WF Fighter, is 1 arcane lvl a good idea?

[Khumbaaba]

Hi,

My first wf, usually don't play fighters save for a few splash levels. He's tough, but I solo a lot (sometimes need heals) and when I don't I'd rather not be a burden on the party healer. Is is a good idea to splash 1 arcane lvl for repair wand usage?

If so, sorc or wizzy???

tyvm in advance!

[Teharahma]

No never, ever multiclass with just 1 caster level unless its for acquiring a mana pool or a wizard feat.

[Khumbaaba]

Okay.

So, other than stacks of pots and the occasional hire with repair spells, how do I heal myself?

Any more experienced WF have some suggestions for a new-to-WF?

[barabel]

If you are going Solo, A Hireling Wiz or Sor is far more cost effective for healing than Pots.

If you are in a Group, the primary healer can help out. Be sure to take Healer's Friend I/II (probably avoid III - it's too expensive for what you get out of it).

NOTE: Always try and provide your own healing/buffings. The more self sufficient you are the smoother Quests can be. If you can't afford Repair Serious Pots, go at least with Repair Moderate Pots. Also don't forget to get Heroism, Barkskin (+3), SoF (+3), Haste pots as well. It can be expensive but you will find your survivability greatly increases when you are properly buffed.

Hope some of this helps.

P.S. - One other thing I forgot to mention - Getting DR. If you are going all Fighter, you could take Adamantine Body for the lower levels to get better AC and some DR. You can respec it out later as you level up. On my WF I usually try and go the damage avoidance route rather than rely on healing, though in some quests that's easier said than done.

[voxson5]

You could always go 2rogue/18 fighter, put int high enough so you can max umd, balance, jump to 10 (after stat bonuses) and something else if you want it

twf with a bit of evasion? but most importantly being able to UMD reconstruct scrolls/repair scrolls & wands

With DR:
a 2/18 could get perma DR9/adamantine (6 DR feats + 3 enhancements), 7 basic feats, use one for toughness & all your lovely fighter bonus feats for twf/icrit/powerattack etc

[furbyoats]

along with the healers friend enhancements listed above

there are items that will add healing amplification...clerics will love it when you can be healed like a fleshy :P

[barabel]

You could always go 2rogue/18 fighter, put int high enough so you can max umd, balance, jump to 10 (after stat bonuses) and something else if you want it

twf with a bit of evasion? but most importantly being able to UMD reconstruct scrolls/repair scrolls & wands

With DR:
a 2/18 could get perma DR9/adamantine (6 DR feats + 3 enhancements), 7 basic feats, use one for toughness & all your lovely fighter bonus feats for twf/icrit/powerattack etc

I personally wouldn't recommend going overboard on the DR Feats. There is gear out there which can bestow decent DR so you can save your precious feats for your build.

Simple things like Hammerblock, Axeblock, etc help.

Also, if you have the Sentinels of Stormreach adventure pack, the Blademark Docent is very nice at low-mid levels.
+3 Docent with Lifeshield and Invulnerability (5/magic).

[hu-flung-pu]

There's a lot of confusing information here.

Is it a good idea to take 1 level of arcane? Most likely not.

Is it viable? Sure.

Just make sure you weigh the benefits of doing that, versus the penalties of doing that. It might seem worth it in the short term, but really, are you going to be trying to repair your 800 hit point Barbarian with a repair mod wand?


The hardest part for a new Warforged pugging, is the amount of potions you have to imbibe. I like to buy two stacks of repair pots. One stack, a cheaper, lesser amount, for in between fights, and just chug those like a frat boy at a kegger. And the higher repair pots for heat of the battle needs. You have a few options depending on class as well that eases up your healing needs. Paladins LoH, no penalty to warforged, maybe ask the paladin to use one if he's got it before a shrine. Monks healing amp, helps eliminate nearly all penalties to healing. There's even the docent of blood for an additional 10% healing amp.

Personally, in the beginning, I took the fact that I would receive less healer support as a way to hone my abilities as a team member, and a player. It taught a lot, I mean A LOT about aggro management, when to hit, when not to hit, when was it ok to go in first, when wasn't it (it rarely wasn't, but that's because I was lead tank).

It taught me about group play and the importance of sticking together. Running off will get you killed, I don't care how buffed and uber you think you are, you WILL die sooner or later doing that. As I pugged, I learned that even if I was essentially soloing the quest, just sticking with the group made it more enjoyable for everyone, and made me get invites to groups almost every time I was on.

So it made me think of where the casters, and clerics were, are they drawing aggro that I could help them deal with and conserve on their spell points, making them want to heal me possibly, showing that I've got their back, maybe they could get mine.

I began to think how could I maximize a rogues damage? Does my barbarian or fighter or paladin have intimidate? How about brute fighting? Even one rank goes a long way. Two rogues with an intimitank is just brutal.

I have a high STR, and warforged tactical enhancements, why aren't I trying to trip mobs as much as I can instead of just bashing them (Casters tip over like a weeble-wobble)?

If I'm low on repair pots, but haven't used a shrine, why don't I have a repair skill item and a fox's cunning pot for an extra 2 repair skill points? How are ways that I, as a player, can be more self sufficient, and create less drain on the group?

It taught me how to play smarter and finesse the system and mechanics rather then screaming "heal" when I'm missing a sliver of hit points. Warforged have made me a better player, not because they're great tanks, but because they're fragile in their own way.

Once you hit level nine or ten, heal spells and reconstructs start flying your way, and you've built your foundation of what makes a good player, and about how to play the game.

That's a bit of what I've learned on how to be a Warforged, I hope it helps.

[aiastelmon]

It really depends a lot on how you play and who you play with. If you play in small groups or solo a lot, then splashing a level of Arcane is a perfectly viable idea while leveling. I did it with a fighter, and it helped tremendously. Once you reach a higher level where something like UMD becomes functional, then you can plan to respec that level out with a +1 res stone.

The use of that 1 level of arcane for me was very nice, it gave me:

-A small but useful spell point pool to repair myself (carry a weapon set comprised of a + repair % and repair lore item)
-A few level 1 spells that can really help at low levs, like monster summon 1, nightshield, prot from evil, and of course repair
-A bonus metamagic, you can take mental toughness for extra SP or Extend if you want to self-buff with spells
-Use of repair wands and use of really good tank-buffing wands: bull str, cat's grace, blur, stoneskin, resist energy, etc.

So I know all the min/maxers out there say no on splashing arcane on a WF melee, but it's actually really useful and fun, and makes you quite self sufficient.

Just remember that if you do Addy body, you will have a 35% cast failure, so you'll need to do do one or both of:

-Swapping in a docent that reduces this penalty
-Taking the WF "Inscribed Armour" enhancement