Help with Artificer build Dwarf(Non-Melee)

[dbrizzle]

Hi, I have recently come back to ddo from long long break and wana try out Arti's since I loved playing rogues. And reference links to older builds would be useful, but I promise I've probably already read them.
Here's whats up! I am trying to put together a Non-Melee Dwarf, normal ARTY build, ranged DPS and decent spell abilities. I've asked people in game, and most say that it should be fine, a few people say elf would be a little better but not much. I have 32point build. I refuse to play a WF for any more of my toons, tired of em! Dwarf or Halfing ideas welcome! THANKS!!

[karl_k0ch]

Why Dwarf? I do not see any inherent synergies towards that particular choice of race, especially when you are explicitely excluding melee fighting, as one of the few benefits of a Dwarf is the use of a Dwarven Axe, where you either need to splash a martial class (bad for your DCs and Runearm damage), use master's touch (no other weapon enhancement possible*), or spend a feat (actually, one of the less disruptive choices on a pure Arty. I suggest to stay pure on an Arty who does not have a strong desire to melee.

To help you with your build, I'm going to list a few feats, and explain why they are useful. A non-human pure artificer is going to have 7 + 5 feats.


No-brainer
Toughness. On a d6 hitpoint class, up to 62 extra HP help.

Ranged Necessities
Point Blank Shot. More pewpewpew in mellee range.
Improved Precise Shot. Careful positioning will double or triple your ranged damage output. Requires 17 Dex.
Precise Shot. Prereq for IPS.
Improved Critical: Ranged. Even more pewpewpew damage.
Rapid Shot. Speeding up the shooting animation will help you to deal damage faster. I consider this the weakest feat in this section.

Things which help you to deal more damage with your Blade Barrier
Maximize.
Empower.
Spell Focus: Evocation.
Greater Spell Focus: Evocation.

Useful Stuff
Construct Essence. Allows self-healing as long as you are not able to UMD heal scrolls et. al. Should be switched out at cap.
Quicken. In particular useful for Reconstructs.
Augment Summoning. Helps your pet, but also makes you are sought-after puppie buffer in HoX.



Regarding Starting Stats, I suggest to max(ish) Int, get Dex to a level where you can get 19 Dex with a tome (usually that will be 17), put 2-4 points in Str so you are not overloaded, and put the other points in Con.
For a Dwarf, this is actually pretty hard to do and will either result in a lower Int score, or the decision to forfeit IPS:
10/17/14/17/8/6 seems to be the best choice for a Dwarf with IPS,
10/15/16/18/8/6 seems to be the best choice for a Dwarf without IPS; instead of 15 Dex/16 Con, also 16/14 can be taken.

For a Halfling, I'd pick 8/17/14/18/8/8.

Edit: * I might actually be wrong on this, and MT might stack with other Arty weapon buffs.

[krogyy]

use master's touch (no other weapon enhancement possible),

is it how it works on live?

on lamannia i rolled an arty between various oher things, i checked if master touch stacks with weapon augments. as far as i could see it did, i had insightful strike, elemental weapons and master touch going at the same time.

[karl_k0ch]

is it how it works on live?

on lamannia i rolled an arty between various oher things, i checked if master touch stacks with weapon augments. as far as i could see it did, i had insightful strike, elemental weapons and master touch going at the same time.

I am not sure about this, as I have not tested it. I will add a note in my post.

[unbongwah]

I'd probably do a Dragonmarked dwarf arty so you could add the Warding Glyphs to your repertoire. It's a flavor build, sure, but might as well add the only thing (besides CON & HPs) a dwarf can bring to a ranged arty.

[unbongwah]

I'd probably do a Dragonmarked dwarf arty so you could add the Warding Glyphs to your repertoire.

Concept build to get you started:

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 03.12.01
DDO Character Planner Home Page

Level 20 True Neutral Dwarf Female
(20 Artificer) 
Hit Points: 272
Spell Points: 1157 
BAB: 15\15\20\25\25
Fortitude: 10
Reflex: 10
Will: 11

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(32 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 20)
Strength              8                     8
Dexterity            16                    19
Constitution         16                    18
Intelligence         18                    27
Wisdom                8                     8
Charisma              6                     6

Tomes Used
+2 Tome of Dexterity used at level 7
+2 Tome of Constitution used at level 7
+2 Tome of Intelligence used at level 7

Level 1 (Artificer)
Feat: (Selected) Least Dragonmark of Warding


Level 2 (Artificer)


Level 3 (Artificer)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness


Level 4 (Artificer)
Ability Raise: INT
Feat: (Artificer Bonus) Point Blank Shot


Level 5 (Artificer)


Level 6 (Artificer)
Feat: (Selected) Lesser Dragonmark of Warding


Level 7 (Artificer)


Level 8 (Artificer)
Ability Raise: INT
Feat: (Artificer Bonus) Maximize Spell


Level 9 (Artificer)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Dragonmark of Warding


Level 10 (Artificer)


Level 11 (Artificer)


Level 12 (Artificer)
Ability Raise: DEX
Feat: (Artificer Bonus) Improved Critical: Ranged Weapons
Feat: (Selected) Precise Shot


Level 13 (Artificer)


Level 14 (Artificer)


Level 15 (Artificer)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Precise Shot


Level 16 (Artificer)
Ability Raise: INT
Feat: (Artificer Bonus) Quicken Spell


Level 17 (Artificer)


Level 18 (Artificer)
Feat: (Selected) Empower Spell


Level 19 (Artificer)


Level 20 (Artificer)
Ability Raise: INT
Feat: (Artificer Bonus) Heighten Spell
Enhancement: Artificer Damage Boost I
Enhancement: Artificer Damage Boost II
Enhancement: Artificer Crossbow Attack I
Enhancement: Artificer Crossbow Damage I
Enhancement: Artificer Crossbow Damage II
Enhancement: Artificer Improved Rune Arm Use I
Enhancement: Artificer Improved Rune Arm Use II
Enhancement: Artificer Improved Rune Arm Use III
Enhancement: Artificer Battle Engineer I
Enhancement: Artificer Rune Arm Overcharge I
Enhancement: Arcane Empowerment
Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark Use I
Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark Use II
Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark Use III
Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark Use IV
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Improved Use Magic Device I
Enhancement: Improved Use Magic Device II
Enhancement: Improved Use Magic Device III
Enhancement: Improved Use Magic Device IV
Enhancement: Charged Spellcasting I
Enhancement: Combustive Spellcasting I
Enhancement: Kinetic Spellcasting I
Enhancement: Deadly Shocks I
Enhancement: Deadly Flame I
Enhancement: Deadly Kinetics I
Enhancement: Storm Manipulation I
Enhancement: Storm Manipulation II
Enhancement: Storm Manipulation III
Enhancement: Storm Manipulation IV
Enhancement: Flame Manipulation I
Enhancement: Flame Manipulation II
Enhancement: Flame Manipulation III
Enhancement: Flame Manipulation IV
Enhancement: Force Manipulation I
Enhancement: Force Manipulation II
Enhancement: Force Manipulation III
Enhancement: Force Manipulation IV
Enhancement: Artificer Intelligence I
Enhancement: Artificer Intelligence II
Enhancement: Artificer Intelligence III
Enhancement: Artificer Wand and Scroll Mastery I
Enhancement: Artificer Wand and Scroll Mastery II
Enhancement: Artificer Wand and Scroll Mastery III
Enhancement: Artificer Wand and Scroll Mastery IV

[Bekki]

I would also Reccomend this one by LeslieWest_Guitargod to check out...

http://forums.ddo.com/showpost.php?p...6&postcount=97

[dbrizzle]

Thank you for all the insight and help, I will post more questions as they arise, such a great gaming community here. ty *Had a question, if Master Touch stacks with Insightful dmg/strike what would that mean for this char build? Versatility (ax and Xbow) or what, just wandering, thanks!.

[wax_on_wax_off]

You mention in your OP that halfling is an option and I'd definitely suggest going for halfling over dwarf. When the expansion is released it will be possible to make a pure halfling artificer with the assassin prestige enhancement which will give you a vorpal repeater, how fun does that sound?

Even without the expansion the sneak enhancements and higher dex score are still very good for a pure ranged artificer.

If I wanted a dwarf I'd try for a melee build, I'm just about to TR my paladin into a melee build for better or worse, human though.

[dbrizzle]

You mention in your OP that halfling is an option and I'd definitely suggest going for halfling over dwarf. When the expansion is released it will be possible to make a pure halfling artificer with the assassin prestige enhancement which will give you a vorpal repeater, how fun does that sound?

Even without the expansion the sneak enhancements and higher dex score are still very good for a pure ranged artificer.

If I wanted a dwarf I'd try for a melee build, I'm just about to TR my paladin into a melee build for better or worse, human though.

For now I'll just stick with dwarf, but in the future or next life halfing sounds awesome. You mention sneak enhancements, which i'm unfamiliar with unless I splashed some rogue in there. Anyways right now, I'm lvl 6 and havn't noticed any downfall for playing dwarf, I actually excel more so than most the arty's i've ran quest with or seen when I play my other toons. I still have not taken construct essence or toughness and 90% of the time manage just fine on elite, if not I am ressing the healer or tank with my crazy splash heal spells. I got the hang of playing a party based arti really fast, and I think it boils down to (so far) play style over feats/synergies to be a good arty. I am normally tied for first or second place for most kills, I do great dps, can get traps, heal if the time comes and have decent ac which makes me hard to hit when that **** rust monster gets angry at me.

Sorry for the wall, but I was just updating on my experience playing this toon so far. I am really interested in some Masters Touch, Enchanted weapon, Insighful strike/dmg combo's. I will work on some ideas but seems like there is a way to redo base stats, chug a few tombs and have a xbow/dwarven ax mad man on your hands. Any suggestions ideas would be welcome, anyway thanks again, enjoying the hell out of the arti class, For better or dwarf!

[unbongwah]

When the expansion is released it will be possible to make a pure halfling artificer with the assassin prestige enhancement

Has Turbine confirmed that racial PrEs are getting added? If so, that would be pretty sweet.

You mention sneak enhancements, which i'm unfamiliar with unless I splashed some rogue in there.

I presume waxy's referring to the halfling Cunning & Guile enhs, which add flanking to-hit & sneak atk dmg. The downside is they have to be taken in tandem and get pretty expensive: 20 APs to max out the line (+4 to-hit, +12 SA dmg). A HE w/rogue dilly is much more AP-efficient: 6 APs for 3d6 SA (10.5 on average).

[dbrizzle]

Could someone post a melee build for a dwarf arti using dwarven axe, ideas?