best past lives for a WF LotB?

[GlassJaw]

I'm currently leveling my Human Artificer to 20 to be my farmer/crafter and I'm trying to decide what character/build to focus on after that. I've had a little bit of alt-itis as of late and I definitely want to get into the epic levels with my next character so I want to plan accordingly.

I'm a big fan of the FvS and WF and having melee DPS, self-sufficiency, and spellcasting definitely fits my preferred playstyle.

So if WF FvS 20 LotB is the end-goal, what past lives should I shoot for (if any)?

For characters currently within TR "range", I have a 2nd life WF Wiz 16 (past life Wiz), a 1st life FvS 14 (Human Evoker build), and a 1st life Pal 15 (28-pt, very gimped and currently my mule).

I was thinking about TRing my Wizard into sorc anyway so I could go Wiz > Wiz > Sorc > FvS or Wiz > Wiz > FvS, but I'm a bit intimidated by 3rd-life+ leveling. Getting my FvS from 14 to 20 shouldn't be too hard so I could TR him into FvS again and go LotB. The healing amp from a paladin 1st life would be nice but fixing and playing my paladin would be an absolute grind.

If a PL isn't that necessary for a LotB build, I could create one from scratch (I have lev 7 Vet status). That would give me a chance to see if I like the build too.

Any thoughts?

[Jsbeer]

I'd suggest just creating a veteran 2 WF FvS and taking them to 20 to see what you think of the class.

Past lives aren't really needed but (up to 3) Paladin lives for the (up to ) +15% heal amp are the most significant. Apart from that I don't think anything else really stands out.

[ZennyoTheWise]

Spell pen, DC, and extra HP are always nice. The question is do you have the time and patience to grind out the levels.

http://ddowiki.com/page/Past_Life_Feats

[t0r012]

3 of everything but arti and Druid , only 1 each of those for completion.
If you get bored you can drop the rangers to one and live with 4 less elemental resist each.
_______
Drop me a line in 2 years when your done, or stop by to wring my neck when you get frustrated with he grind.

[GlassJaw]

3 of everything but arti and Druid , only 1 each of those for completion.
If you get bored you can drop the rangers to one and live with 4 less elemental resist each.

Yeah I won't be doing that.

I don't mind TR (or two...maybe) but I don't have that much time.

Since I will dumping Wis, the bonuses to DCs won't make much difference. I thought about SR for spells like Energy Drain (so my Wiz past lives would help) and Implosion but those are edge cases.

I have zero interest in doing a Bbn past life. I can see the benefit of paladin healing amp but I have little to no interest in the class anymore either.

[DarkForte]

Ideally? 3x paladin lives then WF FvS. Healing amp > anything the caster classes can give you for such a melee focused build. If you don't want that, just TR whomever into that. Or don't TR at all and be forever a first lifer.

[PurdueDave]

I have an original life WF FVS and the only past lives I ever wished I had were the paladin past lives. And I'm not planning to grind them out.

[Munkenmo]

I've got a well geared first life melee lotb fvs

(favenmo of sarlona)

my opinion on past lives with him is this.

They're all or nothing,
15% heal amp won't change my survivability (pally)
+3 damage per swing won't be a noticeable increase in my melee dps (monk)
+30 hp isn't much of a boost since i stand at 700 unbuffed (barb)
+3 to hit / tactics means nothing with my esos anyway (fighter)

I've healed through everything on old epic difficulty and new epic elite (cept caught in the web). I honestly don't feel the effort for past lives is going to be worth what i'd gain from a melee stand point.

My starting stats were 18str/18con/9int/11cha I don't even see 36pt builds as being overly beneficial either, i'd spend the first 2 on int so i could afford balance, and the second 2 would go into cha for more sp. if i had 36points i'd end up going 18str/18con/10int/13cha. Just doesn't seem like much of a difference to me.