Build Name: Paragon Fighter
Author: Sigfried Trent
Requester: boltok
Last Updated: 08/25/10
Key Words [Fighter, Tank, DPS, THF, Intimidate, Starter]
Objectives
The request was from a very new DDO player who wanted a human fighter that would do good to excellent damage in late game. They specifically mentioned using a greatsword.
Approaching this I wanted to make a Fighter that would grow well for a new player and give them a taste of the different aspects a fighter build can bring to the table. It is less min-max than it might be but I think the damage sacrifices are small compared to the versatility you get.
Design
For starters we are looking at a pure fighter, which means I have lots of feats to work with. This one is using two handed weapons, which while still not as good as two weapon fighting for overall damage, is reasonably close, often better at lower levels, and is easier to do on a 28pt character.
For a two handed fighter strength is paramount and after that constitution. Kensei is the clear choice for the DPS focus and offers nice THF benefits as well. Kensei is also good for tactics feats so I will include Stun and Improved Trip, both of which can be really nice for a character without built in self healing. Improved Trip requires Combat Expertise and Pure fighters can reach a high intimidate skill so I am making the build capable of playing intimidate tank when needed. That necessitates a reasonably high Intelligence and at least modest Charisma.
Charisma and the extra skill points means we can train UMD even though its not a focus of the build, at high levels it can become handy to have. The intim focus leads me to want to take the Least Sentinel Dragon Mark. I’m a fan of it for human intimidate builds. The shield of faith spell is a nice AC bump that frees up a gear slot and progresses a bit faster than the Protection items do. (Protection items and Shield of faith are both Deflection Bonuses so they do not stack with one another.) And of course its +2 Intimidate and has a stacking enhancement.
As the build develops Strength and damage get priority followed by durability and then intimidate. Feats start to free up around level 12 and you see some of the somewhat more optional material like Intim boosts and quick draw. Bastard sword tops out the build although I wouldn’t expect it to see a lot of use.
The final result is a very solid and well rounded fighter. DPS is about as good as you can get for a two hander, the attack boosts and Kensei bonuses mean you hit extremely hard. When a tank is needed you can move to Tower shield and turtle up with a very respectable intimidate skill. Your AC potential is not in the ballpark of a dedicated tank, but with blocking DR and enough AC to at least get a few misses, you should be healable by any competent healer. Hit points are solid though a dedicated tank will have a bit more. Saves are weak as is the case with most pure fighter builds so immunity items or pots are a necessity for the hard core player. Played well and decently equipped, I doubt anyone could tell this build from a top notch 32pt build with tomes a plenty.
Code:Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 3.5.1 DDO Character Planner Home Page Level 20 Neutral Good Human Female (20 Fighter) Hit Points: 352 Spell Points: 0 BAB: 20\20\25\30\30 Fortitude: 15 Reflex: 6 Will: 6 Starting Ending Feat/Enhancement Abilities Base Stats Base Stats Modified Stats (28 Point) (Level 1) (Level 20) (Level 20) Strength 16 21 24 Dexterity 10 10 10 Constitution 15 15 16 Intelligence 14 14 14 Wisdom 8 8 8 Charisma 10 10 10 Starting Ending Feat/Enhancement Base Skills Base Skills Modified Skills Skills (Level 1) (Level 20) (Level 20) Balance 2 11 11 Bluff 0 0 3 Concentration 2 3 6 Diplomacy 0 0 3 Disable Device n/a n/a n/a Haggle 0 0 0 Heal -1 -1 -1 Hide 0 0 0 Intimidate 4 23 36 Jump 7 30 30 Listen -1 -1 -1 Move Silently 0 0 0 Open Lock n/a n/a n/a Perform n/a n/a n/a Repair 2 2 2 Search 2 2 2 Spot 0 10 10 Swim 3 8 8 Tumble 1 1 1 Use Magic Device 2 11 11 Level 1 (Fighter) Skill: Balance (+2) Skill: Intimidate (+4) Skill: Jump (+4) Skill: Spot (+1) Skill: Tumble (+1) Skill: Use Magic Device (+2) Feat: (Selected) Toughness Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Two Handed Fighting Feat: (Human Bonus) Weapon Focus: Slashing Weapons Enhancement: Fighter Haste Boost I Enhancement: Fighter Strategy (Trip) I Enhancement: Fighter Intimidate I Enhancement: Fighter Toughness I Level 2 (Fighter) Skill: Balance (+0.5) Skill: Intimidate (+1) Skill: Jump (+1) Skill: Spot (+0.5) Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5) Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Stunning Blow Enhancement: Fighter Strategy (Stunning Blow) I Enhancement: Fighter Strength I Level 3 (Fighter) Skill: Balance (+0.5) Skill: Intimidate (+1) Skill: Jump (+1) Skill: Spot (+0.5) Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5) Feat: (Selected) Least Dragonmark of Sentinel Enhancement: Human Improved Recovery I Enhancement: Deneith Intimidation I Enhancement: Racial Toughness I Level 4 (Fighter) Ability Raise: STR Skill: Balance (+0.5) Skill: Intimidate (+1) Skill: Jump (+1) Skill: Spot (+0.5) Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5) Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Weapon Specialization: Slashing Weapons Enhancement: Fighter Attack Boost I Enhancement: Fighter Critical Accuracy I Enhancement: Fighter Toughness II Level 5 (Fighter) Skill: Balance (+0.5) Skill: Intimidate (+1) Skill: Jump (+1) Skill: Spot (+0.5) Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5) Enhancement: Fighter Attack Boost II Enhancement: Fighter Critical Accuracy II Level 6 (Fighter) Skill: Balance (+0.5) Skill: Intimidate (+1) Skill: Jump (+1) Skill: Spot (+0.5) Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5) Feat: (Selected) Combat Expertise Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Power Attack Enhancement: Kensei Greatsword Mastery I Enhancement: Fighter Kensei I Level 7 (Fighter) Skill: Balance (+0.5) Skill: Intimidate (+1) Skill: Jump (+1) Skill: Spot (+0.5) Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5) Enhancement: Fighter Strategy (Stunning Blow) II Enhancement: Human Adaptability Strength I Level 8 (Fighter) Ability Raise: STR Skill: Balance (+0.5) Skill: Intimidate (+1) Skill: Spot (+1) Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5) Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Improved Critical: Slashing Weapons Enhancement: Fighter Strategy (Stunning Blow) III Enhancement: Fighter Greatsword Specialization I Level 9 (Fighter) Skill: Balance (+0.5) Skill: Intimidate (+1) Skill: Spot (+1) Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5) Feat: (Selected) Improved Two Handed Fighting Enhancement: Fighter Haste Boost II Enhancement: Racial Toughness II Level 10 (Fighter) Skill: Balance (+0.5) Skill: Intimidate (+1) Skill: Jump (+1) Skill: Spot (+0.5) Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5) Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Improved Trip Enhancement: Fighter Armor Mastery I Enhancement: Fighter Strategy (Trip) II Level 11 (Fighter) Skill: Balance (+0.5) Skill: Intimidate (+1) Skill: Jump (+1) Skill: Spot (+0.5) Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5) Enhancement: Fighter Strength II Level 12 (Fighter) Ability Raise: STR Skill: Balance (+0.5) Skill: Intimidate (+1) Skill: Jump (+1) Skill: Spot (+0.5) Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5) Feat: (Selected) Greater Weapon Focus: Slashing Weapons Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Greater Weapon Specialization: Slashing Weapons Enhancement: Kensei Greatsword Mastery II Enhancement: Fighter Kensei II Level 13 (Fighter) Skill: Balance (+0.5) Skill: Intimidate (+1) Skill: Jump (+1) Skill: Spot (+0.5) Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5) Enhancement: Human Greater Adaptability Constitution I Level 14 (Fighter) Skill: Balance (+0.5) Skill: Intimidate (+1) Skill: Jump (+1) Skill: Spot (+0.5) Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5) Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Quick Draw Enhancement: Fighter Intimidate II Enhancement: Fighter Toughness III Level 15 (Fighter) Skill: Balance (+0.5) Skill: Intimidate (+1) Skill: Jump (+1) Skill: Spot (+0.5) Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5) Feat: (Selected) Skill Focus: Intimidate Enhancement: Fighter Critical Accuracy III Level 16 (Fighter) Ability Raise: STR Skill: Balance (+0.5) Skill: Intimidate (+1) Skill: Jump (+1) Skill: Spot (+0.5) Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5) Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Superior Weapon Focus: Slashing Weapons Enhancement: Fighter Attack Boost III Enhancement: Fighter Greatsword Specialization II Level 17 (Fighter) Skill: Balance (+0.5) Skill: Intimidate (+1) Skill: Jump (+1) Skill: Spot (+0.5) Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5) Enhancement: Fighter Haste Boost III Level 18 (Fighter) Skill: Intimidate (+1) Skill: Jump (+2) Skill: Spot (+0.5) Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5) Feat: (Selected) Bullheaded Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Greater Two Handed Fighting Enhancement: Kensei Greatsword Mastery III Enhancement: Fighter Kensei III Level 19 (Fighter) Skill: Intimidate (+1) Skill: Jump (+2) Skill: Spot (+0.5) Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5) Enhancement: Fighter Haste Boost IV Level 20 (Fighter) Ability Raise: STR Skill: Balance (+1) Skill: Intimidate (+1) Skill: Jump (+1) Skill: Swim (+1) Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Bastard Sword Enhancement: Fighter Weapon Alacrity Enhancement: Fighter Armor Mastery II
Play
My first tip is to save your gold to buy healing potions. Ideally you have a good healer that will keep you running, but sometimes you will need to self heal and potions are your only good option.
Your main focus is to kill monsters, and ideally you want to take them on one at a time. Get used to tripping and stunning early. You can use trip long before improved trip and still have it be effective. Tactics aren’t the main feature of the build, they are support for your defense helping reduce incoming damage and in the case of stun, helping you kill faster as well. If your offense is slipping for whatever reason (often on a first character your gear is a bit under par) you may want to get a tactics bonus weapon (vertigo or stunning) and use the tactics all the time as it will really help the group. Keep in mind some things are easy to trip, others easy to stun, others near impossible to do either.
Practice tanking with easier monsters and develop your sense of how intimidate works and how many monsters you can handle. If you can get decent armor and weapons at low level (Highest + full plate and greatswords with pure good or other elemental effects) you should have a very easy time leveling and your defenses will be solid. Watch out for casters that hold or throw reflex spells, you want to kill them as fast as you can ignoring the monsters that attack physically until the casters are dead.
Variations
If you later reincarnate or have 32pt builds already, its easy to add to the build. Strength and Con are where you want to put any additional points you get and would be your focus for tomes.
Results 1 to 14 of 14
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08-26-2010, 12:56 PM #1
Paragon Fighter - A "starter" THF Kensei build (by request for Megan/boltok)
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08-26-2010, 01:44 PM #2Community Member
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Respectfully,
I do not see where this build will have a viable AC except in the lower levels, given it's a "starter" build. Since that is the case, I do not see value in taking 14INT and Combat Expertise. Skill Focus:Intimidate instead maybe.
Also, Bastard Sword feat? why? For shield and sword? That is an ok reason if your putting on the shield to pump your AC beyond a specific threshold and will be swinging away with a weap. But with this build, AC is not gona be a goal, so using the shield will mainly be for blocking DR, hence very little weapon swinging.
Just my 2c
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08-26-2010, 04:17 PM #3Build Constructionist
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One small problem with this advice: Stunning only comes on blunt weapons.
Originally Posted by sigtrent
In my (admittedly limited) experience, it's tough to get your Stunning Blow DC high enough to do much good without putting a lot of effort into it: i.e., dwarf or WF for the racial Tactics enhs, Stunning weapons, SB enhs from ftr or extra STR from barb Rage, etc. Of course, this build has plenty of feats to spare, so there's no harm in taking it; but I suspect the requester will be disappointed by how relatively infrequently SB lands at higher lvls.
I suspect CE is so he can add Imp Trip; the extra AC option is just a bonus. Although w/CE, this build could be respecced to Stalwart Defender and hit respectable (though not awesome) AC with the right gear. Originally Posted by shablala
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08-26-2010, 05:06 PM #4
Well its clearly shy of a given full tank build. Keep in mind though, most AC comes from gear and any character can accumulate gear. Originally Posted by shablala
I count it up to 74 with raid buffs and fairly "typical" tank gear. Thats about 10 pts shy of a full Defender/Stalwart but still enough to tank most critters. I've certainly tanked with that kind of AC in VOD and even if you loose the raid bufs you have 60 or so which is not awesome but workable for non raid bosses and the like.
Agreed, but really there weren't many key fighter feats left to pick up. I could take dodge I suppose for the AC, or shield mastery for a bit of DR. I do find there are quests where I go tank because I'm the only hardy melee but its not necessary to shield block and its nice to swing at things. Its definitely the weakest feat of the lot however.Also, Bastard Sword feat? why? For shield and sword? That is an ok reason if your putting on the shield to pump your AC beyond a specific threshold and will be swinging away with a weap. But with this build, AC is not gona be a goal, so using the shield will mainly be for blocking DR, hence very little weapon swinging.
If you have alternate picks I'm sure the requester will find them useful
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08-26-2010, 05:11 PM #5
Good to note. I have a Dwarf BardBarian that has stunning blow, axe specialized. Most of the time I just throw it out while I DPS away and sometimes it works, mostly not so much. I do also carry a +10 stunning maul for when Stun is more critical than straight DPS. Since tactics wasn't specifically requested, I didn't quite specialize around it, for that I'd do WF or Dwarf and I'd go for Maul specialization. Originally Posted by unbongwah
Yep, that was how it went down. The request was just for 'greatsword" but a pure fighter can almost always do a bit more than DPS only, so one choice kind of leads to the next. I have a particular love for builds that reach a little and try to be able to fill multiple roles. I wanted this to be 80% dps and 20% tank or there abouts.I suspect CE is so he can add Imp Trip; the extra AC option is just a bonus. Although w/CE, this build could be respecced to Stalwart Defender and hit respectable (though not awesome) AC with the right gear.
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08-26-2010, 05:27 PM #6Build Constructionist
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Not with base DEX 10 you can't. Originally Posted by sigtrent
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08-26-2010, 06:31 PM #7Build Constructionist
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Build vs Build - FIGHT!
I like fighters with some versatility too - I find pure DPS builds boring to play - which is why I came up with this build. It's a modified version of a human THF Kensai I posted a week or two ago with the first two Sentinel Dragonmarks. [It could have all three, but I've read Globe of Invulnerability stinks, so I didn't include it.] It sacrifices the fighter capstone for full ranks of UMD and +10% movement; the single use of Rage and barb enhs are a bonus. It can be respecced for Stalwart Defender at higher lvls. To be honest, I'm not sure the Lesser DM is worth it, but it can be swapped later for something else, like SF UMD or bastard sword (esp. if you wind up tanking a lot).
It does require two +1 tomes, but they're spaced far enough apart that hopefully even a newcomer can save up to buy them from the AH. But if you really want to do it without tomes, start base stats 16 / 13 / 15 / 13 / 8 / 8; that's only -1 to UMD & Intim. For skills max UMD & Intim every lvl; remaining pts can be spread between Balance, Jump, or even Spot & Open Lock as the player sees fit.
Enhs could be tweaked: e.g., less Toughness or Action boosts for more STR or Intim or tactics DC boosts. I didn't bother with Armor Mastery on the presumption this is not an AC build - or rather, if you want high AC, you'll switch to SD instead - but those can be added too. Basically it's a question of priorities; fighters never seem to have enough enh pts.Code:Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 3.5.1 DDO Character Planner Home Page Level 20 True Neutral Human Female (18 Fighter \ 1 Barbarian \ 1 Rogue) Hit Points: 360 Spell Points: 0 BAB: 19\19\24\29\29 Fortitude: 16 Reflex: 9 Will: 6 Starting Feat/Enhancement Abilities Base Stats Modified Stats (28 Point) (Level 1) (Level 20) Strength 16 24 Dexterity 12 13 Constitution 15 16 Intelligence 12 13 Wisdom 8 8 Charisma 10 10 Tomes Used +1 Tome of Intelligence used at level 9 +1 Tome of Dexterity used at level 15 Level 1 (Rogue) Feat: (Human Bonus) Least Dragonmark of Sentinel Feat: (Selected) Toughness Level 2 (Fighter) Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Two Handed Fighting Level 3 (Barbarian) Feat: (Selected) Power Attack Level 4 (Fighter) Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Weapon Focus: Slashing Weapons Level 5 (Fighter) Level 6 (Fighter) Feat: (Selected) Lesser Dragonmark of Sentinel Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Weapon Specialization: Slashing Weapons Level 7 (Fighter) Level 8 (Fighter) Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Improved Two Handed Fighting Level 9 (Fighter) Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Slashing Weapons Level 10 (Fighter) Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Combat Expertise Level 11 (Fighter) Level 12 (Fighter) Feat: (Selected) Greater Two Handed Fighting Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Improved Trip Level 13 (Fighter) Level 14 (Fighter) Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Greater Weapon Specialization: Slashing Weapons Level 15 (Fighter) Feat: (Selected) Skill Focus: Intimidate Level 16 (Fighter) Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Dodge Level 17 (Fighter) Level 18 (Fighter) Feat: (Selected) Bullheaded Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Greater Weapon Focus: Slashing Weapons Level 19 (Fighter) Level 20 (Fighter) Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Superior Weapon Focus: Slashing Weapons Enhancement: Fighter Attack Boost I Enhancement: Fighter Attack Boost II Enhancement: Fighter Attack Boost III Enhancement: Fighter Extra Action Boost I Enhancement: Fighter Extra Action Boost II Enhancement: Fighter Haste Boost I Enhancement: Fighter Haste Boost II Enhancement: Fighter Haste Boost III Enhancement: Fighter Haste Boost IV Enhancement: Barbarian Sprint Boost I Enhancement: Barbarian Power Attack I Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark Use I Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark Use II Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark Use III Enhancement: Kensei Greatsword Mastery I Enhancement: Kensei Greatsword Mastery II Enhancement: Kensei Greatsword Mastery III Enhancement: Fighter Critical Accuracy I Enhancement: Fighter Critical Accuracy II Enhancement: Fighter Critical Accuracy III Enhancement: Fighter Kensei I Enhancement: Fighter Kensei II Enhancement: Fighter Kensei III Enhancement: Fighter Greatsword Specialization I Enhancement: Fighter Greatsword Specialization II Enhancement: Human Adaptability Constitution I Enhancement: Human Greater Adaptability Strength I Enhancement: Human Improved Recovery I Enhancement: Human Improved Recovery II Enhancement: Racial Toughness I Enhancement: Racial Toughness II Enhancement: Racial Toughness III Enhancement: Fighter Strength I Enhancement: Fighter Strength II Enhancement: Fighter Toughness I Enhancement: Fighter Toughness II Enhancement: Fighter Toughness III
A pure fighter version would basically be the same: lose the two barb enhs and take fighter capstone instead; get 1 more feat in the process. Higher DPS, but slower run speed and loses a whole bunch of skills, inc. max UMD.
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09-03-2010, 03:05 PM #8Community Member
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was trying to transfer this Ubongwah's build into char creator (v 3.5.1) and after taking lvl 2 fighter, the Barbarian class dissapeared. what happened?
Last edited by kurglar; 09-03-2010 at 03:06 PM. Reason: spelled barbarian wrong
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03-16-2011, 02:23 AM #9Community Member
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Could you add the skills in the planner? Other then that, seems like a good build Originally Posted by unbongwah
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03-16-2011, 06:13 PM #10Hero
Mmm... purple!
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Now that's some serious thread necro
A friend ran this build for a while and enjoyed it. Got to about level 10 but then abandoned it to restart with 32 point build. I thought it was great for a newer player. Easy to play and straightforward, but the tactics add another dimension so it doesn't get dull.
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03-31-2011, 10:32 AM #11Community Member
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Hey Sigtrent, even though I'm necro'ing the thread again Originally Posted by sigtrent
I also wonder why the Bastard Sword feat? Might as well go kopesh since at level 20 you have to have some money and some medicore loot from a pack or two you bought (not possible to get to l vl 20 f2p, max is about 15-17 completely f2p, then devils, GH, or vale, or sands/other packs 14+. Also Kopesh offers same base dmg and more crit range
Server: CANNITH
Respect the objective or you'll fail...
When is Lamannia coming back up?
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04-21-2011, 02:11 PM #12Hero
Mmm... purple!
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I'm not SigTrent, but I think the bastard sword feat was there to give an option to go sword and board for when tanking. Since the rest of the build is focused on two-handed weapons, kopesh doesn't bring much to the table. Originally Posted by Roaringdragon
Hey Sigtrent, even though I'm necro'ing the thread again I also wonder why the Bastard Sword feat? Might as well go kopesh since at level 20 you have to have some money and some medicore loot from a pack or two you bought (not possible to get to l vl 20 f2p, max is about 15-17 completely f2p, then devils, GH, or vale, or sands/other packs 14+. Also Kopesh offers same base dmg and more crit range
A couple of posts later Sig said that he thought it was the weakest of the feat choices, and mainly taken only because he didn't see a need for any other important ones.
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04-21-2011, 02:41 PM #13Build Constructionist
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Sorry, I missed this question last month. You can see an updated version of this build in this thread. I didn't list skills, but Intim & UMD should be maxed every lvl; remaining skill pts can go into Balance, Jump, maybe even Spot or Haggle - really it's up to you which skill you think is most useful. Though I may revise the build again in light of U9. I'm just disappointed humans can't have multiple Dragonmarks; adding Least Passage (Expeditious Retreat) for extra zoom would've been fun. Originally Posted by Roaringdragon
Could you add the skills in the planner? Other then that, seems like a good build
Semi-retired Build Engineer. Everything was better back in our day. Get off my lawn.
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04-21-2011, 07:49 PM #14Founder
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You get glancing blows on bastard swords and dwarven axes when you have a shield equipped, or empty offhand. They're affected by the two handed weapon feats also, so there you go.
Just remember. Good build, bad build, it's all the same when you roll a 1.
Grease is a party buff.
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