The Black Claw Executioner (playable lvls 1-40, PvM/PvP)
It's a strength-based Assassin which gets a decent Death Attack DC, a decent Dev Crit DC, and enough different ways to get sneaks (decent stealth with ESF, IKD, Darkness and Invisibility from Assassin, Darkness from Bard spells which can be cast in armor) to be effective. AB isn't too bad for a sneaker, nor are HP. All in all, I like it. The class split does not show up in Pulse Cap's search engine as having been previously posted.
AB (greatsword): +38/+33/+28 +1 (at least) from Bull’s Strength +1 from Bard Song +6 (effective) from Taunt -5 (when activated) from Power Attack Buffed AB: +40/+35/+30 (+46/+41/+36 on Taunted opponent, -5 w/ Power Attack)
Damage (greatsword): 2d6+15 (critical 17-20/x2) +2 from Bard Song +1 (at least) from Bull’s Strength +5 (when activated) from Power Attack +15d6 (when applicable) from Death/Sneak Attack Buffed Damage (greatsword): 2d6+18 (+5 w/ Power Attack) Buffed Sneak Damage (greatsword): 17d6+18 (+5 w/ Power Attack)
AC (full plate): 30 +1 from Cat’s Grace +4 from Mage Armor Buffed AC (full plate): 35
Max HP: 388
Saves: Fortitude: 21 (+9 vs. spells) Reflex: 21 (+9 vs. spells) Will: 21 (+9 vs. spells) +1 to all from Bard Song +1 to all from Resistance +1 (at least) to Reflex from Cat’s Grace Buffed Saves: Fortitude: 23 (+9 vs. spells) Reflex: 24 (+9 vs. spells) Will: 23 (+9 vs. spells)
Spells: 0: Resistance, Flare, Daze, Cure Minor Wounds, Light 1: Mage Armor, Protection from Alignment, Balagarn’s Iron Horn, Grease 2: Darkness, Cat’s Grace, Bull’s Strength
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Strengths: -15d6 Death Attack damage with a pretty good DC -Plenty of ways of delivering the above damage -Devastating Critical with a pretty good DC -Decent damage, even against sneak/crit immune opponents -No absurdly low saves, unusual for a sneaker
Weaknesses: -Hide/MS are low for a sneaker -Mediocre AB, although not too pathetic for a sneaker -Mediocre HP, as above
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Comments and feedback are appreciated, but I'll be out of touch for a few days, so I'll check in on the build when I get back.
Going to bed in a sec, sorry for not giving any in depth comments
Has anyone checked whether ISA work with Death Attack now or not?
BTW, having only 3APR is a huge weakness. A 7 APR two-weapon fighter forces 3 Death Attack saves when you attack from stealth; this build only forces 1 (2 if hasted). _________________ "... C'est un pays plus nu que la terre polaire — Ni bêtes, ni ruisseaux, ni verdure, ni bois!
Or il n'est pas d'horreur au monde qui surpasse La froide cruauté de ce soleil de glace Et cette immense nuit semblable au vieux Chaos; ..."
Finneous already pointed out one of my only critiques. Unfortunately, the way Bioware set up attacking, you're only going to force them to make one save per round.
Also, Death Attack is unreliable, at best. In a party, during constant PvP/PvM, it's completely bugged. Even if your own target isn't in combat, but one of his party member's is, it will count him in combat, and thus your Death Attack won't work.
It would be a great build if NWN wasn't so buggy, though. ^^
Has anyone checked whether ISA work with Death Attack now or not?
To the best of my knowledge, ISA still doesn't work with death attack. I don't recall it being fixed as part of 1.67.
I don't really have much else to add either, beyond that. You might consider trying a sword and board version since you have so much sneak damage and dev crit, instead of a two hander. Some happy extra AC (lots of extra AC in higher magic worlds) and the loss in damage won't be that noticeable most of the time. _________________ Experience is the mother of good judgement; bad judgement is the father of experience.
Unexpected internet access en route, so I can respond to these.
Concerning the 3 APR, it's no fun, but it's also pretty unavoidable in a build like this. With Haste (which most people should be able to get, from scrolls if not from permanent item effects on very low-magic servers), you still get your sneak attack damage on two attacks, which is the most you can manage without going all-out for attacks. The 4+2+1 was just never going to happen on this guy, so he does the best he can, given his basic build concept. You're right though, Finneous, I should have listed it as a weakness.
I didn't know about ISA not working with Death Attack, thanks for the heads up. Switch ESF (MS) to an Assassin bonus feat, and take something else (Blind Fight? The build needs it pretty badly for its own Darkness spells) in its place. I don't have the Grimoire on this computer, and the manual is buried in a deep dark corner, so I don't know if there's anything worthwhile with which to replace the other ISA, but I'm sure you can think of something.
Xy, sword/board is an option, and a pretty good one with Dev Crit (bigger threat range on scimmy), but part of what I wanted to do with this build was get damage good enough to cope with crit-immune enemies, and the 1d6+5 extra base damage you get from greatsword over scimmy is not to be sneered at. It's personal choice, really, probably depends on how many undead and golems (or PM builds) you plan on fighting.
As to the basic unreliability of Death Attack: I knew about most (not all, didn't know being in a party with someone in combat put you in combat) of those problems already, but those weaknesses are inherent in the Assassin class as it manifests itself in NwN. If the basic problems with Death Attack ruin an Assassin build, you might as well just say, "Don't ever build with Assassin." This build is an attempt to use the Assassin class to its fullest potential, and get the most out of Death Attack when it works, but also to have more reliable ways of killing things (Dev Crit, damage) when it doesn't.
