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About this mod
Rebalanced version of ling3241's hyper offense focused Sword Saint, a distinctive class focusing on maximizing damage potential. Use spells, arcane arts and your blade to destroy your foes.
- Requirements
- Permissions and credits
- Changelogs
So firstly, go check the original mod and see if it interests you. Maybe
you like the original version more, maybe you like my version more.
Either way is fine. This is just me sharing a personal edited version of the original mod.
you like the original version more, maybe you like my version more.
Either way is fine. This is just me sharing a personal edited version of the original mod.
Requirements:
Original mod is not needed, but go give it an endorsement.
5e spells is highly recommended, but not absolutely required.
UnlockLevelCurve is supported, though there's no features after Lv12, except for spell slots growth.
ImprovedUI is required for the class icon to show up.
Class features
Sword Saint is designed as the damage core of the team, requiring team resources to maximize damage potential.
The Sword Saint dedicates their entire life to studying the most profound combat techniques and arcane skills,
focusing on obliterating all adversaries with a thunderous blend of attacks,
Sword Saint features maximized damage potential, which is achieved by its large number of extra attacks and elemental damage bonus.
It also has the potential to be a potent damage-caster if relevant Arcane Arts are selected.
The key ability of Sword Saint is Instant Strike, which provides 1/2/3 extra attacks at level 4/8/12.
However, these attacks also receive a -3/-6/-9 penalty in Attack Rolls, which makes it vital for you to get as much attack bonus as you can,
with the help of your spells, class abilities or allies.
Dimension Blade, a featuring spell in pf sword saint, has been implemented. You can
expend a spell slot to cast Dimension Blade, which makes a weapon attack
with added force damage, leading to high damage output, similar to paladin's smites.
Sword Saint is designed as the damage core of the team, requiring team resources to maximize damage potential.
The Sword Saint dedicates their entire life to studying the most profound combat techniques and arcane skills,
focusing on obliterating all adversaries with a thunderous blend of attacks,
Sword Saint features maximized damage potential, which is achieved by its large number of extra attacks and elemental damage bonus.
It also has the potential to be a potent damage-caster if relevant Arcane Arts are selected.
The key ability of Sword Saint is Instant Strike, which provides 1/2/3 extra attacks at level 4/8/12.
However, these attacks also receive a -3/-6/-9 penalty in Attack Rolls, which makes it vital for you to get as much attack bonus as you can,
with the help of your spells, class abilities or allies.
Dimension Blade, a featuring spell in pf sword saint, has been implemented. You can
expend a spell slot to cast Dimension Blade, which makes a weapon attack
with added force damage, leading to high damage output, similar to paladin's smites.
Differences from the original:
- Prescient Defense removed armor check and changed scaling to give +1 AC at 12-15 INT, +2 AC at 16-19 INT and +3 AC at 20+ INT. Removed additional reaction point. Now automatically learned at level 6.
- That's right, the AC bonus is now capped at only +3 and the passive scales at half its previous rate. With how much INT the class can get, you could easily end up with way over 20 AC even before buffs while not wearing any actual armor. 1 of the biggest issues with the class as it is, is that the class fantasy of the class is to be a glass cannon hyper offense class who wears very little armor, but outputs huge damage. Prescient Defense and Spell Parry invalidate this downside by making the class extremely hard to hit. This passive alone made the class tankier than any vanilla class and needed HEAVY nerfing to make any sense in vanilla balance. Now you actually have to care about the character's defenses and can't just avoid all attacks from enemies. +3AC for free is still very strong and with removed restriction on Prescient Defense, nothing's stopping you from obtaining heavy armor proficiency, a shield and going full tank on the class, though at least it requires some investment now. I also removed the additional reaction point this passive gives for whatever reason. It didn't make much sense and served no other purpose than to add to the OP bloat.
- That's right, the AC bonus is now capped at only +3 and the passive scales at half its previous rate. With how much INT the class can get, you could easily end up with way over 20 AC even before buffs while not wearing any actual armor. 1 of the biggest issues with the class as it is, is that the class fantasy of the class is to be a glass cannon hyper offense class who wears very little armor, but outputs huge damage. Prescient Defense and Spell Parry invalidate this downside by making the class extremely hard to hit. This passive alone made the class tankier than any vanilla class and needed HEAVY nerfing to make any sense in vanilla balance. Now you actually have to care about the character's defenses and can't just avoid all attacks from enemies. +3AC for free is still very strong and with removed restriction on Prescient Defense, nothing's stopping you from obtaining heavy armor proficiency, a shield and going full tank on the class, though at least it requires some investment now. I also removed the additional reaction point this passive gives for whatever reason. It didn't make much sense and served no other purpose than to add to the OP bloat.
- Weapon proficiency changed from all melee weapons to short swords, long swords, greatswords, daggers, rapiers and scimitars.
- This is more of a flavour-change than a direct gameplay change, but this change both focuses the class fantasy of *sword* saint actually wielding a sword, while also making the class slightly less overly versatile. This probably doesn't have much of a balance difference, as a lot of the best weapons in the game are swords, but I thought it a fitting change.
- This is more of a flavour-change than a direct gameplay change, but this change both focuses the class fantasy of *sword* saint actually wielding a sword, while also making the class slightly less overly versatile. This probably doesn't have much of a balance difference, as a lot of the best weapons in the game are swords, but I thought it a fitting change.
- Arcane Weapon is now automatically learned at level 1.
- This never made any sense not to be given out immediately. The class is designed around you having this.
- This never made any sense not to be given out immediately. The class is designed around you having this.
- Armor Proficiency removed Medium Armor proficiency.
- To Emphasize that the class is supposed to be lightly armored swordmaster. It never made sense for the class to be able to wear medium armor when original prescient defense so clearly encouraged going light / unarmored. The other reason is to kind of force you to invest into either feat(s) or multiclassing to obtain proficiency to wear medium and heavy armor.
- To Emphasize that the class is supposed to be lightly armored swordmaster. It never made sense for the class to be able to wear medium armor when original prescient defense so clearly encouraged going light / unarmored. The other reason is to kind of force you to invest into either feat(s) or multiclassing to obtain proficiency to wear medium and heavy armor.
- Elemental Blade: Cold, Fire and Lightning removed.
- There was way too much "just free damage" passive bloat and something needed to be axed. Other sources were either conditional or tied to resources and while I do like the idea of picking different elements based on who you're fighting, the implementation on this one made it a bit too braindead to add any interesting decisionmaking into gameplay.
- There was way too much "just free damage" passive bloat and something needed to be axed. Other sources were either conditional or tied to resources and while I do like the idea of picking different elements based on who you're fighting, the implementation on this one made it a bit too braindead to add any interesting decisionmaking into gameplay.
- Arcane Guidance damage rescaled from 1d8 to 1d6.
- This passive is actually much better idea than Elemental Blade or Storm Combo, because it plays to the idea of sword saint wanting to be supported by their team to get full effect of its kit. That's why I left the damage boost higher than a lot of the other damage increasing passives.
- This passive is actually much better idea than Elemental Blade or Storm Combo, because it plays to the idea of sword saint wanting to be supported by their team to get full effect of its kit. That's why I left the damage boost higher than a lot of the other damage increasing passives.
- Storm Combo rescaled damage from 1d8 per stack down to static 2 per stack.
- I wasn't sure what to do with this passive. It's literally just free damage with no downside. All I could do is reduce the damage to be in line with most other "just damage" effects in game, like Caustic Band for example. I do actually like the idea of a buff that becomes stronger the more you attack within a single turn, but couldn't come up with anything more interesting than just damage.
- I wasn't sure what to do with this passive. It's literally just free damage with no downside. All I could do is reduce the damage to be in line with most other "just damage" effects in game, like Caustic Band for example. I do actually like the idea of a buff that becomes stronger the more you attack within a single turn, but couldn't come up with anything more interesting than just damage.
- Flurry Chop now costs a level 1 spell slot and doesn't refund a reaction point on killing blow.
- This ability was, like so many other things about this class, a fun idea, but way overtuned. The closest comparative vanilla spell to this would be Halo of Spores which only costs a reaction, but whose damage scales from 1d4 to 1d8 at most. This is nowhere near comparable to a full weapon attack, even if you don't count all the bonus damage this class has on top of the ability refunding its own cost if you deal a killing blow with it. I decided to keep its damage as the major positive, but removed the reaction point refunding part and made it cost a level 1 spell slot. It now competes directly with Dimension Blade. DB does more damage, but Flurry Chop only costs a reaction.
- This ability was, like so many other things about this class, a fun idea, but way overtuned. The closest comparative vanilla spell to this would be Halo of Spores which only costs a reaction, but whose damage scales from 1d4 to 1d8 at most. This is nowhere near comparable to a full weapon attack, even if you don't count all the bonus damage this class has on top of the ability refunding its own cost if you deal a killing blow with it. I decided to keep its damage as the major positive, but removed the reaction point refunding part and made it cost a level 1 spell slot. It now competes directly with Dimension Blade. DB does more damage, but Flurry Chop only costs a reaction.
- Spell Parry now costs a level 2 spell slot.
- This was another nobrainer change. This passive is literally just a better Counterspell that only works at melee range. Since it has the downside of only working in melee range, I decided to make it cost a level 2 spell slot even though it's casted as a level 3 counterspell.
- This was another nobrainer change. This passive is literally just a better Counterspell that only works at melee range. Since it has the downside of only working in melee range, I decided to make it cost a level 2 spell slot even though it's casted as a level 3 counterspell.
- Extraordinary Knowledge INT bonus reduced from +3 to +2 and the passive is now automatically learned at level 8.
- Having access to free +3 int at level 5 was extremely broken on a class that scales almost exclusively from int. I reduced the int bonus to +2 to be in line with ASI feat and made it automatically obtained at level 6, where Elemental Blade used to be. This passive was another nobrainer that every sword saint is going to pick, so it didn't make much sense to have it as a "choice" to pick. This should smooth out the progression of the class a bit, though I'm a bit concerned that multiclassing out of sword saint at 6-7 might be too strong compared to staying as pure sword saint.
- Having access to free +3 int at level 5 was extremely broken on a class that scales almost exclusively from int. I reduced the int bonus to +2 to be in line with ASI feat and made it automatically obtained at level 6, where Elemental Blade used to be. This passive was another nobrainer that every sword saint is going to pick, so it didn't make much sense to have it as a "choice" to pick. This should smooth out the progression of the class a bit, though I'm a bit concerned that multiclassing out of sword saint at 6-7 might be too strong compared to staying as pure sword saint.
- Improved Arcane Precision removed slashing, blunt and piercing resistance ignoring.
- Being able to ignore all relevant resistances was a bit too strong for a class this bursty. I removed the physical resistance ignores, while keeping the magical ones to encourage casting more spells.
- Being able to ignore all relevant resistances was a bit too strong for a class this bursty. I removed the physical resistance ignores, while keeping the magical ones to encourage casting more spells.
- Dimension Blade is now attack roll based, rather than enemy saving throw. Base damage scaled from 1d8 to 1d6
- Probably the most significant nerf to the class's offensive kit. Making dimension blade dex saving throw based enabled the player to completely ignore the attack penalty of instant strike. being able to do paladin levels of damage without having to do attack roll, up to 4 times in a row every single round made this spell extremely potent. I also reduced the damage slightly, to make up for the abundance of damage passives the class has. This spell should still be the class's bread and butter even after the nerfs.
- Probably the most significant nerf to the class's offensive kit. Making dimension blade dex saving throw based enabled the player to completely ignore the attack penalty of instant strike. being able to do paladin levels of damage without having to do attack roll, up to 4 times in a row every single round made this spell extremely potent. I also reduced the damage slightly, to make up for the abundance of damage passives the class has. This spell should still be the class's bread and butter even after the nerfs.
- Perfect Strike now active as long as the character has at least 90% hp. Removed attack bonus. Now lowers critical threshold by 1.
- Probably the only passive this class has that actually wasn't too powerful. I reduced the hp threshold to 90% so a mosquito sting doesn't disable the passive any more. Continuing the trend of keeping attack modifier in check, I changed the attack bonus to instead be a crit treshold bonus instead, since that's an offensive stat that the class hasn't increased yet.
- Probably the only passive this class has that actually wasn't too powerful. I reduced the hp threshold to 90% so a mosquito sting doesn't disable the passive any more. Continuing the trend of keeping attack modifier in check, I changed the attack bonus to instead be a crit treshold bonus instead, since that's an offensive stat that the class hasn't increased yet.
- Disillusion Smite base damage reduced from 1d8 to 1d5.
- To keep it in line with the rest of the kit. Not much else to say. Since the spell has an additional effect, it can't deal as much damage as Dimensional Blade. Notice, that since this is a level 4 spell, the actual lowest damage it deals is 4d5.
- To keep it in line with the rest of the kit. Not much else to say. Since the spell has an additional effect, it can't deal as much damage as Dimensional Blade. Notice, that since this is a level 4 spell, the actual lowest damage it deals is 4d5.
- Instant Strike attack modifier rescaled from -4/-7/-9 to -3/-6/-9. Improved Instant Strike moved from level 8 to level 9.
- On paper this passive is very simple, but with how it interacts with the rest of the class, multiclassing, and casting, there's a lot to consider when balancing it. With both Extraordinary Knowledge and Dimension Blade nerfed, it's significantly harder to overpower / sidestep instant strike's attack penalty. Instant Strike being the class's most important unique mechanic should stay strong and with nerfs across the board on most other passive and active spells, I ended up deciding to give Instant strike a slight buff at early levels when it's harder to obtain as much attack bonus.
- On paper this passive is very simple, but with how it interacts with the rest of the class, multiclassing, and casting, there's a lot to consider when balancing it. With both Extraordinary Knowledge and Dimension Blade nerfed, it's significantly harder to overpower / sidestep instant strike's attack penalty. Instant Strike being the class's most important unique mechanic should stay strong and with nerfs across the board on most other passive and active spells, I ended up deciding to give Instant strike a slight buff at early levels when it's harder to obtain as much attack bonus.
Credits:
ling3241 for a fun mod and open permissions allowing me to upload my version of the mod for others to try :)
Credits from the original mod:
Gycicada for the helpful mod template and the excellent Magus Class mod.
Gawesome for the enjoyable Vanguard Class mod as an inspiration.
KiderionLykon for the life-saving Baldur's Gate 3 Class Icons LoRA. I can never deal with the class icon without it.
Djmr and other folks for the ImprovedUI which makes custom class icons easy to work.
My friend, Tim, for helping me with the dictions of English localization.