Divine Swashbuckler 11 Cleric / 6 Fighter / 3 Bard

[slarden]

Someone PM'd me for this build so I thought it would be easier to just post it

Basic idea is a balanced build with decent dps, decent defenses, decent self healing that can solo low skull reaper and act as party healer at times as well.

11 Cleric, 6 Fighter, 3 bard. If you want to go heavy armor twf with the stun immunity you can go 14 cleric 6 fighter with khopeshes instead and take the crit on tier 5 of kensai.

STATS
---------
STR: 18 (All Level Ups)
DEX: 8
WIS: 8
CON: 16
INT: 8
CHA: 16

* Note for casting cleric spells you need a min wisdom of 10+ spell level so you will need some combination of tomes, item and/or augment.


RACE: Any - Human and PDK come with a free feat


DOMAIN: STR (+2 str, reflex based on str, immune to knockdowns)


WEAPON: Handaxe


FEATS (7 standard + 4 fighter)
-----------
Power Attack
Cleave
Great Cleave


Single Weapon Fighting
Improved Single Weapon Fighting
Greater Single Weapon Fighting


Shield Mastery
Improved Shield Mastery


Improved Critical - Slashing


Stunning Blow


Quicken


EPIC FEATS
------------
Overwhelming Critical
Empower Healing
Perfect Single Weapon Fighting
Precision
Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
Dire Charge
Force of Personality
Scion of Arborea


SKILLS
-----------
Balance
Heal
UMD
1 pt tumble
1 pt perform


Swashbuckler Enhancements (13 pts)
-------------------------
Core
- Confidence
- Swashbuckling
Tier 1
- One Your Toes
- Tavern Shanties x1
Tier 2
- Deflect Arrows
- Double Strike x 1
Tier 3
- Skrimisher
- Elegant Footwork


Stalwart Defender Enhancements (23 pts)
Core
- Toughness
- Stalwart Defense
Tier 1
- Durable Defense x3
- Stalwart Defensive Mastery x3
- Defense Boost x3
- Item Defense x1
Tier 2
- Resilient Defense x3
Tier 3
- Tenacious Defense x3
- Strength
Tier 4
- Strong Defense


Kensai (33 pts)
Core
- Kensai Focus Axes
- Spriritual Bond
- Strike With No Thought
Tier 1
- Haste Boost x3
- Extra Action Boost x1
- Weapon Group Specialization
Tier 2
- Tactics x 3
- Agility x 3
- Improved Dodge x1
Tier 3
- Strength
- Atheletic Mastery x3
- Critical Mastery x3
Tier 4
- Strength
Tier 5
- Weapon Master
- One With the Blade
- A Good Death


War Priest (11 pts)
Core
- Smite Foe
- Resilience of Battle
- Sanctuary
Tier 1
- Divine Might x3
- Toughness x2
Tier 2
- Wall of Steel x3


EPIC DESTINY OPTION 1 FOR EVASION, 25% INCORPOREAL: Shadowdancer (grants evasion)
Tier 1
- Acrobatic x3
- Technician x1
Tier 2
- Lithe x3
- Skill Mastery
Tier 3
- Shrouding Strike x3
- Grim Precision x3
- Meld Into Darkness x3
Tier 4
- Improved Invisibility x3
Tier 5
- Sealed Soul
Tier 6
- Shadow Form


EPIC DESTINY OPTION 2 FOR MAX DPS: Legendary Dreadnought
Tier 1
- Legendary Tactics x3
- Extra Action Boost x3
Tier 2
- Momentum Swing x3
- Action Boost Damage x3
Tier 3
- Lay Waste
- Critical Damage x3
Tier 5
- Advancing Blows
- Devastating Critical
Tier 6
- Master's Blitz PRR
- Headman's Chop


EPIC DESTINY OPTION 3: Divine Crusader - Better healing and good dps - Brings Cleric effective level to 16
Tier 1
- Bane of Undeath
- Strength
- Purge the Wicked
Tier 2
- Consecration x3
Tier 3
- Sacred Ground
- Strength
Tier 4
- Crusade
- Strength
Tier 5
- Heavenly Presence
- Celstial Champion
Tier 6
- Strike Down

Critical Range with Improved Critical
15-20 (nightmother, morninglord hand axe) or 14-20 in divine crusader
13-20 (legendary forgotten axe)


Critical Multiplier
12: 4x (legendary forgotten axe + divine crusader only)
13: 4x (legendary forgotten axe only)
13: 4x (legendary forgotten axe or divine crusader)
15: 4x
16: 4x
17: 4x
18: 4x
19: 5x (Shadowdancer or Divine Crusader), 7x (LD)
20: 5x (Shadowdancer or Divine Crusader), 7x (LD)


TWISTS
----------
Sense Weakness
Legendary Shield Mastery
Rejuvenation Cocoon
Legendary Tactics (when granted - if in LD there are many tier 1s worth looking at)

[Lalangamena]

ok, i figured out why single weapon fighting and shield mastery as they don't work together, because if you take t3 swashbuckling enhancement you can use shield and single weapon fighting together. which is cool.

but why hand axe? just because of critical multiplier? then why not light pick?

[slarden]

ok, i figured out why single weapon fighting and shield mastery as they don't work together, because if you take t3 swashbuckling enhancement you can use shield and single weapon fighting together. which is cool.

but why hand axe? just because of critical multiplier? then why not light pick?

Hand axe and light pick both let you benefit from the +1 critical multiplier from kensai for 11 pts and the double threat range from improved critical. The double threat range is what puts the axe over the top.

Light pick with third kensai core would be

17: x5 (4x extra)
18: x5 (4x extra)
19: x6 (5x extra)
20: x6 (5x extra)

or 18 additional multiplier #s

Hand axe is

15: x4 (3x extra)
16: x4 (3x extra)
17: x4 (3x extra)
18: x4 (3x extra)
19: x5 (4x extra)
20: x5 (4x extra)

or 20 additional multiplier #s

If you go LD you get another 2 from headmans chop vs light pick. In divine crusader the difference is reduced to just 1 multiplier # so very close. If there was a good end game pick with an extra multiplier or range it would put pick over the edge but that doesn't exist. There is a hand axe with an extra range that gets doubled, but with lower base damage compared to the RL hand axes- not sure how the math works out on that specific comparision, but for epic leveling @ level 28 the axe with the extra range is nice even if only for one level.

On top of that hand axe is 1d6 base damage vs 1d4 for light pick.

[Hjarki]

To clarify, the reason you use handaxe is because Swashbuckling gives +2 critical threat range which combines with Improved Critical. So Swashbuckling + Strike with no Thought + Improved Critical yields 15-20/x4 on your weapon. A Swashbuckling Light Pick would 17-20x/5 (which is overall a slightly weaker critical profile).

T5 Kensai, on the other hand, will only yield an 18-20/x4 weapon - which is inferior to what you'd get with a Pick (18-20/x5). Handaxe only really works with Swashbuckling - if you're not taking levels in Bard, it's a bad weapon choice. It's especially a bad choice given that you can get better weapons with Deity bonuses.

The Swashbuckling Handaxe has approximately 19.35% more damage than a more conventional weapon (such as Dagger) that only receives baseline Swashbuckling bonuses. The reason I mention Dagger is that the benefit Handaxe enjoys almost completely disappears within the first 3 AP of the Vistani tree - which provides 20% Dagger-only Doublestrike. Doublestrike also generates far more useful damage than Critical, since it applies to all of your damage rather than just the portion of your damage that can crit. Given the choice between 10+ points in Kensai and 10+ points in Vistani, Vistani is normally going to yield better results.

Let's examine some of the rest:

Domain: Strength. I've been one of the biggest proponents of Strength Domain for a while now, but this really isn't a place where it works. Lacking Evasion, having an extraordinary Reflex save just isn't all that important - and the only Evasion option is the weakest of the Epic Destiny options. The knockdown immunity is nice, but hardly essential. For the build listed, Animal Domain - with it's huge bonus hit points and Fortification Bypass - would probably work a lot better. Luck Domain grants Displacement, but it feels silly to take in a build that could cast Displacement normally if it simply invested a few more levels in one of its classes.

T5 Kensai. This is a solid tree compared to say, Warpriest. It's probably inferior to either Bard melee tree or Vistani in terms of damage/impact. The reason you see pure melee dps builds taking it is primarily because of features you don't really need (improved threat range, centered weapons).

11 Cleric. What are you trying to do here? Most of the buffs provided by Cleric are either low level or easily acquired from gear/enhancements. Heal is nice, but it's not like you can't simply use Heal scrolls. Your stats don't permit effective offensive casting. In most cases, you take levels in a class for specific breakpoints. You want Strike with No Thought and Swashbuckling, so you pick up 6 Fighter/3 Bard. But I'm not seeing a strong justification for taking levels in Cleric.

Moreover, I'm not see the synergy here. The Swashbuckling S&B style is a neat trick. But it's an incredibly feat-intensive trick that precludes the use of Heavy Armor, full-sized weapons and the best shields. Retaining Heavy Armor with THF or TWF would normally provide equivalent offense with better defense.

[slarden]

To clarify, the reason you use handaxe is because Swashbuckling gives +2 critical threat range which combines with Improved Critical. So Swashbuckling + Strike with no Thought + Improved Critical yields 15-20/x4 on your weapon. A Swashbuckling Light Pick would 17-20x/5 (which is overall a slightly weaker critical profile).

T5 Kensai, on the other hand, will only yield an 18-20/x4 weapon - which is inferior to what you'd get with a Pick (18-20/x5). Handaxe only really works with Swashbuckling - if you're not taking levels in Bard, it's a bad weapon choice. It's especially a bad choice given that you can get better weapons with Deity bonuses.

The Swashbuckling Handaxe has approximately 19.35% more damage than a more conventional weapon (such as Dagger) that only receives baseline Swashbuckling bonuses. The reason I mention Dagger is that the benefit Handaxe enjoys almost completely disappears within the first 3 AP of the Vistani tree - which provides 20% Dagger-only Doublestrike. Doublestrike also generates far more useful damage than Critical, since it applies to all of your damage rather than just the portion of your damage that can crit. Given the choice between 10+ points in Kensai and 10+ points in Vistani, Vistani is normally going to yield better results.

Let's examine some of the rest:

Domain: Strength. I've been one of the biggest proponents of Strength Domain for a while now, but this really isn't a place where it works. Lacking Evasion, having an extraordinary Reflex save just isn't all that important - and the only Evasion option is the weakest of the Epic Destiny options. The knockdown immunity is nice, but hardly essential. For the build listed, Animal Domain - with it's huge bonus hit points and Fortification Bypass - would probably work a lot better. Luck Domain grants Displacement, but it feels silly to take in a build that could cast Displacement normally if it simply invested a few more levels in one of its classes.

T5 Kensai. This is a solid tree compared to say, Warpriest. It's probably inferior to either Bard melee tree or Vistani in terms of damage/impact. The reason you see pure melee dps builds taking it is primarily because of features you don't really need (improved threat range, centered weapons).

11 Cleric. What are you trying to do here? Most of the buffs provided by Cleric are either low level or easily acquired from gear/enhancements. Heal is nice, but it's not like you can't simply use Heal scrolls. Your stats don't permit effective offensive casting. In most cases, you take levels in a class for specific breakpoints. You want Strike with No Thought and Swashbuckling, so you pick up 6 Fighter/3 Bard. But I'm not seeing a strong justification for taking levels in Cleric.

Moreover, I'm not see the synergy here. The Swashbuckling S&B style is a neat trick. But it's an incredibly feat-intensive trick that precludes the use of Heavy Armor, full-sized weapons and the best shields. Retaining Heavy Armor with THF or TWF would normally provide equivalent offense with better defense.

Thank you for sharing your opinions.

The person asking for this build specifically wanted cleric and wizard lifes in a martial destiny for epic past lifes so based on my experience I suggested cleric caster in gmof, wizard caster in shadowdancer or 11 wiz/11 cleric + 6 fighter + 3 bard in shadowdancer or LD. The person prefers the melee option and asked for build details.

It's intended to be a more balanced build for soloing reaper. I find heal scrolls insufficient at epic levels and cocoon is good, but there are times you want more healing soloing epic reaper. With the buff to shadowdancer melee power I think the tree offers enough other goodness - it's a good tree.

So this build gives a combination of good defenses - evasion with a high strength-based reflex save, 25% incorporeal, knockdown immunity, solid dodge, 50% displacement from improved invisibility (90 seconds every 4 minutes) + clickies and meld into darkness when needed. DPS is solid although not top tier, but it's more than sufficient for epic leveling. Solid tactics. I find knockdown immunity especially helpful when epic leveling, although it's easier now that you can make a sentient weapon for that purpose. 25 PRR and 15 PRR from defensive stance and another 25 PRR+ 7% doublestrike from shield feats + legendary shield mastery.

I think cannith crafted gear is ideal for epic leveling as you can get all the key #s while still maxing str, cha and con.

Synergies
- Obviously strength with divine might will be sky high as will the reflex save.
- Evasion and 25% incorporeal are the perfect compliment to the build's defenses and the melee power boost to shadowdancer in U38 reduces the difference in DPS which is partially offset by sneak damage.
- Self healing with cocoon + empower heal with heal when needed

There are many low level options for improved deception that work all the way to 30 to ensure sneak damage.

With that said I think 14 cleric 6 fighter vistani knife fighter is also a solid option and comes with stun immunity, but I think you are overplaying any difference in DPS and incorrectly minimizing the defensive benefits of evasion, 25% incorporeal and the extra clickies. Obviously having agony might change things in favor of daggers. But the way hp and damage scaling works in epic levels some of the mid levels are especially tough to solo R3 compared to lower and higher levels.

swashbuckling doesn't really take any extra feats. the shield mastery does, which isn't required for swashbuckling but allows you to take legendary shield mastery. You can take legendary shield mastery without these feats, but it's kind of exploity in my opinion.

[Swimms]

Thank you Slarden for posting, I appreciate it. Can this be modified to use Wizard 11 with EK vs cleric and war domain? This whole conversation was initiated by my trying to find caster builds to run in martial ED

[unbongwah]

Domain: Strength. I've been one of the biggest proponents of Strength Domain for a while now, but this really isn't a place where it works. Lacking Evasion, having an extraordinary Reflex save just isn't all that important - and the only Evasion option is the weakest of the Epic Destiny options.
Shadowdancer just got a major buff: cores now contain +60 Melee Power rather than just +24. While LD is still situationally better, that's enough of a buff that - when combined with inherent survivability benefits of SD (i.e., Evasion + Shadow Form) - makes it good enough to be a viable alternative, IMO.

[Swimms]

Shadowdancer just got a major buff: cores now contain +60 Melee Power rather than just +24. While LD is still situationally better, that's enough of a buff that - when combined with inherent survivability benefits of SD (i.e., Evasion + Shadow Form) - makes it good enough to be a viable alternative, IMO.

And let's not forget the best part about SD.......DDoor :)

[slarden]

Thank you Slarden for posting, I appreciate it. Can this be modified to use Wizard 11 with EK vs cleric and war domain? This whole conversation was initiated by my trying to find caster builds to run in martial ED

Same basic concept except you would go bladeforged/warforged instead of fleshy and take reconstruct/repair spells. Since you don't have divine might you would go harper tree int based with kta instead. It's not as strong as the cleric version.

With wizard though a DC caster in shadowdancer is really good. I would go wizard 18 / fvs 2 archamage for the mm/cm slas + the arcane bolt +arcane blast slas. + using mm/cm unmetad so you can spam the 6 all day long getting spell points recharged from just reward. Twist in energy burst and specialize in necromancy for dc and secondary in enchant. You will want the appropriate ravenloft heroic belt for extra spellpower for the energy burst. I did a bunch of martial etr with this build but it was before the ravenloft belts were around.

[Swimms]

Same basic concept except you would go bladeforged/warforged instead of fleshy and take reconstruct/repair spells. Since you don't have divine might you would go harper tree int based with kta instead. It's not as strong as the cleric version.

With wizard though a DC caster in shadowdancer is really good. I would go wizard 18 / fvs 2 archamage for the mm/cm slas + the arcane bolt +arcane blast slas. + using mm/cm unmetad so you can spam the 6 all day long getting spell points recharged from just reward. Twist in energy burst and specialize in necromancy for dc and secondary in enchant. You will want the appropriate ravenloft heroic belt for extra spellpower for the energy burst. I did a bunch of martial etr with this build but it was before the ravenloft belts were around.

Really excited about this build, just got her to 20 (PDK Iconic running in Shadowdancer) and the build is amazing. Damage is very very good and with high ref saves, evasion, Ddoor, full divine buffs, heal and lots of action boosts it makes for a very survivable build. I am using a Cannith crafted handaxe and mostly cannith crafted gear for the rest of my stuff. With Divine Might I am smacking the training dummy on the ship for 320-340 average hits and critting for 1200+ and the attack speed is just nuts.

One small problem with the Kensai enhancement is that Tier 4 Weapon Group Specialization (pre-requisite for Weapon Master) requires greater weapon focus feat which requires 8 levels of fighter so I ended up taking Weapon Group Spec through Tier 3 and stopping there with only 6 fighter levels. Thanks again, awesome build.

[Swimms]

I am currently running up to 30 for the second time on this build and really enjoying it. Typically I am one to follow proven builds rather than try and tinker with my own builds but wanted to get thoughts on modifying this build to include 8 Fighter levels. Split would 9 Clr/8 FtR/3 Bard. The reason for this is the current high investment in Kensai does not allow you to take T4 Weapon Group Spec (requires greater weapon focus which requires 8 FtR levels) and T4 Weapon Group Spec is a prereq for T5 Weapon Master. Since we are already putting 30+ points in Kensai for T5's it seems like it might make sense to maximize that investment so that we can take weapons master?

Dropping 2 Cleric levels would mean the loss of Heal spell but you would still retain the domain abilities (+2 Str, Ref Saves based on Str and immunity to knockdown) so I think the trade off might be worth it for more damage. Anyone else running a similar build or have thoughts on this split?

Thanks

[savingsoul]

I am currently running up to 30 for the second time on this build and really enjoying it. Typically I am one to follow proven builds rather than try and tinker with my own builds but wanted to get thoughts on modifying this build to include 8 Fighter levels. Split would 9 Clr/8 FtR/3 Bard. The reason for this is the current high investment in Kensai does not allow you to take T4 Weapon Group Spec (requires greater weapon focus which requires 8 FtR levels) and T4 Weapon Group Spec is a prereq for T5 Weapon Master. Since we are already putting 30+ points in Kensai for T5's it seems like it might make sense to maximize that investment so that we can take weapons master?

Dropping 2 Cleric levels would mean the loss of Heal spell but you would still retain the domain abilities (+2 Str, Ref Saves based on Str and immunity to knockdown) so I think the trade off might be worth it for more damage. Anyone else running a similar build or have thoughts on this split?

Thanks


If you need a cleric life, not sure what to tell you -- other than that the Luck domain has a Displacement SLA at fifth cleric level, so might want to check that out.

I've been down your path before, but I was fortunately able to reason through the 8 Fighter level requirement before actually playing the build. ;) This lead me to abandon the cleric levels altogether.

The result was the following build (also, see Unbongwah's suggestion):
https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/477127-SWAX-3-Bard-5-Rogue-12-Fighter-Dwarf-w-Hand-Axe-amp-Buckler
https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/477127-SWAX-3-Bard-5-Rogue-12-Fighter-Dwarf-w-Hand-Axe-amp-Buckler?p=5859134&viewfull=1#post5859134

[unbongwah]

Since slarden beat me to the sensible version of this build (i.e., Strength domain), I asked myself, "Can I find a way to ruin this by going DEX-based elf?"

OF COURSE I CAN

Shadowbuckler
11/6/3 Cleric/Fighter/Bard
True Neutral Elf




Level Order


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




Stats
32pt 34pt 36pt Tome Level Up
---- ---- ---- ---- --------
Strength 8 8 8 +2 4: DEX
Dexterity 20 20 20 +2 8: DEX
Constitution 12 13 14 +2 12: DEX
Intelligence 16 16 16 +2 16: DEX
Wisdom 8 8 8 +2 20: DEX
Charisma 8 8 8 +2 24: DEX
28: DEX


Feats


1 : Single Weapon Fighting
3 : Weapon Finesse
4 Fighter: Precision
5 Fighter: Shield Mastery
6 : Quicken Spell
7 Fighter: Improved Single Weapon Fighting
9 : Improved Critical: Slashing
9 Fighter: Improved Shield Mastery
12 : Empower Healing Spell
15 : Greater Single Weapon Fighting
18 : Least Dragonmark: Shadow
21 Epic : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic : Bulwark of Defense OR Completionist
26 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
27 Epic : Epic Damage Reduction
28 Destiny: Perfect Single Weapon Fighting OR Elusive Target
29 Destiny: Dire Charge OR Deific Warding
30 Epic : Epic Reflexes OR Past Life: Rogue
30 Legend : Scion of: Ethereal Plane


11 Cleric : Animal Domain OR Protection Domain


10 Deity : Follower of: Olladra
15 Deity : Luck of Olladra




Enhancements (80 AP)


Kensei (32 AP)

Kensei Focus: Axes, Spiritual Bond, Strike with No Thought

Extra Action Boost III, Weapon Group Specialization, Haste Boost III
Ascetic Training: Agility III
Critical Mastery III, Shattering Strike I, Dexterity
Opportunity Attack, Liquid Courage, Strike at the Heart, Dexterity
One with the Blade, Deadly Strike



Swashbuckler (15 AP)

Confidence, Swashbuckling

On Your Toes I, Blow By Blow: Melee III
Deflect Arrows, Double Strike Boost I
Elegant Footwork, Skirmisher, Swift Strikes



Stalwart Defender (13 AP)

Toughness, Stalwart Defense

Item Defense I, Durable Defense III
Resilient Defense III, Instinctive Defense I
Tenacious Defense III



Elf (12 AP)

Elven Accuracy, Elven Dexterity, Elven Accuracy II

Phiarlan Dragonmark Focus III, Keen Senses I
Lesser Dragonmark of Shadow
Greater Dragonmark of Shadow



Harper Agent (8 AP)

Agent of Good I

Harper Enchantment, Traveler's Toughness II
Know the Angles III





Destiny (24 AP)


Shadowdancer

Stealthy III, Technician I
Lithe III, Skill Mastery
Shrouding Strike III, Grim Precision III
Improved Invisibility III
Untouchable, Sealed Soul
Shadow Form, Dark Imbuement


Twists of Fate (35 fate points)

Sense Weakness (Tier 4 Fury)
Reign (Tier 3 Fatesinger)
Legendary Shield Mastery (Tier 2 Sentinel)
Brace for Impact (Tier 1 Sentinel)
Rejuvenation Cocoon (Tier 1 Primal)


Animal domain for the extra HPs and Fort bypass; or Protection domain for Radiant Forcefield SLA. Deity doesn't really matter; pick the one with the lvl 6 ability you like most.

I like the layered miss chances: high Dodge, high AC, Displacement, Shadow Form. If you want the Cleave feats, you'll need to tweak stats and figure out which feats you're dropping to make room for them.

Twists are just a wishlist; I'd make LSM and Cocoon the first priorities, add the rest as Fate pts allow.

[Swimms]

Since slarden beat me to the sensible version of this build (i.e., Strength domain), I asked myself, "Can I find a way to ruin this by going DEX-based elf?"

OF COURSE I CAN


I absolutely loved the Slarden build, I made an iconic PDK and went from 15-30, then 20-30 twice with the build and it was a really fun change of pace. I was mainly speed running epic normal and epic hard solo and found that I never used Heal in the heat of battle, for the most part rejuv cocoon did the trick keeping me topped off. It got me thinking about how important the "extra" cleric levels were and whether it makes sense to try and go for a split that gives 9 Cleric, 8 Fighter (needed for Weapon Master T5 Ken), 3 bard. Am I splitting hairs here or is there something I am missing not going with 11 Clr?