A Potent Hexblade

[Nazhkandrias]

Well, I just got my hands on a couple of my friend's sourcebook, and one class really grabbed me - the Hexblade. What can I say? I like the idea of being a Soldier of (mis)Fortune! So, I'm just trying to get a little advice on building a potent Hexblade. I'm used to playing warriors, and I have some experience with arcane spellcasters, but this is the first time that they will truly be mixed together for me.

I have a few details set up in my mind concerning the role of this Hexblade, along with some minor details, which are listed below. Tell me what you think of them, with suggestions for improvement.

Race: Human (I want that extra feat), but I have considered Raptoran (that extra mobility helps greatly).
Ability Focuses: I was going to make Str and Dex around equal (both will be quite good), with at least 13 Int, good Cha (more emphasis on combat then spellcasting; I only want enough Cha to get by), average Con (since I already have that d10 hit die; more emphasis on Dex) and below average Wis. (28 Point Buy)
Primary Weapon: Scythe (I like this weapon; great critical, and I'm shooting for a trip build)
Armor: Studded Leather (to be upgraded to a Chain Shirt later, with a Mithril Breastplate being the end goal)
Feats: Combat Expertise feats (for the trip/scythe build), possibly some Hex feats (to make better use of the curse), maybe a few other scattered Str/Dex feats thrown in. Emphasis on tripping, though. Tripping is an unlucky thing - my character epitomizes that, even in his combat style.
Party Role: Mainly a melee combatant, with less emphasis on spellcasting ability. I'll be up in the front a lot, making equal use of Str and Dex to deal damage and evade it. Not so much ranged combat, but I hope to be at least capable with a bow. Most of my fighting will focus on incapacitating the enemy (via curses, debuff spells [I intend to focus on Necromancy], and trip attacks), THEN finishing them off when they're vulnerable. In other words, I'm mostly a debuffer/secondary melee combatant (primary if my party lacks a fighter or barbarian).

So, any suggestions on feats, races, weapons, etc. are greatly appreciated!

 

[zeb.hillard]

I think Charisma should be your second highest stat, due to the fact that both Intimidate and your Curse DC are based off of it.

As for feats, there are two that are almost too important to be without.

Ability Focus: Hexblade's Curse (MMI): It raises the DC by 2, putting it about the average save point of most monsters you will encounter, and ensuring that the few times you will pull it off, it is successful.

Practiced Spellcaster (ComArc): This one is quite strong for a Hexblade, as at 20th level you still have a Caster Level of 14 (Pick up Ioun Stones to help this out) and you have a slim slim chance to use some of your more debilitating spells against enemies with SR and actually succeed in casting them.

Intimidating Strike (PhBII): Is a good Feat for a low-level Hexblade, if your DM allows the retraining rules later on. You don't want to give up a full attack to give an enemy the shaken condition if you plan on being primary-melee.

Battle Caster (ComArc): Lets you move up to Mithral Full Plate and not worry about spell failure, which is always nice.

And finally, if you can convince your DM to let you have a "Move Action Demoralization" or the feat/skill trick that allows you Demoralize multiple enemies at once, that should be a strong choice as well. Work on stacking the frightened conditions as much as possible, and you should end up fairly strong.

 

[Nazhkandrias]

I think Charisma should be your second highest stat, due to the fact that both Intimidate and your Curse DC are based off of it.

Alright, so with 28 point buy, I'll probably end up with around 14-15 Cha, but I'm unsure as to what I should make my highest stat - Str or Dex. Dex helps out the armor class, and with a Mithral Breastplate or Mithral Full Plate, I can still maintain a good Dex bonus to AC. Str is great for that damage and accuracy, however, especially since I will be using two-handed weapons. I'm torn; I might just have Str, Dex, and Cha at around the same level (14-15).

As for feats, there are two that are almost too important to be without.

Ability Focus: Hexblade's Curse (MMI): It raises the DC by 2, putting it about the average save point of most monsters you will encounter, and ensuring that the few times you will pull it off, it is successful.

I completely forgot about that one! I'll definitely pick that up as a 1st level feat; I have yet to see a Hexblade without it. I'll use my bonus Hexblade feats mostly for Combat Casting and Spell Focus, investing my other feats into combat skills. Should I invest in the Hex feats (detailed in Dragon magazine)? They complement the Ability Focus nicely, but it's pretty feat-intensive.

What's your opinion on the idea of a trip build, though? It will take two feats to pull off, but it should help my average AC along if every time an opponent wants to attack, they have to stand up from prone. A cool idea is to use Spring Attack to jump in, trip, then jump back, allowing me to avoid all harm the next round (they'll need to use both move actions just to reach me). But that IS fairly feat-intensive.

Also, I'll probably use a variant class. I HATE familiars with a passion, and I replace it whenever I can. I might use the Dark Companion variant (PHB II, I think) to complement my debuff build, or I might be a Focus Caster and simply make my Scythe a focus for all spells, which has benefits for necromancy spells (most notably instant fatigue and +25% range). Dark Companion seems more likely, though, since I'm more of a debuffer than a spellcaster.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

There was a Dragon mag last year that offered some interesting new Hexblade feats, and if you can lay hands on a copy of Malhavoc Press' "Book of Iron Might", there are some great arcane feats for fighters in it.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

Strength will be more useful for your character than dexterity.
You're using a non-finessible weapon and you are building a tripper so strength in paramount.

To max out your AC in the mithril full plate you're planning on getting later just use gloves of dexterity or cat's grace.

 

[Satori]

Lately I've been obsessing over Hexblade/Wildplains Outrider builds that utilize Improved Familiar and Practiced Spellcaster to get a Winter Wolf familiar mount. Since your Winter Wolf has your BAB and HP, you end up with a PC level mount that can attack while you charge for triple lance damage (Spirited Charge).

 

[Particle_Man]

The Sudden Stunning magic weapon feature in DMG II is cheap and awesome for charismatic warrior-types.

Perhaps you could sweet-talk your DM into allowing the Reserve Feats in Complete Mage to be added to your bonus feat pool, as they are for Wizards' bonus feat pools. The one that riffs off of polymorph can give you temporary hp every round!

 

[Nac_Mac_Feegle]

For a trip build, if your DM allows it, theres a feat back in Sword and Fist (D&D 3.0 splatbook) called "Knockdown" the basic prerequisite was Improved Trip, and allowed a free trip attempt every time to did 10 or more damage to a target, provided of course, you are using a Trip weapon

Feegle Out

 

[zeb.hillard]

I'm playing a Hexblade right now in a PbP with the following stats:
12/14/12/14/10/16

You could reverse the Strength and Dexterity (Relying on Gloves of Dexterity +4 later on in your career), and move the Intelligence down 1 point to split 13's with Constitution and Intelligence so you're qualifying for Combat Expertise. You'll also eventually want a +1 Sweeping Scythe (I forget the book the enhancement is from, but it gives a +4 to Trip checks).

Oh...use the Hexblade Alternate Class feature in PHBII, it gives your opponent a penalty to saves, which allows for easier Hexing, and to armor class, which allows for even easier trips.

A Spring-Attacking Trip Build would require 5 feats, and with Ability Focus: Hexblade's Curse thrown into the mix, it would take you until 12th level to fully come into your own, while being...somewhat mediocre to begin with. The problem with the Hexblade (In my opinion) is that it was mostly...forgotten...after the publication of Complete Warrior, and needs all the help early on that it can get.

If you're using a 2-handed weapon, I think you'd be better off going Improved Trip with Power Attack, instead of the Mobility method. You'll push more damage, but you still won't be a front-line warrior. Now, if you took 3 levels in Barbarian or Rogue later on, different story...but it seems like you may be planning on Hexblade straight through.

(Though, to encourage multiclassing...might I suggest Hexblade 5/Fighter 2/Rogue 3/Paladin of Tyrrany 3/Blackguard 7...nothing gets more 'mis'fortunate than that happy fun guy.)

 

[Kafkonia]

If you do have a couple of levels to spare for multiclassing, look at Rogue, Monk, or anything else that will give you evasion -- it combines nicely with mettle to make your opponent's bad luck extend to you. (What bad luck, your fireball just barely missed me!)