Need a Henshin Acrobat build

[FranOhmsford]

OK...Set up:

1) 3rd Life with 2 Rogue Past Lives.

2) Must be Elf

3) No EDs yet - 5 Ranks in GMoF

4) Have Chieftain's Spear, Arlyn's Staff, Theurgic Stave, Base Etched Quarterstaff, 2 Souleaters {Unfortunately not Epicced}, Petrifying Shadow Staff and a Sireth.

5) Want to do 3 Monk Pastlives + EDs and possibly Epic Past Lives. {Won't be returning to mainline Rogue for many lives}.

[Sebastrd]

OK...Set up:

1) 3rd Life with 2 Rogue Past Lives.

2) Must be Elf

3) No EDs yet - 5 Ranks in GMoF

4) Have Chieftain's Spear, Arlyn's Staff, Theurgic Stave, Base Etched Quarterstaff, 2 Souleaters {Unfortunately not Epicced}, Petrifying Shadow Staff and a Sireth.

5) Want to do 3 Monk Pastlives + EDs and possibly Epic Past Lives. {Won't be returning to mainline Rogue for many lives}.

Why elf?

I'm just finishing off a life as a Dex-based 12 Mnk/5 Rog/3 Pal, and I highly recommend it. I'm running it as a shadar-kai, but elf would work just as well.

RPPMPMMMMMMRRRMMMMMR (Going 1-28 I might space out Rogue a little more to keep up DD and Search)

Base stats:

Str 14 (for early PA and THF)
Dex 18
Con 14
Int 14 (I wanted sneak skills, but I'd skip them in retrospect)
Wis 10
Cha 12

Skills: max DD, Search, Hide, MS; 22 Concentration, 20 OL, 15 UMD, 1 Tumble, rest to taste

Feats:

1 PA
3 Completionist
4 (Mnk) Deflect Arrows
6 Cleave (wish I'd taken WF:B)
6 (Mnk) THF
9 GC (wish I'd taken Snake Blood)
10 (Mnk) Dodge
12 ITHF
15 GTHF
18 IC:B
21 GMoF
24 Overwhelming Crit/Improved MA
26 PTWF
27 Epic Reflexes
28 ITR

AP were pretty tight. I took all the tier 5s in TA, Sacred Defender stance and Item Defense x3 (critical), and all 4 Henshin stick damage enhancements.

[FranOhmsford]

Why elf?

I'm just finishing off a life as a Dex-based 12 Mnk/5 Rog/3 Pal, and I highly recommend it. I'm running it as a shadar-kai, but elf would work just as well.

RPPMPMMMMMMRRRMMMMMR (Going 1-28 I might space out Rogue a little more to keep up DD and Search)

Base stats:

Str 14 (for early PA and THF)
Dex 18
Con 14
Int 14 (I wanted sneak skills, but I'd skip them in retrospect)
Wis 10
Cha 12

Skills: max DD, Search, Hide, MS; 22 Concentration, 20 OL, 15 UMD, 1 Tumble, rest to taste

Feats:

1 PA
3 Completionist
4 (Mnk) Deflect Arrows
6 Cleave (wish I'd taken WF:B)
6 (Mnk) THF
9 GC (wish I'd taken Snake Blood)
10 (Mnk) Dodge
12 ITHF
15 GTHF
18 IC:B
21 GMoF
24 Overwhelming Crit/Improved MA
26 PTWF
27 Epic Reflexes
28 ITR

AP were pretty tight. I took all the tier 5s in TA, Sacred Defender stance and Item Defense x3 (critical), and all 4 Henshin stick damage enhancements.

Sounds ok but do have a few questions:

1) I stated 3rd Life - How am I supposed to take Completionist at Lvl 3?

2) What is ITR - I'm sorry but I don't recognise that abbreviation?

3) GMoF? I assume you're not talking about Grandmaster of Flowers when listing a Feat?

4) PTWF? Why on a Staff Build?

Oh and Elf is because that's what that character is. I don't change race when TRing.

[Makkuroi]

GMoF is grandmaster of forms, since you only got 12 monk levels you need to take it as a feat. Epic destiny feats would be epic two handed fighting AND epic two weapon fighting (5% doublestrike on main hand). But I guess seba is playing this as past life, so he wrote ITR (iconic TR) since the feat doesnt matter when he doesnt play at 28.

I got a similar build with 3 fighter instead of paladin (for purple dragon knight), but the lack of heroic self-healing (had to do with fast healing epic past life and fists of light) and lowish saves are clearly inferior to pally.

I didnt take any henshin stuff due to lack of AP.

If you want a perfect build and are patient, take rogue levels at 19 and 20, that way you can get GM of Forms at 18 and got one more epic feat. Downside is that youll have to level without staff mastery. If you just want a past life, dont do this, get the 5th rogue level at 12

One nice thing about the build: you can transform it into shuriken with an Epic TR and it still works well.

I considered to play a drow with this build (pally levels) or a variant with more rogue levels instead of monk as a long term build, but since my game time is going to be restricted from july onwards, ill just park my current build at cap and wait for warlock (Any ETA on this?)

[FranOhmsford]

GMoF is grandmaster of forms, since you only got 12 monk levels you need to take it as a feat. Epic destiny feats would be epic two handed fighting AND epic two weapon fighting (5% doublestrike on main hand). But I guess seba is playing this as past life, so he wrote ITR (iconic TR) since the feat doesnt matter when he doesnt play at 28.

I won't ever use Two Weapons on this character - She's a STAFF build!

If PTWF gives that bonus to a Two Handed Weapon then clearly that is an EXPLOIT! {I'm not sullying my builds with Exploits!}.

[giftie]

While 12/5/3 isn't a bad split, I'd personally go with 9/7/4, STR-based with Divine Might. It loses 5% movement speed and a feat (well, and Abundant Step, but you get Vault), but you don't take Completionist anyway. It also gets Rogue 5 at level 12 for easier levelling since you're doing 3 PLs. I assume +4 tomes across the board, but only +1 in DEX is necessary. The "extra" 2 Rogue levels basically does nothing but skills points. You lose Unyielding Sovereignty, but you can cap a few more skills.


9/7/4 Monk/Rogue/Paladin
Lawful Good Elf


Level Order

1. Rogue . . . . . 6. Monk. . . . . .11. Paladin. . . . 16. Rogue
2. Monk . . . . . .7. Rogue . . . . .12. Rogue. . . . . 17. Monk
3. Monk . . . . . .8. Monk . . . . . 13. Paladin . . . .18. Monk
4. Rogue . . . . . 9. Monk. . . . . .14. Paladin. . . . 19. Monk
5. Monk . . . . . 10. Rogue . . . . .15. Paladin. . . . 20. Rogue


Stats
. . . . . . . .36pt . . Tome . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ---- . . --------
Strength. . . . 16. . . .+4. . . .4: STR
Dexterity . . . 12. . . .+4. . . .8: STR
Constitution. . 14. . . .+4. . . 12: STR
Intelligence. . 12. . . .+4. . . 16: STR
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . .+4. . . 20: STR
Charisma. . . . 16. . . .+4. . . 24: STR
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28: STR

Feats

.1. . . . : Power Attack
.2 Monk . : Two Handed Fighting
.3. . . . : Cleave
.3 Monk . : Deflect Arrows
.5 Monk . : Path of Harmonious Balance
.6. . . . : Great Cleave
.9. . . . : Improved Two Handed Fighting
.9 Monk . : Dodge
11 Deity. : Follower of: Sovereign Host
12. . . . : Improved Critical: Bludgeoning
15. . . . : Master of Forms
18. . . . : Greater Two Handed Fighting
21 Epic . : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic . : Empower Healing Spell
26 Destiny: Perfect Two Handed Fighting
27 Epic . : Grandmaster of Forms
28 Destiny: Elusive Target


Enhancements (80 AP)

Thief-Acrobat (39 AP)

• Staff Control
  
  1. Acrobat Staff Training, Thief Acrobatics III, Sly Flourish I
  2. Acrobat Staff Training, Quick Strike III
  3. Acrobat Staff Training, Improved Glancing Blows III, Sweeping Strikes I, Strength
  4. Acrobat Staff Training, No Mercy III, Staff Lunge I, Strength
  5. Acrobat Staff Training, Staff Specialization, Spinning Staff Wall, Vault

Sacred Defender (13 AP)

• Holy Bastion, Sacred Defense
  
  1. Item Defense III, Extra Lay On Hands II
  2. Bulwark Aura III
  3. Resistance Aura III

Knight of the Chalice (13 AP)

• Slayer of Evil, Courage of Heaven, Slayer of Evil II
  
  1. Extra Turning III, Extra Smite I
  2. Divine Might III

Shintao (1 AP)

• Bastion of Purity

Ninja Spy (14 AP)

• Basic Ninja Training, Advanced Ninja Training, Shadow Veil
  
  1. Sneak Attack Training, Acrobatic III
  2. Sneak Attack Training, Fists of Iron
  3. Sneak Attack Training

[Milikki]

I'll have to look it up when I get home, but I just finished a dex based shadar henshin build. Took the dex to damage enhancement and it was pretty darn good. Ran centered in air stance with sireth.

[Robbenklopper]

OK...Set up:

1) 3rd Life with 2 Rogue Past Lives.

2) Must be Elf

3) No EDs yet - 5 Ranks in GMoF

4) Have Chieftain's Spear, Arlyn's Staff, Theurgic Stave, Base Etched Quarterstaff, 2 Souleaters {Unfortunately not Epicced}, Petrifying Shadow Staff and a Sireth.

5) Want to do 3 Monk Pastlives + EDs and possibly Epic Past Lives. {Won't be returning to mainline Rogue for many lives}.

Hi Fran,
just inspirations for you here ... build depends on how deep you wanna multiclass and what Feeling for the class you wanna get. I consider "henshin" a staff and aoe guy. Anyway fun in heroics, hard in epics.

LVL12(+) Monk gives you Incinerating wave from henshin. Make up some fire+force SP + crit% for fire-finisher and wave. Get force+fire Augments at Levels.
LVL2(+) THF or FIG for haste+quick strike, or haste+PRR.
LVL(X) up to you, maybe FVS for more fire+force if you wanna do aoe dps. PAL for saves and PRR.
DEX or STR based is good, WIS based give good survive but craps SB. INT based with harper KtA interesting mix for Draconic Incarnation ED later. For WIS(INT build, get http://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Stave_of_the_Seer, it´s very powerful.
Epic Souleater nice healing, http://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Epic_Luminous_Truth fun for henshin. You will want (epic) cloak of flames or http://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Sage%27...les_(Level_27) and even http://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Sage%27s_Cuffs_(Level_26) are interesting. Sireth is nice if you have the red Slot.
PA+CL+GCL line good. Not much more to say, you´re a pro to know what else to do.

[TitusOvid]

Hi Fran,

I did a 12 monk/6 rogue/ 2 pallie STR built Quaterstaff last life. I didn't go henshin though. I put the most points in acrobat, cause that tree is awesome atm. I took 3 tier 5, skipped the Vault because I had abandoned step.
I put quite a lot of points in my racial tree - I went halfling for self-heals - so you can save some points there maybe. And the rest I put in Shintao for PRR (Iron skin) and on epic points in pally for divine might, I twisted turn undead.

I took Grandmaster form as a feat and everything in THF. For heroic I went with Greater Cleave but siwtched that out for sth else on epic, cause I went with Legendary and had enough attacks there.

On heroic it was all fine most of the time but on EE I had some extensive probs with damage input. I had dodge of 34% + ocassionally uncanny dodge but my prr was not that awesome. So I put everything on that and came close to 90 PRR I am not sure if Planar Focus is in there already. Don't know the exact number anymore. You need a tier 4 twist for "Standing with stone" from GoF. I ran exclusively in Legendray Dreadnought with Blitz in resistance. So I pushed my PRR to about 120 in pyjamas while Blitz was running.

As for q-staffs: Pillar of Light (catacombs), Chieftain's Spear (3BC), Arlyn's Staff (Gwylan's Stand), greesteel: lighnting and triple positive (Shroud), Breeze (Abbot), Dreamspitter (Pikers), Bone Crusher (Palace of Stone), Stout Oak Walking Stick (comm turn-inns), Sireth (CitW), Thunderforged base (Thunderholme) and later Thunderforged tier 3.
Nature's Vengeance could be helpful too.
I was disappointed in Drow Quaterstaff Weaponmaster. I didn't gave any significant advantages.
This life I will try out alchemical Q-staff but I don't think it can compete with Bone Crusher or the Stout Oak.

[giftie]

As for q-staffs: Pillar of Light (catacombs), Chieftain's Spear (3BC), Arlyn's Staff (Gwylan's Stand), greesteel: lighnting and triple positive (Shroud), Breeze (Abbot), Dreamspitter (Pikers), Bone Crusher (Palace of Stone), Stout Oak Walking Stick (comm turn-inns), Sireth (CitW), Thunderforged base (Thunderholme) and later Thunderforged tier 3.

No Theurgic Stave? Kinda meh compared to Bone Crusher, but it's ML 8 and Hardness 20. Easier to farm after the last changes to Threnal.

[FranOhmsford]

OK Guys...I went with a slightly different version of Sebastrd's build in Post 2 for this life and at Pally 2/Rogue 1 it's feeling pretty good so far {admittedly that's no guarantee of future success} but I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this thread for possibilities down the line.

Athiina Ohmsford of Sarlona
Elf Acrobat
Lvl 3 atm {Pally 2 /Rogue 1}

Base Stats:
Str 14
Dex 18
Con 14
Int 14
Wis 10
Cha 10
Sebastrd's base stats I assume were for Shadar-Kai and Elf couldn't get the 12 Cha.

Base Skills:
Balance 4
Bluff 4
Concentration 2
Disable 6
Jump 3 {will max out at 5}
Move Silently 4
Open Lock 4
Search 6
Spot 4
Tumble 1
UMD 4
Haven't failed a trap yet.

Feats:
Power Attack
Wpn Focus: Bludg.

Enhancements:
Staff Control
Acrobat Staff Training
Thief Acrobatics x3
Holy Bastion
Resilient Defense {Saves} x3

Will continue to follow Sebastrd's levelling plan with a few changes where necessary {Only 3rd Life so Completionist was obviously not available}.

[TitusOvid]

No Theurgic Stave? Kinda meh compared to Bone Crusher, but it's ML 8 and Hardness 20. Easier to farm after the last changes to Threnal.

True, nice staff too. I don't do much equipment swapping during a TR. I just didn't pull it out of TR chache. It's totally worth running Threnal once.

[Sebastrd]

You definitely will want to pick up the Theurgic Stave from Threnal. I threw Heavy Fort and a Meteoric Ruby on it and used it from 14 through 19. It's BtA, so you can farm it on a high level alt. Only the Stave of the Seer is better until you can get the Stout Oak Walking Stick.

[DrWily]

I won't ever use Two Weapons on this character - She's a STAFF build!

If PTWF gives that bonus to a Two Handed Weapon then clearly that is an EXPLOIT! {I'm not sullying my builds with Exploits!}.

To answer this little chunk of question, the +5% doublestrike on a mainhand weapon applies to all fighting styles, and is NOT an exploit.

Anyway, I did a Henshin Acrobat life myself, but it was before the big Rogue update so there's a lot more room to work with. My build was a 10/10 split but since you want the Monk PLs I'd suggest 12/6/2 Monk/Rogue/Other.

Stats at start are always a bit fuzzy for me, but on a Str build you dump Dex and max Str and as a Dex build you only take enough Str to get GTHF by either 15 or 18 depending on level setup and BAB, and then max Dex.

Skills (suggest start off as rogue to max skillpoints) aren't too tight unless you intend to trap, the three must have skills are Open Lock, UMB and Concentrate.

Feats in no specific order would be Cleave, G. Cleave, I. Two-handed, G. Two-handed, I. Crit Blunt, Weapon Focus Blunt, Grandmaster of Forms.
Monk bonus feats would be Two-handed, Power attack, and Precision in that order.
Epic Feats (and ED feats if you choose to go for epic) would be I. Martial Arts, Overwhelming Crit, and Epic DR in that order.
ED Feats would be P. Two-weapon and something else, a lot of the things from the ED list are just too good to pass up.

Enhancements

Henshin T5 for Staff Training, +2 Str or Dex, Light the Candle, Staff Spec, and Balance in Dawn (which is a great investment in points IMO, both versions are very useful but I prefer the Shadows cannot Exist due to the AoE heal and the ability to chain it to Healing Ki). Void Strike seems worth it but the 5% chance to instakill for 15 Ki doesn't seem worth it IMO. Up to you.
Thief-Acrobat T4 with the first 3 Cores, Staff Training, Thief-Acrobatics, Fast Movement, Quick Strike (shorter cooldown than Henshin's), Shadow Dodge and Ability bonuses to your attacking stat.
On a Dex build 6 points for the cores in your Elf tree will be worthwhile (otherwise you have 6 points to go anywhere on the board). And then 8 more in Assassin for Venomed Blades.

ED would most likely be Divine Crusader with;
Str/Wis/Cha, Interrogate, Purge the Wicked
Flames of Purity R3, Consecration R3
Sacred Ground
Crusade, No Regret
Castigation, Heavenly Presence, Celestial Champion
Strike Down.
Twists would be Sense Weakness out of Fury/Lightning Mace from Dreadnaught, Dance of Flowers, something else (Hail of Blows?)

Hopefully this helps a bit, I'll sift through and smooth out the edges.

[FranOhmsford]

To answer this little chunk of question, the +5% doublestrike on a mainhand weapon applies to all fighting styles, and is NOT an exploit.

Really? The Devs have stated it's WAI have they?

PSWF states "While Single Weapon Fighting"
PTHF states "When wielding a Two Handed Weapon"
Why does PTWF have this massive bonus?

It's broken pure and simple!

Skills (suggest start off as rogue to max skillpoints) aren't too tight unless you intend to trap, the three must have skills are Open Lock, UMB and Concentrate.

Really?

No Search or Disable?

I'm not taking Rogue levels for Open Lock {This will be high anyway with maxed Dex!} or UMD {To get Heal or GH Scrolls requires far more than just skill points!}.

I won't ever take Rogue Levels on a character without at least attempting to be able to do ALL traps in game!


Now this next bit is not aimed at you personally Doc!


Seriously guys and girls can you at least provide a build that fits in with what I asked for?

It's a bit late for this life now and I've gone with my own take on Sebastrd's build {Post #2} but I do have two more Monk lives to do after this one so options for those lives will be appreciated.
HOWEVER:
Replies like "Why don't you go Bladeforged - It's better" and "You want to play a gimp...why you asking for build advice" are NOT helpful!

[Retrodark]

Why elf?

I'm just finishing off a life as a Dex-based 12 Mnk/5 Rog/3 Pal, and I highly recommend it. I'm running it as a shadar-kai, but elf would work just as well.

RPPMPMMMMMMRRRMMMMMR (Going 1-28 I might space out Rogue a little more to keep up DD and Search)

Base stats:

Str 14 (for early PA and THF)
Dex 18
Con 14
Int 14 (I wanted sneak skills, but I'd skip them in retrospect)
Wis 10
Cha 12

Skills: max DD, Search, Hide, MS; 22 Concentration, 20 OL, 15 UMD, 1 Tumble, rest to taste

Feats:

1 PA
3 Completionist
4 (Mnk) Deflect Arrows
6 Cleave (wish I'd taken WF:B)
6 (Mnk) THF
9 GC (wish I'd taken Snake Blood)
10 (Mnk) Dodge
12 ITHF
15 GTHF
18 IC:B
21 GMoF
24 Overwhelming Crit/Improved MA
26 PTWF
27 Epic Reflexes
28 ITR

AP were pretty tight. I took all the tier 5s in TA, Sacred Defender stance and Item Defense x3 (critical), and all 4 Henshin stick damage enhancements.

Seems like a 42 point build

[Sebastrd]

Seems like a 42 point build

Str - 8+6=14
Dex - 10+10=18
Con - 8+6=14
Int - 8+6=14
Wis - 8+2=10
Cha - 6+6=12

36 pt build