A "True" Completionist Build, Help!

[Crysto]

Hello,
I am getting ready to TR for my 3rd and most likely final time and have decided that this time I'll actually play the game. Yea you heard me! I started into the game by reading guides and watching videos for all the neat tricks and expl-.. more neat tricks designed to get you through a life as fast as possible, solo in most cases. As a result, I've missed a lot of content and even in the quests I do play, I blow through them without getting to experience the whole thing. So, while I have 2 lives behind me, I am still very much a noob in probably 60% of the game's content. This life, I'd like to take my time and do EVERY quest in order in the adventurer's compendium at level (or one level above!) and experience everything the quests have to offer, even if its some tedious optional that gives awful exp, I want to experience it! I know people aren't going to want to wait around for me to do this so being able to solo is very important!

Here are my specific requirements!

1. Must be a Warforged.
2. Must be able to solo all quests at level on hard preferably elite (with the possible exception of quests that need more than 2 hirelings for purposes of pulling levers/standing on things only!/raids).
3. Must be able to access as many optional in said quests as possible. Related to this I think trap skills/evasion/good saves are probably a requirement. I've always gotten wrecked by traps on elite and even hard as a pure wiz and pure sorc.
4. I don't care about Epics. Just need heroic elite viability. If I still want to play the game after having earned at least Hard favor on every quest prior, I'll probably TR again and see what the state of the game is when the time comes.

I am not VIP but I have essentially bought everything in the store so have access to whatever.
I have a complete set of +2 tomes and could obtain a +3 or two if a build needed it.

My previous 2 lives are wizard and sorc and they seem very close to being what I want, but things like traps and locked doors always limited me getting to experience parts of quests (can't solo temple of vol on elite for example thanks to the key run at the start without resorting to cheating). I think a wizard/rogue or perhaps a sorc/pally/monk or maybe an artificer would be best but am unfamiliar with class splits.

Thank you.

[Cardtrick]

A solo friendly warforged build that can get most optionals is really screaming out "artificer" to me. Trap skills and self healing, good ranged DPS and spells, pet for lever pulling and occasional helpful tanking (especially in quests that require you to handle two different enemies separately). Either stay pure or go with a 2-level splash for evasion (either monk or rogue is fine, they both have their advantages). Max Int, take Insightful Reflexes, use a mix of spells, SLAs, and repeater crossbows. Definitely one of the most fun builds for the heroic levels. Both the Wizard Active past life and the sorc passive past life will help your Evocation DCs, so with a little investment you'll be able to get really solid DCs on your Tactical Detonations and Blade Barriers.

[Oxarhamar]

or the classic WizRogue is a great option if you like

[icekinslayer]

Hello,...
...stuff...
... sorc/pally/monk or maybe an artificer would be best but am unfamiliar with class splits.

Thank you.

a fun build is 16arty for deadly weapons and other arty goodies(clickies and pots lasting longer, and stuff...), 2pally for cha bonus to saves (cha bonus is good for social skills, umd, etc...), 2rog for skill pts and roguey stuff.

play it just like a ranged arty. great umd, great saves, evasion, great dps with a high int. mod using the insightful strikes spell. yep, pretty durable and fun. fairly MAD, but you can get dex, con, int, wisdom and cha pretty pumped up with gear and tomes and things...

[digital_terror1]

Hello,
I am getting ready to TR for my 3rd and most likely final time and have decided that this time I'll actually play the game. Yea you heard me! I started into the game by reading guides and watching videos for all the neat tricks and expl-.. more neat tricks designed to get you through a life as fast as possible, solo in most cases. As a result, I've missed a lot of content and even in the quests I do play, I blow through them without getting to experience the whole thing. So, while I have 2 lives behind me, I am still very much a noob in probably 60% of the game's content. This life, I'd like to take my time and do EVERY quest in order in the adventurer's compendium at level (or one level above!) and experience everything the quests have to offer, even if its some tedious optional that gives awful exp, I want to experience it! I know people aren't going to want to wait around for me to do this so being able to solo is very important!

Here are my specific requirements!

1. Must be a Warforged.
2. Must be able to solo all quests at level on hard preferably elite (with the possible exception of quests that need more than 2 hirelings for purposes of pulling levers/standing on things only!/raids).
3. Must be able to access as many optional in said quests as possible. Related to this I think trap skills/evasion/good saves are probably a requirement. I've always gotten wrecked by traps on elite and even hard as a pure wiz and pure sorc.
4. I don't care about Epics. Just need heroic elite viability. If I still want to play the game after having earned at least Hard favor on every quest prior, I'll probably TR again and see what the state of the game is when the time comes.

I am not VIP but I have essentially bought everything in the store so have access to whatever.
I have a complete set of +2 tomes and could obtain a +3 or two if a build needed it.

My previous 2 lives are wizard and sorc and they seem very close to being what I want, but things like traps and locked doors always limited me getting to experience parts of quests (can't solo temple of vol on elite for example thanks to the key run at the start without resorting to cheating). I think a wizard/rogue or perhaps a sorc/pally/monk or maybe an artificer would be best but am unfamiliar with class splits.

Thank you.

If you can deal with not having evasion, Artificer works best as a pure. Both your runearm and your robodog are based on your artificer levels, and both are very useful.
If you really need evasion, then splashing a couple rogue in there won't cut the RA or dog down too much, and there are some decent level 18 items you can get for your dog like the Mindsunder docent.

[Cardtrick]

If you can deal with not having evasion, Artificer works best as a pure. Both your runearm and your robodog are based on your artificer levels, and both are very useful.

I agree with this. Artificer is one of the very few classes that I still think is best pure. Among other reasons, even a 2 level splash means only carrying 2 level 6 spells -- so you have to drop two out of the 4 big spells -- Blade Barrier, Tactical Detonation, Reconstruct, and Deadly Weapons. If you're primarily solo, Deadly isn't a big deal to drop, but it would be really hard to give up one of the other three.

Additionally, artificers get a free feat at level 20 and two of the best capstone enhancements.

You can live without evasion.

[Oxarhamar]

I agree with this. Artificer is one of the very few classes that I still think is best pure. Among other reasons, even a 2 level splash means only carrying 2 level 6 spells -- so you have to drop two out of the 4 big spells -- Blade Barrier, Tactical Detonation, Reconstruct, and Deadly Weapons. If you're primarily solo, Deadly isn't a big deal to drop, but it would be really hard to give up one of the other three.

Additionally, artificers get a free feat at level 20 and two of the best capstone enhancements.

You can live without evasion.

I disagree Having played mainly Arti based Builds Pure doesn't beat well built Multiclassed Artificers in terms of DPS or Survivability

Aritificer based builds on my main (only my Arti splashes)

20 Arti
17 Fvs 3 Arti (back when Force focus stacked)
16 Arti 2 Monk 2 Ranger TWF Juggernaught
20 Ariti (+20 Heart for Druid PL life I hated druid)
8 Fighter 9 Monk 3 Arti Centered Kensei w/ Trap and Ranged options
8 Fighter 9 Monk 3 Arti ( I liked this builf so much I did it twice for Monk PL)
10 Arti 10 Ranger
10 Arti 10 Ranger
17 Arti 1 Paladin 2 Monk (Bladeforged PL build I was going to +3 Heart into Jug Build but, decided it wasn't needed and completed 5 ETR with this build as is)
8 fighter 6 Ranger 6 Arti

Sure pure Arti gets easier access to the level 6 spells but, the other increases in survivability and DPS options from free feats and other class enhancements are too good

*still Pure Artificer is a fine build for this project

[Gargalarg]

18 Artificer/2 rogue is good for this (The Evartificer)

Things to note when playing this build:
Use endless fusillade every 6 of 30 seconds!
Blade Barrier is very good!
A heavy repeating crossbow will one round stuff in lower level elites!
Crossbow DPS at high and epic levels is still a Valid, playable, and soloable option, even if it is not superior to others builds!

Good luck!

EDIT:
Trapskills and evasion are GOOD!

If your want higher reflex saves to save more often to traps take the feat: Insightful Reflexes

[nibel]

Every past life of mine thus far, except by two (Barbarian and Monk), were done this way. I played every single quest once and call it done, except some with weird requirements (Stealer of Souls and Litany are two I usually skip).

So, I should echo the call for an artificer 20. Speciually if you do not have the clear desire to go Elite all the time. The dog is amazing at Normal and Hard all the way up to epics, and with the right enhancements, you will basically shoot everything dead before they can reach you, so survability is not a problem. By the time your repeater is not two-shotting anything that is not a boss, you will have access to Blade Barrier.

For evasion, there is a little trick I used often: Your dog can get Evasion via enhancements. Casters that throw reflex-base spells have a tendency to stay at a distance from you. Put your dog into passive mode, and keep him between you and the enemy caster. His fireballs and such will hit the dog, that will evade, and you will be unharmed. The only risk are the ones that cast Lightning spells. Everything else the dog works as a shield.

For traps, if you absolutelly requires crossing them to reach the box to disarm, you can buff yourself with Radiant Forcefield and Ablative Armor to take the trap in the face and survive. That is specially effective on non-Elite settings, since the traps dont hit like a truck.

The main problem with standard artificer builds is the eye-hand coordination required to multitask efficiently. You are a ranged character (xbow, runearm and spells), so you should be aware of targetting issues. At the same time, you should keep an eye on your dog (BUFF and HEAL it, it is worth it), know when is ok to charge and fire your runearm, and all of that while still having standard character awareness (HP, SP, buffs, mob positioning, etc). Takes some practice to pull the best of your artificer.

Other builds that worked fine for me were rogue/monk staff builds (traps, UMD, stealth, lots of dodge, sustainable 25% incorporeal), the classic Wiz 18/Rog 2 (that depends on how much you know about SP conservation, or how many SP potions you are willing to drink), and the pure ranger builds (great melee/ranged damage, decent self healing on heroics, good stealth skills. No trap skills, but have evasion for that, or can splash 1 rogue level if you don't miss the capstone)

Good luck. And don't worry much about only soloing because "everyone is on a rush". Most of the time, if you actually take the time to explain the party that you want to check all optionals, most people will follow you. I can count in the fingers of one hand each time people just ignored my pledge to check everything, and rushed to finish the quest, despite I'm saying the contrary.

[Crysto]

Thank you for all the advice everyone. Been looking through various builds based on your suggestions and haven't decided on anything yet, it'll probably still be a week or so before I actually go through with the TR.

Top contenders are (pretty much as I expected):
Wiz/Rogue - I have a ton of wizard gear already and I know the playstyle.
Artificer with an Evasion splash- Never played one before and sounds interesting. Do plan to solo and reconstruct has always been way overkill in healing (currently recon for like 400 and 800 on a crit and I only have 305 hp) so dropping deadly weapons and recon wouldn't be a problem if they come with a lower tier repair spell. It may be needed in epics but not interested in epics yet.
Rogue/Monk- This is the most different from what I've played and that certainly has its own appeal. If a robot Rogue/Monk can solo everything and have good self healing outside of potions this may be what I go with. Always thought staves were classy melee weapons.