Shadowdancer builds?

[Abuyin]

I'm looking for some ideas on a build one of my party members is going for. He's a level 1 Human Swashbuckler looking to go into Shadowdancer but the main thing is that he's a first time player, and I've never played a Shadowdancer nor do I know anyone who has.

[lemeres]

Well, there are usually two benchmarks for shadowdancer- level 1 and level 3.

Level 1 is a nice little dip. Just there for the stealth, thanks. Perfect if you don't want to miss out on precise strike advancement or deeds.

Level 3 is when you get the shadow- an incorporeal creature with a touch attack that does lethal str damage. At times, it can possibly wipe out entire dungeons if they are not prepared with magic weapons, force spells, or proper divine magic.

After those? You get minor things like rogue talents and some flexible SLAs...but hardly anything amazing. Works with CHA though. Still, the prestige class is fairly front loaded.

Other concerns- how about spring attack? You meet all the prerequisites anyway because of what you need for shadow dancer. If you break stealth before you attack and restealth afterwards, you can make yourself a pain in the butt.

[666bender]

I found 5 great builds , 2 were fun tested.

Barbarian 6, sd 3, barbarian x.
The stongest shadow ever. Big damage fellow but thin on feats.

Ranger 6, sd 3-4, ranger x.
Ranger get 2 needed melee feats, skill monster and a decent attacker. More scout than dpr.

Lore warden x sd 1or3.
Weird low saves combo. Spring attack in, trip, add free aoo, move out.

Thug/ scout rouge 8 sd 4 .
Move with spring attack = auto smeak attack.

Cabalier and sd 3
Full pet, full shadow. Its a one man army.

[Eltacolibre]

Ask him first what he wants from shadowdancer. He wants the shadow pet? The hide in plain sight?

[Ragoz]

Someone wanted ideas for an Ifrit character last week so I posted this build. Doesn't have to be an ifrit though it just looked cool.

Dirge of the Flame

Ifrit: Hypnotic and Wildfire Heart Racial Traits

STR 10
DEX 16
CON 14
INT 10
WIS 8
CHR 18

Dirge Bard + Flame Dancer Archetypes

Traits: Maestro of the Society, Magical Knack

1 Bard Feat Combat Reflexes, Bardic Knowledge, Fire Dancer, Distraction, Fascinate, Inspire Courage
2 Bard Haunted Eyes, Secrets of the Grave (1st lvl necromancy spell)
3 Bard Feat Dodge, Song of the Fiery Gaze
4 Bard
5 Bard Feat Mobility, Haunting Refrain
6 Shadow Dancer Hide in plain sight
7 Shadow Dancer Feat Symphony of the Elysian Heart (Masterpiece), Evasion, darkvision (90 ft), uncanny dodge
8 Shadow Dancer Rogue talent, shadow illusion, summon shadow

Core Item: Eversmoking Bottle + Handy Haversack.

Masterpieces to consider:
Battle Song of the People's Revolt (Precise Strike) for 2nd-level bard spell known.

Secrets of the Grave lets you buff the Shadow with spells such as Good Hope and Heroism.

Handy Haversack let's you take out an already open eversmoking bottle as a move action and then still use a standard action.