Talk:Massive Damage Striker (3.5e Optimized Character Build)

Broken Build

Being Flat-Footed makes you Dex-denied, but does Dex-denied mean you are Flat-Footed? If it does not, then stunning, cowering, feinted, etc, will not allow you to use Iaijutsu Focus as they are only Dex-denied but not Flat-Footed.

Flick of the Wrist will not work with your Katana, as FotW works only on light weapons. And you only have Weapon Finesse for your Katana. Thus other light weapons you'll try to use with Flick of the Wrist will use your Str mod for attack.

Do you take the first level of Iaijutsu master as a Fighter 5, or Fighter 6? As you do not have the pre-req Base Attack +6 for Iaijutsu Master as a Fighter 5.

One potential area of abuse is using the Iaijutsu Master 8's "One Strike, Two Cuts" with Rapid Blitz (3 attack Spring Attack). Thus you have the mobility during the first round to move into someone's face safely, potentially make 6 attacks with Iaijutsu Focus, then walk away. --HB13 22:27, 28 February 2008 (MST)

You make excellent arguments (I'm ashamed I didn't read them sooner), and I cannot refute them. Being Dex-denied does not make one flat-footed since the condition is defined as "At the beginning of combat before you have had a chance to act... you are considered flat-footed." Flick of the Wrist does not work with the Katana (and I can't remember why I might have thought it would). I just reread the section of the DMG which describes how one qualifies for prestige classes; I think my error was in not reading the section carefully enough (I transplanted the rule for feat qualification on accident). So, it seems that this build is rather useless if it does not

• Win initiative in every combat (or at least go before all opponents) and
• Kill opponents it attacks with its first hit (not too hard to believe, actually; at level 5 this build was dealing average damage in the area of 39-45).

In short, you're correct, and this build doesn't actually work.

I know there's a way to make this work, and I'll figure it out one of these days, until then Iaijutsu Focus will have to sit on the back burner.--Rakankou 12:43, 3 June 2008 (MDT)

Well, I went in and cut all the feats you put in that didn't work with the katana or Iaijutsu focus. I also added in Freezing the Lifeblood, and if I read it right you can do it any number of times per day, as that does exactly what you wanted Stunning Fist to do. So really all that is gone is FotW, Slashing Weapon Mastery, and Blade Flurry. Plus I moved the level of Iaijutsu Master down, so that's an actual legal leveling build. I hope you don't mind.--Forick 07:09, 7 January 2009 (MST)

Not an optimization

This build uses more than 2 Fighter levels... It is obviously not an optimization. There are a billion better things than fighter levels. It also uses NBoF stuff. --Aarnott 10:46, 11 July 2009 (MDT)

Use Warrior instead

In the unearthed arcana, there is the generic class called warrior. it allows you to pick 5 skills to have as trained skills. this allows you to boost your Iaijutsu focus up considerably. Also as someone already mentioned, The Blurstrike for a weapon in the Magic Item compendium allows you to strike an creature 10/day as if they are flat Footed.

6 warrior 10 Iaijutsu master 4 Kensai or epic Iaijutsu master.