help with rogue/shadowdancer build

[xf1313]

So Lightfoot Halfling, currently lv 7 rogue

Base stat, no gift enhancement
Str 10
Dex 18+1at level up
Con 14
Int 14
Wis 8
Cha 12

My character had a nice time sneaking through monsters, love how the ugly bad guys cannot see me.

I intend to play Epic Shadowlord, but saw quite a few posts recommend 24 or 26 pure rogue...One thing that bugs me is that wiki somehow suggested SD improves sneak attack? And should I do 7 rogue/3ranger/20SD, 10 rogue/20SD or a few more levels in rogue (e.g. 13) will be more beneficial?

[ZombieDuck]

SD gives you Increased Sneak Attack while you're next to your Shade, which is where you'll be almost always since Shade's auto-guard ability.

For a build, I would recommend 8 Rogue/6 Fighter/16 SD at 30, for pre-epic 7 Rogue/5 Fighter/8 Shadowdancer.

This will give you total of 4 bonus feats from Fighter, also giving access to Weapon Specilization and its Epic variant, giving you total of +6 dmg at the cost of 2 feats and 4 natural Attacks Per Round on your main hand(I recommend getting the 3 dual-wielding feats for this build for a total of 6 APR).

8 Rogue/16 SD also gives you +2 AB to speciality weapons(http://wiki.nwnarelith.com/Rogue), giving you +5/6 AB weapons easily to help you ignore Stoneskin/Premonition(And more AB is always good anyway).

There are more benefits to both going SD and going high Rogue levels, but what are you looking from your build exactly?

[xf1313]

SD gives you Increased Sneak Attack while you're next to your Shade, which is where you'll be almost always since Shade's auto-guard ability.

For a build, I would recommend 8 Rogue/6 Fighter/16 SD at 30, for pre-epic 7 Rogue/5 Fighter/8 Shadowdancer.

This will give you total of 4 bonus feats from Fighter, also giving access to Weapon Specilization and its Epic variant, giving you total of +6 dmg at the cost of 2 feats and 4 natural Attacks Per Round on your main hand(I recommend getting the 3 dual-wielding feats for this build for a total of 6 APR).

8 Rogue/16 SD also gives you +2 AB to speciality weapons(http://wiki.nwnarelith.com/Rogue), giving you +5/6 AB weapons easily to help you ignore Stoneskin/Premonition(And more AB is always good anyway).

There are more benefits to both going SD and going high Rogue levels, but what are you looking from your build exactly?

8 rogue/16 SD seems nice. I kind of wish to wear light amour, focus more on sneak attack than tanking. Character-wise a clever, skilled sneak master who would avoid danger ( not taking on writ unless I am a few level above or it is safe with tanky fellowship). No death record on my rogue so far! HIPs may allow me to deal massive sneak attack damage, kill whatever I need and avoid mob fight.

Well the above sounds fitting for assassin death attack, alas I have no interest in killing pcs. I am very inexperienced in multiclassing, but good to know 24 total level on these to maximise benefits (minus the sneak attack), just wondering thou, Should I take fighter or SD on level 8? and since I wear light amour anyway, would ranger give a little more advantage on duel wielding?

[ZombieDuck]

This build would have you wear light armor of cloth(Probably cloth, there's a good cloth armor for SDs called Penumbral Vestmenthttp://wiki.nwnarelith.com/Armor#Clothi ... iloring.29)

If you want a tanky companion and don't focus on PvP, the SDs shade summon can be just that. It's auto-guard ability means any(Or most) attacks(Not spells) that are targeted towards you target your Shade instead(Which gets tankier and as you level). Giving you the ability to use your sneak attack easily in combat(Unless the target is immune to it, constructs and undeads being prime examples) and if you go for Fighter multiclass, the +6 dmg you can get from Weapon Specilization and Epic Weapon Specilization feats tend to help with those enemies.

Other abilities of SD for this build are:
- +1 Hide skill for every SD level
- + AC/Conceal/Damage Reduction bonus from Shadow Evade, which at 16 SD is going to be +4 Dodge AC, 50% Conceal and 12/+4 DR.
- Access to SD equipment, which typically boosts Hide/Move Silently.
- HIPs at 11(Although who knows if the Devs are planning on removing it sometime, would still recommend the build even without it, though)
- Synergies with Rogue, you can read more on the wiki.

If you're planning on going Assassin, that requires a DM permission and evil alignment.

If you're interested in more detailed breakdown of this build, here https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?res ... kmJmr1_nJI

[xf1313]

This build would have you wear light armor of cloth(Probably cloth, there's a good cloth armor for SDs called Penumbral Vestmenthttp://wiki.nwnarelith.com/Armor#Clothi ... iloring.29)

If you want a tanky companion and don't focus on PvP, the SDs shade summon can be just that. It's auto-guard ability means any(Or most) attacks(Not spells) that are targeted towards you target your Shade instead(Which gets tankier and as you level). Giving you the ability to use your sneak attack easily in combat(Unless the target is immune to it, constructs and undeads being prime examples) and if you go for Fighter multiclass, the +6 dmg you can get from Weapon Specilization and Epic Weapon Specilization feats tend to help with those enemies.

Other abilities of SD for this build are:
- +1 Hide skill for every SD level
- + AC/Conceal/Damage Reduction bonus from Shadow Evade, which at 16 SD is going to be +4 Dodge AC, 50% Conceal and 12/+4 DR.
- Access to SD equipment, which typically boosts Hide/Move Silently.
- HIPs at 11(Although who knows if the Devs are planning on removing it sometime, would still recommend the build even without it, though)
- Synergies with Rogue, you can read more on the wiki.

If you're planning on going Assassin, that requires a DM permission and evil alignment.

If you're interested in more detailed breakdown of this build, here https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?res ... kmJmr1_nJI

Thank you very much, I will build mine based on this one. Should be one enjoyable character to play!

[MathAenya]

If you're interested in more detailed breakdown of this build, here https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?res ... kmJmr1_nJI

It seems I can't open that link, I get an error message from OneDrive. I would like to see your guide, would someone have it in another format?

[ZombieDuck]

Starting stats:
Str 13
Dex 17 +2 Gift +7 from leveling
Con 14
Wis 8
Int 14
Cha 8
Another gift on Con/Int/Saves

Level/Feat/Skill
1: Rogue1/Weapon Focus
2-3: Rogue3/Ambidex
4: Fighter1/Two-weapon Fighting
5: Fighter2/Dodge
6: Fighter3/Mobility
7: Fighter4/Weapon Specilization
8: Rogue4/10 Hide, 8 Move Silently & 5 Tumble(Shadowdancer requirements)
9: Shadowdancer1/Blind-fight
10-12: Shadowdancer4/Imp. Two-weapon Fighting
13-15: Shadowdancer7/Imp. Critical
16: Shadowdancer8
17-18: Rogue6/Toughness
19: Rogue7
20: Fighter5
21: Shadowdancer9/Epic Weapon Foc/20 Hide(For Epic Skill Focus later)
22-24: Shadowdancer12/Armor Skin
25: Shadowdancer13/Epic Shade
26-27: Shadowdancer15/Epic Dodge
28: Shadowdancer16/Blinding Speed
29: Fighter 6/Epic Weapon Spec
30: Rogue 8/Epic Skill Foc: Hide

Skills at the end:
Appraise 33(Optional)
Concentration 33
Disable trap 12
Discipline 33(Helps againts KD spam relying on 20 rolls)
Heal 33
Hide 33
Lore 33
Move Silently 33
Open lock 6
Search 33
Spellcraft 16
Tumble 30
UMD 33

I think that's the gist of it. Go ahead and try it on the test server to get a feel for it.
The build works on pretty much any race that doesn't have a dex penalty but Svirneablin is the best for it, becouse of its Saves/AB/AC/Spell Resistance/Stats/Small change bonuses to stealth.

[Eyeliner]

I played similar but 4 rogue/7 ranger/19 SD (there's a lot of wiggle room with those levels, that' s just what I ended up with).

Biggest difference there is you're giving up the 6 damage from fighter's epic weapon specialization in exchange for a lot of ranger RP toys. You can use the bonus ranger feats at 1 and 5 for ambidexterity and dual wielding so amount of feats you get are otherwise pretty close.

I took ranger because I didn't want to leave tracks which is pretty essential if you're going to be sneaking around where you aren't wanted. There are a few other ranger perks mostly good for RP-- reading tracks, animal language, woodland stride etc. It does take a little more time to kill things in PVE but you're so hard to hit that's more QoL than a survival issue. Oh and I made big use of traps too, which I highly recommend.

[xf1313]

I played similar but 4 rogue/7 ranger/19 SD (there's a lot of wiggle room with those levels, that' s just what I ended up with).

Biggest difference there is you're giving up the 6 damage from fighter's epic weapon specialization in exchange for a lot of ranger RP toys. You can use the bonus ranger feats at 1 and 5 for ambidexterity and dual wielding so amount of feats you get are otherwise pretty close.

I took ranger because I didn't want to leave tracks which is pretty essential if you're going to be sneaking around where you aren't wanted. There are a few other ranger perks mostly good for RP-- reading tracks, animal language, woodland stride etc. It does take a little more time to kill things in PVE but you're so hard to hit that's more QoL than a survival issue. Oh and I made big use of traps too, which I highly recommend.

Shadow in the woods! That’s a cool concept, I would go for that but keep at least 12 ranger levels. Map means a lot to me. I heard ranger used to get hips in wild, such a shame that they removed it.