Hexblade as a dedicated debuffer?

[Red_Dog]

As I sit here making a Hexblade wallpaper[no idea why, its just in my head and while the muse is around I might as well do what she says ^^]... I again ponder on how to make an effective Hexblade.

*Disclaimer=> This is a matter of almost pure curiosity. I am quite aware of how low Hex-blades are on the tier list. I might use some of the potential builds in some games or as NPCs, but in reality, this is still just an exercise. I also have read Dictum Mortuum's handbook along with quite a few other builds*

Anyways, my idea was to try to make a very effective debuffer FIRST. Everything else would be secondary. Combat would be a second important priority with utility coming after.

Currently I have quite a few puzzle pieces in place so to speak.
==================================>
DotU gives 3 stackable debuffs => Sickening Terrifying Aleval school will give -6 penalty on any save (will will do here) with no save but just for a round.

Paladin of Tyranny gives no save -2 penalty [needs 3rd lvl]

Cursespewing Weapon[+3] gives -4 on a lot for a minute when crits. Kukri or say Elven court blade (elves get is as martial right?) fixes critting issue. Jovar is an option but needs a feat so its best left for the kukri.

Dark Familiar is untyped -2, always nice

Hex's blades own curse completes the cycle with -4 penalty at level 7 as a free action. Dire curse is off the table as it comes at mind-blowing lvl19.

So at this point this is a staggering => -16 on everything and -18 on one save. IMHO this is rather impressive. Granted a normal Paladin of Tyrany/fighter can give -10/12. However the difference is rather ok IMO to thematically choose Hexblade ^^.
==================================>

Question is, how do I put this all together? What did I missed?

My current concept is [B]Hexblade 7/Pal of Tyr3/Fighter[double Var] 3
At level 13, the massive -16 debuff is in a bag. Getting of the curse even with normal DC10+3+1(hexbands)+5(ish)Cha = 19+12 from debuffs = 31 shouldn't be too hard.
*I figured aleval school isn't worth it, -2 to one save is good, but its not a full "debuff"*

There are also a lot of questions like what other feats? Races? Divine feats can do very nicely and potentially give a chance to focus on just charisma. Due of Maneuver/Stance coupled with acquire familiar can give island of blades for constant "flanked" status. Court Blade can help with damage (but would need a burnt race or feat). Additionally with 2 feats burned what other feats would be worth it? Perhaphs Shock trooper chain? Or TWF/shield bash chain? Imperiuos Command would I guess go as given as there is no reason not to get it[coupling that with Dread Mask from MiC gives a solid chance].

Again is there anything I've missed? Also what about spell selection. Knowing only 3spells by lvl7 and 4-2 by lvl8 hurts, but any particular once? I haven't looked thru all the spell lists for Hexblades just yet.

Thanks in advance guys ^^!

[Zaq]

This is one of my favorite character concepts. I'm playing a debuffing Hexblade right now, though it's an E6 game, so my options are more limited. That said, here we go. The fact that you care about debuffing first and damage second helps a lot.

Brutal Strike (PHB2) adds a save against sickened when you attack with a bludgeoning weapon and use PA. Intimidating Strike (also PHB2) lets you apply the shaken condition on a hit (with a DC that's basically "pray for 20," if you optimize Intimidate at all), though it limits you to a standard action. These can be used simultaneously. If you swap Ride for Tumble as per the Cityscape web enhancement, you can take Sand Dancer (It's Hot Outside) to also blind on a hit—the DC is WIS-based, not CHA-based, but if you debuff their saves enough ahead of time, this matters a lot less. (You'll need a Decanter of Endless Sand or something to always pull it off, but it's nice.) A few of the grafts from Magic of Eberron are good at quickly applying debuffs, especially Dust Form (blind as a move action) or Fatigue Spores (fatigue as a swift action). Hidden Talent for Psionic Minor Creation (XPH) is, as always, a good source of poison, and poison is great fun when combined with a huge penalty to saving throws. Netherese Battle Curse (LEoF) is basically Arcane Strike with a debuff attached instead of extra damage, and while you don't have THAT many spells to burn on it, if it's late enough in the debuffing process, you won't need to use anything high-level, because they won't be able to save against it anyway.
Hope that helps!

[Manateee]

That's a lot of investment into Hexblade for only enough debuffs to last half your daily encounters.

Check out:
Binder (it has 2 general-purpose debuff auras and a bunch of nice charisma-based powers that complement this kind of build well)
Fear-stacking (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=3809.0) (especially dreadful wrath)
Poison Use (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=4854.0) (lots of debuff options for very low investment)
Bardic Music (Harbinger variant, Doomspeech, Haunting Melody, Gnome subs)
Sudden Stunning Weapons (dirt cheap stuns with saves and daily uses based on your charisma)
Blackguard (pretty much the same as Paladin of Tyranny. I'm not sure if the Auras of Despair stack. It has some added benefits like accelerated Casting/Turning and Poison Use, as well as sharing prerequisites with the Three Mountains weapon style feat, which might interest you. And it has no code of conduct.)

[Flickerdart]

Paladin of Tyranny + Blackguard + Hexblade + Unseelie Fey drops the saves of anyone adjacent to you by a ton without using any limited resources.

[Red_Dog]

*Its only been 3 days since last reply, so hopefully this won't count as thread-necromancy*

Thnx for replies guys! ^^

In past few days I've actually collected quite a few other tricks and figured, I would make this thread "hexblade building thread". I'll try posting (if I won't forget) interesting build here.

Also as a side note, after some thinking, I honestly concluded that Hexblade, while weaker than say Duskblade or Psychic warrior definitely doesn't deserve such a bad wrap as he/she often gets. But I guess I won't turn this into a balance rant ^^.

Anyways =======================================>

Amongst many build, I found this one rather amusing.
*Everything is in sequence as written. I also did not want to stat up to 20 as its rarely used. I did included couple of good 6 end level chains*

Human
Stats Str>Cha>Con. At least 10-12 Int for both.
Bard 1[iAwe]/Hexblade 1/Fighter 1[Drow/Sneak Var]/Hexblade 7[Debuff Ball]/Dirge Singer 4/...
Feats=>Able Learner, Bind Visage, Improved Visage, Imperious Command, Requiem, Staggering Strike[OR Lingering Song]

Skills=>UMD, Perform[something hands free], Intimidate, Pre-reqs, w/e else for the rest. Never outnumbered skill trick is taken asap of course ^^

Comments
Keeping a Cursespewing Scimitar in mind, this build shines mostly as debuffer.
Inspire Awe gives 30ft shaken "aura", Binded Visage will provide 10ft -2 aura, Ball of "bad intentions" gives another -2, Dirgesinger's Sorrow for another -2. After a round or two, Cursespeweing should kick in w/ -4. Hex is thrown after target is chosen and cursed by the weapon. -16 penalties on a target and his potential entourage is a nice start. Than cue Fascination[bard] or Confusion[Dirge] or simple Intimidation[to cower everyone in same 10ft aura].

As for dmg, Unfortunately due to severe feat issues, the build would probably go S&B (if shield won't impend movement). To up armor a bit, psycoative skin can help. It counts as Light armor and even though imposes 35% spell fail, by RAW its all forgiven as its LA ^^. Another note, MiC has "Crystal Mask of Dread" which gives +10 to intimidate. So another item worth considering...

*Note on Doomspeack... I found the feat incredibly imbalanced. However it can have a place in the build at level 15. Further more, it seems better to have Lingering song as that will help for the entire combat*

As per ending th build. Divine Crusader of Destiny[see Races of Destiny] is rather perfect. Getting Bestow curse and warp destiny. Of course, it means loosing bab and scouring books to get a good[critting often] weapon choice [Illumian deity Glautru has a long sword. And Elvin Thinblade can be treated as a long sword...].

Seeker of the Song with little effort can be entered for some odd 4-6 lvl finish. Of course there is also 3 extra lvls of Bard and 3 of Fighter that can finish things. or 1 fighter, 2 Bard, 3 Hexblade.

Sublime chord can also be attempted, and will need 3 lvl of Hexblade to get lvl spells first. But Tbh, HexBlade-Sublime chord is its own build idea.

Overall I wanted to share this build just because combining Dirgesinger and Hexblade is something I never saw ^^. Its not the best one can do, but imo not too bad in a living foe filled campaign ^^.