Factotum/Warblade gestalt help

[killianh]

So I have a build that I'm using in the regular friday night game with my friends. The build is (going to be) a Gnome Swashbuckler 3/Factotum 8/Warblade 15/Exemplar 10 taking me to level 18 total as a gestalt character. I will be focusing on white raven for my warblade levels and putting an emphasis on skill use and Dex/Int fighting. I was wondering what Feats/Items/tweaks to this build you guys would suggest? And what should I get into for levels 18+?

[D@rK-SePHiRoTH-]

You only need "font of inspiration" as many times as you can, then go nova with your strike maneuvers

[the_archduke]

What are your stats?

If you want to focus on Dex/Int...

Feats:
Martial Study: Shadow Blink
Martial Stance: Assassins Stance
Shadow Blade

Font of Inspiration (for filler)

[Rubik]

If you don't mind underhanded tactics you could also use the Hidden Talent feat (in the XPH, but not in the SRD) to grab Psionic Minor Creation and 2 pp for 2 cubic feet of poison per day that last 1 hour each. Make sure to burn a feat on poison use so you don't poison yourself accidentally.

Also, invest in UMD, grab some low-level wands (such as Benign Transposition, Resurgence, Entangle, Protection from Evil, Shock and Awe, Silent Image, and Lesser Vigor) and then put wand chambers (from Dungeonscape) in your weapon, your shield, your gauntlets, your dastana bracers (or just grab two wand bracers, also from Dungeonscape), and your backup weapon. Note that (according to the Wandstrike feat) wands are considered weapons, so you can put wand chambers in them, too, and you can also toss on weapon crystals of returning.

You can do some healing and BFC between bouts of THUG SMASH!

[danzibr]

Admittedly I haven't thought too much about gestalt, but when I read the title... this'd be awesome!

I'd prob go str/int/face-smashing, but dex/int would be cool too. Unfortunately I know too little of Factotum and/or dex/int Warblade to be of any use.

[avr]

How are those levels divvied up exactly? Also, you might want to consider warblade 16 so that you get 9th level maneuvers by the end of your 18-level plan.

[Lateral]

I'm guessing your levels are divided up as Swashbuckler 3/Warblade 15//Factotum 8/Exemplar 10? You don't get 9th level maneuvers in that configuration, sadly.

It looks like you have seven feat slots, before any bonus feats. You need the prerequisites of Exemplar, so that's six free to work with. You'll want three Fonts of Inspiration, as that six extra IP per encounter will be really helpful- that's 11 total, which should be plenty for any normal encounter. That leaves you three feats. Dex/Int is a bit tricky, but it can be done- you can get DEX to damage through Shadow Blade, but then you're stuck in a low-level Shadow Hand stance and it requires three feats, so I wouldn't bother- you already get INT to damage, so you're fine anyway.

I'd take Hidden Talent (Psionic Minor Creation) as recommended, since you kind of can't go wrong with two hours of basically unlimited Black Lotus poison per day, even by high levels. (Not everything has massive fortitude, and even huge tanks have to roll low sometime.) Guide to poisons is relevant. (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=4854.0) In particular, take Master of Poisons as another feat (giving you one left, before bonuses), and have your weapon be Toxic- you can apply poison as a swift action, and it lasts for two hits. With your last feat, I'd recommend Martial Study (Shadow Stride)- it's nice, 1/encounter move-action teleportation, and that'll often be better for you than swift-action teleportation given that you'll be using Cunning Surge and maneuvers and that you'll need swift actions for boosts, counters, and applying poison.

As for magic items. You'd be getting the Toxic weapon enhancement, so that's something. Past that, just look up some magic item handbooks for help- Bunko's (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=350.0) is good, Shax's haversacks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148101) are nice bags of tricks if you have some extra cash, and the List of Necessary Items (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187851) is fairly self-explanatory.

[Ernir]

Unless you have a very, very good reason for those Exemplar levels, I recommend switching them out for more Factotum levels.

You want an even number of initiator levels. You could dip something like Rogue (everyone seems to like those on the dexterous types) or Cleric (a very powerful dip) before entering Swashbuckler. Or skip Swashbuckler altogether, it doesn't synergize all that well with standard action strikes or charges (which is what much of White Raven is made of).

As for your feats, they are mostly wide open. I suggest you go to Person Man's Guide to Melee Combos (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127026), find a melee combo you like, and use it. Make sure it works well with standard action strikes, since you'll be using those a lot.


EDIT: Also... at this level I'd rather take more Factotum levels and just cast minor creation rather than spending a feat on the psionic version. :smallconfused:
And I'm not really seeing the poison synergy in this build, either. =/

[Bloodgruve]

TWF, Shadow Blade, Font of Inspiration x3 at least, Craven, Item Familiar, Dimensional Jaunt or Travel Devotion.

If you're going gnome look at Whisper Gnome, add Dark Creature template on it for HiPS and take Iaijutsu Focus with Quickrazors. I believe IF stacks ontop of maneuvers for good damage.

Take Swordsage 1 to support Shadow Blade.

Item Familiar to double Iaijutsu Focus.

IMHO
GL
Blood~

[killianh]

Currently the Character is swashbuckler 3/factotum 3 with Weapon finesse (from swashbuckler) and the other feats undecided (as my DM has allowed me some room to move things around for helping him move a couch :P) stats are as follows:

CHA: 10
WIS: 11
INT: 16
CON:14
DEX: 14
STR: 11

The idea of Exemplar was for the skills so I could add to aiding the party which I thought would be more useful then more factotum. I want to keep the theme of the character if I can (which is party aid, skills and Dex/Int fighting) without just being a rogue. I like the FoI feat idea and I think I will take it at least a few times, but I was also wondering more about random little items or if there would be any major kinds of changes I could make (it's too late to drop the swashbuckler levels). Also the character will be (if I don't die) going to level 20, but I don't know what to do with the last two levels, or after when we get into epic levels.