circling Mongoose at level 6. The feat means you benefit a lot from leaping attack (mobile fighter's scaling AB and damage bonus), and rapid attack at level 11 works really well with two-weapon fighting (full-attack anywhere during move, losing only your first main-hand attack).
PS. Only the off-hand has to light to reduce the penalties (I like the Broken-Back Seax, personally)... you can use a Split-Blade Sword in your main hand if you want a 2D6 one-handed weapon. Or a Morningstar for two types of damage simultaneously (all three types simultaneously if you have the Broken-Back Seax in your off-hand). It's funny, too, that the Broken-Back Seax requires a 15 Strength and the Split-Blade Sword requires a 15 Dex.
being only vaguely familiar with these weapons I looked them up and while the Broken-Back Seax is described as being the same size as a short sword, it's listed as a 1-handed weapon. Which makes sense as there aren't any d10 light weapons on the list, even under exotic.
I prefer having 2 of the same weapon. Saving feats on weapon focus and flat bonus weapon specialization is far more important to me than a bigger weapon.
Even more so if you have to spend a feat to learn an exotic weapon.
It's 2020, do people still actually spend feats on EWP instead of just buying the rock?
I do, absolutely, understand the benefits of doubling up the same weapon to share feats. It is highly recommended for obvious reasons.
Those are all very good points. A multiclass build would probably be best for this.
Yes, Unchained Barbarian gets a flat boost to damage and attack rolls and temp HP. It makes it easier to play since you don't have to recalculate skills and such. Though I'm not sure I want to go with that for this. But I'll look at the archetype and see what it's about.
I think starting off with 4 levels of Unchained Rogue is best. I get the free dex to damage at level 3 and the 4th level nets another talent along with Debilitating Injury and Uncanny Dodge.
Um, Voodist? Slayers don't get bonus feats. They get talents.
Fighter might be a good choice. The bonus feats are always nice. I've got some thinking to do.
Slayers get talents which can be used for ranger combat styles (feats) and for rogue talents which equate to feats like combat trick, as well as for things which you can't get via feats. They can effectively get almost as many feats as a fighter if they want.
The fighter's advantage is that weapon training & armor training are boosts which don't generally require an action (some of the advanced options do, but the basic trainings don't.)
He said... replying to a comment no longer there
sorry i thought it double posted then i deleted and turns out it didn't double post.
either way
fighter > other classes because of static damage bonuses and im too lazy to do the math but i'm kind of increasingly convinced finesse + decent str and the double your weapon training bonus + the specializations + treating one handed weapons as light from also awt makes fighter the two weapon fighting champion.
I guess I'm going to have to take a closer look at the slayer talents and see what's there.
Let's start with the basics - extra attacks are awesome, so why doesn't everyone use TWF?
Well, there're five downsides to TWF.
1) Feat requirement - you need the TWF feat, and will want followups.
2) Dex requirement - TWF requires Dex 15, Improved TWF requires 17, Greater TWF requires 19.
3) Weapon cost - you either pay twice as much, or have a lower bonus.
4) More reliance on full attacks - needing to move hurts you even more than others, as it also shuts down your combat style.
5) More problems with damage reduction - DR applies to each attack, and #3 means that you can ignore fewer cases of DR than others.
If you can't get help on some of these, TWF is just not a viable fighting style. So, let's see what we can do to lessen those downsides!
Brawler or Monk remove the need for #1 and #2, but then again, they don't have any reason to use two weapons.
1) Nothing much you can do, except get bonus feats: Fighter, Vigilante, Ranger/Slayer most notably.
2) Ranger/Slayer can ignore prereqs via the Ranger Combat Style, Vigilante can ignore prereqs via the Shield of Fury talent, as do Brawling Blademaster Samurai and the Sanguine Angel Prestige class. Of course, it's possible to go dex-based, most notably with unRogue.
3) Gloomblade Fighter can create double weapons at full bonus, and Handwraps allow TWF with unarmed strikes at the price of a single weapon. Attack- and damage roll bonuses from the class can help out.
4) Pounce or something similar helps a lot, see list below. For low levels, a double weapon helps (you can two-hand it when moving/charging).
5) Pummeling Style.
In addition to all that, you'll want bonus damage to make it worthwhile, and the stuff every martial wants, i.e. good saves/defense, the ability to deal with flying/unreachable and invisible/hidden enemies, and out-of-combat usefulness.
1 Mounted Sohei Monk via the Mounted Skirmisher feat, Synthesist Summoner
3 Swordmaster Rogue (requires a combat maneuver check to work)
4 Weretouched Shifter
8 Flesheater Barbarian
9 Metamorph Alchemist
10 Beastmorph Alchemist, Barbarian/Viking Fighter/Wild Stalker Ranger via Greater Beast Totem rage power
11 Medium via Champion spirit, Azatariel Swashbuckler, Mobile Fighter/Dawnflower Dervish Fighter 11 (costs the first attack)
12 Psychodermist Occultist, Dervish Dancer Bar, Vigilante via Mad Rush talent, Skald/Primalist Bloodrager via Greater Beast Totem rage power
BAB12 Pummeling Charge [unarmed only]
I guess I'm going to have to take a closer look at the slayer talents and see what's there.
Most Slayer Talents are crap, but Ranger Combat Style is where the money's at - especially for TWF.
fighter > other classes because of static damage bonuses and im too lazy to do the math but i'm kind of increasingly convinced finesse + decent str and the double your weapon training bonus + the specializations + treating one handed weapons as light from also awt makes fighter the two weapon fighting champion.
I disagree. It takes quite a while before all that stuff comes online, and when it does, others have pounce, easily surpassing a Fighter's damage in practise.
For two weapon fighting I like what fighters can do with advanced weapon training.
You're a dex build, with a little strength.
You pickup kukri to start with but will upgrade to scimitars later on if you like...though I think it's not worth it. You just want a weapon with an 18-20 crit range, weapon damage dice mean very little in terms of overall damage.
The big thing is to pick up trained grace, which doubles your weapon training damage when using strength to add to your damage, which will make up for you low strength and having to have high dex for TWF feats.
Effortless dual wield will let you wield one-handed (instead of light weapons) but I don't think the damage increase going from kukris to scimitars is actually that important.
Warrior spirit is a practical must, very powerful.
Fighter's finesse will let you use dex to hit for any weapon you desire.
Add in all the other feats that fighters can get to support two weapon fighting and you'll be doing quite well.
I also like this same kind of build on Arsenal Chaplain Warpriests.
Warrior spirit and trained grace are the only Advanced Weapon Training options you really need, and for the Arsenal Chaplain your kukri will deal a lot of damage. Plus you can buff yourself with Divine Favor and Righteous Might. And lots of other buff spells.
Arsenal Chaplain is just a great archetype for nearly any martially inclined character build.
UnRogue, knife master archetype if your GM will allow it (since UnRogue's Danger Sense isn't exactly Trap Sense, but I think it's rather pedantic to go that far), for sheer damage output, which will also help since you may have to move to get into position for that flank or sneak attack before you get to make that full-round and rip something apart.
Once Debilitating Injury comes on line, hitting is not really a problem anymore, plus you'll boost the rest of your group!
if your GM will allow it (since UnRogue's Danger Sense isn't exactly Trap Sense, but I think it's rather pedantic to go that far)
The ability outright says that "This ability counts as trap sense for the purpose of any feat or class prerequisite, and can be replaced by any archetype class feature that replaces trap sense".
my favorite TWF build is a regular rogue with the knife master archtype, using Kukri's then go normal TWF build, by 10th level. I max Dex, ignore STR. CON and INT are the seconday stats.
I will look at all of those.
Ok. Kukris are martial weapons and rogues aren't proficient in them. So if I start with that class, I'll have to use daggers instead and buy kukris when I multiclass into something else.
The archetype does look handy though, boosting sneak attack damage. I could go with the talent that gives Improved Dirty Trick and get opponents blinded to lock the sneak attack in when I can't flank. And the second talent be good old Combat Trick.
Daggers are much underrated weapons. They're throwable, have two damage types, are slightly more concealable than kukris (and may be socially acceptable to the point you don't need to conceal them), come in several unique magic versions and the divine obedience (Pharasma) feat and river rat trait can improve their basic statistics to the point that you might well stick with them.
Daggers are much underrated weapons. They're throwable, have two damage types, are slightly more concealable than kukris (and may be socially acceptable to the point you don't need to conceal them), come in several unique magic versions and the divine obedience (Pharasma) feat and river rat trait can improve their basic statistics to the point that you might well stick with them.
Yeah I built a Molthuni Arsenal Chaplain Warpriest of Pharasma who dual-wields daggers in range and melee and can make AoOs with them up to 10 feet. There are higher damage builds out there but it's pretty well rounded.
Haven't played him yet as he's my backup character for our Carrion Crown game, but the maths stack up and I like the versatility.
Fair enough. If I'm getting more damage from sneak attack and the sheer amount of hits, then the base damage die doesn't matter too much.
For DR purposes, I can get one made from cold iron and the other from alchemical silver. Then I can save up for an adamantine one later. I can bring a spare kunai with me in case Blunt damage is needed, since it can also be used as a crowbar or piton.
I'll consider the River Rat trait.
Fair enough. If I'm getting more damage from sneak attack and the sheer amount of hits, then the base damage die doesn't matter too much.
For DR purposes, I can get one made from cold iron and the other from alchemical silver. Then I can save up for an adamantine one later. I can bring a spare kunai with me in case Blunt damage is needed, since it can also be used as a crowbar or piton.
I'll consider the River Rat trait.
Right, the TWF rogue or fighter doesn't need to worry much about base damage dice, or crits. it's big damage comes from iterative attacks and backstab dice.
you might also consider the ninja, or arcane trickster, both have the ability to get Greater Invisibility as a class ability, guaranteeing that most of your attacks will be going against flat footed (and getting backstab dice).
Daggers are much underrated weapons. They're throwable, have two damage types, are slightly more concealable than kukris (and may be socially acceptable to the point you don't need to conceal them), come in several unique magic versions and the divine obedience (Pharasma) feat and river rat trait can improve their basic statistics to the point that you might well stick with them.Yeah I built a Molthuni Arsenal Chaplain Warpriest of Pharasma who dual-wields daggers in range and melee and can make AoOs with them up to 10 feet. There are higher damage builds out there but it's pretty well rounded.
Haven't played him yet as he's my backup character for our Carrion Crown game, but the maths stack up and I like the versatility.
The Flying Blade Swashbuckler is a great ranged/melee mix. one of the most fun characters I have ever built. (And an insane AC)
Greater Invisibility would be pretty useful for getting sneak attack damage. Ninja needs 10 levels for getting the trick. Arcane Trickster gets it at level 9, but needs at least 3 levels of rogue and 4 levels of an arcane spellcasting class just for the class, which makes it minimum level 16.
Although the spell itself is a level 4 spell. A sorcerer can get that at level 8. Seems the fastest route if I multiclass rogue and a spellcaster.
Greater Invisibility would be pretty useful for getting sneak attack damage. Ninja needs 10 levels for getting the trick. Arcane Trickster gets it at level 9, but needs at least 3 levels of rogue and 4 levels of an arcane spellcasting class just for the class, which makes it minimum level 16.
Although the spell itself is a level 4 spell. A sorcerer can get that at level 8. Seems the fastest route if I multiclass rogue and a spellcaster.
If you do go Arcane Trickster you can take a level of Rogue/Ninja/etc and the ACCOMPLISHED SNEAK ATTACKER feat.
The very fastest way to get access to the spell would be Rogue-1/Wizard-3/Arcane-Trickster-X, which would get Greater Invisibility at level 8. This would give you the best casting and sneak-attack capabilities, though it's worth noting that at level 8 your BAB would be +3 (lower than a Wizard).
Hm. Teleportation that doesn't end the turn. Now THAT is handy.
Just a word of warning, there are a lot of creatures which a TWF arcane trickster has trouble hitting, even with greater invisibility up. They have poor BAB, TWF penalties and probably no time to cast more buff spells.
Understood.
Just a word of warning, there are a lot of creatures which a TWF arcane trickster has trouble hitting, even with greater invisibility up. They have poor BAB, TWF penalties and probably no time to cast more buff spells.
Yup, agreed.
At level 8 a Rogue-1/Wizard-3/AT-4 has +3BAB. Let's say you have 14 DEX. You go Greater Invisibility then cast Scorching Ray on someone. Chances are you're targeting AC:10, and you still have a 20% chance to miss.
If you're focussing on TWF you're probably gonna have mor DEX, but you take that -2 to hit and you won't be targeting touch AC. Against any targets that matter you're gonna have a hard time hitting.
Just a word of warning, there are a lot of creatures which a TWF arcane trickster has trouble hitting, even with greater invisibility up. They have poor BAB, TWF penalties and probably no time to cast more buff spells.Yup, agreed.
At level 8 a Rogue-1/Wizard-3/AT-4 has +3BAB. Let's say you have 14 DEX. You go Greater Invisibility then cast Scorching Ray on someone. Chances are you're targeting AC:10, and you still have a 20% chance to miss.
If you're focussing on TWF you're probably gonna have mor DEX, but you take that -2 to hit and you won't be targeting touch AC. Against any targets that matter you're gonna have a hard time hitting.
AND you're a less than 3/4 BAB class.
I'm growing on two bladed sword fighter personally, primarily because of the potential to put off the TWF til level 4+ and make your way through the first couple levels with the 150% str and power attack like it was a 2 hander. It saves you 2 points in point buy by letting you dex 14 then buy up to 15 and twf at level 4 instead of trying to shoehorn it in later. you spend your first four levels something like this
Power attack
EWP 2 bladed sword
WF 2 bladed sword
(iron will/toughness/survive til level 6 or foundation for any maneuver or style feats)
then at 4 you go +1 dex + TWF
Double slice/WS/etc
I think there's something worthwhile there as of AWT AAT.
AND you're a less than 3/4 BAB class.Just a word of warning, there are a lot of creatures which a TWF arcane trickster has trouble hitting, even with greater invisibility up. They have poor BAB, TWF penalties and probably no time to cast more buff spells.<stuff>
Just to fully clarify in case I didn't make it clear, you end up as less than a 1/2 BAB class, forget about 3/4.
Just to fully clarify in case I didn't make it clear, you end up as less than a 1/2 BAB class, forget about 3/4.AND you're a less than 3/4 BAB class.Just a word of warning, there are a lot of creatures which a TWF arcane trickster has trouble hitting, even with greater invisibility up. They have poor BAB, TWF penalties and probably no time to cast more buff spells.<stuff>
I think people have a tendency to get a little too rube goldberg in their character creation sometimes and it ends with something that seeeeeeeeeems like it should work well but one small piece out of joint and it falls apart completely.
Fractional BAB/saves just makes sense. I do recommend it.
If you're not getting TWF until L4 then that fighter might as well use a greatsword or something until then. The extra couple of points of damage may well matter at low levels.
Also, with apologies to Mr. Maul, two-bladed swords look wonky to me.
Fractional BAB/saves just makes sense. I do recommend it.
If you're not getting TWF until L4 then that fighter might as well use a greatsword or something until then. The extra couple of points of damage may well matter at low levels.
Also, with apologies to Mr. Maul, two-bladed swords look wonky to me.
I agree aesthetically, but people are all into shit like rhoka swords and split blade swords while theorycrafting and those are goofy and improbably looking as anything.
And yeah you could, but you get like four or five feats before you hit 4th level and go into twf, seems like the time to take weapon focus. i kind of rate the +1 to hit from WF in your eventual weapon over the +2.5 average damage of a greatsword.
1d8+7-9 at level 1 shouldn't be bad enough to prevent you from hitting level 4.
Ok. I don't think I'm going to go with Arcane Trickster. 4 levels of a spellcasting class to just qualify for it kinda hurts a melee build, especially as it doesn't add all that much for two-weapon fighting character. It looks better for a spellcaster that wants to do a little rogue stuff rather than a rogue that wants some spells.
But a single level of a spellcaster might be helpful before going into a more martial class. The arcanist seems to combine the best aspects of a prepared caster and a spontaneous caster. And as mentioned, just one level of the class lets me use a wand of greater invisibility. As well as gives spells like Color Spray and True Strike. Even Reduce Person could be useful since it gives a basic boost of attack rolls and to dex, which will also boost attack and damage thanks to the levels of unchained rogue. And really, dropping from 1d4 to 1d3 isn't going to do too much harm since sneak attack damage won't be effected.
As for the martial class after, Flying Blade does look fun, but mechanics wise vanilla Fighter might be best. Plenty of bonus feats and weapon training options would really help the build get off the ground.
Arcane Trickster is available single class for the Eldritch Scoundrel UnRogue. Which eliminates the need for fractional BAB/saves, and all the other nonsense associated with multiclassing. If you really want to play an Arcane Trickster, you can without having to deal with all that suck.
Sandman Bard can do it single class, as well. Just needs the Vagabond Child trait for the one skill Bards don't have. Lol. You'll have to wait to get into Arcane Trickster, but the option exists.
I still think Slayer, Vanilla Fighter, or Arsenal Chaplain Warpriest is my go-to TWF build, though.
Daggers are much underrated weapons. They're throwable, have two damage types, are slightly more concealable than kukris (and may be socially acceptable to the point you don't need to conceal them), come in several unique magic versions and the divine obedience (Pharasma) feat and river rat trait can improve their basic statistics to the point that you might well stick with them.
^this
I like the versatility of regular daggers as opposed to the increased critical chance of the kukri as the multiplier is the same, and with the knifemaster, you don't really benefit from a critical anyways. If you play with the Critical Hit deck on the other hand, upping the chance of getting fight ending status effects can be pretty nice, but if not using those, I'd go with plain daggers.
Daggers are much underrated weapons. They're throwable, have two damage types, are slightly more concealable than kukris (and may be socially acceptable to the point you don't need to conceal them), come in several unique magic versions and the divine obedience (Pharasma) feat and river rat trait can improve their basic statistics to the point that you might well stick with them.^this
I like the versatility of regular daggers as opposed to the increased critical chance of the kukri as the multiplier is the same, and with the knifemaster, you don't really benefit from a critical anyways. If you play with the Critical Hit deck on the other hand, upping the chance of getting fight ending status effects can be pretty nice, but if not using those, I'd go with plain daggers.
It's worth noting that the kukri is significantly better on non-sneak attack builds where the majority of their damage will be multiplied on a crit.
But I agree on a build like a knife master rogue which will get most of its damage on sneak attack (which doesn't multiply on crit) it gets more utility out of being able to throw a knife and from other feats/traits that boost daggers specifically.