The Spellforged Knight

[honkuimushi]

The Spellforged Knight

Overview and Goals:

I wanted to create a build that utilized some of the new Mod 9 Enhancements, specifically the THF improvevents and Paladin lines. I also had created a WF Paladin with several Wizard levels and while it was a lot of fun, I only had 28 point bulds at the time and it was a real challenge to make the stats work. I also liked the option of the WF THF line. With the release of Monk, it offers an opportunity for Evasion, bonus feats, more skill points and improved saves. The ability to add Wisdom to AC makes Composite Body better than Mithril Body and saves a feat. It also saves AP because you only need the first rank of Inscribed Armor. The Wizard is for low level buffs like Shield, Blur, Displacement and Haste, wand use and self healing. Overall he should have moderate DPS with fairly high survivability with good self healing. It should have a moderately high AC, but it's not really a Tank. Ideally, I would like to go Knight of the Chalice II with Bladesworn Transformation and using Greatswords. However, the problems with Greatswords and Bladesworn are well known and it looks like Hunter of the Dead may be stronger at levels I and II. Luckily, those can be respecced.

Those whose idea of a great melee build is a Dwarf Barbarian with 18 Str, 20 Con and every thing else at 8 or 6 probably won't enjoy this. This goes for fairly balanced stats and sacrifices some DPS for survivability and self sufficiency.

Stats:

Starting
Str 14
Dex 14
Con 12
Int 14
Wis 12
Chr 12


Level 20
Str 20 *
Dex 14
Con 12
Int 14
Wis 12
Chr 12

Level 20 W/ Enhancements
Str 20 *
Dex 14
Con 14
Int 14
Wis 12
Chr 14

* Includes +1 Tome

The problem here is that there are no dump stats. Eventually, a full set of +2 Tomes would greatly improve the character. I highly recommend 32 point builds. This is one of the few builds I would not feel comfortable playing with only 28 points to work with. A +1 Str tome at level 1 or 2 is necessary to get THF at level 3. Having to wait until level 6 for THF really starts to cause problems because it's hard to fit all the feats with BAB requirements into the build. If you use a +1 tome, then a +3 tome would be required for an even Str. Since you can take a Monk wisdom enhancement, a +3 Wis tome would probably be better than a +2 as well. I would make Chr the first priority for a +2 tome because it allows you to take Divine Might.

I'm not exactly happy with the low Con. However, as a WF Paladin, you get both a Con enhancement and full lines of race and class Toughness enhancemets. That helps make up for the Con to some extent. One possiblity is to lower Int, but that makes it harder to get CE and lowers skill points. The best solution would be to use a +2 Int tome at level 1. That would allow you to raise con to 14 at a cost of 4 skill points.

The changes to tomes in Mod 9 could complicate this. If you have grandfathered tomes, you're good. If you can still switch out feats at Fred after increasing you stats with a tome, the strength tome will work fine. But the switch from Int to Con and the use of an Int tome may no longer be an option.

Eventually, +6 items would be wanted for each stat, with the posible exception of Int.

Levels: Paladin 12/ Wizard6/ Monk 2

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


Monk is taken first for skill points. Everything else is mutable. However, I like to take 2 Wizard levels quickly to enable 4 minute extended Shield spells. Anything less makes keeping it up constantly a real pain.

Feats:

1 Dodge Monk: Toughness
3 THF Wizard: Extend
6 Power Attack Monk: Combat Expertise
9 ITHF
12 Improved Critical (Slashing)
15 GTHF Wizard: Maximise Spell
18 Mental Toughness

HP at 16

No items

Paladin 90
Wizard 20
Monk 16
Con (Including WF Con)32
Toughness 18
4 toughness enhancements 40
Patient Tortise 5
Heroic 20

Total 241

Basic items

Con Item 48
Greater false Life 30

Total 319

Other possiblities
Minos Legens 20
+2 Con Tome 16
Argonessen Favor 10
Toughness enhancements 40

Max HP 405

AC

Basic Self buffed

Base 10
20 Dex 5
18 Wis 4
DT Docent 9
Alchemical Bonus 1
Dodge 1
Shield Spell 4
Centered Bonus 1
Paladin Aura 3

Total 38

Fairly achievable gear
Protection +5 5
+2 Dex Tome 1
+1 Wis Tome 1
+4 Insight 4

Total 49

With rare loot

Chaos Guards 2
Chattering Ring or DT 3

Total 54

Situational AC
CE 5
Bark pot 3

Total 62

Raid buffs
Bard 4
Ranger bark 1

Max Total 68

Not really a Tank, but it should be enough to mitigate Damage from trash mobs, especially with self cast Displacement.

Weaknesses:
The biggest weakness is MAD. That means that Strength will top out around 30. It also means that Divine Might II requires a +4 tome. It comes up again with HP. with a 16 Con, you would get 32 more HP at level 16. This will also be an issue with item slots. All the +6 stat items will eat up slots. Items like the Dragon Belt and the Titan Belt that allow you to put 2 desired abilities in the same slot would be highly sought after. The Dragontouched Docent is a must, not only for the increased AC, but the ability to put 3 more high level abilities on it. Expect to spend a lot of time in those quests.

The next weakness is from the deep multiclassing. The Paladin capstone is very nice, but not available. Even if Epic levels were added, you would need at least 8 levels. The same issue comes up with Tier III Paladin Enhancements. Finally, only 12 levels of Paladin means no Zeal. One alternative is to go Paladin 14/ Wizard 4/ Monk 2, but then you lose 3rd level spells, specifically Haste and Displacement.

Finally, at low levels, To hit will suffer. With the early Wizard and Monk levels and low Strength you take a hit and pretty much rule out Power Attack and CE. The new Korthos items will hep make that up, but at low levels, you will probably want high plus and Rightous weapons over Burst weapons and the like. As you add Paladin levels, that should be les of an issue.

Alternative builds:
The biggest alternative is the Paladin 14 / Wizard 4/ Monk 2 build. That might even be stronger currently. However, if we ever get Practised Spellcaster I think the Wizard 6 would be better, especially with the ability to use up to 6th level Wizard scrolls without a chance of failure.

Another alternative is to go dex based. In that case, add the Tome to Dex and switch the THF feats for TWF. OTWF and Weapon Finesse would be very helpful as well. The benefits would be to gain the doubled effects of things like Smite and Divine Might in addition to the increased AC.


Conclusion:
I wanted to put this up here to get feedback and any suggestions people might have. Keep in mind that this is not a Min- Max bulid, but one I hope will be solid through all levels. I look forward to any ideas to improve it. And for anyone who wants to give it a try, I hope you have fun.

[ariel7]

You mention 40 hps from toughness twice so you lose 10% of your 405. Is 365 enough for level 20? Maybe sorc instead of wiz?

The casting levels appear so late...

I have been deeply thinking battlemages for months now. Built. 16 str/con/cha sorc that was supposed to have 2 pally levels. Never got them buy is one seriously fun sorc. I came to the thought thy those builds are best for soloing and if caster levels are just for buffs/healing that having umd was cheaper and muchore versatile and slows down melée progression less. That's the answer for me and not necessarily you obviously.

If you are forming a sc elite run at level 6 and YOU need melée who gives your group best chance of success? Tempest ranger or a barb or a fighter or...a monk2/paladin2/wizard2? You stand a real risk of being blamed for any/all wipes.

I would really at the least drop the monk levels - tough enough allocating points for a paladin OR a monk OR a melée friendly wizard. Wiz8/monk2/ranger6 is on here looks more synergistic.

[honkuimushi]

You mention 40 hps from toughness twice so you lose 10% of your 405. Is 365 enough for level 20? Maybe sorc instead of wiz?

The casting levels appear so late...

I have been deeply thinking battlemages for months now. Built. 16 str/con/cha sorc that was supposed to have 2 pally levels. Never got them buy is one seriously fun sorc. I came to the thought thy those builds are best for soloing and if caster levels are just for buffs/healing that having umd was cheaper and muchore versatile and slows down melée progression less. That's the answer for me and not necessarily you obviously.

If you are forming a sc elite run at level 6 and YOU need melée who gives your group best chance of success? Tempest ranger or a barb or a fighter or...a monk2/paladin2/wizard2? You stand a real risk of being blamed for any/all wipes.

I would really at the least drop the monk levels - tough enough allocating points for a paladin OR a monk OR a melée friendly wizard. Wiz8/monk2/ranger6 is on here looks more synergistic.

Warforged get 4 Toughness enhancements and Paladin gets another 4. Now the last 4 might be too expensive. That's why I listed them under Max. The first 4 enhancements will cost 6 APs. 40 HP for 6 AP sounds like a pretty good buy. Now the last 40 for 14 isn't so great. But if I'm feeling short of hit points, its an option, especially the 2 3 point enhancements.

Also, those HP were calculated at level 16. I'll get 34 HP for the last 4 levels plus Con and Toughness. Is it enough? I don't know. I was looking things over on my level 14 Human Ranger/Paladin build last night and realized that they have about the same HP. I haven't felt constarined so far. I think it may just be something I'll have to try.

You're right about soloing. I figure this guy will solo well up to level 10 quests or so. After that, you really need DOT spells like Wall of Fire and instakill spells like Finger of death. However you need a different focus for that. A Sorcerer 18/ Paladin 2 would be a pretty good character for soloing. However my current setup is somewhat caster unfriendly. A few buffs and heals is easily manageable, but I haven't been happy with the control I have over a full caster. That's why I went melee on this guy.

UMD is Great. I forgot the section on skills, but I did put 9 Ranks in on this guy. But with no Rogue or Bard and no skill Action Boost, it just won't get high enough to reliably use wands or scrolls. I mainly took it for restricted gear. But at level 3 I can use any Arcane wand (including repair) instead of needing to wait until I get my UMD up to 15 before I have a good chance of using Repair Light wands. Also, 1 minute shield wands are depressing. I might find some higher level ones, but being able to cast 4 minute shield spells from level 4 is nice. And as I said, if they ever do add Practiced Spellcaster, this build would benefit greatly.

You are entirely right about Stormcleave elite. At level 6 the synergies are just beginning to kick in and the Paladin abilities haven't really developed. I wouldn't have even picked up my second LoH yet. In fact I wouldn't want to Go much further than Tangleroot or STK on elite at level 6. I might even wait for level 7 for those and 8 for Stormcleave.

But that doesn't really bother me. The last two characters I've leveled up I've taken slowly, trying to get each quest up to elite at level before advancing. I've been overleveled on those 2 guys almost constantly and I still have Gaps. The 14th level Ranger/Paladin I mentioned is about halfway to 16th and has 1536 Favor. So I'm not really worried about being able to do elite while underleveled. Level 6 seems like the low point in power from my point of view. If I can do Stormcleave elite at 7 or 8, I'd be pretty happy.

Which brings me to Monk. The big reason for Monk is Evasion. The +3 to saves helps make Evasion more useful, especially in combination with Divine Grace. The feats are really nice and the big bonus over Rogue. While the skills don't match those from Rogue, it does give me more skill points and allows me to put a few point in movement skills like Balace, Jump and Tumble, which are all cross class for Paladin and Wizard. The Wisdom to AC is just icing. It does make Composite Body better than Mithril Body as long as I can get a 18 Wisdom and means that I don't have to spend a feat on it. It also means that it only takes 1 AP to get rid of Spell Failure instead of 6. It does cost be some points in Wisdom, but it does mean I'll be able to cast Paladin spells as soon as I hit level 4, instead of needing a +4 or +6 Item first. What would you suggest instead?

And as for Sorcerer, I was going to put that in the alternatives, but I forgot. Still, I don't really like it. Yes, it would probably get me more Mana and a faster casting time. But I would lose a number of spells and delay my spell aquisition even further. I wouldn't get 2nd level spells until Sorcerer level 4, level 12 overall. A level 6 wizard gets 4 1st, 4 2nd, and 3 3rd level spells. A level 6 Sorcerer gets 4 1st, 2 2nd, and 1 3rd level spell. When you add in 2 bonus Metamagic feats, including an Early Extend, I think you can see why I went Wizard.

The Tempest Wizard looks interesting, but I've made a lot of TWF builds recently and I wanted to give THF a try, as I mentioned in the overview. Thank you for reading and commenting on this. I realize that it's a long post. I appreciate your bringing up several of these issues. It pointed out some things I had neglected to include.