Which (BF) build should I try?

[elg582]

Hm, yeah, was thinking just many shot w/out slaying/fury, but in retrospect, I'd do more damage unarmed. Guess I'll just go 17mnk/3rng(tempest 10% offhand chance) if I go unarmed. Think a fighter level for the Kensai DC enhancement is worth it/the AP? Don't think +3 is worth the investment but I'd like to see what you think.
Remind me again, why does your Mad Monk build have 4 fighter/ranger levels each? Just curious.

4 ranger was for 10% off-hand proc and Ram's might (+3 damage/hit at the fastest attack speed...); 4 fighter was for feats, boosts, and a few more HP than 2 more levels of ranger, since I didn't have the feats to spare for ranged, anyway. Again, though, that's a 3rd-life monk with tons of gear, and would be crazy hard to pull off as a BF.

[Kingault]

4 ranger was for 10% off-hand proc and Ram's might (+3 damage/hit at the fastest attack speed...); 4 fighter was for feats, boosts, and a few more HP than 2 more levels of ranger, since I didn't have the feats to spare for ranged, anyway. Again, though, that's a 3rd-life monk with tons of gear, and would be crazy hard to pull off as a BF.

Hm, good point. I have the third life bit down, but I've nowhere near a good amount of gear...
Forgot about Ram's Might as well. Heh.
Would 16mnk 4 rng work with BF then, or am I better off going pure monk or something?

[elg582]

Hm, good point. I have the third life bit down, but I've nowhere near a good amount of gear...
Forgot about Ram's Might as well. Heh.
Would 16mnk 4 rng work with BF then, or am I better off going pure monk or something?

4 ranger is better DPS; pure monk has better DCs, but without high WIS, it doesn't matter, which means that you don't need 16 monk for Quivering Palm, so you can drop down to 12.

I don't envy your grinding out the gear for it, though.

[Kingault]

4 ranger is better DPS; pure monk has better DCs, but without high WIS, it doesn't matter, which means that you don't need 16 monk for Quivering Palm, so you can drop down to 12.

I don't envy your grinding out the gear for it, though.

Is the -2 from BF that big of a deal?

Speaking of gear... What should I get then?

Tbh I was thinking of a EE Addy Knuckles slotted with 2 Mabar Neg level augments and either a third one, if I can farm enough or good dr. Course, it depends on whether we'll be able to do this next year, and whether I'll be able to get 9 signets(3 for another tome). Got 4 this year, 3 for tome, 1 that I wasted on festival solar for some reason, so meh.
Other than that, I've been working on the Epic Artifice Ring, have a level 20 Mabar cloak(not sure what would be be better. There's the eveningstar one for dcs, but you know), Epic spare hand(again for dcs, so... eh. Would be nice for a stick build if I wanted to put points for traps.)

[elg582]

Is the -2 from BF that big of a deal?

OK, you need 23 STR for Overwhelming Critical (not really optional), 17 DEX for GTWF (this is not at all optional, and you have -2 here, too), and only so many points left over for even a hilariously low CON (munkenmo has a +5 CON tome, too, and is still a little low here) and WIS, which you would like to get to 23 for Vorpal Fists (optional, but REALLY nice).

Speaking of gear... What should I get then?

Epic Ring of the Stalker
Epic Brawling Gloves
ToD ring (be careful, the shintao set effect has a hidden threat bonus), add Holy Burst for DR-breaking
Adamantine Knuckles
Pick your set bonus: Sun Soul is easy to get and has a nice shield effect in earth stance; black dragonscale set gives 15% fort bypass, but sucks to farm.
Lootgen/skirmishers/greensteel for the rest.

Tbh I was thinking of a EE Addy Knuckles slotted with 2 Mabar Neg level augments and either a third one, if I can farm enough or good dr. Course, it depends on whether we'll be able to do this next year, and whether I'll be able to get 11 signets. Got 4 this year, 3 for tome, 1 that I wasted on festival solar for some reason, so meh.
Other than that, I've been working on the Epic Artifice Ring, have a level 20 Mabar cloak(not sure what would be be better. There's the eveningstar one for dcs, but you know), Epic spare hand(again for dcs, so... eh. Would be nice for a stick build if I wanted to put points for traps.)

Yea, I use the mabar cloak; grab the skirmisher's helm if you want combat mastery. I use Sun Soul, so no spare hand for me. Neg level augments don't work on bosses, though, so maybe 2 sets of addy knuckles

[Munkenmo]

Is the -2 from BF that big of a deal?

No.

Bladeforged get +3 tactics for 3ap, and effectively an extra +2 dc from the shaken enhancement.

your tactics on a bladeforged will be better than any race except helf.

and maybe a longsword wielding pdk, but that's ridiculous.

[Munkenmo]

OK, you need 23 STR for Overwhelming Critical (not really optional), 17 DEX for GTWF (this is not at all optional, and you have -2 here, too), and only so many points left over for even a hilariously low CON (munkenmo has a +5 CON tome, too, and is still a little low here) and WIS, which you would like to get to 23 for Vorpal Fists (optional, but REALLY nice).

It's not 2011 anymore, the 30hp per base con bracket is not worth more than 4 build points imo.

Despite my low con, I've got 900hp and a reconstruct SLA that hits me for 510hp.

Your right, 23wis/str and 17dex are required, a serious investment in con, not so much.

[Kingault]

Hm...
Guess I'll try to get +3 tomes for... two of DEX/WIS/STR(whichever one I don't use the +5 in). Would help with the hole -2 thing. Would say -4 but I doubt I'll ever get even one of those.
Reason why I want to use addy knuckles for trash instead of Grave Wraps, other than more hit dice, is because I'd rather not spend TP on an alignment change. Then again, I might have enough TP just from favor by then... And the +10 stunning from Grave Wraps does look quite appetizing, should I decide to try for DCs after all..
Hum.
For rings, I suppose, if i was willing, I could farm +10 sunder(for quivering) Run Robar(trash) and ERotS, and swap to the ToD ring for DR.
Was planning on Epic Ring of the M.A. for the recon bonuses and Archmagi, but a red augment would give more repair spell power... Unfortunately, Grave Wrapshas no slots if I decide to use those after all...

...Stick build sure looks appealing. Seems simpler in terms of gear.
...............I think.

[Munkenmo]

Hm...
Guess I'll try to get +3 tomes for... two of DEX/WIS/STR(whichever one I don't use the +5 in)

I wouldn't build a 2wf bladeforged without a +4 dex tome, even with all my gear and pastlives.

If you're going for the stick build I'd definitely use that +5 tome on strength though.

[elg582]

Hm...
...Stick build sure looks appealing. Seems simpler in terms of gear.

That's what I've been trying to tell you

That's also why I have 3 stick builds and only 1 unarmed character.

[Kingault]

That's what I've been trying to tell you

That's also why I have 3 stick builds and only 1 unarmed character.

Why must Turbine make it difficult to beat up foes with your fists.


Eh I could just ignore the stunning/quivering dcs like you said. No point putting effort in getting them to almost good enough if they're still not good enough.
What are the DCs like on EH, anyway?

And yeah, guess I'll be going stick after(just as I planned), for now, unless I get seriously lucky with tomes/etc on my monkcher.

Thanks.
The main problem is whether I can stomach leveling nowadays.
Not much PUG activity when I'm on, and low quality groups generally.
Not much point for me to make these builds if I can't really enjoy the game in general, huh.
Knew I should've stayed back in 2012 instead of quitting because I disliked what I TRed into...

By the way, elg, the build you posted kinda has low HP.

[elg582]

By the way, elg, the build you posted kinda has low HP.

OK, you know that the listed HP is without items or enhancements, right?

[Kingault]

OK, you know that the listed HP is without items or enhancements, right?

Eh.

[elg582]

Eh.

It's listed as 368; my Mad Monk is listed as 397, but buffs to well over 1000hp. I think ~1250 is the highest I've seen, with positive energy infusion, primal scream, and triple rage.

[Kingault]

It's listed as 368; my Mad Monk is listed as 397, but buffs to well over 1000hp. I think ~1250 is the highest I've seen, with positive energy infusion, primal scream, and triple rage.

Yeah, I figured.

[Kingault]

Hm, think, for EH, if I somehow got +4 tomes and decided to go unarmed, that 16mnk/4rng would be good for both dps AND fist/palm DCs? Considered 16mnk/3rng/1fght for the +3 DC enhancement, but then I'd lose Ram's Might.
Course, this is in theory because, you know +4 tomes.

Now, this isn't related to BF as they use docents, but do you know whether the +1 die from VoSS/Caparison stack with the bonus dice from Addy knuckles?
If I decided to go monk, I'd probably go half elf due to lack of tomes, tbh, and frankly, that wouldn't be so bad. Even with BF, problem is that I'd only have like 200-300 SP with an unarmed build, for the recon SLA. Power of the Forge is tempting, yes...

Eh, whatever, good thing I don't have the race yet, so I'm not all "but I need to make a build using BF so it wouldn't go to waste."
Stick build still viable.
I'll figure out what I want once I reach epic levels and get more gear/etc, and see what I can do and what I can't.

[Munkenmo]

Hm, think, for EH, if I somehow got +4 tomes and decided to go unarmed, that 16mnk/4rng would be good for both dps AND fist/palm DCs? Considered 16mnk/3rng/1fght for the +3 DC enhancement, but then I'd lose Ram's Might.
Course, this is in theory because, you know +4 tomes.

If I decided to go monk, I'd probably go half elf due to lack of tomes, tbh, and frankly, that wouldn't be so bad. Even with BF, problem is that I'd only have like 200-300 SP with an unarmed build, for the recon SLA. Power of the Forge is tempting, yes...

If you want DC's you'll want fighter for +3 tactics.

regarding the SP: It's why I went 2wizard
80sp Magical Training
145 sp Mental Toughness: wiz bonus feat
75sp 2 wizard levels
250sp Yellow augment crystal
66sp int modifier (20int)
--------------------
616sp More is possible but this is enough for 24 recons per rest. (24*500 = 12000 points of healing per rest)

Power of the forge is indeed awesome, It's especially good when coupled with kensai hasteboost and extra action boosts

[Kingault]

If you want DC's you'll want fighter for +3 tactics.

regarding the SP: It's why I went 2wizard
80sp Magical Training
145 sp Mental Toughness: wiz bonus feat
75sp 2 wizard levels
250sp Yellow augment crystal
66sp int modifier (20int)
--------------------
616sp More is possible but this is enough for 24 recons per rest. (24*500 = 12000 points of healing per rest)

Power of the forge is indeed awesome, It's especially good when coupled with kensai hasteboost and extra action boosts

Fair enough.
Course, I could try to make do with a 250 crystal and consider putting 4 points in AA for the SP while keeping 16mnk/3rng/1fght or 4ng(tbh I probably wouldn't notice the boost from Ram's and I'd probably keep forgetting to buff with it.) and stock some SP pots... Hm
Or I could stop acting like BF is the only option... even if it seems to be the new EZ Mode race for some builds with the built in recon. Then again, soloing ability.
Meh.

[Kingault]

Hm, still considering a centered GS build, even though I'm not sure what advantages it has over a stick build, other than glancing blows. Even then, I'm not sure whether those deal much. Don't remember how much my glancing blows did in comparison to main attacks two years back...

Meh. Still want to go unarmed even though it would be more difficult, both lootwise and statwise, as we're gone over multiple times already.
Eh not like it's that big of a deal for EH.


Anyway...
Leveling from 17-20 always seems to be slow for me once I've elite cleared Vale and Kolbold. Guess I'm still used to just running quests once each... That and the whole "PUG scene much less lively nowadays" thing...
Guess I should join one of these guilds....
Wait this has nothing to do with BFs....

Think BF Shuriken thrower is a good idea? Guessing not due to -dex which is important for the bonus %, and -wis for the same reason... and lack bonuses for Shurikens that Drow get...

[Tscheuss]

this is not the thread I thought it would be.