Maxed Intim Human Intimitank

[Impaqt]

Heres a Solid Intimitank for Mod 9. Paly Levels are Optional of course if you MUST have the Fighter Capstone... Whatever that might be.... But I think the Save Boost will be worth more judging by what we've seen so far.

This should be a highly effective S&B Intimitank. Enough Intim to grab Xxyyzz without fail on Normal (WIth HV Boost), Solid AC potential, and some reasonable Damage Via Khopesh.


Level 16 Lawful Good Human Male
(14 Fighter / 2 Paladin) (18/2 L20)
Hit Points: 306
Spell Points: 0

BAB: 16/16/21/2626
Fortitude: 20
Reflex: 9
Will: 14

Starting Feat/Enhancement
Abilities Base Stats Modified Stats
(32 Point) (Level 1) (Level 16)
{32}Strength 17+2 Tome 4Levels +6Item +2 Fighter +1 Human
{18}Dexterity 10+2 Tome +6 Item
{22}Constitution 14 +2 Tome +6 Item
{14/20}Intelligence 13+1 Tome +6 Item as needed
{08}Wisdom 8 8
{24}Charisma 14 +2Tome +1Human +1Paly +6 Item

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

Intimidate:
19 Ranks
7 CHR
3 Skill FOcus
2 Bull Headed
6 Human DragonMarks w/Enhancements
4 Fighter Intim
15 Intim Item
---
56 Standng Intim
6 Shroud Item
2 Head of GOod FOrtune
--
64 W/ Raid Gear
4 Greater Heroism
2 Inspire Competence
--
70 w/Buffs
---
5 human Versatility
--
75 Maxed Intim

You should be able to get an AC around 70 with the right gear and Buffs.



Level 1 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Khopesh
Feat: (Human Bonus) Least Dragonmark of Sentinel
Feat: (Selected) Skill Focus: Intimidate

Level 2 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Combat Expertise

Level 3 (Fighter)
Feat: (Selected) Bullheaded

Level 4 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Power Attack

Level 5 (Fighter)

Level 6 (Fighter)
Feat: (Selected) Lesser Dragonmark of Sentinel
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Shield Mastery

Level 7 (Fighter)

Level 8 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Improved Critical: Slashing Weapons

Level 9 (Fighter)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Dragonmark of Sentinel

Level 10 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Improved Shield Mastery

Level 11 (Fighter)

Level 12 (Fighter)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Weapon Focus: Slashing Weapons

Level 13 (Fighter)

Level 14 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Weapon Specialization: Slashing Weapons

Level 15 (Paladin)
Feat: (Selected) Force of Personality

Level 16 (Paladin)
Enhancement: Fighter Haste Boost I
Enhancement: Fighter Haste Boost II
Enhancement: Fighter Armor Mastery I
Enhancement: Fighter Khopesh Specialization I Enhancement: Human Adaptability Charisma II
Enhancement: Human Adaptability Strength I
Enhancement: Deneith Intimidation I
Enhancement: Deneith Intimidation II
Enhancement: Deneith Intimidation III
Enhancement: Deneith Intimidation IV
Enhancement: Human Versatility I
Enhancement: Human Versatility II
Enhancement: Human Versatility III
Enhancement: Human Versatility IV
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Smite Evil I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Fighter Intimidate I
Enhancement: Fighter Intimidate II
Enhancement: Fighter Intimidate III
Enhancement: Fighter Intimidate IV
Enhancement: Paladin Charisma I
Enhancement: Fighter Strength I
Enhancement: Fighter Strength II
Enhancement: Fighter Toughness I
Enhancement: Fighter Toughness II
Enhancement: Fighter Toughness III
Enhancement: Fighter Toughness IV

[maddmatt70]

snooze.. another boring S&B without any dps.. Any chance you could build in the option of going two weapon fighting at times...

[maddmatt70]

your dex is probably too low regardless the way the paladin defender (probably like the dwarven defender) looks like you probably want at least a 14 dex anyway..

[Impaqt]

your dex is probably too low regardless the way the paladin defender (probably like the dwarven defender) looks like you probably want at least a 14 dex anyway..

Regardless of what?

You could bump dex up a couple points and and drop INT down if ya want ot use a +2 Int tome for CE....

THis isnt an Evasion Build.... Dragon Touched Armor is Probobly your best bet. THats only +1 Dex Bonus. So a 18 DEX is reasonable with Armor Mastery and other enhancments.

AS for TWFing. No, you wont see a build like that from me.... the Tempest/Monk splash flavor of the month has been screaming for nerf forever.... and I simply dont trust the devs not to make a change. QUite honestly, Because it SHOULD be changed....

[maddmatt70]

Regardless of what?

You could bump dex up a couple points and and drop INT down if ya want ot use a +2 Int tome for CE....

THis isnt an Evasion Build.... Dragon Touched Armor is Probobly your best bet. THats only +1 Dex Bonus. So a 18 DEX is reasonable with Armor Mastery and other enhancments.

The increased dex isnt for evasion its for ac. I am assuming that the fighter stalwart defender prestige enhancement will be like the paladin defender prestige enhancement and grant the character +3 to the max dex on armor and shield. This would work in conjunction with fighter tower shield enhancments. We do not know what the stalwart defender will exactly look like so I would wait to build this character regardless until we do...

AS for TWFing. No, you wont see a build like that from me.... the Tempest/Monk splash flavor of the month has been screaming for nerf forever.... and I simply dont trust the devs not to make a change. QUite honestly, Because it SHOULD be changed....

Every single melee build in the game should either have twf, itwf, gtwf or thf, ithf, gthf (at the moment twf preferred) whether there is a monk splash is irrelevant. The only possible exceptions to this are perhaps some sort of battle arcane, battle bard, or battle cleric because their feats are limited and they may have to devote their feats to metamagics..

[Impaqt]

The goal of the build was to achieve the maximum possible intimidate. When I see the Fighter PrE's I may modify this a little for Level 20. Probobly not much though. WIth 4 Levels of Fighter to go on the build, that means we got 3 feats to play with when the cap goes up...

Of course, I find the concept of TWF or THFing kinda counter productive on an non-evasive intimitank.... You bumping up your DPS strictly for damage and the cost of AC..... THats simply not how a true intimitank is played. an Intimitank Adds by Subtracting. The less aggro other members of the party have the less healing the cleric has to do (Or if your without a cleric, the less self healing anyone has to do)

Too many people feel DPS is the only way to play this game. There are Many alternative play styles that contribute just as much to the success of an adventure.

[Turial]

Are you going to consider taking Improved Human Recovery when we get more AP or is it less important given the likely lower damage taken by this build?

[Impaqt]

Are you going to consider taking Improved Human Recovery when we get more AP or is it less important given the likely lower damage taken by this build?

I dnt feel Improved recovery is worth the AP investement. If it was a 1/2/3 line, I'd probobly grab a level or 2. 2/4/6 is outrageous.

SInce this character would be primarily Intim/Sheild Blocking damage taken is mitigated quite a bit. THeres really no reason to invest in recovery enhancments or items.

[maddmatt70]

Of course, I find the concept of TWF or THFing kinda counter productive on an non-evasive intimitank.... You bumping up your DPS strictly for damage and the cost of AC..... THats simply not how a true intimitank is played. an Intimitank Adds by Subtracting. The less aggro other members of the party have the less healing the cleric has to do (Or if your without a cleric, the less self healing anyone has to do)

I didnt say run around twf the whole time, but what I did say is have those feats so you have the option to switch to twf and do some real dps when need be. You don't even have to swap out the intimidate feats and like you said you got 3 feats at cap to add as well..

Too many people feel DPS is the only way to play this game. There are Many alternative play styles that contribute just as much to the success of an adventure.

That is the reality and until it changes I and my friends will keep building offensive builds or combination builds and we will get through quests quicker, acquire loot faster, and be more successful. I can't recall the last build I have seen somebody level up that was a straight s&b build. Its all dps all the time - now some of those people can intimidate or switch to s&b or have a really high ac as well, but man its the way it is.

[Impaqt]

I didnt say ran around twf the whole time, but what I did say is have those feats so you have the option to switch to twf and do some real dps when need be. You don't even have to swap out the intimidate feats and like you said you got 3 feats at cap to add as well..



That is the reality and until it changes I and my friends will keep building offensive builds or combination builds and we will get through quests quicker, acquire loot faster, and be more successful. I can't recall the last build I have seen somebody level up that was a straight s&b build. Its all dps all the time - now some of those people can intimidate or switch to s&b or have a really high ac as well, but man its the way it is.

Thats Great for you and the people you group with. Its just a Differnt playstyle though. I can DPS and Zerg with the best of em on my Barb/Rogue..... I can Heal or FIght on my Many Cleric builds (Or even do traps), and my Arcanes can Charm or nuke depending on the quest..... An Intimitank like this is a great low stress build. Highly effective in end game content.. Even up to elite... I'm sorry it doesnt get the maddmatt rubber stamp of DPS approval.....

[jddonkeykong]

how viable is the build if you are'nt sitting on a bank full of tomes?
ive been trying to figure out a build similar to this but i just don't have the tomes most every build i see is 3 or more +2 at level one.

[Return_To_Forever]

That is the reality and until it changes I and my friends will keep building offensive builds or combination builds and we will get through quests quicker, acquire loot faster, and be more successful.

oh man only if there was a build that would allow you to just skip playing the game at all, ya know, super zerg! Man, that would be like the ultimate TWF feat, imagine that. All those silly SB builds out there, playing like snails in sand, I would be like boom! Done! Then at a certain point, if you allocated your APs correctly you could get a prestige enh that would actually uninstall the game! I would look back and laugh, heh, those people still actually playing cannot compete with my non-playing build!

[Deathseeker]

I didnt say run around twf the whole time, but what I did say is have those feats so you have the option to switch to twf and do some real dps when need be. You don't even have to swap out the intimidate feats and like you said you got 3 feats at cap to add as well..



That is the reality and until it changes I and my friends will keep building offensive builds or combination builds and we will get through quests quicker, acquire loot faster, and be more successful. I can't recall the last build I have seen somebody level up that was a straight s&b build. Its all dps all the time - now some of those people can intimidate or switch to s&b or have a really high ac as well, but man its the way it is.

Id very happily trade one of the TWF blenders in my raid for one of these builds (assuming equivalent player ability and equipment level) if its a tough quest. The damage mitigation provided by the shield blocking intimitank, if it can hold aggro, is a big deal. For current game on normal, not so much...but thats because the raids are too easy right now on normal for a top notch group. But let's take Vision on Hard or Elite? I'd take this build in my party anyday...

[Xyfiel]

I didnt say run around twf the whole time, but what I did say is have those feats so you have the option to switch to twf and do some real dps when need be. You don't even have to swap out the intimidate feats and like you said you got 3 feats at cap to add as well..



That is the reality and until it changes I and my friends will keep building offensive builds or combination builds and we will get through quests quicker, acquire loot faster, and be more successful. I can't recall the last build I have seen somebody level up that was a straight s&b build. Its all dps all the time - now some of those people can intimidate or switch to s&b or have a really high ac as well, but man its the way it is.

Funny, the fastest way thru 95% of all quests in this game is avoiding fighting as much as possible. Making fascinate the quickest, charms/fts the second, with sneaking third. It is a shame that the majority of players enjoy playing melee and have to kill something to get enjoyment out of the game, making the 3 easiest methods of quest success dang near impossible.
I don't like Bard's who fascinate=I want to kill stuff
I don't like charmies=I want to kill stuff
I don't want to sneak=I want to kill stuff

I have no issue with how anyone enjoys their sub, go all out dps if it makes you happy. The fastest way thru most quests is not dps however. If you are referring to shroud/vision/sorjek, then you are just referring to specific quests where dps is needed to "advance" the quest. Remove the red/purple named bosses, and consider how much dps is needed.

[Impaqt]

how viable is the build if you are'nt sitting on a bank full of tomes?
ive been trying to figure out a build similar to this but i just don't have the tomes most every build i see is 3 or more +2 at level one.

Very Viable. Every tome in this build is simply fluff... THis build would do just fine with -1 To hit/Damage -1 to Reflex Save/AC -1 To Intim/Saves and -16 HP/-1 FOrt Save.

It will definatly benefit from the TOmes, But very playable without still.

[Junts]

The goal of the build was to achieve the maximum possible intimidate. When I see the Fighter PrE's I may modify this a little for Level 20. Probobly not much though. WIth 4 Levels of Fighter to go on the build, that means we got 3 feats to play with when the cap goes up...

Of course, I find the concept of TWF or THFing kinda counter productive on an non-evasive intimitank.... You bumping up your DPS strictly for damage and the cost of AC..... THats simply not how a true intimitank is played. an Intimitank Adds by Subtracting. The less aggro other members of the party have the less healing the cleric has to do (Or if your without a cleric, the less self healing anyone has to do)

Too many people feel DPS is the only way to play this game. There are Many alternative play styles that contribute just as much to the success of an adventure.

most of the best intimitanks i play with (being dwarves) have the dex to work in the twf line and go to twf for situations where ac is simply not very relevant; eg, beating on arraetrikos, wopping giants in sos, etc.

my paladin is an intimitank that tops at 58 intim right now, and there are definitely times when i sorely miss a better dps option - his dps is better than the fighter's (khopesh, zeal, pally buffs), but it's not what it would be with the twf line, and thats a clear advantage.

intimitanking isn't that useful in a lot of situations; people dont know to take advantage of it, or its simply not faster/more productive than just getting rid of the mob

most builds gain from versitility; frankly, hound is a silly and pointless intimidate mark, far more relevant is elite suulomades (who i believe is a 64).

i've stopped carrying human versitility for intimidate purposes; boosts just dont synergize well with a skill that, when you are using it, you're using constnatly for 15 minutes.

as a build experiement, working in versitility is the main reason to do intimidate as a primary fighter; other classes have so much else to offer and being an intimidate based character isnt something that needs to be the core of your functionality.

[Impaqt]

most of the best intimitanks i play with (being dwarves) have the dex to work in the twf line and go to twf for situations where ac is simply not very relevant; eg, beating on arraetrikos, wopping giants in sos, etc.

my paladin is an intimitank that tops at 58 intim right now, and there are definitely times when i sorely miss a better dps option - his dps is better than the fighter's (khopesh, zeal, pally buffs), but it's not what it would be with the twf line, and thats a clear advantage.

intimitanking isn't that useful in a lot of situations; people dont know to take advantage of it, or its simply not faster/more productive than just getting rid of the mob

most builds gain from versitility; frankly, hound is a silly and pointless intimidate mark, far more relevant is elite suulomades (who i believe is a 64).

i've stopped carrying human versitility for intimidate purposes; boosts just dont synergize well with a skill that, when you are using it, you're using constnatly for 15 minutes.

as a build experiement, working in versitility is the main reason to do intimidate as a primary fighter; other classes have so much else to offer and being an intimidate based character isnt something that needs to be the core of your functionality.

THe HV Boost is Gravy on the build.. Pretty much ONLY for Elite Shroud/Vision and Hound useage.

Beating on Aritrikos certainly benefits to having a High AC and Intim. ANd basing the usefullnes of a build because sometimes your using WoP's isnt really fair either.. WoP's are still pretty rare weapons....

Again... If your al about the Zerg, then a true intimitank probobly isnt for you. Thats OK. I understand. But its a viable Tactic and build. Especially when used properly.

[Junts]

THe HV Boost is Gravy on the build.. Pretty much ONLY for Elite Shroud/Vision and Hound useage.

Beating on Aritrikos certainly benefits to having a High AC and Intim. ANd basing the usefullnes of a build because sometimes your using WoP's isnt really fair either.. WoP's are still pretty rare weapons....

Again... If your al about the Zerg, then a true intimitank probobly isnt for you. Thats OK. I understand. But its a viable Tactic and build. Especially when used properly.

I have intimidated arraetrikos quite a bit and never noticed any substantial change in his behavior from it - his aggro pattern is just too random.

the point is more that sometimes you are using -insert other weapon effect here-, even dual wounders is quite effective in many situations; I'd so much rather have a little versitility.

however, madmatt's point is really the strongest; to get the full use out of it, you need the dex for ac - twf is just gravy if you happen to want it, but making sure you have the ac to take advantage of everything available's a pretty big deal

[Impaqt]

however, madmatt's point is really the strongest; to get the full use out of it, you need the dex for ac - twf is just gravy if you happen to want it, but making sure you have the ac to take advantage of everything available's a pretty big deal

Armor Class:
10 base
15 Dragontouched Full Plate
1 AC RItua
4 Dex (Many ways to get 4 AC from Full Plate)
9 Tower Sheild
1 Sheild Ritual
5 Protection
2 AUra
5 CE
2 Chaos Guards
4 Insight (Shroud Weapon)
3 Chattering Ring
--
61 Standing AC
3 Bark Potion
1 haste
---
65 Self Buffed
2 ranger Bark
2 Recitation
4 Bard Song
--
73 Buffed AC (No Clickies/Boosts)
5 HV AC Boost
---
78 AC

This character can acheive a pretty good AC with its "Poor" Starting Dex...

[Junts]

Armor Class:
10 base
15 Dragontouched Full Plate
1 AC RItua
4 Dex (Many ways to get 4 AC from Full Plate)
9 Tower Sheild
1 Sheild Ritual
5 Protection
2 AUra
5 CE
2 Chaos Guards
4 Insight (Shroud Weapon)
3 Chattering Ring
--
61 Standing AC
3 Bark Potion
1 haste
---
65 Self Buffed
2 ranger Bark
2 Recitation
4 Bard Song
--
73 Buffed AC (No Clickies/Boosts)
5 HV AC Boost
---
78 AC

This character can acheive a pretty good AC with its "Poor" Starting Dex...

hv ac boost is the most nonsensical way i've ever seen to show a higher ac than you're really got

yeah, its not bad, but:

there's more benefit from being able to get more than 4 from the plate, or from being able to get 3 or 4 from the plate without wasting a slot on a dex item, to say nothing of flexibility,l especailly when taking 1 str off would get you the same str with 6 more ap of enhancement.

the net gain is so much higher for putting those 3 bp in dex