Henshin Crusader

[TheDr0wRanger]

First, lets be clear, if you are going to tell me that this isn't going to work, save your breath. I made him to prove that idea wrong and I'm going to work on him until such a time as I'm convinced of that by experience.

Now, I've LRed a Horc Monk at lvl28 into a Henshin Mystic, following the teachings of Spencarian I'm trying to balance his staff skills with the usage of his SLAs .

Due to the melee-intensive and fire-oriented nature of Crusader I suspect there's a great opportunity for it.

I've lost the build sheet and there was a glitch when I rolled the toon, so I cant recall everything in my plan at the moment, but the basic idea was to leverage the Henshin and Horc increased damage for the staff, using cleave, great cleave and possibly whirlwind, while also taking the Crit Range increase from higher Henshin. Adding that from Crusader, along with the numerous damage options and another increased Crit Range punctuated by Strike Down and I can see lot of multi-target damage. Further since Henshin allows a lot of Fire spellpower without the requirement of a lot of feats to get it, I can enter Crusader with enough SP to leverage its power. Strength for damage and Wisdom for DCs in both Henshin and Crusader.
Hes got all the wrong gear for this stick thing, and unfortunately he longer has a raid-box to get Sireth, which essentially means he won't ever get one given the amount of hatred for that raid.


As I said I LR'd this character from an unarmed monk that I simply found unexciting, stunning and beating one guy at a time, even at the absurd speeds I'd pushed the character to, was nothing to compare to the raging doom machine of my Human Flame Savant or the steel tornado of my PDK Dex-built Bastard-Dreadnought Cleaver.

Early testing as I try to advance the Crusader destiny was exciting, he didn't get the dps or the amount of Ki I was aiming for but he was in the ballpark, which makes sense given an unleveled destiny and no gear. Because of fire wave, Cleave and Great Cleave he hits everyone in his vicinity quite frequently, if I get a Cauldron of Flame up and Consecrate the ground, I suspect my ability to grab and ruin bad-guys will be more than adequate for my purposes. He's pure monk and I intend to keep him that way because multiclassing hardly proves the viability of the Henshin Crusader if hes not exactly that.


Disadvantages I can see ahead:
Control, hes got no great way of holding or stopping enemies from hitting him, theres just not much on offer in terms of CC.
SP reliance, I build all of my melees with Magical Training for unlimited cocoons, so he won't be totally screwed, but given the number of potent crusaders skills requiring SP I may find myself under-equipped.
Ki: Its expensive for a henshin with no other focus, its very difficult to keep running when you spam the SLAs, at least so far.
Toughness: It remains to be seen if this character has the stones for full confrontation, advice on what to maximize is appreciated.

Advantages: More kills faster, as I said he hits everyone most of the time, and in a pinch he can kite and pop off ki skills for tolerable effect.
Unlimited capacity: The lack of SP and Ki are problems of having enough fast enough, given time he regenerates ki on a constant basis and SP up to a usable level.
Healing: Light monk skills, Heal Amp, Crusader abilities and correct equipment should make me competent in self-sufficiency and possibly pinch-hit backup healing.
Cool: I've yet to see one, it'd be nice if I was able to draft something new for once(although my Fighter-Monk Cleaver was made before anyone was talking about those much, so I kinda co-developed it with the rest of the world).

I'll post the character planner sheet after work sometime, to make this whole idea a little more clear.

But I'm asking, can anyone offer advice on how to make this work to the best of its capacity? If it sucks I'll deal with that but I want to try it at its best before I judge it.

[Saekee]

First, lets be clear, if you are going to tell me that this isn't going to work, save your breath. I made him to prove that idea wrong and I'm going to work on him until such a time as I'm convinced of that by experience.

Now, I've LRed a Horc Monk at lvl28 into a Henshin Mystic, following the teachings of Spencarian I'm trying to balance his staff skills with the usage of his SLAs .

Due to the melee-intensive and fire-oriented nature of Crusader I suspect there's a great opportunity for it.

I've lost the build sheet and there was a glitch when I rolled the toon, so I cant recall everything in my plan at the moment, but the basic idea was to leverage the Henshin and Horc increased damage for the staff, using cleave, great cleave and possibly whirlwind, while also taking the Crit Range increase from higher Henshin. Adding that from Crusader, along with the numerous damage options and another increased Crit Range punctuated by Strike Down and I can see lot of multi-target damage. Further since Henshin allows a lot of Fire spellpower without the requirement of a lot of feats to get it, I can enter Crusader with enough SP to leverage its power. Strength for damage and Wisdom for DCs in both Henshin and Crusader.
Hes got all the wrong gear for this stick thing, and unfortunately he longer has a raid-box to get Sireth, which essentially means he won't ever get one given the amount of hatred for that raid.


As I said I LR'd this character from an unarmed monk that I simply found unexciting, stunning and beating one guy at a time, even at the absurd speeds I'd pushed the character to, was nothing to compare to the raging doom machine of my Human Flame Savant or the steel tornado of my PDK Dex-built Bastard-Dreadnought Cleaver.

Early testing as I try to advance the Crusader destiny was exciting, he didn't get the dps or the amount of Ki I was aiming for but he was in the ballpark, which makes sense given an unleveled destiny and no gear. Because of fire wave, Cleave and Great Cleave he hits everyone in his vicinity quite frequently, if I get a Cauldron of Flame up and Consecrate the ground, I suspect my ability to grab and ruin bad-guys will be more than adequate for my purposes. He's pure monk and I intend to keep him that way because multiclassing hardly proves the viability of the Henshin Crusader if hes not exactly that.


Disadvantages I can see ahead:
Control, hes got no great way of holding or stopping enemies from hitting him, theres just not much on offer in terms of CC.
SP reliance, I build all of my melees with Magical Training for unlimited cocoons, so he won't be totally screwed, but given the number of potent crusaders skills requiring SP I may find myself under-equipped.
Ki: Its expensive for a henshin with no other focus, its very difficult to keep running when you spam the SLAs, at least so far.
Toughness: It remains to be seen if this character has the stones for full confrontation, advice on what to maximize is appreciated.

Advantages: More kills faster, as I said he hits everyone most of the time, and in a pinch he can kite and pop off ki skills for tolerable effect.
Unlimited capacity: The lack of SP and Ki are problems of having enough fast enough, given time he regenerates ki on a constant basis and SP up to a usable level.
Healing: Light monk skills, Heal Amp, Crusader abilities and correct equipment should make me competent in self-sufficiency and possibly pinch-hit backup healing.
Cool: I've yet to see one, it'd be nice if I was able to draft something new for once(although my Fighter-Monk Cleaver was made before anyone was talking about those much, so I kinda co-developed it with the rest of the world).

I'll post the character planner sheet after work sometime, to make this whole idea a little more clear.

But I'm asking, can anyone offer advice on how to make this work to the best of its capacity? If it sucks I'll deal with that but I want to try it at its best before I judge it.

Are you using Elegant crane for extra Ki on hit? Also, Lighting the candle is a HUGE ki drain, so kill it if you are running into problems
What staff are you using? The Eveningstar Stout Oak Walking Stick has a x3 modifier and is easily obtained. I am sure some Big Stick people here can advise you best on the staff side. Note that you may need to switch to a different staff that buffs your fire and force skills when using Henshin ki attacks. (THe Henshin makes any staff an implement though)
If you are using the attacks like Cauldron, what is your current combustion and impulse spell powers and crit chances?
I do not recommend Whirlwind attack, especially if you already have the two cleaves
Can you UMD displacement and Tenser's? They do not last long but if you know what is ahead and can plan for the brief durations, they help immensely.

I am sure Spencerian would be happy to chat with you on this also.

While you have this build, i suggest you farm for the Forester's Brush Hook on at least EH.

Also, you might find better luck with Fury of the Wild then Divine Crusader. If you had taken the Fists of Darkness, you can do SCEWL which heals out 100 per mob death inflicted by it. Really handy; not necessary in Divine Crusader due to the heals that come from that line.

[TheDr0wRanger]

*SNIP*

I have to wait until I renew my recently lapsed sub to get the values you asked, I'll look into it.


I probably passed on Crane, I usually take Tortoise, I imagine you are fully right, thanks for that.

I believe unless I've forgotten my plan, I was aiming for one of the universal lore items because they might be easier to slot, still its a good idea and I'll look into the elfcraft.

I split my staff usage between a naked Thunderforge staff and the Walking Stick, I was thinking of a DreamPiercer as well.

I get off work in 5 and I've got some business but I'll have my original build sheet up yet tonight.

[Grailhawk]

http://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Epic_Cloak_of_Flames

[TheDr0wRanger]

As promised:

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 04.20.01
DDO Character Planner Home Page

Ruuhlan Arcalian
Level 28 Lawful Good Half-Orc Male
(20 Monk \ 8 Epic) 
Hit Points: 442
Spell Points: 0 
BAB: 15\15\20\25\25
Fortitude: 16
Reflex: 14
Will: 21

                  Starting            Ending          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats         Base Stats         Modified Stats
(32 Point)       (Level 1)          (Level 28)           (Level 28)
Strength             18                 26                   30
Dexterity            14                 14                   14
Constitution         14                 18                   18
Intelligence          6                  6                    6
Wisdom               16                 22                   22
Charisma              6                  6                    6

Tomes Used
+3 Tome of Strength used at level 20
+4 Tome of Constitution used at level 20
+4 Tome of Wisdom used at level 20

                  Starting            Ending          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Skills        Base Skills        Modified Skills
Skills           (Level 1)          (Level 28)          (Level 28)
Balance               2                  2                   10
Bluff                -2                 -2                    6
Concentration         6                 27                   42
Diplomacy            -2                 -2                    6
Disable Device       n/a               n/a                    n/a
Haggle               -2                 -2                    6
Heal                  3                  6                   16
Hide                  2                  2                   10
Intimidate           -2                 -2                    8
Jump                  8                 33                   41
Listen                3                  6                   14
Move Silently         2                  2                   10
Open Lock             n/a               n/a                  n/a
Perform              n/a               n/a                    n/a
Repair               -2                 -2                    6
Search               -2                 -2                    6
Spellcraft           -2                 -2                    6
Spot                  3                  6                   14
Swim                  4                 10                   18
Tumble                n/a               n/a                  n/a
Use Magic Device     n/a               n/a                    n/a

Level 1 (Monk)
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Deflect Arrows
Feat: (Selected) Power Attack


Level 2 (Monk)
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Dodge


Level 3 (Monk)
Feat: (Monk Path) Path of Harmonious Balance: Fists of Light
Feat: (Selected) Two Handed Fighting


Level 4 (Monk)
Ability Raise: WIS


Level 5 (Monk)


Level 6 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Cleave
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Toughness


Level 7 (Monk)


Level 8 (Monk)
Ability Raise: WIS


Level 9 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Two Handed Fighting


Level 10 (Monk)


Level 11 (Monk)


Level 12 (Monk)
Ability Raise: STR
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Bludgeoning Weapons


Level 13 (Monk)


Level 14 (Monk)


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


Level 16 (Monk)
Ability Raise: STR


Level 17 (Monk)


Level 18 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Great Cleave


Level 19 (Monk)


Level 20 (Monk)
Ability Raise: STR


Level 21 (Epic)
Feat: (Selected) Epic: Improved Martial Arts


Level 22 (Epic)


Level 23 (Epic)


Level 24 (Epic)
Ability Raise: STR
Feat: (Selected) Epic: Overwhelming Critical


Level 25 (Epic)


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


Level 27 (Epic)
Feat: (Selected) Epic: Blinding Speed


Level 28 (Epic)
Ability Raise: STR
Feat: (Epic Destiny) Epic Destiny: Epic Spell Power: Fire
Enhancement: Half-Orc - Orcish Fury (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Half-Orc - Orcish Strength (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Half-Orc - Orcish Fury (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Half-Orc - Orcish Strength (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Half-Orc - Orcish Weapon Training (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Half-Orc - Orcish Weapon Training (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Half-Orc - Improved Power Attack (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Half-Orc - Improved Power Attack (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Half-Orc - Improved Power Attack (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Half-Orc - Orcish Weapon Training (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Half-Orc - Orcish Weapon Training (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Riddle of Fire (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Ki Bolt (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Sounding Staff (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Incinerating Wave (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Cauldron of Flame (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Serenity (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - All-Consuming Flame (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Staff Training (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Way of the Patient Tortoise (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Porous Soul (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Staff Training (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Contemplation (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Contemplation (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Contemplation (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Static Charge (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Staff Training (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Lighting the Candle (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Lighting the Candle (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Lighting the Candle (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Embrace the Void (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Embrace the Void (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Embrace the Void (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Strength (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Winter's Touch (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Staff Training (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Focus (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Strength (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Void Strike (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Henshin Mystic (Mnk) - Staff Specialization (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Shintao (Mnk) - Bastion of Purity (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Shintao (Mnk) - Restoring the Balance (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Shintao (Mnk) - Exemplar (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Shintao (Mnk) - Exemplar (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Shintao (Mnk) - Iron Skin (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Shintao (Mnk) - Iron Skin (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Shintao (Mnk) - Iron Skin (Rank 3)

[TheDr0wRanger]

I need to rework some of it, in retrospect it has issues, but thats the build that the character was based on.

[ArcaneArcher52689]

First, lets be clear, if you are going to tell me that this isn't going to work, save your breath. I made him to prove that idea wrong and I'm going to work on him until such a time as I'm convinced of that by experience.

Now, I've LRed a Horc Monk at lvl28 into a Henshin Mystic, following the teachings of Spencarian I'm trying to balance his staff skills with the usage of his SLAs .

Due to the melee-intensive and fire-oriented nature of Crusader I suspect there's a great opportunity for it.

I've lost the build sheet and there was a glitch when I rolled the toon, so I cant recall everything in my plan at the moment, but the basic idea was to leverage the Henshin and Horc increased damage for the staff, using cleave, great cleave and possibly whirlwind, while also taking the Crit Range increase from higher Henshin. Adding that from Crusader, along with the numerous damage options and another increased Crit Range punctuated by Strike Down and I can see lot of multi-target damage. Further since Henshin allows a lot of Fire spellpower without the requirement of a lot of feats to get it, I can enter Crusader with enough SP to leverage its power. Strength for damage and Wisdom for DCs in both Henshin and Crusader.
Hes got all the wrong gear for this stick thing, and unfortunately he longer has a raid-box to get Sireth, which essentially means he won't ever get one given the amount of hatred for that raid.


As I said I LR'd this character from an unarmed monk that I simply found unexciting, stunning and beating one guy at a time, even at the absurd speeds I'd pushed the character to, was nothing to compare to the raging doom machine of my Human Flame Savant or the steel tornado of my PDK Dex-built Bastard-Dreadnought Cleaver.

Early testing as I try to advance the Crusader destiny was exciting, he didn't get the dps or the amount of Ki I was aiming for but he was in the ballpark, which makes sense given an unleveled destiny and no gear. Because of fire wave, Cleave and Great Cleave he hits everyone in his vicinity quite frequently, if I get a Cauldron of Flame up and Consecrate the ground, I suspect my ability to grab and ruin bad-guys will be more than adequate for my purposes. He's pure monk and I intend to keep him that way because multiclassing hardly proves the viability of the Henshin Crusader if hes not exactly that.


Disadvantages I can see ahead:
Control, hes got no great way of holding or stopping enemies from hitting him, theres just not much on offer in terms of CC.
SP reliance, I build all of my melees with Magical Training for unlimited cocoons, so he won't be totally screwed, but given the number of potent crusaders skills requiring SP I may find myself under-equipped.
Ki: Its expensive for a henshin with no other focus, its very difficult to keep running when you spam the SLAs, at least so far.
Toughness: It remains to be seen if this character has the stones for full confrontation, advice on what to maximize is appreciated.

Advantages: More kills faster, as I said he hits everyone most of the time, and in a pinch he can kite and pop off ki skills for tolerable effect.
Unlimited capacity: The lack of SP and Ki are problems of having enough fast enough, given time he regenerates ki on a constant basis and SP up to a usable level.
Healing: Light monk skills, Heal Amp, Crusader abilities and correct equipment should make me competent in self-sufficiency and possibly pinch-hit backup healing.
Cool: I've yet to see one, it'd be nice if I was able to draft something new for once(although my Fighter-Monk Cleaver was made before anyone was talking about those much, so I kinda co-developed it with the rest of the world).

I'll post the character planner sheet after work sometime, to make this whole idea a little more clear.

But I'm asking, can anyone offer advice on how to make this work to the best of its capacity? If it sucks I'll deal with that but I want to try it at its best before I judge it.

as already mentioned, stout oak walking stick is a great choice for weapons, especially in that destiny. You get 19-20/x3, bumped up to 17-20/x4 by staff spec, bumped up to 15-20/x4 by Crusader. A t1 thunderforged weapon would be good for bosses-vulnerablity.

I'd consider wearing something like this:
http://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Restored_Elfcraft_Robe

not as good as a fire/kinetic spellpower/lore item, but it offers 72 spell power and 6% crit without giving up too much. Also really easy to obtiain.

[Alternative]

Make sure you splash some rogue levels for +15% stacking attack speed! also quick strike from acrobat tree has shorter cooldown so there's that too, you only need 2 rogue levels for both those things. Staff builds are fun and Divine Crusader is okay but the real power is in LD.