Criticals

[Protoneiko]

I'm looking for the best ways to Crit, and weapons/feats/skills taht can help improve it, Basically want to walk around and give everything a good wallop!

So Whats your ideas to help make this critical hit beast.

[Gavinfoxx]

Well... there are several crit fisher builds out there. Can you give us any more guidance? What books you have access to? What level? Also, there are plenty of ways to be good at giving things a good wallop WITHOUT crit-fishing...

Anyway, you should start out with reading this:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127026

If you arent familiar with teh intricacies of melee combat. You also know that HUGE amounts of enemies in D&D are immune to critical hits, yes?

[Big Fau]

I'm looking for the best ways to Crit, and weapons/feats/skills taht can help improve it, Basically want to walk around and give everything a good wallop!

So Whats your ideas to help make this critical hit beast.

This is kinda a bad idea unless you can use 3.0 material. Critical hits only come up every so often even if you optimize for them (seeing as you have to confirm the crit).

The most reliable way to score crits is to get a ton of attacks/round and go full-attack happy, but with the amount of effort it takes to do this you could have just invested in some different feats/PrCs and killed them with just the normal attacks...

[Protoneiko]

If you arent familiar with teh intricacies of melee combat. You also know that HUGE amounts of enemies in D&D are immune to critical hits, yes?

I know ;(Damn golems and such

I due tend to roll pretty decently anywho, But just want some more crits to sounds awesome during combat.

What i woul dlike to due is optimize a blue mage character I'm working on to help with getting crits. The game is going to start at Level one, I'll be a human for 2 starting feats, and am going to be using some sort of short.

[hisnamehere]

Stuff I've accumulated on the topic of crits:
Imp Critical
Power Critical [CompWar]
Overwhelming Crit (all other Crit feats)
Streetfighter Ftr substitution (for half-orc?) grants increase to crit range [Cityscape web enhancement; http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a]
Keen weapon (and one of every other type of crit-expanded weapon, i.e. piercing and bludgeoning) *Note: it is suggested that Imp Crit is better than keen, as it activates better with crit-activated enchantments, such as slowburst and enervating)
Staggering Critical [DrowoftheUnderdark]
Death Blow feat (FPC-FI)
Needle Strike (LotFR-WotN)
Twist the Knife (DnDBIII-LotFR-WotN
Telling Blow [?; deal sneak attack dmg when you score a crit]
Minotaur Greathammer [source? maybe with Greathorn Minotaur, MM?; has high crit multiplier]
Disciple of Dispater [source? 3.0 – might need update on crit stacking rules; gains crit bonus at 4th and 8th]
Dolorous Blow [SC <- what book is this?; grants keen plus auto-confirm crits; spell?]
Kaorti resin weapon [source? prob MM?; increased crit range?; doesn’t stack with magical affects relating to crits]
Sacred scabbard [MIC]
Aptitude Keen Ribbon double scimitar with Lightning Maces?
Psychic Weapon Master PrC [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040827d]
see tiger fang [ToB – Weapons of Legacy]

Enchantments that trigger upon successful crit:
Wounding DMG +2 1 Con damage None
MarrowCrushing BoVD +3 1 Con Damage None
Enfeebling BoED +1 1d6+2 Temp Str Damage None
Paralyzing BoED +2 Paralyzed up to 10 rounds Will 17
Roaring BoED +3 Shaken, 2d6 sonic Will 22
Nervewrack D.Uund +1 On Crit Many effects1d4 rounds None
Subjugating Heroes of Battle +2 Shaken/Frightened 5 rounds Will 20
Doom Burst Mini +1 Crit, shaken 5minutes None
Paralytic Burst Mini +2 Crit, Hold Monster None
Weakening Shining South +3 1 Str Damage None
{sorry table isn't formated}

[Gavinfoxx]

Uhhh.. What class are you going to use to do the Blue Mage thing? Some homebrew class? Which? There are several homebrew classes that do the blue mage thing.

And which do you want to be good at, as your schtick? Melee, or casting spells that affect enemies?

D&D works best if you have a COHESIVE vision of what you want your character to be good at. First you want a crit focused build -- okay, we can do that. THEN you want a Blue Mage, without even mentioning that in the first post, nor even saying what sources you have access to. Quit changing the rules on us, if you want help, lay out the maximum amount of information you have -- rules, rolling information, source access, starting wealth, house rules, how open the DM is to homebrew stuff, the idea you have in your head about what the character is supposed to be good at, what characters are the inspiration for your vision of what you are doing, etc. etc. etc.

[Protoneiko]

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=12747627#post12747627

Theres a link to the blue mage design, It is going to be a mix of melee and casting, but i'm not sure the spells he is going to be learning. (when I asked my Dm about this design, he said I can use it but he is going to make the spells and such)

We basically have access to any books, thats not a problem and my Dm is very flexable as long as it doesn't completely break the game.

And I haven't rolled the characters stats yet, because I won't be using it till we finish our current game, we have 1-2 sessions left. I'm just trying to get this characters completely perpared.

Idealy I'd like to use a shortsword as well.... Maybe two.

[Gavinfoxx]

If you care about criticals, you can't use a shortsword. You want to use a set of Kukris instead.

Okay. so here's what we have so far.

1.) I want to be a caster
2.) I want to two weapon fight, and be competent at it
3.) I want to focus on critical hits

Anything else to add?? You are spreading yourself INCREDIBLY thin, conceptually...

[Protoneiko]

1.) I want to be a caster
2.) I want to two weapon fight, and be competent at it
3.) I want to focus on critical hits


1. Casting is in there the class, but he'll be doing just as much if not more melee. so not worrying about the casting part.

2. Two weapons is not needed, I just though more weapons = more attacks = more crits

3. I would like the main focus of the character to be with crits. Mostly why I didn't mention the class in my first post. The word Mage in the class tends to make people not think crits.


Whats sword would be best? I can remember off hand currently but doesn't a rapier crit on 17-20? So I may go with those.

[Gavinfoxx]

Rapier & Kukri. Or dual Kukri... They have the same crit range, but if you want to used matched weapons, it needs to be Kukri, since that doesn't require you blow another feat on oversized two weapon fighting. Either of those two threatens a critical on an 18-20, or 15-20 if they are Keen. And why the focus on Crits? It is NOT the best way to deal damage, trust us on this...

I would reconsider your options. Here is where I would focus:

1.) "I am interested in using one of these blue mage classes, perhaps the amalgam class in the post that I made"
2.) "I want to be competent at melee using this class, with a basic gish way of going through the game"

And that's IT. Leave the 'how to do it' to us. TRUST US on this...

[Protoneiko]

Duel Kukri's would be very helpful, and I'll work on getting Keen ones =D

I know crit's are the best way to go, But Its a very fun way to use the character. Plus crits feel more epic and get you the "You chop the creture in half, or remove a limb" or the fun roleplaying stuff

[Gavinfoxx]

Duel Kukri's would be very helpful, and I'll work on getting Keen ones =D

I know crit's are the best way to go, But Its a very fun way to use the character. Plus crits feel more epic and get you the "You chop the creture in half, or remove a limb" or the fun roleplaying stuff

Except crits don't do that at all!! ... DAMAGE does that. Sufficient damage to reduce the creature to -10 does that, that lets you describe however you want the killing blow to look like. Crits don't do what you are thinking of at all in D&D. Unless you are using house rules? If so, you should tell us what house rules you are using!

Even if you have two +1 Keen Prismatic Burst Kaorti Resin Kukris.. that is a WHOLE CRAPLOAD of effort (and a ton of money) for relatively minimal effect...

[Protoneiko]

Its not a house rule though, basically if we kill the creature with a crit. we just make it sounds more epic. I know the rules for crit, i know they're not the most effective thing. We just make it funner for FUN.

So Kukri to start off with, Grabbing weapon Focus, the power critical and improved critcal when I get the chance.

Also do you think enable criticals would be good for this let me hit those nasty constructs and plants and whetever I think the Dm may throw at me

[Keld Denar]

Deathstrike Bracers from the MIC allow you to bypass crit and SA immunity for one round, 3 times a day for a swift action. That'll help out for the occasional construct or undead. You can always buy a 2nd or 3rd pair later if you need to focus on those foes.

On top of being able to crit, you need sources of static damage boosts. Being able to crit often is nice, but when your crit damage goes from 1d4+2 to 2d4+4, its a bit lackluster. Things like the collision damage enhancement from the MIC does a static +5 damage, so it multiplies on a critical.

If you have the feats, or a level dip available, learning the Blood in the Water stance from Tome of Battle. Do note that it still stacks charges up even if the for is immune to crits, and the bonus damage from it is static, and thus multiplies on crits.