Post by bort on Nov 4, 2006 13:51:02 GMT
My first level 60! Have had lots and lots of fun with this build. Definately my favourite melee build so far. Can bash the hell out of most things (crit immune or not) while staying alive fairly easily in most areas.
Your base HP is 1044, (not 104) and the character sheet doesn't calculate using the +20 cap to AB, so your AB isn't really 91+
At level 60 you'll have an AB of 73 from Tenser's, +18 to your staff to beat damage reduction from Blackstaff, soak 46/+14 from Premonition, 85% Conceal and immunity to spells level 6th and below from Ethereal Visage, 60/- elemental resist with a limit of 2900 with Energy Buffer, Immunity to Necromancy/Negative damage from Shadow Shield and immunity to IGMS/ILMS with Shield.
Anyone looking to build a Staffmaster for the first time should read this:
highergroundpoa.proboards3.com/index.cgi?board=Tavern&action=display&n=1&thread=3080&page=1
These points in particular:
dragonchyld said:
E. Spell Basics.. You have 4 spells that will be your bread and butter. The rest are important, but you should have several copies of these spells memed at any time. They are, Tenser’s Transformation. (This is the spell that makes you rock out after all) Ethereal Visage, this spell will help you greatly by level 40. If you do a straight Wiz/WM build your conceal off of this spell will be 70%, Blackstaff, for obvious reasons, and lastly perhaps the MOST important spell you have as a SM. Greater Sanctuary. IF you die, OR get dispelled, this spell will save your ass. You will have time after a rez (if your quick) to rebuff (remembering to have a few copies of your base 4 spells) OR if you get dispelled, the spell will give you the time to rebuff and not die…
F. Lastly for the basics.. A MUST have is the Mords Ring, Trade your soul for it if you have too. You will find that you can outperform a Tank build of the same level if you are buffed, Get dispelled though… You had better run.
I added some fighter levels to the 'basic' Staffmaster template for the bonus feats to help get those pesky Weapon Master requirements out the way quickly.
With 20 levels of Weapon Master, you lose out on getting the option of positive or negative damage, but that's no big deal (imo), especially with the staffs you can get on HG.
I took Wizard at 40, to max concentration (to help avoid taunt) and spellcraft (to boost saves vs. spells).
Race: Dwarf
Subrace: "Dwarf - Derrzagon" (free blind fight, SR 18, subrace is available to all)
Stats: (subrace mod/at 40)
STR 18 (18/30)
DEX 11 (13)
CON 16 (16/18)
WIS 8 (6)
INT 13 (15/18)
CHA 6 (4)
Stat points: Get INT to 18 first, then put the rest into STR.
Skill points: Concentration on fighter/Wiz levels, Discipline on fighter/Wm levels - See below for what to do with the rest.
Level Progression: (overall level/class level)
Fighter 1-4
1/1 Expertise, Weapon Focus (quarterstaff) - Weapon Master PreReqs.
2/2 Dodge - Weapon Master PreReq.
3/3 Mobility - Weapon Master PreReq.
4/4 Spring Attack - Weapon Master PreReq.
Wizard 5-19 (* denotes a wizard bonus feat; make sure to take these at recommended levels)
5/1 Intimidate (4) - Weapon Master PreReq.
6/2 Whirlwind Attack - Weapon Master PreReq.
9/5 Toughness, *Extend Spell
12/8 Improved Critical (quarterstaff)
14/10 *Spell Focus (Transmutation)
15/11 Great Fortitude
18/14 Lightning Reflexes
19/15 *Greater Spell Focus (Transmutation)
Weapon Master 20-39 (* denotes a weapon master bonus feat; take these at recommended levels to avoid taking epic toughness :
20/1 Weapon of Choice (quarterstaff)
21/2 Great Constitution I
24/5 Great Constitution II
27/8 Great Strength I
30/11 Great Strength II
32/13 *Armor Skin
33/14 Great Strength III
35/16 *Epic Weapon Focus (quarterstaff)
36/17 Great Strength IV
38/19 *Epic Prowess
39/20 Discipline (42), Great Strength V
Wizard 40
40/16 Concentration (43), Pick Pocket (21), Spellcraft (43), Tumble (21), Craft Armor (14)
Legendary Levels:
All stats into Strength (10)
Great Strength VI-IX (no point taking Great Strength X, it'll leave you with an odd number in STR)
Epic Will
Epic Reflexes
Epic Fort
Spells chosen:
8: Premonition, Blackstaff, Greater Sanctuary, Mind Blank
7: Shadow Shield, Spell Mantle, Protection from Spells
6: Ethereal Visage, Tenser's Transformation, Globe of Invulnerability, Greater Stoneskin, Stone to Flesh
5: Energy Buffer, Mestil's Acid Sheath, Lesser Spell Mantle
4: Improved Invisibility, Stoneskin, Elemental Shield, Wall of Fire, Ice Storm
3: Greater Magic Weapon, Haste, Keen Edge, Gust of Wind
2: Bull's Strength, Cat's Grace, Death Armor, Flame Weapon
1: Burning Hands, Endure Elements, Mage Armor, Protection from Alignment, Shield, True Strike, Negative Energy Ray, Grease
Making scrolls of Greater Sanctuary/Mind Blank/Shadow Shield can help you get over your lack of spell slots. Unfortunately the duration of these spells when cast from a scroll is shorter, but still better than nothing.
Casting Greater Sanctuary from a scroll can be a life saver and frees up spell slots - useful when party are all dead / you died and need to rebuff / you're back from using rest ring and surrounded by monsters, or when you crashed and relogged with no spells.
Spells with a duration of 1 Turn per caster level or 1 hour etc will last long enough when cast from a scroll to be worth it. 1 round per level spells won't be.
My Gear @ 60 (best i found so far):
Hawklight Robes (10% physical immunity and some damage resistance)
Wilbur's Walking Stick (DB quarterstaff)
Clasps of the Forewarned
Ectoplasmic Weave
Ygrette's Ephemeral Locket
Xitachyl's Ruin +10
Lolth's Slippers (20/- resist elements)
Legendary Helm of Balance (for lack of anything more useful) Bauphin's Bulwark (when dealing with mages / Devarials)
Immunity / Lev / Waterbreathing rings when neccessary.
Your main focus gear-wise should be damage immunity and resistance, over having the highest AC, as your AC is never going to get near an average strength fighter's AC anyway. Don't be tempted to wear heavy armor (or a shield if you use a large subby) because this will completely nerf your defensive spells (unless you absolutely have to in order to survive lolth/immo runs).
"Xitachyl's Ruin +10" is a decent wizard belt that gives you much needed spell slots for buffs - you don't really need to wear any more spell slot gear beyond this though, and doing so only takes up a slot you could have put more defensive gear in.
Having a few Dachy wiz staffs for epic warding is very useful
Lesser and Greater Spell Breach are good spells to have a few scrolls of for stripping wizards of their buffs.. (seek help from a friendly mage) once learned from a scroll you can scribe your own. Mord is better still, but you won't be able to learn it/scribe your own with only 16 levels of Wiz and 18 Int.
Early Levels: This is a slighly awkward build to level early on, because you receive neither the offensive or defensive benefits of the Staffmaster class for several levels. You'll probably want to throw on some heavy plate, a shield and any 1d8 one-handed weapon you can wield for the early levels (i did). Using pre-made Flame Weapon scrolls (blank scrolls from item shop in town) boosts your damage output if there's no other mages/clerics around
(They last suprisingly long).I swapped from armor, shield & axe to quarterstaff and robes around level 19. Well worth the wait though.
