Going to Reincarnate for the first time....need advice/info.

[wolfy42]

Hello:)

I have a dragonborn staff wielding rogue/ranger/monk who I really enjoyed playing. He is around level 26-27 but I stopped playing him over a year ago.

I just came back, and am playing a new artificer using the Arco SLA's and really enjoying it. He is also a dragonborn, so I have decided I want to TR for the first time, my main character (as going back and playing him after so long isn't fun).

But...I don't wanna mess things up...since this will be my first ever TR, and I will be pretty much claiming this character as my main now.

I do think I have some tomes on him, need to double check, and if I understand right I will go from a 32 point build (what Ihad) to a 34 point build when I TR. That is pretty awesome.

I think I'll get the skill bonus of a rogue as well since I have more rogue levels then anything else (also awesome!!).

I am not 100% sure, but I think I want to go with the critzilla type build I saw.....but the paladin version for high defense long term.

I think that is 12-14 arti levels/3 sorc and 3 pally levels. Dragonborn as race.

I think I want to go (But am not 100% here) 12 arti levels first, then 3 sorc, then 3 pally then last 2 whatever I choose (arti or sorc)..probably arti).

I'm not 100% sure on that though as....while getting 12 arti is nice for lightning bolt, I'm thinking perhaps going with 1 sorc at 11 (to get 1 more caster/max caster level on my lightning spells makes more sense to me.

Then I would go 1-10 arti, 11 sorc, 12-13 arti, 14-15 sorc, 16-18 pally, 19-20 arti/sorc. Don't need to choose the last 2 till later. Those last 2 do give me the option of taking 5 in pally or sorc instead for tier 5 in any of those trees if I don't want tier 5 in Acro as well.

I like pally for the MUCH higher saves, although I won't have evasion. I'm curious on saves vs traps...if you don't have evasion do you still take half damage on traps, or do you take none at all if you save? I think you can get evasion from epic abilities if I remember right, maybe even twist it....but it would require not using medium armor and getting the bonus hp etc from pally.

Also, I'm thinking of going with construct/improved construct on my character....so I can self heal/reconstruct, and my defender can heal me as well (auto-heal). Pally lay on hands work fully as well.

If i'm right about a 34 point build I'm considering this for my stats:

Dragonborn

Str 08 (00)
dex 06 (00)
Con 17 (13)
Int 18 (16)
wis 08 (00)
Cha 13 (05)

I checked btw, I have a +5 superior tome on this char, along with a greater tome of heroic learning.

All level up stat points into int. With the tome and level up points I should reach.

Str 13
Dex 11
con 22
int 28
wis 13
cha 18

Base....think int will go up a bit from enhancements as well, then it's all eq from there.

Cha is going to be hard to get to the full 11 bonus saving throws, though I guess it is possible. I could drop Con 1 point and boost cha 2....might be worth it to go 16 con and 15 cha....but I kinda like the auto-nat 22 con....then whatever I add from there (most of which looks like it'll be even). After a certain point saving throws will be so high anyway (think I end up with like +20 to saves from the pally enhancements and abilities).

So that is my plan, anyone that has any info it would be really appreciated before I make the big jump!! Finally going to TR a character!! I can't believe it. Then, I need to start deciding if I want to keep TRing or just play this character in epic for awhile (gonna depend a ton on how fun it is to play later on).

Long as I can at least get to 20 pretty easy though, so I can TR again if I want, all will be good:)

[Hjarki]

I'd caution against that sort of complicated multi-class build on a second life character. You're likely to discover that you don't have the past lives/gear/reaper xp to pull it off and be trapped with a class/race arrangement that just doesn't work all that well without the specific characteristics/content the designer is focused on.

A very basic approach like 20 levels in a Heavy Armor Artificer build would probably serve you better. Artificers get a number of bonus feats, so taking both metamagic and a combat style is definitely an option, allowing you to play with enhancements across all three trees (and Harper) to see what works best for you.

[wolfy42]

Hmmm, well I have been trying it out with a new character and liking it so far.

He has repeating xbows as backup, getting Int to hit with harper (only cost 3 ap), and then int to damage with a level (think it's 3) spell.

I could invest more points later for know the angles if I'm using that as backup damage more. Not sure if Dragonborn is really the best option to be honest, especially with pally AND sorc using so many AP....although having the +2 cha is nice in combo with pally's bonus to saves from it.

Could go gnome though and get 2 more int , and the ability to boost int more from racial bonuses...which might be better in the long run.

That being said, I think you get +3 to evocation DCs from dragon, which would make up for the int bonuses from gnome pretty much.

Dragon gets his breathe attack as well AND more hp....so I think it's a good choice.

I could play my current (no tome/no exp tome etc) low level guy more to make sure I like it...have not even gotten to 10 arti yet, but so far he seems to rock even on low reaper levels. The SLA's just do so much damage. I don't even have the Lightning bolt one. Once I get that.....I think i'll just be using SLA's always....and on reaper you get the sp dropping things all the time (so if I do use a quickened/maximized/empowered polar lightnign spell every so often (cause there is a reaper for instance and it needs to die NOW), the sp drops keep me topped off anyway.

I'm not having a defensive/hp problem at all so far, but I know the game gets harder later, and I think having waaay higher saves, more hp (20% more), more defenses etc will be very worth the 3 pally levels.

The sorc levels meanwhile seem to actually add more to your SLAs then pure arti levels, while also giving you more crit and a few other bonuses. Most of the arti SLA's max at caster level 10, so I think going from 10-11 in arti wouldn't boost their damage at all.

Going from 10-11 as sorc though, would boost the base damage by 10% (from 1 more caster level).

I don't think I can do everything I want with this build though as far as AP....it just has too many things. If I can't go down the Dragonborn tree...to get the breathe weapon etc, then I get more from other races..

I need 26 AP in the RM tree to get Reconstruct SLA and Embed componenet, both of which I want for sure.

I need at least 38 AP for AT (42 more likely....for lvl 3 motes..though I could go with only lvl 1).

That is 64 AP used, so only 16 left between Sorc/Pally and Dragon ...so yeah it won't work, unless I cut out RM all together or something.

It takes 15 ap just to get tenacious defense from pally.

Blah gotta figure this out, maybe the person making that build had a bunch of racial past lives or something. But yeah, dosn't look like I can make my original setup work.

[Uralte]

Hmmm, well I have been trying it out with a new character and liking it so far.



Could go gnome though and get 2 more int , and the ability to boost int more from racial bonuses...which might be better in the long run.



You should go gnome. Why are you taking a Charisma based race and trying to shoehorn it into a class that has a vastly Superior (2 actually) race tailor made for it. I'm not trying to harsh on your hype, but as stated, you need to get some lives on you to create a viable "unique" build.

You've already spent one life as a DB, why not do it two more times? +1 cha, +1 spellcraft, +1 racial EP... those racial perks go a long away in game.

Besides, Dragonborn is a great fit with a LOT of charisma based classes, now would be your chance to really dabble through those next two lives.

Jus sayin

[wolfy42]

DB can add alot to the type of Artificer I'm playing it gets (if you have the AP to spend).

40 hp
20 healing amp (matters even if I go construct as it makes my base the same as a normal human)
30 electric spell power
+3 DC to evocation spells (equivalent to +6 int)
+1 caster level and most importantly +2 max caster level of electric spells.
100 sp and +3 spell penetration
Dragon breathe attack

The +2 max caster levels works on my SLA's that only have a max caster level of 10. Arti bonuses can increase that to 12 (at 18 arti).

So +2 max caster levels is pretty huge, you can get some from Sorc (if you multiclass). I guess the most base you can get (that I can see) is by going 18 arti/2 sorc (but again...more AP spent and already AP starved). You can get +1 from sorc level 1 that way (could even go 19/1 I guess).

Would only cost 1 AP that way for an extra caster level, but you lose out on the Artificer capstone which seems crazy to be honest...so pure Arti seems like the way to go for me.

Dragonborn if I have AP left over could add alot, but...to make any sense at all, you'd want to spend at least 18 AP in the tree (getting the +3 evocation at the end). I guess you can skip the +10 hp and healing amp, flight and augment breathe......but not sure how you shave enough AP away from AT and RM and Harper to have 18 left for Dragonborn.

[wolfy42]

Ok, I think I am coming up with a way to make this work with dragonborn.

First AT tree.

Cutting out Arcane Mechanism means I don't need to use a Runearm, and could use a shield instead if I want. That saves some AP.

Take only 1 rank of lightning motes, increases the SP a tiny bit..but it's still super low, and mostly increases the cooldown a ton (to 18 seconds). Still you have tons of other SLA's and I think a few do more damage Polar one. If you really need to cast it more, I guess a rebalance will be needed.

That means just 3 points spent for the +3 evocation DC's and 2 points for motes....so only 35 AP total in AT!:)

For me, reconstruct SLA is not optional, so that means 24 min AP for RM. I would "like" to get tier 3 embed though (6 more con) and 15 MRR. That is 90 more hp at 30....but it's optional I guess to get more Evocation DCS from dragon.

For harper only 3 AP is mandatory, so I can use a repeating xbow + Deadly weapons (whatever the int to damge spell is) to kill lightning immunes. I would "like to have 8 ap to get know the angels, as my int will be very high...so that would add alot of damage vs lightning immunes. Lets go with 3 for now.

So bare minimum 35 + 24 + 3= 62 ap...which leaves 18 left over!!! The exact number needed to max true power!:)

It can be done, but barely. I have to cut out all the "likes" but I get alot for that.

I lose 6 con, 15 MRR, a ton of damage on my repeating xbow (probably 10 a shot or so), but from those 8 AP I can get:

3 evocation DC
1 caster level and 2 max caster level (increaseing from 12 to 14, so an 18% or so over all damage increase) and 30 spell power (proably making it a total of 20% damage increase all together.

Seems worth it. The other points also boost max hp, healing amp, +3 fort save and dragon breathe.

So I think I may go with that....seems better then other racial combos. You get 3 more Evocation DCs which is the real reason for high int......so that more then compensates for the int bonus of a gnome. You get more hp and healing amp, compared to a gnome, most importantly you get +2 to max caster level for your SLAs, while still in heroic content. I read in the critzilla guide that you can boost them in epic content more...which is great...but it's nice to get them in Heroic, and I think you can only get 1 more max (by taking sorc levels and spending AP in that tree).

Think it will work, but I need to redo my stats as I don't need cha or str anymore at all.

So with a 34 point build I guess something like:

Str 10 (0)
Dex 06 (00)
Con 18 (13)
Int 18 (13)
Wis 15 (08)
Cha 10 (00)

Points in Cha for the saves. Taking insightful for reflex from int.

+5 tome to everything gives me:

15 str (safe from debuffs)
11 dex (shrug with ship buff thats 13....pretty safe)
Con 23 (odd number but whatever)
Int 23 (works fine with +5 tome and +5 from levels. Think I get 2 from enhancements as well.)
Wis 20 (good for saves)
Cha 15 (shrug doesn't matter on this char much, could boost for better breathe saves I guess (perhaps drop wis to 14, cha to 12, or even wis to 12 cha to 14).

Pure Arti level 20:)

[wolfy42]

Argh, epic feat choices are soooo hard. I guess I can't even think about getting epic toughness. Glad I get alot of hp from other sources.

At 21 I have to choose between Arcane insight and wellspring of power. Both look awesome. If I'm going dragon though, I'm getting +6 total to evocation DCs, high int as well, gotta just hope it's high enough. Thinking wellspring of power will add more average damage (boosts it against saves and non-saves), 6 more DC though could mean a 15-20% over all damage increase. Wish I could get both. I'll know more which I need later I guess.

24 seems obvious to take master of artifice for the 10 bonus caster levels. Think that will add more then intensify, although going with intensify might make sense if I grab ruin/greater ruin.

My initial gut reaction was to take ruin and greater ruin as 24 and 27. I'm thinking it might make sense to go with intensify and Wellspring though, since you do get Hell Ball at 28, which would gain from both and hits multiple targets. Intensify would affect your SLA's all the time (and be free). Ruin and greater ruin would give plenty of non-electric damage though, which is nice. While expensive ruin and greater ruin should probably one shot most non-bosses even in epic content (I'm guessing) with high bonuses. I'm a bit curious though if Hellball gets electricity bonuses to caster level etc (i'm guessing each damage type is seperate so it would get the bonuses to electric damage at least).

Hellball would be stronger with intensify + wellspring as well (even if you can only use wellspring every so often, it would boost damage decently when you need it).

Not sure how high the numbers will be at that point either, if 75% or 150% bonuses are not that strong, it might be better to take the 6 DC arcane insight instead (especially since I have no past life bonuses etc.). Still I'm getting +6 evocation DC from enhancements, +2 probably from feats, and a high int....I'm hoping it'll be good enough to get me past the point where a full 6 evocation DC would be needed to force them to save on a 20.

[blerkington]

Build questions aside, I think a very important thing to do is make sure your character has all the gear he might want ready for his next life.

The forums has a thread called The Great Big TR Checklist (https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/355152-The-Great-Big-TR-Checklist). It's an exhaustive list of useful things you can do to prepare for your next life and I remember it being extremely useful when I started reincarnating. Some of it is a little over the top or outdated but it's likely there will be something in there that will help you.

Thanks.

[wolfy42]

I will look at that, although when I come back I really don't like running my old characters anymore. I might need to in order to get tokens of the 12 though (Forgot about those) anyway.

Won't hurt to grab a few other things I guess, to make my life easy, but I usually go up the list anyway of quests, and even on my second life, with a greater tome of xp, I shouldn't have a problem.

Doing every quest is why I only have 1 epic character after all these years.