thoughts on shadowbane inquisitor

[big teej]

just what it says on the tin.


I recently acquired complete adventurer and the look and feel of the inquisitor was greatly appealling.


so, what are the playground's thoughts on the Shadowbane Inquisitor?

[Zaq]

It doesn't seem generally worthwhile to me. The entry is awkward . . . I think you're "supposed" to go Paladin 4 / Rogue 2 (or Pal5/Rog1), which works, but seems awfully specific. There aren't a lot of other good ways to do this. (Naturally, you should take Rogue first.)

Pierce Shadows is cute, but not really worthwhile. It also doesn't say how it interacts with [Darkness] spells, so it's arguably just a torch. Torches are 1 cp. Everburning ones that you can hold in your teeth are a little bit more, but since you can't enter before level 7 anyway unless there's some entry trick I'm missing, that's practically free. If it negated all concealment or something, it MIGHT be situationally worth your standard action, but I don't see it coming up.

Sacred Stealth requires you to sacrifice spell slots. The class does not advance spellcasting, so what you have when you start is all you're gonna get. If you entered with 4 or 5 levels of Paladin, you'll have 0 spells per day. 1 if you have a good Wisdom. A Cleric would be a little better off, but I'm not sure why a Cleric is giving up all their spellcasting for this class.

Smite is cute, but it doesn't come frequently enough to matter. Maybe if you were doing a Smite-focused build with Sapphire Smite and all the trimmings, but I don't see it.

Improved Sunder is a bad feat, straight up. At least it helps you qualify for Blackguard, which it seems like you're SUPPOSED to do.

3/10 Sneak Attack isn't AWFUL, but it's nothing to be proud of.

Merciless Purity is flavorful, but the bonus is too small to really be a major selling point of the class. The same goes for Righteous Fervor. The abilities aren't BAD, but they're not nearly ENOUGH.

Burning Light is hilariously bad on action economy. Remember that Pierce Shadows is a (Su) ability that doesn't state otherwise, so it takes a standard action to turn it on (it lasts a while, but not enough to have it up all day), and then Burning Light takes another standard action to do . . . 4d6 party-unfriendly damage in an AoE. At a minimum ECL of what, 15? Yeah, save or no save, that's not going to cut it. This would be a weak but not totally pointless ability at level 1 or 2 in the class. It's unacceptable at level 9.

So yeah, seems like a really forgettable class to me. It's basically only good if you're trying to go Blackguard, since it gets you Improved Sunder for free and makes Hide a class skill for you. Of course, a dip in Feat Rogue would do the same thing, and since you're dipping Rogue anyway . . . I don't see the point.

[Urpriest]

It's pretty good for a Blackguard because it counts as Paladin levels but retains its abilities. You can end up as something like Rogue 1/Shadowbane Inquisitor 10/Blackguard 9, trading in your initial Paladin levels.

[Kaje]

Rogue 1 / Paladin 4 / Gray Guard 10 / Shadowbane Inquisitor 5 is pretty much perfect for a Batman character.

[umbergod]

It's pretty good for a Blackguard because it counts as Paladin levels but retains its abilities. You can end up as something like Rogue 1/Shadowbane Inquisitor 10/Blackguard 9, trading in your initial Paladin levels.

I had that exact build in mind for a BBEG