First I know this isn't going to be a super strong build, but I like the character concept. I am currently playing a 2nd level spellsong minstrel bard in a RotRL game, and I would like to have him start taking levels in warrior poet samurai wielding a katana and wakizashi for background story reasons. The biggest problem is I'm not quite sure how I should do it considering his stats which are:
Str 10
Dex 17
Con 12
Int 14
Wis 9
Cha 15
My original plan was to go straight bard then eldritch Archer but after the game started and I was filling out backstory for him I liked the idea of a samurai background. Should I ignore the warrior poets Graceful strike and go Dex to damage with slashing grace and two weapon grace, which would be very feat heavy or increase my strength. I was considering dipping a level or two into urban barbarian in either case. Any advice or tips would be very appreciated.
Edit 1: Completely forgot about the Agile Enchantment, I'll probably do that instead of slashing grace
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The effectiveness of the Warrior Poet's Graceful Strike is dependent on how many levels of the class you have and what your strength is. It's at its best when your build is power attacking two-handed. For your particular build (several levels in other classes, not enough strength for power attack and not using two-handing weapons) Slashing Grace will end up doing more damage.
Agile (weapon ability) can only be placed on weapons that are usable with weapon finesse. The warrior poet gets the ability to finesse a katana, but it doesn't actually alter the weapon's properties "for the purposes of any other effects." In other words: the katana can't be enchanted with Agile.
If you are planning on dipping Bloodrager, understand you will need Mad Magic to cast Bard spells whilst Bloodraging.
Probably going to want Arcane Strike, and Blooded Arcane Strike, too. Buy or craft the Gloves of Arcane Striking... this setup will work no matter what weapon you happen to be using.
Use an Elven Recurve Blade, it's 2h and Finesse-able. Or, you can Custom Create your own Exotic 2h Weapon, call it a NotAKatana, and add the Weapon Finesse property to it for 3DP.
If you're going to invest that much into a weapon though, you might also consider doubling down on that investment with 3 lvls of URogue so you can do 1.5x Dex to dmg with 2h. Agile on 2h will still only let you add 1x Dex to dmg.
The effectiveness of the Warrior Poet's Graceful Strike is dependent on how many levels of the class you have and what your strength is. It's at its best when your build is power attacking two-handed. For your particular build (several levels in other classes, not enough strength for power attack and not using two-handing weapons) Slashing Grace will end up doing more damage.
Agile (weapon ability) can only be placed on weapons that are usable with weapon finesse. The warrior poet gets the ability to finesse a katana, but it doesn't actually alter the weapon's properties "for the purposes of any other effects." In other words: the katana can't be enchanted with Agile.
Huh, I didn't notice that. Looks like if I want to do Dex to damage two weapon grace will be my go to.
If you are planning on dipping Bloodrager, understand you will need Mad Magic to cast Bard spells whilst Bloodraging.
Probably going to want Arcane Strike, and Blooded Arcane Strike, too. Buy or craft the Gloves of Arcane Striking... this setup will work no matter what weapon you happen to be using.
I am considering urban barbarian, not bloodrager. The idea is that he will act as an Archer bard but in a tight spot can show that he is a powerful samurai
Use an Elven Recurve Blade, it's 2h and Finesse-able. Or, you can Custom Create your own Exotic 2h Weapon, call it a NotAKatana, and add the Weapon Finesse property to it for 3DP.
If you're going to invest that much into a weapon though, you might also consider doubling down on that investment with 3 lvls of URogue so you can do 1.5x Dex to dmg with 2h. Agile on 2h will still only let you add 1x Dex to dmg.
I'm not a fan of the "just reflavor" mindset, he is specifically going for a katana w/ wakizashi dual wield. I'm just looking for how to keep him somewhat effective compared to the rest of the party of mostly single classes PC's