The Nightblade (yeah I stole the name from Morrowind, sue me!)

The nightblade seamlessly blends the art of stealth, with skilled magic. She eschews direct combat, preferring to incapacitate and cripple her enemy while unseen, before unleashing her deadly attacks. Few see her coming, and those that do, have not the time to scream for aid.

Halfling
Chaotic Neutral

Str: 10
dex: 18
con: 14
int: 16 (all points here), ends at 32
wis: 8
cha: 8

*you can choose any school focus you like*

1: r1, toughness
2: w1 (generalist)
3: w2, weapon finesse
4: w3, int 17
5: w4
6: w5, empower spell, practiced spell-caster wiz
7: r2
8: r3, int 18
9: AT1, spell focus necro
10: AT2
11: AT3
12: AT4, int 19, weapon focus short sword
13: AT5
14: AT6
15: AT7, greater spell focus necro
16: AT8, int 20
17: AT9
18: AT10: improved crit, short sword
19: w6
20: r4, int 21

At level 20: r4/at10/wiz6
3 attacks/round,
7d6 sneak attack, level 9 spells (due to a nice bug) and 20 effective caster levels.


Epic:
21: w7, epic spell focus necro
22: w8
23: w9
24: w10, great int I and II, int 24
25: w11 (epic spells)
26: w12
27: w13, great int III, int 25
28: w14, int 26
29: w15, great int IV, int 27
30: r5, great int V, int 28
31: w16
32: r6, int 29
33: w17, armor skin
34: r7
35: w18
36: r8, epic weapon focus ss, int 30
37: w19
38: r9
39: r10, improved eavasion, epic prowess
40: w20, great Int VI, int 32


Final: rogue10/wizard20/AT10


Skill selection: I maxed out Hide/MS at 42, spellcraft/con/lore at 43, 40 ranks in tumble.
That still leaves a ton of points. I set UMD at 25, persuade at 15, about 10-15 in locks, 20 in
search and disable traps. Alternatively, this is a build that can potentially max craft trap and set strap, and you stand a good chance of making and setting epic traps.


AB:
21 (base)
3 (short sword focus+epic focus)
1 (prowess)
5 (GMW)
4 (dex bonus)
2 (dex bonus from Mantle of egregious might)
1 (minimum cat's grace)
4 greater heroism
2 (create tatoo)
= 43 (not bad for a wiz)

AC:
10 (base)
2 (armor skin)
8 (tumble)
8 armor (improved mage armor)
5 natural (spiderskin)
4 deflection (shield)
4 dodge (haste)
4 dodge (mantle of egregious might)
7 (dex bonus from natural, cat's grace, mantle of egregious might)
= 52 (not bad for a mage)

DC on wail: 10+9+6+11=36. This goes to 42 with +12 int. items


Pros:
Build is playable from level 1. Soloed NWN OC, and HotU with no problems.
Level 9 spells, 10d6 sneak damage, improved evasion, high will and reflex save, excellent defensive abilties

Final DC almost as good as a pure wiz.

This character can generate sneak attacks any time, whether through stealth or magic. I have found a spell at every level, that can flatfoot an enemy, or even a group of enemies. Cast Greater Timestop, and you get 3 rounds of sneak attacks, that's 40d6 damage per round (with haste) for 3 rounds.

Monstrous number of skill points. One of the most versatile builds in the game.


Cons:
Looses a lot of epic feats, due to arcane trickster not having an epic progression... hint, hint

Only 34 caster levels, so you will have trouble with monks or custom SRs.

Gets epic spells. With 2 rings of clear thought +6, has a modified spellcraft of 60 and lore of 60 for 6 epic spells, which is average. You can drop armor skin/prowess, and take epic focus in lore and spellcraft. Without epic gloves of spellcraft though, you won't make the DC on spells like Tolodyne, or epic reflection.

Only focused in one school. You can drop the weapon feats and pick up another school.

When debuffed, looses a lot of AC and AB. But only arcane casters level 23+ should be able to dispel her,
which eliminates all the riff-raff from consideration.

No HipS. Can't have it all, but the unseen wanderer epic spell should help

Edited By Mr_Raider on 09/18/04 01:06

Arcane Trickster can go epic if you want .
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Player Resource Consortium
Quote: Posted 09/18/04 05:00:56 (GMT) -- Stratovarius667

Arcane Trickster can go epic if you want .

Oh goodie:

(3.5 SRD)

EPIC ARCANE TRICKSTER
Hit Die: d4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier
Spells: The epic arcane trickster’s caster level increases by 1 per level gained above 10th. The epic arcane trickster continues to gain new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) at each new level, up to the maximum spells per day and spells known of the arcane spellcasting class to which the arcane trickster belonged before adding the prestige class.
Sneak Attack: The epic arcane trickster’s sneak attack damage increases by +1d6 every 2 levels above 10th.
Impromptu Sneak Attack: The arcane trickster may use this ability one additional time per day for every 4 levels above 7th.
Ranged Legerdemain: The arcane trickster may use this ability one additional time per day for every 4 levels above 9th.
Bonus Feats: The epic arcane trickster gains a bonus feat selected from the list of epic arcane trickster feats) every 4 levels after 10th.
Epic Arcane Trickster Bonus Feat List: Automatic Silent Spell Automatic Still Spell, Blinding Speed, Epic Skill Focus, Improved Combat Casting, Improved Sneak Attack, Improved Spell Capacity, Lingering Damage, Self-Concealment, Sneak Attack of Opportunity, Spell Knowledge, Spell Opportunity, Spell Stowaway.

While most of the feats are either already existing, or irrelevant to NWN, Lingering damage and Sneak AoO would be nice. Hell, I'd just settle for base caster level progression and increased sneak attacks. both lingering dmg and sneak AoO are impossible

~ Lock
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"Life builds you up just to tear you down." - 3rd Strike The Nightblade ver. 2, updated for 2.2: rogue5/wizard6/Arcane Trickster 29

Now that Arcane Trickster gets epic progression, it becomes a truly phenomenal class.

Race: Tiefling (bye bye halfling )
Chaotic Neutral

Str: 10
dex: 18
con: 14
int: 18 (all points here), ends at 32
wis: 8
cha: 8

*you can choose any school focus you like*

1: r1, toughness
2: w1 (generalist)
3: w2, weapon finesse
4: w3, int 19
5: w4
6: w5, empower spell, practiced spell-caster wiz
7: r2
8: r3, int 20
9: AT1, spell focus necro
10: AT2
11: AT3
12: AT4, int 21, weapon focus rapier
13: AT5
14: AT6
15: AT7, greater spell focus necro
16: AT8, int 22
17: AT9
18: AT10: improved crit: rapier
19: w6
20: r4, int 23



Epic:
21: AT11, epic spell focus necro,
22: At12
23: AT13
24: AT14, epic weapon focus rapier, int 24
25: AT15, epic skill focus: spellcraft
26: AT16
27: AT17, great int I,
28: AT18, int 26
29: AT19, epic skill focus: lore
30: AT20, great int II,
31: AT21
32: AT22, int 28
33: AT23, epic prowess, improved sneak attack I
34: AT24
35: AT25
36: AT26, great int III, int 30
37: At27, improved sneak attack II
38: AT28
39: r5, great int IV
40: AT29, int 32


Final: rogue5/wizard6/AT29


Skills:

Concentration, spellcraft, lore, hide, MS, Spot, listen all maxed at 43, tumble 40, UMD 42, Search 20, disable traps 20, open locks 15, and some leftovers

This version retains the same properties of the first build, but it looses improved evasion. In exchange, it gets a lethal 20d6 sneak attack damage. The tiefling race allows it to finesse a rapier, for a better crit range. ESF lore and spellcraft also make it a deadly epic spell caster.

Edited By Mr_Raider on 02/27/05 19:28