Ekko

Ekko is a fast-moving skirmisher, a confident combatant who attacks with the assurance that he can rewind time to try again with a greater advantage.

On the battlefield, this should be a character who has a high speed and a lot of movement shenanigans to deftly get into and out of engagements without suffering attacks of opportunity. Then, once he has moved in to engage with an enemy, Ekko should be able to take advantage of his dexterity and opening to strike hard.

Not only that, but the character needs access to a certain level of spellcasting – which, of course, will be flavored as gadgets and time machine hijinx.

There are a few options to capture this fantasy. The first one that comes to mind is Magus – and with Laughing Shadow, there are even some teleport abilities to consider.

But adding a Rogue dedication to the Magus to hit the street cred sensibilities of Ekko feels backward to me – puts too much focus on the magical and engagement side and not quite enough on the moving in and out, dodging and diving side.

To get the best of both worlds, the best version of an Ekko build is to go with an Eldritch Trickster Rogue racket with an added Wizard Dedication. Feats will mainly focus on building those Wizard skills – which is fine, because the base improvements to the Rogue’s martial ability and scaling sneak attack are more than enough to capture his fighting style on their own.

Then, the access to Arcane spells delivers on the time-gadget bonanza. This includes pitch-perfect spells like Rewinding Step, Time Beacon and Blink Charge. Plus, a couple reflavors, like a Temporal Field reflavor of Web.

Human – Versatile

This ancestry captures the genius of Ekko , packing as many feats into his early levels as possible. He will take Ancestry Feats like Natural Ambition and General Training throughout to add even more versatility to his repertoire.

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Time Traveler

It’s the perfect background. Fits in thematically, while his Dexterity boost alongside the Intelligence he’ll need for his Wizard dedication. Plus, the once per day Bend Time action adds some extra striking when he needs it most.

Rogue – Eldritch Trickster

Ekko benefits from the Rogue’s ability to pack on many skills, feats and tricks. The Eldritch Trickster Racket in particular makes it easy for him to add the time-bending shenanigans that he is known for by adding a Wizard dedication at first level. Another way to go would be Laughing Shadow Magus, which gives some teleport-striking right at level one.

This is cool, but I feel it simultaneously limits his breadth of spells available to him, as well as putting more focus on them than his martial abilities. The Eldritch Trickster route takes a while to get going, but ultimately feels like a better representation at higher levels.

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With the high intelligence needed for the Wizard Dedication, Ekko gets a lot of skills.

Legendary: Acrobatics, Arcana, Athletics
Master: Crafting, Stealth, Performance, Thievery
Expert: Deception

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