vyvy3369
09-08-2016, 02:21 PM
Background
I have played Henry Jones on Sarlona since the beginning. My son's name is Henry, I wasn't going to use my real last name, and it was a fun flavor reference (hence the build title).
He was a Dwarf Fighter for many years, focused on tanking. However, some initial build choices limited what I could do with him. When TRing was introduced, I took the opportunity to fix some of those problems and told myself I was never going to TR again. A year or so passed, I got bored of staying at cap, and I started a Completionist adventure (letting my son pick each class from those remaining). I've since finished Completionist with a scattering of extra heroic classes, Epic Completionist with a scattering of extra epic lives, and have been playing around with various Fighter builds since ~6 months before the Kensei updates. I've tried many different combinations, and have finally settled on one that I am happy with. Henry is now staying at cap, and I've started another character down the TR path.
Build Details
Chaotic Good Bladeforged, 16 Fighter / 3 Bard / 1 Rogue
Note that this requires at least a +1 heart and an alignment change, saving all Bard levels until 16+.
Build Theory
I spend most of my time either solo or raiding. Since I only really play one character, the goal for my final life was to be able to fill many different roles, each at near the capability of someone focusing on one of those roles. This build can DPS, use Tactics, Tank, Trap, and do all levers & runes. Ranged damage is the only area I find lacking.
I have played all of the different fighting styles, and Single Weapon Fighting is by far my favorite. When combined with 3 Bard, it allows for significantly better defense than TWF or THF while maintaining comparable DPS. I see it as kind of a middle ground between Vanguard and full DPS mode. Bucklers also are a great spot to fit in spell power augments, such as Reconstruction to power your BF healing.
One of the trickier aspects is why do I combine Heavy Armor with Bard 3. Skirmisher allows you to benefit from SWF with a Buckler no matter which type of armor you use, giving you a solid offense and defense. You don't gain the dodge bonus which is tied to being Swashbuckling, but dodge chance is admittedly rather low anyway. I have done several epic lives using Light Armor, and while a Light Pick does end up having a very respectable crit range combining Kensei and Swashbuckling, you give up a LOT of PRR/AC and cap your MRR to do so.
Fighter 16 allows access to all of the new Fighter Feats for tactics and heavy armor. That leaves 1 level left to splash, and Rogue fits in nicely - you want high Int anyway, so you have just enough skill points to handle Trapping.
I started off the Bladeforged life by switching to 20 Fighter and gave that a try for a few epic lives. The DPS was very good, but I found myself not being able to tank as well as I like. Splashing does give up a noticeable amount of DPS, but I think that the defensive benefits are worth it.
This build focuses more on taking consistent, manageable chunks of damage combined with BF self-healing. You still want as much avoidance as you can get, but between the high PRR/MRR and easy self-recon, it ends up being very survivable. Adamantine Body means your dodge is very low (mine's at 10%). Displacement helps a lot, and I'm grinding out LGS clickies as I have time. AC does actually result in a significant number of misses, so don't neglect it.
I have done the same build as a Dwarf, and am currently leveling up Sean as a Human. It has better avoidance but self-healing is harder - I found myself almost forced into DC if running challenging content in order to keep healed.
Starting Stats
Str: 18
Dex: 6
Con: 18
Int: 16
Wis: 6
Cha: 8
Tomes
I purchased +7s and use that to qualify for some Feats. If you don't have as high Tomes available, make sure to adjust as necessary.
Skills
Tumble x4, Balance x7, Perform x3, max Disable, max Search, max Intim, Open Lock x12, UMD x12, Repair x4, Spot x4, Swim x4
Leveling Order
I chose Rogue x1, Fighter x1, Bard x3, Fighter x15. In hindsight I could have a slightly higher UMD and/or Open Lock if some of the Bard levels were moved later, but it wasn't worth yet another heart.
AP
APs are very tight on this. There are many ways to allocate them that would work. The parts that I consider required at cap are 16 BF (self-recon + Power of the Forge), 11 Swashbuckler (Skirmisher) and 8 Harper (KtA). This leaves 45 to split between Kensei and SD. With a goal being tanking, I took 13 SD for 20% HP, which leaves 32 for Kensei. You could easily knock that down to 6 SD and take more Kensei. Warchanter also allows 6 AC/6 PRR/1 con for 4 AP.
Feats
There is some flexibility here. Below is what I am currently using. Later I'll try to describe some alternatives that I've either tried or considered.
Adamantine Body
Power Attack
Cleave
Great Cleave
Stunning Blow
Completionist
Single Weapon Fighting
Improved Single Weapon Fighting
Greater Single Weapon Fighting
Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Khopesh
Improved Critical: Slashing
Weapon Focus: Slashing
Weapon Specialization: Slashing
Heavy Armor Champion (12)
Tactical Supremacy (+8)
Shield Mastery
Improved Shield Mastery
Overwhelming Critical
Toughness
Epic Toughness
Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
Dire Charge
Scion of the Plane of Water
Precision
Note that this doesn't take Greater Weapon Focus, which locks out the final 2 tiers of Kensei weapon specialization. As mentioned above, AP was tight anyway, so I didn't complete the Weapon Focus line. If you'd like more focus on DPS, feel free to fit more of these in.
Scion of Arborea is a strong choice, but Water gives 200 spell points, 20 MRR, and the cold damage with an augment is roughly 100 per hit.
Toughness & Epic Toughness are probably my first choice to go if I end up with more HPs next update. I've been holding off on LGS accessories until U32. I may try to fit in a HP set bonus from LGS. I might find that I can slot more Con. I might keep the Feats and swap out the SD 20% HPs.
Shield Mastery & Improved Shield Mastery are another set that could be swapped out based on preference. With a Buckler they grant a combined 8 PRR and 8 doublestrike. Twisting Legendary Shield Mastery is another 15 PRR and 7 doublestrike.
I find myself using Precision in almost all Legendary content. Even with an exceptionally high to-hit, you will be grazing in legendary, and this lets you graze on one fewer roll. It's also very nice for fort bypass such as on portals. However, if you find yourself using Power Attack all the time, such as to power Momentum Swing and Lay Waste, feel free to swap this for something else.
With KtA, I find my tactics DCs work reliably in all content that I run. If you find that not to be the case, feel free to swap in more of the tactics line.
I fit in the highest tier heavy armor champion, but if you find yourself with extra feats, more PRR & MRR would be a fine choice.
Gear
This is very much subject to change with U32 coming soon. For now, my gear is:
Seeker 14/Insightful Seeker 6 goggles of useless caster suffix
Sightless (Draconic Soul Gem, Globe of True Imperial Blood)
Legendary Pendant of the Warrior's Focus (False Life 35)
Legendary Empowered Dragonscale (Fear Immunity) for tanking / Legendary Subtle Sound (Fear Immunity) for DPS
Mysterious Cloak (Good Luck +2, Master's Gift), mostly for the MRR. Legendary Construct's Mantle is another good choice for boosting your recon.
Legendary Animated Rope (Blindness Immunity)
Legendary Ring of Prowess (Natural Armor)
Strength of Repair Amp Gloves
Epic Boots of the Innocent (Protection)
Insightful Con 6 Ring of Sonic Resistance and useless caster prefix
Fortitude 11/Spellsight 21/Insightful Strength 6 Bracers
Docent of the Celestial Avenger (Power 250, Armored Agility 2)
Buckler of the Celestial Solder (Glaciation 138, Reconstruction 138)
For weapons, I mostly use a couple of LGS Khopeshes (Mineral & Radiance, but any of the usual suspects should work fine). TF still works just fine as well. I made a tier 2 LGS Int stick for use with KtA or while trapping.
ED
I typically run in LD for DPS. Anyone trying this build is probably familiar enough to make their own decisions here.
I've tried US, and don't find it to be necessary for tanking. I have enough HP and PRR to survive a single LE Sor'jek hit in LD (most of the time). Feel free to use it if it helps you tank, but IMO it's not necessary.
While running this build as a non-BF, I found myself running almost exclusively in DC. The DPS is reasonable, but it adds a lot more self-healing. However, if going BF you just don't really have to worry about healing as much - a single recon is almost a full heal.
Twists
Many of the usual choices fit in well, but I'll try to list some of the more unusual ones that I've found useful.
Blessed Blades has been very useful for breaking both Good and Chaotic DR.
Legendary Shield Mastery boosts PRR and Doublestrike.
Shield Prowess is a good way to boost your avoidance if you can get a reasonable AC. Similarly, Lithe is 6 AC and 6 reflex saves even in heavy armor.
I have played Henry Jones on Sarlona since the beginning. My son's name is Henry, I wasn't going to use my real last name, and it was a fun flavor reference (hence the build title).
He was a Dwarf Fighter for many years, focused on tanking. However, some initial build choices limited what I could do with him. When TRing was introduced, I took the opportunity to fix some of those problems and told myself I was never going to TR again. A year or so passed, I got bored of staying at cap, and I started a Completionist adventure (letting my son pick each class from those remaining). I've since finished Completionist with a scattering of extra heroic classes, Epic Completionist with a scattering of extra epic lives, and have been playing around with various Fighter builds since ~6 months before the Kensei updates. I've tried many different combinations, and have finally settled on one that I am happy with. Henry is now staying at cap, and I've started another character down the TR path.
Build Details
Chaotic Good Bladeforged, 16 Fighter / 3 Bard / 1 Rogue
Note that this requires at least a +1 heart and an alignment change, saving all Bard levels until 16+.
Build Theory
I spend most of my time either solo or raiding. Since I only really play one character, the goal for my final life was to be able to fill many different roles, each at near the capability of someone focusing on one of those roles. This build can DPS, use Tactics, Tank, Trap, and do all levers & runes. Ranged damage is the only area I find lacking.
I have played all of the different fighting styles, and Single Weapon Fighting is by far my favorite. When combined with 3 Bard, it allows for significantly better defense than TWF or THF while maintaining comparable DPS. I see it as kind of a middle ground between Vanguard and full DPS mode. Bucklers also are a great spot to fit in spell power augments, such as Reconstruction to power your BF healing.
One of the trickier aspects is why do I combine Heavy Armor with Bard 3. Skirmisher allows you to benefit from SWF with a Buckler no matter which type of armor you use, giving you a solid offense and defense. You don't gain the dodge bonus which is tied to being Swashbuckling, but dodge chance is admittedly rather low anyway. I have done several epic lives using Light Armor, and while a Light Pick does end up having a very respectable crit range combining Kensei and Swashbuckling, you give up a LOT of PRR/AC and cap your MRR to do so.
Fighter 16 allows access to all of the new Fighter Feats for tactics and heavy armor. That leaves 1 level left to splash, and Rogue fits in nicely - you want high Int anyway, so you have just enough skill points to handle Trapping.
I started off the Bladeforged life by switching to 20 Fighter and gave that a try for a few epic lives. The DPS was very good, but I found myself not being able to tank as well as I like. Splashing does give up a noticeable amount of DPS, but I think that the defensive benefits are worth it.
This build focuses more on taking consistent, manageable chunks of damage combined with BF self-healing. You still want as much avoidance as you can get, but between the high PRR/MRR and easy self-recon, it ends up being very survivable. Adamantine Body means your dodge is very low (mine's at 10%). Displacement helps a lot, and I'm grinding out LGS clickies as I have time. AC does actually result in a significant number of misses, so don't neglect it.
I have done the same build as a Dwarf, and am currently leveling up Sean as a Human. It has better avoidance but self-healing is harder - I found myself almost forced into DC if running challenging content in order to keep healed.
Starting Stats
Str: 18
Dex: 6
Con: 18
Int: 16
Wis: 6
Cha: 8
Tomes
I purchased +7s and use that to qualify for some Feats. If you don't have as high Tomes available, make sure to adjust as necessary.
Skills
Tumble x4, Balance x7, Perform x3, max Disable, max Search, max Intim, Open Lock x12, UMD x12, Repair x4, Spot x4, Swim x4
Leveling Order
I chose Rogue x1, Fighter x1, Bard x3, Fighter x15. In hindsight I could have a slightly higher UMD and/or Open Lock if some of the Bard levels were moved later, but it wasn't worth yet another heart.
AP
APs are very tight on this. There are many ways to allocate them that would work. The parts that I consider required at cap are 16 BF (self-recon + Power of the Forge), 11 Swashbuckler (Skirmisher) and 8 Harper (KtA). This leaves 45 to split between Kensei and SD. With a goal being tanking, I took 13 SD for 20% HP, which leaves 32 for Kensei. You could easily knock that down to 6 SD and take more Kensei. Warchanter also allows 6 AC/6 PRR/1 con for 4 AP.
Feats
There is some flexibility here. Below is what I am currently using. Later I'll try to describe some alternatives that I've either tried or considered.
Adamantine Body
Power Attack
Cleave
Great Cleave
Stunning Blow
Completionist
Single Weapon Fighting
Improved Single Weapon Fighting
Greater Single Weapon Fighting
Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Khopesh
Improved Critical: Slashing
Weapon Focus: Slashing
Weapon Specialization: Slashing
Heavy Armor Champion (12)
Tactical Supremacy (+8)
Shield Mastery
Improved Shield Mastery
Overwhelming Critical
Toughness
Epic Toughness
Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
Dire Charge
Scion of the Plane of Water
Precision
Note that this doesn't take Greater Weapon Focus, which locks out the final 2 tiers of Kensei weapon specialization. As mentioned above, AP was tight anyway, so I didn't complete the Weapon Focus line. If you'd like more focus on DPS, feel free to fit more of these in.
Scion of Arborea is a strong choice, but Water gives 200 spell points, 20 MRR, and the cold damage with an augment is roughly 100 per hit.
Toughness & Epic Toughness are probably my first choice to go if I end up with more HPs next update. I've been holding off on LGS accessories until U32. I may try to fit in a HP set bonus from LGS. I might find that I can slot more Con. I might keep the Feats and swap out the SD 20% HPs.
Shield Mastery & Improved Shield Mastery are another set that could be swapped out based on preference. With a Buckler they grant a combined 8 PRR and 8 doublestrike. Twisting Legendary Shield Mastery is another 15 PRR and 7 doublestrike.
I find myself using Precision in almost all Legendary content. Even with an exceptionally high to-hit, you will be grazing in legendary, and this lets you graze on one fewer roll. It's also very nice for fort bypass such as on portals. However, if you find yourself using Power Attack all the time, such as to power Momentum Swing and Lay Waste, feel free to swap this for something else.
With KtA, I find my tactics DCs work reliably in all content that I run. If you find that not to be the case, feel free to swap in more of the tactics line.
I fit in the highest tier heavy armor champion, but if you find yourself with extra feats, more PRR & MRR would be a fine choice.
Gear
This is very much subject to change with U32 coming soon. For now, my gear is:
Seeker 14/Insightful Seeker 6 goggles of useless caster suffix
Sightless (Draconic Soul Gem, Globe of True Imperial Blood)
Legendary Pendant of the Warrior's Focus (False Life 35)
Legendary Empowered Dragonscale (Fear Immunity) for tanking / Legendary Subtle Sound (Fear Immunity) for DPS
Mysterious Cloak (Good Luck +2, Master's Gift), mostly for the MRR. Legendary Construct's Mantle is another good choice for boosting your recon.
Legendary Animated Rope (Blindness Immunity)
Legendary Ring of Prowess (Natural Armor)
Strength of Repair Amp Gloves
Epic Boots of the Innocent (Protection)
Insightful Con 6 Ring of Sonic Resistance and useless caster prefix
Fortitude 11/Spellsight 21/Insightful Strength 6 Bracers
Docent of the Celestial Avenger (Power 250, Armored Agility 2)
Buckler of the Celestial Solder (Glaciation 138, Reconstruction 138)
For weapons, I mostly use a couple of LGS Khopeshes (Mineral & Radiance, but any of the usual suspects should work fine). TF still works just fine as well. I made a tier 2 LGS Int stick for use with KtA or while trapping.
ED
I typically run in LD for DPS. Anyone trying this build is probably familiar enough to make their own decisions here.
I've tried US, and don't find it to be necessary for tanking. I have enough HP and PRR to survive a single LE Sor'jek hit in LD (most of the time). Feel free to use it if it helps you tank, but IMO it's not necessary.
While running this build as a non-BF, I found myself running almost exclusively in DC. The DPS is reasonable, but it adds a lot more self-healing. However, if going BF you just don't really have to worry about healing as much - a single recon is almost a full heal.
Twists
Many of the usual choices fit in well, but I'll try to list some of the more unusual ones that I've found useful.
Blessed Blades has been very useful for breaking both Good and Chaotic DR.
Legendary Shield Mastery boosts PRR and Doublestrike.
Shield Prowess is a good way to boost your avoidance if you can get a reasonable AC. Similarly, Lithe is 6 AC and 6 reflex saves even in heavy armor.