| Dubious Scholar |
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I know it's probably going to get the least comments because bloodseeking Blade feels like the obvious winner of the signature tools, but I still wanted to post my first impressions on it. It's a straightforward damage boost even without a quarry and the slaying technique is respectable. If anything, it reads as a precision ranger out of the box, which is solid.
The base initial benefit is situational, since it only matters on your quarry and only if they resist physical damage. But that's fine, because the reinforced benefit is 1d6 damage on your first strike each turn, and the damage type can be changed during daily preparations. It scales at 11 and 17.
The slaying technique is Hunter's Aim, except you don't have any restriction on who you can use it on. And it's Relentless, which will sometimes be relevant. Like I said, this is precision ranger stuff.
The specialized arsenal at 7 grants you crit spec, you pierce all resist instead of just physical, and you get a free utility rune. Returning enables throwing builds, Shifting is always useful, and Fearsome is a useful default.
I can't say there's anything exciting here, but it's also universally useful and I'd never be sad to take this. If you don't take this at level 1 odds are you're taking it at level 11 anyways for your second tool (and waiting even longer for the specialized upgrade won't matter really). Really, the problem is that the other options are hard to recommend over this one (Warded Mail is the only one I'd consider right now)
I also like the feats that are linked to this.
Paired Bloodseeker grants a second upgraded weapon. Since your damage bonus is only on your first strike, that makes this a way to double dip on it. It lets you pick a ranged option as a backup, too. The feat is fantastic and can be printed as is. Likewise, Peculiar Weaponry lets you take an advanced weapon and grants familiarity with it. This means Bloodseeking Blade builds can use any weapon in the game with full proficiency from level 1. Or bump the die size of a simple weapon, but... that's more limited in utility (useful if you really want to use a simple spear or such though). Also a fantastic feat, since advanced weapons tend to punch a bit harder for their traits and I see no reason anything needs to change here.
Level 2 offers Personalized Gear, which is less interesting to me. It does some nice upgrades for a handful of weapons, the parry for +2 AC is the bigger one imo, as +1 damage on backstab weapons falls off eventually (I'd suggest just doubling it instead, as that gives it some inherent scaling). It wouldn't hurt if this could give a bonus to some other less-used traits on weapons too, but it's fine if a bit narrow as is.
Unerring Edge at 16 is a good upgrade for Honed Strike. Being able to ignore hidden and getting an additional +1 to hit are both useful. It may not be a must-have upgrade but I'm not sure I'd pick anything over it either.
Overall, I feel like this is a very front-loaded tool though. You get basically everything you're going to get from level 1 with it. It's simple and effective, and of everything with the class, it feels like the part that's most ready for print as-is. But even so, it doesn't do a ton to excite me on it's own either - that's going to be up to the rest of the class's feats because for the most part you take this, you take any modification at level 1 for your planned loadout, and you're done. The big thing I'd like to get is more ways to modify the weapon with additional riders on hit.
Apply Spirit Oil at 4 plays well with the weapon, even if it's not limited to it, because Honed Strike has natural synergy (but once per day feels awful). The Shifting Hunt feats also work well with it (and have the special callout of modifying the modes separately) as a way to get more oomph out of it. But this feels ripe for more riders to hits as well, or some special abilities that function as sidegrades (alternative slayer techniques, perhaps? Shifting Combination is basically that, but only for certain weapon types). It doesn't really have to be limited to Bloodseeking Blade either, a few other Relentless Flourish feats would be nice in the class as a whole, tricks for different weapon types and such.