Persistent attacker build help

[classy one]

One feat in complete scoundrel that always interested me was persistent attacker. The idea that you can always have sneak attack damage regardless of circumstances is intriguing. But the cost of 5d6 is rather steep, especially considering you only have 10d6 by level 20.

My goal is to have a rogue with one level dip in swordsage, all feats in the TWF chain, arterial strike, craven, concussion strike.

For gear I'm thinking about any gear that increases sneak attack die like deadly precision, assassin's vest and mask and mantle of the perdetor. And a ring of greater invisibility naturally.

Any other dips or feats I should consider? How should I get the first SA in? Flick of the wrist? Improved feint? I want to be able to SA without relying on flanking if possible.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

There are enough base classes and prestige classes that give +1d6 sneak attack at their first level that you can easily have 10d6 by level ten.

Rogue 1/ Spellthief 1/ Psychic Rogue 1/ Sneak Attack Thug Fighter 1/ Swordsage 1/ Assassin 1/ Psychic Assassin 1/ Swordsage (Assassin's Stance) 1/ Master of Masks (Assassin mask) 1/ Unseen Seer 1, without even delving into all the 3.0 prestige classes.

Granted you'll want to use the fractional base attack and base save variant in UA p73 go get +0.75 BAB instead of +0 for eight of those one-level dips. The difference is a 7.5 BAB (+7 usable) versus a +2 BAB without using fractions at level 10. You can get two-weapon fighting at 1st, Weapon Finesse at 3rd, and Improved Two-Weapon Fighting at 9th level with this build. You'll need Practiced Manifester: Psychic Rogue at 6th to qualify for Psychic Assassin, but keep in mind that you can use wands of any spells that appear on any of your class spell lists, particularly Wraithstrike via Spellthief. You can also use Dorjes of Psychic Rogue powers such as Chameleon, combine that with a Wand of Camouflage via UMD and you can get +20 to Hide checks for 10 minutes at a time.

[classy one]

I could take a bunch of dips but then I would have to wait until level 19 or 20 to get crippling strike. Guess it doesn't really matter if I can just sneak attack all day and kill things extra fast. I don't think you can take psychic rogue and rogue together since Psyrogue is a variant of rogue. Could go lurk though but he kind of sucks.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

I could take a bunch of dips but then I would have to wait until level 19 or 20 to get crippling strike. Guess it doesn't really matter if I can just sneak attack all day and kill things extra fast. I don't think you can take psychic rogue and rogue together since Psyrogue is a variant of rogue. Could go lurk though but he kind of sucks.

Psychic Rogue (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040723b) is very much its own base class independent of the PHB Rogue.

[A.A.King]

I don't kind follow what you exactly expect to gain out of this feat and build. I mean, even if you allow the Sneak Attack granted by Persistent Attacker to set up a new sneak attack, you still need to create that initially sneak attack. And, it says the first sneak attack next round, indicating that you can only make one sneak attack per round still, so why are you piling up on two weapon fighting?

No, if you want to get the best out of Persistent Attacker, I suggest you make one attack per round and just make that one attack count. Arterial Strike seems worth it, and very much in theme with Persistent Attacker. Given that you now have a free move action you might want to invest in Scout + Swift Ambusher, and use that move action to trigger Skirmish Damage. You might even want to consider Spring Attack instead of TWF.

If you do go the TWF round, especially with a Ring of Greater Invisibility, then I can't see when Persistent Attacker would go in to play

[classy one]

I don't kind follow what you exactly expect to gain out of this feat and build. I mean, even if you allow the Sneak Attack granted by Persistent Attacker to set up a new sneak attack, you still need to create that initially sneak attack. And, it says the first sneak attack next round, indicating that you can only make one sneak attack per round still, so why are you piling up on two weapon fighting?

No, if you want to get the best out of Persistent Attacker, I suggest you make one attack per round and just make that one attack count. Arterial Strike seems worth it, and very much in theme with Persistent Attacker. Given that you now have a free move action you might want to invest in Scout + Swift Ambusher, and use that move action to trigger Skirmish Damage. You might even want to consider Spring Attack instead of TWF.

If you do go the TWF round, especially with a Ring of Greater Invisibility, then I can't see when Persistent Attacker would go in to play

Great point, I missed the wording that it only applies to the first attack of next round, I thought it was just the next attack and I could just trade another 5d6. Scout and spring attack seems to be better then. Just want to try something different (and sub optimal) than the usual.

[A.A.King]

Great point, I missed the wording that it only applies to the first attack of next round, I thought it was just the next attack and I could just trade another 5d6. Scout and spring attack seems to be better then. Just want to try something different (and sub optimal) than the usual.

I can totally understand that intention, I just started playing a Rogue/Fighter whose main combat strategy is feinting. So, given that you'll only have one attack per round, I suggest you also look for a nice way to use your offhand For example, you might find that a shield will be usefull

[Luminar]

Sorry if this thread is old


Great point, I missed the wording that it only applies to the first attack of next round, I thought it was just the next attack and I could just trade another 5d6. Scout and spring attack seems to be better then. Just want to try something different (and sub optimal) than the usual.



[Ambush]

Once you find a target's weak point, you can easily strike it again.
Prerequisite
Sneak attack +5d6,
Benefit
If your sneak attack hits, your first attack against that creature on your next turn is also considered a sneak attack even if it wouldn't normally qualify. Using this feat reduces your first sneak attack's damage by 4d6. The resulting second sneak attack deals its full extra damage.


From what i read you only lose 1d6 damage on your first attack and your next is full as I highlited in the bold. . .you only need 5d6 as a prereq

tho this feat seems to be a bit of a trap since getting adaptible flanker to flank from impossible angles or just flanking in general seems a much more effective way to do it without wasting the feat.