Dip levels on monsters

[Vincent Dragon]

What dip levels can really benefit some specific monsters by synergyzing with its Ex/Su/Sp abilities?

I bring some examples, but i'd like if you guys could bring me more:

-5 levels of Abjurant Champion on a True Dragon sets his caster level to its BAB which is equal to its HDs which is far greater than his CR;
-1 level of Sacred Exorcist and some levels of Prestige Paladin on a Solar to put Paladin spells on his Cleric list;
-1 level of Doomdreamer (PrC from Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil) on an Atropal to double his Rebuke Undead;
-Few levels of Swordsage or Warblade on a creature with a lot of attacks to give it that 9th level maneuver that makes you do 2 full attacks;

Yeah, i used only examples of already high powered creatures, but those are the ones i remember right now. Feel free to dip levels on both low and high CR monsters.

[Deox]

Rakshasas can auto qualify for the Swiftblade PrC.

[A_S]

Well, a Barbarian dip with the Pounce ACF for anything that has lots of natural attacks but doesn't have Pounce is a no-brainer.

A couple levels of Paladin, Blackguard, Hexblade, Warlock etc. to get Cha to saves on high-Cha monsters.

Cleric 1 for basically everything (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=2773.0).

[Necroticplague]

A few levels in Master of the Unseen Hand can let a ghost have more than one copy of TK running. A dip in battledancer would let said ghost apply its CHA to AC twice. A dip in monk, one in sorceror, and Precocious Apprentice allows you to qualify for Ascetic Mage, lettiing you add CHA to AC 3 times. A dip into Marshal lets you add your CHA to CHA checks with an aura. Since TK makes combat maneuver checks CHA based, it can make for a decent grappler or tripper. Combining the above with that undead use their CHA for concentration means that a late dip in swordsage for insightful strike can be worth it.

[Thurbane]

Any high Charisma monster can benefit from a dip in:


Paladin (of X alignment) 2
Battle Dancer 1
Hexblade 2 (or 3 if you want Mettle)
Marshal 1 (if you have a specific ability check/skill you want to boost - Dex is nice because it goes to initiative)

If it's a Humanoid or Monstrous Humanoid creature, throw the Tainted Raver template in there for no CR increase.

[paperarmor]

Martial Adept levels on anything with with abnormally high HD for CR i.e. a Drowned Swordsage.

[Eldan]

A lot of monsters can do quite nicely with a class that adds a stat to their armour class. Monk is an option, though most monsters don't profit much from their other abilities. Unarmed swordsage is nasty, though.

[sleepyphoenixx]

ToB works well in general since it synergizes with racial HD.

[Necroticplague]

Also, thri-kreen warblade dips for some of tiger claws "use jump instead of attack"

In the late game,almost anyone with four or more arms benefits from some ranger (fangsheild substitution level) and fighter to speed up access to Multitasking.

Evil non-humanoids who use natural attacks can do a little dip into soul eater to add no-save negative levels as riders to their. Natural weapons.

[Eldan]

Huh. Why have I never thought of Thri-Kreen Tiger Claw. It is rather obvious.

[Tragak]

[B]A lot of monsters can do quite nicely with a class that adds a stat to their armour class. Monk is an option Pit Fiends are my personal favorite :smallbiggrin:

I've also recently started experimenting with Quasit Barbarians. Quasits have natural Poison attacks, which makes them that rare breed where CON is an offensive stat, and a Barbarian's speed bonus goes well with a Quasit's 50 ft (Perfect) flight and Invisibility.

And if they're fighting something that's immune to Poison, then they can still transform into Wolves with 13+Rage STR, 15 DEX, 15+Rage CON, +10 speed, and and 3d6+d12+Rage HP.

[Thurbane]

I think by RAW monsters with innate casting cannot advance that casting with a PrC, unless they take at least one level of the base class first. I could be wrong.

[Urpriest]

Martial Adept levels on anything with with abnormally high HD for CR i.e. a Drowned Swordsage.

In that vein, Ardent levels with Practiced Manifester. Unlike Martial Adept levels, these will almost always be nonassociated.


I think by RAW monsters with innate casting cannot advance that casting with a PrC, unless they take at least one level of the base class first. I could be wrong.

Eh...while it's not strictly permitted due to the "as if you had gained a level in a class" language in most PrCs, there are a fair number of examples of monsters going straight into PrCs that progress casting in WotC sources. It may not be RAW but it's Rules As Consistent, which tends to be more important when it comes to monsters anyway.