An inquisition that nobody expects?

[ValariusK]

Thinking about aasimar scourge level 17 cleric, level 2 ranger, level 1 barbarian
Enhancements 41 inquisitor, 31 falconry. This leaves 8 points plus any racials (or 9 if you have the universal AP tome)

Why cleric 17? Because 9th level spells, including implosion.
Wisdom to everything, including a wisdom trance.
Feats it would need
level 1 PB shot, Level 3 completionist, level 6 Precise shot, level 9 Rapid reload, level 12 improve crit ranged level 15 IPS
(rapid shot comes from the 2nd ranger level). At level 18 pick up precision (we backload this one so we can come out the iconic gate with IPS).
Level order, probably do Ranger Ranger Barbarian, then rest cleric. Why? To start out with barbarian speed immediately at level 15.

Domain---Thinking Luck domain is what works best here. Displacement SLA, +2 to all DCs, and no fail on 1 on all saves (which is huge).
Don't need to make crossbows a religious weapon, since have falconry.
DCs on casting will be pretty decent, since will be boosting wisdom hardcore.
Any thoughts?

[Nubicus]

Level order, probably do Ranger Ranger Barbarian, then rest cleric. Why? To start out with barbarian speed immediately at level 15.

While the 10% run speed is nice, Taking 1 Ranger, 2 Artificer, 17 Cleric is going to allow you to do more damage, and have a diversity of weapon buffs from Rune Arms.

Domain---Thinking Luck domain is what works best here. Displacement SLA, +2 to all DCs, and no fail on 1 on all saves (which is huge).

While this is viable, War Domain allows you to turn your otherwise useless Turn Undead (Since you'll be investing in Dex, and not Charisma) into Ranged Power. Granted only a +8 in your case, but still better than having useless feats.

Don't need to make crossbows a religious weapon, since have falconry.

I think you'd eek out more damage if you did make it a holy weapon. You need to spend the 40 points in Inquisitive anyways, might as well.


I plan on using a similar build for Racial Lives

18 Cleric/2 Artificer

[ValariusK]

While the 10% run speed is nice, Taking 1 Ranger, 2 Artificer, 17 Cleric is going to allow you to do more damage, and have a diversity of weapon buffs from Rune Arms.



While this is viable, War Domain allows you to turn your otherwise useless Turn Undead (Since you'll be investing in Dex, and not Charisma) into Ranged Power. Granted only a +8 in your case, but still better than having useless feats.



I think you'd eek out more damage if you did make it a holy weapon. You need to spend the 40 points in Inquisitive anyways, might as well.


I plan on using a similar build for Racial Lives

18 Cleric/2 Artificer

Well, not making it a holy weapon lets me take martial inquisition instead, for more doubleshot.
I went ahead and took ranger-2 barbarian and stayed with luck. Luck is mostly there for defensive purposes (at cleric 12 ranger 2 barb 1, it adds 6 to everyone's saves if I pop a turn undead. And 1's on saves is the leading cause of fatal clerical errors.

I seriously considered doing the 2 arti, but decided against it because I didn't want a cultural expectation that I be able to trap. My gearing and skill points are spread way too thin already.
IPS plus blade barrier is a really nice combination though, and I have god-awful amounts of utility.

[ValariusK]

Up to level 21 now. Some notes:
Implosion is nice. Can pop the implosion right before the NHB and quickly thin out a bunch of dangerous enemies like the drow in ES1. Blade barrier still finds some use, mostly for channeling IPS.
LD is really good for this build, honestly, it kind of offends me that it is better suited for this build than a lot of melee builds. Why? Rate of fire makes sustaining a maxed out blitz pretty simple, and tons of extra action boosts. In a better world, LD for ranged would be downgraded a bit, say to +5 per stack on Ranged power leaving +7 on MP, and other destinies would get boosted from +4 RP/level to +5 or +6 (Shiradi, Shadowdancer, GMOF). If we consider LD to be a "sacred cow", matching the RP to the MP (so 60 RP) on those destinies would STILL leave LD in the best spot (50% extra damage to helpless IS all that).
Barbarian speed with falconry sprint still is really good, especially with more sprint boosts now from LD. Falconry strikes are pretty useful, as I have 3 of them and all of them nuke fortification from orbit.
Self and group healing is pretty good, although my spell power is pretty anemic as its not really boosted much by enhancements or gear. My DCs are good though, so my implosion sticks. Its not really worth bothering with single target death spells.

[ValariusK]

Ok final notes. Have Iconic TR'd out after hitting 30.

What did I get good value out of:
Got great value out of the 1 barbarian level. 10% speed throughout the life.
Got great value out of 14 of my cleric levels. I could probably pass on the last 3, dc casting was pretty redundant with my DPS.
Overall, it was pretty durable with the no fail on saves going on.

[SocratesBastardSon]

IIRC, in order to be the Inquisition That No One Expects, you also need to be Spanish. I'd hate for someone else to try this build just to realize, that, yeah, everyone expected you.

[cpw_acc]

IIRC, in order to be the Inquisition That No One Expects, you also need to be Spanish. I'd hate for someone else to try this build just to realize, that, yeah, everyone expected you.

I recently TR-ed into a Cleric/Fighter built around the Inquisitor tree, primarily to be the Spanish Inquisition. Nobody expected it.

[ValariusK]

IIRC, in order to be the Inquisition That No One Expects, you also need to be Spanish. I'd hate for someone else to try this build just to realize, that, yeah, everyone expected you.

Me gusta la inquisicion espanol!

[jskinner937]

While the 10% run speed is nice, Taking 1 Ranger, 2 Artificer, 17 Cleric is going to allow you to do more damage, and have a diversity of weapon buffs from Rune Arms.



While this is viable, War Domain allows you to turn your otherwise useless Turn Undead (Since you'll be investing in Dex, and not Charisma) into Ranged Power. Granted only a +8 in your case, but still better than having useless feats.



I think you'd eek out more damage if you did make it a holy weapon. You need to spend the 40 points in Inquisitive anyways, might as well.


I plan on using a similar build for Racial Lives

18 Cleric/2 Artificer

Agree with the above. And yes War or even Destruction domain would be better choices IMO. Displacement is only semi-useful on a ranged build and its so easy to craft clickies if you find it necessary. I am guessing you will be going shirardi or exalted angel with such a build to get your DCs workable on implosion. In which case you may consider Magic for +4DCs to implosion and chain missles for a great AOE attack for nerve venom procs.