THANK YOU Spartan. This is really amazing. Probably 5 hours in and it's going really smoothly. Again, thanks a million!
THANK YOU Spartan. This is really amazing. Probably 5 hours in and it's going really smoothly. Again, thanks a million!
Hello!
I'm new DDO player and I love this game. However, building a character is a bit confusing for me at the moment. I want to start playing as Half-Orc as it's my favourite race and I wonder about a safe build with good survivability that will let me solo content easily and with a two-handed weapon. I can't decide whether should I pick Barbarian or Paladin for that purpose. Moreover, I'm not sure if Half-Orc is a good choice for Paladin. Therefore, I'd appreciate it if you recommend me some nice up-to-date build for any of those two classes that would satisfy my needs and be good for a Half-Orc, including feats, skills, enhancenments, spells etc. I don't consider multiclassing, at least for now.
Last edited by Kamimaru; 08-25-2020 at 08:36 PM.
Pure barbarian Half-orc with some self-healing via Enhancement tree is a great intro build. Easy to gear, relatively easy to play. Fairly survivable due to high HP and passive self-healing (offer not valid in Reaper mode). Check out the Barb forums for builds, but this is close to what I'd do:
https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...hf-corona-barb
or retro-fit this one into Half-orc (or take bits from each build as you like).
https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...warf-Barbarian
Pally is probably more survivable overall (AC and true self healing), but a considerably harder to gear and design. This might be better for your 2nd or 3rd character/life. THF CHA PDK Pallys (Two handed fighting, Charisma-based, Purple Dragon Knight) are currently topping the "flavor of the month" club and are pretty impressive.
https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...=1#post6313780
It might be possible to re-fit this for an Half-orc, but I'm not the guy to do it. I suspect there isn't much synergy in the first place, but I'm sure it's doable.
Happy hunting out there!
Shiz - Ghallanda > Orien (Pharoah let my people go!)
Shizmonkey (OG Grand Poo-Bah of R.O.G.U.E. 1st edition) and other various ShizAlts
R.O.G.U.E. Proving Grounds Redux is now defunct. Check out Part Quatre
Hey there! I posted this over on Kent's forum post, but realized that this might be a better spot.
I wanted some help with a tanking build on a Dragonborn Sorcerer running Eldritch Knight. I currently have Maximize, Empower and Shield Proficiency as my first three feats, but we're having some trouble figuring out what to do in the future. Should I take two points into fighter to get some extra tanking benefits, and the possibility of Heavy Armor? Or should I stick to EK and try to aim for the capstone core for that sweet sweet damage bonus. I currently output some of the most damage on my team surprisingly (still a sorcerer, after all), so it's a bit strange. Would it be a good idea to use a heart of wood to roll back a few class selections to grab those fighter levels for those bonuses?
Thanks for any help!
~Kal
Community Member
Hi. So, I'm kinda returning again to DDO. I seriously take long breaks and come back for fun or when something interests me. Anyways, I've got a request.
I'm sorta a super robot fanboy, so I want to create a kung fu robot wielding the biggest weapons it can get and tossing out energy effects. At first it seemed like Artificer was a good start, but I'm kinda not interested in it after a few levels.
That and a post from Syncletica lead me to considering Monks. Unfortunately, I'm pants at building from the ground up and I don't have tomes or anything as of yet.
Anyways, here's my goals and I want to see if you guys might know a build or be willing to toss me one for a 1 to 20 or better for someone who's still super casual.
- Warforged race.
- Monk levels (at least 3, maybe more?)
- Wielding something other than staff in terms of Big Weapons
- Tosses out some form of energy bolts, zaps, or the like.
- Able to survive solo or in parties.
Hope to hear back and see where this leads.
I gotta ask, why Tank as a Dragonborn Sorc? If it was Wizard you could tank very well via PM (like here's Zappy's build) and if you were Warforged Sorc you could tank decently by outhealing incoming DPS, but is there some synergy I missed with Dragonborn, Sorc, and tanking other than a bigger Intimidate number?
If you're trying to tank on any build, Fighter or Paladin 3 is an easy way to grab 25 PRR/MRR, some defensive feats, and either 20% HP or +6 Con (once in epics using EDF).
Is this a 1-20 build or are you aiming for endgame tanking or? What level are you currently? Do you primarily melee with EK, or are you going for spellcasting damage as well?
Are you just trying to max out your tankiness? If so, you might want to pick up weapon style feats just to feed EDF on the assumption that you're running EK T5 anyway (so you won't be casting past melee range aside from Meteor Swarm).
Heavy Armor isn't a huge gain over Medium, assuming you can get the set bonus either way. AC is largely irrelevant past level 12 (assuming you're not hitting like 400+) so the important difference is 0.5 x BAB PRR. With Tenser's/EK T4 at level 30 that translates to 15 PRR, which is nice but probably not worth dealing with ASF. If you're planning to park at cap though, it's a lot more critical to get Heavy Armor as you want the set bonuses available (probably Guardian at the Gates) and there isn't a Medium option for that (vs like Dreadkeeper if you were a PM).
I've not looked over the holiday weekend, but I'll keep an eye on this thread a bit more to respond when you comment
Hey, thanks for the reply! Initially, I had gone Dragonborn Sorcerer to just do damage, but our group was having trouble with traps, so our tank ended up jumping into an Artificer. However, I noticed that Dragonborn has multiple benefits for tanking as a Sorcerer. They have a Tier 1 Enhancement (Brutal Spellcasting) that makes their spells have increased threat generation by 75%. I went ahead and grabbed 2 levels of Fighter to be able to wear heavy armor, and use shields proper, that way I didn't waste enhancement points in Eldritch Knight just to be able to use shields, not to mention it also let me grab Shield Mastery for more slaps.
So far the build is working out amazingly. I'm currently level 13 where I just put on the Pansophic Circlet, making my lowest Spell Power a 180 before Universal Spell Power, and allowing me to dish out damage at a decent rate while also maintaining threat. At level 15 I'll be grabbing Toughness, as health is the only thing I'm really falling behind on because of Sorcerer levels.
As for defenses, I'm actually pretty alright! I snagged Force of Personality to keep my Will Saves high, and got a nice pair of bracers that provide +6 DEX and +8 Reflex saves to cover my shortcomings. Fortitude is gonna be covered by some armor we're aiming for, and my PRR is upper 60s, with MRR hitting around low 40s at the moment, on top of the Natural Armor from the Dragonborn tree that stacks with other Natural Armor bonuses.
As for your list of questions: I'm unsure how far we plan on going, but we will probably end up spending some time in Epics. Currently level 13. I currently do a good mix of melee and spell casting, as my spells are capable of dishing out some decent damage now with my circlet, and melee damage is still up thanks to Spellsword. The bonus +10MRR from EK has helped to balance out my defenses overall.
~Kal
I prefer EA for my ES warlock, twist in emperian magic & energy burst & conj focuses
I get >60% my damage from epic damage buttons then mop up with burst, blast, tentacles
- that is a sad statement (all the nerfs to warlocks ....)
- epic buttons: energy burst, glacial wrath, divine wrath, arcane pulse, hell ball
usual casting order is tentacles, sound burst, energy burst, wrlk burst, wrlk blast, divine wrath, sound burst, hell ball, glacial wrath, wrlk burst, blast ... repeat
- for bosses add in arcane pulse
Last edited by Theolin; 09-09-2020 at 02:40 PM.
Mechanics - To Hit/Dam mods
If you have Fighter 2 and are wearing Heavy Armor +shield already, why not Fighter 3? Would allow you to grab the Defender stance, giving 25 PRR & MRR for 6 AP. Also allows you to get +20% HP for a total of 13 AP into the tree, if you want. Would block Meteor Swarm (which is pretty important), but that's only a thing in epics for a /2-dip Sorc anyway.
Hey, if the build's working for you I won't knock it
I'd also recommend making sure you grab Arcane Barrier, it's a pretty nice defensive tool and provides an obvious "heal-me" indicator for your teammates. Radiant Forcefield in the T5 is also pretty useful for tough encounters.
Be aware that in the next few levels (12-15ish) AC will become significantly less useful without great investment, and by late Heroics to early Epics it's nearly useless if not built around. I'd recommend focusing more on keeping Displacement up, gearing Ghostly (or other Incorporeality), maxing Dodge (pretty easy in plate), and stuff like PRR/MRR.
How are you dealing with Arcane Spell Failure with heavy + shield? Given you seem to be hate-tanking via spellcast damage? Or have you been swapping more towards Intimitanking?
Welcome back! You're after a pretty niche build, and I can't see how to get it viable at level 30 endgame, but let's see what we can do for 1-20
Ok, to use Monk special attacks you need to be Centered. To be centered, Monks basically get staffs as far as Big Weapons (well Longbows with Whirling Steel Strike, but I doubt that counts). The only way past that is Kensei Tier 5 One with the Blade, which allows you to center with any melee weapon from your Kensei focus group. The problem is that this requires Fighter 5+ and character level 12+ which is pretty awkward for a 1-20 build. You'll want Fighter 6 for the third Kensei core anyway, just to get effective melee damage.
The other problem I see is considering what energy bolts, zaps, etc are available. Artificer Runearms are the obvious choice, but they don't work with Big Weapons (as they are an off-hand slot) and you aren't interested in them so they're out (and they uncenter). The Monk tree Henshin Mystic has a few cores, but that tree is built around staffs and those zaps aren't super impressive anyway (and they scale off Monk level for a build that's gonna be multiclass).
Ki Bolt averages 6 damage x Monk level, scaling with 3x MP. At level 12, you'll probs have ~50 MP when using Opportunity Attack, so with ~6 Monk levels you'd expect 6x6x2.5 = 90 damage per Ki Bolt. Is not really a lot.
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Another option might be SLA's? They can hit really hard for less investment thanks to free metamagic feats (right-click hotbar icon, set to always on). There's some Dragonmarks, but those are race-specific. Otherwise you're looking at a class dip, which further splits your build lol. The best I can think of is actually Death Domain Cleric; you get Necrotic Ray as a SLA at 5th level, and it's insanely good for how low-level you get it (it's a 6th level Sorc/Wiz spell = requires 11+ levels for them to get). At level 12, you'd probs have ~225 Negative Spellpower + Max & Empower, so with ~5 Cleric levels you'd expect (5d6+60)x5.5 = 426 damage per Necrotic Ray. Quite a lot better, and scales heavily with more Cleric levels. Also allows you options with Divine Disciple for more SLA's (although those will be weaker) if you want more cosmetic :P
So! Build goals:
- Get Fighter 5/6 around level 12, so you can be centered with Big Weapons
- Get Cleric 5+ for best zaps
- Monk out for fun!
You have two main options then. 1) Take like 6 Monk levels early, then take Fighter levels, and use Monk weapons until level 12 when you swap to Big Weapons and pick up spellcasting. 2) Start Fighter+Cleric until level 11, then go into Monk - you can use Big Weapons and SLA's earlier, and at level 12 you can be centered with Big Weapons and swap into Monk stuff (take the plate armor off, start using cool Monk attacks).
The 2nd option would be my choice, it's a lot stronger and more balanced (I'd probably do Fighter 1 > Cleric 6 > Fighter 5 > Monk stuff). That said, it's a flavor build so LMK what seems more interesting
End result would be Cleric 6+, Fighter 6, Monk 3+
AP split:
- 34 Kensei (Core 3, Tier 5 - +1/+1 crits, One with the Blade)
- 17 Divine Disciple (Core 3 - go Light for Sun Bolt, Nimbus of Light, and Searing Light; +27 Universal Spellpower)
- 12 Falconry (Wis-to-everything)
- 6 Henshin (Core 2 - Ki Bolt, Way of the Crane)
11 Leftover AP (more Monk stuff, Ninja Spy Core 3, Warforged Stuff?, Falconry stuff).
Feats (7 base, 3 Monk, 4 Fighter): THF x3, Maximize > Empower > Quicken, Improved Crit: Big Weapon, Precision, Quick Draw, Deflect Arrows. 4 Leftover feats (Power Attack > Cleave > GCleave?).
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Sorry it took so long to respond, this has been one of my harder build requests lol. LMK what you think, and I'd be happy to detail it a bit more
Hi and thank you!
i'm looking for a low reaper viable Artemis Enterri build. Basically some form of fighter/thief using a longsword and dagger. Definitely a flavor build, but wondering if there was a viable version of this. The hard part, I think, is making the mixed weapons both viable. I have plenty of longswords and daggers from my past lives, but curious the class, enhancements and feats to take to make them both viable in low reaper.
Thank you in advance!
Yeah, I was reading around about AC going downhill a bit later on, but having about 80 at level 15 is super great (fully buffed with Bard in party), means almost 3/4 of all hits don't land.
I ended up only going with 2 levels of Fighter because the cores of EK are so important for damage output on their abilities and spells. I already snagged Arcane Barrier, and it's stupid handy for staying alive. Soon as anyone sees it pop on me, I'm healed to full with a 25% DR shield for the next few seconds, it's great! Though I'm apprehensive on grabbing Radiant Forcefield at T5, as I'm more interested in putting my enhancement points into other trees.
Arcane Spell Failure is completely gone at Sorcerer 12 with the fourth core ability! It applies separately to shields and armor, so unless I slap on a Tower Shield, I don't have to worry about failing on spells at all. And I actually use a mix of Intimi-tanking and hate-tanking, depending on the situation. By dropping my Knight's Transformation, I can become a more ranged tank and draw aggro by slapping spells on enemies. Need to be up close? Slap it back on and use Intimidate. And not to mention the problems that arise with things like constructs that you can't taunt at all, which makes the spell hate gen become amazing for holding onto that threat.
~Kal
Yeah, AC is really excellent until it suddenly isn't just didn't want you caught off-guard. There was just a thread about how in high-Reaper runs at cap, <300 AC is basically worthless lol. My tank alt has 200ish (by accident) and that helps a fair bit, but I don't run Reaper with it much.
I'd be really surprised if there's a better T5 for you. Eldritch Tempest is a fantastic opener, and includes a 1s guaranteed AoE knockdown as well as a boatload of damage to start things off (interrupt CC is fantastic). Crit bonuses and melee power in T5 also help a fair bit for general DPS, and the Radiant Forcefield Clicky is pretty nice as far as mitigation. What other trees were you looking at?
Dang, I didn't think it applied separately! That's pretty cool about ASF. If you go 20+ you can use Meteor Swarm even when in Knight's Transformation (and in Epic Defensive Fighting). Since it throws a physical object, it bypasses the block
Wait, can you cast spells with Epic Defensive Fighting? I know using spells with standard will cause it to turn off.
The T5's I finished off EK with are Improved Knight's Transformation and Knight Striker (+2 Evocation/Conjuration DCs and +20 Melee Power), as well as Forces Edge for the crit, which helps to balance out all of my casting and melee bouncing. I manage to keep at max stacks almost the entire dungeon run a lot of the time, and Eldritch Tempest is hitting for around 500 on average, sometimes near 1000 if I'm lucky.
As for my other trees, I'm working on dumping some points into Stalwart Defender for Instinctive Defense, that way if I get knocked down I don't need to worry too much about taking extra damage, on top of the AC enhancements for shields, and armor. Might grab the Action Boost too, if I don't end up going for the one in EK. I'm unsure at this point if I'm going to go into a Savant tree, but if I am, it would probably be for getting the Enhanced Metamagicks and SLAs for Acid Spray and Burning Hands just to have them if I'm in Echoes of Power.
~Kal
Hi! Well, daggers usually mean Rogue or Vistani Knife Fighter; that said, longswords don't really go with either. How about a Ranger? A Tempest build should work fine with two different weapons. You'd need to be Strength-based though, unless you want to go Elf and use the T4 for Dex-to-damage for Longswords (you'd still have Str to-hit for the longsword, but everything else would be Dex).
Dex-based is easier for Tempests (easier feats, much better Elaborate Parry, great Reflex + Evasion etc) but if you can't go Elf (for flavor) just go Strength.
If Dex-based w/Spring Attack, I'd do feats like:
- 1) Dragonmark of Shadow
- 3) Dodge
- 6) Knight's Training
- 9) Improved Critical: Slashing
- 12) Improved Critical: Piercing
- 15) Mobility
- 18) Spring Attack
- 21) Overwhelming Critical
- 24) Precision
- 26D) Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting
- 27) Epic Damage Reduction
- 28D) Elusive Target/Pierce Adamantine/Toughness
- 29D) Dire Charge
- 30) Epic Reflexes/Extend Spell
- 30L) Scion of Arborea
Can shuffle ICrits/Knight's Training back if you want Spring Attack earlier (I really like it for mobility, but crits are DPS).
Without Spring Attack:
- 1) Dragonmark of Shadow
- 3) Precision
- 6) Knight's Training
- 9) Improved Critical: Slashing
- 12) Improved Critical: Piercing
- 15) Extend Spell (for Displacement)
- 18) Empower Healing Spell (for Cocoon)
- 21) Overwhelming Critical
- 24) Epic Reflexes
- 26D) Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting
- 27) Epic Damage Reduction
- 28D) Elusive Target/Pierce Adamantine/Toughness
- 29D) Dire Charge
- 30) Quicken Spell (for Cocoon & Displacement)
- 30L) Scion of Arborea
This line gets you stuff a bit sooner (like Epic Reflexes w/Improved Evasion on a Dex build) and some nice QOL stuff (like Extend) but I'd miss Spring Attack.
AP:
- 44 Tempest (Full T5, Capstone, +2 Dex, Elaborate Parry, Growing Storm, Haste Boost, 2s Deflect Arrows)
- 24 Elf (all Cores, Aerenal Weapon Training IV, Aerenal Grace, Skill, Dragonmark line)
- 11 Deepwood Stalker (Core 3, Stealthy III)
Not a ton of leeway with AP, but it's fairly comfortable and you can max stuff like Displace charges which helps a lot for Reaper.
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This is an Elf Ranger build lol, but it uses dagger + longsword and should be pretty decent low-mid Reaper without too much hassle. Displacement Dragonmark + Elaborate Parry should keep you pretty survivable, and a Dex-maxed build with Evasion covers most spell-cast damage. Don't ditch Strength entirely, but it's definitely like third fiddle for the build.
If you want more Fighter/Rogue and less Ranger I can do a build as well, but be aware that'll be weaker especially in epics; Fighter level gives feats which is pretty rad, but otherwise you'll basically just be missing Ranger cores and probably ditch DWS for Stalwart Defender Core 2's 25 PRR/MRR instead.
LMK, and I'll be happy to give you another version lol. I definitely tend to try to optimize a bit more than I should, which can be an issue with flavor builds.
Wow; thank you for the quick response and thoughts!
What do you feel about 2 Rogue / 6 Ranger / 12 Fighter for a build? Still leveraging the Tempest and DWS trees (missing the cores though). This would get me the benefits of Tempest with the fighter flavor and past life. Or, am I forcing fighter in to this too much?
Also, starting stats? Dex minimum of 15 and the rest in to Str and Con with some in Int for thief skills?
My sister and I are looking for a duo build. We chose two of our characters to TR.
She has a hafling rogue 19/ftr1 character (Adventurer) and is looking for a DPS bard.
Locked Races: Tiefling, Wood Elf, Aasimar, Dragonborn, Gnome, Half Orc, Half Elf, Warforged, Drow
Locked Classes: Alchemist, Warlock, Monk, Favored Soul, Artificer
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My character is a half elf ftr 8/rgr 6/mnk 6 (Hero) (Kensei Tempest - TWF Khopesh) (ED: Dreadnought, Primal for Coccoon) and I'm looking for a self sufficient build or an upgrade of my current build since I haven't played for 4 years.
Locked Races: Tiefling, Wood Elf, Aasimar, Dragonborn, Gnome, Half Orc, Warforged, Drow,
Locked Classes: Alchemist, Warlock, Favored Soul, Artificer, Bladeforged
Any help would be greatly appreciated. <3
Are you going Elf? If so, Dex > Con/Str/Int > Wis/Cha. If not, you'll probably want to consider a Strength-based build. If Str-based, 17-tome into Dex, and then Str-max, Con/Int secondary.
Do you have a Dex tome? A build with <11 Ranger won't autogrant Greater TWF, which has a Dex 17 requirement. If you're Dex-max that's no issue, but if you're Str-build it's hard without at least a +2 Dex tome (1750 favor tome?).
Nothing terribly wrong with going Fighter, and /2 Rogue gets you Evasion (and you can get Improved Evasion w/Tempest T5). Bonus feats help a lot! Get all the cool stuff
Tempest Core 4 gives +1 Crit multiplier to both weapons which will hurt to miss, but you can get Kensei Core 3 to make up for half of it at least. Probably go all-in on longswords, given Knight's Training and the higher base damage? You'd also only get to 90% off-hand, even furthering that point (and missing off-hand DS). Probably look more for a debuff dagger and a DPS longsword (perfect with Sentients too).
Sorta makes more sense as a Str-build then though, which allows you to save a bunch from racial (Elf for Displace or go w/e race then?) and you can then grab Power Surge & Opportunity Attack which is pretty nice. 42 Tempest, 25 Kensei, 6 Stalwart? Idk.