S&B Pure Human Fighter - 28 Point FtP Build (built by a newb)

[Xianio]

Hello hello all! I'm trying to see if a S&B Fighter has any potential here and I've come looking for your worldly advice as there are many game mechanics I don't yet understand. So, this is what I've come up with:

Human (28 point) - With more points buff up str/con as high as you can.
Str: 16
Dex: 13
Int: 13
Con: 15

Weapon: Bastard Sword (First Blood - as it becomes available)
Shield: Madstone Aegis (Improved Bashing, Shield Bashing - 20% +8) 2(2d10) damage
Armor/Helmet: Black Dragon

Feats - 18
Dodge - Mobility - Spring Attack - Whirlwind
Cleave - Great Cleave
Power Attack
Expertise
Exotic Weapon Prof
Shield Mastery - Improved Shield Mastery - Improved Shield Bash
Two-handed weapon fighting - Improved - Greater
Weapon Focus - Greater Weapon Focus
Improved Critical


Considerations: Dropping Whirlwind and spring attack for both weapon specializations or improved sunder (I don't know how required that skill is)

Epic Feats:
Overwhelming
Bulwark of Defense
Blinding Speed OR Epic Damage Reduction (probably speed as 10 more PRR most likely won't result in a significant change)

Epic Destiny Feats:
Pierce Damage Reduction
Elusive Target


Enhancement Tree:
41 Kensai (for capstone)
39 StD using Tier 5 to max out Repreisal, Block and Cut, 1 point in Reinforced (Shield) + Defensive Sweep

Destiny - Legendary Dreadnaught
Twists - Legendary Shield Mastery (Unyielding)
Twists - Malicious Weapons (Fury)
Twists - Wild Weapons (Fury)

All told this should give me:
Shield Bash while attacking in melee - 55% proc
Very very high AC
Very strong PRR
While being attacked up to +10 damage (Reprisal - I'm guessing 4-6 consistently)
Nearly all of Kensai's dps-boosting enhancements (no tier 5)
13 action boosts per rest.
Glancing blows (2 per sequence) - 59% damage + 18% chance to proc on-hits
Lots of HP

But most importantly, if I'm understanding the way this works correctly:
60% doublestrike all the time
79% doublestrike 50% of the time (provided your attack does damage)

^ I'll explain this -
15% - First Blood (Enhancement Bonus)
8% - Shield Mastery (untyped - stacks)
7% - Legendary Shield Mastery (untyped - stacks)
3% - Black dragon (artifact)
6% - any item that offers it (Morale)
21% - Kensai (Capstone + SwnT: Previously this Kensai was Competence so I'm making an assumption that this has remained true)
25% - Cut and Block (Morale - doesn't stack)

Caveats: If Kensai is morale this number drops substantially. If SwnT is morale remove 6% from each of the originally listed totals.

So, let me know where I've gone wrong, if it's total garbage or if a mechanic doesn't work the way I think it does. :)

Cheers.

[Dartwick]

Why are you planning 3 twists on a 28 point toon?

[unbongwah]

Dex: 13
Int: 13
Con: 15
I prefer to start DEX 12 / CON 16 / INT 12; you need +1 DEX & INT tomes for Dodge & CE, but it puts you a pt closer to epic Toughness if you feel like going for it. :)

Dodge - Mobility - Spring Attack - Whirlwind
I still don't think Whirlwind is worth the feat cost; however D+M is a good idea for a tank (if you can spare the feats), so it's not too big of a stretch to add WW.

Weapon Focus - Greater Weapon Focus
You will also need Weap Spec to take GWF.

Epic Destiny Feats:
Pierce Damage Reduction
Elusive Target
I would take PTHF instead of PDR; and consider PTWF for +5% doublestrike (yes, it applies to THF/S&B too - go figure!).

Enhancement Tree:
41 Kensai (for capstone)
39 StD using Tier 5 to max out Repreisal, Block and Cut, 1 point in Reinforced (Shield) + Defensive Sweep
I strongly suggest investing some APs into human tree for heal amp + dmg boost, if nothing else, which are two of the strong points of human melees.

Shield Bash while attacking in melee - 55% proc
Okay, I know you get 35% from Imp Shield Bash + Shield Striking; where are you getting the extra 20%?

Why are you planning 3 twists on a 28 point toon?
Hey, just because he's a first-lifer doesn't mean he can't get ambitious, eh? ;)

[Xianio]

You will also need Weap Spec to take GWF.

Nuts, well that pretty much seals the deal for whirlwind. I suppose the choice then comes down to greater weapon spec or improved sunder. I can't help but think that giving myself crit chances would be better than +2 damage. Thoughts?


I would take PTHF instead of PDR; and consider PTWF for +5% doublestrike (yes, it applies to THF/S&B too - go figure!).

It's not stated how that's typed on the wiki. Does anyone know if it has one?


I strongly suggest investing some APs into human tree for heal amp + dmg boost, if nothing else, which are two of the strong points of human melees.

I figure that damage boost could be covered in Legendary Dreadnaught but I could also see pulling out the 15% bonus to shield AC and 1 off Reprisal (or maybe all off reprisal if Deadly and it overlap)


Okay, I know you get 35% from Imp Shield Bash + Shield Striking; where are you getting the extra 20%?

Madstone gives +20% that it says stacks with all relevant feats.


Why are you planning 3 twists on a 28 point toon?

Always plan out a full toon. If you don't it's exceptionally difficult to know how it will stack up against actual final builds. This allows me to see generally how well my build will compare to others, therefore letting me know if it's worth pursuing further. :)

[unbongwah]

Madstone gives +20% that it says stacks with all relevant feats.
Historically the Shield Bashing property on shields wasn't WAI and didn't stack with Imp Shield Bash; dunno if it's been fixed in U19. If it has, I'll have to re-examine my S&B gear layout.

[Xianio]

Historically the Shield Bashing property on shields wasn't WAI and didn't stack with Imp Shield Bash; dunno if it's been fixed in U19. If it has, I'll have to re-examine my S&B gear layout.

I'm only working off the items description. It's untested. I'll put some dps numbers up shortly but it's looking like a 1200-1300 dps toon before epic movements - which I don't really understand as of yet :)

[Xianio]

Can glancing blows crit?

Mhmm, I must be doing something wrong. I didn't add in the glancing blow crits (as I didn't know if they did) but with assuming that shield bashing worked as described (55%) and that 5% doublestrike from ranger would work my highest end dps (30% damage boost + 30% haste boost + power attack + perfect rolls on all weapon damages + morale bonus to double strike being up + 5 str tome) was:

3250 and 4785 vs helpless (before epic movement Blitz)

Now I know that would NEVER happen but this seems well beyond what I was expecting. I must be doing something wrong.

Big things to note: I used Deadly 10 and Seeker 10 in my calculations along with 6 reprisal damage, 4 insight bonus to enhancement and 4 vorpal +1's from Legendary Dreadnaught as I thought those would be sustainable numbers.

Anywho, that's what I got. Surprising for a S&B pure fighter.

[unbongwah]

Missed this earlier:

I suppose the choice then comes down to greater weapon spec or improved sunder. I can't help but think that giving myself crit chances would be better than +2 damage.
I like having tactics feats, but you have to work at it to get your DCs high enough to keep them relevant. In particular, figuring out where to slot the gear for DC bonuses; e.g., for Imp Sunder, you'll want Exceptional Combat Mastery +5 (e.g., eSpare Hand (http://ddowiki.com/page/Spare_Hand)) and Shatter +10 (e.g., duergar axe (http://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Duergar_Waraxe_of_the_Weapon_Master)). Considering everything else you want on your gear (e.g., heal & threat amp, stat bonuses, HPs, etc.), DCs may be a bridge too far. But I'm still working on "remixing" my melee builds for U19 as well.

[Xianio]

Very true. The nice thing of course is that Kensai enhancements are pretty good for tactical dc's with a bonus of +5 before gear. So, there's that. :D