This was a build I made in response to my complaint about Biowares "Versatile Kensai" epic build; my contention being that having WM hurt the build far more than it helped:
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So I made a build that was pretty much better at every aspect; all that verbage at the bottom of this was the comparision. This wont PvP of course, but it was an interesting build to solo.


The "Very Versatile Kensai"
Elf 13/7/20 Rogue/Fighter/Wiz
Generalist Wizard, so he can learn all spells (part of being a verstile Kensai)

Str 14
Dex 18 +8
Con 10
Int 16 +4
Wis 8
Cha 8

All Ability points go to Dex unless otherwise noted.

1 Rogue Power Attack
2 Fighter WFinesse
3 Fighter WFocus(Rapier),Expertise
4 Rogue
5 Rogue
6 Fighter Knockdown
7 Fighter WSpec(Rapier)
8 Rogue
9 Rogue Cleave
10 Fighter
11 Fighter ImpCrit(Rapier)
12 Rogue Toughness
13 Rogue
14 Wiz
15 Wiz Imp Knockdown
16 Rogue
17 Rogue
18 Rogue ImpEvasion, Great Cleave
19 Rogue
20 Rogue

21 Wiz Epic WFocus(Rapier)
22 Wiz
23 Wiz Craft Wand
24 Fighter EWSpec(Rapier)
25 Wiz
26 Wiz
27 Wiz Great Int I
28 Wiz Dex
29 Wiz Spell Pen
30 Rogue Def Roll, Epic Dodge
31 Wiz
32 Wiz Ability=Int+1
33 Wiz Greater Spell Pen
34 Wiz
35 Wiz Maximize
36 Wiz Great Int II
37 Wiz
38 Wiz
39 Wiz Epic Prowess
40 Wiz Ability=Int+1 Epic Spell Pen

Final Skill Numbers (could be changed by taking Rogue and/or Fighter later in the build)
Concentration 43
Disable Trap 34
Disc 29
Hide 26
Move Silent 26
Open Lock 21
Search 24
Set Trap 15
Spellcraft 48
Tumble 41
UMD 30


Uses feats to solve any shortcomings.

Expertise, Finesse, WFocus, Imp Crit - as before
Toughness - negates the loss of 2 points of Con above
Power Attack, Cleave, Great Cleave - instead of WWA
Knockdown,Imp KnockDown
WSpec - more damage

In epic levels:

EWFocus, EWSpec - taken at levels 21 and 24, respectively (7th Fighter lvl taken at 24).

Epic Prowess (could be any feat you want, really)

Epic Dodge - vastly easier to reach than SC feats, and I'll get 50% Concealment via Improved Invisibility which I'll never run out of (see Wand comments further below)

Spell Pen, Greater Spell Pen, Epic Spell Pen - because its silly for the Kensai to have all those spells and not have a way to overcome Spell Resistance.

Maximize -ya gotta!

2 Great Ints.

Craft Wand - A favorite feat of mine. The idea being that this IS meant to be a build based on versatility, and Wands are perfect for putting all the 1-4th level Wizard spells on wands for use, so I dont have to keep the odd spells learned. A wand of Improved Invisibility means I'll pretty much never run out of 50% concealment; should the enemy dispells it, I'll simply use up another charge. Likewise, wands of True Strike, Death Armor, Clarity, Dispell magic, Elemental Shield, Ice Storm, Stoneskin. . .you get the idea.

At the end, my high stats are:
Dex 26
Int 20

Yes, I have a lower Dex than Versatile Kensai, which makes my AC a little worse than the Epic Build. Thats due to my taking those casting feats his 20 levels of wizard sorely needs, IMO.

But my AB is the same, due to EWFocus and Epic Prowess. Frankly, the AC points is the only thing this build has "less" of, and if you want, convert one of those AB-related feats to ImpExpertise, and you've got it more than covered.

As for the 'benefits' of WM,. . .well it goes down like this:

Versatile Kensai: d6+2 (13-20x3)
Very Versatile Kensai: d6+8 (15-20x2)

I have a lower Crit range, but I do much more damage on every hit regardless. As a matter of fact, when V Kensai crits, he only does an average of 16.5 (5.5x3). Not gonna be breaking much DR with that. . .

In comparision, my builds normal hits average 11.5, and my crits average 23 (ie 11.5x2). A bit more respectable. You need +7 weapons before V Kensai can cause more damage due to crit multiplier, and then, its not that much more.

So, to summarize:

The Very Versatile Kensai version is a better Sneak attacker thanks to ImpKnockdown, does more fighting damage on average thanks to EWSpec, and spells are more effective thanks for Epic Spell Penetration. None of which the other build had.

The majority of those Fighter levels can be taken pretty early, making for a much more survivable character in early levels.

And the build loses some AC that you can fix via Imp Expertise through a feat change of your choice (pick your poison).
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Normal kids play rock-paper-scissors.
Shifter kids play IronGolem-RustMonster-MindFlayer. . . I'd agree, the actual versatile Kensai has a lot of flaws. For example, taking SC III seems like a tremendous waste to me, especially when you can cast imp invis anyways. I say go SC V or go none at all.
Good improvements.
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Have I mentioned I hate IGMS? Yup, great improvements xitooner. It's a pity you can't drop the Fighter levels to 6 and get 21 Wizard for Epic Warding, that would make a fantastic addition to the build. Thanks, guys. Yeah, Epic Warding would have been nice in the end.
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Normal kids play rock-paper-scissors.
Shifter kids play IronGolem-RustMonster-MindFlayer. . .
Quote: Posted 02/09/05 15:14:19 (GMT) -- Herbie Shimmer

Yup, great improvements xitooner. It's a pity you can't drop the Fighter levels to 6 and get 21 Wizard for Epic Warding, that would make a fantastic addition to the build.

Heh, I actually have a build that does just that. The disadvantage is that it loses 1 attack per round because his BAB is lower. Of course, it still gets 6 attacks per round with dual-wielding and Haste, so it's not really a problem.

Alternatively, you could drop Epic Weapon Spec and take all 6 Fighter levels pre-epic for that 4th attack, but since the 4th attack is made at -15 from the character's full AB (-17 if you count dual-wielding penalties), I figured it wasn't that critical.

I strongly agree with Xitooner that Fighter is a much better choice then WM, because it frees up so many feats.

The revised version of my build (Xitooner pointed out a mistake in the original) can be found here:

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