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Post by stonewarrior on Nov 13, 2006 18:40:40 GMT
Hi all, I am still pretty new to Higher Ground and have to say my experience thus far has been a blast!
I am currently playing a level 14 Gnoll Barbarian who I had initially intended to take levels in Bard and RDD. It was suggested to me by a player that I take the first 20 or 21 levels of Barbarian. I did not think to ask why at the time and have stayed with Barbarian levels since. My initial reasoning for wanting to take Bard and RDD levels were to be able to self buff and to get the RDD class bonuses (this combination proved to be very successful for me elsewhere - a non PW). I am still relatively new to NWN (and HG in particular) so I was hoping someone might give some advice on continuing this build. Is it advisable to take the first 20 or 21 levels of Barbarian? What are the advantages and what would the disadvantages be of taking a level or Bard at level 15 or 16?
Thanks in advance for any help!
Peace, John.
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Post by thedomicron on Nov 13, 2006 18:52:55 GMT
the advantages of taking the first 21 levels as barbarian are that it maximizes your base attack bonus. bard and rdd get less ab progression pre-epic than barbarian. if you take 21 levels of barbarian, then you can take bard at level 22 and put 25 points into tumble, giving you +5 to ac and fulfilling the requirements for rdd. 10 levels of rdd give you stat bonuses (mostly to str) further increaing your ab.
taking your bard level at 15 lowers your ab by one.
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Post by stonewarrior on Nov 13, 2006 18:57:35 GMT
Thanks, that makes a lot of sense. So far I have been putting stats in Discipline, Lore, Intimidate and Taunt (17 in each). Should I start saving stat points? From reading the description on Intimidate and Taunt they seem like they could be benificial but would I be better served reserving them for Tumble and UMD? Also, I am finding Lore is a stat that I am not getting much out of right now as I am able to easily go and ID items so I am already leaning toward not putting anything else there.
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Post by FunkySwerve on Nov 13, 2006 19:04:41 GMT
Intimidate is useless on HG except to qualify for weaponmaster. It will have more use in HG2. Funky
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Post by thedomicron on Nov 13, 2006 23:48:12 GMT
tumble and umd are definately important skills. i would say tumble moreso than umd, but being able to read scrolls i've found is extremely helpful
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Post by stonewarrior on Nov 14, 2006 17:06:04 GMT
I have one more question. Do ya'll think the buffing and stat bonues from Bard and RDD would be more benificial than taking some Rogue / Shadowdancer levels? I have some Dodge feats from the Barbarian, but was not sure if the other AC type / saving throw feats would be better than the stat increases from Bard Song etc. After spending some time at the farm last night I realized I really need to boost my AC (so much so that I am questioning my decision to take Blind Fight, thinking instead I should have taken the Heavy Armor Proficiency...I am considering deleveling to change that as I am barely over the level 15 XP). Thanks again for your help.
Peace, John.
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Post by bort on Nov 14, 2006 17:54:02 GMT
Welcome to HG John. I think it's about time someone posted this link, just incase you haven't seen it already: highergroundpoa.proboards3.com/index.cgi?board=buildtalk&action=display&n=1&thread=8019This contains a lot of answers to faq for build dos and don'ts. You'll notice that blind fight is recommended, especially for melee builds. Heavy Armor is a must for a Strength based Barb in my opinion, although I've read that for those with Ultrarare medium armor, it is less of an issue.
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Post by flynn01 on Nov 14, 2006 18:59:35 GMT
Of note, if you get the 10 levels of rdd for the full boost then, I believe, you'll never be able to be shapestrong. Something to consider.
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Post by thedomicron on Nov 15, 2006 3:42:23 GMT
it really depends on what you want from a build. if you want to go with shapestrong for the size advantages, then you'll want to ditch bard/rdd for the stats/immunities and go w/ some other classes as splash.
my barbarian build is taking advantage of the stat bonuses from bard/rdd but either works well. i'd definately suggest playing with both in the test arena to see which of the builds fits your gear/playstyle more.
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Post by stonewarrior on Nov 15, 2006 17:02:57 GMT
i'd definately suggest playing with both in the test arena to see which of the builds fits your gear/playstyle more. Test arena? I am not familiar with it. I have seen the icon for a tournament arena, is that the same thing? I have not gone there. I did see a character last night that when inquired as to the race was told they were playing a gnoll barbarian with shapestrong. Gotta say the sight was impressive so it had me further rethinking the build. I had read that barbarians can get the shapestrong ability, but have not seen what the advantages to doing so are. Are they posted somewhere? I suppose I should have chekced the HGWiki b/f asking. I figure I have 4 or 5 levels to really make a decision one way or the other on the direction to take as I am still only level 15. Peace, John.
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Post by bort on Nov 15, 2006 17:14:34 GMT
The test arena is accessed by creating a character with [test] in the name somewhere. You can then automatically gain the experience needed to level straight to 40 (by talking to the Trainer), choosing classes feats and skill points as if you were levelling normally, but without killing lots of stuff inbetween each level. This is really useful for testing multiclass builds, or just making sure you can fit all the feats you want into a build. There's even a weapon rack (gives weapon based on any weapon focus feats you've taken) and a Test Dummy at the end of the corridor (pull chain to spawn) who you can go bash. I had read that barbarians can get the shapestrong ability, but have not seen what the advantages to doing so are. Are they posted somewhere? Yes. At the Class/Ability/Spell Customizations board. Where all HG customizations are listed and detailed. Link: highergroundpoa.proboards3.com/index.cgi?board=info&action=display&n=1&thread=6668
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Post by doomsdaybringer on Nov 23, 2006 19:43:30 GMT
Intimidate is useless on HG except to qualify for weaponmaster. It will have more use in HG2. Funky isnt intimidate also use to calculate the dc for terrifing rage? So..... if maxed it woundnt it be the highest dc for fear effect around 70dc with epic skill foc (at lvl 60) and 80dc with bard song?
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Post by FunkySwerve on Nov 23, 2006 21:56:59 GMT
Intimidate is useless on HG except to qualify for weaponmaster. It will have more use in HG2. Funky isnt intimidate also use to calculate the dc for terrifing rage? So..... if maxed it woundnt it be the highest dc for fear effect around 70dc with epic skill foc (at lvl 60) and 80dc with bard song? Yup, it's not totally useless, just for most classes. That's why we gave Maelephants ESF in it. Funky
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Post by doomsdaybringer on Nov 24, 2006 0:45:43 GMT
isnt intimidate also use to calculate the dc for terrifing rage? So..... if maxed it woundnt it be the highest dc for fear effect around 70dc with epic skill foc (at lvl 60) and 80dc with bard song? Yup, it's not totally useless, just for most classes. That's why we gave Maelephants ESF in it. Funky what does maelephants mean?
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Post by FunkySwerve on Nov 24, 2006 3:23:48 GMT
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