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View Full Version : [3.5e] Stacking Dragonfire Strike/Possible Abuse?



CodeRed
2010-12-13, 11:02 PM
So after reading Dragonfire Strike I was wondering how it could be used/optimized to maximum efficiency. It says the following:

When you gain extra damage from a sneak attack, sudden strike, or skirmish, you can choose for the extra damage to be fire damage. If you apply this effect, increase the extra damage dealt by 1d6.

By my interpretation, every time I choose to activate this feat for one of those abilities I get an extra 1d6 of fire damage. So if my attack is a skirmish/sneak attack/sudden strike, I would get +3d6 fire damage on that attack. I know the same types for damage never stacks but that d6 of damage each comes from a different ability being triggered. (Sneak Attack on Flank or FF, Sudden Strike on FF, and Skirmish for moving.)

So I was thinking Swift Ambusher for Scout 3/Rogue 4 into Shadowblade 2 (prestige class in Tome of Magic) in order to gain the Sudden Strike without taking levels in Ninja. It also gives the ability to treat someone as flat-footed 10/day at at lvl which helps with triggering SA and Sudden Strike. So, if my target is flat-footed and I've moved at least 10 feet before attacking, I deal 3d6 skirmish damage (including DFS), 3d6 SA damage (once again with DFS), and 2d6 Sudden Strike damage (with DFS) and all these extra dice are in fire damage.

So, a lvl 9 rogue would get 5d6 SA or 6d6 with DFS while this build with triggering everything would get 10d6. So basically the question is, is all this multi-classing worth it to get an extra 2d6 of damage out of Dragonfire Strike/is this even doable?

true_shinken
2010-12-14, 06:33 AM
So you need a racial choice, two feats and a weak prestige class for an extra +3d6 fire damage when you move 10 feet and get your characters flat-footed (meaning you need pounce/free movement even to get it on a surprise round).
You might as well be a Pyrokineticist if that's all you want - Sneak Attack Fighter 5 (or Rokugan Ninja 5)/Pyro 4 has 3d6 plus 4d6 greater weapon afire without spending any feats. Better base attack bonus (+8 vs +6) and hit dice as well.

I like the concept, though. I think the best bet for improving this is using a Swift Hunter chassis (to apply precision damage to stuff that is not immune). Just get prestige classes with sudden strike (Dread Commando, Ghost-Faced Killer) or sneak attack (Invisible Blade, Nightsong Enforcer).

CodeRed
2010-12-14, 10:23 AM
So you need a racial choice, two feats and a weak prestige class for an extra +3d6 fire damage when you move 10 feet and get your characters flat-footed (meaning you need pounce/free movement even to get it on a surprise round).
You might as well be a Pyrokineticist if that's all you want - Sneak Attack Fighter 5 (or Rokugan Ninja 5)/Pyro 4 has 3d6 plus 4d6 greater weapon afire without spending any feats. Better base attack bonus (+8 vs +6) and hit dice as well.

I like the concept, though. I think the best bet for improving this is using a Swift Hunter chassis (to apply precision damage to stuff that is not immune). Just get prestige classes with sudden strike (Dread Commando, Ghost-Faced Killer) or sneak attack (Invisible Blade, Nightsong Enforcer).

Yeah after looking it over last night Swift Hunter really looks like the best bet. I never really thought it would be all that great with the stacking but it seemed like a fun idea to at least think about.