Post by azrael on Jul 19, 2006 0:02:30 GMT
NONE SHALL PASS
Bane Knight
The basic idea here is a strength tank with 4 damage shields, very nice weapon buffs, premonition, a cool summons and some useful spells like spell breach, bigby's grasping hand, gust of wind, and greater sanctuary. The bane knight gets blackguard and sorc levels added together for some spells (mostly buffs) and uses str modifier for spell dc of those same spells (see book for list of spells). I used the prismatic half dragon race because of +2 str and chr and the nice elemental immunities, but if you don't have access to it, you can use Half-Dragon Blue as an alternative, sacrificing only divine shield (I rarely use it) and you are vulnerable to acid. You do gain 65% elec immune though.
note sheet is lying about ab, its actually 73
Race : Prismatic 25% immune to fire, cold, elec, acid, 25% vulnerable to sonic, +2 to str and char, -2 dex -1 int
Alternate non secret race - halfdragon blue +2 str, -2 Int, +1 cha, 65% elec immune, 150% acid vulnerability - starting stats can remain the same for blue HD, not much will change, just substitute great charisma 1 for divine shield (You need the charisma for lvl 8 spells).
Alignment - lawful evil - required
LVL progression - 12 sorc / 12 BG / 4 sorc / 10 BG / 1 monk / 1 sorc
abilities - base - race adjusted(prismatic) - lvl 40 - lvl 60
str - 16 - 18 - 33 - 48
dex - 8 - 6 - 6 - 6
con - 14 - 14 - 14 - 14
wis - 8 - 8 - 8 - 8
int - 12 - 11 - 11 - 11
chr - 16 - 18 - 18 - 22
abilities - all str
skills - need 5 hide for blackguard (these will have to be cross class) max discipline, save 40 points to put into tumble on monk level (take monk at level 37 or later) put rest into concentration, maybe some spellcraft, and in LL maybe something like taunt or appraise. (edit - I actually put em in craft armor, so I could craft my beholder plate)
pre epic feats:
power attack
cleave
toughness
extend spell
still spell
blind fight
weapon focus scimitar
improved critical scimitar
epic feats:
divine might
divine shield
great str 1 - 5
blackguard bonus feats:
epic prowess
epic weapon focus scimitar
epic fiend
armor skin
read tome of enchantment to gain epic spell focus enchantment
legendary feats:
legendary spell focus enchantment
great str 6-10
epic reflexes
Spells - I am just listing what i feel are the essentials, the rest are free choices
lvl 1 - Grease, mage armor, shield
lvl 2 - death armor, flame weapon, endurance, bulls str or eagles splendor
lvl 3 - GMW, keen, vampiric touch, gust of wind
lvl 4 - elemental shield, phantasmal killer, improved invisibility, stoneskin
lvl 5 - mestils acid sheath, energy buffer, lesser mind blank
lvl 6 - tensers transformation, greater spell breach
lvl 7 - spell mantle, bigby's grasping hand
lvl 8 - premonition, greater sanctuary
Ab at 40 with str maxed and a +10 gmw using scimitar = 55. Tensers should bring this up to 65.
Ab at 60 with str maxed, gmw and scim = 67, with tensers it should be 73.
Saves should also be fairly good as blackguard gets charisma modifier added to saves, I took epic reflexes cause reflex will be lowest save with the bad dex of this build. With the +20 to saves available on equipment this build will hit 60 on all saves.
I used scimitar cause i have a nice collection of them, but any one handed non exotic weapon would work, longsword is another fine choice.
So this build should have standard str tank ac, with the tumble and special bane knight premonition (useable with armor and a shield). Acid, fire, magic, and divine(divine shield) damage shields, the ability to add fire, cold (deaths kiss) and divine (divine might) damage to your weapon, as well as having the 25% immunities for race and a quality elemental buffer (uses bg and sorc levels combined). the weapon buffs are non-dispellable, so once you hit lvl 42 and get LL focus enchantment, your minimum ab with gmw will be 60, with tensers (extended of course) it will be 66. Lesser mind blank and greater sanctuary are bonuses, and the upgraded blackguard epic fiend is one of the nicer pets. One word of warning, if you're gonna use the fiend, summon him in advance, somewhere where there is NO LOOT, as the first thing he does is cast hellball, breaking all loot in an enormous aoe. Also he benefits greatly from being buffed with gmw, bulls str, endurance, flame weapon and mage armor. Ive taken my summons with me in the first area of the desert and he did really well there, he actually killed some stuff with his spells (wail and harm specifically), and he survived almost the whole area without being healed.
The downsides of this build are its vulnerabilitly to being dispelled, low hit points for a tank and the general suckiness of being half caster, half tank before you get bane knight status (level 24).
A note on Tensers transformation - this spell makes this build. Not only does it boost your ab and give temporary hit points, but it gives you same number of attacks as a fighter of the same level, plus extra attacks at caster level 45 and 55. Also it adds +1 natural ac per caster level over 40, so when you get to the higher LL you will see a nice ac boost, eventually getting +19 nat armor at level 60, which is 3 more than you can get with the best amulet I know of. Doesn't sound like much, but when all your equipment is maxed, 3 ac means you'll be hit 15% less.
One thing that I did that is debateable is only taking 17 sorc levels, I could have gone 18 but i would need to use a feat on grt char to get level 9 spells , and it would cost me one blackguard bonus feat. I wasnt really tempted by any of the 9th level spells, weird probably wont kill anything really tough without the illusion focuses (even using mind fog), and time stop is cool, but what am i gonna do with it (once again, i'm not sure how useful my bigby's hand will be without evo focus, the only time i would really need to ts and grab would be against very tough mobs, and my grasping hand probably wouldnt work against them).
Having played this build to 60 I don't miss having level 9 spells at all. I've also found energy buffer to be more useful than premonition, as the bane knight premonition doesn't seem high enough level to do much against mobs in the legendary areas. Its really tough to tell with all the resists and immunities this build has. Energy buffer on the other hand, is definitely a lifesaver against enemy archers.
-edit- updated with alternative non secret race
-edit- added gust of wind to spell list after taking him thru pyramid
Bane Knight
The basic idea here is a strength tank with 4 damage shields, very nice weapon buffs, premonition, a cool summons and some useful spells like spell breach, bigby's grasping hand, gust of wind, and greater sanctuary. The bane knight gets blackguard and sorc levels added together for some spells (mostly buffs) and uses str modifier for spell dc of those same spells (see book for list of spells). I used the prismatic half dragon race because of +2 str and chr and the nice elemental immunities, but if you don't have access to it, you can use Half-Dragon Blue as an alternative, sacrificing only divine shield (I rarely use it) and you are vulnerable to acid. You do gain 65% elec immune though.
note sheet is lying about ab, its actually 73
Race : Prismatic 25% immune to fire, cold, elec, acid, 25% vulnerable to sonic, +2 to str and char, -2 dex -1 int
Alternate non secret race - halfdragon blue +2 str, -2 Int, +1 cha, 65% elec immune, 150% acid vulnerability - starting stats can remain the same for blue HD, not much will change, just substitute great charisma 1 for divine shield (You need the charisma for lvl 8 spells).
Alignment - lawful evil - required
LVL progression - 12 sorc / 12 BG / 4 sorc / 10 BG / 1 monk / 1 sorc
abilities - base - race adjusted(prismatic) - lvl 40 - lvl 60
str - 16 - 18 - 33 - 48
dex - 8 - 6 - 6 - 6
con - 14 - 14 - 14 - 14
wis - 8 - 8 - 8 - 8
int - 12 - 11 - 11 - 11
chr - 16 - 18 - 18 - 22
abilities - all str
skills - need 5 hide for blackguard (these will have to be cross class) max discipline, save 40 points to put into tumble on monk level (take monk at level 37 or later) put rest into concentration, maybe some spellcraft, and in LL maybe something like taunt or appraise. (edit - I actually put em in craft armor, so I could craft my beholder plate)
pre epic feats:
power attack
cleave
toughness
extend spell
still spell
blind fight
weapon focus scimitar
improved critical scimitar
epic feats:
divine might
divine shield
great str 1 - 5
blackguard bonus feats:
epic prowess
epic weapon focus scimitar
epic fiend
armor skin
read tome of enchantment to gain epic spell focus enchantment
legendary feats:
legendary spell focus enchantment
great str 6-10
epic reflexes
Spells - I am just listing what i feel are the essentials, the rest are free choices
lvl 1 - Grease, mage armor, shield
lvl 2 - death armor, flame weapon, endurance, bulls str or eagles splendor
lvl 3 - GMW, keen, vampiric touch, gust of wind
lvl 4 - elemental shield, phantasmal killer, improved invisibility, stoneskin
lvl 5 - mestils acid sheath, energy buffer, lesser mind blank
lvl 6 - tensers transformation, greater spell breach
lvl 7 - spell mantle, bigby's grasping hand
lvl 8 - premonition, greater sanctuary
Ab at 40 with str maxed and a +10 gmw using scimitar = 55. Tensers should bring this up to 65.
Ab at 60 with str maxed, gmw and scim = 67, with tensers it should be 73.
Saves should also be fairly good as blackguard gets charisma modifier added to saves, I took epic reflexes cause reflex will be lowest save with the bad dex of this build. With the +20 to saves available on equipment this build will hit 60 on all saves.
I used scimitar cause i have a nice collection of them, but any one handed non exotic weapon would work, longsword is another fine choice.
So this build should have standard str tank ac, with the tumble and special bane knight premonition (useable with armor and a shield). Acid, fire, magic, and divine(divine shield) damage shields, the ability to add fire, cold (deaths kiss) and divine (divine might) damage to your weapon, as well as having the 25% immunities for race and a quality elemental buffer (uses bg and sorc levels combined). the weapon buffs are non-dispellable, so once you hit lvl 42 and get LL focus enchantment, your minimum ab with gmw will be 60, with tensers (extended of course) it will be 66. Lesser mind blank and greater sanctuary are bonuses, and the upgraded blackguard epic fiend is one of the nicer pets. One word of warning, if you're gonna use the fiend, summon him in advance, somewhere where there is NO LOOT, as the first thing he does is cast hellball, breaking all loot in an enormous aoe. Also he benefits greatly from being buffed with gmw, bulls str, endurance, flame weapon and mage armor. Ive taken my summons with me in the first area of the desert and he did really well there, he actually killed some stuff with his spells (wail and harm specifically), and he survived almost the whole area without being healed.
The downsides of this build are its vulnerabilitly to being dispelled, low hit points for a tank and the general suckiness of being half caster, half tank before you get bane knight status (level 24).
A note on Tensers transformation - this spell makes this build. Not only does it boost your ab and give temporary hit points, but it gives you same number of attacks as a fighter of the same level, plus extra attacks at caster level 45 and 55. Also it adds +1 natural ac per caster level over 40, so when you get to the higher LL you will see a nice ac boost, eventually getting +19 nat armor at level 60, which is 3 more than you can get with the best amulet I know of. Doesn't sound like much, but when all your equipment is maxed, 3 ac means you'll be hit 15% less.
One thing that I did that is debateable is only taking 17 sorc levels, I could have gone 18 but i would need to use a feat on grt char to get level 9 spells , and it would cost me one blackguard bonus feat. I wasnt really tempted by any of the 9th level spells, weird probably wont kill anything really tough without the illusion focuses (even using mind fog), and time stop is cool, but what am i gonna do with it (once again, i'm not sure how useful my bigby's hand will be without evo focus, the only time i would really need to ts and grab would be against very tough mobs, and my grasping hand probably wouldnt work against them).
Having played this build to 60 I don't miss having level 9 spells at all. I've also found energy buffer to be more useful than premonition, as the bane knight premonition doesn't seem high enough level to do much against mobs in the legendary areas. Its really tough to tell with all the resists and immunities this build has. Energy buffer on the other hand, is definitely a lifesaver against enemy archers.
-edit- updated with alternative non secret race
-edit- added gust of wind to spell list after taking him thru pyramid