Help me altering this rogue build

[Artenides]

Hello fellow NWN players,

I have this character concept in my mind but need your help with the build.

Concept: A shady merchant (probably it is going to be NE) with questionable contacts who loves looking for hidden treasures in forgotten places. Gold is just a tool for him to buy favors and influence.

Build:

I quite like the dedicated rogue build but would like to take a few Shadowdancer levels as well:
1 Rog - Ambidexterity
2 Rog -
3 Rog - Weapon Finesse
4 Ftr - Two-Weapon Fighting
5 Ftr - Weapon Focus (short sword)
6 Ftr -
7 Ftr - Weapon Spec
8 Rog
9 Rog - Knockdown
10 Rog
11 Rog
12 Rog - Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
13 Rog -
14 Rog - Crippling Strike
15 Rog - Blind Fight
16 Rog -
17 Rog - Improved Evasion
18 Rog - Improved Knockdown
19 Rog -
20 Rog - Defensive Roll
21 Ftr - Epic Weapon Focus
22 Rog -
23 Rog -
24 Rog - Epic Prowess
25 Rog -
26 Rog -
27 Rog - Epic Dodge
28 Rog -
29 Ftr - Epic Weapon Spec,
30 Rog - Improved Sneak Attack, Epic Skill Focus Discipline

Could you please help me alter this build and add 5 SD levels to it? What are the things you think I can sacrifice for getting HiPS? Does this build give you enough AB to actually hit things? I never really played a rogue above level 10. Thanks for all of your comments and suggestions.

[One Two Three Five]

19 rogue/6 Fighter/5 SD. You're going to have to drop two feats, though.

[StealthyKraken]

19 rogue/6 Fighter/5 SD. You're going to have to drop two feats, though.

This.
You'll have to dedicate two feats to mobility and dodge to qualify for SD levels; Your level and feat order, however, would be fine, since if you were to go human, you'd have 2 extra feats you forgot to include: Two general feats on lvl 1 and lvl 6. That said, IKD is optional on a medium sized PC depending on your AB. You could drop that for toughness, I.Crit, exotic proficiency, and so on.
Also, a lvl 5 SD gets Defensive Roll for free, so you could take another I. Sneak attack instead (Or g.dex, if you need it/feel like it).

Speaking of AB, you'll want to take levels divisable by 4 pre-epic, because the way BAB works, you'd lose 1 AB otherwise. (If you were to rush for the 5 SD levels pre-epic, you'd get an extra 3,75 BAB, which is rounded down to 3. (The same would happen with the consequential 11 rogue levels' BAB (8,25 -> 8).)

I'd likely take four SD levels pre-epic, from 17-20, allowing for delayed taking of mobility and dodge (which don't really do much for your leveling other than qualify you for SD), fighter on 21 and the 5th level of SD on 22 (take it on 21 if you feel like it, really).

[Sockss]

15 Rogue / 5 SD / 10 PDK

You'll lose 2d6 sneak and 6 specialisation damage, but gain much more:

Inspire courage: AB/Damage +1/+1 (+Charisma saves)
Fear: effective 5 AB / AC as well other effects (Unlikely to affect most geared casters, but good enough for most non-casters)
Oath: (With a modest 14 int base) +2 AB + Damage to race of target, and -6 AC to target, (Effective 6 AB for everyone)
Final Stand: A 75% missing hp heal for you and everyone else in range

Valiant is lackluster as the PDK subclass, so take protector if you want crazy heals forever, or if you want to be more offensive take vanguard.

Not really relevant to the build itself, but you'll also grab heroic shield for a levelling buddy to infinitely haste them and give them a huge chunk of discipline (Perfect for if they're -guard'ing you like they should be) and rallying cry for when you need to grab aggro from a party member.

You'll need to put skills in intimidate but you should have enough points for that!

[Seven Sons of Sin]

15 Rogue / 5 SD / 10 PDK

You'll lose 2d6 sneak and 6 specialisation damage, but gain much more:

Inspire courage: AB/Damage +1/+1 (+Charisma saves)
Fear: effective 5 AB / AC as well other effects (Unlikely to affect most geared casters, but good enough for most non-casters)
Oath: (With a modest 14 int base) +2 AB + Damage to race of target, and -6 AC to target, (Effective 6 AB for everyone)
Final Stand: A 75% missing hp heal for you and everyone else in range

Valiant is lackluster as the PDK subclass, so take protector if you want crazy heals forever, or if you want to be more offensive take vanguard.

Not really relevant to the build itself, but you'll also grab heroic shield for a levelling buddy to infinitely haste them and give them a huge chunk of discipline (Perfect for if they're -guard'ing you like they should be) and rallying cry for when you need to grab aggro from a party member.

You'll need to put skills in intimidate but you should have enough points for that!

This is a really cool concept.

[Sockss]

There's no build that's not improved by PDK!

[Rabbid]

There's no build that's not improved by PDK!

And here-in lies the problem with PDK.

Back on topic: You could also try a build with 16 shadow dancer if you wanted to go with the shadow-summon. Though someone else, such as Rhaeg's player, will have to jump in with suggestions on whether or not and how to do that

[RamblerTeo]

I don't recommend going shadowdancer, go 24/6 rogue fighter instead. You lose too much damage just to be able to HIPS. You're better off cornersneaking instead

[Lorkas]

I don't recommend going shadowdancer, go 24/6 rogue fighter instead. You lose too much damage just to be able to HIPS. You're better off cornersneaking instead

As long as the shadow is out, there wouldn't be any damage lost, since the shadow for a level 5 SD adds 3d6 sneak damage and, once it's fixed, actually guards the PC, granting a more reliable way to deal that sneak damage.

So 24 rogue / 6 fighter gets 12d6 sneak damage, while a 19 rogue / 5 SD / 6 fighter gets 13d6 and guaranteed flanking while the shadow is out and 10d6 when it's not.

[Unconquered_Pariah]

I had a similar conundrum. My solution was to take 8 fighter levels instead of 6 to help absorb the feat loss. Ended up being 17 Rog/ 8 Ftr / 5 SD Miss out on a few skills, teeny bit more AB and the damage is still fairly competitive.

[Sab1]

About the SD shadow, is there a SD lvl you need to make the shadow worth while?

[Lorkas]

About the SD shadow, is there a SD lvl you need to make the shadow worth while?

On paper, it seems good from the level you get it for a short term guard and sneak attack buff. I'm not sure in practice how well a lower-level shadow works against higher-level content.

[Baron Saturday]

With 5 levels of SD, your Shadow would be a level 10 outsider with 60% concealment. Against anything with Blindfight, this translate to a 36% miss chance, and at higher levels it's only going to take a few hits to burn though a level 10's HP. If you really want to get good use out of your Shadow in epic levels, I'd suggest at least 13 SD, taking Epic Shadowlord at 13 for a level 23 Shadow with 73% concealment (53% miss chance even with blind fight).

Some other (admittedly untested) ways to get the most out of your Shadow:
Buff your Str/Dex/Con first, then summon, THEN buff the Shadow's Str/Dex/Con. In theory your Shadow could have one stat in the high 40s.
Shadows can't use shields or ranged weapons, but they CAN dual-wield. They get weapon finesse and relevant dual-wield feats as long as you have them, so make sure you have the right weapon equipped when you summon them.
For giggles: bard 4/pdk 6/SD 20