17 fvs/2 monk/1 ranger - no idea how to start

[Forzah]

Hey all,

I'd like to lesser my pure human FvS into 17fvs/2 monk/1 ranger; something that is similar in effectiveness to the juggernaut. I'd like to take the following feats, at minimum:

-cleave/great cleave/oversized critical
-PBS/rapid shot/manyshot
-empower heal, quicken.

I have no idea how to get started, though. If I start with ranger and 2 monk levels, I'm get two martial feats for which I have nothing useful to take (don't feel like taking toughness). Moreover, I have no idea what the value of wisdom would be for this build, since DCs will be **** anyway. I'll probably go THF with cleaver and use pinion as bow. Thinking of starting with 16 or 17 strength, 8 int and 8 cha, but for the rest I have no idea what to do. Also no clue which other ranged feats to take. This is a 34 pt build.

Does anyone have some time to provide an example from the planner of this type of build? Tried to search for a bit, but with all the fancy names these favored soul builds are given it's difficult to find a good example. Should I take the monk and ranger levels at a later point so I don't have to take feat I don't want? Could I also do something more monkish with wraps/stunning blow instead of THF?

[Lurzifer]

Rage u slacker... no worries will send u the build in planner later

[Maelodic]

Rage u slacker... no worries will send u the build in planner later

I would be a happy camper if you sent it to me as well.

[Loriac]

Hey all,

I'd like to lesser my pure human FvS into 17fvs/2 monk/1 ranger; something that is similar in effectiveness to the juggernaut. I'd like to take the following feats, at minimum:

-cleave/great cleave/oversized critical
-PBS/rapid shot/manyshot
-empower heal, quicken.

I have no idea how to get started, though. If I start with ranger and 2 monk levels, I'm get two martial feats for which I have nothing useful to take (don't feel like taking toughness). Moreover, I have no idea what the value of wisdom would be for this build, since DCs will be **** anyway. I'll probably go THF with cleaver and use pinion as bow. Thinking of starting with 16 or 17 strength, 8 int and 8 cha, but for the rest I have no idea what to do. Also no clue which other ranged feats to take. This is a 34 pt build.

Does anyone have some time to provide an example from the planner of this type of build? Tried to search for a bit, but with all the fancy names these favored soul builds are given it's difficult to find a good example. Should I take the monk and ranger levels at a later point so I don't have to take feat I don't want? Could I also do something more monkish with wraps/stunning blow instead of THF?

I put together stats for this concept (though mine was a HOrc Cleric base as I like the idea of full raid healing capability) http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=408827

The stats would need to be adjusted if you don't have access to +4 tomes; in particular, dex has to hit 17 for manyshot, and its a good idea to have wisdom of 16+ from base, tomes, and class enhancements so that disjunction doesn't kill you.

You need to take power attack for the cleave line of feats, so that takes up one of the monk feats. For the other, the list is a bit limited, but valid choices would be toughness, THF, or stunning fist imo. If you're going for stunning fist however, this changes the build focus entirely, as you'd have to max out wisdom as much as you could, at which point you're better off with a DC caster focus rather than a melee battlecleric.

This leaves toughness or THF, and if you're determined not to take toughness, then THF is the most logical I think.

I'd probably go 1. Monk 2. Ranger 3. FVS 4.Monk 5+ FVS to open up Cleave at level 1. This way round you lose a few skill points at level 1 (vs. ranger) but being able to take power attack, cleave, and then great cleave at level 6 makes fighting groups of trash mobs much easier and fun. FVS at 3 also allows you to get empower heal as soon as possible, which will help with early game healing.

For skills, I would look to have max UMD, high balance, and maybe high concentration.

Edit: to be clear, early feat progression would be:

1 (Monk 1) - Monk feat Power attack, General feat Cleave
3 (FVS1) - General feat empower healing
4 (Monk 2) - Toughness or THF
6 (FVS 3) - Great Cleave

I see little point in building up archery feats early on, as you need high BAB to make manyshot useful.

[Forzah]

I put together stats for this concept (though mine was a HOrc Cleric base as I like the idea of full raid healing capability) http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=408827

The stats would need to be adjusted if you don't have access to +4 tomes; in particular, dex has to hit 17 for manyshot, and its a good idea to have wisdom of 16+ from base, tomes, and class enhancements so that disjunction doesn't kill you.

You need to take power attack for the cleave line of feats, so that takes up one of the monk feats. For the other, the list is a bit limited, but valid choices would be toughness, THF, or stunning fist imo. If you're going for stunning fist however, this changes the build focus entirely, as you'd have to max out wisdom as much as you could, at which point you're better off with a DC caster focus rather than a melee battlecleric.

This leaves toughness or THF, and if you're determined not to take toughness, then THF is the most logical I think.

I'd probably go 1. Monk 2. Ranger 3. FVS 4.Monk 5+ FVS to open up Cleave at level 1. This way round you lose a few skill points at level 1 (vs. ranger) but being able to take power attack, cleave, and then great cleave at level 6 makes fighting groups of trash mobs much easier and fun. FVS at 3 also allows you to get empower heal as soon as possible, which will help with early game healing.

For skills, I would look to have max UMD, high balance, and maybe high concentration.

Edit: to be clear, early feat progression would be:

1 (Monk 1) - Monk feat Power attack, General feat Cleave
3 (FVS1) - General feat empower healing
4 (Monk 2) - Toughness or THF
6 (FVS 3) - Great Cleave

I see little point in building up archery feats early on, as you need high BAB to make manyshot useful.

Thanks for your advice. Very helpful. Not really gonna play the build since im just LR'ing, btw. Gonna see how I can work it out in the planner. I'll probably go for a bit more wis, dex and con than you did and a bit less strength and cha.

[Loriac]

Thanks for your advice. Very helpful. Not really gonna play the build since im just LR'ing, btw. Gonna see how I can work it out in the planner. I'll probably go for a bit more wis, dex and con than you did and a bit less strength and cha.

That makes sense, I thought cha 12 on the cleric version to open up divine might 2 (14 to open up DM3 if not HOrc) but FVS doesn't have this enhancement, so the build points are better spent elsewhere. I also had less need of con for my concept, as I assumed toughness as the 2nd monk feat. I think I'd prefer toughness and a lower con score to free up build points elsewhere, but otoh THF does add dps to the build, so they're both decent choices I think. Dex isn't really needed once you can hit the manyshot requirement imo, but then again higher reflex saves would help; I suspect that if you're in EE content, a +6 reflex saves twist will become necessary regardless of starting dex to get functional evasion. Finally, when I thought about it, I came to the conclusion that wisdom doesn't actually do much for a melee spec'd battlecleric, beyond being required for casting spells. I'd assume this is even more true for an FVS than a cleric.

It was that chain of reasoning that led me to max'ing out str on my version; whilst the build seems MAD as a concept, in reality once you have the basics for each stat met, you don't actually need to maximise any stat other than str.

[ZeebaNeighba]

All I can point out is that for angel of vengeance you need either: Maximize, Empower, Heighten or Spell Focus Evocation (last two aren't that important for a multiclassed melee build), so if you're tight on feats, consider replacing Empower Heal with Maximize/Empower. Or take both Maximize and Empower Heal, which is kinda necessary if you're healing groups (so you have good mass cures, and so you can heal party members effectively with cure spells when Heal is on its 6 second cooldown).

[Forzah]

All I can point out is that for angel of vengeance you need either: Maximize, Empower, Heighten or Spell Focus Evocation (last two aren't that important for a multiclassed melee build), so if you're tight on feats, consider replacing Empower Heal with Maximize/Empower. Or take both Maximize and Empower Heal, which is kinda necessary if you're healing groups (so you have good mass cures, and so you can heal party members effectively with cure spells when Heal is on its 6 second cooldown).

Yea, I'm taking maximize too, since it really helps mass cure and divine punishment damage. Tho I don't find the prestige enhancements that great, the debuff aura is still useful for the rest of the team.

I also just found out FvS need cha to cast spells instead of wis :P. Starting with 11 so that with a +4 tome and fvs charisma I'll have 16 (enough to cast heal).

Seems like I'm going for this:

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 03.14.02
DDO Character Planner Home Page

Level 20 Lawful Good Human Male
(2 Monk \ 1 Ranger \ 17 Favored Soul) 
Hit Points: 262
Spell Points: 1422 
BAB: 14\14\19\24
Fortitude: 18
Reflex: 18
Will: 16

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(34 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 20)
Strength             17                    25
Dexterity            14                    17
Constitution         14                    17
Intelligence          9                    12
Wisdom               13                    16
Charisma             11                    14

Tomes Used
+1 Tome of Intelligence used at level 3
+2 Tome of Strength used at level 7
+2 Tome of Dexterity used at level 7
+2 Tome of Constitution used at level 7
+2 Tome of Intelligence used at level 7
+2 Tome of Wisdom used at level 7
+2 Tome of Charisma used at level 7
+3 Tome of Strength used at level 11
+3 Tome of Dexterity used at level 11
+3 Tome of Constitution used at level 11
+3 Tome of Intelligence used at level 11
+3 Tome of Wisdom used at level 11
+3 Tome of Charisma used at level 11

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Skills         Modified Skills
Skills           (Level 1)            (Level 20)
Balance               6                    23
Bluff                 0                     2
Concentration         6                    17
Diplomacy             0                     2
Disable Device       n/a                    n/a
Haggle                0                     2
Heal                  1                     3
Hide                  2                     3
Intimidate            0                     2
Jump                  6                    22
Listen                1                     3
Move Silently         2                     3
Open Lock             n/a                   n/a
Perform               n/a                   n/a
Repair               -1                     1
Search               -1                     1
Spot                  1                     3
Swim                  3                     7
Tumble                3                     4
Use Magic Device      2                    13

Level 1 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Cleave
Feat: (Past Life) Past Life: Wizard
Feat: (Human Bonus) Point Blank Shot
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Power Attack


Level 2 (Ranger)
Feat: (Favored Enemy) Favored Enemy: Evil Outsider


Level 3 (Favored Soul)
Feat: (Deity) Favored by the Silver Flame
Feat: (Selected) Maximize Spell


Level 4 (Monk)
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Toughness


Level 5 (Favored Soul)


Level 6 (Favored Soul)
Feat: (Selected) Great Cleave


Level 7 (Favored Soul)


Level 8 (Favored Soul)
Feat: (Favored Soul Bonus) Energy Resistance: Sonic


Level 9 (Favored Soul)
Feat: (Selected) Rapid Shot


Level 10 (Favored Soul)


Level 11 (Favored Soul)


Level 12 (Favored Soul)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Slashing


Level 13 (Favored Soul)
Feat: (Favored Soul Bonus) Energy Resistance: Electricity


Level 14 (Favored Soul)


Level 15 (Favored Soul)
Feat: (Selected) Manyshot


Level 16 (Favored Soul)


Level 17 (Favored Soul)


Level 18 (Favored Soul)
Feat: (Favored Soul Bonus) Energy Resistance: Fire
Feat: (Selected) Quicken Spell


Level 19 (Favored Soul)


Level 20 (Favored Soul)

Gonna take empower healing/overwhelming crit as epic feats. Maybe swap empower heal for precise shot.

[ZeebaNeighba]

Yea, I'm taking maximize too, since it really helps mass cure and divine punishment damage. Tho I don't find the prestige enhancements that great, the debuff aura is still useful for the rest of the team.

Also as a melee you'll get a lot of the light/alignment weakness procs, so that can be useful if you find weapons with a lot of light/good damage. And of course the archon will get beefed up and so will divine punishment when you use it. I guess it's also nice to give blade barrier and cometfall 60 more spell power.

[Forzah]

I just noticed I skipped a feat at lvl 9! I took rapid shot at lvl 9, and improved crit: slashing at lvl 12.

[Eth]

I don't think you can heal Mitis Mors Raids with this build. You clearly lack mass repair.

[Forzah]

LR'ed it yesterday but haven't gotten to playing it yet. I managed to craft an epic antique greataxe, but I'm still looking for a reasonable bow (and a quiver.. too!).

I spent some time testing it in a pvp arena and sprint boost + wings is just awesome. It's fun to still have dots and bladebarrier too, really helps. Now I definitely need to level up my destinies, so it's full power with range also shows.