How wide is the margin? solo build comparisons

[BracchusBridgeburner]

due to time constraints and off-hours play times being the norm for me now I've had to take a hard look at some soloo builds that fit my (quite low) in game budget. The first ones I've looked at of course are the ever-popular solo monsters: 18 / 2 cler/monk or Fvs/monk. Pure FvS are apparantly quite strong soloists at high levels as well with that nice capstone and other lvl 20 bonuses.

However, as I mentioned above, I'm quite lacking in the resources and time to attain some of the high end gear those builds use to attain their high thresholds. So I was looking at rolling a melee capable but caster-focused 19/1 dwarf cleric. The level one splash is fighter for the extra feat, tower shields, and dwarven axe proficiency. From many of the posts I've read, the first mentioned builds have been able to solo pretty much all the game content, including many raids all the way to 20.

I'll be missing evasion but the pure 20 FvS doesn't have that and is considered a mighty soloist so I hear. I won't have the FvS's spellpower but that can be worked around. I won't have as high saves or AC as monk splashes, so I'll have to brute force heal past some shortcomings. My question is, how wide is the margin between those builds and a 19/1 build for pulling off soloing all the way to 20? I mean is it significant in actual gameplay or is it minor enough that it only matters in the world of forum theorycrafting?

[Angelus_dead]

My question is, how wide is the margin between those builds and a 19/1 build for pulling off soloing all the way to 20?

Any build plan containing 16+ cleric levels can solo to level 20 with no difficulty at all.

[Kronik]

I built a 19/1 (Cleric/Fighter) and regreted it - actually re-rolled. 20 Cleric or 18/2 (Cleric/Monk) seemed to work best for me. In the end, I did not need the tower shield feat and found it was not worth losing the extra spell points. The additional feat has to be fighter and chances are you already took toughness, so its kind of a waste at games end.

[PurdueDave]

Any build plan containing 16+ cleric levels can solo to level 20 with no difficulty at all.

And they don't need a lot of great gear, either.

[BracchusBridgeburner]

And they don't need a lot of great gear, either.

is that the case with a 18/2 cler/monk? I was under the impression that build required a lot of expensive tomes and hard to attain gear to be worthwhile. The cookie cutter versions I've seen were all halflings as well, trying to squeeze out every last drop of AC, as well as finesse based. I don't really care much for halflings or finesse fighting which is why I was leaning towards a more str based 19/1 dwarf build with the 1 splash of a melee class for dwarven axes and axe mastery for some melee boost to assist my offensive casting, and not trying for evasion or AC.

Alternatively, I've also read that trying for AC even with a towershield is hopeless waste unless you're building a full tank, which I'm not, in which case I'll either have to cough up the dex for a TWF cleric (and there goes my STR build out the window, might as well go back to cler/monk) or just THF with a greataxe. Although I'm also hoping that I can make an effective tactic using a tower shield's DR and turtling along with blade barrier useful often enough, then come out of the turtle for mop-up

Although I'll lose monk stance and evasion I'll gain dwarven spell defense enhancements and axe enhancements, a higher base damage weapon, be able to go daxe+tower shield, fighter haste boost and an extra feat (improved critical slashing possibly). I'm not saying one or the other is better, I'm just saying I wonder if this closes the gap enough. I'd basically be relying on buffs and wands/heals to brute force my way through trap damage and elemental damage when soloing rather than evasion. I doubt I could even do or want to solo high level quests on elite anyway, right? Spellpower I think I can work around by healing myself with wands between fights.

I'm getting mixed opinions on this though. Half of people are saying cler/monk is the way to go for a solo build, and the other half is saying I'll be able to sail along as cleric/anything. That's why I'm wondering if the margin between the options is a dealbreaker.

[Angelus_dead]

I was under the impression that build required a lot of expensive tomes and hard to attain gear to be worthwhile.

Clerics (and other full casters) are not dependent on rare gear or tomes. Monks can be to get very high AC, to damage certain monsters, or to qualify for GTWF.

The cookie cutter versions I've seen were all halflings as well, trying to squeeze out every last drop of AC, as well as finesse based.

Two big reasons for that would be that GTWF is mandatory for unarmed fighting, and it's hard to qualify without a dex-bonus race (but Elf would penalize constitution). Halfling also gets a damage bonus, and better reflex/fort.

Alternatively, I've also read that trying for AC even with a towershield is hopeless waste unless you're building a full tank

Well, think about it this way: Attacks are on a d20 roll, so for any certain monster attack scenario there are only 18 distinct AC numbers that matter. Everything above or below that range gets identical results to the closest end. Since the devs will want to build monsters that can threaten full tanks, if your AC is more than 18 below a focused tank then you should expect to hardly ever be missed. For most high-level characters, a +2 AC upgrade would mean their chance of being hit goes from 95% to 95%.

Half of people are saying cler/monk is the way to go for a solo build, and the other half is saying I'll be able to sail along as cleric/anything. That's why I'm wondering if the margin between the options is a dealbreaker.

The evasion ability of monk2 can make many situations a lot easier, but being damaged then will form barely any obstacle towards your goal of soloing to level 20.

[BracchusBridgeburner]

ok so long and short of the AC questions is that I shouldn't bother worrying about it with my limited resources, but I'd like to make sure I understand what you meant by

The evasion ability of monk2 can make many situations a lot easier, but being damaged then will form barely any obstacle towards your goal of soloing to level 20.

Did you mean that not having evasion and just taking the damage is just going to be barely a problem? Or did you mean it would only be barely a problem if I take evasion?

thanks for the info so far