Skills: Lore, Tumble, Use Magic Device and Perform
What I'm debating is whether I should sacrifice a Bard level and Power Attack/Cleave to go for EWS, or sacrifice the Power Attack/Cleave for Lingering Song + Improved Knockdown.
EDIT: If at all possible, please leave the WM in there?
_________________ ~ Alexandria Do'Maetri, Champion of Tyr
~ Glam Snowfell, of mysticism and magery
Last edited by Eighty-One on Thu, Mar 12 2009, 15:15 PM, edited 1 time in total.
Power Attack & Cleave taken in Epic? The question i'd ask myself is.. do I need these so badly? Do I not rather wanna aim at 20+ Bard and get Lasting Inspiration?
Power Attack & Cleave taken in Epic? The question i'd ask myself is.. do I need these so badly? Do I not rather wanna aim at 20+ Bard and get Lasting Inspiration?
I thought the Cleave would help a bit in monster farming, though not sure about that... and though a 20+ Bard would be awesome, even with the current setup my songs last 19 minutes in total, which is more than the space between rests, so it suffices.
_________________ ~ Alexandria Do'Maetri, Champion of Tyr
~ Glam Snowfell, of mysticism and magery
Power Attack & Cleave taken in Epic? The question i'd ask myself is.. do I need these so badly? Do I not rather wanna aim at 20+ Bard and get Lasting Inspiration?
I thought the Cleave would help a bit in monster farming, though not sure about that... and though a 20+ Bard would be awesome, even with the current setup my songs last 19 minutes in total, which is more than the space between rests, so it suffices.
But you'll never be able to Curse anything on a consistent basis if you're using all your Songs on yourself/your party.
I want to rebuild Dilir, my dwarven priestess. She was a standard Wis based spell caster build, but I’m bored with that and I’d like to rebuild her into a much stronger melee build. She’s a follower of Haela Brightaxe, a kaxanar, which means a barbarian battle priestess and melee is more of her role (more pvm than pvp for me).
I gave up trying to make some Barb/cleric combo work a while ago – gimped beyond belief.
But I’ve come up with this mutation which basically satisfies my childish joy at large crits, the concept of a weapon specialist, but keeps the concept of barbarian dam res – well sort of.
Cleric 21, WM 7, F 2
Str 8
Dex 13
Con 17 -> 21
Wis 16 -> 19
Int 14
Cha 6
Feats pre-epic: weapon focus warhammer, dodge, expertise, mobility, spring attack, whirlwind, imp crit warhammer, extend spell
Epic feats:
Epic Dam Res I,II, III, EWF Warhammer or KD, Greater Ruin or Mummy Dust
Domains: Good and War.
The Str is gimped but she has magical damage and AB coming out of her ears.
The dam res combined with regen spells and gear seems to make her a PVM bunny - but then most clerics are anyway.
I’ve considered not gimping STR and dropping the weapon master….but that leads back to the road of pure cleric..or a cleric COT combo…which I’ve been trying to avoid.
Comments…? Alternative high melee-damage dealing cleric builds welcome.
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Power Attack & Cleave taken in Epic? The question i'd ask myself is.. do I need these so badly? Do I not rather wanna aim at 20+ Bard and get Lasting Inspiration?
I thought the Cleave would help a bit in monster farming, though not sure about that... and though a 20+ Bard would be awesome, even with the current setup my songs last 19 minutes in total, which is more than the space between rests, so it suffices.
Curently lvling a bard myself, you dont know how much spaming bard song is anoying, every minutes + if it disappear whe your fighting, its like 1 to 2 rounds lost only to re-buff.
EDIT:
Eighty-One wrote:
Acrid wrote:
no no no. You -need-lasting inspiration. just no. And take out knockdown, just use the ring.
EDIT: take out Lore for Discipline.
So the WM just has to go? *sniffle* And the lore was put in there for flavour. A bard that goes "D'oh!" at a pack of Bullets +1 makes me cringe.
You know lore is 1 per bard lvl wich make it 19 + the spell = 29. thats enought.
Do Bard 21 / Fighter 2 / WM 7
Pre-epic: Bard 13 / Fighetr 2 / WM 5
Bard lvl 1 Curse Song (Bard lvl 1 for skills)
B 3 Extend spell
Fighter 4 Dodge
F 5 Mobility
B 6 Expertise
B 9 Spring Attack
B 12 WF rapier
B 15 Whirwind
WM 16
WM 18 Improved critical
WM 21 Epic weapon Focus
B 23
B 24 Armor Skin
B 27 (watever you want)
B 30 Lasting Inspiration
I want to rebuild Dilir, my dwarven priestess. She was a standard Wis based spell caster build, but I’m bored with that and I’d like to rebuild her into a much stronger melee build. She’s a follower of Haela Brightaxe, a kaxanar, which means a barbarian battle priestess and melee is more of her role (more pvm than pvp for me).
I gave up trying to make some Barb/cleric combo work a while ago – gimped beyond belief.
But I’ve come up with this mutation which basically satisfies my childish joy at large crits, the concept of a weapon specialist, but keeps the concept of barbarian dam res – well sort of.
Cleric 21, WM 7, F 2 Str 8 Dex 13 Con 17 -> 21 Wis 16 -> 19 Int 14 Cha 6
Feats pre-epic: weapon focus warhammer, dodge, expertise, mobility, spring attack, whirlwind, imp crit warhammer, extend spell Epic feats: Epic Dam Res I,II, III, EWF Warhammer or KD, Greater Ruin or Mummy Dust
Domains: Good and War. The Str is gimped but she has magical damage and AB coming out of her ears. The dam res combined with regen spells and gear seems to make her a PVM bunny - but then most clerics are anyway.
I’ve considered not gimping STR and dropping the weapon master….but that leads back to the road of pure cleric..or a cleric COT combo…which I’ve been trying to avoid.
Comments…? Alternative high melee-damage dealing cleric builds welcome.
You will have a dying need of feats. Also... Mummy Dust? What the hell? I'd just drop the WM or DR. Either way.
I would take only 5 WM, since you get a dandy cleric bonus feat on 23th cleric level.
My suggestions are: STR-based 23 cleric/ 5 WM/ 2 fighter or 21 cleric/ 5 WM/ 4 fighter if you're a big damage fan. An aberration, either way, but a cleric can't really suck.
25 cleric/ 4 fighter/ 1 bard with all juicy EDR, you would still get a massive damage, ~160 on a regular critical.
Waaait! dont dont it.. i wrote it up in a hurry, there should be a way do avoid doing the Bard 13 cause you lose an AB here.
If you mix the feats somehow, you should manage to put more WM pre-epic, that would give you something like Bard 12 / Fighter 2 / WM 6.
Now i gotta go or my class-mates will cream at me.
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What is the most usefull school to put spell focus on? I wanted to make an illusionist, but seeing that the illusion school has very few spells where saves comes into play, is there any point in picking it? Is evocation or necromancy, or even enchantement better?
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-Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus: if you use spells from a certain school a lot--take them. Take them for Save-or-X spell schools, not for schools that do things even on a failed save (like Evocation, if you aren't banning it) or schools that do things that don't involve saves (Divination, Abjuration, Transmutation depending on spell selection). Enchantment, Necromancy, and Illusion are the best schools for these feats.
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What is the most usefull school to put spell focus on? I wanted to make an illusionist, but seeing that the illusion school has very few spells where saves comes into play, is there any point in picking it? Is evocation or necromancy, or even enchantement better?
For obtaining monsters to use as summons: Enchantment and Necromancy, but the Necro spell for pseudo-summons is Control Undead, so you will get eaten by wandering Druids and Pallies.
Necromancy also has the meanest killer spells in it's school, Wail, Finger of Death, Horrid Wilting.
Enchantment has Confusion, which is my low-Will-mob disabler of choice. In PvP it has the handy facet of not being curable by the target drinking Mindblank, a weakness Dominate Monster suffers from. This is a point of controversy among the playerbase.
Evocation is pretty crap on Amia (in the sense that the things you'll be hitting with Evo spells will be bosses who'll pass Reflex and take half damage - so just cast twice as many and kill it, goob) except for Sunburst, which is the best status mage spell *ever* and I will laugh openly in the face of anyone who disagrees. It's actually worth being an Evo mage for that spell alone.
Yep, Illusion has nothing that isn't done better by other schools.
For a pure wizard, it ought to be easy enough to fit epic focus in three schools, and then some. I'd go Enchantment, Necromancy and Evocation. Sunburst is amazing, like Ruce said, but I'm also a fan of Great Thunderclap. For those two spells, I do think it's worth going Evo focus on a build that actually casts spells.
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Well, the idea is to make a villanous wizard for a change, focusing on subtility and stuff.. sort of after Jon irenicus from BG II, just not as obvious... and illusionist just sounds cool.
_________________ "Edwin do this, Edwin do that. Somebody get this jerk a banana!" - Edwin, BG II
Valygar 'Stonesnake' Stark -Human Ranger Garret Smith - Archer and peddler of deity-statuettes Dáin Saltbeard - Dwarven sailor and fencer. No, I'm not joking.
3x Epic Focus Feat = +2 DC for 3 schools & some Necro summon duration increase.
4x Great Intelligence = +2 DC for 8 schools & extra spells & skillpoints.
For my generalist Wizard (30), I picked as many Greater Foci before epic as possible and then bumped his Int up to 44. Why?
Since we are on the wizard topic - Combat casting, worth it or no?
Also, in Practice, How useful are the Auto Quicken series of feats compared to the other epic goodness available to a wizard?
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Pure Wiz vs PM - Are the immunities worth it? and if they are, advise?
Details
- Halruaan Wiz
- 21 Base INT at level 5. - Poor Wis and Cha, okay Con and Dex +1 to STR.
- Skill Focus Conc/Spellcraft taken as well as SF Necro
- Fits RP.
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6 (3): IGMS, Greater Stoneskin, Mass Haste (Not much leeway here, would have liked some other spells too)
Why do you have both Greater Stoneskin and Premonition? I was under the impression they didn't stack.
It stacks in the sense that once one is gone the other is still there. I don't know if there's a specific order to which goes first, but I cast Premo first and Premo goes down first... the Gr. Stoneskin gives me enough time (usually) to cast another Premo. I do the same thing with my Bard/RDD except she scrollcasts Premo.
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Since we are on the wizard topic - Combat casting, worth it or no?
Combat Casting is available on an item, together with extra spell slots, if you're an Elf or have multiclassed to get the appropriate proficiency.
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Ranger build. How do I make it.. not suck? I'm a bit confused as to the tactics used, maybe. He's basically a flank or an archer yes?
I tried to find a copy of a Posted Ranger build, but I dug through about 20 pages of the old build topic before I gave up. Someone ought to make an attempt at organizing those posts into some sort of..accessible format one day.
I keep seeing 25 ranger being tossed around in reference.. is that to say there is little point in being pure ranger and that the last 5 levels are better suited for a secondary class or? hm.
Weapon choices: Better to pick up weapon focus and specialize in a single combat style, or use that feat elsewhere and carry multiple weapons for different jobs? (A blunt weapon for undead, a longsword, a short sword as an offhand when necessary, bow, etc). Should I plan on just being a dual-weilder?
If I go dual weild, is it better to have a single double-weapon (probably double bladed sword) or a pair of shortswords? Sure, the double weapon means I only have to buff it once, but at the cost of a feat. Dual shortswords means I can drop one and use a shield if necessary, so I can be more versatile.. but I also have to buff them seperately..
Animal Empathy - Worth investing points in?
What is a decent stat spread for a ranger? they are one of those weird builds that need a little of everything..
Is it possible to build a ranger with sneak abilities worth anything? (compared to rogues or SDs)
AND FINALLY..
animal companion - Are there major differences in the advantages/disadvantages to these that make them better for different purposes or is it just flavor? Which are/is the best to take?
Weapon choices: Better to pick up weapon focus and specialize in a single combat style, or use that feat elsewhere and carry multiple weapons for different jobs? (A blunt weapon for undead, a longsword, a short sword as an offhand when necessary, bow, etc). Should I plan on just being a dual-weilder?
Take Focus and Improved Crit feats in one weapon, but don't be shy about having a backup for hitting bony things with 50% Slash/Pierce DR. 3AB is pretty meaningless compared to half your damage being soaked.
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If I go dual weild, is it better to have a single double-weapon (probably double bladed sword) or a pair of shortswords? Sure, the double weapon means I only have to buff it once, but at the cost of a feat. Dual shortswords means I can drop one and use a shield if necessary, so I can be more versatile.. but I also have to buff them seperately..
Rangers are lucky in that they only use one spell to GMW+Keen, so it's half as bothersome to dualwield. The doubleweapons get 2d4 damage from the Mythal system, in addition to their higher base damage, so when you can get away with unshieldedness, they are better, but when you can't, you're stuck with an unfeated weapon. That said, a 38STR Ranger can hit a Favoured Enemy with a wet handkerchief and still drop 30 damage at 47AB.
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Animal Empathy - Worth investing points in?
Yes. ~20 ranks wil do; you only need to have very high AE once a day, so wear two of those absurd +12 skill rings to grab anything. On a Ranger it's harder to avoid having spare AE skill boosts on you kit than it is to obtain them, mostly.
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What is a decent stat spread for a ranger? they are one of those weird builds that need a little of everything..
14 WIS, then it's up to you. It's a sad fact that Rangers are, despite their image, best suited to having DEX as the neglected stat and being fullplate damage cannons; they get loads of excellent DEX gear and their own casting of Cat's Grace, plus Improved Two-Weapon Fighting doesn't dissappear in medium/heavy armour like Dualwield does, so you can just wear the Ambi+TWF items and ignore that. That trick's got the DM seal of approval, so don't think I'm advocating an illegal exploit; it's kinda stupid that you suddenly forget how to use your left hand just because you've put more armour on.
If you don't like the idea of a clumsy Ranger in full plate, and I must admit I don't either, then you can leave it at 12-ish and buff DEX to 18 very easily. That's you in chainshirts, one of which has Two-Weapon Fighting as a feat on it already.
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Is it possible to build a ranger with sneak abilities worth anything? (compared to rogues or SDs)
Not sure if you mean Hide/MS or Sneak Attack. If you just want enough of the former to be an eavesdropper in RP*, then yes. Very easily in fact, since outdoors you get +4 Hide/MS. In theory the Hide/MS buffing spells of Camouflage, Mass Camouflage and One With The Land would help, but in practise even the 50+ minutes you'd get if you took Extend Spell aren't long enough to rely on for eavesdropping. However, even unextended they're long enough for cornersneaking in a fight.
*note of caution: it's nigh-impossible to eavesdrop on a dedicated anti-SD person. They all have 100+ Spot or Listen with their best gear on, and if they are having a secret meeting, they will have their best gear. Not even Eary in his old 113 Hide/MS configuration could hang around for long and not be sniffed out.
If you meant Sneak Attacks, then no. Best you could get is 5d6 if you went Ranger21/Rogue9, which doesn't justify the loss of pet beefiness and feats, in my Humbledore. When you cornersneak, it's to get the other chap flatfooted for a KD.
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animal companion - Are there major differences in the advantages/disadvantages to these that make them better for different purposes or is it just flavor? Which are/is the best to take?
PvM, the best is the Boar, hands down. It's not quite as strong and damagey as the Bear, but it only has one creature weapon, while the Bear has three. That means if you put Flame Weapon/Clang/Darkfire on it, all of its attacks benefit, whereas only a third of the Bear's do.
In PvP, the time it'll take going ferocious, one round, is unacceptably long, in my Humbledore.
The Dire Wolf also has a single creature weapon, but it's not as strong as the Bear or Boar. It does have the most AC, although it only maxes out somewhere in the high 40's, which isn't that effective.
The Panther is the nastiest if it's getting Sneaks, but I ditched the stupid brainless moggy on my Ranger when she was levelling since she just wouldn't do the Rogue's job of going for the Knockdown victim; she'd disengage and go for another one of the mob for 25/hit rather than bite the downed thing for 70. In PvP, it wouldn't be nice to have one shredding you if the Ranger tripped you up.
Bard lvl 1 Curse Song (Bard lvl 1 for skills) B 3 Extend spell Fighter 4 Dodge F 5 Mobility B 6 Expertise B 9 Spring Attack B 12 WF rapier B 15 Whirwind WM 16 WM 18 Improved critical WM 21 Epic weapon Focus B 23 B 24 Armor Skin B 27 (watever you want) B 30 Lasting Inspiration
Any particular reason you didn't take all the WM levels pre-epic? That would cancel out the loss of AB, I think?
_________________ ~ Alexandria Do'Maetri, Champion of Tyr
~ Glam Snowfell, of mysticism and magery
Combat Casting may be underwhelming but its bigger brother, Improved Combat Casting, means that you'll not provoke any extra attacks when casting spells. The non-epic feat alone is useless, yes.
Combat Casting may be underwhelming but its bigger brother, Improved Combat Casting, means that you'll not provoke any extra attacks when casting spells. The non-epic feat alone is useless, yes.
But that feat is also rendered basically useless later on; if you've a concentration skill of 27 or above and using Defensive Casting you'll get the same effect. The feat is only valuable if you're using another combat mode. Source: NWN wiki - Improved Combat Casting
_________________ ~ Alexandria Do'Maetri, Champion of Tyr
~ Glam Snowfell, of mysticism and magery
Yeah, but defensive casting is useless. You move around when you're threatened. To use that feat, you have to stand still, then trigger it, then cast. No one does that.. to my knowledge anyways.
And it makes Expertise mode look attentive, in terms of activation time. Sometimes I've finished off the entire mob before Defensive Casting Mode kicked in.
And it makes Expertise mode look attentive, in terms of activation time. Sometimes I've finished off the entire mob before Defensive Casting Mode kicked in.
Oh seriously? Well, you learn something every day. I sometimes use DC mode with my wizard, but I've never really noticed this. Then again, I'm not the most observant when it comes to combat.
xordae wrote:
Yeah, but defensive casting is useless. You move around when you're threatened. To use that feat, you have to stand still, then trigger it, then cast. No one does that.. to my knowledge anyways.
I usually quickslot the mode, which makes it a helluva lot easier (even when threatened).
_________________ ~ Alexandria Do'Maetri, Champion of Tyr
~ Glam Snowfell, of mysticism and magery
Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Location: [st]Ultrinnan[/st] [st]Edonil[/st] Nec'perya
I am looking for a different perspective on a build for my drow Isendu't'tar. Right now his final build will be cleric (evil/war) 26/ fighter 2. In the end, he will have dev crit and long lasting dragon (which i will reskin to a servant of selvetarm). However, I am considering how this fits with the Judicator prestiege class reserved for divine warriors of Selvetarm. Ideally, I would like Isendu't'tar to be able to go head to head with anyone who challenges him, and right now suffers a crippling weakness of having absoluetly no ability to detect SDs.
_________________ Slander [Zanthair Akarupa of the Horsemen of the Apcalypse] - Sorcerer 'Mediocreare' Isendu't'tar Ussen'd'Vhid d'My'ana'd'Xull'd'Vharcan - possibly the longest name in Amia Tiffany Seagrass - weak and fragile weaver of words
Last edited by Zanthair on Tue, Mar 17 2009, 10:05 AM, edited 1 time in total.
I know only one of those on the server. If i was taking a stab at it I'd put alot of my stat points into con with an aim to get Epic damage reduction 3.
Id go 5druid/shifter8/fighter7 pre epic to pick 4APR. WF and EWF scythe are a must. Epic prowess might not be too shabby too seeing as you AB is not all that spectacular. Could work, you'll be more of a damage sponge than a big scythe critter really.
The thing about pure Monk is you're damned if you do, damned if you don't, as far as stats go.
STR-base is much much much harder to keep at full STR/WIS/DEX. If you have a friend with Druid or UMD, then it's a joke because of Owl's Insight, but as a pure Monk it's very hard even with furious spam of Bull boots and Dach's Power rings. For STR base, there's only Devcrit to look forward to, but on fists it's 19-20 threat.
DEX-monk stays at +12 DEX/WIS very easily, so it get uber AC, but it doesn't have Epic Dodge, which makes me a sad panda.
The STR-monk turns in a very respectable rate of DPS, and doesn't need much babysitting, but it can't fight bosses well. The DEX Monk can, but it stinks in party.
The odds of anything but Monk AC being nerfed are slim to none, so provided you aren't one of them you can relax. If you are, then I refer you to Nelson Muntz.
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So if anyone knows a good build... I'd appreciate it! Thankee!
