Choosing a stance for Shadow Blade

[Aximili]

Well, since shadow blade is a must-have feat for any TWF swordsage, I thought I'd take a look at the stances available from Shadow Hand and, if I may say, was a little disappointed.

The first level ones didn't look as good as stances from other disciplines (such as Hunter's sense, Martial Spirit, and Punishing Stance).
And the high level ones didn't really seem exciting.
The only one that caught my attention as good TWF material was Assassin's Stance.

Am I missing some stance here, or is that one really the only one a TWF SS should be using (not that I'm not happy with it)?

[Karsh]

If you're willing to multiclass into Dervish or Scout, I'd tell you to use Child of Shadow after all. Concealment while Dervish dancing/skirmishing? Combine with Expeditious Dodge for extra fun.

[Borogove]

You're pretty much correct about the stances (although the 20% miss chance one is nice too, even if you switch out of it as soon as you get an opportunity to make a full attack). That lack of good options is pretty much what keeps Shadow Blade a balanced feat.

[Reel On, Love]

Well, since shadow blade is a must-have feat for any TWF swordsage, I thought I'd take a look at the stances available from Shadow Hand and, if I may say, was a little disappointed.

The first level ones didn't look as good as stances from other disciplines (such as Hunter's sense, Martial Spirit, and Punishing Stance).
And the high level ones didn't really seem exciting.
The only one that caught my attention as good TWF material was Assassin's Stance.

Am I missing some stance here, or is that one really the only one a TWF SS should be using (not that I'm not happy with it)?

Having to use a Shadow Hand stance is the price you pay for getting Dex to Damage, so basically--suck it up.

That said, Shadow Hand stances aren't bad. Child of Shadow is cost-free concealment, and when you're using things like Pouncing Charge and Wolf Fang Strike it works with TWF; later on, you can pick up the Gloom Razor tactical feat, and just keep triggering the tumble-move and the missed-because-of-concealment parts of it, so you have the concealment all the time. Island of Blades can also come in handy--tasty flanking. Dance of the Spider has more utility than most other stances.
Being able to walk on air is great, but it'd be better if you got it before level freaking 15 when you probably have a flying item already.

Between Assassin's Stance and Child of Shadow, SH stances start good and stay not bad. It's not that big a deal; I'm not sure what else you'd be using that Swordsages get access to.

[Iku Rex]

Island of Blades is a very good stance. With a little help from the rest of the party everyone gets +2 on all attacks against your opponents and the rogue will love you for it. The drawback is the need to stay in the thick of battle to gain the full benefit.

You might say that getting into a flanking position isn't that hard for a tumbling swordsage, but in my [brief, low-level] experience it's not as easy as it may seem and being able to just beeline for the bad guy and hack away next to the fighter is real handy.

[Aximili]

That lack of good options is pretty much what keeps Shadow Blade a balanced feat.

Having to use a Shadow Hand stance is the price you pay for getting Dex to Damage, so basically--suck it up.


Yeah, I thought it might be something like that.:smalltongue:


That said, Shadow Hand stances aren't bad. Child of Shadow is cost-free concealment, and when you're using things like Pouncing Charge and Wolf Fang Strike it works with TWF; later on, you can pick up the Gloom Razor tactical feat, and just keep triggering the tumble-move and the missed-because-of-concealment parts of it, so you have the concealment all the time. Island of Blades can also come in handy--tasty flanking. Dance of the Spider has more utility than most other stances.
Being able to walk on air is great, but it'd be better if you got it before level freaking 15 when you probably have a flying item already.

Island of blades gives you an easier flanking bonus. Thats a +2 to attack in many situations, but at least half of those times you'd already be flanking anyway.

Dance of the spider has some nice utility, but it would rarely be useful in combat (since you're usually attacking foes on the ground). And, as much as it is useful to be able to climb walls at will, you can simply get over them with one of the teleportation maneuvers you are sure to have (unless, of course, your wall is more than 50ft high).

Walk on air could, indeed, be a lower level stance.=/

And as for Child of Shadow, I guess I really underestimated it. I had seen suggestions of combining it with Razor Gloom, but never really thought it was a great feat.
Finally, I've read between it's lines.:smallbiggrin: And I must say, I'm a bit impressed.

[Saph]

Oh, come on. Why would you ever not want to use Assassin's Stance? 2d6 free sneak attack damage is a great ability to have. Okay, so it's no good against SA-immune enemies, but against everything else, it massively boosts your damage output, especially if you're a TWFer.

Just use Assassin's Stance for attacks, and Child of Shadow the rest of the time, and you'll do fine. (One word of warning though - the concealment from Child of Shadow applies against everything. That includes your allies' healing spells.)

- Saph