[Pathfinder] Taijutsu Ninja
Everybody's favourite ninja
Ultimate Combat has been around for a while now, but I’ve only recently been messing around with the three new classes: the gunslinger, samurai and ninja. Currently, I’ll soon require a new Pathfinder Society Scenario character, so that I can take part in lower tier games.
If you were to trawl around the message boards, most ninja builds make use of the vanishing trick. Though swift invisibility is incredibly handy, I wanted to try a slightly different build.
This 20 point-buy build makes use of a half-elf, though a human would work well too.
Str 10 Dex 18 Con 14 Int 10 Wis 10 Cha 14
Feats and tricks by level:
- Weapon Finesse; Skill Focus (Diplomacy) (Half-Elf)
- Dodge (Combat Trick)
- Eldritch Heritage (Serpentine)
- Unarmed Combat Training
- Crane Style
- Pressure Points
- Crane Wing
The serpentine bloodline...
Of course, you could drop the Intelligence a bit, but I really don’t like playing stupid characters (that’s my Johnny interfering with my Spike). A few levels of monk, especially the master of many styles and the monk of the sacred mountain would significantly increase this build’s defenses at the cost of some damage output. On the other hand, I’m also considering multiclassing with a full base attack class (such as fighter) for a variety of other defensive/offensive options (like shields, mithral breast plates, Weapon Specialization).
- Jerall
If you mix in two levels of monk (of many styles) at levels 4 and 5 you can:
4. Crane Style(monk), Improved Unarmed Strike(free from monk)
5. Crane Wing(monk), Two-Weapon Fighting
6. Pressure Points
7. Crane Riposte
The damage lost from 1d6 sneak attack, is balanced out by the addition of two-weapon fighting; and the defenses are heavily expanded at the same time
That’s a good suggestion. 2 levels of monk adds a significant boost to the character’s saves. I’m not such a fan of TWF, since the build can use ki and the bite attack to increase the number of attacks per round when it becomes viable.
I’m also considering multiclassing with a rondelero duelist (Inner Sea Primer) for the buckler tricks, because I’m mad that way.
[...] on from last week, let’s look at another of Ultimate Combat’s new classes: the gunslinger. Firearms are [...]