FvS Lord of Blades Healer/Buffer/Fighter

[Mellkor]

Updated original post. Some different equipment and enhancements than before. Slightly different stat numbers too. Switched to the Quorforged docent of battle from IQ, and the Vod goggles were biggest changes. I am quite happy with the change. I was able to upgrade out of the Minos helm to greensteel since the docent has toughnes on it AND free up a belt slot which will allow me to make a 3rd greensteel item some day.

-JR

[Almerel]

I recently made a WF FVS and love it, but seeing some of the other builds I'm wondering if I should tweak him.

Currently I'm lvl 4 with Vet status so changing the char around wouldn't be an issue. 32pt build btw.

16
12
16
10
10
12

I'm not a fan of any negative stats if I can avoid them but if there is ultimately a better way to go then I'm willing to try.

I took LotB and Addy body at lvl 1. Then @3 the other LotB feat and THW.

[BracchusBridgeburner]

Thanks Mel, this is by far the most powerful soloist I've built so far, and I can still main-heal without breaking a sweat. As this is going to end up being my first 20 (finally!! too much time wasted messing with alts and experiments ) I did things slightly different but only a tiny bit. My starting stats are 16 10 16 12 10 12 (+2 tomes used across the board at 7th) simply because I wanted a little higher wisdom will save because I'm still learning higher lvl content and the lower dex is because I will likely end up keeping adamantite body until I've been raiding enough to get gear that will alow me to respec my stats some after 20. Only change I made to feats were that I'm keeping adamantite body and took Imp Crit in place of your 2 empower feats. I guess my feat selection is slightly more solo-centric than yours but I play some wierd hours so I'll keep it that way until my access to raid groups gets better. I also like your idea of using a +1 INT tome to get 14 INT earlier for skills but that's just a minor loss that won't really affect my performance and I'll address that when I respec. Thank you Turbine for Update 3 and Lesser Reincarnation

[Almerel]

What's with the 12 Int that I keep seeing? I noticed that a couple of people have chosen this and sacrificed AC for it. Is the extra points for UMD? If so why? I figured I wouldn't add anything to UMD since I will be able to Heal myself fine at the higher lvls.

[BracchusBridgeburner]

conc/balance/jump. If you're seeing 14 (12+2 tome) it's because they chose to have conc/balance/jump/UMD. UMD is for more than just healing. alignment items are just one example. Healing items are just the most common use you hear about from non-casting classes. I levelled the 3 skills I want maxed from the start (conc/balance/UMD) and started putting points into Jump after I ate a +2 int tome.

[Mellkor]

Great to see you guys having fun with this. I am! Now if they would only change the looks of that docent! LOL

You really dont sacrifice AC for a 12 int. One more point of AC will not really make any difference at all, 40 vs 41ish, I guarentee you wont see a real difference at end game, however you will have far more use for UMD than even 10 points of AC!

-JR

[Mellkor]

Almerel,

I would still reccomend you bump up your int and sacrifice wisdom for the skill points. I don't think you will really see any difference in a 6 vs 10 wisdom at end game. IMO maxing 4 skills concentration, balance, UMD, and jump are quintessential and more important! You could maybe get away with not so much jump, but believe me, you will regret it! I know I did, in the past whenever I dumped jump on any character.

-JR

[Mellkor]

I tried an experiment with enhancements, I traded the power attack enhancements for other stuff.

DONT DO IT!

DPS takes a really noticible hit when you do!!

-JR

[gwlech]

I have a question. I know that you said that with low DC's your BB was still reliable, and that you could solo pretty much anything. How does having a low BB DC affect you in places like amrath?

Also, do you think that there is enough of a difference between starting with say...14 wis and putting level up points into that vs str?

Im just curious because I am about to roll another FvS, only this time seriously and to cap, but am wondering how this is going to affect me later on.

[Mellkor]

I still hit things in Amarath with BB to be useful when you fight large crowds. 1 or 3 to one, i amolst always just beat them down.

If you put points into WIS I fear you will end up suffering in the end. It seems to me you are trying to be good at 3 things, which will spread you out too thin IMO. stick to 2 of the three, melee, caster, healing, and you will be fine.

[gwlech]

I still hit things in Amarath with BB to be useful when you fight large crowds. 1 or 3 to one, i amolst always just beat them down.

If you put points into WIS I fear you will end up suffering in the end. It seems to me you are trying to be good at 3 things, which will spread you out too thin IMO. stick to 2 of the three, melee, caster, healing, and you will be fine.

If you are able to do it, I see the logic behind what you are saying. This question really has been the biggest pivotal point behind rolling up a capped FvS for me, and honestly, its one of those things one won't be able to gauge very well until they actually come close to or hit cap.

[nightnick]

Im very new to this game. Been playing game for about 2 weeks. Why make a WF FVS? U cant heal yourself. Some guy posted to buy repair mod pots...what r those?

[Arctigis]

Im very new to this game. Been playing game for about 2 weeks. Why make a WF FVS? U cant heal yourself. Some guy posted to buy repair mod pots...what r those?

Divine healing works on WF but with a penalty which starts at -50% (e.g. what would heal 100HP on a fleshy only
heals for 50HP on a WF). However, you can take the healers friend enhancements to reduce this penalty. You can
also get equipment which has healing amplification as a property. With potency and enhancements my heals
land for ~200HP on myself which is fine. With empower healing it would be even more. Generally, Clerics and FvS
are spec'ed for healing. This (again, generally) recovers more HP then being hit by reconstruct from an arcane
who is not spec'ed for it.

[sirgog]

I tried an experiment with enhancements, I traded the power attack enhancements for other stuff.

DONT DO IT!

DPS takes a really noticible hit when you do!!

-JR

Once you get into Epics, those enhancements are the worst thing you can do to a WF non-Barb melee short of taking the 'Immune to Healing' feat. +3 damage per hit on rolls of 7 and up (assuming great gear), at the cost of -60 damage on rolls of 4, 5 and 6.

Really having those enhancements makes Power Attack go from a minor DPS increase to utterly useless in Epics, so I'd ditch them for sure.

[BracchusBridgeburner]

can you reccommend another line of enhancements in its place for epic content?

[Arctigis]

Posting this build because a few people asked me to.

My basic concept for this Favored Soul (FvS) was a Healer/Buffer who could do a decent job of fighting. After trying various feats and enhancements I settled on this configuration. I find this guy a lot more fun to play than my other healer types because of the ability to do decent DPS while having top notch healing/buffing abilities. This guy can heal just as good, if not better, than any of my heal spec clerics can.

Race: Warforged (WF)


Starting stats: / Lev 20 stats: (some will improve with better gear and better tomes, someday!)

16 Str/ 32 Str (+5 Level ups, +6 item, +2 tome, +3 excep) (ultimately 34 with +4 tome)
14 Dex/ 22 Dex (+5 item, +1 excep, +2 tome) (ultimately 24 with epic spectral gloves)
16 Con/ 28 Con (+6 item, +2 tome, +2 enhancement, +2 excep) (ultimately 30 with +4 tome)
13 Int/ 14 Int (+1 tome)
6 Wis/ 14 Wis (+6 item, +2 tome)
11 Cha/ 21 Cha (+6 item, +2 tome, +2 capstone.) (ultimately 22 with +3 tome)

I started with just enough CHA to make 16 CHA without items and enhancements and figuring in a +3 tome. The reason for this is disjunction. You still want to be able to at least cast the heal spell when disjunctioned at level 20, so that means a 16 CHA (11 base + 3 tome +2 capstone =16). Some argue you want a 19 while disjunctioned, but I don’t think it is necessary, just being able to cast the heal spell while disjunctioned works just fine for me. And besides after being disjunctioned you can simply cast eagles splendor on yourself to cast 9th level spells again. I did not count on enhancements to CHA simply because I needed those enhancement points elsewhere.


If I were to do it over again, I would put points into UMD instead of Intimidate. I maxed 4 skills, Concentration, Balance, Jump, and Intimidate. I found intimidate useful at low/mid levels, but at high levels it simply isn’t cutting the mustard. So I would recommend here maxing UMD instead of Intimidate. UMD would be useful for some nice low level wizzy buffs such as blur/displacement from scrolls.


Feats:

I at first tried out the Two Handed Fighting (THF) line of feats, but I found them SOOOO not worth the three feats they cost, so I spec’d out of them for other things. Spec’ing out of the THF line really made a huge difference in enhancing my healing abilities as far as my original concept went. I ultimately found that Power Attack combined with the Warforged (WF) enhancements and the FvS Lord of Blades feats and enhancements and a mineral II greatsword are all you need for decent melee ability. I also tried improved critical slashing and found it useful at mid levels, but spec’d it out after I got a mineral II. I usually run with quicken, empower heal and empower spell on all the time. If I have to drop out of combat to babysit, I turn off quicken and empower spell.

Feats more or less in order taken:

Extend
Power Attack
Quicken Spell
Empower Spell
Empower Healing
Toughness
Maximize (swapped from adamantine body)

Favored Soul Feats:

Favored by the Lord of Blades
Child of the Lord of Blades
Energy Resistance Fire
Energy Resistance Cold
Energy Resistance Lightning
Beloved by the Lord of Blades
Leap of Faith
Damage Reduction: Adamantine


Some start with adamantine body, it is really useful at low levels, but I ultimately swapped out this feat for Maximize. I noticed no real difference between 15dr vs 13dr at end game, and I found maximize a lot more useful.


Enhancements:

Favored Soul Greatsword Specilization II
Warforged Power Attack III
Favored Soul Toughness IV
Racial Toughness IV
Favored Soul Life Magic IV
Warforged Construct Thinking III
Warforged Constitution II
Favored Soul Ascendancy
Warforged Damage Reduction III
Warforged Healers Friend III
Favored Soul Energy of the Scion II (just to advance enhancement chain)


Spell List:

Since I do not have a great spell DC I stayed away from insta death and CC spells. I have found that Blade Barrier still works well, despite a low WIS. It seems like if a mob is going to save against it, he will regardless of DC. And the ones that do save you just beat down . I initially took cure spells but swapped them at higher levels as I find them not too useful at end game as I tend to use heal, mass heal, and mass cures the most. As for the Mass Heal debate, I feel it is one of the very best heal spells, but only if used with quicken. I find it to be a very potent spell to use while fighting alongside your party on a single mob. With the groups I run with, I also often do not have to heal at all until the fight is over, so again this is great to use after a fight. I also chose true res, I normally use scrolls BUT sometimes during those almost party wipe situations, a fast res is needed. A quickened True Res allows you to res people quickly and fully while running/kiting from stuff. Ressing from scrolls is too slow when mobs are on your six, and has gotten me killed one too many times! Sadly spell selection was not too difficult, the rest of the needed divine spells are easily covered by scrolls and wands. Having limited spell slots was not an issue at all with this build. I really hope Turbine works on the divine spell list, otherwise I see no real reason to play a cleric!

Level 1: Divine Favor
Obscuring Mist (yes it is useful!)
Night Shield
Bless (no other choice, at least it gets rid of bane)

Level 2: Eagles Splendor
Resist Energy
Deific Vengeance
Hold Person (useful after energy drain)

Level 3: Mass Aid
Remove Curse (useful in raids)
Magic Circle Against Evil
Prayer

Level 4: Divine Power
Freedom of Movement
Mass Shield of Faith
Recitation

Level 5: Break Enchantment
True Seeing
Summon Monster V (situationally useful while soloing)
Mass Cure Light

Level 6: Blade Barrier
Heal
Mass Cure Moderate

Level 7: Mass Protection From Elements
Mass Spell Resistance
Mass Cure Serious

Level 8: Holy Aura
Death Pact
Mass Cure Critical

Level 9: Mass Heal
True Resurrection
Energy Drain (a great debuff for both melee and caster situations)


End Game Equipment: This is what I wear 95% of the time. (I sometimes switch some stuff for certain mobs or quests) (I have yet to aquire or craft some of this stuyff, but will do so soon)

Head: Greensteel (heavy fort, +5 AC, +45 HP)
Necklace: Torin's Choker (Sup Potency VI and Wizardry VI)
Trinket: Bloodstone (Seeker +6) (upgrade to epic +8 seeker)
Cloak: Resist +5
Belt: Arch Magi ---> switch to balance 15 belt or greensteel after buffing.
Ring: +6 str +3 exep Str TOD ring)
Ring: +6 CHA, +1 excep DEX, +2 excep CON TOD ring)
Hand: Spectral Gloves (+5 dex, +2 to hit, etheral) (upgrade to epic someday, +7 dex, +4 to hit)
Feet: Striding 30%, +5 balance boots (upgrade to epic Dustless Boots someday)
Wrist: Greensteel, (+6 wis, +150 SP, blind ward, +5 UMD, concordant opposition, bound attuned with +1 to all saves alchemical)
Docent: Quorforged Docent of Battle (+6 CON, superior false life, toughness, -2 will saves)
Goggles: Thranes Wrath. (sneak attack bonus +5 TH, +8 dam, perma true seeing)


Geared up and SELF buffed I have 2674 spell points and 631 Hit Points (577 +54). Saves are 37/34/28 (will save is effectively 30 with enhancements). I am at +38 to hit and +41 to damage on my first swing with power attack on. Armour Class is 40. Add bard/ranger/wizzy/paladin buffs for somewhat better numbers. I usually hit for 75ish on a normal hit and 155ish on a crit. I also have 13 DR all the time and can hit 40 while shield blocking with the hound shield. I end up with about 500 more spell points with gimped SP stat and no SP feats over a cleric with top shelf SP stat AND SP feats!

My usual MO is to cast all the mass buffs on myself and the party, single buff myself, then de-equip the arch magi belt for something situationally more useful depending on the quest (usually a balance 15 belt or yet to be made greensteel belt with smoke screen, displacement clickie, greater lightning resist and +15 to inherent fire resist). Then run Divine Power, Divine Might, Recitation, and Holy Aura most of the time and prayer at the start of a fight.

There ya have it. I hope you find this build as enjoyable as I have! I don’t think this can be topped as far as a fighter/healer/buffer build goes. And there is still certainly room here for tweaking to your own personal flavor.

-JR

Really, really nice build. Thanks for posting. Your eq. list is absolutely tip-top - making me wish I had friends/was
divorced to farm that ;-)

[Mellkor]

I do OK in epics with this guy, I just turn off PA. I dont do epics enough to justify makeing an epic only build. For an epic only build I would probably concentrate on to hit a lot more.

You actually lose +6 dam per swing, not just +3 dam, since I use a 2 hander all the time.

-JR

[THAC0]

Hi,

Thanks for posting your build. I actually just started a FvS last night (@4 / 32pt build - Vet Status) and had a blast. After reading various posts I thought I had a decent build, BUT after reading this post... I find a lot of my questions answered that I had about this class. (thanks). I'll likely bank my stuff and remake my guy tonight based off of this template. Coming from a Barbarian and Wizard characters...this build looks fun.

I like the UMD point, my Barb focused on that and people are shocked when I raise the dead cleric. "You can rez?!" always brings a grin to my face. Anyhow.... any changes you would make knowing at lvl 3 I'd be eating +1 tomes (likely for all stats) and again at lvl 7 (for all stats) ((Why? cuz I can. *grin*) Dont have +3s yet (does anyone at this point? lol)...hard to come by. But, I also have a selection of +6 stat item boosts too. Between those and gear.... the only thing lacking for me would be docets...which is just work to get. All my chars are WF, so I am used to Docent hunting.

Again, great post... looking forward to your feedback.

Thanks.

T.

PS: As a point of reference and comparrison, the current build I am playing with is by Impaqt "Lord of Blades" http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=197770

[Darkrok]

Yeah, if you're doing a melee-focused FvS do NOT skimp on those skills. I'm doing an Evoker FvS and I greatly value UMD skill and Concentration so I don't have any points in jump/tumble/balance. You can work around those issues but on a melee FvS I'd rather work around losing a few points of dex or wisdom than work around the issues you get from having a low jump or balance. It's honestly my only disappointment with the Evoker build and if I did a 36-point Evoker it would have an 11 or 12 (on a human - 13/14 otherwise) just to fit in those skills.

[EAB]

I have wanted to make this build but I gimped the healing about for combat. Ran through Deleras last night on normal in a group and had a blast!!!