help with a build

[thedomicron]

zup guys, pretty new to the server, but not to the original PoA or nwn. anyhow, some of you might know me as Steve the Pirate, he's my only char so far.

i had some questions as to his build, and was wanting some help from you guys. right now he's a fighter/dd, con based, for extra hit points. i was planning on building him as a fighter/dd/wm, but have been thinking about a fighter/dd/barbarian going for max hit points. and not max as in highest possible ever, but high enough to be absolutely ridiculous. anyhow let me know what you think

i do 10 levels of fighter (3 epic in order to get epic weapon spec, prowess, and armor skin in as few levels as possible)
15 levels of dd and 15 levels of barbarian (for great rage and dmg reduction) if i've got 15 lvls of DD and 15 lvls of barbarian then my legendary levels will progress as dd right? cuz i got my dd level before my barbarian

feats-wise, i'll probably focus in standard combat feats pre-epic, then go with great con and epic toughness in epic, pumping constitution all the way.

my main concern is being useless in a fight other than a tremendous meatshield. will my ac and/or damage be too low with only 16 base strength or will my (hopefully) indestructible nature make up for that?

anyhow thanks guys.

[FunkySwerve]

Barbarians can be a tricky first build on HG, because you need high ab as well in order to dish out significant damage. I would advise taking only the minimum Constitution necessary to get the feats you want, evened out for stat bonuses - 22 IIRC? Could be more. Put the rest into strength, you'll need the ab. As far as the LL progression goes, you are correct.
Funky

[thedomicron]

damage reduction is 21 con, so yeah i guess 22 con would be where it evens out. i could go with raising strength and taking epic toughness feats in epic levels, in order to get overwhelming crit. do you think damage reduction or epic toughness is more important to get first?

thanks for the help

[maljin]

Not directly related to the ab, but:
Epic Dwarven Defender levels should always been taken in steps of 4 (14, 18, 22, ...) as you'll get a bonus feat at those levels and an increased damage reduction. The levels between offer nothing exept more uses of defensive stance (= defensive weave) which increase every second level beyond level 1.

[mishimayukio]

IMO epic toughness is a useless feat. You're better off getting 2 great con instead, not only do you gain a +1 to fort saves, but you can get up to 60 extra HP. The only thing to worry about is taking as much great con as you intend to take before LLs, as the HP you gain with them is not retroactive.

[thedomicron]

i built a test char based off of what i've got so far. if i go with the great conn +con method, my max health without gear is 940 at level 40 with great con IV.

my base attack bonus is 30. i have epic specialization but not epic prowess.

with good gear, how much could i expect to raise my attack bonus from 30 base?

also: do all my different forms of damage reduction stack? because if they do i have 21 dmg reduction without gear

furthermore, with greater rage and defensive stance, my health increases to 1140.

so: does it look like the extra health will be worth it at all? or was it just a fun idea for me?

[hiryuu]

Your BAB is determined by your pre-20 class progression. Stats and gear will never change it. Your 'attack bonus' is the one to watch, which is based on str/dex, weapon, and feats. Your gear can pretty reliably add 20 to your naked AB. (WM and AA will add more for their favored weapons, of course.)

All feat-based reductions, including DD, Barb, and EDR, stack. Those also stack with immunities and resistance (10/- slashing), but not item-based reduction (10/+5).

You will probably use equipment to get the full +12 con increase, so Greater Rage and Defensive Stance won't change it.

1180 HP (fully equipped) is impressive at level 40 but, without enough AB to hit stuff, I don't know how enjoyable that character will be to play.

[thedomicron]

what if i was able to use greater rage and defensive stance to get my con increase and went with +12 str increase instead? i understand it would be a little backwards, but do you think it'd be viable?

or do you think i should just go with str after 22 con then go wm and combat feats?
i understand that this being my first character i don't have as many options, but i'm trying not to be too cookie cutter with it. thanks for the help

[hiryuu]

I think you will find it pretty easy to get both to +12 on this server. I would at least put the inherent stat increases (every 4 pre-LL, every 2 LL) to str and avoid Epic Toughness. Spend the feats as you wish, but AC and AB are pretty crucial here.

[reelroleplayer]

I agree with the advice here, and would add that a good way to "test" your build is build to 40 and then equip your main weapon. Then, open your stats sheet and check your first attack number. Compare that to the list below, which will give you a good idea of where you stand. It's best to build with this "max" base number in mind--since maxed main stats and party buffs are more or less a given on this server.

This refers to naked AB (included only feats, class, etc..non-magical weapon):

Less than 30: Mostly casters, essentially you won't hit anything on HG with an AB this low
31-35: Only if you are able to self-buff with max spell AB bonus (+20) is this a viable AB. Nearly useless in combat otherwise, and even fully buffed you'll miss a lot in the tougher areas.
36-39: Low-end AB. You'll be able to hit some things sometimes, but you'll still whiff most of the time without max buffage.
40-42: Absolute minimum AB if you want to hit with any sort of reliability.
43-46: Average AB for a non-WM/AA fighter class.
47-50: Above average AB for non-WM/AA. (This is the bracket to shoot for if you want to hit "regularly".)
51+: High AB, generally only WM's and AA's will hit these marks, unless using a secret races (highest starting str is half-orc/half-ogre, starts at 23 str).
55+: Only WM's and AA's will get here, and pretty much only by using a secret race.

EDIT: You actually won't have access to your main weapon from the test area on HG since there's no shop, but you can build your character in an offline tool and if built correctly it should hold up on HG.