D&D 3E/3.5 3.5 Rogue PC building help

[Marimmar]

My PC just hit 12th level and now I have to think about the future again.

To be precise, I cannot decide on what Feat to take. I have several options to play with and would like to hear some opinions or suggestions.

My PC is a Ranger 1 / Rogue 11, he specializes in Two-Weapon Fighting (he's a convert from 3.0 but I kept the Ranger level because of flair reasons so that he feels more like a bounty hunter). He was built using 25 pt. and thus has low Cha and Wis, but a notable 14 Int. The physical attributes currently are 14 Str and Con, 20 Dex. We cannot buy magic items in our campaign and creation is limited to scrolls.

The options I came up with:

1) Skill Focus (Use Magic Device)
This would boost UMD from 14 to 17 (+4 synergy for using scrolls) My Rogue is in the possession of a Wand of Magic Missiles (Caster Level 5) and a Wand of Fear (Caster Level 5). Sometimes he gets to use a scroll from our wizard. UMD is nice to have because of the variety it adds to an otherwise straight forward melee build.

2) Two Weapon Defense
This would raise my rogue's AC from 25 to 26, nothing more nothing less. More AC is always nice to have although I'm not shure if it really makes a difference, I can often get a Shield spell from our Wizard (via a Ring of Spell Storing) and our Druid shares Barkskins like there's no tomorrow. My Rogue would be eligible for Twin Sword Style from the FRCS but Two Weapon Defense seems to be superior.

3) Iron Will
This would raise his Will save from 4 to 6, something to consider is that my Rogue was forced to flee from the battlefield twice last night because of a Fear effect, effectively making me sit around for about an 1 hour doing nothing. OTOH a Will save of 6 is only marginally better than 4, spells flung tend to have a DC of around 20 these days so is it worth it?

4) Combat Expertise and later Improved Feinting
Again a case of more AC is always a good thing but to be honest my attack bonuses aren't that high (+16/+11/+15/+10) when fighting with two weapons but maybe Improved Feinting could be useful to get some extra Sneak attacks at level 15 but here my low Cha comes haunting me again. I have no idea how good Improved feinting could work and if it's worth to trade in 4-5 normal attacks for a single 'maybe' successful 7d6 extra damage.

5) Improved Critical (short sword)
That Feat would help me increase my average damage when not in a position to deal Sneak damage. (When I get to sneak most opponents drop dead anyway so it's only interesting for the other 75% of the time when I can't get around them.) My current weapon damage is 1d6+5 (main weapon) and 1d6+3 (off-hand weapon). This Feat is also interesting because I can get my hands on Divine Favor Spells that add +3 to attack and damage rolls.

So what do you think...?

~Marimmar

 

[Thanee]

Iron Will. There is no contest between this and the other feats you mentioned.


And you really should have taken another Ranger level initially, then you would have another spare feat now.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Aust Diamondew]

I'd either take iron will. A will save can make or break a battle for not just yourself but for the whole party and you either need a higher will save or a cloak of resistance.

 

[Thanee]

About the other choices:

Skill Focus is only really useful in the short run... your UMD skill improves with every level (and you can get items to improve it further, like a Cha increase, or if that is allowed in your campaign, an item, which directly grants a bonus to the skill).

Two Weapon Defense is good, but if your total AC is 25, you should really look for some miss chance granting stuff.

Combat Expertise is definitely a good feat, but Improved Feint for a TWF Rogue!?

Improved Critical is rather weak with such a low basic damage, if you rely on sneak attacks to deal damage. Also if a creature is immune to your sneak attacks, it often is also immune to critical hits, so it doesn't help where it would be most useful.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Felix]

Iron Will.

At 12th level, you are going to see DC 20+ spells flying around that will end you if you don't save. And a +4 isn't going to cut it.

 

[Marimmar]

Seems like some parts of the game are not about options but necessities. *hrmph* Well I guess Iron Will it is then. Thanx for helping me deciding.

~Marimmar

 

[Felix]

You can only have options when you're alive!

Or rather, when you're alive and retain control of your mental facilities. Heh.

 

[Marimmar]

Indeed, I don't like dropping my weapons and wet my pants everytime someone waves a white hen's feather at me.

~Marimmar

 

[Thanee]

As for other options... with UMD you can use a variety of wands.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Marimmar]

I'm working hard on it, Cha 8 doesn't help alot but Decipher Script and Spellcraft at 5 ranks each do offset it a bit.
Emptying a Wand of Ice Storms on a large battlefield was a lot of fun. I hope to get another mass destruction wand again soon.

~Marimmar