Bladeforged FvS

[sexypaladin]

Hey all,

I've been toying with the idea of creating a Bladeforged FvS (and maybe even removing the 1 level of Paladin with a +1 heart of wood to make it pure), but wanted to get some thoughts on it before committing.

The new proposed changes posted seem pretty cool, which is the reason i started thinking about this (and i'm aware things may change).
Here are my thoughts, any feedback appreciated!

- I'm thinking using CHA as my main stat for everything seeing as BF don't get a penalty there.
- A melee build is what i was thinking. Their favored weapon is a Greatsword, not sure if I want to be using that (not that i'd be forced to, but i'm probably not making the most of out some feats/enhancements).
- I'd have the Reconstruct SLA (woot!), but is there something i'm missing here?
Having a non-positive spell as my main way of healing, any drawbacks you can think of?
- I'd be looking at increasing CON & HP as much as possible, taking Adamantine Body, anything to increase survivability.
- ED wise, probably looking at either Divine Crusader or Unyielding Sentinel

That's all that comes to mind, thanks for the help!

[Quikster]

Hey all,

I've been toying with the idea of creating a Bladeforged FvS (and maybe even removing the 1 level of Paladin with a +1 heart of wood to make it pure), but wanted to get some thoughts on it before committing.

The new proposed changes posted seem pretty cool, which is the reason i started thinking about this (and i'm aware things may change).
Here are my thoughts, any feedback appreciated!

- I'm thinking using CHA as my main stat for everything seeing as BF don't get a penalty there.
- A melee build is what i was thinking. Their favored weapon is a Greatsword, not sure if I want to be using that (not that i'd be forced to, but i'm probably not making the most of out some feats/enhancements).
- I'd have the Reconstruct SLA (woot!), but is there something i'm missing here?
Having a non-positive spell as my main way of healing, any drawbacks you can think of?
- I'd be looking at increasing CON & HP as much as possible, taking Adamantine Body, anything to increase survivability.
- ED wise, probably looking at either Divine Crusader or Unyielding Sentinel

That's all that comes to mind, thanks for the help!

These boards are dead lol. I am thinking of doing the same thing. High Cha/Con/Str I have some great swords that I'm excited about on this build.

[Quikster]

Have you tried this yet? This is going to be my next life. Will likely go 17/3 so I don’t have to respec. Greatswords. I used SoS and ESoS on my Paladin life and it was fine. That said, not as much crit dps in the fvs line. I also plan to max cha. The recon sla is great. Slotted repair sp and repair amp and it basically restores me to full.

[RootinTuutin]

Have you tried this yet? This is going to be my next life. Will likely go 17/3 so I don’t have to respec. Greatswords. I used SoS and ESoS on my Paladin life and it was fine. That said, not as much crit dps in the fvs line. I also plan to max cha. The recon sla is great. Slotted repair sp and repair amp and it basically restores me to full.

I ran a bladeforge life with 17fvs/3pal. I liked it a lot but I like melee. The 3 paladin gave me the aura which was great for defense. Plenty of heals between LOH, BF sla, and FVS heals. Maybe not the best dps but a fantastic solo build, plus can heal really well for reaper groups/or raids if needed. My light spellpower wasn't great but I may try to raise that some next time I run this build.

[Quikster]

I ran a bladeforge life with 17fvs/3pal. I liked it a lot but I like melee. The 3 paladin gave me the aura which was great for defense. Plenty of heals between LOH, BF sla, and FVS heals. Maybe not the best dps but a fantastic solo build, plus can heal really well for reaper groups/or raids if needed. My light spellpower wasn't great but I may try to raise that some next time I run this build.

Nice. I really like the bf’d. Very AP expensive class though to really make em shine. Maybe I will come back to it in 10 years after I get racial completionist.

[RootinTuutin]

Nice. I really like the bf’d. Very AP expensive class though to really make em shine. Maybe I will come back to it in 10 years after I get racial completionist.

I should have added I ran it with greatswords. I had some old heroic green steel for leveling up, from fighter/barb lives. I think it was Min2 and a triple acid. Then thunderforge later on. If you like melee you would probably find the build very enjoyable. I will have to try it again to see how it measures up now, and to see if there are little ways to tweak it.

[RootinTuutin]

Figured I would bump this thread. I need a favored soul past life and haven't played one in a while. I like melee, so I was planning bladeforged.

3 Paladin/7 warlock/10 favored soul
-Greatswords
-Charisma maxed- to hit and damage from Grace of Battle, so leveling would keep FVS ahead of other classes
-Con high or maxed, Int for skills otherwise
-skills spellcraft, UMD, heal or repair, jump
-prestiges Knight of Chalice, enlightened spirit, war soul

3 Paladin/7 warlock gets paladin divine health, not sure whether going 2 Paladin/9 warlock would be better. Or more favored soul and less warlock?

Seems like a straightforward build but I am sure I am forgetting something and/or underthinking it.

Anyone care to weigh in?
Unbongwah?

[Brightheart245]

Hey there,

The FVS/PAL/WLK build proposal looks neat, but I fear it would not be Epic/Legendary Reaper capable. Depending on the content difficulty range you plan to run in, that may influence how to build your BF FVS life.

The melee/caster AoE hybrid build would work great in anything below Reaper, where spell power based damage isn't crippled by Reaper penalties (not to mention by nature heavy splashes means reduced effectiveness of the same abilities that you may find on a less splashed or pure character as a result of scaling). Due to its heavy splashes, it would not have much to offer for the intended purpose of the build (assuming DPS over say, a support or healer type character). Going back to your previous build idea as a pure or lightly splashed FVS, you could at least serve as a healer in last resort cases - all assuming you wish to participate in Reaper content in the journey back to 30. The proposed splashes seem to have cool abilities such as Eldritch Bursts and Paladin defenses on a FVS toon, but there is nothing that really boosts your melee DPS at all - Warsoul isn't exactly top notch IMO. Of course, that isn't to say this cannot work - upon first glance, to me it sounds like a build that requires heavy, heavy investment. To break it down, I would imagine that heroics from 15-20 would feel average in terms of build performance, but as soon as you hit epics, everything is so much more inflated, and the hybrid build may not hold well. I can see the utility benefits the build can offer (Warlock SLAs, DDoor or other level 3 arcane spells) but I'm always very wary about melee/caster hybrids if multiclassed - pure or mostly Warlock dominant builds are able to push these boundaries, and again it all goes back to scaling. My Druid alt was actually a test in the waters towards a hybrid build, and she wound up being a mediocre caster at best, and resorts to a healer/support in anything higher than EH. I know it's not exactly the same thing, but take my word on it, please!!!

Instead, might I suggest a different option - perhaps more melee structured. 12/6/2 formats tend to be popular, and you could easily fill in the blanks there with any mixes: 6 Fighter and 2 Rogue, if you wanted traps and evasion for example (and then you wouldn't be too limited since you'd be wearing docents, just restricted by feat and thereby lower defenses). 12/8 FVS/FTR for a more tactical based melee build, with a strong focus in the Kensai tree (which is excellent for melee, even if you can access up to Core 3 the rest of the tree from T1-5 provides the toon a healthy range of options). A cheaper alternative is to replace FTR with PAL as a 12/8 FVS/PAL that would also be an option.

If this is just for a FVS life, I personally always try to splash trapper levels where I can. Whether Arti or Rog, it just makes the life that much faster even if it's more work and investment from the build end. It's not exactly optimal, but it does optimize your time, and essentially xp/min. Rog offers evasion and some sneak attack damage, full points into skills, while Arti means Enchant Weapons, iron defender (because of this and trapping abilities, Arti is immensely useful for strictly a zerging life IMO), and both can offer low hanging fruits from their trees which gives you some options to look at as well.

If this is a life to play around with a melee FVS for a bit, I think I would have to lean towards a 12/8 FVS/FTR split. It's a simple splash, but this would really push the sort of build you were initially wanting or thinking about making in the first place: a Greatsword wielding Bladeforged with CHA spec for stat to dmg/atk.

One thing I have to comment about that: even if the base class changes are shiny, new, and compact, that doesn't quite necessarily mean that it should be your first (best) option. It highly pertains to the build at hand; the PAL variant of 12/8 would benefit more from CHA spec, the FTR, not so much. As you may already know, PAL feeds saves from CHA mod, and with 8 levels that scales out to be a pretty decent amount. Consider a FTR however - inherently, it is going to favor a tactician's play style (mind the bonus feats and class specific feats that boosts DCs), with no real need for CHA. As STR is probably by far the easiest stat to achieve, not to mention tactical feats such as Stunning Blow and Trip naturally use STR in its formula which is something the build has no control over, the FTR variant would be better off going STR based with an INT secondary spec (for Know the Angles).

If I had to say, I think I would favor the FTR variant just because you have a greater range of melee options there. It is more offensive driven, and it would really bring out the THF effectiveness of a FVS dominantly infused build. And, without completely modifying the build premise outlined in the OP, it retains all the signature characteristics you called for (Bladeforged, melee, THF w/ Greatswords). As for the weaponry choice, if you plan to change that to say a TWF style, that greatly alters the build split. Greatswords being their favored weapon however is necessary if you wish to choose CHA as your main stat as the PAL variant, but with Fighter, you have flexibility with that (since not CHA based anyway in the suggestion listed that is).

Assuming this is a medium or long term build that may stick around at cap at level 30 in the 12/8 FVS/FTR variant in mid range to Reaper content, it may be worth giving THF a shot to test build performance especially with Bloodrage Chrism (http://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Bloodrage_Chrism). I would recommend as mentioned before going STR based, and then splitting the remaining points into CON and INT. Pick up KTA, as many Tactician (FTR) feats as you can, pump Tactical Mastery DCs via appropriate gear, take advantage of the awesome abilities Kensai has to offer, and set up the FVS spell list to where 12 FVS levels can be justified - most often through having a Heal spell. I strongly recommend you being dual recipient of both positive healing and reconstruction - a close combat melee is always in need of heals, and having 3 (Heal, Recon SLA, Cocoon) main heals will save you in Reaper content where miss chance/layers of defenses fail. It is not difficult to invest into both - you really just need Healer's Friend, a heal amplification item, and typically there should be room for repair amp as well (otherwise, you don't receive a penalty for it anyway outside of Reaper). I've done it on all of my Arti lives who were fleshies, and it's saved me and many party members countless times! To address your concern about drawbacks, the only real one is that it requires minimal, but simply more added investment. If that's a turn off for you, no sweat, but that means tweaking the build around some more. My thoughts are, if you plan to go FVS and melee, the biggest thing to take away from that sort of build is to pick up Healing spells. Otherwise, the build starts to lose purpose for being any more FVS than it needs to be, hence your deeply multiclassed build proposal. Which is fine, particularly in that aspect - I can imagine a deeper melee splash, maybe even TWF to take advantage of Ameliorating Strike double proccing and inherently hitting faster (or rather, more per swing).


In any case, I hope this generated some food for thought, best of luck in your build and next life!! :)

[DareDelvis]

Hey there,

The FVS/PAL/WLK build proposal looks neat, but I fear it would not be Epic/Legendary Reaper capable. Depending on the content difficulty range you plan to run in, that may influence how to build your BF FVS life.

*snip

In any case, I hope this generated some food for thought, best of luck in your build and next life!! :)

Just doing some perusing of the forums for my FvS life and wanted to point out what a well thought-out post this is.

Thanks,
DD