Need some melee DPS advice

[Dandu]

Warblade has easier access to the TWF focused Tiger Claw school, the Stormguard Warrior feat, which is great for TWF builds, and can take feats to qualify for the Shadow Hand feat, which grants Dex to damage.

 

[HiddenLineage]

Which feat is more important? Adaptive Styles or Two-Weapon Fighting?

 

[Dandu]

Well, in terms of power, Adaptive Style. In terms of what you need to fight with two weapons... Two Weapon Fighting.

I like the idea of going Ranger 2/WarbladeX because you don't need high Dex for TWF and can focus on Str for the build.

 

[HiddenLineage]

So, I'm slowly piecing my character together.

Swordsage, with Two-Weapon Fighting to start him off. Using these Maneuvers to start off with.

Blistering Flourish
Burning Blade
Mighty Throw
Sudden Leap
Stone Bones
Clinging Shadow Strike

And my stance is Child of Shadow, for when I gotta hide to recharge something or...just get the heck outta' dodge.

Gonna mix in Master of Nine as I go along, at appropriate levels to get stuff that's off limits to a Swordsage.

Now, my question is this, would dipping into any other classes be helpful to me?

 

[Dandu]

Do Swordsages get access to the Stone Dragon school?

 

[HiddenLineage]

Yeah, they also have 3 exclusive schools.

Gonna take out Blistering Flourish...cause it'd work against a Drow. He'd blind himself.

Edit: Gonna take TWF to start it off, Adaptive Styles at 3, and Shadow Blade at 6. Using Short Swords, so that works out.

Also decided to take Shadow Blade Technique instead of Blistering Flourish. But I might take Wolf Fang Strike it it'll stack with TWF for 0 penalty. Does it stack? And if so, would it be 0 penalty or go up into the + zones?

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

So, I'm slowly piecing my character together.

Swordsage, with Two-Weapon Fighting to start him off. Using these Maneuvers to start off with.

Blistering Flourish
Burning Blade
Mighty Throw
Sudden Leap
Stone Bones
Clinging Shadow Strike

And my stance is Child of Shadow, for when I gotta hide to recharge something or...just get the heck outta' dodge.

When you recharge, it will take a full round, so you'll generally only be moving 5 ft. Child is a great stance, though.

Can I make some suggestions? Get rid of Blistering Flourish, it's very weak and the save DC will quickly become a joke. If you need str and dex (ie, not getting TWF from Ranger and not getting Shadow Blade and Weapon Finesse) to make your melee work, Mighty Throw will be poor, too. I really don't like it much without actual trip feats anyway. Stone Bones...the best defense is a good offense. Clinging Shadow Strike, again, DC will be low and the effect is small. Also, Sudden Leap requires you to know a Tiger Claw maneuver to get it.

Fortunately, Wolf Fang Strike does not and will be a big help to you. For other maneuvers... I really like Distracting Ember. Even if you don't have Sneak Attack (and you can get Assassin's Stance, so you eventually will), just getting a +2 on all attacks as a swift is nice. If you want a Setting Sun maneuver, I really like Counter Charge. You can ruin someone's turn and then full attack on yours, pretty good deal.

Gonna mix in Master of Nine as I go along, at appropriate levels to get stuff that's off limits to a Swordsage.

You're already horrifically feat-starved with TWF, I do not recommend Master of Nine. Look at the pre-reqs.

Now, my question is this, would dipping into any other classes be helpful to me?

Dipping other adept classes (Warblade for you in particular would be the better choice) at higher levels gives instant access to mid-level maneuvers in other disciplines and is seldom a bad choice. Plus, Adaptive Style refreshes each pool of class maneuvers in one go. As has been mentioned, Stormguard Warrior is a very nice feat for TWF.

As for feats... I think Adaptive Style will be more useful than TWF at level 1, but if you're set on using two weapons from the start, go ahead. But you will be running out of maneuvers in 2-3 rounds, and the regular Swordsage recharge mechanic is almost never worth using.

 

[HiddenLineage]

Changed the starting line-up to this.

Wolf Fang Strike
Burning Blade
Mighty Throw
Shadow Blade Technique
Moment of Perfect Mind
Distracting Ember

With Sapphire Nightmare Blade being picked up at level 2, then going into 2nd level abilities at level 3.

Edit: Anyone think I should replace something with Sudden Leap? After looking at it and with Wolf Fang Strike, I see potential for it, in battle and out of battle. Out of battle is obvious, for when you need to jump but do not have the room. And in battle to position yourself on the battlefield....but no idea what to take out. Sometimes...there just isn't room or time to run 20 ft.

 

[Trance-Zg]

So, I want to make a Drow dual wield melee character...but all I've done up till now is casters, and I have no idea what I'm doing. Does anyone have some advice on builds?

Skip that pansy TWF elven crap.

Get a 2 hander, barbarian, power attack, leap attack, cleave and you're good to go

 

[HiddenLineage]

But I don't want a 2hander barbarian with power attack, leap attack, and cleave. =D