The Dominator -12ftr/7Rog/1Mnk

[GeorgeA]

Well in the beginning you will suffer from a rather lousy AC... well the AC is never going to be great by any means but you will for sure notice a big change later in lvls..

Not hitting hard? What lvl are you? Since with the first weapon specialization, itwf, power attack and some decent handwraps (well you can't add icy burst anymore, unless they let Risia Ice Games come back again. So your option would be to buy a pair which already have icy burst/frost added to them. For example a pair of +1 Acid of Pure Good with Frost/Icy is a GREAT weapon for many lvls and you can equip it already at lvl 4. With this you really should see a GOOD DPS. Also remember that you are benefiting from sneak attacks so staying grouped is really adding some extra tools to the build (it's a group oriented build after all).

Another mistake that many people do is that they expect builds to be very different from the beginning, but a lvl 4 character are not that much different regardless of what build you have when it comes to damage at least. It grows when the lvls comes.

Looking forward to hear how you progress during you way to lvl 20

/Khierra

Hi, by-the-way his name is Damager (HAHA!) lvl 4. I should have said he hits hard but not very hard, but like I said he hits very often, and often you see a stream of hits come off, which is awsome. My main concern is survivability, cause I have to step away often to stay alive. I was wondering if adding dodge, wouldnt take too much away from the build, because I am interested in having decent survivability, then just totally maxing out DPS(as you cant constantly depend on a healer). I dont know how this build will work at the upper lvls, as far as defense, but as you say, his survivability will improve significantly as he lvls, right? What do u suggest?

Also I bought a +3 Handwraps plus 3 enhancement to AC, +3 enhancement bonus to attack and damage. is the +1 Acid of pure good with frost/Icy better?

Also u mention a pair, so this weapon is a one hand? The one I have is only for main hand.

[elyssaria]

Hi, by-the-way his name is Damager (HAHA!) lvl 4. I should have said he hits hard but not very hard, but like I said he hits very often, and often you see a stream of hits come off, which is awsome. My main concern is survivability, cause I have to step away often to stay alive. I was wondering if adding dodge, wouldnt take too much away from the build, because I am interested in having decent survivability, then just totally maxing out DPS(as you cant constantly depend on a healer). I dont know how this build will work at the upper lvls, as far as defense, but as you say, his survivability will improve significantly as he lvls, right? What do u suggest?

Also I bought a +3 Handwraps plus 3 enhancement to AC, +3 enhancement bonus to attack and damage. is the +1 Acid of pure good with frost/Icy better?

Also u mention a pair, so this weapon is a one hand? The one I have is only for main hand.

First of .. the + on weapons only give extra damage and extra to-hit, so no AC bonus there.

Well a pair of Acid of Pure Good with frost for example do 1d6+str bonus+feat bonuses+enhancement bonuses+ 3d6 damage from Acid, Pure Good and Frost. In the early lvls you describe you have not gained any feat and enhancement bonuses to talk about so your damage with +3 handwraps would so around 3,5 (base) +3 (weapon modifier) +4(str bonus) = 11,5 damage per hit.

Where as the handwraps I described to you will do 3,5 (base) + 10,5 (Acid, PG & Frost) + 1 (Weapon modifier) + 4 Strength = 19 damage per hit. As you can see the difference is huge.

Well the AC at higher lvls will help with some of the trashmob damage but will NEVER be excellent. On the other side the higher you get the higher your AC has to be.. What I noticed with my past life pure monk (wisdom based) was that the AC didn't mean to much at all in the end game (which of course was a disappointment) and pure HP had more impact on my survivability.

Regarding the survivability.. yes it will increase while you lvl for 3 reasons I would say:

1.) You get more AC
2.) You do more damage and kills faster
3.) At the top lvls you have UMD so you can selfheal yourself with healscrolls, wands etc

/Khierra

[Thanimal]

Hi, by-the-way his name is Damager (HAHA!) lvl 4. I should have said he hits hard but not very hard, but like I said he hits very often, and often you see a stream of hits come off, which is awsome. My main concern is survivability, cause I have to step away often to stay alive. I was wondering if adding dodge, wouldnt take too much away from the build, because I am interested in having decent survivability, then just totally maxing out DPS(as you cant constantly depend on a healer). I dont know how this build will work at the upper lvls, as far as defense, but as you say, his survivability will improve significantly as he lvls, right? What do u suggest?

Also I bought a +3 Handwraps plus 3 enhancement to AC, +3 enhancement bonus to attack and damage. is the +1 Acid of pure good with frost/Icy better?

Also u mention a pair, so this weapon is a one hand? The one I have is only for main hand.

As much as I think this build is awesome, it is also both specialized (see remarks in OP about group role rather than solo) and rather advanced (requires harder-to-obtain equipment in order achieve its best DPS compared to say a THF Barbarian).

It honestly doesn't sound like the build you're looking for, George. There are quite a few builds that can bring decent DPS along with excellent survivability, and those are often my favorites. Several are linked from my builds page, including my own Hate Monster, a Dwarven Defender build, Rockin Robin, Vandt, and others.

But that's a fundamentally different tradeoff than this build makes.

[elyssaria]

As much as I think this build is awesome, it is also both specialized (see remarks in OP about group role rather than solo) and rather advanced (requires harder-to-obtain equipment in order achieve its best DPS compared to say a THF Barbarian).

It honestly doesn't sound like the build you're looking for, George. There are quite a few builds that can bring decent DPS along with excellent survivability, and those are often my favorites. Several are linked from my builds page, including my own Hate Monster, a Dwarven Defender build, Rockin Robin, Vandt, and others.

But that's a fundamentally different tradeoff than this build makes.

Yes, I do agree with Thanimal here.. this build are NOT for the new players. It's advanced and requires alot of effort and you really should group together with other people. Since your role is pure dps... so let the other do the job to keep you alive.

I do play this character with a friend who plays a variant of a BigF'nStick build and none of us has an healing so we simply bring along hireling to heal us. Barrage is an excellent WF Wizard with reconstruct and he selfheals (the only wizard/sorc hireling available what I have seen). Otherwise use regular clerics. That helps.

Still again, being in a group is absolutely the best way so you can focus 100% on your role - The DPS

/Khierra

[GeorgeA]

Yes, I do agree with Thanimal here.. this build are NOT for the new players. It's advanced and requires alot of effort and you really should group together with other people. Since your role is pure dps... so let the other do the job to keep you alive.

I do play this character with a friend who plays a variant of a BigF'nStick build and none of us has an healing so we simply bring along hireling to heal us. Barrage is an excellent WF Wizard with reconstruct and he selfheals (the only wizard/sorc hireling available what I have seen). Otherwise use regular clerics. That helps.

Still again, being in a group is absolutely the best way so you can focus 100% on your role - The DPS

/Khierra

Yes, I did understand from the begining that this was a build specialized for groups, but, at this point, I find it is not only group dependent, but very healer dependent, so even in groups I have to move away from battle often for heals, or die more often then the rest.

I love his style and how often he can hit, but I might prefer to adjust his enhancements for better survival at the cost of DPS, especially as am not as knowledgible as you are and it might take me way to long to adquire the needed gear and enhancements necessary to make this work.

I would like to know is, is going unarmed with handwraps the ultimate why to get the best DPS on weapons? Or does it depend on the gear etc for it to be so, becuase if it is not required then I will keep the unarmed and just adjust the enhancements and feats for better survival. I would prefer to be less dependent on a healer, even though i wont be doing the very best DPS.

[elyssaria]

Yes, I did understand from the begining that this was a build specialized for groups, but, at this point, I find it is not only group dependent, but very healer dependent, so even in groups I have to move away from battle often for heals, or die more often then the rest.

I love his style and how often he can hit, but I might prefer to adjust his enhancements for better survival at the cost of DPS, especially as am not as knowledgible as you are and it might take me way to long to adquire the needed gear and enhancements necessary to make this work.

I would like to know is, is going unarmed with handwraps the ultimate why to get the best DPS on weapons? Or does it depend on the gear etc for it to be so, becuase if it is not required then I will keep the unarmed and just adjust the enhancements and feats for better survival. I would prefer to be less dependent on a healer, even though i wont be doing the very best DPS.

Well maybe an option for you might be a dualwielding 18 favor soul 2 Monk version. You can use the unarmed in the beginning and move over to scimitars etc later (of if you prefer stay unarmed the whole time).

That build would make you very very solo friendly and still wanted in groups. The DPS will be pretty nice, even if not top notch.

There are also other builds listed above by Thanimal that might suit you.

Also remember that not one build suits everyone.. personally I have not had the problems you are describing... However I do have the gear needed even at the low lvls

/Khierra

[Thanimal]

Yes, I did understand from the begining that this was a build specialized for groups, but, at this point, I find it is not only group dependent, but very healer dependent, so even in groups I have to move away from battle often for heals, or die more often then the rest.

I love his style and how often he can hit, but I might prefer to adjust his enhancements for better survival at the cost of DPS, especially as am not as knowledgible as you are and it might take me way to long to adquire the needed gear and enhancements necessary to make this work.

I would like to know is, is going unarmed with handwraps the ultimate why to get the best DPS on weapons? Or does it depend on the gear etc for it to be so, becuase if it is not required then I will keep the unarmed and just adjust the enhancements and feats for better survival. I would prefer to be less dependent on a healer, even though i wont be doing the very best DPS.

Both unarmed and weapons can be top-end DPS if built correctly. So that's not really a deciding factor.

Survivability depends heavily on equipment, and I'd say this is even more true of a Monk splash. (And this is so complicated that I screwed it up before -- forgetting the build is a WF!) Do you have the max + on your docent allowed by level (+3 at level 4)? That is essential. Do you have a +1 Protection item (available on Korthos)? Do you have items and/or Tomes to top off your DEX and WIS? Are you staying in Wind Stance for the extra DEX (and DPS)?

As a 5, for example, here's the fully decked out AC you'd like to see:

10 base + 2 WIS (12 + 2 item) + 5 DEX (15 + 1 Tome + 2 item + 2 stance) + 5 armor (+3 docent in Composite Body) + 1 Protection = 23
Then hit a Shield clickie to 27 when AC is most important.

That's decent, almost tank-like AC. But consider what happens with substantially less twinkage:

10 base + 1 WIS (no +2 item) + 3 DEX (no item or tome) + 3 armor (+1 docent) = 17

That's almost no protection at all in level 5 content. So this is what I mean about equipment being so important to survivability.

On the spell side, do you request elemental resists from party members? Do you have a Resistance item (from Korthos)?

Also semi-important is hit points. You can take enhancements for this, and also a False Life item and/or a CON item help.

As noted, this build will not ever have top-end survivability; that's not what it's about. But if you like a lot of what this build is doing and just want a little better survivability, you probably should solve that through equipment.

If you want a build that has top-notch survivability (or decent survivability without much equipment) and fairly good DPS, then you need to switch builds. In general, tweaking the edges of a pure DPS build will not really get you to a DPSy tank.

The more I'm seeing from you, though, the more I think you'd love running my Halfling unarmed Dragonmark build. 12 Fighter/7 Monk/1 Wizard. High but not highest DPS; above average defenses, and awesome self-healing. It's a melee-soloing machine, and in a group it can offer good DPS, stunning blow (at end game), and heal itself whenever the healer is a little slow on the trigger.

Unfortunately I haven't gotten around to publishing this yet, but maybe if somebody was really into it I'd get off my butt!

[GeorgeA]

Well maybe an option for you might be a dualwielding 18 favor soul 2 Monk version. You can use the unarmed in the beginning and move over to scimitars etc later (of if you prefer stay unarmed the whole time).

That build would make you very very solo friendly and still wanted in groups. The DPS will be pretty nice, even if not top notch.

There are also other builds listed above by Thanimal that might suit you.

Also remember that not one build suits everyone.. personally I have not had the problems you are describing... However I do have the gear needed even at the low lvls

/Khierra

Ive been doing some thorough research and also have been working on combining data of three different builds to come up with something that suites me, and in doing this i found out that I was holding on to action points that should have been spent on earlier skills to reach the higher skills, so i had accummulated 14 action points, anyway even without this and a bit better gear he was dong ok, and today i used 11 of those action points and i was surviving better and hitting a lot harder. I was doing the seal of shan-to-kor on elete and the party broke up and at looking at the stats i had 23 kills, a rogue had 25 and the rest only had 7 or 9 kills, so not bad, i really like this build, it is very dynamic and explosive.

[elyssaria]

Ive been doing some thorough research and also have been working on combining data of three different builds to come up with something that suites me, and in doing this i found out that I was holding on to action points that should have been spent on earlier skills to reach the higher skills, so i had accummulated 14 action points, anyway even without this and a bit better gear he was dong ok, and today i used 11 of those action points and i was surviving better and hitting a lot harder. I was doing the seal of shan-to-kor on elete and the party broke up and at looking at the stats i had 23 kills, a rogue had 25 and the rest only had 7 or 9 kills, so not bad, i really like this build, it is very dynamic and explosive.

Well, here comes a promise....

It' will only get better and better

/Khierra

[Thanimal]

FYI, I have just added this build to my favorite builds page.

I think a lot of players are going to really enjoy this build, and I'm really impressed by its overall DPS "frontier" across a variety of Fortitude values.

If anyone else tries it out, please report back here. If the response is as positive as I think it might be, I may decide that this is "the" unarmed pure-DPS build.

[elyssaria]

FYI, I have just added this build to my favorite builds page.

I think a lot of players are going to really enjoy this build, and I'm really impressed by its overall DPS "frontier" across a variety of Fortitude values.

If anyone else tries it out, please report back here. If the response is as positive as I think it might be, I may decide that this is "the" unarmed pure-DPS build.

Thanks Thanimal! I feel honored to get a spot on your list

/Khierra

[Vorph]

Got my Dominator to L16 so far, and I'm definitely a fan of this build. The only thing I really don't like is just the unavoidable fact of handwraps -- you either get lucky or you blow a massive amount of plat, otherwise you're going to have weak weapons. It hasn't been a big issue yet, mainly because paralyze is still the most effective thing for me to use in the static group I play with. For bosses I have some semi-decent ones, plus Devout, so it's bearable. It's frustrating because I already had all the uniques I needed in the bank, but I'm basically at the mercy of the RNG during the +2 loot week to get endgame weapon(s).

My biggest issue is that I've never messed around with monk as anything but a splash for an extra feat + evasion before. I'm not clear on exactly which of the monk stuff to use. I tend to be in wind stance except when someone has a cleric hireling out and then I use fire stance with Jidz Tet'ka bracers for +25% healing received. Also helps if the two wizards in the group aren't slacking on giving out haste. I pretty much never use ki for anything.

I farm Litany a lot on my FvS, but my luck is pretty terrible. However, should a Docent of Quickening ever drop for me, is it actually worth using until I have a good DT docent? I'm assuming that it doesn't stack with haste or the non-stacking part of wind stance, but maybe it's more useful in Update 5 post-TWF-nerf in situations without haste.

Also, should I drop Stunning Blow for Stunning Fist in Update 5, since Weighted handwraps will finally be fixed?

[elyssaria]

Got my Dominator to L16 so far, and I'm definitely a fan of this build. The only thing I really don't like is just the unavoidable fact of handwraps -- you either get lucky or you blow a massive amount of plat, otherwise you're going to have weak weapons. It hasn't been a big issue yet, mainly because paralyze is still the most effective thing for me to use in the static group I play with. For bosses I have some semi-decent ones, plus Devout, so it's bearable. It's frustrating because I already had all the uniques I needed in the bank, but I'm basically at the mercy of the RNG during the +2 loot week to get endgame weapon(s).

My biggest issue is that I've never messed around with monk as anything but a splash for an extra feat + evasion before. I'm not clear on exactly which of the monk stuff to use. I tend to be in wind stance except when someone has a cleric hireling out and then I use fire stance with Jidz Tet'ka bracers for +25% healing received. Also helps if the two wizards in the group aren't slacking on giving out haste. I pretty much never use ki for anything.

I farm Litany a lot on my FvS, but my luck is pretty terrible. However, should a Docent of Quickening ever drop for me, is it actually worth using until I have a good DT docent? I'm assuming that it doesn't stack with haste or the non-stacking part of wind stance, but maybe it's more useful in Update 5 post-TWF-nerf in situations without haste.

Also, should I drop Stunning Blow for Stunning Fist in Update 5, since Weighted handwraps will finally be fixed?

Hey Vorph!

Thanks for submitting your feedback I am glad you are enjoying the build. I will now try to answer your questions.

Regarding the handwraps: Yes good handwraps are rare and often very expensive. My main handwraps are a pair of +5 Holy of Pure Good with Icy Burst added. I also bought myself a pair of +4 holy of pure good and a pair of +3 holy of pure good just because they are not often out for sale and they are very useful for some of my other characters I have. The +3 handwraps was actually pretty cheap.. 250 000 gold. So hang on and check the AH on a regulary basis and I am sure you will find some nice ones. Also keep an eye out for wraps ie holy of x greater banes. An option if you are not of good alignment is the Holy of Bleeding hw's.

I am also sure that the devs are aware of the problems with no epic/end game named handwraps. The monk community have pointed out this issue for a long time now so I think it's only a matter of time until we will see some really nice ones out there.

Regarding the monk stances: I think you are doing just perfectly fine as you do! I use the Jidz Tet'ka bracers when I am about to tank somethink to keep the healers less drained on mana. However the normal stance to use is the windstance for the extra attackspeed. I use the ki strikes when fighting as well, but that is the only things I use. They add just a little dps and not using them will not gimp your damage that much. I should admit that I am using the key strikes mainly in Amrath and on bosses since they endure a little bit more compared to the normal mobs that dies way to quick

Regarding the Docent of Quickening: Well, if you are hasted alot then you will have less need of it. If not hasted that much then I am sure it would be a nice addition. Just as you said I am pretty sure you will replace it once you have a good DT docent. Regarding the proposed changes I think I will wait to comment on that until after the patches on lamannia have been done. I do think that items like docent of quickening and Jorgundals Collar will become ALOT more valuable then they are today if they made the change though.

I hope my replies was what you was looking for. Ohh btw going Assassin I will be nice with the upcoming changes in U5 as well since we get another extra 1D6 to sneak attack damage with Assassin I.

Out of curiosity (even if you suffer from not having the main DPS wraps you want. Since paralyzing wraps are more utility then DPS, quite big difference compared to a pair of Holy of PG/Bleeding)... how do you perform compared to the others in the groups you are playing with when it comes to killing?

With regards that the kill count is not an exact way to rate how a build performs it still gives an indication on how your build performs compared to other builds in your group. In my case I almost always take the first spot with a big margin down the the 2nd character. The only times I have had competition from other melees have been when they have been using vorpals and I have not. I still need to get myself a pair of vorpal kamas (or with the upcoming change a pair of vorpal longswords if I spend a feat on whirling steel strike).

I myself are 40k away from being lvl 20 (reincarnated) and now I have started my grind to get the items I am needing. So ToD flagging and boots of anchoring are of high priority since two rings will bring alot of DPS to the table, since 3D6 extra damage per hit helps out

Once again thanks for the feedback and nice leveling!

/Khierra

[Vorph]

Regarding the handwraps: Yes good handwraps are rare and often very expensive. My main handwraps are a pair of +5 Holy of Pure Good with Icy Burst added. I also bought myself a pair of +4 holy of pure good and a pair of +3 holy of pure good just because they are not often out for sale and they are very useful for some of my other characters I have. The +3 handwraps was actually pretty cheap.. 250 000 gold. So hang on and check the AH on a regulary basis and I am sure you will find some nice ones. Also keep an eye out for wraps ie holy of x greater banes. An option if you are not of good alignment is the Holy of Bleeding hw's.

Yeah, the big thing I'm missing is holy [burst] of pure good. I've debated buying a pair of holy of bleeding that are on the AH now, but they are a bit pricy. For now I settle for +4 icy burst of bleeding and +2 flaming burst of bleeding, and when I need pure good I just equip Devouts. Incidentally handwraps are bugged and don't check UMD for pure good, so that's never been a problem. If they happen to fix it in U5, I'll be well past the 20 UMD req by then anyway.

I do think that items like docent of quickening and Jorgundals Collar will become ALOT more valuable then they are today if they made the change though.

Scary thought, since DoQ is already 16-20M on the Ghallanda AH.

Out of curiosity (even if you suffer from not having the main DPS wraps you want. Since paralyzing wraps are more utility then DPS, quite big difference compared to a pair of Holy of PG/Bleeding)... how do you perform compared to the others in the groups you are playing with when it comes to killing?

I still get a majority of the kills, though as you said it's not a very good indicator. My core group is all WF: a fighter/rogue 2 tank, a wizard/rogue 2 for firewall and traps, and a pure wizard who handles buffing, repairing, and firewalls. I tend to paralyze and kill the things that won't just stand in a firewall, and then run back and finish off the things that are happily cooking themselves.

I do use other utility stuff on trash too, like smiting, banishing, disruption, and a pair of vorpal kamas. And if I switch to the pure dps wraps on stuff where icy/bleeding is very effective then my kill count goes even higher, but a lot of it is still me sniping things that are already mostly dead from standing in firewalls.

I myself are 40k away from being lvl 20 (reincarnated) and now I have started my grind to get the items I am needing. So ToD flagging and boots of anchoring are of high priority since two rings will bring alot of DPS to the table, since 3D6 extra damage per hit helps out

Yeah, ToD is a big concern of mine now. My FvS has a full set of the mats for boots, but I *really* don't want to use them on her when the monk is just about to be starting it too. I guess I will see how my luck holds while getting the flagging done.


One last question that I forgot before: what are your thoughts on the feat at L18, since I am not a TR? I tentatively had planned on going with IC:Piercing but I don't have any WoP weapons in the bank waiting to be used. I also think that I'd be better off using weighted 5% in most any situation where I would consider using stat damagers, especially after a feat swap to Stunning Fist in U5. That leaves... longsword feat in U5? Problem is I thought it required focus as well, and I'm not sure I'd want to spend two feats just to use vorpal LS instead of vorpal kamas. Then again, taking focus only means giving up Luck of Heroes, so I suppose the real issue is do I want to pay for the feat swaps (or a lesser reincarnation).

Thanks for the help with using the build to its fullest.

Edit: I was looking at the build in character builder since you mentioned going back to Assassin I. At first it still seemed like an awful lot to give up just for another 1d6 on sneak attacks, but then I noticed that Str III is only needed with a +3 tome. In your original post it shows +2 exceptional strength, but I can only see you taking +1 exceptional strength on a ring in your list of gear. So it comes down to trading 20 hp for +1d6 damage on sneak attacks, which I guess isn't a huge sacrifice. Provided of course you are lucky enough to go directly from a +2 tome to a +4...

[elyssaria]

Yeah, the big thing I'm missing is holy [burst] of pure good. I've debated buying a pair of holy of bleeding that are on the AH now, but they are a bit pricy. For now I settle for +4 icy burst of bleeding and +2 flaming burst of bleeding, and when I need pure good I just equip Devouts. Incidentally handwraps are bugged and don't check UMD for pure good, so that's never been a problem. If they happen to fix it in U5, I'll be well past the 20 UMD req by then anyway.

One thing here that I want to point out... do NOT get yourself a pair of Holy Burst handwraps unless you plan to skip the ToD rings. Otherwise you cannot choose to use the ToD that gives Holy Burst since it won't stack with another holy burst item. However it WILL stack with Holy handwraps of PG/Bleeding. Easy to get excited about the holy burst on the handwraps and then forgetting that they won't stack with the ToD ring


Yeah, ToD is a big concern of mine now. My FvS has a full set of the mats for boots, but I *really* don't want to use them on her when the monk is just about to be starting it too. I guess I will see how my luck holds while getting the flagging done

Hehe yea it can be a pain sometimes. I got myself the Devils Keepsake and Pure Shavarath Iron yesterday so the two more easier items to find are left, albeit I hate New Invasion quest


One last question that I forgot before: what are your thoughts on the feat at L18, since I am not a TR? I tentatively had planned on going with IC:Piercing but I don't have any WoP weapons in the bank waiting to be used. I also think that I'd be better off using weighted 5% in most any situation where I would consider using stat damagers, especially after a feat swap to Stunning Fist in U5. That leaves... longsword feat in U5? Problem is I thought it required focus as well, and I'm not sure I'd want to spend two feats just to use vorpal LS instead of vorpal kamas. Then again, taking focus only means giving up Luck of Heroes, so I suppose the real issue is do I want to pay for the feat swaps (or a lesser reincarnation).

Personally I never use WoP weapons... if I am not using DPS weapons then I am using weighted 5%. On epic the 5% weighted becomes the main weapon With the next patch they fix the stunning blows bonus with weighted on handwraps too so we will most likely be able to stun alot more then.

Regarding the Whirling Steel feat I don't see any problem to take it and you are correct that you only loose the luck of heroes. I actually have exchanged that feat for toughness since I really didn't feel that it was that much necessary. So basically, if you want it feel free to take it.


Thanks for the help with using the build to its fullest.

Edit: I was looking at the build in character builder since you mentioned going back to Assassin I. At first it still seemed like an awful lot to give up just for another 1d6 on sneak attacks, but then I noticed that Str III is only needed with a +3 tome. In your original post it shows +2 exceptional strength, but I can only see you taking +1 exceptional strength on a ring in your list of gear. So it comes down to trading 20 hp for +1d6 damage on sneak attacks, which I guess isn't a huge sacrifice. Provided of course you are lucky enough to go directly from a +2 tome to a +4...

Yes it's a bug in my calculation that I have been lazy to fix... the exceptional str can only be +1 since we are taking the unarmed damage addons to the rings.. and two +1 str doesn't stack which was my fault in the calculation. So this makes it even more useful to go for the Assassin I

Cheers!

/Khierra

[OldAquarian]

Hey Khierra,

Any idea about how the proposed TWF changes will effect the viability of this build?
http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=251248

Didn't see any verbiage about STWF and unarmed, but otherwise, not sure if they killed this idea.

[Vorph]

Funny you should mention holy vs. holy burst. I picked up +5 holy of PG wraps yesterday and was initially disappointed that they were just holy, having forgotten that burst would have messed up the ring in the long run. Now if only I could still put icy burst on them, but I guess I'm out of luck there unless Turbine repeats the event this winter.

I've got the keepsake so far too for my second set, but it's the blood that kills me. Bastion is the only Shav dungeon my FvS can't clear more easily solo than with a group.

The feat stuff sounds good. I guess I'll take Stunning Fist at 18, then feat swap Stunning Blow for Weapon Focus Slashing and Luck of Heroes for Whirling Steel after U5 (or just LR if I feel like going through the hassle of having my UI wiped).


OldAquarian: Based on current info, I don't think it will be a huge hit to this build. It only uses Wind I rather than Wind IV (which is what the 'real' monks are most angry about) and STWF is still dead according to Eladrin.

[elyssaria]

Funny you should mention holy vs. holy burst. I picked up holy of PG wraps yesterday and was initially disappointed that they were just holy, having forgotten that burst would have messed up the ring in the long run. Now if only I could still put icy burst on them, but I guess I'm out of luck there unless Turbine repeats the event this winter.

Grats to the wraps! Yes Icy burst does indeed help alot.. but I have a feeling that the event will come back in winter

OldAquarian: Based on current info, I don't think it will be a huge hit to this build. It only uses Wind I rather than Wind IV (which is what the 'real' monks are most angry about) and STWF is still dead according to Eladrin.

OldAquarian: I have to agree with Vorph here, just as he said we only have windstance I so what we loose there are the insight bonus which is 2,5%. I can live with that. However the final words should be said after I have had an opporturnity to check it out on lamannia

On the other side my 18 ranger 1 monk 1 rogue build will NOT like the changes if they implement them in the current form.

/Khierra

[Vorph]

Ok, the TWF nerf didn't really concern me but the Weighted nerf absolutely does.

Monks gain +10 to stunning fist but weighted 5% is dropping to 3% and will have a 33 fort save to land it. On top of that, word is that it no longer puts the mobs into auto-crit. Also, having actually looked at Stunning Fist's DC now, I am no longer sure if it's a good idea to switch to it at all. 10+1/2 monk level+wis bonus is pretty poor for epic even taking the -10 save reduction in U5 into account--that's about a 26 DC with "stunning +10" wraps. That's a pretty huge difference when you consider that a ~40 DC on Stunning Blow was expected.

[elyssaria]

Ok, the TWF nerf didn't really concern me but the Weighted nerf absolutely does.

Monks gain +10 to stunning fist but weighted 5% is dropping to 3% and will have a 33 fort save to land it. On top of that, word is that it no longer puts the mobs into auto-crit. Also, having actually looked at Stunning Fist's DC now, I am no longer sure if it's a good idea to switch to it at all. 10+1/2 monk level+wis bonus is pretty poor for epic even taking the -10 save reduction in U5 into account--that's about a 26 DC with "stunning +10" wraps. That's a pretty huge difference when you consider that a ~40 DC on Stunning Blow was expected.

Well stunning fist have never been an option for me in this build, however Stunning blow is **** I had no problem at all to do a stunning blow on rare boss in vale and killed him sooo fast with the autocrits The +10 surely helps. However I must admit that I am not to keen about the changes to weighted either. Especially not since I bought myself a pair of Holy of Weighted 5% just a few weeks ago for quite much money

/Khierra