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View Full Version : Is tiger claw enough to "fix" TWF problems?



Dusk Eclipse
2010-08-30, 10:50 PM
As the title says, I am really curious about that, since it seems that the general concensus of why TWF is inferior to THF is because it needs an extra source of damage to make the most our of the extra attacks.

Now tiger claw is hailed as one of the best way to make TWF and I am curious of how? I am AFB right now but I don't remember Tiger claw to have that many damage increasings boost that could be used while TWF (Girallon windmill rip is the one that springs to mind).

So can someone please enlighten me? as maybe I will play a Sublime way ranger soon and I am wondering if I should pursuit the TWF path or the archery path.

Thanks in advance

Eldariel
2010-08-30, 10:55 PM
No, Tiger Claw doesn't really fix that all that well (tho the boosts help); indeed, things like Punishing Stance and Desert Wind Boosts help much more (until a bit higher up, tho Blood in the Water is v. good when dual wielding high crit weapons, and Bloodclaw Master is nice). What Tiger Claw does is enable using TWF efficiently all the time; you get full attack after movement, two attacks as a standard action, free movement and so on.

Also, yeah, extra attack with EACH weapon is obviously insane for TWF so those are huge. And then there's Fleshrip for a nice, small extra 20d6 per hit. It does part of the job quite well. You'll still want extra damage sources like Stormguard Warrior tho. Fan of getting Iron Heart for TWFers from the Sublime Way Ranger Traditions, personally. Tho Desert Wind is real good against non-profire types.

tyckspoon
2010-08-30, 10:55 PM
The main reason is that you can use Tiger Claw maneuvers to get the effects of TWF- the extra attacks and striking with multiple weapons- without having to actually invest in the TWF feats or the high Dex scores needed to support them.. and you can use the non-TWF-strikes or the strikes of another discipline to fight when you can't get off a full attack, which is usually an even weaker situation for two-weaponers than it is for other fighting styles. So you are effective when you're *not* dual-wielding, and you have more character resources available to make sure you hit really hard when you *are* dual-wielding.

(If you end up getting the TWF feats anyway, Tiger Claw is still nice- Blood In the Water is great with a crit-fisher build, for example, and the Mongoose boosts remain good- but some of the other disciplines have better traditional boosts. The my-weapon-is-on-fire boosts from Desert Wind work very well.)

Dusk Eclipse
2010-08-30, 11:06 PM
Hmmm well the plan was going to take TWF and just that, and supplement with shadow blade and assassin's stance so I think I am good.

Also many thanks for clarifying this

HunterOfJello
2010-08-31, 02:46 AM
2 levels in Bloodclaw Master nets a Two-Weapon Fighter full strength bonus on their off hand weapon and no penalty to attacking with both weapons. This combination makes TWF quite a bit better, although not as amazing as it could be.

One of ToB's flaws is that it ignores TWF and most of the maneuvers are based on attacking with a single weapon (along with ranged attacks outside of the Bloodstorm Blade). This could be changed at a DM's discretion.

Person_Man
2010-08-31, 09:58 AM
Different mechanics are better at different things.

Two Handed Fighting: Pure damage output. Power Attack feat tree.

Sword and Board (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123630): Defense. Bump your shield bonus as high as possible, and get it to apply to Touch AC, to-hit, opposed checks, etc.

Two Weapon Fighting: Debuffs. Load up on Save or Lose effects, ability damage, debuffs, etc. Make a lot of attacks, and screw over your enemies regardless of their hit points, Saves, etc.


If Two Handed Fight and Two Weapon Fighting were equally good at the same thing, there would be no reason to have two different game mechanics. They're each good at their own thing, and don't really require much fiddling if you know what you're doing.