Iconic Builds for New Players

[EllisDee37]

I've posted a Deep Gnome Illusionist. I could've just gone with a conventional Pale Master, of course, but that didn't seem to play to their racial bonuses.

Story time:

So yesterday I logged into a dummy iconic artificer to update the wiki for the arcanotech changes, did a quick update on arcane archer, then ran my data crawler so I could post a new version of the planner. The crawler output showed "Invalid wiki link: http://ddowiki.com/page/Svirfneblin_enhancements" in the errors section, meaning it failed to scrape descriptions for deep gnomes. Confused, I go to the wiki and see the page is named Deep Gnome instead of Svirfneblin. So I start adding a custom wiki link for the Svirfneblin tree when I think "Wait a minute; the wiki mirrors the game..."

So I log in to check by creating a character. I don't own Deep Gnomes but you can still see it in the iconic race selection. Oh no, it's actually named Deep Gnome in the game. Gah! So I spent the next half hour frantically updating the various places in the code where race names are hardcoded. So annoying.

Probably for the best, though. I was concerned when I first set it up as Svirfneblin that it would be confusing to new players, but assumed that that's what it was called in-game.

[Uska]

CAVEAT: I don't own Deep Gnomes (yet), so I've no way of testing my builds here. I'm just drawing on my COUNTLESS HOURS OF GAME EXPERIENCE to craft these master builds!

[Read as: making it up as I go along. ]

So first let's try Illusion Archmage, which is clearly the intent behind DDO gnomes, with heavy investment in the Deep Gnome racial tree for good measure. This build has both the racial & PrE Phantasmal Killer SLAs, for double the killing powah. Remaining APs spread between Eldritch Knight (light armor prof, -5% ASF) and Pale Master.

Svirfneblin Illusionist
Wizard 20
True Neutral Deep Gnome


Stats
               28pt     32pt     Level Up
               ----     ----     --------
Strength         8        6       4: INT
Dexterity        8        8       8: INT
Constitution    16       18      12: INT
Intelligence    20       20      16: INT
Wisdom          10       10      20: INT
Charisma         6        6      24: INT
                                 28: INT

Skills
          1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
         ------------------------------------------------------------
Concent   4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Spellcr   4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Perform   1  1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1  11
Heal      2     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     11
Search    1  1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1  11
Diplo                                1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  11
UMD       2     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     11
Spot      2  ½  ½  ½  ½  ½  ½  ½  ½                    ½  ½  ½  ½      8
Repair                         1  1                                1   3
Balance   1                                                            1
Tumble    1                                                            1
         ------------------------------------------------------------
         28  7  7  7  7  7  7  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  9  9  9  9  9


Feats

 1        : Insightful Reflexes
 1 Wizard : Maximize Spell
 3        : Extend Spell
 5 Wizard : Empower Spell
 6        : Heighten Spell
 9        : Enlarge Spell
10 Wizard : Spell Focus: Illusion
12        : Greater Spell Focus: Illusion
15        : Spell Penetration
15 Wizard : Quicken Spell
18        : Greater Spell Penetration
20 Wizard : Spell Focus: Conjuration OR Necromancy
21 Epic   : Epic Spell Penetration
24 Epic   : Master of: Knowledge
26 Destiny: Epic Spell Power: Force
27 Epic   : Ruin
28 Destiny: Hellball
29 Destiny: Arcane Pulse
30 Epic   : Intensify Spell OR Greater Ruin
30 Legend : Scion of: Plane of Fire


Enhancements (80 AP)

Archmage (41 AP)

Invisibility, Blur, Displacement, Phantasmal Killer, Shadow Walk, Master of Magic
Subtle Spellcasting I, Traditionalist Caster III, Spell Critical
Spell Critical
Arcane Bolt III, Spell Penetration III, Spell Critical, Intelligence
School Mastery: Illusion, Spell Critical
Arcane Blast III, Arcane Supremacy, School Mastery: Illusion

Deep Gnome (19 AP)

Wariness, Intelligence, Wariness II, Intelligence, Retain Scroll Essence
(none)
Color Spray III
Spellcraft III, Illusion Focus III
Phantasmal Killer III

Pale Master (13 AP)

Dark Reaping, Zombie Form, Vampire Form
Spell Critical, Negative Energy Conduit III
Spell Critical, Bone Armor III

Eldritch Knight (Wizard) (7 AP)

Eldritch Strike
Improved Mage Armor III, Item Defense I
Light Armor Proficiency

Leveling Guide

PM0 Dark Reaping; PM1 Negative Energy Conduit I, II, III
PM1 Spell Critical; PM2 Bone Armor I, II
PM2 Bone Armor III; PM0 Zombie Form; PM2 Spell Critical
AM0 Invisibility; AM1 Subtle Spellcasting I; AM1 Traditionalist Caster I, II
AM1 Traditionalist Caster III; AM0 Blur; AM1 Spell Critical
AM2 Spell Critical; AM0 Displacement
AM3 Arcane Bolt I, II
AM3 Arcane Bolt III; AM3 Spell Critical
AM3 Intelligence; AM4 School Mastery: Illusion
AM4 Spell Critical; AM3 Spell Penetration I
AM3 Spell Penetration II; (Bank 3 AP)
PM0 Vampire Form; AM0 Phantasmal Killer; AM5 Arcane Blast I, II, III; AM5 Arcane Supremacy
AM5 School Mastery: Illusion; DPG0 Wariness
DPG0 Intelligence; DPG0 Wariness II; DPG0 Intelligence
DPG2 Color Spray I, II, III; (Bank 1 AP)
DPG0 Retain Scroll Essence; DPG3 Spellcraft I, II, III; DPG3 Illusion Focus I
DPG3 Illusion Focus II; DPG4 Phantasmal Killer I, II, III
AM0 Shadow Walk; DPG3 Illusion Focus III; EKw0 Eldritch Strike; EKw1 Improved Mage Armor I
EKw1 Improved Mage Armor II, III; AM3 Spell Penetration III
AM0 Master of Magic; EKw1 Item Defense I; EKw2 Light Armor Proficiency


Destiny (24 AP)

Shiradi Champion

Healing Spring III, Illusion of Well Being I
Prism, Fey Spring III, Fey Form III
Rainbow
Double Rainbow, Elemental Absorption I
Nerve Venom III
Audience with the Queen, Rain of Arrows

Twists of Fate (18 fate points)

Piercing Spellcraft (Tier 3 Magister)
School Specialist: Illusion (Tier 2 Magister)
Precise: Conjuration (Tier 2 Draconic)

Q: Hey, why'd you make a gnome vampire?
A: ...I don't understand the question. It's a vampire who is also a gnome. Why wouldn't you make one?!

Also I discovered once I took everything I wanted from Archmage and racial trees, I didn't have enough APs left for wraith form, so decided to stop at vampire form and put leftover APs into EK for lt armor prof.

But mostly because gnome vampire.

Required extra gear to start:

• None.

Recommended extra gear to start:

• Negative Spellpower to boost Necro spells; Madstone Skull is a good option, since Deep Gnomes don't start with orbs and equipping it will also enable the +10 Spellpower bonus from Traditionalist Caster.
• Since DGs start with a Corrosion hammer, a Conjuration Focus item would be good for acid spells. Unfortunately, I don't see a named option for ML:15 or below; but later you can use Wizard's Ward, Nether Orb, or Sage's Shoes. [One possible variant: Conjuration Archmage for Web / Stinking Cloud / Cloudkill SLAs with Illusion as secondary school.]
• If you intend to use Necro spells for DPS (rather than just self-unhealing), you'll also want Necro Spell Focus item.
• The starter robe is okay, but you might want to consider acquiring an Frozen Tunic for Glaciation + Ice Lore. Actually any of the Cannith caster gear is worth considering, though naturally it means rearranging your other gear bonuses to make room.

nice

[Anoregon]

I would also just like to chip in on this thread that now is -THE BEST TIME EVER- to start a first life Bladeforged Pally, as you can immediately snag a Sword of Shadow from the 10th anniversary token.

[unbongwah]

I would also just like to chip in on this thread that now is -THE BEST TIME EVER- to start a first life Bladeforged Pally, as you can immediately snag a Sword of Shadow from the 10th anniversary token.

Yes, I confirmed the other night that if you make a new char, you also get the free token; it isn't just for existing (pre-U30) chars. Nice!

For casters, I would probably take Litany: +1 Profane bonus to all stats and Turn the Page can save a lot of SPs when you're in mana-dump boss-fight mode. For Vanguard...I'm not sure, maybe Levik's Defender just for Healer's Bounty? For SDK rogue, probably Ring of Lies or Tharne's Goggles, unless you want to bank away a Balizarde: it doesn't benefit from Knife Specialization but it should benefit from Lethality, making it 15-20/x4; you'll need to take the Finesse feat though.

[Marilith Chain used to be one of the best DPS armors, back when Seeker +6 bonuses were still rare; but ever since Seeker & Deadly bonuses were added to random lootgen, it's been obsolete, unfortunately.]

I didn't post any Mechanic builds yet, but Needle is an obvious choice for them. Or maybe Toven's Hammer if you make an arty.

[Mordantos]

I didn't post any Mechanic builds

Aww

yet

Well, then get to it!

Love all the builds so far, and just can't wait to see what comes next...

[Saekee]

DEX-based TWF Assassin builds are also pretty straight-forward. Mine is very similar to slarden's halfling DEX build.

This build is for those without Harper:

SDK Assassin
Rogue 20
True Neutral Shadar-kai


Stats
               28pt     32pt     Level Up
               ----     ----     --------
Strength         8        8       4: DEX
Dexterity       20       20       8: DEX
Constitution    14       16      12: DEX
Intelligence    14       14      16: DEX
Wisdom           8        8      20: DEX
Charisma         6        6      24: DEX
                                 28: DEX

Skills
          1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
         ------------------------------------------------------------
Disable   4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Open Lo   4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Search    4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Spot      4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Bluff     4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Hide      4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Move Si   4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Tumble    3  2     2     2     2     2     2     2     2     2     2  23
UMD       4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Concent   2     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     11
Balance   1                                                            1
         ------------------------------------------------------------
         40 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10


Feats

 1        : Two Weapon Fighting
 3        : Precision
 6        : Dodge
 9        : Improved Two Weapon Fighting
10 Rogue  : Improved Evasion
12        : Improved Critical: Piercing
13 Rogue  : Defensive Roll
15        : Greater Two Weapon Fighting
16 Rogue  : Opportunist
18        : Quick Draw OR Mobility
19 Rogue  : Crippling Strike OR Skill Mastery
21 Epic   : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic   : Improved Sneak Attack
26 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
27 Epic   : Epic Damage Reduction
28 Destiny: Elusive Target OR First Blood
29 Destiny: Embodiment of Order OR Deific Warding
30 Epic   : Watchful Eye
30 Legend : Scion of: Ethereal Plane


Enhancements (80 AP)

Assassin (42 AP)

Knife in the Darkness, Dagger in the Back, Assassin's Trick, Nimbleness, Lethality, Deadly Shadow
Poison Strikes: Heartseeker, Sneak Attack Training, Stealthy III
Venomed Blades III, Sneak Attack Training
Critical Mastery III, Sneak Attack Training
Execute, Killer III, Weakening Strikes, Sneak Attack Training
Assassinate, Measure the Foe III, Deadly Strikes, Knife Specialization, Light Armor Mastery II

Thief-Acrobat (27 AP)

Staff Control, Stick Fighting, Tumbler, Kip Up
Sly Flourish III, Fast Movement
Subtlety III, Haste Boost III
Shadow Dodge III
Improved Defensive Roll III, No Mercy III

Shadar-kai (11 AP)

Shadar-kai Grit, Dexterity, Shadow Phase, Shadow Jaunt
(none)
Improved Dodge II, Guile
Guile

Leveling Guide

Ass0 Knife in the Darkness; Ass1 Poison Strikes: Heartseeker
Ass1 Sneak Attack Training; Ass2 Sneak Attack Training; Ass2 Venomed Blades I
Ass2 Venomed Blades II, III; Ass0 Dagger in the Back
Ass3 Sneak Attack Training; Ass3 Critical Mastery I, II, III
Ass1 Stealthy I, II, III; TA0 Staff Control
TA1 Fast Movement; Ass0 Assassin's Trick; Ass4 Killer I
Ass4 Killer II, III; Ass4 Execute
Ass4 Weakening Strikes; Ass4 Sneak Attack Training
TA1 Sly Flourish I, II; TA2 Haste Boost I, II
TA2 Haste Boost III; TA2 Subtlety I, II
TA3 Shadow Dodge I, II
TA3 Shadow Dodge III; Ass0 Nimbleness; Ass5 Knife Specialization
Ass5 Measure the Foe I, II, III; Ass5 Assassinate
Ass5 Deadly Strikes; TA2 Subtlety III; TA1 Sly Flourish III
TA0 Stick Fighting; TA0 Tumbler; Ass5 Light Armor Mastery I, II
TA0 Kip Up; TA4 Improved Defensive Roll I, II, III
SK0 Shadar-kai Grit; SK0 Dexterity; TA4 No Mercy I
Ass0 Lethality; TA4 No Mercy II, III
SK0 Shadow Phase; SK0 Shadow Jaunt; SK2 Improved Dodge I
SK2 Improved Dodge II; SK2 Guile; SK3 Guile; Ass0 Deadly Shadow


Destiny (24 AP)

Shadowdancer

Stealthy III, Technician I
Lithe III, Skill Mastery
Shrouding Strike III, Meld into Darkness I, Grim Precision III
Improved Invisibility I
Untouchable, Executioner's Strike I, Sealed Soul
Shadow Form, Dark Imbuement

Twists of Fate (14 fate points)

Balanced Attacks (Tier 3 Primal)
Hail of Blows (Tier 2 Flowers)
Rejuvenation Cocoon (Tier 1 Primal)

Skills: UMD and trap skills are the must-haves, of course. Hide is maxed largely to max out extra sneak atks from Scion of Ethereal Plane; in which case, might as well max Move Silently too. I like having Concentration on my UMD toons, even though it's a cross-class skill. Why max Tumble? Because backflips FTW! But you could take Diplomacy, Haggle, or Heal (more Pos Spellpower for Cocoon).

Optional feats: Dodge for the extra Dodge bonus (duh) and Epic DR for moar DR (also duh) are pretty good options for lvl 6 & 27 feats, IMO. Then it's mostly a question of whether you want more DPS or more survivability: so either Mobility (+2 Dodge & MDB) or Quick Draw (slightly reduces the delay on using action boosts for a little more burst DPS) at lvl 18; either Elusive Target (extra 5% miss chance) or First Blood for a bit more DPS at lvl 28; and either Deific Warding for extra PRR/MRR or Embodiment of Order for more DPS at lvl 29.

Enhancements: obviously Assassin is the primary one, but Acrobat has lots of useful goodies too - Fast Movement, Shadow Dodge, Haste Boost, Imp Defensive Roll, No Mercy, Kip Up (knockdown immunity). SDK Shadow Jaunt is cool: works like Abundant Step / Leap of Faith. Leftover APs went towards Imp Dodge and SDK Guile for an extra +2d6 SA. If you feel your trap skills need improvement, shift APs from SDK and/or Acrobat into Mechanic.

Sneak attacks (SA): 10d6 rogue levels + 8d6 Assassin + 2d6 SDK + 3d6 Imp Sneak Atk feat + 6d6 Shadowdancer = 29d6 SA (101.5 avg dmg per hit). I believe you can get another +22 SA from gear. I've seen posters claim endgame Hide skills of 150-ish, which means +50 SA from Scion of Ethereal Plane; but we're talking fully tricked out gear, tomes, etc. But I'd guesstimate even a first-lifer with more modest gear will hit Hide 90+, so that's still means 30-plus SA bonus. So you're talking somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 to 180 pts of SA dmg per hit by endgame and that's before you factor in 150% Melee Power scaling.

Required extra gear to start:

• None, though a lot more healing potions certainly wouldn't go amiss...

Recommended extra gear to start:

• +6 INT swap item for trapping. Until then, you can use Fox's Cunning potions.
• Deadly & Seeker items: helm and goggles can be used as swap slots.
• Deception gear: Backstabber's Gloves are the obvious choice, though it means giving up your initial doublestrike bonus. At lvl 17, Golden Guile is a good option, since it also adds Dusk and boosts your Bluff & Diplomacy.

The SDK cores are excellent for stealth play. When fully taken, they only have a 30 sec. cooldown. (that they share, unfortunately, together). Core 3 gives invisibility that does not break while acting: killing, pulling levers, opening doors!!!--unless a mob has true seeing (like a champ) the Shadow Phase is insanely useful. Normally, an epic assassin must use/twist SD's improved invisi, Magister's Fade into the Weave or shadowscale clickies (see link in my sig).

I like it so much (using it on my iconic challenge farmer SDK) that I will probably make my main's endgame assassin life an SDK.

[Xathris]

My next character will be a 5th life, so I still feel pretty new. I am going for completionist feat, so I figured the fastest way to that would be iconic characters. I this the way to go?

Here are my lives. 1st pure Pally, 2nd Pure Ranger (archer) 3rd Pure bard (swash) 4th and current pure warlock

I thought it would be best to do the most powerful builds first, while I get better and better gear. (At lvl 20, my warlock can tank EH Inevitable in Von 3, so getting there.)

Can/should I do a big chunk with iconic? If so, what should be next? I was thinking Barbarian. I have a +6 tome that works on all my stats if that matters.

Thanks!

[unbongwah]

I am going for completionist feat, so I figured the fastest way to that would be iconic characters. I this the way to go?

Remember that you cannot HTR an Iconic when you reach lvl 20; you have to lvl to 30 then ITR, which earns you both a heroic PL feat and Iconic PL feat. Sorry to crush your dreams if you thought you could just lvl 15-20 and be done!

[unbongwah]

Now that U31 has finally buffed fighters, I've updated the PDK section with two builds: classic pure ftr S&B tank; and a SWF ftr 6 / pal 14 hybrid. I've also added a SDK pure Mechanic, because one person demanded it three months ago!

[Tricosene]

Now that U31 has finally buffed fighters, I've updated the PDK section with two builds: classic pure ftr S&B tank; and a SWF ftr 6 / pal 14 hybrid. I've also added a SDK pure Mechanic, because one person demanded it three months ago!

On the mechanic, you've slotted the alchemical trap attack enhancements. How much do you end up using them, especially after level 20? I'm TRing into a mechanic soon and have been looking at Retrodark's Rocket Launcher build, where they aren't selected, and I'm trying to figure out if I want to invest the action points in them.

[unbongwah]

Retrodark's build is endgame-focused; mine is more leveling-focused. So the short answer is: you use alchemical traps until they stop being useful; then you reset Mechanic, redistribute your APs, and probably wind up with 3 APs to put into, say, SDK for +1d6 SA since you drop Time Bomb. You still need to spend at least 30 APs into the lower tiers, so you swap those trap APs for more INT or whatever.

[Tricosene]

Ok, thank you. I'll play around and see how they work for my combat style.

[Mordantos]

I've also added a SDK pure Mechanic, because one person demanded it three months ago!

and you made that person very happy!

[unbongwah]

I've updated the PDK post with a "S&B Kensei" variant which I think will have higher DPS than the 41 AP VG configuration does, despite the lower atk speed. The builder hasn't been updated yet for U31.1, so some of the Kensei enhancements are placeholders until I can swap in Opportunity Attack + Liquid Courage.

[SilentRunning]

I don't know what your thoughts are on Warlocks, Unbongwah, but have you considered making a PDK/Warlock and using charisma for damage rather than strength ?

I'm exploring this combination for myself, so I'd like to know what you think.

[FranOhmsford]

I don't know what your thoughts are on Warlocks, Unbongwah, but have you considered making a PDK/Warlock and using charisma for damage rather than strength ?

I'm exploring this combination for myself, so I'd like to know what you think.

What would be the point?

You've got to fit in the Spellpower somewhere anyway and if your weapon is melee specific then you're cutting down the number of spots available for that spellpower.

Also - Melee and Auralock aren't as synonymous as you'd think - Auralock fits a tank role using Aura and Bursts for DPS more than a Melee DPS role with just aura {You won't want the bursts as they'll stop your melee DPS}.


If I was to consider a PDK Lock I'd want to drop the Fighter level in favour of 3 Paladin and go really tanky.

[SilentRunning]

No offense, but I believe I asked Unbongwah.

[unbongwah]

I don't know what your thoughts are on Warlocks, Unbongwah, but have you considered making a PDK/Warlock and using charisma for damage rather than strength ?

I have theory-crafted various build ideas and my basic conclusion is they're all flavor builds: either you don't do enough melee DPS for it to be a significant contributor to your overall DPS and doesn't justify the feat / AP investment; or you sacrifice caster DPS for melee DPS instead, which is at best a wash and at worst a loss of overall DPS. As I mention in this thread, there's also the issue of gear, as it's very hard to squeeze in all of the caster and melee DPS gear you want.

So I'm definitely doing one on one of my next lives. I have a character with two Celestias (one from raiders box, one from anniversary) whom I was thinking of HTRing into a TWF PDK Fiend `lock using Crusader. I haven't decided the exact configuration yet, but it would be something like 41 ES / 28 SE / 8 TS / 3 PDK (CKT). Without any crit bonuses (apart from Imp Crit), I expect my melee DPS to be subpar; the goal is using weapons to proc SE debuffs (Taint the Blood + Taint the Aura + Strickened Soul + Strickened Aura) as well as Spiritual Retribution: +3d6 light dmg per hit scaled by Spellpower, so probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 75+ dmg per hit in endgame.

[DocTom]

Greetings;

Love the BF Knight 2H weapon build! As I move up levels, I see that the build directs me to select "Tenacious OR Strong Defense III" enhancements from the SD tree; however, the in-tree description of the enhancements mentions that the effect is for when you're using medium/heavy armor (Bladeforged only gets docent?) or a shield (2H weapon build). Am I missing something? (<- Actually, I'm not being snarky! It is VERY possible that I AM missing something, but I'm too much of a noob to know!) If it was an error, can someone suggest good alternatives?

Thanks!

[unbongwah]

Adamantine Body counts as heavy armor for the purpose of Greater defensive stance bonuses.