Hiding during combat options.

[Rukia]

So I'm a new level 3 swordsage and haven't chosen my 2nd level maneuver yet. I was considering taking the cloak of deception boost first but wondering how best to actually use it in combat. I know I can use it combined with move silently to possibly sneak into an area and get the jump on the enemy, but how to use it during combat?

Sniping is a possibility with ranged attacks, but what about attacking while hidden with a melee attack? For instance, say I'm fighting in a room/cave with some sort of cover on the battlefield like crates or large rocks. Say it's my turn and I'm standing next to an orc. I initiate a standard attack maneuver, then cloak of deception to go invis and then am able to move behind some sort of cover or concealment. I get a bonus to my hide check (assuming they don't see invis) and probably have to do a move silently check to help conceal where I moved to.

Next round the creature has no idea where I went as I simply went invisible in front of his face. If he loses track of me and fails a spot check wherever I'm hidden, can I take advantage of this situation for my next attack? If I spring from cover and attack him when he hasn't seen me is he considered flat footed against my attack since it's something like a surprise round? Obviously I could stay hidden, use adaptive style on the next round to recover maneuvers, use cloak of deception then leave the cover and attack but I'm more interested in using the fact that I'm hidden to take advantage on the very next round.

Is this possible or would it be better to simply take mountain hammer or something as my level 3 maneuver since it's less situational and will just up my damage?

[Groverfield]

>>If he loses track of me and fails a spot check wherever I'm hidden, can I take advantage of this situation for my next attack?

Yes

>>If I spring from cover and attack him when he hasn't seen me is he considered flat footed against my attack since it's something like a surprise round?

No, it would be a normal round, but he would be flatfooted if he's unaware of your position.

[OracleofSilence]

well if you have the Sneak Attack stance (Assassins Stance, +2d6 sneak attack) that you get at 5th? level, then yeah. If you are looking for concealment that would be your best bet. Also, its swift invisibility (greater invisibility at that). there really is no reason to say "no" to this.

otherwise, take Flashing Sun (for more attacks) or emerald razor (cause touch attacks are nice). Mountain Hammer wouldn't be the worst though (not by a long shot), maybe even Shadow Jaunt for out of combat utility.

[Rukia]

I was considering waiting to grab it at 4th level by swapping it with a level 1 maneuver. I was just thinking of the best maneuver to take at 3rd level that would give me the most mileage.

Here is another one... Say I'm in child of shadow stance in the above situation. I go invis, then move behind the creature which is a 10 foot move since I'm not tumbling. I hide before the end of my round so I get a +20 bonus. When I become visible I have my concealment from child of shadow for the rest of the round so assuming there is no other enemies behind him and he's still looking forward, would I have any chance of staying hidden and pulling it off? I know you can hide with some sort of concealment, but I'm not sure on how strict the rules are.

Does he simply have to make a spot check or since I'm out of his line of sight does he even get to make one? That goes for any of his buddies as well, especially if they are in front of him. Does behind behind him give me some sort of concealment bonus versus their spot check?

[Groverfield]

I stopped on the 3rd because I found ToB to be too long and obtuse to actually read (I think it was actually because of the page colors and me just being whiny though,) standard rules you can hide during battle but "Creating a Diversion to Hide: You can use Bluff (page [[PHB]]67) to help you hide. A successful Bluff check can give you the momentary diversion you need to attempt a Hide check while people are aware of you." Otherwise you can't hide while being observed.