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Messages - ebonfowl

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1
Why does the save being reflex mean monks are better? Nothing can pass DC70, reflex or not.

The ability to craft vorpal comes from Warlock. Imbue Item lets them sub UMD checks for spell requirements. Like artificer-lite.

Vorpal works in the exact same cases where devcrit works. And the same enemies are immune. Like constructs and undead. And the DC was made enormous to create the best approximation of PnP vorpal which gives no save.

2
Yeah, Creeping Doom is an excellent catch-all. It’s even better here since you can use tentacles to slow movement even more, or stop it altogether.  It is my go-to for prismatic dragons along with vitriolic blast.

I made a script that makes it work like the BioWare description as well (since it doesn’t work like the description at all), which is even better!

3
Re: build suggestions

First, many of these are not possible: you can’t take any domain but War because you need it for Holy Warrior and the other domain must be one of the three MoS domains to qualify. You cannot take Extra Turning instead of Improved Turning because MoS already gets it as a bonus feat. You can’t have undead mastery, it is a Dread Necromancer thing. Also, as Strat points out, those skills are no longer useful.

As I’ve said before, use-limited abilities generally suck in NWN. They are fine for games where only a few encounters a day are assumed (4/day in PnP for instance), but the encounter rate in many NWN modules makes them undesirable. For example, maybe a times/day ability will be useful against the first monster in Swordflight, but what about the tenth? What about the 100th monster you have to fight before the module even gives you the possibility of resting? Epic spells, divine might, and divine shield all fall into this category.

Devcrit and PRC vorpal are THE best pure offensive abilities there are. Nothing kills faster aside from maybe the extreme damage builds (which this build cannot replicate). This build can’t make a vorpal weapon (the better option) because it cannot get both of the required spells, so devcrit it is. And the requirements for devcrit (except overwhelming critical and power attack) all dramatically improve devcrit. This build is primarily a devcrit build with use-limited options to deal with the enemies that are immune to devcrit. And my desire is to not post cheater builds, so no toolset solutions.

Corpse Crafter and (particularly/mostly) Destruction Retribution will work, and may be a decent swap in for this build, but I don’t think there is a combination of two feats that would be better swapped out for those two.

And Improved Turning and +12 charisma items are required in this build as it is the only way to never lose control of a ghost (aside from a couple WoL that are not good fits). Until I get phylactery of undead turning implemented, that is.

Some of the spells look cool, but the player can decide on those.

4
I made this build as an upgrade to my War Squared build.  It focuses on the same three playstyles: 1) warlock invoking, 2) instant death attacks through PRC Vorpal, and 3) high damage output through martial maneuvers and damage boosts.  You still get all those highlights plus Sweeping Strike, allowing you to potentially hit two enemies on every swing, and you only really lose 4 warlock caster levels and Path of Shadows (which no longer heals) in the bargain.  Plus, the names of all the classes start with "War," which is cool.

What this build gives you: 17 pre-epic BAB; dual keen, vorpal kukris; great attack and damage bonus (Lolth's Meat and Blood in the Water); very high damage output - between Lolth's Meat, (Epic) Weapon Specialization, Two-Weapon Fighting, Epic Crafting, Power Attack (from Blooded), Sweeping Strike, Maneuvers, and Blood in the Water, this character can average ~5200 melee damage a round (~6250 if you begin combat with a pounce) and ~1600 on a single pouncing charge***; the damage caused by this build is persistent and not constrained by abilities limited to times/day; you also get an army of meat shield skeletons (The Dead Walk); immunities (Curst) and the ability to pass every save (Diamond Defense and Lolth's Meat); great spell resistance (Curst); at-will Creeping Doom (Verminlord); at-will 50% miss chance and invisibility (Retributive Invisibility), and before this you can get a 50% miss chance with Concealing Amphora, Greater; at-will healing for you and all your skeletons (Utterdark Eldritch Doom); healing once per minute when recovering maneuvers (Vital Recovery); at-will short-range teleport and my favorite ability for kiting (Flee the Scene); minor psionic powers, class ability buffs, and DR 2/- from War Mind; and tentacles!

Weakpoints: not the best AC - get equipment to boost AC (Curst and Blooded help with this as well); low saves on invocations, but only one useful invocation uses a save (Frightful Blast), so this really doesn't matter

Build Name: War Cubed

Race: Half-Drow
Alignment: Lawful Evil or Neutral Evil
      
Strength 16
Dexterity 16
Constitution 10
Intelligence 14
Wisdom 8
Charisma 10
      
Lvl   Class
1   Warlock 1: Lolth's Meat, Invocation: Frightening Blast, Skills: Concentration, Lore, Spellcraft, UMD at each level (Blooded Template)
2   WL 2: Invocation: Eldritch Glaive
3   WL 3: Two-Weapon Fighting
4   WL 4: Invocation: Summon Swarm, 17 STR
5   WL 5
6   WL 6: Craft Magic Arms & Armor, Invocation: Eldritch Chain
7   WL 7
8   WL 8: Invocation: The Dead Walk, 18 STR
9   Warblade 1: Weapon Focus (Kukri), Stance: Blood in the Water, Maneuvers: Sudden Leap, Emerald Razor, Action Before Thought
10   WL 9
11   WL 10: Invocation: Flee the Scene
12   WL 11: Wild Talent, Invocation: Chilling Tentacles, 17 DEX
13   WL 12
14   War Mind 1: Psionic Power: Force Screen
15   WM 2: Improved Critical (Kukri), Psionic Power: Precognition, Defensive
16   WB 2: Maneuver: Pouncing Charge, 18 DEX
17   WM 3
18   WM 4: Improved TWF, Psionic Power: Prescience, Offensive
19   WM 5
20   WM 6: Psionic Power: Concealing Amphora, Greater, 19 DEX
21   WL 13: Invocation: Vitriolic Blast, Greater TWF
22   WL 14
23   WL 15: Invocation: Eldritch Cone
24   WL 16: Invocation: Eldritch Doom, Epic Weapon Focus (Kukri), 19 STR
25   WL 17: 28 Lore and Spellcraft, no more Spellcraft but I keep investing in Lore (not required)
26   WL 18: Invocation: Utterdark Blast (Curst)
27   WB 3: Craft Epic Magic Arms & Armor, Maneuver: Raging Mongoose
28   WB 4: Stance: Pearl of Black Doubt, 20 STR
29   WB 5: B: Vital Recovery, Maneuver: Diamond Defense
30   WB 6: Weapon Specialization (Kukri)
31   WL 19   
32   WL 20: Invocation: Tenacious Plague, 21 STR
33   WB 7: Epic Weapon Specialization (Kukri), Maneuver: Time Stands Still
34   WL 21
35   WL 22
36   WL 23: Verminlord, B: Eldritch Sculptor, 22 STR
37   WL 24
38   WL 25
39   WL 26: Great Strength, B: Epic Extra Invocation (Retributive Invisibility)
40   WL 27: 24 STR

Readied Martial Maneuvers: Pouncing Charge, Raging Mongoose, Time Stands Still, and Diamond Defense

Notes: buyoff the LA from Blooded at level 3 - you can buyoff the LA from Curst, but it will only amount to about a 9% or less XP reduction by the time you take it. Taking Curst at 9 would allow full buyoff early and allow much more top-end XP for kukri crafting - the ones I'm using (+10, keen, vorpal, psychokinetic, sonic blast) eventually cost around 40k XP each... As a general strategy, this build should begin combat by charging the strongest opponent, initiate raging mongoose as soon as possible, then recover maneuvers, repeat.  Once you get Time Stands Still, Pouncing Charge into an immediate Raging Mongoose on-hit (no action required), then immediately initiate Time Stands Still and then as soon as you see the first hit from Time Stands Still, recover maneuvers.  Always make sure to recover your maneuvers immediately at/near the end of each combat - otherwise you will have to wait a full minute while they recover.  You can use Power Attack to transform the attack bonuses you get from (Epic) Weapon Focus into damage - Lolth's Meat and Blood in the Water will keep you hitting on every attack.  For super tough, crit-immune enemies, you can drop several Creeping Dooms, let them build up to high damage, then kite the bad guys through the AOE while it slows them to a crawl.

***Damage calculations updated after the scripted combat system was updated to pull in all the damage boosts.  They assume max level, that enemies are not crit-immune, Sweeping Strike hitting something on every swing, and +20 damage from Lolth's Meat (which seems like a good average that I am doing in combat-heavy modules).

5
I updated this build to be the strongest possible single-target damage dealer (see The Janitor for the best versus groups).  Unlike the original Warcarnate build, this one has a level adjustment, does not get the miss chance, and only can have one necrocarnum zombie.  It matches or outperforms the former build in all other areas.

What this build gives you: 16 pre-epic BAB; great attack bonus (Lolth's Meat and Blood in the Water); absolutely enormous damage output - between soulmelds (Necrocarnum Weapon, Incarnate Avatar, Bluesteel Bracers, Bloodwar Gauntlets), feats (Lolth's Meat, Weapon Specialization, Cobalt Power), and maneuvers (Raging Mongoose, Time Stands Still, Blood in the Water) this character can average ~3250 melee damage a round (~4400 if you begin combat with a pounce) and ~1130 on a single pouncing charge***; the damage caused by this build is persistent and not constrained by abilities limited to times/day; you also get one decent necrocarnum zombies (Necrocarnum Circlet) that you can summon at-will to serve as a meat shield to keep the enemies off you; good SR (Curst); immunity to almost all status effects (Curst); the best saving throw boost there is (Diamond Defense); infinite essentia at level 8 (Harvest Soul) so your melds will always be maxed out; the ability to heal once per minute when recovering maneuvers (Vital Recovery); the ability to adapt to the best weapons you find (Weapon Aptitude); INT to reflex saves, crit confirmation, combat maneuvers, and damage against flat-footed enemies; the ability to instantly clear status effects (Ironheart Surge); uncanny dodge

Weakpoints: not the best AC (Curst helps with this) or base saves (though Lolth's Meat mitigates this short-coming after a few kills and Curst/Diamond Defense make this unimportant) - get equipment to boost AC; you lose a small amount of damage output against non-living opponents (Necrocarnum Weapon), but the difference is small and won't slow you down

Build Name: Warcarnate 2.0

Race: Half-Drow                     

Alignment: Neutral Evil
                     
STR 16   
DEX 16
CON 10
WIS 14
INT 10
CHA 8
                       
Lvl   Class
1   Incarnate 1: Lolth's Meat, Spellcraft 4, Lore 4
2   IC 2: Spellcraft 5, Lore 5
3   IC 3: Necrocarnate Acolyte, Concentration 1, Spellcraft 6
4   Warblade 1: Maneuvers: Sudden Leap, Disarming Strike, Iron Heart Surge, Stance: Blood in the Water, STR 17, Concentration 5
5   WB 2: Maneuver: Saphire Nightmare Blade
6   WB 3: Two-Weapon Fighting, Maneuver: Emerald Razor, Save 2 unused skill points
7   IC 4: Spellcraft 10
8   Necrcarnate 1: DEX 17
9   NC 2: Undead Meldshaper, Curst Template (take Curst right before level up)
10   NC 3
11   NC 4
12   WB 4: Improved Critical (Aptitude Weapon), Stance: Pearl of Black Doubt, DEX 18
13   WB 5: Maneuver: Pouncing Charge, Bonus Feat: Vital Recovery
14   WB 6
15   WB 7: Improved TWF, Maneuver: Dancing Mongoose
16   WB 8: DEX 19
17   WB 9: B: Iron Will, Maneuver: Avalanche of Blades
18   WB 10: Weapon Focus (Aptitude Weapon), Stance: Prey on the Weak
19   WB 11: Maneuver: Raging Mongoose
20   WB 12: STR 18
21   WB 13: Weapon Specialization (Aptitude Weapon), Maneuver: Diamond Defense
22   IC 5
23   IC 6
24   WB 14: Epic Weapon Focus (Aptitude Weapon), STR 19
25   IC 7
26   IC 8
27   WB 15: Epic Weapon Specialization (Aptitude Weapon), Maneuver: Time Stands Still
28   IC 9: STR 20
29   IC 10
30   IC 11: Greater TWF
31   IC 12
32   IC 13: STR 21
33   IC 14: Double Chakra (Arms)
34   IC 15
35   NC 5
36   NC 6: Power Attack, STR 22
37   NC 7
38   NC 8
39   NC 9: Cobalt Power
40   NC 10: WIS 15

Recommended Martial Maneuvers: Pouncing Charge, Dancing Mongoose/Avalanche of Blades, Raging Mongoose, Iron Heart Surge, Diamond Defense, Time Stands Still, Blood in the Water (Stance) for more damage or Prey on the Weak (Stance) for more attacks - I recommend Prey on the Weak.

Recommended Soul Melds: Necrocarnum Weapon, Incarnate Avatar, Bluesteel Bracers, Bloodwar Gauntlets (double arms), Necrocarnum Circlet (bound)

Notes: you can buy off the level adjustment from Curst at 9, 15, and 18 - I recommend buying off at least one LA, but probably the other 2 as well if you are going to level 40.  As a general strategy, this build should begin combat by charging the strongest opponent, initiate raging mongoose as soon as possible, then initiate Time Stands Still as soon as Raging Mongoose hits, then recover maneuvers, repeat.  Always make sure to recover your maneuvers immediately at/near the end of each combat - otherwise you will have to wait a full minute while they recover.

***Damage calculations updated after the scripted combat system was updated to pull in all the damage boosts.  They assume max level, enemies that are alive and not crit-immune, that the player took the advice in the recommended maneuvers section and picked up Time Stands Still, and +20 damage from Lolth's Meat (which seems like a good average that I am doing in combat-heavy modules).

6
I named this build "The Janitor" because it straight sweeps everything up.  I am confident in saying this is the highest damage one can achieve with current PRC options, even higher than my previous Warcarnate build.  Like the Warcarnate, this build does this every single round, all day long.

What this build gives you: 17 pre-epic BAB; great attack bonus (Lolth's Meat and Epic Weapon Focus); absolutely crazy damage output - between soulmelds (Necrocarnum Weapon, Incarnate Avatar, Bluesteel Bracers), feats (Lolth's Meat, Cobalt Power, Weapon Specialization), Sweeping Strike (hit two enemies with every single swing!), and maneuvers (Pouncing Charge, Raging Mongoose, Time Stands Still, and Prey on the Weak) this character can average ~6000 melee damage a round (~8000 if you begin combat with a pounce) and ~2050 on a single pouncing charge***; the damage caused by this build is persistent and not constrained by abilities limited to times/day; immunity to nearly all status effects (Curst); the best saving throw boost there is (Diamond Defense); the ability to heal once per minute when recovering maneuvers (Vital Recovery); INT to reflex saves, crit confirmation, combat maneuvers, and damage against flat-footed enemies; the ability to instantly clear status effects (Ironheart Surge); uncanny dodge; some minor psionic manifesting abilities

Weakpoints: not the best AC (Curst helps with this) or base saves (though Lolth's Meat mitigates this short-coming after a few kills and Curst makes you immune to almost everything) - get equipment to boost AC and saves; you lose a small amount of damage output against non-living opponents (Necrocarnum Weapon), but the difference is small and won't slow you down

Build Name: The Janitor

Race: Half-Drow
Alignment: Neutral Evil
      
Strength 16
Dexterity 16
Constitution 12
Intelligence 8
Wisdom 14
Charisma 8
      
Lvl   Class
1   Incarnate 1: Lolth's Meat
2   IC2
3   IC3: Power Attack
4   IC4: 17 STR
5   IC5: Lore 8
6   IC6: Wild Talent
7   War Mind 1   
8   WM 2: 18 STR
9   WM 3: Undead Meldshaper, Curst Template (take Curst right before leveling up)
10   WM 4
11   WM 5
12   Warblade 1: Improved Critical (Scimitar), Maneuvers: Sudden Leap, Disarming Strike, Iron Heart Surge, Stance: Blood in the Water, 19 STR
13   WB 2: Maneuver: Saphire Nightmare Blade
14   WB 3: Maneuver: Emerald Razor
15   WB 4: Cobalt Power, Stance: Pearl of Black Doubt
16   WB 5: B: Vital Recovery, Maneuver: Pouncing Charge, 20 STR
17   WB 6
18   IC 7: Weapon Focus (Scimitar)
19   WB 7: Maneuvers: Avalanche of Blades
20   WB 8: 17 DEX
21   WB 9: Weapon Specialization (Scimitar), B: Iron Will, Maneuver: Raging Mongoose
22   WB 10: Stance: Prey on the Weak
23   WB 11: Maneuver: Time Stands Still
24   IC 8: Two-Weapon Fighting, 18 DEX
25   IC 9
26   IC 10
27   IC 11: Improved TWF
28   IC 12: 19 DEX
29   IC 13
30   IC 14: Greater TWF
31   IC 15
32   IC 16: 21 STR
33   IC 17: Cleave
34   IC 18
35   IC 19
36   IC 20: Great Cleave, 22 STR
37   IC 21
38   IC 22: B: Epic Weapon Focus (Scimitar)
39   WB 12: Epic Weapon Specialization (Scimitar)
40   WB 13: Maneuver: Diamond Defense, 20 DEX

Recommended Martial Maneuvers: Pouncing Charge, Raging Mongoose, Iron Heart Surge, Time Stands Still, Diamond Defense, Blood in the Water (Stance) for more damage or Prey on the Weak (Stance) for more attacks.  I think Prey on the Weak is the way to go.

Recommended Soul Melds: Necrocarnum Weapon, Incarnate Avatar, Bluesteel Bracers

Notes: you can buy off the level adjustment from Curst at 9, 15, and 18 - I recommend buying off at least one LA, but probably the other 2 as well if you are going to level 40.  As a general strategy, this build should begin combat by charging the strongest opponent, initiate raging mongoose as soon as possible, then initiate Time Stands Still, recover maneuvers, repeat.  Always make sure to recover your maneuvers immediately at/near the end of each combat - otherwise you will have to wait a full minute while they recover.

***Damage calculations updated after the scripted combat system was updated to pull in all the damage boosts.  They assume max level, enemies that are alive and not crit-immune and +20 damage from Lolth's Meat (which seems like a good average that I am doing in combat-heavy modules).

7
This build is an extremely powerful divine gish with a twist.  This build has access to several "I win" buttons between high-DC Implosions, crazy ghost gang summoning, and devcrit.

What this build gives you: full cleric casting with no loss of caster levels and extremely good SR penetration; cleric buffing and healing; 17 pre-epic BAB for 4 attacks/round; 35/40 undead turning; devastating critical at level 24; extremely high save DCs for their spells, particularly evocation (implosion will end up with DCs in the 50s with WIS-boosting gear) and necromancy; heavy armor and tower shields; bonus Death and Evil domains; and the ability to summon up to 8 ghosts at once - the ghosts summoned by this build get ridiculously powerful, becoming epic wizards with epic spells at high levels.

Weak points: only constructs with magic immunity will give this build trouble - it can devcrit or implode anything else; AC on this build is decent due to heavy armor use, tower shields and racial natural armor bonus but is not godly; saves don't really get any notable boosts - be sure to mitigate this shortcoming with the best save-boosting equipment you can find; you have to wait until character level 25 for 7th level spells, 28 for 8th level spells, and 31 for 9th level spells.  The ghosts you summon are incredibly powerful but will sometimes turn on you after all the enemies are destroyed (at levels 34, 37, and 40 the ghosts cannot turn if you have gear granting +12 to CHA), it is a good idea to run away before all the enemies are dead and wait for the ghosts duration to expire.  If you absolutely want to avoid them turning, you can take the Weapon of Legacy Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, but you will take an attack penalty or the Sunsword which would require you to take bastard sword for the weapon-specific feats.

Build Name: Ghost Whisperer

Race: Half-Ogre
Alignment: Any Evil
      
Strength 20
Dexterity 6
Constitution 10
Intelligence 12
Wisdom 16
Charisma 14
      
Lvl   Class
1   Cleric 1: Weapon Proficiency (Scimitar), Domains: War, Protection, skill points all into Concentration, Lore, Spellcraft
2   Clr 2
3   Clr 3: Power Attack
4   Clr 4: 17 WIS
5   Clr 5
6   Clr 6: Cleave
7   Clr 7: Spellcraft 10 then no more points into Spellcraft
8   Master of Shrouds 1: 21 STR
9   MoS 2: Spell Focus (Evocation)
10   MoS 3
11   MoS 4
12   MoS 5: Improved Critical (Scimitar/Rapier), 22 STR
13   MoS 6
14   MoS 7
15   MoS 8: Extend Spell
16   MoS 9: 23 STR
17   Hierophant 1: Spell Power +2
18   Hiero 2: Great Cleave, Spell Power +4
19   Hiero 3: Spell Power +6
20   Hiero 4: Spell Power +8, 24 STR
21   Hiero 5: Spell Power +10, Overwhelming Critical (Scimitar/Rapier)
22   MoS 10
23   MoS 11
24   MoS 12: Devastating Critical (Scimitar/Rapier), 25 STR
25   MoS 13: B: Great Wisdom
26   MoS 14
27   MoS 15: Greater Spell Focus (Evocation)
28   MoS 16: B: Epic Spell Focus (Evocation), 18 WIS
29   MoS 17
30   MoS 18: Holy Warrior
31   MoS 19: B: Great Wisdom
32   MoS 20: 20 WIS
33   MoS 21: Improved Turning
34   MoS 22: B: Great Charisma
35   MoS 23
36   MoS 24: Spell Focus (Necromancy), 16 CHA
37   MoS 25: B: Great Wisdom
38   MoS 26
39   MoS 27: Greater Spell Focus (Necromancy)
40   MoS 28: B: Epic Spell Focus (Necromancy), 22 WIS

Spell Suggestions:

- Implosion: instant death to everything, even those things immune to death magic, in a medium-sized area
- Wail of the Banshee: instant death in a huge area (you can spontaneously cast this from the Death bonus domain 1/day)
- Sun Burst: huge damage to undead and permanent blindness to all
- Aura Versus Alignment: protects against some nasty status effects like fear and paralyze
- Hammer of the Gods: a good mid-level battlefield control spell
- Wrack: good low- to mid-level save-or-lose spell
- Sound Burst: good low-level battlefield control spell
- Buffs: the cleric's real strength. Some suggestions, and remember you have Extend Spell to stretch them out: Divine Favor, Righteous Might, Battletide, Prayer, Recitation, Freedom of Movement, True Seeing, Premonition (fate), Mantle of Egregious Might (war)
- Recovery Spells: Heal, Lesser Restoration, Restoration, Greater Restoration, Regeneration
- War Domain Spells: keep one copy of the highest War Domain spell you have available prepared at all times to maximize the damage bonus from Holy Warrior

Note, make sure to buy off the half-ogre level adjustment as soon as you can (level 6 and 9).  If you are OK with a high level of cheese (and have level adjustment turned off) you could switch a spell focus feat for Craft Wonderous Items and you would then qualify for the lich template and the demilich template at level 21.  The half-ogre model is terrible in the PRC, I recommend this one: https://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/hakpak/original-hakpak/dynamic-ogre-half-ogre

8
I could make a script that applied all those effects to an enemy for testing purposes. I’m not sure I could hit them with Epic Mage Armor on though. I guess it would depend on the base creature. Goblin sure, prismatic dragon, no way.

9
Who is this Stratovarius guy????

Haha yes, I mean aside from Druid. Actually what I mean is that I entirely failed to include Druid in that little list I made. But nevertheless Shaman still takes it for the melee perks.

10
Actually Shaman is there as it is the fastest single-class entry into shifter (it qualifies at level 7) and one of only two options that work with this build. The only other options to get shifter in this build are Hexblade, but you have to wait until level 14, or a different race but then you loose Lolth’s Meat which is unacceptable.

Shaman is an interesting class, it is a caster that actually works way better as a chassis for melee builds. It gets all combat-related bonus feats, an animal companion/meat shield, CHA to saves, turn undead for divine melee feats, see invisibility, and three domains.

11
They work pretty good now. I made a big update to the scripted combat system that just got released with the PRC alpha today, and it really helps all the maneuvers work properly. Now that all the damage is being pulled in, this character is doing around 3500-4000 damage per round. It is hard to pin the exact number down in actual gameplay, rather than calculations, as the monsters aren’t plentiful/tough enough to get through all 31 attacks this build can do in a round.

12
Yeah Creeping Doom is a great “just in case” spell. If something is acid immune and I can’t hit them in melee, CD will definitely get the job done. I haven’t found that enemy yet, but I’m sure there is one out there!

13
I made this build to integrate three very powerful offensive playstyles: 1) warlock invoking, 2) instant death attacks either through DevCrit or PRC Vorpal, and 3) high damage output through martial maneuvers and damage boosts.  This build does that while maintaining excellent aptitude in all three areas.  You can do all this while either being immune or passing every save check and enjoying at-will healing.  This is about as much of a cannon as you can make, and it isn't even the glass variety.

What this build gives you: 16 pre-epic BAB; dual keen, vorpal kukris; great attack and damage bonus (Lolth's Meat and Blood in the Water); very high damage output - between Lolth's Meat, (Epic) Weapon Specialization, Two-Weapon Fighting, Two-Weapon Rend, Epic Crafting, Power Attack (from Blooded), Bloodclaw Master class abilities, Maneuvers, and Blood in the Water, this character can average ~2600 melee damage a round (~3100 if you begin combat with a pounce) and ~800 on a single pouncing charge***; the damage caused by this build is persistent and not constrained by abilities limited to times/day; you also get an army of meat shield skeletons (The Dead Walk); immunities (Curst) and the ability to pass every save (Diamond Defense and Lolth's Meat); great spell resistance (Curst); at-will Creeping Doom (Verminlord); at-will 50% miss chance and invisibility (Retributive Invisibility); at-will healing for you and all your skeletons (Utterdark Eldritch Doom, Path of Shadow); healing once per minute when recovering maneuvers (Vital Recovery); at-will teleportation for quality of life (Path of Shadow); and tentacles!

Weakpoints: not the best AC - get equipment to boost AC (Curst and Blooded help with this as well); low saves on invocations, but only one useful invocation uses a save (Frightful Blast), so this really doesn't matter; you have to use kukris (yuck)

Build Name: War Squared

Race: Half-Drow

Alignment: Any evil or chaotic
                     
STR 16
DEX 16
CON 10
WIS 8
INT 14
CHA 10
         
1   Warlock 1: Lolth's Meat, Invocation: Frightening Blast, Skills: Concentration, Lore, Spellcraft, UMD at each level (Blooded Template)
2   WL 2: Invocation: Eldritch Glaive
3   WL 3: Two-Weapon Fighting
4   WL 4: Invocation: Summon Swarm, STR 17
5   WL 5
6   WL 6: Craft Magic Arms & Armor, Invocation: Eldritch Chain
7   WL 7
8   WL 8: Invocation: The Dead Walk, STR 18
9   Warblade 1: Weapon Focus (Kukri), Stance: Blood in the Water, Maneuvers: Sudden Leap, Emerald Razor, Action Before Thought, Jump 1
10   WL 9
11   WL 10: Invocation: Beshadowed Blast
12   WL 11: Improved Critical (Kukri), Invocation: Chilling Tentacles, DEX 17
13   WL 12
14   WL 13: Invocation: Vitriolic Blast
15   WL 14: Improved TWF
16   WL 15: Invocation: Eldritch Cone, DEX 18
17   WB 2: Maneuver: Pouncing Charge, Jump 3
18   WL 16: Extra Invocation (Tenacious Plague), Invocation: Eldritch Doom
19   WB 3: Maneuver: Dancing Mongoose, Jump 5
20   WB 4: Stance: Pearl of Black Doubt, Jump 7, DEX 19
21   WL 17: Greater TWF
22   WL 18: Invocation: Utterdark Blast (Curst Template)
23    WL 19:
24    WL 20: Epic Weapon Focus (Kukri), Invocation: Path of Shadow, STR 19
25   WB 5: B: Vital Recovery, Maneuver: Diamond Defense, Jump 9
26   Bloodclaw Master 1: Maneuver: Raging Mongoose
27   WL 21: Craft Epic Magic Arms and Armor, 28 Lore and Spellcraft, no more Spellcraft
28   WL 22: STR 20
29   BCM 2
30   WB 6: Weapon Specialization (Kukri)
31   WL: B: Eldritch Sculptor
32   WL 24: STR 21
33   WB 7: Epic Weapon Specialization (Kukri), Maneuver: Time Stands Still
34   WL 25
35   WL 26: B: Verminlord
36   WL 27: Two-Weapon Rend, STR 22
37   WL 28
38   WL 29: B: Epic Extra Invocation (Retributive Invisibility)
39   WL 30: Great Strength
40   WL 31: STR 24

Readied Martial Maneuvers: Pouncing Charge, Dancing Mongoose (trade out for Time Stands Still when you get it), Raging Mongoose, and Diamond Defense

Notes: buyoff the LA from Blooded at level 3 - you can buyoff the LA from Curst, but it will only amount to about a 9% or less XP reduction by the time you take it. Taking Curst at 9 would allow full buyoff early and allow much more top-end XP for kukri crafting - the ones I'm using (+10, keen, vorpal, psychokinetic, sonic blast) eventually cost around 40k XP each... As a general strategy, this build should begin combat by charging the strongest opponent, initiate raging mongoose as soon as possible, then initiate dancing mongoose, recover maneuvers, repeat.  Once you get Time Stands Still, Pouncing Charge into an immediate Raging Mongoose on-hit (no action required), then immediately initiate Time Stands Still and then as soon as you see the first hit from Time Stands Still, recover maneuvers.  Always make sure to recover your maneuvers immediately at/near the end of each combat - otherwise you will have to wait a full minute while they recover.  You can use Power Attack to transform the attack bonuses you get from (Epic) Weapon Focus and Bloodclaw Master into damage - Lolth's Meat and Blood in the Water will keep you hitting on every attack.  For super tough, crit-immune enemies, you can drop several Creeping Dooms, let them build up to high damage, then kite the bad guys through the AOE while it slows them to a crawl.

***Damage calculations updated after the scripted combat system was updated to pull in all the damage boosts.  They assume max level, that enemies are not crit-immune, and +20 damage from Lolth's Meat (which seems like a good average that I am doing in combat-heavy modules).

14
I think this is my best overall melee build.  Does massive damage, has incredible defenses, and eventually gets full divine casting.  The only thing it can't do is insta-kill.  Ever wanted to be a pouncing dragon?  Then this build is for you!

What this build gives you: 16 pre-epic BAB for 4 attacks/round; very high damage output - between Lolth's Meat, (Epic) Weapon Specialization, Two-Weapon Fighting, Two-Weapon Rend, massive Strength from Shifter, Power Attack, Holy Warrior, Maneuvers, and Blood in the Water, this character can average ~2900 melee damage a round (~3500 if you begin combat with a pounce) and ~900 on a single pouncing charge***; you also get charisma bonus to saves and the best saving throw boost there is (Diamond Defense); Intelligence to reflex saves, critical confirmation, damage against flat-footed opponents and rolls to disarm, trip, etc.; the ability to clear any status effect that it somehow does get hit with (Iron Heart Surge); an animal companion that scales with level (even non-Shaman levels); Shaman spellcasting; turn undead (but tops out at level 21); ability to see invisible creatures (Spirit Sight); healing once a minute while recovering maneuvers (Vital Recovery); can switch all weapon-specific feats to match your best weapon; it can obtain huge DR and AC from Shifter forms as well as immunities; and there is no LA with this build.

Weak points: low Strength and low Constitution until level 13, then it doesn't matter anymore.

Build Name: Shiftblade

Race: Half-Drow
   
STR 8   
DEX 16   
CON 8
WIS 13   
INT 13
CHA 16      
                        
Lvl   Class
1   Shaman 1: Lolth's Meat, Domains: War, any other
2   Sha 2
3   Sha 3: Two-Weapon Fighting
4   Sha 4: B: Expertise, DEX 17
5   Sha 5
6   Sha 6: Alertness
7   Sha 7
8   Sha 8: B: Improved Trip, DEX 18
9   Warblade 1: Weapon Focus (Aptitude), Stance: Blood in the Water, Manueuvers: Flesh Ripper, Emerald Razor, Disarming Strike
10   WB 2: Maneuver: Iron Heart Surge
11   WB 3: Maneuver: Ruby Nightmare Blade
12   WB 4: Improved Critical (Aptitude), Stance: Pearl of Black Doubt, WIS 14
13   WB 5: B: Endurance, Maneuver: Pouncing Charge
14   Shifter 1
15   Shft 2: Improved TWF
16   Shft 3: INT 14
17     Shft 4
18   WB 6: Weapon Specialization (Aptitude)
19   Shft 5
20   Shft 6: DEX 19
21   Shft 7: Greater TWF
22   Shft 8
23   Shft 9
24   WB 7: Epic Weapon Focus (Aptitude), Maneuver: Raging Mongoose, WIS 15
25   Shft 10
26   WB 8
27   WB 9: Epic Weapon Specialization (Aptitude), B: Vital Recovery, Maneuver: Diamond Defense
28   WB 10: WIS 16
29   WB 11: Maneuver: Time Stands Still
30   Sha 9: Holy Warrior
31   Sha 10
32   Sha 11: WIS 17, Domain: Any
33   Sha 12: Two-Weapon Rend, B: Improved Disarm
34   Sha 13
35   Sha 14:
36   Sha 15: Power Attack, WIS 18
37   Sha 16: B: Armor Skin
38   Sha 17
39   Sha 18: Cleave
40   Sha 19: WIS 19

Recommended Readied Martial Maneuvers: Pouncing Charge, Iron Heart Surge, Raging Mongoose, Time Stands Still, and Diamond Defense

Note, this a good candidate for an undead template, especially Curst.  As a general strategy, this build should begin combat by charging the strongest opponent, initiate raging mongoose as soon as possible, recover maneuvers, repeat.  When it comes to domains, it is generally best to pick those that add good melee buffs to the Shaman's arsenal.  Offensive spells generally won't be super useful in this build.  Keep a spell from the War domain of the highest level you can cast prepared to max out the bonus damage from Holy Warrior.

***Damage calculations updated after the scripted combat system was updated to pull in all the damage boosts.  They assume max level, that enemies are not crit-immune, and +20 damage from Lolth's Meat (which seems like a good average that I am doing in combat-heavy modules).

15
UGGGHHHH I know!  I looked into it and saw that.  BUT I see that they summon insanely powerful undead and it looks like at the highest levels you summon a big group at once.  That sounds like a super useful thing to do when you have a tough boss battle about to happen.  Looks there is a turning check in the script that will make them turn on you occasionally.

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