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Help making this ninja a bit more efficient
- Thread starter Player2
- Start date
Empirate
First Post
Yeah, no, that wouldn't help actually, since you could just be coup-de-grace'ing sleeping people anyway and save the poison. Have you ever successfully caught a whole camp of baddies in their sleep in D&D, btw?
OP, why the hell are you not using two-weapon fighting? You're a sneak attacker, it's almost as if the game yelled at you to do it. Single one-handed weapons are the weakest fighting style in the game. You have to position yourself for full attacks, though. But you can use TWF with thrown weapons like daggers or shuriken and do it at (close) range for tons of alpha-strike capability. Always good to open combat with a full attack that deals sneak attack damage. Getting into position is no problem for a Ninja.
Also, you have super-high Charisma (maybe focused a little too much there, even), and Use Magic Device is a class skill for you. If we're already talking poison, i.e. super-expensive one-shot items, why not invest in a small library of useful scrolls and maybe a wand or two? Poisons may or may not work, and powerful monsters often have great Fort saves. Even if they work, they don't kill instantaneously. In my opinion, unless you invest heavily into poison use (meaning feats and other character options - I'm not familiar with good PF options here, only know my 3.5 stuff), poison really doesn't cut it in the long run.
But a wand of Web never gets old! Scrolls will allow you to broaden your options significantly in all situations, and may become veritable lifesavers. Be it a simple backup Knock spell if a lock should happen to resist you unexpectedly, a Wall of Ice to cover your escape, Elemental Body to get an air elemental's fly speed or an earth elemental's burrow speed for a bit, Teleport for obvious uses, Scrying to keep tabs on your nemesis, Meld into Stone or Water Breathing to take the unusual route and avoid detection, True Seeing if you suspect something fishy's going on, etc., etc. Finally, there's the all-important condition removers like Remove Paralysis, Break Enchantment, Remove Blindness/Deafness, Restoration, Raise Dead, and of course Dispel Magic.
Then, consider wands. Even a lowly Mount, Grease, or Detect Magic spell have a lot of utility as wands. But how about using Scorching Ray for sneak attack delivery? Touch attacks are nice! Cure Light Wounds, you say? But isn't that the Cleric's job? Sure, but what if he's down? CLW is cheap, affordable healing for the whole party and will see use if you have a wand available. Silent Image is another good candidate for a wand: it's only limited by your imagination, pretty affordable, and its utility doesn't (much) rely on caster level.
The list goes on and on, but I think you get the idea. Ninjas are poised to become master item users, so the can function a lot like mini utility casters - at least from the mid levels on, and if they're willing to invest the skill ranks and gold. IMO, it's worth it for the sheer versatility alone. But if you're looking for combat power, you'll find that, too!
.
OP, why the hell are you not using two-weapon fighting? You're a sneak attacker, it's almost as if the game yelled at you to do it. Single one-handed weapons are the weakest fighting style in the game. You have to position yourself for full attacks, though. But you can use TWF with thrown weapons like daggers or shuriken and do it at (close) range for tons of alpha-strike capability. Always good to open combat with a full attack that deals sneak attack damage. Getting into position is no problem for a Ninja.
Also, you have super-high Charisma (maybe focused a little too much there, even), and Use Magic Device is a class skill for you. If we're already talking poison, i.e. super-expensive one-shot items, why not invest in a small library of useful scrolls and maybe a wand or two? Poisons may or may not work, and powerful monsters often have great Fort saves. Even if they work, they don't kill instantaneously. In my opinion, unless you invest heavily into poison use (meaning feats and other character options - I'm not familiar with good PF options here, only know my 3.5 stuff), poison really doesn't cut it in the long run.
But a wand of Web never gets old! Scrolls will allow you to broaden your options significantly in all situations, and may become veritable lifesavers. Be it a simple backup Knock spell if a lock should happen to resist you unexpectedly, a Wall of Ice to cover your escape, Elemental Body to get an air elemental's fly speed or an earth elemental's burrow speed for a bit, Teleport for obvious uses, Scrying to keep tabs on your nemesis, Meld into Stone or Water Breathing to take the unusual route and avoid detection, True Seeing if you suspect something fishy's going on, etc., etc. Finally, there's the all-important condition removers like Remove Paralysis, Break Enchantment, Remove Blindness/Deafness, Restoration, Raise Dead, and of course Dispel Magic.
Then, consider wands. Even a lowly Mount, Grease, or Detect Magic spell have a lot of utility as wands. But how about using Scorching Ray for sneak attack delivery? Touch attacks are nice! Cure Light Wounds, you say? But isn't that the Cleric's job? Sure, but what if he's down? CLW is cheap, affordable healing for the whole party and will see use if you have a wand available. Silent Image is another good candidate for a wand: it's only limited by your imagination, pretty affordable, and its utility doesn't (much) rely on caster level.
The list goes on and on, but I think you get the idea. Ninjas are poised to become master item users, so the can function a lot like mini utility casters - at least from the mid levels on, and if they're willing to invest the skill ranks and gold. IMO, it's worth it for the sheer versatility alone. But if you're looking for combat power, you'll find that, too!
.
Empirate
First Post
Stormonu
Legend
Assassin (death blow) + invisibilty + blowgun (or shurikens or short bow) + poison might make a nice combo if you want to try to go for instant-death attacks. Won't do much HP damage, but between the two saves, would have a decent chance of taking most living entities out - from range, no less.
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