32-point Duelist?

[MovingTargte]

Im still farly new to the game but im trying to figure out how to make a duelist. Looking for light/unarmored with MH/OH or somthing of the like. Love to hear your ideas.

[Kriogen]

Rogue. Acrobat Prestige Enhancement. With small Monk splash.

[unbongwah]

If you're talking about the PnP class, there isn't really a good way of replicating it. There's no Insightful Strike feat; and only one DDO weapon which uses INT instead of STR for dmg and it's pretty blah.

If you're just talking about the general concept of a high-DEX Finesse-based melee char, that's possible, but unfortunately you end up reducing your DPS thru lower STR, usually for too small of a gain in AC & to-hit to really matter outside of certain builds or situations. [Personally I think the late-/endgame AC requirements for DDO are ludicrous, but the game is what it is.]

Still, if you want to do it, a few ideas:

• Pure rogue - the classic. Finesse-based w/rapiers is lower base DPS than STR-based w/khopeshes, but your SA dmg is the same, so it's not like you're useless. And your to-hit will be higher since it's easier to boost DEX than STR on a rogue esp. if you play halfling, elf, or drow. And you will have better AC while leveling than a STR-based rogue, if not endgame-worthy AC.
• Rogue 13 / monk 7 (or monk 6 / ftr 1) - Ninja Spy lets you use short swords as monk weapons, grants Shadow Fade, and adds a bit of SA to help make up for all the rogue lvls lost. [ Or use a staff and combine with Acrobat; Staff of Nat Gann uses DEX instead of STR, although it's a lousy weapon past low lvls IMHO and you can't upgrade it until you hit epic.] Also gets you monk WIS AC bonus, so you have a shot at good AC too.
• Monk 2 / paladin 18 - pallies are a little less dependent on STR for DPS than barbs or ftrs. My idea was a drow Finesse-based DoS tank using rapiers; could also work as halfling.
• Monk 6 / paladin 14 - similar to above, but goes for Ninja Spy and uses short swords.

[elg582]

Im still farly new to the game but im trying to figure out how to make a duelist. Looking for light/unarmored with MH/OH or somthing of the like. Love to hear your ideas.

I'm not sure if this is exactly what you were looking for, but try this : http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=285476

Unarmored, TWF (longswords mostly, but can use shortswords or other monk weapons), great DPS, potential for good AC and incorporeal + self displacement. I'm up to level 17 and trying to decide what to do with the last feat.

[Consumer]

great DPS,

This is not true, the DPS is poor and the level split is not good.

[Chai]

This is not true, the DPS is poor and the level split is not good.

Oh god, book 2.

The king of DPS has spoken. Everyone should just reroll into pure Kensai eSOS specced but use heavy picks most of the time. They are so far ahead of everyone else that the next best DPS build needs 26 minutes of constant beat down to make up the gap after 4.33333 minutes. Nobody should enveavor to play anything else in DDO.

This is a concept build thread. Please drive through.

[Ookami007]

I'm guessing you came from PnP (Pen & Paper) D&D.

I have a sad revelation for you... this is NOT D&D. DDO is LOOSELY based on the CONCEPT of D&D.

Because there is no roleplaying and no DM to think of clever plots and twists and things that challenge the characters, things have degenerated into straight DPS, since 95% of the game is killing things - unlike in real D&D where you can go an entire 4 hour session without combat.

There are no knowledge skills and social interaction skills are basically afterthoughts.

Also, AC is broken in DDO. It literally has no meaning. It's ridiculously high because DDO is a monty-haul, super-high magic world that makes the Forgotten Realms look like an anti-magic zone.

With that in mind, the duelist is possible... but here's the catch.... it's useless. And concept of a finese fighter is a gimped DPS fighter that people will hesitate to invite into high level and especially epic groups.

I love playing the more swashbuckling precision fighters in real D&D, but the concept doesn't translate to a combat based MMO like DDO.

So, here's a couple of ideas...

1) Drow assassin (20 levels rogue/Assassin 3) - drow have high DEX and INT, natural spell resistance and bonuses to hit/damage with rapiers and short swords. It's the closest you'll get to a swashbuckler. You'll do significantly less damage than a khopesh build, but you'll keep your flavor.

2) 6 ranger / 12 rogue / 2 monk - with this build, depending on how you set it up, you can get your WIS to AC, plus extra feats, plus extra TWF, plus assassin 2. Keep in mind, AC is broken, so you'll still get hit.

I held out for several years before TRing or LRing my rogues to STR based khopesh builds. Why? Because in the end, I decided I wanted to contribute to my guild raids in a tangible way instead of being carried to the end chest.

Some people like free rides... some people like to earn their keep.

[elg582]

Actually, the latest updates to epics have balanced out the to-hit a little bit; AC starts being meaningful about 75, now. That's still out of reach of most dps builds, but I think the exploiter might be making a comeback.

P.S. So, the extra attacks from tempest, the extra to-hit and damage from kensei and elf, and the monk strikes do not add up to real dps?

And what's wrong with the split? 12 fighter only gives a few +4 str boosts at the cost of action points and loses feats, 12 ranger only gets barkskin and 10% offhand attack and also loses feats, and 12 monk would be better unarmed, another race, and, also, loses feats.

Anyway, I agree that you shouldn't go finesse, but you can still have DPS and AC.

[unbongwah]

The king of DPS has spoken.

While the rest of your post made me chuckle , you don't have to be an obsessed minmaxer like Consumer to realize this build (which is the one he was commenting on, not the OP's idea) is not "great DPS" unless we're using a really generous definition of "great."

P.S. So, the extra attacks from tempest, the extra to-hit and damage from kensei and elf, and the monk strikes do not add up to real dps?

The problem is longswords are a low-DPS weapon to begin with compared to the almighty khopesh. The boost from monk 6 (basically Wind 2 stance and 2nd-tier strikes) isn't enough to make up for the difference in crit multiplier except against 100% fort enemies, especially since the speed boosts from Tempest I and Wind stance got nerfed in U5.

I'm not completely knocking WSS-based builds - got one myself - but if it's "great DPS" you're after, it's not longswords you should be using.

[elg582]

The problem is longswords are a low-DPS weapon to begin with compared to the almighty khopesh. The boost from monk 6 (basically Wind 2 stance and 2nd-tier strikes) isn't enough to make up for the difference in crit multiplier except against 100% fort enemies, especially since the speed boosts from Tempest I and Wind stance got nerfed in U5.

I'm not completely knocking WSS-based builds - got one myself - but if it's "great DPS" you're after, it's not longswords you should be using.

Elf enhancements put longswords pretty close to khopeshes, and the ability to stay centered put them over the top; yes, the khopesh still has a slight edge in raw dps, made up for IMHO by the survivability, versatility, and extra dps of the monk class, tempest and wind stance nerfs notwithstanding.

Actually, that's why I'm usually in sun stance; extra to-hit and damage and more ki for more strikes is more valuable than 5% double strike, unless the casters are being skimpy with haste.

On top of that, the OP was looking for a duelist, i.e. hard to hit TWF with special moves; I thought it was pretty close.

[MovingTargte]

I thank everyone for helping me out here. You definatly gave me a few ideas that i can play with.