Heavy Pick Build with Whirlwind

[Madduck59]

I just crafted/picked up (pun intended) Maiming_Rocksplitter and with the new update thought about creating a whirlwind Heavy Pick build. If I've read the release notes correctly then whirlwind provides 4 times damage and Great Cleave 2. My thought is to toggle between Cleave, Great Cleave, and Whirlwind and hope for massive critical damage. I’m a bit worried about my really low Will Save so I’m thinking of moving a few points from Con to Wis. But maybe someone has an idea --- suggestions….


Level 20 Chaotic Neutral Human Male
(20 Fighter)
Hit Points: 382
Spell Points: 0

BAB: 20/20/25/30/30
Fortitude: 16
Reflex: 9
Will: 6

(32 Point) (Level 1) (Level 20)
Strength 16 26
Dexterity 15 17
Constitution 16 18
Intelligence 12 14
Wisdom 8 10
Charisma 8 10

*uses +2 tome @ level 7, all level ups in Str.

1-Dodge
1-TWF
1-Weapon Focus: Piercing
2-Power Attack
3-Toughness
4-Mobility
6-Cleave
6-Weapon Specialization: Piercing
8-CE
9-Spring Attack
10-Whirlwind Attack (+4[W]) 
12–Greater Weapon Focus: Piercing
12-Greater Weapon Spec: Piercing
14-ITWF
15-GTWF
16-Great Cleave (+2[W]) 
18-Improved Critical: Piercing
18-Superior Weapon Focus: Piercing
20-TWD


Fighter Armored Agility I
Fighter Attack Boost I - IV
Fighter Critical Accuracy I - IV
Fighter Haste Boost I - IV
Fighter Heavy Pick Specialization I - II
Fighter Kensei I - III
Fighter Strength I - II
Fighter Toughness I - IV
Fighter Weapon Alacrity
Human Adaptability Strength I
Human Improved Recovery I
Human Versatility I - IV
Kensei Heavy Pick Mastery I - III
Racial Toughness I - II

[CheeseMilk]

Get a pair of Deathnips from the Tome Pages in Necro IV.

19-20x4 crit range, 17-20 with IC: Pierce.

Other than that, looks pretty solid, will save isn't so important at end game, assuming you have a party that can buff you against nastiness.

[Schmoe]

Multipliers are generally additive, not multiplicative. This means that a crit with a heavy pick whirlwind attack will do x7 damage, not the x16 you might have been hoping for. That's only one multiplier better than a khopesh, but a khopesh has twice the crit range and so will happen twice as often. Anyway, sounds fun.

[skullzz]

Also, don't forget at level 21 to take Overwhelming Critical for an additional +1 crit multiplier on 19-20.

[Scraap]

If I've read the release notes correctly then whirlwind provides 4 times damage and Great Cleave 2.

5 and 3 base weapon dice. That pick's a d6, so 5d6 and 3d6 respectively for the first number before factoring str, and crits.

Do note you won't be seeing screaming multiplied per cleave/cleave-like, as an example.

[Madduck59]

I should have known better, I was hoping for the X16 damage. Still, it does sound like fun, at least something different. AND...I've got to get Deathnip.

[Madduck59]

Wait, isn't the critical multiplier is factored in then the whirlwind *4 factor. So if I land a critical hit and lets say I roll a 6 on a 1d6 wouldn't the base damage be 11. Then the critical multiplier take the 11 * 4 = 44, then the whirlwind extra damage would be 44 * 4 = 176. So it is 11 * 16 = 176, that is if I rolled a 6.

[Schmoe]

Wait, isn't the critical multiplier is factored in then the whirlwind *4 factor. So if I land a critical hit and lets say I roll a 6 on a 1d6 wouldn't the base damage be 11. Then the critical multiplier take the 11 * 4 = 44, then the whirlwind extra damage would be 44 * 4 = 176. So it is 11 * 16 = 176, that is if I rolled a 6.

Re-read scraap's post. If you land a critical, the base damage would be 1W (which is 1d6) plus 4W (which is an extra 4d6) for the Whirlwind, for a total of 5W (5d6). That base damage would then be multiplied by the heavy pick's crit multiplier (x4) for a range of 5-120 and an average of 70 points of damage, not counting strength, enchantment, etc.

Whirlwind certainly increases the base damage of a critical, but has no effect on the damage you get from strength, enchantment, seeker, and all those other goodies, which is where the bulk of your damage is coming from anyway.

[Madduck59]

Ah, OK got it, thanks.

[EpiKagEMO]

Well I've recently built a spinning build. You can swap stuff out for piercing spec instead of slashing. Picks can generally be used by everyone with fighter levels, so why not? One advantage over your build is that i get +1 crit multiplier for regular attacks, so it's X5 instead of X4.

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=380190

I'm not sure about epic feats, but if this build cannot take them for any reason, yours might be better.