I want to make a melee class that does as much dps as possible. help?

[dorksied]

So I'm making a melee character with the sole purpose of doing as much melee dps as possible. What are your suggestions?

[Diarden]

Pure 20 Barb for sustained damage, Kensai Fighter 3 for higher burst damage.

[AxeM]

20 Paladin Knight of the Chalice with epic Sword of Shadows.

[Guildmaster_Kadish]

Pure 20 THF Barb and some sort of mostly-rogue TWF build (i.e. 19/1 or 13/6/1) are at the top, the barb for reliable, sustained damage, the rogue for burst damage and for less-reliable (but extremely high) sneak attack damage. 20 Paladin KotC with the Epic SoS is at the top against a couple of monsters (some endbosses with both DR and fort such as Suulo, Arraetrikos, and Horoth, but notably not either epic DQ or epic Velah).

For epic DQ, 20 barb is the most practical for DPS, though acrobat rogues have the potential to push out more. For epic Velah, rogues are the best for DPS. Obviously, equipment, player, and build will make a huge difference.

[Gunga]

20 FB III WF Barbarian.

Highest Aggregate DPS.

Period.

[ragwa1]

8mnk/12fr WF
or
8mnk/12ftr Human for more str and short damage boosts.

But in light of all these elitists, there are MANY high dps builds. Pick one that excentuates your play style.

[Humperdink]

In this game, there is not one DPS character to rule them all. The amount of max damage being done is situational depending on your target. The arguments will run forever. However there are a handful that are near or at the top. Other posters have given you these builds. Keep in mind it is usually good to be familiar with the weaknesses of the build and do what you can to shore them up using gear, feats, etc. You can't DPS when you're dead.

[Noctus]

So I'm making a melee character with the sole purpose of doing as much melee dps as possible. What are your suggestions?

Pure Barbarian, Warforged.

Either full THF or full TWF featchain.