Help with swordsage/scout build

[aza9999]

I've been doing a bit of research the last few days, mostly looking into ToB and swordsage since i've never seen them in action, but it had been suggested for a build concept i have.

The concept is a high mobility harasser. Someone who can get in, do some damage or in some way debilitate the enemy and then get away again. I will also be the trapmonkey, sneaky person and scout for the group (who at this stage consist of a fighter which may multiclass favored soul and/or warblade, and a bard)

Im thinking about a 2 level dip in ranger to get swift hunter (skirmish applies to favoured enemies, ranger/scout levels stack for skirmish and fav enemy levels) free twf and the ability to use wands.

I'm level 1 human scout with rolled stats of:
Str 14
Dex 17
Con 13
Int 16
wis 13
cha 10 (the usual dump stat :smallbiggrin:)
GM might allow slight rejigging of stats (shift a point or two or swap stats). We made enough xp in first session to go up a level so im ready to choose my class for level 2.

Basically my initial plan is:
Level 1 - Scout, Dodge, mobility (human bonus). At this stage i've chosen to go with kukri's for the big crit range.
Level 2 - Swordsage. Plan is to run up to enemy, use wolf fang strike to get two attacks at -2 and get skirmish (+1d6) on both, then use sudden leap to jump away as a swift action. Will use child of shadow stance to give 20% concealment. Discipline tiger style gives +1 to kukri's. I'll also have mighty throw so i can use that to put enemies down as well.
Level 3 - Scout, and take adaptive style (allows a full action to refresh all maneuvers).
Level 4 - Scout
Level 5 - Ranger
Level 6 - Scout, spring attack, swift hunter (scout bonus). At this stage most of my attacks will alternate using spring attack for 'drive-by' regular attacks, and the sudden leap/wolf strike combo.
Level 7 - Ranger twf
Level 8 - swordsage
Level 9 - Swordsage. Travel devotion feat. By this time my attack bonus should be enough that i can two weapon fight reliably so travel devotion allows me to move and full attack for 1 minute per day, the rest of the time i can use the wolf fang attack.

At level 9 my stats will be 15 naked ac, +7/2 base attack (which becomes +10/5 with kukri, or 8/8/3 dual wielded), fort 7, reflex 14, will 5 (but i will have the diamond mind maneuvers to replace will and fort with a concentration check)

When i skirmish i will have +2d6 damage to every attack, +1 to ac, and 20% concealment.

Now im not sure whether i should drop the ranger levels and concentrate on swordsage/scout more or not. Being able to do skirmish damage to undead and constructs and free twf in a feat heavy build would be nice.
I also don't know at this stage if the GM will be enforcing xp penalties.

From there it's a question of do i keep going with more of the same, or go dervish for dervish dance, or i can go tempest for two weapon spring attack (dont get that till level 5 though). Bloodclaw master is a possibility too but im not completely sold on it yet.
We'll probably get to the low teens in levels, but i dont think we'll get to 20/epic

Any suggestions on improvements would be greatly appreciated

[Sarusta]

I'm not sure if Gloom Razor applies to Kukri's but if it does you could lower Str and rely mostly on Dex. The downside is that you have to be in Shadow Hand stances all the time, but they are usually really good stances.

If you want to get even cheesier with the precision damage, you could take a level in Rogue, and then get the Swift Ambusher feat, which allows for Rogue and Scout level stacking for the purposes of Sneak Attack and Skirmish.

With the Island of Blades stance you could get some pretty crazy +d6's, especially with two-weapon fighting.

You'll be doing such ridiculous +d6's though, so you might want to avoid it. You could also do that for the purpose of Ambusher feats so you can apply effects to your attacks.

[aza9999]

I had considered a level of rogue, but was concerned the gm might start calling me on cheese for splashing too many classes

[Seharvepernfan]

Scouts aren't proficient with kukri's, so you'd have to use daggers or something at first level.

Desert wind has a maneuver where you can move and attack in five foot steps as a full round action, its desert stride or something.

Check to see if assassins stance stacks with skirmish.

[aza9999]

We're playing an oriental themed campaign and the gm gave me a family heirloom which was a 'small wavy green sword' so i've just selected kukri as it's the closest thing to that and fit a potential slashing build for dervish, i forgot to actually look at the weapon proficiencies for scout.

We're level 2 now and swordsage has it as a proficiency so i don't think the DM is going to be too worried about it :smallbiggrin:

Edit: I haven't seen any reason assassin's stance wouldn't stack, as they are both precision based damage, but they will not always apply to the same things.

Once i get swift hunter i can apply skirmish damage to favored enemies that are normally immune to crits such as undead, but the sneak attack still wouldnt work against them as far as i can see.

Also assassin's stance grants you sneak attack (or boosts it if you already have it), so i assume the normal rules of sneak attack (enemy must be flat footed etc) would apply, whereas skirmish works any time you move more than 10ft