Yay, another sneak build from me! Not quite a dragon that can hide in the bushes, but there's still something quite cool about sneaking up on someone while and smacking them over the head with the D&D equivalent of a 2x4.
It's a sneak weaponmaster build with devastating critical, really good against tanks (and on worlds where True Sight is nerfed, against mages too). Not quite as good against bards (they can see him and also curse him for -15 hide/MS) or clerics (they can see him and kill him with Implosion).
It may seem similar to a few other builds, mainly the Hidden Axe, the Silent Knight and a few other dexterity-based versions, but in reality it's different. I like my version better because it gets devcrit and generally higher AB. And frankly, I don't see much point in making a dex-based WM, especially with only 7 levels.
Playable 1-40, both PvM and PvP. Gets better at both at level 22.
There's two ways to equip him - sword and board and go for AC and crit range with a scimitar in addition to hips (his AC will be the same as with a regular tank WM, the only thing he doesn't get is UMD). This way you can tank and hips only when you need to, however you get a -10 penalty to both Hide and Move Silently. Or you can use a greatsword and wear medium/light armor to avoid armor penalty, relying on to keep you safe.
Human, any alignment Fighter 12/Weaponmaster 25/Shadowdancer 3
Ability Scores: STR 17 (30) DEX 13 CON 14 WIS 8 INT 14 CHA 8
* - you can take 2 more Great Strength feats instead
Stats in mundane gear: HP: 514 AC: 26 with chainmail, 31 with full plate + large shield AB: 50 Devcrit DC: 40 Saving Throws: 26/21/15 +3 Hide/MS: 49 with chainmail, 44 with full plate + large shield
Stats in +5 gear: +5 armor, shield, deflection, natural, Boots of Hardiness +3, weapon +5, cloak +5 saves, ring +5 fort, +12 STR HP: 514 AC: 44 in chainmail, 54 in plate and with a shield AB: 61 Devcrit DC: 44 Saving throws: 37/26/20
Advantages: - HiPS - anyone who hasn't maxed out on Spot or Listen won't see you - Very high AB - you're pretty much guaranteed to KD someone from stealth - Devcrit - coupled with high AB you have a good chance to KD someone and then score a few critical hits on them - Doesn't lose very much compared to a more traditional Fighter 12/WM 25/Rogue 3 - Is one of the few classes that can actually hit something in high magic and above environments (+7 +8 gear). - Evasion and a decent reflex save
Disadvantages: - As with any WM build, your saves suck badly, especially fortitude - Doesn't do well in low magic environments** - No UMD or class spellcraft - Not that many hit points for a tank - Armor gives you a penalty to Hide and MS
** The reason this build doesn't do well in low-magic is because you lose out on a lot of cool stuff compared to a lot of other builds, for example a fighter/bard/RDD would have a 4-6 AC advantage, much higher saves, higher devcrit DC. At the same time your advantages don't amount that much in the same environment - you don't need the WM AB if everyone's AC isn't much higher than 60 (and clerics get a higher AB here anyway), most classes that took spot/listen with ESF will see you, your AC isn't that high and you won't get enough +save items to get 48ish or so fort that you need to save against Devcrit
It is awesome, however, in high-magic. Best AB short of Pally/RDD, hips that no-one except dedicated anti-sneaks will see you and if you find yourself getting mobbed or losing a fight... well, you can always disappear.
Edited By Kail Pendragon on 04/29/09 18:14
I've never investigated how well HiPS works on STR based builds, I prefer just to buff True Sight all day when I wander around, but I suppose it could work nice if you're good at hiding and that stuff, mind me I don't know how to do that.
The only thing I will criticize is the name, if a sentence can actually be called a name. _________________ "My name is Thaxll'ssyllia, but you simians may refer to me merely as "Sir", if you prefer a less... syllable intensive workout."
Edwin Odesseiron - Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
Edited By Thaxll'ssyllia on 01/07/09 02:47
STR sneaks do well, since they can attack someone who's flat-footed all the time, but at the same time if they're fighting head on, they're not losing out on damage.