The Arcane Silver Flame (just for fun)

[faithknight]

EDIT: I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS BUILD.

I WILL COME OUT WITH VERSION 2.0 WHICH FIXES SOME PROBLEMS I FOUND

I'M LEAVING THIS INFO JUST AS NOTES FOR MY NEXT BUILD

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I wanted this to be a well rounded and fun character.

(Note: I'm not including any special gear in my calculations)

Silver Flame + Elven Arcane Archer = The Arcane Silver Flame

Level 20 Favored Soul
Elf, True Neutral

Abilities:
Str: 10 (10)
Dex: 16 (18) +2 elven enhancement
Int: 12 (12)
Con: 12 (12)
Wis: 14 (22) + 2 class enhancement, + 5 level bonus, +1 tome
Cha: 12 (16) + 2 class enhancement, +2 cap bonus

Health:
160 Base
20 Constitution
-----
180 (naked)

Feats:
(1) FvS, Favored of Silver Flame, Point Blank Shot
(3) FvS, Child of Silver Flame, Weapon Focus Ranged
(6) FvS, Rapid Shot
(9) FvS, Mental Toughness
(12) FvS, Beloved of Silver Flame, Empower Spell
(15) FvS, Quicken
(18) FvS, Leap of Faith, Spell Penetration

Enhancement Points
Elf Dexterity II (6)
Elven Ranged Attack II (6)
Elven Ranged Damage II (6)
Longbow Specialization II (3)
Improved Empower II (6)
Elven Arcane Archer (9)
Prayer of Life II (3)
Incredible Life II (3)
Life Magic III (6)
Smiting II (3)
Spell Penetration III (12)
Energy of Scion III (6)
Charisma II (6)
Wisdom II (6)


Skill Points (69 total):
22 Concentration: 5 base + 18
15 Jump: 4 base + 11
21 Balance: 5 base + 32

BAB
15 Base
+5 Returning Arrows
+4 Dex
+2 Elven enhancement
+1 Weapon Focus Ranged
+1 Child of Silver Flame
-----
+28

Ranged Damage Bonus
+5 Returning Arrows
+2 Beloved of Silver Flame
+2 Elven Ranged Damage II
+2 Longbow Specialization II
+1 Point Blank Shot
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+12

Spell Penetration
+20 Caster Level
+6 Wisdom Bonus(base)
+3 Enhancement
+2 Trait
-----
+31

Special Abilitys
(5) Fire Resistance 10
(10) Lightening Resistance 10
(15) Cold Resistance 10
(20) Damage Reduction 10/silver
(20) Cast Searing Light at will for free

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Pro's:

Returning +5 ghost-touch arrows with a bow of shattermantle would rock as a caster.

Adequate group healing and offensive magic between bow shots.


Cons:

Generalist, will not be a super incredible healer, nor an incredible nuker, but should hopefully be adequate at both.

I do not know how viable this build will be at end game, having not done any end game yet.

Thoughts about viability or improvements are welcome!

EDIT: Fixed abilities and added skill points.
EDIT2: Decided to take a chance and remove toughness in place of rapid shot, this free's up some enhancement points, but results in a loss of 62 health at 20, not sure if that is viable or not but its worth a shot.

[Visty]

Con: 10 (12) +1 tome, +1 level bonus
Wis: 16 (22) + 2 class enhancement, + 4 level bonus

one thing:
dont spread your levelups

in the quoted case, start with 15 wis and 11 con while putting all levelups into wis will net you the exact same outcome but you have 1 more buildpoint to play with (16>15 frees 2 points; 10>11 costs 1)

[geoffhanna]

I took a run at this and came to the conclusion that if my FvS is specced for nuking, she will always do that and almost never range. The next conclusion was that speccing for party suport and for nuking and for ranging was too ambitious; they all suffered. Finally, if you can range effectively, lack of nuking doesn't hurt, but the key is the word "effective".

So I blew off the nuking and focused on party support and ranging. Taking a couple levels of ranger kills off the capstone but augments the ranging a lot. If you are curious,

Favo-Ranger: Elven FvS(18)/Rgr(2) Arcane Archer

But if you want to be all FvS, I'd really consider drop[ping the ranging. You're going to get Searing Light at will at level 20. Range with that

[faithknight]

one thing:
dont spread your levelups

in the quoted case, start with 15 wis and 11 con while putting all levelups into wis will net you the exact same outcome but you have 1 more buildpoint to play with (16>15 frees 2 points; 10>11 costs 1)

Ahhh.. yeah, see that shows how much of a newb I am, thanks for the info.

I'm considering to re-roll if I see any other major area's where I've messed up.

[faithknight]

I took a run at this and came to the conclusion that if my FvS is specced for nuking, she will always do that and almost never range. The next conclusion was that speccing for party suport and for nuking and for ranging was too ambitious; they all suffered. Finally, if you can range effectively, lack of nuking doesn't hurt, but the key is the word "effective".

So I blew off the nuking and focused on party support and ranging. Taking a couple levels of ranger kills off the capstone but augments the ranging a lot. If you are curious,

Favo-Ranger: Elven FvS(18)/Rgr(2) Arcane Archer

But if you want to be all FvS, I'd really consider drop[ping the ranging. You're going to get Searing Light at will at level 20. Range with that

Yeah its an interesting idea.

But you sacrifice 1x8th level spell and 2x9th level spells and 10/x damage reduction, and 2 levels worth of spell points, and 2 points of spell penetration.

But you gain a favored enemy, bow strength, rapid shot, and two weapon fighting.

I guess just depends on what you want to do.

I think the bow strength is not important since both our builds have very low strength.

The rapid shot is nice, fires the bow a bit faster.

The two weapon fighting is nice but not very useful since everything is focused on the bow.

The favored enemy is also nice, but of course it is situational.

No offense, I prefer my build.

[WilbyZ]

heh have you tried casting a spell while using/attacking with a bow? It just doesn't work!

Try it.

[faithknight]

heh have you tried casting a spell while using/attacking with a bow? It just doesn't work!

Try it.

um, actually I do all the time, both offensive and healing spells work just fine for me and a bow.

You cant fire and cast at the same time of course, only one action at a time.

I just turn on auto attack, hit tab, pew pew, till I need to cast something then click cast, or if its a heal I press the appropriate F1-F5 key then heal.

[Liberus]

I was thinking something along these lines today...My 1mnk/5FvS is fun, but I'm tired of chasing enemies around to hit them with scimitars while my group screams for healing. I normally play a tank, so I'm used to the enemies coming to me.

I think I'll give this a try tomorrow, and see what happens.

[Dylos_Moon]

if you EVER plan to ranged, you need rapid shot, rate of fire is low enough with it, don't want to go lower into the negative dps by not taking it.

Additionally, no manyshot?

I'd suggest this for the feats instead:
(1) FvS, Favored of Silver Flame, Point Blank Shot
(3) FvS, Child of Silver Flame, Rapid Shot
(6) FvS, Mental Toughness
(9) FvS, Weapon Focus: Ranged
(12) FvS, Beloved of Silver Flame, Empower Spell
(15) FvS, Quicken
(18) FvS, Manyshot

Mostly I just moved the feats around, and then decided the undecided, and dropped toughness (you don't need as many HP if you aren't meleeing)

[faithknight]

if you EVER plan to ranged, you need rapid shot, rate of fire is low enough with it, don't want to go lower into the negative dps by not taking it.

Additionally, no manyshot?

I'd suggest this for the feats instead:
(1) FvS, Favored of Silver Flame, Point Blank Shot
(3) FvS, Child of Silver Flame, Rapid Shot
(6) FvS, Mental Toughness
(9) FvS, Weapon Focus: Ranged
(12) FvS, Beloved of Silver Flame, Empower Spell
(15) FvS, Quicken
(18) FvS, Manyshot

Mostly I just moved the feats around, and then decided the undecided, and dropped toughness (you don't need as many HP if you aren't meleeing)

I think you may be right, but without toughness I'd be loosing 62 health with my current build.

With my low constitution that would be a sizable chunk.

Even with my energy reduction and damage resist I will still take damage and if I'm dead then I am no good to anybody.

Also using a bow means no shield and so a lower AC and even less damage reduction.

Although I'd love to free up those 6 enhancement points, I just don't think it is practical.

However what you say about rapid shot is likely true, i have noticed how horribly slow my bow is. I will take rapid shot as my 7th slot, and I will move my up quicken and empower, although its going to suck having to wait till level 18 for quicken.

At that point I almost wonder if quicken would even matter, if i manage to get by without it for 18 levels then perhaps I do not need it.

I really appreciate the advice though, thank you.

[cypan41]

I'd have to agree with the poster that said if you want to range use your lvl 20 searing light. It's only once every 6 seconds, but my fs hits for 160-425 with it. Much better damage than you're gonna get from your bow. And that's without casting any spells that cost sps.
I did the math on my sp/vs damage. Including crits my fs can do about 11000 hp damage with a full mana bar. Casting searing, then nimbus of light then light of the flame (the free one). This means a nonstop barrage of spells. Once the sp's run out he can still cast Light of the flame. No way an archer is going to come close to that kind of damage output.
In fact I drew agro away from two barbarians at the Fiend at the end of The Weapon Shipment.

[faithknight]

I'd have to agree with the poster that said if you want to range use your lvl 20 searing light. It's only once every 6 seconds, but my fs hits for 160-425 with it. Much better damage than you're gonna get from your bow. And that's without casting any spells that cost sps.
I did the math on my sp/vs damage. Including crits my fs can do about 11000 hp damage with a full mana bar. Casting searing, then nimbus of light then light of the flame (the free one). This means a nonstop barrage of spells. Once the sp's run out he can still cast Light of the flame. No way an archer is going to come close to that kind of damage output.
In fact I drew agro away from two barbarians at the Fiend at the end of The Weapon Shipment.

edit: yeah maybe i'll give that a show, who knows...

originally I thought not but maybe its not such a bad idea

[Liberus]

maybe this is me being a n00b, but why would I want to use nukes if they burn my SP?

I thought the whole purpose of a build like this was to ensure moderate ranged damage, while having a full reserve of SP devoted to excellent healing.

[DDO_Noob]

Do you have the APs to max out your Heal enhancements AND get enough Light enhancements? I could not fit it all in my build.

This is why I went the free cure light wound route. (but I also had to spend APs on dragonmark enhancements)

[faithknight]

maybe this is me being a n00b, but why would I want to use nukes if they burn my SP?

I thought the whole purpose of a build like this was to ensure moderate ranged damage, while having a full reserve of SP devoted to excellent healing.

yeah thats a problem, as I said in the title i was just doing this for fun, and also to learn.

Well now I have learned, and to be honest I would not recomend this build as it is shown here.

I will write up version 2 eventually which really overhauls this.

It is possible to be a very good archer while at the same time being a good healer/buffer, but not also to be an offensive caster.

To make being an archer worth while you have to put a lot of points into it, and to make being an offensive caster worth while you also have to put a lot of points into it, and to be a good healer/buffer you also have to put a lot of points.

So basically pick two of those: bow/nuker, or bow/healer, or nuker/healer

Version two of this will be the bow/healer and will completely drop the notion of being an offensive caster.

But I'm going to wait till I've unlocked the 32 build to try it.

[Liberus]

Yeh, I made a 28 pt build focusing on healing/arcane archer. It looks very promising. Will post back when I am actually able to test it.

[transtemporal]

I just turn on auto attack, hit tab, pew pew

Oh, you're one of those people. Annoy groups much?