Helves Angel: A Burst DPS Build (12ftr/6Rgr/2Monk)

[Dark-Star]

Glad you like my numbers. They don't apply perfectly to this build but there will be no large differences.

Personally I would swap extend for PA and add 2 Barb levels for 1 PA and 4 str along with other benefits. You lose DF duration but it should make no difference on a build that is designed to burst and move quickly through mobs and quests.

Would also swap to the FB set for an extra rage and extra damage during manyshot.

Thanks for the reply.

I heavily considered going two barb instead of two monk. The rages do fit in nicely on a burst designed build. If one were able to fit in PLF: Barb, then it could really make sense, but the feats are very tight already.

Losing two monk you'd have to scrap extend (meaning losing ~6 mins of +3 to hit and damage per shrine - livable) and toughness - harder to give up on this build that will top out at about 630 hps. Of course the rages would make up for some of the 63 hit points you'd lose with toughness, but again very limited duration rages. To fit in PLF: Barb, the next logical feat to drop would be ICrit: Ranged... now I'd be canabalizing the build somewhat. Also, the fact that they have said that the PLF: barb is not working as intended with stacking str and con makes me very hesitant to TR a barb life just for the feat.

Another thing I considered is that while on paper barb rages add a couple more points of burst damage, in my experience in real in game application it is impossible to get the timing of short rages and re-casting of Divine Favor/Ram's Might perfect every time especially with Madstone thrown in there, resulting in actual lost DPS. Having a 12 minute Ram's, and a 4 minute Divine Favor leaves much more room for getting one's timing perfect.

Evasion. It's nice to have, but like Nick, as the game matures I feel it has become less and less requisite on builds. That said, there are times, like tanking Chrono epic, where it's very nice to have it.

A logical case can certainly be made for two barb levels, but in the end, for me, monk is the superior choice.

[Dark-Star]

Nice build. Love to see this thing with three past life ranger passive feats behind it but that is a lot of work. The 2 barb idea is nice too.

Another possible idea is 2 bard. This gets you almost the same sp as mental toughness and saves a feat, Grants umd for self healing, +2 damage song, and even a moderately workable if short fascinate.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply!

Two bard was also a consideration. Here is why I did not choose it:

1. Don't need UMD.
2. Lose one feat net over two monk.
3. I run with bards 80-90% of the time; always on raids, and while leveling I use the rediculously good bard hirelings. Meaning for me, songs won't stack.
4. I trade evasion and a feat for... spell points.

Two bard would work well perhaps for someone more inclined to solo, but Madmatt70 doesn't let me level without him very often .

Three ranger lives would be extremely nice, but I'll leave that for someone with more leveling endurance than I have.

[Blank_Zero]

Thanks for the reply.

I heavily considered going two barb instead of two monk. The rages do fit in nicely on a burst designed build. If one were able to fit in PLF: Barb, then it could really make sense, but the feats are very tight already.

Losing two monk you'd have to scrap extend (meaning losing ~6 mins of +3 to hit and damage per shrine - livable) and toughness - harder to give up on this build that will top out at about 630 hps. Of course the rages would make up for some of the 63 hit points you'd lose with toughness, but again very limited duration rages. To fit in PLF: Barb, the next logical feat to drop would be ICrit: Ranged... now I'd be canabalizing the build somewhat. Also, the fact that they have said that the PLF: barb is not working as intended with stacking str and con makes me very hesitant to TR a barb life just for the feat.

Another thing I considered is that while on paper barb rages add a couple more points of burst damage, in my experience in real in game application it is impossible to get the timing of short rages and re-casting of Divine Favor/Ram's Might perfect every time especially with Madstone thrown in there, resulting in actual lost DPS. Having a 12 minute Ram's, and a 4 minute Divine Favor leaves much more room for getting one's timing perfect.

Evasion. It's nice to have, but like Nick, as the game matures I feel it has become less and less requisite on builds. That said, there are times, like tanking Chrono epic, where it's very nice to have it.

A logical case can certainly be made for two barb levels, but in the end, for me, monk is the superior choice.

My thoughts....almost exactly lol.

While Evasion isn't as UBER as it once was thought to be, it still has it's place in this game, especially on Ranged focused toons. After all, who else am I gonna stick on the Ele in part 2? =)

[Deathdefy]

I'm running a variant of this build with Aggrim, who is currently level 18 on Khyber.

The only differences are that:
I have Stunning Blow (Works out to a passable DC 38 with +10stunners) instead of PL: Paladin
I have Quickdraw instead of Extend
I have Zen Archery instead of GWF. (And started with 12 Con and 11 Wis on a 36 point build to qualify)

I'm also using handwraps in melee, so went with the bludgeoning feats instead of piercing.

I would probably not use handwraps were I not a monk fan with a sizeable handwrap collection and bursted ToD rings. That said, I get to be constantly in Fire Stance for +2 Str and 25% healing from Jitz-Tetka, and have (yay :P) level 1 elemental strikes to supplement some damage. It's sub-optimal, but still a very sizeable amount of damage very quickly during haste boost.

It's easily the most fun build I have ever played, to the point that I'm seriously considering repeating it to tick my next fighter life.

I seriously hope that your build becomes a template for players wanting to try Arcane Archers; it's way fun, all sorts of easy to play and gear, and would teach the valuable lesson that 83.33% of the time - it's melee time.

[MikeyMang]

Clean with yet another superb build. Get a life would ya? :P

[unbongwah]

Losing two monk you'd have to scrap extend (meaning losing ~6 mins of +3 to hit and damage per shrine - livable) and toughness - harder to give up on this build that will top out at about 630 hps.

I believe you can drop GWF instead; I don't think it's a pre-req for anything on this build. Also, losing Extend is no big deal since you only get lvl 1 spells; it doesn't save any SPs, it just means you have to rebuff twice as often.

Not convinced a barb 2 splash is better than monk 2, but I don't think you lose anything which gimps your build. Not yet awake enough to be sure, though.

[Hafeal]

I really like the build. My question is, how viable do you think the build would work if you took 2 rogue instead Monk and then Cleric dilettante?

I have a 18 rogue / 2 ranger, I have been itching to TR and I really like this build ... I would like to continue some portion of the rogue theme on my character though. It doesn't look like I would have great rogue skills but that would be ok - they don't need to be. Perhaps do rogue at 1 and 7 with ranger in between. Do you think I woudl be giving up to much without the Monk levels?

[TFPAQ]

I have a very similar build on a female elf (HElfs weren't released at the time).

Outstanding ranged performance with multi-shot and she is a dual scimi up close with remarkable melee ability to boot.

The HElf version looks sweet as well.

I still think that multi-shot should be on a shorter timer - given how fast mobs close with you anyway.

[Dark-Star]

I believe you can drop GWF instead; I don't think it's a pre-req for anything on this build. Also, losing Extend is no big deal since you only get lvl 1 spells; it doesn't save any SPs, it just means you have to rebuff twice as often.

Not convinced a barb 2 splash is better than monk 2, but I don't think you lose anything which gimps your build. Not yet awake enough to be sure, though.

Hmm... we need GWS for Kensai II, but looking at the pre-reqs, it doesn't look like GWF is a pre-req for GWS is, unlike how WF is needed for WS.

This frees up a feat! Good catch, I'll make an adjustment in the OP.

Extend is for Divine Favor. We get but three uses per shrine, and extend is the difference between 6 minutes and 12 minutes.

[Dark-Star]

I really like the build. My question is, how viable do you think the build would work if you took 2 rogue instead Monk and then Cleric dilettante?

I have a 18 rogue / 2 ranger, I have been itching to TR and I really like this build ... I would like to continue some portion of the rogue theme on my character though. It doesn't look like I would have great rogue skills but that would be ok - they don't need to be. Perhaps do rogue at 1 and 7 with ranger in between. Do you think I woudl be giving up to much without the Monk levels?

Personally I would not do the rogue splash here for the reasons mentioned on page 1.

With rogue hirelings, there is even less reason to splash for traps and locks now.

I think Cleric Dilettante would be fine leveling up, but end game I'd switch to pure DPS.

[unbongwah]

Hmm... we need GWS for Kensai II, but looking at the pre-reqs, it doesn't look like GWF is a pre-req for GWS is, unlike how WF is needed for WS.

AFAIK, GWF is only a pre-req for SWF & Weap Spec II enh, both of which req. ftr 16. Dunno why GWF isn't a pre-req for GWS, but it works out in a ftr 12 build's favor, so I'm not complaining!

[Blank_Zero]

And now I can justify spending time on the Mabar event for the handwraps in my TR bank >.>

[Blank_Zero]

Bump for knowledge.

Clean, how's it running?

[aristarchus1000]

Love this build, I've been trying to look at builds that take advantage of the new HElf enhancements and this might be it.

[Dark-Star]

Bump for knowledge.

Clean, how's it running?

I do a ton of prep before I TR, so Duality of Man is just 4th level now, blowing through all Harbor content on elite solo, but that can be said of any character at this level.

I have scrutinized the build a lot more, and I don't really see how to make it better, this will be a beast at 20.

I did run some spreadsheets on damage, comapring Deathnips, LS2 picks and handwraps. They are all pretty close in DPS, until auto-crit when the picks dominate. Did a rough comparison of Epic Thornlord and an LS2 bow, and they are pretty close. LS2 seems to be more on average hits, Epic Thornlord more on crits.

[NoidRoid]

Wow sick build, Clean.

I've had my AA on the back burner for a while now, with a tentative plan on some sort of 18/1/1 kensai III final build. I was going back and forth between ranged kensai with paltry melee DPS or melee kensai with serious ranged limitations and build concessions. I think you're right to give up on Kensai III and just sell out for feats to to remain viable in both areas.

Been fiddling around with the planner for a while now and I think you've pretty much nailed it. I couldn't find anything I'd change during that period of inspection as this build fits perfectly with my expectations for an AA. So this gives me a long and challenging project to embark on. First I'll need to salvage my 11ranger/8fighter/1bard trainwreck and set up a TR into paladin. After figuring out how to build and play a paladin, back to Helves Angel for a potent 36 pt final life with all the needed tools. I don't have a heavy pick user, an AA, or a paladin and all 3 aspects are interesting to me and vital parts of this project. Sounds like fun.

[Arysta]

I TRed my Ranger 18 / Fighter 2 into a modified version of this build (trading out picks for longswords, so all the non ranged Weapon Focus and Specialization I changed to slashing; removed the Pali PL as she didn't have it and added Whirling Steel Strike - which will allow her to remain centered while wielding the longswords, yet still give the versitility of handwraps, quarterstaffs, if I so desire, and lastly took the Cleric Dilletante instead of rogue to make her more self sufficient and soloable).

She's now level 3, and I have to say I am really enjoying this build and watching it develop. It's nice to one shot baddies from a distance, or melee up close and personal.

[Blank_Zero]

removed the Pali PL as she didn't have it and added Whirling Steel Strike - which will allow her to remain centered while wielding the longswords, yet still give the versitility of handwraps, quarterstaffs, if I so desire, and lastly took the Cleric Dilletante instead of rogue to make her more self sufficient and soloable).

I like this idea a LOT, and if I get up the nerve to craft even more GS weaponry *already got plenty ahead* I might have to craft up some Longswords >.>

[unbongwah]

How realistic would it be to plan this build around a +3 DEX tome instead? That would let you start with base DEX 16 and put the extra pts into, say, CON 15 for +20 HPs or INT 11 for extra skill pts and a shot at CE (is AC at all worthwhile to this build?).

[Dark-Star]

It's a good question. My personal philosophy is never to plan around a +3 or +4 tome I don't already have. My tome loot luck is just not reliable enough.

That said, should one loot a +3 tome, going back and Lesser Ressing would make adjusting your starting stats a breeze. I'd go with more con.

AC can get decently high while leveling with the right gear. In the end game (epics) AC is dead, so eventually it's a moot point.