tmberwolff
08-28-2012, 10:53 PM
There are a ton of FvS builds out there, so let me say up front that what makes this one different is primarily the gear setup. Rather than spend months grinding out gear that may never drop, this build uses a combination of Crystal Cove gear + Cannith Challenge gear to create an optimized set of abilities.
If you look at nothing else, skip down to the image with the gear setup.
Premise: I set out to build a FvS, and Sirgog’s FvS build is one of the better ones out there. But when I looked at it in detail, the list of required gear to make that build viable is intimidating. For someone who only plays once a week, it would take many months to grind out all the seals, shards, and scrolls needed. Also, until you got that epic gear set, you’d have some real limitations, like good healing amp. It’s a catch-22, where you need good gear to grind out good gear. Above all else, I hate constantly swapping out gear. I want gear I can put on and leave on. More on gear in a minute.
Also, I don’t like builds that start by telling you all the past lives you should have. The game can be fun for 1st life characters as well, and not everyone can grind out a completionist in their free time. So, this build is specifically a 1st life build. Of course, it only gets better with age…
Goals: Damage, Healing, Solo
Pros/Cons (vs Sirgog’s build):
- No threat tanking. (Let’s face it, this isn’t a big loss. There are always better tanks than a FvS.)
+ Anti-tanking. Check the gear section. You’re going to get huge bonuses to att/dmg when you don’t have agro. +7 att/+11 dmg. That adds up.
- WF greatsword specialization
+ Ability to wield any martial weapon without a -4 penalty. Very useful.
- WF +3 DR
+ Normal healing amp, instead of -50%
Now for the details:
Tince’s build.
20 FvS – Half Elf, fighter dilly.
Alignment – TN or CG – True neutral if you can craft superior stability to level. Otherwise, Chaotic Good to have access to absolute chaos and good weapons, as needed for breaking DR at 20th. See weapon section below.
Starting stats – 32 pt build:
STR 16 (put all level stat increases in STR)
DEX 8
CON 16
INT 8
WIS 12
CHA 14
I can't seem to get the Char Generator to spit it out exactly right, by at 20th, you'll have 33 STR, 552+ HP, > 2600 SP, not including guild augments and optional GS HP item. Include those, and you could be > 600HP and ~2800 SP. None of those numbers include ship buffs or yugo pots or any temp buffs. It also doesn't include +1 exceptional augments, which you may acquire over time to even out a stat or two.
Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 03.12.02
DDO Character Planner Home Page (http://www.rjcyberware.com/DDO)
Tince
Level 20 Chaotic Good (or True Neutral) Half-Elf Male
(20 Favored Soul)
Hit Points: 372 (552)
Spell Points: 2020 (2680)
BAB: 15\15\20\25\25
Fortitude: 20
Reflex: 16
Will: 17
Starting Feat/Enhancement
Abilities Base Stats Modified Stats
(32 Point) (Level 1) (Level 20)
Strength 16 33
Dexterity 8 18
Constitution 16 26
Intelligence 10 13
Wisdom 12 21
Charisma 14 26
Tomes Used
+1 Tome of Strength used at level 4
+1 Tome of Dexterity used at level 4
+1 Tome of Constitution used at level 4
+1 Tome of Intelligence used at level 4
+1 Tome of Wisdom used at level 4
+1 Tome of Charisma used at level 4
+2 Tome of Strength used at level 7
+2 Tome of Dexterity used at level 7
+2 Tome of Constitution used at level 7
+2 Tome of Intelligence used at level 7
+2 Tome of Wisdom used at level 7
+2 Tome of Charisma used at level 7
+3 Tome of Strength used at level 11
+3 Tome of Dexterity used at level 11
+3 Tome of Constitution used at level 11
+3 Tome of Intelligence used at level 11
+3 Tome of Wisdom used at level 11
+3 Tome of Charisma used at level 11
Level 20 (Favored Soul) Enhancements:
Enhancement: Favored Soul Ascendency: Undying Court
Enhancement: Favored Soul Angel of Vengeance I
Enhancement: Favored Soul Scimitar Specialization I
Enhancement: Favored Soul Scimitar Specialization II
Enhancement: Human Adaptability Strength I
Enhancement: Human Greater Adaptability Constitution I
Enhancement: Human Improved Recovery I
Enhancement: Human Versatility I
Enhancement: Human Versatility II
Enhancement: Human Versatility III
Enhancement: Human Versatility IV
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Racial Toughness III
Enhancement: Favored Soul Smiting I
Enhancement: Favored Soul Smiting II
Enhancement: Favored Soul Life Magic I
Enhancement: Favored Soul Life Magic II
Enhancement: Favored Soul Life Magic III
Enhancement: Favored Soul Life Magic IV
Enhancement: Favored Soul Energy of the Scion I
Enhancement: Favored Soul Energy of the Scion II
Enhancement: Favored Soul Energy of the Scion III
Enhancement: Favored Soul Energy of the Scion IV
Enhancement: Favored Soul Charisma I
Enhancement: Half-Elf Fighter Strength I
Enhancement: Favored Soul Toughness I
Enhancement: Favored Soul Toughness II
Enhancement: Favored Soul Toughness III
Enhancement: Favored Soul Toughness IV
Enhancement: Favored Soul Wand and Scroll Mastery I
Enhancement: Favored Soul Wand and Scroll Mastery II
Enhancement: Favored Soul Wand and Scroll Mastery III
Enhancement: Favored Soul Wand and Scroll Mastery IV
Feats (in order):
Toughness, Empower Healing, Maximize, Power Attack, Improved Critical Slashing, Quicken, Extend Spell
Reasoning: Maximize at 6th level for the 1st tier of prestige. Empowered healing becomes useful in the mid levels. Quicken is useful at higher levels, especially with heal. Extend is very useful for short buffs like divine power, but since it is only convenience to keep you from casting often mid-combat, I shifted it to later. Feel free to rearrange, of course.
Skills:
Concentration
Jump or Balance (Or UMD, keeping in mind that you may hit only 19-20 with this build)
Spells:
These are my suggestions for 20th level. You may have to swap out spells as you level. For example, you'll need restoration until you get greater restoration, etc...
1: Bless, Divine Favor, Nightshield
2: Cure mod, Resist Energy
3: Cure serious, Mass aid, Prayer, Remove curse
4: Cure critical, Divine Power, FoM, Panacea (or Recitation)
5: Cure light mass, Raise Dead, True Seeing, Divine Punishment (occasionally useful)
6: Heal, Blade Barrier, Cure Mod mass.
7: Greater restoration, Mass protection, Mass spell resist
8: Mass deathward, Death Pact
9: Mass heal, True Res, Energy Drain
Tomes:
I highly recommend a +3 supreme tome at 11th level, and then a lesser reincarnate at some point. This build assumes you have the TP for that.
Strategy:
Simple. Kill stuff that needs to be killed; heal those who need to be healed. Generally, keep on divine power, divine might, bless, etc. In the rare event you can't hit it fast/hard enough, use a human versatility boost.
Ok… Now for the fun part. Let’s talk gear.
First, the overview (Direct link (http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/7459/gearnew.jpg)):
http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/7459/gearnew.jpg
And then the breakdown:
This gear is built on Crystal Cove and Challenge gear. There’s huge pros/cons here.
Pros: No grinding epic quests 100 times only see the scoll/shard/seal you needed desperately needed grabbed by someone for their alt. You run challenges, you trade for gear.
Cons: Crystal Cove is not always open. You need to plan for this build ahead of time. There are some alternative options, and I’ve provided some of them below. (Marked non-CC, where applicable) There is a fair amount of CC gear. You can get it all in one event (I've done it), but it takes serious dedication to the cause for a week or so.
This gear also uses a few tokens. Find a good static group for this. I ran with a group who did colossal crystals and got >1300 epic ingredients per run. That’s 17 epic tokens per hour. At that rate, you will have outfitted everything you have in less time than it would take you to even see your first eSOS shard, probably.
Look carefully at the gear list before discarding any pieces. There’s some great synergies here, like sneak attack 7, and seeker 8.
Trinket: Bold trinket, tier 3. The exceptional seeker and shocking blow are a good combo for extra damage.
Non-CC: few options. Probably archmagi ioun stone for a little boost in SP.
Neck: Torc. Yeah, I hate grinding, and although this is a great idea, it’s the one piece of gear I never bothered to get. It’s pretty easy to grab a +6 con necklace or craft one with a guild augment for a nice HP/SP bonus. When you run Amrath, you can grab one with extra action boosts, too.
Goggles: Cannith crafted +4 attack w/ guild augment for SP/HP bonus. Blindness immunity optional. This requires Yugo favor or unbound marks, but you can craft/buy a +2 attack bonus shard early.
Optional: I don’t miss much, but it is super convenient to have the +4 attack to offset most of your power attack penalty. I guess if I was dying for another Greensteel slot, this you could put a HP item here, but check out the boots, first.
Head: Epic Mask of Comedy. This is the one epic item on my list you have to grind for. Very annoying, but it’s just so darn useful.
Alternately: A pirate hat with Potency 60, or a devotion helm make a nice substitute if paired with a ring of Chr +6. (Don’t worry about ring of the stalker until you get this one or enough tokens to slot Chr +6 on the ring itself.)
Body: Epic Cavalry Plate, Tier 3. I love this armor. Between Demonic Sheild and Con Op, which stack, I get huge temp HPs fairly often. Superior False life + DR + Resist 5. Slotted with toughness. This is a high priority item, and there aren’t too many good substitutes.
Non-CC: Best alt plan to get demonic shield would be epic infested armor and slot toughness and greater false life elsewhere.
Regarding Epic Red Dragonscale Armor:
Why do you need it? What does it give you that you don’t already have when you’re wielding that elemental greataxe? You’re only missing fire guard, but don’t worry, your fire shield will go off often enough. Save yourself months of grinding and skip this one.
Belt: Greensteel Con Op SP item. Yes, an odd slot for an SP item, but look at what other bonuses you get from every other slot. This was the logical choice. Besides, normally you put a Con/HP item here, and that can go on your neck, too, if you don’t have a torc.
Note: I put Wiz VI here because there’s no good place to put a separate archmagi item. At least, not without giving up damage (bold trinket) for SP.
Cloak: Epic Cloak of Flames, Tier 3. At first glance, it looks like a spell caster item, but ignore the combustion, and look at the bonuses you pick up from this item. Inherent Fire resist 10 (Stacks with FvS inherents), fire absorb 20%, fire shield, and +4 AC. And a precious blue augment slot, where heavy fort fits nicely. Your +6 con augment goes nicely here, too.
Bracers: Epic Bracers of Wind, Tier 3. Again, ignore magnetism. Permanent blur, Inherent electric resist 10, air guard, and 3% dodge.
Gloves: Epic Brawling Gloves, Tier 3. Key stats: +7 Str, +4 sneak attack (+4 att/+6 dmg). More on sneak attack in a second.
Non-CC: +6 Str gloves are a dime a dozen. Craft some, and pick up resist +5, too, which you’d be missing from the cavalry plate.
Boots: Cannith boots of propulsion. Ok, I admit it, these aren’t technically needed, but I like the jump/striding. If you didn’t like running fast, or jumping high, this would be a great spot for your second Greensteel item, or better yet:
Optional: Epic Rock Boots, tier 3. Permanent feather fall optional. (You are a FvS, after all). This buys you Inherent Acid Resist 10 + two additional guards. The guard really start to add up if you have this on instead of the prop boots.
Rings:
1) Epic Ring of the Buccaneer, Tier 3. Dex +7, underwater action, good luck +2, protection +5. This is a real convenience item. If you slot Heavy Fort here, then you are essentially saving yourself from having to slot several abilities into yellow/blue augment slots. Like, 110 epic token’s worth.
Non-CC: Make those Greensteel boots a Min-II item to take care of heavy fort/protection. You can easily pick up a Dex +6 ring (even of heavy fort, if you craft it). You can put underwater action on your attack goggles.
2) Epic Ring of the Stalker, Tier 3. This is really a polishing touch. Exceptional sneak +3 will give you +3 att/+5 damage that stacks with the +4/+6 from your gloves. Seeker 6 is nice and stacks with your bold trinket. Manslayer is occasionally useful. Ghostly now stacks with Blurry, giving you an additional 10% miss chance, and saving you from having to cast true seeing for incoporeal creatures.
Alt: Fill this one in last, if you need the ring slot to hold other abilities while gathering other gear - grinding out the epic mask of comedy, for example.
Weapons:
I don’t like swapping items, but you always need a couple of different weapons for different situations.
Default: Epic Elemental Greataxe of Fire. Unless it’s immune to fire & light damage, this is a good default weapon. Good damage, and two separate procs that do good damage. Augment w/ Good to bypass most DR.
Epic Brigand’s Cutlass (Tier 2 if TN, tier 3 if CG) + Epic Swashbuckler (Tier 3). This combo gives you a boost in AC, which at 20th level boosts your miss chance from ~25% to ~45%. It’s significant. It means losing some DPS, but scimitar enhancements kick in, you get a lot more crits, and if you’re upgraded to absolute chaos, then you get very good damage against most opponents. This also gives you vorpal, which is useful.
Non-CC: If True Neutral, you can pick up an unsuppressed Light & Dark shield which comes close to the Swashbuckler.
Terror. What can I say. Even post-nerf, I still like using it.
Crafted +5 holy burst silver falchion of greater evil outsider bane. (w/ augment slot, if you can find it). The use of this should be self-evident. No arti’s needed for raid boss DR breaking.
+5 Bodyfeeder falchion of vampirism. Kinda goes with the temp hitpoint theme.
Falchions and scimitars work well with your seeker bonuses. There’s plenty of other options, too, if you like a weapon for every occasion.
Summary:
That's it. That's my FvS, and honestly, it's the most versatile character I run, and one of the most fun to play – if not the most. And it took less time to gear him up than any of my other 20+'s.
Constructive feedback appreciated.
If you look at nothing else, skip down to the image with the gear setup.
Premise: I set out to build a FvS, and Sirgog’s FvS build is one of the better ones out there. But when I looked at it in detail, the list of required gear to make that build viable is intimidating. For someone who only plays once a week, it would take many months to grind out all the seals, shards, and scrolls needed. Also, until you got that epic gear set, you’d have some real limitations, like good healing amp. It’s a catch-22, where you need good gear to grind out good gear. Above all else, I hate constantly swapping out gear. I want gear I can put on and leave on. More on gear in a minute.
Also, I don’t like builds that start by telling you all the past lives you should have. The game can be fun for 1st life characters as well, and not everyone can grind out a completionist in their free time. So, this build is specifically a 1st life build. Of course, it only gets better with age…
Goals: Damage, Healing, Solo
Pros/Cons (vs Sirgog’s build):
- No threat tanking. (Let’s face it, this isn’t a big loss. There are always better tanks than a FvS.)
+ Anti-tanking. Check the gear section. You’re going to get huge bonuses to att/dmg when you don’t have agro. +7 att/+11 dmg. That adds up.
- WF greatsword specialization
+ Ability to wield any martial weapon without a -4 penalty. Very useful.
- WF +3 DR
+ Normal healing amp, instead of -50%
Now for the details:
Tince’s build.
20 FvS – Half Elf, fighter dilly.
Alignment – TN or CG – True neutral if you can craft superior stability to level. Otherwise, Chaotic Good to have access to absolute chaos and good weapons, as needed for breaking DR at 20th. See weapon section below.
Starting stats – 32 pt build:
STR 16 (put all level stat increases in STR)
DEX 8
CON 16
INT 8
WIS 12
CHA 14
I can't seem to get the Char Generator to spit it out exactly right, by at 20th, you'll have 33 STR, 552+ HP, > 2600 SP, not including guild augments and optional GS HP item. Include those, and you could be > 600HP and ~2800 SP. None of those numbers include ship buffs or yugo pots or any temp buffs. It also doesn't include +1 exceptional augments, which you may acquire over time to even out a stat or two.
Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 03.12.02
DDO Character Planner Home Page (http://www.rjcyberware.com/DDO)
Tince
Level 20 Chaotic Good (or True Neutral) Half-Elf Male
(20 Favored Soul)
Hit Points: 372 (552)
Spell Points: 2020 (2680)
BAB: 15\15\20\25\25
Fortitude: 20
Reflex: 16
Will: 17
Starting Feat/Enhancement
Abilities Base Stats Modified Stats
(32 Point) (Level 1) (Level 20)
Strength 16 33
Dexterity 8 18
Constitution 16 26
Intelligence 10 13
Wisdom 12 21
Charisma 14 26
Tomes Used
+1 Tome of Strength used at level 4
+1 Tome of Dexterity used at level 4
+1 Tome of Constitution used at level 4
+1 Tome of Intelligence used at level 4
+1 Tome of Wisdom used at level 4
+1 Tome of Charisma used at level 4
+2 Tome of Strength used at level 7
+2 Tome of Dexterity used at level 7
+2 Tome of Constitution used at level 7
+2 Tome of Intelligence used at level 7
+2 Tome of Wisdom used at level 7
+2 Tome of Charisma used at level 7
+3 Tome of Strength used at level 11
+3 Tome of Dexterity used at level 11
+3 Tome of Constitution used at level 11
+3 Tome of Intelligence used at level 11
+3 Tome of Wisdom used at level 11
+3 Tome of Charisma used at level 11
Level 20 (Favored Soul) Enhancements:
Enhancement: Favored Soul Ascendency: Undying Court
Enhancement: Favored Soul Angel of Vengeance I
Enhancement: Favored Soul Scimitar Specialization I
Enhancement: Favored Soul Scimitar Specialization II
Enhancement: Human Adaptability Strength I
Enhancement: Human Greater Adaptability Constitution I
Enhancement: Human Improved Recovery I
Enhancement: Human Versatility I
Enhancement: Human Versatility II
Enhancement: Human Versatility III
Enhancement: Human Versatility IV
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Racial Toughness III
Enhancement: Favored Soul Smiting I
Enhancement: Favored Soul Smiting II
Enhancement: Favored Soul Life Magic I
Enhancement: Favored Soul Life Magic II
Enhancement: Favored Soul Life Magic III
Enhancement: Favored Soul Life Magic IV
Enhancement: Favored Soul Energy of the Scion I
Enhancement: Favored Soul Energy of the Scion II
Enhancement: Favored Soul Energy of the Scion III
Enhancement: Favored Soul Energy of the Scion IV
Enhancement: Favored Soul Charisma I
Enhancement: Half-Elf Fighter Strength I
Enhancement: Favored Soul Toughness I
Enhancement: Favored Soul Toughness II
Enhancement: Favored Soul Toughness III
Enhancement: Favored Soul Toughness IV
Enhancement: Favored Soul Wand and Scroll Mastery I
Enhancement: Favored Soul Wand and Scroll Mastery II
Enhancement: Favored Soul Wand and Scroll Mastery III
Enhancement: Favored Soul Wand and Scroll Mastery IV
Feats (in order):
Toughness, Empower Healing, Maximize, Power Attack, Improved Critical Slashing, Quicken, Extend Spell
Reasoning: Maximize at 6th level for the 1st tier of prestige. Empowered healing becomes useful in the mid levels. Quicken is useful at higher levels, especially with heal. Extend is very useful for short buffs like divine power, but since it is only convenience to keep you from casting often mid-combat, I shifted it to later. Feel free to rearrange, of course.
Skills:
Concentration
Jump or Balance (Or UMD, keeping in mind that you may hit only 19-20 with this build)
Spells:
These are my suggestions for 20th level. You may have to swap out spells as you level. For example, you'll need restoration until you get greater restoration, etc...
1: Bless, Divine Favor, Nightshield
2: Cure mod, Resist Energy
3: Cure serious, Mass aid, Prayer, Remove curse
4: Cure critical, Divine Power, FoM, Panacea (or Recitation)
5: Cure light mass, Raise Dead, True Seeing, Divine Punishment (occasionally useful)
6: Heal, Blade Barrier, Cure Mod mass.
7: Greater restoration, Mass protection, Mass spell resist
8: Mass deathward, Death Pact
9: Mass heal, True Res, Energy Drain
Tomes:
I highly recommend a +3 supreme tome at 11th level, and then a lesser reincarnate at some point. This build assumes you have the TP for that.
Strategy:
Simple. Kill stuff that needs to be killed; heal those who need to be healed. Generally, keep on divine power, divine might, bless, etc. In the rare event you can't hit it fast/hard enough, use a human versatility boost.
Ok… Now for the fun part. Let’s talk gear.
First, the overview (Direct link (http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/7459/gearnew.jpg)):
http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/7459/gearnew.jpg
And then the breakdown:
This gear is built on Crystal Cove and Challenge gear. There’s huge pros/cons here.
Pros: No grinding epic quests 100 times only see the scoll/shard/seal you needed desperately needed grabbed by someone for their alt. You run challenges, you trade for gear.
Cons: Crystal Cove is not always open. You need to plan for this build ahead of time. There are some alternative options, and I’ve provided some of them below. (Marked non-CC, where applicable) There is a fair amount of CC gear. You can get it all in one event (I've done it), but it takes serious dedication to the cause for a week or so.
This gear also uses a few tokens. Find a good static group for this. I ran with a group who did colossal crystals and got >1300 epic ingredients per run. That’s 17 epic tokens per hour. At that rate, you will have outfitted everything you have in less time than it would take you to even see your first eSOS shard, probably.
Look carefully at the gear list before discarding any pieces. There’s some great synergies here, like sneak attack 7, and seeker 8.
Trinket: Bold trinket, tier 3. The exceptional seeker and shocking blow are a good combo for extra damage.
Non-CC: few options. Probably archmagi ioun stone for a little boost in SP.
Neck: Torc. Yeah, I hate grinding, and although this is a great idea, it’s the one piece of gear I never bothered to get. It’s pretty easy to grab a +6 con necklace or craft one with a guild augment for a nice HP/SP bonus. When you run Amrath, you can grab one with extra action boosts, too.
Goggles: Cannith crafted +4 attack w/ guild augment for SP/HP bonus. Blindness immunity optional. This requires Yugo favor or unbound marks, but you can craft/buy a +2 attack bonus shard early.
Optional: I don’t miss much, but it is super convenient to have the +4 attack to offset most of your power attack penalty. I guess if I was dying for another Greensteel slot, this you could put a HP item here, but check out the boots, first.
Head: Epic Mask of Comedy. This is the one epic item on my list you have to grind for. Very annoying, but it’s just so darn useful.
Alternately: A pirate hat with Potency 60, or a devotion helm make a nice substitute if paired with a ring of Chr +6. (Don’t worry about ring of the stalker until you get this one or enough tokens to slot Chr +6 on the ring itself.)
Body: Epic Cavalry Plate, Tier 3. I love this armor. Between Demonic Sheild and Con Op, which stack, I get huge temp HPs fairly often. Superior False life + DR + Resist 5. Slotted with toughness. This is a high priority item, and there aren’t too many good substitutes.
Non-CC: Best alt plan to get demonic shield would be epic infested armor and slot toughness and greater false life elsewhere.
Regarding Epic Red Dragonscale Armor:
Why do you need it? What does it give you that you don’t already have when you’re wielding that elemental greataxe? You’re only missing fire guard, but don’t worry, your fire shield will go off often enough. Save yourself months of grinding and skip this one.
Belt: Greensteel Con Op SP item. Yes, an odd slot for an SP item, but look at what other bonuses you get from every other slot. This was the logical choice. Besides, normally you put a Con/HP item here, and that can go on your neck, too, if you don’t have a torc.
Note: I put Wiz VI here because there’s no good place to put a separate archmagi item. At least, not without giving up damage (bold trinket) for SP.
Cloak: Epic Cloak of Flames, Tier 3. At first glance, it looks like a spell caster item, but ignore the combustion, and look at the bonuses you pick up from this item. Inherent Fire resist 10 (Stacks with FvS inherents), fire absorb 20%, fire shield, and +4 AC. And a precious blue augment slot, where heavy fort fits nicely. Your +6 con augment goes nicely here, too.
Bracers: Epic Bracers of Wind, Tier 3. Again, ignore magnetism. Permanent blur, Inherent electric resist 10, air guard, and 3% dodge.
Gloves: Epic Brawling Gloves, Tier 3. Key stats: +7 Str, +4 sneak attack (+4 att/+6 dmg). More on sneak attack in a second.
Non-CC: +6 Str gloves are a dime a dozen. Craft some, and pick up resist +5, too, which you’d be missing from the cavalry plate.
Boots: Cannith boots of propulsion. Ok, I admit it, these aren’t technically needed, but I like the jump/striding. If you didn’t like running fast, or jumping high, this would be a great spot for your second Greensteel item, or better yet:
Optional: Epic Rock Boots, tier 3. Permanent feather fall optional. (You are a FvS, after all). This buys you Inherent Acid Resist 10 + two additional guards. The guard really start to add up if you have this on instead of the prop boots.
Rings:
1) Epic Ring of the Buccaneer, Tier 3. Dex +7, underwater action, good luck +2, protection +5. This is a real convenience item. If you slot Heavy Fort here, then you are essentially saving yourself from having to slot several abilities into yellow/blue augment slots. Like, 110 epic token’s worth.
Non-CC: Make those Greensteel boots a Min-II item to take care of heavy fort/protection. You can easily pick up a Dex +6 ring (even of heavy fort, if you craft it). You can put underwater action on your attack goggles.
2) Epic Ring of the Stalker, Tier 3. This is really a polishing touch. Exceptional sneak +3 will give you +3 att/+5 damage that stacks with the +4/+6 from your gloves. Seeker 6 is nice and stacks with your bold trinket. Manslayer is occasionally useful. Ghostly now stacks with Blurry, giving you an additional 10% miss chance, and saving you from having to cast true seeing for incoporeal creatures.
Alt: Fill this one in last, if you need the ring slot to hold other abilities while gathering other gear - grinding out the epic mask of comedy, for example.
Weapons:
I don’t like swapping items, but you always need a couple of different weapons for different situations.
Default: Epic Elemental Greataxe of Fire. Unless it’s immune to fire & light damage, this is a good default weapon. Good damage, and two separate procs that do good damage. Augment w/ Good to bypass most DR.
Epic Brigand’s Cutlass (Tier 2 if TN, tier 3 if CG) + Epic Swashbuckler (Tier 3). This combo gives you a boost in AC, which at 20th level boosts your miss chance from ~25% to ~45%. It’s significant. It means losing some DPS, but scimitar enhancements kick in, you get a lot more crits, and if you’re upgraded to absolute chaos, then you get very good damage against most opponents. This also gives you vorpal, which is useful.
Non-CC: If True Neutral, you can pick up an unsuppressed Light & Dark shield which comes close to the Swashbuckler.
Terror. What can I say. Even post-nerf, I still like using it.
Crafted +5 holy burst silver falchion of greater evil outsider bane. (w/ augment slot, if you can find it). The use of this should be self-evident. No arti’s needed for raid boss DR breaking.
+5 Bodyfeeder falchion of vampirism. Kinda goes with the temp hitpoint theme.
Falchions and scimitars work well with your seeker bonuses. There’s plenty of other options, too, if you like a weapon for every occasion.
Summary:
That's it. That's my FvS, and honestly, it's the most versatile character I run, and one of the most fun to play – if not the most. And it took less time to gear him up than any of my other 20+'s.
Constructive feedback appreciated.