Mahnamahna - Rogue Acrobat

[Sillk]

***There is a revised version of this build listed below, http://forums.ddo.com/showpost.php?p=2168367&postcount=11***

This is a build I put together for the +50% XP weekend, and brought to level 10 by that Monday. There aren’t many Rogue Acrobat builds posted in the forums, so I thought I’d add my 2cp.

I didn’t drop too many tomes into the build, as I just wasn’t sure how well a Strength Based Acrobat would work out. If I were to reroll this character, I’d add a higher Int tome and increase Dex, but as it was I only had a +1 on me at the time. This build could also be Pure Rogue, but I was going for the added Wind Stance speed, Wisdom bonus to AC, and the few extra feats.

So far this build is typically holding his own (kill count) compared to the other fighters I’ve grouped with. Drawing aggro on mobs unaffected by Diplomacy seems to be the only real difficulty, but if you play them as a typical Rogue – wait for someone else to draw aggro, and backstab the heck out of them – they don’t seem to last very long. This build also takes advantage of the Acrobat Showtime, Monk Wind Stance, Rogue Haste Boost, etc to increase attack speed.

Rogue 18 / Monk 2
Lawful Good Human

Starting Stats
S: 17
D: 14
C: 14
I: 11
W: 12
Ch: 8

Use a +1 Int tome (at least) before Level 2.
Each stat increase at Level will go into Strength

Level Progression
1 Rogue
2, 3 Monk
4-20 Rogue

Feats
1st Two Handed Fighting, Toughness
2nd Power Attack
3rd Cleave, Dodge
6th Great Cleave
9th Improved Two Handed Fighting
12th Improved Critical: Bludgeon
15th Weapon Focus: Bludgeon
18th Greater Two Handed Fighting
20th TBD

I may likely change my mind to something else by at 18, or take advantage of any new feats that are added. At the moment, I’m not sure if hitting mobs at level 18 with around a 30 Strength would be an issue.

Skills
Max UMD
Max Disable
Max Search
Max Diplomacy
The rest go into Spot, Open Lock, Tumble (might as well), Jump, Heal, Move Silently & Hide.

Enhancements
--must take the following for Acrobat I
[rogue] - Balance I/II
[rogue] - Dexterity I
[rogue] - Faster Sneaking I
[rogue] - Haste Boost I/II
[rogue] - Tumble I/II
[rogue] - Way of the Thief-Acrobat I (at level 8)

--must take the following for Acrobat II
[rogue] - Dexterity II/III
[rogue] - Way of the Thief-Acrobat II (at level 14)

--other enhancements that should be considered
[human] - Adaptability Wisdom I
[human] - Greater Adaptability Strength I
[human] - Racial Toughness I/II
[monk] - Disciple of Breezes
[monk] - Way of the Patient Tortoise I
[monk] - Wisdom I
[rogue] - Haste Boost III/IV
[rogue] - Search I/II/III
[rogue] - Sneak Attack Accuracy I/II
[rogue] - Subtle Backstabber I/II/III/IV
[rogue] - Way of the Thief-Acrobat III (probably) (at level 20)


Search III should set you apart from the splash builds, and help make up for a lower Int. I’d also have the highest Subtle Backstabber enhancement available for my level.

[FreudoBaggins]

I think this would be fun just for the variety. Neat to see the stick twirl.

Plus, there doesn't seem to be much competition for Qstaffs ...

[D'rin]

I have a level 13 WF version of this build. It is a blast to play. The performance is very good. AC nothing to write home about. But the damage is great. Next mod thf and wf are getting a damage boost with splash damage and weapon effects. You will definitly be able to get some good q-sticks. They come pretty cheap on the AH. W

Next level is when my character is going to get the immunity to knock down and another 10% attack speed boost. So with wind stance, thief acrobat and docent of quickening I will be at 40% without hast. I think with haste I will be at 48%. When hasted I tend to switch to fire stance for the +2 str.

I just wish we knew what the third tier of thief acrobat will entail.

[cardmj1]

I have a halfing rouge/monk build. I absolutely love this toon. As for the stave search, you are right in that there are not alot of competers for them. But most of the staves you find are power **/greater lightening/spell pen/etc. Tell all your guildies to send any and all staves to you to help in the hunt.

I am also eager to find out what Acrobat III will hold for me.

Oh! For fun, run the Laboratory quest in Necros with the air elemental room. It's like a rollercoaster ride. They can't knock you down but you can fly, you can fly, you can fly!

[Sillk]

I've had a lot of fun with this build so far. I think the Diplomacy & Subtle Backstabbing are enough to counter the lack of AC... at least until I face off with Orthons.

I can typically run in behind the fighter, Great Cleave, Cleave, Diplomacy, Cleave, attack twice, Great Cleave. At level 11, each Cleave seems to take 50-70 off the top of everyone around. I'm fairly even in kill count with the fighters... I think if the Kill Count mattered to me, i could hold off on the Cleave until after a few swings and the 50-70 would finish them off...

Still having trouble getting decent q-staffs, but a +5 is holding it's own with whatever the fighters had been using.

[Boldrin]

I have something similar to this that I just got to 16 yesterday. Made him 12 rogue/ 2 monk/ 2 ftr.. Str build stick user. Is at 30 str right now at 16. Can self buff (without using showtime or uncanny dodge to a 60ish AC) Well over that in boosts with showtime and improved uncanny dodge. And evfen more with a friendly bard cleric and ranger. On Arri I use a +2 trans greater bane Q-staff, and it absolutely DESTROYS him. I average 100 points of damage per swing. Even Barbs don't AVERAGE that much. They may get the bigger crits, but a str based rogue acrobat is a monster, and attack speed with wind stance and acro 2 is super fast. Turn on PA and crank out the dps!!

[FreudoBaggins]

would people be willing to post their builds here, especially those who have already commented? I'd really like to see the choices different people made, and even some of the reasoning why, if you are of a mind.

race, level split, begin/end stats and feats should be more than enough for now.

I really think I want something like this for fun :D

ty!

[Greeka]

You listed the following feat for level 15:
15th Greater Two Handed Fighting

By level 15 according to the character planner you only have a BAB of 10 and you require a BAB of 11 to take this feat. You might want to look into this; basically switch the feat at level 18 (Weapon Focus: Bludgeon) and take Greater 2-handed Fighting at 18. Over all looks pretty cool and am considering giving this build a try and maybe as a WF since I perfer playing the WF race.

[Sillk]

I was assuming that taking either Rogue and Monk would follow the same BAB progression, since both are 3/4 BAB progressions. 15 levels of Monk OR Rogue give you a BAB 11.

I'll have to check tonight to be certain that taking 13 Rogue/2 Monk would keep the same BAB progression as taking 15 levels of Rogue. If it is too low, you can take the WF: Bludgeon at 15, and the Greater THF at 18... although it would be much more fun to take the GTHF at 15.

One of the things I liked about this build was being able to take a THF feat on the same level as gaining the minimum BAB for it.

[Gol]

I was assuming that taking either Rogue and Monk would follow the same BAB progression, since both are 3/4 BAB progressions. 15 levels of Monk OR Rogue give you a BAB 11.BAB is the sum of what is granted by the individual classes, not the sum of their effective progressions. That is, Monk 2 = 1 BAB and Rog 13 = 9 BAB means Level 15 = 10 BAB.

[Sillk]

As I was leveling Mahnamahna I thought it might be interesting to see how the Warforged Glancing Blows & Tactics work with an Acrobat, and also I wasn't happy with the Dodge and Weapon Focus feats in the original build.

I was also tending to pull aggro from fighters, thus losing backstab, so Tripping & Stunning enemies should fit well. If they don't want to let me backstab them, they can sit and wait their turn.

So here's an alternative build using the same concept but trying out a few things.

The Rubberband Man
Lawful Good
Warforged
Rogue 18 / Fighter 1 / Monk 1

Stats
S -17 - +1 to Str every 4 levels
D -16
C -11
I -12 - I used a +2 Int tome at level 1 to get more skills
W -10
Ch -6

Levels
1 Rogue
2 Monk
3-5 Rogue
6 Fighter
7-20 Rogue

Feats
1 Two Handed Fighting
2 Power Attack
3 Cleave
6 Great Cleave & Toughness
9 Improved Two Handed Fighting
12 Stunning Blow
15 Improved Critical: Bludgeon
18 Greater Two Handed Fighting

Skills
Rogue Levels - Diplomacy, Disable, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Open Lock, Repair, Search, Spot, Tumble
Monk Level - max Diplomacy, Disable Device, & Search
Fighter Level - max Diplomacy & Search (and max Disable Device at the next level)

Enhancements
Warforged Constitution I / II
Warforged Great Weapon Aptitude I / II / III (if this turns out to be worth while)
Warforged Tactics I / II / III
Warforged Toughness I / II
Fighter Strategy (Stunning Blow) I
Fighter Strategy (Trip) I
Fighter Toughness I
Monk Diciple of the Breezes I
Rogue Balance I / II
Rogue Dexterity I / II / III
Rogue Faster Sneaking I
Rogue Haste Boost I / II (Maybe more)
Rogue Sneak Attack Accuracy I / II / III / IV
Rogue Sneak Attack Training I / II / III
Subtle Backstabber I / II / III / IV - keep this maxed
Tumble I / II
Way of the Theif Acrobat I / II / (III*)

* I may be overspending Enhancement Points, so you'll have to determine if you want Sneak Attack Accuracy IV over Training III, etc. But you'll probably have to re-spec your enhancements once Acrobat III is live.

I have neglected UMD to try Sneak & Move Silently. I am also building a high tumble, for flavor since he's a Acrobat. A high tumble might also be a nice compliment to a Docent of Defiance. I think a starting Cha of 6 puts UMD in a hole too deep to make up with skill points, but it's easy to pull from either of these other skills if you disagree.

I've also started with a lower Con than I'd like, but I'll be adding 2 back with the Warforged Constitution Enhancements as well as a Fighter's Toughness I, in addition to the Racial Toughness.

As a Tactics Build, you're only 4 DC short of max (-2 without Fighter Tactics II / II, and -2 from Fighter Strength I - III) from most comparable Tactics Builds. Trip & Stunning Blow use a DC of 10 + Str Mod, and add the enhancements. So get a Weighted Weapon! **Note that once Fighter Kensai is out, their combat DC is +1 for each level of Kensai, then this build will be -7 from max.

So far, I've found the attack sequence of Cleave, Great Cleave, Diplomacy, Stun, Cleave, Trip, Great Cleave to be effective. Typically trash mobs are done at that point.

[Nonan]

If by Trash mob you mean Gomez, then yes that is true......

[Fennario]

Cool build. I have a somilar build and its alot of fun to play. I am probably going 19/1 rogue/monk when the cap lifts. I thought about 1 fighter level, but I think I want the extra sneak die at 19.



Rogue Dexterity I / II / (III - if you end up on an odd number with Tomes)



You have to take dex III to qualify for acrobat II.

Its definitely hard to fit in all the enhancements you'll want.

[Sillk]

Thanks, I'll edit the Dex III - was somehow thinking it was for Acrobat III, but planned to take it anyway.

I felt the Fighter level was a very important level, as it helps you get a number of things that help THIS build work.
1) Increases the BAB by 1 to qualify for Great Cleave
2) An additional feat (Toughness) that I felt was necessary
3) Fighter Trip - just 1 Action Point
4) Fighter Stunning Blow - 1 AP
5) Fighter Toughness - 1 AP

While playing the original build in the first post, I found a number of occasions where I was drawing the aggro and losing my backstab. The tactics would give you something to do to get back the upper hand against your foe. In actual playstyle, I'm usually cycling through the Great Cleave, Cleave, Diplomacy, Stun, Cleave, Trip, Sunder, Great Cleave, before using the Right Mouse Button for attacking. (The Sunder just buys time for the rest of the Great Cleave timer).

If you're not going for the Tactics, then taking the extra Rogue level sounds good.

[maddmatt70]

Why not 19 rogue 1 monk? That is d6 more sneak damage just saying.

[Sillk]

Why not 19 rogue 1 monk? That is d6 more sneak damage just saying.

If I weren't trying to add Warforged Tactics, I'd probably recommend R19/M1 route. I wasn't happy with the second Monk level vs the other options.

My effort was to try to get something out of Warforged Glancing Blows coupled with the attack speed of Acrobat/Wind Stance. Then, while I was at it, the Tactics DCs were high enough to be worth a few action points and feats as opposed to Dodge & Weapon Focus from the original build.

There's no telling what Acrobat III will bring, but it should at least LOOK cool at that speed.