Purely Ranged Barb PL Grabber - 6 Arty / 7 Rogue / 7 Barb

[Deathdefy]

I like reading about other people's only up to 18 and immediately TRing at 20 levelling builds, so figure I'll contribute my plan for my first barb PL.

For a variety of gear reasons and my own PL history, I'm easing into 3 Barb lives with a purely ranged Artificer / Rogue Mechanic build that could almost as easily pick up any class beginning with a letter alphabetically earlier than 'R'. Barb does, however, provide additional toughness enhancements, +10% movement speed, and all important sprint boosts.

The build:

Human
Stats 36 pts

STR: 12 (solely carrying capacity and ray of enfeeblement resistance)
CON: 14
DEX: 16 (using a +2 tome; and 1 level up at 12 for IPS. Tomes will drop even more with U12, and aren't too expensive or rare now regardless)
INT: 17 (all level-ups save the Dex at 12, tome if I feel like it)
WIS: 8
CHA: 8

Levels & Feats:
1)Rogue 1 Toughness, Point Blank Shot <--- Rogue at 1 to max skill points
2)Arty 1 (Rapid Reload) (XWP: Crossbows)
3)Arty 2 Dodge (Rune Arm Use) <--- 2 Arty before barb 1 for earlier rune arm use
4)Barb 1 <--- Sprint Boost + 10% movement (and toughness 1)
5)Arty 3
6)Arty 4 Mobility, Shot on the Run
7)Arty 5
8)Arty 6 <--- Insightful Damages + BE
9)Rogue 2 Precise Shot (Evasion) <--- Precise Shot taken as late as possible with the constraints of getting IC: Ranged and IPS as soon as possible.
10)Rogue 3
11)Rogue 4
12)Rogue 5 IC: Ranged
13)Rogue 6 <--- Can now use Insightful Strikes instead of Damage since you'll grab Mech 1, freeing up level 3 spell - probably for Flame Turret until finished with Gianthold, then Electric Motes.
14)Rogue 7 <--- +1d6 SA damage is better than anything additional barb levels give this build
15)Barb 2 Improved Precise Shot
16)Barb 3
17)Barb 4
18)Barb 5 Rapid Shot <--- I'll stop here and gather xp to jump to 20. Good Monastery and ETK xp farms are ludicrously lucrative.
19)Barb 6
20)Barb 7

Skills:
All the roguey stuff. Spot. UMD. Jump. Balance if I have points, but pfft. I'm not running MA on this gimp because I don't hate the populace of Khyber.

Enhancements:
Crossbow stuff and Battle Engineer from Arti, +1 UMD from Arti, SA stuff from Rogue, Mechanic +Pre-reqs from Rogue, Haste boost from rogue, Human versatility, Human healing amp, Barb sprint boost, Barb toughness.

Human adaptability +1 int, Arti +2 int, maybe human con +1 and +2 barb con too if I can fit it.

Self-sufficiency:
I'll get pots, wands, human healing amp, and try not to get hit. This is not saying I'll kite about if I'm in a party; reasonable HP means I can stand still and take it till it's dead / taken off me. Heal scrolls once I have the UMD for a decent crack at it.

Items:
X-Bows. I have a few now including an Ooze II, Lit II and Triple Pos. Tier I Earth Alchemical also looks hot for CC, but I can't speak from experience.

Aside from the GS fancies, a Banisher and Smiter should cover the rest. One day I'll post my opinion on paralyzers but suffice to say they aren't my cup of tea outside of Madstone Crater.

Being pimped out with masterfully crafted Rune Arms for levelling is my plan, but I need to find another Toven's and Lucid Dreams. No biggie :S

I'll finally have a +6 UMD triple air boots for this life. Hopefully with a Cartouche and an Arty PL this makes Heal scrolls somewhat viable for levelling. Might not though so I'll see I guess!

Cannith Propulsion Boots are nice in a few key places for 18; once per run at points in each of Let Sleeping Dust Lie, ETK and Monastery all spring to mind.

Playstyle:
Int Strikes + Rogue X-Bow damage mean Int is all that really matters. I'll abuse sprint boost, barb speed, and Shot on the Run to zerg like a maniac. IPS will be hot once I get it. Should be fun.

Negs:
My dog and rune arm blasts are somewhere between useless and actively detrimental apart from lever pulling. My SP pool will be very limited, and probably only good for refreshing Elemental Weapons and Insightful Strikes every 6 minutes.

The only utility this build has at cap is getting to the reincarnation trainer quickly.


Final notes:
Feedback not unwelcome, but as I said, I'm mostly posting because I like reading these types of things and felt like sharing.

Its purpose is to be able to get a Barb life while levelling easily (possibly often solo) through an Elite streak up to and including the Vale Flagging Quests. Sole exception is that I'll avoid In The Flesh entirely unless I see a name I trust in an elite Lfm going for it. Vault of Night and Plane of Night I'd love to do at level, but will just start running at 13 on normal then elite if there's nothing going.

Post vale flagging quests, I'll immediately break the streak to grab a shroud or 3 before TRing. Similarly I'll run a normal Acute Delirium if need be, same with all the Reaver's Refuge quests and IQ. There's a certain point when it's too hard to keep the streak alive due to lack of groups and the difficulty of soloing. For me, that point is after the level 16 quests.

I'll not be such a sook and actually do a THF after this one whether or not I manage to pull a Sword of Shadows.

[Multipurpose]

I am currently second life as I have only been playing a few months now. My first life was pure artificer and I had a blast. To change things up for consistent and easy gearing though, Arti/Rogue/any class works out great. I am currently at 147 on my Elite streak, and solo'ed close to 130 of those (well, some I took a hire). In groups I am able to effectively spot heal, deal damage, trapmonkey and DDoor (Dragonmark). Everything a good Multipurpose Assult Weapon should do in an RPG . It is a blast, and it seems like it doesn't really matter what I do for the last 8 levels (getting ranger PL for barkskin and extra ranged damage). I am looking forward to the UD 12 mobility changes to maybe get a decent AC next time around. Happy Hunting.

[wax_on_wax_off]

Perhaps you could do a melee/ranged split and go bastard sword/rune arm. You get bonus damage on all glancing blows from rune arm and from frenzy making for some nice AoE damage. Include this with Deadly Weapons being in the game but only affecting melee weapons and I think that their is a compelling argument there. You can still make use of ranged combat simply as arti's are awesome at it anyway.

Not sure human is the best racial choice either ... WF maybe?