Earlygame DPS build

[Nimulos]

Hi folks, I am looking for a build that has nice DPS capabilities in the earlier game (first 8-12 levels). If it is effective sometime later that's a nice boon, but chances are that I will not have the patience to go much further. Maybe I never had that patience to go far because the chars were not effective early on...

I don't have 32 pt, Arti, Fvs, Druid, Warforged, Half-Ork, I do however have access to Half-Elf and Monk(though I learned too late that they are not good with 28). The only Adventure packs I have are Catacombs, Sharn and the Devil Assault/Chronoscope pack. Don't judge me, I know that I know nothing.

If possible, it should be able to both kill trash and deal heavy DPS to bosses, if not, it should ar least be able to get rid of the trash.

What I thought about? Well, from all my tries I think Arcane casters are my favorite. The Idea is to kill everything before it can harm me, or before it harms the tank (if I have one) more than the healer (if we have one) can heal. My personal Idea would be a Pale Master, as the death aura keeps melee enemies (like most kobolds) from becoming problematic and allows me to heal a little (I know that the zombie form is not that great but at least I can upkeep myself). Alternatively I could stay Human (or elven or whatever) form and let the healer take care of me, while still using death aura to keep the melee trash away.
Simultaneously I have single-target spells that heavily damage that single target or kills them.

This was my idea, but I welcome any other approach that sounds good.

[Lauf]

Hi folks, I am looking for a build that has nice DPS capabilities in the earlier game (first 8-12 levels).
This was my idea, but I welcome any other approach that sounds good.

if all you are trying to achieve is early game dps, then going for either a dwarf fighter or human barbarian, picking up PA, cleave & great cleave, and you'll easily have not nice but great dps from very early on.
not much else though (healing/buffs/range/saves)

as you prefer arcanes, the problem with them is that their damage is mainly derived from their caster levels, and as such your damage will be somewhat limited in the early levels. also, you would rely on your spell-points for damage, and those have a tendency to vanish quickly when using meta-magics (empower/maximize/heighten).
for arcane damage the choice is simple really, a sorcerer gets twice as much spell points, quicker casting, and the spell-like-abilities which you can empower/heighten/maximize for no extra cost.
problems with that? mainly having no self healing.

after reading your thinking of the pale master, I must say I think you're putting too much emphasis on the "power" of the death aura. it really isn't all that effective against melees if you're running elites, outside of annoying them to the point of attacking you instead of running past you at someone else. it does however offer a nice steady stream of self healing.
pale masters become good in later levels, with finger of death, wail of the banshee, necrotic ray and wraith form


in terms of pure dps at low levels, barb/fighter for easy melee or sorc for arcane. you'll be kicking ass.
if you want more than just dps, well that's another matter ... there are many fun builds for self healing + dps, some also include high saves, evasion, and trapping/lock picking or umd.

[Wipey]

Pure warforged fire savant.
1-5 , invis, scorch when orange+alert, master touch+some twink thf, repair serious pots, haste pots
6 fireball, savant 1, maximize+empower, run till alert, fireball
8 firewall
12 savant 2, reconstruct
14 dbf = game over

[Lauf]

Pure warforged fire savant.

thought about that, but as the OP stated:

I don't have 32 pt, Arti, Fvs, Druid, Warforged ...

the wf sorc builds are not an option.

[Paxsmickey]

for early game dps the general consensus is melee beats spell casting, so in answering your request I'd say a melee is probably the best bet. if you have monk access I'd recommend an 18/2 paladin/monk for the extra feats and evasion for a durable melee toon. Fighter or Barbarian would also make good choices, as does Ranger (tempest or Arcane archer tbh).

HOWEVER: you said you like playing arcanes, and the arcane classes dominate in dps later on in life (imo). Personally I haven't played a high level sorcerer nor Palemaster, but the Archmages and Druid I have played were a blast. (I used archmage because I was a warforged). I have however seen plenty of sorcerers and palemasters to know they are powerful. the pale masters didn't die easily, and the sorcerers had UMD so high they could raise dead party members and heal with scrolls. I found that I only felt like I was dealing minimal damage with arcanes for the first 4-6 levels. after that I had firewall, and burned everything in my path (level 8 for sorcerers).

by all means, play what you like to play. I played a warforged cleric because I became bored of everything else I played, and I loved him the whole time. I'd play a wizard, use a great axe with master's touch for early game, and then switch to purely casting spells when I can't melee effectively anymore.

Best of luck,
-PaxsMickey

[unbongwah]

Hi folks, I am looking for a build that has nice DPS capabilities in the earlier game (first 8-12 levels).

For the first six levels or so, it's hard to beat the DPS of a 2H barb or ftr; ideally w/Carnifex, but honestly any decent 2H weapon makes you a death machine that early on. But for the next 6 lvls, you'd be hard pressed to beat a good arcane caster: AoEs like Firewall and Death Aura, DoTs like Melfs and Niac's Biting, with maybe some CC on the side; plus buffs like Haste, Displacement, and Stoneskin.

Given your available resources and preference for arcane casters, I'd probably go with a human Pale Master; either pure or with a rog splash like Pale Trapper, depending on how badly you want Evasion, UMD, and trapskills. [Normally I'd say elf PM is a good alternative for +4 Spell Pen - and it is - except the elven Arcanum enhs were a lot more expensive AP-wise in the Enhancement alpha, which makes elven wizs less desirable if they don't fix that. Plus Spell Pen doesn't become a serious concern until higher levels; so for early on, I'd say human for an extra feat and +1 INT racial enh is better.]

[Istaria1]

Hi,

I'm no expert (at all!), but I'll add my 2 cents to this

I've been trying out some builds lately, both to see how they will perform if I TR my main into them, and also as potential Favor farmers on other servers. I mention the favor thing because it fits with what you want - to be powerful at levels 12/14 and below.

I tried quite a few things before making my bard, and I'm having an absolute whale of a time with him. He's Str based, has Cleave, Great Cleave, Power Attack, and uses a twohanded weapon (either Greatsword or Greataxe, depending on what I can pick up cheap). There is no need to have hand-me-down weapons like Carnifex, although keeping an eye out for those <element> of Pure Good weapons at low level on the AH is a good idea.

I'd have to log in to check the exact build, but it's 2rog/2fig/16 (eventually) bard. I believe I started Str at 16, and am putting my level ups there - Fighter also gets me another point through Enhancements. I do have 32 points, but it should be reasonably easy to make one using 28 points - you can keep Cha reasonably low (I started 12) as you are not going to be an offensive caster. Depending on what you want, you will want either 12 or 14 Int. Personally I went 14 and have been able to keep Perform, Disable, Search, Spot and UMD up there. Alot of players will tell you not to bother with Spot, but I like it - I don't know where all the traps are, and it seems pointless to have disable and still faceplant traps.

IIRC, I took Rogue at 1, Fighter at 2 and 3 (I would probably take fighter 2 a little later on reroll), and bard after that. I'll take Rogue again at 10 for evasion, then bard all the way to the end.

I'm waffling a bit now, but the point of the build is that he will be:
- Self healing - I will take Empower Healing for this
- Self buffing (Haste, Displacement, Rage, etc) - I took extend at level 9
- Decent DPS
- Trap and lock capable
- High UMD for scrolls of rez teleport etc
- A benefit to a party with songs

Just an idea for ya

Ist.

(EDIT: Got the name of a feat wrong).

[Stoner81]

A Dwarf Cleric would be another option to perhaps consider with a fighter splash for proficiencies with tower shields and Dwarven Axes. Dwarfs take a hit on CHA which will affect turn undead but they are also used for your bursts/aura so you could go something like:

STR = 16.
DEX = 8.
CON = 16.
INT = 12.
WIS = 15.
CHA =6.

STR for wielding those D.Axes, CON for hitpoints, INT for skill points and WIS for spell points. Feats wise pick up Power Attack, Cleave, Great Cleave, Toughness the rest as you see fit really. CHA will hurt your turn undead but you can get extra from enhancements anyway so that will help as will getting a CHA item. Take first level as Cleric the second level as Fighter and then Cleric the rest of the way, if you go to cap with it then you could take another fighter level for extra feats.

This build gives you self healing via spells/wands, good strong DPS via D.Axe plus Cleave/Great Cleave. Lots of AC and PRR to mitigate damage and a few Cleric buffs here and there.

EDIT - An other option perhaps would be to go Human and take Khopesh but I prefer Dwarf since you take a Fighter level and get D.Axe automatically instead of using a feat.

Stoner81.

[Moltier]

snip

As mentioned before, a dwarf cleric is a good idea with 1 early fighter level.

Another option for pure destruction is an acid savant (with fire spells too).
You couldnt heal yourself outside of pots, but often you can just blast your enemys.
But IMO, if you go this route, dont use maximize and empower early, coz it will just drain you without adding enough extra damage for its cost. If you like spamming, basic acid blast, fireball combo will carry you.

But if you want some self healing + immunitys, go necro wizard, and play life a sorc.

[n1x0r-]

I second this

Pure human/drow fire savant.
1-20 Pocket healer when needed
1-5 , invis, scorch when orange+alert, master touch+some twink thf, repair serious pots, haste pots
6 fireball, savant 1, maximize+empower, run till alert, fireball
8 firewall
12 savant 2, reconstruct
14 dbf = game over

It doesn't matter if you're 28 pts.
It doesn't matter if you're not warforged.
Sorcerers make leveling look like a joke regardless.

[Inoukchuk]

All the options mentioned are pretty good. Of note:

Sorc and wiz require a bit of patience because they are not top tier DPS in earliest levels (1-4/5). The get a boost with Fireball/acid splash and with Firewall/acid rain/ice storm depending on what element you specialize in. Palemaster is fantastic, but better if you have a torc and some decent PM specific gear (robe of shadow, consort bracers, etc) and they don't really hit their stride until 12+ when a) you get a decent undead form (wraith) and b) you start getting insta-kill spells (circle of death and finger). Sorc is just pure power all the time, doesn't really need a torc, but lacks self heal without relying on UMD (for non-warforged)

Melee is fantastic DPS early, tails off a bit later, then picks up again at epic levels. Unless you go tempest or paladin self healing will be an issue and may kill your fun causing your issues of stopping play at 12+ (which is when casters get the most fun).

Personally, the first toon I really had a ball with was sorcerer. Made her before their were savants, re-spec'd later as ice savant (which I recommend at higher levels). I'd recommend making a fire savant with acid secondary, then respec to ice once you hit level 16 or 18 (18 if elite streaking/running content 2 levels lower). Use a hireling for healing and just be careful to keep them in the back out of harm's way. Put a skill pt every level into UMD and keep CHA maxed so that at higher levels you can heal and raise. And just be patient for the first 7 levels.