Looking into this Qstaff Build

[Baralai2345]

I have been looking around for a Qstaff build, and I have found a lot of old builds that include the rogue/monk, but I just recently found this build in game and want to try it as it seems much better.

Rogue 13/Fighter 6/Druid 1

13 levels of rogue would allow for being a trapmonkey, getting the sneak attacks, etc.
6 fighter levels for the feats and kensai
one level of druid for Rams Might and Shalleleigh

I would choose Half Orc for the two weapon fighting enhancements, but all in all it seems like a solid build.

Rogue for first level, druid at level 2, the 6 fighter levels, rest rogue

What I like about the build, is that I can wear leather armor, which gives me a little more armor than just running with monk robes, and still be able to use my two monk spells, and work with all the rogue stuff.

as far as ability point spread I was thinking something like this:
32 Point Build
Str: 18
Dex: 14
Con:10
Int:14
Wis:12
Cha:6

Need Wis at 12 to cast the only two spells you will be using, 18 str to start for hitting things with the qstaff, dex and int at 14 for trapmonkeyness.

leveling would go something like this:
Level 1: Rogue
Level 2: Druid
Level 3: Fighter
Level 4: Fighter
Level 5: Rogue
Level 6: Fighter
Level 7: Fighter
Level 8: Rogue
Level 9: Fighter
Level 10: Fighter
Level 11-20:Rogue

Taking the rogue levels every two fighter levels is to even out a couple of skills like Open Lock and UMD since while I am doing the figher levels I only level DD and Search.

As far as feats and enhancements go, I have veterancy 7, so I will be using that to figure out everything up to level 7, so thats what I am doing these up to.

Feats look like this:
Level 1: Power Attack
Level 3: Cleave and WF: Bludgeon
Level 4: Dodge
Level 6: Great Cleave
Level 7: WS: Bludgeon

Enhancements:
Rogue Skill Boost I
Fighter Critical Accuracy II
Orcish Melee Damage II
Orcish Power Attack I
Orcish Strength I
Rogue Sneak Attack Accuracy I
Rogue Sneak Attack Training I
Improved Disable Device I
Improved Open Lock I
Improved Search I
Druid Energy of the Locus I
Rogue Dexterity I
Fighter Strength I
Rogue Wand and Scroll Master I

Thats the build so far at level 7, im not starting at 7, but I figured I would get an idea of what I wanted up to that level now.
I plan on eventually hitting the Kensai for Qstaffs once I get the fighter levels to 6, the way my leveling tree goes it will be around level 10, unless I forgo the UMD and Open Lock every 3rd level and just rush for Kensai. That is why I brought it here, lemme know what to change, I think the build will be pretty solid.

[moriedhel]

This needs to be moved
I would go for less wisdom, you can wear an item and still cast spells, or use a tome, preferably both but depending on what you have available, you can go with 10 or even 8. I
I have seen a qstaff acrobat in action and it's pretty awesome and fun

[Gkar]

This needs to be moved
I would go for less wisdom, you can wear an item and still cast spells, or use a tome, preferably both but depending on what you have available, you can go with 10 or even 8. I
I have seen a qstaff acrobat in action and it's pretty awesome and fun

Agreed. Although if he did that he might be best to go 8 WIS and then take the druid after the fighter levels because by then +3 items are a dime a dozen.

I'd put those 4 build points into CON instead.

[rest]

Drop your STR to 16 and put more points in con. Even your wisdom is a bit high. You'll also only need 11 wisdom to cast your spells, so you can drop a few points there. I just got a build like this to 20 yesterday. He's a bit squishy, even with more con than you have. Dumping CHA is gonna bite you in the ass since your UMD will be atrocious. Mine is human for the extra feat and other assorted goodies. He is not max str, but he's not max DPS either.

This build is just something I made for funsies. He probably won't be in any of my main rotation of play, but fun just to mess around on. I might switch dodge out for stunning blow.

One thing I've found that kinda stinks is that a lot of the cooler high-end random loot q-staves are not made of wood, so shalleleigh won't be of any help on them.

[Baralai2345]

Drop your STR to 16 and put more points in con. Even your wisdom is a bit high. You'll also only need 11 wisdom to cast your spells, so you can drop a few points there. I just got a build like this to 20 yesterday. He's a bit squishy, even with more con than you have. Dumping CHA is gonna bite you in the ass since your UMD will be atrocious. Mine is human for the extra feat and other assorted goodies. He is not max str, but he's not max DPS either.

This build is just something I made for funsies. He probably won't be in any of my main rotation of play, but fun just to mess around on. I might switch dodge out for stunning blow.

One thing I've found that kinda stinks is that a lot of the cooler high-end random loot q-staves are not made of wood, so shalleleigh won't be of any help on them.

Stout Oak Walking Stick

Kinda dont have to say more, its one of the best high end Qstaffs in the game, and shalleleigh still works on it.

[MrLarone]

I ran this and had a blast:

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=281216

Personally I think 1 monk gives you more, mainly for the extra feat as stances cancel out ram's might, really comes down to how badly you want leather armour.

[rest]

Stout Oak Walking Stick

Kinda dont have to say more, its one of the best high end Qstaffs in the game, and shalleleigh still works on it.

Whatcha gonna wield until then?

[Baralai2345]

I ran this and had a blast:

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=281216

Personally I think 1 monk gives you more, mainly for the extra feat as stances cancel out ram's might, really comes down to how badly you want leather armour.

What stance cancels out +2 str and +2 damage? not to mention shalleleigh increases the Qstaffs weapon die by 1, with cleave and greater cleave thats an additional 1-2 die per use. Not seeing a stance beating that, especially a base stance.

[Baralai2345]

Whatcha gonna wield until then?

I am sure you can find non named wooden staffs until then but Pillar of Light from catacombs is a nice pure good weapon to use for a while. Just because it has some stuff for a caster doesnt mean it wont make a good weapon. I know there are quite a few Qstaff end rewards for quests that are just pure damage with no casting buffs to them.

but looking at the staff of shadows, which is adamantine, to me thats a situational ghost touch weapon, dont really need to cast shalleleigh everytime you switch to a situational weapon.

and with the kensai enhancement I can do without shalleleigh for a fight or two.

[PurpleTimb]

I have a 13/6/1 Acrobat; I did 6 monk for shadow fade and 1 fighter because mine is from before druids. Very fun build to play and very survivable.

A very large portion of your DPS will come from sneak attack damage. As others have suggested, you don't need to go 18 strength. The difference between 14 str and 18 str is +2 damage per hit; so you're spending 10 of your 32 build points for +2 damage. In my opinion, 10 con is too low. I'd drop str to 16 and use all those points to get con to 14.

Have you considered 13 rogue/6 monk/1 druid? Dark monk's shadow fade is awesome for survivability and the extra sneak attack helps with DPS too. Dark monk vs. Kensai has been discussed at length in the Big F'n Stick Build thread. There are pros and cons of each, but in my opinion the summary is 6 monk gives more survivability through shadow fade and higher dodge and additional sneak attack DPS while 6 fighter gives more straight DPS through Kensai and fighter strength II as well as bonuses to tactics DCs. Fighter also gets one more bonus feat than monk (4 vs 3).

I went with 6 monk primarily for the added durability from shadow fade, better saves and attack speed bonus from wind stance. I can't over-emphasize how nice shadow fade is. It gives 25% incorporeal miss chance that stacks with blur/displacement and works against everything including red names. 25% miss chance is the same as getting 50 points of PRR, so you'd have to be wearing some pretty good leather armor to equal that.

Whatever split you chose, good luck with your stick build. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do mine.

[PurpleTimb]

Whatcha gonna wield until then?

Lots of good quarterstaffs in the game.
Chieftan's Spear (ML4)
Souleater (ML7)
Staff of the Shadow (ML12)
Dreamspitter (ML14)
Rhal's Might (ML18)
Pos II Greensteel
Radiance Greensteel
Epic Souleater

Just to name a few.

[Baralai2345]

Lots of good quarterstaffs in the game.
Chieftan's Spear (ML4)
Souleater (ML7)
Staff of the Shadow (ML12)
Dreamspitter (ML14)
Rhal's Might (ML18)
Pos II Greensteel
Radiance Greensteel
Epic Souleater

Just to name a few.

The problem is shalleleigh, one of the main reasons to go druid, wont work with anything other than wooden staves, so some of those wont work, like Chieftan's Spear, Staff of the Shadow, etc.

[unbongwah]

The problem is shalleleigh, one of the main reasons to go druid, wont work with anything other than wooden staves, so some of those wont work, like Chieftan's Spear, Staff of the Shadow, etc.

True, but the druid splash still provides Ram's Might; and there are enough wooden staves to make Shillelagh useful.

Please see my Three Ring Circus thread for my take on staff builds. IMHO, Shadow Fade from Ninja I adds more to one's defenses than light armor vs robes does. Note: some people have told me Imp Feint is bugged (again) and not WAI; have not tested recently to confirm that.

[Baralai2345]

Is acrobat a requirement for a Qstaff build, or would 12 fighter/8 monk work? Kensai build with the ability to still get the shadow monk enhancement.

[Janisis]

Talking about fun Q-Staff builds, I have a 32pt build 1st life twink: Cleric 17, Monk 3, Unyeilding Sentinal 5 - Half Elf with Paladin Dilanette wielding Sireth or Walking Stick right now, with Str, Con, Wis and Cha all over 30. LOVING IT. Can AOE heal without mana like no tomorrow while swinging with the big boys and doing solid aoe damage with cleave and great cleave. I highly recommend it for people wanting to have the fun Q-staff melee and being extremely useful on raids with light monk buffs and solid healing. Constant 35% mana reduction with monk buff and war wizard set bonus, nice 40 to 50+ around the board saves with raid buffs on.

Negatives are well Half Elf looks.....
Half Orc might be a fun race for it as well with the 2h bonuses.

[Jaid314]

Is acrobat a requirement for a Qstaff build, or would 12 fighter/8 monk work? Kensai build with the ability to still get the shadow monk enhancement.

requirement is a strong word. very very very highly recommended is probably closer. the simple fact is, faster attack rate is a huge deal.

oh, and for those who say fighter 6 (kensei) gets more feats than monk 6 (ninja spy)... i'm gonna have to disagree.

ninja spy forces you to spend one of your bonus feats on dodge, which while not awesome, is at least a useful feat. kensei forces you to spend a feat on weapon focus, which is a steaming pile of garbage, and is only useful in that it qualifies you for weapon specialization. in my opinion, it's much more like 3 bonus feats on either side of the equation. i have an acrobat with 6 levels of fighter, and i wish i had gone 6 levels of monk and 1 level of something else (these days, druid, but mine was from before druids).

[unbongwah]

Is acrobat a requirement for a Qstaff build, or would 12 fighter/8 monk work? Kensai build with the ability to still get the shadow monk enhancement.

Acrobat I provides +10% atk speed w/staves and adds your DEX modifier to sneak atk dmg; Acro II provides an additional +5% atk speed (+15% total). Apart from the Shillelagh spell, these are the only staff-specific bonuses in DDO that I'm aware of. So while you can make a staff build out of any race/class combo you like, you're generally gimping your DPS with a non-Acro build; e.g., monk / ftr combo will do better DPS w/handwraps and could use unarmed-only atks like Stunning Fist to boot. Heck, Acro staff builds are still just flavor builds; we're just trying to find ways to make them least bad.

[rest]

Heck, Acro staff builds are still just flavor builds; we're just trying to find ways to make them least bad.

Well said! Actually, Sirreth was the main reason I decided to roll up a first life acrobat. Looks like a really cool weapon.

[Therigar]

The advice to go with 8 WIS is good advice. If starting at L7 there is no reason to delay taking the druid level until late -- as has been suggested. Owl's Wisdom is a druid spell. Buy a wand and use it on yourself. Cast Ram's Might and Shillelagh. Go forth and conquer.

There is also no real need to go with much INT. The amount of INT really is related to how many skill points you want rather than your ability to find and disable traps.

IMO, the real choice comes with the decisions on STR, DEX and CON. I've shown that CON is not as important as people make it out to be with my 6 CON character over on Orien. But, I think most players will still agree that reasonable CON is good.

If it were me and I was going with the half-orc race, I would start with 18 STR 16 DEX 14 CON 12 INT 8 WIS 6 CHA. First 4 stat increases go into STR, last 2 go into DEX. Use +2 tomes on everything except DEX. Use a +3 tome on DEX to qualify for Improved Sneak Attack. Or, split the stat increases between STR and DEX and use a +3 tome on both.

For feats I'd definitely want Power Attack, Cleave, Great Cleave and, at epic levels, Overwhelming Critical. Taking only 3 must haves at heroic levels leaves a lot of room for other choices, particularly when you'll have 3 combat feats from the fighter levels.

Personally I like the Dodge/Mobility/Spring Attack line and Toughness. I also like WF: Bludgeon, WS: Bludgeon and IC: Bludgeon. And, IMO, these would be my remaining feat choices.

I absolutely love Shadowdancer as an epic destiny. But, I would not max it out to start with. I would do enough to open the paths to the surrounding destinies and then do enough in those 3 destinies to open the paths to their neighbors.

The objective is to get as many fate points as possible for the least XP effort and also to open up key destinies for eventual twists.

[Ryiah]

I've shown that CON is not as important as people make it out to be with my 6 CON character over on Orien. But, I think most players will still agree that reasonable CON is good.

At the very least a 14 is a safe starting amount. You can always lower it if you feel you can get away with it. My Q-staff build is running a 12-CON but I make up for it with gear and tomes. The real question is, are you running only a 6 CON? Or is that simply the base before gear, tomes, etc?