Need Better Feats for a Swashbuckler/Rogue

[Palanan]

I have a new player who's working on a halfling rogue/swashbuckler, and I'd like to advise him on good feats for a fourth-level build. I've suggested he start with Rogue 1/Swashbuckler 3, since the party needs a skillmonkey and diplomatic type, and we're looking at Daring Outlaw once he reaches sixth level.

He's taking strongheart halfling and I allow one flaw, so that's four feats to work with. Right now he's thinking Combat Reflexes and Combat Expertise, which look fine, and Persuasive and Stealthy, which don't.

Instead of those latter two, I was thinking Craven and Deft Opportunist might work better. Would they be fine, or are there better options? The goal is a competent, nimble fencer who holds his own against larger foes.

Past sixth level, he's a bit enamored of the duelist PrC, mainly because it fits with his dashing swordfightey concept. I know duelist is very meh, so I could also use suggestions on a better PrC for him to aim for. ToB isn't available here, nor psionics, but I do allow most anything else from WotC sources, as well as Dragon content.

[pilvento]

For PrC u can adapt the Gnome PrC blade bravo from races of stone to be available for halflings, it has similar features plus some features vs large foes, it also focuses in twf and SA needs twf.

In feats he will need the twf tree, almost full bab will allow him to strike most of the time.

craven is a good choice too.

the other 2 i belive they are also necesary for the PrC.

[Orsen]

Weapon finesse springs to mind for me here as a solid choice. Are you allowing any pathfinder? If so this (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/dervish-dance-combat) feat adds dex to damage. Darkstalker is another good feat if he wants to have one that makes him sneaker but is actually worthwhile.

[shortround]

Seconding the TWF feat tree. With Craven and SA, TWF is really good. Tell him to use his Rapier with a Dagger for his Main Gauche. Do your best to steer him away from the Duelist because Dodge and Mobility take up feats that aren't TWF.

[Cieyrin]

Confused, you want skill monkey and face and then favor Swash over Rogue? :smallconfused: At least put a second level into Rogue for Evasion.

Also, as a Swashbuckler, he gets Weapon Finesse for free at level 1, so he doesn't need to take it as a feat. For feat suggestions, Deadly Defense is pretty on par for throwing more damage and defending yourself at the same time. Crescent Moon dovetails nicely with TWFing and fits the duelist trope fairly well, at least if you mostly fight weapon users, though you probably can't take it so early, since it has some feat requirements that may require Fighter dips/feat rearrangement to get any time soon.

As an alternative to Duelist, I'd suggest Invisible Blade, which will get you some nice things for getting sneak attack going without ruining your full attack. It's all about daggers, which will make you somewhat more sneak dependent on a halfling, but that's not something you probably should mind.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

With Daring Outlaw it would be more ideal to have Rogue 4/ Swashbuckler 16 by 20th level, rather than using a prestige class. Swordsage would be another option, especially if he can use Kung-Fu Genius or Carmendine Monk to trade Wis for Int to AC.

For his feats, Combat Expertise is a bit of a waste IMO. TWF is recommended, Craven is definitely a good choice, but Combat Reflexes isn't all that great without reach. Maybe have him go Whisper Gnome (RoS) instead, and even get Silencing Strike and maybe Extra Silence from that same book.

If you want to make his character considerably better in a cheesy way, use Feat Rogue (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#rogue) with Swashbuckler, use Swordsage to get Assassin's Stance, and take Daring Outlaw. That will give him sneak attack dice for his Swashbuckler and Feat Rogue levels, and he'll still get all the bonus feats. It wouldn't come online until he gets Daring Outlaw at 9th level, something like Feat Rogue 3/ Swashbuckler 3/ Swordsage 2/ Feat Rogue 1/ PrCs, but he'll have plenty of feats and tricks to play with early on. Something along the lines of TWF, Kung-Fu Genius, Improved Initiative, and maybe EWP: Barbed Dagger, and he could even go Whisper Gnome for Extra Silence, Dodge, and Titan Fighting.

[Palanan]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I'd recommended Rogue 1/Swashbuckler 3 because three levels is all most people seem to take from swashbuckler. I figured his next couple of levels would be rogue, and then we'd go from there.

So, a couple of questions:


1. I personally luuuuurv the feat-rogue variant. For this build, is it worth giving up the sneak attack in exchange for the extra feat?

2. Within the first four levels, is there any real benefit to going Rogue 2/Swash 2, as opposed to Rogue 1/Swash 3? (Apart from evasion, which may not be that useful in the first stages of the campaign, and which he'll get next level anyway.)

3. I'd also been thinking about Knowledge Devotion--maybe paired with Education, since that would fit with the character's background, and would open up some other Knowledge skills to work with. Would that be viable here?
.

[eggynack]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I'd recommended Rogue 1/Swashbuckler 3 because three levels is all most people seem to take from swashbuckler. I figured his next couple of levels would be rogue, and then we'd go from there.



You're correct that swashbuckler is a mediocre class, but rogue4/swashbuckler16 is meant to maximize rogue abilities, not to make the character a swashbuckler. Swashbuckler is convenient in that it stacks full base attack bonus and some meh abilities onto the rogue's sneak attack. Basically, daring outlaw builds tend to delay swashbuckler until the last possible moment, and then dive headfirst into it from then on. As has been noted, two weapon fighting, while often suboptimal, works perfectly in this build. Precision damage makes up for the style's usual low damage output. Craven is a perfectly good choice for this type of build as well, so you are correct to suggest it.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

1. You can use Feat Rogue and still get sneak attack from Rogue levels via Daring Outlaw. As long as you have 2d6 sneak attack from somewhere and Swashbuckler 2+, you can take Daring Outlaw and it will give you sneak attack for both your Rogue and Swashbuckler levels. As I said, it's a bit cheesy, but RAW it works and it's not like he's casting 9th level spells with it.

2. I'd probably start out Rogue 3/ Swashbuckler 1 if you're not using Feat Rogue. Otherwise it probably doesn't really matter apart from how he spends his skill points. With Feat Rogue I'd go Swashbuckler 3 starting out with TWF just so he can contribute a bit better.

3. I'd use Wilderness Rogue (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#rogueVariantWilderness Rogue) (which is compatible with Feat Rogue) with max Kn: Nature, and one cross-class rank in all of the other monster identifying knowledge skills except Arcana. Get the Collector of Stories skill trick (CS) and use Knowledge Devotion to get Kn: Arcana as a class skill and max it out. That will give him a +2-3 to any Kn: Nature or Arcana creatures, and a +1-2 vs any other creature type starting out. With so many Swashbuckler levels his skill points will be spread thin, so Education will only promote spreading them even thinner. It would be a different story with Item Familiar (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/itemFamiliars.htm), but that feat by itself comes extremely close to the critical mass of cheese.


In any case, be sure to use the Rogue ACF in CC to swap Trap Sense for being able to get half your sneak attack dice vs undead.

[Darrin]

1. I personally luuuuurv the feat-rogue variant. For this build, is it worth giving up the sneak attack in exchange for the extra feat?


No. Sneak Attack may not have a very impressive damage payoff, but it's better than most feats (Power Attack being the most notable exception).



2. Within the first four levels, is there any real benefit to going Rogue 2/Swash 2, as opposed to Rogue 1/Swash 3? (Apart from evasion, which may not be that useful in the first stages of the campaign, and which he'll get next level anyway.)


Depends on your Int bonus, I'd say. If you've got a fairly high Int bonus, then getting Insightful Strike online as early as possible might be worth more than evasion. Once you get to Swashbuckler 3, though, there's not much point in taking any more... unless you're going Daring Outlaw and getting +1 BAB and +1.75 Sneak Attack every level.



3. I'd also been thinking about Knowledge Devotion--maybe paired with Education, since that would fit with the character's background, and would open up some other Knowledge skills to work with. Would that be viable here?


To really get the most out of the Knowledge Devotion, you pretty much need to sink all your available skill points into it... which could be detrimental to a mostly-Swashbuckler Daring Outlaw build. If you really want it in the build, I'd consider dipping Cloistered Cleric 1 and picking up Knowledge Devotion + Travel Devotion + Undeath Domain.

The feats I'd focus on:

1) Combat Reflexes, Craven
3) TWF
6) Daring Outlaw (CScr)
9) Staggering Strike (CAdv)
12) Improved TWF
15) Double Hit (Miniatures Handbook)
18) Robilar's Gambit (PHBII)

[Dictum Mortuum]

If Tome of Battle is an option, then the feat-rogue is a no-brainer.

[gorfnab]

1. You can use Feat Rogue and still get sneak attack from Rogue levels via Daring Outlaw. As long as you have 2d6 sneak attack from somewhere and Swashbuckler 2+, you can take Daring Outlaw and it will give you sneak attack for both your Rogue and Swashbuckler levels. As I said, it's a bit cheesy, but RAW it works and it's not like he's casting 9th level spells with it.

While slightly dubious you could go with something like Feat Rogue 1/ Swashbuckler 3/ Sneak Attack Fighter 3/ Feat Rogue 13 and take Daring Outlaw at 9th level. This leaves you with plenty of feats for TWF.

[Palanan]

Why is this dubious? It's a bit of a role reversal for fighter and rogue, but I'm not seeing the, umm, dubiety.

Also, I looked at Dervish Dance earlier, and it seems one of the requirements is wielding a scimitar one-handed. Allowing rapier in place of scimitar doesn't seem like much of a stretch...but could "Rapier Dance" be used for a TWF build?

That, to me, seems dubious.

:smalltongue:

[White_Drake]

If you are willing to sacrifice a little bit of the duelist flavor, one of my favorite builds is Rogue 4/Swashbuckler 3/Mountebank 1/Invisible Blade 5. It gives you some pretty nice abilities and focuses on feinting and bluffing, which is perfect for a duelist style character, but you can't use a rapier. I use Ninja, but you could substitute Rogue without any difficulty, for flavor purposes (at that level it really doesn't matter for this type of build). At the end of that you could dip Fighter for some bonus feats, keep going in Swashbuckler or Rogue for sneak attack or whatever.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Why is this dubious? It's a bit of a role reversal for fighter and rogue, but I'm not seeing the, umm, dubiety.

Also, I looked at Dervish Dance earlier, and it seems one of the requirements is wielding a scimitar one-handed. Allowing rapier in place of scimitar doesn't seem like much of a stretch...but could "Rapier Dance" be used for a TWF build?

That, to me, seems dubious.

:smalltongue:

The dubious part about Feat Rogue 1/ Swashbuckler 3/ Sneak Attack Fighter 3/ Feat Rogue 13 with Daring Outlaw is that at level 20, he'll have 11d6 sneak attack and nine bonus Fighter feats. Daring Outlaw gives sneak attack for Feat Rogue levels.

You don't need to make Dervish Dance work with Rapiers, because Dervish lets you use Scimitars with Weapon Finesse. The only thing you'll change by switching the weapons is making it piercing damage instead of slashing.

[Cieyrin]

Also, I looked at Dervish Dance earlier, and it seems one of the requirements is wielding a scimitar one-handed. Allowing rapier in place of scimitar doesn't seem like much of a stretch...but could "Rapier Dance" be used for a TWF build?

Dervish Dance isn't compatible with TWFing, since it requires to keep the other hand free, unless you want to use a natural or unarmed attack with it.

[Featherman]

My favorite skillmonkey class (and perhaps my favorite of all classes) is the Factotum (DC, 14). You could start with Factotum 4 or 3 for the core abilities (except Cunning Surge) and continue by picking bonuses from classes like Swashbuckler 3, Human Paragon, Assassin, initiator classes, Kung-fu Genius/Carmendine Monk, Chameleon or Master of Masks 1. I think it makes for really fun and balanced builds, there are a lot of good options and you can gather cool effects with almost every level. This is maybe more suitable for characters you plan to play to mid levels like 6-14.

You could also start with Factotum 1/Swashbuckler 3 or even just Factotum 4 and advance Factotum abilities but you have to gain lots of levels to get substantial abilities. Cunning Brilliance is fun and cool but you need 19 levels for it which is a lot. This might be a good option if you are going to level fast or you think you will play to high levels.

[Roguenewb]

That feat rogue thing is hilarious.

But my first go-to build for this kind of player is Rogue 4/Swash 3/Avenger5/Arcane Trickester 6/Swash 2 (you just need permission to use that feat that lets you Sp Mage Hand for qualify for trickster). You get BAB +14 (worst part of build) CL 11 (?!) Assassin casting (which is a shockingly good spell list after splat books), 11d6 SA (also ?!), and with craven, your damage output on flank hit is like 1d6+11d6+20+Int. If your DM is nice, spend 3 feats on Martial Study (that boost that makes you invis) Martial Stance (Assassin's Stance) and Shadow Blade. Giving you *13d6* and adding Dex to damage. You be a master of duelling. Also assassinating.

[Particle_Man]

Staggering Strike, eventually?

[Gwendol]

I second rogue 3/swash 1 for the first four levels, switching out trap sense for penetrating strike (half SA damage vs those normally immune).
As for feats: TWF, craven as already noted, and I like able learner since it makes your swash skill points go a long way into skills you need that the class doesn't have. Note there are some ACF's for the swash as well: trade grace for an SLA, and shield of blades.

[Andorax]

Dervish Dance isn't compatible with TWFing, since it requires to keep the other hand free, unless you want to use a natural or unarmed attack with it.

Quite the opposite, really. The only requirement for Dervish Dance, weapon-wise, is that you are wielding only slashing weapons at the time. In point of fact, part of the whole point of the class making scimitars into light weapons for you is so you CAN TWF them.

[Akal Saris]

Quite the opposite, really. The only requirement for Dervish Dance, weapon-wise, is that you are wielding only slashing weapons at the time. In point of fact, part of the whole point of the class making scimitars into light weapons for you is so you CAN TWF them.

Dervish Dance is a Pathfinder feat that gives Dex to damage with a scimitar as long as you're not holding anything in the other hand.

For a rogue/swashbuckler, Darkstalker and Able Learner are two feats that I'd take along with the aforementioned Craven and Two-Weapon Fighting.

[Curmudgeon]

1. You can use Feat Rogue and still get sneak attack from Rogue levels via Daring Outlaw. As long as you have 2d6 sneak attack from somewhere and Swashbuckler 2+, you can take Daring Outlaw and it will give you sneak attack for both your Rogue and Swashbuckler levels. As I said, it's a bit cheesy, but RAW it works
Nonsense.
Your rogue and swashbuckler levels also stack for the purpose of determining your sneak attack bonus damage. If you're a feat Rogue, you get exactly the sneak attack benefit of that combined number of feat Rogue levels: none. If you trade away a class feature, you don't magically get it to reappear in a multiclassing feat unless that feat explicitly says so.

[D@rK-SePHiRoTH-]

Hey, 16+0 gives 16, not zero, at my home.
So, if the feat says my rogue and swashbuckler levels stack for the purpose of determining how many dice of sneak attack I get, indeed I can get sneak attack damage without a single level in the class of Rogue.
The feat never states you need rogue levels, so... 16+0 gives 16

[Red_Dog]

Hmmm... I guess I'll drop my 2 cents in a jar.

While concept of Rouge Swash seems exciting[even to me some times], it is really really crippled as while netting the good bones of a build[fullBAB+Sneak Attack = good old fun], it lacks literally everything else as swashbuckler levels are terrible. I know I usually stand up for underdogs and wave my flag of "melee and good RP still counts!"... Its one of few times that I am on the fence about this.
-You have very little way to trigger your sneak attack[no magic, no gimmicks].
-Your skills without able learner will suffer very much.
-You become a worse version of fighter your combat actions are -> chase the enemy and use all those "133t movement skills" or hope that your team can keep up with said skills and full attack will trigger sneak attack.
So yeah...

But I suppose if you like the idea, this is what I suggest.

Combat Reflex + Combat Expert + Improved Trip + Spiked Chain.
*Basic old school Tripper build.*
OR
Combat Reflex + Spiked Chain + Improved Feint + Hold the Line.
*Far more AoOs, no tripping, "reliable" way to take opponent's dex*

So yeah, I'd go overall with Massive AoOs, bigger Flanking Potential and ability to use sneak attack rather than relying on teammate to set it up for you all the time. Yes you will have less attacks, but you'll have far more threat range and over all have more things to do. Tripping as a Halfling will be hard which is why I would also go with #2 set.

P.S. Plus, if you as a DM will let your player use Spiked chain as a whip in terms of climbing stuff, you'll have a lot more mobile combat scenarios which are always fun! ^^

Best of Luck!^^

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Nonsense. If you're a feat Rogue, you get exactly the sneak attack benefit of that combined number of feat Rogue levels: none. If you trade away a class feature, you don't magically get it to reappear in a multiclassing feat unless that feat explicitly says so.

There's no such class as Feat Rogue, it's just a convenient way to differentiate the use of a given variant.


Your rogue and swashbuckler levels also stack for the purpose of determining your sneak attack bonus damage. For example, a 7th-level rogue/4th-level swashbuckler would deal an extra 6d6 points of damage with her sneak attack, as if she were an 11th-level rogue.
It's unknown whether the character in this example uses the PHB Rogue as-printed or if they're using some alternate class features. No other stipulations are given for this character to get the sneak attack of an 11th-level PHB rogue, so it happens regardless of other circumstances, even if her Rogue 7 sneak attack had been traded out for Fighter 7 bonus feats.

As I said above, it's not like you can use it to cast 9th level spells, so why not?

[Curmudgeon]

There's no such class as Feat Rogue, it's just a convenient way to differentiate the use of a given variant.
Who said it was a separate class? However, if you choose the variant, you're both getting the benefit of that variant and accepting what you've given up. The part that you've given up doesn't reappear when you pick up a multiclassing feat ─ unless, of course, the multiclassing feat says so.

As I said above, it's not like you can use it to cast 9th level spells, so why not?
That's a straw man argument. But the "why not" is that you've suddenly given a single multiclassing feat half of the power of a class, with essentially negative cost (cost: 1 feat; gain: multiple feats and full sneak attack). So, if this is permitted, who would you complain to when your reasoning allows a combination including a class which can already cast high level spells to get even stronger? After all, if you can squint and pretend that a rule only applies when it's beneficial to you and not otherwise, why can't a spellcaster character do the same? Like a full Druid who stands in an Antimagic Field and decides to enter Ur-Priest? After all, they have no divine spellcasting ability (currently) and their divine spellcasting wasn't possessed "as with an ex-Cleric" because they're neither ex- nor Cleric; that way they get to keep the full spellcasting of both classes. That's pretty much exactly the same level of cheese as you're advocating.

[Palanan]

As it happens, this particular point is moot here, since the player is moving away from Daring Outlaw. He's going feat rogue with TWF, which is an approach he likes.

So, this brings up a couple of other questions:


1. Everyone mentions the TWF tree, but I've never really played a TWF build and don't know all the moves. However, I do notice that no one ever seems to mention Two-Weapon Defense. Is this considered a waste of a feat? If so, what are the TWF must-haves?

2. The player likes the duelist PrC for flavor, but I'd prefer to steer him towards something a little better. Something called Avenger was mentioned by Roguenewb a few posts back; I don't know where it's from. What else would build on TWF, while allowing him to continue with the rapier?

[D@rK-SePHiRoTH-]

1) TWF

You only need the first feat of the TWF chain, and a pair of "gloves of the balanced hand". This way you only spend 1 feat for 2 good extra attack (no penality and -5 penality).

Otherwise, you have to spend 2 more feats to only obtain 1 extra attack at a -10 penality, it's almost never worth it.

TWDefense is pointless because that's a really small bonus for its cost: let's say you get 2 feats, you now can fight on the defensive to get -4 to hit and +6 to your AC. This is not worth 2 feats.

Instead, use the same feat slots to get Combat Expertise + Knowledge Devotion.
You can now get +5 AC with 0 penality and a +5 bonus to damage.
And you can dynamically adjust your AC, which is invaluable (an AC that's always high will lead your DM to raise monsters bonus to hit, while a dynamic AC adjustment will prove more useful if used in specific situations)

2) Duelist

Duelist is a mediocre PrC.
It's only relevant quality is the high AC bonus it gets from level 7 and on.
Tell your player that being unhittable but also unable to contibute is not a very fun gameplay approach, he would enjoy much more the awesome things you can do with active class features and a spell list, provided by the Avenger

[Curmudgeon]

You only need the first feat of the TWF chain, and a pair of "gloves of the balanced hand". This way you only spend 1 feat for 2 good extra attack (no penality and -5 penality).
You mean no additional penalties beyond the minimum Two-Weapon Fighting -2 penalties to all attacks, right?

[D@rK-SePHiRoTH-]

You mean no additional penalties beyond the minimum Two-Weapon Fighting -2 penalties to all attacks, right?Yes, naturally

[Elfinor]

As it happens, this particular point is moot here, since the player is moving away from Daring Outlaw. He's going feat rogue with TWF, which is an approach he likes.

So, this brings up a couple of other questions:


1. Everyone mentions the TWF tree, but I've never really played a TWF build and don't know all the moves. However, I do notice that no one ever seems to mention Two-Weapon Defense. Is this considered a waste of a feat? If so, what are the TWF must-haves?

2. The player likes the duelist PrC for flavor, but I'd prefer to steer him towards something a little better. Something called Avenger was mentioned by Roguenewb a few posts back; I don't know where it's from. What else would build on TWF, while allowing him to continue with the rapier?

1. TWF is only really viable with a reliable source of extra damage. A feat rogue doesn't have the damage to really make it a viable option. I'd suggest luring him back to Daring Outlaw for this. I look hella seedy mentioning this in every Swashbuckler thread but Seduction (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/cwc/20070227x) is clearly the best class feature ever.:smallbiggrin:

2. The Avenger (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/prc/20070401a)

Continuing with whatever class he's using is probably better than a Duelist. Tempest is made for TWF but is little better than Duelist. Erm... I'm really not sure what else there is outside ToB for TWF rapiers.

Perhaps if he goes Swift Hunter Urban Ranger/Scout and grabs pounce? If he's more of a 'let's trade hits' types of Duelist, maybe you could let Swift Hunter advance Riposte (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a) damage instead of Skirmish.

[Palanan]

Where is Avenger from?

Also, I like Knowledge Devotion myself...but as Darrin pointed out above, it soaks up skill points.

[Elfinor]

I just linked to the Avenger in the post just above yours, it's a Web Enhancement-only PrC. Here it is again (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/prc/20070401a).

[Particle_Man]

2. The Avenger (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/prc/20070401a)


Where is Avenger from?

It only exists in the interwebs, at that wotc link listed above. It is basically an Assassin for those that don't want to be evil.

[Palanan]

Thanks for the link there. My prior post was...involved in server issues.



EDIT: And Particle Man swordsaged me while I was trying to respond to Elfinor. Urf.

[D@rK-SePHiRoTH-]

but as Darrin pointed out above, it soaks up skill points. Only if you absolutely want the +5 bonus against every possible creature.
With a good INT, the skill trick "collector of stories" you can get a +3 against all creatures, which is still good for a feat. If you want to specialize too, put some more points in some specific knowledge skills.

[Palanan]

So, thanks to both you guys for the link to the Avenger. I'd never heard of that one.

...that said, given that it's an April Fool's joke, is it actually usable? I can't help but notice that in the table of spells known, each column starts with a 21, which really makes me wonder.



EDIT: Okay, never mind, they just failed their Knowledge (formatting) check. Still.

[Elfinor]

I've been wondering about the April Fools thing. It is, nonetheless, playable and balanced. The 21 thing in the spells known table is presumably a superscript error (i.e. it's meant to be 21). It isn't in the archive with the real April Fools stuff - like Handle Humanoid (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fools/20030401c).

EDIT: It seems we make a game out of perpetually ninja-ing one another...

[Palanan]

Ninja tag! :smalltongue:

So, are there other PrC options beside the Avenger? There's something called Battle Trickster, which is only three levels, but which might appeal to this particular player. Doesn't seem that difficult to qualify for.

[D@rK-SePHiRoTH-]

Battle trickster is quite good.
He may also like a Blade Bravo (races of stone) adaptation, to be allowed for halflings.

[Aeryr]

It isn't in the archive with the real April Fools stuff - like Handle Humanoid (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fools/20030401c).

You sir made my Tibbit cry.

[gorfnab]

Two Weapon Defense is a trap. If you really need the AC Improved Buckler Defense is the way to go.