AMIA ARCHIVE • View topic - The Official Teach a Man to Fish topic (Build topic):

Yeah, but buffertanks' minimum performance level, when all the lights and music are playing, has to be that they consistently beat up nonbuffertanks, or your game is poorly balanced.

Uberuce wrote:

Yeah, but buffertanks' minimum performance level, when all the lights and music are playing, has to be that they consistently beat up nonbuffertanks, or your game is poorly balanced.

If you beat down someone who spent the better part of two to five minutes preparing for combat with little no preparation of your own, either they're terribad, you're cheating, or the game isn't balanced.

I like melee clerics. Personally, I'd like to see someone make a melee cleric - Divine Might / Shield version - with Knight Commander Levels and either EDK or EMD, making use of Shield Ally and their auras to make their summon OP.

Is there ANY build that can achieve this without DC-requested stuff, and with only solo buffing:

Epic level wizard (preferably 22 wizard levels so it can take 2 epic spells)

At least 1 cleric level (that way it can cast cleric spells when using item-based spell slot bonuses)

30 tumble

A self-buffed AB that is 47 or higher that lasts at least 2 turns

My first thoughts are, and were when I tried to make a build like this in the past, wizard/cleric/monk, but it doesn't have a very good AB (I think it has 11 base AB....) and I think it has low CON and so it's just.... Yeah. Kind of shitty on every level. As a concept it's pretty cool, in practice it was horrible.

Any advice or ideas on a build that can do this WELL? Or perhaps it doesn't need 30 tumble, and maybe it can go 22/7/1 wizard/WM/cleric? Would that be pretty good for a spellsword mystic theurge? The problem I keep running into is stats. It doesn't have very high STR so it just sucks at hitting things. But I want it to be able to melee decently somehow. I don't expect it to melee like Frugdar, but with buffs like acid sheathe, epic mage armor, and more self buffs, I just feel like there should be a wizard that can manage to melee decently with characters or monsters while also being able to cast well.

Maybe I'm nuts, and it's a lost cause, though. Currently my build has 24 base INT and 12 base STR. Not exactly great.

This is basically for me either rebuilding him or building a different character to replace what he was supposed to be, because he was my first Amia character and I want to pretend that my first Amia char, who's like level 29, wasn't a waste

You're approaching it wrong. Put points into STR, stop INT at 20. If you want to be a Spellblade, you will have to compromise something. 45-46 AB shouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. With all the other protections and spells, AC should be 65 or so with haste, more with expertise.

I've done a few like this. Very effective, when buffed anyway.

Wondering if you people can help me with building a wizard? the concept is a human inventor-ish character that's supposed to be a versatile wizard over powerful in one single school. I was also hoping for the character to be able to be a makeshift spell sword or at least to be able to handle combat in a few seconds, but I am willing to drop this for what ever becomes optimal.

Mister Lich, my latest spellstaff has just 14 base STR, and achieves 45 AB self-buffed, which is mind boggling how easy it is to give yourself a melee damage source on wiz/sorc. I'm pretty sure that with Wizard22/WM7/Cleric1 you can get an amazing AB easily. It only depends if you want to go for 20 INT only (for epic spells), and put emphasis on melee potential, or you want to keep your offensive spellcasting up there.

The former option can yield you AB of around 50. The latter will still be amazing. Seriously spellswords are just stupid sometimes -_-

Ok, 14 base strength on a wiz/sorc, how do you get 45 AB?

Tenser's for +10, GMW for +5, some mix of Bless/Aid/Warcry/Battletide/DivineFavour from items to cap you at +20.

I guess you know that and just mean the base.

14STR buffs to a humble +8mod, [Epic] Weapon Focus gets you +3, so we're on 28, and need 17 BAB, which means 8 levels of a full progression class pre-epic, or take Epic Prowess and only need 6, or 8 of a 3/4

I'm curious, how do I maximize a caster's AB for a touch attack? I don't want him to have a super-duper AB for hitting things with a sword, all I want is for this guy to be able to hit people with Harm reliably. This is a build idea I've been trying to figure out for a -long- time, and apparently I'm just missing something. Maybe it's not possible to make it properly. The idea is that a half-decent AC (50-55 depending on your gear and if you've cast haste or not), along with acid sheath, and harm with a decent touch AB, will deter most melee attackers, and your vast repertoire of spells is a great Mystic Theurge imitation, along with epic spells and a decent DC for wizard spells to make you a dedicated caster in parties when needed.

Here's the build so far:

1-17: wizard
18-20: cleric
21-28: wizard
29: bard
30: wizard

RACE: Human - Fire Genasi
Stats:
14 STR
9 DEX
10 CON
15 INT (+2 racial) (+7 levelups) (+12 items) = 24 base, 36 total
17 WIS (+11 items) = 17 base, 28 total (this way he can cast level 7 cleric spells such as resurrection or word of faith, which have some use, and are fun RP, i.e. "how can a wizard resurrect people?")
8 CHA (-2 racial) = 6

Feats:
1: Spell Penetration
1 (HUMAN BONUS FEAT): Greater Spell Penetration
3: Spell Focus: Evocation
5 (WIZ BONUS FEAT): Greater Spell Focus: Evocation
6: Spell Focus: Necromancy
9: Greater Spell Focus: Necromancy
10 (WIZ BONUS FEAT): Extend Spell
12: Weapon Focus (Unarmed)
15:
15 (WIZ BONUS FEAT): Maximize Spell
18:
21: Epic Spell Focus: Necromancy
23 (WIZ BONUS FEAT): Epic Spell Focus: Evocation
24: Epic Spell: Greater Ruin
26 (WIZ BONUS FEAT): Epic Spell: Epic Mage Armor
27: Epic Spell: Mummy Dust
30: Epic Spell: Dragon Knight
30 (WIZ BONUS FEAT): Epic Spell: Hellball

GEAR:

Ring: Improved Evasion, +2 INT
Ring: +5 INT
Belt: Belt of the Hard Road
Gloves: Epic Gloves of Discipline (+30 Discipline), +2 INT, +1 WIS
Armor: OPEN (would like to wear actual armor here, will likely eventually try to create/request 0% ASF full or half-plate)
Main-hand: OPEN
Offhand: OPEN
Boots: Shoes of High Archmage? (can't remember the item's name) (+5 AC, +3 INT)
Cloak: OPEN
Neck: Scarab of Protection 6 (+6 universal saves)
Helmet: +6 WIS
Ioun: +2 WIS

GEAR NEEDS:
+12 INT (GOT IT)
+11 WIS (Have +9)
freedom (GOT IT)
CON (Have +2, would like to have +4 for HP/fortitude)
STR (Would like to have as much STR as possible, to maximize touch attack rolls, currently have none on the gear)
Improved Evasion (GOT IT)
+30 discipline (GOT IT)
As much Fortitude as possible (Have +6)
As much Will as possible (Have +6)
+5 dodge AC (GOT IT)
2 cleric spell level 6 bonus spell slots (to cast harm and/or heal)
2 cleric spell level 7 bonus spell slots (to cast resurrection, greater restoration, and/or word of faith)

Is there a way to fit everything I listed, onto that gear? What is worth getting rid of and what is worth keeping? He's not supposed to be a super-tank, just a bit survivable, and able to cast various cleric spells with an almost-acceptable DC. Harm is an awesome spell even if someone makes the save, anyway, though. He is primarily a caster, not a spellsword.

Lastly, how can I make this guy able to hit almost anybody with a touch attack (if I can hit a DEX fighter or sneak by rolling a 10 on a D20 when I try to hit him with Harm, I'll consider that "able to hit anybody")?

Current touch AB, if I'm calculating it correctly:

+11 (base AB)
+5 (epic AB)
+4 (STR with bull's strength)
+1 (weapon focus: unarmed)
___________________________
21

That's not very high :/

bidocks wrote:

Ok, 14 base strength on a wiz/sorc, how do you get 45 AB?

Roughly it goes like this.

BAB 17
STR +8 (fully buffed)
EWF +3
GMW +5
Tenser +10
Bless/Aid +2
=45

Lich, there is something sinister about what you're trying to achieve (and how)

For now, let me stop you right there for a moment, Harm checks for SR, and your Clerical SP will be like 9+d20 with all the feats. That won't shoot through SR 32, let alone something racial. Even if you decrease said SR with Mord, it's still less than a coinflip to beat it, and that is considering that you hit with the touch attack.

Aeqvinox wrote:

Lich, there is something sinister about what you're trying to achieve (and how)

For now, let me stop you right there for a moment, Harm checks for SR, and your Clerical SP will be like 9+d20 with all the feats. That won't shoot through SR 32, let alone something racial. Even if you decrease said SR with Mord, it's still less than a coinflip to beat it, and that is considering that you hit with the touch attack.

Why thank you

And yes, it did not occur to me that I will be unable to pass through SR... Hrm. I'd have to roll a 15 on the SR check to get past 32 SR, after I use Mord's (because I don't have epic spell penetration). That's rather horrible.

Maybe if I stack 3 more cleric levels in there, and skip epic evocation focus for epic spell penetration? That'll be a 50% chance and increase my AB too... Hmm.

Thoughts? Obviously I won't be harming a monk, but the harm is intended for beefy, fuck-your-shit-up damagers like Frugdar who get too close to my wizard XD Monks can suck on acid sheathe and greater ruin.

I wasn't sure where to post this question so I figured I'd throw it here instead of starting a new thread. Can anyone tell me what kind of max AC bonus is allowable on gear? Just trying to get an idea of what kind of max AC's I'll be running into on this server when it comes to pvp. I've already seen a few +4 at the shop in Cordor... so I'm guessing that it may be possible to get +5 AC items by end game for all types of armor? If this kind of info shouldn't be handed out, no problem, I'll delve a little deeper in game and find out eventually. Cheers!

+5 is the highest you'll see.

Thanks man.

So I have this druid maxed at lvl 11, gotta decide what feat to take at lvl 12. No idea where to go from here.

Druid 11

Str: 9
Dex: 9
Con: 14
Int: 14
Wis: 20
Cha: 8

Feats:
1: Extend spell
3: Empower spell
6: SF: Evoc
9: Greater SF: Evoc

So this is where he is. No idea how to build a druid. Any suggestions?

Ideas:

Does any of that sound decent? Other ideas? Is a sling a waste of time and feats?

You have 3 feats left pre-epic. I suggest Zen Archery, Spell Focus: Conjuration, Greater Spell Focus: Conjuration.

Opinions please!

Paladin 24, Ranger 1, Master Scout 5, Elf.

Pure paladin pre-epic. Dex based, 18 dex to start.

This build has a CHA of 10, so won't get bonuses to saves, but Master Scout adds +5.

I'm looking at taking epic spot, hide and move silently. Also pre epic focus in listen (needed for master scout) and spot, h/ms too.

My estimations are 57 AC with easily attainable gear, and 50 AB with 4 APR. Can max h/ms to 111 and spot to 106.

Is this viable? Of course the RP part might be... odd, but, there are some deities that might support this sort of paladin. I'm really asking about the build itself.

Thanks!

This idea has been floating around in my mind for some now and, while I won't be putting it to practice for some time (if at all), I was curious to see the forum's thoughts on it.

The idea is a true demonslayer, a crusader with an exclusive focus on dealing with outsiders. Now, my thought here was a Paladin/Ranger, for obvious reasons. The real question is, and I hope you'll forgive the cliche: To BoE, or not to BoE?

20 Ranger/10 Paladin would give that very lovely +2/+2d6 bonus to fighting outsiders, not even taking into consideration the base favored enemy bonuses, as well as a wonderful compatriot (perhaps even a steed, if you choose something large enough) and, of course, Blade Thirst. The issue I see is that 10 levels of paladin isn't very much to manage anything particularly paladin-like (aside from Divine Might and Shield, which maintain a respectable +10 bonus each from a very manageable base 18 Charisma), or at least it doesn't seem that way to me. Conversely, however, 10 Ranger/20 Paladin may as well not have any Ranger at all or, at best, just the 1 level for the initial damage bonus against outsiders.

What are your thoughts, build experts? A more even split? Less? A third class? Divine Champion instead? Something I haven't even considered?

If you're going BoE, you'd need 21 ranger, not 20, so there's a 16 base Charisma (more manageable) and you can be DEX based, as well.

I, myself, if you're going for an absolute scourge of outsiders type build, would go 21 Ranger, 8 DC, and 1 Rogue or some other Tumble dump, for bonus to saves, purge infidel, and bonus feats. DC would get LOTS of bonus feats, both pre-epic and epic depending on your level spread, and gives divine wrath, which is a universal combat buff (saves, damage, attack bonus, DR).

Go DEX-based, use a shield and light weapon, and laugh as you insane AB and AC make you the scourge of outsiders.

10 (base AC)
14 (38 DEX, easy if you either use a subrace that has +1 or +2 DEX or take Great DEX feats)
+5 (armor bonus)
+5 (dodge from boots)
+5 (deflection)
+5 (natural AC)
+2 (Armor Skin)
+6 (Tumble)
+8 (tower shield)
_____________________________
60 AC, 65 with expertise, 70 with improved expertise

AB:
25 (base)
3 (divine wrath)
1 (weapon focus)
2 (epic weapon focus)
1 (epic prowess)
2 (bane of enemies)
5 (weapon AB enchantment, or some other source such as blade thirst)
14 (DEX)
______________________________
53, 51 against non-outsiders, 48 without divine wrath and against non-outsiders
43 with improved expertise (but with improved expertise up, you're just trying to tank anyway)

Damage:
1d6 (rapier)
+3 (divine wrath)
+2d6 (BoE)
+5 (favored enemy)
+5 (enchantment, or blade thirst)
+1d8 (flame weapon, if you have a wizard or cleric this can become 1d10 or 1d12)
+1d6 (Sureforged adds damage, right? This one I'm not sure about, I don't have any one-handed weapon users, myself.)
+8 (Purge Infidel)
______________________________
4D6 + 1D8 + 21 = 39.5 average damage, self buffed

That's not that bad, really. Plus, like you said, you'll have a decent animal companion with you, and you can buff him up as well. You'll be a hunter of Genasi!

MisterLich wrote:

If you're going BoE, you'd need 21 ranger, not 20, so there's a 16 base Charisma (more manageable) and you can be DEX based, as well.

Ah. My bardic mindset must have confused Bane of Enemies' prerequisites for those of Lasting Inspiration. Thank you for the correction.

MisterLich wrote:

I, myself, if you're going for an absolute scourge of outsiders type build, would go 21 Ranger, 8 DC, and 1 Rogue or some other Tumble dump, for bonus to saves, purge infidel, and bonus feats. DC would get LOTS of bonus feats, both pre-epic and epic depending on your level spread, and gives divine wrath, which is a universal combat buff (saves, damage, attack bonus, DR).

Go DEX-based, use a shield and light weapon, and laugh as you insane AB and AC make you the scourge of outsiders.

-snip-

That's not that bad, really. Plus, like you said, you'll have a decent animal companion with you, and you can buff him up as well. You'll be a hunter of Genasi!

Not to mention tieflings and, ironically, aasimar. Which isn't to say I wouldn't thoroughly enjoy being feared far and wide by more than half of my holy warrior compatriots, of course. It's a good build outline, and I can appreciate the premise. However, let's try for something a little more challenging and see what we can wring out of the dreaded barrens we call...RP builds.

Say I was intentionally limiting myself to Ranger/Paladin/? (something compatible on the third slot, obviously, but I don't think I'd mind rogue or even monk), and also a more classical sword-and-board crusader. Not necessarily strength-based, but definitely someone in flashy plate mail. How would the problems shift, and how would we go about fixing them? Paladin 8 still gets us a 2nd level spell slot (hello, Aura of Glory), leaving one open for a tumble dump. I'm definitely on the firm side of majority-ranger now, though not so firm that a notice of alternatives won't get my attention. Best of all, only 8 paladin means we don't even have to shift from base 14 Charisma, leaving us far more attribute points to work with.

So, offhand, I'd say a 14/10/12/14/14/14 initial stat spread, 21/8/1 with a tumble dump (UMD as well, more than likely, unless one decides to opt for monk instead of rogue, which admittedly means free evasion and cleave), and hopefully my inexperience isn't showing. Thoughts?

If you're dead set on full plate and Paladin, you'll want to go with 12 DEX, max out your STR, wield a scimitar, and that last level should be monk because you get evasion and +1 AC from your wisdom, in addition to tumble dump. If you want to use wands, which are incredibly useful but somewhat expensive sometimes, you should go rogue instead. You'll get UMD dump that way, and be able to use any magic item you feel like.

You have access to divine might and divine shield now, which are your saving graces. You're losing a bonus to saves with DC, but gaining it back with Divine Grace, losing bonus feats, losing divine wrath and purge infidel, but you're gaining Divine Might and Divine Shield, which will each be +8 to your damage/AC respectively. That's decent, but you're still losing feats, and AB.

AC:
10 (base)
+13 (+5 full plate)
+8 (shield)
+15 (boots, amulet, and a deflection item (possibly cloak))
+1 (DEX)
+6 (tumble)
+2 (armor skin)
+1 (WIS, if you take Monk)
+8 (Divine Shield)
__________________________________
64 AC, 69 with expertise, 74 with improved expertise

AB:
25 (base)
+13 (STR, we'll assume you somehow get max STR because this is the normal STR for a fighting-type, typically)
+1 (weapon focus)
+2 (epic weapon focus)
+1 (epic prowess)
+5 (blade thirst)
+2 (Bane of Enemies)
___________________________________
49 AB

Damage:
Whatever I said before, with:

-8 (losing purge infidel)
-3 (losing divine wrath)
+8 (gaining divine might)
+13 (gaining a shit ton of Strength)

And use a scimitar instead of rapier, because rapiers are for girls.

So you're still going to be quite nice, even against a good-aligned non-outsider, because of divine shield's AC bonus, but your AB is not quite as high as it could be, due to the loss of divine wrath and spreading of stats due to switching to STR and not having any bonus feats to throw around (if you had bonus epic feats, you could spend a non-bonus feat on Great STR or something. As it is, you have only your 4 normal feats, or 3 if you have a subrace with an ECL adjustment. Armor Skin, Epic Weapon Focus, Epic Prowess, and Bane of Enemies.)

I'd go with Divine Champion for power, but Paladin if you have to be a Paladin.

EDIT: Forgot that Monk AC bonuses don't work with either armor or shield, and this build has both. So I'd go with Rogue instead of Monk.

Saw your edit but figured I'd mention it anyway. Regardless of the full plate negating the monk AC, he would not get it until Monk level 3 anyway.

Shadowfiend wrote:

Hell-billy wrote:

Am looking at creating a barbarian scout/ infiltrator type character. Thinking 16 barbarian with 14 rogue for sneak attack damage and terrifying rage or go with 16 barbarian/ 9 rogue / 5 master scout or 16 barbarian/ 9 ranger and 5 master scout. First build would be dex based last 2 builds could be strength based. Dex based would likely use 2 hand axes while strength would probably be 2 handed sword. Does this build type have any potential or is it too diluted to be of any use? Any opinions?

For strength based:
If the sneak attacks aren't a must, you could go barbarian(21)/MasterScout(5)/Fighter(4), this way you can get dev, weapon specialization and quite a bit of skill points, if you don't go 2 handed you can also get a decent ac. I haven't tried out this build but it worked with ranger, and the feat progression should be the same as far as I know, also the amount of skill points are the same if I remember right?

With the changes to armor max ac's this build may work really well if you go a hybrid of strength/dex, so you can get +9 ac with leather armor and not having to suffer from heavy skill penalties, and still not losing anything in combat. If this build sounds appealing I can post a suggestion to class progression and attribute points?

id actually like to see that

@Hell-Billy
24 Barbarian 5 MS 1 Ranger/Fighter

16 Barbarian, 13 rogue, 1 Ranger

What is the benefit with 1 level of ranger of a 14th level of rogue?

Free epic feat: (you can take EWF) and free two weapon usage. Plus discipline

iforgotmyname wrote:

Shadowfiend wrote:

Hell-billy wrote:

Am looking at creating a barbarian scout/ infiltrator type character. Thinking 16 barbarian with 14 rogue for sneak attack damage and terrifying rage or go with 16 barbarian/ 9 rogue / 5 master scout or 16 barbarian/ 9 ranger and 5 master scout. First build would be dex based last 2 builds could be strength based. Dex based would likely use 2 hand axes while strength would probably be 2 handed sword. Does this build type have any potential or is it too diluted to be of any use? Any opinions?

For strength based:
If the sneak attacks aren't a must, you could go barbarian(21)/MasterScout(5)/Fighter(4), this way you can get dev, weapon specialization and quite a bit of skill points, if you don't go 2 handed you can also get a decent ac. I haven't tried out this build but it worked with ranger, and the feat progression should be the same as far as I know, also the amount of skill points are the same if I remember right?

With the changes to armor max ac's this build may work really well if you go a hybrid of strength/dex, so you can get +9 ac with leather armor and not having to suffer from heavy skill penalties, and still not losing anything in combat. If this build sounds appealing I can post a suggestion to class progression and attribute points?

id actually like to see that

I haven't tested this out, but if the barbarians feat progression is the same as the ranger's, it will work, you'll suffer a bit skill points for MS though.

Are you gentlemen forgetting that the -2AC penalty on Barbarella isn't voided until 17?

MisterLich wrote:

If you're dead set on full plate and Paladin, you'll want to go with 12 DEX, max out your STR, wield a scimitar, and that last level should be monk because you get evasion and +1 AC from your wisdom, in addition to tumble dump. If you want to use wands, which are incredibly useful but somewhat expensive sometimes, you should go rogue instead. You'll get UMD dump that way, and be able to use any magic item you feel like.

Rogue sounds more appealing, but I don't know how to feel about putting sneak attack on a crusader. As for DEX, I've always been of the opinion that, in most cases, I'd rather have more points available on character creation and then bite the bullet on Cat's Grace potions later. If someone uses Disjunction on me, I'll lose much bigger advantages (such as Aura of Glory and Blade Thirst). And if that +1 AC can make or break me, especially on a build that lacks uncanny dodge, I have far worse problems to deal with.

MisterLich wrote:

You have access to divine might and divine shield now, which are your saving graces. You're losing a bonus to saves with DC, but gaining it back with Divine Grace, losing bonus feats, losing divine wrath and purge infidel, but you're gaining Divine Might and Divine Shield, which will each be +8 to your damage/AC respectively. That's decent, but you're still losing feats, and AB.

-snip-

Hmm. I don't know, the bonus to damage and rather substantial AC boost feels to me as though it counters the loss of 4 or 5 AB quite well. Feats WILL be an issue, I know, but not necessarily epic ones if I place ranger's 15th and 20th levels in epic for the 'free' epic weapon focus and epic prowess. That should net me Great Strength and a free extra of my choice, like Epic Toughness.

That was a joke. If anything, I'd leap for Epic Will, as it'll be both a very important save and a very low one, and some development genius decided that a class built upon unwavering dedication should have Willpower as a weak save. On the upside, I should be functionally immune to poison and literally immune to disease.

Overneath wrote:

As for DEX, I've always been of the opinion that, in most cases, I'd rather have more points available on character creation and then bite the bullet on Cat's Grace potions later. If someone uses Disjunction on me, I'll lose much bigger advantages (such as Aura of Glory and Blade Thirst). And if that +1 AC can make or break me, especially on a build that lacks uncanny dodge, I have far worse problems to deal with.

Noooo.... When you have a DEX based meleer, you maximize their DEX with gear. You don't just leave their DEX, and drink a cat's grace potion.

Dirk, the best duelist and arguably one of the best meleers on the server, is a DEX based weapon master. He has like 38 or 40 DEX. You always maximize your DEX.

If you're going to be DEX based, and use weapon finesse, but you leave your DEX at like 22, you're not DEX based. Your AB will be horrible with weapon finesse, your AC will be horrible because you might as well wear full plate, etc. etc...

If you're not interested in going DEX based, just don't bother going DEX based. Wear a full plate and use a tower shield, a tumble class, armor skin, and expertise, and your AC should be fine. Go STR and CHA based. You need to have +8 CHA modifier, with 21 ranger, 8 paladin, and 1 rogue/bard/whatever for tumble, so you can maximize your divine grace, divine might, and divine shield abilities; and your smite will give you +8 AB and +8 damage, too, which is a fun perk. That'll put your AC pretty up there, because divine might is the best thing ever.

MisterLich wrote:

Overneath wrote:

As for DEX, I've always been of the opinion that, in most cases, I'd rather have more points available on character creation and then bite the bullet on Cat's Grace potions later. If someone uses Disjunction on me, I'll lose much bigger advantages (such as Aura of Glory and Blade Thirst). And if that +1 AC can make or break me, especially on a build that lacks uncanny dodge, I have far worse problems to deal with.

Noooo.... When you have a DEX based meleer, you maximize their DEX with gear. You don't just leave their DEX, and drink a cat's grace potion.

Dirk, the best duelist and arguably one of the best meleers on the server, is a DEX based weapon master. He has like 38 or 40 DEX. You always maximize your DEX.

If you're going to be DEX based, and use weapon finesse, but you leave your DEX at like 22, you're not DEX based. Your AB will be horrible with weapon finesse, your AC will be horrible because you might as well wear full plate, etc. etc...

If you're not interested in going DEX based, just don't bother going DEX based. Wear a full plate and use a tower shield, a tumble class, armor skin, and expertise, and your AC should be fine. Go STR and CHA based. You need to have +8 CHA modifier, with 21 ranger, 8 paladin, and 1 rogue/bard/whatever for tumble, so you can maximize your divine grace, divine might, and divine shield abilities; and your smite will give you +8 AB and +8 damage, too, which is a fun perk. That'll put your AC pretty up there, because divine might is the best thing ever.

Sorry, my statement wasn't clear. What I said qualifies only for a character who dons armor that restricts DEX bonuses to +2 or less. At any rate, thank you for your illuminating advice - if I ever decide to put my roster where my posts are, I shouldn't be completely hopeless.

Hello, everybody! Thinking about making a human STR-Monk; earlier pages suggest something along the lines of 21 Monk/6 Fighter/3 Rogue; does this remain relatively solid, given the general power level, or does anyone have a better suggestion?

Depends what you want out of it, what weapon you will be using, etc.

Izzzt wrote:

Hello, everybody! Thinking about making a human STR-Monk; earlier pages suggest something along the lines of 21 Monk/6 Fighter/3 Rogue; does this remain relatively solid, given the general power level, or does anyone have a better suggestion?

27 Monk, 2 Fighter, 1 Wizard. Go monk until epic for the saves, take the additional feats for improving Spell Resistance, and the Wizard level is for using scrolls and wands. Great SR, and you can do some cool stuff with high-end scrolls (like shapeshift, mords, and BBoD). Of course, this could be a Strength build if you wanted it to be.

Fists! Looking for a decent attack bonus, primarily - something monks can struggle with. Doesn't need to be absurdly powerful, but something that I won't feel like a burden playing in higher level zones.

Quarterstaff is now much better than fists for a STR-Monk. More damage, even including the 1d20 versus 1d6 and five more Mythal slots.

Rogue with UMD is a better bet than Wizard. You also need to read Owl's Insight scrolls since it's almost impossible to keep STR, DEX and WIS topped up without them.

Attack bonus is indeed a struggle on Monk. You end up with plenty for mobs, but not enough to beat up bosses well. I'm currently levelling an Epic Dodger Monk/Rogue with Cleric11 shoved in there to beef up the AB. Going STR means you don't have to put those 10 Rogues in, so you could look into Monk20/Cleric9/Rogue1 for example. Divine Power, Divine Favour, Bless, Aid, Prayer and Battletide give you +11AB, and they can all be Extended(when wearing 6th level bonus slot items for Battletide and if you have 16 base WIS) so that they last workably long. Dispelling is a major problem. Pretty much have to cut and run if I don't reach the likes of the Sag shamans before they open up the blue circular can of debuff.

STR-Monk is a pretty reliable source of DPS; your AC will be mid/high 50's without Haste and you're immune to a pleasantly large amount of the other flak the server throws at you.

Curveball option is what I did on Adam - quarterstaff(with Devcrit) wielding Rogue16/Ftr8/Monk6, although in hindsight Dev was a waste of time so I should have gone Rogue19/Ftr5/Monk6 and put in Improved Sneak Attack feats. That guy is the most ridiculous DPSer I've played; even without Sneaks he's still throwing out 40's eight/nine times a round, and with them he's brutal deluxe. Can't manage bosses solo for shit, because his AB/AC isn't up to scratch, but in a party he's lots of fun.

Hello!

I am considering in creating a new character, an Half-elf Arcane Archer, and I was wondering if you guys have any advice for someone who is absolutely diabolical with builds.

There's a few distinct types of AA that are tried and tested:

Pure Sniper: Bard/Ftr/AA. Very much party dependent, and it has to be a party with good tanking in it, so it's very specialised, but it has the highest AB around. There's wiggle room in the exact class mix if you want 30 Tumble to try and conserve AC, but generally it's at least AA15, with the Bard/Ftr being somewhere between 4 and 7. In the harsh light of day it's just not very good; the number of times huge AB is worth the weaknesses it has is quite low.

Arrowslinger Singer: Bard21/AA9. This has the handy benefit of turning almost everyone into a good tank, so levelling it up is pretty easy. The downside is that Bards really shine when they can Curse Song, which is somewhat counter to the idea of ranged combat.

Kung Yew: Monk20/Wiz1/AA9, with Zen Archery. It can kite extremely well because of Monkspeed, has oodles of AC because WIS is the primary stat and still has decent AB.

Really Just a Cleric or Druid With Better Arrows: Druid-or-Cleric28/Bard1/AA1 with Zen Archery. You can trim down the Cleric or Druid and get more AA, but really you're best off just taking the sexy AA arrows and running with the high Caster Level.

Spitefire: Rogue19/Bard2/AA9 with Epic Dodge. Plainly very party dependent*, and you've got micromanagement of your Sneaks, but it stings like blazes when you hit.

*Kinda. There's stretches in levelling, and places once you're 30, where you can just ignore the bow and function as a normal melee Rogue, knocking stuff over and shanking it for lotsa damage. That's not getting the most out of the character, but Epic Dodger Rogue19 is pretty badass anywhere it can pull KDs.

There's also the ArcaneArcherForRealsies Wizard/Rogue/AA, which I imagine would play out as Wizard23/Rogue2/AA5. Monk and Master Scout would also be compatible thankfully for the ample enough arcanism from wizardry. It contests the title of the most self-sufficient with Druid/Cleric in terms of PvM, but otherwise cannot really excel in either of its two trades unlike its rivals; you'd risk being the boring medium of both arcanism and archery.

Can a character with 21 wizard and 9 pale master levels summon a winterwight?

Yes, I am unsure why you would choose that level spread, but yes.

Don't make this hurt too bad, but what does 'kite' refer to?

Kudark wrote:

Don't make this hurt too bad, but what does 'kite' refer to?

I think it refers to a fighting style that is opposed to tanking. Hit and run a way, then come back and strike again. Correct me if I'm wrong...someone.

Kiting is a tactic typically employed in MMOs, usually by attacking a melee-focused enemy from range and when they try to close the distance, you run back out of melee reach. Usually involves buffing your speed or debuffing/snaring their movement. It's much like "Hit and run" tactics.

Ahh, the good old days of playing DDO and having a party scream "WHO'S KITING?!" on The Shroud, as everyone gets ripped to shreds by the Pit Fiend boss...

Good times :')

So being bored at work and browsing the Amia forum to see what's up over here my mind ended up making a

QUARTER STAFF BUILD

Sooo..! As I'm probably never gonna make it myself I figured I might as well post it.

It's kind of straight forward.

Human (No subrace)

20 paladin/8 monk/1 rogue (all paladin pre-epic)

starting stats

Str: 16 (all leveling points here: 24 str at lvl 30)
Dex: 14
Con: 12
Int:10
Wis: 14
Charisma: 14

Skills: Max Discipline, 30 tumble, 23 taunt (at lvl 20), atleast 10 UMD, then you probably got some left over for shits and giggles.

pre-epic feats: Power Attack, Diving Might, Divine Shield, Blind Fight, Weapon Focus: QUARTER STAFF, Improved Crit, Toughness, Luck of heroes (Or whatever you prefer for the last none-important feat)

Epic: Epic weapon focus, Prowess, Natural Armour, Epic Strength.

Stats with key ability scores boosted to max along with self buffs and easily aquired items (from epic shop) your stats should be:

Ac: 61
Ab: 50
Damage: 41 - 64 a hit
Saves: too tired to figure out, but you're a paladin. Should be awesome right?

With all +5 ac items and haste + magic armour + ioun stone ac would sit at 69 fully buffed.

Ab could probably be boosted with even more with items and taunt to +56.

STRENGTHS: Good stats, hits like a truck and quick like a monkey. You got good saves and evasion too.

WEAKNESS: Easily dispellable, no uncanny dodge, you gotta buff to get the stats up. Good luck getting +12 in four attributes!

Additional Notes: Guess the classes could be adjusted around a little bit, sacrificing some ab or ac for uncanny dodge or more saves. UMD is really important because you seriously need that Owl's Insight for Wisdom. Again, the trick here is to buff up all the attributes to 12 etc and then avoid getting dispelled haha. Could probably work better with some sort of subrace, but probably not by much.

Fin

Have a good day

Divine Casters have never been my strongest area, so I'm thinking I might need a hand. I'm thinking of making a druid, as in actual druid, but I don't know jackshit about building them, so I was wondering if anyone has any tips. I've allowed myself to be told that 28 Druid/1 Rogue/1 Ranger is good, but I'm not sure whether an effective druid would be a Caster or a Dragonshaper or what not.

Caster in party and for looting mobs, dragonshape for solo bossrunning, or when other party folk need tanking. If you take Greater Spell Focus(evo) pre-epic, which I'm pretty sure you can do easily, then you can't not be an effective caster Druid. Hell, even if you are casting off-piste, the DC can't be horrible because of all that WIS.

The 28/1/1 makes it very easy to take Epic Spell Focus for further funnies.

What about stats and feats? Obviously Wisdom should be stupidly high and requires Great Wisdoms for Dragon Shape, what about other stats? Con? Dex? Also are there any feats that those more familiar with druids concider "necessary"?

Planning out my elven diviner. I'm new to NWN, but I'm pretty familiar with DnD and have been poking around the forums and picking my buddy's brains. I have a bit before I have to decide on my final skill spread, but here's what I've narrowed it down to:

Concentration 33
Discipline 33
Heal 33
Lore 33
Search 29
Spellcraft 33
Spot 33
Tumble 30
Use Magic Device 23

or

Concentration 33
Discipline 33
Heal 33
Lore 33
Search 33
Spellcraft 33
Spot 33
Tumble 25
Use Magic Device 26

(If the numbers above don't seem to match between the two sets, it's because of some cross class allocation. The numbers listed are my final ranks, not necessarily how many points I had to spend to acquire those ranks.)

Thoughts? Really, it's just the difference between Tumble 30 with Search 29 and UMD 23, or Tumble 25 with Search 33 and UMD 26.

Or is there something else I should be picking up that I'm not seeing?

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