Iconic completionist question

[RapkintheRanger]

I have avoided iconic characters, and have done some reading and found a lot of complaints about gimpage and lack of synergy... BUT what i am looking for is this:

If one wanted to do a completionist on the 4 iconic types, what would they build?

It seems that sticking to the path is not a good idea: so leave the hall and make yourself what? is there any synergy there?

[PermaBanned]

I have avoided iconic characters, and have done some reading and found a lot of complaints about gimpage and lack of synergy... BUT what i am looking for is this:

If one wanted to do a completionist on the 4 iconic types, what would they build?

It seems that sticking to the path is not a good idea: so leave the hall and make yourself what? is there any synergy there?

First, I would point out that "Iconic Completionist" is a bit of a misnomer as there is no bonus benefit from getting all Iconic PLs; you just get a collection of PL passive benefits that may or may not be of any use to you and a choice of four toggles of which only one can be active at time.

[RapkintheRanger]

First, I would point out that "Iconic Completionist" is a bit of a misnomer as there is no bonus benefit from getting all Iconic PLs; you just get a collection of PL passive benefits that may or may not be of any use to you and a choice of four toggles of which only one can be active at any time.

That said, the only build I can think of that would benefit from all Iconic PLs would be some kind of War/Bladeforged that uses both Reconstruct (spell, not scroll) Cocoon as Bladeforged gives a passive boost to Repair skill and Morning Lord gives a passive boost to Heal skill. The PDK gives universally useful PRR, and Shadar Kai gives dodge (only helpful if you don't already have max dodge).

Thanks: My thinking was partly this: I do not have completionist -- no where near it -- but i like level 15-28 more than level 1 - 20. My understanding was that if you did an iconic past life (say sharda-kai -- or whatever it is -- as a rogue), you would get both the Shardi Kai and the rogue past life. which would murder two innocent birds with one brutal stone.

[Cardtrick]

That said, the only build I can think of that would benefit from all Iconic PLs would be some kind of War/Bladeforged that uses both Reconstruct (spell, not scroll) Cocoon as Bladeforged gives a passive boost to Repair skill and Morning Lord gives a passive boost to Heal skill. The PDK gives universally useful PRR, and Shadar Kai gives dodge (only helpful if you don't already have max dodge).

Keep in mind that the iconic past life feats have both an active and a passive component, and only one active component out of the 4 can be available at a time.

Bladeforged's boost to Repair spellpower is an active component, so the past life may not be wasted even on non-warforged - the passive component is a boost to fortification, which is useful for everyone.

My Bladed Crusader (https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/440475-Bladed-Crusader-(Bladeforged-Fvs-18-Pal-2)) build would actually benefit from all of these a lot.

Active iconic stance would be the Bladeforged one, to improve the Reconstruct SLA for burst self healing. +15% fortification from passive Bladeforged past life is useful for anyone. +9 positive spellpower from passive Morninglord is useful to improve the Divine Crusader Sacred Ground aura and healing spells to use on others. +9 PRR from PDK passive pastlife is great on a melee build stuck using a docent. +3% Dodge from Shadar-Kai passive past life is great on a melee build without monk levels that can't afford to use a feat on Dodge.

[Cardtrick]

Thanks: My thinking was partly this: I do not have completionist -- no where near it -- but i like level 15-28 more than level 1 - 20. My understanding was that if you did an iconic past life (say sharda-kai -- or whatever it is -- as a rogue), you would get both the Shardi Kai and the rogue past life. which would murder two innocent birds with one brutal stone.

That is correct, you will get both an iconic and a heroic past life. If you enjoy that level range more, than more power to you -- it should work just fine. It's definitely a lot more XP to earn than there is for a heroic TR, but on the other hand, it's faster to earn XP in the epic levels. Certainly less efficient, but it's all about what you're going to enjoy doing.

(On the other hand, most people agree that the epic past lives are more powerful than the iconic past lives, and certainly epic completionist is more appealing since it actually exists. So probably the more "optimal" thing is to combine your heroic past lives with epic past lives, running from 1-28 on a non-iconic, then eTRing down to 20, then heroic TRing back to 1.)

Also, keep in mind that an iconic heart is much, much more expensive in terms of in-game materials than a heroic true heart. If you're buying the hearts in the store, it's not a concern, but if you're grinding for the materials, be warned that earning an iconic or epic heart is quite time consuming. (Whereas a heroic heart is a few hours of work at most.)

[darkly_dreaming]

I just completed a Shader-Kair monk/ranger and found it very playable and fun for a melee. The 1st level of rogue was not a hinderance at all, as I just built in the rogue skills and found them adequate for all but the most top end content.

Granted, this was on my multi-life caster FvS character so she's already heavily invested in Wisdom (tomes, gear, and so on). Nearly no-fail stunning fist, decent ranged DPS - though not top end as I perfered GoF to FotW - acceptable self-healing with appropriate amp items, twists, and UMD.

[PermaBanned]

Bladeforged's boost to Repair spellpower is an active component, so the past life may not be wasted even on non-warforged - the passive component is a boost to fortification, which is useful for everyone. Ah, my bad. Memory was dyslexic on that one.

[unbongwah]

My understanding was that if you did an iconic past life (say sharda-kai -- or whatever it is -- as a rogue), you would get both the Shardi Kai and the rogue past life. which would murder two innocent birds with one brutal stone.
Correct (http://ddowiki.com/page/Iconic_True_Reincarnation).