Viable Favored Soul Build?

[marinerfan]

Greetings,

I am about to TR my wizard into a favored soul and am curious if this build would work.

I am not really interested in "endgame" playing, but it would be nice if I could run EH content with this guy (in a group..don't need to be able to solo most stuff).

Goals of the build:
- Raid healer
- Decent spell dps, using blade barrier mostly. Also considering necro spells for instakilling
- Ok DR and melee damage for when I run out of magic - I want to sword and board mostly since I will have concopp

Here's the layout of the build, I can't figure out how to export with the generator I used, so please bear with me :/

Human, 34 point build
Stats:
14 Str
12 Dex
16 Con
10 Int
16 Wis
10 Cha

Diety: the one that lets me use longswords

Feats (in a not very specific order):
-Toughness
- Shield Mastery
- Quicken Spell
- Improved Shield Mastery
- Empower Healing
- Maximize
- Spell focus & Improved spell focus (either necromancy or evocation)


Here are my main questions:
1) Is it worth dropping con and wis to 16 in order to have a slightly higher str, dex, and int (thinking I'll drop at least int to 8 because with a +2 tome I could fill UMD, concentration, jump, and had some points in heal)

2) Do the feats look reasonable? and Which spell line do you prefer?

3) If you are still reading, and trying to respond to my post, you are a warrior of this stupid new forum system!

[marinerfan]

I ended up rolling up a character very close to this, I will try to keep this updated a bit in case anyone is looking for an alternate to Novasoul, the only other Favored Soul build on these here forums. I will also try to note any deviations to the planned path.

One such deviation I'm already considering is taking the Wizard Past life, rather than spell focus..since it'll give me a +1 DC to both evo and necro, plus I'd get magic missiles I'd never be using :D

Will update with a progress report later, if I can successfully log back onto this cluster**** of a forum.

Cheers!

P.S. If you happen to find Nephron on the Sarlona server, I will be willing to heal for groups in exchange for you carrying me through the quest. Just /tell me and use the code word "Please", as I use that to filter out parties full of young'uns that haven't learned their manners, and won't get off my lawn. If I have time, and I own the pack you want to run, chances are I'll be game.

[ForumAccess]

Here are my main questions:
1) Is it worth dropping con and wis to 16 in order to have a slightly higher str, dex, and int (thinking I'll drop at least int to 8 because with a +2 tome I could fill UMD, concentration, jump, and had some points in heal)

2) Do the feats look reasonable? and Which spell line do you prefer?

3) If you are still reading, and trying to respond to my post, you are a warrior of this stupid new forum system!

1) 16 CON is fine. 16 WIS, not so much.

2) Your Spell Focuses won't do very much for you without the Spell Penetration feats to go along with them. And really, the PRR gain from Shield Mastery is not all that impressive. You might consider swapping out these lines. Also, PL Wizard is going to get you more mileage than Spell Focus will. Necro focuses Favored Souls work out very well, so long as you gear and stat them appropriately, but Evocation is also a viable path.

I am not entirely sure what you mean by 'spell lines'? There is very little in the way of options, really.... take all of the alignment and light enhancements that you can, and a solid investment in the healing spell power ones.

3) And had to log in twice to respond. Sigh.

[marinerfan]

1) 16 CON is fine. 16 WIS, not so much.

2) Your Spell Focuses won't do very much for you without the Spell Penetration feats to go along with them. And really, the PRR gain from Shield Mastery is not all that impressive. You might consider swapping out these lines. Also, PL Wizard is going to get you more mileage than Spell Focus will. Necro focuses Favored Souls work out very well, so long as you gear and stat them appropriately, but Evocation is also a viable path.

I am not entirely sure what you mean by 'spell lines'? There is very little in the way of options, really.... take all of the alignment and light enhancements that you can, and a solid investment in the healing spell power ones.

3) And had to log in twice to respond. Sigh.

Thanks for the input.

I already rolled him up, but have the free LR so if my choices were bad enough I can correct them.

1) I did 16 wis, we'll see how it goes...My aim of the build is not to get through end-game SR, but I do want to be somewhat useful while elite streaking up to 20 and running around eveningstar.

2) good advice. Looking back, yeah shield feats are kind of weak...not worth 2 feats when I can probably crank up my spell penetration. I think I'll do shield mastery until around level 12ish, then LR once I have spells that would require spell penetration.

By 'spell lines' i meant "evocation vs light vs necro". I think I'm going to lean towards evocation only because I'll duo mostly with an assassin so I think me grabbing aggro of everything with a well placed blade barrier will be a little more effective, but this is still in the air - I could see both of us insta-killing everything being super fun.

Also, liking what the wiz past life is looking like and am definitely planning to take it rather than spell focus.
EDIT
3) I didn't mention anything about the forums because I was fully expecting to have to log back in to successfully post this, but it actually worked! On the first try!

[mishraif]

Might want a little more charisma.....12 min but I would put at least 14

[marinerfan]

Might want a little more charisma.....12 min but I would put at least 14

I was told all charisma does is give me slightly more SP and to cast level 9 spells it needs to be at 19 - is there something else I'm missing? My understanding was cha is about as important for a fvs as it is for a bard that isn't spell focused

I was just planning to go +2 tome, +6 item, + ship buff, +exceptional cha to reach 19 (or even fvs cha enhancement since spell crits have been nerfed)

[FestusHood]

I was told all charisma does is give me slightly more SP and to cast level 9 spells it needs to be at 19 - is there something else I'm missing? My understanding was cha is about as important for a fvs as it is for a bard that isn't spell focused

I was just planning to go +2 tome, +6 item, + ship buff, +exceptional cha to reach 19 (or even fvs cha enhancement since spell crits have been nerfed)

I don't think i would want to rely on a ship buff to be able to cast 8th and 9th level spells. If you die in quest, it will be gone. Also, you may not want to run back to the ship to buff after every single quest you run. But you will have to.

[unbongwah]

CHA base 8 + 2 tome + 2 capstone + 8 item (e.g., epic Ghost-Waking Cloak (http://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Ghost-Waking_Cloak)) = 20 by endgame. Anything more is just a safety buffer, IMHO.

[FestusHood]

CHA base 8 + 2 tome + 2 capstone + 8 item (e.g., epic Ghost-Waking Cloak (http://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Ghost-Waking_Cloak)) = 20 by endgame. Anything more is just a safety buffer, IMHO.

What about before endgame though? Personally i would want some hardware making sure i was able to cast all my spells as soon as they became available.

[marinerfan]

I don't think i would want to rely on a ship buff to be able to cast 8th and 9th level spells. If you die in quest, it will be gone. Also, you may not want to run back to the ship to buff after every single quest you run. But you will have to.

Agreed, that'd suck. As it is I'll be sitting at an easy 18 (10 base, 2 tome, 6 item), without using the capstone, ship buffs, exceptional cha, or anything better than a +6 cha item - so hopefully I won't have any troubles unless I'm fighting cha draining enemies?

Worst case scenario, I'll just buy a +3 cha tome if I really need it.

[unbongwah]

What about before endgame though? Personally i would want some hardware making sure i was able to cast all my spells as soon as they became available.
Worst case, you pick up some CHA enhs to tide you over while leveling. But I'm showing what's possible, not necessarily what I would do. :)

[FestusHood]

Agreed, that'd suck. As it is I'll be sitting at an easy 18 (10 base, 2 tome, 6 item), without using the capstone, ship buffs, exceptional cha, or anything better than a +6 cha item - so hopefully I won't have any troubles unless I'm fighting cha draining enemies?

Worst case scenario, I'll just buy a +3 cha tome if I really need it.

In the reign of madness pack, there is a xoriat summoning trinket that has an exceptional charisma plus one on it. Minimum level 15. But you might not want to wear that all the time. Probably easier just to take one of the enhancements. The first one is only 2 ap.

If you get ego whipped, just make sure you have some restoration scrolls, or potions on hand.

[SirValentine]

...am curious if this build would work.

I am not really interested in "endgame" playing, but it would be nice if I could run EH content with this guy (in a group..don't need to be able to solo most stuff).


Yes, it will work. eHard, in a group? You'd have to deliberately sabotage your build for it not to work.



1) Is it worth dropping con and wis to 16 in order to have a slightly higher str, dex, and int


Is it worth raising Con to 16 and giving yourself lower Dex, Int, etc.?



Your Spell Focuses won't do very much for you without the Spell Penetration feats to go along with them.

Most mobs don't have Spell Resistance, so Spell Penetration is completely irrelevant with them.

Quite a few mobs with Spell Resistance have fairly low Spell Resistance, so going heavy on Spell Penetration is wasted overkill. Especially only on Hard, which is what the OP specified.

Even on mobs with high Spell Resistance, one can instead use spells that bypass it, once again rendering your Spell Pen pointless.

DC will matter every single time. Your DC is vastly more important than your Spell Pen.

[marinerfan]

Yes, it will work. eHard, in a group? You'd have to deliberately sabotage your build for it not to work.

SirValentine, you'd be surprised by some of my other characters I think :p

Planning to probably take a cha enhancement..usually I have a few points leftover so I may just keep it as one of the things I spend AP on.

Aside from that, the build is a work in progress - he's at level 5 right now and I'm taking all the feats I know for sure I want...so that I can waffle on the last few when I hit higher levels (leaning towards SF: Necro, tomorrow I'll probably want Spell Pen, etc). Not much fun being a low level favored soul, I'm finding...but at least the rare occasion I want to PUG, I am a capable nannybot, even for those warforged pallys/barbarians due to my massive sp pool.

Also, since when did mental toughness grant 1% crit chance?!

[DiamondPrinceJC]

I have a FvS that I am making more of a CC and healer. I took SF:enchant for better commanding. He also is a follower of SH so he is a S&B right now,. I did splash a figher lever for full/half plate as his dex is low. He can also use warhammers for bludgeon damage which I really like for the x3 instead of the x2 you get with Heavy Maces and Morningstars. Let me know if I totally gimped him or if you have suggestions.