Editing D&D Optimization (section)

==Optimization in 3.5==
To find a guide to optimizing a class, type in the name of your base class on Google along with the word "optimization"; check the first few results and look at the guides. Repeat, but with the word "handbook" instead. These are usually a thread contributed primarily by one poster and looks more like a nice organized guide; well, at the top of it anyways. If you're planning to play a character with a theme like summoning or necromancy, also try things like "summoner handbook" and "necromancer optimization". If you're lucky, a prestige class you want to use will have a guide. If you really want to optimize, you should take a look at optimization threads (and not just on /tg/; for example, giant in the playground has some), and replies to the guide/handbook, which is usually possible given that handbooks tend to be threads dominated by OP in the beginning; often the OP adds some of the feedback into the guide by editing his previous posts, so expect at least some redundancy. People not bothering to read the replies may end up posting, unknowingly repeating advice suggested in other replies that was not incorporated into the guide. Also there guides aren't just restricted to classes; for example [https://web.archive.org/web/20230103135729/https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?123630-3-X-Person-Man-s-Guide-to-Shields here is one of shields] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20130605093353/http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19872054/Alternative_Class_Features_III here is a list of alternate class feature choices]. Search engines are your friend.

=== Monks ===
; Equipment
* Get a Necklace of Natural Weapons (found in Savage Species). Don't get a Periapt of Wisdom because it takes up the same slot as the Necklace of Natural Weapons and their are other items that give you an enhancement bonus to Wisdom (like the buff spell Owl's Wisdom). 
* Because you are [[MAD|dependent on so many stats]], you should pick up a Belt of Magnificence, as it boosts all of your stats. 
* Rings of Force Armor are useful: they give a +5 force armor bonus, let you hit incorporeal opponents as if your unarmed strike is a force attack, they do a couple of other stuff to, sadly using these will take up both your ring slots. 
* Ghost Shroud is a more affordable way to get ghost touch. 
* A [[OP#Overpowered|Starmantle Cloak]] would probably be good given that you have good reflex saves. 
If for some reason you choose warforged (which have a -2 Wisdom modifier,) get your hands on the warforged component [https://web.archive.org/web/20170710064446/http://eberronunlimited.wikidot.com/battlefist battlefist]; while you're at it, take the feat Beast Strike (found in Dragon 355) which adds your slam damage to your unarmed strike, which will be enhanced by the battlefist as a secondary bonus (the main reason for the battlefist is of course, being a size larger for unarmed strike damage.) If you're not a warforged, figure out how to make reliable use of the battlefist anyways. Perhaps through the investment in Use Magic Device skill (without too much expense elsewhere of course,); please note that it might take a minor case of [[Rules Lawyer|rules lawyering]] to do this: just remember warforged components are just magic items that have the racist feature. The "Sacred Path of Wee Jass" found in Dragon Magazine 346 helps you with use magic device. The Turtle Tattoo from the [https://web.archive.org/web/20140430234204/http://dndtools.eu/classes/tattooed-monk/ Tattooed monk] prestige class can help you with a skill check, including Use Magic Device. If you figure out a way to get reliable access to the battlefist for a reasonable investment (legal by RAW), put down how here. 
; Feats
* Golden Ager, gives Use Magic Device as a class skill, handy for getting that snazzy battlefist mentioned above. 
* Intuitive Attack, because Wisdom is way more important than Dexterity (for Weapon Finesse)
* Feats that expand on Stunning Fist, an eighth level feat you get for free at level one, like [https://web.archive.org/web/20130922204304/http://dndtools.eu/feats/sandstorm--85/pharaohs-fist--2155/ Pharaoh's Fist] (applies your Stunning Fist to adjacent targets) and [https://web.archive.org/web/20131124064341/http://dndtools.eu/feats/sandstorm--85/rattlesnake-strike--2384/ Rattlesnake Strike] (poisons your target). 
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131114190317/http://dndtools.eu/feats/sandstorm--85/scorpions-grasp--2524/ Scorpion's Grasp] basically gives you the improved grab ability.
* A monk's Unarmed strike is treated as a natural weapon in some circumstances, so pick up Improved Natural Attack (Unarmed Strike) - [https://web.archive.org/web/20071113014703/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20070403a this is explicitly legal for a monk], unless your DM just plain doesn't like you.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130923043412/http://dndtools.eu/feats/players-handbook-ii--80/versatile-unarmed-strike--3058/ Versatile Unarmed Strike] is good for bypassing certain types of damage reduction and also allows for some cute tricks, like using your hands as a Dervish.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130922222327/http://dndtools.eu/feats/tome-of-battle-the-book-of-nine-swords--88/snap-kick--2658/ Snap Kick] is a throw-it-in extra unarmed attack, which is nice if your DM is cool about what constitutes "base unarmed attack damage". That with [http://dndtools.eu/feats/sword-and-fist-a-guidebook-to-monks-and-fighters--50/lightning-fists--1769/ Lightning Fists] gives you three extra attacks in a round a a -7, which is OK, because you already aren't going to hit because of your not-full BAB and 20's always connect. This strategy is extra fun if your group is one of those where a natural 1 on a d20 roll causes something to go terribly wrong. 
* Last but not least is [https://web.archive.org/web/20131102005716/http://dndtools.eu/feats/shining-south--25/lion-tribe-warrior--1780/ Lion Tribe Warrior], which effectively lets you use Pounce with unarmed strikes (because "An unarmed strike is always considered a light weapon"), this probably makes [http://dndtools.eu/feats/complete-warrior--61/flying-kick--1158/ Flying Kick] worth it. This combination works nicely with the Twisted Charge and Nimble Charge skill tricks, allowing you to charge in more situations. 

Because monks don't need to meet the requirements of their bonus feats, try taking Martial Monk variant class in Dragon Magazine and grabbing Weapon Supremacy. If you plan to be running around through the battlefield, as encouraged by effective access to pounce from lion tribe warrior and your fast movement class feature, you probably want to invest in tumble to avoid attack of opportunities. You also probably want to read the Wizards.com guide to unarmed attacks, parts [https://web.archive.org/web/20130531080413/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20070327a], [https://web.archive.org/web/20130531083753/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20070403a], and [https://web.archive.org/web/20131216232029/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20070410a]. In later levels, if you have the Stunning Fist feat, you will have more uses per day than you will probably be able to use. This means you shouldn't be stingy with it, maybe your opponent will have a roll a terrible saving throw. Silvered Claws is a low level buff spell that can be be cast by an ally to allow your unarmed strikes to bypass damage reduction silver. Take a look at this guide [https://web.archive.org/web/20131016004234/http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=10994.0] some of the things in this guide should be helpful [https://web.archive.org/web/20130819020740/http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7081777].

=== Rogues ===
Use Two-Weapon Fighting and Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Quick Draw, Rapid Shot, and Haste, and get Alchemist's Fire, Acid, or Holy Water (for against fiends). You should be able to get a massive amount of touch attacks every round, able to hit on a 2+, and be able to multiply your sneak attack damage by 6 or so consistently. Alternately, get a wizard to polymorph you into a Hydra -- enjoy having '''7 to 15''' sneak attacks per round. Avoid constructs, undead, and dark spaces -- a true rogue knows that shadowy alleyways and misty-filled corridors will prevent him from sneak attacking due to concealment, so restrict your operations to brightly lit rooms and meadows. If you want to use dark spaces - get some way to see in darkness without using a light source - otherwise, darkness is detrimental.

=== Samurai ===
You picked a Samurai, widely regarded as the absolute worst full BAB class in the game, the sheer amount of suck you bring to the table is so great that you hurt your party by just being there. There is no optimizing this class out of the tier 6 pit of shame it inhabits. If your DM forced you to play a Samurai, you can rules-lawyer your way out of this hole with the definition of "Daisho Proficency". That doesn't have to be the weeaboo bastard-sword-plus-shortsword combo; play a dwarf samurai and getyourself dual battleaxes, or a battleaxe/warhammer combo for your daisho. Also, "Daisho Proficiency" isn't "Katana Proficiency and Wakazashi Proficiency", so you should be able to fast-talk your DM into allowing "Daisho Weapon Focus" and "Improved Critical: Daisho" and so on, giving you two feats each time for the price of one. Also: use your bastard-sword/katana two-handed for the extra damage, then Quick Draw your shortsword/wakazashi to finish your routines. If your DM bitches, point out that you were FORCED to play a Samurai, so you had to get creative.

=== Sorcerers ===
Not the most optimized caster class for pew-pew or utility spells, being a Sorcerer means Charisma isn't your dump stat, so abuse the hell out of the Leadership skill. With Planar Binding series, enjoy your horde of sexy marilith underlings. That prestige class and familiar advice in wizards is even more important with sorcerers. The only point in taking Sorcerer levels, apart from getting spellcasting of course, is to advance your familiar. But Sorcerers get access to many alternate class features that replace your familiars, so often there is not point not to take as many Prestige Classes that advance tour spellcasting as you can get your hands on. Mindbender makes a great one-level dip for example, and Fatespinner isn't bad at high levels. Then there are many prestige classes which are terrible for wizards but are awesome for sorcerers: a good example is the Sand Shaper, who loses a level in spellcasting and whose class abilities aren't that good on a wizard - but from level one Sand Shapers gain several dozens spells that they can immediately add to their spells known list, and this is obviously a huge deal for a sorcerer. Consider idea of being '''Dragonwrought''' [[Kobold]] - since they can take "For Epic Dragons Only" rules - what, when properly utilized, can buff them to [[Tier System|Tier 1]].

=== Wizards ===
; Golems Golems Golems
The market price of a golem is increased by 5000 GP per additional HD and 50,000 GP per a size increase. With the Craft Construct feat, you only have to pay half cost, and as a result, you can create a 54 hit dice iron golem for 195,000 gold pieces; it will have 337 HP, keep its immunity to magic, have a BAB of +36 and have a DC 37 poison breath weapon. For reference, a level 20 character can be expected to have 760,000 gold pieces, easily letting you afford 3 of these bad boys, along with a headband of intellect +6 and a few miscellaneous items. Lower level characters can triple advance weaker constructs, to similar results.

And those constructs can be equipped with armor and weapons, being experienced with Heavy Armor and Martial Weapons (if not Exotic Weapons). Armor (e.g. Full Plate +1, [[D%26D_Optimization#3.5E_Gear_titbits|bought for discount via resising]]) can greatly boost their AC (if you still don't have enough AC, add Tower Shield); weapons upscaled to their size] allow them to do more damage, while having unprecedented battlefield control (e.g. Ranged weapon like Crossbow, or Reach weapon like Lucerne Hammer; Slams if enemy is up close). Huge Lucerne Hammer would have 3d6 x4 Piercing damage and 30 feet Reach (15 feet long, +15 feet Golem's hands; Huge Glaive is 3d8 x3 Slashing). [[D%26D_Optimization#3.5E_Gear_titbits|Light Crossbow of +2 size - Huge Size - is still man-portable]]; so the big "Huge-Golem-Portable" versions are Colossal Light Crossbow (6d6 19–20/×2 Piercing 195.3125 feet range) and Gargantuan Heavy Crossbow (4d8 234.375 feet range 19–20/×2 Piercing). All that results in, basically, walking tank.
 
;Broken Spells
* Forcecage, a level 7 spell which costs 1500 gp to cast (and also allows NO saving throw and NO spell resistance, imprisoning any creature of 20x20 size or less in an indestructible force barrier. Leave an Acid Fog and Dimensional Anchor spell on it and teleport away, kills nearly anything with no save allowed, but that's beside the point).
* Polymorph Any Object has lots of uses. Among them, you could permanently turn a small piece of iron into mountain of any materials - including iron (massive solid cube, massive iron dust pile, or massive pile of 1-lb ingots) and other things (gunpowder bombs, molten iron, etc). There's '''no upper limit to size of thing you can create with Polymorph Any Object'''; even in worst case scenario, you could at least make something of Titanic size (90*90*90 feet; 18*18*18 squares). You could use it for crafts/construction, sell it, sacrifice it to god, entomb something in it, or drop it on enemy by conjuring it while flying. Dropping such iron mountain from terminal velocity is utterly devastating; RAI that's [[Exterminatus|comparable to or even stronger than nuke]]; RAW it's [[Dakka|'''absurdly massive number''']] of projectiles (e.g. 358345310 tiny 1-lb ingots or 17917265 flechettes - for merely 90*90*90 feet pile; '''actual mountain-sized''' pile is a lot bigger), each for 20d6. That's not even going to idea of creating mountain-sized amount of molten iron, or mountain-sized gunpowder bomb.

;Familiars
Its smart to prestige class out with a class that grants full spell casting progression. This however comes at the expense of your familiar's advancement. To combat this there are a decent alternate class features you can use to replace your familiar in dragon magazine. However a familiar that advances is valuable in both fluff and [https://web.archive.org/web/20220926174136/http://dictummortuum.blogspot.com/2011/08/familiars-handbook.html utility]. So after that you take the [https://web.archive.org/web/20131025204012/http://dndtools.eu/feats/complete-arcane--55/obtain-familiar--2078/ Obtain Familiar feat].

If you're in Pathfinder, take the Siege Mage archetype, which is a Wizard archetype that replaces the standard Wizard's small animal familiar for a magic cannon. By level 7, you should have enough money to afford a Fiend's Mouth Cannon, and be able to cast all the spells needed to carry a siege weapon with you anywhere you go, whether that be the bathroom or swimming pools: Floating Disc, Shrink Object, Levitate, etc. In combat, cast ''Unseen Servant'' to act as your cannon crew, so you're free to cast spells. The Fiend's Mouth cannon does 8d6, or 14d6 with explosive ammo. At level 13, take the "Vital Strike" feat to double damage for any one weapon attack roll, making it 28d6 damage. And this is before enhancement bonuses like Enlarge. Combine with the golems above to build a robocop body around your pet cannon.

; Clone rising
You can use ''Clone'' to create inert body of very strong monster - and then, turn it into Undead (especially great with powerful Undead, like "Create Undead" or "Create Greater Undead"), or otherwise make it "live". E.G. Undead Tarrasquenote/Great Wyrm/Devastation Vermin/Hecatoncheires/etc, with a robust template (e.g. Shadow/Spectre/Wraith/Devourer), for a measly 1000 GP per spellcasting renewal (chump change by the time you can cast the spells involved). Do it on secret private demiplane, so no one would interfere.

And if even the Undead Devourer Tarrasque doesn't satisfy your needs? Ask a deity of matching alignment for piece of flesh for cloning (he got great regeneration anyways, so why not). Then, animate the cloned body. E.G. if Evil spellcaster contacted Evil deity and explained his plan, he would get reply of "Go for it. What a great plan. I would like to enjoy the resulting carnage.".

=== 3.5E Gear titbits ===
* For polearm build, Lucerne Hammer from Arms and Equipment Guide can be useful. 12 GP, 2d4, x4 crit, 10 lb, Reach Large weapon is better than halberds and glaives.
* There were experiments with upscaling and downscaling weapons. Weapon can be increased or decreased step by step (Small = Light -> Medium = One-Handed -> Large = Two-Handed -> Huge = Can't Wield). Such resulted in variety of experimental weapons.
** One-Handed Two-Handed Swords. Greataxe can be downscaled into 1d10 9.6 lb 16 GP One-Handed weapon, or 1d8 7.68 lb 12.8 GP Light Weapon. Greatsword can be downscaled into [1d10 or 2d4] 40 GP 6.4 lb if One-Handed, or [1d8 or 2d3] 32 GP 5.12 lb if Light. Both are better than most One-Handed and Light weapons.
** Two-Handed Bastard Swords. Upscale Bastard Sword and Dwarven War-Axe by one size, into "true" Two-Handed weapon with 2d8 damage, what works as Martial weapon when held two-handed (who cares, what it can't be held one-handed anymore?).
** Anti-Materiel Crossbows. Crossbows have their own damage table. Light Crossbow can be upscaled 2 times into Two-Handed 3d6 125-feet range 78.75 GP 9 lb weapon; Heavy Crossbow can be turned into Two-Handed 2d8 150-feet range 75 GP 12 lb weapon. 
** Other oversized ranged weapons. Sling can be upscaled 2 times into Two-Handed 1d8 (1d6 with rocks) 78,125-feet range 0-lb free Two-Handed weapon. Sling and oversized sling are, basically, your ranged emergency weapon: they're free, weightless, and ammo is plenty.
** Altering dice. That's where bug-use starts. 2d4 and 1d8 increase into 2d6; 2d6 decreases into 2d4 or 1d8; so, 2d4 and 1d8 are equivalent. You could increase and decrease a weapon, to turn it from 1d8 to 2d4 (what is already helpful). So in theory, you could design weapons what have same amount of nominal size but different dice amounts (e.g. 1d12 = 2d6 = 4d3 = 12d1), by repeatedly increasing and decreasing weapon's size while choosing how dice look like (e.g. 1d12 > ''2d4'' > 4d3 > ''8d1'' > 12d1; or barring intermediate decreases, 1d12 > 2d6 > 4d3 > 12d1).
* By default, magic Armor can re-size and re-fit for whoever is trying to wear it, changing it's size and shape as needed. So it can, for example, resize from Tiny Humanoid shaped to Colossal Nonhumanoid shaped and back. Armor for Tiny Humanoid creatures costs less than big armor (only special cursed armor can't do this). So you can buy/craft magic armor set for tiny creature, re-size it and wear it. That effectively allows allows for discount of high-tier armor (e.g. full plate), armor made of exotic materials, and armor for big creatures. For example, normal Full Plate costs 1500gp - and Tiny Full Plate +1 costs 1750gp, and it re-sizes to wearer's size.
* One way to make double-wielding worthwhile?
** Use Two-Handed weapon, ''and'' use another weapon held in body part ''other'' than hand, as Off-Hand weapon. For example - swing Greatsword, and then swing spikes on your armor.
** Another method, is to alter anatomy of your character by adding more hands - such as with magical arms (if you can replace old arms with golem arms - why not have ''four'' of such arms) or body-altering spells; wield ''two'' Two-Handed weapons (e.g. Greatsword + Greatsword), for overall higher chance what ''at least one of them'' will hit. Also ask GM, what happens if you quadruple-wield weapons, or grab weapon with 4 hands.