12 Artificer 6 Fighter 2 Monk Reaper Build

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I originally designed this build for heroic racial reincarnations and reaper xp. I am currently running the build on Randomall (Alt #4) of Sarlona. I started last week with 0 reaper action points and now have 15 reaper action points after running mostly at-level 3 skulls with some 4 skull and 2 skull mixed in when joining other groups. About one-third of my runs were solo. My best guess is that I can solo about 80-90% of the content at 3 skulls reaper. The runs got much easier as I progressed from 0 reaper points to 15 reaper points.

I originally built the character with just 1-20 racial reincarnation in mind, but will be running epics as well due to all the tasty rxp that can be gained from a quick epic life. It was built with the new U36 artificer benefits in mind. The build is based on a previous 10 artificer 8 fighter 2 monk build that was designed before the U36 artificer changes.

The idea of the build is to front-load as much power early through multi-classing. The build is solid from level 1 to Level 30. It's not a max dps build instead the goal of the build is to solo a high percentage of content at 3 skulls to start and higher as reaper xp is gained. The dps is still solid on the build.

Another goal of the build is maximum reaper xp which is obtained with the trap bonus and fewer deaths compared to many other builds. In addition, self healing is an important goal in reaper and this build self-heals and provides emergency healing for the party via scrolls. As an artificer the build is able to maximize both UMD and concentration which makes scroll healing more effective. As an added bonus artificers get bonus caster levels with scrolls.

This thread will be different than most of my build threads which are focused on a capped character since the focus here is reincarnation and leveling. So the build will explain level up changes by level.

Level 1-9 Plan: https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/488109-12-Artificer-6-Fighter-2-Monk-Reaper-Build?p=5995677&viewfull=1#post5995677

Level 10-20 Plan: https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/488109-12-Artificer-6-Fighter-2-Monk-Reaper-Build?p=5995680&viewfull=1#post5995680

One of the most common questions I get is why 6 fighter and 2 monk instead of 8 more artificer for deadly weapons, +4 int and the other benefits.

I get the following benefits:
- 25 PRR and 15 MRR from stalwart defender defense stance for 6 AP which helps me survive melee hits from carnage reaper or champions of cruelty.
- 4 net feats (6 feats instead of 2)
- Extra dodge and dodge cap from the feats, Kensai and monk auto-granted dodge
- Evasion with Insightful Reflexes
- Higher saves from class choices
- 10 more healing amp for 1 action point in shintao
- Improved Critical, Improved Precise Shot (Higher BAB) and +1 crit multiplier (Kensai 11 ap vs Artificer capstone) sooner
- The fighter levels 3-4 and monk levels 5-6 let me front-load ranged feats early. By level 6 I have all the key ranged feats, completionist and insightful reflexes.

This is a leveling build not a build intended to sit at cap. If I was planning to stay at cap I would squeeze in the extra 2 int among other changes. It needs to be race-neutral and in my opinion should be able to solo most content even if planning to group.

Since some players may not understand why I am listing nightshield scrolls. One of the spells reapers and some champs cast is magic missle. Since there is no save and the spell can't be evaded a crit can kill you or take your life so low you can easily be killed. Casting nightshield whenever it's coming off timer will prevent alot of deaths from magic missle.

At level 30 thrower is still the best ranged build despite the changes to AA as the high attack speed combined with sneak damage and ender is simply amazing. Mechanics are also better at 30 in my opinion, but both builds are more painful to level. So if you are looking for a build to get to 30 and stay there I would look at thrower first and secondly mechanic. Thrower is a high investment high reward build. Mechanic is an easy-button relatively speaking. You get a lot of power without farming for past lifes and gear.

The build earns approximately 124,917 rxp from 1 to 20 running R3. So if you did 30 heroic 1-20 lifes you would end up with just under 4 million rxp You will nearly double that if you run from 1-30 rather than just 1-20.

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Reaper is intended for experienced players using accomplished characters. There are some builds that don't benefit much from past lifes such as various blasting warlock builds.

Ranged builds benefit tremendously from past lifes:
+6 damage from 3x ranger past lifes
+3 damage from 3x monk past lifes
+30 healing amplification from 3x paladin past lifes
+ 3 enhancement bonus from 3x arcane past lifes (translates to +3 damage and attack)
+9% doubleshot bonus from 3x primal past lifes

In addition an upgraded quiver of alacrity or the old cannith crafting enable you to get 10% ranged alacrity at level 1. Those items are harder to get now.

If you want to run elite you can run this build as a first lifer and crush content. You can perform ok in reaper, but I would suggest at a minimum you try for the following:

- 3 ranger lifes
- 3 monk lifes
- 3 primal lifes (double shot)
- 3 arcane lifes (enchant weapon).

Nice to haves
- 3 paladin lifes for Healing Amp
- 3 divine lifes for brace
- 3 martial lifes for skill focus

These aren't absolutely essential at the moment because to the extent your dps is lower, you can make up for that in heroic content with a vorpal and later an improved vorpal weapon. I will discuss that more a little later. However, if you focus on ranger and monk past lifes first it will make those reaper lifes a little easier.

My UMD benefits from completionist (+2), epic past life skill focus (+3) and elite spider cult mask (+1) which was a motu pre-order cosmetic item. If you don't have these things you might want to start with a higher charisma (lowering con and/or strength) and in addition take skill focus UMD in place of completionist. UMD is a key aspect of this build. Getting to the required UMD for raise scrolls, heal scrolls and resurrection scrolls requires maxing UMD, the benefits just mentioned, heroism/greater heroism and a charisma item (ins cha at higher levels). If you are running the build with some changes based on your play style I wouldn't short-change UMD as one of those changes.

Keeping heroism potions or the greater heroism scroll buff going at all times for the extra +2/+4 skills which includes UMD. One of the greatest benefits a multi-lifer has is higher UMD for heroic levels, but you can work around this by making the right choices.

To the extent you don't have many past life benefits or optimal gear and still run the build, using a vorpal weapon will be more important. I don't find vorpal all that useful until the mid teen levels when improved vorpal becomes available because my dps is good, however without the +12 per bolt from past lifes and optimal gear it will take more hits to kill enemies and vorpal will become more important as it will proc more frequently before you kill enemies. So focus heavily on vorpal if your damage seems light. It's the great equalizer of reaper. Farm quick quests frequently at levels you are mainly artificer to check for good vorpal weapons in the end reward list. Repeaters drop rarely during a life, but you will see a few in every end reward list when you have more artificer levels than anything else including most harbor quests where I've found some absolute gems. At a minimum run the finding meridia quest your first life to find a good low level vorpal weapon.

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Level 2-9 Suggested Cannith Crafted Gear. Use random gear if you can't make these, but make leveling your cannith crafting should be part of your plan as finding the exact gear you need for each level range is tough.
----------------
Helm: Int/Accuracy
Necklace: Spell Saves/Spot
Trinket: Strength / Tendon Slice (or alternatively Strength / Ranged Alacrity)
Cloak: Mysterious Cloak (starting at level 7) [Feather Fall + Master's Gift Augment]
Belt: Dodge / False Life
Ring 1: Constitution / Sheltering
Gloves: Doubleshot / Healing Amp
Boots: Rock Boots at level 4
Ring 2: Charisma / Protection
Bracers: Resistance / Fortification
Armor: Fearsome / Invulnerability with Master's Gift Augment (level 1 only - I don't upgrade) until level 7 then I start using Frozen Tunic
Goggles: Seeker / Deadly (Swap goggles: Search/True Sight and Disable/Open Lock)
Weapons: By Level
Rune Arms: By Level (Concentration crafted on)
Quiver: Upgraded Quiver of Alacrity if you have it (Striding 30% and Ranged Alacrity 10%)
Elite Spider Cult Mask if you have it (+1 to skills)

Vorpal weapons: Try and grab every vorpal weapon you can (mostly from end rewards). They are extremely powerful with repeaters since it has 3-4 chances per attack. If it takes more than 4-5 hits to take down enemies vorpal is almost always the way to go. The extra base damage and kill chance is worth more than any prefix+suffix in this game.

If you are lucky enough to find a level 4 keen /vorpal with slot add ghostbase augment and you are set for most quests in the game for several levels. Check your end reward lists they drop in the harbor quests as end rewards.

LEVEL 1
----------
Class: Artificer
Race: Any
Feats: Point Blank Shot (General)
Starting Stats (36 pt build) - Generic - tweak as needed for each race

Str: 14
Int: 16
Wis: 8
Dex: 16 (you will need +3 tome to get improved precise shot and +5 tome to get combat archery at 21)
Con: 16
Char: 8

Alternatively you can max int to 18 and start strength at 8 but realistically carrying capacity is a real issue during heroic leveling. I ran with Int 18/St 8 and Int 16/St 14 and noticed no difference other than load issues. Starting with a strength of 8 requires keeping small stacks of potions and scrolls and swapping quest-specific weapons between quests.

Skill Points (28)
- Concentration +4
- Disable Device +4
- Open Lock +4
- Search +4
- Spot +4
- UMD + 4
- Tumble +1 (2 points)
- Jump +1 (2 points)

Spells Added:
- Conjure Bolts
- Enchant Weapon

Weapons (used level 1 for Kobold's New Ringleader Only):
- Light / Keen (Kobolds)
- Ghost Touch / Lawful Outsider Bane (Reapers)

Note: If you have a min level 1 festival icy burst lacerating weapon this is good for the early levels and can replace other weapons.

Armor
- Fearsome / Invulnerability with Master's Gift Slotted - used until Level 7. Ideally with first stone of change hardening ritual.

Other Gear:
- upgraded Quiver of Alacrity if you have it (or ranged alacrity item from old cannith crafting - these are nice to have but not necessary)
- Deadly +1 item
- Necklace of Contemplation
- Boots of the Long Step
- Harper Pin, Greater (Favor Reward)
- Cursed Blade of Jack Jibbers

That is all I use for level 1 and then I start using gear level 2

Consumables to Add:
- Potions of Blindness Removal (Jalin Kalabrey Potion Vendor Center of Marketplace)
- Potions of Poison Neutralization (Jalin Kalabrey Potion Vendor Center of Marketplace)
- Potions of Disease Removal (Jalin Kalabrey Potion Vendor Center of Marketplace)
- Potions of Lesser Restoration (Jalin Kalabrey Potion Vendor Center of Marketplace) - Note these are near useless in reaper but only option until level 5
- Potions of Curse Removal (Jalin Kalabrey Potion Vendor Center of Marketplace)
- Potions of Cure Serious Wounds (Elmar Flask Guild Potion Vendor House K)
- Potions of Haste (Elmar Flask Guild Potion Vendor House K)
- Potions of Heroism (Elmar Flask Guild Potion Vendor House K)
- Scrolls of Cure Moderate Wounds (Aulandar Thistlecrown House J House of Wizardry)
- Scrolls of Nightshield (Lorna Wyrmtouched Arcane Scroll Vendor Level 1 Center of Marketplace)
- Small stack of scrolls of jump (Lorna Wyrmtouched Arcane Scroll Vendor Level 1 Center of Marketplace)
- Scrolls of Blur (Morna Wyrmtouched Arcane Scroll Vendor Level 2 Center of Marketplace)
- Eternal Flask of Free Movement (available from remnant vendor at times)
- Eternal Flask of Stoneskin (available from remnant vendor at times)
- Scrap Metal From a Forge (Taniera Grisvill Artificer Scroll Vendor House Cannith)
- Don't forget to set your racial enhancement points if you have any from past lifes

Self Healing on 3 skulls:
Cure Serious Wounds Potions: 8-12 life
Cure Moderate Wounds Scrolls: 5-7 life (these are for healing others rather than self)

Questing:
I usually just run Kobold's New Ringleader on 3 skull reaper. Then repeat on Elite, Hard and Normal as needed until you reach level 2. Level up immediately there is no reason to bank xp.

LEVEL 2
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Class: Artificer
Feats: None
Stat Increase: None

Skill Points (8)
- Concentration +1
- Disable Device +1
- Open Lock +1
- Search +1
- Spot +1
- UMD + 1
- Jump +.5 (1 point)

Spell Added:
- Enchant Armor

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Harper: Agent of Good,
- Harper: Harper Enchantment
- Harper: Strategic Combat I
- Harper: Know the Angles x3

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- Good / Undead Bane

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- Cannith Crafting Gear Added
- Rune Arm Added (Flame Warden from Waterworks or Thought Spike from Redemption)

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- No Changes

Self Healing on 3 Skulls:
Cure Serious Wounds Potions: 8-12 life
Cure Moderate Wounds Scrolls: 5-7 life (these are for healing others rather than self)

LEVEL 3
----------
Class: Fighter
Feats: Rapid Shot (Fighter Feat), One of Completionist/Barbarian Past Life/Skill Focus UMD/Toughness (General Feat).
Stat Increase: +1 to each stat where you have a +1 tome or better

Skill Points (5)
- Search +1 (2 points)
- UMD + 1 (2 points)
- Jump +1

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Harper: Intelligence (Core 2)
- Harper: Strategic Combat II

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- None

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- Upgrade Rune Arm to Flicker (Seal of Shan-to-Kor end reward and/or Candlelight (Catacombs end reward)

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- Scrolls of Cure Serious Wounds (Aulandar Thistlecrown House J House of Wizardry) instead of Scrolls of Cure Moderate Wounds

Self Healing on 3 Skulls:
Cure Serious Wounds Potions: 8-12 life
Cure Serious Wounds Scrolls: 9-13 life

LEVEL 4
----------
Class: Fighter
Feats: Precise Shot (Fighter Feat)
Stat Increase: Intelligence +1 (Level Up)

Skill Points (6)
- Disable Device +1 (2 points)
- UMD + 1 (2 points)
- Jump +2

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Arcanotechnician: Archanotechnician (Core 1)
- Arcanotechnician: Wand and Scroll Mastery x3

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- Cannith Crafting Level 4 Weapons have 2 dice instead of 1
- Cannith Crafting Clothing and Jewelry upgraded
- Light / Bludgeoning as general purpose weapon
- Light / Keen
- Ghost Touch / Lawful Outsider Bane for reapers
- Metalline / Aligned

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- Set your Reaper Points - you can start using these at level 4.

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- None

Self Healing on 3 skulls:
Cure Serious Wounds Potions: 8-12 life
Cure Serious Wounds Scrolls: 18-25 life

LEVEL 5
----------
Class: Monk
Feats: Precision (Monk Feat)
Stat Increase: None

Skill Points (6)
- Concentration +3
- UMD +1 (2 skill points)
- Spot +1

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Shintao: Bastion of Purity (Core 1)
- Battle Engineer: Battle Engineer (Core 1)
- Battle Engineer: Crossbow Training (Tier 1)

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- None

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- Upgrade Rune Arm to Chimera's Breath (Sentinel's of Stormreach end reward)
- Cannith Crafting Clothing and Jewelry upgraded
- Pale Lavender Ioun Stone
- Visor of the Flesh Render Guards (I carry 5 of these all the way to cap - they weight 1/10 of a pound each)

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- Scrolls of Cure Critical Wounds (Aulandar Thistlecrown House J House of Wizardry) instead of Scrolls of Cure Serious Wounds
- Scrolls of Restoration (Aulandar Thistlecrown House J House of Wizardry)
- Scrolls of Stone Skin (Taniera Grisvill Artificer Scroll Vendor House Cannith)
- Web traps (made with web scrolls, magical trap parts, mechanical trap parts - situationally useful)

Self Healing on 3 skulls:
Cure Serious Wounds Potions: 8-12 life
Cure Critical Wounds Scrolls: 25-35 life

LEVEL 6
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Class: Monk
Feats: Insightful Reflexes (General), Dodge (Monk)
Stat Increase: None

Skill Points (5)
- Concentration +1
- Spot +3
- UMD +1 (2 skill points)

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Field Scrapper x2 (leave 2 open for defensive stance next level)

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- None

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- None

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- No Changes

Self Healing on 3 skulls:
Cure Serious Wounds Potions: 8-12 life
Cure Critical Wounds Scrolls: 25-35 life

LEVEL 7
----------
Class: Fighter
Feats: None
Stat Increase: +1 to each stat where you have a +2 tome or better

Skill Points (6)
- Concentration +1 (2 skill point)
- Jump +2
- UMD +1 (2 skill points)

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Stalwart Defender: Toughness (Core 1)
- Stalwart Defender: Durable Defense x3
- Stalwart Defender: Stalwart Defensive Mastery x1
- Stalwart Defender: Stalwart Defense (Core 2)

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- None

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- Cannith Crafting Clothing and Jewelry upgraded
- Mysterious Cloak added (feather fall +master's gift slotted)
- Frozen Tunic replaces fearsome/invulnerability armor

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- Scrolls of Raise Dead (Aulandar Thistlecrown House J House of Wizardry)
- Scrolls of Teleport (Franz Alastor House K Arcane Scroll Vendor)

Self Healing on 3 skulls:
Cure Serious Wounds Potions: 8-12 life
Cure Critical Wounds Scrolls: 26-37 life

LEVEL 8
----------
Class: Artificer
Feats: None
Stat Increase: +1 Intelligence (Level Up)

Skill Points (9)
- Concentration +1
- Disable Device + 4
- Search +3
- UMD +1

Spell Added:
- Elemental Weapons

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Battle Engineer: Field Scrapper x2
- Battle Engineer: Crossbow Training (Tier 2)

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- None

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- Frozen Tunic upgraded from level 4 version to level 8

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- Two-Headed Coins (Taniera Grisvill Artificer Scroll Vendor House Cannith)

Self Healing on 3 skulls:
Cure Serious Wounds Potions: 8-12 life
Cure Critical Wounds Scrolls: 26-37 life

LEVEL 9
----------
Class: Fighter
Feats: Combat Casting (General), Weapon Focus Ranged (Fighter) - before commenting on Combat Casting see notes in Level 12 section for explanation
Stat Increase: None

Skill Points (7)
- Concentration +1 (2 points)
- Jump +3
- UMD +1 (2 points)

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Battle Engineer: Action Boost Power x3
- Battle Engineer: Infused Armor (Core 3)

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- Cannith Crafting Weapon Upgrade (3 dice instead of 2)
- Chaotic/ Construct Bane,
- Metalline / Aligned

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- None

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- Scrolls of Heal (Aulandar Thistlecrown House J House of Wizardry)
- Scrolls of Greater Heroism (Franz Alastor House K Arcane Scroll Vendor)
- Scrolls of True Seeing (Franz Alastor House K Arcane Scroll Vendor)

Self Healing on 3 skulls:
Heal Scrolls: 128 Life

For Level 10 see the next section - I meant for this section to be 1-9. Starting at level 10 a bonus slot is available in Cannith crafting.

[slarden]

Level 10-20 Suggested Cannith Crafted Gear. Use random gear if you can't make these, but make leveling your cannith crafting should be part of your plan as finding the exact gear you need for each level range is tough.

This is what I think is ideal gear - it's not needed, just helpful
----------------
Helm: Intelligence/Accuracy/Insightful Intelligence
Necklace: Spell Saves/Spot/ Insightful Charisma
Trinket: Armor Piercing/Ranged Alacrity/Ins Deadly
Cloak: Mysterious Cloak [Feather Fall + Master's Gift Augment]
Belt: Dodge / Natural Armor / Insightful Dodge
Ring 1: Constitution / False Life / Insightful Constitution
Gloves: Doubleshot / Healing Amp/Insightful Tendon Slice
Boots: Greensteel Smoke Boots (Blur/Displacement Clickie starting at 11) or Rock Boots
Ring 2: Charisma / Protection /Insightful Spell Saves
Bracers: Resistance / Insightful PRR / Sheltering (Slot Heavy Fortification Augment somewhere)
Armor: Frozen Tunic and later Combat Mastery/Insightful Combat Mastery/Parrying
Goggles: Seeker / Deadly / Tendon Slice (Swap goggles: Search/Insightful Search and Disable Device/Open Lock/Insightful Disable Device)
Weapons: By Level
Rune Arms: By Level (Concentration/ Insightful Concentration)
Quiver: Upgraded Quiver of Alacrity if you have it (Striding 30% and Ranged Alacrity 10%), Elite Quiver of Poison at Level 14
Elite Spider Cult Mask if you have it (+1 to skills)

Important Augments to Note:
- Heavy Fortification
- Immunity to Fear
- Deathblock (starting at level 12)
- Vitality +20
- Strength +x (for carrying capacity)
- Striding XX% (if you don't have quiver which I don't on Randomall)

I use stone of change ritual on my con/false life ring for stacking +1 to saves

LEVEL 10
----------
Class: Artificer
Feats: Improved Critical Ranged (Artificer)
Stat Increase: None

Skill Points (9)
- Concentration +1
- Disable Device +2
- Search +3
- Spot +2
- UMD +1

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Battle Engineer: Crossbow Training (Tier 3)
- Battle Engineer: Extra Action Boost x1

Spells Added:
- Byeshk Weapons

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- Cannith Crafting Weapon Upgrade (3 dice and [1.5] instead of 3 dice and [1]). These weapons work from 10-14
- Light / Bludgeon Damage
- Light / <Bane> Weapons: Undead, Giants, Orcs, Goblinoids, Reptilian, Dragon, Elf, Elemental, Construct, Gnoll, Dwarf, Aberration
- Ghost Touch / Lawful Outsider
- Metalline / Aligned

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- Cannith Crafted Jewelry and Clothing upgraded

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- None

Self Healing on 3 skulls:
- Heal Scrolls: 143 Life

LEVEL 11
----------
Class: Artificer
Feats: None
Stat Increase: +1 for each stat where you have a +3 or higher tome

Skill Points (9)
- Concentration +1
- Disable Device +2
- Search +2
- Spot +3
- UMD +1

Spells Added:
- None

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Battle Engineer: Extra Action Boost x2 (x3 total)

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- None

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- Greensteel Boots if you have those or can make those. I use 5x Smoke Boots for permanent blur and 10 displacement clickies. If you don't like playing casters Vacuum is an interesting choice for the instakill proc and a way to get soul stone gems for cannith crafting. Concordant Opposition is always a great choice to proc temp hp and spell point regeneration. Tier 3 should be a skill you want to focus on (+6 charisma skills for UMD or +6 int skills for trapping).

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- Scrolls of Resurrection (Ariel Bianchi Guild Divine Scroll Vendor)
- Scrolls of Greater Restoration (Ariel Bianchi Guild Divine Scroll Vendor)
- Bottomless Flask of Rum (Heal Potion from Crystal Cove Event - if you have it)

Self Healing on 3 skulls:
- Heal Scrolls: 143 Life
- Bottomless Flask of Rum: 81-83 Life

LEVEL 12
----------
Class: Artificer
Feats: Mobile Spellcasting (General). I realize the concensus is not to take this feat or the prerequisite combat casting because you can move at full speed while casting and jumping while with this feat you move at full speed minus your striding item. I find this feat helpful with scroll casting so I will continue to take on this build which is a feat-rich build. You can take 2 other feats in place of these two if you wish. I will mention this one thing - I have never failed a scroll once with mobile spellcasting. I believe it acts as quicken for scrolls as an undocumented benefit.

Stat Increase: +1 Intelligence

Skill Points (10)
- Concentration +1
- Disable Device +1
- Search +1
- Spot +1
- UMD +1
- Open Lock +5

Spells Added:
- Adamantine Weapons

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Battle Engineer: Crossbow Training (Tier 4)
- Battle Engineer: Endless Fusilade

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- None

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- Level 12 Frozen Tunic

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- None

Self Healing on 3 skulls:
- Heal Scrolls: 143 Life
- Bottomless Flask of Rum: 81-83 Life

LEVEL 13
----------
Class: Artificer
Feats: None

Stat Increase: None

Skill Points (10)
- Concentration +1
- Disable Device +1
- Search +1
- Spot +1
- UMD +1
- Open Lock +5
Spells Added:
- Curative Admixture - Cure Serious Wounds

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Battle Engineer: Wrack Construct x3
- Battle Engineer: Caustic Shot x1

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- None

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- Cannith Crafted Jewelry and Clothing upgraded

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- None

Self Healing on 3 skulls:
- Heal Scrolls: 158 Life
- Bottomless Flask of Rum: 82-88 Life

LEVEL 14
----------
Class: Artificer
Feats: Improved Precise Shot (Artificer)

Stat Increase: None

Skill Points (10)
- Concentration +1
- Disable Device +1
- Search +1
- Spot +1
- UMD +1
- Open Lock +2
- Jump +1 (2 skill points)
- Balance +.5 (1 skill point)

Spells Added:
- Curative Admixture - Cure Moderate Wounds

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Battle Engineer: Agility Engine x1
- Battle Engineer: Reconstructed Crossbows
- Battle Engineer: Unlock Potential
- Battle Engineer: Thunder-Shock Weapon

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- None

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- Upgrade Robe to Combat Mastery/Insightful Combat Mastery/Parrying Cannith Crafted to maximize Thunder-Shock Weapon ability
- Upgraded to level 14 Mysterious Cloak with Master's Gift and Feather Fall slotted

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- None

Self Healing on 3 skulls:
- Heal Scrolls: 169 Life
- Bottomless Flask of Rum: 94-97 Life

LEVEL 15
----------
Class: Fighter
Feats: Weapon Specialization Ranged (General)
Stat Increase: +1 for each stat where you have a +4 or higher tome

Skill Points (8)
- Concentration +1 (2 skill points)
- Jump +4
- UMD +1 (2 skill points)

Spells Added:
- None

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Kensai: Kensai Focus Crossbows (Core 1)
- Kensai: Extra Action Boost x1

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- http://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Light_Boltslinger (this is a really great everyday weapon all the way to 20 - if you slot a ghostbane augment it will work on reapers)
- Cannith Crafting Weapon Upgrade (4 dice and [1.5] instead of 3 dice and [1.5]). These weapons work from 15-20
- Light / <Monster> Bane: Aberration, Elemental, Reptillian, Monsterous Humanoid, Construct, Undead (Ghostbane augment), Plant for bosses (nice to haves)
- Ghost Touch / Lawful Outsider Bane
- Good / Evil Outsider Bane (vampire slayer augment slotted for silver - needed for devils)

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- Cannith Crafted Jewelry and Clothing upgraded

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- None

Self Healing on 3 skulls:
- Heal Scrolls: 178 Life
- Bottomless Flask of Rum: 98-102 Life

LEVEL 16
----------
Class: Fighter
Feats: Mobility (Fighter)
Stat Increase: +1 Intelligence

Skill Points (9)
- Concentration +1 (2 skill points)
- Jump +5
- UMD +1 (2 skill points)

Spells Added:
- None

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Kensai: Extra Action Boost x2 (x3 total)

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- Evil / Chaotic Outsider Bane (Cold Iron slotted) for Running with the Devils
- Good / Evil Outsider Bane (Cold Iron slotted) for Demons

* Note while the above weapons are nice, light boltslinger will still work on non-deathwarded mobs without DR just much much slower. Running with the Devils is extremely hard to solo 3 skulls and it might be nearly impossible without a DR breaker.

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- None

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- None

Self Healing on 3 skulls:
- Heal Scrolls: 180 Life
- Bottomless Flask of Rum: 98-102 Life

LEVEL 17
----------
Class: Artificer
Feats: None
Stat Increase: None

Skill Points (11)
- Concentration +1
- Disable Device +3
- Search +3
- Spot +3
- UMD +1

Spells Added:
- Cold Iron

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Kensai: Spiritual Bond (Core 2)
- Kensai: Improved Dodge x2
- Kensai: Strike with No Thought (Core 3)

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- Evil / Chaotic Outsider Bane

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- None

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- None

LEVEL 18
----------
Class: Artificer
Feats: Tactical Training or Toughness or quicken(General)
Stat Increase: None

Skill Points (11)
- Concentration +1
- Disable Device +1
- Open Lock +4
- Search +1
- Spot +1
- UMD +1
- Jump +1 (2 skill points)

Spells Added:
- Armor of Speed

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Battle Engineer: Shatter Defenses x1
- Battle Engineer: Thunder-shock Weapon
- Battle Engineer: Agility Engine x2 (x3 total)

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- None

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- Cannith Crafted Jewelry and Clothing upgraded

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- None

LEVEL 19
----------
Class: Artificer
Feats: None
Stat Increase: +1 for each stat where you have a +5 or higher tome

Skill Points (11)
- Concentration +1
- Disable Device +1
- Open Lock +1
- Search +1
- Spot +1
- UMD +1
- Jump +2 (4 skill points)
- Balance +.5 (1 skill point)

Spells Added:
- Resist Energy, Curative Admixture: Remove Disease

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Kensai: Improved Dodge x1 (x3 total)
- Kensai: Agility x3

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- None

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- None

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- None

LEVEL 20
----------
Class: Artificer
Feats: Shot on the run (Artificer)
Stat Increase: +1 Intelligence

Skill Points (12)
- Concentration +1
- Disable Device +1
- Open Lock +1
- Search +1
- Spot +1
- UMD +1
- Jump +1 (2 skill points)
- Balance +2 (4 skill points)

Spells Added:
- Radiant Forcefield

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Battle Engineer: Tactical Mobility
- Kensai: Athletic Mastery x2

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- None

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- None

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- None

If you are going to TR at 20 don't forget the following:
- Grab any permanent favor rewards (collapsed portable hole if you didn't need the extra space this life, large bag from the twelve and +2 tome to trade for 9 purified eberron dragonshards)
- Run a few quick token quests and epic challenges (mats can be turned in for tokens of the twelve) at 21 for quickest way to get a heart.
- Farm for any gear you didn't get during leveling
- Grab free crafting chance boosters or crafting xp potion from crafting hall
- Purchase any crafting supplies from house C favor vendor if you earned the favor
- Grab reward from finding meridia quest to try and find optimal low level vorpal weapon

[slarden]

I will post more here soon, but the following are really good references:

Cannith Crafting:
Official DDO Cannith Crafting Guide: https://www.ddo.com/en/updated-cannith-crafting-guide
DDO Wiki Cannith Crafting Guide: http://ddowiki.com/page/Cannith_Crafting
Cannith Crafting Leveling Guide: https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/478548-Cannith-crafting-leveling-plan
Where to farm for specific collectibles: https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/486116-Collectable-Farms

Other Crafting:

Mysterious Remnant Vendor for Cloak: http://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Mysterious_Remnant

Heroic Green Steel Crafting
- DDO Wiki: http://ddowiki.com/page/Green_Steel_item_crafting_steps
- Planner: http://perfectweb.org/ddo/crafting/base_crafting.php

Cannith Challenge Crafting: http://ddowiki.com/page/Vaults_of_the_Artificers_loot
* Click on Frozen Tunic and Rock Boots to see what you need at various levels

Stone of Change Rituals: http://ddowiki.com/page/Stone_of_Change_-_Recipes

[Phil7]

I'm not sure what the concept is but Centered + Crossbows did not work last time I tried. One With The Blade requires melee weapons.

Anyway I'll stay tuned to see what u came up with I hope it's something interesting.

[Oxarhamar]

I'm not sure what the concept is but Centered + Crossbows did not work last time I tried. One With The Blade requires melee weapons.

Anyway I'll stay tuned to see what u came up with I hope it's something interesting.

Having played similar builds being Centered is ignored Monk levels are for Evasion, feats & enhancements.

[slarden]

I'm not sure what the concept is but Centered + Crossbows did not work last time I tried. One With The Blade requires melee weapons.

Anyway I'll stay tuned to see what u came up with I hope it's something interesting.

This isn't really a goal of the build. 2 monk gives 2 useful feats, evasion, +3 to all saves, +4% dodge and 10 healing amp for 1 AP.

This is a utility build that gives trapping skills to max rxp,


Having played similar builds being Centered is ignored Monk levels are for Evasion, feats & enhancements.

Yes this is my thinking as well. 2 monk is useful if you qualify for evasion with or without centering.

[skorpeon]

The detail here is impressive, I am just working on a couple more heroic PL's and then may do some racial lives. But this looks fun, so may just do an extra art life for the giggles.

I still got to work out my Wiz, Fav Soul, Bard and Druid lives.

[DaggomaticDwarf]

Hey Slarden,

How would you compare the two tier 5 enh. from Mech and Arti from a dps POV? I also wouldn't mind if Qxarhamar chimed n on this too.

[AnubisPrime]

Thank you very much for sharing your build. I'm holding my multi-completionist monkcher at level 30-trying to finish out my 5 piece slavelord set.

I needed a build like this to get through the racial TR phase.

Kudos!

[Tlorrd]

Other variations on the 12/6/2 builds are arty/ranger/rogue or ranger/rogue/Arty etc. Basically instead of the fighter +1 crit damage sustained, you use sniper shot every 6 secs and lots of ranged clicked from DWS tree plus get feats.

[slarden]

Thank you very much for sharing your build. I'm holding my multi-completionist monkcher at level 30-trying to finish out my 5 piece slavelord set.

I needed a build like this to get through the racial TR phase.

Kudos!

Thank you for the kind words!


Hey Slarden,

How would you compare the two tier 5 enh. from Mech and Arti from a dps POV? I also wouldn't mind if Qxarhamar chimed n on this too.

It really comes down to great crossbow vs. repeater. Repeater wins at low levels and great crossbow wins at high levels due to the superior crit profile + the alacrity bonuses. At level 30 a mech or thrower (even with nerfs) will out dps an arti or arti splash. A rogue/arti splash could potentially out-dps a pure 20 rouge mechanic from a theory-crafting standpoint but I've never tested it. Shuri wins against everything at the moment, even after the nerf.

I am a few phlogs short but I am very keen on trying this build in Legendary Dreadnought with a TF Tier 3 Weapon: 1st degree burns / paralyzing fear / draconic reinvigoration. You would get a shorter action boost cooldown from LD along with regenerating action boosts so that endless fusillade is truly endless. You would start with 16 action boosts and with the 2% regen rate in theory you should never run out. Of course that would work with a rogue/arti build as well and many variations of arti. I hope to test that out in a few lifes.

This build isn't meant as a max dps build - it's really strictly built for 3 skull reaper leveling solo or in parties, but the dps is solid.

[slarden]

Other variations on the 12/6/2 builds are arty/ranger/rogue or ranger/rogue/Arty etc. Basically instead of the fighter +1 crit damage sustained, you use sniper shot every 6 secs and lots of ranged clicked from DWS tree plus get feats.

The fighter levels are for feats (2 additional feats on top of the ranger freebies), feat acceleration, 25 PRR, dodge on top of the +1 crit multiplier. The +1 crit multipler increases crit range at higher heroic levels from 16-20 x2 to 16-20 x3 or another way of looking at it - it adds 5 multipliers taking it from 10 to 15 total crit multipliers. It seems that would beat out sniper shot, but others may know more than I do.

The main draw of splashing ranger on a crossbow build has been the ability to use things that aren't working as intended (e.g., imbues intended for bows that previously worked on crossbows). I am not sure which of those are remaining, but those type of things could make ranger a better choice. I am just not familiar enough with what bugs are out there adding power.

In my intial build I had 2 rogue instead of 2 monk, but there wasn't enough in the rogue tree worth the AP investment and 2 monk comes with alot of free things compared to 2 rogue. The only investment I am making in the monk trees is 1 AP for 10 healing amp.

With that said I would like to try some variations in future lifes and will document any splashes that work better.

[Tlorrd]

The fighter levels are for feats (2 additional feats on top of the ranger freebies), feat acceleration, 25 PRR, dodge on top of the +1 crit multiplier. The +1 crit multipler increases crit range at higher heroic levels from 16-20 x2 to 16-20 x3 or another way of looking at it - it adds 5 multipliers taking it from 10 to 15 total crit multipliers. It seems that would beat out sniper shot, but others may know more than I do.

The main draw of splashing ranger on a crossbow build has been the ability to use things that aren't working as intended (e.g., imbues intended for bows that previously worked on crossbows). I am not sure which of those are remaining, but those type of things could make ranger a better choice. I am just not familiar enough with what bugs are out there adding power.

In my intial build I had 2 rogue instead of 2 monk, but there wasn't enough in the rogue tree worth the AP investment and 2 monk comes with alot of free things compared to 2 rogue. The only investment I am making in the monk trees is 1 AP for 10 healing amp.

With that said I would like to try some variations in future lifes and will document any splashes that work better.

No, no ... I think your build is pretty awesome. I only meant there are variations that could probably get to the same place just with a slightly different path. When I talk about splashing ranger with 6 levels or 12, I just mean in DWS tree. Those are WAI with xbows. Not AA tree. I think the +1 crit sustained damage vs +2 crit damage every 6 seconds ... May only even out if you have high SA dice since it grants auto sneak attack for 4 seconds afterwards. The +2 to crit profile on sniper shot will allow you crit more often on that shot.

The 2 rogue gets the following benefits when coupled with Arty and ranger ... Evasion, faster sneaking with ranger and rogue, a little more sneak attack and xbow damage, and full disable device score on trap making (if you like using that sort of CC).

[slarden]

No, no ... I think your build is pretty awesome. I only meant there are variations that could probably get to the same place just with a slightly different path. When I talk about splashing ranger with 6 levels or 12, I just mean in DWS tree. Those are WAI with xbows. Not AA tree. I think the +1 crit sustained damage vs +2 crit damage every 6 seconds ... May only even out if you have high SA dice since it grants auto sneak attack for 4 seconds afterwards. The +2 to crit profile on sniper shot will allow you crit more often on that shot.

The 2 rogue gets the following benefits when coupled with Arty and ranger ... Evasion, faster sneaking with ranger and rogue, a little more sneak attack and xbow damage, and full disable device score on trap making (if you like using that sort of CC).
I appreciate the suggestions as you say other combos are available and your point on web traps is a good one.

i am sure there are improvements so I look forward to hearing other splits and the benefits.

[DaggomaticDwarf]

*SNIP*

The 2 rogue gets the following benefits when coupled with Arty and ranger ... Evasion, faster sneaking with ranger and rogue, a little more sneak attack and xbow damage, and full disable device score on trap making (if you like using that sort of CC).

I love using web and glitterdust, only drawback to 2 rog is no "trapmaking" that's auto grant at lvl 4. So no salvaging parts and you best have all your traps pre-made.

Dagg.

[SemanticMirage]

I appreciate the suggestions as you say other combos are available and your point on web traps is a good one.

i am sure there are improvements so I look forward to hearing other splits and the benefits.

Im currently trying an 8 arti 6 ranger 6 fighter build which seems to be doing well. The only major loss is evasion but the extra prr and hp from heavy armor is good balancing. I took sneak of shadows as well as trying to buff hide as much as possible to get as much SA damage as i can. The sneak attack damage is quite good especially when the attack speed with fusilade is so bonkers. My guess is that the 6 ranger splash is a decent chunk more dps than the 12,6,2 build due to the extra SA and crits(sniper shot and aimed shot). Also interestingly aimed shot will give you an instant 9 stacks of archers focus with a cbow which is kinda hysterical. 6 ranger also gives you manyshot which can be kinda useful for burst dps, opens up fury shotting if u really want to do that... but u lose the fighter stance. 12 arti vs 8 arti doesnt seem to net much besides some spells which arent insanely useful in terms of dps or survivability (the level 12 arti core isnt too great either). radiant forcefield is nice but its duration and cooldown hurts. This plan may not be as solid in heroics due to multiclasses not really gaining a lot of power until epics/later heroics (level 18 for this build). 6 ranger also opens up the possibility of killer but aps become insanely tight in that case, would have to drop the defensive stance and some other good stuff.

[Caarb]

As a fan of repeater builds I tried this last life and it worked pretty well. There are some things that I would do differently but overall I liked the build.

I am doing a modified build this life based on my observations from last life:

1) Not seeing the benefit to Arti 12 for a TR build but I guess its ok if you go into epics as you reach it at level 20 and 9-11 gives very little benefit
2) IPS came too late for me personally - the build felt slow between 10-14 with no real aoe other than rune arms
3) I didn't like how late you picked up the crit multiplier in Kensai
4) Run speed - I hate running slow on a kiting toon especially when solo - I would prefer to take run speed in Battle Engineer earlier
5) While I love frozen tunic and evasion I don't think monk 2 needs to be taken so early as in heavy armor and some investment in Epic past lives and reaper tree you are very difficult to kill in early level (I'm rocking 70ac at level 5 with blurry and 50 PRR and I'm nowhere near maxed out).

So
Arti - 6 (still going T5 battle Engineer mostly for the run speed and threat range but the other stuff is nice too)
Fighter - 10 (this is for higher BAB to take IPS at 12 and for extra feats)
Monk -2 (evasion and 2 feats)
+2 can be anything - monk 3 for run speed is an interesting option if you take 19 (many don't) and last level is irrelevant unless going into epics in which case I would go fighter 12

level order is something like aaffffffafafammffa can be tweaked if you prefer T5 before IPS and to maximise skill points or you can take arti 4 earlier for fusillade - feats are mostly the same. Will let you know how it goes (currently level 7)

my favourite repeater build so far was 6a/6ra/6fi +2 but too many good enhancements to take you end up having to give up something


I love using web and glitterdust, only drawback to 2 rog is no "trapmaking" that's auto grant at lvl 4. So no salvaging parts and you best have all your traps pre-made.

Dagg.

Arti also get trapmaking at level 4

[slarden]

As a fan of repeater builds I tried this last life and it worked pretty well. There are some things that I would do differently but overall I liked the build.

I am doing a modified build this life based on my observations from last life:

Thank you for the detailed notes and idea - extremely helpful



1) Not seeing the benefit to Arti 12 for a TR build but I guess its ok if you go into epics as you reach it at level 20 and 9-11 gives very little benefit

I don't disagree with your point here at all. The main reasons I went with 12 arti are:

- Radiant Forcefield is really nice for those tough encounters at epic levels. The timer isn't an issue because you only get a few of those each quest.
- 2 extra levels on scroll healing bringing it to the maximum caster level of 15 vs. caster level 13.
- Cold Iron Weapons + Armor of Speed spells
- So I can get more crossbows on end reward lists (you only see these frequently when you have more arti levels than anything else - I don't like my end reward lists at levels where my fighter levels equal or exceed my arti levels)
- Easier to maximize skills with artificer vs. fighter levels
- Spell points is a very minor benefit

The faster BAB is true but you get 5 of 6 bab from 7 to 12 so you are only losing 1 bab and 1 feat vs. 6 fighter levels (3 feats vs. 2 arti feats). Changing the order is having more of an impact on BAB acceleration compared to class split. I agree accelerating improved precise shot and to a lesser extent improved critical ranged is a big power boost.


2) IPS came too late for me personally - the build felt slow between 10-14 with no real aoe other than rune arms

level order is something like aaffffffafafammffa
This surprises me a bit because I found 9-13 very quick levels and 13 stood out as an especially easy level. The earliest you can get improved precise shot is 11 with all fighter or ranger levels and with your progression above it would be level 12 vs. my level 14.The spots where you lose BAB are: 1st level of artificer, 5th level of artificer, 9th level of artificer and 1st level of monk. My main reason for taking the 8th level of artificer at 14 is so I can use the artificer feat for improved precise shot since the feat list has less choices. I find evasion to useful to defer it 11 levels to get improved precise shot sooner, but that is 100% personal preference.



3) I didn't like how late you picked up the crit multiplier in Kensai Fair point and something I debated myself. Once you get endless fusillade for 24 AP you could arguably go for the +1 multiplier next as it gives 4 crit #s vs. the artificer crit range which adds only 2. You also get doubleshot, ranged power and more from the artificer tree. The other option I considered is taking insightful damage and dropping down to 8 AP for KTA in Harper Tree which I will give more consideration on my current life. That spell effectively gives you 4 free AP, but when swapping weapons you need to make sure you don't forget it.



4) Run speed - I hate running slow on a kiting toon especially when solo - I would prefer to take run speed in Battle Engineer earlier
5) While I love frozen tunic and evasion I don't think monk 2 needs to be taken so early as in heavy armor and some investment in Epic past lives and reaper tree you are very difficult to kill in early level (I'm rocking 70ac at level 5 with blurry and 50 PRR and I'm nowhere near maxed out).

I also like the run speed. It's only 10%, but I feel the run speed issue on my characters without a quiver of alacrity. Why I took a citw weapon for my anniversary gift on 2 of my main 4 I will never know.

For me 2 monk at 5 and 6 is more important. I have PRR from past lifes so the marginal benefit of heavy armor is less important to me - but I think heavy armor is never a bad choice.



So
Arti - 6 (still going T5 battle Engineer mostly for the run speed and threat range but the other stuff is nice too)
Fighter - 10 (this is for higher BAB to take IPS at 12 and for extra feats)
Monk -2 (evasion and 2 feats)
+2 can be anything - monk 3 for run speed is an interesting option if you take 19 (many don't) and last level is irrelevant unless going into epics in which case I would go fighter 12

level order is something like aaffffffafafammffa can be tweaked if you prefer T5 before IPS and to maximise skill points or you can take arti 4 earlier for fusillade - feats are mostly the same. Will let you know how it goes (currently level 7)

my favourite repeater build so far was 6a/6ra/6fi +2 but too many good enhancements to take you end up having to give up something

Both look like great splits.



Arti also get trapmaking at level 4 I might have misunderstood, but I think his point is by taking rogue rather than monk levels you have access to the improved trap making enhancement in the mechanic tree which allows you to create web and glitterdust traps using your full dd score instead of half of it for DC. The tree also has wand and scroll mastery saving 1 AP on the artificer arcanotechnician core. there isn't much AP to spend in the tree.

[DareDelvis]

Great write-up!

[Tlorrd]

So did the build change to 12 fighter/6 Arty? What's the new level progression then? Thx.

[mikarddo]

So did the build change to 12 fighter/6 Arty? What's the new level progression then? Thx.

I am curious - why would it have changed thus?

[Tlorrd]

I am curious - why would it have changed thus?

in slarden's signature which he points out in a few threads ... the sig now says 12 fighter/6 arty ... etc. So i'm wondering if it's a typo or he changed the build.

[slarden]

in slarden's signature which he points out in a few threads ... the sig now says 12 fighter/6 arty ... etc. So i'm wondering if it's a typo or he changed the build.

No I didn't change the build, that was just straight-up incompetence on my part. Thank you for pointing it out.

Adding more fighter levels will only accelerate improved critical ranged and improved precise shot by one level unless you defer monk levels which would accelerate both by 2 levels, but I find evasion too important too give up simply to get those feats 1 level sooner. The split change would only net 1 feat, but at the cost of some nice spells. I think both splits work really well and it's ultimately a playstyle decision determining which works best for a person.

[nimodoc]

No, no ... I think your build is pretty awesome. I only meant there are variations that could probably get to the same place just with a slightly different path. When I talk about splashing ranger with 6 levels or 12, I just mean in DWS tree. Those are WAI with xbows. Not AA tree. I think the +1 crit sustained damage vs +2 crit damage every 6 seconds ... May only even out if you have high SA dice since it grants auto sneak attack for 4 seconds afterwards. The +2 to crit profile on sniper shot will allow you crit more often on that shot.

The 2 rogue gets the following benefits when coupled with Arty and ranger ... Evasion, faster sneaking with ranger and rogue, a little more sneak attack and xbow damage, and full disable device score on trap making (if you like using that sort of CC).

Sniper shot gives +4 crit range after you take improved crit: ranged (also +2W and it affects every bolt when using a repeater)... tested and verified this. just thought i'd throw that in if you're considering taking 6 rngr levels... I do on any ranged toon i make just for this ability.

[slarden]

Sniper shot gives +4 crit range after you take improved crit: ranged (also +2W and it affects every bolt when using a repeater)... tested and verified this. just thought i'd throw that in if you're considering taking 6 rngr levels... I do on any ranged toon i make just for this ability.
Are you saying it's +2 on top of improved critical all the time or just for the shot.

[nimodoc]

Are you saying it's +2 on top of improved critical all the time or just for the shot.

Just the single sniper shot. (all 3 bolts of a shot with a repeater) so in essence every 6 seconds u get 3 bolts that fire +2W +4crit range +2multi (would be a crit range of +8 or 40% when firing a repeater while having the feat Improved Crit: Ranged) and obviously the follow up sneak attack dmg which would apply to the last 2 bolts of the repeater shot as well.

[slarden]

Just the single sniper shot. (all 3 bolts of a shot with a repeater) so in essence every 6 seconds u get 3 bolts that fire +2W +4crit range (would be a crit range of +8 or 40% when firing a repeater while having the feat Improved Crit: Ranged) and obviously the follow up sneak attack dmg which would apply to the last 2 bolts of the repeater shot as well.
I will check it out one of these life's. Fighter is basically giving
+1 critical multiplier 3 net feats and 3 extra endless fusillades. I am thinking whatever the difference is is small for heroics. Ty for the info, I need to compare.

[nimodoc]

I will check it out one of these life's. Fighter is basically giving
+1 critical multiplier 3 net feats and 3 extra endless fusillades. I am thinking whatever the difference is is small for heroics. Ty for the info, I need to compare.

If you're interested, I ran the numbers for Sniper Shot vs. Expert Builder (Mech 18 core +2 multiplier with Gxbow) here.

https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/482888-Pure-ranged-6-ranger-multi

3 feats is nice. Then again, taking 6 rngr gives you several free feats as well. Anyway... take a look if you like.

[slarden]

If you're interested, I ran the numbers for Sniper Shot vs. Expert Builder (Mech 18 core +2 multiplier with Gxbow) here.

https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/482888-Pure-ranged-6-ranger-multi

3 feats is nice. Then again, taking 6 rngr gives you several free feats as well. Anyway... take a look if you like.

Fighter gives 4 feats and ranger gives 2 feats needed. So fighter gives 2 net feats. The 25 prr is also useful but not a dps measure. The 3 extra endless fusillade clickies is also a plus. I'm not saying 6 ranger isn't a good splash or even better splash - I'm just saying it seems fairly equal to me and since I've run with quite a few 6 ranger splashes I haven't seen any sort of outperformance that would make me want to immediately switch. With the arcane archer bugs it was definitely bettter,

I will take a look and I do plan to try out a few 6 ranger life's to compare. Without factoring in vorpal it's hard to measure total performance, although if sniper shot is bugged and giving extra criti bonuses with improved crits it is likely better boss damage. For heroics I don't weight boss fights as heavily as trash encounters since mobs are generally the more dangerous than bosses.

thank you for the info. I will give it a try and report back. My play time is limited for the next few weeks though so probably not for a month.

[EmpoweredBJB]

I love using web and glitterdust, only drawback to 2 rog is no "trapmaking" that's auto grant at lvl 4. So no salvaging parts and you best have all your traps pre-made.

Dagg.

my 12monk/6ranger/2rogue uses these traps and I solved this with taking 2 feats, the Skill Focus: Disable Device feat(+3 bonus) and that allows you to take the Trapmaking Feat without the Prerequisite: (Level 4: Artificer, Rogue.) only need Trapfinding and any "one" of the following: Skill Focus: Disable Device (my choice), Nimble Fingers, or Least Dragonmark of Making and then I use the Enhancement Improved Traps: DC equal to 65%/80%/100% of your Disable Device Skill instead of 50%. giving them incredibly high DCs. working even in Legionary quests at CAP! ...

So many times a well placed web trap has saved the whole party but as it does cost 2 feats and 8 points in the mechanic tree, but I can float the points around to other enhancement trees when needed.

but slarden's build has trap making in his 12 artificer levels so not need the extra feats SO I would take 2 rogue instead of the 2 monk for this reason, as it gives the same evasion as the monk and he does not use the stances not being centered anyway. and only would lose +2 from Fortitude and Will Saves (+3+3+3 vs +1+3+1) if he can afford the AP cost.

[slarden]

my 12monk/6ranger/2rogue uses these traps and I solved this with taking 2 feats, the Skill Focus: Disable Device feat(+3 bonus) and that allows you to take the Trapmaking Feat without the Prerequisite: (Level 4: Artificer, Rogue.) only need Trapfinding and any "one" of the following: Skill Focus: Disable Device (my choice), Nimble Fingers, or Least Dragonmark of Making and then I use the Enhancement Improved Traps: DC equal to 65%/80%/100% of your Disable Device Skill instead of 50%. giving them incredibly high DCs. working even in Legionary quests at CAP! ...

So many times a well placed web trap has saved the whole party but as it does cost 2 feats and 8 points in the mechanic tree, but I can float the points around to other enhancement trees when needed.

but slarden's build has trap making in his 12 artificer levels so not need the extra feats SO I would take 2 rogue instead of the 2 monk for this reason, as it gives the same evasion as the monk and he does not use the stances not being centered anyway. and only would lose +2 from Fortitude and Will Saves (+3+3+3 vs +1+3+1) if he can afford the AP cost.

2 monk provides 4% dodge from levels. The 2 bonus feats also translate into 5 dodge and 2 dodge cap. I do use traps situationally, but most of my cc comes from the freezing ice proc from frozen tunic and tendon slice slowing enemies down enough that they aren't a threat.

My build did originally use 2 rogue and trap making before the artificer changes - at that time I went tier 5 in kensai rather than battle engineer. With the changes to battle engineer I would have to give up something really good to squeeze in 8 ap which is why I changed to 2 monk with 1 ap spend for 10 healing amp instead. I think 2 monk is more optimal than 2 rouge for this build with the objectives I have

- Ability to solo almost all content at 3-4 skulls
- Primary focus is heroic leveling to 20
- Powerful enough to solo at all level ranges

If you did squeeze in the 8 ap for trapping it would end slowing down dps progress by 2 levels. I just don't see the extra trapping preventing deaths or speeding up runs so I can't justify it in the build.

[EmpoweredBJB]

2 monk provides 4% dodge from levels. The 2 bonus feats also translate into 5 dodge and 2 dodge cap.
Feats:Precision (Monk), Insightful Reflexes (General), Dodge (Monk) not available to Rogue? just not following what your saying above.
AND
Does your calculations include the EXTRA Skill points at 1st level: (8 + Intelligence modifier) x4 of the rogue? vs the (4 + Intelligence modifier) x4 of all the other classes. equaling 44/(+11 for the 2nd rogue level) 55 total vs your 28/(+14 for the 2xMonk) 42 total?
----
I understand your point about your build as far as I can see without testing it, as I have not spent much for dodge except for adding listen skill points to max it out using Sweet Cinnamon Cloud from night revels. (lasts an hour) as long as it keeps working. and with all my past lives from being a epic completionist and all the toggles included therein, find all the heroic levels stupid easy anyways...

I really only wanted to share how to get trapmaking with only 2 levels of rogue with DaggomaticDwarf above not critique your build.

[slarden]

Feats:Precision (Monk), Insightful Reflexes (General), Dodge (Monk) not available to Rogue? just not following what your saying above.
AND
Does your calculations include the EXTRA Skill points at 1st level: (8 + Intelligence modifier) x4 of the rogue? vs the (4 + Intelligence modifier) x4 of all the other classes. equaling 44/(+11 for the 2nd rogue level) 55 total vs your 28/(+14 for the 2xMonk) 42 total?
----
I understand your point about your build as far as I can see without testing it, as I have not spent much for dodge except for adding listen skill points to max it out using Sweet Cinnamon Cloud from night revels. (lasts an hour) as long as it keeps working. and with all my past lives from being a epic completionist and all the toggles included therein, find all the heroic levels stupid easy anyways...

I really only wanted to share how to get trapmaking with only 2 levels of rogue with DaggomaticDwarf above not critique your build.

precision I am taking either way but monk levels lets me take it quicker. The 2 bonus feats translate into dodge and mobility for 5 dodge on top of the 4 dodge granted for monk levels. The skill points don't matter much as the key skills are all maxed out.

i have no issue with anything you said. I just disagree 2 rogue is better than 2 monk for the build.

[EmpoweredBJB]

I just disagree 2 rogue is better than 2 monk for the build.

I am not going to argue about what is good for your build. it is after all your build.

I would like to note, I have gotten a lot of comments and feed back on the use of traps, but never about by dodging ability. but as you say you solo much and do not have teammates thanking you when they are running the mob that's attacking them into the webs or getting blinded by the dust. saving them from death... :)

[slarden]

I am not going to argue about what is good for your build. it is after all your build.

I would like to note, I have gotten a lot of comments and feed back on the use of traps, but never about by dodging ability. but as you say you solo much and do not have teammates thanking you when they are running the mob that's attacking them into the webs or getting blinded by the dust. saving them from death... :)
The goal of the build is to be able to solo but I solo less than 25%. I understand your opinion on the traps and I don't think it's a bad playstyle preference. As I said i switched from 2 rogue to 2 monk on this build so was able to compare and I think monk works better for the build.

i stop my enemies with freezing ice procs and slow them with tendon slice. The passive cc works well and doesn't require the 8 ap and loss of other things. I still use traps situationally. As an int build it still works ok without the 8 ap.

[DaggomaticDwarf]

*Snippity snip*

I might have misunderstood, but I think his point is by taking rogue rather than monk levels you have access to the improved trap making enhancement in the mechanic tree which allows you to create web and glitterdust traps using your full dd score instead of half of it for DC. The tree also has wand and scroll mastery saving 1 AP on the artificer arcanotechnician core. there isn't much AP to spend in the tree.

Exactly my point. The trap DC makes me a CC, pew pew pew machine!

Dagg.

[DaggomaticDwarf]

my 12monk/6ranger/2rogue uses these traps and I solved this with taking 2 feats, the Skill Focus: Disable Device feat(+3 bonus) and that allows you to take the Trapmaking Feat without the Prerequisite: (Level 4: Artificer, Rogue.) only need Trapfinding and any "one" of the following: Skill Focus: Disable Device (my choice), Nimble Fingers, or Least Dragonmark of Making and then I use the Enhancement Improved Traps: DC equal to 65%/80%/100% of your Disable Device Skill instead of 50%. giving them incredibly high DCs. working even in Legionary quests at CAP! ...

So many times a well placed web trap has saved the whole party but as it does cost 2 feats and 8 points in the mechanic tree, but I can float the points around to other enhancement trees when needed.

but slarden's build has trap making in his 12 artificer levels so not need the extra feats SO I would take 2 rogue instead of the 2 monk for this reason, as it gives the same evasion as the monk and he does not use the stances not being centered anyway. and only would lose +2 from Fortitude and Will Saves (+3+3+3 vs +1+3+1) if he can afford the AP cost.

Don't have to sell me on the traps, I always make sure Im stocked up before questing.

But that's a big cost, 2 feat that could go elsewhere, IMO.

I think either one is great, for me and I weird like that, would be that annoying "Not Centered" icon. That would drive me Bat Sheet crazy!!

Dagg.

[Saekee]

I am not going to argue about what is good for your build. it is after all your build.

I would like to note, I have gotten a lot of comments and feed back on the use of traps, but never about by dodging ability. but as you say you solo much and do not have teammates thanking you when they are running the mob that's attacking them into the webs or getting blinded by the dust. saving them from death... :)


Exactly my point. The trap DC makes me a CC, pew pew pew machine!

Dagg.

just noting: I made a thread showing that glitterdust traps blind reapers, effectively neutralizing them:
https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/489475-Glitterdust-traps-can-blind-reapers?highlight=

[Haphazarduk]

2 monk provides 4% dodge from levels.

Don't think you get this any more. Need to be centred...

Hap

[huey9187]

anyone take this build to 30 ? what feats and how did it perform. what about gear at end game

[Shaitaan]

Thanks for posting this detailed guide :)

I just reincarnated into this and I've got a few questiont:

1. Which Epic Destiny would you recommend for epic leveling with this build? I gravitate towards Shiradi, but maybe Legendary Dreadnaught would work better.
2. Which allignement would you recommend? I took lawful good but didnt think about the negative level I will get through evil weapons, so maybe lawful neutral would have been better.
3. In which tree did you put your reaper enhancement points?
4. What kind of armor did you use for your level 1 armor? A Robe for Dodge? if so, where do you find a robe with a colorless slot. I have only ever seen ones with a blue slot.
5. Regarding runearms: are you wearing Chimeras Breath from 5-20 or are there too many good runearms past level 5 to recommend specific ones?

[slarden]

Thanks for posting this detailed guide :)

I just reincarnated into this and I've got a few questiont:

1. Which Epic Destiny would you recommend for epic leveling with this build? I gravitate towards Shiradi, but maybe Legendary Dreadnaught would work better.
2. Which allignement would you recommend? I took lawful good but didnt think about the negative level I will get through evil weapons, so maybe lawful neutral would have been better.
3. In which tree did you put your reaper enhancement points?
4. What kind of armor did you use for your level 1 armor? A Robe for Dodge? if so, where do you find a robe with a colorless slot. I have only ever seen ones with a blue slot.
5. Regarding runearms: are you wearing Chimeras Breath from 5-20 or are there too many good runearms past level 5 to recommend specific ones?

There are many that work I prefer LD simply because the benefits scale to mobs and bosses and the extra PRR is very helpful for champs and carnage reapers. For alignment I go Lawful Neutral. Good not only gives negative levels on some items, but there are some demon web traps that only do damage to you if you are good aligned. There is no reason to go good in this game unless you have paladin levels.

I put all my reaper points to the defense tree on this build. The damage bonuses are subject to the reaper penalties, more hp and defense reduces deaths. Also, since it's INT based the stat bonuses on the damage tree don't help.

At level 1 through 6 I use a robe of fearsome/invulnerability with a master's gift slotted (crafted item). A robe with blue slots is common and doesn't have level restrictions unlike most other armor. Even though it's a blue slot, you can add a colorless augment to it.

For rune arms I have some that were crafted with masterful craftmanship prior to the crafting update. Those are 2 levels lower than the stated level. At level 1 you can't use a rune arm. Level 2 I use flicker with masterful craftmanship. Level 3 I use chimera's breath with masterful craftmanship. At level 5 I situationally use Conroach with masterful craftmanship . At level 9 I use Hand of the Tombs against undead for the undead vorpal proc. I use Tirra's Splendor at 15 and Animus (masterful craftmanship) and Lucid Dreams at 17. For any rune arm without masterful craftmanship I add concentration, insightful concentration to it if possible to help with the scroll healing.

If you have triple positive LGS repeater and hand of the tombs you will crush all the heroic undead quests :).


anyone take this build to 30 ? what feats and how did it perform. what about gear at end game

I took it to 30 a few times. The epic quests are generally tougher to solo on reaper because of incoming damage and bosses with so many hp. It does fine in a group, but it's tough to find the reaper group at the right level. Soloing feels slower than it does during heroic levels partly because you have to more careful about incoming damage and partially due to the hp bloat which takes the enemies out of improved and sovereign vorpal range.

it's generally hard to find people to group with on reaper at lower epic levels, but fairly easy 28-30. I would say try it out on reaper solo if you can't find groups, otherwise if you want the epic past lifes fast be opportunistic and run slayers and ee at lower levels and join groups as you get to higher levels and see lfms or think people will join your lfm. You can will get quite a bit of reaper xp from 28-30 in fast groups, but 20-27 has much less activity - at least on Sarlona when I am playing.

[Shaitaan]

There are many that work I prefer LD simply because the benefits scale to mobs and bosses and the extra PRR is very helpful for champs and carnage reapers. For alignment I go Lawful Neutral. Good not only gives negative levels on some items, but there are some demon web traps that only do damage to you if you are good aligned. There is no reason to go good in this game unless you have paladin levels.

I put all my reaper points to the defense tree on this build. The damage bonuses are subject to the reaper penalties, more hp and defense reduces deaths. Also, since it's INT based the stat bonuses on the damage tree don't help.

At level 1 through 6 I use a robe of fearsome/invulnerability with a master's gift slotted (crafted item). A robe with blue slots is common and doesn't have level restrictions unlike most other armor. Even though it's a blue slot, you can add a colorless augment to it.

For rune arms I have some that were crafted with masterful craftmanship prior to the crafting update. Those are 2 levels lower than the stated level. At level 1 you can't use a rune arm. Level 2 I use flicker with masterful craftmanship. Level 3 I use chimera's breath with masterful craftmanship. At level 5 I situationally use Conroach with masterful craftmanship . At level 9 I use Hand of the Tombs against undead for the undead vorpal proc. I use Tirra's Splendor at 15 and Animus (masterful craftmanship) and Lucid Dreams at 17. For any rune arm without masterful craftmanship I add concentration, insightful concentration to it if possible to help with the scroll healing.

If you have triple positive LGS repeater and hand of the tombs you will crush all the heroic undead quests :).



I took it to 30 a few times. The epic quests are generally tougher to solo on reaper because of incoming damage and bosses with so many hp. It does fine in a group, but it's tough to find the reaper group at the right level. Soloing feels slower than it does during heroic levels partly because you have to more careful about incoming damage and partially due to the hp bloat which takes the enemies out of improved and sovereign vorpal range.

it's generally hard to find people to group with on reaper at lower epic levels, but fairly easy 28-30. I would say try it out on reaper solo if you can't find groups, otherwise if you want the epic past lifes fast be opportunistic and run slayers and ee at lower levels and join groups as you get to higher levels and see lfms or think people will join your lfm. You can will get quite a bit of reaper xp from 28-30 in fast groups, but 20-27 has much less activity - at least on Sarlona when I am playing.

Huh, is the minimum level of 2 displayed on a robe with a blue slot not correct then? I disjuncted one but didn't want to put my Master's Gift into it, since the robe with the slot says level 2.

[slarden]

Huh, is the minimum level of 2 displayed on a robe with a blue slot not correct then? I disjuncted one but didn't want to put my Master's Gift into it, since the robe with the slot says level 2.

After disjunction is shows level 2. However, if you apply a level 1 shard to the robe it changes to level 1 and there is no absolute minimum level due to the slot. When I slot the master's gift augment the robe remains bta and level 1.

[Pyyro_del_Drago]

The build earns approximately 124,917 rxp from 1 to 20 running R3. So if you did 30 heroic 1-20 lifes you would end up with just under 4 million rxp You will nearly double that if you run from 1-30 rather than just 1-20.

Hey man, thanks for the awesome guide. Do you have any questing guide to get the 124,197 rxp or time efficient/reaper xp leveling guide for this build other than Kobolds New Ringleader at level 1? Or could you link to another guide that you think is good? I took along hiatus from the game and missed a lot of content releases, so I am no longer sure of the best route to 20.

[slarden]

Hey man, thanks for the awesome guide. Do you have any questing guide to get the 124,197 rxp or time efficient/reaper xp leveling guide for this build other than Kobolds New Ringleader at level 1? Or could you link to another guide that you think is good? I took along hiatus from the game and missed a lot of content releases, so I am no longer sure of the best route to 20.

I generally run all the quests once on R3 until I am capped 1 level above (for example, running level 4s at level 4 and stop once I am near cap for level 5 and must take level 5).

The newer quests are generally more difficult than older quests at the same level. The enemies hit harder and have more hp. One ramification of this is that your vorpal and improved vorpal procs won't start until the enemy is below the right # of hp. Since this is a commonly known fact new quests are also harder to fill as most people prefer the path of least resistance.

So for example if you are looking at level 14 quests A Cabal for One or Desecrated Temple of Vol will be much easier than Tavern Brawl. If you want to run the newest quests general rule of thumb is drop down to 1 skull and it will still be a little tougher than a 3 skull older quest. You will want to run some new quests though - possibly on elite if reaper 1 skull is too tough:

Subversion to get this: http://ddowiki.com/page/Item:The_Fatal_Flaw
Strike Back to get this: http://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Light_Boltslinger

On paper The Fatal Flaw is a little better, but I don't notice any difference between the 2.

[Zhijie]

Thanks for sharing, looking forward to updating to U37

[dave_todd]

I have read this over and over and pondered it much.
I played around with the numbers and ended up theory crafting a 18 fighter 2 rogue with very similar abilities.
rogue gives evasion removing the need for monk
rogue gives traps removing the need for artificer
you miss out on runearms and arti spells
all enhancement points into kensai, gnome, and harper. Stick with light repeater. Gnomes get UMD bonuses and perm blur too :)

- Feat : Evasion @ level 2
- Enhancement : Insight Bonus to Critical Threat Multiplier @ level 8
- Feat : Improved Critical @ level 10
- Enhancement : Insight Bonus to Critical Threat Range @ level 11
- Feat : Improved Precise Shot @ level 12

How much do you really use the artificer aspects (rune arm/spells) of this build?

[slarden]

I have read this over and over and pondered it much.
I played around with the numbers and ended up theory crafting a 18 fighter 2 rogue with very similar abilities.
rogue gives evasion removing the need for monk
rogue gives traps removing the need for artificer
you miss out on runearms and arti spells
all enhancement points into kensai, gnome, and harper. Stick with light repeater. Gnomes get UMD bonuses and perm blur too :)

- Feat : Evasion @ level 2
- Enhancement : Insight Bonus to Critical Threat Multiplier @ level 8
- Feat : Improved Critical @ level 10
- Enhancement : Insight Bonus to Critical Threat Range @ level 11
- Feat : Improved Precise Shot @ level 12

How much do you really use the artificer aspects (rune arm/spells) of this build? From a bab perspective rogue, artificer and monk levels all slow down the progression. I think you should give the build a try - basically the key elements of the build are the same and I am sure the build will work. Key things you lose with artificer levels:

- Endless Fusillade at level 12 (biggest loss).
- cheap 4 pt wand and scroll mastery but on the plus you can make traps using 100% skill bonus rather than 50%
- artificer levels raise scroll level so your scroll healing will be slightly less effective than what I have listed
- lower concentration skill for scroll healing
- easier spell point management for kta and eventually cocoon
- rune arm procs
- conjure bolts convenience

On the other hand you will have your crits faster and other benefits. The basic elements of the build are still the same so I am sure it will work. The main thing I would miss is endless fusillade.



Thanks for sharing, looking forward to updating to U37

There are definitely some nice items with Ravenloft I would use. Since the build is primarily a leveling build there aren't any changes to the build 1-19. I have been looking at sentient weapons for levels 20+, and obviously needle would be great to upgrade if that is possible, but I haven't look at it yet. At the moment I am having too much fun at cap, but I am likely to be back TRing soon.

[dave_todd]

From a bab perspective rogue, artificer and monk levels all slow down the progression. I think you should give the build a try - basically the key elements of the build are the same and I am sure the build will work. Key things you lose with artificer levels:

yup and thats the main feature, 2 rogue levels and 18 fighter rather than listed above.



- Endless Fusillade at level 12 (biggest loss). Yeah i have no answer to that.
- cheap 4 pt wand and scroll mastery but on the plus you can make traps using 100% skill bonus rather than 50%. Gnomes get wand and scroll mastery too, same skill and points.
- artificer levels raise scroll level so your scroll healing will be slightly less effective than what I have listed. I am not totally familiar with this so i dont know how much real difference it would make.
- lower concentration skill for scroll healing. I hate the idea of using scrolls in combat. I only use them between battles.
- easier spell point management for kta and eventually cocoon. I gave up on KTA as i always forgot to click it. Harper gives enough spell points as part of its tree i found anyway.
- rune arm procs. Yup this i listed as a loss. Again not sure how much real damage it gives. Compared to gnome blur and color spray tho, i think im winning.
- conjure bolts convenience. Wand of fire arrow is an easy UMD. Not as good but still fully usable.

On the other hand you will have your crits faster and other benefits. The basic elements of the build are still the same so I am sure it will work. The main thing I would miss is endless fusillade.

Yup fair call.

[Azdraugnor]

So, just to double check, exactly how many sets of Cannith jewelry/clothing did you make, and for what levels?

[bls904c2]

So, just to double check, exactly how many sets of Cannith jewelry/clothing did you make, and for what levels?

its just a guess but 3-4 sets

level 2 just totally optional equipment granting you a + 2 to you stats ( i usually just equip what i find)

level 5 granting you +4 to stats

level 10 granting you +6 to stats with the ability to add insightful to gear starting at level 10

level 15 granting you +8 to stats with insightful

that's easiest places to replace gear as sets adding a few items GS at 11 and 12


edit ---- there is a good website for playing around with canith crafted gear looking at stats and planing equipment

check out http://ccplanner.byethost14.com/gear_master.html?i=1

[C-Dog]

So, just to double check, exactly how many sets of Cannith jewelry/clothing did you make, and for what levels?
Yeah, OP lists a LOT of levels where "Cannith Crafting Clothing/Jewelry upgraded" - unclear if that's selective, or all of them, or what.

(To see for yourself, use [Ctl] + [f] and search for "Other Gear Added/Upgraded", and just keep hitting [Enter] to scroll down thru them all.)

As he's trying to squeeze every last bit of juice out of this that he can (since a RR train is currently x33 lives!), I'd say - as many as you have the will to deal with. It's diminishing returns, so def ymmv where that lesser improvement is/not worth the effort (and storage space).

[slarden]

its just a guess but 3-4 sets

level 2 just totally optional equipment granting you a + 2 to you stats ( i usually just equip what i find)

level 5 granting you +4 to stats

level 10 granting you +6 to stats with the ability to add insightful to gear starting at level 10

level 15 granting you +8 to stats with insightful

that's easiest places to replace gear as sets adding a few items GS at 11 and 12


edit ---- there is a good website for playing around with canith crafted gear looking at stats and planing equipment

check out http://ccplanner.byethost14.com/gear_master.html?i=1

yeah basically and I don't have insightful on all pieces as I simply don't have the mats. I listed what would be ideal gear with swaps as stat goes up 1, but as you say it's easiest to pick a few levels and swap gear at those levels rather than store so much gear. With weapons a vorpal, undead bane and at higher level dr breaking weapon is all you really need. The others listed speed up boss fights but aren't needed.

[Nodal]

Is there something I'm missing at level 14? A lot of stuff refers to having Thunder-shock weapon but it never takes shatter defenses, and also you take thunder-shock weapon again at 18.

[slarden]

Is there something I'm missing at level 14? A lot of stuff refers to having Thunder-shock weapon but it never takes shatter defenses, and also you take thunder-shock weapon again at 18.

Yes I think I got that wrong and will check the order and correct it. At 14 I start taking the prereqs for thunder-shock weapons and then at 18 I take thunder-shock weapons. I also need to update skill points since the new tome changes increases skill points 1 level from 2 to 19 with an int tome and it may be possible to lower dex to 14 instead of 16 with a dex tome.

Thank you for pointing that out.

[sk3l3t0r]

Just hit Level 8 on this build, I went human for dragonmark of passage and been adjusting feats / enhancement points along the way...been very fun so far.

[cmecu]

There are definitely some nice items with Ravenloft I would use. Since the build is primarily a leveling build there aren't any changes to the build 1-19. I have been looking at sentient weapons for levels 20+, and obviously needle would be great to upgrade if that is possible, but I haven't look at it yet. At the moment I am having too much fun at cap, but I am likely to be back TRing soon.

Hey Slarden, would this build be better to run for racial past lives than your Warlock build? I want to get them out of the way. I have completionist, but not x3 in a class. I do want to get x3 in my racials for the free racial points.

I have tons of gear I have accumatled over the years and now with raveloft. My only interest is 1-20 , so I am looking for optimal gear for the leveling process.

I need to get a routine down too of what places to quest in.. seems like every life I am trying to figure out what I did the life before to level :P

But ya this build or lock build, and the optimal gear for 1 to 20.. I know level 10 gear with ravenloft might be nice..

[Jedamijo]

I may have missed something, but when you start taking Kensei abilities, I assumed it was just for the extra action boosts, but then you took core 2 and 3, which appear to provide little or no gain for this build without taking Exotiic Weapon Mastery to add Repeaters to the list of Focus Weapons. This would require 4AP (including the prereq Weapon Group Specialization). Where should they be pulled from OR would a different use of AP be better OR am I just missing something?

Does Strike With No Thought apply to ALL weapons, instead of just those in the Focus group?

[slarden]

I may have missed something, but when you start taking Kensei abilities, I assumed it was just for the extra action boosts, but then you took core 2 and 3, which appear to provide little or no gain for this build without taking Exotiic Weapon Mastery to add Repeaters to the list of Focus Weapons. This would require 4AP (including the prereq Weapon Group Specialization). Where should they be pulled from OR would a different use of AP be better OR am I just missing something?

Does Strike With No Thought apply to ALL weapons, instead of just those in the Focus group?

Yes the first part of strike with no thought is a passive bonus that applies to all weapons. So the 2 cores is basically for the +1 critical damage multiplier. The 1% double shot bonus doesn't apply since I didn't take exotic weapon mastery.

The standard crit profile is 19-20x2 (4 multipliers). With improved critical this changes the range from 17-20 (adds 4 multipliers). Reconstructed Crossbows adds 1 to the range changing it to 16-20x2 (adds 2 multipliers). The 3rd fighter core changes the mulitplier to 16-20 x3 ( adds 5 multipliers). So arguably that 3rd fighter core adds more dps than the tier 5 reconstructed crossbows enhancement.

[Sarzor]

Am I correct to read that you use cloth armor (frozen tunic) for the entire life? Do you have problems with capping out MRR at 50?

Similarly, if I go warforged, I would not then take mithril body?

[slarden]

Am I correct to read that you use cloth armor (frozen tunic) for the entire life? Do you have problems with capping out MRR at 50?

Similarly, if I go warforged, I would not then take mithril body?

Yes I use the cloth strictly for the frozen tunic procs otherwise I would wear light armor. The MRR cap isn't an issue because I have high intelligence with insightful reflexes so I only ever fail my reflex save on a 1. Anything that isn't evadable doesn't get reduced by MRR (disintegrate, etc.) The PRR benefit of light armor vs. cloth is minimal for most heroic levels.

For a warforged life you can take mithril body for a small PRR bonus. I would do warforged after you have several racial AP so you can take the repair amp for free.

[Sarzor]

Yes I use the cloth strictly for the frozen tunic procs otherwise I would wear light armor. The MRR cap isn't an issue because I have high intelligence with insightful reflexes so I only ever fail my reflex save on a 1. Anything that isn't evadable doesn't get reduced by MRR (disintegrate, etc.) The PRR benefit of light armor vs. cloth is minimal for most heroic levels.

For a warforged life you can take mithril body for a small PRR bonus. I would do warforged after you have several racial AP so you can take the repair amp for free.

Thanks. The main reason I was heistant to take mithril is the 5 dodge cap. With reaper bonuses and equipment I can run 15+ dodge easily.

Also, I have 3 racials, so I can get the first two tier free, and give up a point elsewhere for the last. I'm just tired of running warlock. :)

[slarden]

Thanks. The main reason I was heistant to take mithril is the 5 dodge cap. With reaper bonuses and equipment I can run 15+ dodge easily.

Also, I have 3 racials, so I can get the first two tier free, and give up a point elsewhere for the last. I'm just tired of running warlock. :)

Yeah I had a brain freeze there - that is the other reason I liked outfit vs. light is the dodge. The PRR benefit is small and MRR doesn't matter much on a high reflex evasion build.

[Sarzor]

Yeah I had a brain freeze there - that is the other reason I liked outfit vs. light is the dodge. The PRR benefit is small and MRR doesn't matter much on a high reflex evasion build.

Yeah, I think I'll skip the mithril. I have plenty of PRR/MRR from past lives. If the cap gets too annoying there's enough room to fit in an additional feat later.

Docent-wise I was looking at:
Level 1-7 craft invulnerability/fearsome
Level 8-14 Executioner's
Level 15-18 Heartwood

Solid choices?

[Shaitaan]

Do you prefer the Light Boltslinger over Fatal Flaw?

And do you have any recommendations for equip past level 20?

[huntdawumpus]

I've been enjoying this build so far, but I'm partial to Arti's. :-D

In Level 6, you take Field Scrapper x2. In Level 8, you take Battle Engineer: Field Scrapper x2.

Was one of those supposed to be Field Engineer for +1 to Concentration, Disable Locks and Open Locks per point? Why do Field Scrapper at all instead of Thaumaturgical Circuits to boost rune arm recharge rate?

Thanks,

Evada Crafty on Sarlona

[C-Dog]

Why do Field Scrapper at all instead of Thaumaturgical Circuits to boost rune arm recharge rate?
I was confused on that too until I walked the enhancements thru all the way.

Sunder bonuses feed the DC of the Trip effect of Thunder-Shock Weapons (BE Tier 5 (Battle_Engineer_enhancements#Tier_Five)). You can't get that 'til Char Lvl 12 at the earliest, so you could certainly go in a diff direction earlier and then re-spec.

[huntdawumpus]

I was confused on that too until I walked the enhancements thru all the way.

Sunder bonuses feed the DC of the Trip effect of Thunder-Shock Weapons (BE Tier 5 (Battle_Engineer_enhancements#Tier_Five)). You can't get that 'til Char Lvl 12 at the earliest, so you could certainly go in a diff direction earlier and then re-spec.

Thanks!

I had just wrapped up Completionist, and hadn't yet worked with the new Artificer enhancement trees. They've changed a bit.

[huntdawumpus]

At level 9, you take Battle Engineer: Infused Armor (Core 3), but that requires Battle Engineer: Infused Weapons (Core 2).

I don't seem to be able to find where you take Infused Weapons in levels 1-8.

Am I blind? I've been known to miss stuff in front of my nose.

[slarden]

At level 9, you take Battle Engineer: Infused Armor (Core 3), but that requires Battle Engineer: Infused Weapons (Core 2).

I don't seem to be able to find where you take Infused Weapons in levels 1-8.

Am I blind? I've been known to miss stuff in front of my nose.

At some point I slightly reworked my enhancement spend and made a few mistakes in there trying to patch it. I will update the enhancements by this weekend. Basically at that point you are working towards the top of the tree so you just keep filling it in each additional level.

[huntdawumpus]

At some point I slightly reworked my enhancement spend and made a few mistakes in there trying to patch it. I will update the enhancements by this weekend. Basically at that point you are working towards the top of the tree so you just keep filling it in each additional level.

I'm up to level 11, am enjoying this build, and am getting a feel for it. Either my twitch skills are low, or I need some more past lives, but R3 is just a bit beyond me. Generally few problems with R2 and hireling cleric.

To recap the Enhancement edits I've found, plus an additional:


Field scrapper x2 specified for levels 6 and 8
BE Infused Weapons Core 2 missing
BE Infused Armor Core 3 for level 9, but can't be taken until level 12 when you get 6th Artificer level


Except for 1st level, I'd suggest using Shield Scrolls instead of Nightshield. You get the same protection from Magic Missiles, and +4 to armor class, which can make a huge difference in AC in early levels. At 2nd level, you can already craft a higher resistance bonus than you get with Nightshield.

Thanks for the fun build!

[C-Dog]

I'm up to level 11, am enjoying this build, and am getting a feel for it. Either my twitch skills are low, or I need some more past lives, but R3 is just a bit beyond me.
How many PL's do you have, and for what bonuses? OP specifically comments...


...Ranged builds benefit tremendously from past lifes
... I would suggest at a minimum you try for the following:

- 3 ranger lifes
- 3 monk lifes
- 3 primal lifes (double shot)
- 3 arcane lifes (enchant weapon).

Nice to haves
- 3 paladin lifes for Healing Amp
- 3 divine lifes for brace
- 3 martial lifes for skill focus...
I'm running a 2nd life version of this atm (with none of the above PL's, natch), and find R1 is usually(!*) no problem, nor R2 depending on the quest.

(* I ran into problems in the 2nd-to-last quest of Catacombs, where you climb the levels w/ the barriers - even with a healer hire, successive rapid waves of undead were just too much, too many chances for Reapers to spawn with them, and the area starts off very tight for kiting.)

Of course, since this is not for a long-term Reincanation train plan (just aiming for Legend), I'm not investing in all the CC gear, and relying on a Vorpal of Deception. Skellies and Zombies tend to shrug off piercing, sometimes I'm seeing only 1 point/hit, and just have to grind them down. :/

[huntdawumpus]

How many PL's do you have, and for what bonuses? OP specifically comments...


I'm running a 2nd life version of this atm (with none of the above PL's, natch), and find R1 is usually(!*) no problem, nor R2 depending on the quest.

(* I ran into problems in the 2nd-to-last quest of Catacombs, where you climb the levels w/ the barriers - even with a healer hire, successive rapid waves of undead were just too much, too many chances for Reapers to spawn with them, and the area starts off very tight for kiting.)

Of course, since this is not for a long-term Reincanation train plan (just aiming for Legend), I'm not investing in all the CC gear, and relying on a Vorpal of Deception. Skellies and Zombies tend to shrug off piercing, sometimes I'm seeing only 1 point/hit, and just have to grind them down. :/

I'm Completionist (1x) with an extra Artificer life. Thought I had 3 Artificer, but must've messed up a reincarnation. :(

Have 1 Shadar-kai, Colors of the Queen (3x), Fortification (3x), Brace (1x).

I play at most 1-2 hours per day, so leveling can be slow, and I grind gear when I feel like it until I get bored. Don't feel the need to be uber, just strong enough to be useful and not completely left behind by the zergers.

For that Catacombs level, I'd suggest bringing your dog. He's useful until about 6th level. At the very least, he can distract some of them while you get things sorted out. I have a high crafting score, and typically craft bludgeon onto a repeater, just so I don't have to switch weapons for skeletons.

[Tarnredaxe]

Did you ever plan to do the table from 20-30?

[Thoden]

Slarden, your builds are always great, but I'm having a particularly good time with this one. I have to say as well that I agree with your choice of Shot on the Run-- I never stop moving, and all of my shots are landing just fine. Thanks!

[C-Dog]

I have to say as well that I agree with your choice of Shot on the Run-- I never stop moving, and all of my shots are landing just fine. Thanks!
Not sure it's going to change much - altho' on paper it's a "-4 penalty", the way the formula works (as I understand it) it's at best a 1 in 20 diff - and if your Int is good enough, you'll rarely see that as a miss on a 2.

However, the +3 Ranged Power still adds in, and may be the best DPS boost available by that level.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~

When I went to make mine I used a character planner and started w/ the original from the OP in this thread - for those who prefer that layout, here's a token of my appreciation, that same original version from the OP*, but in char-planner format (99.9% original, at least - perfection not guaranteed, but I tried)...


(* Jan '20 Edit: The OP states that this build is still valid "for fleshies" even after recent changes. He also states that, for Hard Core, he would go Warforged with a slightly diff mix for better survivability.
See: https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/488109-12-Artificer-6-Fighter-2-Monk-Reaper-Build?p=6289505&viewfull=1#post6289505)

Slarden's Reaper Original
12/6/2 Artificer/Fighter/Monk
Lawful Neutral (non-specific race - see comments in OP (https://forums.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/488109-12-Artificer-6-Fighter-2-Monk-Reaper-Build?p=5995673&viewfull=1#post5995673))

Level Order
1. Artificer. . . .6. Monk. . . . . .11. Artificer . . .16. Fighter
2. Artificer. . . .7. Fighter . . . .12. Artificer . . .17. Artificer
3. Fighter . . . . 8. Artificer . . .13. Artificer . . .18. Artificer
4. Fighter . . . . 9. Fighter. . . . 14. Artificer. . . 19. Artificer
5. Monk. . . . . .10. Artificer . . .15. Fighter. . . . 20. Artificer

Stats
. . . . . . . .36pt . . Tome . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ----. . .--------
Strength. . . . 14. . . . . . . . 4: INT
Dexterity . . . 16. . . .+3. . . .8: INT
Constitution. . 16. . . . . . . .12: INT
Intelligence. . 16. . . . . . . .16: INT
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . . . . . .20: INT
Charisma. . . . .8. . . . . . . .

Skills
. . . . . A. A. F .F. M .M. F .A .F. A. A. A. A. A. F .F. A. A. A. A
. . . . . 1. 2. 3 .4. 5 .6. 7 .8 .9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Concent . 4. 1. . . . 3 .1. . .2 . . 1. 2. 1. 1. 1. . .1. 1. 2. 1. 1. 23
Disable . 4. 1. . .2. . .2. 1 .1 . . 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1 . . 2. 1. 1. 1. 23
Search. . 4. 1. 1 .½. ½ .1. 2 .1 . . 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1 . . 2. 1. 1. 1. 23
Spot. . . 4. 1. . . . 3 .1. . .2 . . . .3 .1 .1 .1 . . 1 .1 .2 .1 .1 .23
UMD . . . 4. 1. . . . . . . . .3 .1. 4. 1. 1. 1. 1. . .1. 1. 2. 1. 1. 23
Jump. . . 1½ ½ .4. 1 .1. . . . . .3. . . . . . . ½. 3 .2. 1½ . . . . .18
Open Lo . 4. 1. . . . . . . . . . 1 . . 1. 4. . .1 . . . . . 2. . .2 .16
Tumble. . ½. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ½
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .28. 7. 5 .6. 8 .8. 6 .9 .7. 9. 9. 9. 9. 9. 7 .8 10 10 10 10


Feats
.1. . . . : Point Blank Shot
.3. . . . : Skill Focus: Use Magic Device
.3 Fighter: Rapid Shot
.4 Fighter: Precise Shot
.5 Monk . : Precision
.6. . . . : Insightful Reflexes
.6 Monk . : Dodge
.9. . . . : Combat Casting
.9 Fighter: Weapon Focus: Ranged
10 Arti . : Improved Critical: Ranged
12. . . . : Mobile Spellcasting
14 Arti . : Improved Precise Shot
15. . . . : Weapon Specialization: Ranged
16 Fighter: Mobility
18. . . . : Quicken Spell
20 Arti . : Shot on the Run

Spells
Artificer Repair Light Damage, Conjure Bolts, Enchant Weapons, Enchant Armor, Resist Energy
Repair Moderate Damage, Elemental Weapons, Byeshk Weapons, Admixture: Cure Moderate Wounds
Repair Serious Damage, Adamantine Weapons, Admixture: Cure Serious Wounds, Admixture: Remove Disease
Cold Iron Weapons, Armor of Speed
Radiant Forcefield

Note - re Enhancements, there are some irregularities as posted on the first page (all in the Battle Engineer tree). Regarding those, the OP stated...


At some point I slightly reworked my enhancement spend and made a few mistakes in there trying to patch it... Basically at that point you are working towards the top of the tree so you just keep filling it in each additional level.

So, below is the "original", w/ notes re those items, plus the "obvious" patches (i.e. pre-req's, etc.). All are noted below, so feel free to "re-patch" them if you prefer.


Enhancements (78 of 80 AP) Errors

Battle Engineer (39 AP) Battle Engineer, Infused Weapons, Infused Armor Crossbow Training, Field Scrapper III
Crossbow Training, Wracking Shot III, Caustic Shot I, Extra Action Boost III, Action Boost: Power III
Crossbow Training, Shatter Defenses III
Crossbow Training, Endless Fusilade, Agility Engine III
Reconstructed Crossbows, Thunder-Shock: Crossbow, Unlock Potential, Tactical Mobility
Kensei (17 AP) Kensei Focus: Crossbows, Spiritual Bond, Strike with No Thought Extra Action Boost III
Improved Dodge III, Ascetic Training: Agility III
Athletic Mastery II
Harper Agent (12 AP) Agent of Good I, Intelligence Harper Enchantment, Strategic Combat
Know the Angles III
Strategic Combat
Stalwart Defender (6 AP) Toughness, Stalwart Defense Durable Defense III, Stalwart Defensive Mastery I
Arcanotechnician (4 AP) Arcanotechnician Wand and Scroll Mastery III
Shintao (1 AP) Bastion of Purity
Leveling Guide (Errors) Hrp0 Agent of Good I; Hrp1 Harper Enchantment
Hrp1 Strategic Combat; Hrp2 Know the Angles I, II, III
Hrp0 Intelligence; Hrp3 Strategic Combat
Arc0 Arcanotechnician; Arc1 Wand and Scroll Mastery I, II, III
Shi0 Bastion of Purity; BE0 Battle Engineer; BE1 Crossbow Training
BE1 Field Scrapper I, II*; (Bank 2 AP) (* & see these comments (https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/488109-12-Artificer-6-Fighter-2-Monk-Reaper-Build?p=6058517&viewfull=1#post6058517))
SD0 Toughness; SD1 Durable Defense I, II, III; SD1 Stalwart Defensive Mastery I; SD0 Stalwart Defense
BE0 Infused Weapons*, BE1 Field Scrapper III; BE2 Crossbow Training; (* "Field Scrapper x2" double-listed, Infused Armor is pre-req, AP math stays the same)
BE2 Action Boost: Power I, II, III; BE3 Crossbow Training (re "Infused Armor" - not possible until Arti 6, Char Lvl 12. "X-bow Training" moved up from Lvl 9)
BE2 Extra Action Boost I; (Bank 1 AP)
BE2 Extra Action Boost II, III; (Bank 1 AP)
BE0 Infused Armor*, BE4 Crossbow Training; BE4 Endless Fusilade; (* see Lvl 8 notes)
BE2 Wracking Shot I, II, III; BE2 Caustic Shot I;
BE4 Agility Engine I; BE3 Shatter Defenses I*, BE5 Reconstructed Crossbows; BE5 Unlock Potential; BE5 Thunder-Shock: Crossbow; (* Originally listed Lvl 18, this is needed for required 30 AP spent, and also is a pre-req for Thunder-Shock)
Ken0 Kensei Focus: Crossbows; Ken1 Extra Action Boost I;
Ken1 Extra Action Boost II, III;
Ken0 Spiritual Bond; Ken2 Improved Dodge I, II; Ken0 Strike with No Thought;
BE4 Agility Engine II, III (*re "BE3 Shatter Defenses I", see Lvl 14; "Thunder Shock" double-listed)
Ken2 Improved Dodge III; Ken2 Ascetic Training: Agility I, II, III;
BE5 Tactical Mobility; Ken3 Athletic Mastery I, II; (Bank 2 AP)
And that leaves 2 AP unaccounted for. Go crazy.


Thanks again, S!
o7


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~


Slarden, your builds are always great, but I'm having a particularly good time with this one.
+1, 100%, this is a gem.

For my 1st run I tweaked it some, to achieve 3 goals:

1) Only a 32 point build, and only had a +2 Dex Tome, so adjusted starting stats and the level-added stat points as needed.

2) Maximize early levels with Artificer as dominant class, to get a better shot at a good crossbow. Didn't have one starting out, and can't craft a Vorpal crossbow, so having almost all levels 1-15 (except 8, 9, 10, & 14) offering repeating cross-bows in the loot lists was a blessing.

This order sacrifices a (very) little in front-loading power, but this is the best shot at solving that.

Alternate Level Order (for maximizing Arti loot lists)


1. Artificer . . . 6. Fighter. . . . 11. Artificer . . .
2. Artificer . . . 7. Monk. . . . . .12. Artificer. . .
3. Fighter . . . . 8. Fighter. . . . 13. Fighter . . . .
4. Monk . . . . . .9. Fighter . . . .14. Fighter. . . .
5. Artificer . . .10. Artificer. . . 15. Artificer . . .

3) For my purposes, I wanted a Monk past life, so I finished the above with Monk rather than Arti. Lost all the upper-level spells, of course, and some UMD, but didn't slow down the crossbow DPS afaict.

For any interested, posting that build here: https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/494983-1st-Life-Slarden-s-Reaper-Arti-for-a-Monk-past-life?p=6079660&viewfull=1#post6079660

[C-Dog]

U 38 change: https://www.ddo.com/en/update-38-release-notes

o Battle Engineer


Shatter Defenses and Thunder-Shock Weapon now includes half your Artificer Level in its DC calculations. (this adds 1/2 Arti level to previous formula)

This will make Tier V TSW that much better. Don't see any other changes that jump out as significant for this build.


W/ regard to the new Renegade Mastermaker tree, ~6 points to get to Core 2 (Level 3 Arti, Character Level 8) does seem like it could be attractive against casting Reapers/etc.- not sure what you'd sacrifice for that:


Cores:

Core 1: Each Core ability in this tree grants you +10 Maximum Hit Points, +5 Positive Spell Power, and +5 Repair Spell Power.
Core 2: While in Medium Armor, Heavy Armor, or Adamantine Body, your equipped armor grants you a +4 Alchemical bonus to Armor Class and Immunity to Magic Missiles.

Tier 1:

Curative Admixture: Cure Light Wounds SLA: 4/3/2 Spell Points, 12/8/6 second cooldown.
Easily Fixed: Gain +10 Healing Amplification and +20 Repair Amplification.
Supporting Construction: While in Medium or Heavy Armor or Adamantine Body, get +2/4/6 Physical Resistance Rating
Skills: +1/2/3 Repair, Heal, Balance.
Toughness: +5/10/15 Maximum Hit Points


So, for 6 AP (w/ a only the minimum of 2 into Toughness?), you're getting:

+30 HP
Immunity to Magic Missiles
+10 HAMP (+20 if WF)
+5 Positive Spell Power
+4 AC

(Tier 2+ mostly seem to lean toward Melee attacks)

[Thoden]

I saw those too, C-Dog, but I'm not sure the +4 armor and immunity to magic missiles is worth losing evasion (oh, I guess there's the 2/4/6 PRR too, but still not worth it, imo). I've played this build up to 30 twice now (once as a gnome, once as a drow), and it seems pretty solid as-is.

[C-Dog]

<nods> Yeah, requiring Medium Armor is a dealbreaker, I can see that. And casting (Night)Shield from a scroll, while a pain, is easy enough.


Question - you didn't choose to take Spellcraft, which (ifaiu) increases Rune Arm blasts - and would improve spells if you had any offensive ones. What's your thinking there, just the least painful of several painful options to cut, or RA blasts not contribute that much to this build? (Imbues are not improved by Spellcraft, so those are automatic and unchanged either way, afaiu.)

If a build that had +1 more Skill Point (Human or starting 18 Int) or just a bigger Int tome, would that then be the go-to choice?

[Gavman]

I saw those too, C-Dog, but I'm not sure the +4 armor and immunity to magic missiles is worth losing evasion (oh, I guess there's the 2/4/6 PRR too, but still not worth it, imo). I've played this build up to 30 twice now (once as a gnome, once as a drow), and it seems pretty solid as-is.


You get much more than that as you gain access to Heavy armour. It requires a switch in thinking from light evasion build to heavy tank build, but I think it's viable. Further investment in the tree yields more benefits as reinforced armour gives you +50%AC from Armour, which will incidentally also enable you to pick up core 3: Curative admixture - cure serious wounds which will also give +10hp, +5 positive spell power and +5 Repair spell power. This gives you more self healing (and party healing) abilities and less evasive abilities.

[Swimms]

Thank you for the build, I have been playing it the last few lives as I work through my racials and its a lot of fun. I am running with a buddy so clear speed has not been an issue but I could see where the build could slow down if running solo without reliable AOE damage until IPS at 14.

Don't get me wrong, the single target DPS is sick and the utility and survivability are excellent, I have all the pertinent PLs for maximizing damage but without my friend cleaving everything it seems like it would be a tough slog to solo with only single target dps until you get IPS. Would it be possible to accelerate getting to IPS and if so, what would that look like?

I am currently running with three set bonuses in Silent Avenger, Adherent of the Mists and Renegade Champion using Stormreach Guardian Crossbow for the artifact bonus to crit multiple on 19-20. The base DPS on Fatal Flaw is better but the crits with running Stormreach Guardian are nice, I have been swapping between them as of level 14 and the DPS is just nuts. Thanks again for the detailed build information.

[slarden]

Thank you for the build, I have been playing it the last few lives as I work through my racials and its a lot of fun. I am running with a buddy so clear speed has not been an issue but I could see where the build could slow down if running solo without reliable AOE damage until IPS at 14.

Don't get me wrong, the single target DPS is sick and the utility and survivability are excellent, I have all the pertinent PLs for maximizing damage but without my friend cleaving everything it seems like it would be a tough slog to solo with only single target dps until you get IPS. Would it be possible to accelerate getting to IPS and if so, what would that look like?

I am currently running with three set bonuses in Silent Avenger, Adherent of the Mists and Renegade Champion using Stormreach Guardian Crossbow for the artifact bonus to crit multiple on 19-20. The base DPS on Fatal Flaw is better but the crits with running Stormreach Guardian are nice, I have been swapping between them as of level 14 and the DPS is just nuts. Thanks again for the detailed build information.

The way to accelerate IPS is by taking more fighter levels (which many in this thread prefer) and taking those first. You can't get it at 11 with all fighter levels or with splashing any monk, rogue, artificer levels since the latter 3 classes have BAB 0 at level 1. So splashing ranger is a way to get it at level 11. With 4 artificer and 8 fighter you can take it at level 12. So 10 ranger, 6 fighter, 4 arti gets you IPS at level 11 with a slighly deferred evasion and deferred trapping/arti levels. Others have suggested they prefer that split or something similar in this thread.

If you want a 2 splash evasion and arti levels the fastest you can get it is level 13 which is definitely do-able (level 1 arti is 0 BAB and monk/rogue level 1 is 0 BAB). In my case I wanted to take improved precise shot with my arti feat so I effectively deferred it one level to do that. It's fairly easy to re-work the levels and take it at level 13 with arti and rogue/monk levels. Or give up/postpone evasion entirely and take it at level 12.

There are several alternative splits suggested by posters in this thread that you might want to consider to accelerate IPS. In my case I felt level 12 and 13 quests go fast (and I generally avoid the new quests with bloated hp and more mobs) so it works ok for me. I also think more fighter levels vs. arti levels is arguably better for a racial TR and would make it easier to get IPS at 13. I was trying to make this build work for some epic levels as well which is the reason for more arti levels, but really for a 1-30 life you would want to go great crossbow with 10 rogue, 4 arti, 6 fighter or some split that gives you +1 crit multiplier from fighter and the feats + tier 5 mechanic + endless fusilade + improved evasion or more armor piercing. Or any of the many variations of 5+ rogue, 6+fighter, 4+arti that gets you the key things that make the build work.

[Epitome]

Haven't played in 3 or maybe 4 years? Anyways when I left I was missing only 9 heroic lives in terms of past lives. Now it appears I'm missing 30 Racial PLs and 6 new iconic PLs (deep gnome and Aasimar Scourge).

Thinking up picking back up the game again solo for awhile and working on a slow Racial PL grind for now while also obtaining Rxp.

So does this build still hold well through any changes/updates to the game? Planning on giving this a go for 1-20 Racial PLs for now.

[C-Dog]

Welcome back!~

Haven't played in 3 or maybe 4 years? Anyways when I left I was missing only 9 heroic lives in terms of past lives. Now it appears I'm missing 30 Racial PLs and 6 new iconic PLs (deep gnome and Aasimar Scourge).
AND there's both another class and race on the horizon! Joy. :cool:


So does this build still hold well through any changes/updates to the game? Planning on giving this a go for 1-20 Racial PLs for now.
Yeah, none of the important facets of this build have had a significant change (and few of the unimportant ones either!).

The Arti "Renegade Mastermaker" tree came out, but that was dismissed as non-relevant to this concept (as the best it has to offer involves medium/heavy armor, so takes away Evasion - it's discussed in this thread a few pages back).

And the new Patron trees (Falconry, Inquisitive) don't offer more than you lose.

Go for it.

[Garorg]

When I went to make mine I used a character planner and started w/ the original from the OP in this thread - for those who prefer that layout, here's a token of my appreciation, that same original version from the OP, but in char-planner format (99.9% original, at least - perfection not guaranteed, but I tried)...


Building on this (Thanks C-Dog), I came up with this as an attempt at taking the build all the way to 30. Any helpful comments or corrections would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Slarden's Reaper Original
12/6/2 Artificer/Fighter/Monk
Lawful Neutral Human


Level Order

1. Artificer. . . .6. Monk. . . . . .11. Artificer . . .16. Fighter
2. Artificer. . . .7. Fighter . . . .12. Artificer . . .17. Artificer
3. Fighter . . . . 8. Artificer . . .13. Artificer . . .18. Artificer
4. Fighter . . . . 9. Fighter. . . . 14. Artificer. . . 19. Artificer
5. Monk. . . . . .10. Artificer . . .15. Fighter. . . . 20. Artificer


Stats
. . . . . . . .32pt . . 34pt. . .36pt . . Tome . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ----. . .---- . . ----. . .--------
Strength. . . . 10. . . .12 . . . 14. . . . . . . . 4: INT
Dexterity . . . 16. . . .16 . . . 16. . . .+5. . . .8: INT
Constitution. . 16. . . .16 . . . 16. . . . . . . .12: INT
Intelligence. . 16. . . .16 . . . 16. . . . . . . .16: INT
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . . 8 . . . .8. . . . . . . .20: INT
Charisma. . . . .8. . . . 8 . . . .8. . . . . . . .24: INT
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28: INT

Skills
. . . . . A. A. F .F. M .M. F .A .F. A. A. A. A. A. F .F. A. A. A. A
. . . . . 1. 2. 3 .4. 5 .6. 7 .8 .9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Concent . 4. 1. . . . 3 .1. . .2 . . 1. 2. 1. 1. 1. . .1. 1. 2. 1. 1. 23
Disable . 4. 1. . .2. . .2. 1 .1 . . 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1 . . 2. 1. 1. 1. 23
Search. . 4. 1. 1 .½. ½ .1. 2 .1 . . 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1 . . 2. 1. 1. 1. 23
Spot. . . 4. 1. . . . 3 .1. . .2 . . . .3 .1 .1 .1 . . 1 .1 .2 .1 .1 .23
UMD . . . 4. 1. . . . . . . . .3 .1. 4. 1. 1. 1. 1. . .1. 1. 2. 1. 1. 23
Jump. . . 1½ ½ .4. 1 .1. . . . . .3. . . . . . . ½. 3 .2. 1½ . . . . .18
Open Lo . 4. 1. . . . . . . . . . 1 . . 1. 4. . .1 . . . . . 2. . .2 .16
Perform . 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Repair. . 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Tumble. . 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .32. 7. 6 .6. 8 .8. 6 .9 .7. 9. 9. 9. 5. 7. 7 .8 10 10. 5. 7
Max . . .32. 8. 6 .6. 8 .8. 6 .9 .7. 9. 9. 9. 9. 9. 7 .8 10 10 10 10


Feats

.1. . . . : Point Blank Shot
.1 Human. : Least Dragonmark: Passage
.3. . . . : Skill Focus: Use Magic Device
.3 Fighter: Rapid Shot
.4 Fighter: Precise Shot
.5 Monk . : Precision
.6. . . . : Insightful Reflexes
.6 Monk . : Dodge
.9. . . . : Combat Casting
.9 Fighter: Weapon Focus: Ranged
10 Arti . : Improved Critical: Ranged
12. . . . : Mobile Spellcasting
14 Arti . : Improved Precise Shot
15. . . . : Weapon Specialization: Ranged
16 Fighter: Mobility
18. . . . : Quicken Spell
20 Arti . : Shot on the Run
21 Epic . : Combat Archery
24 Epic . : Overwhelming Critical
26 Destiny: Holy Strike
27 Epic . : Blinding Speed
28 Destiny: Doubleshot
29 Destiny: Embodiment of Law
30 Epic . : Epic Reflexes
30 Legend : Scion of: Ethereal Plane


Spells

Repair Light Damage (1), Conjure Bolts (1), Enchant Weapons (1), Enchant Armor (2), Resist Energy (19)
Repair Moderate Damage (8), Elemental Weapons (8), Byeshk Weapons (10), Admixture: Cure Moderate Wounds (14)
Repair Serious Damage (12), Adamantine Weapons (12), Admixture: Cure Serious Wounds (13), Admixture: Remove Disease (19)
Cold Iron Weapons (17), Armor of Speed (18)
Radiant Forcefield (20)

Enhancements (80+1 AP)

Battle Engineer (40 AP) Battle Engineer, Infused Weapons, Infused Armor Crossbow Training, Field Scrapper III
Crossbow Training, Wracking Shot III, Caustic Shot II, Extra Action Boost III, Action Boost: Power III
Crossbow Training, Shatter Defenses II
Crossbow Training, Endless Fusilade, Agility Engine III
Reconstructed Crossbows, Thunder-Shock: Crossbow, Unlock Potential, Tactical Mobility
Kensei (17 AP) Kensei Focus: Crossbows, Spiritual Bond, Strike with No Thought Extra Action Boost III
Improved Dodge III, Ascetic Training: Agility III
Athletic Mastery II
Harper Agent (12 AP) Agent of Good I, Intelligence Harper Enchantment, Strategic Combat
Know the Angles III
Strategic Combat
Stalwart Defender (6 AP) Toughness, Stalwart Defense Durable Defense III, Stalwart Defensive Mastery I
Arcanotechnician (4 AP) Arcanotechnician Wand and Scroll Mastery III
Human (1 AP) Defense Boost
Shintao (1 AP) Bastion of Purity
Leveling Guide Hrp0 Agent of Good I; Hrp1 Harper Enchantment
Hrp1 Strategic Combat; Hrp2 Know the Angles I, II, III
Hrp0 Intelligence; Hrp3 Strategic Combat
Arc0 Arcanotechnician; Arc1 Wand and Scroll Mastery I, II, III
Shi0 Bastion of Purity; BE0 Battle Engineer; BE1 Crossbow Training
BE1 Field Scrapper I, II; (Bank 2 AP)
SD0 Toughness; SD1 Durable Defense I, II, III; SD1 Stalwart Defensive Mastery I; SD0 Stalwart Defense
BE0 Infused Weapons; BE1 Field Scrapper III; BE2 Crossbow Training
BE2 Action Boost: Power I, II; BE3 Crossbow Training
BE2 Extra Action Boost I; (Bank 2 AP)
BE2 Extra Action Boost II, III; (Bank 2 AP)
BE0 Infused Armor; BE4 Crossbow Training; BE4 Endless Fusilade; BE2 Caustic Shot I
BE2 Wracking Shot I, II, III; (Bank 1 AP)
BE4 Agility Engine I; BE3 Shatter Defenses I; BE5 Reconstructed Crossbows; BE5 Unlock Potential; BE5 Thunder-Shock: Crossbow
Ken0 Kensei Focus: Crossbows; Ken1 Extra Action Boost I
Ken1 Extra Action Boost II, III; Ken0 Spiritual Bond
Ken2 Improved Dodge I, II; Ken0 Strike with No Thought; BE2 Action Boost: Power III
BE4 Agility Engine II, III; BE2 Caustic Shot II; BE3 Shatter Defenses II
Ken2 Improved Dodge III; Ken2 Ascetic Training: Agility I, II, III
BE5 Tactical Mobility; Ken3 Athletic Mastery I, II

Destiny (24 AP)

Legendary Dreadnought Extra Action Boost III, Constitution
Damage Boost III, Constitution
Critical Damage III, Haste Boost III, Constitution
(none)
Advancing Blows, Devastating Critical
Master's Blitz

[vampiregoat69]

Level 2-9 Suggested Cannith Crafted Gear. Use random gear if you can't make these, but make leveling your cannith crafting should be part of your plan as finding the exact gear you need for each level range is tough.
----------------
Helm: Int/Accuracy
Necklace: Spell Saves/Spot
Trinket: Strength / Tendon Slice (or alternatively Strength / Ranged Alacrity)
Cloak: Mysterious Cloak (starting at level 7) [Feather Fall + Master's Gift Augment]
Belt: Dodge / False Life
Ring 1: Constitution / Sheltering
Gloves: Doubleshot / Healing Amp
Boots: Rock Boots at level 4
Ring 2: Charisma / Protection
Bracers: Resistance / Fortification
Armor: Fearsome / Invulnerability with Master's Gift Augment (level 1 only - I don't upgrade) until level 7 then I start using Frozen Tunic
Goggles: Seeker / Deadly (Swap goggles: Search/True Sight and Disable/Open Lock)
Weapons: By Level
Rune Arms: By Level (Concentration crafted on)
Quiver: Upgraded Quiver of Alacrity if you have it (Striding 30% and Ranged Alacrity 10%)
Elite Spider Cult Mask if you have it (+1 to skills)

Vorpal weapons: Try and grab every vorpal weapon you can (mostly from end rewards). They are extremely powerful with repeaters since it has 3-4 chances per attack. If it takes more than 4-5 hits to take down enemies vorpal is almost always the way to go. The extra base damage and kill chance is worth more than any prefix+suffix in this game.

If you are lucky enough to find a level 4 keen /vorpal with slot add ghostbase augment and you are set for most quests in the game for several levels. Check your end reward lists they drop in the harbor quests as end rewards.

LEVEL 1
----------
Class: Artificer
Race: Any
Feats: Point Blank Shot (General)
Starting Stats (36 pt build) - Generic - tweak as needed for each race

Str: 14
Int: 16
Wis: 8
Dex: 16 (you will need +3 tome to get improved precise shot and +5 tome to get combat archery at 21)
Con: 16
Char: 8

Alternatively you can max int to 18 and start strength at 8 but realistically carrying capacity is a real issue during heroic leveling. I ran with Int 18/St 8 and Int 16/St 14 and noticed no difference other than load issues. Starting with a strength of 8 requires keeping small stacks of potions and scrolls and swapping quest-specific weapons between quests.

Skill Points (28)
- Concentration +4
- Disable Device +4
- Open Lock +4
- Search +4
- Spot +4
- UMD + 4
- Tumble +1 (2 points)
- Jump +1 (2 points)

Spells Added:
- Conjure Bolts
- Enchant Weapon

Weapons (used level 1 for Kobold's New Ringleader Only):
- Light / Keen (Kobolds)
- Ghost Touch / Lawful Outsider Bane (Reapers)

Note: If you have a min level 1 festival icy burst lacerating weapon this is good for the early levels and can replace other weapons.

Armor
- Fearsome / Invulnerability with Master's Gift Slotted - used until Level 7. Ideally with first stone of change hardening ritual.

Other Gear:
- upgraded Quiver of Alacrity if you have it (or ranged alacrity item from old cannith crafting - these are nice to have but not necessary)
- Deadly +1 item
- Necklace of Contemplation
- Boots of the Long Step
- Harper Pin, Greater (Favor Reward)
- Cursed Blade of Jack Jibbers

That is all I use for level 1 and then I start using gear level 2

Consumables to Add:
- Potions of Blindness Removal (Jalin Kalabrey Potion Vendor Center of Marketplace)
- Potions of Poison Neutralization (Jalin Kalabrey Potion Vendor Center of Marketplace)
- Potions of Disease Removal (Jalin Kalabrey Potion Vendor Center of Marketplace)
- Potions of Lesser Restoration (Jalin Kalabrey Potion Vendor Center of Marketplace) - Note these are near useless in reaper but only option until level 5
- Potions of Curse Removal (Jalin Kalabrey Potion Vendor Center of Marketplace)
- Potions of Cure Serious Wounds (Elmar Flask Guild Potion Vendor House K)
- Potions of Haste (Elmar Flask Guild Potion Vendor House K)
- Potions of Heroism (Elmar Flask Guild Potion Vendor House K)
- Scrolls of Cure Moderate Wounds (Aulandar Thistlecrown House J House of Wizardry)
- Scrolls of Nightshield (Lorna Wyrmtouched Arcane Scroll Vendor Level 1 Center of Marketplace)
- Small stack of scrolls of jump (Lorna Wyrmtouched Arcane Scroll Vendor Level 1 Center of Marketplace)
- Scrolls of Blur (Morna Wyrmtouched Arcane Scroll Vendor Level 2 Center of Marketplace)
- Eternal Flask of Free Movement (available from remnant vendor at times)
- Eternal Flask of Stoneskin (available from remnant vendor at times)
- Scrap Metal From a Forge (Taniera Grisvill Artificer Scroll Vendor House Cannith)
- Don't forget to set your racial enhancement points if you have any from past lifes

Self Healing on 3 skulls:
Cure Serious Wounds Potions: 8-12 life
Cure Moderate Wounds Scrolls: 5-7 life (these are for healing others rather than self)

Questing:
I usually just run Kobold's New Ringleader on 3 skull reaper. Then repeat on Elite, Hard and Normal as needed until you reach level 2. Level up immediately there is no reason to bank xp.

LEVEL 2
----------
Class: Artificer
Feats: None
Stat Increase: None

Skill Points (8)
- Concentration +1
- Disable Device +1
- Open Lock +1
- Search +1
- Spot +1
- UMD + 1
- Jump +.5 (1 point)

Spell Added:
- Enchant Armor

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Harper: Agent of Good,
- Harper: Harper Enchantment
- Harper: Strategic Combat I
- Harper: Know the Angles x3

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- Good / Undead Bane

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- Cannith Crafting Gear Added
- Rune Arm Added (Flame Warden from Waterworks or Thought Spike from Redemption)

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- No Changes

Self Healing on 3 Skulls:
Cure Serious Wounds Potions: 8-12 life
Cure Moderate Wounds Scrolls: 5-7 life (these are for healing others rather than self)

LEVEL 3
----------
Class: Fighter
Feats: Rapid Shot (Fighter Feat), One of Completionist/Barbarian Past Life/Skill Focus UMD/Toughness (General Feat).
Stat Increase: +1 to each stat where you have a +1 tome or better

Skill Points (5)
- Search +1 (2 points)
- UMD + 1 (2 points)
- Jump +1

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Harper: Intelligence (Core 2)
- Harper: Strategic Combat II

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- None

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- Upgrade Rune Arm to Flicker (Seal of Shan-to-Kor end reward and/or Candlelight (Catacombs end reward)

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- Scrolls of Cure Serious Wounds (Aulandar Thistlecrown House J House of Wizardry) instead of Scrolls of Cure Moderate Wounds

Self Healing on 3 Skulls:
Cure Serious Wounds Potions: 8-12 life
Cure Serious Wounds Scrolls: 9-13 life

LEVEL 4
----------
Class: Fighter
Feats: Precise Shot (Fighter Feat)
Stat Increase: Intelligence +1 (Level Up)

Skill Points (6)
- Disable Device +1 (2 points)
- UMD + 1 (2 points)
- Jump +2

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Arcanotechnician: Archanotechnician (Core 1)
- Arcanotechnician: Wand and Scroll Mastery x3

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- Cannith Crafting Level 4 Weapons have 2 dice instead of 1
- Cannith Crafting Clothing and Jewelry upgraded
- Light / Bludgeoning as general purpose weapon
- Light / Keen
- Ghost Touch / Lawful Outsider Bane for reapers
- Metalline / Aligned

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- Set your Reaper Points - you can start using these at level 4.

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- None

Self Healing on 3 skulls:
Cure Serious Wounds Potions: 8-12 life
Cure Serious Wounds Scrolls: 18-25 life

LEVEL 5
----------
Class: Monk
Feats: Precision (Monk Feat)
Stat Increase: None

Skill Points (6)
- Concentration +3
- UMD +1 (2 skill points)
- Spot +1

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Shintao: Bastion of Purity (Core 1)
- Battle Engineer: Battle Engineer (Core 1)
- Battle Engineer: Crossbow Training (Tier 1)

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- None

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- Upgrade Rune Arm to Chimera's Breath (Sentinel's of Stormreach end reward)
- Cannith Crafting Clothing and Jewelry upgraded
- Pale Lavender Ioun Stone
- Visor of the Flesh Render Guards (I carry 5 of these all the way to cap - they weight 1/10 of a pound each)

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- Scrolls of Cure Critical Wounds (Aulandar Thistlecrown House J House of Wizardry) instead of Scrolls of Cure Serious Wounds
- Scrolls of Restoration (Aulandar Thistlecrown House J House of Wizardry)
- Scrolls of Stone Skin (Taniera Grisvill Artificer Scroll Vendor House Cannith)
- Web traps (made with web scrolls, magical trap parts, mechanical trap parts - situationally useful)

Self Healing on 3 skulls:
Cure Serious Wounds Potions: 8-12 life
Cure Critical Wounds Scrolls: 25-35 life

LEVEL 6
----------
Class: Monk
Feats: Insightful Reflexes (General), Dodge (Monk)
Stat Increase: None

Skill Points (5)
- Concentration +1
- Spot +3
- UMD +1 (2 skill points)

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Field Scrapper x2 (leave 2 open for defensive stance next level)

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- None

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- None

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- No Changes

Self Healing on 3 skulls:
Cure Serious Wounds Potions: 8-12 life
Cure Critical Wounds Scrolls: 25-35 life

LEVEL 7
----------
Class: Fighter
Feats: None
Stat Increase: +1 to each stat where you have a +2 tome or better

Skill Points (6)
- Concentration +1 (2 skill point)
- Jump +2
- UMD +1 (2 skill points)

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Stalwart Defender: Toughness (Core 1)
- Stalwart Defender: Durable Defense x3
- Stalwart Defender: Stalwart Defensive Mastery x1
- Stalwart Defender: Stalwart Defense (Core 2)

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- None

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- Cannith Crafting Clothing and Jewelry upgraded
- Mysterious Cloak added (feather fall +master's gift slotted)
- Frozen Tunic replaces fearsome/invulnerability armor

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- Scrolls of Raise Dead (Aulandar Thistlecrown House J House of Wizardry)
- Scrolls of Teleport (Franz Alastor House K Arcane Scroll Vendor)

Self Healing on 3 skulls:
Cure Serious Wounds Potions: 8-12 life
Cure Critical Wounds Scrolls: 26-37 life

LEVEL 8
----------
Class: Artificer
Feats: None
Stat Increase: +1 Intelligence (Level Up)

Skill Points (9)
- Concentration +1
- Disable Device + 4
- Search +3
- UMD +1

Spell Added:
- Elemental Weapons

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Battle Engineer: Field Scrapper x2
- Battle Engineer: Crossbow Training (Tier 2)

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- None

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- Frozen Tunic upgraded from level 4 version to level 8

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- Two-Headed Coins (Taniera Grisvill Artificer Scroll Vendor House Cannith)

Self Healing on 3 skulls:
Cure Serious Wounds Potions: 8-12 life
Cure Critical Wounds Scrolls: 26-37 life

LEVEL 9
----------
Class: Fighter
Feats: Combat Casting (General), Weapon Focus Ranged (Fighter) - before commenting on Combat Casting see notes in Level 12 section for explanation
Stat Increase: None

Skill Points (7)
- Concentration +1 (2 points)
- Jump +3
- UMD +1 (2 points)

Enhancement Point Spend:
- Battle Engineer: Action Boost Power x3
- Battle Engineer: Infused Armor (Core 3)

Weapons Added/Upgraded:
- Cannith Crafting Weapon Upgrade (3 dice instead of 2)
- Chaotic/ Construct Bane,
- Metalline / Aligned

Other Gear Added/Upgraded:
- None

Consumables Added/Upgraded:
- Scrolls of Heal (Aulandar Thistlecrown House J House of Wizardry)
- Scrolls of Greater Heroism (Franz Alastor House K Arcane Scroll Vendor)
- Scrolls of True Seeing (Franz Alastor House K Arcane Scroll Vendor)

Self Healing on 3 skulls:
Heal Scrolls: 128 Life

For Level 10 see the next section - I meant for this section to be 1-9. Starting at level 10 a bonus slot is available in Cannith crafting.

Not sure why you took field scrapper as you do not even use sunder on a ranged monk:+1/2/3 to Sunder DCs makes no sense. Also says x2 then at lvl 8 take it 2more times which that is impossible when it only goes to +3

[slarden]

Not sure why you took field scrapper as you do not even use sunder on a ranged monk:+1/2/3 to Sunder DCs makes no sense. Also says x2 then at lvl 8 take it 2more times which that is impossible when it only goes to +3

It's for the thundershock tier 5 ability which is based on sunder. One of those should just be +1- probably just a typo.

This isn't really a ranged monk - I just have 2 levels for 2 feats and evasion. It's more of a artificer repeater build with some splashing.

[C-Dog]

Not sure why you took field scrapper... Also says x2 then at lvl 8 take it 2 more...
Btw, both of these points are addressed in the thread. Read the whole thing for more information.

[Cambo]

Thanks Slarden for your build.
I've decided to take it to 30 and run a couple of epic lives and I am having great fun with the Inquisitive tree.
It significantly increases the DPS, but I also understand its not FTP.
And Ratcatcher is still an awesome lvl 8 crossbow at lvl 25 - It crits on a 14+ and does an extra multiplyer on top of most other crossbows.

Even with only putting 2 points in Inquisitive - Dual wielding Xbow, it seemed to be as effective with ratcatcher as some of the good lvl 14/15 repeaters. With a full investment in the Inquisitive tree and 27 points in Battle Mechanic it's a big step up. You overcome no thundershot with 19/20 knockdown - no save.

Keeping points in SD for the 25 PRR, I had to sacrifice insightful Int Damage, so Ive taken the spell and replaced an early optional feat with Extend to increae the duration of insightful reflexes and armour of speed spells.


21· · Epic(1) · · · · ·Epic Feat: Combat Archery
24· · Epic(4) · · · · ·Epic Feat: Overwhelming Critical
26· · Epic(6) · · · · ·Epic Destiny Feat: Holy Strike
27· · Epic(7) · · · · ·Epic Feat: Blinding Speed
28· · Epic(8) · · · · ·Epic Destiny Feat: Doubleshot
29· · Epic(9) · · · · ·Epic Destiny Feat: Embodiment of Law
30· · Epic(10)· · · · ·Epic Feat: Epic Reflexes
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Legendary: Scion of Arborea


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Enhancements: 80 APs, Racial 1, Universal 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gnome - Points spent: 1
1 Core ·(1) Perseverance I
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harper Agent - Points spent: 7
1 Core ·(1) Agent of Good I
2 Tier1 (2) Strategic Combat I
3 Tier1 (2) Harper Enchantment
4 Tier2 (1) Know the Angles
5 Tier2 (1) Know the Angles
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Battle Engineer - Points spent: 27
1 Core ·(1) attle Engineer
2 Tier1 (2) Weapon Training I: Crossbow Training I
3 Tier1 (1) Field Engineer
4 Tier1 (1) Field Engineer
5 Core ·(1) Infused Weapons I
6 Tier2 (2) Weapon Training II: Crossbow Training II
7 Tier1 (1) Field Engineer
8 Tier2 (2) Extra Action Boost
9 Tier2 (2) Extra Action Boost
10 Tier2 (2) Extra Action Boost
11 Tier3 (2) Weapon Training III: Crossbow Training III
12 Tier2 (1) Wrack Construct: Wracking Shot
13 Tier2 (1) Wrack Construct: Wracking Shot
14 Tier2 (1) Wrack Construct: Wracking Shot
15 Tier4 (2) Weapon Training IV: Crossbow Training IV
16 Tier4 (1) Agility Engine
17 Tier4 (1) Agility Engine
18 Tier4 (1) Agility Engine
19 Tier4 (2) Battle Mastery: Endless Fusilade
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stalwart Defender - Points spent: 6
1 Core ·(1) Toughness
2 Tier1 (1) Improved Stalwart Defense I: Durable Defense
3 Tier1 (1) Improved Stalwart Defense I: Durable Defense
4 Tier1 (1) Improved Stalwart Defense I: Durable Defense
5 Tier1 (1) Stalwart Defensive Mastery
6 Core ·(1) Stalwart Defense
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inquisitive - Points spent: 41
1 Core ·(1) Inquisitive
2 Tier1 (2) Dual Shooter
3 Tier1 (2) Law on your side
4 Core ·(1) Hit the Streets
5 Tier2 (1) Wand and Scroll Mastery
6 Tier2 (1) Wand and Scroll Mastery
7 Tier2 (1) Wand and Scroll Mastery
8 Tier2 (2) Crossbow Adept
9 Tier3 (2) Crossbow Adept II
10 Core ·(1) Mind Like Iron
11 Tier2 (2) Observation
12 Tier3 (1) Improved Observation
13 Tier3 (2) First Things First: Ask Questions First
14 Tier2 (2) Improved Law
15 Tier4 (2) Crossbow Adept III
16 Core ·(1) True Seeing
17 Tier4 (1) What Later?: Shoot Later
18 Tier4 (2) Greater Law
19 Tier4 (2) Inquisition Style: Martial Inquisition
20 Tier1 (1) Eye for Accuracy
21 Tier5 (2) No Holds Barred
22 Core ·(1) Undaunted
23 Tier5 (1) Inquisitor's Path: Jaded
24 Tier5 (1) Improved Uncanny Dodge
25 Tier5 (1) Diplomatic Immunity
26 Tier5 (2) Arresting Assault
27 Tier3 (2) Ability Score I: Intelligence
28 Core ·(1) Master Inquisitive
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Anyway this was purely to add some feedback to assit with anyone wanting to run this build into epics and share my experience.

[slarden]

Thanks Slarden for your build.
I've decided to take it to 30 and run a couple of epic lives and I am having great fun with the Inquisitive tree.
It significantly increases the DPS, but I also understand its not FTP.
And Ratcatcher is still an awesome lvl 8 crossbow at lvl 25 - It crits on a 14+ and does an extra multiplyer on top of most other crossbows.

Even with only putting 2 points in Inquisitive - Dual wielding Xbow, it seemed to be as effective with ratcatcher as some of the good lvl 14/15 repeaters. With a full investment in the Inquisitive tree and 27 points in Battle Mechanic it's a big step up. You overcome no thundershot with 19/20 knockdown - no save.

Keeping points in SD for the 25 PRR, I had to sacrifice insightful Int Damage, so Ive taken the spell and replaced an early optional feat with Extend to increae the duration of insightful reflexes and armour of speed spells.


21· · Epic(1) · · · · ·Epic Feat: Combat Archery
24· · Epic(4) · · · · ·Epic Feat: Overwhelming Critical
26· · Epic(6) · · · · ·Epic Destiny Feat: Holy Strike
27· · Epic(7) · · · · ·Epic Feat: Blinding Speed
28· · Epic(8) · · · · ·Epic Destiny Feat: Doubleshot
29· · Epic(9) · · · · ·Epic Destiny Feat: Embodiment of Law
30· · Epic(10)· · · · ·Epic Feat: Epic Reflexes
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Legendary: Scion of Arborea


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Enhancements: 80 APs, Racial 1, Universal 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gnome - Points spent: 1
1 Core ·(1) Perseverance I
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harper Agent - Points spent: 7
1 Core ·(1) Agent of Good I
2 Tier1 (2) Strategic Combat I
3 Tier1 (2) Harper Enchantment
4 Tier2 (1) Know the Angles
5 Tier2 (1) Know the Angles
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Battle Engineer - Points spent: 27
1 Core ·(1) attle Engineer
2 Tier1 (2) Weapon Training I: Crossbow Training I
3 Tier1 (1) Field Engineer
4 Tier1 (1) Field Engineer
5 Core ·(1) Infused Weapons I
6 Tier2 (2) Weapon Training II: Crossbow Training II
7 Tier1 (1) Field Engineer
8 Tier2 (2) Extra Action Boost
9 Tier2 (2) Extra Action Boost
10 Tier2 (2) Extra Action Boost
11 Tier3 (2) Weapon Training III: Crossbow Training III
12 Tier2 (1) Wrack Construct: Wracking Shot
13 Tier2 (1) Wrack Construct: Wracking Shot
14 Tier2 (1) Wrack Construct: Wracking Shot
15 Tier4 (2) Weapon Training IV: Crossbow Training IV
16 Tier4 (1) Agility Engine
17 Tier4 (1) Agility Engine
18 Tier4 (1) Agility Engine
19 Tier4 (2) Battle Mastery: Endless Fusilade
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stalwart Defender - Points spent: 6
1 Core ·(1) Toughness
2 Tier1 (1) Improved Stalwart Defense I: Durable Defense
3 Tier1 (1) Improved Stalwart Defense I: Durable Defense
4 Tier1 (1) Improved Stalwart Defense I: Durable Defense
5 Tier1 (1) Stalwart Defensive Mastery
6 Core ·(1) Stalwart Defense
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inquisitive - Points spent: 41
1 Core ·(1) Inquisitive
2 Tier1 (2) Dual Shooter
3 Tier1 (2) Law on your side
4 Core ·(1) Hit the Streets
5 Tier2 (1) Wand and Scroll Mastery
6 Tier2 (1) Wand and Scroll Mastery
7 Tier2 (1) Wand and Scroll Mastery
8 Tier2 (2) Crossbow Adept
9 Tier3 (2) Crossbow Adept II
10 Core ·(1) Mind Like Iron
11 Tier2 (2) Observation
12 Tier3 (1) Improved Observation
13 Tier3 (2) First Things First: Ask Questions First
14 Tier2 (2) Improved Law
15 Tier4 (2) Crossbow Adept III
16 Core ·(1) True Seeing
17 Tier4 (1) What Later?: Shoot Later
18 Tier4 (2) Greater Law
19 Tier4 (2) Inquisition Style: Martial Inquisition
20 Tier1 (1) Eye for Accuracy
21 Tier5 (2) No Holds Barred
22 Core ·(1) Undaunted
23 Tier5 (1) Inquisitor's Path: Jaded
24 Tier5 (1) Improved Uncanny Dodge
25 Tier5 (1) Diplomatic Immunity
26 Tier5 (2) Arresting Assault
27 Tier3 (2) Ability Score I: Intelligence
28 Core ·(1) Master Inquisitive
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Anyway this was purely to add some feedback to assit with anyone wanting to run this build into epics and share my experience.

This looks great - thanks for posting it! Yes, I think inquisitor with a light or heavy crossbow is the best dps for epics and level cap. I've been looking at bringing Randslar to cap with the build, but was thinking 16 arti/ 2 fighter/ 2 monk might be better at cap for deadly and reconstruct. This information is very helpful as I've been wanting to run the build at cap with inquisitor for quite a while now.

[Timmeke123456]

This might be a silly question but why do you implement the dragonmark of passage? Only for the spell expeditious retreat or am I missing something?

[slarden]

This might be a silly question but why do you implement the dragonmark of passage?

I do not take it since this is a build specifically for racial tr so it's designed to work with any race. Someone posted their own variation of the build with human and took dragonmark of passage. Dragonmark of passage gives dimension door which is a rare scroll not obtainable from a vendor. I've taken it many times when human and on a build without dimension door.

[C-Dog]

This might be a silly question but why do you implement the dragonmark of passage? Only for the spell expeditious retreat or am I missing something?
Yeah, as S said. DD allows MUCH faster completion of certain quests, and is also a great "panic button" if things go badly (like suddenly facing 2-3 reapers, etc.) It also speeds up questing in general by allowing quicker exit from most quests once finished, which is a small but overall time-saver, which can add up for those who are doing many TR's.

It's not in the original, but this build is strong enough to allow some personal variation (like the bottom, separate part of my post, where I wanted a diff class for TR).

Btw - the original is on page 1 of this thread (and a character planner version here (https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/488109-12-Artificer-6-Fighter-2-Monk-Reaper-Build?p=6079661&viewfull=1#post6079661)). Garorg's and Cambo's versions, above, are examples of such personal spins.

(np G!)
o/

[Cambo]

This looks great - thanks for posting it! Yes, I think inquisitor with a light or heavy crossbow is the best dps for epics and level cap. I've been looking at bringing Randslar to cap with the build, but was thinking 16 arti/ 2 fighter/ 2 monk might be better at cap for deadly and reconstruct. This information is very helpful as I've been wanting to run the build at cap with inquisitor for quite a while now.

Ok so importantly I found out extend does not work with deadly or armor of speed +(might have been common knowledge...), so its a wasted feat. luckily this build is full of feats.
Im on my second Epic TR, and its cutting it up really well. I've kept the SD portion as it does seem to make a difference in early Epics.
Blinding speed Epic Feat obviously removes the need to use blinding speed.

The level 24 thrunderforged Crossbow is nice for DR breaking (slotted with ruby of good) - without artificer casting (i can never remember what works when), and Ratcatcher holds its own until level 24.

About the only issue I have with this build is the need for a good jump item or pots ;), oh and ive mucked around with twisting consectrate and heal component so i can cast while attacking and keep up the health...in early epics I ran divine crusader as it saves the need to kite a lot.

I just made a Heroic Radiance greensteel HXB and wil probably do the next life as ranger/rogue/arty for the added sneal attack. Blinding gives some protection against being hit too.

One of the best things about inquisitor is the Law damage, it's not range or aggro dependent runs with 200% Ranged Power, and isnt blocked by DR.

I've been thinking about farming the xbow from Zawabis revenge, and the shard to make a lvl 20 sentience accepting crossbow with extra crit multiplyer, but it seems like a lot of work when Ratcatcher is running fine.

Anyway this thread has some nice discussion on inquisitor artificer - https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/493152-The-Never-Ending-Fusilade

[slarden]

Ok so importantly I found out extend does not work with deadly or armor of speed +(might have been common knowledge...), so its a wasted feat. luckily this build is full of feats.
Im on my second Epic TR, and its cutting it up really well. I've kept the SD portion as it does seem to make a difference in early Epics.
Blinding speed Epic Feat obviously removes the need to use blinding speed.

The level 24 thrunderforged Crossbow is nice for DR breaking (slotted with ruby of good) - without artificer casting (i can never remember what works when), and Ratcatcher holds its own until level 24.

About the only issue I have with this build is the need for a good jump item or pots ;), oh and ive mucked around with twisting consectrate and heal component so i can cast while attacking and keep up the health...in early epics I ran divine crusader as it saves the need to kite a lot.

I just made a Heroic Radiance greensteel HXB and wil probably do the next life as ranger/rogue/arty for the added sneal attack. Blinding gives some protection against being hit too.

One of the best things about inquisitor is the Law damage, it's not range or aggro dependent runs with 200% Ranged Power, and isnt blocked by DR.

I've been thinking about farming the xbow from Zawabis revenge, and the shard to make a lvl 20 sentience accepting crossbow with extra crit multiplyer, but it seems like a lot of work when Ratcatcher is running fine.

Anyway this thread has some nice discussion on inquisitor artificer - https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/493152-The-Never-Ending-Fusilade

Thank you for the update. I did put ranks into jump. There should be ways to get to a max jump.

I am looking at a different direction and going 16 arti / 2 fighter / 2 monk for running at level cap so I can give the party deadly weapons. Epic storm is a really good level 20 weapon. If you already have the seal you can get the shard as a 20th completion. It might be worth it if you have alot of epic lifes to run. Ratcatcher is really good also although you lose the sentient.

[Hobgoblin]

how would u change your level split for inq? or would you?


sry was going through all the replys and probably missed it.

running a pure drow arti right now, and damage is great survivablity is only ok.

[Tlorrd]

how would u change your level split for inq? or would you?


sry was going through all the replys and probably missed it.

running a pure drow arti right now, and damage is great survivablity is only ok.

You're survival is better with pure arti. 30+ APs in Inq, and then use 30+ for RM tree rather than BE tree. 2 reconstructs and 2 radiant forcefields will get you through pretty much everything.

[slarden]

how would u change your level split for inq? or would you?


sry was going through all the replys and probably missed it.

running a pure drow arti right now, and damage is great survivablity is only ok.

I am running a variation of this build on the hardcore server right now. I am level 10 and still using a repeater but my plan is go to warforged 15 arti 3 fighter 2 monk - on live I would go 16 arti 2 fighter 2 monk but I plan to give up deadly weapons and get some more prr/mrr. Nobody in our 3-man group died so far with a mix of reaper elite and some hards. As we get closer to 1750 the group seems to want to dial it down so we get that reward and 20 and then start up with reaper again at 30.

This build works really good on hardcore because there is some low hanging hp fruit and dps is good at low levels with just a repeater + harper 12 pts. Specifically 5 pts in RMM gets you 25 hp + 20 repair amp. A 6th pt gets you another 10 hp. There is 10 hp available in warforged and you get 15 hp with harper.

My leveling plan is

1-2 arti (point blank shot + rapid reload is an auto grant)
3 Monk (precision + rapid shot)
4 fighter (precise shot)
5 monk (toughness)
6 - 10 arti (insightful reflexes + quicken)
11 fighter (improved critical ranged)

Also, I find on a first lifer on hardcore my umd is harder to hit so have been using repair wands and that is working quite well with wand and scroll mastery at lower levels. I am not sure what level I will switch to inquisitor but I suspect somewhere in the high teens. Also with the option to get class rewards as an arti you see alot of great random loot crossbows - have multiple vorpal keens. Just check each one usually vorpal keen shows up as just keen until you actually look at the item. I saw cordovan make this mistake on his hardcore stream yesterday - didn't even check the keen crossbow which could have very well been vorpal keen.


You're survival is better with pure arti. 30+ APs in Inq, and then use 30+ for RM tree rather than BE tree. 2 reconstructs and 2 radiant forcefields will get you through pretty much everything. I disagree with this assessment because you really want to go 41 pts in inquisitor as strong dps + the knockdown proc is actually a better "defense" in many cases than some extra hp. If you do want to go more tanky and drop evasion I would suggest 16 arti 4 fighter vs. pure arti. you don't really need 2 reconstructs or 2 radiant forcefields with this build. Dipping into RMM for the low hanging fruit certainly makes sense.

[Tlorrd]

I disagree with this assessment because you really want to go 41 pts in inquisitor as strong dps + the knockdown proc is actually a better "defense" in many cases than some extra hp. If you do want to go more tanky and drop evasion I would suggest 16 arti 4 fighter vs. pure arti. you don't really need 2 reconstructs or 2 radiant forcefields with this build. Dipping into RMM for the low hanging fruit certainly makes sense.

I'm not totally disagreeing with you, but my response to hobgoblin was also a response to his/her own thread where he/she posted the same question on Inq and pure arti. He/She is having some difficulty with balancing the progression of arti and Inq and the balance between which offensive tree to focus on and how to focus on each.

No doubt the trip and extra ranged power in multiple ways is great offense and a great defense .... but my guess (and inference) is that hobs is not a power gamer and some extra heals and defense will more than compensate to keep them alive as they are not as skilled as you and playing an advanced multiclass build.

[slarden]

I'm not totally disagreeing with you, but my response to hobgoblin was also a response to his/her own thread where he/she posted the same question on Inq and pure arti. He/She is having some difficulty with balancing the progression of arti and Inq and the balance between which offensive tree to focus on and how to focus on each.

No doubt the trip and extra ranged power in multiple ways is great offense and a great defense .... but my guess (and inference) is that hobs is not a power gamer and some extra heals and defense will more than compensate to keep them alive as they are not as skilled as you and playing an advanced multiclass build.
I agree that personal playstyle trumps all else.

[Hobgoblin]

I'm not totally disagreeing with you, but my response to hobgoblin was also a response to his/her own thread where he/she posted the same question on Inq and pure arti. He/She is having some difficulty with balancing the progression of arti and Inq and the balance between which offensive tree to focus on and how to focus on each.

No doubt the trip and extra ranged power in multiple ways is great offense and a great defense .... but my guess (and inference) is that hobs is not a power gamer and some extra heals and defense will more than compensate to keep them alive as they are not as skilled as you and playing an advanced multiclass build.

to clarify - i am somewhat good at playing, and I solo a lot as i have weird hours.

I would call myself a casual power gamer - ie im ok at playing horrible at building a multi class. I dont see the synergy in builds myself until they are pointed out, but play them well when I see them. I try to optimize my builds and gear but I am far from an expert.

Inq is very new to me. as a pure arti, i live very well, but damage is only good. not great. I feel that if i did this one it would increase a lot, but missing defenses for more dps.Correct?

sry bout the rant.


ty for the advice :)


hob

[slarden]

I would call myself a casual power gamer me too.

[xBunny]

Thanks for build idea. Have run modification of this build my past life. Went with 2 Pal instead of 2 Monk to get IPS on 12 lvl (4\6\2 Arti\Ftr\Pal = 11BaB on 12lvl).

[shino23]

Hi wanted to ask I am about to tr my main character after a long pause is this build worthed trying with 3 monk pl 1 fighter 1 ranger 1 doubleshot epl e 1 brace epl?

I am pretty well equipped with all you suggest with +7 supreme tome
And I have like 4 reaper point...

Plus is the op build good counting the latest update? I am really outdated on this thing...

Really like the general feeling of the build evasion plus feats seems perfect to my play style still as I said I am really outdated on building stuff so having trouble figuring out the actual state of this...

Thank you for the answer

[slarden]

Hi wanted to ask I am about to tr my main character after a long pause is this build worthed trying with 3 monk pl 1 fighter 1 ranger 1 doubleshot epl e 1 brace epl?

I am pretty well equipped with all you suggest with +7 supreme tome
And I have like 4 reaper point...

Plus is the op build good counting the latest update? I am really outdated on this thing...

Really like the general feeling of the build evasion plus feats seems perfect to my play style still as I said I am really outdated on building stuff so having trouble figuring out the actual state of this...

Thank you for the answer

The build still works and will be fine after the upcoming nerfs. I used it on the hardcore server to get my 100k reaper cloak successfully with no past lifes. I went 15 artificer / 2 monk / 3 fighter warforged on hardcore for better self healing. I like the original split for fleshies but on hardcore survivability is king.

Your past lifes give you better bonuses than I had on hardcore so I think it go well for you.

There is an upcoming change to improved precise shot (20% damage reduction). Since IPS can be toggled on and off I think it's fine and will have a very minimal impact. I plan to use the build again for the next hardcore season.

[shino23]

The build still works and will be fine after the upcoming nerfs. I used it on the hardcore server to get my 100k reaper cloak successfully with no past lifes. I went 15 artificer / 2 monk / 3 fighter warforged on hardcore for better self healing. I like the original split for fleshies but on hardcore survivability is king.

Your past lifes give you better bonuses than I had on hardcore so I think it go well for you.

There is an upcoming change to improved precise shot (20% damage reduction). Since IPS can be toggled on and off I think it's fine and will have a very minimal impact. I plan to use the build again for the next hardcore season.

Thank for the answer! Really thrilled to try the build on paper seems really strong... I need to update myself on crafting...


My only other doubt is if it is worthed to spend AP on the healing Amp if I play this with warforged... I will run with my gf and she will play wf Arti too so maybe I can skip on that and at most go on repair Amp... What you think?

[Kodwraith]

Hey Slarden,
How are you splitting your AP these days? I assume it's something with 41 Inquisitor, 11 Kensai, 12 Harper, 11 Stalwart?? Rest into Battle engineer? MasterMaker?

[huntdawumpus]

Where would you take the 3rd Fighter life? Level 15 as in OP?


I am running a variation of this build on the hardcore server right now. I am level 10 and still using a repeater but my plan is go to warforged 15 arti 3 fighter 2 monk - on live I would go 16 arti 2 fighter 2 monk but I plan to give up deadly weapons and get some more prr/mrr. Nobody in our 3-man group died so far with a mix of reaper elite and some hards. As we get closer to 1750 the group seems to want to dial it down so we get that reward and 20 and then start up with reaper again at 30.

This build works really good on hardcore because there is some low hanging hp fruit and dps is good at low levels with just a repeater + harper 12 pts. Specifically 5 pts in RMM gets you 25 hp + 20 repair amp. A 6th pt gets you another 10 hp. There is 10 hp available in warforged and you get 15 hp with harper.

My leveling plan is

1-2 arti (point blank shot + rapid reload is an auto grant)
3 Monk (precision + rapid shot)
4 fighter (precise shot)
5 monk (toughness)
6 - 10 arti (insightful reflexes + quicken)
11 fighter (improved critical ranged)

Also, I find on a first lifer on hardcore my umd is harder to hit so have been using repair wands and that is working quite well with wand and scroll mastery at lower levels. I am not sure what level I will switch to inquisitor but I suspect somewhere in the high teens. Also with the option to get class rewards as an arti you see alot of great random loot crossbows - have multiple vorpal keens. Just check each one usually vorpal keen shows up as just keen until you actually look at the item. I saw cordovan make this mistake on his hardcore stream yesterday - didn't even check the keen crossbow which could have very well been vorpal keen.

I disagree with this assessment because you really want to go 41 pts in inquisitor as strong dps + the knockdown proc is actually a better "defense" in many cases than some extra hp. If you do want to go more tanky and drop evasion I would suggest 16 arti 4 fighter vs. pure arti. you don't really need 2 reconstructs or 2 radiant forcefields with this build. Dipping into RMM for the low hanging fruit certainly makes sense.

[C-Dog]

Where would you take the 3rd Fighter life? Level 15 as in OP?
As with anything in a build, you weigh what you gain vs. what you are giving up.

Since Ftr 3 gets no Feats, the timing vs. BAB is not important, so the only advantage is opening Fighter Tree Core 3's. So, that gets weighed against other enhancements (i.e. after some important landmark on another tree has been reached), or class benefits (Arti 8 for Bonus Feat), or spells (Arti 9 for Lvl 4 spells - Armor of Speed?), or some other significant cut point that is valued more than those Fighter Core 3 enhancements.

[Kodwraith]

As with anything in a build, you weigh what you gain vs. what you are giving up.

Since Ftr 3 gets no Feats, the timing vs. BAB is not important, so the only advantage is opening Fighter Tree Core 3's. So, that gets weighed against other enhancements (i.e. after some important landmark on another tree has been reached), or class benefits (Arti 8 for Bonus Feat), or spells (Arti 9 for Lvl 4 spells - Armor of Speed?), or some other significant cut point that is valued more than those Fighter Core 3 enhancements.

So I just leveled this build up to 15 from zero and it still works as advertised. Note that the 6 fighter is only really useful from level 6 to 12 until the inquisitor +crit kicks in. The fighter mainly adds feats and give a second source of xbow bonuses.

[huntdawumpus]

I am running a variation of this build on the hardcore server right now. I am level 10 and still using a repeater but my plan is go to warforged 15 arti 3 fighter 2 monk - on live I would go 16 arti 2 fighter 2 monk but I plan to give up deadly weapons and get some more prr/mrr. Nobody in our 3-man group died so far with a mix of reaper elite and some hards. As we get closer to 1750 the group seems to want to dial it down so we get that reward and 20 and then start up with reaper again at 30.

This build works really good on hardcore because there is some low hanging hp fruit and dps is good at low levels with just a repeater + harper 12 pts. Specifically 5 pts in RMM gets you 25 hp + 20 repair amp. A 6th pt gets you another 10 hp. There is 10 hp available in warforged and you get 15 hp with harper.

My leveling plan is

1-2 arti (point blank shot + rapid reload is an auto grant)
3 Monk (precision + rapid shot)
4 fighter (precise shot)
5 monk (toughness)
6 - 10 arti (insightful reflexes + quicken)
11 fighter (improved critical ranged)

Also, I find on a first lifer on hardcore my umd is harder to hit so have been using repair wands and that is working quite well with wand and scroll mastery at lower levels. I am not sure what level I will switch to inquisitor but I suspect somewhere in the high teens. Also with the option to get class rewards as an arti you see alot of great random loot crossbows - have multiple vorpal keens. Just check each one usually vorpal keen shows up as just keen until you actually look at the item. I saw cordovan make this mistake on his hardcore stream yesterday - didn't even check the keen crossbow which could have very well been vorpal keen.

I disagree with this assessment because you really want to go 41 pts in inquisitor as strong dps + the knockdown proc is actually a better "defense" in many cases than some extra hp. If you do want to go more tanky and drop evasion I would suggest 16 arti 4 fighter vs. pure arti. you don't really need 2 reconstructs or 2 radiant forcefields with this build. Dipping into RMM for the low hanging fruit certainly makes sense.

Given the above snippets of information, is this a reasonable build from the OP? Are the enhancements reasonable?


Character name: Arugula ex Evada
Classes: 15 Artificer, 3 Fighter, 2 Monk
Race: Warforged · · · · · ·Alignment: Lawful Neutral

· · ·Start Tome Final
Str:· · 10· · 6 · ·16 · · ·HP:· · · · 553 · · ·AC:· · 22
Dex:· · 16· · 6 · ·22 · · ·PRR: · · · · 5
Con:· · 16· · 6 · ·22 · · ·MRR: · · · · 0 · · ·+Healing Amp:· · 10
Int:· · 16· · 6 · ·32 · · ·Dodge: · 12/25 · · ·-Healing Amp:· · ·0
Wis:· · 10· · 6 · ·16 · · ·Fort:· · · 50% · · ·Repair Amp:· · · 20
Cha:· · ·6· · 6 · ·12 · · ·SR:· · · · · 0 · · ·BAB: · · · · · · 15
DR:
Immunities: Sleep, Energy Drain, Nausea, Sickness, Exhaustion, Paralysis, Magic Missiles

Class and Feat Selection
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Level Class · · · · · ·Feats
1 · · Artificer(1)· · ·Standard: Point Blank Shot
2 · · Artificer(2)· · ·
3 · · Monk(1) · · · · ·Standard: Rapid Shot
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Monk Bonus: Precision
4 · · Fighter(1)· · · ·Fighter Bonus: Precise Shot
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Intelligence: +1 Level up
5 · · Monk(2) · · · · ·Monk Bonus: Toughness
6 · · Artificer(3)· · ·Standard: Insightful Reflexes
7 · · Artificer(4)· · ·Artificer Bonus: Quicken Spell
8 · · Artificer(5)· · ·Intelligence: +1 Level up
9 · · Artificer(6)· · ·Standard: Dodge
10· · Artificer(7)· · ·
11· · Fighter(2)· · · ·Fighter Bonus: Improved Critical: Ranged Weapons
12· · Artificer(8)· · ·Standard: Mobility
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Artificer Bonus: Shot on the Run
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Intelligence: +1 Level up
13· · Artificer(9)· · ·
14· · Artificer(10) · ·
15· · Artificer(11) · ·Standard: Improved Precise Shot
16· · Fighter(3)· · · ·Intelligence: +1 Level up
17· · Artificer(12) · ·Artificer Bonus: Maximize Spell
18· · Artificer(13) · ·Standard: Combat Casting
19· · Artificer(14) · ·
20· · Artificer(15) · ·Intelligence: +1 Level up

Enhancements: 80 APs
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Warforged - Points spent: 3
1 Core ·(1) Improved Fortification I
2 Tier1 (2) Construct Toughness I
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arcanotechnician - Points spent: 4
1 Core ·(1) rcanotechnician
2 Tier1 (1) Wand And Scroll Mastery
3 Tier1 (1) Wand And Scroll Mastery
4 Tier1 (1) Wand And Scroll Mastery
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Battle Engineer - Points spent: 37
1 Core ·(1) attle Engineer
2 Tier1 (2) Weapon Training I: Crossbow Training I
3 Tier1 (1) Thaumaturgical Conduits
4 Tier1 (1) Thaumaturgical Conduits
5 Core ·(1) Infused Weapons I
6 Tier2 (2) Weapon Training II: Crossbow Training II
7 Tier1 (1) Thaumaturgical Conduits
8 Tier2 (1) Caustic Strike: Caustic Shot
9 Tier3 (2) Weapon Training III: Crossbow Training III
10 Core ·(1) Infused Armor I
11 Tier3 (2) Ability I: +1 Intelligence
12 Tier3 (1) Shatter Defenses: Shatter Defenses (Crossbow)
13 Tier1 (1) Field Scrapper
14 Tier1 (1) Field Scrapper
15 Tier2 (1) Wrack Construct: Wracking Shot
16 Tier2 (1) Wrack Construct: Wracking Shot
17 Tier4 (2) Weapon Training IV: Crossbow Training IV
18 Tier4 (2) Battle Mastery: Endless Fusilade
19 Tier4 (1) Agility Engine
20 Tier4 (1) Agility Engine
21 Tier4 (2) Ability II: +1 Intelligence
22 Tier1 (1) Field Scrapper
23 Tier2 (1) Wrack Construct: Wracking Shot
24 Tier4 (1) Agility Engine
25 Core ·(1) Infused Weapons II
26 Tier5 (1) Reconstructed Armaments: Reconstructed Crossbows
27 Tier5 (1) Thunder Shock Weapon: Thunder-Shock Weapon (Crossbow)
28 Tier5 (1) Unlock Potential
29 Tier5 (2) Tactical Mobility
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Renegade Mastermaker - Points spent: 6
1 Core ·(1) Renegade Defender
2 Tier1 (1) Easily Fixed
3 Tier1 (1) Toughness
4 Tier1 (1) Toughness
5 Tier1 (1) Toughness
6 Core ·(1) Alchemical Shield
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harper Agent - Points spent: 15
1 Core ·(1) Agent of Good I
2 Tier1 (2) Strategic Combat I
3 Tier1 (2) Harper Enchantment
4 Tier2 (1) Know the Angles
5 Tier2 (1) Know the Angles
6 Tier2 (1) Know the Angles
7 Core ·(2) Harper Training I: +1 Intelligence
8 Tier3 (2) Strategic Combat II
9 Tier1 (1) Traveller's Toughness
10 Tier1 (1) Traveller's Toughness
11 Tier1 (1) Traveller's Toughness
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kensei - Points spent: 15
1 Core ·(1) Kensei Focus: Kensei Focus: Crossbows
2 Tier1 (2) Weapon Group Specialization I: Kensei Focus: Crossbows
3 Tier1 (2) Exotic Weapon Mastery
4 Tier2 (2) Tactics
5 Tier2 (2) Tactics
6 Tier2 (2) Tactics
7 Tier2 (1) Improved Dodge
8 Tier2 (1) Improved Dodge
9 Tier2 (1) Improved Dodge
10 Core ·(1) Spiritual Bond
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[cmecu]

I had 2 questions about this build.. Any Race... This build is for banging out racials, but when it comes time to do Warforge racial past lives, isnt that going to be an even better synergy? Artis cast repair spells, and Wearing docent doesnt affect the monk restriction for armor ?

Second question is why is monk taken? is it just for evasion? or is there something more from 2 monks levels? If not would taking2 rogues give any more or less of a benefit?

[slarden]

Given the above snippets of information, is this a reasonable build from the OP? Are the enhancements reasonable?


Character name: Arugula ex Evada
Classes: 15 Artificer, 3 Fighter, 2 Monk
Race: Warforged · · · · · ·Alignment: Lawful Neutral

· · ·Start Tome Final
Str:· · 10· · 6 · ·16 · · ·HP:· · · · 553 · · ·AC:· · 22
Dex:· · 16· · 6 · ·22 · · ·PRR: · · · · 5
Con:· · 16· · 6 · ·22 · · ·MRR: · · · · 0 · · ·+Healing Amp:· · 10
Int:· · 16· · 6 · ·32 · · ·Dodge: · 12/25 · · ·-Healing Amp:· · ·0
Wis:· · 10· · 6 · ·16 · · ·Fort:· · · 50% · · ·Repair Amp:· · · 20
Cha:· · ·6· · 6 · ·12 · · ·SR:· · · · · 0 · · ·BAB: · · · · · · 15
DR:
Immunities: Sleep, Energy Drain, Nausea, Sickness, Exhaustion, Paralysis, Magic Missiles

Class and Feat Selection
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Level Class · · · · · ·Feats
1 · · Artificer(1)· · ·Standard: Point Blank Shot
2 · · Artificer(2)· · ·
3 · · Monk(1) · · · · ·Standard: Rapid Shot
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Monk Bonus: Precision
4 · · Fighter(1)· · · ·Fighter Bonus: Precise Shot
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Intelligence: +1 Level up
5 · · Monk(2) · · · · ·Monk Bonus: Toughness
6 · · Artificer(3)· · ·Standard: Insightful Reflexes
7 · · Artificer(4)· · ·Artificer Bonus: Quicken Spell
8 · · Artificer(5)· · ·Intelligence: +1 Level up
9 · · Artificer(6)· · ·Standard: Dodge
10· · Artificer(7)· · ·
11· · Fighter(2)· · · ·Fighter Bonus: Improved Critical: Ranged Weapons
12· · Artificer(8)· · ·Standard: Mobility
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Artificer Bonus: Shot on the Run
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Intelligence: +1 Level up
13· · Artificer(9)· · ·
14· · Artificer(10) · ·
15· · Artificer(11) · ·Standard: Improved Precise Shot
16· · Fighter(3)· · · ·Intelligence: +1 Level up
17· · Artificer(12) · ·Artificer Bonus: Maximize Spell
18· · Artificer(13) · ·Standard: Combat Casting
19· · Artificer(14) · ·
20· · Artificer(15) · ·Intelligence: +1 Level up

Enhancements: 80 APs
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Warforged - Points spent: 3
1 Core ·(1) Improved Fortification I
2 Tier1 (2) Construct Toughness I
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arcanotechnician - Points spent: 4
1 Core ·(1) rcanotechnician
2 Tier1 (1) Wand And Scroll Mastery
3 Tier1 (1) Wand And Scroll Mastery
4 Tier1 (1) Wand And Scroll Mastery
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Battle Engineer - Points spent: 37
1 Core ·(1) attle Engineer
2 Tier1 (2) Weapon Training I: Crossbow Training I
3 Tier1 (1) Thaumaturgical Conduits
4 Tier1 (1) Thaumaturgical Conduits
5 Core ·(1) Infused Weapons I
6 Tier2 (2) Weapon Training II: Crossbow Training II
7 Tier1 (1) Thaumaturgical Conduits
8 Tier2 (1) Caustic Strike: Caustic Shot
9 Tier3 (2) Weapon Training III: Crossbow Training III
10 Core ·(1) Infused Armor I
11 Tier3 (2) Ability I: +1 Intelligence
12 Tier3 (1) Shatter Defenses: Shatter Defenses (Crossbow)
13 Tier1 (1) Field Scrapper
14 Tier1 (1) Field Scrapper
15 Tier2 (1) Wrack Construct: Wracking Shot
16 Tier2 (1) Wrack Construct: Wracking Shot
17 Tier4 (2) Weapon Training IV: Crossbow Training IV
18 Tier4 (2) Battle Mastery: Endless Fusilade
19 Tier4 (1) Agility Engine
20 Tier4 (1) Agility Engine
21 Tier4 (2) Ability II: +1 Intelligence
22 Tier1 (1) Field Scrapper
23 Tier2 (1) Wrack Construct: Wracking Shot
24 Tier4 (1) Agility Engine
25 Core ·(1) Infused Weapons II
26 Tier5 (1) Reconstructed Armaments: Reconstructed Crossbows
27 Tier5 (1) Thunder Shock Weapon: Thunder-Shock Weapon (Crossbow)
28 Tier5 (1) Unlock Potential
29 Tier5 (2) Tactical Mobility
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Renegade Mastermaker - Points spent: 6
1 Core ·(1) Renegade Defender
2 Tier1 (1) Easily Fixed
3 Tier1 (1) Toughness
4 Tier1 (1) Toughness
5 Tier1 (1) Toughness
6 Core ·(1) Alchemical Shield
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harper Agent - Points spent: 15
1 Core ·(1) Agent of Good I
2 Tier1 (2) Strategic Combat I
3 Tier1 (2) Harper Enchantment
4 Tier2 (1) Know the Angles
5 Tier2 (1) Know the Angles
6 Tier2 (1) Know the Angles
7 Core ·(2) Harper Training I: +1 Intelligence
8 Tier3 (2) Strategic Combat II
9 Tier1 (1) Traveller's Toughness
10 Tier1 (1) Traveller's Toughness
11 Tier1 (1) Traveller's Toughness
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kensei - Points spent: 15
1 Core ·(1) Kensei Focus: Kensei Focus: Crossbows
2 Tier1 (2) Weapon Group Specialization I: Kensei Focus: Crossbows
3 Tier1 (2) Exotic Weapon Mastery
4 Tier2 (2) Tactics
5 Tier2 (2) Tactics
6 Tier2 (2) Tactics
7 Tier2 (1) Improved Dodge
8 Tier2 (1) Improved Dodge
9 Tier2 (1) Improved Dodge
10 Core ·(1) Spiritual Bond
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Yes this looks close to my spend with probably 90% overlap.

[slarden]

I had 2 questions about this build.. Any Race... This build is for banging out racials, but when it comes time to do Warforge racial past lives, isnt that going to be an even better synergy? Artis cast repair spells, and Wearing docent doesnt affect the monk restriction for armor ?

Second question is why is monk taken? is it just for evasion? or is there something more from 2 monks levels? If not would taking2 rogues give any more or less of a benefit?

I took monk over rogue for the 2 feats plus accelerating feats so I could be more powerful at early levels. Monk has enough skill points I didn't feel it hurt my trapping and I wouldn't dip into the rogue enhancement trees.

With warforged you might want to go for more artificer levels for better self healing - that is what I did on hardcore. Docent doesn't impact restriction for monk armor as long as you don't take mithral or adamantine body. Since I only cared about evasion and feats (since crossbow makes you uncentered anyhow) you could go with mithral armor without losing anything except dodge cap. If you take adamantine body you would lose evasion.

Since this is for racial tr I focused on scroll healing which works for all races and it's generally easier to get a higher healing amp.

[sacredguyver]

Since you have said that you've done a Hardcore season with this character, and there's a new Hardcore season starting, what updates would you recommend making to the build?

[slarden]

Since you have said that you've done a Hardcore season with this character, and there's a new Hardcore season starting, what updates would you recommend making to the build?

So far I used this build successfully in hardcore season I and II to earn my reaper cloaks. Last season I was the 9th to earn the 100k rxp cloak and I was 100% solo up to the 100k - but didn't continue after getting the cloak. The last 2 seasons I went warforged artificer with splash for monk and fighter - but basically the same ideas as this build but more artificer levels which I think makes sense on a first life build for easier self healing combined with being warforged and having the warforged immunities.

I haven't finalized my build yet this season as I just created a farming character yesterday and am working on some key low level items I want (book of spirits for reapers, blademark docent, either strinati's hand cannon or chimera's breath, some decent random loot). The blademark docent and chimera's breath are fairly easy to get. The hand cannon requires some luck. For book of spirits you definitely want to go with the optional for 2 end chests but the 2nd chest bugs out rarely.

My original plan was to the play the same build again this season either as a bladeforged 15 artificer / 3 paladin / 2 monk or warforged 15 artficer / 3 fighter / 2 monk. I like the reconstruct SLA and paladin benefits - but warforged memories of war is so good I hate to give that up not to mention the 2 fighter feats.

Since it's hardcore my ap spend is a bit different. After getting 12 points in Harper tree (in to hit/damage, kta, toughness, etc.) I focus on survivability next as dps is good at low levels with a repeater without deep investment. In RMM I go for easy first 2 cores, easily fixed and toughness x 3. Each core gives 10 hp even though 2nd core is kind of useless otherwise. In warforged I take all the toughness, repair amp x3, memories of war 15 ranged power and memories of war 8 PRR, weapon attachment 6 points in the fighter or paladin defender tree for the stance and 25 PRR/MRR. Then I start on battle engineer. I never had a problem with dps doing this. At later heroic levels you can respec as inquisitive but if you are able to get fatal flaw - repeater is still good to 20 even with so much investment in hp and prr/mrr, but get the ratcatcher from threnal to keep your options open. The warforged weapon attachment and ship buff stacks on the fatal flaw for some really nice base damage and the improved vorpal procs quite a bit.

[cmecu]

Since it's hardcore my ap spend is a bit different. After getting 12 points in Harper tree (in to hit/damage, kta, toughness, etc.) I focus on survivability next as dps is good at low levels with a repeater without deep investment. In RMM I go for easy first 2 cores, easily fixed and toughness x 3. Each core gives 10 hp even though 2nd core is kind of useless otherwise. In warforged I take all the toughness, repair amp x3, memories of war 15 ranged power and memories of war 8 PRR, weapon attachment 6 points in the fighter or paladin defender tree for the stance and 25 PRR/MRR. Then I start on battle engineer. I never had a problem with dps doing this. At later heroic levels you can respec as inquisitive but if you are able to get fatal flaw - repeater is still good to 20 even with so much investment in hp and prr/mrr, but get the ratcatcher from threnal to keep your options open. The warforged weapon attachment and ship buff stacks on the fatal flaw for some really nice base damage and the improved vorpal procs quite a bit.

I am actually playing this build right now. I like it so far, I must had missed taking the Renegade stuff. I was wondering why my self heals sucked and I was squishy.. I am playing a WF.

I know you want to get the typical 13 points in Harper to get your Hit and Damage. I have 6 points in Stalwart Defender to get the core 2 Stalwart Defense and tier 1 Durable defense 3, plsu i had to put a point into stalwart defense mastery to get 5 points in tree to take the core 2. So that is 19 points used up so far ( im level 8 banked xp , doing 5 k favor for mount) I have 13 points left over.. Since this is hardcore , and a dead character is of no use, then its best to focus on survival first.
So now I am putting points in Renegade. Oh side question, do you take Mithral Body as a feat any where in the build, if so at what level ? So its like having medium armor on?
How many points you put into Renegade Tree.

How many points for inquisitive? I am not sure if I will get a Fatal Flaw or not. I doubt I will..

Side note, I am kind of disappointed with how much moderate repair is healing for. I mean, I have 22 skill point sin repair, +40 repair heal amp racial, +5 repair core 1 rmm, 20 more repair amp in tier 1 Rmm, and most of my casts are between 19 and 30 ish. once in a while I get higher if i crit heal.. Maybe because I my repair spell power is only 29 ATM. I dont think I have a repair spell power piece on. I am guessing if I do get a piece with it, then my heals should go up alot more. BUt I expected to already see bigger heals with all this amp.


also im assuming a typo,, you said your playing a 15 palidan / 3 palidan/ 2 monk

[slarden]

do you take Mithral Body as a feat any where in the build, if so at what level ? So its like having medium armor on?
How many points you put into Renegade Tree. Yes it's definitely worth taking, but it's not a huge priority as it's based on BAB so it's lower at lower levels. I would take it as an artificer feat at your 8th level of artificer.


How many points you put into Renegade Tree. I am probably going to just put 6 points into the tree this season so I can put more into bladeforged tree.



How many points for inquisitive? I am not sure if I will get a Fatal Flaw or not. I doubt I will.. So far it dropped for me both season so I didn't actually put anything into the tree. If you go the inquisitive route you want to get tier 5 so it will be a heavy ap investment. One of the reasons I like repeater for hardcore is it doesn't require much investment to effective giving me many more points for survivaility.




Side note, I am kind of disappointed with how much moderate repair is healing for. I mean, I have 22 skill point sin repair, +40 repair heal amp racial, +5 repair core 1 rmm, 20 more repair amp in tier 1 Rmm, and most of my casts are between 19 and 30 ish. once in a while I get higher if i crit heal.. Maybe because I my repair spell power is only 29 ATM. I dont think I have a repair spell power piece on. I am guessing if I do get a piece with it, then my heals should go up alot more. BUt I expected to already see bigger heals with all this amp.


also im assuming a typo,, you said your playing a 15 palidan / 3 palidan/ 2 monkIt's because of your repair power but also because of the class split since it's based on artificer levels. It will continue to improve each level. With bladeforged the racial reconstruct is really good and based on character levels so it's amazing healing. If you have an investment in UMD you can also use wands/scrolls with 4 points spent to get wand and scroll mastery in arcanotechnician.

[Fools_Gold]

Hello Slarden,

As the title says, long overdue considering the improvements the many nice nuggests of advice in your comprehensive build posts have brought me. Your inbox on the site is full apparently else i'd have directed this there instead :) I suppose it was logical I should run into you at some time or other, given that i've spent most of my time so far either in warlock or some form of ranged build - both of which you have great advice on in your threads. I tend to have to try alone as i'm not confident enough to play with others, or as another forum poster put it. 'yay anxiety'. On the warlock i did manage reaper in heroics, but never on epic (have to say I really didn't have much gear for him in epics), but on the ranged lives at present, i've been able recently to replace the mind numbing drudge that is EN with the satisfying challenge & feeling of accomplishment represented by EE. I was able to do plenty of R1 too in epic bladeforged lives thanks to the prodigious healing they have, but sadly cocoon and spring don't seem to cut it in reaper when the going gets tough on fleshies, despite my best efforts with positive spellpower and heal amp. I know your opinion on running anything other than reaper, but at least for now i've found dropping down (i said down - that in itself is a sign of progress!) to EE to be both more manageable & more fun. Think i have around 29 reaper points now - a morning's work for some of you by the sounds of it, but ground out over many lives for me. I did notice you stated something like 120k rxp were possible from 1-20 on R3 - that seems rather a lot to me, but maybe my own figures (perhaps closer 50k a life i'd guess) were skewed in the past by wimping out of reaper when the quests got a little tougher. It takes some learning that eg R3 in gianthold is nothing like an R3 in say archons quests. Crucible aside (tried but it's so solo unfriendly) i can r3-r4 most of heroic GH on the ranged build, but try that against the abishai and i get toasted in very short order.

I did take your advice re cannith crafting & have used that to great effect. As gear and indeed levelling quests 20-28 seem somewhat sparse (i guess better players run the legendary content below level but that's not something i'm comfortable doing unless dropping down to LH), i've used a full cannith set for my ranged character at 24, still with the old 3 piece set bonus from sharn as there doesn;t seem anything better until the level 29's come available. As an inquisitive i'm stuck with a borderlands weapon till 29 which is a bit of a shame, but i've done the best i can with it sentience wise. There seems some debate on wether ratcatcher might still be better through those epic levels with its improved profile, but i've put so much effort now into that borderlands weapon i'm determined to stick with it (currently 3 crackshot, 3 long shadow and 1 deadly rain iirc). I noticed you stacked your character with as many NHB charges as you could between fighter and BE trees. As silly as it sounds i'm overly precious with those, especially in heroics, tending too often to save them for oh **** moments (read reapers or champs). I've tended to use ranger 6 over fighter 6 - as a scourge i guess that's dictated to me, but i do rely heavily on the CC and low cooldown offered by sniper shot. The tree also offers around 50 positive power along with some sneak attack, so it's not the sizeable 11 AP investment for only that one shot as i'd previously thought. I'd never have thought of delving into monk without your input - the 2 feats are great allowing for eventual SOTR, evasion is unreal (ask the abishai in grim) and the cherry on top is that one you pointed out in shintao for the added healing amp :) I'd never thought to try artificer either before reading your post, but that too has brought some nice things to the table. Extra time on a variety of items is nice qol - as is the AP saving from the int to damage spell - i just wish there could be timers with those arti spells though... sigh. I try and do it through similar timed ones - eg when my rams might runs out, i refresh the int/damage one also, but it's not ideal. I love the fact they can have weapon enhancements too - i don;t normally splash enough to take deadly weapons, but the adamantine is really handy for golems and i noticed you mentioned cold iron in your post - must go back to that one as i can;t remember the opponent there. I have the elemental ones hotbarred too and eg on that one in the cogs where you get first fire then ice opponents it's nice to be able to change it on the fly - so yes, very fun class and i'm glad you prompted me to try it.

Enough waffle for now - you don;t need me i'm sure to remind you of what you posted here in the first place. I hope one day i might return with some kind of a warlock success story to share. Would be a pity not to try again one day - i have almost all the PL's for it. Total contrast aren;t they to the ranged playstyle? Ie. awesome CC but pretty rotten single target damage. With the inquis, i sometimes struggle through to the end boss and he's gone in seconds - i'm left pretty speechless :) Take care matey & keep up the good work!

[cdemeritt]

Thank you for posting this build. My main interest is a Arti past life for my main character, and a build that can solo it. I've had little interest in Reaper over the last few years, and over the last 6 lives I've managed to acquire a grand total of 1 Reaper point. Since TR'ng again, a couple days ago, I've run every quest at 3 skull Reaper, and have gotten 3 more points. There have been deaths, due to unfortunate spawn champion/reapers locations and or combinations, but over all 3 skull has felt like what Elite was 5 or 6 years ago, dangerous but doable.


Anyways, I did have a couple questions that I didn't see asked...

Bit silly, but I haven't done a repeating crossbow build in a very long time... It looks like you recommend Light Repeating Crossbows instead of Heavy Repeating. Is there a reason I missed for this, (faster reload speed, tree enhancement, fire rate) I missed? I picked up both a heavy and light ferrocrystal RCB from the Feywilds, and couldn't see any difference, but this is at Lvl 6. Or did I just misinterpret your comments?

Do you find the Rune arm actually useful as a weapon? It might be the arm I'm using Strinati's Hand Cannon, and find it almost useless except for triggering mobs I couldn't target.

I didn't see anything in your post about the Arti Pet... Do you use it at all or is it just a hindrance to you? I usually use the wizard skelli pet as a plate sitter, lever puller, cannon fodder distraction, but not much else.

I'm sure there were a few more, but I forget at the moment.

[slarden]

Thank you for posting this build. My main interest is a Arti past life for my main character, and a build that can solo it. I've had little interest in Reaper over the last few years, and over the last 6 lives I've managed to acquire a grand total of 1 Reaper point. Since TR'ng again, a couple days ago, I've run every quest at 3 skull Reaper, and have gotten 3 more points. There have been deaths, due to unfortunate spawn champion/reapers locations and or combinations, but over all 3 skull has felt like what Elite was 5 or 6 years ago, dangerous but doable.
Gratz on getting comfortable with reaper and making some progress! There is a significant snowball effect with reaper - keep on plugging away and your first 40 or so points come relatively fast and you will feel much more powerful in reaper at that point. There is some learning curve with reapers that you will get more comfortable with over time.



Bit silly, but I haven't done a repeating crossbow build in a very long time... It looks like you recommend Light Repeating Crossbows instead of Heavy Repeating. Is there a reason I missed for this, (faster reload speed, tree enhancement, fire rate) I missed? I picked up both a heavy and light ferrocrystal RCB from the Feywilds, and couldn't see any difference, but this is at Lvl 6. Or did I just misinterpret your comments?

I didn't intentionally recommend light over heavy repeating - generally heavy is better unless you have some better abilities or racial synergies with light. There are some specific crossbows I really like for abilities and I use those whether it's light or heavy. The main thing is like those vorpal procs with 3 chances per shot.

I put this together before inquisitive and repeater is definitely better at lower levels, but as you get higher levels you will probably get more dps out of inquisitive. My build hasn't been updated for inquisitive. For hardcore I stick with repeater all the way to 20 and put alot of my points into defensive and survivability options ( I also use 15/3/2 split on hardcore and go warforged for better self healing).




Do you find the Rune arm actually useful as a weapon? It might be the arm I'm using Strinati's Hand Cannon, and find it almost useless except for triggering mobs I couldn't target..

It can be good aoe damage when you get swarmed, but I find I kill stuff fast enough from distance I don't use it all that often, but I like the procs on damage for sure :)




I didn't see anything in your post about the Arti Pet... Do you use it at all or is it just a hindrance to you? I usually use the wizard skelli pet as a plate sitter, lever puller, cannon fodder distraction, but not much else.

I use it mainly as a lever puller. My guild leader uses pets more effectively than I do - I tend to find they die so quick I just don't want to deal with them - esp when multi-classing.

[C-Dog]

...There are some specific crossbows I really like for abilities and I use those whether it's light or heavy. The main thing is like those vorpal procs with 3 chances per shot.
Had you mentioned those fav's in this thread? You laud droploot vorpals for their 3x proc rate, and I see you mention a triple positive greensteel repeater (ML 12) for Undead (same principle), but saw no others named specifically (but just a quick skim, could easily have missed something).

I like to use:


o ML 2: the Sharn Syndicate repeater (2d6 Cold +3, +2% doubleshot) (or an ML 3 vorpal I found*)

o then, ML 4: a pair of CC'd repeaters:
1) a 2d6 Force + 2d6 Bludgeon (now w/ a Winter games freezing ruby)
2) a 2d6 Force + 2d10 Unnatural w/ a Mabar Ghostbane gem
Both do well into mid-heroics, and the latter is enough for most Reapers. The ghost-touch trinket from Housekeeping (https://ddowiki.com/page/Housekeeping) means I don't have to switch for Reapers, but still do for undead-heavy combat, and there are other things I'd rather have in the Trinket slot.

o Reprising these in ML 10 form would be a noticeable improvement, but I myself have not done so as yet.

Fatal Flaw (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:The_Fatal_Flaw) (ML 14) is solid (tho' the "Keen" is wasted by that time), an improvement over most droploot vorpals.

Silver Slinger (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Silver_Slinger) is great for late-heroic undead (ML 16), but that's a farm that requires a Stealth character in the group. (And good luck w/ an Epic version!)

Any others jump to mind?

(* For the first couple runs, I found it worthwhile to re-configure the order of classes so Artificer stays dominant through (at least?) Level 7**, sacrificing earlier feats so that end-rewards include repeaters to find a good vorpal.)
(** Arti/Arti/Ftr/Mnk/Arti/Ftr/Mnk - beyond that the repeaters are getting higher ML, and not as useful compared to other options.)


My build hasn't been updated for inquisitive.
Have you put any thought into doing so? Could we talk you into same?

(Couple suggestions in that direction in this thread, and I have one I toyed with, but that might be something that calls for its own thread?)

[slarden]

Had you mentioned those fav's in this thread? You laud droploot vorpals for their 3x proc rate, and I see you mention a triple positive greensteel repeater (ML 12) for Undead (same principle), but saw no others named specifically (but just a quick skim, could easily have missed something).

I like to use:

o ML 2: the Sharn Syndicate repeater (2d6 Cold +3, +2% doubleshot) (or an ML 3 vorpal I found*)

o then, ML 4: a pair of CC'd repeaters:
1) a 2d6 Force + 2d6 Bludgeon (now w/ a Winter games freezing ruby)
2) a 2d6 Force + 2d10 Unnatural w/ a Mabar Ghostbane gem
Both do well into mid-heroics, and the latter is enough for most Reapers. The ghost-touch trinket from Housekeeping (https://ddowiki.com/page/Housekeeping) means I don't have to switch for Reapers, but still do for undead-heavy combat, and there are other things I'd rather have in the Trinket slot.

o Reprising these in ML 10 form would be a noticeable improvement, but I myself have not done so as yet.

Fatal Flaw (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:The_Fatal_Flaw) (ML 14) is solid (tho' the "Keen" is wasted by that time), an improvement over most droploot vorpals.

Silver Slinger (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Silver_Slinger) is great for late-heroic undead (ML 16), but that's a farm that requires a Stealth character in the group. (And good luck w/ an Epic version!)

Any others jump to mind?

(* For the first couple runs, I found it worthwhile to re-configure the order of classes so Artificer stays dominant through (at least?) Level 7**, sacrificing earlier feats so that end-rewards include repeaters to find a good vorpal.)
(** Arti/Arti/Ftr/Mnk/Arti/Ftr/Mnk - beyond that the repeaters are getting higher ML, and not as useful compared to other options.)


Have you put any thought into doing so? Could we talk you into same?

(Couple suggestions in that direction in this thread, and I have one I toyed with, but that might be something that calls for its own thread?)

Yes it's mainly fatal flaw which in addition the improved vorpal has solid base damage for the level - [2.5] and another [.5] from weapon attachment and [.25] from ship buff.

Right now I am really focused on the upcoming hardcore league and will use a variant of this build. So I need to figure out if I want to swap to ratcatcher at 12 or stick with repeaters all the way to 20.

You don't get crit bonuses or tier 5 from inquisitive until level 12. So at least on Hardcore 12 is the point where using ratcatcher + inquisitive becomes clearly superior to repeater for dps. Before that they both take enemies down so quick I don't even care.

Right now I am planning for HC season 4 using a slight variation of this build. Given the big increase in some enemy spell damage I am considering bladeforged 15 arti/3 paladin/2 monk for the higher saves and the extra reconstruct. The potential for taking big spell damage will be much higher this season unless they adjust the damage which seems unlikely.

My hc gear farming character will be the same build and I likely will start with mostly level 5 feywild gear to start my reaper run - fey gear is so OP for the level and I like the necronimicannon with ghostly, trap the soul, profane lifeforce 12 on it even with the lower proc damage. I still like blademark docent for docent until invulnerability stops being useful.

The reason I really like repeater esp for hardcore is the dps gets the job done with minimal ap investment so I can focus my ap on survivability while still doing respectable dps - esp for low skull reaper runs on hardcore.

On hardcore unless I get lucky with random loot I do start with the sharn syndicate repeater which often drops for me first try. They fey crossbow looks good at 5 although not really any better than sharn syndicate repeater.

So if I swap to inquisitive I would do so at level 12 for the extra crits. With the increased spell damage this year I still want 6 pts in sacred defender for 27 PRR, 25 MRR, 6 hp, 4 fort. I still want 6 pts in RMM for 35 Hp and 20 repair amp, 2pts in BF for fort and eliminating the 5% arcane spell failure and 8 pts in harper if I take insightful damage. That leaves me with 24 pts for inquisitive and I won't be to tier 5 until level 14. So it's either that or put the points in bladeforged for the racial reconstruct, .5[W] and 5% hp and stick with repeater.

The other build I am looking at is gnome starting with light repeater and swapping to ratcatcher at some point. Basically for 75% scroll boosts + greater color spray + earlier crit boost + damage boosts to complement inquisitive at higher levels. It would rely on scrolls until higher levels at which point I would swap to reconstruct.

[cdemeritt]

Just some observations from 2 weeks of running this build. These are more for new people looking to use this build to get into reapers rather than those who are used to reapers.

1: 3 Skull Reaper isn't that difficult especially the older content. For new content such as the Feywilds, I had to drop to 1 skull. I probably could have pushed 2 skull, but I just wanted to finish the chain quickly. I do however, currently have a 25% quest failure at 3 skull reaper, mostly from seriously unlucky spawns of champions and reapers in tight quarters during difficult fights. I suspect as I build up Reaper points, the failure rate will drop. I do have a 100% success rate at 1 skull.

2: Reapers aren't as bad if you can keep out of melee range of them.

3: Thank the Host I had upgraded my Pale Lavender Ioun Stone and had a stack of Ruby of Ghostbane from the last Night Revels. I still need (ransacked multiple times over mulitple lives) a Jack Jibbers blade.

4: Silver Flame heal potions are far more useful in reaper than elite. Still not a good combat healing, but if you can find a quite spot for a couple minutes, 50-60 hp per is much better than 5-10hp. The debuff usually makes me save SF pots for emergencies, but are helpful here.

5: Yugoloth potions have been very helpful as well. At lvl 20 or so, +30 HP isn't much. at Lvl 4, +30 HP is a lot. Penalties can be an issue, but not too much of one.

6: The Artifacer pet is nearly useless, due to the class split. It is frequently 1 shotted, and is a major mana sponge. I did make it a box breaker, which is somewhat helpful, but due to AI bug out, it frequently becomes stuck on a single box, and doesn't smash it. I'm not sure how many more levels before I simple stop summoning it.

7: In spite of a Lawful Good alignment (yes, I know, There are better choices, but since the "Ring of the Ancestors" as a "good" alignment requirement... maybe this life I'll make a GS raise dead clickie), I actually play closer to chaotic evil... Sending my hires, pets, summons to their certain death while I stay safely out of range.

8: Newer content seems designed to quickly drain Ioun Stones, much like orthons drain stoneskin. A single pixie enchanter in the Feywilds Wilderness Zone will drain about 8-10 charges off an Ioun stone with a single magic missle. Better to take the Ioun Stone off and use Nightshield scroll until you get to your quest.

9: The past lives prerequisites of monk/ranger are not necessary, but I'm sure helpful. I would not recommend trying this build with anything less than a 36 pt build, but it works with my Wizard/Barbarian/Rogue/Sorcerer past lives, and a few Epic lives. Mainly, don't skip this build just because you don't have everything recommended.

10: This build is weak against anything with a DR/pierce, mainly Skellies and Zombies. Plan Accordingly. Example: The Catacombs chain, I did all of the quests on Reaper 3, with the exception of The Crypt of Gerard Dryden, as this is a very long quest with mostly skellies, A real PITA. For this one I dropped to 1 skull. Same with Deleras chain.

11: I miss having DDoor. Most builds I play either have it as a spell, or I take human + mark of passage. They really need to start selling DDoor scrolls again.

12: I'm sure there's more, but I don't remember them.




Now I do have one question, How would you rate the Barovian's Morninglord's HRC vs. Ratcatcher? While it seems with the better crit range Ratcatcher is the better weapon, I have the Morninglords HRC, I don't have Ratcatcher, and I really don't like the Threnal chain. Is it Day/night better, or just a little bit so? Just wondering how much farming effort I need to make.

[C-Dog]

...My hc gear farming character will be the same build...

On hardcore unless I get lucky with random loot...
Great summation, thx!


Another question - trapping gear. How does one keep it current (enough)? Search and DD, plus Spot (if you want to chase that). 2-3 levels, and it's obsolete. Droploot is scarce, and named is even harder to find.

[slarden]

Great summation, thx!


Another question - trapping gear. How does one keep it current (enough)? Search and DD, plus Spot (if you want to chase that). 2-3 levels, and it's obsolete. Droploot is scarce, and named is even harder to find.

As an int build I have a big advantage on trapping to begin with. I am also running 4 levels above vs. 2 so there is some benefit there.

I only really worried about 2 items for trapping - the raven's eye set and keylock ring. Beyond that I used whatever better random loot I could find for search and disable. At least on hardcore finding good random loot in the AH isn't too hard - I sometimes couldn't afford the best available item, but I could always find something - it's much tougher for a first-lifer to find good random loot on the AH on live.

Since I went repeater I didn't have the huge ap investment in inquisitive. Harper has +3 to all skills in tier 3 and +3 search/spot in tier 1. Battle engineer has +3 disable and open locks. There are heroism potions and find trap scrolls (with arti bonus caster level). I also get my drow mask from motu xpac which might not be available to everyone. I even kept 10 prayer scrolls in my inventory but never used them last season.

[slarden]

Just some observations from 2 weeks of running this build. These are more for new people looking to use this build to get into reapers rather than those who are used to reapers.

1: 3 Skull Reaper isn't that difficult especially the older content. For new content such as the Feywilds, I had to drop to 1 skull. I probably could have pushed 2 skull, but I just wanted to finish the chain quickly. I do however, currently have a 25% quest failure at 3 skull reaper, mostly from seriously unlucky spawns of champions and reapers in tight quarters during difficult fights. I suspect as I build up Reaper points, the failure rate will drop. I do have a 100% success rate at 1 skull.

2: Reapers aren't as bad if you can keep out of melee range of them.

3: Thank the Host I had upgraded my Pale Lavender Ioun Stone and had a stack of Ruby of Ghostbane from the last Night Revels. I still need (ransacked multiple times over mulitple lives) a Jack Jibbers blade.

4: Silver Flame heal potions are far more useful in reaper than elite. Still not a good combat healing, but if you can find a quite spot for a couple minutes, 50-60 hp per is much better than 5-10hp. The debuff usually makes me save SF pots for emergencies, but are helpful here.

5: Yugoloth potions have been very helpful as well. At lvl 20 or so, +30 HP isn't much. at Lvl 4, +30 HP is a lot. Penalties can be an issue, but not too much of one.

6: The Artifacer pet is nearly useless, due to the class split. It is frequently 1 shotted, and is a major mana sponge. I did make it a box breaker, which is somewhat helpful, but due to AI bug out, it frequently becomes stuck on a single box, and doesn't smash it. I'm not sure how many more levels before I simple stop summoning it.

7: In spite of a Lawful Good alignment (yes, I know, There are better choices, but since the "Ring of the Ancestors" as a "good" alignment requirement... maybe this life I'll make a GS raise dead clickie), I actually play closer to chaotic evil... Sending my hires, pets, summons to their certain death while I stay safely out of range.

8: Newer content seems designed to quickly drain Ioun Stones, much like orthons drain stoneskin. A single pixie enchanter in the Feywilds Wilderness Zone will drain about 8-10 charges off an Ioun stone with a single magic missle. Better to take the Ioun Stone off and use Nightshield scroll until you get to your quest.

9: The past lives prerequisites of monk/ranger are not necessary, but I'm sure helpful. I would not recommend trying this build with anything less than a 36 pt build, but it works with my Wizard/Barbarian/Rogue/Sorcerer past lives, and a few Epic lives. Mainly, don't skip this build just because you don't have everything recommended.

10: This build is weak against anything with a DR/pierce, mainly Skellies and Zombies. Plan Accordingly. Example: The Catacombs chain, I did all of the quests on Reaper 3, with the exception of The Crypt of Gerard Dryden, as this is a very long quest with mostly skellies, A real PITA. For this one I dropped to 1 skull. Same with Deleras chain.

11: I miss having DDoor. Most builds I play either have it as a spell, or I take human + mark of passage. They really need to start selling DDoor scrolls again.

12: I'm sure there's more, but I don't remember them.

Now I do have one question, How would you rate the Barovian's Morninglord's HRC vs. Ratcatcher? While it seems with the better crit range Ratcatcher is the better weapon, I have the Morninglords HRC, I don't have Ratcatcher, and I really don't like the Threnal chain. Is it Day/night better, or just a little bit so? Just wondering how much farming effort I need to make.

Hello, thank you for sharing your experience with the build. This build pre-dates ravenloft and any newer content. It also pre-dates inquisitive which provides better dps - esp at higher levels and pre-dates the doubling of rxp from level 30+ quests.

I posted this build originally because I found this to be a very friendly build for someone with 0 rxp to start earning reaper points and this is why I use a modified version of this build on hardcore (I still had delusions of getting rxp on all my alts at this time).

For magic missles you can also farm out 4 protective gloves from necromancer's doom - the chest has no ransack and can be repeated by simply looting and not completing and then resetting.

I didn't use the pet except for situational lever pulling or distraction.

I tended to use UMD heavily on this build for scrolls. In part because artificer has UMD as a class skill, but also because artificer benefits from increased caster levels on scrolls + wand and scroll mastery. There is also a quick draw augment (topaz of quick movements) in feywild wilderness that drops readily that can be used to improve scroll and weapon swapping. On hardcore my UMD is much lower so I just go warforged for easier self-healing.

As you noted some newer quests are more difficult compared to older quests of the same level. I tend to cherry-pick and run the quests I want. The basic premise of the build still works the same with the major changes being the availability of inquisitive which offers higher dps at higher levels and of course the improved precise shot nerf makes clearing high hp mobs at higher levels more difficult.

The main reason I haven't updated this build is that I rarely go from 1-20 any more - I either go from 1-30 or 15-30 and I tend to focus on builds that will perform optimally at 30 rather than leveling since my main has alot of reaper points that make 1-20 much easier. I've also given up on alt play and have all my alts parked at 30 for raiding so I really only tr to change builds or sometimes a 15-30 itr to reset reaper first-time bonuses.

Repeater builds are definitely weak at 30 and even inquisitive builds are sub-par at 30 so I only run this on hardcore now where I am still focused on 1-20 and on lower difficulties (R1 or elite).The slightly modified build has worked well for me on hardcore. At epic levels you want sniper shot from ranger to combine with hunts end or adren so you would always want to splash 6 ranger to any ranged build. That isn't necessary at heroic levels.

I am keeping an eye on the bow changes and the upcoming bow tree. It's very likely that a ranger bow version of this build will be a better option and scale better to epic levels and level 30 - plus ranger autogrants alot of feats without the dex prereq. Precise shot grants +1 crit multiplier on 19-20 but only on longbows and shortbows. There are some other benefits that only apply to longbows and shortbows. It all looks very promising.

[C-Dog]

S - To plan for the imminent HCL Season 4, I've been experimenting off my main server w/ variations on this build (esp your HC version), and I keep finding that the lack of AoE is, well, fatal - and once is all it takes in HC.

Without any AoE, how does one address a large group of mobs intent on reducing your hit points into the deep negatives, when your "gear" consists mostly of droploot and the (mentioned above) nicked crossbow from Sharn Syndicate?

For normal leveling and TR/RR, I love this build, but for HC... is it just play skills that need improving to keep one alive 100% of the time?

[slarden]

S - To plan for the imminent HCL Season 4, I've been experimenting off my main server w/ variations on this build (esp your HC version), and I keep finding that the lack of AoE is, well, fatal - and once is all it takes in HC.

Without any AoE, how does one address a large group of mobs intent on reducing your hit points into the deep negatives, when your "gear" consists mostly of droploot and the (mentioned above) nicked crossbow from Sharn Syndicate?

For normal leveling and TR/RR, I love this build, but for HC... is it just play skills that need improving to keep one alive 100% of the time?

I don't use nicked crossbow all the way to 20. I run into the mists on casual at level 9 to get my barovian heavy repeater by level 10 for level 6 quests. I have been lucky and my farming character has been able to get fatal flaw all 3 seasons which I Start using at 14 for level 10 quests.

At level 5/10/15 I will swap to fey/ravenloft/sharn gear farmed out by my farming character(s).

For reaper points I cherrypick my quests and repeat the easiest quests and I usually hit cap at 18 while running level 14 quests and then just tr skipping all the content 15 and above.

If I go for favor I use a different character and I group with friends or pug - groups just plow through elite and the only real risk there are some one-shot mechanics. Mobs are no problem with 3 or more people and especially not with a full group. This build did fine in favor runs in past seasons although I have been thinking of mixing it up for a favor run - if I do the favor run. The only thing I know I will do for sure is the 10 pt reaper run so far.

I might go fvs caster this season for the favor run if the mount is interesting. Simply because it got a nice boost and the bonus 10 hp/level and energy absorbs will help with some of the over-tuned spell damage that started with 48.4. fvs caster checks all the boxes for hardcore for sure.

[NemesisAlien]

I don't use nicked crossbow all the way to 20. I run into the mists on casual at level 9 to get my barovian heavy repeater by level 10 for level 6 quests. I have been lucky and my farming character has been able to get fatal flaw all 3 seasons which I Start using at 14 for level 10 quests.

At level 5/10/15 I will swap to fey/ravenloft/sharn gear farmed out by my farming character(s).

For reaper points I cherrypick my quests and repeat the easiest quests and I usually hit cap at 18 while running level 14 quests and then just tr skipping all the content 15 and above.

If I go for favor I use a different character and I group with friends or pug - groups just plow through elite and the only real risk there are some one-shot mechanics. Mobs are no problem with 3 or more people and especially not with a full group. This build did fine in favor runs in past seasons although I have been thinking of mixing it up for a favor run - if I do the favor run. The only thing I know I will do for sure is the 10 pt reaper run so far.

I might go fvs caster this season for the favor run if the mount is interesting. Simply because it got a nice boost and the bonus 10 hp/level and energy absorbs will help with some of the over-tuned spell damage that started with 48.4. fvs caster checks all the boxes for hardcore for sure.

You got hardcore farming character? Can tell us how you keep it?

[slarden]

You got hardcore farming character? Can tell us how you keep it?

I use this character build for farming and I also have a wisdom pure fvs human character on an alt account - depending on the situation I might swap which one I am playing with (only play with one at a time - I can't operate 2 accounts at once unlike some). I was thinking of going bladeforged but the dex penalty is too much. I am going warforged 15 artifcer / 3 paladin / 2 monk although I don't yet have my 3 paladin so I haven't confirmed the fear immunity protects from the fear dot champion but that is my main reason for trying it out. I doubt my char will be high enough to get a meaningful save bonus but at higher levels with gear it should be at least a small bonus. If not I will have to stock enough fear removal pots.

I farm mostly solo but have a guildy that is on the fence and may join me even if he doesn't play to loot mimic tokens and build up some good leveling gear.

[Aglabac]

Slarden, could u update this build? I am a noob with crossbows but I want to try an inquisitive build

[C-Dog]

Slarden, could u update this build? I am a noob with crossbows but I want to try an inquisitive build
Slarden has addressed Inquisitive in this thread - read the last few pages, enough is there to get the job done.

[Garix]

Anyone had any luck pulling a Vorpal xbow (of any type) on HC?

On the normal servers I'm seeing them constantly, just getting absolute junk on HC this time round. Had a lack of keen as well (Only one so far).

[slarden]

Anyone had any luck pulling a Vorpal xbow (of any type) on HC?

On the normal servers I'm seeing them constantly, just getting absolute junk on HC this time round. Had a lack of keen as well (Only one so far).

I haven't seen any vorpal, I am wondering if they were removed from the low level loot tables or reduced. They used to drop frequently.

At low levels this works well: https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Necronimicannon

I see alot of soul gems drop - was hoping to combine it with vorpal though. The season has alot of curveballs - I am thinking if I have to start over I am going pure 20 artificer or 17 artificer / 3 paladin to max out hp and mrr. Maybe even throw in some offensive casting since I am sure I can be successful without any feat investments.

It's a super fun season! So many scary encounters.

[slarden]

Slarden, could u update this build? I am a noob with crossbows but I want to try an inquisitive build

Are you looking to run this on live or hardcore?

[Garix]

I haven't seen any vorpal, I am wondering if they were removed from the low level loot tables or reduced. They used to drop frequently.

At low levels this works well: https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Necronimicannon

I see alot of soul gems drop - was hoping to combine it with vorpal though. The season has alot of curveballs - I am thinking if I have to start over I am going pure 20 artificer or 17 artificer / 3 paladin to max out hp and mrr. Maybe even throw in some offensive casting since I am sure I can be successful without any feat investments.

It's a super fun season! So many scary encounters.

Until they release Feywild for points that particular item is out of reach unfortunately. Still at least it isn't just me not seeing much in the way of random drops.

Certainly enjoying this season more than the last :)