Wizard/Rogue build need help

[Falske_bengt]

Hi ddo gamers!

I've been working on a Wiz/Rog build, but I need some advise.
I have the 32 point build, dont have the warforged race.

Im thinking human 18Wiz/2Rog lawful good
14 str
8 dex
16 con
18 int
8 wiz
8 cha

The higher str will make me a melee/caster at low levels and i wont suffer so much from rays.

That was what i had in mind, but i have some questions:
I know which skills to take, but the points are to few, which skill should i focus on?
Is knock always working on chests and doors?
Do i need to take pick locks any way? Is there spells for other skills to?
Should i spend my points in to cha instead of str? If so, why?
Any key feats and spells i should have in mind?

Thanks for your help

[Phidius]

I notice that you only have planned for 19 levels - if you'd be open to splashing 1 level of bard in there, take a look at this for a breakdown of skill points and feats per level.

If you don't want Pale Master I wouldn't blame you for not taking it

[andbr22]

I would advise true neutral character -> you will have nice umd (use +2 tome of charisma)
It will allow you to use all stuff without suffering negative levels. Also lategame emeies have sometimes lawfull/good beaters.
Well puting stats into str isn't great idea. Maybe better to max constitution. By endgame you won't melee and rather won't be expected to melee.
Also take feat insightful reflex (reflex saves based on int not dex -> it is usless to take evasion unless you can make reflex saves.)
well i am not sure but if you have knock you won't need lockpick. I heard that with buffs, tools, and items you are able to open most (if not all) lock with only 10 ranks.

[Falske_bengt]

Thanks for the tips.

Sorry Phidius but i planned on going 18 wiz (edited).
Maybe Ill change my mind later on.

Yeah i know that im not expected to melee in high levels but what should i spend the rest of the points on then? cha for higher UMD? If i go 18 con ill earn like 20 more hp, dont know if its worth it.

[rimble]

Yeah i know that im not expected to melee in high levels but what should i spend the rest of the points on then? cha for higher UMD? If i go 18 con ill earn like 20 more hp, dont know if its worth it.

I think you're good as is, certainly at least for leveling. You can consider changing them at 20 if you find you never ever ever melee...but even then...Mass Hold and beatdown with Bursting Heavy Picks...every Strength bonus modifier is +4 damage...

[Fomori]

You will want insightful reflexes for sure.

As far as the stats they look fine except you might want to shift 4-6 pts to Chr for a better UMD. The +2/+3 is going to help much more if you are going to be using heal/raise scrolls and the better cure wands later on than the to hit and damage bonus you get from str. The reason I say 4-6 is that the extra 2 pts of str does help with making sure you are not burdened early game, but its kinda meh, and if you dont care then I would go str 8, chr 14.

Make sure you take rogue at first level for skills and you'll want the second rogue level at 9 or 12. I suggest those because those are when you get a feat and can take insightful reflexes to boost your reflex saves at the same level you get evasion from rogue 2. You prob wont need the saves and evasion till then since the content early on is more forgiving.

Since you will be taking +int on all your ability increases (4,8,12,16,20) you will see an increase in skill points as you level. I also suggest munching a +1 int tome as soon as possible (level 3 if starting from 1, level 4 with vet status). With the first ability increase at 4 it will even out your int again for the extra skill point per level. I also suggest getting a +2 int tome at 7th, or as soon as you can if you are not rolling in the cash.

Since you do have an 18 int (+4 stat bonus), to start you'll get 6 pts for your wiz levels, 12 for your second rogue level and 48 for rogue at level 1. These will also go up as you put ability increases into intelligence. The point of the second rogue level is also to normalize rogue skills you may have slightly neglected early on because of the 1/2 rank per skill pt. The skills you'll want max at 23 ranks are UMD, DD, and Search. Since you are wiz you have the skill pts to burn. Also concentration should be 20+ at level 20. Sometimes you may need to neglect it for a level or 2 but dont completely ignore it. You'll need it to cast while getting beat on, or take quicken but thats another point as well.

Tools you will need to DD, but as someone pointed out if you use knock you wont need them for open locks. Knock is not like in PnP where it opens the door/chest automatically but makes an Open Lock skill roll check with a misc bonus of (2 x (wiz level)) (<-- may be slightly off so dont quote for fact). So it is possible to fail with the spell and/or even be unable to open certain doors/chests.

For feats/enhancements you will prob want spell penetration feat and maybe even greater spell penetration. Each give +2 to your spell pen checks. You will also want to take 1-3 levels of the enhancement line as well. Its expensive but worth it to land spells on the devils and other late game mobs that have decent Spell Resistances.

Otherwise for spells; firewall, finger of death, polar ray, wail of the banshee, delayed blast fireball, ottos irrestable dance, and mass hold monster are your best friends. There are other spells that are useful but as a wizard you can swap out as needed so its not super important you know them 100% now. You can add every spell to your spell book but not every spell can be bought. When you are about to get a new spell level search out the arcane scroll vendors and notice what spells you'll need to take on level up as your freebies because you cannot buy them.

This is a bit long but I hope that it helps somewhat. Its not completely comphrehensive but I wanted to hit some key points and highlights. My inital character was a 20 wizard but I recently decided to TR him in this build 18 wiz/2 rogue and I'm trying to point out my logic used when planning that toon. He is also warforged but I think the concepts are similar enough to be able for you to get some benefit on that as well.

Good luck and have fun with your caster!

[Karlak]

I'dd say there's more than one way to do a decent rogue/wizard.

I have a 1 Rogue / 17 Wiz in transit from Europe. Here's a few things I found:

* Pick Rogue at level 1 for the extra skill points
* Humans are excellent for the high INT, good CON, extra skillpoint/level and feat, as well as Human Versatility boosts to skills, saves etc. I guess Warforged could work if you specifically want a ToD self-healing kiter.
* Evasion's not really that critical for me. I find you need your extra spell levels, -points and -penetration more often. Your rogue/wizard will still fill both the trapzapper and arcane roles in your party in almost all quests. Resists, protections and Super Mario skills work great against many traps.
* I'dd say max Search and Disable Device skills are obligatory.
* You should have a decent Open Locks skill. Knock only works on easy locks.
* Concentration, Spot, UMD are all nice, but you can make do without. Balance is supposed to be good these days, I probably still won't fit it in on my build tho.

I personally went for INT, then CON and DEX. Getting STR instead of DEX would get you less Open Locks, less reflex saves (unless you burn a feat), but better melee and solo ability. Not a bad trade-off.

Sneaking and Swimming skills are useful in some rare quests, but not to such a degree that I would create a build for it.

Also, I agree that True Neutral is probably a better alignment: avoiding Evil damage and using Stability items is nice.