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in: Character builds, Melee Character builds, Power Builds

Hidden Dragon - F(14),Brd(4),RDD(10),SD(2)

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Description[]

Fighter 14 / Bard 4 / Red dragon disciple 10 / Shadowdancer 2

The Hidden Dragon is primarily a melee fighter, with a bit of Stealth added on. It is a decent fighter with solid Strength and Damage, although not quite on par with more dedicated fighters like the Dragonmaster Negotiater or the Thuggernaut. But additionally, it has stealth capabilities in the form of high skill ranks in Hide and Move, and Hide in Plain Sight (HiPS). HiPS is normally used with sneak attack based builds, to cram in their sneak attacks. But a primary warrior can also use it.


Uses of HiPS:

  • It can be used to deny your foe his Dex and Dodge AC bonus, when you attack them immediately out of stealth and catch them flat-footed. This is especailly dangerous against builds highly reliant on Dex and Dodge AC like the Kaze no Kama.
  • It can be used as an "escape button" if you attract too much Aggro and need to "dissappear" for a while (although the rest of your party may not be happy when the Aggro stops attacking you and starts attacking them).
  • Along similiar lines, going into Hiding will disrupt any direct target spells that were targetting you.

The Hidden Dragon also has 2 powerful abilities with cool down timers, and can stagger them so that you could essentially use them continuously. The 2 abilities being Improved Knockdown (12 second cooldown)and HiPS (6 second cooldown). Roughly, the sequence in which they may be staggered is as follows:

  • Emerge from Hiding (6 second cool down) and deliver Improved Knockdown (12 second cooldown)
  • While opponent is down, wail on him
  • After 6 seconds, your opponents will stand up
  • At the same time, HiPS cooldown will be complete. So you can reactivate it and go back into hiding.
  • Wait another 4 seconds for Improved Knockdown timer to recharge
  • Emerge from hiding, deliver Improved Knockdown etc

Following this combo, anything that can be consistently knocked down, and which can't spot quickly you will spend half the time wondering where you are, and the other half on its back, getting beat up.


Pros:

  • Solid Warrior with all the Red Dragon Disciple (RDD) bonuses
    • Fire Immunity
    • Increased Natural AC
    • Solid Strength (and Improved Knockdown to make use of it)
  • Reasonable stealth and Hide in Plain Sight


Cons:

  • Final BAB is 25 and it loses the 6th attack
  • Reliant on Weapon Focus and Specialization feats for some of its attack and damage, and it is comparatively weaker (although not entirely helpless) without its weapon of choice.


  • Not as good in a straight fight, as other dedicated Warrior builds. That said, it has HiPS, and so it should not try to fight straight in a duel.
  • Low Dex, and reliance on Armor with Armor Check Penalties (ACP), means that this build isn't quite as Stealthy as you might want
  • Must compromise between Armor AC and ACP if it plans on sneaking around. Light armor has lower ACP, but less AC, and requires higher Dex for maximum AC. In this sense the Hidden Dragon is somewhat reliant on decent magic gear to boost Dex for AC.
    • E.g. a Chain Shirt has a manageble ACP of -2, but requires 4 dex bonus for maximum AC. The Hidden Dragon therefore needs Dex +4 gear to make use of it. Similiarly, it can't make use of Tower Shields without incurring severe ACP. It is recommended that you stick with Light or Heavy Shields.
    • Of course this is only if you plan on sneaking around at all. The Hidden Dragon can also don Full Plate and Tower Shield and lose the ability to sneak. It can still make use HiPS to catch enemies flat-footed, by exploiting flaws in the detection cycle. (E.g. if you go into Hiding, and immediately drop out and attack, the enemy is still considered flat-footed as he hasn't had time to try and detect you yet).


Character Creation[]

Race: Human

Alignment: Any Non-Lawful for Bard at the start.

Base Values Racial Modifiers Final Values
Str 16 16 36
Dex 14 14 14
Con 14 14 16
Int 14 14 16
Wis 8 8 8
Cha 12 12 14

Bard 2 provides you with Inspire Competence, that when activated grants you +2 to all skills (and especially Hide and Move)

  • Bard 4 and 14 base Cha lets you cast 1 level 2 Bard spell. You will want to cast Heroism, which lasts 40 minutes, and grants you +2 to attack and skill checks (again, especially to Hide and Move).

All told, your basic Hide/Move at level 30 is: 

33 Ranks
+2 Dex bonus
+2 Inspire Competence
+2 Heroism
=39


BAB: 14 + 3 + 7 + 1 = 25


AB Bonus with Long Term Buffs and Mundane Gear (Number in Brackets is with Epic Gear) 

25 BAB
13 Str Bonus
4 Epic Weapon Focus
2 Heroism
1 Inspire Courage
1 Epic Prowess
(+4 from Str +8 gear)
(+8 Weapon Enhancement Bonus)
=46 (58)

Extra Damage Per Hit (Number in Brackets is with Epic Gear) 

13 Str Bonus
4 Greater Weapon Specialization
1 Inspire Courage
(+4 Str +8 gear)
(+8 Weapon Enhancement Bonus)
=18 (30) +2 If you pick Epic Weapon Spec on Fighter 14


HP: (14*10) + (4*6) + (10*12) + (2*8) + 90 Con Bonus = 390


AC with Mundane Gear: 

10 base
4 Mithril Chain Shirt
4 RDD Natural Armor
3 tumble
2 Dex bonus
1 Luck of Heroes
1 Light shield
=25 (+1 If you pick Armor Skin on Fighter 14)

Additional AC from Epic Gear: 

8 Armor Enhancement +8
8 Tower shield Enhancement +8
8 Cloak of Protection +8
5 Natural Armor Amulet +5
5 Boots of the sun soul +5
4 Dex bonus (with +8 Dex equipment)
=63 (+1 If you pick Armor Skin on Fighter 14)


Saves

Fort: 9 + 1 + 7 + 0 = 17 +3 Con

Will: 4 + 4 + 7 + 0 = 18 -1 Wis

Reflex: 4 + 4 + 3 + 3 = 14 +2 Dex

+6 against spells with 30 Spellcraft

And Evasion


Overview[]

Feats

Character Feats

1. Luck of Heroes

1. Able Learner

3. Power Attack (PvM) OR Disarm (PvP)

6. Dodge

9. Improved Knockdown

12. Mobility

15. Feat of Choice

18. Weapon Focus


21. Great Strength

23. Great Strength

25. Great Strength

27. Great Strength

29. Great Strength


Fighter Feats:

1. Knockdown

2. Cleave (PvM) OR Improved Disarm (PvP)

4. Weapon Specialization

6. Epic Prowess

8. Greater weapon focus

10. Epic Weapon Focus

12. Greater weapon specialization

14. Armor Skin OR Epic Weapon Specialization


Free RDD Feats:

5. Blind fight


Feat Notes:

  • On level 15, you have a feat of choice. I would recommend one of the following:
    • Stealthy: Gives you +2 to Hide and Move
    • Toughness: Grants you more HP.
    • Weapon Proficiency (exotic): In certain settings, the most powerful weapons are Exotic weapons, to reward those who bothered to invest in the Exotic Weapon proficicency feat. In such cases, you might want Exotic Weapon Proficiency yourself.
    • Monkey Grip: If your Weapon of Choice is a large weapon, grabbing Monkey Grip lets you use it in one hand, and carry a shield in the other. Large Weapons are especially useful for attempting and countering Disarm, as they grant +4 to your Disarm check.
    • Dash: HiPS lends itself to hit and run tactics. Grabbing Dash helps make sure that you can run.
    • Improved Unarmed Strike:By Shifting your Feats around, you can choose to specialize in Unarmed Strike. This lets renders you immune to Disarm, and also lets you steal your opponents weapons when you disarm them.
  • On Fighter Level 14, you can choose between 2 feats:
    • Armor Skin grants you +1 to AC. Extra AC is always useful.
    • Epic Weapon Specialization grants you +2 Damage per hit when using your Weapon of choice. Its a good choice for low magic settings when every point of damage counts, but its importance diminishes in high magic (such as MoTB) when your weapons can be enchanted with +15d6 elemental damage per hit. Also remember that you lose this bonus if you are not using your weapon of choice, so if you are likely to encounter such situations (e.g. your enemies use Disarm), than Armor Skin is also a better choice.
  • The Fighter Feats do not specifically state which weapon to specialize in. That is because your weapon of choice will depend on where you plan on using this character.
    • In the NWN2 OC / MoTB, the Sword of the Gith counts as a Longsword. You may therefore want to focus in Longsword for the campaign. That said, it is possible to craft and enchant your own "super weapon" without relying on the Sword of the Gith. So any weapon (proided you are wiling to devote resources to crafting and enchanting it) will do.
    • In other modules and PWs, the most powerful weapon may be something else. Fortunately you do not have to start taking your Weapon Focus feats until level 18, so you have some time to check around.
    • If you are willing to sacrifice Critical damage, you can take Unarmed as your Weapon of choice, making you immune to Disarm, and letting you steal your opponents weapons when you disarm them.

Skills[]

With an Int of 14 (improving to 16 at RDD 8), and the Human bonus skill points, this build gains approximately 6 skill points per level. And there are 5 core skills that it needs:

  • Spellcraft
  • Tumble
  • UMD
  • Hide
  • Move

Your first level should be Bard to maximize the 4x multiplier. You need 8 points in Lore to qualify for RDD, and 3 points in perform to qualify foruse Inspire Competence. You have the points to max out 1 additional skill. I would recommend Diplomacy for campaigns, and Spot for PvP.

Roughly, the skill progression for Spot should be as follows:

Level 1: Bard 1: Gain (6 + 3) * 4 = 36 Skill points

  • 4 to Spellcraft (Total = 4)
  • 4 to Tumble (Total = 4)
  • 4 to UMD (Total = 4)
  • 4 to Hide (Total = 4)
  • 4 to Move (Total = 4)
  • 4 to Lore (Total = 4)
  • 4 to Skill of Choice (Appraise or Listen)
  • 3 to Perform (Total = 3)

Save 5 points


Level 2: Fighter 1: Gain 5 Skill Points

  • 1 to Spellcraft (Total = 5)
  • 1 to Tumble (Total = 5)
  • 1 to UMD (Total = 5)
  • 1 to Hide (Total = 5)
  • 1 to Move (Total = 5)
  • 1 to Lore (Total = 5)
  • 2 to Spot OR Diplomacy (Total = 2)

Save 2 points


Level 3: Bard 2: Gain 9 Skill Points

  • 1 to Spellcraft (Total = 6)
  • 1 to Tumble (Total = 6)
  • 1 to UMD (Total = 6)
  • 1 to Hide (Total = 6)
  • 1 to Move (Total = 6)
  • 1 to Lore (Total = 6)
  • 1 to Spot OR Diplomacy (Total = 3)

Save 4 points


Level 4: Fighter 2: Gain 5 Skill Points

  • 1 to Spellcraft (Total = 7)
  • 1 to Tumble (Total = 7)
  • 1 to UMD (Total = 7)
  • 1 to Hide (Total = 7)
  • 1 to Move (Total = 7)
  • 1 to Lore (Total = 7)

Save 3 points


Level 5: Bard 3: Gain 9 Skill Points

  • 1 to Spellcraft (Total = 8)
  • 1 to Tumble (Total = 8)
  • 1 to UMD (Total = 8)
  • 1 to Hide (Total = 8)
  • 1 to Move (Total = 8)
  • 1 to Lore (Total = 8)
  • 1 to Spot OR Diplomacy (Total = 4)

Save 5 points


Level 6: RDD 1: Gain 5 Skill Points

  • 1 to Spellcraft (Total = 9)
  • 1 to Tumble (Total = 9)
  • 1 to UMD (Total = 9)
  • 1 to Hide (Total = 9)
  • 1 to Move (Total = 9)
  • 5 to Spot OR Diplomacy (Total = 9)

Save 0 points


Level 7: RDD 2: Gain 5 Skill Points

  • 1 to Tumble (Total = 10)
  • 1 to UMD (Total = 10)
  • 1 to Hide (Total = 10)
  • 1 to Move (Total = 10)
  • 1 to Spot OR Diplomacy (Total = 10)

Save 0 points


Level 8: RDD 3: Gain 5 Skill Points

  • 1 to Tumble (Total = 11)
  • 1 to UMD (Total = 11)
  • 1 to Hide (Total = 11)
  • 1 to Move (Total = 11)
  • 1 to Spot OR Diplomacy (Total = 11)

Save 0 points


Level 9: RDD 4: Gain 5 Skill Points

  • 1 to Tumble (Total = 12)
  • 1 to UMD (Total = 12)
  • 1 to Hide (Total = 12)
  • 1 to Move (Total = 12)
  • 1 to Spot OR Diplomacy (Total = 12)

Save 0 points


Level 10: RDD 5: Gain 5 Skill Points

  • 1 to Tumble (Total = 13)
  • 1 to UMD (Total = 13)
  • 1 to Hide (Total = 13)
  • 1 to Move (Total = 13)
  • 1 to Spot OR Diplomacy (Total = 13)

Save 0 points


Level 11: RDD 6: Gain 5 Skill Points

  • 1 to Tumble (Total = 14)
  • 1 to UMD (Total = 14)
  • 1 to Hide (Total = 14)
  • 1 to Move (Total = 14)
  • 1 to Spot OR Diplomacy (Total = 14)

Save 0 points


Level 12: RDD 7: Gain 5 Skill Points

  • 1 to Tumble (Total = 15)
  • 1 to UMD (Total = 15)
  • 1 to Hide (Total = 15)
  • 1 to Move (Total = 15)
  • 1 to Spot OR Diplomacy (Total = 15)

Save 0 points


Level 13: RDD 8: Gain 5 Skill Points

  • 1 to Tumble (Total = 16)
  • 1 to UMD (Total = 16)
  • 1 to Hide (Total = 16)
  • 1 to Move (Total = 16)
  • 1 to Spot OR Diplomacy (Total = 16)

Save 0 points (Gain +2 Int from RDD)


Level 14: RDD 9: Gain 6 Skill Points

  • 1 to Spellcraft (Total = 10)
  • 1 to Tumble (Total = 17)
  • 1 to UMD (Total = 17)
  • 1 to Hide (Total = 17)
  • 1 to Move (Total = 17)
  • 1 to Spot OR Diplomacy (Total = 17)

Save 0 points


Level 15: RDD 10: Gain 6 Skill Points

  • 1 to Spellcraft (Total = 11)
  • 1 to Tumble (Total = 18)
  • 1 to UMD (Total = 18)
  • 1 to Hide (Total = 18)
  • 1 to Move (Total = 18)
  • 1 to Spot OR Diplomacy (Total = 18)

Save 0 points


Level 16: Shadowdancer 1: Gain 10 Skill Points

  • 5 to Spellcraft (Total = 16)
  • 1 to Tumble (Total = 19)
  • 1 to UMD (Total = 19)
  • 1 to Hide (Total = 19)
  • 1 to Move (Total = 19)
  • 1 to Spot OR Diplomacy (Total = 19)

Save 0 points


Level 17: Shadowdancer 2: Gain 10 Skill Points

  • 4 to Spellcraft (Total = 20)
  • 1 to Tumble (Total = 20)
  • 1 to UMD (Total = 20)
  • 1 to Hide (Total = 20)
  • 1 to Move (Total = 20)
  • 1 to Spot OR Diplomacy (Total = 20)
  • 1 to Skill of Choice (Appraise or Listen)

Save 0 points


Level 18 onwards: Gain 6 Skill Points

  • 1 to Spellcraft (Total = Character Level + 3)
  • 1 to Tumble (Total = Character Level + 3)
  • 1 to UMD (Total = Character Level + 3)
  • 1 to Hide (Total = Character Level + 3)
  • 1 to Move (Total = Character Level + 3)
  • 1 to Spot OR Diplomacy (Total = Character Level + 3)

Save 0 points


Character Progression[]

Good Variant

CL Class Feat Bonus/Class Feats Attributes
1 Bard 1 Luck of Heroes, Able Learner Inspire courage
2 Fighter 1 Knockdown
3 Bard 2 Power Attack (PvM) OR Disarm (PvP) Inspire competence
4 Fighter 2 Cleave (PvM) OR Improved Disarm (PvP) +1 Str
5 Bard 3
6 RDD 1 Dodge
7 RDD 2
8 RDD 3 +1 Str
9 RDD 4 Improved Knockdown
10 RDD 5 Blind fight
11 RDD 6
12 RDD 7 Mobility +1 Str
13 RDD 8
14 RDD 9
15 RDD 10 Feat of Choice Half-Dragon
16 Shadowdancer 1 Hide in Plain Sight +1 Str
17 Bard 4
18 Shadowdancer 2 Weapon Focus Evasion, Uncanny dodge
19 Fighter 3
20 Fighter 4 Weapon Specialization +1 Str
21 Fighter 5 Great Strength
22 Fighter 6 Epic Prowess
23 Fighter 7 Great Strength
24 Fighter 8 Greater weapon focus +1 Str
25 Fighter 9 Great Strength
26 Fighter 10 Epic Weapon Focus
27 Fighter 11 Great Strength
28 Fighter 12 Greater weapon specialization +1 Str
29 Fighter 13 Great Strength
30 Fighter 14 Armor Skin OR Epic Weapon Specialization


  • The levelling scheme above can be varied slightly depending on your taste. So long as certain guidelines are met
    • First Level should be Bard for bonus skill points
    • Take all your non-epic Character Feats pre-epic (but not necessarily Fighter Feats)
    • Take Fighter 6 onwards only during Epic Levels to qualify for Epic Prowess
    • Grab RDD 8 as quickly as possible to grab the Int Boost, for more skill points later on (You should aim to grab RDD 1 on level 6, and RDD 8 on level 13).


Variants[]

One possible variant involves dropping 2 levels or Bard for 2 more levels of Fighter. This nets you an extra Fighter feat (which you can spend on Armor Skin OR Epic Weapon Specialization), but you lose the ability to cast Heroism. This is a better choice in situations where you can garuntee that there is someone else who can cast Heroism or Greater Heroism on you (e.g. Campaigns with Wizard Companions).

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