ToB Equipment Help + New Questions !

[Amiria]

Old question not finished yet, but new questions down in post #6

I'm making a character for a PbP game here and I am not sure about some of the specific special abilites of her weapon.

I settled for a weapon with a total +7 modified bonus. Base +3 enhancement (for Greater Augment Crystals), special abilities are Transmuting and 2x Martial Discipline.

And this is then the question, which two disciplines should I take when you take a look (http://www.coyotecode.net/profiler/view.php?id=2353) at my choice of maneuvers and stances ? Of course I want a high chance of using both MD special abilities to their maximum with the use of the right combination of stances, strikes and boosts.

I don't know yet if she sees play, but if she does and lives to see the 19th level I plan for two Devoted Spirit things: Aura of Perfect Order (Stance) and Rallying Strike. For 20th level I'd take 8th or 9th level non-Devoted Spirit maneuvers. Probably Diamond Nightmare Blade and Mountain Tombstone Strike.

[NEO|Phyte]

Hmm, my first instinct is to say you're stretching yourself waaay too thin with all those disciplines, but I suppose Mo9 is like that for non swordsages.

I'd say go over your stances, decide which is likely to be your 'default' stance, and take that one, and looking over your overall selection, I'd say either Tiger Claw or Diamond Mind for the other, as the multiple-attacks manouvers you have are of those schools.

[The Mormegil]

WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE FLAWS???

Anyway, I'll choose my favourite stances and use them. Since you are Mot9 you should use Double Stance for that too...

[Amiria]

Hmm, my first instinct is to say you're stretching yourself waaay too thin with all those disciplines, but I suppose Mo9 is like that for non swordsages.

I'd say go over your stances, decide which is likely to be your 'default' stance, and take that one, and looking over your overall selection, I'd say either Tiger Claw or Diamond Mind for the other, as the multiple-attacks manouvers you have are of those schools.

Yes, it is rather a Master of Six. A crusader dip for the neccessary 6th discipline => Devoted Spirit and the nice Thicket of Blades stance. Stone Dragon maneuvers also only to qualify, concentrating on the other disciplines.

And well, that's difficult to say what I will use most. Probably much Diamond Mind, I agree.

But then the others:

Devoted Spirit for the superb Thicket of Blades stance, planning to take more the next level.

Iron Heart for the Dancing Blade Form stance and some maneuvers.

Tiger Claw for some good good strikes and boots. Not planning to take more though.

White Raven for the Hammer and lower level Crusader maneuvers ... including WRT there.


WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE FLAWS???

Anyway, I'll choose my favourite stances and use them. Since you are Mot9 you should use Double Stance for that too...

There are links to the flaws in the "Other Notes" section.

Yeah, I have Dual Stance, but that ability only works for a eevry limited amount of time per day ... although those rounds might very well be the crucial ones in an encounter.

[The Mormegil]

Get Diamond Mind and Devoted Spirit. The most likely scenario w/o Dal Stancing is Thicket of Blades + strike or the more defensive Pearl of Black Doubt + healing strike...

[Amiria]

Get Diamond Mind and Devoted Spirit. The most likely scenario w/o Dal Stancing is Thicket of Blades + strike or the more defensive Pearl of Black Doubt + healing strike...
Did you actually take a look at my maneuvers and stances ? I don't have Pearl of Black Doubt and I don't have a single healing strike ... yet.

Edit: Still, Devoted Mind respectively Diamond Spirit has a certain appeal.

<hr>
New questions:

Now, suddenly I'm not sure about the Mo9 progression at all.

1) Am I right that I have high IL for all available schools except for Devoted Spirit ?

2) I put the Mo9 maneuvers and stances onto the Warblade progression (known, readied, recovery mechanism). Could I have also put them onto the Crusader progression, with the high IL ?

3) If 2) is positive, would it then be better to go for the Crusader progression since Mo9 readied maneuvers also add to the Crusader's granted maneuvers ?

[AslanCross]

1) I'm pretty sure Initiator Level is the same for all your disciplines.

2) I'm confused about the whole matter myself. As far as I can tell, the maneuver recovery remains separate for maneuvers regained from each class. Whatever you gain from Master of Nine---err, I really don't know.

EDIT: This thread (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=683775) might be able to answer your questions better.

[Douglas]

1) Initiator level depends on the class the maneuver is assigned to, not discipline. Your Devoted Spirit maneuvers that you get from Crusader have IL 11. Your Devoted Spirit maneuvers that you get from Master of Nine and added to Warblade have IL 17.

2) You put them on one or the other progression (can be decided individually for each maneuver, I think), not both. If you put them on the Warblade progression, they have IL 17. If you put them on the Crusader progression, they have IL 11.

3) That's a great idea... if Crusader is your main base class. You can actually assign the maneuvers readied increase independently from the maneuvers known, but that's usually not a very good idea.

[Amiria]

1) Initiator level depends on the class the maneuver is assigned to, not discipline. Your Devoted Spirit maneuvers that you get from Crusader have IL 11. Your Devoted Spirit maneuvers that you get from Master of Nine and added to Warblade have IL 17.

2) You put them on one or the other progression (can be decided individually for each maneuver, I think), not both. If you put them on the Warblade progression, they have IL 17. If you put them on the Crusader progression, they have IL 11.

3) That's a great idea... if Crusader is your main base class. You can actually assign the maneuvers readied increase independently from the maneuvers known, but that's usually not a very good idea.

1) Aha, so it is bad idea for my build to use the Crusader progression for Mo9, right, Because of the low IL ?

2) I guess I couldn't even take high level (7th-9th) maneuvers with Mo9 there because of the low IL ?

3) So finally, I've done everything right so far in my build with the maneuver allocation ?

Edit: 3.1) Appart from the fact that I should take Strike of Righteous Vitality (Devo) instead of Strike of Perfect Clarity (Iron) as my second 9th level maneuver ... !?

Edit: 3.2) Maybe also Greater Divine Surge (Devo) instead of Raging Mongoose (Tiger) for a "Time Stands Still + Greater Divine Surge + Strike of Righteous Vitality" combo ... ?!

[Douglas]

1+2) Correct.

3) Yes.
3.1) Possibly. 150 points of healing for you vs 100 bonus damage to the enemy. Your call.
3.2) Time Stands Still doesn't work that way. You get two Full Attack Actions. Not two Full Round Actions. You can use full attacks and only full attacks with Time Stands Still. You may use things that work "when you make a full attack", like Haste's bonus attack, but nothing else. Even things like Flashing Sun, which includes a full attack, don't count because the full attack is part of the effect, not the action cost - Flashing Sun is its own full round action.

[Amiria]

Ok, thanks. I'll go for Strike of Righteous Vitality then. More flexible, does more then just hp healing. Could be a life-saver in many situations, also for other party members.

[hr]
Ok, everything answered for me here. I made up my mind about the disciplines for the weapon special abilities (Devoted Spirit + Diamond Mind) and I'm happy that I can use high-level Devoted Spirit maneuvers.

[Neftren]

Well, the point of the Mo9 was to have access to literally, every discipline... Diamond Mind isn't exactly highly offensive. Most of it's stuff is skill based and there are a lot of defensive counters, as well as the excellent Pearl of Black Doubt stance....