Advanced Guide to Neverwinter Nights 2 Character Builds.
Version 1.0 - Initial Revision.
Version 1.1 - Added Pokey and Thuggie builds with minor edits.
Version 2.0 - Added a large build section!
Version 3.0 - MOTB Update in progress.
Version 3.1 - Lots of build updates.
Version 3.2 - Should be the final update except for corrections.
NOTE: Feel free to contact me (info at end of guide).
I expect that this is my final update (Dec 2007), but I will still be happy
to chat with you via email if you have any corrections, comments, additions,
or questions for the foreseeable future.
I'll try to get back with you within a day or two in most cases.
This guide is a complete manual for creating your own builds. It tries
to show you the tools you have available for making builds, and explains
how they can fit together. The guide now includes a complete walkthrough
of making a specific character along with thought processes behind it.
In addition, it is a repository of various builds which I have found to be
solid for Neverwinter Nights 2... or at least the best of their type.
These builds are usually powergamer types, and typically have several
mechanisms that make them superior to other similar ones, which I will
explain. These are based on my NWN1, D&D, and NWN2 experience, as well
as persistent world forums that I was active in during NWN1.
I have tested all of these builds and in some cases talk about the differences
between the NWN2 version and NWN1 equivalents, if any.
For a beginner, the best way to use this guide is to look through it, and
try out any build(s) that may interest you. An intermediate approach is
to examine each build and learn why particular combos are chosen and then
modify a build to their liking. Read the specifics on how to make a build
and learn. An advanced player may just look through and pick up a few new
build ideas.
Once you have picked a build, TEST IT! The best way is to go to NWN2vault
and download a trainer module.
In fact, I recommend the following:
Vordan's Hero Creator - Easy and streamlined. Has a great arena program to
spawn stuff to fight according to your preferences.
http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2ModulesEnglish.Detail&id=14
and
Mithdrades Hall of Training (use the 2.0 MOTB updated one) - Has customized
equipping, multiple arenas, and more difficult foes with full AI routines,
and all kinds of stuff. A bit weighty though and harder to use.
http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=nwn2reviews.Detail&id=11
Alternatively, you can start any new campaign/module and do this:
Hit ~ key to bring up console.
type DebugMode 1 (which enables commands)
type giveXP 600000 (which gives you lots of XP)
type DebugMode 0
Hit ~ to disable console.
Table of Contents:
------------------
I. Introduction to MOTB Character building
II. What changed in MOTB
III. Where to Find More Builds
IV. The Rules Explained
V. Choosing Stats, Race
VI. Equipping Your Dude.
VII. Weapon Selection for warriors: Dualwield, 1h+shield, 2hander?
VIII. Scaling explained.
IX. Class Overviews.
In Alphabetical Order, from a) to zj). Big section.
x. Putting it all together.
XI. Complete Sample Build Methodology
XII. Level 20 Builds and How to Upgrade Them to MOTB lvl30.
A) Bruiser. Bard1/Fighter4/RDD10/FrenzBers5
B) Shooter Bard3/Rogue4/Fighter4/Arcane Archer9
C) Tricky Wiz6/Rogue3/PaleMaster1/Arcane Trickster10.
D) SuperSorc Sorceror18/Paladin2
E) BadBard Bard16/Fighter1/Blackguard3
F) Reaper. Fighter8/WpnMaster7/FB5
G) Shiftey Druid18/Monk1/Cleric1
H) Dodgey DeepGnome Monk16/Duelist4
I) Kamakaze Cleric13/Fighter6/Monk1
J) WizWar Wizard8/Fighter2/Eldrich Knight10
K) Thuggie Fighter4/Rogue3/Blackguard10/NWnine3
L) Pokey Fighter8/Duelist10/Monk1/Wizard1
M) SuperSaver Cleric15/Paladin2/Blackguard2/Warlock1
XIII. New MOTB 30 Level Builds.
a) Warrior Sorceror - Template. Example: Sorc 12/EK 10/Pally 4/RDD 4
b) Caster Sorceror - Template. Example: Sorc 23/PM 5/ 1Lock/1Cleric
c) Caster Wizard - Template. Ex: Wiz5/AScholar10/ Palemaster10/Red Wiz 5
d) Warrior Wizard - Template.
e) KamaKaze II - Cleric17/Monk11/DivChamp2 - dualwield kamas with 18 attacks!
f) Tuffie2 - Fighter8/bard2/RDD10/DwDefender10 - High Dmg Reduction, AC, HPs
g) SuperSaver II - Sp Shaman 25/Pally2/BG3- Hard to kill caster hybrid.
h) Sneaky - Rogue16/Fighter8/Shadowdancer1/IB5 - Stealthy rogue with good AB.
i) Thunder Cleric8/Stormlord8/WPriest6/Fig8 - High AB warrior cleric.
j) Tricky II - Wiz6/Rogue4/EldKnt10/ArcTrick10 - Improved BAB rogue/mage.
k) Pious Pugalist - Cleric9/Monk11/SacFist10 - Optimal cleric/monk hybrid.
l) BadBard II - Bard23/BG3/Fighter4 - High Aura skilled warrior w/deadly songs.
m) Holy Hacker - FavSoul 16/BG3/Bard1/RDD10 - Epic Divine Might at level 21.
n) Smiter - Paladin20/DivChamp10 - Huge +330dmg smites to take out bosses.
o) SpearCleaver - FS12/Stormlord10/Frezerker5/BG3 - Heavy dmg 2h spear user.
p) MysticTheurge - Cleric9/Wizard5/Scholar10/RedWiz6 - Mage w/cleric spells.
q) Dodgey Mk II - Monk10/Duelist10/Assassin2/Fighter8 - Hard to hit melee.
r) The General - Human FS14/Bard16 - Buff/healing 2xcast aura support character.
s) BattleLok - Drow Warlock26/Blackguard4. Melee Warlock w/ good ranged zap.
t) Bruising Reaper Fig12/bard1/RDD10/Wpnmaster7 - General purpose solid melee.
u) Shootist 2 Drow bard10/AA9/RDD10/C1 - Archer with Epic Div Might for dmg
v) Dualcaster - sorc6/Shaman4/ASoc10/EK10 - CHEATING SS/Sorc 9th lvl spells!
w) Tree-Fu - Druid12/Fight8/Monk1/SFist9 - Hi AB/AC Treeform melee w/spells.
XIV. Copyright, Contact Info, etc.
I. Intro to MOTB character building
------------------------------
This guide is meant to teach how to multiclass properly to make a "build" for
Neverwinter Nights 2. It is meant to be used in tandem with the build
repository later in this guide, and is intended to break down how I come
up with these builds. The character system is very complex, and I provide
rules and suggestions to break it down into building blocks.
The guide has several sections. First, I go over some basic rules for
multiclassing. The next section is a breakdown of ALL character classes,
including generally how many levels of each class to take, and why this is so.
The third section talks about synergy, and how to choose classes that work
well with each other.
Finally, I give a discussion of why some builds work better in worlds where
more powerful items are found, and how to adjust a build to these worlds.
A build is nothing more than 30 levels of different classes taken together in
a specific order, with certain stats, feats, skills mixed in.
In general, you can exclude MOST skills from your build, as they are usually
not all that important to the actual build. In other words, the build is not
overly influenced by your skills one way or another whether you take
diplomacy or healing.
In my builds, I show recommended skills, but these are very dependent upon
how and where you are playing. Some servers practically
require Spot to avoid pickpocketers, whereas others are in love with locked
unbashable doors and chests. The large variety of skills and applications is
why we can exclude most skills. There are some important skills that are
specific to a build and are usually prerequisites for some prestege class.
II. What changed in MOTB
------------------------
MOTB now allows 30 char levels. This causes a bit more complication, and many
things change in this guide.
First, the campaign starts at 18(or 20). This means that you have 20+ builds
that basically are good at 20 thru 30. These same builds might be HORRIBLE
from 1 to 20 tho. So there is a clear difference between a full 1-30 build,
and one that is optimized to work best from 20 to 30.
Second, many of my recommendations get changed due to the extra levels. As
an example, my previous guide would tell you that you NEVER use a full caster
in combo with back-ended classes. A RDD would NOT go with a sorc ever.
After 10RDD levels, you would only have 10 sorc levels... not nearly enough
to make a functional build.
But now, a sorc9/barbarian1/EK10/RDD10 would be a reasonably effective build
from 20 to 30. However, I would hate to play it from 1 to 20! You would
either take RDD levels and gimp casting progression, OR not gain any RDD
benefits all the way through 20.
Therefore, I try to be generic with my comments and relax some of the "rules"
that I had introduced in my first guide.
You will notice MANY more caster-oriented builds now, since it is very possible
to make casters that can fight well too. There is actually little advantage
in making a pure melee character anymore now that so many benefits can be
had for a relatively low pricetag. Even 12 favored soul for example can
add quite a bit of power for only a 3BAB hit, and 18 levels left for warrior
abilities.
III. Where to find more builds, and random tips.
-------------------------------------------------
There are a few other good places to find builds for MOTB. These are as
follows:
- Epic Builders Guild (Note: requires registered login)
http://nwn.bioware.com/guilds_registry/viewforum.html?forum=26365&gid=14504
- Wikipedia
http://nwn2.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Character_builds
Remember when you examine these builds to use the ideas in this guide. Keep
this in mind:
a) Watch for suxtill30 syndrome. Many many builds are made to have impressive
endgame stats. They might not be so fun to level up from lvl1 or even
from lvl20! One dead giveaway is that at level 20, a caster may only cast
level 3 spells for example. These builds are great for a persistent world,
but NOT great for the MOTB campaign most likely.
b) Lookout for over-buffed chars. Some of them have like 5 short term buffs
all active at once! Obviously, this makes for a lousy character to play,
even though the stats look great.
example: abilities like Divine Power, battletide, haste, divine wrath,
divine might, divine shield, rage, frenzy, stormlord buff, etc.
These are limited use per day, and last under 2 minutes (at best). Having
multiples of these is usually lousy.
At the beginning of a battle, you can only use like 1 or maybe 2 of these
until you start becoming ineffective cuz your character is standing around
buffing instead of actually fighting.
c) Watch for cheeze-stats. A build that has awesome AB that includes Frenzy,
Rage, Div Wrath, and assumes a Taunt active looks great. However, their
AC analysis happens to NOT include the penalties from the very same rage
and frenzy!
d) Remember your ideal goal. Dont use an "Uber self buffed with no equip!!11"
build, if you are playing the official campaign with tons of equipment
available. Those impressive stats are meaningless since a +8STR item gotten
right off the bat overrides those impressive supreme frenzy stats.
e) Expect a lot of the same ole stuff. Look at all them bard1/RDD10, and Eld
Knight class builds... Granted, I am kind of guilty of the same thing
despite my best efforts to show a diversity of builds. ;-)
Basically, do not focus on the level 30 stats too much, and think before
picking any build to work with. This applies to ANY build that you pick up
either from this guide (I'm not perfect after all), the 2 sources above or
anywhere else. Imagine how the character plays from 1 to 30, or 18 to 30, or
whatever your intended usage is.
IV. The Rules Explained
-----------------------
This section goes over the rules, or general guidelines that I follow when
creating a new build. Later on I will apply these when we create a new
build.
a. Rule of 1 Opening Action
---------------------------
In MOTB with 30 levels, there is a lot more room to gain multiple class
abilities. This can sometimes work out poorly. Imagine a
cleric/barbarian/stormlord/DivChamp who sees an enemy group charging towards
him. Time to buff up! First, they cast Divine Power to set BAB to 30.
Then, they cast Battletide for the aura. Next, barbarian rage! Then, click
the Stormlord's sonic,lightning damage spear ability. Finally, activate
Divine Wrath. 5 rounds later, all the enemies are mostly dead by the time
this build is ready to enter combat!
Clearly, this is not the way to go. You want to avoid overly depending on
short-term buffs. In fact, when you see a group of baddies, you have about 1
round to do 1 action. That may be a short-term buff, or a blade barrier.
I like having options as much as anyone, but you want to ask yourself: How
does this build do assuming I have 1 round before combat starts? Do not make
the mistake of adding up 8 different short term buffs to arrive at the build's
"stats", then be all impressed by the huge AB,AC,dmg, or whatever.
Also, make sure to value stuff appropriately. The stormlord's 1d8sonic,zap,
2d8 massive crits pump is great! Having to click it before every fight? Not
so great... Keep it in mind if you also are having to click Divine Might,
and keep Divine Power up because your BAB stinks.
a2. Rule of Four
---------------
The first rule is the RULE OF FOUR. Classes with a medium Attack Bonus (AB)
give the character +1 Base Attack Bonus(BAB) on every level except the 1st,
5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th. Hence, in most builds you will see people take
these classes in FOURS. In any case, you will almost NEVER see 5, 9, 13, or
17 levels in such a class.
This rule is STILL in effect for MOTB, as you gain more BAB and attacks all
the way to level 30.
This rule is irritating as in many cases, that 5th,9th,13th,17th level can
provide some strong benefits, as you will soon see.
For example, a monk gains Spell Resistance at level 13 instead of 12 like it
is supposed to. RDD gets blindfight at 5 instead of 4.
Assassin gets improved invisibility at 9. You will see many other such
annoying examples as you work on builds.
Note that this rule is ONLY applicable for characters that plan on fighting
at all. Pure casters typically disregard this rule.
Also note that low-progression classes gain 1 BAB ONLY on even levels. So, a
8Wizard,2fighter,10Eld Knight has a 16bab, whereas a 7wiz,1fighter,10ek,1PM
only gets 14!
This rule is one that limits splash classes. For example, a
17warrior, with 1 bard for an aura, 1 cleric for domain bonuses, and a
single rogue level for skill access and 1d6 sneak would have a 17BAB instead
of a 20BAB. This makes it less attractive to toss in 1 level of those
classes.
On the other hand, a 17fighter with 1barbarian for faster move and rage,
1 ranger for favored enemy, and 1 dwarf defender for 1AC and stance would
still have a 20BAB. (Yeah, I know the alignments aren't compatible...)
b. Rule of Highest Class Favor.
-------------------------------
The second thing to examine is XP penalties. This is how it works. Look at
the highest level class. Compare the highest level class to EACH other class.
For every one that is more than 1 level apart, apply 20% XP penalty, which is
cumulative. Example: 5cleric,1monk,1fighter = 40% XP penalty!
There are a few exceptions fortunately.
First, ALL PRESTEGE CLASSES are exempt.
They are treated as if they do not exist for XP penalty purposes.
So a 5cleric, 1assassin, 1 blackguard = 0% XP penalty.
Secondly, there is the "favored class" for each race. This class is also
eliminated from consideration completely. Here are examples.
Assume a 8 rogue,4fighter,4monk,4druid. If we play a halfling, rogue is
their favored class. Therefore the game reads the character as having
4fighter,4monk,4druid. Works great with 0 XP penalty.
What if we played a dwarf? The class is seen as a 8rogue, 4monk, 4 druid,
which is a 40% XP penalty. Oops. This leads us into the rule...
The RULE OF HIGHEST CLASS FAVOR says that if you have more than 2 main classes
(i.e. not prestege classes since they are immune to XP penalty), you want
your HIGHEST level class to be the favored one.
A note here is that humans always have their highest level non-prestege class
as their favored class. This means that they usually get maximum benefit
from favored class.
Of course, there is a rare exception. Consider a 12cleric/12monk/6fighter.
The human would eat a 20% XP penalty since cleric or monk would be favored.
The dwarf would remove fighter (their favored), and the 12/12 resultant char
would have NO XP penalty! As long as they keep their cleric/monk within 1
level of each other on the way up...
Half-elves also gain this ability, but are a pretty weak race that I never
consider for character building.
c. Rule of Initial Skill Boost
------------------------------
Our next concept is that Class Order Matters. The 8rogue,4fighter,4monk,
4druid example used previously will be our example. We will start out with
our next rule and go from there.
The RULE OF INITIAL SKILL BOOST states that you usually want the class with
the most and most useful skillpoints or skill access taken at level 1.
At level 1, skillpoints are multiplied by 4.
Hence, assuming no INT modifier, a 1st level rogue gets 32 skillpoints. A
first level fighter gets 8, and a monk gets 16.
Clearly, you would want to start with the rogue. Remember also that at level
1, you can put 4 points into a skill, since they are capped at CharLvl +3.
If nothing else and you wont have enough skillpoints later on, you can at least
pick up 4 points in several useful skills like open lock, spot, UMD, etc. Then,
you can carry over up to 5 skillpoints to the next level-up.
d. Rule of Weaving Class levels for Optimum skill access.
---------------------------------------------------------
Skill access is another reason for taking levels in certain orders. In our
example, you would not want to take all 8 rogue levels, then 4 monk, then
4 fighter, and 4 druid. As such, your 1st 12 levels would have access to
rogueish skills, but after that they all cost TWO points per skill-up.
Let's back up for a minute. Normally, 1 skill rank up cost 1 point, IF it
is a class skill. Open lock for rogue for example.
If it is a cross-class skill, it costs TWO skillpoints to get +1 skill rank.
In addition, you are CAPPED at 1/2 the normal value rounded down. A 3rd
level druid can get 6 concentrate, but only a 3 in Open Lock since it is
not a class skill. 7th lvl druid can have 10 concentrate, and 5 open lock.
There is 1 more wrinkle though. If you have EVER had access to a skill as a
class skill, then you can always get the full capped value for that skill,
although it may be a double cost.
As an example, taking 1 rogue, then 29 cleric lets you put up to 33 points in
tumble, open lock, and other rogue skills that clerics do not have class
skill access to. However, the cleric will have to pay TWO skillpoints per
rank. Since clerics only get 2 base skillpoints per level, you can see how
this would not work out so well...
This leads to our next rule, which is the RULE OF WEAVING CLASS LEVELS FOR
OPTIMUM SKILL ACCESS. Using our example, the player would want to ensure
those 12 rogue levels are interspersed such that you can carryover points and
spend them during rogue levelups to get the skills as cheaply as possible.
Conversely, this allows you to use the monk and druid levels to crank up
your heal skill. Hence, you level up different skills during different
class level-ups.
e. Rule of weaving class levels to avoid XP penalty.
----------------------------------------------------
Now, we cover the RULE OF WEAVING CLASS LEVELS TO AVOID XP PENALTY. In our
example, the worst possible place to be is to have 3fighter,1druid,1monk with
how ever many rogue (assuming halfling so rogue is favored). This gives you
a 40% XP penalty, and is totally unnecessary.
All you have to do is simply keep all the non-favored, non-prestege classes
within one level of each other for 0 XP penalty.
In other words, plan on alternating your class level ups to keep them all
within one level of each other.
f. Rule of Highest Gain class order
-----------------------------------
Next up is the RULE OF HIGHEST GAIN CLASS ORDER. This indicates that you want
to level up the classes in the order that is most useful for character
growth. Unfortunately, this causes a lot of contradictions even in itself.
Lets look at a cleric16/fighter4 build. So what order do you do things in?
If you put 4 fighter early on, you get 3 feats and early wpn spec access.
However, you severely limit cleric spell progression. Taking fighter late
means no improved weapons/feats for a long time. So you compromise and
take 1 cleric at 1st level, then 1 fighter at 2nd level to get the wpn feats
and 1 free feat. Then, take say 11 cleric to get most of the useful buffs,
then take 3 more fighter, then finish up with cleric.
Question: So lemme get this straight... you want me to make a 8rogue,
4monk,4fighter,4druid and make sure to keep the minor classes within one
level of each other? AND, also weave them to make sure I can maximize the
right skills that I want? AND take the most useful class up front?
Answer: Yep. As you can already see, the rules contradict each other.
We will address this in the rule of tradeoffs.
g. Rule of Caster 16ish.
----------------------
Next up is the RULE OF CASTER 16ish. This rule states that if you are
making a character that primarily casts spells, then you want them to have
as high of spell access as possible. A bard gets his 6th level spells at
level 16. A warlock maxes at 15. A sorceror gains 9th level spells at 18. A
wizard gets them at 17, as do clerics and druids. Paladins/Rangers get
their max at 15. Favored Soul gets em at 18.
At the least, you want 16 caster levels so you can use Practiced Caster feat
to give them 20 caster levels FOR the purpose of damage and duration only!
So 16 should be a minimum for offensive casting.
In MOTB, you want more than 20 levels... I would say 24 is a minimum for
offensive casting due to spell resistance. Plus, a few spells scale all the
way to level 25. (i.e. 25d6 damage)
Many buffs max out at level 20, which is doable with 16 caster levels and
the practiced caster feat. (example: Magic Vestment, Greater Magic Wpn)
Let's say you are making a wizard. You need to retain 17 base caster levels
to keep access to 9th level spells. This gives you 3 levels of wiggle room.
If you take Palemaster, every even level costs one of these 3 wiggle levels,
because Palemasters only get a casting level on ODD levels.
So a 13wiz,7PM is effectively a 17th level caster and has 9th level spells.
With practiced caster, you cast as a 20th level caster. However, you do NOT
gain SPELL PROGRESSION as a 20th..only a 17th.
Still, you only lose out on a few 9th level slots, and pick up some nice AC
bonuses from Palemaster.
A 10wiz/10PM may be tempting, but would be crippled to 15 caster level, or
8th level spells maximum, with a casting level of 19 maximum for damage.
Now in MOTB, you have a bit more latitude. A 20wiz/10PM would have a caster
level of 25; 29 with prac caster feat.
h. Rule of Warrior 26BAB
------------------------
This used to be the rule of 16, and is RELAXED IN MOTB. Remember that for
every 5BAB past 1, you gain an extra attack. (i.e. 6,11,16,21,26 bab)
With a level 20 cap, going from 3 attacks to 4 attacks (at 16bab)
was a 33% increase. Sure, that 4th attack was at -15ab, but still might hit.
In MOTB, going from say 5 attacks to 6 is only a 20% increase, and that 6th
attack is at -25AB!! It is unlikely that will hit anything.
Therefore, the usefulness of the 6th base attack is much less than when we had
a level 20 cap. It is nice, but you will not see nearly as many builds
shooting for that magical 26bab anymore.
i. Max's Maxim of Maximums
--------------------------
Our next rule is MAX's MAXIM OF MAXIMUMS. This states that you only want to
take an optimum number of class levels to gain the major benefits.
For example, taking 3 fighter is a bad idea. This is because the 3rd level
does not get you anything. It is 1 past the 2 feats for 2 levels mark, and
falls short of wpn spec access. Take 2 or 4 but NOT 3 if you can help it.
Similarly, 20 fighter is a loser. This is because all those feats are
overkill and just not necessary. By 12 fighter, you will be taking some
real garbage feats since you have ran out of useful ones.
WHEW! As you can see, there are a LOT of rules to keep in mind. Not all
apply for a specific character of course. These rules tend to work
against each other, and it is up to you to follow as many rules as possible
and decide which ones are most important. It all comes down to a lot of
compromise.
-----------------------
V. Choosing Stats, Race
-----------------------
Stats:
This is how to add stats to your builds. You get 32 points to spend. All
values ASSUME HUMAN. Racials scale as appropriate. (For half orc, 17STR
written here = 19 STR for you)
1) You generally have 1 main stat. For platemail warriors it is STR. For
most rogues it is DEX. Casters use WIS,INT,CHA depending on their class.
Set your main stat to 17 (or 19 with racial advantage). This allows you
to add +5 to it as you level up and wind up with an even number.
It costs 13 points to do this.
In MOTB, you will get up to +7 points from your usual pump ups every 4 lvls.
In addition, you can use Great Whatever-Stat epic feats to pump up that
attribute even more.
2) All platemail users set their DEX to 12. This gives +1AC which is the
max allowed with full plate. You can skimp on this value in most cases
if you can get an item or buff to make up the difference.
Also, you will likely want Mithril Plate which allows +3AC from DEX. In MOTB
the +8dex item is easily acquired early on. So even with a starting DEX
of 8, with an item at level 18 you will have the maximum needed 16DEX.
3) Mages will probably go 14DEX naturally. Since you usually do not wear armor
other than robes, or light armor like mithril chain shirt, you want decent
starting DEX, up to the point where it costs 1charpoint per 1 point of dex.
14 is the maximum base you can get without costing extra points.
4) ALL characters want 14 CON, which costs 6 points. You rarely have enough
points for higher, but do not want to skimp either. (that is 12 for elves,
16 for dwarves, etc)
5) Your WIS,CHA are DUMP-STATS for most builds. Leave them minimized. Sure,
it affects a few skills but not enough to matter.
Many people HATE having a negative modifier, but a 10WIS vs 8WIS only is
a 1 point difference in Will Saves and a few skills. Use the points to
pump something more worthwhile.
6) INT should be 10 for humans, 12 for others. This gives a +1skill per level
bonus. Depending on the base skillpoints for the build, this may go
up or down. You will usually never exceed 14 for a non-wizard.
Of course, this depends on your skill-access and base skills for your main
class and may need adjustment. Example: A sorc needs spellcraft, concentr,
and would like tumble, and UMD, but only gets 2 points per lvl. So more INT
will be needed.
7) You usually wind up with 1 leftover point. It will go like so:
-- If you are DEX-based or caster, add it to STR for more carrying capacity.
-- Add 1 to get 13 dex if you can get dodge feat.
-- Add 1 to get 13 Int if you can get Disarm or Imp KD feat.
Choosing Race:
--------------
In most cases, I select Human as my race of choice. This is for several
reasons.
-- They effectively get +2 INT for non-wizard/duelist builds due to their
bonus skill point per level.
-- The bonus feat is anywhere from nice to really important. A build with
few feats or that does a lot (mage/warrior hybrids) will find this
especially valuable. Not only do you get an extra feat choice, but all
your feats are Bumped up some, so you benefit from them earlier.
-- The universal Favored Class allows funky builds with less or no XP penalty.
For spellcasters that are primarily interested in casting offensive spells and
maximizing their spell DC, consider the classes with natural bonuses in
that class' attribute.
This means Aasimir, Drow for CHA-based sorcs,bards, and warlocks.
Sun Elf, Drow for INT-based wizards.
Deep Gnome, Aasimir for WIS-based clerics/druids.
Warrior types that are STR-based will want to consider Half-orc.
The CHA loss is usually not a problem, although the INT loss is unfortunate.
For stat-heavy builds (cleric/fighter,etc) human is better. For most
builds, the loss of INT is easy to overcome and the +2STR is worth it.
Earth Genesai is tempting since they gain STR AND CON! They lose WIS,CHA which
are both dump-stats. They make excellent warriors, with the only drawback
being the +1Effective Character Level (ECL)
I don't recommend Wood Elf since I dislike losing CON, even though they are
a better value than half-orcs by adding +2 to both STR and DEX.
DEX-based types will want to consider a small-framed class. They add a
free +1AB and AC due to size. The new halfling
is a great value as his free feat is better than "lucky" most of the time.
Deep Gnome is always a strong pick, ONLY IF you have some resources to
help you level up. Such as lots of magical items in storage, buddies, etc.
That gets you the best possible character at 20 thanks to the extra
+4AC and spell resistance, in addition to standard small-character bonuses.
-------------------------------------
VI. Equipping Your Dude (or Dude-ette)
-------------------------------------
This info is not really advanced, but I wanted to add it for completion sake.
a) Armor Class
In general, AC is your highest equipment priority, as it does a LOT to keep
your character alive, and even 5 points can mean the difference between
getting hit 30% of the time, and 5% of the time! You want the highest value
you can find in the following categories. NO AC stacks within its specific
category except for Dodge AC. So a +3 deflection ring and +4 deflection hat
will give you +4deflection only. Don't stack AC types.
-- Natural AC comes from Amulets only. Equivalent spells are barkskin,
spiderskin, shadow shield, tortise shell. Elephant Hide is a feat that adds.
DO NOT confuse this category of AC with so called "natural armor bonuses".
These are NOT the same. All "NACbonuses" FULLY STACK with Natural AC in
this category. These include Red Dragon Disc, Palemaster bonuses, and
the Armor Skin feat.
-- Deflection AC comes from everything except Amulet,Boot,armor,shield,
and bracer. Spells include Shield of Faith, and some other crappy spells
that give insignificant amounts of deflection ac.
-- Armor Bonus - This refers to the natural ability of armor to protect. Plate
gives 8 points. Robes give 0. Chain shirt gives 4. The higher, the better
but it will limit DEX AC bonuses. In general, wear the best armor you can.
There are NO equivalent spells.
-- Armor Enhancement Bonus - This is the ENHANCEMENT value of your armor.
+5 chainmail will give an extra +5AC ABOVE the 4AC from the chainmail.
Equivalent spells are Mages Armor, Magical Vestment.
Both Armor AND BRACERS can provide Armor enhancement bonus.
-- Shield Bonus - This is the total armor from a shield. It is 1,2, or 4
points base for a light, heavy, tower shield. THEN, add the ENHANCEMENT
bonus of the shield for the total Shield AC Bonus. Since ONLY a shield can
add shield enhancement, it is easier to just combine the base shield AC and
the enhancement.
-- Dodge AC is an unusual case in that ALL sources stack with each other, up
to the AC cap of 20 points per category. Boots are the only item slot, and
thus the reason why Sun Soul boots are so popular (and the UMD to use them).
Boots of Hardiness are a 2nd choice.
Spells/feats that add Dodge are Bard AC Aura, Luck of Heroes(I think),
dodge feat, Haste, Divine Shield.
-- DEX AC comes from your DEX modifier. It is limited by your Armor Bonus, in
that full plate allows 1 point max, and robes(0 Armor) allows unlimited
DEX AC. You typically want to get a DEX item enough that your allowed DEX
AC bonus is maxed. Note: If you are "flat footed", which usually comes from
stun or paralyze, you LOSE this bonus! This is why a stunned rogue is a
dead rogue usually.
-- Bonus AC is a wierd category that includes stuff like the WISDOM AC bonus
for monks, and also INT bonus for Duelist and Invisible Blades. The +1ac
per 5 monk levels applies too. This AC seemingly has no category and
stacks with everything else. It also includes Palemaster/RDD "natural AC"
bonuses. This stuff just "works" and can be considered category-less.
b) Attribute Items - This should be pretty obvious, but you want items that
boost your attributes, depending on class.
The first priority for a warrior is STR, except for a dex-based warrior of
course. The bonus AB is very important.
You want enough DEX to max out your possible AC bonus as discussed
previously. A warrior with 8DEX will want to get to 12 for full plate, or
16 with mithril plate.
Everyone can benefit from CON items.
INT items do no good at all, except for wizards(duh), and Invisible Blades.
WIS items are almost worthless for all non-pally/cleric/monks.
CHA items are useful for paladin,blackguard,warlock,FavSoul,Sorc, and bard
to varying levels. Rarely, a warrior might use a CHA item to pump their UMD
skill a couple of points to use a particular item.
c) Immunities - Spells take care of these in most cases. However, in case of
dispel, it is nice to have certain immunities. I consider them lower
priority though, since spells duplicate their effect. Notable exceptions
are Immune Crits/Sneaks, Immune Knockdown, and Damage Resistance/Reduction.
d) Clickies - These cover any item that you can use an ability from. These are
often overlooked. For example, a low level Brooch of Shielding can pump the
AC by +4 for 3minutes for a dualwielder or 2handed user. This is a very
strong ability! Other powerful clickies are Displacement or Imp Invis which
can make you take 1/2 damage in hard fights. The Rod of Ghostly Visage
gives a long lasting damage reduction for early/mid levels.
Healing items can be handy when rest is restricted. A single Wand of cure
critical wounds can provide quite a bit of out of combat healing for only
1 slot and no weight used.
Scrolls can be carried by rogue-ish types with High UMD, although many chars
will already be able to use several scrolls. These can be really handy for
when not in a party... or for limited use spells.
Imagine a mage that carries some Mord Disjunction scrolls. They wont want
to waste their slots on a spell that is so rarely used. BUT, if vs some
boss with heavy buffs and/or uber spell resistance, the Disj scrolls might
be really handy.
On a persistent world where death = big XP and gold penalties, a single
scroll of Etherealness to bail you out when attacked by PvP, or when you
are losing can be extremely worthwhile to have.
Said scrolls will have HORRIBLE DCs, so should be used only for buffs, and
spells that require no save.
e) Abilities - Sometimes you can find items that give you feats/abilities.
These can be very powerful, such as the Improved Evasion ring you can find.
A warrior type might find an item that lets them Whirlwind. Look for these
items, as they can provide mighty abilities.
f) Regeneration - Excellent for out-of-combat healing. Regeneration is just
the thing for keeping your HPs up when crawling through the dungeon fighting
weaker foes. Especially lategame, take regeneration when possible.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
VII. Weapon Choice for Warriors: Dualwield, 1h+shield, or 2hander?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
This is a pretty common question and the decision is usually made randomly,
based on gut-feel, or personal preference.
Here is the SHORT VERSION:
-Warriors with great strength and/or frenzied berserker go 2hander.
-Warriors with spellcasting abilities or damage boosters go 1h+shield, since
they get shield benefit when casting (when wpn dmg is irrelevant)
-Warriors with high DEX always go dualwield.
-Dualwielding becomes stronger as static bonuses increase. These are things
like divine favor, bardbuff, wpn specialization, higher enhancement weapons,
weapons with elemental damage. Anything that boosts damage per hit.
Here comes the LONG VERSION:
Onehander and Shield obviously provides a large amount of AC. Up to +7 when
a +5 heavy shield is obtained, and even more into epic levels.
This can be helpful or not, depending on the situation. Lets look at the
best-case and worst-case scenarios.
Monster hits you normally on a 13/13/18/20 per round. With +7AC shield, that
becomes 20/20/20/20. The cumulative toHit chances went from 35+35+10+5 = 85
to 5x4=20. Clearly you can see that you will take approximately one FOURTH
the damage by wearing a shield.
This is a best-case analysis.
Worst case would be where the monster has a 60/60/55/50 and you only have a
30AC, so you get beat up no matter what. This is extremely unlikely however,
only happening vs a few party-only boss-monsters.
More likely is the case where monsters have a 30/25/20 and you have a 50AC
already. Cranking it up to 57 does not buy you anything at all.
You can usually expect a shield to reduce your damage taken by about 50% in
most situations. There are some exceptions though.
1) If your foes include casters, then having a shield is irrelevant. Only
doing damage is relevant to kill them quicker.
2) If you are not being actively attacked and the monster is beating on your
wizard buddy lets say, then a shield is not helpful.
On the other hand, if you are casting a spell or using an item/ability, then
your DAMAGE is irrelevant. In this case, the shield is very very useful
and much better than either dualwield or 2hander.
Two Handed Weapons provide a damage bonus. The bonus however only comes from
three possible sources. Hence, it is not always a good idea to sacrifice
shield for a 2hander. Note that 2handers are better at Disarming due to
increased weapon size.
1) Base Weapon Damage - A greatsword does 2d6 or 7 average dmg. Compared to
a longsword with 4.5 this grants 2.5 extra damage per hit. Great at level
one, but that 2.5 bonus damage becomes irrelevant as levels are gained.
2) 50% more STR bonus. For every 2 points of STR damage done, add 1 bonus
point from 2handed. It is useful, peaking around level 20 then becomes
less useful later on.
3) Power Attack - Gains +6dmg instead of +3 for 1handed. This makes power
attack much more useful for 2handers, since they gain double benefit.
Note that frenzied berserker pumps this to +10 or +12 even. Improved
power attack doubles the penalty and benefit on top of that.
Dualwielding adds lots of extra attacks. You must have a 19dex to get all
3 bonus attacks, with 17 needed for 2, and 13dex for just 1 decent attack.
Therefore, only DEX-based characters should dualwield.
It is just dumb for a level 30 STR-warrior to have 7 mainhand attacks at a
penalty, and sacrifice a shield for only 2 offhand attacks.
In MOTB, with a possible 7 attacks including 1 from haste, only 3 offhand
attacks is not very impressive. Therefore, you have to take it a step
further...
With MOTB, you can get Perfect 2wpn fighting. This basically says that you get
the same number of OFFHAND attacks as mainhand attacks! The beauty of this,
is that it includes BONUS attacks!
Example: Take a lvl16monk/14fighter with 26bab. That is 6 base attacks with
a shortsword.
Normal attk sequence is: 26/21/16/11/6/1.
With Greater 2wpn that adds: 26/21/16 and ALL attacks gain -2 AB penalty.
Perfect 2wpn changes this to 26/21/16/11/6/1, thus granting 3 extra attacks.
One might note that gaining attacks at -15,-20, -25AB penalty is not really that
fantastic. Thus perfect2wpn isnt needed. WRONG!
Take the same char w/kamas, haste with greater flurry: 26/26/26/26/21/16/11/6/1
Perfect 2wpn buffs grants 26/26/26/26/21/16/11/6/1!!
The 3 bottom-feeder attacks are mostly worthless, but the Haste and Flurry
matched attacks are awesome!
Since EVERYONE will be hasted at higher levels, perfect 2wpn adds AT LEAST
1 attack at full AB, along with up to 3 heavily penalized attacks.
Conclusion: Perfect 2wpn fighting is worth it, and should be a priority if
dualwielding. Dont dualwield without it.
Note that ALL attacks get at least a -2 penalty, plus the need for extra
feats taken to support dualwielding.
An important note on dualwielding is that the offhand attacks are at 50%
STR penalty. In other words, bonus damage from STR is cut in half.
It is therefore dumb for a STR-based warrior to take a penalty to all 4
base attacks, and sacrifice the 150% STR bonus on 2handers, just to gain
1 extra attack at 50% STR value.
Dualwielders with little STR bonuses gain 3 bonus attacks, basically increasing
offense by 67% (4 attacks to 7), or 60% with haste (5 to 8). This does not
factor in the -2 penalty of course, since that becomes complicated.
Suffice to say, that dualwield results in a large offensive gain.
Dualwielding is ideal for any character with big static bonuses, such as
heavily enchanted weapons or sneak attack.
Let's run some examples:
Feel free to skip this section as it is mathematical.
Assume 3 characters.
X is a cleric with 22STR, 13DEX
Y is a frenzied berserker with 42STR (RDD, max enhancement), 13DEX
Z is a shortsword-dexfighter with 10STR, 34DEX
Weapon is a longsword/greatsword with +5 and 1d6sonic.
base wpn dmg = 4.5longsword +2wpn spec(assume 4 fighter somewhere) +5wpn
+3.5sonic +STR bonus = 15 +STR.
X uses divine favor for +5dmg and Battletide +2dmg
X 1hander = 28 damage x5 = 140 and +7AC
X 2hander = 33.5 damage x5 = 167.5
X dualwield = 28 dmg x5 + 25offhand = 165 -2 hit penalty.
Y uses frenzy and normal power attack, with level5 enhancement from FB.
Y 1hander = 36 dmg x5 = 180 +7AC
Y 2hander = 51.5 dmg x5 = 253
Y dualwield = 36 x5 + 23 = 203 -2 hit penalty.
Z 1hander = 14 dmg(shortsword) x5 = 70 +7AC
Z 2hander = N/A, since not finesse-able.
Z dualwield = 14 x5 + 14x3 = 112 -2hit penalty.
If we gave everyone +10 weapons with 7d6 (24.5) elemental damage,
X 1h = 54 x5 = 270 +7AC
X 2h = 59.5 x5 = 298
X dw = 54 x5 + 51 = 321
Y 1h = 62 x5 = 310 +7AC
Y 2h = 77.5 x5 = 387.5
Y dw = 62 x5 + 54 = 364
Z 1h = 40 x5 = 200
Z 2h = n/a
Z dw = 40 x5 + 40x3 = 320
I am too lazy to run the calculations with minimal weapons, but we can
draw some conclusions easily enough.
1) You can see that as static bonuses (Wpn Spec, enhanced wpns, bonus wpn dmg,
etc) are increased, the benefit they get from 2handed is reduced, and
benefit from dualwield is increased.
2) Weaker weapons and lower stat bonuses greatly reduce dualwield benefits and
improve benefits of 2handed.
--------------
VIII. Scaling.
--------------
This section is an overview of why certain builds are used on
particular worlds, based on scaling. It is intended to give a feel for
what build to use, for a particular server. Feel free to skip to the builds
section.
There are many modules for NWN, some with mighty magical items,
and others with weak items. Each server is different, but I will classify
them as low to high magic worlds. My median point would be the NWN2 Original
Campaign, with +5 equipment, and up to +8 or +10 stat items. Low magic
servers tend to favor casters, and certainly encourage party buffing. To
compensate the monsters(mobs) usually have higher magic resistance, or hit
softer but have lots of hitpoints (so more spells are needed to kill).
In some cases, the ability to rest and recover spells is limited. The high
magic servers make warrior types much more powerful, since they can acquire
items that grant tons of immunities and make many spell buffs redundant.
Some of these servers do the opposite and allow resting often, and/or make
really hard to hit monsters that are vulnerable to magic.
You will discover that some builds do really well with more powerful items,
while some do not. I will explain why this occurs here.
First, we discuss weapon scaling. Our baseline is a keen scimitar.
It has a 30% crit (15-20), and does +100% extra dmg. Its normalized value
is then 130%. That means, a typical fighter gets about 130% out of his
weapon, when you average out crits.
A weaponmaster however makes that a 13-20 (40%), and does +200% dmg.
So the wpnmaster has a wpn value of 180%.
This is why many high magic servers are dominated by weaponmasters, because
they gain a lot more oomph out of the really high end weapons, and +STR items.
Another factor is number of attacks. A strange monk/wpnmaster dexfighter is
weak on a low magic world. Those 9 kama attacks seems strong, but when
each one only hits for 10 damage it is not so effective.
Add super weapons and tons of +STR and all the sudden those 9 attacks are
very powerful! This is why Haste and similar bonus attacks such as
from dualwielding are so strong on higher magic worlds.
On the defensive end, dex-based characters really shine on high magic worlds.
Normally, a warrior in full plate and 12dex has 19 AC, plus any shield.
Extra attribute pumps will not affect this warrior's AC.
The monk/wpnmaster with 22dex and 14wis has 18AC (excluding other bonuses).
Basically, he barely breaks even on low/mid magic worlds with weaker items.
However, imagine the same char on a world with easily accessible +12 stat
items. With +12 wis and dex, the base AC rises to 30!
Let's look at static buffs. These do NOT scale well. The cleric with
divine favor gets some amazing capabilities on low/mid magic worlds.
Tons of great buffs including +5dmg from divine favor, and automatic +5 wpns
and armor with buffs.
However, these are less powerful on higher magic worlds. Example:
cleric with +5 buffed wpn and +5div favor does great damage as opposed to a
wpnmaster with +1 weapons on low magic worlds.
On the high magic world, the +5 wpn bonus is redundant, and the +5dmg from
div favor isnt so strong when wpns are +10 and hit for 4d6 elemental. In
this case, the weaponmaster crit bonus that multiplies weapon damage is
stronger than a static +5 buff.
Barbarians really get the shaft. If they can get +12STR/CON items, there is
no point in Raging...its just an AC debuff! This is even more the case with
MOTB where you can get huge STR items quickly.
Casters are similarly affected. When weapons hit for 20 damage, those 20d6
polar rays and chain lightings are impressive! When warriors do 200 damage
in 1 round, then the same spells seem rather lacking.
--------------------
IX. Class Overviews (still under construction)
--------------------
This section reviews every class, and explains in general, how many levels
one might wish to take in the class, and why.
a) Arcane Scholar - An offensive caster class. It requires Empower which you
should have anyways, plus two weak skill focus feats. However, at level 1, it
gives you back 1 feat (maximize) so you are only out 1 net feat to qualify.
Well, plus the 8 spellcraft which is trivial... and useful anyways.
The main ability of note is the improved empower. The downside of the class
is no melee or real defensive capabilities at all.
3: Gives improved empower, which is really nice. Gaining 50% more power for
only 1 additional spell level slot is very powerful. This allows for a
36d6 horrid wilting!
10: Anything past 3, you mine as well take it all the way to 10 to get the
improved maximize and free quicken.
b) Arcane Archer - The only useful attribute of this class is the enchanted
arrows. Every odd level, the arrows gain +1AB and damage. Note the damage
is not shown on the character screen! AA has a high BAB, so any number
of levels may be taken, with heavy emphasis on the odd levels.
The prereqs are rather steep, so only a dedicated archer would ever take
any levels in AA. Therefore, you should take 9 levels if possible.
Unfortunately, in MOTB, archery is even weaker than ever. Since AA is capped
at 10 levels, you cannot continue the enhancement bonus.
c) Arcane Trickster - This is an unusual combination of rogue and mage. Wizards
are most qualified since they can take the best advantage of the high
skill access granted, thanks to their high INT. The class grants sneaks as if
a full level rogue, and casting ability at full level too.
Therefore, I can see no reason
at all to take less than the 10 full levels in the class. The bad news
is that the BAB of the class is really bad, as are the HPs.
Pre-epic, there is not much room for character design if you choose to
be a trickster with 9th level spells. Post epic, a lot more possibilities
are opened.
10: Should always take the full 10 due to the strong abilities.
d) Assassin - This class is basically a prestege version of the rogue, with
fairly easy skill-only requirements. It is mostly used to avoid XP
penalties that might occur if rogue was used instead. The death attack is
same as sneak and stacks fully. The DC of the save is pretty low,
increasing as the assassin level increases, but can be disregarded.
In MOTB, the capped 10 assassin lvls ensures that your death attack will very
rarely succeed. Still, if you get lucky and they DO roll a 1, it makes for
a really easy fight!
Note that taking assassin AND rogue together is usually a bad idea, since it
will cheat you out of your rogue bonus feats.
2: Minimal death attack, Uncanny Dodge. Used by casters or dexfighters that
want uncanny dodge without XP penalty for only 2 levels.
8: Gives Hide in Plain Sight, as well as a few useful spells such as Invis
if the hide fails. Improved Uncanny is pretty nice too.
9+ RARELY taken, since it penalizes -3bab for a fairly short duration
Improved Invisibility.
e) Barbarian - A so-so base class with a Rage bonus that STACKS with those
gained from items or spells. While the high HPs are good, as is the gained
damage reduction at higher levels, multiclassing is definitely useful.
1: A single level for weapon/armor proficiencies AND the +10% movespeed is good.
At low levels, the rage is sometimes useful.
f) Bard - A good base class that gets solid bonuses evenly throughout its
levels.
The bard has decent spell progression with a lot of buff-type spells, but
rather few good offensive choices. Bards get short range auras that buff
buddies and their most powerful ability is the Curse Song, which is a
hugely powerful debuff that maxes out at level 16. These usually mean the
bard is included in warrior type builds. Bard spells are best used to
buff and not offensively. In fact, my bards usually wear platemail and
only cast before combat to buff.
The best bet is to take 1 level or 16. With MOTB, 21 bard is very viable.
Note that battlecaster can be used to cast spells in mithril plate & shield.
1: Used for skill and RDD access by warrior builds. +1 ab/dmg aura is nice
too, and this is a very popular choice.
2: Gives a few 1st level spells. Rarely used except to even out an odd number
of class levels.
16: Maximum curse song power, 6th level spell access, strong auras.
This is the best warrior choice as curse song is awesome.
21: Gains access to Hymm/Song of Requiem which is pretty powerful, plus a few
aura pumps and access to the legionairre bardsong at level 18.
g) Blackguard - A good class with several nice advantages. The 5 hide is a
rather stupid prereq, so don't forget about it. BG is taken by casters and
warriors alike. They get a lot of abilities, but there are only 3 that
are significant: wpn/armor proficiencies, Turn Undead, and +CHA to saves.
Most of their good abilities are front-loaded and obtained early on.
After 4, there is little reason to level BG.
2: wpn/armor feats. +CHA Save bonus! Taken by warlocks, sorcs, bards since
they can get extra utility out of their high CHA which they need anyways.
3: Turn Undead, which gives Divine Shield access. Divine Might is also
available, but generally much less useful than Shield. Be SURE to take your
3rd BG level on a FEAT level (9,12,15,18) to get Shield/Might access.
4: adds 1d6 sneak on top of other stuff. Useful for rule of 4. i.e.
16bard/4bg for 16bab. In other words to round out odd number of class lvls.
7: 2d6 sneak.
10: 3d6 sneak. Used only by rogue types to increase BAB without losing
too much sneak attack progression.
h) Cleric - An excellent class that works well as a warrior type or a caster.
Clerics can use Warpriest to gain more caster levels, which is often done
if focused on fighting. Otherwise, they are splashed since even a level 1
cleric gets 2 domains with appropriate abilities.
Note that clerics gain NOTHING past level 1, so many clerics seek to multiclass
with warpriest, stormlord, sacredfist to get more abilities.
1: Mainly the 2 domain feats. These include
-- toughness (earth)
-- uncanny dodge (air)
-- evasion (water)
-- 10% movespeed (travel)
-- feint (trickery)
-- Weapon Focus and proficiency in martial or exotic (War)
-- Luck of Heroes (Luck)
-- Blindfighting (darkness)
13: Just enough to get persistent divine favor for permanent +3ab/dmg bonus.
It got nerfed from +5ab/dmg.
i) Divine Champion - Easy prereq class that is based on having good CHA in
theory. It grants feats as a fighter on even numbers, as well as a saving
throw bonus every 2 levels. Hence you ALWAYS take even numbers of this class.
Basically, you take this class if taking fighter would cause XP penalties.
Note that taking DC levels at lvl21+ will promote the bonus feats to EPIC,
allowing you to take a short list of epic feats including great wisdom.
Any even number works well.
6: Picks up Divine Wrath for free, which is a nice bonus for bards,FavSouls
and other CHA-heavy classes.
j) Druid - A good class that is similar to cleric. Gets a free pet, wildshape,
and decent buffs through spells. It would be very rare to see low
levels of druid taken, since cleric would buy a lot more. Most druid
special abilities are found at higher levels.
Note that druids have much fewer self-buffs than clerics, and tend to play
a lot more like a hybrid rather than specializing in either combat or casting.
5-8: Wild Shape - Quite rare. Only used to burn Wildshape to get Elephant
Skin for immunity to crits by a defensive warrior type. Druids also
get a buff that makes one immune to knockdown for 1 round per lvl.
12: Dire wildshape. Tempting for fighter/monk/druid that optimize wildshape
for offensive fighting. Note that Treeform is gained here too, which is a
big improvement over wildshape.
A Treant is actually considered an ANIMAL, so many of your buffs work just
as well as on the bear, but with better AC and immunities.
16: Elemental shape. Combined with warrior levels to get 26BAB at level 30.
20: Elder elemental shape. Works great with 30 level maximum. Elder elemental
plus monk is pretty strong.
k) Duelist - I am not a huge fan as duelist is pretty picky about prereqs and
how their stuff works. Dexfighters and monks benefit the most.
The main advantage you get is your INT bonus applies to your AC.
Items count now. This ONLY works if you have no armor or shield though.
Plus, the 1d6 to piercing weapons is kind of worthless since you CANNOT
dualwield and keep the bonus.
1 or 2: Not worth taking, since AC is capped at +INT OR duelist lvl.
3: A wizard could squeeze 3 AC out of this.
4: Good for a monk and most characters as they wont have more than 4 INT bonus
anyways, and works well with the rule of 4.
6: Gains 1d6 to piercing wpns and NO OFFHAND equipped. Note that SPEAR works
too. Also flourish which adds 2d6 for 1 hit. Also, gives a reasonable
6 round haste.
7: Elaborate Parry gained so any parry-based char takes at least 7 duelist.
10: Precise strike to +2d6.
l) Dwarven Defender - This class was quite strong at epic levels. Since it is
capped at 10 levels, it loses a lot of power. Requires dwarf obviously,
and a 13DEX for dodge prereq.
The damage reduction is still pretty powerful, so this class works well for
a more defensively oriented warrior.
New in NWN2 is a nice static dodge bonus that improves as you level.
NOTE the LAWFUL alignment restriction to this class!
1: +1AC that stacks and the Defensive Stance. The prereqs generally mean
you will take more than just 1 level though unless a caster.
2: Adds uncanny dodge. Well worth it for a dex-based character.
4: Another +1AC.
6: Gain 3 damage reduction and improved uncanny dodge.
7: +1 AC.
8 levels gains not much new.
10: DR goes to 6, and you get +4AC.
m) Eldritch Knight - Easy prerequisites overall. This is a great class that
improves HP some, and a huge AB boost. The first level taken gimps your
casting by 1 level. From there on out, it is basically a superior version
of wizard or sorceror. Hence, there is no reason not to take all 10 levels
of it. Thus, EK replaces any wiz/sorc levels after 5/6 respectively.
Seriously, do you want 4HP per lvl and 1/2BAB or 6HP per lvl and full BAB?
All a sorc loses for example is their worthless familiar progression.
The EK ALSO works for bard, but you lose Auras and Songs. So it is rather
wasteful for a bard to take this.
10: No reason to take less. Seriously, EK is an incredible class!
n) Favored Soul - A divine sorceror that is pretty much forced to be
melee-oriented. They have several nice abilities as they level (opposed to
clerics that get all their goodies like Turn Undead, and domains at level 1).
FS should almost always be combined with Paladin or Blackguard to gain a
big saving throw bonus (due to CHA), and also access to Divine Might/Shield
through Turn Undead. Take advantage of their high CHA in these ways, and
remember to take a bit of UseMagicDevice skill since your CHA will boost it
substantially for free.
NOTE: Be sure to choose your diety wisely, as their favored weapon will be
what you get weapon proficiency/focus/specialization in!
At epic levels, those level 5,10,15,20 elem resists can be used to take EPIC
SPELLS instead! (assuming your character qualifies for them)
12: Access to wpn spec. The ideal level if you are taking stormlord or sacred
fist.
16: Ideal if going warpriest to keep a 26bab. (i.e. 16fs/8fighter/6WarPriest)
20: You get a permanent damage resistance plus a possible free epic feat instead
of the elemental resist.
o) Fighter - An excellent class that is taken for free feats, and access to
weapon and armor feats, including tower shield for defensive types. The
class is rather front-loaded and most builds take 8 or less.
NOTE: When you take fighter after char level 20, the free fighter feats get
"promoted", and you can take them as EPIC feats from a short list including
epic prowess, armorskin, epic toughness, epic wpnfocus/spec, damage reduction.
Many builds frontload 2 levels of fighter for bonus normal feats, then use
6 more levels after 20 to take Prowess,ArmorSkin, and Greater WpnFocus
for free.
1: Wpn/Armor proficiency +1 free feat. Casters may take this.
2: 1 extra feat for only 1 extra level.
4: Access to weapon specialization for +2dmg per hit.
8: A great pick which allows access to Greater and EPIC weapon focus. That is
a +3AB advantage over a standard wpnfocus-only character!
12: Fairly rare except for dualwielders, or wpnmasters with access to
Greater/Epic Wpn Specialization for another +6 dmg per hit.
Don't take more than 12 fighter. You should never need THAT many bonus feats
and can get a lot more out of using other classes instead.
p) Frenzied Berserker - This class is taken by warrior builds that wield
2handers and/or hit really hard. The main ability is to gain a bonus
attack through their frenzy. It is actually lousy with -4AC and a STR
bonus that does not stack with any items. Hence, one needs to hit hard
to make that extra attack worth it. Note that this becomes useless in epic
levels since you are bound to have haste instead... which does NOT stack.
Supreme cleave is only useful if you hit hard enough to get the killing
blow most of the time.
It is a very front-loaded class and should never exceed 5 levels.
2: Adds frenzy, toughness, Supreme Cleave. rarely taken.
5: Free immunity to deathmagic when frenzying. Also, improves power attack
a lot! For a -3ab penalty, it adds +10 damage per hit. This is the most
commonly taken level point.
Any more points is usually wasted, as increased frenzy is rarely useful,
and extra +2 from power attk is not worth 5 more levels.
q) Harper Agent - A truly bad prestege class with heavy requirements. The
prereqs are horribly bad too, using feats that nobody ever uses. Its one
saving grace is that it now adds caster levels after 1st lvl.
Therefore, a wizard could use his bonus feats to offset the prereq garbage
and use his high INT to offset the prereq skills. For -1 casting level,
a wizard could take all 5 harper lvls and pick up nice skill access, with
some bonus abilities and slight HP increase. I'd rather just take duelist
for tumble, AC.
r) Invisible Blade - This is a good class for rogue or dexfighters to take. It
allows these to continue their rogue-ish skills, and provides a nice AC pump
based on INT. Best of all, the high BAB progression makes it a great 5 level
class to round out an odd number of class levels in a build.
Note that the Bleed sneak attack thing will NOT penetrate damage reduction and
is almost always useless.
5: If you are going to take IB, go ahead and max it out.
s) Monk - Monks have three purposes. First is unarmed fighter, which means lots
of monk levels. Second is a kama fighter, which can mean anywhere from
1 to 16 levels... usually 11 for greater flurry.
The third is to add a big AC bonus to unarmored characters. The tumble
skill access usually adds in an extra 1 or 2 AC points.
Monks have High saving throws for ALL THREE TYPES!
Monks are also used with the new Sacred Fist class.. typically 11 levels worth.
1: Big AC bonus from Wisdom. Flurry of Blows, and Kama usage. Typically
taken from shapeshifting druids, and sometimes from dexfighters or
unarmored mage types and even clerics on high magic worlds.
Note that the wisdom AC rarely exceeds that of a shield however, and so is
only useful for those that cannot use a shield (dualwielding, mage, etc)
2: Adds deflect arrows and Evasion.
11: Gives Greater Flurry for 2 bonus attacks at no penalty! +2 free AC,
and improved monk speed.
16: Solid unarmed damage, spell resistance, +3 AC, even better monk speed.
This level is common for unarmed fighters that want a 16BAB for another
attack.. i.e. 16monk/4fighter = 16bab, and comes with admantite weapon
penetration ability.
t) Neverwinter Nine - Prereqs are either really easy or really hard for most
servers/modules. Solo, don't be shy about using the console to add the
prereq background feat needed to qualify. The NW9 pack quite a bit of utility
into their 5 levels including full BAB progression.
3: Adds 10% move and 2d6 sneak without taking the BAB hit of rogue. Can be used
by rogue types to gain some BAB and keep heavy sneak dmg. If you have access,
this is an excellent way to round out a rogue-based build.
5: Guess I need to test if All Out Assault maxes sneaks or elemental dmg.
I doubt it. Good for other odd-level-classes like 7 weaponmaster.
u) Paladin - A weak base class with some casting ability. Fortunately, the
high level spells are fairly strong. Note that your casting level is ONE HALF
of your pally level. Practiced Caster can add 4 effective levels though.
Example: lvl16 pally with Prac Cast has a casting lvl of 16/2 +4=12.
Pally is more often splashed by cha-based casters.
1 level in paladin is worthless.
2: Taken for CHA bonus to saving throws. Very common among high CHA chars
such as warlocks, sorcs, bards as it gives them armor feats as well.
4: Gains turn undead which gives access to Divine Shield, Divine Might feats.
YOU MUST take the 4th pally level on a feat-giving level to get access!!!
Most go with 3 blackguard instead for the same benefit.
v) Palemaster - Easy requirements for a casting prestege class. They give
casting levels every odd level. I would expect every even number, but
whatever.
In any case, taking too many levels gimps your casting ability. Note that
the summons and death touch are complete garbage. However, their defensive
capabilities are awesome, and the +6 stacking AC is the best benefit in most
cases.
With MOTB's level 30 cap, a pure caster has much more latitude to take PM
levels without gimping their offensive casting power too much.
A 20wiz/10PM for example with prac caster has a 29 caster lvl, and gains LOTS
of immunities and AC.
1: The most common for pure casters. Sure you lose 1bab, but gain +2AC and
dont lose anything, except for BAB. Heck, you even gain slightly better
fort saves.
5: Another +2ac, and +4 fort saves for -2 casting levels.
7: Gains immunity to stun,paralyze effects for another -1 casting level.
10: Immune to crits is amazing, as is another +2AC. But, your casting is
gimped, and your AB is horrible so this rules out bard/warrior types.
w) Ranger - Another weak base class with limited and mostly useless casting.
In MOTB, they got a big boost from perfect 2 wpn fighting at level 21.
Remember that their casting level is 1/2 of their ranger levels, and their
animal companion is similarly gimped. They get less HP than other
warrior classes, but gain many more base skillpoints.
They are similar to a fighter/rogue multiclass in one base class, and their
favored enemy becomes exponentially better as they level up.
Note that their archer,duelwield feats do NOT work in medium+ armor.
However, they do have excellent skillpoints per level.
1: Favored enemy. Weak.
11: Gains Improved Rapid Shot or Greater 2wpn fighting. This is handy for
STR-based warriors that do not want to have to get 19 natural DEX for
the dualwield. Then, use a mithril chain shirt (light) and a DEX item
to retain decent AC. Free Evasion doesn't hurt either, as does +3 to
3 favored enemies.
17: Hide in Plain Sight - Great ability, but 17 levels in ranger seems
excessive since they have no sneak attack to really take advantage.
21: Gain Perfect 2 weapon fighting, WITHOUT needing 25 dex! Does not leave
much room to work with, but is the best way to make a STR-based dualwielder.
x) Red Wizard of Thay
A wizard-extension class that improves spell power for a specialist wizard.
The primary bonus is a +1DC for all specialized spells, AND extra +DC bonuses
at epic levels. At level 10, the RedWiz adds 5 bonus caster levels.
Normally this would be worthless as there is no difference between 30 and 35
caster levels for a 20d6 maxed spell, right? Wrong! Spells gain +1DC for
every 3 levels past 20, so the RW can potentially increase spell DC a few
extra points. Plus, it increases spell penetration even moreso.
Take any even number of levels in RedWiz. 6 or 10 are the best points as you
gain the bonus free feats at 5,10. NOTE: Once you take a red wizard level,
you will be UNABLE to learn any further spells in the new excluded spell
school! For this reason, and that most benefits occur in epic levels, I
recommend backloading RW levels until past 17.
y) Red Dragon Disciple - RDD is a very strong prestege class with 1 annoying
requirement. It is clearly a warrior-only class, but requires a spellcasting
class to qualify. This means that almost all RDD builds are bards.
In MOTB however, sorcerors can toss in 4 levels of RDD to pump their fighting
capability.
They gain AC bonuses that stack with EVERYTHING, plus attribute bonuses
that act as if they were naturally part of the character.
In other words, the +2INT gained provides spell access (if any) and gives
a bonus skillpoint on level-ups.
In MOTB, melee-oriented sorcerors can take some RDD levels to pump up their
AC, HPs, and stats. 4 RDD levels works best.
4: +2AC, +4STR for only 4 levels and -1BAB is a great deal for warriors that
need lots of other levels such as weaponmasters. With MOTB, mainclass sorcs
and bards also can take 4 levels for the nice benefits.
8 should NEVER be taken since it provides not much more than level 4.
10: The standard, comes with immunities, and a huge stat boost of +4STR,
+2INT,+2CON,+2CHA, and another 2 points of AC.
z) Rogue - Just about any number of rogue levels are taken, with exception of
1,5,9,13,17. Rogues get bonus feats at 10,13,16,19. Even levels usually
do not provide anything and thus are only taken to satisfy rule of 4 (BAB),
as Odd levels provide the sneak attack damage increments.
Rogues give 8 skillpoints per level and are taken at level 1 if possible
for maximum skillpoints.
1: ONLY gives access to skills, 1d6 sneak. not used much due to -1BAB.
3: Gives 2d6 sneak and evasion. A solid choice.
4: Gives uncanny dodge and helps satisfy rule of 4.
7: 4d6 sneak. rarely taken, as it gobbles lots of levels, but does not quite
make it to the point of getting free rogue feats.
11: 6d6 sneak PLUS a free rogue feat like improved evasion.
16: Adds a 3rd rogue feat, and helps with rule of 4. Solid choice with 4
warrior levels to get a good BAB.
za) Sacred Fist - A monk/divine hybrid that works best for clerics. Druids are
so-so, but lose out on a lot of their abilities. Fav Soul/Spir Shaman lose
abilities and have lower WIS normally, and are not the best choices.
Pally/Ranger are poor choices.
This class is powerful, but limited. You pretty much have to play with
unarmed (monk) style combat, but with clerical buffs.
I recommend 11 monk levels for greater flurry and 9 clerical levels, which
gives 9th lvl spells, with 10SF of course. Add more monk for more damage at
the cost of spells, or less monk for better spell-power at the cost of unarmed
damage/speed/AC.
Note: SF gives 80% clerical progression. 10SF = 8 cleric levels basically.
SF also adds FULL BAB progression. However, equipping ANY WEAPON will cause
a -8AB penalty!
10: Always max out Sacred Fist levels.
zb) Shadow Thief of Ahn - Basically a bad version of assassin.
You gain free feats at 2 and 4 which looks desirable.
In general, this class is worthless because it requires a garbage feat as
a prereq, AND requires a LOT of useless skills.
A caster looking for an easy way to get Tumble,UMD access should go with
assassin instead.
zc) Shadowdancer - This class is kind of like a rogue, but without sneak
attacks. It seems to defeat the whole purpose. It has rather hefty
requirements. They are a front loaded class, so typically only a few levels
are taken usually by rogue types.
1: Hide in Plain Sight - This is the key ability and the only real reason to
take shadowdancer. It is a REALLY good ability for a rogue.
2: Most will already have this, but can pick up evasion and uncanny, as
well as a probably useless darkvision.
3+ They get a few more things, but nothing worth taking more levels for.
Avoid anything past level 3 in shadowdancer.
zd) Sorceror - Arcane casting class. CHA based, which is not a useful
attribute at all by itself (as opposed to Wizardly INT used for skillpoints)
They typically multiclass by tossing in either paladin, blackguard, or
warlock to get a big saving throw bonus. In addition, pally/BG or even
1 level of cleric is enough to gain access to Divine Shield. This is an
amazing ability for surviving tough fights, and puts their high CHA to work.
Note that you must have 18 sorc casting levels to use 9th lvl spells!
With MOTB, sorcs now can retain solid casting power and also fight relatively
well by multi-classing to Pally,Blackguard, Eld Knight, and even Red Dragon D.
Note that sorcs gain NO abilities as they level up, so taking Eld K, Arcane
Trickster, or even Palemaster/Harperscout levels is almost a given.
ze) Spirit Shaman
A druid class with sorceror spellcasting system. They lack wild shape and a
pet, but pick up some other interesting abilities. The best way to go is to
get just enough WIS to have spell access(including using items), then max out
your CHA for the highest possible spell DC. Combo it with Warlock, Pally,
Blackguard, cleric to take advantage of the high CHA with +saves, or divine
shield. I recommend using spirit shaman as a CASTER moreso than a warrior,
as it has the best synergy.
As SS gain most of their really good abilities later on (free heal upon death,
free Ethereal spell as needed), I would take 20 levels... or at least avoid
multiclassing too much with the other divine PrCs.
(i.e. SS10/Warpriest10/Stormlord10 would be a loser)
zf) Stormlord - A strong divine class that focuses on spear for melee, and 3
throwing weapons. Stormlord is ideal for Favored Soul and clerics, and ok
for druids and spirit shamans.
I highly recommend monkey grip for 1handed spear +shield in most cases.
It is possible to make an adequate "throwing cleric" build that acts much like
an archer, using rapid fire archery feat OR with tossing shurikan with flurry
of blows from monk levels.
Note that you have to CLICK the spear power-up every 20 rounds or it wears
out.
8: Gives most benefits of the class and is ideal for a 26BAB build.
(such as cleric8/stormlord8 and 16warrior levels)
10: Usually the best choice, as the Storm Avatar for immunity to knockdown is
really a NICE ability for a hard fight. Lightning immune is great too, as
is the final favored weapon enchantment bonus for only 2 more levels.
zg) Warlock - Once considered the worst main class in the game. They have
two roles. First is to use Dark Ones Own Luck to add big save bonuses to
high CHA characters. Second is to go all out in warlock and zap stuff.
It is better to avoid multiclassing when going mainclass warlock, since so
many of their abilities scale with level. However, you might consider using
blackguard for even more +saves and some armor/wpn feats.
A single cleric level can be used to gain Divine Shield access and also score
two bonus feats from the domains, although watch XP penalties.
In MOTB, they become one of the BEST classes. Go figure. This is because a
lot of their stuff continues to scale past 20. With 1 epic feat, they get a
50% bonus to their offense which is ridiculously good.
1: Sorcs and bards especially love taking 1 Lok for the +save bonus.
zh) Warpriest - With moderate requirements, this is a useful but narrow class.
The main and really only advantage is that it lets divine classes that
are more warrior specced to gain casting levels without losing any BAB.
i.e. A 16cleric/8Fighter/6WarPriest has 26bab, AND level 19 casting power.
Any even number of Warpriest can be used. Their abilities are pretty weak, as
they are cast at WARPRIEST level, NOT character level.
(warpriest 4 gains a 4 round haste.. woopie.)
Note that warpriest benefits druids, shamans more since the granted abilities
are not normally accessible (mass heal, battletide, fear), at the cost of
losing the special abilities of the druid,shaman.
zi) Weaponmaster - Great on higher magic servers where they can multiply the
damage of an attack. With insane feat prereqs, there is no reason to not
max out weaponmaster functionality. This means exactly 7 levels...
No More...No Less.
7: Gains both extra crit damage and bigger crit range.
zj) Wizard - Standard arcane casting class. Requires 17 caster levels to get
9th level spells. High INT means lots of skills, and is a good candidate
for a rogueish multiclass for very high skill access, especially with the
Able Learner feat. One level of a warrior class may be taken to gain
weapon and armor feats.
Generally, you want to take even numbers of wizard levels if you plan on
fighting to max BAB gains. Don't forget your free feats every 5 levels.
Note that if you have a 21+ lvl character, you can use those free wiz-feats
for EPIC feats! (i.e. a 14wiz/6fighter that takes 15th wiz at lvl21)
There is no set number of wizard levels typically taken. They can gain
casting levels through the following:
-- eldrich knight (1 for 1, except 1st level)
-- harper scout (3 cast levels for 4 harper lvls)
-- Arcane Trickster (full casting, 1 for 1)
-- Pale Master (every odd level)
Just make sure you take practiced caster if you multiclass, so that your
spells get the full damage and effect.
--------------------------
X. Putting it all together
--------------------------
This rule is the most important and says that every build has tradeoffs. The
difficult part is determining the best way to gain the most good, and
minimize the bad. This depends greatly upon the environment where you play.
The Original Campaign is much different than a persistent world. Each world
is different, and so are downloaded modules.
This is why I go to the trouble to provide this guide, so that you can tune
your OWN builds instead of relying on one-size-fits-all build solutions.
There are several steps you can go through to help kick off a build.
1) Determine the concept. This is done by thinking of generally what
kind of character you want. For example, a warrior-mage or a rogueish-mage,
or a warrior-rogue, or a hulking brute, and so forth.
Alternatively, you can decide on classes or tools you wish to employ. For
example, how to use the blackguard's sneak attack to make a better thug or
how to use warlock/bg/pally to pump up a sorceror's saves. Or, simply how
to make a better monk.
2) Find synergies. I have several such listed in my detailed analysis.
For example, a few Pally,BG, Lock levels are great with a class that
relies heavily upon CHA.
Blackguard works great for a warrior-bard for example that is STR-based.
They will take powerattk/cleave prereqs anyways and benefit. A straight
up casting-based sorceror however is poor synergy since they would have
to raise STR to 13, and take 2 worthless feats, just to access BG
and get the +Save bonus.
3) Make note of alignment issues. The barbaric paladin isn't going to work
out so hot most of the time. It IS possible to change alignment in some
places, but it is usually a 1 way street. I.E. Start as paladin for 4
levels, take 12 fighter, take 4 levels of Blackguard. That might work.
Weaving pally and bard together would not work at all... you would start
with bard for skills, then pally for armor/wpn feats quickly, then bard
some more, and so forth. Hence, you would have to toggle between lawful
and non-lawful several times rapidly.
4) If your build has less than 4 classes, reconsider it. Think about other
good candidates and determine if you can toss in any other classes to
improve the character. While you dont HAVE to have 4 classes, and indeed
can sabatage a good build doing so. It is a good idea to consider the
possibilities before finalizing the build though.
5) Consider also how much tolerence you have for leveling difficulty. This
includes buddies and other characters on persistent worlds and so forth.
While a deep gnome druid27/monk1/cleric1/fighter1 may be strong, leveling
it would be very very painful. Plus the build would likely be close to
worthless until very high levels.
A STR-based fighter starts out with high AC thanks to plate & shield and
does decent damage. Plus, can carry lots of stuff.
A DEX-monk gets none of the above.
From there, you can use the Rules provided to start choosing classes and
filling out the build.
Now, we will create a build from scratch using several of these rules!
XI. Sample Build Creation Methodology
-------------------------------------
NOTE: This is a LEVEL 20 capped build! I am too lazy to make up a new
comprehensive example at the moment... sorry.
Our concept will be a thug. A character with heavy sneak attack that is also
a good frontline warrior.
Right off the bat, this gives you an idea of using some version of Rogue
classes, and some fighter-ish classes.
Our first decision is: STR or DEX based?
STR-based means easier leveling and using plate/shield. It also adds solid
damage to foes that are immune to sneak or that won't turn their back on you.
It means a much better solo character.
DEX-based means poor AC early on and weak damage. Later on, with dualwielding,
it is possible to generate higher total damage due to more sneak attacks
landing per round.
We decide a thuggish character should be STR-based, as this fits our
concept better. I should note however that this build is great for 1 to 20,
but loses ground from 21 to 30.
Now, we need some class ideas. Lets start with fighter-ish ones.
The following come to mind, as having solid advantages potentially:
Note we exclude ones like paladin, ranger since they have no synergy.
--Fighter - Weapon Spec for more dmg and free feats. However, since we are
NOT dualwielding, we may not need the feats so much.
--Blackguard - It's a high HP,AB class that also grants sneak attack.
The prereqs are easy and make sense for a thug. Worth trying.
-- Neverwinter 9 - 3 levels of NW9 grant 2d6 sneak, which is very strong for
a high AB class. Worth considering.
--Barbarian - rage is nice, as is the faster movement bonus. If we have a
level or two left over, this is worth considering.
Frenzied Berserker is tempting, as we can get nice benefits for a few levels.
We ditch Dwarf Defender, Wpnmaster as they dont really fit either.
RDD is ditched as it takes up a lot of levels and requires bard as a prereq.
Ok, now for rogue:
--Rogue - Nice sneak, free evasion, free feats at 10,13,16. Solid choice.
--Assassin - Improved sneak, with some prereqs. Taking this may preclude
the rogue free-feats however.
-- Shadowthief - Not bad, but doesn't buy us much for the prereqs.
The Rule of 4, says we will take rogue levels in 4s.
The question becomes... how much AB do we want to sacrifice for sneaks?
The Rule of 16 says we cant go below 16 BAB.
We could go 16rogue/4fighter for 8d6 sneak and 6 free feats @ 16BAB.
We don't really need the feats, and want higher AB since we have no buff
spells.
4rogue/16fighter - 19bab, but only 2d6 sneak. Way too many unneeded feats.
Seriously, a non wpnmaster/dualwielder does NOT need 16 feats!
2d6 sneak is pretty weak besides.
So we need a compromise. Say 12rogue/8fighter. Thats 17bab and 6d6 sneak.
Not bad. We will go with that.
Now, we want to tune it up some. Can we improve this build?
Let's explore using blackguard.
12rogue/4fighter/4BG - 17BAB with 7d6 sneak!
The bad news is that we lose greater weapon focus access which costs -1ab.
However, we want higher sneak so we will need to drop having 8 fighter.
BG buys us AB AND Sneak all in 1 class. Let's max it out and see what happens.
10BG/8rogue/2fighter - 18BAB with 7d6 sneak? Hmm. All that did for us is
lose our weapon specialization.. and bonus rogue feat for +1BAB.
I am unconvinced that losing 2 guaranteed damage for 1d6 sneak is worth it.
Hence, 12R/4F/4BG is our best so far. We need a better way to incorporate BG.
Let's plug in NW9, 3 levels worth.
The question is... where do we put it?
Replacing 3 rogue levels violiates rule of 4, since it leaves 9 rogue.
Replacing fighter costs us feats and wpn spec.
Replacing BG costs sneak.
We are not very feat-intensive anyways, so lets go with rogue and
add 1 bonus level of NW9 for now as filler.
8R/4F/4BG/4NW9 = 7d6 sneak at 18bab! Without sacrificing the wpn spec.
Better!
Let's mess with BG some more.
4R/4F/7BG/3NWN (where do my last 2 lvls go?)
Ya know, that 4th rogue level is not really needed... it gives no extra sneak,
and we don't need uncanny dodge. And the 4th NW9 is filler...
3R/4F/10BG/3NWN
Ah ha! 19BAB, 7d6 sneak. Our best yet.
As a bonus, it has no XP penalty if leveled up correctly.
What about say.. barbarian instead of fighter?
That is not a bad idea, as we get Rage and more skill points. However,
we lose 3 feats, including a permanent +2dmg per hit bonus.
Rage adds +2ab/dmg and -2ac for 8 rounds usually, compared to a flat +2dmg
that always is in effect.
It is tempting, but fighter just buys us more, ESPECIALLY since we have
access to special feats due to 13dex,13Int.
Do we want to try 3 assassin instead of 3 rogue?
Gains:
- ethereal visage spell
- death attack instead of sneak.
- Worthless uncanny dodge
Losses:
- Eats up tons of skillpoints.
- Cant get until much later level.
- No evasion.
I do not see taking assassin as a big advantage myself. Starting with
rogue gives 32 skillpoints, which would not be possible with assassin.
Let alone taking 8hide/8move silently as cross-class skills.
Lets imagine that we did want to go assassin. Can you see the pitfall?
Doing so gives us only 4 fighter and 3 prestege classes. That won't
work out too well. :-)
Ditto with replacing fighter with any prestege class.
You have to have enough base classes to qualify for at least 1 prestege.
Verdict: stick with rogue.
We already have 4 classes, so we can skip the step where we see if we can
gain anything by squeezing in another class.
Time to pick race and stats.
Races:
human - always strong. However, we dont really need the extra feat badly,
nor will skills be overly important.
Half-Orc - A contender. The extra STR may be worth the INT/CHA loss.
Dwarf - Decent, but +2CON isnt worth -2INT, -1 feat, -1CHA in my opinion.
Any small race with -2STR is out.
Elves are out as we don't need their DEX or INT.
First cut at stats... assume human.
STR: 17 +5=22 final.
DEX: 12 (plate)
CON: 14
INT: 10 (so-so skills)
WIS: 8 (dump stat)
CHA: 8 (partial dump-stat)
Thats 25 points. We have lots of room!
STR: 17
DEX: 12
CON: 14
INT: 13
WIS: 8
CHA: 12
That gives a max of 22 STR, good skillpoints, access to disarm and Imp KD,
and even a +1bonus to saves built in from BG.
OR, we can remove 4 CHA and pump CON by 2. That might be worth it.
You are trading +1will,reflex saves for +1 HP per lvl.
STR 17
DEX 12
CON 16
INT 13
WIS 8
CHA 8
Lets look at half-orc:
STR 19
DEX 12
CON 16
INT 11
WIS 8
CHA 6
So we gain +1AB/Dmg, in exchange for -2 skills per level and a seriously poor
CHA (not much hope of improving saves with that!)
We can disregard CHA, drop CON and focus on better skills and feat access.
Now we have.
STR 19
DEX 13
CON 14
INT 13
WIS 8
CHA 6
That looks pretty good. Remember, depending on your server you might be
able to take away 4 DEX to add 2 to CON. This relies on you finding a
+4 dex item quick that doesn't take up a valuable item slot (like amulet).
A good example is boots of sun soul +5. Adds 5 dodge and 3 DEX from 9 to 12.
What skills do we get?
First off, how many points do we have?
Take rogue 1st level for 8+1 x4 = 36
2 more rogue = 18
4 fighter = 12
10BG = 30
3NW9 = 15
total = 111, or about 4 1/2 maxed skills.
Hide = 5 (prereq)
Tumble = 20 (probably takes a good 25-30 points)
UMD = 22 (Remember -2CHA penalty. Takes 30ish points)
Other skills as desired.
Level-up Order:
Taking rogue at level 1 is a no-brainer.
You need to follow the Rule of XP weaving to keep fighter and rogue
within 1 level of each other.
Alternate them and you will be in good shape.
This also serves to help us level up our skills easier, utilizing class-skills
for incrementing tumble and the like.
NW9 and BG can be taken any time, although you MUST have the prereqs for
one of them (preferably NW9) by level 8 when you run out of fighter/rogue
levels.
What about feat choice?
As halforc we have 7 base.
Add 3 from fighter = 10.
Our 10 will likely be from this list:
*Luck of Heroes
*Pwr Attk (prereq)
*Cleave (prereq)
*WpnFocus:whatever
*Weapon Specialization:whatever
-Blindfight
-Toughness
-Knockdown
-Improved Knockdown
-Disarm
-Improved Disarm
-Dodge
-PowerCrit:whatever
-Improved Crit:whatever
- Able learner (if human)
Weapon choice?
I would recommend shield since a lot of your damage comes from sneak attacks.
This means that 2d6 for a greatsword instead of 1d8 for a longsword is
meaningless since you add 7d6 per attack.
However, if you love improved Disarm, you may want to take a heavy weapon
since it gets a +4 bonus to the disarm attempt.
So there we go. We are done!
We have 19bab, 7d6 sneak, 2 summons, 2 auras,24 base strength, and some nice
utility feats, plus evasion, bull's strength casting, and potential to get
a small save bonus from a high CHA item.
You can write out the build, making sure to include reminders such as
take rogue level 1, and grab 4 hide since you need it later.
Remind to get 5hide sometime before the BG levels during a rogue lvl-up.
Order the feats as you see fit, remembering the prereqs for certain feats.
(i.e. cant take wpn spec until 4th fighter, and BAB prereq for some feats)
BE SURE TO TEST the build after you have written it out! There are a lot
of different prereqs and gotchas that can ruin a perfectly good build.
Final Build: Rogue3/Fighter4/NWN3/BG10
HalfOrc
STR 19 +5 = 24
DEX 13
CON 14
INT 13
WIS 8
CHA 6
1 rogue - Luck of Heroes
2 fighter - Weaponfocus: Longsword
3 fighter - Power Attack, Cleave
4 rogue
5 rogue
6 fighter - Blindfighting
7 fighter - Weapon Specialization
8 Blackguard
9 BG - Knockdown
10 BG
11 BG
12 NWN - Improved KD
13 NWN
14 NWN
15 BG - Improved Crit
16 BG
17 BG
18 BG - Toughness
19 BG
20 BG
XII. Level 20 Builds and How to Upgrade Then to MOTB 30.
--------------------------------------------------------
This section is NOT INTENDED to give you good builds for MOTB. Instead, it
suggests ways to upgrade existing characters that you may have played before,
and want to carry over to MOTB campaign. Or upgrade them on a persistent
world.
Each build starts with build instructions, THEN gives upgrade suggestions.
A) Bruiser - 1bard/4fighter/10RDD/5FB.
This build is excellent for low/medium magic worlds and is a well rounded
warrior with the highest possible strength. He has solid immunities,
very high HPs, good AB, great damage, and solid AC with full plate.
He is very easy to level, due to his extreme damage.
Note the 20% XP penalty, in its unmodified form however.
Half-Orc, Any Non-Lawful.
MUST be non-lawful to go Bard!
str 20 +5 = 25 ->33(from RDD)
dex 12
con 14 ->16(RDD)
int 12 -> 14(RDD)
wis 8
cha 6 -> 8 (RDD)
Note: you must start out as FIGHTER, or you are forced to take
11 CHA! Don't go lawful!
Option1: Go Human for no XP penalty, -2 STR, +2 skills per lvl, +1feat
Option2: -4dex for +2CON. Only do this if you can get +4dex item
early on to cover AC loss.
DO NOT gimp INT to 6! You require Perform5,Lore8 really early on.
Detailed lvling instructions:
-----------------------------
1: Fighter (nonlawful) - Wpnfocus, luck of heroes
Lore 4. Tumble 2 save 4 points.
2: bard
PERFORM 5, tumb 5, UseMagicDevice3
(you MUST have perform 5 (-2 cha) to get the +1ab/dmg aura!)
3 fighter - Power attk, Cleave
4 fighter (+1 STR)
5 fighter - **wpn specialization**
Tumble to 7, LORE to 8!!!
6 RDD - great cleave
*Work toward skills shown at level 10
7 RDD
8 rdd (+1 STR) (Free blindfight feat somewhere along here)
9 rdd -- Power Critical.
10 rdd
Tumble should be 10, UMD7, Spellcraft 2
11 rdd
Increase spellcraft now. Ignore other skills.
12 rdd -- (+1STR), Knockdown
13 rdd
Spellcraft should be at 10.
14 rdd
You get 1 extra skill per lvl now. Increase tumble.
15 rdd -- Extended Rage
Increase tumble to 20, and UMD to 11, as you level up.
16 fb (free tuffness feat)
17 fb (free supreme cleave feat)
18 fb -- Improved Power Attk or Improved Crit Range.
19 fb
20 fb (+1 STR)
Final skills:
tumble 20 - +2 AC and immunity to attk of Opp even in full plate!
Spellcraft 10 = +2 saves vs spells.
UMD11 (-1 cha)= 10. Use scrolls, wands, and some clickey items or
monk boots.
Lore8 - required for RDD
Perform 5 - required for bardic aura.
Weapon Choice:
1h/shield - great combo for tanking, due to immunities, high HP, and
+7 bonus ac from dragon, tumble, luck of heroes.
I recommend scimitar due to crit range, although longsword/warhammer
are ok. You have the option to unequip shield and go 2handed, for
50% more STR dmg, and extra +5/10 dmg from pwr attk/imp PA over 1handed.
You retain all feats bonuses when doing it this way.
2handed - Scythe or Falchion for best crit power. Scythe if you like
big bursty numbers, falchion for more constant damage. Upside is
more base dmg (5 vs 3.5 2handed scimmy), downside is equipping shield
and 1hander removes your weapon-feat bonuses.
Final notes:
-- Knockdown works very well due to extremely high strength.
-- immune to paralysis, mind, fire.
-- Immune to deathmagic when frenzying.
-- 5th free attack when frenzying.
-- Supreme cleave works well with high dmg attacks for more free attks.
-- Dont forget free bardic aura for +1ab/dmg.
-- PowerAttk/Imp PA has big bonuses, esp for 2handed mode.
-- DO NOT DUALWIELD! This gimps you bigtime, trust me.
base HP = 306 at lvl20.
AB = 16bab +1bard aura +1 wpnfocus + 14str (in frenzy) = 32
AC = 10base +8plate +1dex +4dragon +2tumble +1luck = 26 + shield +extras.
UPGRADES:
---------
You do not want to upgrade the bard levels, since it does not buy you much.
Upgrading FB to 10 would improve your power attack... but not by much. You
gain only +2 extra damage for 5 levels.
RDD is capped at 10, and you can only have 4 classes. So...
I would take 10 fighter levels. This will give you 5 bonus feats, which are
promoted to epic feats. At fighter 8, you gain Greater Wpn Focus for another
+1ab. Then, you qualify for EPIC Wpn Focus for +2more! You can also take
greater and epic weapon Specialization as well, if desired.
B) Shooter. Moon Elf, non-lawful. Bard3/Rogue4/Fighter4/AA9
This is a well rounded archery build. While archery is fairly weak, this
build is the best I've been able to come up with so far. It has a nice
range of skills, good AB, and reasonable damage that combines bard aura,
sneak attk, wpn specialization, and Arcane archer damage, with a few spells.
Note that the Arcane Archer arrow enhancement damage bonus is NOT shown
on the character display, but it is there.
STR 14 (for mighty bow damage)
DEX 19 +5 lvlups = 24
CON 12
INT 12
WIS 8
CHA 11 (required for casting)
Level up plan: This EXACT order is optimized for no XP penalty.
Rogue is taken first for maximized skill points.
All bonus Attributes go into DEX.
1: rogue, nonlawful - Take natural leader background.
take Luck of Heroes feat.
2: fighter - wpnfocus:longbow.
3: fighter - Pointblank, rapid shot.
4 rogue
5 bard - take Perform skill of 4.
6 bard - weapon finesse.
7 rogue (free evasion feat)
8 fighter
9 bard - Many Shot(prereq)
10 Arcane Archer
11 fighter - weapon spec:longbow (+2 dmg)
12 AA - Improved Rapid Shot.
13 aa
14 aa
15 aa - toughness
16 aa
17 rogue - (free uncanny dodge), skill maxing.
18 aa - wpn focus: rapier
19 aa
20 aa
Skill Note: You have 123 skill points, though it requires a careful
plan due to all the cross-class skills, different classes,and carryover.
I recommend Tumble as a no-brainer for AC and avoid attks of opp.
Rogue skills such as Open Lock, DisarmTrap, Search are recommended so
you can act as a rogue.
-- Dont forget your bard aura. You have a +skill one, and the +ab/dmg one.
-- Position your archer to take advantage of the 2d6 sneak when possible.
-- Stay in improved rapid shot mode for more damage.
-- Spells: pick Identify, grease, amplify for most utility.
With +3CHA item, you can get 1 2nd lvl spell if desired.
Heroism is the best choice due to long duration.
-- Note AA DOES give bonus damage, but it is not shown I believe.
-- Any armor is acceptable. No need to stay in light armor, although
the AA chain shirt has 4ac +6dex ac and is really good.
AB: 18bab +1focus +1nat leader + 7dex +5aa +1bard = 33
dmg = 5 ave longbow + 2 wpn spec +1bard +5aa +2d6 sneak +Mighty
UPGRADE:
--------
Archery stinks in MOTB even more, and this is kind of a dead-end build.
The only option is to go: bard,fighter,rogue,b,f,r,b,f,f,r
This lets you get +3AB from greater/epic wpn focus, in exchange for a 40% XP
penalty at level 29 and 30.
C) Tricky. Tiefling, Wiz6/Rogue3/PaleMaster1/Arcane Trickster10
Most warrior/wizard builds are weak. This is because they are dex-fighters,
which do horrible melee damage. Or they gimp their casting abilities
to attempt to fight. I like this build because it can do
adequate melee damage(7d6sneak), replaces a rogue with full skill access
and plenty of skillpoints, and provides spell support.
It is difficult to level, but is a very unique character and playstyle.
The idea is to use the wizard spells to buff Tricky and his buddies, as
well as disable baddies to allow for sneak attacks and crowd control.
Stats given are for tiefling.
str 11
dex 18
con 14
int 19 +5 -> 24
wis 8
cha 6
Dont forget the non-good, non-lawful alignment part!
Race selections:
Human - extra feat is really nice, but you get no bonus stats.
The extra skillpoint is not really needed with this build.
Tiefling - +2dex,+2INT is great, and -CHA is a perfect dumpstat.
I think it is worth the +1ECL.
Drow - You gain spell resistance, but lose CON, 1 more ECL, and
have a daylight penalty. Not worth it to me.
Deep Gnome - +4AC is the main advantage, followed by spell resistance,
and size advantage, plus illusion focus. 3ECL is harsh though.
Halfling - solid, with free feat, +2dex, and -2STR which isnt a big deal.
A better choice over rock gnome, and no ECL penalty or XP penalty.
Overall a better choice than Sun/Moon elves in my opinion.
There are several decent choices on Race, although I
prefer Tiefling or halfling.
Note: All attribute points go into INT.
1: rogue - for maximum skillpoints. Spellcasting Prodigy.
[lore 4, disable device 4, tumble 4]
2 wizard - specialize in necromancy. [spellcraft 4]
3 wiz - wpn finesse (unless you expect to find an item quick that gives this)
4 wiz
5 rogue
6 wiz - practiced caster (makes up for lost wiz lvls)
7 wiz - (wiz feat: extend spell)
8 rogue [ ensure Lore7, Disable Device 7, Tumble 7, Spellcraft4]
9 Arcane Trickster - 2wpn fighting.
10 AT
11 AT
12 AT - improved 2wpn fighting
13 PaleMaster (free +2AC)
14 AT
15 AT - spell focus: your choice.
16 AT
17 AT
18 AT - persistent spell.
19 AT
20 Wizard
Note on skills: You have a LOT! 238 total.
Take all rogueish ones, plus concentration, spellcasting, tumble.
Appraise for cheaper merchant prices, pickpocket as needed.
Take UMD for using monk boots and other goodies, tho its double
the cost for AT levels!
AB = 10bab +4dex = 14 -2(2wpnfight) = 12. Pretty bad. Needs buffs.
HP = 86 +20beetle familiar = 106 Awful. Needs buffs.
Spell notes:
You have close to maximum DC on spells, due to max INT + prodigy feat.
Use spells that ENTANGLE, STUN or DAZE opponents to make them
vulnerable to sneaks! Prone causing spells is nice for the +AB bonus,
but no sneaks automatically result from that (unlike NWN1).
You go with Necro specialization for the extra spell slots. DO NOT go
necro FOCUS though! Dont get those confused. Necro spec means you cant
use divination spells (which mostly suck anyways)
Choose a focus that has the most disabling spells, such as Enchantment or
Conjuration. Illusion is decent too, as Shadow Conjuration makes a
very high DC illusionary "web" spell.
For familiar- take beetle for HPs.
Persistent Haste is your big main ability at level 20. use it!
You NEED buffs to be able to fight at all:
Dont forget extended greater heroism on yourself to improve hitting ability.
Extended haste of course, until you get persistent.
Use Shield as it fully stacks. Get improved mages armor and keep it up.
extended greater invisibility is awesome too, as is stoneskin.
You can use Shades(9th lvl) on Self to get Premonition (normally excluded
due to necro spec!)
Final Note: look for a server that has the AT mod that allows sneak attk
from Ray Spells. This makes polar ray, vamp touch, etc MUCH more useable!
UPGRADE:
--------
This is not optimal, as in MOTB you would want EK levels to buff your fighting
ability. A DEX-focused build would go with perfect 2wpn fighting.
Adding 1 rogue (for uncanny dodge), and 9 PM for the big AC buffs and immunes
also pumps your casting level to 25, and BAB to 16 for 4 main attacks.
You can also add 4 wizard levels and use the free feat as EPIC, then take 5rogue
and 1PM which pumps BAB to 17 while cranking sneak by 2d6.
D) SuperSorc Aasimir Paladin2/Sorc18.
This is a simple one. Two levels of paladin provide a huge saving throw bonus
for the sorceror at a cost of delaying spell progression, or not gaining the
saving throw bonuses until close to endgame.
No XP penalty with this build, and provides max CHA. The pally also
provides weapon,armor,shield feats for free.
This becomes very useful if mithril non-arcane failure gear is available.
I would recommend taking the paladin levels at around 11
lawful good, aasimir.
str 8
dex 14
con 15 +1levelup = 16
int 10
wis 10
cha 20 +4levelup = 24
There is quite a bit of latitude in the starting stats. You can remove
some DEX for INT if you desire more skillpoints. This is a good idea if
you reasonably expect no-arcane penalty armor, and a dex-booster item.
Or, go with 19CHA, 14CON and you get 5 points to work with.
Simply toss in the 2 pally levels somewhere along the way, and include
Practiced Spellcaster to compensate for pally levels. Yer done!
Otherwise, do like a normal sorc, with standard feats.
*Note that you need 4 in spellcraft to take Practiced Caster!
Variants:
There are tons of sorceror variants out there. Most of them involve
sacrificing higher level spells for stronger defense, or for fighting
ability, or both.
You want to have an even number of caster levels, ideally 18 for 9th lvl
spells. Fighter types can go down to 16 but I would not go any further.
If focusing on casting, you definitely want 9th level spells. Even warrior
types need 9th level spells for persistent haste in my opinion.
Typical classes used are:
1 Warlock - Dark Ones Own Luck for +saves bonus, plus light armor.
2 or 4 Paladin - Save Bonus + lots of free armor/wpn feats + possible
Divine Shield access with 4 lvls.
2 or 3 Blackguard - Save Bonus + free armor/wpn + divine shield with 3 levels.
Requires 2 prereq feats.
10 Eldrich Knight - More HP, AB in exchange for -1casting level and martial
wpn prereq.
1 or 2 Fighter - Lots and lots of armor/wpn feat + 1 freebie feat for no
prereq.
1 Barbarian - Limited armor/wpn feat +10% move +rage. Alignment not work
with pally.
UPGRADE:
--------
There is TONS of room to work with now.
You want Paladin 4 or BG3 for sure, which will give you Divine Shield access.
Now, you definitely want EK or even Scholar or Palemaster instead of sorc
levels.
Unfortunately, most of these will require you to rebuild the character.
More info in the upgrade section below.
This one is not optimal, but is the best I can come up with. It is a STR
fighter-oriented build using still spell with plate/shield. It also gets
Divine Shield and a big saving throw bonus. It has caster level 20, with
level 16 spell access (8th level max), and a 16BAB. I would prefer paladin,
but that means no divine shield. You can go 2pally/1fighter to replace BG
if you wish and pick up a few more feats. Take 1 pally early on to get
free wpn/armor feats.
SuperSorc2. Any race is fine,at cost of 1 feat and skillpoints.
Human, aasimir, drow are best.
EK10/Sorc7/BG3 (16bab, caster 16 +4)
(assuming human)
STR 17 +3 (decent AB and dmg)
DEX 9 (use cat's grace or item to pump to 12 for AC)
CON 14
INT 10
WIS 8
CHA 16 +2
1 Sorc - pwr attk, cleave
2 sorc
3 sorc - martial wpns
4 sorc
5 sorc
6 sorc - still spell
7 EK
8 EK
9 EK - practiced caster(sorc)
[ 5 hide]
10 BG (armor feats)
11 BG (+saves)
12 BG - Divine Shield or Might
13 EK
14 EK
15 EK - wpnfocus: whatever
16 EK
17 EK
18 EK - toughness
19 EK
20 sorc
UPGRADE:
--------
10 PaleMaster would be a great upgrade. It pumps your AC bigtime, and
increase caster level to 25 with full spell access.
4RDD is another option for some easy stat pumps. Take 5 sorc and 1 BG to
pump your spellcasting and gain a respectable 7BAB.
Also consider Divine Champion as this would have no XP penalty, and pump your
BAB nicely, PLUS give you 5 epic bonus feats.
E) BadBard Bard16/Blackguard3/Fighter1, Human, evil, non lawful
BadBard is a solid bard build that relies on pre-battle buffs. He acts
as a strong fighter in full plate and shield, that can also support his
friends with solid skills, bardic auras, and spell buffs. He gets very
high saving throw bonuses thanks to the blackguard levels.
He does not use many spells in battle due to his armor. However, he
gets Curse Song which is the most powerful debuff spell in the game!
In addition, Divine Shield greatly increases AC temporarily, as needed, and
a few spells are castable even in armor, such as Displacement and Darkness.
He is easy to level, since he is STR-based, uses plate and gains
the ability to use it early on.
In my experience, "caster bards" are just plain bad. They need to be in
battle for their auras and curse song to work well with others.
They dont have enough casts per day to buff parties AND cast offensively.
Besides, 1 area effect spellcast, and ALL the enemies charge you anyways...
str 16 +5levelup = 21
dex 12
con 14
int 10
wis 8
cha 16
1 bard - evil, nonlawful. Natural Leader background.
Take Luck of Heroes and Power Attack feats.
2 fighter - Cleave feat. Gains wpn/armor feats free.
3 bard - wpn focus: whatever
4 bard
5 bard
6 bard - Curse Song
7 bard
8 bard - [Ensure 5 HIDE skill here!]
9 Blackguard - practiced caster
10 BG (gains massive saves bonus)
11 BARD (NOT BG!!!)
12 BG - Divine Shield feat - MUST be taken exactly at 3rd BG level.
13 bard
14 bard
15 bard - extend spell
16 bard
17 bard
18 bard - Choose:Toughness,PowerCrit, or Lingering Song
19 bard
20 bard
Feat Choices: Lingering Song is mainly used for Curse Song extension.
Most other bardsongs are pretty weak.
PowerCrit is ok, but not really that necessary. Good if you used a
scimitar or rapier.
Toughness is +20 HP. Always a nice boost. I don't see a clear preference.
Skill choices:
you have 165 skillpoints.
Maximize tumble for +2ac, avoid attk of opp.
Maximize Perform for maximum Curse Song debuff
Take 5 HIDE for Blackguard prerequisite.
UMD for device usage would be very nice.
Some lore is convenient since you get +16 for being a bard anyways.
Rogue openlock,disarm trap is handy, but are cross skills so you can
only get 11 ranks (instead of 23)
Spells:
You have to take off armor/shield to cast most of these.
Hence, use only buff/utility spells. Consider a mithril shield so you
do not have to remove the shield also.
My recommended list:
1: identify, dispel lesser, cure light wnds, amplify
2: Heroism!, mirror image, ghostly visage, darkness(Castable in Armor!)
3: See Invis, Haste(extend it), Find Traps, Displacement(castable in armor)
4: Greater Invis maybe, Warcry?(extend), Neut Poison, Freedom Movement
5: ethereal visage(extend), greater Heroism, mass cure light wnds, dispel
6: (used only for extending 5th lvl spells mainly)
take Energy Immunity(situational), mass charm(castable in armor!)
Bulls str is nice, but by the time you get it, you probably dont need it.
(can use the low duration Blackguard version if REALLY needed)
Combat "Spell": Curse Song. 16 uses per day.
At lvl16, 30 perform it hits all baddies in decent area for:
-2ab
-3dmg
-3saves
20 sonic dmg.
-5 AC!!
No saving throw allowed, which makes for a VERY powerful debuff spell.
Combat spell #2: Divine Shield. 6 to 12 uses per day.
Gain CHA bonus to dodge AC for CHA bonus rounds.
You want to grab a +CHA item as soon as possible, as it makes the shield
very powerful, plus pumps spellcasting, AND adds +saving throw bonus.
Other combat spells: Darkness, Mass Charm, Displacement.
(all are non-somatic and castable in armor)
Weapon Choice: Doesn't really matter all that much. I would go with
1hander+shield personally. Scimitar,longsword,warhammer are best.
AB = 16bab +5str +3aura +1leader +1focus = 26.
(+4 greater heroism, +1haste, +5 curse song effectively)
AC = 10 +2tumble +8plate +2shield +1dex +1luck = 24
(plus 4bard aura if needed, +up to 9 from divine shield, and
effectively 2 from curse song)
UPGRADE:
--------
There are lots of ways to go with this build.
Going from 16bard to 21 would let you pick up Hymm of Requiem which is pretty
strong, as well as pump up your auras and songs.
Some more fighter levels would add bonus feats that would be promoted to epic.
You won't easily be able to hit Greater/Epic weapon focus, so I would avoid
trying for it.
4 levels of RDD would also be an ideal way to cheaply gain some nice bonuses.
So, I would plan to go 21bard,2fighter,3BG,4RDD as this scores a good balance
of these different upgrade paths. You have enhanced bard casting, Hymm,
auras, and plenty of skillpoints to use. 4 RDD adds +4STR,+2AC which is solid,
and the 1 fighter level adds 1 bonus epic feat.
NOTE: This will impact your BAB bringing you down to 23BAB max.
Another plan is to stay 16bard,3BG, then add 7 fighter and 3 NW9, which keeps
a high 26BAB for 6 attacks.
F. Reaper. HalfOrc Fighter8, WpnMaster7, FB 5.
This character is similar to Bruiser, except intended for a higher
magic environment. He is overall weaker due to less HP, AC, and
immunities. However, he has extremely high offensive potential,
and scales very well with powerful weapons. With a keen scythe,
he has a 17-20 x5 crit range, with supreme cleave. A hit with
improved power attack on for +20 damage at x5 multiplier is truly
fearsome. His Whirlwind attack is quite formidable also. If you
like seeing big damage numbers, this is the character for you!
str: 19 -> 24
dex: 13
con: 14
int: 13
wis: 8
cha: 6
note: MUST have 13 natural DEX and INT for needed feats!
1 fighter - (nonlawful!) wpnfocus:scythe, dodge.
Take 4 skillpoints of Intimidate!
2 fighter - mobility
3 fighter - expertise
4 fighter - wpn spec
5 fighter
6 fighter - spring attk, Whirlwind
7 fighter
8 fighter - imp wpnfocus
-- intimidate 4 if not already.
9 wpnmaster -- pwr attk
10 wm
11 wm
12 wm cleave
13 wm
14 wm
15 wm - great cleave
16 FB (free tuffness)
17 FB (free supreme cleave)
18 fb - choose: power crit, or Improved crit:scythe
19 fb
20 fb
Nonbuffed highest hit with nonmagical scythe:
8base +15STR(frenzy) +20 imp Pwr Atk +2Wpn Spec = 45 x5crit = 225!
UPGRADE:
--------
I would take 2 levels of barbarian. This is mainly for the +10% movespeed
bonus. The rage might be rarely useful.
Then, I would take 8 more fighter levels. This gives you 4 more bonus feats,
which are promoted to epic ones. You also retain a solid BAB for hitting
stuff.
You can pick up greater/epic weapon specialization if desired.
Another path would be to take 5 more FB levels to pump power attack by +2dmg,
or +4 with Imp P/A.
I do not think this is worthwhile though, since it costs you 5 levels.
Still, +5FB, +1barbarian, +4fighter works out pretty nicely.
G. Shifty Lawful Neutral Human Druid18/Monk1/Cleric1
The concept behind this build is to combine the strong physical
abilities of Wild Shape, withthe ability to cast in forms(natural spell
feat). Plus, it is fun to run around in shapeshift mode, AND
actually be able to do something useful while shifted.
In theory, you wind up with a solid caster, that is also very tough.
It works reasonably well, but ONLY for lower magic worlds. On higher
worlds, this build is quite ineffective.
The 1 monk provides a bonus attack for melee in wildshape, and
a HUGE AC bonus.
1 cleric provides several variable abilities discussed below.
Keep the following in mind:
1) Druids are generally weaker than clerics for several reasons,
including a plethora of bugs.
2) Druids in shifted form are considered "animals" or "outsiders",
and they get NO bonus attributes (i.e. aasimir loses his CHA,
WIS bonus). Furthermore, you have NO FAVORED class, so you get
massive XP penalties for multiclassing, when shifted.
3) Many abilites/spells dont work too well with shifted forms,
as the claw/claw/bite attack sequence ensures only the bite attack
gets buffed by Magic Fang, Keen Fang, Flame Wpn,etc.
4) Game tends to kick you out of shift form upon an area transition.
5) Items do not work well AT ALL. (hence, low magic server needed).
Highest AC enhancement from shield,hat,armor and turned into
a DEFLECTION bonus(!). This means, you NEVER get any:
armor, shield, armor enhancement, shield enhancement bonuses.
Actually, ANY items other than the 3 above are counted as you
not even having them. Forget peripts of wisdom, dodge boots, and
so on. Since you have no magical vestment spell, you dont even
have a way to cast any form of deflection, or armor bonus.
Only natural ac via barkskin/spiderskin.
6) Several spells work very flaky or not at all on you when
shifted: awaken, natures avatar, etc.
So... here goes. Human(since wildform kills non-human bonuses anyways)
Druid18/monk1/cleric1. Lawful neutral.
str 8
dex 8
con 14
int 16
wis 18 +5 = 23.
cha 8
The idea is that our physical attributes don't really matter for
too long.
1 druid - prodigal caster, spell penetration. I'd grab a BEAR
for animal companion.
2 druid
3 druid - practiced caster (druid..needed for later)
4 druid -
5 druid -
6 druid - Natural Spell! Now, you can wildshape, and cast freely!
7 druid -
8 monk - (max tumble), gain big AC bonus, ability to Flurry.
9 druid - empowered spell.
10 druid
11 druid
12 druid - maxed spell.
13 druid - Gain Dire Wild Shape! (use bear)
14 druid
15 druid - greater spell penetration.
16 druid
17 druid
18 druid - wpn focus:unarmed
19 druid
20 cleric - 2 domains.
First question is: why cleric?
You may choose 2 of the following domain bonuses:
a) earth - toughness feat for free.
b) Magic - mage's armor (1hr buff(which is 2 minutes in orig campaign
btw) that adds +4 armor). Note the +4armor is otherwise IMPOSSIBLE
to get in wildshape form without mage's armor.
c) Air - Uncanny Dodge - great for a character with high amounts of
AC from dex.
d) Water - Evasion. (Note that 2 in monk provides this AND deflect
arrows for free)
e) War - Free unarmed weapon focus.
f) Luck - Free Luck of Heroes which is otherwise not obtainable.
-- Also, protection from evil lasts 1 hr per lvl, and gives immunity
to mind spells (which you will likely already have)
I would probably skip cleric if I could find a reliable source of
Mages Armor (a clickie), and go 2 monk instead, since it
increases your BAB by one point, and reduces XP penalties.
Grabbing an item that can cast Shield is very valuable too!
Skills: Youve got 8 skills per level. Tumble is a given, as is
concentrate. Spellcraft for free +4 saves is good.
Take 10 UseMagicDevice to use scrolls/clickeys.
So you start off somewhat weak, but your bear companion helps
quite a bit to assist your leveling.
At 6, you should be in wildshape all the time, since you can now
cast in that form.
Boar Stats:
15STR, 10DEX, 17STA. 16 natural AC. d8 dmg.
At 8, you gain super AC and can pretty much tank stuff yourself.
With monkness, you now gain +5AC from 20wis. +2more with owls
wisdom active, +1more from tumble of 10.
At 13, you get Dire Form. Go with dire bear. Stats are:
31 STR(!), 13DEX, 19CON. 17 natural AC(with dex, minus
size).
At 17 you get elemental form. I'd go with Water Elem which is
well balanced:
24STR, 18DEX, 21CON. 22 natural AC(with dex,size).
2d10 dmg per hit!
Life is pretty good, as you now gain many immunities
in elemental form. Note, several spells DONT WORK in
elemental form that you may be used to.
UPGRADE:
--------
Getting 2 more druid levels is a no-brainer for Elder elemental form.
From there, I would say go with 8 Divine Champion levels.
This nets you a whole +10BAB for 23BAB total.
Plus, those 8 DC levels can be used for EPIC feats. This is a good melee-build.
Alternatively, you can just bring druid to 26 and add 2 Div Champ for a bonus
feat. This nets you maximum spellcasting (lvl30) and extra shapeshifting, and
you dont have to worry so much about Spell Resistance.
This is best for sticking with a strong spellcasting build.
H. Dodgey, Deep Gnome Monk16/Duelist4.
This build is designed for high magic worlds, as his damage is
too weak without powerful damage gloves.
He is an unarmed master with extremely high armorclass and 7
attacks with flurry and circle kick, with admantine penetration
plus 2d6base dmg.
The unlikely Duelist is used to add 4 free AC, and raise BAB
to 16 for a bonus attack, without incurring XP penalty.
Deep gnome is chosen to maximize armorclass, plus the spell resistance.
str 7
dex 19 +5 ->24
con 14
int 14
wis 16
cha 4
All attribute bonuses go to DEX.
1: monk - luck of heroes
2 monk
3 monk - weapon finesse
4 monk
5 monk
6 monk - dodge
7 monk
8 monk
9 monk - mobility
10 Duelist
11 duelist
12 duelist - circle kick
13 duelist
14 monk
15 monk - wpnfocus:unarmed
16 monk
17 monk
18 monk - tuffness/blindfite
19 monk
20 monk
You get 6 skill points per level which is quite generous.
Take tumble for sure for maximum AC.
Duelist requires 5 parry, so take that.
AC = 10base +1size +1luckheroes +4gnome +3monk +3wis
+7dex +2int +2tumble = 33 with no items.
add item bonus from +12WIS +12DEX, and 2 more INT(duelist) = 47.
add +5robe,+5natural AC amulet, +5deflection, +5monkboots = 67!
add Shield spell trinket = 71AC.
(plus add any haste, bardsong, etc.)
UPGRADE:
--------
Increasing monk levels to 20 is a given, since this maxes out speed, adds 1AC,
some damage, and a few abilities.
With 6 levels left to work with, adding Divine Champion may be a good way to go.
This increases BAB nicely, pumps saving throws, and adds 3 bonus feats.
See Dodgey Mk II for a rework.
I. KamaKaze, deep gnome Cleric13/Monk1/Fighter6
(lawful, 40% XP penalty)
This build is one for when you are already established on a server
and want a more unique character. It is NOT easy to level at all
due to ECL3 and XP penalty.
The idea is to combine a lot of cleric buffs with as many attacks
as possible to deal lots of damage... especially with persistant
Divine Favor (+5ab/dmg). Armor Class potential is strong also.
It is best on low to medium magic worlds.
Deep Gnome is used to maximize AC and stats.
Str 9
Dex 19 +5 = 24
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 17
Cha 4
1: cleric (lawful!). Take 4spellcraft. Luck of Heroes
Domains: Earth(free toughness), Plant
2 cleric
3 cleric - extended spell
4 cleric
5 cleric
6 cleric - Practiced Caster(cleric). Holdover some skillpoints
7 Monk (tumble to 10)
8 Fighter - WpnFocus: Kama
9 Fighter - 2wpn fighting, Improved 2wpn fighting
10 Cleric
11 Cleric
12 Cleric - 2wpn defense
13 cleric
14 cleric
15 cleric - persistent spell
16 cleric
17 fighter
18 fighter - greater 2wpn fighting, wpn specialization:kama
19 fighter
20 fighter - improved 2wpn defense.
Skills:
4 Spellcraft is required for practiced caster.
Go with 20 tumble for AC and attk of opp avoidance.
Domains:
earth is a given for Stoneskin,toughness.
Plant allows barkskin usage and 10% move outdoors. Barkskin is
important as it allows a WISDOM amulet, while retaining a
natural AC bonus.
Variant: Go Human, Cleric13/Monk3/Fighter4 for no XP penalty
and no ECL.
++ gains evasion and deflect arrows for free. No loss of feats.
-- loses quite a bit of stats, AC.
Usage:
Stack damage and AB buffs up as follows:
persistant divine favor (+5ab/dmg)
extended battletide (+2ab/dmg, and haste)
extended prayer (+1ab/dmg)
bless, aid
Divine Power ( pumps BAB to 20 for +1 attack)
Flurry of Blows (+1 attack)
Greater Magic Weapon if needed.
Fully buffed, you get 9 attacks! Each one at:
4kama +2wpn spec +5div favor +2battletide +1prayer
+4weapon(minimum) = 18 per hit.
AC = 10 +1luck +1size +4gnome +7dex +3wis +2tumb +2 imp 2wpn def
= 30base. (up to +12 more from WIS and DEX pumps)
UPGRADE:
--------
I think the best way to do this, is to add 10 more monk levels.
At level 30 this adds some great monk speed and +2AC, with decent skill points.
Also, you gain GREATER FLURRY for a second full AB attack, AND lose the -2AB
flurry penalty!
You can get perfect 2wpn fighting at level 23 earliest which will seriously
increase your power.
At lvl30, you will have a potential 18 attacks(!) with divine power and haste
along with greater flurry!
Thats an attack schedule of: 30/30/30/30/25/20/15/10/5 times TWO!
Pretty awesome...and most of those attacks are at high AB bonuses.
NOTE: This upgrade is featured in KamaKaze Mk II in the build section.
Uses 11monk,19cleric with lots of variants.
J. WizWar, Sun Elf Wizard8/Fighter2/Eldrich Knight 10
This build is a standard fighter/mage. I do not care for it all that much,
as dexfighters do very poor damage. Hence, I emphasize the casting ability
of the build and minimize the fighting damage potential.
The build has plenty of skillpoints, though no access to rogue-ish skills
which will be limited. The BAB of 16 ensures the full 4 attacks, and
Persistent Haste is a huge boon to self and party. Don't forget Heroism,
as it is a great AB buff.
Hopefully, you can find a mithril shield and armor to boost AC without
adding arcane failure.
Str 11
Dex 16
Con 12
Int 19 +5 -> 24
Wis 8
Cha 8
1: wizard - Prodigal Caster. beetle familiar. [get 4 spellcraft]
(I would recommend necromancy specialization for more slots.)
2 fighter - wpn focus: rapier
3 wizard - weapon finesse
4 wizard
5 wizard
6 wizard - Practiced Caster(requires 4 SC), wizfeat: extended spell
7 Eld Knight - (free skillfocus:concentrate, combat casting)
8 EK
9 EK - Spell Focus: whatever
10 EK
11 EK
12 EK - Greater Spell Focus: whatever
13 EK
14 EK
15 EK - Persistent Spell
16 EK
17 wizard
18 wizard - toughness or spell penetration.
19 wizard
20 fighter - Blindfight or Powercrit:rapier
Variants: Unfortunately, most variants would drop the BAB to 15 and thus
lose the 4th base attack. I don't recommend any. Some variants include:
-- replace 2 fighter with 1 fighter, 1 barbarian. Adds 10% movement, and
rage bonus, in exchange for 1 feat.
(Note rage spell attributes do NOT stack, unlike the real thing)
-- Go with wizard7/Palemaster1 for +2AC.
-- Replace 1 fighter level with a rogue level for greater skill access.
---------------------
The alternative is a build focused more on combat. This build would avoid
most spells that require a saving throw to be useful,
sticking with icestorms, and pure damage spells, with some utility spells.
Due to your high Dex, you will stick with Robes most likely.
Note: Shield spell works great with duelwielding.
Moon Elf:
Str 8
Dex 20 +2 = 22
Con 12
Int 16 +3 = 19
Wis 8
Cha 8
Same build as before, except for feats:
1 wiz - Luck of Heroes
2 fight - wpn focus: rapier
3 fight - wpn finesse
4 wiz
5 wiz
6 wiz - 2wpn fighting
7 wiz - wizfeat: practiced casting
8 wiz
9 EK - improved 2 wpn fighting
10 ek
11 ek
12 ek - extended spell
13 ek
14 ek
15 ek - greater 2 wpn fighting
16 ek
17 ek
18 ek - persistent spell
19 wiz
20 wiz
Skills: This build has tons of skillpoints, so you can pick and choose
as you like. Concentrate and Tumble are obvious, as is Spellcraft for
the saving throw bonuses vs spells.
UMD skill is quite useful, as even 11 points can allow for the use of some
monk robes/boots/items.
UPGRADE:
--------
Upgrading Wizard to 10 will give you a bonus EPIC feat.
Palemaster is always a possibility for a more caster oriented build.
More fighter is a winner with its bonus feats.
So the caster version will go:
12wizard/2fighter/10EK/6PM - 28caster level, improved AC, weak 21BAB.
A fighter version might go with:
10wiz/10fighter/10EK - 25BAB, 1wiz bonus feat, 4 fighter bonus feats, including
greater/epic wpnfocus and perfect 2wpn fighting.
K) Thuggie Fighter4/Rogue3/Blackguard10/NWNine3
Most rogue builds are dex based dualwielders that do great sneak attacks.
However, in a direct fight they tend to be pretty weak and deal marginal
damage against any immune-sneaks. This build is my answer.
Thuggie is a fairly versatile frontline warrior. He has decent fighting
abilities. His strength is 7d6 sneak attack damage, while still retaining
a 19BAB and 24 natural STR with full plate and shield. He can fight straight
up, but is best in parties moving around the battlefield unleashing his
heavy sneak attack damage. He plays similar to a rogue, but is a decent
front line warrior as well.
Thuggie has several nice combat tricks, including 2 summons to distract foes
when soloing. Although very weak, they will last long enough to make
enemies attack them, which sets them up for a devastating sneak attack
volley of 2 attacks at once. This is due to 4 attacks total, and NWN2's 3
attack volleys per round). Enemies typically turn around after 1 such volley.
It is a good idea to try to find an invisibility item, as it lets you open
with a huge sneak attack volley when soloing.
In addition, improved knockdown is powerful due to Thuggie's high strength,
although note that it does NOT cause sneak attacks unlike NWN1.
Several other handy abilities are the Aura of Despair, extra movespeed,
friendly +save Aura, Bull's Strength, and evasion which works in heavy armor.
You may need to use console to "DebugMode 1", then "givefeat 1760" to get
the prerequisite NWN9 epithet in single player.
Half-Orc, any evil alignment.
STR19 +5 = 24 (Max fighting ability)
DEX13 (12 for +1AC in plate, 1 leftover point)
CON14 (good HP)
INT13 (For decent skills, feat prereq)
WIS8 (not needed)
CHA6 (not needed)
Note: Rogue/Fighter are alternated to avoid XP penalty.
1: Rogue (for skillpoints) - Luck of Heroes
[grab Hide 4, Tumble 4, UMD 4, and whatever else]
2: Fighter - Weapon Focus: whatever.
3: Fighter - power attack, cleave
4: Rogue
5: Fighter
6: Rogue - Knockdown
[ensure Hide 5, max out UMD, tumble]
7: Fighter - Weapon Specialization: whatever
8: NW9
9: NW9 - BlindFight
10: NW9
11: BG
12: BG - Improved Knockdown
13: BG
14: BG
15: BG - Toughness
16: BG
17: BG
18: BG - Power crit: whatever
19: BG
20: BG
Feats:
No feats other than pwr attk/cleave are mandatory. There is quite a bit
of room for customization. You can replace Knockdowns with Disarms, or
imp crit if you dont expect a keen weapon.
Skills:
You should max out Tumble since you are more mobile than most fighters and
can use the avoidance of attack of opportunity. +2AC is nice also.
Get 17 UMD (15 after CHA) to use all scrolls and many items, including
Sun Soul +5 boots.
Early on, you have a LOT of skillpoints. From 11 to 20, you only get 3 point
per level for tumble,UMD, so don't be too aggressive with spending. You can
pick up a few points in several rogueskills and stuff early though.
I recommend 1hander and shield, since you have 7d6 sneak and also move around
a lot in combat. Do NOT use a towershield ever, since -10 armor penalty
destroys your chance to tumble, as well as usual -2AB penalty.
UPGRADE:
--------
Earth Genesai would work a lot better due to favored class and stats.
But, I would go 4 more fighter and 4 more rogue, alternating to avoid XP
penalty.
Then, for the last 2 levels, either take 2 fighter for bonus feat, OR take
2 neverwinter Nine to keep no XP penalty and gain the all out assault.
L) Pokey. Tiefling Fighter8/Duelist10/Monk1/Wizard1
This build is an attempt at a non-dualwielding dexfighter with high AC
(THREE attributes pump it!) and passable damage. It is best on medium or
higher magic worlds as it is very dependent on massive stat gain to be
strong. 8 Fighter provides tons of feats which duelist requires, Duelist10 is
very rarely seen and we actually use something other than canny dodge,
including haste, 2d6 to every hit, deflect arrows, and the occasional
Flourish for another 2d6. Monk provides the usual higher AC through Wisdom.
It's too bad that a Kama isn't piercing or we would be in great shape.
Finally, cleric/wizard provides some handy buffs and abilities. It is not
too terrible to level, although the ECL1 and possible early XP penalty
doesn't help.
One major drawback is apparantly INT gained from items does NOT count for
canny dodge AC. Maybe if fixed, the build would be more viable... of
course, I wrote all this out before I discovered that anomoly. >:-0
Choice 1: Cleric
-- choose 2 of toughness,uncanny dodge, evasion.
-- 10 round divine favor for +1ab/dmg.
-- With practiced caster - 5 minute bless, 10 minute immune:mind pro evil,
24hr resist elements.
Choice 2: Wizard - note that casting is not an issue due to use of robes
expected.
-- Familiar that adds 1HP per level.
-- With practiced caster, can get a 5 minute Shield spell for +4AC. Fully
stacks. This alone is probably worth the -1AB hit.
-- Random other stuff: identify, truestrike for a flourish, Prot Evil for
10minute immune mindhoze, and +2saves, 24hr resist elements.
Choice 3: Another monk level.
-- Makes tumble progression easier.
-- +1BAB compared to above choices.
-- Free Evasion
-- 20% less XP penalty.
STR 9
DEX 19 +5 = 24
CON 14
INT 16
WIS 14
CHA 8
Due to the variability, I am not adding a specific character plan.
Feats:
You get 7 base feats + 5 fighter feats.
Be careful to avoid taking too many fighter list feats on normal feat levels.
Here are some choices, broken down into 3 tiers:
Weapon Finesse - Required.
Dodge - Required for Duelist
Mobility - Required for Duelist
Luck of Heroes - Must take at 1st level.
Weapon Focus: Rapier - Pretty important
Practiced Caster: Wizard/Cleric - Only if you take choice 1 or 2 above.
MUST HAVE 4 spellcraft!
Weapon Specialization: Rapier - Key for more damage. This should be your 4th
fighter level pick.
Greater Weapon Focus - Important. This must be your 8th fighter level pick,
as its your only chance to get it.
Blind Fighting - Pretty good.
Improved Parry - It is worthwhile, as 1v1 parry is a very strong option with
this build, and it gives you more effective counterattacks per round.
Knockdown/Improved KD - You don't really have the STR for this, but it is
still good against casters.
Improved Crit: Rapier - With a higher magic world, you can probably get a
Keen weapon anyways though.
Power Critical: Rapier - Decent.
Disarm/Imp Disarm - This is more thematic than knockdown.
Toughness - if you didn't get this through Cleric, it is nice to have.
Skill Focus: Parry - Kind of weak for a feat usage, but if you use Parry
a LOT, this is a possibility.
Able Learner - if you really want a large variety of skills. I would pass
personally.
Skills:
You get an average of about 6 skills per level. Here are the main ones
recommended.
Tumble - Clearly you want 20 points here. Use your monk level early to get
at least 5 class-skill points here for duelist prerequisite.
Parry - I've never been a parry fan, but this is the build to use it, if
ever. Max it. 5 points is a prerequisite anyways.
Spellcraft - Can use your 1 caster level (if chosen) to pump this up some
for +saves bonus. Extra points becomes expensive.
UMD - You already have quite a few classes covered, including monk for
Sun Soul equipment, and wizard potentially for scrolls/items.
Still,you may want 6 points (cha penalty) so you can use all scrolls
and minor items.
Note that you won't really have a very good conversation skill since
Fighter uses Intimidate, and Duelist uses Bluff.
Level order:
You want to start out with Fighter (not like you have much choice), taking
up prereq feats early. Until you pump up your Dex, you may want to use
Plate/Shield for a while.
I would toss in your monk level around 7 and use some carryover skillpoints
to get your 5 prereq tumble, or more. This is also about the time you
start leveling Duelist, and will ditch the plate/shield for robes.
At level 12,15,or 18 I would take the wizard level (if you are going to)
and take 12 spellcraft (using carryover points), and Practiced Caster:wizard.
This allows a 5 minute Shield spell for +4AC, which is quite helpful.
Similar for the cleric level if that is your choice. The immune:mind
from protection evil is great too and lasts 10 minutes.
From here, it should be pretty easy going.
UPGRADE:
--------
I am gonna pass on this one. It is such a wierd build, I am not sure what to
do with it. I'd say toss this one in the garbage and make a new build.
M. SuperSaver
Supersaver Human Cleric15/Blackguard2/Paladin2/Warlock1
The idea behind Supersaver is to have really good saving throws and to take
advantage of that fact to some degree, such as through Evasion.
The build is CHA-based and gains triple the CHA bonus for saving throws.
Self buffed makes it +21 to all saves, which places Supersaver as a premere
anti-casting character.
CHA also provides some other nice abilities such as Divine Shield/Might
and Fury domain's BattleMaster (+4 ab,dmg,STR,DEX,CON, and 8/- damage
reduction for 5+CHA mod rounds!) Unfortunately, this does NOT work against
elemental or magical damage, despite what the description implies.
The bad news is that a +4WIS item is sorely needed to gain maximum spell power
which caps out at level 8 spells. It is kind of dirty but it works, unlike
in NWN1.
Play as a standard warrior-cleric using buffs to pump abilities and beat em
down. Persistent Divine Favor, and extended Battletide, divine power, and
so forth provide strong offense.
Pally 2 is used for the save bonuses, as is Blackguard 2. Warlock 1 is used
for Dark Ones Own Luck, which also pumps saves and apparantly can be cast
in full armor.
The 15 cleric is used for the CHA bonuses, evasion, and solid defense as well
as good offence all in one class. You COULD go fighter15, but generic
fighter would be a bit lacking.
STR 14
DEX 12
CON 14
WIS 14 (+4 from item is mandatory!)
INT 10
CHA 15 +5levelups = 20
Start Lawful Good.
Note this is an EXAMPLE build. You can move these classes around as desired.
I started heavy pally to help with alignment issue.
1 cleric - take Fury and Water domains. Fury=Battlemaster, Water=evasion.
Get 4 Spellcraft ranks, 2 hide ranks and take Practiced Caster
and Power/Attk
2 Paladin - [free martial wpns]
3 Paladin - [gain mad saving throw bonus] Cleave
4 cleric
5 cleric (save 2 skillpoints)
6 cleric - Extend Spell (save 5 skillpoints)
7 Warlock - Take Dark ones Own Luck for huge save bonus.
Also, max out UMD skill.
8 cleric - [work towards 5 hide ranks]
9 cleric - [get 5 hide ranks!] Cleave
10 Blackguard
11 Blackguard [INSANE saving throw bonus achieved]
12 cleric - Divine Shield
13 c
14 c
15 c - Divine Might
16 c
17 c
18 c - Persistent Spell
19 c
20 c
Skills: 69, 3 skillpoints per level basically
20 in tumble (for 10 tumble ranks)
23 in concentrate
10 in Hide (for 5 ranks prereq)
8 in UMD for 8 ranks (warlock).
8 more in UMD for 4 more ranks to 12 ranks total + heavy CHA mod.
Variants:
There are tons of potential variants.
-One would be to drop the 2 paladin and go with 17c/1lok/2bg for easier
alignment agreement and 9th level spellcasting.
- Drop the warlock and go 2bg/2pally/16cleric to get maximum lvl20 casting
ability, 16BAB, and not having to recast Dark Ones Luck after every rest
cycle.
- Dump the Divine Might/Shield, keep CHA at 14 base to improve STR for better
melee, and use feats elsewhere. Use a +8 nymph cloak to still get a big
save bonus.
- Take different domains: dump Water if evasion is possible via item and go
with Earth most likely. Or, take Destruction for 1 big Smite Infidel every
day.
UPGRADE:
--------
About all you can do with this build is to crank up the cleric levels. In fact
if you wanted to modify the build, Id ditch Warlock and replace with Divine
Champ.
Imagine: 18cleric/2pally/2BG/8Div Champ. This would improve your BAB and
give +4 to all saves, add 4 bonus feats, and an optional Divine Wrath.
Look for the epic feat that makes it so that rolling a 1 is NOT a failure!
With that feat, you should pretty much be invulnerable to anything that
requires a saving throw.
NOTE: SuperSaver Mk II is now available in the New Builds section.
Uses FavSoul for more saves, damage resistance, elemental resistance,
abilities, and usage of CHA for even more spells and dirty +save goodness.
---------------------
XIII. New MOTB Builds
---------------------
This section is for builds optimized for MOTB's 30 level cap.
a)Warrior Sorceror - There are tons of variations of this theme. Therefore, I
am making a "template" build that gives an idea of how to tune an appropriate
build. It includes a build example at the end.
The first question that you must answer is whether you want to fight or cast.
A warrior will have high STR (or maybe even DEX) and a bare minimum CHA.
Your spell DCs will be a joke, so you will use no-save spells like Issacs,
Icestorm, buffs, Bigbys, dispels, etc. Honestly, if you want to just fight
with buffs a bard or divine class may work out better for that playstyle due
to stronger AB and buffs.
A caster on the other hand will be able to fight reasonably well, but also has
a very high CHA for solid spell DCs and bonus slots. I feel this is the best
way to go, as such a character can doubly benefit from the high CHA with
Divine Might or Shield, AND a large +Saving throw bonus from Pally or BG
levels. The main difference between this build and a "pure caster" is
that you will have problems vs high spell resistance and will not have
the Spell Focuses and other pure casting goodies. However, you have
better HPs and can fight effectively with persistent haste, and buffs
like displacement, greater heroism, etc.
Your ideal equipment would be armor with no arcane failure (hopefully Eld
Knight mithril chain or similar), and a 1handed slashing weapon(Keen wpn
spell) with a mithril heavy shield. Your high CHA should allow you to take
only a few points in Use Magic Device skill and still be able to use
restricted items effectively (such as Sun Soul +5 dodge boots).
Your minimal caster level should be 18 (22 prac caster), but try to gain a few
more than that to gain some good buff dispel resistance. I go for 21 (25)
which makes one dispel proof and maxes out the few 25die offensive spells.
-- 10 Eld Knight - This is just a given because of high BAB and HPs, with 90%
spell progression.
-- 3Blackguard or 4 Pally - You DEFINITELY want to take advantage of your high
CHA. By picking one of these 2 classes, you gain a CHA-sized bonus to ALL
saves, AND access to Divine Might/Shield through Turn Undead. Plus, you
pick up weapon and armor proficiencies. Paladin might cause XP penalties,
but Blackguard requires 2 feats (PwrAttk,Cleave) and some skillpoints.
Choose one.
-- 4RDD for great HP, +2AC, +4STR if going STR-based.
OR some Fighter or Div Champ levels for bonus feats.
The example build for this template is:
Human/Aasimir Sorc 12/EK 10/Pally 4/RDD 4
caster level 21(25), 23BAB, +4STR, +2AC, 196 base HPs.
Human/Aasimir Sorc 12/EK 10/Pally 4/RDD 4
STR 14 +4RDD = 18natural
DEX 8
CON 14
INT 12
WIS 8
CHA 18 +7pump +5GCha = 30 natural
Skills: Concentration, Spellcraft, 8 Lore for RDD prereq, and 10 tumble
1 Sorc - prac caster, spellcasting prodigy
2 pally (for early proficiencies)
3 sorc - Wpnfocus: bladed 1hand weapon
4 sorc
5 sorc
6 sorc - extended spell
7 sorc
8 Eld Knight - free: Combat Casting
9 EK - Pwr Attack(prereq)
10 EK
11 EK
12 EK - Empower Spell
13 EK
14 EK
15 EK - Persistent Spell
16 Pally
17 Pally
18 Pally - Divine Shield(or might)
19 EK
20 EK
21 Sorc - Great CHA1
22 Sorc
23 Sorc - Great CHA2
24 RDD
25 RDD - Great CHA3
26 RDD
27 RDD - Great CHA4
28 Sorc
29 Sorc - Great CHA5
30 Sorc
option: Take Epic Prowess, Vampiric Feast instead of 2 Great CHAs.
lose 2 spell slots and -1DC, but gain 1ab and a Panic Button.
b) Caster Sorc - Due to many variations, this is a template build as well.
Basically you are attempting to create a build that has additional classes
for offensive and defensive goodness, WHILE MAINTAINING a 26 caster level,
which with practiced caster is maxed out at 30. This is very important for the
strongest IceStorms, and penetrating heavy spell resistance, plus making your
buffs Dispel proof.
You don't really care about fighting potential, so gimping BAB is not a
problem which lets you "splash" 1 level of misc classes for handy abilities
like divine shield access, shield proficiency, etc.
You want to max out your spell DC and CHA at all costs, since spells are your
primary and only weapon.
Also, you want to ideally minimize your sorc levels, since sorc does not buy
you ANYTHING after level 1, except familiar pumps (woopie) and caster levels.
Choose any 3 of the following:
-- 1 Warlock for big +save bonus.
-- 2pally/2BG OR 4pally/3BG for +save bonus and armor/wpn feats. Extra levels
can be taken for divine shield access.
-- 1 cleric for bonus feats and Divine Shield access. Usual domains are:
Darkness(blindfight), Earth(toughness), War(weapon focus/proficiency),
Luck(luck of heroes), Water(Evasion), Air(uncanny dodge)
-- 1 to 10 Palemaster for heavy AC,HP,immunes bonuses.
-- 3 to 10 Scholar for extra offensive power.
-- Eld Knight because it is so good and adds extra HPs.
Example build: human Sorc 23/PM 5/ 1Lock/1Cleric(luck,air)
Caster lvl 30, built for high AC.
STR 13
DEX 14
CON 14
INT 10
WIS 8
CHA 17 +7pump +6GCHA = 30
Lvling notes: You can push the PM levels back, depending on whether you
need spell progression or AC the most.
Warlock can go anywhere also, and cleric can go at 6,9,12,15,or 18.
Skills: Typical Concentrate, Spellcraft, Tumble.
1 Sorceror - Spellcasting Prodigy, power attack
2 sorc
3 sorc - spell penetration
4 sorc
5 sorc
6 sorc - Practiced caster
7 PaleMaster
8 Palemaster
9 Palemaster - Empowered Spell
10 PM
11 PM
12 CLERIC - Divine Shield, free: Luck of Heroes, Evasion
13 Warlock - (big save bonus, UMD skill access)
14 sorc
15 s - Maximize Spell
16 s
17 s
18 s - Toughness
19 s
20 s
21 s - Great CHA1
22 s
23 s - Great CHA2
24 s
25 s - Great CHA3
26 s
27 s - GCHA4
28 s
29 s - GCHA5
30 s - bonus: Great CHA 6
can substitute feats as desired for epic spell, quickened, spell focus, etc.
Aasimir Sorc6/EK10/ASoc10/Pally4
Caster lvl 29, built for heavier offense, improved HPs.
STR 14
DEX 14
CON 14
INT 12
WIS 10
CHA 18 +7pumps +5 GCHA = 31
1 sorc - Casting Prodigy
2 sorc
3 sorc - Practiced Caster
4 sorc
5 sorc
6 sorc - Skill focus: Spellcraft
7 Paladin - free: martial wpns, shield, armor proficiency
8 Eld Knight - free: Combat Casting, free: Skill Focus: Concentrate
9 EK - Empower Spell
10 Arcane Scholar - free: Maximize
11 ASoc
12 ASoc - Power Attack(prereq)
13 ASoc
14 ASoc
15 ASoc - Toughness
16 Paladin - free: +CHA to saves.
17 Pally
18 Pally - Divine Shield
19 ASoc
20 ASoc
21 ASoc - Great CHA1
22 ASoc
23 Eld Knight - GCHA2
24 EK
25 EK - GCHA3
26 EK
27 EK - GCHA4
28 EK
29 EK - GCHA5
30 EK
c) Caster Wizard - A template build that focuses on getting the highest
possible offensive spellcasting while having strong defenses. You want
a 26 caster level (30 with prac caster) for maximum spell effect, penetration,
etc.
Unlike a sorc, your main stat is INT. Hence, a wizard will not get free
+saves and div shield and instead uses its superior skillpoints and free
feats combined with other classes to maximize its abilities. Having sole
access to red wizard and easier access to Arcane Scholar is very helpful.
-- 1 to 10 PaleMaster - bonus HPs, AC.
-- 3 to 10 Scholar - Offensive power.
-- Red Wizard - Some offensive power.
-- 1 Rogue or 4Harper Agent - Skill access. Tumble30 = +2AC vs 15 normal max.
2 assassin works well too when taken later on.
Wizard9/Palemaster1/RedWiz10/AScholar10
Caster level 34 +5RWiz = 39!
Maximum spell DC for 9th lvl spell: 44
STR 8
DEX 14
CON 14
INT 18 +7pumps +5GINT = 30
WIS 8
CHA 8
Skills: Tumble 10, max Concentrate, Spellcraft.
1 wizard - Casting Prodigy, practiced caster: wizard
2 w
3 w - Skill focus: Spellcraft
4 w
5 w - bonus: Empower spell
6 Palemaster - Skill focus: Concentration
7 Scholar - free maximize
8 scholar
9 scholar - Spell Penetration
10 scholar
11 scholar - free: Quickened Spell
12 scholar - Greater Spell Penetration
13 scholar
14 scholar
15 scholar - Shield Proficiency (assuming mithril shields are available)
16 Scholar
17 wiz
18 Red Wiz - toughness OR light armor proficiency (for 0% fail chain shirt)
19 RW
20 RW
21 RW - Great INT 1
22 RW - free: Spell Focus: Evocation
23 RW - Great INT 2
24 RW
25 RW- Great INT 3
26 RW
27 RW - free: Greater Spell Focus:Evocation, Great INT 4
28 Wizard
29 Wizard - Great INT 5
30 Wizard
d) Warrior Wizard - This template build attempts to maximize the use of the
wizard's high skillpoints and bonus feats to maximize overall fighting and
defensive abilities.
Unlike the sorc, you will need to choose even moreso whether to prioritize
fighting or casting. Casting of course means maxing INT for highest spell
DC and bonus slots, while retaining so-so fighting capability. Fighting
means using no-save spells for offense with minimum INT and maxing STR... or
more likely DEX, depending on available armor.
There is no clear advantage to either, since high INT does not buy you much
other than a lot of excess skillpoints.
Your minimum caster level is 17(21 prac caster), although I would aim for
closer to 21(25) for harder to dispel buffs. You don't want a weak 30
Spell Resistance to shut down your offensive spells after all.
Note: Warrior Wizards are the best dualwielding casters in my opinion as they
have bonus feats, the +4ac shield spell to compensate, and are likely to
max out their DEX when fighting-focused.
The following classes can be usable:
-- 10 Eld Knight is a given due to high BAB and good HPs.
-- 1-10 Palemaster is more of a defensive choice, since it does not help BAB.
-- 4 Harper Agent is usable for Tumble/skill access and 3/4thBAB/casting
-- Invisible Blade could be used for skill access, BAB, AC if DEXbased and
dualwielding.
-- Duelist is a possibility for big AC bonuses, although it precludes shield.
-- Fighter or Div Champ is excellent for even more bonus feats.
-- Assassin is a possibility for skill access, no XP penalty, Uncanny dodge,
and a decent DC death attack.
Example build1:
Drow 10w/10ek/8f/2ass
This is a dualwielding fighting focused build. 19(23) caster level, 24BAB,
perfect 2wpn fighting, persistent haste, good AC.
STR 8
DEX 20 +7pump +3Great DEX = 30 natural
CON 12
INT 18 (needs a +1 item or better)
WIS 8
CHA 10
Skills: The usual spellcraft, concentrate. Plus, assassin will grant full
access to tumble, so get 30 ranks. I would save 5 points at 20 and then
use assassin to bring it from 10 to 23.
You have a solid 6 skillpoints per level, so you could max Open Lock if
desired.
1: wiz - luck of heroes
2 wiz
3 wiz - prac caster
4 fighter - wpnfocus: shortsword
5 wiz
6 fighter - 2wpn fighting, wpn finesse
7 wiz - bonus: empower spell
8 EK
9 EK - imp 2wpn
10 EK
11 EK
12 EK - extend spell
13 EK
14 EK
15 EK - greater 2wpn
16 EK
17 EK
18 wiz - persistent spell
19 wiz
20 wiz
21 assassin - perfect 2wpn fighting (max tumble & other skills)
22 fighter
23 fighter - Great DEX1, epic prowess
24 fighter
25 wizard - Great DEX2
26 fighter - Armor Skin
27 fighter - Great DEX3
28 fighter - Greater WpnFocus
29 assassin - Epic Weapon Focus, bonus: uncanny dodge.
30 Wizard - bonus: Vampiric Feast
Unbuffed stats:
AB: 39 - Very impressive for a wizard build thanks to epic wpnfocus.
AC: 25 - Solid due to tumble, feats, high DEX. Uses robes. Has uncanny dodge.
e) Kamakaze Mk II. Drow Cleric 17/Monk11/DivChamp2
The ultimate dualwielding build. With greater flurry and haste/battletide,
it is capable of 18 attacks! You have good speed thanks to the monk, and
pretty solid AC. You have 9th level spell access and one bonus feat from
Divine Champion.
What is so nice about the many attacks is that most occur at high ABs.
Assuming a 50AB, your attack schedule is: 50/50/50/50/45/40/35/30/25 x2
Your AB is solid thanks to your many clerical buffs, most notable Divine
Power (bab 30). Your damage is normally a bit weak per hit, but persistent
divine favor(3 magical), prayer, battletide, etc can increase it quite a bit.
Even the fairly weak Righteous Might can be helpful as it adds 3 magical
damage too.
This build is a late bloomer, and is best on a persistent world. The reason
being late access to high level spells, greater flurry, and perfect 2wpn.
STR 14
DEX 18 +7pumps +3GreatDex = 28 natural.
CON 12
INT 14
WIS 14 (needs a +5WIS item or better)
CHA 10
All pumps go to DEX.
Skills: 30 Tumble, Concentration, Spellcraft, and approx 2 other choices.
You have 160 skillpoints total. Take advantage of the monk/cleric weaving
to stagger skill gains so you only spend 1 point per rank gained.
1 Monk - Two Weapon Fighting
2 Cleric (Time and Luck domains: free imp init and Luck of Heroes feats)
3 Monk - Weapon Focus: Kama
4 Cleric
5 M
6 C - Practiced Caster
7 M
8 C
9 M - Improved 2Wpn Fighting
10 C
11 M
12 C - Extended Spell
13 M
14 C
15 C - Greater 2Wpn Fighting
16 C
17 C
18 C - Persistent Spell
19 M
20 C
21 M - Great Dex 1
22 C
23 M - Great Dex 2
24 C
25 M - Perfect 2Wpn Fighting (max out tumble to 28)
26 C
27 C - Great Dex 3, (max tumble to 30 and stop)
28 Divine Champion
29 CLERIC - Epic Spell: Vampiric Feast
30 Divine Champion - bonus feat: Epic Prowess
variant: Lose casting power for more feats. 13c/11m/6Div Champ
variant: lose epic spell OR practiced caster for Blindfighting feat.
variant: Ditch Time domain if haste not required. Take Earth for toughness,
or darkness for blindfighting.
variant: Ditch Divine Champion for more high level spellslots.
f) Tuffie - XXXXXXXXXXBarbarian 16/Fighter4/Dwarf Defender 10XXXXXXXXXXX
A defensive build based on high Damage Reduction.
Update: This build is a failure. DwD 6DR stacks with epic DR of 9 for 15
total. However, it IGNORES the 4 points of barbarian DR, and the 1 point
from Greater Resiliancy.
PLUS, it does not stack with Admantite Plate for example.
So, time to rework this build....
f2) Tuffie Reworked - Dwarf Fighter8/DwDefender10/Bard2/RDD10
Here is the rework, abusing bard/RDD10 like everyone else does...
In this case, it was the only real alternative, providing high AC, HPs,
and high Stats bonuses.
The build has 15 built-in damage reduction which is pretty powerful.
It also has huge AC bonuses of +8. On top of that, it has full
30 tumble for another +3AC, +1 from dodge, +1 Luck, +1 Armor Skin
and +4 from defensive stance.
It cannot be sneak-attacked easily either thanks to Imp Uncanny Dodge.
Unbuffed HP for this build is: 120+120+12+80 = 342 + 300 = 642!
Unbuffed AB is decent at: 26 +7STR +4focus +1prowess = 38
Unbuffed AC without armor is: 25
Dwarf Fighter8/DwDefender10/Bard2/RDD10
Start as Neutral whatever, shift to lawful later.
STR 16 +8rdd = 24
DEX 14
CON 18 +7pumps +1great CON +2RDD = 28
INT 14 +2pump = 16
WIS 8
CHA 6 +2pump = 8
skills: tumble to 30, perform at 4, rest are open. Note you cannot
start as Bard for skillpoints due to low CHA. You get 137 skillpoints.
Lvling notes: I took both bard early to minimize alignment shifting, and
also to defer the 4th fighter level to 21 to promote my bonus feat to epic.
4 RDD before DwD is to get some quick stats and get BAB to 7 to allow for
DwD leveling.
I leveled fighter at 21-25 to quickly gain the free Damage Reduction feats
and also get greater/epic wpn focus for some needed AB.
There are a LOT of extra wishy-washy feats you can swap out as preferred.
These are marked with (parenthesis)
1 fighter - Luck of Heroes, wpnfocus:whatever
2 fighter - dodge
3 bard - toughness
4 fighter
5 bard - May shift to Lawful anytime after lvl5 now.
6 RDD - (Knockdown)
7 RDD
8 RDD
9 RDD - (Improved Knockdown)
10 Dwarf Defender
11 DwD
12 DwD -(Dash)
13 DwD
14 DwD
15 DwD - (Combat Expertise)
16 DwD
17 DwD
18 DwD - (Disarm)
19 DwD
20 RDD - free:blindfight
21 Fighter - free:Epic Damage Reduction 1, Epic Dmg Reduction 2
22 Fighter
23 Fighter - free:Epic Dmg Reduction 3, Great CON 1
24 Fighter
25 Fighter - Free:greater wpn focus, Epic Wpn Focus
26 Red Dragon Disciple
27 RDD - Armor Skin
28 RDD
29 RDD - Epic Prowess
30 RDD
g) SuperSaver Mk II. - Aasimir SpiritShaman25/Pally2/BG3
This is a very defensive build that is based on not dying. It has an insane
+26 saving throws from high CHA, assuming a +8CHA item, and epic Resiliance
to never fail a save by rolling a 1.
Physically, Freedom from Movement followed by Tortise Shell (+11 nat AC), and
foundation of stone(immunity knockdown), along with Divine Shield for about
+13 Dodge AC make this a very hard character to attack physically.
Offensively, it has very high DC spells with +4 from lvl29 caster and prodigy.
You have the vampiric feast epic spell as a Panic button as needed.
If you die, you will be Healed 150HP from Favored of Spirits. Plus you can
Spirit Walk at any time to escape, and last you get a small damage reduction.
STR 14
DEX 8
CON 14
INT 12
WIS 16 (needs a +3 WIS item)
CHA 18 +7pumps +3 GCHA = 28
Skills: You have 188 skillpoints. (Approx 5 1/2 skills maxed)
UseMagicDevice(due to your high CHA), Tumble, Concentrate, Spellcraft,
5 HIDE(prereq), and some left over.
Lvling notes: You will start off Lawful Good, then need to become evil. You
can take the 2 pally at levels 2 and 3, and you will have until level 16 to
become bad. After 18, you can stay bad or shift back.
1 Sp Shaman - Spellcasting Prodigy
2 SS
3 SS - Power Attack (worthless prereq)
4 SS
5 SS
6 SS - Cleave (another prereq. Irritating I know)
7 SS
8 SS
9 SS - Empowered Spell (or Maximize or Quickened if desired for PvP)
10 SS
11 SS
12 SS - toughness
13 Paladin
14 Paladin
15 SS - Practiced Caster: SS (Need evil alignment shift here)
16 Blackguard
17 BG
18 BG - Divine Shield
19 SS
20 SS
21 SS - Epic Toughness
22 SS
23 SS - Epic Resiliance
24 SS
25 SS - Epic Spell: Vampiric Feast
26 SS
27 SS - Great CHA 1
28 SS - Bonusfeat: Great CHA2
29 SS - Great CHA 3
30 SS
variant1: Remove 1 SS level and add 1 Warlock at the end. Adds even MORE
saving throw power, at the cost of 1 spell DC and caster level.
variant2: Remove 1SS level and add 1 barbarian at end for 10% faster move and
a +1BAB.
variant3: Use Favored Soul instead of SS for a melee-based version. You have
garbage DC now, but can use clerical fighting buffs instead. It helps your
reflex saves quite a bit too, and adds elemental resists.
variant4: Remove the 3rd BG level and replace with 1 Cleric. You get XP pen,
but can take Luck (luck of heroes) and Water(evasion) domains. Human would
remove this penalty. Your divine shield access would be unaffected.
h) Sneaky Air Genesai/Tiefling Rogue16/Fighter8/InvBlade5/Shadowdancer1
It is hard to make a decent rogue build, as sneak attack is much less impressive
when the weapons are so powerful. This build has several components that make
it successful. First of all, you have a solid AB powered by a very high
DEX and epic weapon focus. Perfect 2wpn fighting ensures lots of attacks.
Epic dodge negates the first hit per round against the rogue. Combined with a
solid AC due to Invis Blade, high DEX, and maxed tumble provides good defense.
To take advantage of the 11d6 effective sneak, hide in plain sight is very
handy. Feint is so-so, as you are fairly unlikely to succeed. You only lose
1 attack out of 12 or so to perform a feint, so it is a low-cost option.
I went with Air Genesai, but Tiefling, Halfling, Deep Gnome work well too,
possibly better due to the last 2's size bonus to hide, AB, AC.
STR 14
DEX 20 +7pumps +3Great DEX = 30
CON 14
INT 14 (ideally wants a +6INT item to max AC)
WIS 6
CHA 6
Skills: You have tons of skillpoints: 260! (approx 8 maxed skills)
Tumble(30), UseMagicDevice(32), HIDE(maxed),BLUFF(maxed),MoveSilently(maxed),
and 3 others as desired.
1 rogue - Luck of Heroes
2 fighter - free:Weapon Finesse
3 fighter - free:weapon focus: dagger/kukri, 2 wpn fighting
4 rogue
5 fighter
6 rogue - Combat Expertise
7 fighter - free:Improved 2wpn fighting
8 rogue
9 rogue - dodge
10 rogue
11 rogue
12 rogue - feint
13 Invis Blade
14 rogue
15 IB - Greater 2wpn
16 rogue - free: Improved Evasion
17 IB
18 rogue - Mobility
19 Shadowdancer - free: Hide in Plain Sight
20 rogue
21 Invis Blade - Perfect 2Wpn Fighting
22 rogue - free: Defensive Roll
23 Fighter - Great DEX 1
24 Fighter - free: Epic Prowess
25 rogue - Great DEX 2
26 Fighter
27 rogue - (get 30 tumble) Epic Dodge
28 Fighter - free: Greater Weapon Focus
29 rogue - free: ArmorSkin , Great Dex 3
30 Invis Blade
Base stats without buffs or equipment:
AB: 40
AC: 30 (assumes +6INT item for max IB bonus)
Big Variant: Fighter8/Assassin8/Blackguard10/NWN4 has a huge 28BAB, and
retains hidein plain sight with 9d6 sneak. It sacrifices epic dodge though.
i) Thunder Human Cleric8 /Stormlord 8/Warpriest6/Fighter8
This is a solid 26BAB warrior cleric. Stormlord provides +2 extra enhancement
to the spear and bonus damage. Monkey grip is taken so you can fight with
300 fanboi style (1handed spear + shield) for maximum Armor Class.
Of course, you have tons of buffs and rely heavily on persistent prayer, div
favor, haste to pump your combat stats. Buffed with all your longterm buffs,
your fighting capability is very strong.
Casting wise, you have a 23 caster level for almost-full caster access. You
will have limited spellslots, but will use spells for healing and buffing only.
Hence, this should not be an issue.
str 17 +7pumps +4GStr = 28
dex 13
con 14
int 10
wis 14 +5 or better Item needed.
cha 8
Domains: Time, Earth (haste, stoneskin, premonition)
Skills: You have enough points for 3 maxed skills.
Take Concentration for sure, Spellcraft for saves, and Tumble.
1: cleric - luck of heroes, Great Fort, Free toughness, Imp Initiative
2 c
3 c - wpnfocus: spear
4 c
5 c
6 cleric - Monkey Grip (for 1 handed spear/shield use)
7 Stormlord
8 SL
9 SL - extended spell
10 sl
11 sl
12 sl - persistent spell (divine favor, haste, prayer)
13 sl
14 sl
15 cleric - Combat Casting (prereq for WP)
16 cleric
17 Warpriest
18 WP - practiced caster (harder to dispel buffs, longer duration)
19 wp
20 wp
21 fighter - armorskin, Great STR 1
22 fighter - epic prowess
23 fight - Great Str 2
24 WP
25 fighter - greater wpn spec, epic wpn spec
26 wp
27 wp - Great STR3
28 wp
29 wp - Great STR4
30 WP
AB: 49 with longterm buffs only (not including STR ones)
j) Arcane Trickster - The standard AT build for 20 levels was 3rogue/7wiz/10AT.
This worked pretty well, but when expanding to 30 levels, some harder
decisions must be made. The major flaws in this build are low feats, terrible
BAB, and weak HPs. Unlike cleric/FS, you dont get many AB buffs, so if you
cannot hit anything, high sneaks are useless.
So, we will look at some build options using this framework. Note: I dont
like Sorcs for AT as they are lacking skillpoints to take advantage of the
mad skill access, and cannot use their high CHA for anything useful.
There are 2 major playstyles: First is to play as a caster mostly and
attempt to disable baddies with hi powered saves. Then melee-sneak them out.
Second is to focus on DEX and fighting more, moving around buffed in melee
to backstab, casting no-save spells like Bigbys to disable OR use high sneaks
with certain ray-spells like Vampiric Touch. (requires a hak-pak)
One option is to replace the rogue with a higher BAB class, such as NW9 or
Invisible Blade. This is possible since both provide a sneak equivalent.
These classes cannot be achieved until higher levels though so this turns
your build into more of a late bloomer.
Adding Fighter 8 is tempting for much needed feats, BAB, HPs. With Wizard/Rogue
standard, this introduces XP penalty issues.
Adding more rogue levels is an easy way to add moderate AB, sneak. A 4th rogue
level should be taken for Uncanny Dodge.
Eld Knight adds caster levels, and BAB but causes more problems since it takes
away a feat instead of helping in that regard.
For my example, I went with a battle-trickster theme. It is a bit slow
developing, but not too bad. I used NWNine to replace rogue for 10% movespeed
and to avoid XP penalties. Non-save spells like Icestorm/Issacs/Bigbys are
used offensively, and many used for buffs.
Air Genesai (or Drow) Wiz8/Fighter8/NWN4/AT10
STR 8
DEX 20 +7pumps +3 GDex = 30
CON 14
INT 18 (get a +1 INT item or better)
WIS 6
CHA 6
Skillpoints: 202
Start by maxing Tumble to 7, Disable Device to 7, Spellcraft to 30, Lore to 7.
Then, Tumble to 30 during AT levels, and max out Concentrate.
Use the leftover points as desired.
Lvling Note: If using this build for the MOTB campaign, use a trainer to
give yourself the NW9 epithet feat and level yourself to 18 or 20 as desired.
1 wiz - Luck of Heroes
2 wiz
3 wiz - Weapon Finesse
4 wiz
5 wiz - bonus: extend spell
6 wiz - Practiced Caster
7 wiz
8 wiz
9 Fighter - Weapon Focus: Shortsword, bonus:2wpn fighting
10 Fighter - bonus: Improved 2wpn fighting
11 NWNine
12 NWNine - Blindfight
13 NWNine
14 Arcane Trickster
15 AT - Two Weapon Defense
16 AT
17 AT
18 AT - Persistent Spell
19 Fighter
20 Fighter - Greater 2wpn fighting
21 AT - Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
22 AT
23 AT - Great DEX1
24 AT -
25 Fighter - Great DEX2
26 Fighter - bonus: Epic Prowess
27 AT - Great DEX3
28 Fighter
29 Fighter - bonus: Greater WpnFocus, Epic WpnFocus
30 NWN
AB w/mundane equip unbuffed = 21bab +5feats +9dex = 35 @ 7d6 sneak.
HP: 244
AC: 10 +3tumble +2feats +9dex = 24
Example 2: A caster-oriented build. It relies more on adding sneak attacks
to ray spells (requires hack pak) with occasional melee.
Has 29 caster level and very high spell DCs. Your best bet is to use disable
spells like Cloud of Bewilderment, Bigbys, Hold Monster, Soloquism,
Stinking Cloud, etc to stun/paralyze the monsters. Then you can melee them
and do heavy sneak attack damage.
Tiefling (or Deep Gnome, Halfling, Sun Elf) Wiz6/Rogue4/EK10/AT10
STR 8
DEX 18
CON 14
INT 20 +7 pumps +5GINT = 32
WIS 8
CHA 6
Skills: You need 7lore,7disarm trap, 4spellcraft,7tumble by level 10.
You have a ridiculous number of skillpoints (348!) so take whatever.
Concentrate,Spellcraft,Tumble,UMD are givens.
Lvling notes: That 4th rogue level can be tossed in anywhere. It adds uncanny
dodge and cheaper skills (not like that is a big problem...).
1 rogue - Spellcasting Prodigy
2 wiz
3 wiz - Weapon Finesse
4 wiz
5 wiz
6 wiz - bonus: Practiced Caster, Martial Weapon Proficiency(prereq for EK)
7 wiz
8 rogue
9 rogue - Weapon Focus: kukri, shortsword, rapier, dagger
10 Arcane Trickster
11 AT
12 AT - Empower Spell
13 AT
14 AT
15 AT - Maximize Spell
16 AT
17 AT
18 AT - Shield proficiency (for mithril shield or other 0% fail shield)
19 AT
20 EK
21 EK - Great INT 1
22 EK
23 rogue - GINT2
24 EK
25 EK - GINT3
26 EK
27 EK - GINT4
28 EK
29 EK - GINT5
30 EK
k) Pious Pugalist human Cleric9/Monk11/Sacred Fist 10
The optimal combination for a hybrid monk/cleric.
11monk gives greater flurry for 2 full AB extra attacks, +2AC, imp KD, and a
few other abilities.
9 cleric +10SF(8 caster lvls) = 17 caster level for 9th level spells.
With 21 combined monk/SF levels, you get 2d10 unarmed dmg and 150% movespeed.
This build plays as a Hybrid caster/fighter. You have decent spell DC for
offensive spells, great speed boosts, decent AC, and adequate fighting
ability.
When playing, the speedboosts really help for cast and scoot in solo mode, and
running around quickly healing your party as needed.
Note that you lack damage reduction pierce with your unarmed attacks, so may
not be able to rely on melee all the time... which is fine.
My domain choices:
Time - Persistent Haste and premonition = uber.
Darkness - Blindfight feat, shadow conjuration for invisibility.
Human to avoid XP penalties.
STR 14 (for damage/carrying/AB)
DEX 14 (AC purposes)
CON 14 (decent HPs)
INT 12
WIS 16 +7pumps +5GWis = 28 natural
CHA 8
Note that WIS is maxed instead of DEX or STR. This is because WIS,
- increases AC (monk bonus)
- increases spell slots and spell DC which is vital for offensive casting.
- increases Sacred Flame damage
- increases Stunning Fist save
- increases Will Save and Inner Armor duration.
Overall, WIS is the best attribute to max as it provides maximum benefit.
Buffs should be more than enough to raise AB.
Skills: 174 (approx 5 maxed skills)
Tumble(30), Concentrate(max), Spellcraft(25), Lore 8(prereq), whatever else.
Lvling notes: Unfortunately, you cannot start with monk for more skills just
because you can't pick ANY of the desired feats on your 2nd pick!
I frontloaded cleric moreso to gain spell access early. Better fighting
comes later in epic levels as monk levels are gained.
1 Cleric - Luck of Heroes, Combat Casting. free:blindfight,imp init.
2 monk
3 cleric - Practiced Caster
4 monk - Free: Evasion
5 cleric
6 cleric - Wpnfocus: Unarmed
7 Sacred Fist
8 SF
9 SF - Extended Spell
10 SF
11 SF
12 SF - Empower spell
13 SF
14 SF
15 SF - Persistent Spell
16 SF
17 cleric
18 monk - Imp Crit:unarmed
19 cleric
20 cleric
21 monk - Great WIS1
22 cleric
23 cleric - Great WIS2
24 monk
25 monk - GWis3, free: Imp Knockdown
26 monk
27 monk - GWis4
28 monk
29 monk - GWis5
30 monk - free: Greater Flurry
variants: NONE.
In my opinion, the 2 full BAB no-penalty bonus attacks from GreaterFlurry make
the extra monk levels worthwhile. Lowering monk for Fighter, etc is not
worthwhile.
Lowering the clerical levels greatly impact spellcasting, and sort-of defeat
the purpose of making a SacredFist, vs a full monk.
l) BadBard Mk II. Fighter-races work well. Bard23/Fighter4/Blackguard3
This is a continuation of the original BadBard. It picks up 1 fighter level
early for proficiencies so it may fight as a warrior in plate. Eventually,
battle caster and mithril plate/shield allow spells without having to take
off armor.
Full spell access provides quite a few nice buffs.
Divine Shield or Might with +CHA items give a handy buff, although not nearly
as key as many builds. It is good to have as an option though.
The real key to this build is the Song of Requiem. Once this is obtained,
the bard can wade into combat, delivering lots of sonic damage to foes while
being healed every round. It really is an awesome power.
Curse Song is the second major spell, and is extremely powerful. It should be
your offensive opener when you enter battle as it greatly helps both you AND
your partymates. (Monsters get -2ab,-3dmg,-5AC, -2saves, 20 sonic dmg)
All in all, Badbard II is a very versatile strength based warrior with two
very powerful abilities, multiple spell, buff, and heal options, excellent
skill access that rounds out any party.. and also does very well solo.
This is one of my favorite builds since overall it is very solid and easy to
play, but has many powerful options. Also, since bardic buffs are unique and
stack with divine/mage buffs, it results in a very powerful party.
This is a very strong original campaign build that I used a variant of with
great success. In MOTB campaign, it is even stronger since no bard is
available and you start off with a maxed curse song, powerful auras and good
spellcasting. I recommend using a trainer mod to give yourself Mithril
Plate and Mithril Shield if starting the MOTB Campaign from scratch.
Earth Genesai/Dwarf work ok despite CHA penalty, although human works the best
in my opinion. Stats/feats assume human.
STR 16 +7pumps +3GStr = 26
DEX 8
CON 14
INT 14
WIS 8
CHA 16
Skills: You have about 8 skills you can max out. (269 points!)
Tumble 30 for AC, UMD, PERFORM for maximum Song of Requiem effect,
Concentrate for spellcasting, and Hide 5 (BG prereq) are needed.
From there, take your pick of Lore, Heal, Taunt, Bluff, etc.
1 bard - Luck of Heroes, Pwr Attack
2 Fighter - bonus:Wpnfocus: some 1hander, probably scimitar.
3 bard - Cleave
4 bard
5 bard
6 bard - Battle Caster (for mithril full plate)
7 bard
8 bard
9 bard - Curse Song
10 Blackguard
11 BG
12 BG - Divine Might or Shield (I'd go with Shield)
13 bard
14 bard
15 bard - Blindfighting
16 bard
17 bard
18 bard - Lingering Song or Toughness
19 bard
20 bard
21 bard - Chorus of Heroes (+4dodge AC to whole party is really strong)
22 bard
23 bard - Great STR1
24 bard
25 bard - Song of Requiem
26 fighter - bonus:Epic Prowess
27 bard - Hymm of Requiem(get 30 perform ranks)
28 fighter
29 fighter - Great STR2, Armorskin
30 bard - bonus:Great STR3 (max out perform)
m) Holy Hacker - Human recommended. FS16/BG3/Bard1/RDD10
This build combines Fav Soul divine casting and special abilities with the
BG saves and divine might (or shield) access. Bard/RDD adds STR, stats, and
accelerates the acquisition of EPIC divine Might.
With a +8 CHA item, you get over 2 minutes of +26 divine damage per hit with
16 uses per day!
This build is best starting at level 21, and really shines at level 30 for a
persistent world. Playing from 1 to 20 is painful as your spell progression
is really slow, and your BAB stinks.
By level 20 you have 1b/10rdd/3bg/6FS for VERY minimal casting, so you can
have the RDD-pumped stats for EPIC Div Might. This makes the build fairly
good for the MOTB campaign.
In epic levels, you can use Divine Power to buff your AB hugely, as you pick
up your FS spells for healing and buffing.
STR 16 +8 RDD = 24
DEX 8
CON 14 +2RDD
INT 14 +2RDD
WIS 8
CHA 16 +7pump +2RDD +3 GCHA = 28
Skills: 181 (5 1/2 maxed skills)
Tumble 30 (will eat about 56 points), Perform 4, Hide 5, Lore 8,
Concentrate(maxed), Spellcraft(30), and UMD since you have high CHA.
Lvling notes: Feats in parenthesis are optional. Take whatever you want instead.
1 bard - Luck of Heroes, Power Attack
2 Favored Soul
3 FS - Cleave
4 FS - free:wpnfocus
5 FS
6 RDD - Practiced Caster: FS
7 RDD
8 RDD
9 RDD - (Knockdown)
10 RDD - free: blindfight
11 RDD
12 RDD - (Improved Knockdown)
13 RDD
14 RDD
15 RDD - (Toughness)
16 Blackguard
17 BG - free Uber Saving throw bonus.
18 BG - Divine Might
19 FS - free: Elemental resistance (don't pick fire since you're immune)
20 FS
21 FS - Epic Divine Might
22 FS
23 FS - Epic Prowess
24 FS - free: Elemental resist 2
25 FS - Great CHA 1
26 FS - free: Wpn Specialization
27 FS - Great CHA 2
28 FS
29 FS - Great CHA 3, free: Elemental resist 3
30 FS
variant: Use Fighter16 instead of Favored Soul. Lose all casting, but gain
tons and tons of bonus feats including epic wpn focus and specialization.
Plus, dont have to rely on buffs and the build is MUCH more playable from 1
to 20.
variant: Could go 4pally/4bard/12fighter/10RDD to avoid evil also, but watch
for alignment shift needed during early levels!
n) Smiter - Any Race, Pally20/DivChamp10.
This is a simple, yet surprisingly effective build that is meant to be used
on persistent worlds as a Boss-Killer. Or perhaps a pvp surprise character.
Imagine the look on an opponents face when they get 1-shotted by a +60ab atk!
The idea is to have Great Smite 10, which allows a Smite Evil that adds
330 physical damage! Smite Infidel does +110. Using extra smite grants
an additional of EACH smite type for more longevitity (6 sm evil, 3 infidel).
It turns out that Divine Champ stacks with Pally levels for Smite Evil.
Note also that the +CHA bonus to hit does NOT seem to hit any AB caps as
expected. I got 50 CHA in test and received the full +20AB to my smite,
despite already decked out with buffs and +5 weapon.
Use a scimitar or rapier for maximum crit range as a Smite Critical hit is
pretty impressive. Make sure to Smite as your FIRST attack of the round for
maximum AB bonus... you do NOT want to miss!
The high CHA increases Saves, Divine Wrath, Divine Might/Shield, and adds to
the AB of a Smite. Therefore I pumped CHA in this version instead of STR.
You will definitely want bless,aid, divine favor buffs up when fighting.
STR 14
DEX 8
CON 14
INT 12
WIS 11 (+3 WIS item optional for spells)
CHA 17 +7pumps = 24
1 through 20 = paladin
21 through 30 = divine champion.
Always pump CHA.
skills: 132 points.
Tumble, Spellcraft, Concentrate, and 1 other skill can be maxed.
1: Luck of Heroes, Pwr Attack(prereq)
3: Weapon Focus: Scimitar (scimmy/rapier for maximum possible crit range)
6: Blindfight (do NOT want to miss a smite!)
9: Divine Shield or Might (mine as well)
12: Improved Crit (optional. Disregard if can guarantee a good keen
scimitar/rapier)
15: Extra Smiting (pumps BOTH Smite evil AND Smite Infidel!)
18: Toughness or Power Crit.
21 through 30: Great Smite 1 through 10.
variant: Rework stats: CHA max to 16. Pump STR to 22.
Gimps your divine might/shield and Wrath but pumps non Smite AB/dmg.
o) SpearCleaver - Any med-sized race. FS12/Stormlord10/Frezerker5/BG3
Uses enhanced improved power attack, combined with divine caster AB bonuses to
negate the penalties to give HUGE damage. Imp P/A hits for +20 physical
damage per hit, with a -6AB penalty which is negated by clerical buffs.
Supreme Cleave adds to the carnage by giving even more bonus attacks per
round since we expect things to die quickly with the powerful damage.
Add Divine Shield for a moderate dodge AC bonus, as I think the AC bonus is
better than the relatively low damage bonus from Div Might. (it will be
around +7/7rnds with a +8CHA item)
Persistent spell is used for divine favor and prayer.
FavSoul12/FrenBer5/BlackGuard3/StormLord10 24bab. Nonlawful Evil
I will assume human, as the extra feat and skills are very useful.
STR 17 +7pumps +4GreatStr = 28
DEX 8
CON 14
WIS 8
INT 11
CHA 16 (need a +3 or better CHA item)
Skills: You get 99 points which is pretty weak. Could gimp your CHA to 14 and
boost INT to 14 for another 66 points. Recommended if doing the Campaign.
Tumble(10), Hide 5 (prereq), Concentrate(max), Spellcraft(max)
Leveling notes: Pick a diety with SPEAR favored(i.e. talos)
1: FS - Pwr Atk, Cleave
2: FS
3: FS - Great Fortitude, free weaponfocus:spear
4: FS
5: FS - free Elemental Resist
6: FS - Great Cleave
7: FS
8: FS
9: Frenzied Berserker - FreeTuffness Improved Power Attack
10 FB - Free Supreme Cleave
11 StormLord
12 SL - Extended Spell
13 SL
14 SL
15 SL - Persistent Spell
16 Blackguard - free Hvy Armor proficiency
17 BG - Gain +Saves
18 BG - Divine Might or Shield. (I recommend shield)
19 SL
20 SL
21 FB - Epic Prowess
22 FB
23 FB - Gain Super Duper Pwr Atk, Great STR1
24 SL -
25 SL - Gain Immune Zap, Great STR2
26 SL - Gain Storm Avatar
27 FS - Great STR3
28 FS - Gain Elemental Resist (possible epic spell?)
29 FS - Great STR4
30 FS - free Wpn Specialization
p) Dodgey Mk II - Deep Gnome Monk10/Duelist10/Assassin2/Fighter8
This build uses multiple sources of AC boosting and is decent for high powered
servers. Monk allows WIS to add to AC, adds +2AC for lvl10, and the usual
assortment of feats. Duelist allows up to +8AC from INT with items in theory,
and adds flourish and piercing blow or whatever.
Assassin gives Uncanny Dodge, which is valauable for a DEX fighter, plus skill
access.
Fighter provides lots of extra feats including greater/epic wpnfocus.
Offensively, there are 3 ways to go:
1 - Dualwield Kamas (go 11monk,9duelist in this case and swap some feats)
2 - Singlewield a dagger and get flourish,pierce bonuses.
3 - Singlewield a kama (11monk,9duelist)
I will assume #2, although it may not be the best way to go.
This build is best for tanking and surviving when monsters have really high ABs.
Its offense is rather lacking though. I add this build more as a concept
build than one intended to be played. I think Tuffie II is a better overall
build. Still, this build works adequately as a tank for the MOTB campaign.
Deep Gnome
STR 10
DEX 18 +7pumps +3GDEX = 28
CON 14
INT 14
WIS 16
CHA 4
Skills: Tumble, UMD, whatever else.
Leveling note: No XP penalty until lvl29.
1 monk - Luck of Heroes
2 fighter - weapon finesse
3 monk - dodge
4 fighter - weapon focus: dagger
5 monk
6 fighter - blindfight
7 monk
8 fighter - mobility
9 Duelist - toughness
10 Duel
11 Duel
12 Duel - Improved crit: dagger
13 Duel
14 Duel
15 Duel - Dash
16 Duel
17 Assassin
18 Assassin - Power Crit: dagger
19 Duel
20 Duel
21 Fighter - Great DEX1
22 monk
23 Fighter - free:Epic Prowess, Great Dex2
24 monk
25 Fighter - GDEX3
26 monk
27 Fighter - free:Greater Wpnfocus, Epic Wpnfocus
28 monk
29 monk - (xp penalty starts), ArmorSkin
30 monk
AC with +12 to all stats only:
10base +2feats +2monk +5gnome +3tumble +15dex +8INT +9WIS = 54!
AB with mundane wpn only: 40
q) MysticTheurge - Human Cleric9/Wizard5/Scholar10/RedWiz6
domains = Heal (lvl5 heal spell access) and Strength (lvl3 div power)
This is an unusual hybrid build that is based on gaining some clerical spells
and retaining almost full wizard casting power thanks to Red Wizard cheeze.
It ain't no true mystic theurge, but it is about the best we can do...
The wizard caster lvl is only 21 as shown. With prac caster it boosts to 25.
Red wizard adds +3 to 28 which gives a +2DC for your spells thanks to the epic
spellcaster bonus.
Then, add +1DC from the specialist for an overall solid DC for spells.
9 clerical levels allows the ability to cast Heal as a level 5 spell. Also,
quickened divine favor for +3ab/dmg as a lvl4 spell, and Divine Power to make
your BAB 30, accessed at level 3... and 4 if many are expected to be needed.
These two combined turn you into a solid melee fighter in just 1 round.
This build is best on a persistent world where you spend a lot of time at level
30, since it takes quite a while to ramp up.
STR 14
DEX 8
CON 14
INT 16 +7pumps +3GInt = 26 natural
WIS 16
CHA 8
Skills: You have tons of skillpoints due to high INT.
8 lore (prereq), max Spellcraft, max Concentrate, tumble, and whatever.
Lvling notes: I took RedWiz later to avoid losing a 2nd school of
spells, since by then you will know all you need to.
You need at least 1 cleric at level 18 for prac caster:cleric.
Note you are limited to CLERICAL epic spells, due to game bugs.
1 wizard - casting prodigy, skill focus: spellcraft. Specialize in whatever.
2 wiz
3 wiz - skill focus: concentrate
4 wiz
5 wiz - empower spell
6 Arcane Scholar - Spell Penetration, free: maximize
7 Scholar
8 Sch
9 Sch - Practiced Caster: wizard
10 Sch - Free Quicken
11 Sch
12 Sch - Greater Spell Penetration
13 Sch
14 Sch
15 Sch - Spell Focus: your specialization
16 Cleric - Heal and Str domains.
17 Cleric
18 Cl - Practiced Caster: Cleric
19 Cl
20 Cl
21 RedWizard - Greater Spell Focus: Your specialization
22 RedWiz
23 RedWiz - Great INT 1
24 RedWiz
25 Cleric - Epic Spell: Vampiric Feast
26 Cleric
27 Cleric - Great INT 2
28 Cleric
29 RedWizard - bonus: Epic Spell Focus, Great INT3
30 RedWizard
variant: Cleric13/wiz6/RedWiz10/1PM
Takes more cleric levels for the strong level 7 healing spells and longer
spell duration. Ditches Scholar in favor of more Red Wiz to compensate for
the lost spell power. Total caster lvl: 26
r) The General - This is a support character that wears Mithril Plate
+Mithril shield and is an adequate melee warrior, especially with Divine
Power. The primary strength however is exceptional buffs for the party
in the following ways: Curse Song is a mightly debuff for foes,
Chorus of Heroism adds a large dodge AC modifier, Auras can increase AC by
4 OR AB/dmg by 3 as needed. Clerical prayer, aid, bless, recitation, etc
add even more buff power. Last Stand is a strong panic button. Bardic
spells provide haste, displacement, and several other nice buffs. As a
7th level caster, the general can cast Greater Restoration for full healing,
Regeneration for heal over time, and even resurrection as needed.
Finally, the general has excellent skillpoints and skill access.
I chose to pump CHA since it ensures that you never
HAVE to have an item to cast spells. Also, it greatly increases your bonus
spell slots. If desired, you could pump STR to aid in melee or your CON to
pump up your HP and survivability.
Note that this is NOT a good original campaign build, as it is hard to level
early on. It is so-so for MOTB since you will have your main bardic
power by then, although you will not be able to heal or cast any significant
FS spells until close to 30. This is meant as a persistent world build.
Human Bard16/FS14
STR 16
DEX 8
CON 14
INT 14
WIS 8
CHA 16 +7pumps +1GreatCHA = 24
Skills: 241 points, or 7 maxed skills.
Tumble(30), UMD(max), Concentrate(max), Spellcraft(max),
Perform(30), and 2 others.
1: Bard - Luck of Heroes, Battle Caster
2 Favored Soul
3 B - Curse Song
4 FS
5 B
6 FS - Extend Spell, free Weaponfocus
7 B
8 FS
9 B - Practiced Caster: Bard
10 FS - free Elemental Resist
11 B
12 FS - Practiced Caster: FS
13 B
14 FS
15 B - lingering song
16 FS
17 B
18 B - great fortitude
19 B
20 B
21 B - Epic Prowess
22 B
23 B - Chorus of Heroism
24 FS
25 FS - Epic Fortitude, free: Elemental resist
26 FS
27 B - Last Stand
28 FS - free Weapon Specialization
29 FS - Great CHA 1
30 FS
s) BattleLok - Drow Warlock26/Blackguard4.
This character is created as an alternative to the standard "archer" warlock
build. It is intended to be played in settings where resting is restricted,
and works similarly to a bardic warrior. It has less impressive combat
stats, but much stronger nuking power. Note: You MUST have Warlock Buddy
or similar mod for hideous blow to be at all usable!! Otherwise this guy
stinks!
The build uses mithril full plate +shield for AC, and epic divine might to
boost single target damage, and with even one hit in melee per round, a
large 20d6 magical/acid hit will trigger thanks to hideous blow.
Also, the battlelok can spam 20d6 magical party-safe chain lightnings with
ranged touch attacks, or use cone and fireball CHA-based DC save attacks
as well. This is very significant, as few warriors can boast such powerful
magical ranged attacks as an opener or backup.
Battlelok gains invisibility, haste, 2 forms of damage reduction, and has
a double-CHA bonus to all saves which makes him reasonably hard to kill.
The main weakness is relatively low AB in melee, although only 1 out of
his 6 attacks has to actually hit to trigger heavy hideous blow damage.
Vitrolic Hideous Blow is great for getting through spell resistance,
although you should typically use either the daze or the bind blows instead
for Magical Damage and a reasonable DC disable attempt. (Remember, you get
+2DC for lvl26 caster and +2DC effectively due to your Blackguard aura!)
The battlelok is a bit weaker early on and hits his stride at level 21 when
eldrich master is achieved. 26 is the peak point when epic divine might is
reached. This build is strongest on a persistent world with weaker items,
where his heavy nukes/hideous blows will be strongest relative to others.
This is a good build for the MOTB Campaign. I would cheat a bit and use an
editor to level to 20 and equip with Mithril plate and mithril shield.
Drow, chaotic evil
STR 16 +5pumps +1GStr = 22
DEX 12
CON 12
INT 14
WIS 8
CHA 18 +2pump +2GCha = 22
Skills: You have 132 points, or 4 skills.
Hide 5(prereq), Tumble(10+), Concentrate(max), Spellcraft(30),
Use Magic Device(max), whatever else.
Spells:
1 - hideous blow, dark ones luck, ???
2 - Eld Chain, Flee Scene, Invisibility thing.
3 - Eld Cone, VITROLIC, either Dazing doodad or Dispel Magic
4 - Eld Doom, Dark Foresight, ???
(either Word for 5regen out of combat, or Binding Blast for stun)
1 Warlock - Luck of Heroes
2 W
3 W - Power Attack
4 W +1STR
5 W
6 W - Cleave
7 W
8 W +1STR
9 Blackguard - Wpnfocus:Longsword
10 Warlock
11 Blackguard
12 BG - Divine Might, +1STR
13 Warlock
14 W
15 W - Battlecaster
16 W +1STR
17 W
18 W - Blindfighting
19 W
20 W +1STR
21 W - Eld Master (needs 24 spellcraft!)
22 W
23 W - Great CHA 1
24 W - +1CHA
25 W - Great CHA2
26 W - free: Epic Divine Might
27 W - Great STR 1
28 W - +1CHA
29 W - free: +1d6 Eld Zap, Epic Prowess
30 Blackguard
t) Bruising Reaper - Many races work, Fighter12/bard1/RDD10/Wpnmaster7
This is a mesh of the existing bruiser and reaper builds, including
weaponmaster bonus damage with the bard/RDD solid skill access and high STR.
Frenzied Bers is dropped but the RDD strength compensates. You have lots
of feats and do quite a bit of damage, especially on lower magic worlds.
It works with either scythe for huge damage, or with scimitar/shield for
better defense. You can always ditch the shield for 2handed scimmy mode.
You can use whirlwind in big groups to mow down opponents. Cleave should
happen pretty often too due to the heavy damage.
What is desirable about this build is its huge damage without needing buffs.
It has solid AC, immunities, high HPs, and is overall strong from level 1
onwards without needing resting, spells, and buffs.
I'll go with Earth Genesai due to better stats and no XP penalty.
STR 19 +7pump +8RDD +4GSTR = 38
DEX 14
CON 16 +2RDD = 18
INT 14 +2RDD = 16
WIS 6
CHA 7 +2RDD = 9
Skills: You have 131 skillpoints, which is so-so.
Tumble 30 gobbles 55 points, Lore 8(RDD prereq), Intimidate 5(WM prereq),
Perform 4 (bardic +1ab/dmg aura.. needs 4 to overcome low CHA), and about 2
more maxed skills (or max out UMD for item usage).
Feat note: The feats in parenthesis are optional and may be replaced with any
feats desired.
1 fighter - Luck of Heroes, Wpnfocus: Scythe/Falchion or Scimitar
2 bard
3 fighter - Dodge, Mobility
4 fighter
5 fighter - Spring Attack
6 RDD - Combat Expertise
7 RDD
8 RDD
9 RDD - Whirlwind
10 Wpnmaster
11 WM
12 WM - Power Attack (use only in 2handed mode)
13 WM
14 WM
15 WM - Cleave (It is worthwhile with the heavy melee damage delivered)
16 WM
17 Fighter
18 Fighter - (Knockdown), (Weapon Specialization)
19 Fighter
20 Fighter - Greater WpnFocus
21 Fighter - Great STR1
22 Fighter - Epic WpnFocus
23 Fighter - Great STR2
24 Fighter - (Greater WpnSpecialization - its only +2damage)
25 RDD - Epic Prowess
26 RDD
27 RDD - GSTR3
28 RDD
29 RDD - GSTR4
30 RDD
AB: 47 (including +1 aura)
AC: +4 RDD +3tumble
HP: 436
u) Shootist Mk II. Drow bard10/AA9/RDD10/C1
Since archery stinks so bad, there are very few ways of getting decent
damage out of such a build. First, there is Sneak Attack which is
difficult to do at range and unreliable.
The other is Epic Divine Might which this build takes advantage of. I hate to
make yet another bard/rdd build, but once again... options are limited.
With a +8CHA item, the build adds 28 divine damage PER HIT for 28rounds.
Adding bardic aura, AA dmg, warcry, point blank, Mighty STR bonuses can
equal out to a respectably powerful arrow attack, especially with
haste and rapid shot adding 2 bonus full AB attacks.
The AB is rather weak however, although damage is more of a concern usually
than AB with archers.
Bardic spells through 4th level are known and the high CHA adds quite a few
spell slots. Typical spells are Heroism, haste, displacement, and other buffs.
With high CHA, offensive spells are usable too such as Mass Curse of Blades,
and Sonic Burst, Cloud of Bewilderment, with a decent spell DC.
I went with Drow as the +2dex/cha bonuses are VERY strong for this character,
plus I tend to overuse human. The spell resistance is a great bonus.
Drow (xp penalty at level 18+, but them's the breaks)
str 14 +8rdd = 22
dex 18
con 12 +2rdd = 14
int 10 +2rdd = 12
wis 8
cha 18 +2rdd +7pump +3 Great CHA = 30
Skills: You have 134 skillpoints.
I recommend tumble, UMD, concentrate, spellcraft, perform 10(aura), lore 8(rdd)
Lvling notes: The order cannot be moved around much. You have to start with
5 bard, and have to max out RDD for early Epic Divine Might access. So,
you are forced to backload many of the arcane archer levels.
1 bard - power attack, battlecaster
2 bard
3 bard - WpnFocus: Longbow
4 bard
5 bard
6 RDD - Point Blank Shot
7 RDD
8 RDD
9 RDD - Rapid Fire
10 AA
11 bard
12 RDD - - free blindfight, Prac caster: bard
13 RDD
14 RDD
15 RDD - extend spell
16 RDD
17 Arcane Archer
18 CLERIC - Domains: Luck,Earth(Luck Heroes, Toughness free), Divine Might
19 RDD
20 Arcane Archer
21 AA - EPIC divine might
22 AA
23 AA - Great CHA1
24 bard
25 AA - Epic Prowess
26 AA
27 AA - Great CHA2
28 bard
29 AA - Great CHA3
30 bard
AB (mundane, aura-only): 23 +4dex +2feats +2aura +5AA = 36
AC: Mith Plate +3tumble +1luckHeroes +4RDD = 18 +plate
Variant: Replace 8 of the CHA pumps with DEX pumps. Each 2 points loses
2 divine damage and 2 spell slots, as well as lowering duration and times
per day.
But it adds 1AB and potentially 1AC.
If taken, you can remove BattleCaster and replace with another feat since medium
armor will not be necessary due to higher DEX.
Variant 2: You could drop bard to 2 and cleric to 9 levels. This requires
some +WIS items for spell access, but gives you powerful cleric AB buffs and
frees up a feat from battlecaster. I prefer bard though due to
many more spell slots, better bardic aura, skills, and spell DC. The
AB bonuses from Divine Favor,Power,prayer,aid,bless are VERY tempting though,
albeit MUCH more short-term than the bardic buffs(heroism,aura).
Variant 3: Drop bard to 8, pump AA to 10, cleric to 2. Adds 1 BAB, but
loses 4th level spells (extended haste/displacement basically), and gimps
defensive aura 1 point when in use.
v) Dirty Dualcaster - Human sorc6/SpShaman4/ASoc 10/EK10
This build is inspired by some forum stuff I read, where a Prestege class that
pumps arcane ALSO pumps Spirit Shaman (presumably because they are based on
the same sorceror code).
The net result is a 25(29) caster level with sorc AND 23(27) spirit shaman!
Since both have spell DCs based on CHA, the result is a pretty sick uber-caster.
Youve got heals, tons of offense, and double the normal spell slots.
As an added bonus, the improved empower,maximize,quicken work with your spirit
shaman spells too!
It kind of goes without saying that this build is a cheating one. Using it on
a persistent world may get you in trouble, and you could wind up badly nerfed
one day when a new patch arrives... Still, it is lots of fun!
STR 8
DEX 14
CON 14
INT 10
WIS 13 (need a +6 wisdom item for full spirit shaman spell access)
CHA 17 +7pumps +4 GCha = 28
Skills: 101 points.
30 Spellcraft, 33 Concentrate, 8 lore(prereq), 15 Tumble
Lvling Notes: You want to spread out SpShaman as those are the ONLY times you
can pick new spells! Note that any epic spells desired must come from the
spirit shaman list due to bug.
Can rework Epic feats as desired, with epic spell focus, or armorskin, etc.
1 spirit shaman - SkillFocus:concentrate, Casting Prodigy
2 sorc
3 sorc - Skill Focus:spellcraft
4 sorc
5 sorc
6 sorc - Empower Spell
7 sorc
8 Arcane Scholar - (free maximize)
9 ASch - Practiced Caster: Sorceror
10 ASch
11 ASch
12 ASch - Practiced Caster: Spirit Shaman
13 ASch
14 ASch
15 ASch - Martial Weapon proficiency (prereq)
16 ASch
17 ASch
18 Spirit Shaman - toughness or a spell focus.
Choose SpShaman spells as lvl12 caster.
19 Eld Knight
20 EK
21 EK - Great CHA1
22 EK
23 Sp Shaman - Epic Spell:sp shaman choice, Choose SS spells as lvl16 caster.
24 EK
25 EK - Great CHA2
26 EK
27 Sp Shaman - GreatCHA3, Choose final SS selection as 20caster.
28 EK
29 EK - Great CHA 4
30 EK
w) Tree-Fu - Deep Gnome Druid12/Fighter8/Monk1/Sacred Fist9
This is a unique build that is based on Plant Form wildshape. It is great for
low magic worlds/modules, since it can achieve decent numbers with only self
buffs.
It turns out that out of all the new forms available, the Treant is the best!
The primary reason for this is because a treant is classified as an "animal".
The advantage here is that Greater Magic Fang and Nature's Avatar both work
on animal forms only. These 2 spells are key for a wildshape build.
However, the Treant has superior stats compared to a Dire Bear thanks to its
many immunities, 2-12 base damage, and much greater AC.
For spells, you have a caster level of 19 thanks to sacred fist. So you have
almost full spell access.
Your physical stats become: STR 29, DEX 8, CON 21 and you hit for 2-12. You
also pick up several immunities in Treant form (crits, mind, paralysis), and
your AC gets a +13(ish) natural boost.
You have a 26BAB which is much better than most shapeshift builds.
The monk/SF levels give you large AC bonuses, as well as a Flurry mode.
Fighter provides a large AB boost from greater/epic wpn focus which works with
unarmed. Note: wpn specialization does NOT work.
Deep Gnome adds a WIS bonus, as well as a big +4AC. You eat huge XP penalties
though. (need to test: In wildshape, does ECL still count?). My theory is
that you want to maximize the build, and not worry about XP issues.
Note: For buffs, cast Owls Insight for a big +11WIS bonus! Use freedom of move,
then tortise shell for +10AC with no penalty! Cast Bulls STR, cats grace,
bears endurance, greater magic fang, aid and dont forget Flame Weapon. Since
you dont have multiple types of attacks (claw,bite), your Flame Weapon works
on every strike. You can use Nature's Avatar for
a hard fight for +10ab/dmg and haste. Ditto with storm avatar for a huge
+move, immunity to Knockdown, 3-18 electrical dmg.
Note2: You cant use your SacFist abilities in Tree form. SF is mostly used for
high BAB and casting progression, although you DO get the +AC and speed!
STR 6
DEX 14 (for dodge prereq)
CON 14 (need decent HPs outside of wildshape)
INT 14
WIS 20 +7pumps +4GWIS = 31 (Your Owls Insight adds +11, hence odd value.)
CHA 4
Skills: You have about 182 points.
Tumble(30), Concentration, Spellcraft are key. 8 Lore is needed for SacFist!
Lvling notes: Went pure druid through 12, except for 1 level of monk for
tumble access and big AC bonus. Then, picked up a few fighter feats,
and went SF until 9th lvl spells obtained. Fighter for more feats, and finish
with SF levels.
1 druid - luck of heroes
2 druid
3 druid - Practiced Caster: druid
4 d
5 d - free:Wild Shape
6 Monk - Extend Spell
7 d
8 d
9 d - Natural Spell
10 d
11 d
12 d - free:Tree Wild Shape, Combat Casting
13 d
14 Fighter - Weapon Focus: Unarmed
15 Fighter - Improved Crit: Unarmed, Empower Spell
16 Sacred Fist
17 SF
18 SF - toughness
19 SF
20 SF
21 SF - Great WIS 1 (9th lvl spells)
22 Fighter -
23 Fighter - GWis 2, Epic Prowess
24 Fighter
25 Fighter- GWIS 3, ArmorSkin
26 Fighter -
27 Fighter - Greater Wpnfocus, Epic Wpnfocus
28 SF
29 SF - Great WIS4
30 SF
XVI. Copyright, etc.
-------------------
This guide is copyrighted by Randomsome1. However, you may post it or
use it as you like as long as no contents are changed.
If you have any observations, questions, or comments, please email me at:
[email protected] and add NWN2Guide in the Subject.
Remove the spambegone part of course.
(I would probably miss any email in my spam-filled regular email, hence
the usage of my other account...)
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