Post by maudlin27 on Nov 9, 2006 20:58:35 GMT
The Dwarven Destroyer build: I designed this char with one main aim in mind - massive damage. Obviously the character would need some way of surviving long enough to deal this damage, but the end aim was still the same, being able to deal so much damage with each hit that against some enemies you might actually deal enough to overcome LL enemies massive damage immunity/resistance, and deal single-digit physical damage 
. Well, more precisely it was to get massive theoretical critical hits, but anyway....
This build requires the battle-rager subrace. It's tough to gain, but the build won't work without it. You could try a Derrzagon dwarf, but I'd expect it'd be too weak a build to cope in LL areas (due to the str, con and feat loss). You also need to have alot of URs to make this char work. Getting a db scythe and finding a melee friendly caster is also a high priority.
So, your level progression is: 6 fighter, 6 wm, 8 DD, 1 WM, 7 DD, 2 fighter, 10 DD, although you can vary this a bit. The key point is to use the final fighter level for epic weapon specialisation. You can choose whether to go 6 fighter 4 wm 10 dd for lev1-20, or 6 fighter 6 wm 8 dd. I prefered the 6 wm option as it gave my char more powerful crits, and allowed me to gain the crit threat range bonus sooner.
Starting stats:
Str: 15 (19) [8]
Dex: 14 (10) [6]
Con: 15 (20) [8]
Int: 15 (13) [8]
Wis: 8 (8)
Chr: 8 (5)
Leveling up stats: 1 point into con, rest into str.
Feats needed:
7 normal, 4 bonus:
(Dodge - gain as BR)
(Toughness - gain as BR)
Mobility
Expertise
Spring attack
Whirlwind attack
Weapon Proficiency: Exotic
Weapon Focus: Scythe
Improved Critical: Scythe
Blind Fight
Power Attack
Cleave
Great Cleave
Epic Feats (7 normal, 3 bonus):
Weapon Specialisation: Scythe
Superior Weapon Focus: Scythe
Overwhelming Critical: Scythe
Epic Damage Reduction I-III
Epic Weapon Specialisation
Great Strength I-IV
LL (7 feats):
Great Strength V-X
Great Con I
Skill points: Max discipline, max cross-class tumble (a bit of extra ac never hurts), max spellcraft with remaining points (bonus vs spells. Doesn't have a massive impact, but every little helps!)
Lev60 stats (with +12 str and con items):
hp: 1352
ab: 59 with db scythe. Improves to 72 with +13 gmw, and if you're lucky enough to find a nice cleric, to 75 with the +16 epic.
ac: probably somewhere around 100.
Average crit damage dealt with 'maxed' weapon buffs (+16 enhancement and keen on a db scythe) and power attack: 715.5, with a crit range of 16-20. So, with 5 attacks/round, you're going to be getting 1.25 of these crits every round (assuming you can hit the enemy of course)!
Pro's:
Massive damage to non-crit immune enemies
Excellent base damage to enemies with low damage resistance/immunity (there are some out there!)
Excellent damage resistance+immunity
Very good health
Bludg. damage shield
Decent Saves
Con's:
Hopeless AC (even at lev60 with the best gear around, you're going to be hit by almost every LL enemy an awful lot)
UR intensive build (you need lots of URs to provide you with good exotic and elemental resist, as well as a further boost to your physical resist, in order to survive. You also need to find a BR subby in the first place, and db scythes are tough to find - I've yet to find one for my char)
Most enemies have high physical resist/immunity. As such you'll often find yourself dealing similar amounts of damage as a dexer, but with none of their lovely ac and conceal benefits.
I haven't been able to play this char extensively in LL areas yet (so far have done ssithy and desert), but so far the results are quite promising. My main fear was just whether it would be possible to survive in LL areas with poor ac, even with good damage resistance. Fortunately it is, which in turn provides a whole different set of challenges and bonuses for this char - rather than being worried by enemies with high ab, and/or high physical damage, you instead need to watch out for those with high exotic damage. Your high hp also helps protect you from environmental hazards, and allows you to get away without full protection from aoe kickbacks. Having such high physical resist and immunity while also not having to worry about ac allows you greater flexibility with your equipment as well. For example UR armours - if you are finding it hard getting that dream +18 ac UR full plate, have a look at some of the other armours without such good ac. They'll be easier to obtain, and may even be better in some cases! Of course, AC is still useful, as even 100 ac will lower the number of successful attacks by most enemies, but you can afford to sacrifice ac more than most other builds (except for builds relying on conceal).
In terms of recommended equipment, I'd suggest trying to find an UR combo that will give you 15 resist to as many of the exotics as possible (and 10 resist to the others that you cant manage to protect fully from). Also make sure you have at least 20 elemental resist, although 25-30 would be ideal. As for physical damage, try and get high enough resist+immys from your gear that you can absorb 100 points of physical damage (with your str bonus, DD and DR feats combined, along with full plate and a couple of other items, this shouldn't be too hard to reach). The main advantage of being hit alot of course, is that your damage shield proves lethal against the few enemies with hardly any damage resist/reduction/immy!
The one main problem with this build that is worth mentioning is enemy on hit abilities, such as sanders, xevils, and living sand. Although with the right gear you should be able to get good saves against these attacks, because of your ac even with good saves you're going to auto-fail against these an awful lot.
. Well, more precisely it was to get massive theoretical critical hits, but anyway....This build requires the battle-rager subrace. It's tough to gain, but the build won't work without it. You could try a Derrzagon dwarf, but I'd expect it'd be too weak a build to cope in LL areas (due to the str, con and feat loss). You also need to have alot of URs to make this char work. Getting a db scythe and finding a melee friendly caster is also a high priority.
So, your level progression is: 6 fighter, 6 wm, 8 DD, 1 WM, 7 DD, 2 fighter, 10 DD, although you can vary this a bit. The key point is to use the final fighter level for epic weapon specialisation. You can choose whether to go 6 fighter 4 wm 10 dd for lev1-20, or 6 fighter 6 wm 8 dd. I prefered the 6 wm option as it gave my char more powerful crits, and allowed me to gain the crit threat range bonus sooner.
Starting stats:
Str: 15 (19) [8]
Dex: 14 (10) [6]
Con: 15 (20) [8]
Int: 15 (13) [8]
Wis: 8 (8)
Chr: 8 (5)
Leveling up stats: 1 point into con, rest into str.
Feats needed:
7 normal, 4 bonus:
(Dodge - gain as BR)
(Toughness - gain as BR)
Mobility
Expertise
Spring attack
Whirlwind attack
Weapon Proficiency: Exotic
Weapon Focus: Scythe
Improved Critical: Scythe
Blind Fight
Power Attack
Cleave
Great Cleave
Epic Feats (7 normal, 3 bonus):
Weapon Specialisation: Scythe
Superior Weapon Focus: Scythe
Overwhelming Critical: Scythe
Epic Damage Reduction I-III
Epic Weapon Specialisation
Great Strength I-IV
LL (7 feats):
Great Strength V-X
Great Con I
Skill points: Max discipline, max cross-class tumble (a bit of extra ac never hurts), max spellcraft with remaining points (bonus vs spells. Doesn't have a massive impact, but every little helps!)
Lev60 stats (with +12 str and con items):
hp: 1352
ab: 59 with db scythe. Improves to 72 with +13 gmw, and if you're lucky enough to find a nice cleric, to 75 with the +16 epic.
ac: probably somewhere around 100.
Average crit damage dealt with 'maxed' weapon buffs (+16 enhancement and keen on a db scythe) and power attack: 715.5, with a crit range of 16-20. So, with 5 attacks/round, you're going to be getting 1.25 of these crits every round (assuming you can hit the enemy of course)!
Pro's:
Massive damage to non-crit immune enemies
Excellent base damage to enemies with low damage resistance/immunity (there are some out there!)
Excellent damage resistance+immunity
Very good health
Bludg. damage shield
Decent Saves
Con's:
Hopeless AC (even at lev60 with the best gear around, you're going to be hit by almost every LL enemy an awful lot)
UR intensive build (you need lots of URs to provide you with good exotic and elemental resist, as well as a further boost to your physical resist, in order to survive. You also need to find a BR subby in the first place, and db scythes are tough to find - I've yet to find one for my char)
Most enemies have high physical resist/immunity. As such you'll often find yourself dealing similar amounts of damage as a dexer, but with none of their lovely ac and conceal benefits.
I haven't been able to play this char extensively in LL areas yet (so far have done ssithy and desert), but so far the results are quite promising. My main fear was just whether it would be possible to survive in LL areas with poor ac, even with good damage resistance. Fortunately it is, which in turn provides a whole different set of challenges and bonuses for this char - rather than being worried by enemies with high ab, and/or high physical damage, you instead need to watch out for those with high exotic damage. Your high hp also helps protect you from environmental hazards, and allows you to get away without full protection from aoe kickbacks. Having such high physical resist and immunity while also not having to worry about ac allows you greater flexibility with your equipment as well. For example UR armours - if you are finding it hard getting that dream +18 ac UR full plate, have a look at some of the other armours without such good ac. They'll be easier to obtain, and may even be better in some cases! Of course, AC is still useful, as even 100 ac will lower the number of successful attacks by most enemies, but you can afford to sacrifice ac more than most other builds (except for builds relying on conceal).
In terms of recommended equipment, I'd suggest trying to find an UR combo that will give you 15 resist to as many of the exotics as possible (and 10 resist to the others that you cant manage to protect fully from). Also make sure you have at least 20 elemental resist, although 25-30 would be ideal. As for physical damage, try and get high enough resist+immys from your gear that you can absorb 100 points of physical damage (with your str bonus, DD and DR feats combined, along with full plate and a couple of other items, this shouldn't be too hard to reach). The main advantage of being hit alot of course, is that your damage shield proves lethal against the few enemies with hardly any damage resist/reduction/immy!
The one main problem with this build that is worth mentioning is enemy on hit abilities, such as sanders, xevils, and living sand. Although with the right gear you should be able to get good saves against these attacks, because of your ac even with good saves you're going to auto-fail against these an awful lot.
