Inquisitive class/race synergy brainstorming

[vms4ever]

I may have missed it but I don't think the male halfling reload animation bug has been mentioned. This bug apparently reduces the dps noticably.

[donblas]

I may have missed it but I don't think the male halfling reload animation bug has been mentioned. This bug apparently reduces the dps noticably.

Indeed, probably best to avoid at the moment!

[GramercyRiff]

Are the only options for epic leveling Diplomancer and E-Star crossbows for sentience? I am very unfamilair with crossbows in general. I know I need to get a Ratcatcher.

[donblas]

Are the only options for epic leveling Diplomancer and E-Star crossbows for sentience? I am very unfamilair with crossbows in general. I know I need to get a Ratcatcher.

I'm not sure, but diplomancer and Thunderforged are really easy to acquire, so I'll probably make do!

[droid327]

Are the only options for epic leveling Diplomancer and E-Star crossbows for sentience? I am very unfamilair with crossbows in general. I know I need to get a Ratcatcher.

Do S/S/S Epics take sentience? Epic Storm from Sands is probably the BIS crossbow for early Epic leveling right now, if you can be bothered to grind it out....

[LOOON375]

Im planning on going 12/8 arti/rogue simply for the improved constrtuct essence for self healing in epic reaper.
I find it hard to beat an artie's self healing in reaper

[GramercyRiff]

Do S/S/S Epics take sentience? Epic Storm from Sands is probably the BIS crossbow for early Epic leveling right now, if you can be bothered to grind it out....

Yes Epic Storm is an option for sentience as far as I know, but I can't take the s/s/s grind. I appreciate the suggestion, but I won't go out of my way to grind it.

[Xyfiel]

A build I am working on but not sure I will play it. Partially because I am working on other things. Maybe someone else likes it.

Warforged
11 Racial aps gets 15 ranged power. Ability to use ranged sets with heavy armor. Immunities.

16 Artificer
Deadly Weapons, Recon, Traps, Int to damage, +3 boosts.

3 Paladin
Defender Stance for 25 prr, 25 mrr, 20% hps. Saves.

1 Fighter
Feat, +3 boosts.

Alternative: 3Ftr/1Barb if you value run speed and another feat over saves.

AP
41 Inq
6(7) Harper
11 BE
2 RM(amp)
7 Kensai
13 Defender
11+ WF

Of course the height of WF over say Gnome is a big issue for IPS.

[FuzzierSage]

I've been trying this out to do an Epic life on my 20 Cleric.

Currently running, at level 23:

Human
Luck Domain
Aureon
Two past Epic Lives (Power over Life/Death, Colors of the Queen)
No Heroic, Racial or Iconic past lives as of yet

• Falconry: Enough to get Wisdom to hit/damage
• Inquisitive: Up to T4 Core and Divine Inquisition/Greater Law/Shoot Later
• Warpriest: T5, getting Haste and Wrathful Weapons

I've been bouncing back and forth between a bunch of lootgen light/heavy crossbows, but none are really sticking out as more effective than others. Feeding's really nice on stuff that can eat negative levels, but Vorpal seems worse than on repeaters (possibly because I've only used a Vorpal Repeater in lowbie heroics) and I've had no luck with finding anything that adds flat damage.

I'm 99.9% sure there's a better way to do this, Enhancement-wise, but I literally came back to the game to be able to dual-wield crossbows on a Divine caster, so I'm reasonably content.

[Bunker]

Epic Storm from DQ was mentioned as early epic option. What about Alchemical? With a group, I wonder what is faster to farm for:

S/S/S for epic storm
or
The required ingredients for a lvl 20 crafted Alchemical Heavy/Light Crossbow

Assuming grouping at least with 6 players and working together, I would think Alchemical would be worth going for. But this is only in comparing it to Epic Storm in DQ.

[Knctrnl]

So I see a lot of people talking about taking Arti and using Rune Arms. I would think that the Tier 1 Dual Shooter enhancement would not work with Rune Arm equipped.
Maybe I am missing something but is Dual Shooter not worth taking?



Also, I need PLs for Cleric and FvS and am trying to sort out a build for it any one has some suggestions. Would be a 32 pt build with +7 Supreme Tome equipped for stats. I have Falconry/Harper etc.
I was thinking maybe Cleric/ Rog or FvS/Rog but not too sure. Id even 3 classes just ahve to main the Cleric and FvS to get the PLs. If they were viable trap monkey builds also that would be nice but I think id be too short on pts for that. Appreciate the help.

[donblas]

So I see a lot of people talking about taking Arti and using Rune Arms. I would think that the Tier 1 Dual Shooter enhancement would not work with Rune Arm equipped.
Maybe I am missing something but is Dual Shooter not worth taking?

Cocomajobo confirmed that Dual Shooter works with runearm on 26th February:

"Yes. It looks a little wonky, admittedly, but it functions."

[Knctrnl]

Cocomajobo confirmed that Dual Shooter works with runearm on 26th February:

"Yes. It looks a little wonky, admittedly, but it functions."

That is very interesting. I will take the additional dps though. Well that I guess means I need to sort out a triple class. Clr or FvS with Rog and Arti.

[Swimms]

I'm sorry, but I'm not sure how you're listing Ranger as merely average synergy (worse than how you rated Bard, Cleric and Druid). It has one of three crossbow-type class trees in the game. My preferred split that I've come up with so far uses 6 ranger levels:

12 Rogue/6 Ranger/2 Artificer

41 Inquisitive (Capstone, Tier 5's)
23 Mechanic (Int to dmg, +3 SA die, +15 SA Range, Fletching)
11 Deepwood Stalker (3 SA die, +15 SA Range, Sniper Shot)
6 (7 with tome) Harper (Int to hit, Know the Angles)

I like this idea, what levelling order do you use? I like to try and get IPS asap but it gets difficult to get enough BAB with all the arti and rog levels.

[Xgya]

I like this idea, what levelling order do you use? I like to try and get IPS asap but it gets difficult to get enough BAB with all the arti and rog levels.

Having done this, I'll chime in.
First thing: you won't get IPS until level 15. It's a huge power bump, but the build is already pretty powerful as-is.

At level 15, your levels should look like Rogue 7/Arti 2/Ranger 6. It's a pretty good level to have Sniper's Shot enabled after getting T5s in Inqui too.

As for ordering, it depends on whether you prioritize Evasion, Rogue 6, or Ranger 6. I strongly recommend starting with Arti 1, and using Repeaters until level 8 or so. Either way, all the feats you'll be taking will do just fine on a repeater.

I *love* runearms, so I took Arti 2 right away. Then Rogue 2.
This is where the real split happens. You can take Rogue 6 right away, to get more sneak attack die on your crossbow by freeing points from Harper and putting them in Mechanic, or go Ranger 6 right away and get the powerhouse that is Sniper's Shot enabled as soon as possible. I went Ranger, but either way's fine, really.

The build is POWERFUL. Really powerful. Amazingly so.

[Swimms]

Having done this, I'll chime in.
First thing: you won't get IPS until level 15. It's a huge power bump, but the build is already pretty powerful as-is.

At level 15, your levels should look like Rogue 7/Arti 2/Ranger 6. It's a pretty good level to have Sniper's Shot enabled after getting T5s in Inqui too.

As for ordering, it depends on whether you prioritize Evasion, Rogue 6, or Ranger 6. I strongly recommend starting with Arti 1, and using Repeaters until level 8 or so. Either way, all the feats you'll be taking will do just fine on a repeater.

I *love* runearms, so I took Arti 2 right away. Then Rogue 2.
This is where the real split happens. You can take Rogue 6 right away, to get more sneak attack die on your crossbow by freeing points from Harper and putting them in Mechanic, or go Ranger 6 right away and get the powerhouse that is Sniper's Shot enabled as soon as possible. I went Ranger, but either way's fine, really.

The build is POWERFUL. Really powerful. Amazingly so.

Perfect, thank you. I was hoping it was not the case of having to wait until 15 for IPS but I suppose there is no other way short of going heavy fighter or Ranger early on. I am with you on the rune arms too, I have a thing with not being able to leave barrels unbroken and its such a pain with a ranged character. Have an explosive rune arm shot is such a QOL improvement

[Xgya]

Perfect, thank you. I was hoping it was not the case of having to wait until 15 for IPS but I suppose there is no other way short of going heavy fighter or Ranger early on. I am with you on the rune arms too, I have a thing with not being able to leave barrels unbroken and its such a pain with a ranged character. Have an explosive rune arm shot is such a QOL improvement

You'd have to earn a feat right as you get 11 BaB. Going by the Arti 2/Rogue 2/Ranger 6/Rogue 10 approach, you get it by level 14. The only way to get it any earlier than that would be heading deeper into Ranger.
To take it as a 12th level feat, you have to take at most 4 levels of either Rogue or Arti (and no levels of the other class), and 8 levels of a full BaB class. So either starting off with Rogue 4 (a much harder low level start), not getting runearms until level 14 by going Ranger 8, and losing out on a Rogue special ability.
Alternatively, taking Ranger levels first would give you some use out of Arcane Archery, which is awful in epics, but quite remarkable in heroics.

Getting IPS 3 levels earlier is NOT worth having to wait that long for runearms, at the very least. Nor is it worth trading the rather easy first Arti levels for the much harsher first Rogue or Ranger ones. You'd also have to pick a feat you want later but could get at a lower level because you'll need Rapid Reload before 13th level when Arti would grant it for free.

I don't see myself attempting that.

[HungarianRhapsody]

I like this idea, what levelling order do you use? I like to try and get IPS asap but it gets difficult to get enough BAB with all the arti and rog levels.

You can start with improved precise shot right away if you go with either Shadea-kai or Aasimar Scourge.

[Swimms]

You'd have to earn a feat right as you get 11 BaB. Going by the Arti 2/Rogue 2/Ranger 6/Rogue 10 approach, you get it by level 14. The only way to get it any earlier than that would be heading deeper into Ranger.
To take it as a 12th level feat, you have to take at most 4 levels of either Rogue or Arti (and no levels of the other class), and 8 levels of a full BaB class. So either starting off with Rogue 4 (a much harder low level start), not getting runearms until level 14 by going Ranger 8, and losing out on a Rogue special ability.
Alternatively, taking Ranger levels first would give you some use out of Arcane Archery, which is awful in epics, but quite remarkable in heroics.

Getting IPS 3 levels earlier is NOT worth having to wait that long for runearms, at the very least. Nor is it worth trading the rather easy first Arti levels for the much harsher first Rogue or Ranger ones. You'd also have to pick a feat you want later but could get at a lower level because you'll need Rapid Reload before 13th level when Arti would grant it for free.

I don't see myself attempting that.

Thank you, I really appreciate you fleshing this out with me. I just hit 12 on my current build which was originally going to be a pure barb running T5 Ravager with Inquis and so I had the BAB to pick up IPS at 12 (ended up going 8 barb/4 arti) and the killing speed and clear with IPS is just insane, I think I need to get IPS at 12 going forward :P. What about putting off Rogue and going something like 2 arti 8 ranger 2 arti to get to 11 BAB for my level 12 feat? Or even 4 arti/8 ranger. I think I could live without evasion until late heroics if I means I get IPS 3 levels sooner, I value it that much. The Arti levels would give me runearm and trapping from the get go. Besides evasion what are the other crucial things I am missing by delaying rogue that long, cheap int to damage, more SA and PBS range?

[Xgya]

Thank you, I really appreciate you fleshing this out with me. I just hit 12 on my current build which was originally going to be a pure barb running T5 Ravager with Inquis and so I had the BAB to pick up IPS at 12 (ended up going 8 barb/4 arti) and the killing speed and clear with IPS is just insane, I think I need to get IPS at 12 going forward :P. What about putting off Rogue and going something like 2 arti 8 ranger 2 arti to get to 11 BAB for my level 12 feat? Or even 4 arti/8 ranger. I think I could live without evasion until late heroics if I means I get IPS 3 levels sooner, I value it that much. The Arti levels would give me runearm and trapping from the get go. Besides evasion what are the other crucial things I am missing by delaying rogue that long, cheap int to damage, more SA and PBS range?

You've got the gist of it.
You lose out on a rogue special ability on the end build (so, 10% fort bypass, unless you want Improved Evasion), as well as two sneak attack die, but it'll work.
You'll also lose some more sneak attack damage in heroics, where it's most relevant, since you're losing out any time you put points in Mechanic before level 18 (where you'll hit Rogue 6)

Overall, I think your build would most certainly work. That damage is so ludicrously high that you can afford to sacrifice some of it and still end up with a rather solid build.