Post by simpetar on Jan 28, 2008 11:40:29 GMT
Hi folks,
after I played my dex assassin for a while, I discovered the beauty of Mortal Strike ("MS"). It is like having unlimited and fast phantasmal killer and sometimes you will find assassins are killing non crit immune mobs faster than extra strong tanks. Well, this build is an attempt to make an extra strong insta-killing machine who can deal tons of damage and reach the highest possible DC and reasonable frequency for MS.
This toon will be using Assassin dagger, a wonderful CEP tool after the updates, since it has 17-20/x1 crit range; after keen and IC you should reach 9-20 (please, correct me if I am wrong) which is better than a WM could have e.g. with a scimitar. The weapon foci are accessible through foci with club, so wherever I write "club", consider it assassin dagger.
please note this is my first build posted, have patience while reading it
- this build is primarily designed to be made with half-ors as base race to maximize DC on MS by all means possible; dwarven alternative will get 60 more HPs, 2 more will and 1 more fortitude, possibly 2 more AC, one more skill to maximize, more discipline and will lose 2 AB (can be compensated by investing to craft weapon), 2 DC on MS (doh!)
-the Deep Orc alternative is described here: highergroundpoa.proboards3.com/index.cgi?board=openbuild&action=display&n=1&thread=9422
race: half-orc (alternative: dwarf), subrace: salamander, alinment: neutral or chaotic eeevil
starting stats / after subby / afer RDD / at 60 buffed
STR 20 / 26 / 30 / 72 (78 with double demi and str artifact)
DEX 8 / 10 / 10 / 22 (26 double demi, allows to take max ac bonus from medium armors)
CON 14 / 14 / 16 / 28
WIS 8 / 8 / 8 / 20
INT 9 / 11 / 11 / 24
CHA 11 / 11 / 11 / 23
stats for dwarf:
STR 17
DEX 8
CON 16
WIS 10
INT 12
CHA 11
level progression: 1 bard, 7 RDD, 1 bard, 10 assassin, 1 RDD, 20 assassin
all stat points go to STR
free feats: armor skin, dodge, mobility (from salamander), blooded, toughness (for half-orc), bullheaded (for dwarf)
taken feats (roughly in order):
PRE-EPIC
snake blood
lightning reflexes
iron will
great fortitude
WF club
IC club
blindfight
EPIC
great inteligence 1 (take this at 21 to raise you base inteligence from odd numbers, so you will start getting further skill points ASAP) (toughness for dwarf)
EWF club
epic prowess
half-orc:
3x great strength
ESF discipline
dwarf:
4x great strenght
5 assa bonus feats: all go to epic reflexes converted to great str
LLs
LSA parry
LWF club
LL will
LL fortitude
LL reflex
2x great strength (dwarf: LSA discipline, leaves one feat optional, since you started with odd-numbered STR, the best choices are probably ESF parry, or supporting one of your saves by epic feat)
Skills for half-orc at 60:
8 move silently (prereq. for assas)
31 discipline (23 points as class skill for bard and RDD, 8 points as CC skill for assa, thus 39 total skill points spent)
50 tumble
63 hide (for conceal)
63 parry (wait until LSA)
48 UMD (ehough to read all scrolls and use some other stuff)
Skills for dwarf at 60:
8 move silently
50 tumble
63 hide
63 parry (wait until LSA)
63 discipline (wait until LSA)
63 craft armor/ craft weapon
48 UMD (ehough to read all scrolls and use some other stuff)
- half-orc: max discipline every time you take bard or RDD level; last class-skill-point goes to discipline at lvl 20, then CC
- salamanders get 8 racial bonus to lore, so you can start taking RDD leves at 2
- remember to take 8 hide and 8 move silently at lvl 9 to "unlock" assa
Saves at 60 with items:
Fort 62 (63 for dwarf)
Ref 63
Will 61 (63 for dwarf)
AB: 14 base + 10 epic + 12 legendary + 7 weapon foci + 31 strength + 20 buffs/song = 94 (97 with double demi and str arti)
- dwarf gets 92 by default, 93-94 if you decide to invest to Craft Weapon, 96-97 with str arti and double demi
- you will get only 4 attacks per round (3+1 from haste), but since you will be killing non crit immune mob in few hits, it is not such a loss
AC: 10 base + 22 medium armor + 19 shield (pentavite) + 20 natural (strongheart) + 20 dodge and haste + 16 deflection + 12 tumble and RDD + 2 armor skin + 6 dex bonus = 127
-128-129 for dwarf if you decide for Craft Armor
- you will get further 2 ac from double demi and of course +4 from clerics
HPs should be around 870 at 60 (which is not very good for a tank, so you will have to watch that red bar carefully); dwarf will get 60 more
and now, now we are getting to the point of this build:
DC on mortal strike: 20 base + 8 from assa lvls + 31 str = 59 and 62 if you can find the strength artifact and twice acquire the cool purple shine for this guy
- dwarf can reach only 60, which is still comparable to BUR dex assassins
summary:
PRO´s
- highest DC on mortal strike you can get
- nice damage output (high base strength, 25+1d6 acid damage from poison weapon, 15d6 death attacks plus more if you can use the sneak attack pandect and/or wear something that gives you bonuses)
- 67 spell-based conceal 5 times per day
- 85 free fire immunity (salamander and RDD)
- decent AB
- decent saves
CON´s
- if you want to have the highest DC, requires a BUR race (if you are fine just with some decent DC, you will have more options, currently trying to modify for Deep Orc) dwarves will get 60 DC, which is the same as dex assas can reach with BUR race (e.g. halfling half-fiend)... I wish I had salamander
- less than ideal HPs for a str tank (dwarf will get 60 more HPs than half-orc)
- must rely on casters for weapon buffs
please could you someone check the calculations for assa dagger´s crit range, ab and ac?
feel free to add any comments, ideas, thoughts, rebukes or praises as you wish
after I played my dex assassin for a while, I discovered the beauty of Mortal Strike ("MS"). It is like having unlimited and fast phantasmal killer and sometimes you will find assassins are killing non crit immune mobs faster than extra strong tanks. Well, this build is an attempt to make an extra strong insta-killing machine who can deal tons of damage and reach the highest possible DC and reasonable frequency for MS.
This toon will be using Assassin dagger, a wonderful CEP tool after the updates, since it has 17-20/x1 crit range; after keen and IC you should reach 9-20 (please, correct me if I am wrong) which is better than a WM could have e.g. with a scimitar. The weapon foci are accessible through foci with club, so wherever I write "club", consider it assassin dagger.
please note this is my first build posted, have patience while reading it
- this build is primarily designed to be made with half-ors as base race to maximize DC on MS by all means possible; dwarven alternative will get 60 more HPs, 2 more will and 1 more fortitude, possibly 2 more AC, one more skill to maximize, more discipline and will lose 2 AB (can be compensated by investing to craft weapon), 2 DC on MS (doh!)
-the Deep Orc alternative is described here: highergroundpoa.proboards3.com/index.cgi?board=openbuild&action=display&n=1&thread=9422
race: half-orc (alternative: dwarf), subrace: salamander, alinment: neutral or chaotic eeevil
starting stats / after subby / afer RDD / at 60 buffed
STR 20 / 26 / 30 / 72 (78 with double demi and str artifact)
DEX 8 / 10 / 10 / 22 (26 double demi, allows to take max ac bonus from medium armors)
CON 14 / 14 / 16 / 28
WIS 8 / 8 / 8 / 20
INT 9 / 11 / 11 / 24
CHA 11 / 11 / 11 / 23
stats for dwarf:
STR 17
DEX 8
CON 16
WIS 10
INT 12
CHA 11
level progression: 1 bard, 7 RDD, 1 bard, 10 assassin, 1 RDD, 20 assassin
all stat points go to STR
free feats: armor skin, dodge, mobility (from salamander), blooded, toughness (for half-orc), bullheaded (for dwarf)
taken feats (roughly in order):
PRE-EPIC
snake blood
lightning reflexes
iron will
great fortitude
WF club
IC club
blindfight
EPIC
great inteligence 1 (take this at 21 to raise you base inteligence from odd numbers, so you will start getting further skill points ASAP) (toughness for dwarf)
EWF club
epic prowess
half-orc:
3x great strength
ESF discipline
dwarf:
4x great strenght
5 assa bonus feats: all go to epic reflexes converted to great str
LLs
LSA parry
LWF club
LL will
LL fortitude
LL reflex
2x great strength (dwarf: LSA discipline, leaves one feat optional, since you started with odd-numbered STR, the best choices are probably ESF parry, or supporting one of your saves by epic feat)
Skills for half-orc at 60:
8 move silently (prereq. for assas)
31 discipline (23 points as class skill for bard and RDD, 8 points as CC skill for assa, thus 39 total skill points spent)
50 tumble
63 hide (for conceal)
63 parry (wait until LSA)
48 UMD (ehough to read all scrolls and use some other stuff)
Skills for dwarf at 60:
8 move silently
50 tumble
63 hide
63 parry (wait until LSA)
63 discipline (wait until LSA)
63 craft armor/ craft weapon
48 UMD (ehough to read all scrolls and use some other stuff)
- half-orc: max discipline every time you take bard or RDD level; last class-skill-point goes to discipline at lvl 20, then CC
- salamanders get 8 racial bonus to lore, so you can start taking RDD leves at 2
- remember to take 8 hide and 8 move silently at lvl 9 to "unlock" assa
Saves at 60 with items:
Fort 62 (63 for dwarf)
Ref 63
Will 61 (63 for dwarf)
AB: 14 base + 10 epic + 12 legendary + 7 weapon foci + 31 strength + 20 buffs/song = 94 (97 with double demi and str arti)
- dwarf gets 92 by default, 93-94 if you decide to invest to Craft Weapon, 96-97 with str arti and double demi
- you will get only 4 attacks per round (3+1 from haste), but since you will be killing non crit immune mob in few hits, it is not such a loss
AC: 10 base + 22 medium armor + 19 shield (pentavite) + 20 natural (strongheart) + 20 dodge and haste + 16 deflection + 12 tumble and RDD + 2 armor skin + 6 dex bonus = 127
-128-129 for dwarf if you decide for Craft Armor
- you will get further 2 ac from double demi and of course +4 from clerics
HPs should be around 870 at 60 (which is not very good for a tank, so you will have to watch that red bar carefully); dwarf will get 60 more
and now, now we are getting to the point of this build:
DC on mortal strike: 20 base + 8 from assa lvls + 31 str = 59 and 62 if you can find the strength artifact and twice acquire the cool purple shine for this guy
- dwarf can reach only 60, which is still comparable to BUR dex assassins
summary:
PRO´s
- highest DC on mortal strike you can get
- nice damage output (high base strength, 25+1d6 acid damage from poison weapon, 15d6 death attacks plus more if you can use the sneak attack pandect and/or wear something that gives you bonuses)
- 67 spell-based conceal 5 times per day
- 85 free fire immunity (salamander and RDD)
- decent AB
- decent saves
CON´s
- if you want to have the highest DC, requires a BUR race (if you are fine just with some decent DC, you will have more options, currently trying to modify for Deep Orc) dwarves will get 60 DC, which is the same as dex assas can reach with BUR race (e.g. halfling half-fiend)... I wish I had salamander
- less than ideal HPs for a str tank (dwarf will get 60 more HPs than half-orc)
- must rely on casters for weapon buffs
please could you someone check the calculations for assa dagger´s crit range, ab and ac?
feel free to add any comments, ideas, thoughts, rebukes or praises as you wish