The Supercrit Build ~ Using Handaxes for big bard crits

[Strimtom]

Hello and good morning. I am Strimtom and I bring you a build designed around critting people back in time. The goal of this build is to use hand axes with swashbuckling and frenzied berserker so that I am able to get a really high critical threat range as well as multiplier. This build excels with extra attacks that grant bonus threat range and multiplier which is why this pair beautifully with shadarkai chain attack. However, since the best version of that needs a heart of wood, I have included both a more budget friendly option and the more advanced versions below. But if you want a sneak peak, check the vid for more details as I go into all the stats there.



More healing ~ No Heart of Wood Required

Super Crit More Healing
12/6/2 Bard/Barbarian/Favored Soul
True Neutral Tiefling Scoundrel


Level Order

1. Bard . . . . . .6. Barbarian . . .11. Bard. . . . . .16. Bard
2. Barbarian . . . 7. Barbarian. . . 12. Bard . . . . . 17. Bard
3. Barbarian . . . 8. Bard. . . . . .13. Bard. . . . . .18. Bard
4. Barbarian . . . 9. Bard. . . . . .14. Favored Soul . 19. Bard
5. Barbarian . . .10. Bard. . . . . .15. Favored Soul . 20. Bard


Stats
. . . . . . . .32pt . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . --------
Strength. . . . 18. . . .4: STR
Dexterity . . . .8. . . .8: STR
Constitution. . 14. . . 12: STR
Intelligence. . .8. . . 16: STR
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . 20: STR
Charisma. . . . 18. . . 24: STR
. . . . . . . . . . . . 28: STR

Skills (Errors)
. . . . .Bd Bn Bn Bn Bn Bn Bn Bd Bd Bd Bd Bd Bd Fv Fv Bd Bd Bd Bd Bd
. . . . . 1. 2 .3. 4 .5. 6 .7. 8. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Perform . 4. . . . . . . . . . 3. 3. 3. 2. 2. 2. . . . 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 24
Balance . 4. 1 .1. 1 . . . . . . . . . . . 2. 2. . . . 2. 2. 3. 3. 2. 23
UMD . . . 4. ½ .½. . . . . . . 2. 2. 2. 2. 1. 1. . . . 2. 2. 1. 1. 2. 23
Jump. . . . . . . .1. 3 .3. 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Swim. . . 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Haggle. . 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Heal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1. 1 . . . . . . . . .2
Tumble. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .20. 3 .3. 3 .3. 3 .3. 5. 5. 5. 5. 5. 5. 1 .1. 5. 5. 5. 5. 5
Max . . .20. 3 .3. 3 .3. 3 .3. 5. 5. 5. 5. 5. 5. 1 .1. 5. 5. 5. 5. 5


Feats

.1. . . . : Single Weapon Fighting
.3. . . . : Power Attack
.6. . . . : Cleave
.9. . . . : Improved Single Weapon Fighting
12. . . . : Improved Critical: Slashing
15. . . . : Greater Single Weapon Fighting
18. . . . : Offhand Versatility
21 Epic . : Overwhelming Critical OR Quicken Spell
24 Epic . : Great Cleave OR Extend Spell
26 Destiny: Perfect Single Weapon Fighting
27 Epic . : Epic Damage Reduction
28 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
29 Destiny: Dire Charge
30 Epic . : Epic Fortitude
30 Legend : Scion of: Ethereal Plane

15 FavSoul: Grace of Battle

14 Deity. : Follower of: Amaunator


Spells

Bard
Remove Fear (1), Merfolk's Blessing (8), Feather Fall (9), Expeditious Retreat (11)
Blur (10), Rage (10), Glitterdust (11), Invisibility (13)
Haste (13), Displacement (13), Good Hope (16), Remove Curse (18)
Break Enchantment (18), Dimension Door (18), Freedom of Movement (19)
Favored Soul
<Any>, <Any>, <Any>

Enhancements (Spent: 80 +0r +0u / Max: 80 +0r +0u AP)

Frenzied Berserker (35 AP)
Die Hard, Frenzied Toughness, Frenzy
Extra Rage II, Cracking Attack III, Power Rage III
Body Blow III, Blood Tribute III, Sprint Boost III
Constitution
Crazy Strike III, Constitution
Focused Wrath II, Raging Blows, Tantrum
Warchanter (25 AP)
Skaldic: Constitution, Weapon Training, Song of Heroism, Fighting Spirit
Inspired Bravery III, Rough and Ready III
Iced Edges III
Ironskin Chant III, Frozen Fury III, Strength
Reckless Chant II, Northwind I
Swashbuckler (12 AP)
Confidence, Swashbuckling, Uncanny Dodge
On Your Toes III, Blow By Blow: Melee III
Fast Movement
Dashing Scoundrel
War Soul (8 AP)
Smite Foe: Melee
Divine Might II, Toughness II
Haste Boost III

Destiny (24 AP)

Fatesinger
First Harmonic Chord III, Strength
Bound Fate III, Reign III, Strength
Grim Fate III, Strength
Martial Hymn
Metamagic Attunement I: Extend, Bladesong
Metamagic Attunement II: Quicken, Turn of the Tide
Twists of Fate (26 fate points)
Sacred Ground (Tier 3 Crusader)
Meld into Darkness (Tier 3 Shadowdancer)
Consecration (Tier 2 Crusader)
Dance of Flowers (Tier 1 Flowers)

MORE DAMAGE ~ Requires + 1 Heart of wood

Super Crit More Damage
12/5/3 Barbarian/Cleric/Bard
True Neutral Shadar-kai


Level Order

1. Barbarian. . . .6. Barbarian. . . 11. Barbarian. . . 16. Cleric
2. Barbarian. . . .7. Barbarian. . . 12. Barbarian. . . 17. Cleric
3. Barbarian. . . .8. Barbarian. . . 13. Bard. . . . . .18. Cleric
4. Barbarian. . . .9. Barbarian. . . 14. Bard. . . . . .19. Cleric
5. Barbarian. . . 10. Barbarian. . . 15. Bard. . . . . .20. Cleric


Stats
. . . . . . . .36pt . . Tome . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ----. . .--------
Strength. . . . 18. . . .+3. . . .4: STR
Dexterity . . . 10. . . .+3. . . .8: STR
Constitution. . 16. . . .+3. . . 12: STR
Intelligence. . .8. . . .+3. . . 16: STR
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . .+3. . . 20: STR
Charisma. . . . 14. . . .+3. . . 24: STR
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28: STR

Skills
. . . . .Bn Bn Bn Bn Bn Bn Bn Bn Bn Bn Bn Bn Bd Bd Bd Cl Cl Cl Cl Cl
. . . . . 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Swim. . . 4. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. . . . 2 . . 1 .1. 1 .1. 21
UMD . . . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . .6. 4 .½. . . . . . . 18
Jump. . . . .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Balance . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Perform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Heal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1. . . . . . . .1
Intim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .12. 4. 4. 4. 4. 4. 4. 4. 4. 4. 4. 4. 6 .6. 6 .2. 2 .2. 2 .2


Feats

.1. . . . : Single Weapon Fighting
.3. . . . : Dodge
.6. . . . : Improved Single Weapon Fighting
.9. . . . : Improved Critical: Slashing
12. . . . : Greater Single Weapon Fighting
15. . . . : Offhand Versatility
18. . . . : Mobility
21 Epic . : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic . : Spring Attack
26 Destiny: Perfect Single Weapon Fighting
27 Epic . : Epic Damage Reduction
28 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
29 Destiny: Dire Charge
30 Epic . : Epic Reflexes
30 Legend : Scion of: Ethereal Plane

17 Cleric : Strength Domain

16 Deity. : Follower of: Silvanus


Spells

Cleric
Cure Light Wounds (16), Nightshield (16), Bless (16), Remove Fear (17), Divine Favor (19)
Cure Moderate Wounds (18), Spawn Screen (18), Remove Paralysis (18), Lesser Restoration (19)
Cure Serious Wounds (20), Magic Circle Against Evil (20), Prayer (20)
Bard
<Any>, <Any>, <Any>

Enhancements (Spent: 80 +2r +0u / Max: 80 +2r +0u AP)

Frenzied Berserker (34 AP)
Die Hard, Frenzied Toughness, Frenzy, Frenzied Toughness II
Cracking Attack III, Power Rage III
Body Blow III, Blood Tribute III, Extra Action Boost III, Sprint Boost III
Constitution
Crazy Strike III
Focused Wrath II, Tantrum
Shadar-kai (18 AP)
Shadar-kai Grit, Wisdom, Shadow Phase
(none)
Forceful Chain, Improved Dodge II, Ghostly Essence III, Guile
Ghastly Chain, Displacement, Guile
Greater Spiked Chain Attack, Assassin's Mark
Swashbuckler (11 AP)
Confidence, Swashbuckling
On Your Toes III, Blow By Blow: Melee III
Deflect Arrows
Dashing Scoundrel
Occult Slayer (11 AP)
Weapon Bond, Resistance, Elemental Defense
Extend Rage I, Parrying Bond III, Uncanny Dodger I
Guarding Bond III
Warpriest (4 AP)
Smite Foe: Melee
Divine Might III
Ravager (4 AP)
Furious Rage
Hardy Rage III

Destiny (25 AP)

Fury of the Wild
Primal Scream III, Strength
Unstoppable Fury I, Acute Instincts III, Damage Reduction III
(none)
Sense Weakness III, Overwhelming Force II
Strong Swings, Fury Eternal, Devastating Blow
Unbridled Fury, Bloodbath
Twists of Fate (22 fate points)
Martial Hymn (Tier 4 Fatesinger)
Haste Boost (Tier 3 Dreadnought)
Dance of Flowers (Tier 1 Flowers)

[Kodwraith]

Could the same concept work with Rapier (+1 multiplier) and T5 Ravager (+2 crit range) if you wanted a different way to admix the crit bonuses?

[cru121]

Could the same concept work with Rapier (+1 multiplier) and T5 Ravager (+2 crit range) if you wanted a different way to admix the crit bonuses?

sure, but 15x5 is better than 13x3

[magaiti]

How about Strike With No Thought (6 Fighter) + Exploit Weakness (5+ Bard)?
Handaxe or Light Pick

[unbongwah]

What about DEX-based SDK rogue 12 / barb 5 / bard 3? More sneak attacks, same crit profile. No Raging so we use Precision instead of Power Attack; Focused Wrath still works w/out Rage IIRC. No +1 heart of wood required; no tomes required either making it first-life friendly.

Feats are tight but doable: SWF x3, Finesse, Precision, Offhand Versatility, Improved+Overwhelming Critical, Improved Sneak Attack - that's 9 feats leaving two epic slots free.

Enhancements: baseline is 32 Berserker (Focused Wrath) / 17 SDK (Greater Spiked Chain Attack) / 13 Swashbuckler (Dashing Scoundrel + Swift Strikes) / 3 Acrobat (Fast movement). That leaves at least 15 APs: if you have Horizon Walker, 13 APs for No Step Missed; if not, put 6-8 APs into Harper for Know the Angles. If you have enough bonus APs, you can spend 11 in Vistani for +5% Doublestrike and Haste Boost.

[Kodwraith]

Thanks Ung! I knew there was some reason I was stockpiling random handaxes. I didn't think it would be for my rogue life.

[SocratesBastardSon]

What about DEX-based SDK rogue 12 / barb 5 / bard 3?

You lose the FvS trance, Divine Will, but if you have Horizon Walker you can pick up the DEX trance.

[cru121]

What about DEX-based SDK rogue 12 / barb 5 / bard 3?

Going int-based saves a bunch of AP, instead of dex trance, you can go down 7-8 AP in Harper for KtA.
You also save a feat (finesse) but probably pick up insightful reflexes, so it's very similar.
High int also makes trapping easier. Post-stat-squish it is a bit harder.

[SouCarioca]

I would imagine this works with other weapons. For example, take the sickle. At its root, it is worse than a Hand Axe as it is a 1d6 20/ x2, while the Hand Axe is 1d6 20/ x3, but the Swashbuckling stance seems to equalize that at it core, because while the Hand Axe only gets a +2 to crit range and no multiplier, the sickle is given an extra multiplier providing it the same basic stats.

[cru121]

I would imagine this works with other weapons. For example, take the sickle.

No. Handaxes and Light Picks receive only extra critical threat from Swashbuckling, i.e., they are very nice to combine with Frenzied Berserker +2 multiplier; for 15-20x5 (axe) or 17-20x6 (pick).

All other weapons receive +1 multiplier from swashbuckling, i.e., they only receive +1 extra from FrB, for 15-20x4.

[Arkat]

Made a Swashbuckling 12Rog/5Barb/3Bard Shadar-Kai using the Magmatic Reaver handaxe user using this build theory. Very powerful.

Next up is a TWF Heavy Pick build. Probably use a Syranian Heavy Pick and a Morninglord's Heavy Pick. Maybe use two of each and switch depending on what I'm fighting. That's a lot more sentient exp to farm for, though.

Thinking Something like a FTR12/Barb5/3x build. Not sure about the splits, though.

The idea would be to get as high a crit multiplier as I could without swashbuckling.

[cmecu]

I always loved the handaxe build.. going all the way back to when I think the Dwarven Defender Parody. TYWA for dwarf.. etc.. how many times I have bugged umbongwah to update the handaxe build Back by popular demand * literally one person I tried playing with the Cleric splash for animal domain for hp, and also divine might.. but it was better not to have a divine class , and just go Barbarian, bard and rogue.. Tried them all kinds of ways.. 12 bard / 6barb/ 2 rogue, also 12 rogue / 5 barb / 3 bard .. Played it as Charisma build you get your cha to damage in buckler tree, but to hit you can waste points in spell singer to get magical studies ( coat ya 4 points) or use a feat and get magical studies. Then you can get Cha to hit in the feydark illusionist. If I dont go cha route, and go dex. I end up taking the feat that gives dex to hit, and then taking dex damage in swash tree. Taking dex allows you to take epic Sneak attack dice if you choose to. I have played as Shadar kai for the chains, I have played it as tiefling scoundrel for the sonic damage in the racial cores. Also played with buckler off hand, orb hyrsams fiddle offhand, and also nothing in offhand , taking swashbucking enahncement accordingly to what is on offhand, also have tried offhand versatility nothing in offhand for 25% more mod .. so many ways to play this build.. i love it.

[Enderoc]

Is the Shadar Chain strike with light weapon affected by rune arm?

[jskinner937]

For Heroic leveling is the forgotten and sinister probably best choices? I find handaxes so lacking in this game.

[magaiti]

For Heroic leveling is the forgotten and sinister probably best choices? I find handaxes so lacking in this game.

Forester's Brush Hook is best for heroic/epic leveling for such builds, but keep in mind it's a kama (exotic weapon), so you have to take a kama proficiency feat and Swords to Plowshares feat if you have room.
It's not good enough for endgame so if you plan to stay at cap for a while, switch to another weapon (handaxe or light pick) and ditch those kama feats.

[eseguin]

Sorry can someone explain what's the point to offhand versatility if the build uses a buckler? Shouldn't you favor shield mastery?

[Arkat]

Sorry can someone explain what's the point to offhand versatility if the build uses a buckler? Shouldn't you favor shield mastery?

Where do you see buckler use?

You can use a buckler while Swashbuckling, but I don't see it required in this build.

My Shadar Kai hand axe guy doesn't use a buckler. Offhand Versatility is too good to use a buckler.

[unbongwah]

Sorry can someone explain what's the point to offhand versatility if the build uses a buckler? Shouldn't you favor shield mastery?

Who said this build uses bucklers? OP takes Dashing Scoundrel: "While Swashbuckling with nothing in your off hand, you gain +1 Attack Damage per 5 Character levels and 10% Doublestrike/Doubleshot." Combine that with Offhand Versatility: "If you have nothing in your offhand (while Single Weapon Fighting), your ability score modifier contributes 25% more to your melee damage."

[crackerjackwr]

For Heroic leveling is the forgotten and sinister probably best choices? I find handaxes so lacking in this game.

The sharn crafted weapon is real good for sharn quests. So don't overlook that.

Also with the new EDs this build having improved evasion with just 11 points in shadow dancer is just great

[crackerjackwr]

Im wondering about tinkering with the split a little bit.

How would 9 cleric / 8 barb/ 3 bard feel?

Pros
4th, 5th level cleric spells: restoration, raise dead, panacea, FoM.
Knockdown proof
More SP
2 to will saves (i think)
Choice of level 6 deity feat. Amaunator for cold dmg reduction. Or a nice cooldown clicky for helm. 9 PRR (nearly offsetting one of the cons), 4 wis, 5 Fort saves. 78 seconds every 10 minutes.
Cons
Fewer HP and BAB
-2 STR and Con while raging.
-1% dmg mitigation
loss of core 4 Frenzied enhncement, which is HP and HAMP and 10 PRR.
1 fewer rage. -2 to trap sense.