Azure Knight - BG(23), So(16), Mo(1) [BK]

[berkleyjl]

I'm fairly new to the server, so I only have one secret subrace--and that was given to me (Thri-Kreen). However, I consider myself a competent strategist and am a "student of the game." With no BUR races, a Bane Knight is going to be really hard to pull off. However, I hate feeling limited like that, so here goes my attempt. Constructive criticism is more than welcome...comments like "wait for hound archon or baseborn titan or prismatic HD" etc. are not.

------------------------------Vitals at Level 40----------------------------------

Race: Half-Dragon - Blue
Class: Blackguard(23), Sorcerer(16), Monk(1),
Align: Lawful Evil

Abilities:
STR: 19 (33)
DEX: 8
CON: 13
WIS: 8
INT: 10
CHA: 16 (18)

Statistic:
Hitpoints: 402
Skillpoints: 131
Saving Throws (Fortitude/Will/Reflex): 26/25/21
Saving Throw bonuses: Spells: +6
BAB: 23
AB (max, naked): 38 (melee), 23 (ranged)
AC (naked/mundane armor/shield only): 11/22
Spell Casting: Sorcerer(8)
Alignment Changes: 0

Skills:
Concentration 43(44)
Discipline 43(54)
Hide 5(4)
Spellcraft 32(32)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I couldn't wait until 40 for my monk level because you get Cleave for free (without Power Attack) and Hide as a class skill, both of which are requirements for Blackguard. You lose the tumble dump but with 10 Int you don't have that many skill points to throw around anyway.

Class Progression:
1-2 Sorceror
3 Monk
4-13 Sorceror
14-25 Blackguard
26-29 Sorceror
30-40 Blackguard

Pre-Epic Feats:
Toughness
Spell Focus: Abjuration
Weapon Focus: Kama (take on monk level)
Spell Focus: Transmutation
Greater Spell Focus: Transmutation
Still Spell
Blind Fight
Greater Spell Focus: Abjuration

Epic Feats:
Improved Critical: Kama
Great Strength I - VI

Blackguard Bonus Feats:
Armor Skin
Epic Weapon Focus: Kama
Epic Prowess
Epic Toughness

[glow=red,2,300]The Spell List might be a no-brainer for Bane Knight, but here it goes:[/glow]
-1-
Grease
Mage Armor
Shield
True Strike
Protection vs Alignment

-2-
Bull's Strength
Eagle's Splendor
Endurance
Flame Weapon
Death Armor

-3-
Greater Magic Weapon
Keen
Magic Circle vs Alignment
Vampiric Touch

-4-
Confusion
Elemental Shield
Minor Globe of Invulnerability
Phantasmal Killer

-5-
Bigby's Interposing Hand
Energy Buffer
Mestil's Acid Sheath
Mind Fog

-6-
Bigby's Forceful Hand
Greater Stoneskin
Tenser's Transformation

-7-
Bigby's Grasping Hand
Shadow Shield

-8-
Premonition

[Raj]

my first character here on hg was a bane knight as well, based on half dragon - red , and i never played it past lvl 43; it wasn't because of gear, it was because of the damn 150% vulnerability :/ it's really a pity realize you'll never be able to play succesful in some areas of the mod; don't know how much i can spoil, but while acid isn't a great deal in the easier LL runs, pyramid and hells are full of it, so this char is fine to gather your first pieces of good gear but won't be great later on

that being said, about the build itself:


-abjuration and transmutation focii? what for? dump those, you won't be able to learn epic spells anyway ( you need 25 levels of base sorceror )
-why weapon focus kama? you don't get any benefit from the monk flurry of blows combat style wearing heavy armor+shield anyway; focus in a nice martial weapon after getting your bg lvl
-taking 1 monk lvl so early is pointless imho, you're giving up 2 ac from tumble and losing 1 pre epic ab for 2 feats; it's like wasting 2 epic feats ( armor skin-prowess) to cover the loss from not having to take 2 pre-epic feats (cleave-power attack); power attack is actually useful too, because it's a pre-req for divine might/shield, and you want at least the first one, maybe both.
-your reflex save is too low, so evasion won't help a lot; raise it burning some feats or simply give up on monk splash, in order to have full premonition DR ( yes, there're monsters that hit as a +14 weapon )

that's all hope my english didn't sound too rude

[atomicsomething]

For other free subraces, you might want to try :

"Humanoid - Yuan-Ti" - requires Human (changes Appearance)
CHA +2, INT +1, DEX +1, WIS-3, STR -1m +5 spellcraft, sr5 +1/lvl, speaks Draconic, speaks Yuan-ti

Starting with (stats after subrace modifier in parenthesis)
STR : 17 (16)
DEX : 8 (9)
CON : 14
WIS : 8 (5)
INT : 9 (10)
CHA : 16 (18)

or

"Humanoid - Deep Orc" - requires Half-Orc (changes Appearance)
STR +2, CHA +2, DEX -2, WIS -2, +5 craft armor, +5 Craft Weapon, resist fire 5/-, resist cold 5/-, speaks Orcish
with (stats after subrace modifier in parenthesis)
STR : 16 (18)
DEX : 8 (6)
CON : 14
WIS : 8 (6)
INT : 12
CHA : 14 (16)
Deep Orc will leave you with 20% xp penalty after taking one level monk (One more reason to take it @40)

[berkleyjl]

Thank you guys very much for the suggestions. I would never have thought of the deep orc idea. I regected Yuan-Ti because of the -1 STR (this is a strength build after all).

I am currently reworking it and strongly considering dropping the monk splash entirely. The only reason I took it was for the free cleave but with the realization that the spell focus feats won't do me much good anyway, I've got lots of open feats to use.

that's all hope my english didn't sound too rude

And no, you didn't seem rude at all!

[mloki]

I actually started with a Bane Knight as well and managed ok with the Monk splash just for the Evasion. I ended up with 21 BG/18 Sorc/1 Monk. I did this for the use of 9th level spells and the bonuses that 21 levels of BG give you.

MLoki

[berkleyjl]

OK Here is the reworked version.
---------------------------------------------------------

Race: Half-Dragon - Blue
Class: Blackguard(24), Sorcerer(16)
Alignment: Any Evil

Abilities - Initial [Adjusted] (Final)
STR: 16 [18] (30)
DEX: 8
CON: 15
WIS: 8
INT: 12 [10]
CHA: 15 [16] (18)

Hitpoints: 444
Skillpoints: 129
Saving Throws (Fortitude/Will/Reflex): 26/23/25
Saving Throw bonuses: Spells: +6
BAB: 24
AB (max, naked): 38 (melee), 24 (ranged)
AC (naked/mundane armor/shield only): 11/22
Spell Casting: Sorcerer(8)
Alignment Changes: 0

---------------------------------------------------------

Level Progression: 1-12 So, 13-24 BG, 24-28 So, 29-40 BG
Skills: Get Hide to 5 (cross-class) before level 12. Max Conc every level, and Spellcraft every Sorc level. Put the rest in Discipline, but remember to save 12 points to dump into Spellcraft at level 24 to "catch up."

Pre-Epic Feats
Toughness
Power Attack
Cleave
Still Spell
Blind Fight
Lightning Reflexes
Weapon Focus
Improved Critical

Epic Feats
Epic Reflexes
Divine Might
Divine Shield
Great Strength I - IV
Armor Skin (BG Bonus)
Epic Prowess (BG Bonus)
Epic Weapon Focus (BG Bonus)
Epic Toughness (BG Bonus)

Spells
-1-
Grease
Mage Armor
Shield
True Strike
Protection vs Alignment

-2-
Bull's Strength
Eagle's Splendor
Endurance
Flame Weapon
Death Armor

-3-
Greater Magic Weapon
Keen
Magic Circle vs Alignment
Vampiric Touch

-4-
Confusion
Elemental Shield
Minor Globe of Invulnerability
Phantasmal Killer

-5-
Bigby's Interposing Hand
Energy Buffer
Mestil's Acid Sheath
Mind Fog

-6-
Bigby's Forceful Hand
Greater Stoneskin
Tenser's Transformation

-7-
Bigby's Grasping Hand
Shadow Shield

-8-
Premonition

[FunkySwerve]

Cleave is nice early on, but it can be problematic later in the game, so much so that players have requested a way to remove it from characters that got it for free. Just fyi.
Funky

[berkleyjl]

Well, Cleave is a requirement for Blackguard and this is a Bane Knight build so there's nothing for it but to pray I don't kill myself on kickbacks, and be thankful it's not Great Cleave.