Intimitank Rebuild

[Eldun]

I've been respecing out Eldun since aquiring the Icy Raiments for a maximum AC build.

I've got the AC to sit in front of anyone and only get hit on 20's when properly buffed. The question is A. What intimidate # must I hit to have a high chance if drawing aggro from the Pitfiend, Hound, and Sulu and B. Are you able to "play catch up" on skill points?

I've currently have no points in Intimidate. I have an Int of 18 (+4) and was wondering if I could dump ALL my skill points when the next two levels come out into Intimidate to catch up to the dedicated intimidation builds out there. If I had gone intimidate all the way I could be sitting at 21pts by LV18. If I get 10 points to spend at 17 & 18 can I boost up my intimidate skill to 20 (6+4 each level)?

Thanks

[rimble]

I think people say around 50 (more if you're a Halfling) for those big fights, there are threads already on it somewhere.

Yeah, you can dump all your skill points into Intimidate like that. Don't forget if you can maybe get a tome to get your Int up some before you level that could be another two skill points.

[binnsr]

I've got 2 Intimitanks that actively run the shroud and hound (not really into the VoD thing yet so I can't speak to that), one with a +46 base and one with a +53 base intimidate.

I've found that with the +46 base guy, Harry (on Normal) is pretty well controlled as long as I've got a GH -- without GH and it gets a bit more dicy.. So yeah, 50ish is good for him.

With the +53 guy, the Hound (on Normal) intimidates on a 5 or so -- haven't been in there but the one time since I finished my tier III goggles to completely pin it down..

I've got an up-and-coming paladin (at lvl2 ) who's going to have a +57 after he gets his shroud goggles, but I doubt I'll get him leveled before the level cap goes up

[Eldun]

OK ... thanks for the advice. I'm seeing #'s of 54 for intimidation on these end bosses.


My best case scenerio at 18th Level

-4 Halfling Size
+4 Greater Heroism
+15 Intimidate Item
+3 Cha Modifier
+2 Good Luck Head
+21 Skill Points
+1 Enchancement

Total: 42

How else can I pump this up?

Shroud Cha item is +6
Feat: Skill Focus UMD is +3 ((I'd prefer not to waste a feat on this))

What am I missing?

[EKKM]

Other ways to increase include:
an "of command" item - +2
CHR tomes and items to max it out
greensteel bonuses (dont know much about these but have heard of it)

Temporay buffs include:
bard songs
rogue skill boosts
Those charisma skill potions you get for the House D collectibles on top of the castle (dont know if you can buy them)

[Freeman]

Other ways to increase include:
an "of command" item - +2
CHR tomes and items to max it out
greensteel bonuses (dont know much about these but have heard of it)

Temporay buffs include:
bard songs
rogue skill boosts
Those charisma skill potions you get for the House D collectibles on top of the castle (dont know if you can buy them)

Command won't stack with an Intimidate item, and the greensteel bonus is his +6 skills Shroud item. A +Charisma weapon from there might add another point. I don't think the rogue skill boost would last long enough to be that effective, particularly in quests like VOD. Since the timer is much longer than the buff, there would be too many occasions where it wouldn't be available. A bard's Inspire Competence would be a good, long lasting buff though. I think the charisma skill potions from House D have something like a three minute duration, so a decent sized stack would be useful.

The only other thing I can think of that could increase it is the Focusing Chant bard spell, which is a Circumstance bonus, but that's self-only. There's also the Skill Mastery rogue feat, which would add +1 to all skills, but I don't know if you have room to take that either.

[Hasteclicky]

I could be wrong, but isn't there significantly more than a -4 to intimidate for a halfling vs. those opponents? Isn't the hound considered gargantuan and halflings small? Also I don't know ur build, but if ur a functioning rog ur gonna gimp ur class skills dumping everything into intimidate not knowing what the new mod would bring trap wise.

[binnsr]

I could be wrong, but isn't there significantly more than a -4 to intimidate for a halfling vs. those opponents? Isn't the hound considered gargantuan and halflings small? Also I don't know ur build, but if ur a functioning rog ur gonna gimp ur class skills dumping everything into intimidate not knowing what the new mod would bring trap wise.

A gargantuan creature (yes, the hound - even though she's 'smaller' than the reaver - who has a 'giant' tag ) comes with a -8 size penalty for 'medium' creatures like dwarves, humans, warforged and the elven races. For 'small' races, you can tack on an additional -4 penalty.

If it takes my WF intimitank a +59* to 'pin' the hound, then a halfling needs a +63 to accomplish the same thing. When you're getting into those kinds of numbers (in any skill), those extra +4 points can be kind of hard to come by.. which is why halflings are typically not recommended for serious end-game intimidators.

* guesstimated - i went from a +13 intimidate helm to a +15 helm and +5 shroud goggles between attempts at the hound..