Fighter Stalwart Defender 12/Rogue Master Mechanic 8

[superdestructo]

RE. Fighter Stalwart Defender 12/Rogue Master Mechanic 8

I'm planning to re-roll a character into the aforementioned 32 pt. build when update 5 comes out. I play mostly in smaller groups of 2 - 4 players, and I want to play both rogue and tank. Here's what i've come up with; would like to know what areas I may be insufficient in, if there are any.

Skills kept at maximum will be Search, Disable Device and Intimidate. Skills kept up and eventually maxed in order of priority are: Use Magic Device, Open Lock and Haggle. I will be swapping enhancements frequently.

Early on, I may use Dragonmark of Passage, Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Bastard Sword and Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Repeating Heavy Crossbow in place of Lv1 feats Bullheaded and Luck of Heroes, and may use Stunning Blow in place of Lv2 feat Shield Mastery.

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 3.34
DDO Character Planner Home Page

Level 20 True Neutral Human Male
(12 Fighter \ 8 Rogue) 
Hit Points: 394
Spell Points: 0 
BAB: 18\18\23\28\28
Fortitude: 16
Reflex: 18
Will: 12

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(32 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 20)
Strength             15                    22
Dexterity            15                    20
Constitution         14                    20
Intelligence         14                    16
Wisdom                8                     8
Charisma             12                    14

Tomes Used
+1 Tome of Strength used at level 4
+1 Tome of Dexterity used at level 4
+1 Tome of Constitution used at level 4
+1 Tome of Charisma used at level 4
+2 Tome of Strength used at level 7
+2 Tome of Dexterity used at level 7
+2 Tome of Constitution used at level 7
+2 Tome of Intelligence used at level 7
+2 Tome of Charisma used at level 7

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Skills         Modified Skills
Skills           (Level 1)            (Level 20)
Balance               6                    11
Bluff                 5                     6
Concentration         2                     5
Diplomacy             1                     2
Disable Device        6                    30
Haggle                5                    25
Heal                 -1                    -1
Hide                  2                     5
Intimidate            5                    33
Jump                  6                    10
Listen               -1                    -1
Move Silently         2                     5
Open Lock             6                    32
Perform               n/a                   n/a
Repair                2                     5
Search                6                    28
Spot                  3                     9
Swim                  2                     6
Tumble                6                    13
Use Magic Device      5                    25

Level 1 (Rogue)
Feat: (Selected) Bullheaded
Feat: (Human Bonus) Luck of Heroes


Level 2 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Shield Mastery


Level 3 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Resilience
Feat: (Selected) Toughness


Level 4 (Fighter)
Ability Raise: STR


Level 5 (Rogue)


Level 6 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Dodge
Feat: (Selected) Force of Personality


Level 7 (Fighter)


Level 8 (Fighter)
Ability Raise: DEX
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Combat Expertise


Level 9 (Rogue)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness


Level 10 (Fighter)


Level 11 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Improved Shield Mastery


Level 12 (Fighter)
Ability Raise: CON
Feat: (Selected) Lightning Reflexes


Level 13 (Rogue)


Level 14 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Bastard Sword


Level 15 (Fighter)
Feat: (Selected) Iron Will


Level 16 (Fighter)
Ability Raise: CON
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Improved Critical: Slashing Weapons


Level 17 (Rogue)


Level 18 (Rogue)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness


Level 19 (Rogue)


Level 20 (Rogue)
Ability Raise: CON
Enhancement: Fighter Armor Class Boost I
Enhancement: Fighter Armor Class Boost II
Enhancement: Fighter Haste Boost I
Enhancement: Rogue Skill Boost I
Enhancement: Rogue Skill Boost II
Enhancement: Rogue Acid Trap Lore I
Enhancement: Fighter Armor Mastery I
Enhancement: Fighter Armor Mastery II
Enhancement: Fighter Armor Mastery III
Enhancement: Fighter Stalwart Defender I
Enhancement: Fighter Stalwart Defender II
Enhancement: Fighter Tower Shield Mastery I
Enhancement: Fighter Tower Shield Mastery II
Enhancement: Human Adaptability Strength I
Enhancement: Human Greater Adaptability Constitution I
Enhancement: Human Versatility I
Enhancement: Human Versatility II
Enhancement: Fighter Item Defense I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Rogue Mechanic I
Enhancement: Rogue Disable Device I
Enhancement: Rogue Disable Device II
Enhancement: Fighter Intimidate I
Enhancement: Fighter Intimidate II
Enhancement: Rogue Open Lock I
Enhancement: Rogue Open Lock II
Enhancement: Rogue Dexterity I
Enhancement: Rogue Dexterity II
Enhancement: Fighter Strength I
Enhancement: Fighter Strength II
Enhancement: Fighter Strength III
Enhancement: Fighter Toughness I
Enhancement: Fighter Toughness II
Enhancement: Rogue Improved Trap Sense I

Will wear +5 Mithral Breastplate and Tower Shield starting at level 8. Will mainly use Tower Shield + Bastard Sword, Light Repeating Crossbow and 2 Handed Weapons, plus landmines(unless they suck.)

Questions I have:
1. I think my Max Dex bonus will be +8 with a Mithral Breastplate+Tower Shield?


2. How many of these can stack?
Stalwart Defender Stance
Combat Expertise/Resilience
Improved Uncanny Dodge
Human Versatility Armor Class Boost


3. Will 28 naked ranks in search be enough for late game?


4. How much will it hurt tanking ability at lvl 16-17 to delay my 12th Fighter Level until Level 18, taking Rogue every 3rd level instead of 4th level?


5. And finally: What gear should I try and acquire?


Thanks!

[askrj1]

1. Assuming you take the full line of armor mastery yes the limiting factor would be your MBP, base 5MDB+3. MTS is 4MDB base, with enhancements Stalwart and TShield mastery.

2. They all will stack, but keep in mind action boost and uncanny dodge are very temporary.

3. Max rank is 23 for class skills. The 28 there includes enhancements of course, and if you want to be assured with traps then yes 23 + enhancements + items. Same for DD.

4. The main concern for ftr 12 will more likely be the feat (bonus feat, access to greater weapon spec), than SD2. SD2 does not directly increase your AC any further, but it does give an additiona DR2/-. I am not sure if it gives any additional MDB for your tower shield over SD1, but the limiting factor should be your breastplate + armor mastery 3. You should also trying considering the converse, how taking your rogue levels earlier or later will affect your gameplay.

5. Cannot really think of anything besides standard tank gear and a set of repeaters for different situations. Spare sets of accessories for swapping when doing traps, of course.

[unbongwah]

Random thoughts:

• I feel like you should have more CON than that on a tank.
• INT 14 seems like overkill, unless you really want the extra skill points.
• Why'd you go with base DEX 15 if you're not taking TWF? Is it just for the AC?
• Are you really gonna take so many separate tomes; or will you just take a +2 Supreme at lvl 7? I ask because it affects when you take some of your feats.
• If you want to take advantage of glancing blows w/BS, I think you should work in 1 or more of the THF feats. Likewise, I think you should take BS sooner if you really want to go that route. [Though personally I'd rather go dwarf for DAxes.]
• You mention taking exotic proficiencies at lvl 1, but you can't do that: they require BAB 1, which you won't have as rogue 1.
• You spend a few feats on boosting your saves, but I can't help wondering if a pally splash for Divine Grace might be more efficient - say, rogue 6 / paladin 2 / ftr 12. Slap on a +6 CHA item and you're up to +5 to all saves; and those feats can be spent on more useful things.

[superdestructo]

@askrj1

I see. I was under the impression that SD2 granted an additional +1 AC, +2 Intimidate and +1 Max Dex Bonus to shields. In that case, perhaps Rogue 6 will be more important than fighter 12? I still have the best rogue gear up through level 13 from other characters, I was mostly wondering if traps DC progression accelerates in the later game. And also if I will need exceptional gear such as raid loot and greensteel stuff to be relevant for the endgame.

@unborgwah
INT is for skill points, combat expertise, search/disable and later the Rogue Mechanic crossbow damage bonus,(Or so i've read about) certain INT runes. Pretty comfortable with 14. DEX is for max AC bonus as well as crossbows.
You are right about the lvl 1 feats. I should probably take toughness at level 1 instead, so I can have an exotic weapon as my level 3 feat until/if i exchange it when I get a spare fighter bonus feat. I plan to exchange some feats around level 8, I will probably use misc 2HF before that.

And 2 Pali is tempting, but I'm not sure how early I could take them without slowing down the milestones I hope to hit with my other 2 classes. (notably Fighter 6, Rogue 4, Rogue 6, Fighter 12) I guess I could add them towards the very end and take toughness a few more times. The way I had it is close to 500 hp with a CON +6 item, Gianthold +10, and Greater False Life. A few more toughness would be above 500.. how much hp is needed at level 20?

[askrj1]

I would not strongly recommend pld2 for a tank build just for the saves. It does give you decent saves if you get your chamod up to +5 or something, but it also forces you to take lawful good, which is bad when it comes to taking damage, especially when doing sands.

HP should be fine if you can get it over 500 by 20, but as always the more the better. If you were using Levik's for tanking the random heal procs will ease up the pressure on your healers as well.

As for trap gear I cannot say too much about, but as far as I know late game there are not a lot of traps to worry about beyond the likes of Monastery or epic quests (not a lot of traps in Vale, which is most of the content between Gianthold and endgame). At epic you should be looking at 23rank+3enh+2mech+6int+7tools+15item+6GS+4GH+5boos t = 71DD, which -should- handle just about everything... all about grinding, really.

Missed out about SD2: It gives you 2intimidate, improved stance, extra DR and dex bonus is the bit I am unsure about. It confers +1MDB on your armor if you are using heavy armor, but I am not sure if it gives an extra +1MDB on your tower shield. It would just be the matter of taking another level of tower shield mastery if it does not, still caps at 8dexmod.