Character Builds

[taylor]

for most characters with experimental build i create them level them up see how they handle, if i like i'll give it a try on fredian, even then i generally take forever to level up. the scary part of experiments for is that they normally work and my new moto is quite appropriate in some way "if at first you don't succeed, Destroy all evidence that you tried."

Taylor the experimentor
the creator of most things wacky and weird.

[Xiloscient]

The smiter build beating Damien Swift?! Ohh hell no... that build is centered on one thing and one thing only... getting the largest number posible to show up over someones head...
The smiter build takes 5 lvls of WM for the x5 crit but doesn't take the extra 2 more lvls of WM for an added 2 to the crit range?! No way.. that build would need to be modified *Heavily*

And regardless... Damien Swift is Immune to crits... so the smiter would be just as sucsessful ((If not much much less)) as any other Sythe WM ((Namely Bora as he is the only one on Fredian))

The Sneak Attack Archer on the other hand.. I like.. And you goody-two-shoes will be seeing a well modified version soon enough.

[Phoenix]

Another hint for tweaking builds is to save your IG character locally then start a module with that character and level them up a bit. That will let you preview the next few feats and such so you can make sure things will work the way you excpect them too.

When in a local game type '~' to enter the console. Then type 'DebugMode=1' and press enter, capitilization is necessary. Enter the console again and type 'GiveLevel=1' and click on your portriat or character. Keep typing in the givelevel command and work your way through. If you want to play locally once you leveld, make sure to turn off the debug mode. From the console type 'DebugMode=0'

[Xiloscient]

Or you could make your own make your own training module with all the items in fredian in it so you can test with items aswell... which is what I do with all my PCs.

[addicted2rpg]

To whoever replied to Genaro Dumas, good point on the tumble but I was thinking more to facilitate easier leveling one could enjoy the benefits of the AC from wisdom earlier on, but probably in reality that might happen around 18th level rather than 1st. 40th isn't bad.

Fighter dispel him? yah yah yah blah blah blah. I have seen wizards unable to disjunction eachother when they are more than 8 levels apart and this is the epic range. Really anything over level 30 caster levels the buffs are a lot more sticky than meets the eye.

Xiloscient!

Yep, the one trick pony smiter beats Damien, critical immunity aside. He might need someone to help him out though or help take the beating (dwarven defender comes to mind actually). Non-crit that build gets about 380. Do that a few times and he'll die Your point is made though about the WM. Maybe put it into something else. More Paladin perhaps? More CoT? And of course be sure to pick up some extra smiting feat because you may have to smite a few times

Although you may not have realized it, you said a big, deep, profound thing. That number over the head. In the end, that is what does the job. Whether they were stunned, hanging upside down, or incurred it over endless rounds is irrelevant. Its all going to boil down to 0 hp = dead. Sometimes builders lose sight of this.

Sometimes they overfocus too, making uber hitters that ocassionally compromise AC, saving throws, and defensive factors. That is ok in the rock, paper, scissor sense of NWN, or if you are not going to think linearly but rather play it as a "Team" game, in which case, this philosophy flies very well because others will make up for your weak points. However there are certain consequences to the versatility of an overly offensive build. I try to make them more balanced, more all-around, even if they don't hit for the most damage. On a subtle level, most players do, otherwise we would all be making the smiter. And the reason why we don't is because he is not versatile at all, and he definitely doesn't make sense to level considering his HP.... it would be a hard time getting him to 40.

[TravisBrumm]

hey xylo, will you post the Bora build? i'm curious to see it.

[CrunchX]

addicted2rpg said:

Fighter dispel him? yah yah yah blah blah blah. I have seen wizards unable to disjunction eachother when they are more than 8 levels apart and this is the epic range. Really anything over level 30 caster levels the buffs are a lot more sticky than meets the eye.

I'm talking from experience fighting against casters with a fighter... using just a "ring of magic defences" I have stripped about a window full (the status window) full of buffs from a level 40 caster, that's 10+ buffs gone with no time and/or buffs left to re-cast them... there's no better way than that to really make a caster angry

[CrunchX]

Addicted2rpg, one more thing about your monk/cleric, I don't understand why you would give up the ability to use a shield and heavy armor (22 for heavy armor +12 for shield = 34 AC) just for 1 level of monk... it doesn't make sense to me, you don't get monk speed bonus, you get a bit of extra AC from the wisdom but nothing much, i'm trying to think what else a lvl 1 monk gets but I can't remember...

[Zhoreb]

I also plan my characters before playing them. Well, at least the last 2 I planned.
Is it fun?
Yes I have a blast creating silly characters, and see how it works out in real life, I mean in a live environment. And I have no problems sharing my builds

I will give you the build of Bernith'ri Duskryn, my rogue archer. It's a different build then those of Addicted. I wanted to create a Arcane Archer with Self Concealment V and some Sneak Attacks. She does not get the best to hit, she doesn't have a high sneak attack bonus (only 10d6), but sofar I really enjoy playing her.
This is what I came up with:

Race: Elf (drow)
Starting Stats:
STR 12
DEX 20
CON 10
INT 14
WIS 8
CHA 8

Level progression:
1 Rogue Point-Blank Shot
2 Rogue
3 Rogue Rapid Shot
4 Rogue
5 Rogue
6 Rogue Weapon Focus Longbow
7 Rogue
8 Rogue
9 Wizard Dodge
10 AA
11 AA
12 AA *Expertise
13 AA
14 AA
15 AA *Improved Expertise
16 AA
17 AA
18 AA *Weapon Finesse
19 AA
20 Wizard
21 Rogue Epic Weapon Focus Longbow
22 Rogue Improved Evasion
23 Rogue
24 Rogue Great Dexterity I
25 Rogue Defensive Roll
26 AA
27 Rogue Epic Dodge
28 AA
29 AA
30 AA Great Dexterity II, Great Dexterity III
31 AA
32 AA
33 Rogue **Self-Concealment I
34 Rogue **Self-Concealment II
35 AA
36 Rogue **Self-Concealment III
37 AA Great Dexterity IV
38 Rogue
39 Rogue **Self-Concealment IV, **Self-Concealment V
40 AA

Important skills:
Tumble, Hide, Move Silent (Maximize these, also important for feats)
Also important are UMD, Spot, Listen, Search, and if you want to be a thief, Pick Pocket, Disable Traps, Open Locks etc. Your Charisma is rather low, so I didn't use any of the CHA based skills.

Level 40 Naked Stats:
STR 12
DEX 34
CON 10
INT 14
WIS 8
CHA 8

HP 274(max)
AC 30
AC 43 with mundane tower shield, short sword and improved expertise

Attack Bonus (with mundane longbow and arrows):
+52/+47/+42/+37
+50/+50/+45/+40/+35 with Rapid Shot

Saving Throws
Fortitude 19
Reflex 35
Will 17

This character probably won't be very good in one on one PvP, but in teams she will shine.
I will be in party with some other rogues most of the time, so that's why I put in the improved expertise and weapon finesse. She can play the tank to enable her fellow rogues to deal sneak attack damage. When another tank is around, she has 10d6 worth of sneak attacks herself, and a very decent attack bonus to make sure those sneak attacks land.

The Pros:
Hard to hit. High AC combined with Epic Dodge and Self-Concealment V. You won't take a lot of hits. With short sword, towershield and Improved Expertise, you will be a excellent tank. Leaving melee when needed is easy as well.
Very good To Hit with a longbow. Not as good as the Fighter(10) Wiz(1) AA(29), but still a lot better then your average thief or fighter.

The Cons:
The non-reflex saving throws are mediocre at best. Be careful around spell users. But all spell users who are not fully committed to their primary power, beware. Spell resistance of 52 can ruin your battle plans.
Your total hitpoints will be low. But imho the Epic Dodge and Self-Concealment make up for this.
You're not the biggest damage dealer. Damage reduction can become a serious problem, especially when combined with immunity to sneak attacks.

* I chose Improve Expertise and Weapon Finesse to become a tank for my fellow rogues. Feel free to exchange them for feats like Toughness and Called Shot for example. I am still debating myself if I need weapon finesse, it's not like my character will hit much with her short sword in expertise mode, maybe I will change it to Toughness and keep the Improved Expertise.

** Self-Concealment V. That's a lot of feats for a very good permanent effect. If they are worth it I don't know. They will definately enhance your survivability, as a tank, and as a ranged attacker. You could switch them to some Greater Dexterity and Armor Skin, to improve your To Hit and AC. And perhaps Epic Prowess.

In short, Bernith'ri will be a character who will dodge every first attack in a round, all other attacks will have 50% of not hitting at all. Combine this with Spell Resistance of 52 and a very good To Hit with a longbow, I'm sure she will be able to hit some of you.

(I think her to hit will be over +70 on first attack and the AC will reach the 90's on Fredian.
Xilo, are you willing to share your 'Fredian level module'?)

How to improve the To Hit:
Go fighter instead of Rogue, go Fighter(10)/Wizard(1)/Arcane Archer(29). Take a few more Great Dex feats to go up to DEX 38. Take Epic Prowess. This way your To Hit will be +10 better then Bernith'ri's (+5 from extra AA levels, +2 from extra Dex, +2 from pre-epic Fighter levels, +1 from Epic Prowess). And if you take your 10th fighter level at the right moment, you can take Epic Weapon Specialisation, so every arrow does 11 more damage then those of Bernith'ri (6 from WS en EWS, 5 from extra AA levels). But you won't have 10d6 Sneak Attacks, no Epic Dodge, no Self- Concealment V, no +8 AC from Tumble (or +4 if you assign cross class skill points), no chance at resisting lethal blows, no UMD to be able to use all magic items.

Take care,
Zhoreb

[Xiloscient]

addicted2rpg
Bora is the uber offence char your talking about every feat/skill/stat is aimed directly at pure offence.. ((unless there was no option for more offence)) Thats one thing that everyone he duels fails to get... he is exceptionally fragile...((Except to Sir Aviar)) With only a few changes he could have mountrously better defence with reasonably the same offence... Which is what Quariòn Xilòscient((CG)) will be ((in the making))

TravisBrumm
The Isle of Fredian was once ruled by mages... as most ppl were lvl 15-25... thats when xilo ruled with a... hehe bigbies fist But now with the all the immunities goten by items very very common... Fighters now rule.
Which is why I don't mind posting xilo's build... but if I told you the ways to make uber fighters... I'd have to kill you.
I dunno maybe someday.
I'll tell you this though... There is ALOT more to a weapon master then just his modified crit.

Zhoreb
Hhhmmm. I like Benrith's build. Good archer with USD. Whats not to love. Now if only I saw her on the server more.
And although it is far from perfect I'd be happy to share my fredian module. I've just no webspace to put it. It's quite easy to make your own module with any item you'd ike to test a char out with anyways though.

[Phoenix]

Saving the character locally and opening the HoU campaing in the second chapter will keep all your equipment, just make sure to have it on you when you save the character. No need in downloading/creating a module if you use the DebugMode commands I posted earlier. I don't build my character from scratch on a sheet of paper or from level 1-40 in a builder. If I have a question I just save the character and level from there, it's faster since you don't have to do all the leveling manually.

[TravisBrumm]

A question then, xilo, would you suggest taking weapon master?

[Xiloscient]

I think its a million times better for a fighter to take then PaleMaster... if thats what your asking... Read the description and make judgement yourself.

[Zhoreb]

I have decided to take Anoushka in another direction. Here's the updated build I would play if started anew. This is not the Anoushka I play, but similar.

Race: Elf (drow)

Abilities:
STR: 16 --> 34 (+8 RDD, +10 Ability increases)
DEX: 12 --> 12
CON: 12 --> 14 (+2 RDD)
INT: 14 --> 16 (+2 RDD)
WIS: 8 --> 8
CHA: 14 --> 16 (+2 RDD)

Level Class Feats Ability Increase
1 Bard Knockdown
2 Bard
3 Bard Weapon Focus Rapier
4 Bard STR +1
5 Bard
6 RDD Power Attack
7 RDD
8 RDD STR +1
9 RDD Cleave
10 RDD
11 RDD
12 RDD Great Cleave STR +1
13 RDD
14 RDD
15 RDD Improved Critical Rapier
16 Bard STR +1
17 Bard
18 Bard Improved Knockdown
19 PM
20 PM STR +1
21 PM Overwhelming Critical Rapier
22 PM
23 PM
24 PM Devastating Critical Rapier STR +1
25 PM
26 PM
27 PM Epic Weaponfocus Rapier
28 PM STR +1
29 Bard
30 Bard Curse Song
31 PM
32 PM STR +1
33 PM Heavy Armor, Epic Energy Resistance
34 PM
35 PM
36 PM Epic Spells Mage Armor, Hellball STR +1
37 Bard
38 Bard
39 Bard Epic Prowess (or anything else?)
40 Bard STR +1

Naked lvl 40 stats:
AC:33 (will reach 100 on fredian
HP: max possible = 349 + whatever Deathless Vigor adds the first 10 PM levels. (How does it work? it says for example +11 hp in the levelup dialog, then only adds 8 hp to total)
SR: 52

To Hit: +40/+35/+30

Skills:
Tumble: 40
UMD: 40
Spellcraft: 40
Perform: 21
Lore: 8 for RDD
other points: discipline? Hide?, Move silent? Heal?

[CrunchX]

You might have high AC, but good luck trying to actually hit something, bard/rdd/pm all have low attack bonus

EDIT: umm... and only 3 attacks per round, doh.

Zhoreb said:

I have decided to take Anoushka in another direction. Here's the updated build I would play if started anew. This is not the Anoushka I play, but similar.

Race: Elf (drow)

Abilities:
STR: 16 --> 34 (+8 RDD, +10 Ability increases)
DEX: 12 --> 12
CON: 12 --> 14 (+2 RDD)
INT: 14 --> 16 (+2 RDD)
WIS: 8 --> 8
CHA: 14 --> 16 (+2 RDD)

Level Class Feats Ability Increase
1 Bard Knockdown
2 Bard
3 Bard Weapon Focus Rapier
4 Bard STR +1
5 Bard
6 RDD Power Attack
7 RDD
8 RDD STR +1
9 RDD Cleave
10 RDD
11 RDD
12 RDD Great Cleave STR +1
13 RDD
14 RDD
15 RDD Improved Critical Rapier
16 Bard STR +1
17 Bard
18 Bard Improved Knockdown
19 PM
20 PM STR +1
21 PM Overwhelming Critical Rapier
22 PM
23 PM
24 PM Devastating Critical Rapier STR +1
25 PM
26 PM
27 PM Epic Weaponfocus Rapier
28 PM STR +1
29 Bard
30 Bard Curse Song
31 PM
32 PM STR +1
33 PM Heavy Armor, Epic Energy Resistance
34 PM
35 PM
36 PM Epic Spells Mage Armor, Hellball STR +1
37 Bard
38 Bard
39 Bard Epic Prowess (or anything else?)
40 Bard STR +1

Naked lvl 40 stats:
AC:33 (will reach 100 on fredian
HP: max possible = 349 + whatever Deathless Vigor adds the first 10 PM levels. (How does it work? it says for example +11 hp in the levelup dialog, then only adds 8 hp to total)
SR: 52

To Hit: +40/+35/+30

Skills:
Tumble: 40
UMD: 40
Spellcraft: 40
Perform: 21
Lore: 8 for RDD
other points: discipline? Hide?, Move silent? Heal?