Challenge Farmer

[nibel]

While true, it's mostly a distinction without a difference. The monk already has improved evasion so the only thing aquatic gives over the very-easily-crafted ring swap is +2 swim.

Still an upgrade for the crucible swim. And it being part of the same quest this character is built to defeat as a hobby makes them much easier to acquire than a lot of other named items in the setup. Specially the greensteel.

I think it is worth at least a note on the gearset as (UA of Swim + 13 or aquatic bracers)

[Stoner81]

Hey Ellis have you got your guy back to 16 after the TR? Just wondering since I am toying with the idea of TR'ing my farmer so was just wondering about the past life feat for Monk.

Stoner81.

[EllisDee37]

I left him at 11 when my 1-month VIP kicked in so that I could do all the favor on my epic farmer, the wizard. That wizard is level 21 and fully geared out, but I'm still stubbornly farming up off destinies for twists. Over 6 million xp so far, it's a brutal slog. On the plus side, tonight will finish slotting the twists so I'll be done. Woot! He'll only be tier 4 Draconic so I may spend tomorrow night getting to 24 AP in his primary destiny, but after tonight he'll be able to twist necro specialization, boulder toss and endless faith. So happy!

Once that dude is finished the plan is to resume the monk. Early reports are that the past life is noticeably good, especially when combined with the +1 damage. However, my challenge farmer avoided LRing his first life because he'd banked too much xp to stay at 16, so he was missing some dps feats anyway. He had two toughness feats instead of improved crit, for example. So this second life DPS is just plain better all around.

Now I'm regretting making those videos when his dps was so gimped. hehheh.

[Stoner81]

Now I'm regretting making those videos when his dps was so gimped. hehheh.

I wouldn't say he was gimped at all m8 not by a long shot! I took my banked levels last night which puts me at level 18 rank 1 (working on rank 2) so will be a while before I reach 20 and TR, I don't run the challenges much but I did really like levelling up this toon so I thought a TR would be nice do for something a bit different here and there.

I have a toon doing a Artificer life at the moment which is going to be TR'd in to your epic farmer since I could use a toon for getting soul gems for crafting recipes so this will fill a bunch of roles very nicely.

Stoner81.

[EllisDee37]

I have a toon doing a Artificer life at the moment which is going to be TR'd in to your epic farmer since I could use a toon for getting soul gems for crafting recipes so this will fill a bunch of roles very nicely.

Yeah, the epic farmer is an excellent soul gem farmer, for sure.

[LFKnowledge]

However, my challenge farmer avoided LRing his first life because he'd banked too much xp to stay at 16, so he was missing some dps feats anyway.

My CFM is 15, and I'm planning on leaving him at 15. He currently has over xp at rank 81. I haven't used the free LR, and was planning to do so soon.
Are you saying that since I'm banked over level, I can't LR?


Just discovered a pro to 16 over 15, running L20 challenges and killing Devashta gives a Cannith supply treasure chest that requires minimum L16. They are sitting in my inventory un-openable at the moment.

[EllisDee37]

My CFM is 15, and I'm planning on leaving him at 15. He currently has over xp at rank 81. I haven't used the free LR, and was planning to do so soon.
Are you saying that since I'm banked over level, I can't LR?

Correct; you have to take any banked levels before you can LR. So it's quite possible you might have to take 17 before you can LR if you hit the xp cap @ 15 and then got a single xp from any monster manual. That's what happened to me, and is part of the reason I tr'ed. The other reason was to get UMD.

Just discovered a pro to 16 over 15, running L20 challenges and killing Devashta gives a Cannith supply treasure chest that requires minimum L16. They are sitting in my inventory un-openable at the moment.

Yep, I mention this in the challenge tutorial thread. Challenge chests have an ML of CR-4.

[LFKnowledge]

Correct; you have to take any banked levels before you can LR. So it's quite possible you might have to take 17 before you can LR .

Can I stop at level 15 during the LR process on the ship?

[EllisDee37]

Can I stop at level 15 during the LR process on the ship?

Pretty sure they fixed that loophole. (You used to be able to /death off the LR ship but I believe they fixed that.)

[whereispowderedsilve]

Pretty sure they fixed that loophole. (You used to be able to /death off the LR ship but I believe they fixed that.)

The portal doesn't open to take you back to the Hall of Heroes until you finish the LR process. :\

[Snarglefrump]

What do you think about 12 monk / 2 ranger / 2 something? 2 ranger gives sprint boost, which is fantastic for a challenge runner.

2 ranger provides:
one free feat (TWF)
sprint boost +50%
+1d6 sneak attack

I'm torn about the "something". Here are some options:

A third level of ranger adds:
+10% offhand attack chance

1 rogue provides:
unlocks UMD (even with full ranks, we'd need to spend a number of gear slots to no-fail Heal scrolls though)
16 extra skill points
+2d6 sneak attack

A second level of rogue adds:
+30% haste boost
+1d6 sneak attack

1 fighter provides:
+30% haste boost
+1 feat
+3 action boosts/rest

A second level of fighter adds:
+3 tactics DCs
+1 feat

I don't think we'd want to go lower than 12 monk; Abundant Step is too useful.

Thoughts?

[unbongwah]

What do you think about 12 monk / 2 ranger / 2 something? 2 ranger gives sprint boost, which is fantastic for a challenge runner.

Dropping below monk 16 costs you +0.5[W] and Adamantine Strike (helpful for animated armors, IIRC); dropping below monk 15 costs you Quivering Palm (although the forthcoming DC nerf makes it less OP & therefore less of a loss).

[EllisDee37]

Dropping below monk 16 costs you +0.5[W] and Adamantine Strike (helpful for animated armors, IIRC); dropping below monk 15 costs you Quivering Palm (although the forthcoming DC nerf makes it less OP & therefore less of a loss).

More relevant, dropping below 15 costs you run speed.

I personally would prefer to stay 16 monk for the run speed, +0.5[W] and adamantine bypass, but sure, mixing in some fighter or ranger would work fine.

Heal scrolls aren't really an issue. Healing touch and a pair of full vampirism wraps is sufficient for even the strongest boss fight on CR20 challenges, and more often than not in those fights the vampirism wraps aren't even needed.

The only thing I did for burst healing was make a cove flask. I actually really like the flask for the challenge farmer, and the flask is pretty much useless for any other build. So it makes me happy that I had something unique and useful to spend all those thousands of greens I inevitably accumulated helping guildies out with cove runs.

[Stoner81]

For the Heroic challenges I will be frankly amazed if there is something better than this out there. I've used it at lvl 16 and once I got used to it and got my gear sorted it out it was/is insane! On top of that thanks to the tutorials I now happily do these challenges even the ones I hated with a passion (looking at you Disruptor).

Stoner81.

[Snarglefrump]

More relevant, dropping below 15 costs you run speed.

That's a really good point, and I'm embarrassed to have overlooked it.

I crunched the numbers a bit. Comparing two characters with:

+20% monk run speed, +30% striding, five 20-second +50% sprint boosts
+25% monk run speed, +30% striding

The character with the action boosts comes out ahead if they spend less than 16.7 minutes running (or less than 26.7 minutes with eight action boosts). The character with the +25% run speed comes out ahead if they spend more than 16.7 minutes running. Of course, there are other factors to consider. If don't need to run for a full 20-seconds, then some of the action boost time is wasted. On the flip side, sometimes a boost of speed at a crucial moment is quite valuable. I think it mostly comes down to play style.

[pappo]

Clickies
Visor of the Flesh Render Guards (multiple)
Planar Gird
Any invisibility clickie for colossal crystal
Shard of Xoriat
Phiarlan's Pendant of Time

In your videos you cast the same four things (GH, DW, ExpRetreat, and Stoneskin). I see from your clickies, where you are getting the Deathward and GH, but where do you get the Stoneskin? From your build I do not see any UMD taken, so I just was puzzled on where all the buffs were coming from.

I am working on one, but only at lvl 10 so far, and as a first life. I do not have many TR toons available, or "uber" gear, so having to farm for the gear you show, will take me a while to finish the Challenge Farmer.

Great build though. Thanks for doing all this.

[Cardtrick]

In your videos you cast the same four things (GH, DW, ExpRetreat, and Stoneskin). I see from your clickies, where you are getting the Deathward and GH, but where do you get the Stoneskin? From your build I do not see any UMD taken, so I just was puzzled on where all the buffs were coming from.

I am working on one, but only at lvl 10 so far, and as a first life. I do not have many TR toons available, or "uber" gear, so having to farm for the gear you show, will take me a while to finish the Challenge Farmer.

In his videos, the usage counter on his green steel goggles goes down from 2 to 1 when he casts Stoneskin. Presumably they're Min2 HP goggles.

I personally can't imagine spending the materials for a tier 3 dual shard item on a challenge farmer . . . but I've never run Shroud as much as a lot of people. I doubt very much that Stoneskin is essential to the performance of this build.

[EllisDee37]

In his videos, the usage counter on his green steel goggles goes down from 2 to 1 when he casts Stoneskin. Presumably they're Min2 HP goggles.

I personally can't imagine spending the materials for a tier 3 dual shard item on a challenge farmer . . . but I've never run Shroud as much as a lot of people. I doubt very much that Stoneskin is essential to the performance of this build.

Correct, and no it's not required.

Even crazier than spending the larges on a dual-shard accessory for a challenge farmer is that I then made a second one after they introduced deadly items. Gah!

My new gearset is much stronger dps-wise, but it no longer has a stoneskin clickie. I opted for smoke screen hp bracers this time instead of min2 goggles, slotting heavy fort in a green augment on a pair of deadly goggles.

[Stoner81]

I opted for smoke screen hp bracers this time instead of min2 goggles, slotting heavy fort in a green augment on a pair of deadly goggles.

So you no longer use Bracers Of Wind then and giving up 6% Dodge?

Stoner81.

[EllisDee37]

So you no longer use Bracers Of Wind then and giving up 6% Dodge?

Yep.