Thinking of TR'ing my cleric to FvS

[der_kluge]

Haven't played an elf, so was thinking an elf FvS might be fun. Not entirely sure the past life cleric stuff adds a ton of value to the FvS, but nevertheless, though I might give it a shot. My other choice is paladin, so I haven't decided which direction I'll go yet.

I haven't bough FvS yet - I still need over 200 favor to earn it, so one option is to just work my butt off and get to 2500 favor. That would be the cheapest route.

In any case, I don't own monk. I see a lot of builds with splash monk levels. So, I just went 20 FvS levels with this guy.

Any advice you can give me is appreciated.
I'm not big into farming all the most uber loot in the game. So, I don't plan on having things like Litany, or greensteel stuff. I do have a couple of +2 cha tomes in the bank, one of which I can use on this char. I'll probably end up buying a +1 str tome to even out the strength at end game as well.

Question: can you dual-wield two scimitars without penalty? I didn't take oversized TWF.

Also not sure about TWDefense. In retrospect, that might not be terribly useful.

Goals: lots of spell points, great healing/support. I wanted her to be able to deal some pretty nice damage with dual scimitars, as well, so I put a fair amount of points into that.



Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 3.7.1
DDO Character Planner Home Page (http://www.rjcyberware.com/DDO)

Level 20 True Neutral Elf Female
(20 Favored Soul)
Hit Points: 282
Spell Points: 2201
BAB: 15\15\20\25\25
Fortitude: 14
Reflex: 16
Will: 15

Starting Feat/Enhancement
Abilities Base Stats Modified Stats
(34 Point) (Level 1) (Level 20)
Strength 14 17
Dexterity 16 18
Constitution 14 14
Intelligence 12 12
Wisdom 14 16
Charisma 10 18

Tomes Used
+2 Tome of Charisma used at level 7

Starting Feat/Enhancement
Base Skills Modified Skills
Skills (Level 1) (Level 20)
Balance 3 4
Bluff 0 4
Concentration 4 25
Diplomacy 0 4
Disable Device n/a n/a
Haggle 0 4
Heal 5 16
Hide 3 4
Intimidate 0 4
Jump 5 16
Listen 2 5
Move Silently 3 4
Open Lock n/a n/a
Perform n/a n/a
Repair 1 1
Search 1 5
Spot 2 7
Swim 2 3
Tumble n/a n/a
Use Magic Device 2 15



Capped Enhancements:
Feat: (Diety) Favored by the Undying Court
Enhancement: Undying Call
Enhancement: Favored Soul Ascendency: Undying Court

Enhancement: Valenar Elf Melee Damage I
Enhancement: Valenar Elf Melee Attack I

Enhancement: Elven Dexterity II
Enhancement: Favored Soul Charisma II
Enhancement: Favored Soul Wisdom II

Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Favored Soul Toughness II

Enhancement: Favored Soul Damage Boost II
Enhancement: Favored Soul Wand and Scroll Mastery II
Enhancement: Favored Soul Prayer of Life III
Enhancement: Favored Soul Energy of the Scion IV
Enhancement: Favored Soul Life Magic IV
Enhancement: Favored Soul Scimitar Specialization II
Enhancement: Favored Soul Damage Boost III
Enhancement: Favored Soul Prayer of Incredible Life III
Enhancement: Improved Concentration II


Feat: (Past Life) Past Life: Cleric
Feat: (Selected) Two Weapon Fighting
Feat: (Selected) Two Weapon Defense
Feat: (Selected) Toughness
Feat: (Selected) Empower Healing Spell
Feat: (Favored Soul Bonus) Energy Resistance: Acid
Feat: (Favored Soul Bonus) Energy Resistance: Fire
Feat: (Favored Soul Bonus) Energy Resistance: Electricity
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Slashing Weapons
Feat: (Selected) Mental Toughness
Feat: (Selected) Improved Mental Toughness

[Jaid314]

scimitars are not light weapons, so you will take the added penalty to hit without oversized two-weapon fighting.

and unless your AC is really really good (and i have no reason to see why it would be), you may as well just leave it really really bad. if you're absolutely decided that you must have a two-weapon fighting feat there, at least OTWF will reduce your penalty. or you could put it into something else. maximise for blade barrier-y goodness when applicable perhaps? extend for your buffs? (personally, i'd also ditch mental toughness, mind you)

[der_kluge]

scimitars are not light weapons, so you will take the added penalty to hit without oversized two-weapon fighting.

and unless your AC is really really good (and i have no reason to see why it would be), you may as well just leave it really really bad. if you're absolutely decided that you must have a two-weapon fighting feat there, at least OTWF will reduce your penalty. or you could put it into something else. maximise for blade barrier-y goodness when applicable perhaps? extend for your buffs? (personally, i'd also ditch mental toughness, mind you)

Ok. So, I'll drop TWD for OTWF. Maximize might not be bad, but considering BB is the only real damage spell I have, it seems kind of overkill for just a single damage spell. Extend might be more useful.

Thanks for the feedback.

[Jakarr]

Ok a few things...

Ditch int you dont need Heal you dont need UMD(you have a natural 10 DR at 20 so dont need Stoneskin). Go 8 Int Keep Conc maxed at eat a +2 tome at lvl 7 and drop leftovers into jump(thou you only need 10 jump as you can get a +30 jump clickie) No +2 Int Tome np you will have enough points into jump.

What is your focus? Melee Dps? Offensive Casting? Healing isn't a focus btw...

My advice...

Feat Wise Melee Dps...TWF, ITWF, GTWF, Max, Quicken, Power Attack, Toughness. Max/Quicken For Heals and BB, higher lvls you dont need extend, you need Power attack if you are going to melee and you will need the twf line if you want to do good dps(you can skip on the GTWF if ya really want extend or empower)

Stats-18 Str, 16 Dex, 14 Con, 8 Int, 8 Wis, 10 Cha.

You will beable to Melee dps and with a Wisdom item you will still beable to toss down good BB's.

If you are interested in more of a Hybrid take at look at Impaqts Human FvS.
http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=243539

[Impaqt]

Haven't played an elf, so was thinking an elf FvS might be fun. Not entirely sure the past life cleric stuff adds a ton of value to the FvS, but nevertheless, though I might give it a shot. My other choice is paladin, so I haven't decided which direction I'll go yet.

I haven't bough FvS yet - I still need over 200 favor to earn it, so one option is to just work my butt off and get to 2500 favor. That would be the cheapest route.

In any case, I don't own monk. I see a lot of builds with splash monk levels. So, I just went 20 FvS levels with this guy.

Any advice you can give me is appreciated.
I'm not big into farming all the most uber loot in the game. So, I don't plan on having things like Litany, or greensteel stuff. I do have a couple of +2 cha tomes in the bank, one of which I can use on this char. I'll probably end up buying a +1 str tome to even out the strength at end game as well.

Question: can you dual-wield two scimitars without penalty? I didn't take oversized TWF.

Also not sure about TWDefense. In retrospect, that might not be terribly useful.

Goals: lots of spell points, great healing/support. I wanted her to be able to deal some pretty nice damage with dual scimitars, as well, so I put a fair amount of points into that.


Your build lacks focus. Its never a good idea to split up level up points. Pick a focus and stick to it. Wisdom for Spell Power. Str for melee power.

never ever put level ups into CHR on a FvS. ANd more importantly, NEVER put level up into a "Dumped" stat. Its a complete waste of build points.

The number of spell points you get from Chr on a FvS is minimal. Every 2 points is 29 Spell points. FvS get a very aggressive spell point pool without going crazy on CHR. Just make sure you can cast your spells.

a 10 Base means you need to have +1 at Level one before you can even cast a spell. Do you havea +1 CHR item to start with?

[sirgog]

Ok. So, I'll drop TWD for OTWF. Maximize might not be bad, but considering BB is the only real damage spell I have, it seems kind of overkill for just a single damage spell. Extend might be more useful.

Thanks for the feedback.

Maximize is also an important healing feat. You *can* do without it, but losing it hurts.

[JollySwagMan]

I won't presume as to offer Favoured Soul advice, but if you want to ensure that your build benefits from the past life, Wizard might be an option. That way you would get more out of your +1 to Conjuration spells, and if you wanted to use the selected Past Life feat (on a fleshie build that is) it would benefit from Maximise/Empower. Alternately it could be an extra Divine Might on a Paladin, who also can benefit from the extra build points.

[taurean430]

These are just my opinions, please take them as humble suggestions:

Stats:

If you are going to be using melee as a tool, I'd suggest taking two points out of int (you still get appreciable skill points with usage of a +2 tome), and putting them into Str. Guessing from your first post, it seems you are indeed interested in melee with this toon. All level up points should go there.

Starting with a 15 dex means that you can take two weapon fighting. At level 7, a +2 Dex tome is required however to qualify for more TWF feats. You will need the entire line of TWF feats in this build and Improved Critical: Slashing for it's dps to be a threat. Taking a point out of there and placing it into Charisma would be warranted.

Wisdom is a problem as well. If you are going melee, your level up points are going into Str for to hit and damage. Your wisdom will not hit high values. All this really means is that you would be avoiding spells with saves based on DC. You are still fully heal capable while being melee capable.

Feats:

You will need these on a melee TWF Favored Soul for effectiveness imo:

1. TWF
2. Toughness
3. ITWF
4. Improved Critical: Slashing
5. GTWF

That's 5 feats. It doesn't leave you much, if any room for healing feats. Likely Maximize and one other. Splashing two Monk levels is generally the way to go on this build for two additional feats and evasion. Barring that, the other feats you have listed you just don't have the room for.

If you are looking to cast primarily, you are looking at a different setup, but similar principle. Level up points into Wis for higher Dc's and such. Sadly, the Favored Soul is a feat starved class. You have enough room to focus in one area or another, but not all three...

What do you envision this character doing? Sharing that with everyone makes offering suggestions much easier.

[sweez]

you dont need UMD(you have a natural 10 DR at 20 so dont need Stoneskin).

And Stoneskin is the only thing in the entire game worth UMD-ing? :o

Why didn't anyone tell me that before I made all my toons UMD capable? :(

[Lithic]

And Stoneskin is the only thing in the entire game worth UMD-ing? :o

Why didn't anyone tell me that before I made all my toons UMD capable? :(

I personally don't bother going with UMD on a fvs or cleric. Most things that you might UMD are replaceable with clickies (either shroud clickies, or royal guard mask, etc). The exception is enervation scrolls, but you can get energy drain as a 9th level spell anyway.

[Jakarr]

And Stoneskin is the only thing in the entire game worth UMD-ing? :o

Why didn't anyone tell me that before I made all my toons UMD capable? :(

:p

I am sure the toons you have UMD on use it for Heal Scrolls/Res Scrolls primarily, as for a Divine I really dont find much use for it sure Teleport is nice and a few other goodies but none are really needed except for flavor.

[taurean430]

I use UMD on my healing toons for neat things like scrolls of fireshield, invisibility, teleport, and displacement in sticky spots. It can be very handy. That and blur wands.

[Impaqt]

I use UMD on my healing toons for neat things like scrolls of fireshield, invisibility, teleport, and displacement in sticky spots. It can be very handy. That and blur wands.

Level 10 Knock wands are also extreamly handy.

[Jaid314]

Level 10 Knock wands are also extreamly handy.

are they indeed? what do you use them on... i've yet to find a single thing at level 10 that it opens readily and which i particularly care about.

[platonicx]

How come a player who capped a character have questions like that ....? What happened to this game? :-o

If i hurt your feelings then i am not sorry.

A few more tips:
Con is not a dumb stat.
Heavy fortification is cool to have.
Bonuses of the same kind dont generally stack.
etc ....

[der_kluge]

Was mostly looking for a someone who could still crit-heal for 1,000+ points of heal like my cleric can, and who can dish out some pain with dual-scimitars.

I wasn't too concerned about overcoming SR, or high DCs with a lot of offensive spells. By the time I take the important buffs, raise/res and all the requisite healing spells, that doesn't leave a lot of room for offensive spells. Even the FvS best damage-dealing spells can't possibly hope to compete with what a wizard or sorcerer is doing, so I figured investing into that was kind of pointless.

Your arguments about UMD are valid, and not having it is probably not that big of a deal. My cleric doesn't have it, and she gets by OK. I think having some Heal is definitely handy, as it makes rest shrines more effective, and I definitely do want some Jump, since it just makes the overall game much more tolerable - having played 20 levels of cleric with a +1 jump skill gets really old after a while.

Looks like swapping out TWD and Improved Mental Toughness with OTWF and GTWF might get me closer to where I want to be.

If I drop UMD, I can drop my int back to 8, which is probably fine.

A starting charisma of 10 is probably doable. I can pick up a +1 charisma trinket in the AH. I picked up a http://ddowiki.com/page/Shimmering_Pendant (Shimmering Pendant) out of Partycrashers last night, so that certainly has me covered on the charisma from levels 3 to 5. But +3 charisma items are ML 7 IIRC, so I might have to stick with wands of eagle's splendor for level 6 until I can get a +3 charisma item from the AH. Maybe starting with an 11 charisma would be less painful.

I see your point about build points for charisma. I have a +2 cha tome, and if I get a +6 cha item, and a starting cha of 11, I can get to 19 without any problems. I'm loathe to plan on getting +1 exceptional, or +1 from something like LoTD, since I don't have one. That's the safer route for me. I'm happier there.

Ok, I'll revise that when I get some time...

Thanks for the feedback.

[Impaqt]

are they indeed? what do you use them on... i've yet to find a single thing at level 10 that it opens readily and which i particularly care about.

Perhaps your so uber that you just skip all the locked chests in places like RItual Sacrifice, New Invasion, Bastion of power, etc etc etc....

Many Many chests have a pretty low DC and can be opened with a Knock wand.

Many optionals are locked behind doors with a pretty low DC.

I often run without a Rogue or Arcane to open locks, and people appreciate the fact that i can open a lot of those locks. It amazes me that more UMD builds dont bother to carry a Knock wand.

[sweez]

I use UMD on my healing toons for neat things like scrolls of fireshield, invisibility, teleport, and displacement in sticky spots. It can be very handy. That and blur wands.

Yep, for example, fireshield clickies are nice, but mostly offer just 1 type of fireshield. The invisi necklace is nice, but it has 3 charges and is exclusive (if I remember correctly). Then you have the Habiliment for Displacement... but do you *really* want to walk around wearing THAT? :p