Iajatsu Focus Factotum

[Grod_The_Giant]

I'm working on a factotum character, trying to get my combat damage to a reasonable level. Iajatsu Focus seems to be the only good way to do it, so.... how do I make it work reliably? I've got gnomish quickrazors, and cash for one wand of either grease or distract assailant, but beyond that... (Human, level 4, all books but no psionics or ToB).

[GutterFace]

War Fan all the way.

also you can Feat into better Feinting.

or you can try the old trick of getting Tower Shield and hiding behind it and move around silently.

[Emperor Tippy]

Rogue 1/ Factotum 1/ Swashbuckler 3/ Invisible Fist Decisive Strike Martial Monk 2/ Factotum 7/ Mindbender 1

Feats: Craven, Kung Fu Genius, Spring Attack (Martial Monk), Mindsight, all of the Font of Inspiration you can cram in.

Quick Reconnoiter and Darkstalker are also good feat picks if you want to be a more stealth/scout/assassin type.

Max Int with Str next.

On anything that isn't immune to sneak attacks you will get +Str and +Int to damage at ECL 5. If you spend an IP per attack that gains +Int to damage again.

If you move the Rogue level to level 6 you can replace it with Assassin but at level 1 it gets you 8 extra skill points, this will let you start off with Swashbuckler 3 and thus Int to damage (twice with Cunning Insight).

Invisible Fist makes sneak attacks much easier and if you are in range for a full attack then Decisive Strike for double damage (which becomes +2xStr, +4x Int) and spend an IP on Cunning Insight for the bonus to the attack roll.

The real beauty of this build comes at ECL 14 when you get Cunning Surge. Activate your Invisibility, Cunning Surge as your first action and move in range, spend your full round action on a decisive strike, and then keep using Cunning Surge. If you qualify for sneak attack then each time you get +2xStr, +4x Int, +2x HD, +10 (with a Collision weapon), +6 (if GMW is cast on you) on each attack and can throw out anywhere from 5 to 10 such attacks at full AB.

You can, of course, throw Iajatsu Focus on top of that if you want but it's not necessary.

[Grod_The_Giant]

also you can Feat into better Feinting.
Feinting denies the enemy their Dex bonus, but Iajatsu Focus specifically requires the target to be flat-footed.

Tippy, that's a snazzy build, but I doubt this game will get much past level 6.

[GutterFace]

to elaborate, i did say Feats for Feinting, as in Feign Weakness (ex). that's great for turning the tables on your DM with a boat load of dice.

Feign Weakness, they move on you, War Fan + Iaijutsu Focus + Inspiration points for SA or Damage...etc

[JaronK]

Easiest ways to get flat footed enemies at that level:

1) Just go first. With Int to Initiative on an Int and Dex based class, this shouldn't be hard.

2) Sapphire Nightmare Blade. A 3kgp ring will give you the ability to do this once per encounter, and a one level Warblade dip will let you do it every other round.

3) Cast Grease. Hey, it's a fun spell anyway.

JaronK

[13_CBS]

Easiest ways to get flat footed enemies at that level:

1) Just go first. With Int to Initiative on an Int and Dex based class, this shouldn't be hard.

2) Sapphire Nightmare Blade. A 3kgp ring will give you the ability to do this once per encounter, and a one level Warblade dip will let you do it every other round.

3) Cast Grease. Hey, it's a fun spell anyway.

JaronK

His DM won't allow ToB, unfortunately, though the other points still stand.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Marbles! whitetextofposting+1

[JaronK]

Ah! How could I forget marbles. They're in A&EG, and they're amazing.

JaronK

[Vortenger]

The Acrobatic Backstab skill trick helps land another flat foot per combat, and the hidden weapons all from Complete Scoundrel can aid you in drawing weapons aside from your quickrazor. Barring ToB, not much else left that hasn't been mentioned.

[Piggy Knowles]

A note: grease and marbles only make enemies attempt a balance check for moving in the greased/marbled area. I had a player once very upset when an enemy merely stayed still, and therefore was not balancing and so not flat footed.

Also, there is no listed action for spreading marbles. Check with your DM.

[GutterFace]

The Acrobatic Backstab skill trick helps land another flat foot per combat, and the hidden weapons all from Complete Scoundrel can aid you in drawing weapons aside from your quickrazor. Barring ToB, not much else left that hasn't been mentioned.

Don't hidden blades take a move action to "unsheathe" and re-sheathe?
that make it a one and done ability along with skill tricks only being once per encounter.

[Kennisiou]

IF isn't the only good way to damage factotum. Factotum archer also has some pretty big damage, and situationally can be much better than IF (like if you've got an artificer on your team. Manyshot + bane infusions = arrows of mass pain).

Edit: and their damage is much more consistent since you don't have to worry about making enemies flatfooted. Remember that Factotum can't prepare the same spell more than once a day, so Grease is a trick you only have once a day. Factotum archer always has access to their damage as long as they can attack.