I just like snakes. This build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in my best attempt to fit the character. These choice may not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.
You can check out a video on the character over here on YouTube.
Let's get into the build for A.K.I., Mistress of Poison from Street Fighter!
A.K.I., MISTRESS OF POISON
SOURCE Street Fighter Franchise
BUILD GOALS
o Once a street urchin running scams with her brother, an encounter with the assassin FANG led to her becoming his student and slavishly devoted to him
o She uses a snake-like fighting style and poison, employing highly unconventional techniques
o Her gauntlet can launch the claws on it, striking at range before being retracted by thread
o Some of AKI’s attacks activate Toxic Blossom against poisoned opponents, causing an explosion that ends the poison effect for a burst of damage
o Snake Step and Sinister Slide both grant her unique forms of movement at a low profile to avoid attacks
o Deadly Implication is her first super art, which launches enemies into the air before entrapping them in a poisonous bubble
o Tainted Talons is the second super art that launches her talons in a barrage that leaves behind a poisonous puddle
o Her final super art is Claws of Ya Zi, which is more powerful when her health is low. Pierces numerous pressure points while leaving behind a toxin that all detonate at once
Summary of Goals: AKI is an agile assassin that envenoms enemies before exploiting the weaknesses she plants to considerable effect. Her claws allow her to fight at range and her knowledge of pressure points allow her to eliminate adversaries.
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Dromaar Vishkanya
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Dexterity, +Wisdom
o Ancestry Feat: Lesser Enhance Venom
Background: Hired Killer
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Intelligence
o Skill Increase: Stealth (trained), Underworld Lore (trained)
o Background Feat: Terrain Stalker (Rubble)
Class & Subclass: Monk
o Class Ability Boost: +Dexterity
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Athletics (trained), Crafting (trained), Intimidation (trained), Medicine (trained), Thievery (trained)
o Class Feat: Monastic Weaponry
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str +1, Dex +4, Con +0, Int +2, Wis +2, Cha +0)
AKI was fully built and ready to roll several weeks back before I realized that her build used a bunch of options that were slated for release in the Player Core 2. I decided to push her build back until the release of that book, which means it’s now time to go over the monk – which hasn’t changed all that much. At least at first level, there’s no notable differences. However, my second crack at the build did see some changes.
Firstly, AKI uses the vishkanya ancestry, reflecting on her association and mastery of poison, but uses the dromaar versatile heritage for a feat down the line. For now, she’ll take Lesser Enhance Venom to use Envenom more frequently and resemble the poison that she can dole out. After her training at the hands of FANG, she uses the hired killer background with rubble for her Terrain Stalker option as that’s probably the closest thing to her usual urban environments. Perhaps unsurprisingly for a character from Street Fighter, she’ll be using the monk class. By pure rules as written, poisons can only be applied to weapons or ammunition and unarmed attacks are technically and unfortunately neither. So that she’ll have something to use her toxins with, she’ll take up Monastic Weaponry so that she can wield a tekko-kagi that she will be able to apply her poisons to. The main point of this weapon is just to apply her toxins, so she doesn’t need to have it scaled up quite as much as her other weapons. Potency runes will be important on it, but she doesn’t exactly need any striking runes on it.
One small change is that the effects of Ancestral Weapon have been rolled into Monastic Weaponry, which helps builds seeking to employ those sorts of weapons.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Poisoner Dedication
o Skill Feat: Alchemical Crafting, Quick Squeeze
o Gear: ring of discretion
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Fleet
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (expert)
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+1), purifying spoon (tablespoon), ring of discretion
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Cobra Stance
o Skill Feat: Nimble Crawl
o Gear: venom glands, handwraps of mighty blows (+1), +1 tekko-kagi, ring of discretion
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom (Str +2, Dex +4.5, Con +1, Int +2, Wis +3, Cha +0)
o Ancestry Feat: Bloody Blows
o Skill Increase: Stealth (expert)
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), venom glands, bracelet of dashing, +1 tekko-kagi, purifying spoon (tablespoon), ring of discretion
This build is not content with only using the vishkanya innate venom, so AKI will take a Poisoner Dedication to make some additional toxins. Mechanically, a focus on injury poisons that she can apply with her tekko-kagi makes the most sense but she may use instances of other sorts of toxins within her day job. For her fights, she takes Cobra Stance, allowing her to simulate her serpentine style. This feat actually has seen a small change – the Strikes from it deal piercing damage but have the venomous trait, which inflicts persistent poison damage. This is going to be a big part of her kit, but it limits the Strikes that she can make, so she will have to inflict her victims with a toxin through her tekko-kagi before going into this stance. Quick Squeeze and Nimble Crawl are both meant to emulate her very serpentine movements and fighting style. Nimble Crawl may actually specifically represent her Snake Step and Sinister Slide, especially as she invests more in Acrobatics. Fleet simply makes her faster, letting her move farther when using either of the two previous skill feats, and then Bloody Blows gives her another way of inflicting some sort of persistent damage.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Poisoner’s Twist
o Skill Feat: Slippery Prey
o Gear: +1 explorer’s clothing, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), alchemist goggles, venom glands, +1 tekko-kagi, necklace of knives
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Feather Step
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (master)
o Path to Perfection: Reflex (master)
o Gear: amphisbaena handwraps (+1 striking), +1 explorer’s clothing, quick runner’s shirt, alchemist goggles, bracelet of dashing, venom glands
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Poison Weapon
o Skill Feat: Kip Up
o Gear: venomed tongue, clandestine cloak, amphisbaena handwraps (+1 striking), +1 explorer’s clothing, +1 striking tekko-kagi, alchemist goggles
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Moderate Enhance Venom
o Skill Increase: Stealth (master)
o Gear: +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, boots of bounding, venomed tongue, clandestine cloak, amphisbaena handwraps (+1 striking), quick runner’s shirt
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom (Str +3, Dex +5, Con +2, Int +2, Wis +4, Cha +0)
o Class Feat: Cobra Envenom
o Skill Feat: Swift Sneak
o Gear: toxic blood, +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, corrosive weapon rune, venomed tongue, clandestine cloak, amphisbaena handwraps (+1 striking)
The primary reason that AKI uses the Poisoner Dedication is that it will allow her to pick up Poisoner’s Twist, which is a fantastic way to represent her Toxic Blossom. However, this requires the target to actually be affected by a poison and not just taking persistent poison damage or something, which is why she needs to use those toxins. For the sake of action compression, she makes use of Poison Weapon, which will give her a single action to draw and apply a poison. Somewhat more representative of AKI’s abilities is Cobra Envenom as this allows her to extend her reach, similar how she can fire out the claws of her gauntlet. It also increases the persistent poison damage from her Cobra Stance’s venomous trait. As a side note, she can dogpile this persistent poison damage with actual poisons for some juicy damage – unless the target is immune to poison. In which case, you’re sunk. Her skill feats continue to play into her serpentine style, especially with Slippery Prey and Swift Sneak, but Kipu Up is great for some more action economy efficiency. Feather Step gives her a slick little backstep. Her ancestry feat, Moderate Enhance Venom, gives her a more potent venom that she can use a bit more frequently.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Fast Recovery
o Skill Increase: Crafting (expert)
o Path to Perfection: Fortitude (master)
o Gear: amphisbaena handwraps (+2 striking), coating weapon rune, toxic blood, +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, boots of bounding, venomed tongue
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Alchemist Dedication
o Skill Feat: Shadow Mark
o Skill Increase: Deception (trained)
o Gear: +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, amphisbaena handwraps (+2 striking), daredevil boots, toxic blood, corrosive weapon rune, swarmeater’s clasp
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Lifeblood’s Call
o Skill Increase: Crafting (master)
o Gear: amphisbaena handwraps (+2 greater striking), +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, greater alchemist goggles, daredevil boots, coating weapon rune, toxic blood
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Alchemical Power
o Skill Feat: Bless Toxin
o Gear: bloodburn censer, amphisbaena handwraps (+2 greater striking), greater quick runner’s shirt, +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, daredevil boots, warcaller’s chime of dread
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +4, Dex +5.5, Con +2, Int +2, Wis +4.5, Cha +1)
o General Feat: Incredible Initiative
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (legendary)
o Path to Perfection: Reflex (legendary)
o Gear: +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, bloodburn censer, propulsive boots, amphisbaena handwraps (+2 greater striking), greater alchemist goggles, alchemist’s haversack
With Poisoner’s Twist and Poison Weapon, AKI can now switch tracks to take up Alchemist Dedication, netting her some additional formulas and more importantly giving her options such as blight bomb, which is how she’ll try to explore the poison bubble of her Deadly Implication. She can also throw around pernicious spore bombs to deal poison damage with a persistent poke that leaves behind difficult terrain – which is based on her Twisted Talons. Quick Bomber would be a great option here, but Alchemical Power seems more important as it affects all infused items – including the poisons that she makes with her Poisoner Dedication. It’s wording is also a little strange. It raises your alchemist class DC but then doesn’t specify what class DC she uses for her gear. By my reading, it would be her monk class DC but if it’s meant to be her alchemist class DC, I would apply some more boosts to her Intelligence in this build. Either way, this gives her a scaling DC for her poisons that will generally be way better than their base DCs. As an assassin, Shadow Mark will help her stalk her targets. Bless Toxin is a skill feat that isn’t usually used in these builds but one that AKI can make pretty solid use of. She has Fast Recovery and Incredible Initiative general feats, both sort of accelerating her but the former is specifically meant to be her familiarity with toxins helping her to recover from them more swiftly. She gets to the entire reason that she took the dromaar heritage with Lifeblood’s Call, which gives her extra damage when she’s wounded or doomed, referencing the extra damage of her Claws of Ya Zi that she gains when at low health.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Qi Spells – inner upheaval
o Skill Feat: Dirty Trick
o Gear: greater corrosive weapon rune, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, propulsive boots, bloodburn censer, amphisbaena handwraps (+2 greater striking), greater quick runner’s shirt
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Greater Enhance Venom
o Skill Increase: Crafting (legendary)
o Gear: amphisbaena handwraps (+3 greater striking), dragonscale amulet, greater corrosive weapon rune, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, bloodburn censer, propulsive boots
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Effortless Reach
o Skill Feat: Craft Anything
o Gear: cloak of swiftness, amphisbaena handwraps (+3 greater striking), quickstrike weapon rune, greater corrosive weapon rune, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, propulsive boots
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Diehard
o Skill Increase: Stealth (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, cloak of swiftness, major alchemist goggles, amphisbaena handwraps (+3 greater striking), greater thunderblast slippers, greater corrosive weapon rune
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom, Charisma (Str +4, Dex +6, Con +3, Int +2, Wis +5, Cha +2)
o Class Feat: Master Qi Spells – touch of death
o Skill Feat: Legendary Sneak
o Skill Increase: Survival (trained)
o Gear: amphisbaena handwraps (+3 major striking), +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, mercurial mantle, major alchemist goggles, quickstrike weapon rune, bloodthirsty weapon rune
If you can, squeezing in Quick Bomb would be great, but AKI needs Qi Spells to take inner upheaval as this will allow her to take Master Qi Spells for touch of death. Claws of Ya Zi are based on her hitting pressure points, building up to a burst, which feels like a perfect fit for this ability. She gets Effortless Reach in between those to extend her reach, referencing her claws and giving her a 15-foot reach whenever she uses Cobra Envenom, which is pretty fun. For her skill feats, Dirty Trick is still a fun option and the clumsy it afflicts could very easily be flavored as her hitting pressure points again. Craft Anything just takes advantage of her legendary Crafting, and Legendary Sneak isn’t based on abilities she demonstrates but more her role as a hitman, assassin, and agent of her master. She drops her Envenom down to a once per minute duration while amping up its damage with a nice buff. In fights where AKI can make use of her poisons, she can pile on the toxins and watch their life bleed out.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: This is one of those builds that would benefit greatly from a free archetype game as it would grant her the freedom to take her Alchemist and Poisoner Dedication while letting her fill in earlier monk feats. This means that Qi Spells could come in earlier and she could take a proper capstone feat such as Enduring Quickness. She could take Improved Poison Weapon, Advanced Poisoncraft, and Pinpoint Poisoner from that dedication, and options such as Quick Bomb and Voluminous Vials from her alchemist archetype.
BUILD CONCLUSION
AKI, the Mistress of Poison is a dromaar vishkanya monk with the hired killer background that explores her training at the hands of FANG, who molded her into an assassin. Cobra Stance recreates her snake-like fighting style and includes the poisons that she uses though the Poisoner Dedication significantly expands on that entire concept. She is able to launch the claws on her gauntlets, reeling them back in with wires, which comes a bit from her Monastic Weaponry and tekko-kagi as well as Cobra Envenom and Effortless Reach allowing her to lash out at a distance. Once AKI has a poison applied with her tekko-kagi, she can use Poisoner’s Twist to trigger extra damage, based on her Toxic Blossom. Her unique means of movement can be seen with her Nimble Crawl and options along the lines of Feather Step. She can create her poisonous bubbles, such as the one from Deadly Implication, with poison-based bombs that she gains from her Alchemist Dedication while Alchemical Power increases the effectiveness of all of her alchemical items. Other bombs such as the pernicious spore bomb let her leave behind poison while creating difficult terrain, based on her Tainted Talons while the reach of this attack comes from the earlier feats that we talked about. Her Claws of Ya Zi gain extra damage when her health is low, which comes from her Lifeblood’s Claw, and also involves the striking of pressure points. The latter aspect is replicated by her touch of death, striking key points that she can detonate for a huge pop of damage. In summary, AKI is a hired killer whose practice of Cobra Stance and Poisoner Dedication lets her Strike out with deadly efficiency, creating blooms of toxin. Her range is enhanced through her Cobra Envenom and Effortless Reach while she makes particular use of pressure points through her touch of death.
This pretty poisoner puts prosecutors in peril, punching pressure points to a painful peak that leaves people in permanent pain and proliferating poisons both personal and prepared.
Let me know what you think and what other builds you would like to see.
If you want to join in on the discussion of these builds and the ones I do for monsters or just hang out with a bunch of fellow TTRPG nerds, check out the Discord server. We also have a Twitter where we try to post teasers for the blog. The next build is supposed to be a request but I need to look into how buildable it is.
Have a fantastic Friday!
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