Shiradi Shuricannon

[Firewall]

WARNING: A new, more powerful and more up to date version of this build is available here: https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...63#post5491463
This version will not be updated by me anymore.

Drow Monk 20 Ninja Spy Shiradi Shuriken Thrower Build with Ten Thousand Stars and Max DEX plus high WIS

Pretty straight forward build:
- highest monk shuriken crit range with Ninja Spy capstone and Overwhelming Critical in Ultimate Mountain Stance: 15-18x2, 19-20x5 in Legendary Dreadnaught, 13-18x2, 19-20x4 in Divine Crusader for Sting of the Ninja and use with Life Stealing shuriken (Level Drain), Radiance II shuriken (Blinding) and Shimmering Arrowhead (Crippling), Thunderforged (On-Crit damage effects: Dragon's Edge, Crippling Flames, Burning Emptiness)
- very high number of attacks and attack speed through Shuriken Expertise and Ninja Training (they stack!), Full BAB, Blinding Speed, Doubleshot, Whirling Wrists and Ten Thousand Stars
- great saves with Water Stance and Bulwark of Defense (Defensive variant)
- Max DEX for shuriken attack and damage, Shuriken Expertise and Ninja Training Proc Rate, High Reflex Save, Hide, Move Silently, Balance, Tumble, AC
- Improved Evasion
- Vorpal at full attack range
- poison damage synergy of Venomed Blades and Sting of the Ninja (non-named shuriken only (bug!)) and scaling with 200% melee power
- Shiradi for high damage and Crowd Control, Legendary Dreadnaught or Divine Crusader for high DPS
- All the usual Monk survivability including highest running speed for kiting and abundant step for access to safe spots
- high Spell Resistance
- incorporeality from Shadow Veil with +3 passive Ki regeneration
- EE viable high AC, 30% Dodge, Deflect Arrows
- Limited Self Healing with Wholeness of Body, Healing Spring, Rejuvenation Cocoon, Silver Flame Potions and Eternal Bottle of Rum
- Lots of Feats


Drow:
- 20 starting DEX
- +2 DEX from racial enhancement tree
- Free Shuriken Expertise and Shuriken Proficiency Feats
- +4 to Hit and Damage (Xen'drik Weapon Training)
- Venomed Blades (up to 1d8 poison damage) (scaling with 200% melee power and being doubled by Sting of the Ninja with non-named shuriken only (bug!))
- 44 Spell Resistance

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 04.19.03
DDO Character Planner Home Page

Level 28 Lawful Neutral Drow Female
(20 Monk \ 8 Epic) 
Hit Points: 412
Spell Points: 117537822 
BAB: 15\15\20\25\25
Fortitude: 19
Reflex: 27
Will: 19

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(32 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 28)
Strength              8                    13
Dexterity            20                    36
Constitution         14                    19
Intelligence         10                    14
Wisdom               14                    15
Charisma             10                    14

Tomes Used
+5 Tome of Strength used at level 1
+6 Tome of Dexterity used at level 1
+5 Tome of Constitution used at level 1
+4 Tome of Intelligence used at level 1
+5 Tome of Wisdom used at level 1
+4 Tome of Charisma used at level 1

Level 1 (Monk)
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Dodge
Feat: (Past Life) Past Life: Cleric
Feat: (Past Life) Past Life: Fighter
Feat: (Past Life) Past Life: Rogue
Feat: (Selected) Point Blank Shot
Feat: (Automatic) AC Bonus
Feat: (Automatic) Attack
Feat: (Automatic) Defensive Fighting
Feat: (Automatic) Drow Spell Resistance
Feat: (Automatic) Elven Keen Senses
Feat: (Automatic) Enchantment Save Bonus
Feat: (Automatic) Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Kama
Feat: (Automatic) Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Shuriken
Feat: (Automatic) Finishing Moves
Feat: (Automatic) Flurry of Blows
Feat: (Automatic) Heroic Durability
Feat: (Automatic) Immunity to Sleep
Feat: (Automatic) Martial Weapon Proficiency: Handaxe
Feat: (Automatic) Martial Weapon Proficiency: Rapier
Feat: (Automatic) Martial Weapon Proficiency: Shortsword
Feat: (Automatic) Shuriken Expertise
Feat: (Automatic) Simple Weapon Proficiency: Club
Feat: (Automatic) Simple Weapon Proficiency: Dagger
Feat: (Automatic) Simple Weapon Proficiency: Heavy Crossbow
Feat: (Automatic) Simple Weapon Proficiency: Light Crossbow
Feat: (Automatic) Simple Weapon Proficiency: Quarterstaff
Feat: (Automatic) Simple Weapon Proficiency: Unarmed
Feat: (Automatic) Sneak
Feat: (Automatic) Spell Save Bonus
Feat: (Automatic) The Way of Air
Feat: (Automatic) The Way of Fire
Feat: (Automatic) The Way of Earth
Feat: (Automatic) The Way of Water
Feat: (Automatic) Unarmed Strike


Level 2 (Monk)
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Toughness(Heroic) or Deflect Arrows(Epic)
Feat: (Automatic) Evasion
Feat: (Automatic) Meditation
Feat: (Automatic) Sunder
Feat: (Automatic) Trip


Level 3 (Monk)
Feat: (Monk Path) Path of Harmonious Balance: Fists of Light
Feat: (Selected) Rapid Shot
Feat: (Automatic) Fast Movement
Feat: (Automatic) Finishing Moves: Path of Harmonious Balance (ALL)
Feat: (Automatic) Finishing Moves: Path of Inevitable Dominion (ALL)
Feat: (Automatic) Still Mind


Level 4 (Monk)
Ability Raise: DEX
Feat: (Automatic) Ki Strike: Magic
Feat: (Automatic) Slow Fall


Level 5 (Monk)
Feat: (Automatic) Improved Heroic Durability
Feat: (Automatic) Purity of Body


Level 6 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Quick Draw
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Ten Thousand Stars
Feat: (Automatic) Adept of Forms


Level 7 (Monk)
Feat: (Automatic) Wholeness of Body


Level 8 (Monk)
Ability Raise: DEX


Level 9 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Precise Shot
Feat: (Automatic) Archer's Focus
Feat: (Automatic) Improved Evasion


Level 10 (Monk)
Feat: (Automatic) Curse of the Void
Feat: (Automatic) Ki Strike: Lawful
Feat: (Automatic) Moment of Clarity


Level 11 (Monk)
Feat: (Automatic) Diamond Body


Level 12 (Monk)
Ability Raise: DEX
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Thrown Weapons
Feat: (Automatic) Abundant Step
Feat: (Automatic) Master of Forms (ALL)


Level 13 (Monk)
Feat: (Automatic) Diamond Soul


Level 14 (Monk)


Level 15 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Precise Shot
Feat: (Automatic) Quivering Palm


Level 16 (Monk)
Ability Raise: DEX
Feat: (Automatic) Ki Strike: Adamantine


Level 17 (Monk)
Feat: (Automatic) Timeless Body


Level 18 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Combat Expertise
Feat: (Automatic) Grandmaster of Forms (ALL)


Level 19 (Monk)
Feat: (Automatic) Empty Body


Level 20 (Monk)
Ability Raise: DEX
Feat: (Automatic) Perfect Self
Feat: (Automatic) Shining Star


Level 21 (Epic)
Feat: (Selected) Epic: Bulwark of Defense


Level 22 (Epic)


Level 23 (Epic)


Level 24 (Epic)
Ability Raise: DEX
Feat: (Selected) Epic: Overwhelming Critical (or Combat Archery if you want max dodge and cannot reach it without it)


Level 25 (Epic)


Level 26 (Epic)
Feat: (Epic Destiny) Epic Destiny: Epic Mage Armor


Level 27 (Epic)
Feat: (Selected) Epic: Blinding Speed or Epic Reflexes


Level 28 (Epic)
Feat: (Epic Destiny) Epic Destiny: Doubleshot

Enhancement Distribution:

Racial Tree: 18 AP
- All Core Enhancements
- All Xendrik Weapon Training
- Improved Dodge Tier 1 (because my character is above dodge cap with more)
- Venom Lore Tier 1 (you might put this point into Improved dodge if you are not at cap yet)
- Venomed Blades Tier 1 (you might put this point into Improved dodge if you are not at cap yet)

Henshin Mystic Tree: 12 AP
- Two Core Enhancements
- Way of the Patient Tortoise
- Full Negotiator
- Full Contemplation
- Dexterity

Ninja Spy Tree: 41 Points
- All Core Enhancements
- All Sneak Attack Training and Crippling Strike
- Sting of The Ninja
- Full No Mercy
- Two times Dexterity
- Full Acrobatic
- Full Stealthy
- Full Agility
- 2 points in Faster Sneaking

Shintao Tree: 9 Points
- Two Core Enhancements
- Ki Shout
- 2 points in Exemplar
- Full Conditioning

Variant: If you are at uneven DEX and uneven WIS or CON you can also drop DEX, one point in negotiator and the 2nd core in Henshin Mystic and take full Exemplar, 2nd core and CON/WIS in the Shintao tree for more HP, Heal Amp and positive spellpower.


Skills:
- Concentration max
- Spot max
- Tumble 1 Pt.
depending on your INT Tome also any of UMD, Heal, Move Silently, Hide, Jump, Balance

If you can reach a high enough UMD (39+) you can boost the Shuricannon's power with Tenser's Transformation, True Seeing, (Greater) Teleport, Raise Dead and some other Scroll and Wand Buffs.


Stance:
- Ultimate Water Stance for passive Ki regeneration, Dodge Bonus and Saves and when tanking Caster Bosses
- Ultimate Mountain Stance for tanking Melee Bosses


ED Twists:
- Twist 1: Echoes of the Ancestors: Shadowdancer (FS Tier 4); Sense Weakness (FotW Tier 4); Purify Weapon (US Tier 4); Improved Combat Expertise (LD Tier 2); Brace for Impact (US Tier 1)
- Twist 2: Rejuvenation Cocoon (PA Tier 1); Fast Healing (FotW Tier 1)
- Twist 3: Enlightenment (GoF Tier 1) for passive Ki regeneration
- Epic Completionist Twist 4: Critical Damage (LD Tier 3); Grim Precision (SD Tier 3); Walking with Waves (GMoF Tier 3); Orchid Blossom (GMoF Tier 3); Improved Combat Expertise (LD Tier 2) or any good Tier 1 ability


Gear:

Update 23 Gear layout for Full DPS variant: https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...=1#post5466808


My pre Update 21 endgame gear layout can be found here:

- Head: Helm of the White Dragon (EH currently, EE planned) +3 Insightful DEX, Blue Slot: Resistance +7 (+8 planned), Colorless Slot: Concentration +13 (+15 planned)
- Neck: Deadly 9, Natural Armor +10 (better one planned)
- Goggles: EE Shadowsight, Green Slot: +35 HP, (+40 HP planned)
- Trinket: Planar Focus of Prowess +3 Insightful CON
- Armor: Flawless White Dragonscale Robe with Alchemical Armor ritual, Blue Slot: +14 PRR (+16 planned)
- Cloak: EE Jeweled Cloak, Yellow Slot: Globe of True Imperial Blood, Blue Slot: +2 Good Luck
- Bracers: +10% Heal Amp, Parrying VIII, Colorless Slot: Vitality (+20 HP)
- Belt: +10 DEX, +9% Dodge (better one planned)
- Ring 1: Seal of House Avithoul (+2 Insightful WIS)
- Ring 2: Tier 3 Epic Ring of the Stalker with Eldritch Resistance Ritual, Colorless Slot: STR +6 (+8 planned), Yellow Slot: Deathblock
- Gloves: Gauntlets of Immortality, Colorless Slot: +7 CON (+8 planned), Yellow Slot: Power +200 (250 planned)
- Boots: Greensteel Boots of Smoke: Permanent Blur, 2x Displacement, +45 HP, +6 DEX Skills
- Quiver: EE Quiver of Poison
- Mainhand: Spelltouched Shuriken and others
- Offhand: Celestia, Green Slot: Golem's Heart planned

Other useful equipment suggestions:
- Main Hand Weapon: Shadow Star, Snowstar, Spelltouched Shuriken with Life Stealing, Alchemical Shuriken (Silver,Earth,Fire,Air), GS Radiance II shuriken, GS Triple Positive Shuriken, The Morning Star, Thunderforged Shuriken,...
- Offhand Weapon: Cannith Crafted +5 Seeker VIII Kama/Shortsword with red augment slot (Devotion Spell Power), Treason, fully upgraded Celestia for AOE procs, green slot and set bonus with Planar - Focus, Rebellion for lots of passive bonuses and red slot (Devotion Spell Power), Alchemical Kama (Triple Air), Thunderforged Shortsword,...
- Trinket: Shimmering Arrowhead, Planar Focus, Pale Green Ioun Stone,...
- Helm: Epic GH Dragon Helm (White)
- Armor: Tier 3 (Epic) Frozen Tunic, Epic GH Flawless White Dragonscale Robe, ...
- Bracers: Wind Howler Bracers for leveling, Bracers of the Sun Soul, Epic Skirmisher's Bracers
- Quiver: EE Quiver of Poison
- Ring: Tier 3 Epic Ring of the Stalker, Seal of House Avithoul, Epic Ring of Shadows,...
- Neck: (Epic) Golden Guile, Epic Guardians Locket,...
- Boots: EE Treads of Falling Shadow,...
- Gloves: Backstabbers Gloves,...
- Goggles: Shadowsight

Deadly, Accuracy and Speed are good item enchantments until you have the Epic Blinding Speed Feat.


Comments, Questions and Suggestions Welcome

[threefeetunder]

Been trying to come up with a good star chucker myself, though most of my ideas were with the assumption that the ninja poison was on-hit instead of on-crit. I was thinking of going something like halfling 6 monk/6 ranger/8 rogue (or some combination of those 3 classes), but with it being on crit the extra +1 crit threat range monk 20 has over halfing trumps that.

Just lvl 8 with this build, but for what it's worth it's working great so far.

[Firewall]

First i was thinking of a halfling 13 Rogue (for improved sneak attack) / 5 ranger (for feats and extended SA range) / 2 artificer (for runearm use) but in the end i decided against it since i had a similar build before the expansion and found that sneak attack damage is too situational and the whole build does most of its damage only in the low to mid range area.

Since Shuriken have such a low base damage and shiradi and spelltouched damage is dependant on procs it is better to work on a high attack per minute rate and pack the shuriken full of other effects (Freezing Ice from the Frozen Tunic, Crippling from the Shimmering Arrowhead, Extra damage from Whirlwind bracers, Life Stealing or Radiance II Shuriken etc.).

That said you can achieve the highest attack rate with a BAB of 20, Shuriken expertise and Ninja Training II with high DEX (NT II also for DEX to damage needs at least 3 lvl monk) and ten thousand stars (needs at least 6 lvl monk).

Since you need at least 6 level of monk and need to be centered you cannot use a runearm and have limited other options to gain some more damage or attack speed. The Ninja Spy Capstone adds vorpal and critical threat range and 20 level of monk add a lot survivability, movement speed and abundant step plus the full selection of stances.

I prefer drow over halfling in this build since the improved crit range and DEX to damage from halfling dont stack with the one from Ninja Spy and the sneak attack damage from halfling is only situational and mid-ranged. Drow has a lot more advantages for this build in my opinion.

[Urjak]

So far I came up with two builds, build 1 I had on live (before I TRed) and build 2 I tried on lamma yesterday ... both work pretty well:

build 1: Halfling Ranger 8/Monk 6/Rogue 6 with U19 probably Ranger 11/Monk 6/Rogue 3 works better (TRing into this one atm):
+ Lots of "free" feats from ranger 11 and monk 6
+ full TWF AND thrower lines
+ very high dex, useable wis
+ great surviveability (20% blurr from gs, 25% incorporality from ninja, 28-31% dodge, ~80 AC, some PRR, >200 positive spellpower)
+ can use bows and manyshot as well

Notes:
DWS III sniper shot + IPS = mass bluff
DWS III + Mechanic I = 29 meter sneak attack range
Ninja Spy poison is totally overrated, it added decent dps when it was on hit ... only mediocre now ... even with high crit range (snow star + IC: 15-20/x2)
For EDs:
In quests I felt most comfortable with Fatesinger (Reign! <3, Inspire Courage, Valor, Tailwind and Turn of the Tide. EotA: Shirardi adds nothing => EotA: Shadowdancer) with twisted Whirling Wrist, Enlightenment and Cocoon. Vs. kobolds in the dojo Shirardi with twisted Sense Weakness, Enlightnement and Cocoon works better ... yet in actual quests (I used EH Breaking the ranks as testing field^^) I felt a lot more comfortable with Fatesinger or Fury, as spelltouched shuriken are already very random dps ... with the randomness of Shirardi this meant that dps was too unreliable for my liking ... sometimes insane high, sometimes quite low


Build 2: Halfling Fighter 12, Monk 6, Ranger 2:
+ Pretty decent base damage (>60 achievable without max gear on a first life toon using snow star(ML8):
PBS + CA + Dance of Flowers: +3.50[w]
WS:Throwing + GWS:Throwing: +4 damage
Kensai: +4 damage
Keen Edge: unfortunately broken for shuriken
Master Thrower: unfortunately broken
Weapon Meditation: up to +10 around +3 to +4 maintainable
deadly XI: +11 damage
Dex 56: +23 damage
=> 5[1d4] + 4 + 52 = [5;20] + 56 = 61 to 76 damage with full meditation, 54 to 70 maintainable ... now add better gear, sneak attack, damage from destinies, ship buffs, better shuriken, ... and you got pretty decent dps ... also note: 56 dex means 2 x 56% chance on another shuriken plus 10+% doubleshot makes for an average of (1+0,56+0,56+0,1 = ) 2,22 shuriken per attack BEFORE 10k stars
Con: Very short sneak attack range ... as Master Thrower is broken anyways (and probably wont get fixed) Elf is probably a better choice (also gets +4 dex, but also gets +10m sneak attack range!). Also misses out on Sniper Shot - sneak attacks solely relying on (improved) deception items

[Firewall]

So far I came up with two builds, build 1 I had on live (before I TRed) and build 2 I tried on lamma yesterday ... both work pretty well:

build 1: Halfling Ranger 8/Monk 6/Rogue 6 with U19 probably Ranger 11/Monk 6/Rogue 3 works better (TRing into this one atm):
+ Lots of "free" feats from ranger 11 and monk 6
+ full TWF AND thrower lines
+ very high dex, useable wis
+ great surviveability (20% blurr from gs, 25% incorporality from ninja, 28-31% dodge, ~80 AC, some PRR, >200 positive spellpower)
+ can use bows and manyshot as well

Notes:
DWS III sniper shot + IPS = mass bluff
DWS III + Mechanic I = 29 meter sneak attack range
Ninja Spy poison is totally overrated, it added decent dps when it was on hit ... only mediocre now ... even with high crit range (snow star + IC: 15-20/x2)
For EDs:
In quests I felt most comfortable with Fatesinger (Reign! <3, Inspire Courage, Valor, Tailwind and Turn of the Tide. EotA: Shirardi adds nothing => EotA: Shadowdancer) with twisted Whirling Wrist, Enlightenment and Cocoon. Vs. kobolds in the dojo Shirardi with twisted Sense Weakness, Enlightnement and Cocoon works better ... yet in actual quests (I used EH Breaking the ranks as testing field^^) I felt a lot more comfortable with Fatesinger or Fury, as spelltouched shuriken are already very random dps ... with the randomness of Shirardi this meant that dps was too unreliable for my liking ... sometimes insane high, sometimes quite low


Build 2: Halfling Fighter 12, Monk 6, Ranger 2:
+ Pretty decent base damage (>60 achievable without max gear on a first life toon using snow star(ML8):
PBS + CA + Dance of Flowers: +3.50[w]
WS:Throwing + GWS:Throwing: +4 damage
Kensai: +4 damage
Keen Edge: unfortunately broken for shuriken
Master Thrower: unfortunately broken
Weapon Meditation: up to +10 around +3 to +4 maintainable
deadly XI: +11 damage
Dex 56: +23 damage
=> 5[1d4] + 4 + 52 = [5;20] + 56 = 61 to 76 damage with full meditation, 54 to 70 maintainable ... now add better gear, sneak attack, damage from destinies, ship buffs, better shuriken, ... and you got pretty decent dps ... also note: 56 dex means 2 x 56% chance on another shuriken plus 10+% doubleshot makes for an average of (1+0,56+0,56+0,1 = ) 2,22 shuriken per attack BEFORE 10k stars
Con: Very short sneak attack range ... as Master Thrower is broken anyways (and probably wont get fixed) Elf is probably a better choice (also gets +4 dex, but also gets +10m sneak attack range!). Also misses out on Sniper Shot - sneak attacks solely relying on (improved) deception items

Both seem to be interesting builds but i think we both follow quite different goals. While your builds seem to max out Basedamage or Sneak Attack Damage (and Range) while maintaining good survivability mine is designed to be viable for Epic Elite Quests (not soloing) and aims to get the highest possible shuriken attack speed with the highest survivability and CC possible and let spelltouched and shiradi procs as well as other added effects do the rest.
Also i want a pure shuriken build only and not switch between two-weapon fighting or bows like you probably do in your first build.

To be honest if i wanted to rely on sneak attack damage i would focus on that with mostly rogue levels, improved sneak attack and a greensteel radiance II shuriken plus a high Deception item because i dont like the idea of my damage being dependant on not having the aggro of mobs.

What you loose:

- Fighter levels give you quite bad Saving Throws to begin with and very few Skillpoints, which i think add a lot to the build (Concentration, Spot, Hide, Move Silently, Jump, Balance, Diplomacy (just enough for Audience with the Queen))

- Adding a Rogue levels makes you loose BAB. While this is not a problem right now with the coming Level cap of 30 you can reach a max BAB of 25 and since you gain faster attack animations with each full 5 points of BAB even loosing one point will make your attacks slower compared to 25

- Ranger special attacks add a nice amout of situational and burst damage but i'm not fond of having lots of buttons with special attacks maintaining all cooldowns and micromanage situational usefulness. Others may prefer a different playstyle but with my build you have all the damage and procs on your weapon all the time and the only thing you have to manage is the cooldown of your ten thousand stars.


6 Level Monk vs. 20 lvl Monk:

- 20 Levels of monk give you the best Base Saving Throws of all Classes

- Monk capstone core enhancements which in case of ninja spy add +2 DEX. With my current setup i get 7 points of DEX just from enhancements (2 from Drow, 2 from Ninja Spy, 2 from Ninja Spy capstone core, 1 from Henshin Mystic). You will loose at least the 2 points from the capstone which will lower your attack chance and damage.

- Vorpal on every attack at full range! I think many people underestimate vorpal. It adds 100 Points on damage on mobs above 1000 HP which averages to 5 points per hit but in addition it also has a chance of doing up to 999 points of damage if it hits a mob below 1000 HP which is quite a lot

- +2 crit range! This is in my opinion the best advantage of the build. I think you misunderstood me in that i want the improved crit range for the poison proc and added base damage. Thats absolutely not the case! The improved crit range is necessary (especially on epic elite!) to proc weapon effects that activate on crit and have no save which in combination with Improved Precise Shot adds a lot to CC and survivability:

>Shimmering Arrowhead (Trinket): Crippling on Crit -> NO SAVE
>Greensteel Radiance II Shuriken: Blindness on Crit -> NO SAVE (50% Concealment plus AC and save debuffs plus auto sneak attacks!)
>Spelltouched Life Stealing (fixed effect) Shuriken: Life Stealing chance on Crit -> NO SAVE

This is great crowd control which works even on orange named monsters!

- 9 points of AC which you might compensate with ranger levels on favored enemies. With Combat Expertise and Bulwark of Defense and a GH White Dragonhide Robe you can have AC way above 100 and have great saves and Dodge Bonus in water stance or even switch to Ultimate Mountain stance and add even more AC, PRR and crit multipliers which enables you in combination with Ki Shout to play the (intimi-)tank if needed.

- +20% running speed and abundant step: In my opinion the bread and butter of every ranged build which enables easier kiting and reaching safe spots. Abundant Step is especially useful to get out of hairy situations too

- Spell Resistance (which in combination with drow spell resistance enhancements makes it viable)

- 10 DR/Epic and being a Lawful Outsider (Immunity to Hold Person)

- Wholeness of Body: Free healing between fights

- Improved Evasion (except if you take it as a rogue feat)

- Ultimate monk stances! If you splash in other classes than monk you will have to spend two additional feats just to max out the monk stances which devalues taking the ranger levels for feats quite a bit.


Just adding some fighter levels to add a bit of damage just does not make up for it in my opinion or only if your goal is to make a max DPS Epic Hard build. I would prefer your ranger rogue build in that case.



Some things to consider:


Epic Destinies

While Fatesinger on the surface seems to add very nice bonuses to damage you have to remember that Tailwind does not stack with a Deadly item since both are competence bonuses. The same is true for the guild airship damage buff. Also the bonus damage from Turn of the Tide does not work on red named bosses as the enhancement text explains which favors shiradi.

Shiradi's Double Rainbow does not only add bonuses to damage but also adds CC in form of Flesh to Stone and Prismatic Ray Procs as well as the Driders Web Trip. The most useful proc by far is Nerve Venom which paralyzes the enemy for 6 seconds and makes it helpless with NO SAVE. Also you can add Pin and Otto's Whistler which also make mobs helpless depending on your preferred AP layout.


Items

While Spelltouched Shuriken seem to be very random in their damage output they are the only ones where you can have a good chance to have certain weapon effects on for example Improved Paralyse, Life Stealing, Aligned, Lightning Strike and other high damage procs. I for example was lucky and have a 2d6 Force Damage, Fracturing, Lightning Strike Shuriken with -1 DEX damage on it which is a very good universal damage item. My most valuable spelltouched shuriken is a 2d6 Fire damage, Incineration, Life Stealing adamantine shuriken which is awesome on Epic Elite. Having a good base item is the basis on which you can have good reliable damage with spelltouched. The high attack rate smoothens out the unreliabilities of the damage procs.


Enhancements

Halfling Master Thrower and Kensai Keen Edge do not stack since both are competence bonuses. You should consider that in your build 2. They both do not stack either with Ninja Master so only with 20 Levels of monk you can achieve a +2 crit range. If this was not the case i would already have switched my drow into a halfling and the thrower build would be quite overpowered. ^^

Ninja Poison is not really a blast but with the enhanced crit range and the high attack speed it is sure worth taking to do considerable damage in boss fights. Even most undead seem to be vulnerable to poison damage (even ghosts and wraiths).

[inspiredunease]

What was this like to level? Or did you simply level twf and lr at cap?

EDIT: Oh and +1 rep for a cool build that also sounds viable in EE.

[Firewall]

What was this like to level? Or did you simply level twf and lr at cap?

EDIT: Oh and +1 rep for a cool build that also sounds viable in EE.

I can confirm what threfeetunder said in the 2nd post. This build becomes viable at level 3 when you can use DEX to attack and damage on shuriken and you get the "second shuriken expertise feat" from the Ninja Spy tree. Together with a Shadowstar (Minimum Level 2 named shuriken from the end-reward of the Shan-to-kor quest chain) you do a lot of damage and since you get enough feats to get quick draw and rapid shot at early levels and your attack speed increases with every 5th level through your BAB too you have a good attack speed. Also you can take the lowest Xendrik Weapon Training early from the Drow Racial Enhancement Tree.

At level 1 i used handwraps mostly and from level 2 on you can use the Shadowstar. I also carry the Staff of Nat Gann (it also uses DEX to damage) from the Chronoscope raid to switch to when i have to bash down doors.

Up to level 12 i also used Wind Stance to increase attack speed and get more damage through DEX since the benefit from Water Stance is not that good at the early levels because you dont get the passive Ki regeneration until lvl 12 and you dont have much to spend Ki on anyways.

Actually this is my most fun to play character right now even though i already have a shiradi sorc and a juggernaut.

Thank you for your interest in the build. (c:

[inspiredunease]

Thanks for the response. I'll definitely be trying this out on a back up monk soon. Is there any point getting ranger PLs for this do you think? I'm asuming the base damage is negligible (the point being the Shiradi procs), so probably not worth it?

[Firewall]

Thanks for the response. I'll definitely be trying this out on a back up monk soon. Is there any point getting ranger PLs for this do you think? I'm asuming the base damage is negligible (the point being the Shiradi procs), so probably not worth it?

Ranger past life feats do not work with throwing weapons. They only include bows and crossbows.

[Firewall]

I added my Enhancement Distribution to the original post. Also i will revise the build from time to time as needed and put in the changes that i think necessary.

At the Moment i'm trying out to distribute the 3 additional feats into Combat Expertise, Combat Archery and Bulwark of Defense for added survivability.

Also i did not take Holy Strike as a lvl 26 ED Feat but Guardian Angel since i think Holy Strike is too situational and with a high WIS you can get more benefit from Guardian Angel on Epic Elite (the 30 second buff still remains if you get healed after dropping below 50% HP)

[Caprice]

I have not tried the build yet but it looks fun. I have a couple of quick notes:
- Precision cannot be taken at level 1 as it requires BAB+1 and Monks only count as BAB+0 at level 1. You probably took Dodge as your level 1 martial arts bonus feat and Precision as your level 2 one. It does not make much difference of course, but I thought I would point that out.
- For leveling, don't forget the Snowstar out of the Sorrowdusk chain. It's a min level 8 returning shuriken that's +4 Icy Burst with a base crit threat range of 18-20! Unfortunately you can't get IC:Thrown until level 12 (again due to BAB restrictions) and may be switching to GS at that point, but it should be good until then and may be a solid stand-in for those of us without GS mats to spare.

[Havok.cry]

I was thinking about doing something like this with a shadar kai. I would have to take the shuriken expertise as a feat instead of getting it for free like the drow do though. Also wouldn't be pure monk.

[godofdrakes]

Obviously the build benefits from tomes, but does it require them? I try not to use tomes on my 1st life toons in case I dislike how they turn out.

And if I were to build it as a 32-point what would you suggest I alter?

[voodoogroves]

I'm really staring at this and thinking when my (now a bard) re-caps at 20, TRing to something like this because Reign would be funny.

[Dandonk]

Have been thinking about a thrower myself, would be cool if it actually is viable now

[Firewall]

@Caprice: I haven't put the Feats in the order i took them. I have added my level advancement from Ron's Character Planner in the OP but there are still many bugs in there for example that i cannot take ten thousand stars as a lvl 6 monk martial arts bonus feat and it calculates the Enhancements wrong. But thank you for mentioning it.

I have considered Snowstar but didnt actually use it much since i wasn't lucky in getting it until i could use greensteel already. I didn't put up a full list of viable shuriken here since i would have to add a lot here for example a triple positive greensteel shuriken against undead. I just wanted to give people some ideas since it is obviously depending on what items you have available. I put it in the OP list in addition to Shadow Star to have at least all named shuriken included.

@godofdrakes: Actually i think this build will still be good without the tomes or with a first life build since drow already kind of start as a 32 point build stat point wise so you only loose 4 points to distribute. Everything works fine with lower stats. First thing i would drop is WIS since it only affects 10k stars, my will save and a bit of AC. Last thing i would drop is DEX since it is the main stat of this build and even required for some prereqs with feats. But even DEX should work if you lower it to 18. Just remember that you still need 21 DEX if you want to have the Epic Combat Archery Feat, DEX 19 if you want Improved Precise Shot and 13 INT if you want Combat Expertise and that every 2 points of DEX give you 2*2% chance to throw an additional shuriken, +1 attack and damage, +1 AC, +1 DEX skills and +1 reflex save.

[poptolev]

As far as I can see (from the wikia and some personal exp. from the beta) the shuriken effects from the capstone are bugged ?
In that case is there any benefit of staying pure monk instead of some strange fight/ranger/paladin split ?

[ArcaneArcher52689]

hm, i have a drow artificer that i'm thinking of LR'ing into this.

Thanks for the build.

[Firewall]

As far as I can see (from the wikia and some personal exp. from the beta) the shuriken effects from the capstone are bugged ?
In that case is there any benefit of staying pure monk instead of some strange fight/ranger/paladin split ?

Only the crit range was bugged. The Vorpal effect on shuriken always worked on the live servers (and the +2 bonus to DEX too of course). I tested and thought they fixed the crit range in the latest patch but tested it again today and it does not work. The build works of course even without the crit range and pure monk adds a lot survivability but still i hope they fix the crit range very soon too. Also the extended crit range on throwing weapons with halflings did not work either. I don't think they have fixed that yet also. When the +2 crit range finally works on shuriken there is definately no alternative to pure monk in my opinion.

What is also worth mentioning is that the Life Stealing effect on spelltouched shuriken is applied before manslayer and vorpal. Also manslayer and vorpal damage work both next to each other on humanoid targets. So on a vorpal hit the target becomes level drained first making it more likely to drop below 1000 HP for an instakill with vorpal. And humanoid targets are first level drained and if they still are above 1000 HP they get 100 damage from manslayer (or vorpal) and if they then are still above 1000 HP they get another 100 damage from the other effect which extends the instakill HP range quite a bit and adds to damage if you use a tier 3 epic ring of the stalker.

[Caprice]

FWIW I spent a bit of time with this build on a 1st life Vet2 running through levels 7-9. I made a DEX 18 version on my first roll, but then decided that I agreed that DEX is too central to the build to skimp on it and rerolled with DEX back at 20 and dropped WIS per your suggestion. The playstyle feels slow-paced compared to the LiDiDi Cleric I had been duoing with a friend just previously, but I definitely had fun. The DPS is solid, the combat survivability is great, being able to snipe at range and break enemy stealth is really useful, and most traps are barely inconveniences. In general I seem to be able to solo at level elites without hirelings or potions as long as I play with a little care. I started on Wind stance for the DPS but I find I tend to stay in Water a lot since the ever so slightly higher saves seem to make a difference. I can kite melee foes and dodge arrows, but cannot always LoS spells.

I am not quite sure about the mechanics on the multiple throws though. I do see triple hits sometimes so I am sure that the Shuriken Expertise feat and Ninja Spy Training 2 core enhancement do stack somehow but the rates I observe in the game "feel" lower than what my math indicates I should be getting. From the descriptions:
Shuriken Expertise: Percent chance to throw an additional shuriken is equal to your Dexterity.
Ninja Spy description: You also gain a chance based on your Dexterity score to throw an extra shuriken per attack.

I am assuming that Ninja Spy's "chance based on your Dexterity" is the same as Shuriken Expertise's 1 DEX = 1% chance, but that is just an assumption. By my math and following the assumption, with my current 29 DEX I should have 50.4% chance to throw just one star, 41.2% chance to throw two, and 8.4% chance to throw three. I definitely do not feel like I am throwing multiple stars half the time. Granted that some of my attacks may be missing but my unbuffed to hit is around +25 so I am hoping that my miss chance is pretty low against most mobs. However I have not performed any sort of proper metrics so my comparisons are purely unscientific. I may have to try to do tests on a training dummy to see what the actual rate is since general heat-of-the-moment observations are not reliable.

I am concerned that I am going to run into problems in later levels due to a lack of suitable weapons. I have the Snowstar and it works well for now (although it highlights the number of cold-immune mobs in the early to mid levels), but I don't have any of the special effects I would want, e.g. paralyzing, radiance, DR-breaking. I am keeping an eye on the auction house and vendors for options and have some of the special metals now, but since I have restarted on a new server I do not have much in the way of resources or plat and no Cannith crafting levels. I am starting to think that if I do want to get this to cap then I should go make a Shroud farmer Iconic or three and see about filling in some of the weapon gaps that way.

But anyway, thanks for the fun build and I look forward to play with it more!