Zerga-FVS

[worthful]

I've got no real plan for this, but it seems like either a really terrible idea or a really fun terrible idea. I'm going to make a FvS THF, that much I know. My plans are to go 18 str, 14 con, 14 cha. I Plan to do 0 offensive casting. I plan to be able to fully heal (through feats, maximize, empower, quicken, extend, etc...). I also plan to do some melee zerging, thus the 18 str. 14 con seems a necessity. 14 cha may be over-kill, i'm not sure. I need to hit up to mass cure critical with quicken, which will be easy with 14 cha and since i'm a FvS mana will be no problem regardless. Since the other two stats are where they need to be, I plan to put level ups into str. Int becomes only related to skillpoints, and since wisdom is the basis of offensive casting which i plan to do none of, it also does not matter. Dex becomes nice for tumble, but that is up in the air....


So here is my question: WF, HORC, or human? For all three I am able to achieve the three stats that matter. Humans get extra skill points which is nice for tumble / jump / UMD (can someone explain to me why everyone loves UMD on fvs?). WF gets the awesome immunities plus great sword usage. HORC gets other THF bonuses.

This is another issue I have with WF that seems to be able to be addressed by the other races: AC. Unless I grab ADM body, which I am not opposed to doing, it seems like WF AC is going to suffer a lot. I plan to be front line melee often, which means my AC cannot be *terrible*. I'm not expecting tank-class AC or even ACs high enough to be semi-tank class. I am, however, expecting it to be high enough to make a difference.

TL;DR, because that's always necessary: Which race for a melee FVS with healing capabilities? HORC, WF, or human? Why do people love UMD on FvS? How do I address the AC issue?

[Hobgoblin]

well you just have to ask yourself one question.

Do ya feel lucky? punk? well do ya?

ok back on target

you have to ask your self is your ac going to be in the mid 60s?

if not dont worry about it

i suggest wf for race btw

[Rawrargh]

I honestly don't see a way to get an ac that matters on a non s&b char without investing a bunch of build points into dex...

That being said, it seems that most heavy hitting fvs go for wf.

[Faent]

You want to take a look at this build:

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=211596

[tgu]

My plans are to go 18 str, 14 con, 14 cha. ... 14 con seems a necessity. 14 cha may be over-kill, i'm not sure.

Str is good, but WF can get an 18 CON and you can down to 12 cha and be good. You only need 19 at max level (12 base + 1-4 tome + 2 capstone + 6 item). Even 12 is overkill, but an 8-10 starting Cha is rough without TOMES.

I Plan to do 0 offensive casting.

You have to do some offensive casting, Bladebarriers is too good. Bladebarrier and slash!

Which race for a melee FVS with healing capabilities? HORC, WF, or human? Why do people love UMD on FvS? How do I address the AC issue?

All races can heal, and WF can do roughly "90% of healing" -- according to Sirgog -- as a dedicated healbot

WF > Human/Half-Orc

Why TGU? WF get more DR, they have Greatswords for free + damage. There damage almost matches (Half-Orc get +1.5 more on THF), and they get more HP, DR, and immunities in exchange. If Half-Orc had a weapon line for free, we'd have a true argument on our hands. That is why I put human TWF/Half-Orc in the same category. TWF > THF, and humans get longswords with Sov. Host + that crucial extra feat.

You want to take a look at this build:

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=211596

To each their own, but I find this build slightly behind Sirgog's build - http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=268346 - Why?

14 Dex (for +3 reflex saves) vs the ability to threat tank. Ship buffs will help mitigate trap damage.

You are a Warforged. You got extra HP, DR, immunities. You should make use of the tools available (you wouldn't skip on UMD, would you?). Even if you dislike tanking, it's good to help out a friend in need.

[Iaga]

I agree with the folks who posted the LoB and Soul Survivor builds. They've been around for a while and as a result have stood the test of time (as much as that holds true in an MMO with constantly changes rules)

You don't need a 14 CHA on a melee soul. Drop it to 12 at least, and i'd consider 10. You only need 19 to cast and i think the HP from a higher CON will be more valuable.

Race wise, WF seems to be the choice for min-maxers. There are some human and elf melee builds out there but i don't think they're as durable.

[voodoogroves]

There are plenty of THF non-WF runnnig around.

They are freaking FVS. They are all sturdy, esp. human/half-elf/dwarf.

[worthful]

I've looked in to the soul survivor build and ran in to the AC problem I mentioned. I just got destroyed in terms of getting hit. It wasn't even a contest, I just took massive amounts of damage. I keep thinking that perhaps I'm trying to do too much with a single build.

At its most basic I'm looking for a melee that I can zerg with, preferably THF, that is self sufficient. BTW, i hated playing monk, so thats out, plus its most likely not a quarterstaff build. I keep hearing that FvS can do what I want, and I've seen a TON of melee FvS, but my experience when I ran with the soul survivor was that I got hit often, and i got hit hard. Sure, I could heal myself really well, but it still was massive amounts of pain. I know that later on if I don't hit 60+ ac is useless, but earlier on AC only needs to be low 20s-low 30s.

Should I just give up on the AC and deal with getting hit? Or should I be rolling something more capable of front line combat - paladin/fighter/barb?