Ranged Falconer experiemental build

[Augon]

I have not created a new build in a while. When the falconer tree was released, I wanted to experiment with it a bit. I have a Sunelf Cleric that I rarely ever play these days and he has been sitting at 30 for a while, I decided he would be the experiment.

Some of my design goals for this build were:
1. Fully utilize Falconer on a ranged character
2. Max Wisdom and use it in as many ways as possible
3. Have an improved crit range with the bow that stacked with the feat
4. Have Imp Precise Shot

How this build meets those goals
1. 42 points in Falconer should give me a good feel for the tree
2. Aasimar race to start at 20 WIS, 6 lvls of Ranger to access Paralyze, Falconer WIS to hit/dam, Leveled up in WIS
3. 14 levels of Cleric + War Domain to access Holy Sword. I chose Cleric over Paly because I felt Cleric had more to offer and the main cost of going that way was 4 points of BAB.
Another idea I had to accomplish this was to go DWS to the fourth core. But that was spreading Enhancements WAY too thin.
4. Did not take enough Ranger to get IPS, so I had to build up DEX enough to get it.

I have not given much thought yet to a plan in Epics, but if he seems to be holding his own by then, I would like to take him to 30.

Curious about some feedback on the build as it is now, some ideas on changes to the heroic build as well as ideas for what I should plan to do in epic destinies.


Phreddd 2 - Ranger Cleric v1
14/6 Cleric/Ranger ( know this is more Cleric than Ranger and I posted this in the Ranger forum - my thinking is he will play more like a ranger with good self healing than a cleric with a bow.)
Neutral Good Aasimar


Level Order

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


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


Skills (at 20)

Heal 23
Jump 16
Concent 9
Spot 9
Listen 9
Swim 5


Feats

1 : Point Blank Shot
3 : Dodge
6 : Maximize Spell
9 : Improved Critical: Ranged
12 : Empower Healing Spell
15 : Improved Precise Shot
18 : Empower Spell

1 Aasimar: Bond of the Protector

1 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Undead
5 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Giant

8 Cleric : War Domain

7 Deity : Follower of: Silver Flame
12 Deity : Silver Flame Exorcism


Enhancements (80 of 80 AP)

Arcane Archer (22 AP)

Arcane Archer,Morphic Arrows
Conjure Arrows, Corrosive Arrows
Force Arrows III, Elemental Damage
Terror Arrows, Elemental Damage, Wisdom
Paralyzing Arrows


Aasimar (16 AP)

Stronger Bonds, Wisdom, Stronger Bonds II, Wisdom, Stronger Bonds III
Counsel II, Bold III, Improved Recovery
Divine Purpose
Improved Recovery
Divine Form


Falconry (42 AP)

Summon Avian Companion,Wisdom, Well Rounded 1, Wisdom, Well Rounded 2, Master Falconer
Rugged III, Out In Nature III
Killer Instinct 1, Watch the Center III, Diving Attack III
Killer Instinct 2, Tear the Flesh,Strike for the Eyes III, Eyes of the Eagle
Coordinated Strikes, Expose Weakness
Dangerous, Mark the Prey, Death from Above III, Thrill of the Hunt Ranged III

[Vish]

Hey aug,
Just tred out of a cleric paralyzer

Really, what you got set up is cc and dps
I ran a radiant
With bird man dps, and it should go good with silver flame
Only thing is, this is really a epic build
Don't get your holy sword til 20
And no burst, so you have to rely on cocoon heal and loh
Masses too prob, but not likely

Only thing I would change heroic, is to take spell focus enchantment instead of dodge
Then greater enchant in epics
Allows you to twist +3

So epics might look
21 oc
24 greater spell enchant or improved combat archery (don't know if you have dex for this)
26 sp pos
27 blinding speed
28 doubleshot
29 fount of life
30 Celestia I always choose this for my clerics
Completionist

So you should prob get +6-8 tomes

Other than that it looks like fun build
I would get some racials, since aasimar is juicy
Then I'd run 7ap for regen loh
And put more into radiant for burst, so you can use that empower and maximize
Otherwise those two kinda wasted
Maybe consider extend, for your buffs, since you cast level 14
Ok, good luck

[unbongwah]

Dexterity.......16......+3

FYI you need DEX 21 to take Combat Archery epic feat. But since you only have +3 DEX tome, that constrains you.

3 : Dodge

Why Dodge? Precision would be more useful. Or Spell Focus Enchantment so you can twist the Magister DC boost.

[Augon]

Just tred out of a cleric paralyzer

Funny, I am TR'ing this guy out of being a Cleric 20 paralyzer (I used Elf AA).

Only thing I would change heroic, is to take spell focus enchantment instead of dodge

Why Dodge? Precision would be more useful. Or Spell Focus Enchantment so you can twist the Magister DC boost.

Why dodge? Because I didn't think of the ideas you two guys had. Thanks! I will probably go with precision, although I may change my mind before I get to that point as I do like the idea of enchantment.

FYI you need DEX 21 to take Combat Archery epic feat. But since you only have +3 DEX tome, that constrains you.

Good point. I believe I have a +3 to +4 upgrade tome stored on a donkey somewhere. I could probably pickup a +5 upgrade to go with it and pull out the DEX. I agree with Vish that +6 or +8 woudl be nice, but with 10 characters that I play combined with limited play time, stocking everyone up on those high end tomes is a challenge for me.


As Vish points out, it is an epic build, most of my multi-class builds come into their best stuff late and really get tested in epics. Some stink and I TR before they cap, some do well and I take them to cap. On this guy, I really see using Cleric spells for my healing, not cocoon. Since most of my DPS will be with a bow, I don't really see using spells for anything but healing and buffs. I don't foresee running this guy as a primary healer in a group - could be a decent backup healer / raiser (i.e. after the fact healer )

One concern I have is that I do solo a great deal, and builds that are specced for CC tend to solo kill slowly (one reason this guy is getting played less these days). I am hoping birdman DPS will help things fall more quickly.

Thanks guys for the feedback!

[Hjarki]

I'm not terribly impressed with the tree. While the Wis-to-hit/damage is inarguably useful and there are some generic niceties like healing amp and helpless damage, the core of the tree - the bird attacks - are really unimpressive.

I don't know what the capstone proc percentage is, but I'm assuming 5% - which would lower the effective cooldown on the death attack to ~50 seconds. You'd need ~60% or so for it to match abilities like Coup de Grace and Assassinate (both of which have cooldowns I find to too long for my purposes in the modern game).

The delay in the attacks is significant - and problematic.

On the plus side, they seem to be more generally useful than most such effects since they're blind or trip effects. So you can use them against undead, constructs, etc. (mostly).

However, I'm not sure the DC holds up. Compared to Dire Charge, you get:
+20 from levels
~+8 from Assassinate gear
+6 from twist
+3 from enhancement
+37 total

Dire Charge would receive:
+10 from base
~+20 from Deadly Instinct (90 Wisdom)
+22 from tactics gear
+6 from twist
+58 total

That's about a 20 point discrepancy in DC and there's a lot more options for boosting tactics we haven't even touched. I don't have a handy list of complete Assassinate DC breakdown, but I get the impression that trying to use most of those bird attacks endgame will be futile.

[Augon]

You left stuff off both of them. I assume that was because you were just comparing the items that were different, but I need to see the whole list Of course I may have left plenty off either list, but I think this gives a pretty clear picture of the DC difference. And, As you say, there is a decent difference. But I feel that would be expected since one is an instakill and the other is a stun. TO be honest, I just completed the comparison of the two attacks because Dire Charge is what was used as a comparison. I really think comparing these two is like comparing apples to oranges. Most of the bird attacks give bonuses to the characters attack and I see the birdie damage as a bonus. The instakill has a ridiculous cool down, but other than that, I see it as doable in most content, not all, but most. I would not take the whole tree just for that attack, or for the damage the bird does. I would take the tree for the way it boosts my damage, provides an instakill and, assuming I go the archer route, can do all this from a distance.

The cool down is less than appealing, not doubt. I also have played an Assassin (before the great stealth nerf) and waiting 12 seconds was a pain - that's instantaneous compared to this. But the big advantage the birdie has over the rogue is, if the rogue did anything in between assassinates, he broke stealth which made a second assassination challenging. A bird man can pop an instakill and just keep on fighting, once timer finishes, drop another. Of course, its unlikely you will still be fighting the same mob for that second kill.
Certainly not ideal, but I don't think its disastrous.

Thanks for your feedback!!!!

=========== My estimate of both DCs ==============

Assassinate DC

Base DC 10
Character Levels 20
WIS Modifier (WIS=90) 40 (I used a WIS of 90 because that was what was in the Dire Charge Example)
Scion of Astral Plane 4
Falconer Watch the Center 3
Shadow dancer Stealthy 6
Assassinate item (enhancement) 8
insightful assassinate item 3

TOTAL ASSASSINATE DC 94

DIRE Charge DC
Based DC 20 (according to the Wiki)
WIS Modifier (WIS=90) 40
Scion of Astral Plane 4
Falconer Deadly Instinct (WIS=90) 20
Tactics Gear 22 (I didn't check, I assume Hjarki is accurate)
LD Leg Tactics 6

TOTAL Dire Charger DC 112

Of course if you build a fighter, you can climb it even higher.

[Augon]

Character Levels 20

[[SNIP]]

TOTAL Assassinate DC 94

It just occurred to, Death from Above is in "character" levels and it does not, as far as I know, state a max. So, at lvl 30 it would be 104, which does bring the two closer.

[barecm]

I did some testing on Lamannia when this rolled out. I liked the idea and possibilities, but with only 80 APs to go around, I was struggling to find room for it as it really is a one trick pony as a ranged assassination. Also, the animation for death from above was so slow, I found enemies would already be dead in some cases before it could strike. If they made some sort of AP system just for falconer, like racial reincarnation gives, then maybe I would revisit on live servers.