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solomonw
2014-12-08, 11:43 AM
Hey guys,

I joined some mates on DnD 3.5 at Level 6 and once I found the Swordsage, it really appealed to me. We have just reached Level 7 and the other guys are already looking at Prestige classes with a view to cross class once (if necessary) in order to reach the relevant pre-requisites for their Prestige.

I wanted to get a better understanding of the best Swordsage pathways to go down. Having looked at the Tome of Battle prestiges, my mates are really bigging up the Jade Phoenix Mage but having been a spellcaster previously (Druid), I can't see any major spellcasting benefits by crossclassing into a Wizard for three levels just to get the ability to cast 2nd level spells.

My character is True Neutral but depending on my pathway, the DM may be willing to fine (or let) me change alignment if the Prestige class requires it.

I am a human, giving me the extra bonus feat and I rolled pretty high stats for my ability scores. The following stats include the relevant +1 gears: Str 14, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 12.

I went down the two-weapon fighting route (and have considered changing this) with feats like Weapon Finesse (Kukri), TWF, Improved Toughness and Adaptive Style. I also gain Weapon Focus (Scimitar) and Insightful Strike (when in Shadow Stance) as Swordsage qualities.

I'm not looking to be all-powerful but I play more of a attack-support role to rest of the group. The stances I have are Island of Blades, Assassin's Stance and Dance of the Spider and my manoeuvres so far are Insightful Strike (DN decision: which can only be used once per encounter even if fully reset with Adaptive Style), Death Mark, Fire Reposte, Cloak of Deception, Shadow Garrote and Fan The Flames. I have Burning Blades and others on standby but I never use them and the DM has agreed that my manoeuvres known can be left empty for now in order for the more advanced manoeuvres to slot in without the need to replace old ones through the annoying mechanic at certain levels.

I don't want to go down the Monk route, become Divine or cross to a Crusader. I still don't understand the Warblade crossclassing and whether there is a Prestige for something like this crossover but I imagined there being a nice mix of qualities between the two.

Any help would be greatly appreciated and sorry for the essay.

Cheers

GreatDane
2014-12-08, 12:42 PM
Unless you want to go in the particular direction of one of the prestige classes in Tome of Battle, I'd recommend just sticking with swordsage. The main draw of swordsage is knowing (and using) tons of martial maneuvers. Taking levels in non-initiator classes (prestige or base) undermines that. Take Jade Phoenix Mage if you want to do arcane, or Ruby Knight Vindicator if you want to do divine, but if you're playing a swordsage to initiate martial maneuvers, stick with the class.

Val666
2014-12-08, 01:15 PM
Take Shadow Blade and never look back

solomonw
2014-12-08, 02:41 PM
Cheers for the feedback.

If I concentrate on getting to Lvl 20 Swordsage, are there any specific items, gear or levels to watch out for?

Fouredged Sword
2014-12-08, 03:27 PM
Assassin's stance becomes a lot more powerful if you get the craven and shadow blade feats. Craven adds your class level as extra sneak attack damage, and shadow blade adds your dex to damage when you hit with a shadow hand weapon while in a shadow hand stance. This pairs well together to make a good stance great.

Look at the diamond mind strikes that roll a concentration check in place of damage. Now look at all the items and such that are designed to boost a spellcaster's concentration check. Note how cheap they are.

Take all the save replacement counters. At the very least the fort and will versions. Reflex saves are meh anyway.

Countercharge is god.

Adaptive style is a feat tax. Take it always.

WhamBamSam
2014-12-08, 04:51 PM
Assassin's stance becomes a lot more powerful if you get the craven and shadow blade feats. Craven adds your class level as extra sneak attack damage, and shadow blade adds your dex to damage when you hit with a shadow hand weapon while in a shadow hand stance. This pairs well together to make a good stance great.Craven requires Sneak Attack as a class feature. It's one of the few things that Assassin's Stance won't let you qualify for on its own. You'd need to dip rogue or Hit-and-Run Sneak Attack Thug Fighter or something.

torrasque666
2014-12-08, 05:04 PM
If you absolutely want to take a prestige class, might I recommend Master of Nine? Yeah, the feats required aren't great, but compare numbers: say you get in at level 8, the earliest you can get in due to skill limitations(though this requires being a human or other bonus feat granting race with two flaws) If you take all 5 levels of MoN you end up with 20 maneuvers known, 11 readied, and 5 stances. What does a 13th level Swordsage have by then? 18 maneuvers known, 9 readied, and 4 stances. You don't necessarily come out much better, and you do miss out on evasion, which can be not missed by taking SS for another two levels, but its kinda worthwhile in my opinion. Plus, those 8 maneuvers you learn from MoN? Can be from ANY school, not just the ones you took at Swordsage. Want Iron Heart Surge? Well now you can. Want some Devoted Spirit goodies? Well now you can.

Fouredged Sword
2014-12-08, 07:48 PM
If you really want to get crazy, finish off the build with Legacy champion to max out your readied maneuvers.