[3.5] Optimizing a melee cohort

[Kazyan]

My DnD group has recently discovered optimization and dove headfirst into it. We're going from single-classed characters that identify as their class into "shenanigans" for our next characters.

I'll be having a cohort (Improved Cohort but no followers; I'm eschewing them to avoid cheese and accounting), and the playground's help for a build would be appreciated. The cohort is a petal (MM3) for various reasons including cuteness, so class level will be 3 behind my main skillmonkey.

Below is something like what I'm trying to do--many attacks with pandemic silver gnome quickrazors, iaijutsu focus, and the stunning fist for a daily save-or-lose is icing. The DM enforces the multiclassing rules and doesn't like psionics, so it's unlikely that he'll appreciate ToB stuff unless it can all be explained in terms he's familiar with, i.e. the SRD. Halp.

{table=head] Level | Class | BAB | Feats
-- | LA | -- |Bonus (Weapon Finesse) |
-- | LA | -- | |
1st | Rogue | 0 | Craven |
2nd | Ranger | 1 | Bonus (Track, Wild Empathy) |
3rd | Ranger | 2 | Bonus (Two Weapon Fighting), Knowledge Devotion |
4th | Fighter | 3 | Bonus (EWP (Gnome Quickrazor)) | Pandemic Silver!
5th | Monk | 3 | Bonus (Stunning Fist), Bonus(Improved Unarmed Strike) | Monk flavor.
6th | Monk | 4 | Bonus (Combat Reflexes), Bonus (Evasion), Skill Focus (Iaijutsu Focus) |
7th | Fighter | 5 | Bonus(Weapon Focus (Gnome Quickrazor)) |
8th | Psychic Warrior | 6/1 | Superior TWF
9th | Exotic Weapon Master | 7/2 | Underfoot Combat
10th | Psychic Warrior | 8/3 | Bonus(???)
11th | Exemplar | 8/3 |
12th | <Open from here down to 17th> | | Confound the Big Folk
[/table]

[Hiro Protagonest]

Feats are based on hit dice, not effective character level. So you're only treated as a 10th level character.

[Metahuman1]

Explain it too him this way.

Tome of Battle is designed to help give melee more options then "I Charge/Full Attack/stand still and make Attacks of Opportunity. AGAIN!"

It also reduces, though not eliminates, the massive power gap were gonna start encountering between the caster and none caster classes.

Basically it was wizards of the coast giving Melee a book of nice things.

Then go into an explanation of the mechanics. MAKE SURE YOU YOURSELF ARE CLEAR ON THEM BEFORE YOU DO THIS! Can't stress that point enough. One mistake and you may ruin arguably the best book in all of 3.5 D&D for the whole group.




Anyway, on topic. Your eating 2 LA as is, go ahead and eat a third one for the shadow creature template to get 10ft extra movement, a big boost to Hide and Move Silently, and Hide in plain sight.

Now take the standard Confound the big Folk and Underfoot combatant feats.

You've got Psionics class levels on the Cohort, good, make sure you've got plenty of points and the Psionic Lions Charge (I think that's that powers name, been awhile since I looked, it's the power that gives pounce.), Hussle, and most importantly, Compression.

You'll want to make sure you work it lot's and lot's of easy access to Guidance of the Avatar for a quick and dirty +20 too Hide, Move Silently, Iai-jutsu Focus, and Tumble checks. Max ranks in all would be good since it gives you more of an assurance of making those checks. I recommend traps of Guidance of the Avatar built into the quick razors with the quick razor's button/switch/whatever the control is as the trigger.



Enjoy your target being flat footed pretty much every time you take a shot at him while he has to eat a significant miss chance since he's fighting blind most of the time. Also enjoy the several extra D6's of damage your dealing above normal for each attack form Iai-jutsu focus thanks to the jack up from Iai-jutsu focus. As a fine sized character. =)

[Kazyan]

Feats are based on hit dice, not effective character level. So you're only treated as a 10th level character.

I think that's factored in already? Did I do LA wrong?



<good ToB advice>

Anyway, on topic. Your eating 2 LA as is, go ahead and eat a third one for the shadow creature template to get 10ft extra movement, a big boost to Hide and Move Silently, and Hide in plain sight.

Isn't Shadow +2 instead of +1? Is it worth that? Note that I'd like for this build to function properly at ECL 8 and up, as it's looking like our new characters will start at ECL 9 or higher.


Now take the standard Confound the big Folk and Underfoot combatant feats.

You've got Psionics class levels on the Cohort, good, make sure you've got plenty of points and the Psionic Lions Charge (I think that's that powers name, been awhile since I looked, it's the power that gives pounce.), Hussle, and most importantly, Compression.

Augmenting Compression would require a manifester level of 7. So, psionic rogue, blow three more levels on wilder or something. Got it.


You'll want to make sure you work it lot's and lot's of easy access to Guidance of the Avatar for a quick and dirty +20 too Hide, Move Silently, Iai-jutsu Focus, and Tumble checks. Max ranks in all would be good since it gives you more of an assurance of making those checks. I recommend traps of Guidance of the Avatar built into the quick razors with the quick razor's button/switch/whatever the control is as the trigger.

Clever and conveneint: my main has access to that spell and skill points to spend on trapmaking.


Enjoy your target being flat footed pretty much every time you take a shot at him while he has to eat a significant miss chance since he's fighting blind most of the time. Also enjoy the several extra D6's of damage your dealing above normal for each attack form Iai-jutsu focus thanks to the jack up from Iai-jutsu focus. As a fine sized character. =)

Thank you! :smallbiggrin: Let's see if I can hammer out a build now.

EDIT: Rules are hard. This makes redstone circuits look straightforward. There's not enough room for the killer psionic abilities, but those can come in the form of universal items later when we're drowning in WBL.

{table=head] Level | Class | BAB | Feats
-- | LA | -- |Bonus (Weapon Finesse) |
-- | LA | -- | |
-- | LA | -- | |
1st | Psychic Rogue | 0 | Craven |
2nd | Psychic Rogue | 1 | Bonus (Evasion)
3rd | Ranger | 2 | Bonus (Track, Wild Empathy), Knowledge Devotion |
4th | Ranger | 3 | Bonus (Two Weapon Fighting) |
5th | Psychic Warrior | 3 | Bonus (EWP (Gnome Quickrazor)) |
6th | Psychic Warrior | 4 | Practiced Manifester, ???
7th | Fighter | 5 | Bonus(Weapon Focus (Gnome Quickrazor)) |
8th | Exotic Weapon Master | 6/1 |
9th | Fighter | 7/2 | Bonus(Superior TWF), Underfoot Combat
10th | Swordsage | 7/2 |
11th | Swordsage | 8/3 |
12th | Swashbuckler | 9/4 | Confound the Big Folk
13th | Swashbuckler | 10/5
14th | Psychic Warrior | 11/6/1
15th | Swashbuckler | 12/7/2 | Improved Flight
16th | Psychic Warrior | 13/8/3
[/table]