Elhanan
Game Owner
 NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
SW: KotOR PC
Joined: 17 Oct 2001
From: Starkville, MS - USA |
 Posted: Sunday, 22 May 2005 07:24PM |
I am looking at a possible long term character for future use in a m/p campaign. While in solo games, I strive for versatility, I am trying to learn that when in m/p, others have to be able to play as well. 
So I thought that a change of pace might be in order from all of my DEX based Rogue designs as of late, and this melee design seems enticing (though I already lament the lost skills).
Race - probably Human for extra skill & feat, but not set in stone.
STR - 14 +2
DEX - 14 +2
CON - 14 +2
WIS - 14 +2
INT - 14 +2
CHA - 8 -1
The plan now is to take 16 Ranger/ 4 Fighter; then same again for Epic lvls. Fighter lvls will be at 3, 5, 7, and 9.
Feats I am considering for non-Epic lvls (in no order) are:
* Power Attack * Cleave * Great Cleave
* Weapon Focus * Weapon Spec * Imp Crit
* Luck of Heroes (at 1st, of course)
* Blind Fight
* Toughness
Then it gets somewhat fuzzy; only 2 left if Human. These are possibles:
* Weapon Prof: Exotic (for two-bladed sword)
* PB Shot (so I will not bet everything on melee only)
* Strong Soul (to pump needed ST)
* Expertise * Imp Expertise (surving until calvary arrives)
* Knockdown * Imp Knockdown
And I am open to other suggestions, though I prefer to look at feats that do not have to be Hot Keyed for use.
Then Epic feats are:
* Epic Weapon Focus * Epic Weapon Spec * Epic Prowess
* Bane of Enemies * Overwheming Crit * Great STR
The rest is undecided, though extra Favored Enemies looks good.
Thoughts?
_________________
Elhanan the Ancient One
"As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man." |
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Stravinsky00
Game Owner
 NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
Jade Empire:SE
NWN 2
Mass Effect PC
Joined: 11 Nov 2003
From: New York City |
Posted: Sunday, 22 May 2005 07:59PM |
Quote: Posted 05/22/05 19:24:55 (GMT) by Elhanan
* Weapon Prof: Exotic (for two-bladed sword)
* PB Shot (so I will not bet everything on melee only)
* Strong Soul (to pump needed ST)
* Expertise * Imp Expertise (surving until calvary arrives)
* Knockdown * Imp Knockdown
Personally, I love knockdown/improved knockdown. Always very useful, especially if you have a rogue in your party. I wouldn't waste a feat on PB shot if you're going to be primarily melee, not when you're already hurting for feat slots. Same for Strong Soul, if you're already getting Luck of Heroes, I'd skip it in this case. If you want to use a two-bladed sword (I love that weapon), then maybe take weapon prof exotic and knockdown for your choices. Just make sure good two-bladed swords will be available in your campaign though...it's one of the weapons that sometimes gets overlooked.
The one thing I worry about in this build is the dex. You're going to need to stick to light armor if you want to dual wield, but your dex is fairly low. I might drop CON and INT 2 each and raise DEX to at least 16...hrm. Expertise/Imp. Expertise could help that, but only really against weaker creatures where you don't need the AB. Against a boss type you'd be in trouble. It might be better for this particular build to not dual wield. Grab a two hander, like a greatsword, and slap on full plate. Then you definitely could take knockdown/Imp. knockdown, since you don't need exotic, and you wouldn't need to pump dex. You could even drop it to 12 for that matter, and put another point in STR. But I don't know the RP background of your character, or if the RP is even important in your campaign, so I can only speak from a powergaming type perspective.
SteveEdited By Stravinsky00 on 05/22/05 20:01 |
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TOllas
Joined: 24 Jun 2004 |
Posted: Sunday, 22 May 2005 08:13PM |
If you're going to take exotic weapon proficiency, then I'd suggest you to drop either luck of heroes or toughness.
The 2 feats left you have I'd use for knockdown and improved knockdown.
Also, I wouldn't really worry to much about dex, you can do just fine with having it only 14. Cat's grace and dex items are more than enough to boost it so you could easily get away with leather armor or at 1st studded leather. Just boost your strength if going to use two-bladed sword. |
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Stravinsky00
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
Jade Empire:SE
NWN 2
Mass Effect PC
Joined: 11 Nov 2003
From: New York City |
Posted: Sunday, 22 May 2005 08:21PM |
Quote: Posted 05/22/05 20:13:17 (GMT) by TOllas
If you're going to take exotic weapon proficiency, then I'd suggest you to drop either luck of heroes or toughness.
The 2 feats left you have I'd use for knockdown and improved knockdown.
Also, I wouldn't really worry to much about dex, you can do just fine with having it only 14. Cat's grace and dex items are more than enough to boost it so you could easily get away with leather armor or at 1st studded leather. Just boost your strength if going to use two-bladed sword.
Yeah, I had it in my mind that studded leather was medium for some reason, when it's clearly not. Although you won't be able to cast Cat's Grace until Ranger level 8. You might want to keep a sword and shield in your inventory just in case.
Steve |
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Mescalino
Game Owner
 NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
NWN 2
NWN 2: MotB
NWN 2: SoZ
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
From: The land of drugs and wooden shoes |
Posted: Sunday, 22 May 2005 08:27PM |
in stead of the two bladed sword i always had fun with 2 scimitars. And i keep a quarterstaff at hand for undead or other slash inmune creatures/players.
_________________
Reality continues to ruin my life. - Calvin and Hobbes |
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Stravinsky00
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
Jade Empire:SE
NWN 2
Mass Effect PC
Joined: 11 Nov 2003
From: New York City |
Posted: Sunday, 22 May 2005 09:09PM |
Quote: Posted 05/22/05 20:27:24 (GMT) by Mescalino
in stead of the two bladed sword i always had fun with 2 scimitars. And i keep a quarterstaff at hand for undead or other slash inmune creatures/players.
Hrm...I honestly think in general that the Two bladed sword is better than dual wielding scimitars. The scimitars really only have 1 advantage, which is the longer crit range. But they also have a -4 penalty for dual-wielding as opposed to -2 for the TBS, and less base damage (although that's not a huge deal). Plus, in a multiplayer game, if you have party members to buff your weapon, then you only need to buff one weapon rather than two. Unless your AB is going to be high enough to really capitalize on that longer crit range, the TBS has the advantage
SteveEdited By Stravinsky00 on 05/22/05 21:10 |
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Elhanan
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
SW: KotOR PC
Joined: 17 Oct 2001
From: Starkville, MS - USA |
Posted: Sunday, 22 May 2005 11:30PM |
Thanks for the feedback!
The background info for this PC is that he has just been resurrected after having spent a very long time as a vampire. He was as bloodthirsty as most of his cursed brethren, but still managed to harbor a spark of decency within him. This came out when he was forced to defend an heir of his (grandchild, or great grand-child) from the grasp of other undead during a major conflict involving villagers. He was successful, but at a the cost of being hunted himself, and nearly slain.
A cleric of some reputation noted his defense of the child at the battle, and offered this creature another chance at humanity. So the creature was taken to a nearby river, and was baptized until the taint of Undeath was gone; then raised. While this stripped this newborn male of most of his former power, he still maintains the senses of a bat (Blindfight). He also retains his aged looks, thus appearing much like an animated corpse (hence the low CHA).
And he retains the memories of his former victims, as well as the ones who victimized him in those mountains so long ago, esp the one who led the Clan of abomination of which he himself had served. Now he strives to walk the narrow path of redemption for his past deeds while seeking to avenge the life he lost to his former Undead Master. Take a guess at the initial Favored Enemy....
I was thinking that Solomon Winterheart, or Solomon Alpenstock (aka; S Kane from REH fame) would make a fair moniker.
Any more?
_________________
Elhanan the Ancient One
"As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man." |
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Stravinsky00
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
Jade Empire:SE
NWN 2
Mass Effect PC
Joined: 11 Nov 2003
From: New York City |
Posted: Sunday, 22 May 2005 11:38PM |
Quote: Posted 05/22/05 23:30:33 (GMT) by Elhanan
Take a guess at the initial Favored Enemy....
$5 on Fey!  . That's a cool background. It's nice to see people putting that much thought into it (I play mostly heavy RP multiplayer campaigns at NWC, so I like doing that too).
Steve |
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Elhanan
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
SW: KotOR PC
Joined: 17 Oct 2001
From: Starkville, MS - USA |
Posted: Monday, 23 May 2005 11:05AM |
On our server, we can gather added XP for writing in our Journals. With a background like this, it allows for many possible insights, reflections, dreams & nightmares, etc. so it will aid in preventing writers block.
Should I even consider adding a third class to this design? It would seem best to keep Ranger lvls as high as possible.
_________________
Elhanan the Ancient One
"As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man." |
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Orik
Game Owner
 NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
SW: KotOR Xbox
SW: KotOR PC
Jade Empire
Joined: 17 Oct 2001
From: Cambridge, UK |
Posted: Monday, 23 May 2005 11:13AM |
Ah, so that's what you're planning on playing next then, eh El?
Interesting... especially as the character I'm considering will be wanting to go the other way 
One word of advice - drop Great Cleave... I took it for Gram, but it's next to useless as what our DMs throw at us are too tough to take down fast enough for multiple cleaves in one round to ever be a possibility. Unless you REALLY want Overwhelming crit of course...Edited By Orik on 05/23/05 11:16 |
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Elhanan
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
SW: KotOR PC
Joined: 17 Oct 2001
From: Starkville, MS - USA |
Posted: Monday, 23 May 2005 01:44PM |
Well, if that is so, then I could switch back to a focus on DEX rather than STR. I could lose Great Cleave (as well as PA & C), then pick up Weapon Finesse, Knockdown, and Imp KD. And instead of a two-bladed sword, I could go for a focus on kukri, short swords, mace, scimitar (I like it better than rapier), or perhaps even a whip. The problem I see here is that such a character would be better with a bow... again. *sigh* And the purpose is to move up front, but still keep perception skills.
I have little experience with front line types w/o Pause functionality. Perhaps Monk would be a better choice then. Dunno.... 
_________________
Elhanan the Ancient One
"As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man." |
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TOllas
Joined: 24 Jun 2004 |
Posted: Monday, 23 May 2005 01:52PM |
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Just remember one thing, rapier is finessable while scimitar isn't. |
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Khandahr
Game Owner
 NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
Joined: 05 Jan 2004 |
Posted: Monday, 23 May 2005 01:56PM |
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Rapier takes some getting used to (looks, etc); but it's actually a pretty good weapon for dexy builds. |
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Orik
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
SW: KotOR Xbox
SW: KotOR PC
Jade Empire
Joined: 17 Oct 2001
From: Cambridge, UK |
Posted: Monday, 23 May 2005 01:59PM |
Nah, strength based fighter/ranger is good - considering what we tend to go up against, a character that both hits often and hard is going to be advantageous.
Still, you may want to go the two-handed weapon route - more strength based damage per hit that way... and if you're doing enough damage with each hit great cleave may become viable again... but I wouldn't consider it a must have unless you want the epic critical feats.
Also going for dual-weapons limits you to light armours... which may not be a good idea with a relatively low dex. With buffs a chain shirt would do you best, but NWN treats that as medium armour. You may even want to consider full plate.Edited By Orik on 05/23/05 14:02 |
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Elhanan
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
SW: KotOR PC
Joined: 17 Oct 2001
From: Starkville, MS - USA |
Posted: Monday, 23 May 2005 02:03PM |
Quote: Posted 05/23/05 13:52:18 (GMT) by TOllas
Just remember one thing, rapier is finessable while scimitar isn't.
I know. I just prefer scimitar to rapier overall. All those dual-weilding lizards in the OC looked rather silly, IMO.
_________________
Elhanan the Ancient One
"As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man." |
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