Beefcake v2.0 - The Tone Deaf Half Orc

[Sani_Medicor]

I finally got around to updating the Beefcake build for a half orc with two handed fighting.

True Neutral Half Orc
(12 Bard / 6 Fighter / 2 Rogue)

Stats
Str 20 +5 Level Ups
Dex 8
Con 16
Int 6
Wis 8
Cha 12

Progression
1 Rogue
2 Fighter
3-9 Bard (Warchanter I)
10 Rogue (Evasion)
11-15 Fighter (Kensei I)
16-20 Bard (Warchanter II)

Feats
1 Toughness
2 Weapon Focus: Slashing
3 Two Handed Fighting
6 Power Attack
9 Extend Spell
11 Improved Critical: Slashing
12 Improved Two Handed Fighting
13 Weapon Specialization: Slashing
15 Power Critical
15 Greater Two Handed Fighting
18 Skill Focus: UMD

Skills
Level 1: 4pts Open Lock, Use Magic Device; 3pts Balance,
Jump, Hide, Move Silent, Spot; 1pt Tumble
Rogue Levels: Open Lock
Fighter Levels: Jump
Bard Levels: Concentration, Perform, Use Magic Device

Enhancements
Fighter Kensei I
Bard Warchanter II
Bard Inspired Attack II
Bard Inspired Bravery III
Bard Inspired Damage III
Bard Wand and Scroll Mastery II
Fighter Strength II
Fighter Toughness II
Fighter Haste Boost II
Fighter Attack Boost II
Fighter Critical Accuracy II
Kensei Greataxe Mastery I
Orcish Strength II
Orcish Toughness II
Orcish Power Attack II
Orcish Melee Damage II
Orcish Extra Action Boost III
Orcish Greater Weapon Aptitude III

[Sani_Medicor]

For those that prefer to have all the little details...

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 03.14.01
DDO Character Planner Home Page
Level 20 True Neutral Half-Orc Male
(6 Fighter \ 2 Rogue \ 12 Bard) 
Hit Points: 306
Spell Points: 346 
BAB: 16\16\21\26\26
Fortitude: 12
Reflex: 12
Will: 9
                 Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(32 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 20)
Strength             20                    29
Dexterity             8                     8
Constitution         16                    16
Intelligence          6                     6
Wisdom                8                     8
Charisma             12                    12
                 Starting          Feat/Enhancement
                Base Skills         Modified Skills
Skills           (Level 1)            (Level 20)
Balance               2                     2
Bluff                 1                     2
Concentration         3                    12
Diplomacy             1                     2
Disable Device       n/a                   n/a
Haggle                1                     1
Heal                 -1                    -1
Hide                  2                     2
Intimidate            1                     6
Jump                  8                    18
Listen               -1                    -1
Move Silently         2                     2
Open Lock             3                     9
Perform               n/a                  22
Repair               -2                    -2
Search               -2                    -2
Spot                  2                     2
Swim                  5                     9
Tumble                0                     0
Use Magic Device      5                    27
 
Level 1 (Rogue)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness
Level 2 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Weapon Focus: Slashing Weapons
Level 3 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Two Handed Fighting
Level 4 (Bard)
Level 5 (Bard)
Level 6 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Power Attack
Level 7 (Bard)
Level 8 (Bard)
Level 9 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Extend Spell
Level 10 (Rogue)
Level 11 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Improved Critical: Slashing Weapons
Level 12 (Fighter)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Two Handed Fighting
Level 13 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Weapon Specialization: Slashing Weapons
Level 14 (Fighter)
Level 15 (Fighter)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Two Handed Fighting
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Power Critical
Level 16 (Bard)
Level 17 (Bard)
Level 18 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Skill Focus: Use Magic Device
Level 19 (Bard)
Level 20 (Bard)
Enhancement: Fighter Attack Boost I
Enhancement: Fighter Attack Boost II
Enhancement: Fighter Haste Boost I
Enhancement: Fighter Haste Boost II
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Attack I
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Attack II
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Bravery I
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Bravery II
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Bravery III
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Damage I
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Damage II
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Damage III
Enhancement: Bard Warchanter I
Enhancement: Bard Warchanter II
Enhancement: Kensei Greataxe Mastery I
Enhancement: Fighter Critical Accuracy I
Enhancement: Fighter Critical Accuracy II
Enhancement: Fighter Kensei I
Enhancement: Orcish Extra Action Boost I
Enhancement: Orcish Extra Action Boost II
Enhancement: Orcish Extra Action Boost III
Enhancement: Orcish Melee Damage I
Enhancement: Orcish Melee Damage II
Enhancement: Orcish Power Attack I
Enhancement: Orcish Power Attack II
Enhancement: Orcish Strength I
Enhancement: Orcish Strength II
Enhancement: Orcish Great Weapon Aptitude I
Enhancement: Orcish Great Weapon Aptitude II
Enhancement: Orcish Great Weapon Aptitude III
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Fighter Strength I
Enhancement: Fighter Strength II
Enhancement: Fighter Toughness I
Enhancement: Fighter Toughness II
Enhancement: Bard Wand and Scroll Mastery I
Enhancement: Bard Wand and Scroll Mastery II

[Horkrux]

Here is my input:

Feat Selection

• Power critical is a waste of a feat. Take a different feat. My suggestions are Stunning blow/ A second toughness.
• Skill focus UMD. You can easily reach a UMD that allows for 80%+ success rate on heal scrolls w/out hard to obtain epic gear OR the feat skill focus UMD. I would suggest swapping in a different feat. Quicken/A second toughness *depending on what you replace power critical with*

Skill point allocation

Skills
Level 1: 4pts Open Lock, Use Magic Device; 3pts Balance,
Jump, Hide, Move Silent, Spot; 1pt Tumble
Rogue Levels: Open Lock
Fighter Levels: Jump
Bard Levels: Concentration, Perform, Use Magic Device

• This build is capable of having the ability to do end game content traps and possibly epic traps if geared right.
  I would suggest dropping Jump entirely (except from level 1) and raising Search/Disable device and UMD if you have any points left over. This will allow you to do traps throughout the game. Which is a boost to xp.
• I would suggest raising Search/Disable Device/UMD on your second rogue level. Open lock is hard to squeeze in on a build like this where skill points are scarce.
• I wouldn't raise concentration too incredibly high. You're only 12 levels of bard with a base of 12 cha. Most of your spells will be for self buffing purposes only, with the occasional spot heal in a pinch.

*Will review more in depth later. Hope this helped

[KainLionheart]

Actually Power Critical is a pretty good feat now since the update. It acts as +2 seeker that stacks with any item due to it being a Feat bonus. For arguments sake lets say you use a greataxe, thats an extra 6 damage on a crit.

[Sani_Medicor]

Yeah...I was pretty excited about having a good combat related feat to take at that level!

I'm not really interested in full rogue skills on this build. I've played the original Beefcake to level 16 and 10 open lock plus tools/gloves was still getting me into doors and chests soloing. I'll reassess at level 18, but I think the UMD will pay off when I don't fail on scrolls at a critical moment. I've found myself performing healer duties before and seen someone die, because I failed a UMD check. I've swapped extend for quicken at higher levels on other characters in the past. I may find myself doing the same on this character eventually.

Thanks for all of the feedback and keep it coming. I'd like to think I have this build pretty dialed, but I did just come back to the game, so you never know what may have changed that I missed!

[unbongwah]

For epic feats, I'd say you're going to want Overwhelming Critical; for that you need Cleave & GC, which you don't have. Also, you may want to consider the classic bard 16 / rogue 2 / ftr 2 split so you can take Inspire Excellence as your other epic feat, which requires Inspire Heroics (bard lvl 15). [Bard 15 / rogue 3 / ftr 2 is also an option if you'd rather have +1D6 SA than lvl 6 spells.]

EDIT: so with 11 feats total (base 7 + 2 ftr + 2 epic) on a 16/2/2 split, I'd go with: Toughness, PA, WF:S, Cleave, GC, IC:S, THF x3, OC:S, Inspire Excellence. Kinda sucks not having any metamagics, but I suspect that will be your best loadout for melee DPS + full buffage.

[Sani_Medicor]

For epic feats, I'd say you're going to want Overwhelming Critical; for that you need Cleave & GC, which you don't have. Also, you may want to consider the classic bard 16 / rogue 2 / ftr 2 split so you can take Inspire Excellence as your other epic feat, which requires Inspire Heroics (bard lvl 15). [Bard 15 / rogue 3 / ftr 2 is also an option if you'd rather have +1D6 SA than lvl 6 spells.]

EDIT: so with 11 feats total (base 7 + 2 ftr + 2 epic) on a 16/2/2 split, I'd go with: Toughness, PA, WF:S, Cleave, GC, IC:S, THF x3, OC:S, Inspire Excellence. Kinda sucks not having any metamagics, but I suspect that will be your best loadout for melee DPS + full buffage.

Thanks! I haven't looked at the epic stuff yet at all. I would definitely consider swapping extend and skill focus for cleave and great cleave. I'll probably wait till a higher level and visit Fred for extend though. I think it will definitely come in handy for a while.

I'm pretty set on the level split. I've tried different splits and I prefer having the standing bonuses from kensei in place at all times. My other favorite character right now is a 12clr/6brb/2ftr radiant beserker. I think I'm becoming addicted to the double prestige enhancements! lol

[unbongwah]

Thanks! I haven't looked at the epic stuff yet at all. I would definitely consider swapping extend and skill focus for cleave and great cleave. I'll probably wait till a higher level and visit Fred for extend though. I think it will definitely come in handy for a while.

My plan on my bard 16 / barb 2 / ftr 2 is to take Extend & Cleave at lvl 12; then swap Extend for GC before lvl 24 so I can pick up OC:S - picking up Inspire Excellence at lvl 21 (probably).

I'm pretty set on the level split. I've tried different splits and I prefer having the standing bonuses from kensei in place at all times.

Your call, of course, but Inspire Heroics now provides +4% Dodge bonus, which is useful to anybody who isn't capped by their MDB; and with epic Elyd Edge it becomes a party buff, not a single target one. Inspire Excellence provides a +4 bonus to any stat for the party (competence so it stacks with everything AFAIK); there's a 30 sec. cooldown, but you can have multiple Excellences for different stats going at once. Those two combined are more than sufficient justification for going bard 15+ for me.