Picking the Right Feats for Epic

[taospark]

This is a straightforward 32 point Max Strength Half-Orc Greataxe wielder; he's consistently gotten the top kill count and highest DPS in quests up to his level so far while staying alive in most areas but obviously, doesn't have the survivability of a tank.

Notes: Yes, I went 18 Fighter/2 Barb instead of Pure Fighter or splashing Ranger for Diehard/+3 damage buff. No tomes have been applied yet and for gear, I'm using the Siren Set, Voice/Mantle, and 3 Abishai Might items with the Invader Tokens Ring of Balance reward and Jump boots.


Feats not seen: Toughness and Stunning Blow




I'm trying to figure out what feats I should get and I still have my free feat exchange token.

On my radar are:
- Sap (for Epic Crowd Control, especially bosses)
- Superior Weapon Focus
- Two Handed Fighting

What I'm 50/50 on are:
- Skill Focus - Balance
- Resilience
- Power Critical

Are there any other feats I'm not thinking of like Hamstring or Slicing Blow?

Like I said, my goal is cycling Cleave/Great Cleave for some huge AoE. I can exchange Luck of Heroes and get two Two Handed Fighting feats in a row but without the Barbarian capstone, I'm not that sure about relying on glancing blows.

[Kourier]

Sap doesn't work on bosses... But it is good cc! Superior weapon focus is required for kensai III. If you go THF you should definitely pick up the entire chain - GTHF gives you a 3rd glancing blow. And it is a large DPS increase.

You are correct to be suspicious of all the feats you are 50/50 on - don't take any of them.

Slicing blow is pretty lousy - a couple 1d4s of bleeding damage, I think.

Could take quick draw for a few more swings per haste boost. So I'm thinking sap, superior weapon focus, THF chain, and if there's room, quick draw or another toughness. Personally I'm not a fan of improved sunder or luck of heroes, but each to his own.

[Jahmin]

What I'm 50/50 on are:
- Skill Focus - Balance
- Resilience
- Power Critical

None of these are 50/50 feats - they are all simply terrible. Avoid them!

[taospark]

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

I have 4 feat spots left, 3 counting SWF assuming I don't take Sap. I guess I took Improved Sunder because I figured the +5 to attack bonus might help other party melees but maybe not at the expensive of dropping my own glancing blows DPS.

Just two quick questions:

1) How worried should I be about having a good Balance skill in Epics as a DPS?

2) If I already have +10 to confirm criticals (before Bloodstone), am I already set in that department?

[Kourier]

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

I have 4 feat spots left, 3 counting SWF assuming I don't take Sap. I guess I took Improved Sunder because I figured the +5 to attack bonus might help other party melees but maybe not at the expensive of dropping my own glancing blows DPS.

Just two quick questions:

1) How worried should I be about having a good Balance skill in Epics as a DPS?

2) If I already have +10 to confirm criticals (before Bloodstone), am I already set in that department?

1) I read somewhere the max you ever need is a modified 17.

2) Are you reliably hitting things? Then yes. Kensai confirm crit is really overkill.

Remember you can always use regular sunder or just switch to destruction weapon.

[taospark]

That definitely allayed my fears that I would need a high critical confirmation bonus. I should be able to hit 17 Balance although I got used to having over 30 on my Dexterity Ranger.

[Maxallu]

Sorry, I know this is a feat thread but you have to do something about that 0% fortification asap. Go farm taps now!

[FrozenNova]

Barbarian splash with no sprint boost on the hotbar? That's half the reason you take barbarian! =P
Consider quickdraw - lowers the activation time of your action boosts so you lose only one swing by taking the time to start one up. Nice for kensei orcs with all that haste boost.

[taospark]

Sorry, I know this is a feat thread but you have to do something about that 0% fortification asap. Go farm taps now!

That's next on my to-do list. Gianthold is the first place where I'm feeling the crits before I can clear a mob and I know it'll get worse as time goes on.

FrozenNova: I'm putting action points into Stunning DCs but was planning on getting another clickie.

[haku-ba]

Sorry, I know this is a feat thread but you have to do something about that 0% fortification asap. Go farm taps now!

Or if you are aiming for epic, get any item with heavy fort on it, ie belt, then go farm claw for epic bracers instead of farming the taps. If you are going to be running a lot of end game you are going to replace your minos anyway. On melee this usually means a claw set, so you could save yourself the tap trouble, especially if you don't have an arcane to farm the taps in an hour or two.

Bracers seem to be one of the easier claw items to get too.

[taospark]

Is Full Plate of the Defender a good alternative or am I giving up a better Full Plate in the process?

[somenewnoob]

Barbarian splash with no sprint boost on the hotbar? That's half the reason you take barbarian! =P
Consider quickdraw - lowers the activation time of your action boosts so you lose only one swing by taking the time to start one up. Nice for kensei orcs with all that haste boost.

This. Makes a big difference, just got it last level and am loving it.

[Cam_Neely]

Or if you are aiming for epic, get any item with heavy fort on it, ie belt, then go farm claw for epic bracers instead of farming the taps. If you are going to be running a lot of end game you are going to replace your minos anyway. On melee this usually means a claw set, so you could save yourself the tap trouble, especially if you don't have an arcane to farm the taps in an hour or two.

Bracers seem to be one of the easier claw items to get too.

Trying to run enough red fens epics to get the claw set with 0 fort will get you on many blacklists. Farming taps takes just a bit of time, and can be done solo when you are not running other things. Dont wait for the epic set, figure out how to get 100% fort is something that has to be addressed yesterday on anyone above lv 13 (or earlier). A belt will work, if you dont mind dropping some plat in the AH, but taps are very very easy to get.

[taospark]

Trying to run enough red fens epics to get the claw set with 0 fort will get you on many blacklists. Farming taps takes just a bit of time, and can be done solo when you are not running other things. Dont wait for the epic set, figure out how to get 100% fort is something that has to be addressed yesterday on anyone above lv 13 (or earlier). A belt will work, if you dont mind dropping some plat in the AH, but taps are very very easy to get.

Yeah, I already have a dozen tapestries and a backup Heavy Fortification belt. Thanks for the splash of cold water; I guess I was looking for a way to easily include HF without having to totally change my item setup but using Siren Set + Abishai Set + DM Set was bound to run out of steam at some point.