Build: The DeBuffer: Maximizes EE Team Boss DPS & AoE Heals (1st life grind-friendly)

[Nodoze]

- Build: The DeBuffer: Maximizes EE Team Boss DPS & AoE Healer (1st life grind-friendly variant)

Note: Would greatly appreciate any feedback on making the below a better & more viable EE Party member for Raid Bosses & tough Red-Named fights.

Overall goal: To be valuable to the DPS in an EE Raid/Dungeon by increasing their damage and AoE healing them while surviving in the middle of the DPS team;

Goals in order of priority:

• - First life EE Party viable (not solo); Does not need to grind things like Green Steel Displacement clickies to survive;
• - Minimal grinding & tomes (more can make it better but not required);
• - Highly survivable (nogrind 50% conceal, 25% incorp, 5% miss, Evasion, high dodge, saves, strong heals);
• - Able to TWF hit well to apply multiple weapon debuffs and maximize Ameliorating Strike (AS) procs;
• - Able to apply the rest of the +100%/50% damage debuffs well;
• - Mana free AoE Heals every 15 seconds from TWF dual-procing Ameliorating Strikes (AS) (based upon character levels and not divine levels);
• - Mana free AoE Heals from TWF dual Wyrm-wrought 'Dragon's Blessing: On Friend-Targeted Spell Cast: 5% chance of AOE Healing Effect centered on target (AOE is size of Mass Cure spells).'
• - Mana efficient AoE Heals from SLA Mass Cure Moderate Wounds;
• - Mana efficient AoE Heals & damage every 20 seconds from Divine Wrath (also based upon character levels and not divine levels);
• - Mana efficient AoE Heals via Sacred Ground (T3 Twist): Passive Bonus: While standing on consecrated ground you and your allies are healed every 3 seconds for 1 point of positive energy per character level. This is affected by your positive spell power.
• - Self or spot healing via full Heal if/as needed;
• - Do personal DPS after achieving all of the above for the team;

DeBuffs Summary: On Raid Bosses & EE Red-Names where there is a designated tank (or known DPSer with highest agro) the build should be able to give THE ENTIRE RAID/party via debuffs:

• -upto +20 % damage boost to everyone (including casters) regardless of source/type by keeping Boss Vulnerable;
• -upto +30 % damage boost to nearby melee regardless of source/type by also Consecrating the ground while the boss is Vulnerable;
• -upto +45% boost to all ranged physical damage for the raid on the boss by keeping boss Vulnerable (20%) & Rebuked (25%);
• -upto +60% boost to all self-sufficient melee physical damage for the raid on the boss by keeping boss Vulnerable & Rebuked & Consecrating the ground while keeping them from having to stop DPS to heal themselves;
• -upto +95% damage boost to all light & alignment based damage (Divine Punishment, etc) with boss Vulnerable, Rebuked, & Condemned (50%)…
• -upto +110% damage boost for all TWF melee properly wielding dual Celestia with boss Vulnerable, Rebuked, & Condemned while on Consecrated ground keeping them from having to stop DPS to heal themselves;
• - upto -12 saves on the Boss from 'Shadows upon you' curse;
• -upto 100% Poison Vulnerability from Sting of the Ninja (need verification that each of the full 20 stacks indeed give 5% each);
• -upto -73% Fortification reduction on the Boss via Condemnation (-50%), Destruction (-15%), and Ninja Eagle Claw (-8%) Note: need to test/verify if these all indeed stack;
• -upto -23 AC on the Boss via Destruction (-15) & Elemental Ki: Eagle Claw (-8) Note: need to test/verify these stack;
• -upto -10% Boss damage to the party via Elemental Ki: Knock on the sky;
• -Healing Shield DeBuff on Boss from Monk 'Fists of Light';

Notes: This was originally a non-centered TWF Evasion build using Scimitars but with the help of feedback in the thread we realized Scimitars aren't necessarily required to maintain the de-buffs and hurt maintaining the monk debuffs & stances so now the build is a TWF Evasion build Centered with Longswords (with Racial/Diety bonuses). It will still be helpful to briefly switch to TWF Frostbite Blades at the start boss fights at levels 17-25 to quickly apply the maximum 20 stacks of Vulnerable but then your Smites should keep the boss at maximum Vulnerability and you should quickly switch to other weapons and become centered again for increased survivability and to max out the other debuffs. At level 25 one can now craft Wyrm-wrought weapons so one or more Longswords could be helpful to get all the debuffs and a Longbow could supplement in ranged scenarios after level 25. Now the build gets +7/+7 with Longswords and they are considered Spellcasting Implements; The build currently has Adept of Forms and you could look to swap one or two more other feats for Master & even Grandmaster of Forms stances if desired. The build could also be centered with ShortSwords with to free up 2 feats to swap around but would not get the +7/+7 nor Spellcasting Implement bonuses so you would want to move those AP around;

Tomes Required: only modest +1 Strength by level 23 for Overwhelming Critical at level 24; Others helpful but not required; Int Tome helps with skills and Dex Tome helps with TWF requirements freeing more points for Con &/or Cha (& maybe Str if also 34/36 point build);

Race: Elf for Displacement with racial weapons bonuses as extra/filler; Can TR into another race after grinding GS Displacement clickies for a second life (planning a Drow varient with Shortswords for a second life);

1st Life 32 Point Stats: Str 16, Dex 17, Con 13, Cha 14, Int 8, Wis 8 (all level-ups in Strength);

Skills: UMD 11, Heal 11, Balance 5, Tumble 1 (with no tomes); If more points max Heal & maybe Spell Power, &/or Balance, &/or Concentration;

EDIT: Later add reasonable tomes (+2Dex@7, +1Int@3, +3Int@11) yields the following with a LR until you can get really good tomes for at least Str/Con>Cha (not needed but all help):
-------Str 16+1t, Dex 15+2t, Con 14, Cha 14, Int 9+3t, Wis 8 (all level-ups in Strength);
-------UMD 11, Heal 23, Balance 18, Tumble 1, Jump 1 (dump)
-------Note: this requires a slightly different leveling order of:mffppmffmffmffmfffmf ;

Level Split:

• - Favored Soul 12: Condemnation, Archon, full Heal spell, AS, spell points, saves, & Divine Might;
• - Monk 6 for 25% Incorporeal, debuffs, misc, and stances if desired;
• - Paladin 2 for saves;

Core Enhancements AP Breakdown (details in planner below):

• 23 in FvS-12 AoV for Crown of Retribution & Summon Archon;
• 22 in FvSoC-4 WarPriest for AS & +1 to be able to cast Blur on the Raid (the perma-Blur not necessary with Displacement);
• 12 in Elf for Displacement (50% concealment) & racial weapons bonuses;
• 11 in Monk-6 Ninja Spy for Shadow Veil (25% incorp)+debuff;
• 7 in Monk-1 Shintao for Deft Strikes+debuff;
• 4 remaining as needed; I used to add another debuff to test (second Elemental Ki Strike) and miscellaneous;

EDIT: Note that the feats have changed from my Initial Post... Based on great feedback in this thread I swapped Dodge for WFS & swapped Extend for WSS and am considering swapping Quicken for 'Master of Forms' after I grind out my fate points but not 100% sure on that yet...

Feats (in order of priority NOT necessarily in order taken):

• -Dragonmark for Elf Displacement, etc.
• -Empowered Healing
• -TWF (monk1)
• -iTWF
• -gTWF
• -Weapon Focus: Slashing (prereq for WSS);
• -Whirling Steel Strike (monk6);
• -Power Attack (monk2)
• -Cleave
• -Great Cleave
• -Improved Critical Slashing
• -Overwhelming Critical
• -ED: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
• -ED: Elusive Target
• -Master of Forms (*have Quicken here until you have ground out your ED Fate Points);

*Note: While grinding out ED Fate Points you likely will want Quicken (for emergency Heal or Cure spells); Once you are back on Destiny you have 3 uninterruptible heals (Mass CMW SLA, AS, Divine Wrath SLA) when in ED:EA;

Projected End Game Gear (first pass):

• -Armor: Flawless Black Dragonscale Robe (haste guard/armor pierce20/relentless fury/acid res40/blue slotted: PRR +14/SET: doublestrike3)
• -Goggles: deadly10 of resistance10
• -Helm: EN Helm of the Black Dragon (str3i/yellow slotted con2i/colorless slotted globe/SET: doublestrike3)
• -Neck: EE Stolen Necklace w/ Insightful +2 Charisma Slotted, Charisma +10
• -Trinket: Shamanic Fetish (120 Devotion/120 Radiance Green slotted: draconic soul gem)
• -Cloak: Adamantine Cloak of the Wolf (exc seeker5/dodge8/attack4/diversion20)
• -Belt: GS HP Min2 mep/mee/mee (45HP/con skills6/heavy fort/protection5)
• -Ring swap: EE Consuming Darkness (seeker12/combat mastery5/green slotted wis8)
• -Gloves: EE Backstabber's Gloves (bluff20/sneak attack5/exc sneak attack3/improved deception/yellow slotted cha2i)
• -Boots: EE Goatskin Boots w/ con8, Yellow Slot:dex2i, Green Slot: vitality
• -Ring: Ogre Power +10 Belt of False life 45
• -Bracers: Skirmisher's Bracers: Dexterity +9 and Doublestrike +8%

-Weapon Set 1 to start boss fights (levels 17-25): various slotted dual Frostbite Blades to max Vulnerability quickly (slot DR breaking if needed otherwise slot Deconstructor at 26 if you don't upgrade these). Can switch to other weapons after getting the boss to maximum Vulnerability in ~17 seconds & after applying max Destruction;

-Weapon Set 2 to start boss fights (levels 25+): various slotted dual T1+ Wyrm-wrought weapons with '1st Degree Burns' upgrade to max Vulnerability quickly (slot DR breaking if needed otherwise slot Deconstructor at ML:26). Can switch to other weapons after getting the boss to maximum Vulnerability in ~17 seconds & after applying max Destruction;

-Ranged option (levels 25+): various slotted T1+ Wyrm-wrought Longbows with '1st Degree Burns' upgrade to keep Vulnerability & Destruction maxed (slot DR breaking if needed otherwise slot Deconstructor) when Bosses go out of melee Range. Switch back to other weapons after boss gets back into melee range;


-Weapon Set options: Crafted/Lootgen Longswords with Destruction, shattermantle, etc & metals/red-slots to break DR;

-Weapon Set for DPS (initial 20+): TWF Oathblade x2;

-Weapon Set for DPS (23+): TWF Tinah x2;

-Weapon Set for DPS (22,25,28+): TWF Wyrm-wrought with higher DPS upgrade options after debuffs are maxed; Hope to try various and report back with thoughts/results.

Note: After all Debuffs are initially maxed could likely wield one Destruction/Vulnerable Longsword with one DPS Longsword keep all debuffs maximized for the RAID while increasing personal DPS; If Tinah's are upgraded to Tier1 and you don't need the red slots for DR breaking consider slotting 138 devotion/138 radiance on weapons sets and replacing the shaman Trinket above with Planar Focus: Prowess for +3iCon & stacking +4/+4 hit/damage & stacking 15PRR. If you can't find a good place to slot a Draconic soul gem elsewhere you should be able to rely on ship buffs and self cast resistances instead...

Epic Destiny: Exalted Angel:Note: Note for heavy Undead/Evil-Outsider content swap 5 EDP in the below ED:EA tree to pick up the Judgement,Lay-to-Rest,Judge-the-many line:
- 2: Avenging Light SLA (not required with Archon and spells but nice);
- 3: Healing Power;
- 3: Radiant Power (not necessarily required & some could be swapped);
- 3: Endless Faith (not necessarily required & some could be swapped);
- 3: Renewal (HoT);
- 1: Purity of Essence (could put more here);
- 1: Blood and Radiance (could put more here but some charges are used fast);
- 2: *Excoriate (3% no-save Stun from light spells assuming no longer affects party);
- 2: Rebuke Foe (upto +25% Physical & Light damage debuff to target);
- 2: Divine Wrath (AoE Heal and light damage based upon character level);
- 2: Reborn in the Light or Strike Down (based upon testing);

*Note: Excoriate may be bugged and affecting both players and mobs... Unclear on the forums if this stuns fellow players or not... In raids where I had it on I had some people make remarks about stuns they didn't recognize but I was unable to verify via the logs for sure in the chaos of a live raid so for now I have taken it out of my enhancements to be safe (from memory I think I maxed Purity of Essence instead)...

- Twist1: Crusade (T4): You and your allies gain a 10% Sacred bonus to damage while standing on consecrated ground. This is a 4 second buff that activates every 4 seconds when standing on consecrated ground;
- Twist2: Sacred Ground (T3): Passive Bonus: While standing on consecrated ground you and your allies are healed every 3 seconds for 1 point of positive energy per character level. This is affected by your positive spell power.
- Twist3: Consecration (T2): Active Ability: The ground you are standing on is consecrated. Evil creatures standing on consecrated ground are burned every 3 seconds, gaining a stack of purification and taking 1d6 for each level you have. Half damage is fire, half is good-aligned. Both are affected by fire spell power. Cooldown: [25/20/15] seconds) Activation Cost: [50/40/30] Spell Points. Bug: There are 2 cooldown times indicated. This is the correct and tested one.

Character Planner (note: Levels taken in order to max skills. May want to change order for faster/easier leveling):

Note: The following the Max DPS version that I ended up with after pulling the following Tomes:+1 Str, +2 Dex, +3 Int (I did a Lesser Reincarnate as I didn't have them initially); This

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

Debuffer 1st Life Grind-Friendly melee 
Level 28 Lawful Good Elf Female
(2 Paladin \ 6 Monk \ 12 Favored Soul \ 8 Epic) 
Hit Points: 340
Spell Points: 1783 
BAB: 15\15\20\25\25
Fortitude: 21
Reflex: 19
Will: 15

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(32 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 28)
Strength             16                    24
Dexterity            15                    17
Constitution         14                    14
Intelligence          9                    12
Wisdom                8                     8
Charisma             14                    14

Tomes Used
+1 Tome of Intelligence used at level 3
+2 Tome of Dexterity used at level 7
+3 Tome of Intelligence used at level 11
+1 Tome of Strength used at level 23

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Skills         Modified Skills
Skills           (Level 1)            (Level 28)
Balance               6                    31
Bluff                 2                    10
Concentration         2                    10
Diplomacy             2                    10
Disable Device       n/a                    n/a
Haggle                2                    10
Heal                  0                    30
Hide                  2                    16
Intimidate            2                    10
Jump                  4                    18
Listen               -1                     9
Move Silently         2                    11
Open Lock             n/a                  n/a
Perform               n/a                  n/a
Repair               -1                     9
Search               -1                    11
Spellcraft           -1                     9
Spot                 -1                     9
Swim                  3                    15
Tumble                3                    14
Use Magic Device      4                    21

Level 1 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Cleave
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Power Attack


Level 2 (Favored Soul)
Feat: (Deity) Follower of the Sovereign Host


Level 3 (Favored Soul)
Feat: (Selected) Empower Healing Spell


Level 4 (Paladin)


Level 5 (Paladin)


Level 6 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Great Cleave
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Two Weapon Fighting


Level 7 (Favored Soul)


Level 8 (Favored Soul)


Level 9 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Two Weapon Fighting
Feat: (Monk Path) Path of Harmonious Balance: Fists of Light


Level 10 (Favored Soul)
Feat: (Favored Soul Bonus) Energy Resistance: Fire


Level 11 (Favored Soul)


Level 12 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Least Dragonmark of Shadow


Level 13 (Favored Soul)


Level 14 (Favored Soul)


Level 15 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Two Weapon Fighting


Level 16 (Favored Soul)


Level 17 (Favored Soul)
Feat: (Favored Soul Bonus) Energy Resistance: Cold


Level 18 (Favored Soul)
Feat: (Selected) Weapon Focus: Slashing Weapons


Level 19 (Monk)
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Whirling Steel Strike


Level 20 (Favored Soul)


Level 21 (Epic)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Slashing Weapons


Level 22 (Epic)


Level 23 (Epic)


Level 24 (Epic)
Feat: (Selected) Epic: Overwhelming Critical


Level 25 (Epic)


Level 26 (Epic)
Feat: (Epic Destiny) Epic Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting


Level 27 (Epic)
Feat: (Selected) Master of Forms


Level 28 (Epic)
Feat: (Epic Destiny) Epic Destiny: Elusive Target
Enhancement: Elf - Elven Accuracy (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Elf - Phiarlan Dragonmark Focus (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Elf - Phiarlan Dragonmark Focus (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Elf - Phiarlan Dragonmark Focus (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Elf - Valenar Weapon Training (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Elf - Lesser Dragonmark of Shadow (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Elf - Valenar Weapon Training (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Elf - Greater Dragonmark of Shadow (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Angel of Vengeance (Fvs) - Font of Power (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Angel of Vengeance (Fvs) - Shield of Condemnation (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Angel of Vengeance (Fvs) - Aura of Menace (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Angel of Vengeance (Fvs) - Summon Archon (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Angel of Vengeance (Fvs) - Scourge (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Angel of Vengeance (Fvs) - Scourge (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Angel of Vengeance (Fvs) - Scourge (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Angel of Vengeance (Fvs) - Smiting (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Angel of Vengeance (Fvs) - Just Reward (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Angel of Vengeance (Fvs) - Just Reward (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Angel of Vengeance (Fvs) - Just Reward (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Angel of Vengeance (Fvs) - Smiting (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Angel of Vengeance (Fvs) - Articles of Faith (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Angel of Vengeance (Fvs) - Wand and Scroll Mastery (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Angel of Vengeance (Fvs) - Wand and Scroll Mastery (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Angel of Vengeance (Fvs) - Wand and Scroll Mastery (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Angel of Vengeance (Fvs) - Smiting (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Angel of Vengeance (Fvs) - Crown of Retribution (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Fvs) - Smite Foe (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Fvs) - Resilience of Battle (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Fvs) - Sanctuary (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Fvs) - War Domain: Blur (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Fvs) - Divine Might (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Fvs) - Divine Might (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Fvs) - Righteous Weapons (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Fvs) - Sacred Touch (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Fvs) - Sacred Touch (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Fvs) - Sacred Touch (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Fvs) - Smite Weakness (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Fvs) - Wall of Steel (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Fvs) - Wall of Steel (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Fvs) - Wall of Steel (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Fvs) - Righteous Weapons (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Fvs) - Inflame (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Fvs) - Righteous Weapons (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Fvs) - Ameliorating Strike (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Ninja Spy (Mnk) - Ninja Training (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Ninja Spy (Mnk) - Ninja Training (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Ninja Spy (Mnk) - Shadow Veil (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Ninja Spy (Mnk) - Sneak Attack Training (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Ninja Spy (Mnk) - Acrobatic (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Ninja Spy (Mnk) - Acrobatic (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Ninja Spy (Mnk) - Sneak Attack Training (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Ninja Spy (Mnk) - Eagle Claw Attack (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Ninja Spy (Mnk) - Sting of the Ninja (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Shintao (Mnk) - Bastion of Purity (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Shintao (Mnk) - Deft Strikes (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Shintao (Mnk) - Deft Strikes (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Shintao (Mnk) - Deft Strikes (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Shintao (Mnk) - Knock on the Sky (Rank 1)

[Nodoze]

To help anyone leveling this build I thought I would put down my initial gear for the Epic levels.

Initial Gear for Epic Levels (all pretty easy to attain):

• Armor: Vestments of the Sun Soul - Outfit: Armor Bonus +9, Resistance +6, Enhanced Ki +1, Reinforced Fists, Way of the Sun Soul Set Bonus [ML:20]
• Goggles: Drow Smoke Goggles - Goggles: Blindness Immunity, Manslayer, Seeker +6, Spot -5 [ML:20]
• Helm: Deadly 7 of Accuracy 5 w/ Colorless Slot: ? [ML:21]
• Neck: Alchemist's Pendant - Necklace: Constitution +6, Alchemical Conservation, Greater Elemental Energy, Nearly Finished [ML:18]
• Trinket: HE Shamanic Fetish (72 Devotion/72 Radiance, Colorless Slot: ?) [ML:14]
• Cloak: Vitality with colorless slot (slotted:?);*
• Belt: Belt of the Sun Soul - Belt: Constitution +7, Insightful Wisdom +2, Concentration +15, Way of the Sun Soul Set Bonus [ML:20]
• Ring: Fortified Cursed Ring of Dodge (+105% Fort, 7%dodge, -1 Int) [ML:21];
• Ring swap: Signet of the Shining Sun - Ring: Charisma +7, Insightful Wisdom +2, Healing Lore VI, Amaunator's Blessing Set Bonus [ML:20]
• Gloves: Purple Dragon Gauntlets - Gloves: Strength +7, Insightful Constitution +2, Healing Amplification - 30%, Knight's Loyalty Set Bonus [ML:20]
• Boots: Dexterous +5 Boots of False Life +35 [ML:21]
• Bracers: Bracers of the Sun Soul - Bracers: Wisdom +7, Insightful Constitution +2, Parrying VIII, Way of the Sun Soul Set Bonus [ML:20]

DPS Weapons: dual TWF Oathblades - Longsword: 2[1d10]+6, Expanded Threat: 15-20/x2 (Including Keen), Parrying VIII, Absolute Law, Vorpal, Maiming, Bleed [ML:20];

Vulnerable Weapons 17+: dual TWF Frostbite Blades - Scimitar: 1[1d6]+5 Enhancement Bonus, Frost V, Frostbite, Red Augment Slot [ML:17-19];

Vulnerable Weapons 25+: Wyrm-wrought Long Bow for Ranged Option & dual TWF Wyrm-wrought Longswords or Shortswords with T1 '1st Degree Burns: On Hit: Applies a stack of Vulnerable (1% more damage for 3 seconds. This effect stacks up to 20 times, and loses one stack on expiration.) This effect may only occur on-hit once every two seconds. Also 5 to 30 Fire Damage.' and T2 'Dragon's Blessing: On Friend-Targeted Spell Cast: 5% chance of AOE Healing Effect centered on target (AOE is size of Mass Cure spells).';

Comments regarding Frostbite Blades: Looking ahead I didn't want to wait till levels 26-28 to use Frostbite blades to max stacks of Vulnerable quickly... In hindsight I wish I had previously been watching AH for the Heroic ML:17-19 version earlier so I started farming them at level 21 and got them pretty quickly... Note that the wiki indicates there are ML:17 & ML:18 versions available but I couldn't get them to drop on multiple runs at HN & HH so I switched to HE and got 2 ML:19s on my first run (I had full 6man party looting the chests all 5+ times);

Note: No 30% striding item yet & instead using multiple Expeditious Retreat Clickies & have a stack of 100 scrolls of Expeditious Retreat in reserve; If I don't swap to a different item or upgrade soon I may put 30% striding into a colorless slot;

EDITS: I am going to try to remember to add updates as I change my gear while leveling to help others who may try to replicate this build...

At level 22: I upgraded as follows:

• Armor: upgraded to Way-of-the-Sun-Soul'ed-Spider-spun Caparison (currently +8 Dex & will switch to +3 Wis or Dex later);
• Cloak: upgraded to 'Fortifying 25% Cloak: Exceptional Fortification (25%) with Large Guild Augment Slot (+20 HP);

At level 23: I upgraded as follows:

• Boots: upgraded to Fortified (105%) boots of Dodge 8%;
• Ring: upgraded to Ogre Power +8 Ring of False Life +40 Cursed int -1;
• Trinket: Shamantic Fetish: Devotion +108, Radiance +108, Colorless Slot;

At level 24: I upgraded as follows:

• Helm Colorless Slot: Filled with Charisma +7 to free Ring slot;
• Cloak (swap): Jeweled Cloak: Inherent Elemental Resist +10, Spell Absorption: 20 charges, Green Slot (?), Colorless Slot (?);
• Ring (swap): Ring of the Djinn: Electrical Absorption 33%, Sovereign Lightning Resistance +50, DR 10/Lawful;
• Ring (swap): ArchMagi...;
• Ring: Balance +15...;
• Weapons: Added misc Longswords of Improved Destruction, Shattermantle, etc...

At level 26: I started crafting (could have started at 22/25 if U21 had been out):

• Wyrm-wrought Long Bow for Ranged Option;
• dual TWF Wyrm-wrought Longswords to replace Frostbite blades;
  ... TBD (currently 26 banking 27 xp-wise).

[Nodoze]

Reserved just in case;

[cru121]

22 in FvSoC-4 WarPriest for AS+1 for perma Haste (not necessary with Displacement);

perma Blur

[Nodoze]

perma Blur

Good catch ! I was sad I couldn't also pick up Haste like I have on my deeper FvS characters while at the same time realizing that perma-blur was nice but wasn't needed and typo-ed...

Thanks & I updated Initial Post to fix...

[kuro_zero]

Are you switching to monk weapons/handwraps to get enough ki to power shadowveil then swapping back to scimys? Not sure how it would work but that's sounds like alot of micro management every 60s or so as you would still need to swap weapons and be centered to refresh shadow veil even if you built up enough ki and it wasn't all drained while wielding scimitars.

Also deft strikes only grants the +10% offhand proc while centered/wielding ki weapons/unarmed.

Another option maybe 12FvS/6Rgr/2Mnk for the ranger core2 +10% offhand proc and try for the improved evasion tier5 with the assumption you'll take half dmg. Plenty of healing options to deal with that I think, but might not be viable due to steep AP investment.

Lastly, Whirling Steel Strike still has WF:Slash as a pre-req so its not a simple swap-in feat.

EDIT* Don't all the monk debuff moves have a save to negate?

[unbongwah]

EDIT* Don't all the monk debuff moves have a save to negate?

Unbalancing Strike has a DC; Eagle Claw & Knock on Sky don't, AFAICT.

However, as you pointed out, the fundamental flaw in this build is most of the monk abilities don't work while uncentered; and some of the FvS abilities (like Righteous / Wrathful Weapons and Articles of Faith) don't work if not using your deity weapon. So as I see it, OP has a few options:

• Drop scimitars and deity-specific weapon bonuses and switch to handwraps or short swords. PRO: stays centered & can use all monk abilities; CON: loses DPS & caster bonuses from deity enhs.
• Drop scimitars, switch to longswords & Sovereign Host, pick up WF:S+WSS. PRO: can use all abilities as advertised; CON: loses two feats and longswords are generally worse DPS than scimitars (Oathblade & Tinah are okay, but there's not really anything better, AFAIK).
• Switch to drow using short swords and go Vulkoor. PRO: stay centered w/deity weapon w/out spending feats on longswords; CON: loses Shadow DM and Righteous weapons breaks Celestia's DR.
• Switch to FvS 12 / pal 6 / monk 2 and stick w/scimitars. PRO: keep deity weapon bonuses and can add pally defensive stance; CON: lose a feat & monk abilities, inc. Shadow Fade.

[Nodoze]

Are you switching to monk weapons/handwraps to get enough ki to power shadowveil then swapping back to scimys? Not sure how it would work but that's sounds like alot of micro management every 60s or so as you would still need to swap weapons and be centered to refresh shadow veil even if you built up enough ki and it wasn't all drained while wielding scimitars.

reply: Great point about being un-centered and then having to build back up Ki to maintain both Shadow Veil & Elemental Ki Strikes for the their debuffs. I have a BF 12F/6M/2P that I need to LR because I messed up the Zen Archery feat by dumping wisdom (and even a +5 tome won't fix it) and it bites to have to have to redo stances and lose ki bar when I use a bow (and I don't do that very often). Main goals of this 1st lifer/min-grind build in order of priority are to be able to apply all the de-buffs for the raid (and that means it must survive to apply the buffs).

Also deft strikes only grants the +10% offhand proc while centered/wielding ki weapons/unarmed.

Another option maybe 12FvS/6Rgr/2Mnk for the ranger core2 +10% offhand proc and try for the improved evasion tier5 with the assumption you'll take half dmg. Plenty of healing options to deal with that I think, but might not be viable due to steep AP investment.

reply: I was/am aware the build has 90% offhand procs and that was a conscious compromise. My hope was that the Doublestrike in the build would give me at least an average of 2 procs per AS/debuff between offhand procs & doublestrikes with both mainhand & offhand (build should have at least the following doublestrike bonuses: item:+8%, PerfectTWF: +5%, PerfectTWF: +10% offhand); I may be missing other sources of doublestrike but those alone already gave me an average of 2 procs and I thought that was sufficient considering all the goals... If I can get the build centered and into stances I should be able to get another 5% as is or 7.5% for master air or 10% for grandmaster air assuming I don't need earth for survivability or crit multiplier. After I make sure I am staying alive (and not needing earth stance to stay alive) and giving good AoE healing around me, since this build is more about making the other 8-10 DPS significantly better I likely would take the extra doublestrike for more debuff/AS procs than the earth crit-multipler unless I know everything is maxed and going well.

I did consider splashing between Ranger 3-6 for the other 10%+ proc but I prioritized survivability to be in the thick of things and safely applying the debuffs and wanted 50% conceal, 25% incorp & evasion with high saves (all saves just not just reflex). To get Displace on 1st life with no GS clicky and no heavy Arcane splash pushed me to Elf and thus no HE Paladin-Dilettante so I felt I needed the Paladin2 splash for Divine Grace. To achieve all of that on a 1st lifer with min-grind pushed me to the Fvs/Monk/Paladin splits... Even with those goals were I to be able to fit in Ranger I agree that the AP investment required is likely too steep anyway for Evasive Dance (I already tried that on another build with more free AP and couldn't fit it)...

Lastly, Whirling Steel Strike still has WF:Slash as a pre-req so its not a simple swap-in feat.

Good catch: All things being equal I understand Scimitars to have a better damage profile than either Longswords or shortswords but IIRC without Kensei Fighter (8min?) only Longswords, Shortswords, & handwraps will allow one to remain centered... I found lots of named Scimtars with great debuffs but not many DeBuffs on named Longswords nor Shortswords so the Improved Destruction debuff may require lootgen or crafting if I don't want to drop it from the build to be centered... Since I have to spend the AP in both Elf & Warpriest anyway I would like to get the racial/deity benefit which pushes me toward Longswords if I want to be centered with Racial & Diety bonuses... I have not really looked at hand-wraps yet will try to take another look at named Longswords & Shortswords when I look at handwraps. At one point I also thought about going Dex based and maybe with rapiers but no deity bonuses for Rapiers (and no racial benfits for shortswords) and I want to be able to hit with just about anything which pushes me toward strength as well as I can only leverage Divine Might on a strength build... Going to be some hard feat choices if I change and maybe sub-optimal weapons for current end-game... I will think about this some more and add a post later with my thoughts on which way to go...

EDIT* Don't all the monk debuff moves have a save to negate?

reply: Not according to the documentation (but I haven't tested these yet)... According to the wiki, the planner, & tool-tips on my BF 12F/6M/2P only the 'Unbalancing Strike' debuff has a save (which is why I avoided it) but neither the 'Eagle Claw' debuff (upto -8% Fort & -8AC) nor the 'Knock on the Sky' debuff (upto -10% boss damage) list any saves...

While triple-checking the wiki vs the Planner vs the in-game-tool-tips I noticed that, even though they all 3 don't list a save for either the in-game tool-tip lists 'Eagle Claw' debuff at -2% Fort & -2 AC per stack with up to 4 stacks so that debuff may be double what I put in my Initial Post (upto -8% Fort & -8AC instead of only -4% & -4AC)...

Thanks and +1 for you for looking at things in such detail ! Replies should be in red above inline with your comments...

[Nodoze]

...see below...

Thanks! Unfortunately it looks like I "...must spread some Reputation around before giving it to unbongwah again."...

The main reason I submitted this build was for feedback as I don't want to waste a bunch of time leveling a build that doesn't work well so you all are helping very much. I have done testing on many of these concepts and appreciate the help trying to refine this as traditionally I mainly play human divines or warforged artificers so I don't have that much experience with neither Elfs nor Monks... I think the theme/premise is good and could be very helpful for a raiding team/guild so I am going to try to fix these flaws. Hopefully I land on a compromise that I am or others are willing to play myself so in the end this will be more than a theory-build...

I really like the way you summarized the options as they have been swimming in my head and the compromises are hard...

Some general comments before replying to your comments:

Overriding Goal: The build is focused on staying alive to give de-buffs & heals for the benefit of the larger raiding team and thus I am willing to sacrifice personal "glory" (things like personal DPS) as long as the tradeoffs benefiting 8-10 DPS folk are worth it... That being said I do need to hit well for AS procs & some of the debuffs and it would be nice to have at least semi-decent DPS myself...

With the above in mind my intuition is that the build should be centered to be more survivable from 25% incorp (and the extra PRR/Con from earth when when needed) and should to be able to reasonably & reliably apply the two ki debuffs without to much micro-management...

With the above in mind weapon changes can affect more than what most people's builds consider.... From memory the main debuffs that come from actual weapons are Vulnerable (+20% damage) & Destruction (-15%Fort/-15 AC). AFAIK Frostbite is the only weapon/item that gives Vulnerable stacks.. I am curious what decent weapons beside the Scimitars I listed above can give Destruction stacks and whether there are rings/items/armor that can also give destruction (will try to check the wiki later)...

Regarding Vulnerable, in testing on Sobrian on my max Charisma PDK TWF 20FvS with only 80% offhand & minimal buffs doublestrike I was able to maintain and at best slightly grow stacks of Vulnerable with a lot of work so I suspect that the Frostbite blades are necessary on this build. The good news is that Frostbites can likely just be used at the start of the fight to quickly max the stacks and then put them away and maintain Vulnerable stacks with AS while using other centered weapons. If the Vulnerable stacks can't be maintained at/near max on this build (even with the extra double-strike & better to-hit) it wouldn't be that bad to switch to back and forth & re-stance every so often to re-max them (but hopefully that isn't required)...

Some comments on your great comments are inline with your comments and marked in red below:

Unbalancing Strike has a DC; Eagle Claw & Knock on Sky don't, AFAICT. comments: I concur based upon my research but I haven't tested/verified yet.

However, as you pointed out, the fundamental flaw in this build is most of the monk abilities don't work while uncentered; and some of the FvS abilities (like Righteous / Wrathful Weapons and Articles of Faith) don't work if not using your deity weapon. So as I see it, OP has a few options:

• Drop scimitars and deity-specific weapon bonuses and switch to handwraps or short swords. PRO: stays centered & can use all monk abilities; CON: loses DPS & caster bonuses from deity enhs. comments: In addition to reducing DPS, losing Racial/Diety bonuses loses to-hit which may affect debuff maximization & AS Procs (though not sure if this build will have to hit problems at end game)... I will also have to find viable destruction hand-wraps/shortswords. Will research but may have to get crafting or lootgen with red-slots...
• Drop scimitars, switch to longswords & Sovereign Host, pick up WF:S+WSS. PRO: can use all abilities as advertised; CON: loses two feats and longswords are generally worse DPS than scimitars (Oathblade & Tinah are okay, but there's not really anything better, AFAIK). comments: Also have to find viable destruction Longswords with at least good to-hits for debuffs. Will research but may have to get crafting or lootgen with red-slots...
• Switch to drow using short swords and go Vulkoor. PRO: stay centered w/deity weapon w/out spending feats on longswords; CON: loses Shadow DM and Righteous weapons breaks Celestia's DR. comments: Also have to find viable destruction shortswords with at least good to-hit for debuffs. May have to go crafting or lootgen with red-slots... At least you can avoid the Righteous APs if you want but regardless Celestia's DR-breaking is also ruined by ED:EA's Blessed Blades if not True Neutral so Paladins and Monk splashed will ruin DR breaking if you want to be able to rebuke the boss... Drow does fit very well thematically and racial/diety bonuses with debuffing shortswords is very appealing though I would want to do it on a 2nd life after grinding GS Displacement clickies if I wanted to get to raids ASAP with as little grinding as possible...
• Switch to FvS 12 / pal 6 / monk 2 and stick w/scimitars. PRO: keep deity weapon bonuses and can add pally defensive stance; CON: lose a feat & monk abilities, inc. Shadow Fade. comments: Also don't think I would have enough AP to get the most worthwhile parts of the Defensive stances...

[unbongwah]

The concept you present isn't too far off from my FvS 12 / rgr 6 / monk 2 Tempest Warpriest; I've also got a drow I've considered LRing into FvS 12 / monk 6 / pal 2 using short swords. But the bottom line is I don't see a way for you to keep all the abilities of this build as presented. Either you give up the benefits of using named scimitars OR you give up the benefits of being a centered monk; or you could do monk 6 / ftr 8 / FvS 6 to stay centered, but then you lose Div Grace and higher-lvl FvS spells & abilities.

[Nodoze]

Thanks for the great comments and I am going to try to type down all my thoughts in part to organize in my head but more for anyone else who is looking at playing this build for their guild so they can decide if they want to take a different path than I am taking... Also putting it down so those that are helping improve the build can give me better feedback on my decsions (I am certainly open to reversing them)...

Of all the options/feedback posted, considering the builds goals, I am first going to try to find a good compromise with being centered with Longswords to be able to reasonably & realistically apply the monk debuffs, be 25% incorporeal, and benefit from stances (assuming I can get/craft decent debuffing longswords)...

================================================== ==
Summary of what I came up with:
================================================== ==

After thinking some about it I think swapping 2 feats for centered longswords is fundamental and trading a 3rd feat for Master of Forms may be worth it but a 4th for Grandmaster of Forms is likely not worth it.

I think I will try to put the following into the character planner and if it fits in the planner and I were to have to build it right now on live I think I would:

• -swap 'Dodge' for 'Weapon Focus: Slashing';
• -swap 'Extend' for 'WSS' and hope 11+ minutes of Displacement are enough;
• -swap 'Quicken' for 'Master of Forms' and hope my 3 existing uninterpretable heals are enough;

Losing these bother me from QoL perspective and concern me from a survival standpoint (especially Quicken the most) but I think the benefit should be worth it. Hopefully I am overthinking the survivability requirements for EE but if not hopefully I could just LR out of these to trade some DPS for survivability. If I have to trade DPS feats to fit any of the above back in the build my initial thoughts are to trade personal DPS feats the following order:

• -Overwhelming Critical;
• -Improved Critical: Slashing (and go with Oathblade(s) &/or keen-debuffer(s) if possible);
• -Cleaves/power-attack last (as even though this is a raiding build I like to solo and likely still will need to farm things and like to be able to AoE groups)...

================================================== ==
Open issues with the above (assuming no one finds holes in the direction):
================================================== ==

- What Longsword options are there to best hit bosses/break DR and at least apply the Destruction Debuff?
- Are there other DeBuffs that I am missing that are worthwhile including ?

Note: I did think about trying to fit sunder/improved-sunder/shatter in but my assumption is that even with near max strength & divine might I still wouldn't hit an effective DC without racial/fighter/LD bonuses and couldn't see a realistic way to fit those in to get there...

================================================== ==
Details of how I came up with the above and my thoughts behind my decsions :
================================================== ==

As you all noted to be centered with LongSwords I need to swap at least 2 feats to get 'Whirling Steel Strike' & it's pre-req 'Weapon Focus: Slashing' (and would swap deity-feats to get WarPriest bonuses & Elf AP to get racial bonuses).

If I am going to be centered I should also look at what I can get from stances for swapping one or two additional feats:

Built in from Monk 6:
--Adept Air/Wind: -2 Con, +2Dex, +10% melee attack speed, +5% double strike;
--Adept Earth/Rock: -2 Dex, -10% movement, +40% hate, +2Con, +8PRR, +10%AC, whenhit+1ki;

Swap 1 more feat (in addition to the above) to gain:
--Master Air/Wind: +1Dex, +2.5% melee attack speed, +2.5% double strike;
--Master Earth/Rock: +15% hate(bad), +1Con, +4PRR, +5%AC, +1crit multiplier;

Swap 2 more feats (incrementally on top of Master) to gain:
--GrandMaster Air/Wind: +1Dex, +2.5% melee attack speed, +2.5% double strike;
--GrandMaster Earth/Rock: +15% hate(bad), +1Con, +3PRR, +5%AC;

Looking again at my feats again I see the following as non-negotiable for the build's goals:

• -Dragonmark for Elf Displacement, etc.
• -Empowered Healing
• -TWF (monk1)
• -iTWF
• -gTWF
• -ED: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting (pretty fundamental but not a regular feat anyway);
• -ED: Elusive Target (not fundamental but not a regular feat anyway);

Besides losing personal DPS, the following may be required for any debuffs that rely on crits (not sure but don't think any of the above debuffs rely on crits like the the AA T5 shock arrows do):

• -Improved Critical Slashing

If I have trouble keeping all debuffs maxed and I am not hitting on a 2 or higher I would consider turning off power attack (but would like to keep it). The build prioritizes boss fights over trash so if I lose any DPS options I would favor losing trash DPS. Since this also helps on bosses (assuming I can hit on a 2) this will be further down on my list to give up. Bottom line I would like to keep but it is not fundamental to the build:

• -Power Attack (monk2)

These next feats are nice as I had planned on at least sometimes twisting Momentum-Swing to help with debuffs & DPS on trash but that may be a bad idea on EE and give me aggro that I can't handle. My current 20FvS build likely would not want to do that on EE but it may be ok on this build with lots of mitigation & healing (assuming there are others taking some agro as well). While this would be a Raiding build I do like to solo and I would like to keep these at least for EH and below and possibly EE... Bottom line is that they likely aren't fundamental to the debuffs nor particularly helpful on a Boss:

• -Cleave
• -Great Cleave

More nice to have and good for personal DPS and helps with boss but doesn't particularly help with any debuffs that I am aware of so not mandatory (requires IC & Cleaves):

• -Overwhelming Critical;

The following are not fundamental:

• -Dodge (monk6) -> nice and helps with mitigation though not sure whether the build will be dodge capped or not;
• -Extend (11minutes vs. 22minutes Displacement per shrine) -->If with a zerging group this may not be a huge deal except for boss fights that take more time than this or don't have a shrine right before it;
• -Quicken (for emergency Heal or Cure spells) --> Note already have 3 uninterpretable heals (Renewal SLA, AS, Divine Wrath);

Regarding Extend, if I run this build it will be with a raiding guild and the one I have played with the most really zergs though quests fast... I typically play my Artificer with them because I can contribute at range even when way behind (even with tons of haste clickies I have trouble keeping up) and it helps me stay out of trouble/traps (typically they point out the traps for me to get the XP for us but then zerg on if they can)... I don't think losing extend will be any big issue for quests but not sure how long it takes on average to take down bosses as I have done minimal raiding...

[Nodoze]

The concept you present isn't too far off from my FvS 12 / rgr 6 / monk 2 Tempest Warpriest; I've also got a drow I've considered LRing into FvS 12 / monk 6 / pal 2 using short swords. But the bottom line is I don't see a way for you to keep all the abilities of this build as presented. Either you give up the benefits of using named scimitars OR you give up the benefits of being a centered monk; or you could do monk 6 / ftr 8 / FvS 6 to stay centered, but then you lose Div Grace and higher-lvl FvS spells & abilities.

You are spot on and your comments are VERY appreciated. My thoughts were that if I do this build and like raiding then I may spend the time to grind out GS Displacement clickies and on a 2nd life do a Drow FvS12 /monk6/pal 2 using short swords (I already started on such a build in the planner before posting this one). I will take a few moments to study your tempest warpriest next and if you post your drow build I will give you feed back (and maybe use it for my 2nd life).

Sorry I didn't refresh the thread before my last reply. Please take a look at what I came up with in my previous post and give me as much pro/con as you can as I will hate wasting my time on avoidable design problems/flaws... Also any help you can give with the 'open issues' will be greatly appreciated so I can wrap this up...

Bottom line was that this build is the fastest way I could come up with for anyone (new included) to be able to join into EE Boss fights & contribute in a unique way using the original +100% damage debuffs (plus a few new ones) with minimal preparation. My gut is that my TN PDK 20FvS (currently 26) using similar debuff techniques is too squishy to go EE and needs the following changes at least:

• - Alignment change to LG;
• - LR +3 from Fvs20 to Fvs18/Pal2;
• - Grind out sufficient GS Displacement clickies (I hate grinding);

Doing the above 'may' make our PDK 20FvS more viable to allow more testing of the +100% damage tactics in real EE boss fights but in doing so I will lose:

• - 20FvS SunBolt Capstone (my kid & I love it);
• - TWF Celestias breaking all DR on ED:EA with TN alignment (we love this also);

I don't like the word 'may' and we frankly love the 'flavor' build as it is for EH and below (what I usually play with my kids) so I am thinking of just popping an XP stone on this new 1st lifer approach so I can keep the character we already have/love...

[Nodoze]

The concept you present isn't too far off from my FvS 12 / rgr 6 / monk 2 Tempest Warpriest; I've also got a drow I've considered LRing into FvS 12 / monk 6 / pal 2 using short swords. ...

I went and re-read your Tempest-WarPriest thread.

I recognized it immediately and your previous thread may be the reason I couldn't give you another +1 rep...

I double checked and sure enough I liked your thread so much I had already linked to to your thread and recommended it in the "Best Righteous-Focused options" idea/summary thread.

IIRC yours, EllisDees37's and MaddMatt70's threads all educated me and inspired me to actually broaden the focus of that "Best Righteous-Focused options" thread to "Best Righteous Ameliorating Strike builds" but I sadly couldn't figure out a way to change the actual thread's title...

From there I took my previous passion for Ancient's Nova-Soul threads and some de-buffing ideas that I had been thinking of for quite awhile and combined all 3 to come up with the 'The plus 100% / 50% damage builds' idea/summary thread. It wasn't until WarPriest came out that all the debuff pieces came together with added mana-free AoE healing to result into a build that I could think would be very strategic to Raids & that I might actually enjoy playing... Going ED:EA may 'gimp' my personal DPS but if I can use it to greatly increase everyone's DPS then it is a win-win (and I would like ED:EA to be more than just a healing ED with some light damage for raids). I already got my TN-PDK-20FvS to 26 working toward testing/proving the fundamentals but now I don't want to lose that female character's assets (my daughter & I love the build as it is for EH) plus I want to apply lesson's learned thus far (maybe too squishy and too much grinding/changes needed to get maybe EE viable)... From there the final piece of the puzzle was adding a dash of CThruTheEgo's Santa's Little Slayer - Another Elfin' Centered Kensai build (minus the Kensei & Ranger) to come up with this 1st lifer & minimal grind approach...

Thanks again for all you do helping everyone.

[kuro_zero]

Thanks and +1 for you for looking at things in such detail ! Replies should be in red above inline with your comments...

Re: Deft Strike

My point about deft strikes was, unless you are centered, it does not grant you the 10% offhand proc. Point is moot if changing to Longsword WSS however.

You can nab another 3% doublestrike change from Elf racial tree tier4 "Grace" Since you're investing pretty heavily in the racial tree I think you could manage a few more AP to grab it (would need 18AP spent total in tree)

[Nodoze]

Re: Deft Strike

My point about deft strikes was, unless you are centered, it does not grant you the 10% offhand proc. Point is moot if changing to Longsword WSS however.

You can nab another 3% doublestrike change from Elf racial tree tier4 "Grace" Since you're investing pretty heavily in the racial tree I think you could manage a few more AP to grab it (would need 18AP spent total in tree)

More great points. Sorry I am dense sometimes and I missed that. I forgot being centered was required when planning and that would have been wasted AP to not get that 10%!

I think you mean the T5 Elven "Skill" not "Grace". I did consider and want Skill but in my initial pass I figured I would need to give up either the 25% incorp, 50% conceal, or one or more of the debuffs which are all core to the build.

I will take a second look as follows:

Inflexible Enhancements:

• -22 minimum in FvS-12 AoV for Crown of Retribution;
• -12 minimum in Elf for Displacement (50% concealment & only picked up racial weapons bonuses on the way);
• -11 minimum in Monk-6 Ninja Spy for Shadow Veil (25% incorp+debuff on way);
• - 9 in Monk-1 Shintao for Deft Strikes+debuff;
• -22 in FvSoC-4 WarPriest for AS;

------

• 76 required leaves only 4 remaining and I need at least 5 to get Grace...

For the remaining 4 the following are not mandatory from a de-buff standpoint but really nice:

• -1 for 'Summon Archon' which gives huge Quality of Life (QoL) not having to cast the light spells yourself & frees up your attention for focusing on keeping the debuffs and or doing personal DPS;
• -1 for 'War Domain: Blur' which gives +5 Light/Fire SP, +2AC, perma-blur (not better than Displacement) and the ability to cast blur on your team mates... This would be hard to give up but I guess I could expect the raid to get Blur from someone/somewhere else... The other downside is that by dropping Extend and going from 22+min to 11+ min of Displacement per shrine I was hoping to be able to fall back on blur without slotting it on an item/clicky...
• -2 for 'Sting of the Ninja' which does good DPS and gives at least a 5% poison vulnerability debuff; It says it stacks up to 20 times so that may be another debuff for upto 100% poison vulnerability that I forgot list at the top of the build...

The only options I can see off hand is to give up one of the Monk debuffs (maybe the -10%_boss_damage_to_party if we are over-healing so we can still maximize raid DPS) which would free up 2 more points giving me 6 unallocated so I could do:

• -5 in Elf for +2/+2 more hit/damage & +3% doublestrike & 3% dodge;
• -1 for 'Summon Archon';

Touch choices and the double strike could help with debuffs. My gut would be to try the build with AP as above and hold off on the T5 Elf Skill till I know whether I need the dodge to survive or the +to_hit or x2strike to keep max buffs...

Thoughts?

[Nodoze]

I updated the Initial Post with the following:

• -upto 100% Poison Vulnerability from Sting of the Ninja (need verification that each of the full 20 stacks indeed give 5% each);
• -upto -73% Fortification reduction on the Boss via Condemnation (-50%), Destruction (-15%), and Ninja Eagle Claw (-8%) Note: need to test/verify if these all indeed stack;
• -upto -23 AC on the Boss via Destruction (-15) & Elemental Ki: Eagle Claw (-8) Note: need to test/verify these stack;

These need to be verified but if I am reading these correctly these are correct. The in game tool-tip for Eagle Claw indicates that it is -2%Fort/-2AC instead of -1%Fort/-1AC on the wiki & planner so for now I am going with what is listed in game with a disclaimer that it needs to be verified.

[kuro_zero]

I never played around with Sting of the Ninja and unsure if the wiki info is upto date but my gut is telling me its rather lackluster. 1d4 poison damage per 3 seconds for 15 seconds. Even with 100% poison vulnerability stacks that's still only 2d4 extra dmg every 3s not even per hit. Avg'd out that's 5 dmg/3s vs. +2 dmg per hit by completing elf weapon tree in addition to +3% Dodge and Doublestrike. If the wiki info is outdated or wrong please tell me as, like you said, its easy to nab getting Shadow Veil anyway.

I do agree archon makes playing in ED:EA much easier and definately something I would keep. Last point is I can't think of any sources of large poison dmg abilities/skills/spells/weapons to really take advantage of the poison vulnerability.

Definately some tough choices in regards to AP. My initial thought is to drop Eagle Claw Strike. -8% Fort and AC isn't a whole lot when most DPSers have black scale granting them -20% (iirc) fort personally. Great thing about AP is its relatively easy to respec and find what works and what doesn't.

[Nodoze]

I never played around with Sting of the Ninja and unsure if the wiki info is upto date but my gut is telling me its rather lackluster. 1d4 poison damage per 3 seconds for 15 seconds. Even with 100% poison vulnerability stacks that's still only 2d4 extra dmg every 3s not even per hit. Avg'd out that's 5 dmg/3s vs. +2 dmg per hit by completing elf weapon tree in addition to +3% Dodge and Doublestrike. If the wiki info is outdated or wrong please tell me as, like you said, its easy to nab getting Shadow Veil anyway.

I do agree archon makes playing in ED:EA much easier and definately something I would keep. Last point is I can't think of any sources of large poison dmg abilities/skills/spells/weapons to really take advantage of the poison vulnerability.

Definately some tough choices in regards to AP. My initial thought is to drop Eagle Claw Strike. -8% Fort and AC isn't a whole lot when most DPSers have black scale granting them -20% (iirc) fort personally. Great thing about AP is its relatively easy to respec and find what works and what doesn't.

Yes AP isn't that hard to move around these days.

I haven't tested Ninja Poison to confirm but I know Cetus advocates strongly for it on his DPS build... It may be 1d4 per tick per stack with upto 20 stacks so that could be 20d4 per tick. There are also multiple Poison abilities in multiple trees plus poison on weapons but the main ones come to mind:
- Ninja Posion Exploit: upto 20d20 poison damage finisher if all 20 stacks removed;
- Ninja Deadly Exploits: upto 20d30 poison damage finisher if all 20 stacks removed;

My build isn't heavily invested enough to do any such exploits and thus I would keep all my stacks... My assumption thus far is that only 1 character could have all 20 stacks to keep the Boss Vulnerable for anyone in the Raid... That being said I don't really know how valuable Poison normally is nor how valuable it would be if a Boss/Red-Named was made 100% Vulnerable.

[kuro_zero]

Yes AP isn't that hard to move around these days.

I haven't tested Ninja Poison to confirm but I know Cetus advocates strongly for it on his DPS build... It may be 1d4 per tick per stack with upto 20 stacks so that could be 20d4 per tick. There are also multiple Poison abilities in multiple trees plus poison on weapons but the main ones come to mind:
- Ninja Posion Exploit: upto 20d20 poison damage finisher if all 20 stacks removed;
- Ninja Deadly Exploits: upto 20d30 poison damage finisher if all 20 stacks removed;

My build isn't heavily invested enough to do any such exploits and thus I would keep all my stacks... My assumption thus far is that only 1 character could have all 20 stacks to keep the Boss Vulnerable for anyone in the Raid... That being said I don't really know how valuable Poison normally is nor how valuable it would be if a Boss/Red-Named was made 100% Vulnerable.

If its 1d4 per stack that would be very nice indeed. The description wording made it sound like the vulnerability stacked separate from the damage. My impression is that the ability was to build up stacks then utilize the abilities you mentioned for the big damage. I am intrigued - if the ability works with Sireth i'm gonna test it with my qstaff monk.

[Nodoze]

If its 1d4 per stack that would be very nice indeed. The description wording made it sound like the vulnerability stacked separate from the damage. My impression is that the ability was to build up stacks then utilize the abilities you mentioned for the big damage. I am intrigued - if the ability works with Sireth i'm gonna test it with my qstaff monk.

Cool ! Please report back your findings as I have limited time to test everything.

FYI I also updated post #13 above to give credit to a few other threads from which I gained ideas/concepts that helped me devise this build... Also I will be traveling the next few days with limited access to the forums so I apologize in advance if I can't respond in a timely manner to any posts...