Enlightened Axe Warrior

[elvesunited]

A Build concept I've been mulling about with. Thoughts?

Enlightened Axe Warrior
14/6 Fighter/Warlock, Epic 1
Chaotic Good Dwarf


Level Order

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


Stats
. . . . . . . .32pt . . Tome . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ---- . . --------
Strength. . . . 14. . . .+3. . . .4: CON
Dexterity . . . .8. . . . . . . . 8: CON
Constitution. . 20. . . . . . . .12: CON
Intelligence. . 12. . . . . . . .16: CON
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . . . . . .20: CON
Charisma. . . . 12. . . . . . . .


Skills
. . . . . F. W .F .F .W. F. F. W .F .F .W. F. F. F. F. F. F. F. W .W
. . . . . 1. 2 .3 .4 .5. 6. 7. 8 .9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Intim . . 4. . .2 .1 . . 2. 1. . .2 .1 . . 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1 .1. 23
UMD . . . 1. 3 . . . .3. . . . 3 . . . .3. . .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .2. 2 .23
Jump. . . 4. . .1 .2 . . 1. 2. . .1 .2 . . 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Tumble. . 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .12. 3 .3 .3 .3. 3. 3. 3 .3 .3 .3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3 .3


Feats

.1. . . . : Power Attack
.1 Fighter: Cleave
.2 Warlock: Pact: Great Old One
.3. . . . : Weapon Focus: Slashing
.3 Fighter: Shield Mastery
.6. . . . : Great Cleave
.6 Fighter: Two Handed Fighting
.9. . . . : Improved Critical: Slashing
.9 Fighter: Improved Shield Mastery
12. . . . : Improved Two Handed Fighting
12 Fighter: Greater Two Handed Fighting
14 Fighter: Weapon Specialization: Slashing
15. . . . : Heavy Armor Master
16 Fighter: Greater Weapon Specialization: Slashing
18. . . . : Heavy Armor Champion
18 Fighter: Improved Shield Bash
21 Epic . : Overwhelming Critical


Enhancements (97 of 80 AP) - Errors

Enlightened Spirit (33 AP)

• Eldritch Aura, Aura of Courage, Shape Vestments
  
  1. Spiritual Defense III, Resilience of Soul III
  2. Spiritual Bastion III, Power of Enlightenment III, Shield
  3. Spiritual Ward III, Power of Enlightenment III, Constitution
  4. Spiritual Retribution III, Brilliance, Constitution
  5. Shining Through

Stalwart Defender (29 AP)

• Toughness, Stalwart Defense, Overbalance
  
  1. Durable Defense III, Stalwart Defensive Mastery II
  2. Stalwart Shield Mastery I, Armor Expertise III
  3. Hardy Defense III, Shield Expertise III, Constitution
  4. Swift Defense, Tenacious Defense III, Reinforced Armor III, Constitution

Dwarf (18 AP)

• Dwarven Toughness, Dwarven Constitution, Dwarven Toughness II, Dwarven Constitution II
  
  1. Axe Training, Dwarven Armor Mastery I
  2. Axe Training, Dwarven Shield Mastery I
  3. Axe Training
  4. Axe Training, Throw Your Weight Around

Kensei (13 AP)

• Kensei Focus: Axes, Spiritual Bond, Strike with No Thought
  
  1. Weapon Group Specialization, Attack Boost II
  2. Weapon Group Specialization, Ascetic Training: Conditioning II
  3. Weapon Group Specialization

Vanguard (3 AP)

• To the Fore!
  
  1. Shield Specialization

Soul Eater (1 AP)

• Inhuman Understanding

--- The build requires a +3 Strength Tome to reach minimum requirements. Int of 12 is pretty much needed to max intimidation and UMD.

--- This assumes what I've read about being able to use both Shield Mastery and Two handed Fighting when using a dwarven axe and shield holds up.

--- I'm not sure on Improved Shield bash. It's one more attack ( str based ) and a 5% chance of knockdown. Is it worth it?

--- I'm at 97 out of 80 enhancements. I've got some tough choices to make.

--- The build is centered around Con for damage. So Dwarf is pretty much set in stone at 18 AP.

--- If I go deep into Enlightened ( Shining through ) and stalwart ( Tenacious defense ) I can reach an obscene amount of hp. That may be overkill though. ( This character is no slouch in the PRR / MRR department )

--- The point of Kensei is to get that +1 crit multiplier. If I decide it isn't worth it. I probably can avoid that tree altogether.

--- Vanguard and Soul Eater are quick damage pick ups should I have any AP left over.

--- To be armed with a dwarven axe, heavy armor and a tower shield.

--- Epic Destiny - would start in Legendary Dreadnought and bee line to primal to get healing coccoon. ( Need something to spend sp on ) From there on spread to Fury, Unyielding, Crusader.

[unbongwah]

So basically, you've sacrificed a ton of DPS for a ton of HPs both temp (Brilliance+Shining Thru) and permanent (Hardy+Tenacious Defense) plus a few perks like full UMD, higher AC, etc. If this is just a flavor build for your own amusement, you can do whatever you want, of course; but under what circumstances do you think the pros (tons of HPs) will outweigh the cons (weak melee DPS)?

[elvesunited]

So basically, you've sacrificed a ton of DPS for a ton of HPs both temp (Brilliance+Shining Thru) and permanent (Hardy+Tenacious Defense) plus a few perks like full UMD, higher AC, etc. If this is just a flavor build for your own amusement, you can do whatever you want, of course; but under what circumstances do you think the pros (tons of HPs) will outweigh the cons (weak melee DPS)?

I was thinking along similar lines of maxing DPS

27 AP Enlightened -> Shining through being too expensive but Brilliance not so much and I'd like to see how spiritual retribution works with this build.
21 AP Stalwart -> Con for damage ( Hardy ) and +3 weapon/armor/shield enhance
18 AP Dwarf
13 AP Kensei -> Kensei doesn't fit that well with a con for damage build. After this point it's a long stretch for anything decent in here. And a much longer stretch for the really good Tier 5 stuff which I don't think I can reach without completely abandoning the original concept.
1 AP Souleater -> Point to burn

[NaturalHazard]

So basically, you've sacrificed a ton of DPS for a ton of HPs both temp (Brilliance+Shining Thru) and permanent (Hardy+Tenacious Defense) plus a few perks like full UMD, higher AC, etc. If this is just a flavor build for your own amusement, you can do whatever you want, of course; but under what circumstances do you think the pros (tons of HPs) will outweigh the cons (weak melee DPS)?

Join a party hey guys look at all this HP!!! And just hope no one cares about kill counts.


Though it looks kinda cool was wondering when someone was going to go for something like this. I see plenty of HP builds in game, though im not generally impressed with their performance, I think for them its mainly because hp is the stat we can see. Not saying that this is the OP aims. He should have displacement as well right, though the duration wont be long. ES gets it as a SLA?

[unbongwah]

You might want read Kodraith's thread about playing a ES warlock / KotC paladin hybrid. Basically his survivability was impressive (no surprise given high saves plus all those temp HPs) but often overkill, while his DPS was underwhelming. In particular, he didn't feel his ES auras / bursts did enough DPS to make up for not using KotC cleaves instead.

Part of the problem here is the heavy AP cost for TYWA; chewing up 18 APs only leaves 62 for everything else, which is not enough to cover everything you're trying to spread yourself around.

[adrian69]

40 melee power from One with the blade and Opportunity Attack outweights a couple of points of damage stat any day of the year. You would be better off doing a pure dwarf kensei (daxes come free or gaxes if you prefer twf.). 18 AP for TYWA, 41 Kensei, 13 SD for stance and +20% hps, 8 for KTAs.

Build probably requires investment in a +3 str and dex tome depending on if you are twf or thf, but personally kensei does just as good swf+orb.

10 str (14 if THF)
08 dex(14 if TWF)
20 con
16 intel

anything left with how you please.

It's easy to hit 50 intel for KTA with out tomes on a pure Kensei for +10 damage and DCs, not that the only thing that will matter on a build like this would be Dire Charge anyway. If you have tomes you can get it near 60.

[elvesunited]

40 melee power from One with the blade and Opportunity Attack outweights a couple of points of damage stat any day of the year. You would be better off doing a pure dwarf kensei (daxes come free or gaxes if you prefer twf.). 18 AP for TYWA, 41 Kensei, 13 SD for stance and +20% hps, 8 for KTAs.

Build probably requires investment in a +3 str and dex tome depending on if you are twf or thf, but personally kensei does just as good swf+orb.

10 str (14 if THF)
08 dex(14 if TWF)
20 con
16 intel

anything left with how you please.

It's easy to hit 50 intel for KTA with out tomes on a pure Kensei for +10 damage and DCs, not that the only thing that will matter on a build like this would be Dire Charge anyway. If you have tomes you can get it near 60.

Well I'm not thinking of reincarnating a different character for this one. So it would be a new 32 character with limited tomes. But I do recognize that this character lacks dps and the issues that presents. Dire Charge isn't a consideration as the epic destiny requirement is far beyond what I'm willing to consider. ( That's over a reincarnation away ) Besides 60 DC seems pretty weak for endgame. ( I got a paladin vanguard in the upper 90's and he doesn't stun often ) I figured tactics were simply out of reach for a con based character.

So I'm going to make it a chop at it, see if I can maintain the concept while putting as much offense as possible:

Fighter 16 Warlock 4 ( adding Greater Weapon Focus feat for last kensei specialization feat)

18 Dwarf -> For Throw Your weight around.
24 Enlightened -> for spiritual retribution ( which I think I read processes on glancing blows ) and can be boosted by light spellpower and Brilliance.
33-35 Kensei -> For the Tier 3 abilities including expanded crit range, +3 damage, +20 melee power.
3-5 Vanguard, Souleater: For quick damage bonuses

This completely abandons stalwart defender. but since this character gets Heavy Armor Champion, Heavy Armor Master, a tower shield, heavy armor, and bonuses from Enlightened I think I can probably get away with not having the Stalwart Stance. Thoughts?

[unbongwah]

This completely abandons stalwart defender. but since this character gets Heavy Armor Champion, Heavy Armor Master, a tower shield, heavy armor, and bonuses from Enlightened I think I can probably get away with not having the Stalwart Stance. Thoughts?

Trading Stalwart D for ES makes no sense to me. At best, you're swapping one set of survivability perks for a similar set; at worst it's a downgrade to your survivability.

• Stalwart D: +25 PRR/MRR, +3 to saves, +20% HPs for 13 APs
• ES: +19 PRR/MRR, +15 HPs, 2x CON score temp HPs every 5 secs for 21 APs

The advantage of Tenacious Defense is it's a persistent bonus (meaning it can be healed); the advantage of Brilliance is it keeps regenerating every few seconds. Not that I think this build idea is that great to begin with, but if anything you should be trying to figure out how to combine those bonuses.

[slarden]

Are you looking for a build specifically for end game tanking or to fill out ED and get epic past lifes?

There is no doubt there is synergies between throw your weight around and shining through / brilliance, but the problem with warlock melee in general is there are not enough dps boosts in the trees so to spend over 30 AP and that really handicaps you in other ways.

If you are looking for a survivable build I did recently test out 11 cleric / 6 fighter / 3 monk dwarf con build with mauls as a trial baloon. This was a centered build rather than heavy armor build, but you can use the split with heavy armor also with either great axe or maul if you want to go with heavy armor. If you want to go with a shield build you can still go with dwarven axes. You can also go 11 cleric / 8 fighter / 1 monk if want heavy armor vs. evasion so you can take greater weapon focus and get tier 4 weapon group specialization (+1 to hit and +4 damage with 2thf) and tier 5 weapon master (+3 to hit and +3 damage).

I think getting the heal spell for 0 ap beats getting shining through for 30+.

I was doing it primarily to test the new silvanus maul feat + the new improved centered options, but unfortunately I learned the hard way silvanus requires a forgotten realms character - reading fail on my part - d'oh.

Despite this it still works well. With any melee build you really want to quickly assess where you get your crit threat range and multiplier boosts, melee power and damage boost (either KTA or divine might).

The really really bad thing about con builds is that you have to use KTA vs. divine grace. Conventional wisdom are that these are the same, but they are not. As a con build your "to hit" is already lower since it uses strength. KTA boosts your damage and tactical feats the same as divine might in theory, but divine might also helps your "to hit" on a melee build. This won't make a huge difference, but it will make some. Also divine might only costs 4 AP in the cleric tree vs. KTA for 8, plus there is other nice low hanging fruit in that same cleric tree.

If you are looking for a survivable build I think going with con is fine, but I would look at a different splash like the heavy 11 cleric splash for example. I would recommend the following to get your crit range, multiplier, mp:

Strike with No Thought (3rd core Kensai): +1 critical damage multiplier
Keen Edge (tier 5 Kensai): +1 critical threat range
One with the blade (tier 5 Kensai): 20 MP
Riddle of Fire (1st core Henshin): 10 MP
Versatile Adept 1 (tier 2 harper): 1 MP

AP spend
Dwarf 21 (you might as well get the +1 to hit and +2 damage + 7% damage boosts)
Kensai: 35
Stalwart Defender: 13 (+25 PRR, +15 MRR, +20% HP)
Henshin: 1
KTA: 9

1 ap left over

Alternatively you can drop 5 pts dwarf, 3 pts kensai and 1 pt harper and put that into stalwart for 6 con.

PRR at level 30:
Heavy Armor: 42
Sheltering Item: 45 (slavers)
Insightful PRR Item 18 (random lootgen or cannith crafted)
Quality PRR Item: 11 (slavers)
Defense Stance: 25
Henshin core 1: 3
Heavy Armor Combatant: 6
Epic Damage Reduction: 10
Master's Blitz: 30

PRR with no past lifes and no shield: 190 ( I think 190 PRR blitzing with extra 70 melee power from blitz is better than using a shield - you will bring down mobs much faster). When working on other destinies you lose 30, but 160 is still strong.

MRR at level 30
Sheltering Item: 45 (slavers)
Insightful MRR Item 18 (random lootgen or cannith crafted)
Quality MRR Item: 11 (slavers)
Defense Stance: 15
Epic Damage Reduction: 10

MRR with no past lifes and no shield: 109

You can further mitigate most magic damage by taking insightful reflexes and investing in int gear which also boosts your kta if you can fit it in. If you are a 32 pt build you can go 20 con 14 str 16 int instead of 12 int 12 cha.

This is just one idea, swashbuckler with a handaxe and swf is another really good dwarf con build. Instead of going dwarf con based you can go str based as a warforged with 11 wizard / 8 fighter / 1 monk and that gives displacement, reconstruct, etc. instead of fom, deathward but you have the warforged immunities. That is another really survivable build and there is an easy button docent to go with it:

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

You received some good tips in this thread from the other folks that commented before me. However, there is nothing wrong with building more for survivability (going con based). You definitely want balance and that will be tough with a heavy investment in warlock.