Yoshika
Peasant
Arcanine FTW!
Posts: 7
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Hello!
Sept 24, 2012 18:29:20 GMT
Post by Yoshika on Sept 24, 2012 18:29:20 GMT
Hello everybody! I am Yoshika (not my real name btw) I enjoy playing various types of games, but my favorite was always pokemon (yeah, I grew up with it so it's always been a part of my life) including the TV shows, games, cards and whatever else lol. I LOVE RPG, MMORPG types of games too, so this game interested me. I have been reading these forums for a few days and a recent post on weapon damage from barbarians was intriguing so I thought I might finally get playing with a barbarian. I like the idea of the four fighter levels for weapon specialization so I would like to incorporate that into the build, an extra point or so in damage is awesome. I am just curious how I should build this and what races, items, etc I should be looking out for. What classes should I use and what spread should I use? - Barbarian/Fighter/? What items should I watch out for? -? What race should I use? Subrace? -?/? What weapon? - Saw greataxe had a nice damage potential. Please help me, and hope to see you all in-game sometime soon, I work a lot so cant play to much, but hopefully will get to play enough to see you guys Yoshika
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Hello!
Sept 24, 2012 18:55:48 GMT
Post by arek on Sept 24, 2012 18:55:48 GMT
Welcome to HG. There are a lot of ways you can go with barbarians. If you want to go with the fighter version, I recommend going 30 barbarian, 4-5 fighter, and 5 Harper Scout (HS). Lemme crunch up a build real fast, and I'll post it as a follow-up.
Be aware that to take full advantage of HS levels, you'll need to get a certain pair of boots in-game, and that those will need to later be upgraded. Upgrading the boots requires a popular, somewhat difficult-to-obtain item, and binds them to your character, which means that if you upgrade them then later decide to reincarnate to sonething that doesn't include HS, it'll be an expensive change (you won't get the boots back after reinc unless you can use them).
Will get back with a build for ya.
--Arek
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Hello!
Sept 24, 2012 22:43:11 GMT
Post by arek on Sept 24, 2012 22:43:11 GMT
Here is the Fighter/HS/Barbarian build I came up with. If you decide to follow it, please pay attention to the class order, stats, skills, and feats. In particular, this takes Epic Weapon Specialization, which must be taken on your 5th fighter level (level 27). If you don't get this, you won't be able to take Legendary and Paragon weapon specialization later, which will have a huge impact on your overall damage. Also pay attention to the instructions after Level 1. This is important, since if you don't pay attention you'll have to reincarnate later to fix it. The build itself is just the output of the !list levels command, with automatic feats removed, starting ability scores added, and some skill information added to Legendary/Paragon levels, followed by some useful information from one of my other builds (The Chopper). One last thing: This build takes Greater Weapon Focus at Level 18. Greater Weapon Focus is an HG-Specific feat, meaning that in order to take it at that level you will need to have HG Enhanced installed. You can find instructions on how to install it here, along with general instructions on how to set up NWN to work with HG. If you decide not to do that, just take your choice of either Blind Fight or Toughness at that level. Either one is about equally useful. Race/Subrace: Human/Gnoll To take the subrace, select Human as your race, choose Subrace and enter "Gnoll" (without quotes) when prompted.
Starting Ability Scores (At Creation/After Subrace): STR: 14/17 DEX: 14/14 CON: 14/17 INT: 16/14 WIS: 10/8 CHA: 8/6
[CHAT WINDOW TEXT] [Mon Sep 24 15:57:09] [Server] You have taken the following levels: 1 Barbarian Discipline +4, Listen +4, Taunt +4 - Blooded - Strong Soul
IMPORTANT: As soon as you get on the Docks, before you do anything else, say "!charedit" (without the quotes). When the dialog comes up, choose to exchange Strong Soul for Dauntless or Slippery Soul, then choose Slippery Soul and confirm the choice if it asks.
2 Fighter Discipline +1 - Weapon Focus (greataxe)
3 Fighter Discipline +1 - Iron Will - Power Attack
4 Fighter (Strength +1) Discipline +1
5 Fighter - Weapon Specialization (greataxe)
6 Barbarian Discipline +2, Listen +5, Taunt +5 - Alertness
7 Barbarian Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1
8 Barbarian (Strength +1) Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1
9 Barbarian Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1 - Cleave
10 Barbarian Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1
11 Barbarian Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1
12 Barbarian (Strength +1) Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1 - Great Cleave
13 Barbarian Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1
14 Barbarian Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1
15 Barbarian Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1 - Improved Critical (greataxe)
16 Barbarian (Strength +1) Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1
17 Barbarian Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1
18 Barbarian Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1 - Greater Weapon Focus (greataxe)
19 Barbarian Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1
20 Barbarian (Strength +1) Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1
21 Barbarian Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1 - Epic Weapon Focus (greataxe)
22 Barbarian Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1
23 Barbarian Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1
24 Barbarian (Strength +1) Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1 - Epic Prowess
25 Barbarian Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1
26 Barbarian Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1
27 Fighter Concentration +30, Discipline +1 - Epic Weapon Specialization (greataxe)
28 Barbarian (Strength +1) Discipline +1, Listen +2, Taunt +2
29 Barbarian Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1 - Overwhelming Critical (greataxe)
30 Barbarian Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1 - Epic Skill Focus: Taunt
31 Barbarian Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1
32 Barbarian (Strength +1) Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1
33 Barbarian Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1 - Devastating Critical (greataxe) - Thundering Rage
34 Barbarian Discipline +1, Listen +1, Taunt +1
35 Barbarian Discipline +1, Listen +1, Lore +6, Persuade +8, Search +4, Taunt +1
36 Harper Scout (Strength +1) Discipline +1, Listen +1 - Epic Reflexes - Great Dexterity I
37 Harper Scout Discipline +1, Listen +1
38 Harper Scout Discipline +1, Listen +1
39 Harper Scout Discipline +1, Listen +1 - Epic Skill Focus: Listen
40 Harper Scout (Constitution +1) Discipline +1, Listen +1 - Great Dexterity II
Legendary Feats, in order. Legendary Skill Affinity (Tumble) Legendary Weapon Focus (greataxe) Legendary Weapon Specialization (greataxe) Legendary Will Legendary Hardened Soul Mighty Rage Armor Skin
All ability score points in LLs go into STR.
For skills, keep taking Discipline, Listen, and Taunt, and also take Craft Armor and Craft Weapon. At level 44 (one level after you've taken Legendary Skill Affinity: Tumble) start maxing Tumble as well, but stop once you have 60 points in it (more is not all that useful). At level 60, take 20 points in Use Magic Device, then dump the last 10 points into Intimidate.
Paragon Feats, in order. Paragon Weapon Focus (greataxe) Paragon Weapon Specialization (greataxe) Paragon Environmental Adaptivity 1 Terrifying Rage Paragon Environmental Adaptivity 2 Paragon Environmental Adaptivity 3
In Paragon Levels (starting at 61), take Intimidate at every level-up, until you have 64 points in Intimidate (at Level 78). After that, put the remaining points into Use Magic Device (save the extra point at 79 to go in at level 80).
This build, as written here, should get 98 AB at 60 with just bardsong and +14 items. If you can find enough Craft Weapon, this will go up to 99 AB. It should also get 132 AC under most circumstances, up to 133 with enough Craft Armor, and another +4 if you get Girding of the Faithful from your friendly cleric (not available until L40+). Finally, saves should be 63F/61R/62W, which is enough for most areas in the mod. Now for some useful info regarding gear and such (mostly copied from The Chopper): Gearing Up: - Pre-epic (1-20): You want as much STR as you can get, followed by DEX, then CON, and finally WIS. Only get INT after you've gotten the others as high as you can while having Immunity: Fear, Immunity: Mind Spells and Immunity: Death Magic. CHA is completely useless for this build. Once you start getting to 14-15 or so, start looking for something that grants Immunity: Sneak Attack as well (for the bandits on the east road). Also, do the early quests in the Silver Moon Inn to get the elemental and physical resist rings there, so that you have them for when you need them. Later, start looking for items that give x/- resistance and x% immunity to elements and physicals, and x/+y soak, in order to improve your survivability.
- Early-Mid Epic (21-30 or so): Start looking at maxing STR, DEX, CON, and WIS, in that order. Immunity to Fear, Mind Spells and Death Magic is an absolute must, as is Immunity to Level Drain (Ability/Level Drain) along with other misc. immunities (poison, for example). Note that "Ability/Level drain" ONLY covers level drain, not ability drain (there is, iirc, no item in the game that provides blanket immunity to ability decreases, tho UEF and Negative Energy Protection potions both provide immunity to true ability drain from undead creatures). Also, x% immunities start being higher at this point, so start looking for those more, tho you shouldn't forget x/- resists or x/+y soak.
- Mid-Late Epic (30ish-39): At this point, you have little excuse to not have STR maxed at +12, and you should probably have DEX, CON and maybe WIS maxed as well. WIS may be more difficult to get up there while keeping the others maxed, tho. Immunity to Sneak Attacks will once again serve you well at this point, so pick that back up. Once you're a high enough level, Chain of the Quickblood will serve you well by providing most of the misc. immunities you'll need.
- Early-Mid LLs (40-49): About the best armor you can get pre-50 will be either the Immortal Plate, which you can probably get when you get your Immo tag, or one of the Crossbowman's Guard from Toyshop or the Ssithrak Skirmisher Scale from Sissy, tho both have their downsides. Also, needless to say, you want your abilities maxed, and you want all the misc. immunities mentioned earlier. Additionally, you need rings to provide %imms, both elemental and exotic, along with something that provides at last x/+10 soak (higher values of x are better, I recommend at least 10). For misc. immunities, you'll want either a Lich-King's Phylactry or Touch of the Grave, either of which cover just about everything you'll need. Also, you should have your Harper Scout boots at this point, be wearing them at all times and, once you start getting close to L50, be looking to get on as many Pit of Moliation (PoM) runs as you can, so that you can get a Crucible of Moliation to use on your boots. If you can get on Toyshop runs (With a level cap of 54 and shackling allowed), you might also be able to get a Portable Hole, which might be valuable enough to somebody to trade for a Crucible. Same with Pyramid runs (no level cap) and a Wisdom artifact (tho Pyramid is usually done with small parties of demigods).
- Mid-late LLs (50-59): Now you start being able to use much better armors and such. Best among these is the Breastplate of Hiraikos for Medium armor or the Plate of Uxan Uldorath for Heavy Armor. If you don't have/can't get those, any UR medium or heavy armor will probably be better than what you're wearing. For Shields, the Ever Watchful Eye is nice. Everything mentioned previously still applies as well, and if you haven't moliated your boots yet, getting a Crucible of Moliation so that you can do that should become a very high priority. You do NOT want to go into the hells with the un-moliated boots, since you have to wear them full-time.
- Level 60+:
- Armor: Links of Binding and Halomesh Hauberk are nice, with a definite preference to Links of Binding for the Camo on it. If you prefer Heavy armor, a well-randomized Plate of Uxan Uldorath is extremely nice to use, for the Level 50 Divine Power on it (which gives you +1 attack per round).
- Shield: If you're using Medium armor, you'll want a Large shield, so go for Benediction, Bastion of Cormyr, or Arcadian Fire. Yes, I know those are caster shields of the type typically used by battlebards, but even discounting that they have enough going for them to recommend them over the other large shields. If you're using Heavy Armor, I recommend either Wings of the Storm or Pyroclastic Flow, or the Pentavite Shield from Illithids (which is easy to get).
- Helmet: The Helm of Zeal is problabley the best helmet for this build. Scintillating Scarf is also nice, tho you can simply use any helmet that covers the ability bonuses you need until you get a Helm of Zeal. Note: If you get a decent Visor of Vigilance, you can probably trade it for a pretty good Helm of Zeal...Visors are very highly sought after by tanks, but that helm won't help this build as much as the Helm of Zeal will.
- Amulet: Orudin's Oath. This amulet provides +20 to Craft Armor and Craft Weapon. Combined with bardsong, this will ensure that you have decent Craft Weapon most of the time, with a decent chance at getting the full +3 benefit (for max AB). Barring that, Amulet of the Pharoah is nice for the resists and immunities, tho it's generally harder to get.
- Boots: Moliated Boots of the Wanderer. If you still don't have these, do whatever it takes to get a Crucible and make a pair! Having them moliated is incredibly important for your defense, so don't put it off. The difference is amazingly huge.
- Gloves/Bracers: Gauntlets of Transposed Energy provide nice physical resists if you need them, or Fiendish Fingers provide some nice elemental resists instead if you need those. If you don't have/need either, I recommend simply getting the UR Touch of the Grave gloves so that you don't have to worry about misc. immunes elsewhere.
- Cloak: Cloak of the Unjust. This cloak provides Immunity: Level Drain, which should be about the last of the misc. imms you'll need, given the items listed, along with some physical and elemental immunities.
- Belt: Until you're a demigod, any of the Belt of Eternal Preservation (or its UR equivalent, Tempest of Blood), Belt of Legendary Resilience, or Ainafea's Masterwork Belt are useful, depending on exactly what you need.
- Demigod: At the Demigod level, you gain access to an Asmo Artifact. 3 options come to mind here:
- Crest of Vile Darkness. In addition to providing an unprecedented amount of exotic immunities, this ring also provides protection from both Mord AND Breach spells, which means you won't be losing displacement anywhere near as often as you would without mord/breach protection (you HAVE been asking for displacement on runs, right? ).
- Reaching for Damnation. This will greatly improve your damage output, but you'll need to make sure your physical resistances are covered elsewhere (generally on armor for a STR tank).
- The Serpent's Coil: This belt has unlimited GS, Exotic resists, +16 to STR/DEX/CON once you hit Level 65, and +4 to STR/DEX/CON checks, among other things, all of which make it an amazingly nice option.
- Remember, this is a list of Optimal or Near-optimal gear. If you can't get what's listed, follow the earlier guidelines, but start looking for items with +14 to your 4 main stats on them. I also don't list Abyss gear here which, like Asmo Artifacts, can get +16 stats once you get high enough in levels. Because of this, if you do Abyss runs, look for items (non-boots and preferably non-belt) with +14s to STR/CON/DEX/WIS on them. Preferably also without spell slots. These stats will go up to +16 once you get enough Paragon Levels.
Subrace Upgrades: - Secret:
- Kurai: Has Expertise, which can give you some extra AC at the cost of some AB in a pinch, and a good stat spread. Gets wings, but otherwise no appearance change.
- UR:
- Battlerager: STR/CON bonuses and Dodge as a feat make this a decent upgrade, tho the -2 INT on a non-human subrace will make the stat spread a bit awkward.
- Stinger: A great stat spread and the Spring Attack feat make this a great upgrade at the UR level.
- Doppleganger: Not a very good stat spread for a STR tank, but workable with a decent AB...the upside to this is that later, you can choose any medium-sized appearance you want for it (I've seen panthers and (rain)deer, for instance, among others). Stick this on Half-Orc to overcome the STR deficiency. Only use this if you want a custom appearance. :-)
- BUR:
- Howler: the STR/CON bonuses are nice, and this race gets Dodge and WP: Exotic, allowing for the use of a few weapons the build wouldn't otherwise have access to. Overall a good choice if you have or can get it.
- Undying: The wide stat spread and save feats on this allow for a very nice build. Another good choice.
- Half-Guardinal: Has a great stat spread and some nice extra perks. Well worth using if you can get it.
- Juggernaut: Has a great stat spread and a nice special, making it a good choice.
- Kolyarut: Great stat spread, but not a whole lot else going for this particular build. If you actually manage to get one of these and want to use it, have a look at "The Chopper" for an idea of the kind of build Koly is amazing for.
- Salamander: Good stats, relevant skill bonus, nice extras, and an interesting appearance. Good overall race if you can both get it and stand the appearance (some don't like it).
- Zenythri: Has a decent stat spread, but zero relevant or even useful feats for this build (unarmed is only really an option for monks, and most folks don't like unarmed even then). Usable if you have access to it, but don't go out of your way to get this.
Tips for levelling: - Level with a group whenever possible. You'll get more experience that way, and you'll have a fun time, too.
- Explore. In addition to 4 places you must visit before getting to certain levels in order to get items you'll need in later areas, you also need to find your Harper Scout and Barbarian secrets once you get to a high enough level. Additionally, there are many interesting places around Higher Ground for you to look at, and many monsters who will give you tags when defeated, most of which provide small but nice bonuses to your character. :-)
Tips for playing: - If this is your first toon on Higher Ground, I highly recommend reading The Newbie Guide, as it contains some valuable info.
- If you've never played a tank before on HG (regardless of whether or not this is your first toon), I also recommend reading Tanking for those with a low INT score, since it gives some nice tips on how to play a tank.
- This tank relies Shapestrong Rage in order to gain the defensive benefits of a shield while still retaining the offensive bonuses of wielding a large weapon. With that in mind, you need find your shapestrong rage token. Ask in-game where this is and/or for help getting it (you need to be Level 35, iirc, tho you might be able to get it at 30). Further, once you have the token, you need to jump through a few hoops every time you want to change weapons in order to get your full damage. First, use your shapestrong rage token (going large). Second, equip your weapon and shield. Third, use your shapestrong rage token again (going medium). Once you've done that, you should have your weapon and shield both equipped, and still be considered to be using a large weapon.
- In addition to Shapestrong Rage, this tank also relies on the Harper Scout boots to get an extra 2 attacks per round. Ask in-game once you're Level 40 and have all your HS levels where to get them. You'll notice once you have them, tho, that they kinda suck AC-wise when you get them (they're decent at 40, but you need to use them throughout your career, even at 60+). The good news is that they can be upgraded with the Crucible of Moliation once you have the Pit of Moliation tag. Make sure you run PoM enough to get a crucible, then use it on your boots. You'll thank me later. :-)
And the most important thing? HAVE FUN I hope this helps you. :-) --Arek P.S. If anyone finds any problems with the build listed above, feel free to post them. Also, if someone wants to clean up and post EDIT: Updated the subrace upgrades section to better reflect this build.
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Hello!
Sept 25, 2012 20:27:41 GMT
Post by arek on Sept 25, 2012 20:27:41 GMT
Unfortunately, the above build needs 2 first-level feats in order to get both saves and tumble AC, one of which Half-Orcs get for free. This means that it will only work with races that use Human or Half-Orc. The only truly viable option among these that doesn't change your appearance is Human/PT - Earth Genasi. In order to use this, follow the build as shown, except take CON instead of STR at Level 36. The overall build will have -1 AB over Gnoll, but should still be OK.
Also, after you take the Cleave feat, I recommend that you buy/trade/beg for a Blood of Uroboros and Drink it to remove the Acid penalty this race gets.
I hope this helps. :-)
--Arek
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Hello!
Sept 26, 2012 21:19:54 GMT
Post by arek on Sept 26, 2012 21:19:54 GMT
You could drop PA/Cleave/G.Cleave/OC/DC if you wanted to rely on said armor (Plate of the Legendary Master), but you can't use it until Level 60, and even then those feats are a large part of your damage so you'll probably want to have a couple decent sets of that armor (one to use, one for backup) before you rely on it. Also, the two-handed damage boost may be getting removed entirely for Barbarians in the near future, so it may be worth it to consider going with Raging Blades instead (which is as close to the "gold standard" barbarian build as an open subrace can get). Unfortunately, that build cannot afford to lose any STR/AB, so Gnoll is the only real option for it, at least as far as Open Subraces are concerned. Since you don't seem to like the Gnoll appearance, I would recommend leveling the above build to L50 and getting a couple of Battlerager (or any other of the above-mentioned UR or BUR races) books to reincarnate to it with. --Arek
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