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Trying to Make a Good HexBlade. Advice or Help Please?
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<blockquote data-quote="StreamOfTheSky" data-source="post: 4827117" data-attributes="member: 35909"><p>I think spiked chain is unnecessary and a waste of a feat in this case. Part of the reason I went with Monk 2 for Evasion over Rogue 2 was the unarmed strike versatility -- both the ability to choose to kill or take alive* an enemy and the fact you can do unarmed strikes with your hands full. So, any regular reach weapon + unarmed strike = you threaten everywhere within 10 ft around you. 20 ft if enlarged.</p><p></p><p>If you're not going to take advantage of the unarmed strike goodness, you might be better off going martial rogue 2 instead (UA variant that loses SA for Fighter feats). You'd have a lower HD, but more skills, 2 Fighter feats, and Trapfinding (meh). Heck, at that point, maybe drop Fighter altogether and go to martial Rogue 4 for uncanny dodge and another feat.</p><p></p><p>Stats: I assume you'll be wearing armor and not using monk AC. So wisdom isn't terribly important. That said, as a Hexblade you can use an eternal wand of (greater) mage armor if MIC is allowed, so it might be worth going unarmored and having a decent wisdom. Also, I'm assuming you're not bothering with stunning fist and instead picking up Improved Grapple, because Stunning Fist is just a lot more useful with monk levels and high wisdom. Improved Grapple is always handy for a front-liner to have. Definitely get Combat Reflexes at level 2 in monk to get other AoO feats.</p><p>16 , 13 , 13 , 17, 15 , 14 </p><p>Str 19 (from 17), Dex 17 (from 15), Con 14, Int 13, Wis 13, Cha 18 (from 16)</p><p>You have 9 levels after the +2 LA, so 2 stat increases, I'd do strength and dexterity. Alternatively, if you want more skill points, start with int 14 and con 13, and use one of your bonus points to raise con to 14 instead of dex. There's no good reason to start with low int and raise it later, if you plan to raise it for more skill points, start with it high, the points aren't retroactive.</p><p>I made cha your second best stat, because it helps with curses, spellcasting (what little you'll have), and various hexblade and kensai class features. And who doesn't like being man-pretty?</p><p></p><p>For feats...I'm still thinking off my original concept, I like the AoO feats and Mage Slayer (only if you don't care about probably completely losing your casting ability, if you go for this feat dump charisma ["dump" being loest score of 13 +2 racial, still not bad], up wis, and do the unarmored monk thing). Pierce magical protection is another good feat in the mage slayer feat tree; never cared for the other one, whatever it was. For AoO feats, there's a lot to consider. Improved Trip is always handy, and leads into Defensive Throw, a feat I really like.</p><p></p><p>Hold the Line always seemed cool, and back when I first thought of this character concept, PH2 wasn't out. In that book, there's a feat called Cometary Collision. It lets you ready to charge (as a standard action <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> ) anyone within your charge range that charges you or anyone else (cutting them off and basically forcing them to re-target you or waste their entire turn). So...with that and Hold the Line (AoO when someone charges you)...pretty awesome! Throw in the Steadfast Boots from Magic Item Compendium (can set vs. charge for double damage with any weapon) and super-OMFGPAIN! to anyone who's overly aggressive. Unfortunately, Cometary Collision requires Power Attack (a worthwhile feat) and Improved Bull Rush (really bad feat if you're not going for Shock Trooper), so it's probably not worth it.</p><p></p><p>Stand Still (XPH and on d20srd.org under psionic feats) is a general (not psionic) feat that lets you on an AoO, instead of doing damage, make an opponent roll a fort save vs. your damage roll. If he fails, he is halted in that square. Great to control an area.</p><p></p><p>Evasive Reflexes (Tome of Battle) lets you take a 5 ft step instead of an AoO when granted one. Not sure if it'd be useful, but worth pointing out. Arguably, if you had the same or greater reach than a foe, then this + the earlier Hold the Line + Cometary Collision combo would let you disrupt the opponent's charge, get your nasty counter-attack in, and avoid retaliation entirely...</p><p></p><p>Other AoO-based ideas that are likely outside your reach: The level 3 Devoted Spirit stance, Thicket of Blades (Tome of Battle), plus the Defensive Sweep feat (PH2) creates a "lose-lose" situation for any opponent you threaten. If he doesn't move at all before your next turn, he draws an AoO (feat). If he leaves your threatened square, even with a 5 ft step, he draws an AoO from you (stance). The feat has a high BAB pre-requisite, and the stance both isn't available until 10 HD and would require (iirc) 3 feats to acquire on its own (or multiclassing to Crusader, if you could fit that in somehow). So I doubt you'll want to do this.</p><p></p><p>On an unrelated note, one feat I've always found fun for a high charisma warrior is Daunting Prescence from Libris Mortis. It lets you as a supernatural ability, anytime you want, make an opponent will save vs. DC 10 +1/2 HD + cha mod or become shaken for...a good amount of time. Range 30 ft. I just find it fun, and if anyone else in the party does fear, it can be useful to help stack fear levels and make people run away.</p><p></p><p>Only other advice I can think of right now is...pimp your charisma score for all it's worth. Lok for items, feats, and multiclass opportunities (definitely the distant 3rd option) to add your charisma to stuff.</p><p></p><p>*My original concept was very much an honorable swordsman, extremely <strong>lawful</strong> neutral, so besides this he would have gotten a merciful weapon. He was all about the "I'm not going to commit assault, but I'll gladly allow you to defeat yourself if you try to harm me."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="StreamOfTheSky, post: 4827117, member: 35909"] I think spiked chain is unnecessary and a waste of a feat in this case. Part of the reason I went with Monk 2 for Evasion over Rogue 2 was the unarmed strike versatility -- both the ability to choose to kill or take alive* an enemy and the fact you can do unarmed strikes with your hands full. So, any regular reach weapon + unarmed strike = you threaten everywhere within 10 ft around you. 20 ft if enlarged. If you're not going to take advantage of the unarmed strike goodness, you might be better off going martial rogue 2 instead (UA variant that loses SA for Fighter feats). You'd have a lower HD, but more skills, 2 Fighter feats, and Trapfinding (meh). Heck, at that point, maybe drop Fighter altogether and go to martial Rogue 4 for uncanny dodge and another feat. Stats: I assume you'll be wearing armor and not using monk AC. So wisdom isn't terribly important. That said, as a Hexblade you can use an eternal wand of (greater) mage armor if MIC is allowed, so it might be worth going unarmored and having a decent wisdom. Also, I'm assuming you're not bothering with stunning fist and instead picking up Improved Grapple, because Stunning Fist is just a lot more useful with monk levels and high wisdom. Improved Grapple is always handy for a front-liner to have. Definitely get Combat Reflexes at level 2 in monk to get other AoO feats. 16 , 13 , 13 , 17, 15 , 14 Str 19 (from 17), Dex 17 (from 15), Con 14, Int 13, Wis 13, Cha 18 (from 16) You have 9 levels after the +2 LA, so 2 stat increases, I'd do strength and dexterity. Alternatively, if you want more skill points, start with int 14 and con 13, and use one of your bonus points to raise con to 14 instead of dex. There's no good reason to start with low int and raise it later, if you plan to raise it for more skill points, start with it high, the points aren't retroactive. I made cha your second best stat, because it helps with curses, spellcasting (what little you'll have), and various hexblade and kensai class features. And who doesn't like being man-pretty? For feats...I'm still thinking off my original concept, I like the AoO feats and Mage Slayer (only if you don't care about probably completely losing your casting ability, if you go for this feat dump charisma ["dump" being loest score of 13 +2 racial, still not bad], up wis, and do the unarmored monk thing). Pierce magical protection is another good feat in the mage slayer feat tree; never cared for the other one, whatever it was. For AoO feats, there's a lot to consider. Improved Trip is always handy, and leads into Defensive Throw, a feat I really like. Hold the Line always seemed cool, and back when I first thought of this character concept, PH2 wasn't out. In that book, there's a feat called Cometary Collision. It lets you ready to charge (as a standard action :) ) anyone within your charge range that charges you or anyone else (cutting them off and basically forcing them to re-target you or waste their entire turn). So...with that and Hold the Line (AoO when someone charges you)...pretty awesome! Throw in the Steadfast Boots from Magic Item Compendium (can set vs. charge for double damage with any weapon) and super-OMFGPAIN! to anyone who's overly aggressive. Unfortunately, Cometary Collision requires Power Attack (a worthwhile feat) and Improved Bull Rush (really bad feat if you're not going for Shock Trooper), so it's probably not worth it. Stand Still (XPH and on d20srd.org under psionic feats) is a general (not psionic) feat that lets you on an AoO, instead of doing damage, make an opponent roll a fort save vs. your damage roll. If he fails, he is halted in that square. Great to control an area. Evasive Reflexes (Tome of Battle) lets you take a 5 ft step instead of an AoO when granted one. Not sure if it'd be useful, but worth pointing out. Arguably, if you had the same or greater reach than a foe, then this + the earlier Hold the Line + Cometary Collision combo would let you disrupt the opponent's charge, get your nasty counter-attack in, and avoid retaliation entirely... Other AoO-based ideas that are likely outside your reach: The level 3 Devoted Spirit stance, Thicket of Blades (Tome of Battle), plus the Defensive Sweep feat (PH2) creates a "lose-lose" situation for any opponent you threaten. If he doesn't move at all before your next turn, he draws an AoO (feat). If he leaves your threatened square, even with a 5 ft step, he draws an AoO from you (stance). The feat has a high BAB pre-requisite, and the stance both isn't available until 10 HD and would require (iirc) 3 feats to acquire on its own (or multiclassing to Crusader, if you could fit that in somehow). So I doubt you'll want to do this. On an unrelated note, one feat I've always found fun for a high charisma warrior is Daunting Prescence from Libris Mortis. It lets you as a supernatural ability, anytime you want, make an opponent will save vs. DC 10 +1/2 HD + cha mod or become shaken for...a good amount of time. Range 30 ft. I just find it fun, and if anyone else in the party does fear, it can be useful to help stack fear levels and make people run away. Only other advice I can think of right now is...pimp your charisma score for all it's worth. Lok for items, feats, and multiclass opportunities (definitely the distant 3rd option) to add your charisma to stuff. *My original concept was very much an honorable swordsman, extremely [b]lawful[/b] neutral, so besides this he would have gotten a merciful weapon. He was all about the "I'm not going to commit assault, but I'll gladly allow you to defeat yourself if you try to harm me." [/QUOTE]
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