warblade crusader swordsage

[Duke Arioch]

Thx for the reply Empirate. Five shadow thingy is impossible to get w/ this build. Requires 5 SH maneuvers, which is a no-no.
2d6 con damage seemed underwhelming to me too, but it was getting high praises in many handbooks, so I wanted to ask. Righteous vitality I like, but I thought it would somewhat clash with LE alignment and background. White raven crown maneuver would depend on party. Since this build focuses on utilizing wraithstrikes and such (via SotAO) it cannot utilize charging well. And even if I focused on that, there is high chance I would be the only charger in party, and the maneuver would be wasted.

To get the picture of the character, i will list some maneuvers on his list: vanguard strike, douse the flames, mountain hammer, white raven tactics, covering strike, shadow stride, order forged from chaos, shadow blink, white raven hammer. Stances: iron guard's glare (required for RKV), island of blades, thicket of blades, aura of perfect order.

Now, this will be my last post regarding this, as I don't want to hijack the thread. Apologies to the OP.

 

[kitcik]

What happens when you reduce them to zero Con?

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

What happens when you reduce them to zero Con?

They die, of course.

MTS is definitely better on a foe with lots of HD, which...by the time you get it is basically anything that's not a humanoid or outsider, has PC class levels, etc... If you go into epic, the damage just keeps scaling higher, though ability damage immunity probably is more common, too (and being on the ground just gets more annoying).

It is also good synergy with a caster w/ fort save spells.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

What happens when you reduce them to zero Con?

Loot the body, or turn to others and yell,
"WHO ELSE WANTS A PIECE OF ME???"

2d6 con damage seemed underwhelming to me too, but it was getting high praises in many handbooks, so I wanted to ask.

CON damage is like ripping chunks of an opponents body out, via their soul, skipping the hitpoints entirely. CON damage is scary.
This is an average of 6 CON damaged per hit. if I have a 12 CON, I'm likely dead in two hits. 18 CON, likely dead in three, etc.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

2d6 averages to 7, as the above poster said. So 3 hits and 21 con = dead. Though you're doing damage as well, so probably dead before then or even with slightly high con, too. If the level 6 Devoted Spirit Chaos stance works with con damage (reroll and add any damage roll that gets the max value), it could get potentially scarier...

But again, MTS is far from the best 9th level maneuver. It's just a decent one that's nice because any high level adept can just walk in and grab it hassle-free once he's gotten the other 9th level maneuvers he likes better. A Swordsage, who by level 20 can have 6 9th level maneuvers (17, 18, 19, and 20th levels, plus swaps at 18 and 20) without any feats/items to assist at all, would definitely appreciate that, I think.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

2d6 averages to 7, as the above poster said. So 3 hits and 21 con = dead...

By George, he's right! Even more scary.

 

[Empirate]

And how are you planning to activate MTS three times in a row? RKV can do that, granted, but it'll still take you a horrible 3 rounds of melee to kill just a Con 21 beastie. Not the best solution to the "big chunk of HP" problem.

 

[Stalker0]

Con damage is also harder to heal if the enemy has healing power in his bank.

 

[Empirate]

Except Heal is 6th level, while Restoration is 4th, and using a scroll is a standard action even if the spell on it usually takes three rounds to cast. Sure, some monsters don't have the ability to use scrolls, but can heal HP damage quickly. But then, many monsters are outright immune to ability damage (or don't even have a Con score), so at the very high levels, 2d6 Con damage STILL is nothing too fantastic.