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Purple Dragon Knight - How to use it?

TomRenethTomReneth Member Posts: 19
Hi,

I've been looking at the PDK and I'm honestly not sure how to effectively use this class. It doesn't seem a worthy replacement for the other warrior classes or prestige classes in any multiclass build, nor that strong on its own as a part of any particular builds.

I like the idea of prestige classes being limited to 5 levels and I love the whole group oriented warrior. Heck, the PDK abilities look like they'd be a perfect match thematically for a Blade style Bard, which will benefit from the martial aspects of the class. It just seems worse than just going with Fighter.

Am I blind? Are the PDK abilities better than they seem?

Comments

  • RananRanan Member Posts: 34
    The PDK class as it is, is pretty underwhelming
    One major issue is that most of the bonuses only last about one round

    Heroic Shield can actually be very good, however the PDK must constantly be using it/managing it for it to be useful

    The abilities that PDK get are pretty unique and with some tweaking it could be a competitive build, but if you're min/maxing then it's better to just go full fighter or take champion of torm levels
  • TomRenethTomReneth Member Posts: 19
    Ranan wrote: »
    The PDK class as it is, is pretty underwhelming
    One major issue is that most of the bonuses only last about one round

    Heroic Shield can actually be very good, however the PDK must constantly be using it/managing it for it to be useful

    The abilities that PDK get are pretty unique and with some tweaking it could be a competitive build, but if you're min/maxing then it's better to just go full fighter or take champion of torm levels

    That's too bad. That being said , I'm still going to go for Bard 15 / PDK 5. Not a powerbuild, but thematically fitting. More important in singleplayer IMO
  • FraideiFraidei Member Posts: 5
    I think that is more like a roleplaying class, something like Harper Scout
  • LordPasLordPas Member Posts: 47
    I'm joining really late to this conversation but I wanted to give my expertise on the subject.

    The PDK is a team support character. That team can be a 4 player party or with a summon that you assist.
    I'll break down the abilities and describe their use.

    Rallying Cry. This is a speed boost and a slight bonus to attack. I use it to travel faster. If our on a mount then you travel even faster. If your a barb it will increase your speed more. 20% is quite the speed boost. Even your friendly monk will get a nice boost iirc. I use all these up right away usually. The +1 bonus to attack is kind of "Meh" but it does stack with inspire courage.(read below) and it's an instant effect. Read below on why that is useful.

    Heroic Shield. Your ally gets a +4 bonus to Ac. This is pretty huge. It's almost like your ally has expertise.
    People complain about the 1 round duration. I don't because to me that lets you move this ability around. What's that? the party wizard is in trouble? well, let's take this off the party tank and give it to the wiz to help him. You can move this around as needed and it's an instant action. I use this with my summons or dominated creatures. Interestingly, it does not have infinite uses, but it might as well have. I once used it often with out resting and suddenly the number 99 appeared under the ability. Every time I used the ability afterwards that number went down. When the number hit 0 I couldn't use ti anymore.
    Also, interestingly, I tested this ability with another PDK and it stacked. So 2 PDK's can use this to give +8 AC. My guess is that 3 PDK's will make it +12AC.
    Also, this ability will go to any map. Click the ability and click on a team member on a different map and they now have +4 AC.

    Inspire Courage. A better version of Rally. All allies (and yourself) in the area get +1 to attack and damage and +2 vs mind affectting.
    It's my belief that this ability is supposed to help allies when you use your fear ability. It can be useful fighting mind affecting monsters.
    Nice thing about this is it stacks with Rallying Cry. Make sure you activate inspire courage first, and then activate Rallying cry. Good thing is that Rally cry is an instant effect, so you can be smashing and using it.


    Fear. The DC of this fear is based on your STR mod. The stronger you are, the higher the DC. Pretty useful if your a barbarian(use it while raging)
    Unfortunately, it affect you as well. If you're really good at targeting, then you're golden. You're also fine if you are a Pally because you're immune to fear.

    Oath of Wrath. Doesn't stack with the other abilities I think. imo the main feature of this is that you can learn the enemy creatures type. Useful if you're playing a Ranger PDK and need to choose a favored enemy.

    Final Stand. Gain temp HP. This ability stacks with other final stand abilities. I for some reason you have a party of 4 PDK and they use this they will gain 8-80 hp. Pretty high

    Hope this helps.
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