U19 Fighter Build: Cetus

[Retrodark]

Action Boosts: 5 + 3(LD) + 3(Fighter) + 2(Veriks) = 13. I can't tell in his screenshots how much he actually has, but thats 13 right there.

How does power surge give you +11 Str, and +6 CHA?

Do you have any Insightful Strength gear slotted? Divine Might is an Insightful bonus as well and does not stack.

Ah...thank you that is totally it. I have +2 Insightful Strength item. Thanks for reminding me about the +3 from LD ( I am currently in an off Destiny while leveling). I was able to see 14 or 15 for his action boosts when watching the video for soloing "End of the Road".

Power Surge gives me +8, but the human boosts then also gives me +3 str/+3 CHAR/ and +3 con. I don't know why I put in my post that I went from 29 to 35. It was really 32 to 35. I think because as I was typing it I was switching gear around and drinking yugo pots or something.

[TheLegendOfAra]

I'm sitting at 12/4/4 Ranger/Fighter/Paladin right now on Esharan. I'm reasonably satisfied with the dps and saves, and with the tempest line maxed out I basically have improved evasion as well. However, the dps is reduced from what it could be by having to put so many useless action points into the tempest line to unlock the improved evasion line.

I don't have the investment in saves that setusss does, so I was getting owned pretty hard by things in EE content that freedom would have mitigated. I'm looking next at going to 14/4/2 Ranger/Paladin/Fighter, and seeing how that works out.

I could also just aim for two paladin levels, and then twist in the turn undeads through the destiny line, but at the time I did my +20 LR, I hadn't bothered leveling the appropriate epic destiny further than tier 1. I'm still on a fence about if I want the 4 fighter levels or 4 paladin levels. But at this point I'm mainly using the fighter levels for haste boost, extra action points, and some of the lower kensai damage bonuses.

Heh Yeah, I had considered the same thing, but improved evasion just didn't seem worth the effort. I haven't had it yet on Araphina and I've never missed it. Plus I think I'll have saves pretty close to Cetusss, so that + FOM and self heals looks pretty nice.

What would you gain from 4 Fighter levels? I hadn't considered that split at all, although I guess it would work much the same way. I mainly wanted the 4 Pali levels so that I wouldn't have to waste my twists on the turns. I'm still not 100% sure which destiny I'll spend most of my time in. I expect I'll have a few LR's once I get to cap and play around with it a bit and see what works and what doesn't, like usual.(Hell last life I had 8 LR's before I settled on my final build. hah)

[Osharan_Tregarth]

do the kensei weapon focus damage enhancements stack with the tempest 2wf damage enhancements?

After a little testing... Dwarf 12/4/4 Ranger/Fighter/Paladin, unbuffed in any way.

THF'ing with a bonesplitter (+5) puts me at... +46 to hit.

TWF'ing with a couple of heavy maces +4/+8 puts me at +45/+49 to hit. (no oversized twf'ing). So it looks like the tempest line is making up for the penalty for no oversized twf'ing.

TWF'ing with a couple of +5 dwarven axes puts me at +54/+54 to hit.

That's with wf : slashing, 3 tiers of racial ax training, 1 for kensai focus, and 3 for kensai weapon spec.

So, as far as I can tell, they're stacking, using the "to hit" metric. Damage would be a bit more painful to figure out.

[Osharan_Tregarth]

Heh Yeah, I had considered the same thing, but improved evasion just didn't seem worth the effort. I haven't had it yet on Araphina and I've never missed it. Plus I think I'll have saves pretty close to Cetusss, so that + FOM and self heals looks pretty nice.

What would you gain from 4 Fighter levels? I hadn't considered that split at all, although I guess it would work much the same way. I mainly wanted the 4 Pali levels so that I wouldn't have to waste my twists on the turns. I'm still not 100% sure which destiny I'll spend most of my time in. I expect I'll have a few LR's once I get to cap and play around with it a bit and see what works and what doesn't, like usual.(Hell last life I had 8 LR's before I settled on my final build. hah)

At the time, I hadn't ran much EE content, and I was hoping that the bonus to saves from the paladin levels would make up for not being able to self cast FoM.

The four fighter levels are a prereq for weapon spec: slashing, and for the third tier of kensai damage that I grabbed(fighter 3). So by going with only 2 fighter levels you're ditching +3 damage, per weapon. (Assuming that you're specializing in a particular weapon type).

You're also missing out on whatever the hell spiritual bond is supposed to be doing, since I've never managed to see any bonuses from it showing up.

For destiny lines, I'm generally running in Fury, so I don't have to worry about kill stealing. However, that's still kinda leftover from running the GH content into the ground. I should be able to swap over to dread just fine in the expansion content, I just haven't tried it yet.

EDIT: Also, the correct spelling is "Setusss". Get it right! I will also accept "Durnak".

[TheLegendOfAra]

The four fighter levels are a prereq for weapon spec: slashing, and for the third tier of kensai damage that I grabbed(fighter 3). So by going with only 2 fighter levels you're ditching +3 damage, per weapon. (Assuming that you're specializing in a particular weapon type).

You're also missing out on whatever the hell spiritual bond is supposed to be doing, since I've never managed to see any bonuses from it showing up.

EDIT: Also, the correct spelling is "Setusss". Get it right! I will also accept "Durnak".

Hmm, good point. Certainly give me something more to consider, especially if I feel I end up needing more DPS.

Heh So I'm missing nothing there.

DURNAK!

[Cetus]

I will also accept "Durnak".

Terrible!

[Ellihor]

Why no greater weapon specialization? Im sure you can fit it there.

[Cetus]

Why no greater weapon specialization? Im sure you can fit it there.

Can't

[whereispowderedsilve]

Can't

/tongue in cheek Your slacking! Use a crowbar & some KY! :P! ! Lolz!(Totally joking!)

[Ellihor]

Can't

We miserable mortals dont have completionist ^^

[Feithlin]

You're also missing out on whatever the hell spiritual bond is supposed to be doing, since I've never managed to see any bonuses from it showing up.

The effect bonus appears in the weapon's description (main hand only).

[SerPounce]

Thank you for putting together this guide. I came up with a similar build for my melee, but this has been very helpful in finding ways I can improve it (particularly how to get my stunning blow working).

Right now my toon works quite well in EE, but I think getting that stunning blow really going is the first step in taking it to the next level.

I'm amazed you're able to heal so well with just scrolls. I've been using cocoon, but I'm finding the 12 sec cooldown very limiting. I Should work on my UMD also.

Once Iconic TR is introduced, what would you think of a bladeforged version that uses its reconstruct SLA for healing?

[Blighty]

Thank you for putting together this guide. I came up with a similar build for my melee, but this has been very helpful in finding ways I can improve it (particularly how to get my stunning blow working).

Right now my toon works quite well in EE, but I think getting that stunning blow really going is the first step in taking it to the next level.

I'm amazed you're able to heal so well with just scrolls. I've been using cocoon, but I'm finding the 12 sec cooldown very limiting. I Should work on my UMD also.

Once Iconic TR is introduced, what would you think of a bladeforged version that uses its reconstruct SLA for healing?

Here is one.
Bladeforged with SLA

A bit different from this build, the original version is with pally 4, quicken, mental toughness, further down after advice from posters (i should of read this one about twists) is much more similar, but with Magical Training and Twist for Bane of Undeath and Endless Faith.

Both builds are probably less dps that this one and no ranged goodness, but would use the same gear and probably have a slightly superior defense.

[Cetus]

Thank you for putting together this guide. I came up with a similar build for my melee, but this has been very helpful in finding ways I can improve it (particularly how to get my stunning blow working).

Right now my toon works quite well in EE, but I think getting that stunning blow really going is the first step in taking it to the next level.

I'm amazed you're able to heal so well with just scrolls. I've been using cocoon, but I'm finding the 12 sec cooldown very limiting. I Should work on my UMD also.

Once Iconic TR is introduced, what would you think of a bladeforged version that uses its reconstruct SLA for healing?

Yea, It'll work fine - but I don't find it necessary. I'd rather keep up my DPS (losing stacking human damage boost is kind've a biggy) especially since if you have good twitch skills heal scrolls w/ a large amount of amp works fine.

[Blighty]

Yea, It'll work fine - but I don't find it necessary. I'd rather keep up my DPS (losing stacking human damage boost is kind've a biggy) especially since if you have good twitch skills heal scrolls w/ a large amount of amp works fine.

Power of the forge is a nice replacement, but not quite as ideal for max dps.

[relenttless]

could I just say thanks to Cetus for this build and to everyone else who has contributed to this thread (with a single exception).


I am nowhere near yet to being able make full use of a build like this, but have really enjoyed the discourse and inteligent, reasoned arguement that has been quite inspiring.

Great to see top players sharing their knowledge and experience in such a modest and helpful fashion.

a good example of how usedul these forums can be, as opposed to how they usually are.


again, thanks

[TheLegendOfAra]

Great to see top players sharing their knowledge and experience in such a modest and helpful fashion.

I call Bullsh*t. I've yet to see a top player in this thread. ;p

[Cetus]

Power of the forge is a nice replacement, but not quite as ideal for max dps.

Oh, I completely forgot about power of the forge.

Actually, with the human versatility damage boost covered bladeforged would be a great alternative - better tactics, higher fortification, a bit more hitpoints and fortitude save and a 6 second cooldown reconstruct. Sounds solid - might look into that once we can TR into them. End up losing a feat though.

[Nightmanis]

Oh, I completely forgot about power of the forge.

Actually, with the human versatility damage boost covered bladeforged would be a great alternative - better tactics, higher fortification, a bit more hitpoints and fortitude save and a 6 second cooldown reconstruct. Sounds solid - might look into that once we can TR into them. End up losing a feat though.

Weapon Specialization. Don't need to take it to get greater weapon focus. Yes I know it's 1 point of damage, but it's 1 point of damage.

[Takllin]

Oh, I completely forgot about power of the forge.

Actually, with the human versatility damage boost covered bladeforged would be a great alternative - better tactics, higher fortification, a bit more hitpoints and fortitude save and a 6 second cooldown reconstruct. Sounds solid - might look into that once we can TR into them. End up losing a feat though.

Bladeforged + eSoS = Awesomeness. Been impatiently waiting til the day I can TR Jado into a Bladeforged version of what he is now.