creating a 4th level swordsage as a replacement character. advice needed.

[Noctis923]

so i decided in advance to make a backup character in the event that my current character dies and i have been reading about the swordsage and the class seems really cool. So my thoughts are for the maneuvers that i would focus on desert wind and shadow hand as a possibility and that for weapons the character might probably focus on Two weapon fighting but that's not a definitive choice the alternative being a Two handed weapon but again up for debate.

[marphod]

A Downside of focusing on Desert Wind and Shadow Hand is that they have zero overlap in weapons. Which means you can't get the most out of Shadow Strike (Feat; dex to damage rolls with Shadow hand weapons) and Desert Dodge (+1 AC and +1 fire damage to weapon damage when moving 10' and using a Desert Wind weapon).

Also, at high level, everyone and their cousin is immune to fire damage.

Two Weapon Fighting and Combat Manuevers can go together, but not well. Since Two Weapon Fighting is rather feat heavy, and most strikes only work with a single attack, you're probably better off going 2 Handed. Get Power Attack, and you're fine there. If you really want to go Two Weapon, you will want Shadow Strike (and therefore to use a Shadow hand weapon) for the extra damage, plus Tiger Claw manuevers, which are the most likely to work with two weapon fighting.

Don't ignore Diamond Mind; there are counters there that let you substitute a Concentration Check for any save. On top of that, there are maneuvers that let you do damage based on a Concentration Check instead of a damage roll. (Topping out at Diamond Nightmare Blade, doing 4x a Concentration Check. At that level -- at least 15th -- you would be doing (d20+40ish)x4, with only mild optimization.

Regardless of your build, you may want to take the Unarmed Swordsage Variant (Monk unarmed damage progression in exchange for your light armor); then get miltral chain shirt (or other ACP 0 light armor) and ignore the lack of proficiency.

You will want to get Adaptive Style (to ameliorate your awful recovery method) and probably Extra Readied Maneuver (again, to ameliorate your awful recovery method). You can think about using Martial Study and Martial Stance to pick up Maneuvers from outside of your classes favored schools. Snap Kick is probably worth picking up, as it gives you an extra attack.

Always pick up Mountain Hammer. Bypass DR and hardness? Don't mind if I do.

Look to see if you can get at least 3 levels in a Full BAB class, which will get you your 4th iterative by level 20; not as important as non Initiator classes, but a nice backup.

[Umbranar]

Diamond mind is fantastic.
At level 5 when you already have 1 diamond mind maneuvers, mind over body compensates your generally weak fortitude.
The problem is that you can use it once per encounter unless you use that awful recovery method.

Adaptive Style will help you adjust your maneuver mid-combat when needed.

I personally like the Setting Sun throwing maneuvers. I once threw a full-plate wearing bugbear off a platform in the middle of a lake. That was the end of him.

[Noctis923]

Well i might as well tell you about Backup's stat rolls 10 10 14 12 15 17 haven't really decided were i should put everything but i believe for sure that Dex will have 17. originally i wanted to maximize damage using the Dex plus Str combo i mean i wanted to be able to go from guy to guy OTking everything. my party consists of a fey'ri sorcerer/Rogue a half elf cleric a aarakocra paladin a hybsil fighter (he was originally a centaur fighter but the gods offered him demi-godhood if he could prove himself as a hybsil) and my current character the human ranger my character as of now (after the centaur became a hybsil) is currently the strongest so that should give you an idea of how our party sits at the moment and what kind of role i might have to take if the ranger dies.