Crossbow wielding vampire-enchanter of Doom!

[Esteban_Failsmore]

Got this really stupid idea- enchanter wizard that uses repeaters as main source of damage. With mandatory harper enhancements ofc. Thing is, im still can be considered a noob, i dont played this game much past level 12- i create alt characters all the time and experiment with them. Maybe im missing some key components about the build or it will suck ass later at the game, who knows?

I have several ideas in mind

Firstly, race will be drow. High int and dex is mandatory.

Stats will be- 8 str, 8 wis, 10 cha, 20 int, 12 con, 16 dex. Later i will use book to uprade dex to 19.

Classes- i want to go 18 wiz and 2 fighter, since i will be a little bit starving for feats. Start as fighter at first level, then 18 levels of wizard and then i take another fighter level and take Imp Precise Shot- BAB will be 11 at level 20.
I can also sacrifice 1 wiz level and take rogue for trapping skills but i dont think this is very good idea.

Feats-

1 (Fighter)- Proficiency with heavy repeaters, Point blank shot
2 (Wizard)- Spell Focus Enchantment
3 (Wizard)- Rapid Reload
6 (Wizard)- Greater Focus Enchantment, Rapid Shot
9 (Wizard)- Precise Shot
11 (Wizard)- Heighten
12 (Wizard)- Precision
15 (Wizard)- Spell Penetration
16(Wizard)- Extend Spell
18 (Wizard)- Greater Spell Pen
20 (Fighter)- Imp Precise Shot or Imp Critical:Ranged

All level ups goes to INT. Aligment is true neutral.

Enhancements-

Drow elf (10 points)- all cores and enchanting lore.

Archmage (24 points)-
cores- Hypnotism, Otto's Dance, Hold Person, Charm monster
tier 1- energy of a scholar 3, spell critical
tier 2- nothing
tier 3- spell pen 3, +1 int
tier 4- ench focus, +1 int

Edlrich Knight (6 points)
cores- Eldrish Strike, Spellsword:Acid
tier 1- Toughness 3, Battlemage 1

Pale Master (22 points)
cores- Shroud of Zombie, Shroud of Vampire
tier 1- Deathless Vigor 3, Negative Energy Conduit 3
tier 2- Bone Armor 3
tier 3- Cloak of Night 3, +1 int
tier 4- +1 int

Harper Agent (14 points)
cores- Agent of Good, +1 int,
Tier 1- Harper Enchantment, Strategic Combat 1
Tier 2- Magical Endurance 3
Tier 3- Strategic Combat 2, +1 int

Kensei (4 points)
cores- Kensei Crossbow Focus
Tier 1- Haste Boost 3

Skills- UMD, Concentraion, Spellcraft, Heal, Balance, Tumble (after level 8)

Have no clue about epic destines, since i did not saw that part of the game lol. I guess magister since it boost DC's? At least i heard that it does.

[unbongwah]

Your ranged DPS will be bad without access to one of the better ranged PrEs like Mechanic. Your caster DPS won't be any better without metamagics. And if you're spending at least 21 APs into Pale Master, wraith form is much better than vampire just for Incorporealty and less light dmg vulnerability.

[Esteban_Failsmore]

Your ranged DPS will be bad without access to one of the better ranged PrEs like Mechanic. Your caster DPS won't be any better without metamagics. And if you're spending at least 21 APs into Pale Master, wraith form is much better than vampire just for Incorporealty and less light dmg vulnerability.

Origanlly i not planned to use any offensive magic at all- just crowd controls and buffs
I guess i can swap enchanting feats for maximise and empower. Probably invest in AM a bit more.
I also can take spell pen at level 6 instead of rapid shot, greater spell pen at level 15 instead of spell pen, and impoved critical ranged instead of greater spell at level 18.

[Maelodic]

If you want a magical crossbow weilder, why not artificer?

[Esteban_Failsmore]

If you want a magical crossbow weilder, why not artificer?

Because i dont have one, and i want to be a hipster with my unique buid

[unbongwah]

In DDO, you can be "unique" or you can be effective. Pick one and stick with it.

[Vindraxx]

What about going 3 rogue instead of 2 fighter?

From mechanic you could get proficiency with great crossbows/light repeating crossbows instead of using a fighter feat, plus you could pick up some of the crossbow damage enhancements and you would get +int to damage without needing to go so deep into harper. You would also get trap skills.

The tough thing is I just don't see the DPS being there once you get to the higher levels even with 3 levels of rogue. You really want the tier 5 enhancements from mechanic for more doubleshot, ranged power, ranged alacrity... Like all of the good enhancements are tier 5 and that would require 5 levels of rogue (and even then you'll be missing the extra crit multiplier from rogue 18). I think if you really want to do this, you might be best off with 15Wiz/5Rog, but that is going to cost you 5 spell penetration and level 9 wizard spells (most notably mass hold). You can probably still get decent Enchantment DC's and use disco balls, but you will struggle with spell resistance enemies and the higher level epic content in getting those spells to stick. Would still likely be playable but less than ideal.

I could see it working well through heroic.

Edit: You would also get evasion, so you could run insightful reflexes as well

[Vindraxx]

Also if you're going into harper on an int based build, you 100% need to pick up Know the Angles, it's just too good not to have it. But if you take my rogue suggestion above, you wouldn't need to spend the 2 AP on Strategic combat, because you can get int to damage from Mechanic core 3 for 1 AP.

[psykopeta]

In DDO, you can be "unique" or you can be effective. Pick one and stick with it.

to the OP, sorry but that guy is right, and he knows a bit about building toons xD

assuming u wanted vampire/wraith and xbow i thought u could do 12 wizard 6 rogue 2 fighter if wanna have more spells or 12 rogue 6 wizard(or 7 for bigger aura?) and 2 fighter

mostly wiz only for spells and healing options, enhancements focused in xbow dps and feats... well, i would give priority to the xbow ones because your casting abilities may suffer depenotng the diff you wanna play (web traps are awesome and the dc is insane, however it's not enchantment, the main trouble of enchantment would be mobs with spell resistance but you can cover it most times with web traps)

gearing that guy would be a nightmare, but the difference would make it a beast

[Saekee]

Also if you're going into harper on an int based build, you 100% need to pick up Know the Angles, it's just too good not to have it. But if you take my rogue suggestion above, you wouldn't need to spend the 2 AP on Strategic combat, because you can get int to damage from Mechanic core 3 for 1 AP.

you need 6 levels of rogue for that Int damage xbow core

[Saekee]

OP: self-healing with PMs is tough unless you have a lot of wiz levels; BAB halts combat feats until later; no active attacks. Poor PM self-healing should you try reaper.
Wiz is great to splash for self buffs though if you need displacement, resists etc.

Zombie form is better than vamp for ranged combat

I would do 6 kensei/13 wiz/1 barb (for run speed). Kensei tier 5; defender stance; enough in PM for zombie; harper. You will not have evasion so consider a race that lets you wear armors for arcane spell failure bypass. It is flavor but could be fun & you can always drop the zombie form

[Vindraxx]

you need 6 levels of rogue for that Int damage xbow core

Ahh you're right, good call

[Tlorrd]

gnome/deep gnome ... 12/6/2 Wiz/Ranger/(Rogue or Arty) ... color spray, undead, deep wood stalker, and xbow user.

WF/BF 12/6/2 Arty/Ranger/Rogue ... self heals, DWS, xbow user, traps and other CC.

A rogue or mix w/ 100% disable device can get better DCs on Web, Glitterdust, Hypnotism, Hypnotic Pattern, Otto's Resistible Dance, and Halt Undead traps than a Wizard. Now you don't get helpless, but still great CC. Also no spell penetration, but some of the above don't require spell pen.

[Esteban_Failsmore]

to the OP, sorry but that guy is right, and he knows a bit about building toons xD

If only devs take some of their precious time to balance this game up. Look at the racial trees for example- they are broken mess (for the most part). 9 out 10 cases you dont want to spend anything in racial tree. And humans are literally better at everything, or at least just as good.

[ringage]

ranger wizard hmmm
then why not to try arcane archer from drow tree?your dps will be much better than the crowsbow cause you can take manyshot in adition with xbow you will not have the mechanic tree

[unbongwah]

then why not to try arcane archer from drow tree?

There is no drow AA tree; it's only available to elves, half-elves, and sun elves (Morninglords).

[Blase]

If you want a repeater / wiz build, 2 arti/18 wiz is the way to go. If you don't have arti, get it, as rune arms make a big difference for repeater users.

If you just want ranged, you can start doing ranger/wiz builds.

[SocratesBastardSon]

Esteban started out with some clear parameters: no Arti and he needs feats, which means Fighter and not Rogue. Is there another class that accomplishes these things other than fighter, rogue and arti? Is there a way to execute this concept without the use of the two fighter feats?

Another parameter was somewhat confusing: primary damage is from repeater. In my experience, a Heavy Repeater is a great all-round ranged weapon if you have the feat. Because of the high output for the number of strikes I always try to obtain repeaters with special crit and vorpal powers: bursts, paralyze, smite, banish, etc, and tendon slice, deception, slowburst are good for crowd control. Sure, dps is going to drop off at higher levels, but if you're focused on effects and cc, it remains a useful choice. Of course, then you're pretty equipment dependent, but hey, that's the price you pay.

Here's what I mean when I say the post is confusing or at least people are overlooking the concept: he's an enchanter. If you're not enchanting, what's a good way to spend your time? Sticking sharp pointy things into mobs is a fine choice. So perhaps a better question here should be, how could he maximize enchanting while also having a ranged back-up?

Personally, I think it's an interesting idea, and am not convinced it's unworkable. But I will leave it others to prove it's a dead end -- or not.

Enchantapeater anyone?

[Edelhur]

Full disclosure: I have about the same experience as you having played about four months with four toons ranging from level 6 to 13 so there are a lot more people commenting on here that know more than me.

That being said, I like the idea of using a crossbow to give you damage and ranged attacks at low levels while you are building your wizard abilities. However, you are mostly wizard and are taking a lot of ranged/fighter feats. Why not take a couple rogue levels and focus on intelligence instead of dexterity? You have harper and can set up Know the Angles and intelligence to hit and could use either Mechanic for great crossbow or Inquisitive for dual-wielding crossbows depending on what you like. You can use your AP points to build early strong crossbow ability while using feats to build your wizard strength as the AP points are easier to reallocate at later levels.

[Hobgoblin]

breaks out the spray bottle.


bad necro bad. get down bad!