The Whirling Tempest (12 Ranger / 7 Monk / 1 Rogue)

[DrylondS]

This build is a work in progress. Revision 1 - 7/2 It is not newbie friendly, requiring 36 build points and several +3 and +4 tomes. This build is inspired by the exploiter, but redesigned to offer a playstyle that would be more fun for me. It is almost certain that this build is NOT as powerful as the exploiter, while performing many similar functions.

Whirling Tempest
Level 20 Lawful Neutral Elf Female
(12 Ranger / 7 Monk / 1 Rogue)

Stats
Strength 17 (42 = 17 base + 5 levels + 4 tome + 7 item +3 exceptional + 2 rams + 2 sun stance + 2 rage)
Dexterity 16 (32 = 16 base + 5 enhancements + 4 tome + 7 item)
Constitution 12 (24 = 12 base + 4 tome + 6 item + 2 exceptional)
Intelligence 13 (22 = 13 base + 3 tome + 6 item)
Wisdom 14 (28 = 14 base + 2 enhancements + 4 tome + 6 item + 3 exceptional - 1 baphomet)
Charisma 8 (16 = 8 base + 3 tome + 6 item - 1 baphomet)

Tomes Used
+1 Tome of Intelligence used at level 3
+3 Tome of Charisma used at level 11
+3 Tome of Intelligence used at level 11
+4 Tome of Strength used at level 15
+4 Tome of Dexterity used at level 15
+4 Tome of Constitution used at level 15
+4 Tome of Wisdom used at level 15

Level Progression
Rogue, Monk, Ranger, Ranger, Monk, Ranger, Ranger, Monk, Ranger, Ranger, Monk...etc

This alternating progression is more of a pain in the ass to level, but pays dividends at 20 because of higher skills. Take UMD/disable/search on ranger levels, concentration/balance on monk levels.


Feats (in order taken)
Dodge
Power Attack (monk bonus)
Favored Enemy: Undead
Mobility
Toughness (monk bonus)
Spring Attack
Path of Inevitable Dominion (monk path)
Favored Enemy: Evil Outsider
Least Dragonmark of Shadow
Improved Critical: Piercing
Lesser Dragonmark of Shadow
Combat Expertise (monk bonus)
Extend Spell

Skills
52 Balance (20 ranks + 11 dexterity +2 ninja spy + 15 item + 4 greater heroism)
51 Concentration (23 ranks + 7 constitution + 15 item + 4 greater heroism + 2 enhancements)
56 Jump (4 ranks + 16 strength +2 enhancements + 30 clickie + 4 greater heroism)
38 Tumble (4 ranks +11 dexterity +2 enhancements + 15 item + 4 greater heroism) *this is just for fun - all flips*
63 Disable Device (23 ranks + 6 intelligence + 15 item + 7 tools + 3 reaver bracers + 4 greater heroism + 5 skill boost)
59 Open Lock (15 ranks + 11 dexterity + 15 item + 7 tools + 2 good luck + 4 greater heroism + 5 skill boost)
59 Search (23 ranks + 9 wisdom + 15 item + 2 good luck + 4 greater heroism + 5 skill boost)
48 Use Magic Device (23 ranks + 3 charisma + 5 item + 6 shroud crafted + 4 greater heroism + 2 good luck + 5 skill boost)
42 Haggle (7 ranks + 3 charisma + 15 item + 6 shroud crafted + 4 greater heroism + 2 good luck + 5 skill boost)

Enhancements
Rogue Haste Boost I
Ranger Skill Boost I
Ranger Skill Boost II
Ranger Skill Boost III
Ranger Skill Boost IV
Elven Dexterity I
Elven Dexterity II
Extra Dragonmark Use I
Extra Dragonmark Use II
Extra Dragonmark Use III
Way of the Patient Tortiose I
Way of the Patient Tortiose II
Monk Improved Recovery I
Monk Improved Recovery II
Adept of Wind
Racial Toughness I
Racial Toughness II
Ranger Favored Damage I
Ranger Favored Damage II
Ranger Favored Damage III
Ranger Tempest I
Ranger Tempest II
Rogue Sneak Attack Training I
Monk Jump I
Monk Jump II
Monk Tumble I
Monk Tumble II
All-Consuming Flame
Ranger Dexterity I
Ranger Dexterity II
Ranger Dexterity III
Monk Wisdom I
Monk Wisdom II
Ninja Spy I

Spells
Ram's Might
Resist Energy
Barkskin
Protection from Energy
Neutralize Poison
Cure Moderate Wounds

Using shortswords this build utilizes (almost) full base attack bonus, with 100% TWF offhand proc rate. I will alternate between Wind Stance for 5% double strike, and Fire Stance for increased strength and ki generation.

Here are some initial roughshod estimates for important benchmarks.

Attack Bonus
20 base
11 strength
5 weapon
4 greater heroism
4 spectral gloves
2 shintao monk
46 self buffed

Hit Points
158 levels
20 heroic
10 draconic
30 greater false life
140 constitution
20 rage
22 toughness feat
20 racial enhancements
10 monk enhancements
20 toughness item
45 shroud item
40 yugoloth potion
535 self buffed

Armor Class (in AC gear)
10 base
2 monk
1 dodge feat
4 icy raiment dodge
1 alchemical dodge
3 chattering ring dodge
11 dexterity
10 wisdom (in ocean stance)
4 insight (greensteel weapon)
5 protection
5 barkskin
8 armor bracers
3 tempest II
5 combat expertise
1 haste
73 self buffed AC

Saves (fort/reflex/will)
13/15/9 levels
7/11/8 attributes
5/5/5 resistance
4/4/4/ greater heroism
29/35/26 self buffed

Ideal Gear
Weapons: Greensteel, Epic Stings, whatever else...
Armor: Icy Raiment, Enlightened Vestments (banishing)
Bracers: Epic Jidz-te'tka / Epic Bracers of Deftness / Ventilated Bracers / Tharne's Bracers
Gloves: Epic Spectral Gloves / Titan's Grip (clicky)
Belt: Epic Belt of Mroranon
Ring 1: Kyosho's Ring
Ring 2: Epic Ring of Baphomet (dps) / Chattering Ring (tanking)
Necklace: Shintao Cord
Trinket: Epic Bloodstone
Boots: Madstone / Boots of the Innocent / Epic Dustless / Epic Kundarak Delving
Cloak: Greensteel 45hp, +5 protection
Goggles: Tharne's Goggles
Helmet: the coolest looking ninja mask you can find


Some notes...
1) With the attack speed changes I will expect to use fire stance mostly, with the Epic Jidz-Te'tka, the additional +25% incoming healing should prove very useful as well as the +2 strength.

2) This build has formidable defense against melee and ranged attacks. 72 armor class is significant on its own, but the builds true defense comes from the combination of shadow fade and displacement. With extend spell and extra dragonmarks I have 5 uses of 4 minute displacement per day...thats 20 minutes of displacement per shrine, which STACKS with the +25% incorporeal miss chance from shadow fade.

3) This build provides useful self healing with full UMD, wholeness of body, and +45% incoming healing in fire stance.

4) My listed "ideal gear" is a pretty tall order. I certainly don't have all of it. This is simply my target for the current state of the game. I have most of these items, and should be able to work around what I'm still missing fairly easily.

Please provide constructive feedback, bearing in mind. I KNOW this will deal less damage than an exploiter using Khopeshes. I think this build will be more entertaining to play however, with all the monk active combat abilities. It should "feel" more engaging than the simple boost -> auto-attack dps the exploiter provides.

Leorwen
(currently) 18 ranger/1 monk/1 rogue
<Ransack> of Khyber

[Aerendil]

I'll preface this by saying that I think the build would definitely work, so no worries there. In fact, I've been struggling with how to combine WSS with Ranger, as I think it's a really cool concept.

However, I ended up giving up in the end. The reasons being the following (and are something to consider):

- using anything other than a longsword, kama, quarterstaff, or unarmed, would result in being uncentered, in which case you'd start losing your ki. So if you're keen on using your bow, or a weapon other than those listed above, you're going to constantly struggle to regain ki, plus have to re-click your stances on quite often. Not a major issue, but was enough to turn me off.

- in a group scenerio, the Wind Stance haste is negated by Haste (spell). In which case there is no visible difference between a 12 Ranger / 6 Monk (100/100 TWF, 5% double-strike) and an 18 Ranger (100/100, 5%), except that the 18 Ranger could double-strike with any melee weapon and has access to the Tempest ToD ring set for extra bonuses, whereas the 12/6 split is limited to longswords.
However, the 18 Ranger if Monk-splashed with WSS could be 100/100, 7.5% double-strike.... something to chew on. You'd be down 2 feats though (or 1 if you went /1 Monk, /1 Fighter), which could hurt.

[grodon9999]

You have the +4 tomes banked already? I usually stop reading a build after i see +4 tomes.

Looks fantastic though, even with "normal" gear it'll be great.

[DrylondS]

Thanks for the feedback Aerendil. I have considered some of those issues, and I agree that a few of them are disheartening...however.

1) There are not many serious encounters that require switching back and forth between bow and melee. Most are either 1 or the other. Some fights where I use my bow frequently are Demon Queen, Titan (upper pillars), and crystal shattering in shroud, mindsunder, partycrashers...etc. To me, these types of encounters are mostly "bow-only", so the lost ki probably wouldn't hurt me too much. I would just have to resist the urge to use my bow to pull mobs when soloing, and instead use a shuriken for that purpose.

2) While it might not be the best option for damage, I'm pretty confident I can get almost the desirable weapon properties with either longswords, handwraps, or q-staves.

Vorpal - longswords
Imp destruction/cursespewing/disruption/smiting - longswords
Banishment - 2x abbot longswords
Weighted - handwraps
Ooze bashing - handwraps
Skelly bashing - q-staves
etc...etc...

Really the only cool properties I can't get are "wounding of puncturing", but this flavor of the month seems to have expired.

3) In light of the wind stance haste changes, I would likely primarily use fire stance for extra +1 to hit/damage and +25% incoming healing. This costs me the 5% double strike to be sure, which means a DPS decrease of something less than 5% (since double strikes don't proc offhand swings, and I get an extra +1 damage on all swings in fire stance).

Those counterpoints being said....I agree being limited to centered weapons (namely longswords) is a drawback, but you get so many cool and fun toys to play with above and beyond a normal exploiter. 25% incorporeal, finishing moves, wholeness of body, possibly higher AC.

As I said in the original post, I realize this is essentially a less powerful exploiter, I just think this build might be more fun to play. With top end gear, I think it could still be competitive in a DPS role if not dominant.

[Aerendil]

DrylondS,

No worries, then!
I've just made a Rogue version that deals with the same problems I've outlined above (lack of weapon choices), but contented myself with shortswords and unarmed for melee, and shuriken for pulling things. He'll suck at ranged combat, but that's what trapsmithing is for I guess
My only concern with Ranger is that the urge to use the bow (especially with manyshot) is just too great, and it drove me nuts constantly having to re-click my stances and re-build ki - but if that's a non-issue for you, then it's no problem at all

Also keep in mind regarding the 18 Ranger setup, you can get the best of both worlds.
18 Ranger / 1 Monk / 1 Fighter could be in Fire stance and still get the 5% dbl-strike

If you decide to keep /6 Monk, however, I can definitely vouch for the Shadow Fade ability though. It rocks

[DrylondS]

One thing to consdier. Oversized TWF is no longer required since I wouldn't be taking Tempest III...the -2 to hit isn't a big deal, as my attack bonus should be quite good. Anyone have a suggestion for a different feat to take at level 18 that might prove more useful?

~Leo

[unbongwah]

Fairly similar to my build, though I went human instead of elf for the extra feat and self-healing amp; light path instead of dark for the free healing; and Shintao instead of Ninja Spy. Yours has more impressive stats, but then mine isn't a twice-TRed char with tomes out the wazoo.

[DrylondS]

unbongwah, thanks for linking your build, I looked it over and it looks fairly good.

What benefits do you anticipate getting from shintao I, I considered it initially until I learned that the smite evil was on a 30 second cooldown, and replaced your normal damage instead of adding to it. While path of light does seem like a better choice for a build only taking 7 levels of monk, my build should have enough self healing between wholeness of body, UMD heal scrolls, and ranger cure moderates as needed. Considering that the ninja spy 25% incorporeal stacks with blur AND displacement...its really hard to say no to 1/4 melee damage negated, not to mention it frees up a feat because I dont need to take stunning fist, and can therefore go elf for higher AC and longsword racial enhancements.

I will miss out on human versatility and spot though.

[Sweyn]

You have the +4 tomes banked already? I usually stop reading a build after i see +4 tomes.

Why? There are currently 3 raids in the game that drop them. (1 raid you get 2 chances) No matter how hard they may be to get, it is something to work towards, It's nothing unreasonable.

OP : This build looks pretty fun. I didn't read into detail too much. It looks heavy gear intensive, and i like that. It gives a toon with something to work towards. It can def. work.

- One thing, i might lower dex a tad bit, and raise Con.

[thatotherdude]

I've been racking my brain, trying to figure out the gear set for this build - all that I've come up with is Epic Mroranon, Spectral, Setinel bracers, Icy, and Chattering Ring. If someone could post up a potential gear listing, it would help me determine how far away I am from this idea. Also, what does everyone think about working in a Litany to get even more obscene of an AC score? I don't know if the dps hit of using that instead of Bloodstone would be worth it.

[DrylondS]

I'm working on a bit of a build overhaul that should improve the build further. I can include a proposed gear list along with version 2 probably tonight or tomorrow.

[AylinIsAwesome]

Really the only cool properties I can't get are "wounding of puncturing", but this flavor of the month seems to have expired.

Untrue. You'll have Ninja Spy 1, so you'll have access to Shortswords.

Speaking of which, I'm kind of curious why you're throwing out two feats to use Longswords, instead of sticking with shortswords at that point.

EDIT: I see you've already adjusted the build for that since I pressed "post reply" and "submit".

[unbongwah]

What benefits do you anticipate getting from shintao I

I based my build on the Solar Phoenix. IIRC, Shintao's Prot. from Evil ability is a light move so it counts towards your healing ki finisher; it takes half as much ki to fire off than FoL (5 vs 10), so you can use it that much more often.

While path of light does seem like a better choice for a build only taking 7 levels of monk, my build should have enough self healing between wholeness of body, UMD heal scrolls, and ranger cure moderates as needed.

The goals of my build were pretty good free party healing from FoL & healing ki, decent DPS, UMD, and trapmonkey skills. Wholeness of Body is self-only; and last I checked, heal scrolls and cure spells weren't free.

Considering that the ninja spy 25% incorporeal stacks with blur AND displacement

Yeah, I hadn't realized until recently it was a stacking bonus; that does make it a lot more attractive.