Knight of the rising sun

[prodONEg]

I rolled one of these up and I have really been enjoying it - thanks for posting the build Neoxxz. One of the replies above was asking about leveling order, and after thinking about it I decided to go 12FVS/2PAL/1FTR initially to get the Archon and Divine Grace sooner. Even with mostly just the starting gear it is working out very well.

One thing I wanted to share about this leveling order that was a pleasant surprise is that the Archon is already powering "free" heals. I picked up a Radiance item with Radiance Lore and I equip that before summoning the Archon. The lore % plus the crit % increases for Light spells from the Smiting line puts me at either a 19 or 20% crit chance so in any fight that lasts more than a few hits I am getting a Just Rewards proc from the Archon. Every 10 temp sp proc is a free Cure Moderate Wounds (only 8sp). This pretty much keeps me topped off at all times - pretty sweet.

[Neoxxz]

I rolled one of these up and I have really been enjoying it - thanks for posting the build Neoxxz.

Glad to hear you're enjoying it!

One thing I wanted to share about this leveling order that was a pleasant surprise is that the Archon is already powering "free" heals. I picked up a Radiance item with Radiance Lore and I equip that before summoning the Archon. The lore % plus the crit % increases for Light spells from the Smiting line puts me at either a 19 or 20% crit chance so in any fight that lasts more than a few hits I am getting a Just Rewards proc from the Archon. Every 10 temp sp proc is a free Cure Moderate Wounds (only 8sp). This pretty much keeps me topped off at all times - pretty sweet.

The Archon really starts to shine once you hit epic levels and pick up your twists. You'll find that between the Archon and the super cheap Avenging Light and Nimbus of Light your Endless Ardor stacks build up incredibly quickly; in the blink of an eye, you can get a 5-stack Rebuke Foe on an opponent.

Naturally this is mostly applicable to boss fights and raids but I think Rebuke Foe is largely underappreciated. Applying a 25% physical vulnerability to an opponent is huge and magnifies party dps enormously. Then throw in the stacking -50% fortification debuff from your Shield of Condemnation and - in addition to being the self-sufficient supertank - you're indirectly contributing more dps than any other individual.

You'll find that once you have a full 5-stack Rebuke up, it's almost effortless to maintain and you can drop Nimbus from your spell rotation, relying on just the Archon and Avenging Light for Endless Ardor charges. Given that you'll be getting a 10 temp sp proc every 3.88 seconds, this can fuel an endless cycle of Avenging Light (3-sec CD, hitting for average 1023) and CMW (3-sec CD, healing for average 224).

Then you factor in the Halcyon Boots, which give you an additional temp 15sp 5% of the time that you're damaged from an attack (which as the tank should be fairly frequently). When these kick in you get even more 'free' mana to splurge on either an empowered CSW (healing for average 342) or a Divine Punishment (hitting for average 175/tick x 8).

All the while, you can either be blocking (for a constant 82% energy absorption) or swinging away with your 21% Doublestrike Balizarde, with Divine Might/Favor/Power constantly active (for full BAB, +17 STR and +3 luck bonus to hit/damage) and hitting Divine Sacrifice every 3 seconds for a quick crit multiplier. With a caster level of 17 (12 FVS +5 US), the duration on Divine Favor and Divine Power is sufficient that you can also keep those buffs up using purely regenerating disposable mana from the multisource sp procs.

If you drop below two-thirds health, you can treat the Just Rewards sp proc as a free Quicken and finally dip in to your - for a tank - prodigious mana pool for a Quickened Heal (average 816 hps). And naturally, if you're ever in extremis you have generous charges of an instant full bar heal in Light the Dark which, as an added advantage, heals everyone in an AOE around you for 719hps (before heal amp).

Incidentally, if you have another source of Light DPS in the group running in Exalted Angel, you can easily forego Rebuke Foe and bolster your defences even more, twisting either Perfection of Body (tier 3 GMoF) for +6 Fort saves and no autofail on a 1, In the Weeds (tier 4 Shiradi) to buff dodge to 19-21%, or Elemental Absorption (tier 4 Shiradi) for a staggering 94% Energy Absorption when blocking.

+100% threat from Stand Against the Tide, +100% melee threat from Sacred Defence, +100% threat every time you activate Divine Sacrifice, +100% Sacred bonus to threat generation from Divine Righteousness (if and when needed), solid DPS (from the light spells, melee attacks and the archon) coupled with an essentially no-fail Intimidate every 15 seconds should ensure that you keep aggro through just about anything. You also have your panic-button Intolerant Blows (+1000% sacred threat bonus) for instantly gaining aggro if Intimidate is on CD.

[Pilgrim1]

I understand why you use a shield, but I'm not fully sure I understand why you use the shield feats, is 2 feats worth the... 15 PRR and 7% (i think its 7) double strike?

Thanks in advance!

[Neoxxz]

I understand why you use a shield, but I'm not fully sure I understand why you use the shield feats, is 2 feats worth the... 15 PRR and 7% (i think its 7) double strike?

Thanks in advance!

You're right, the two feats give you 15 PRR and 8% doublestrike.

Tier 3 Legendary Shield Mastery from Unyielding Sentinel ED (for which the two feats are prerequisites) gives you an additional 15 PRR and a further 7% doublestrike.

So in all, 30 PRR and 15% doublestrike.

[Wiremesh]

Hello, and thanks for the build. I'm really enjoying mine, even though he's just gotten to lvl 18.

I was wondering if you've revised the AP expenditure now that patch 2 has released the Warpriest tree. I am considering whether the APs in Warpriest, rather than in HotD, would be worth it. You retain Divine Might, but lose extra turning and smites and Divine Sacrifice. More importantly, you lose 10% Healing Amp. For these loses, you gain a passive +6 AC & +15 spell power to fire and light spells, a 2[W] smite attack, 10PRR, 5HP, 5/- DR, an Action boost +20 PRR 20 seconds/minute, and Action boost +3 AC, attack and damage aura (and +3 saves) 30 seconds/minute.

I'd appreciate your thoughts on this regarding it's impact on the build.

[Sholvah]

You listed Power attack feat as lvl 2 , but you start Str Stat is only 12. So what did you pick to get power attack , changed you stats ?

[arkonas]

Hello, and thanks for the build. I'm really enjoying mine, even though he's just gotten to lvl 18.

I was wondering if you've revised the AP expenditure now that patch 2 has released the Warpriest tree. I am considering whether the APs in Warpriest, rather than in HotD, would be worth it. You retain Divine Might, but lose extra turning and smites and Divine Sacrifice. More importantly, you lose 10% Healing Amp. For these loses, you gain a passive +6 AC & +15 spell power to fire and light spells, a 2[W] smite attack, 10PRR, 5HP, 5/- DR, an Action boost +20 PRR 20 seconds/minute, and Action boost +3 AC, attack and damage aura (and +3 saves) 30 seconds/minute.

I'd appreciate your thoughts on this regarding it's impact on the build.

yeah see i was starting to think this as well. the war priest would be a nice line to do as well if you can fit it in somehow.

[thyrymn2]

With the 6th level of paladin, what do I get with the new enhancements that I would miss with only 5 levels of paladin? In the original build, the prestige class was important.

[EllisDee37]

With the 6th level of paladin, what do I get with the new enhancements that I would miss with only 5 levels of paladin? In the original build, the prestige class was important.

For the build as written in the OP, you'd lose the entire Sacred Defense stance (3rd core, ML6) and all the bonuses that come with it:

• +25 PRR
• +3 saves
• +75% threat
• +6 Constitution
• +20% Hit Points

[Qnevven]

In your build you strongly rely on combustion spell power - i'd like to ask about your spell choices for this build?

[Wiremesh]

The Combustion spellpower is not on the build to boost your spells.

Divines get very few spells that would benefit from Combustion SP, and on this build you can only take one – Flame Strike. I use Flame Strike as a ranged AoE trash aggro-grab, not for it's damage.

The Combustion SP is on the build as a natural extension of the build's synergies. You already are building for Light SP, and you get both Light and Fire SP from the same sources (Spellpower skill and Augment, AoV, Implement bonus, Potency on FBDS, Scourge) and crit sources (Magical Training, Mental Toughness, FBDS (Yes, Light crits are from helm) and Smiting) so it's a simple matter to throw in a Combustion augment and get decent Fire SP. To utilise this synergy, Neoxxz suggests Energy Burst: Fire as a great AoE damage and aggro-sustainer. Considering the damage output this allows, for such a small investment of an augment, it's well worth it.

I hope this helps, and that I've correctly understood Neoxxz's original intent

[Nodoze]

This build was designed as a self-sustaining endgame tank and single target debuffer/DPS capitalizing on the synergies between:

• Shield of Condemnation and Rebuke Foe
• Just Rewards/Halcyon Boots and cheap light/healing spells/SLAs
  ...

PURPLE DRAGON KNIGHT
12 FVS/6 Paladin/2 Fighter


STATS:
...
CHA 16 +4 tome +10 item +3 insightful +6 level up +1 exceptional +2 ship +2 Yugo = 44


EPIC DESTINY
Unyielding Sentinel
Brace for Impact 2
Shield Prowess 3
Legendary Shield Mastery 3
Block Energy 3
Healing Hands
Endless Lay on Hands 2
Intolerant Blows
Light the Dark
Undying Vanguard

Twists
Rebuke Foe
Avenging Light
Rejuvenation Cocoon

Solo ED: Exalted Angel. (-120 HP, + 582 SP)
Twists: Energy Burst:Fire. IPA. Boulder Toss.


...
SKILLS:
95 Intimidate = 23 ranks + 8 epic + 4 Morale (GH) + 2 Luck (Balizarde) + 17 CHA bonus + 5 enhancement + 3 Focused + 3 Inquisition + 6 US Destiny + 19 competence (necklace) + 2 Coin Lord Finishing School + 3 tome

...
...
KEY FEATURES
82% Energy Absorption (blocking)

Debuffing - Shield of Condemnation (stacking x 5) and Rebuke Foe (stacking x 5)
------> 75% light vulnerability, -50% fortification, 25% physical vulnerability

Feedback welcome

I like many of the ideas in this build.

I tested for a different build and I don't think in Tank mode in Epic Destiny Unyielding Sentinel you can power the T4 Twist of Rebuke Foe without also twisting the T4 Blood and Radiance.

To do two Tier 4 Twists (with no 3rd or 4th twist) you need 24 Fate Points. Currently you can only get 20 Fate Points if you grind all EDs to max and eat a Tome of Fate +2. To get the other 4 fate points currently you would need 16 Epic Past Lives (EPLs) as you get 1 fate point for every 4 EPLs. When the new Divine Crusader comes out you should be able to get to 22 but will still need 8 EPLs (and will still have no 3rd Twist).

Can you break out the 82% Energy Absorption more?

I must be missing something to get the 82%. I see the 30% from ED:US's Block Energy 3 and assume the added the +40% from PDK's Shield Deflection but I could only come up with 70% and not sure where the other 12% to get to 82% is coming from.

That being said the 40% from PDK's Shield Deflection (or the feat itself) may be a different mechanic than Absorption as the feat says 'When actively blocking with any type of shield you are proficient with, you gain a competence bonus based on the type of shield to completely ignore Acid, Cold, Electric, and Fire damage (Tower Shield = 40%)'. If it totally ignores then on those attacks the damage would be 0 and when not ignored then absorption would kick in.