Build Advice

[TestPilot]

So I have a character I screwed up on badly. I TRd him into a Bladeforged Iconic 5 fighter/5 wizard/5 monk. He is extremely gimp. I do not want to try to play a character this badly gimped all the way to 30 to TR him again; but I am willing to burn a +5 heart to partially undo the mistake. What I'd eventually like to have is a 5 fighter/15 monk, centered using some sort of sword(dual wielding, swf, w/e). I'd like some ideas or if someone has a prefabed build like that I can look at. I can only get rid of 5 of those poorly thought-out levels and I'd still like the core of the character to mostly be a monk.

[C-Dog]

What had you been planning?

I can only get rid of 5 of those poorly thought-out levels and I'd still like the core of the character to mostly be a monk...

Monk is not a weak build. I could be wrong about how the crits stack, but with Fighter 6 (for Strike w/ No Thought), and Monk 9 (Improved Evasion), I'd think that he might be able to muddle through (as a Monk 9/Ftr 6/Wiz 5). Not as strong as a pure Monk, certainly, but... sure.

Even just a +3 Heart would get him to Monk 12 (/Fighter 6/Wiz 2) and that Core enhancement + Abundant Step, which is a big chunk of what matters. (Monk 13-15... meh. And opinions differ re 15's Quivering Palm.)

Altho' not everyone's first choice for a dip, you could do worse than a couple levels of Wizard. Innately casting 10 minute each of Shield, Expeditious Retreat, Jump (+10) and Protection from Evil (taking Extend as your free Metamagic), +1 AP for Invis... yeah, you could do a lot worse. <shrug>

[TestPilot]

What had you been planning?

You know how some medications warn that you shouldn't drive or operate heavy machinery while using them? Turns out that also applies to building characters on DDO.

Monk is a very strong class. I had fantastic first-life monk! I just wasn't happy with the lack of self-healing, so I decided to TR him into a bladeforged. Then late one night I had this really, really stupid idea to use the free +20 heart to turn him into this... abomination. Mistakes were made, is what I'm trying to say.

The idea was to eventually be 10 monk/5 fighter/5 wizard using EK. This was a TERRIBLE idea.

Monk is not a weak build. I could be wrong about how the crits stack, but with Fighter 6 (for Strike w/ No Thought), and Monk 9 (Improved Evasion), I'd think that he might be able to muddle through (as a Monk 9/Ftr 6/Wiz 5). Not as strong as a pure Monk, certainly, but... sure.

Even just a +3 Heart would get him to Monk 12 (/Fighter 6/Wiz 2) and that Core enhancement + Abundant Step, which is a big chunk of what matters. (Monk 13-15... meh. And opinions differ re 15's Quivering Palm.)

Altho' not everyone's first choice for a dip, you could do worse than a couple levels of Wizard. Innately casting 10 minute each of Shield, Expeditious Retreat, Jump (+10) and Protection from Evil (taking Extend as your free Metamagic), +1 AP for Invis... yeah, you could do a lot worse. <shrug>

So I have +5 hearts from another of the various give-aways, hence the willingness to fully erase the wizard levels. Don't want to spend 2 to get back to pure monk, but some kind of deep splash would be fun. I like dipping in to fighter to be centered while wielding all sorts of weapons.

That monk 12/fighter 6/wizard 2 does actually sound interesting. A bit stronger fighter with strik with no thought but still strongly monk, and add just a touch of magic for fun. Really in flavor for the character, too. I'll mull that over!

[unbongwah]

What I'd eventually like to have is a 5 fighter/15 monk, centered using some sort of sword(dual wielding, swf, w/e).

You will definitely want at least fighter 6 to take Strike with No Thought, otherwise you will have no critical multiplier bonus unless you use daggers with Vistani Knife Fighter. At which point you don't need fighter anyway, but as you are constrained in what you can LR out of...

Monk 6 / fighter 12 or monk 12 / fighter 6 would both work. Fighter 12 gets you Power Surge + Greater Weapon Specialization; monk 12 gets you +10% run speed, Abundant Step, and Improved Evasion. So my hunch is majority-fighter is better DPS while majority-monk has a couple of unique survivability / QoL perks.

Your last two levels could be a splash of something else, like Favored Soul for Divine Will / Presence and access to metamagics (i.e., Quicken for Reconstruct SLA). Or keep two wizard levels so you save some TPs by only buying an HoW +3; free metamagic and a splash of Eldritch Knight for the added Cleave and AC bonus.

Do you want to be STR-, DEX-, or WIS-based? The latter requires Falconry tree and eats up a lot of APs; but you get bird attacks for added CC.

[C-Dog]

You know how some medications warn that you shouldn't drive or operate heavy machinery while using them? Turns out that also applies to building characters on DDO...

Ah, yes, yes it does. I have a couple alts like that too - one is (finally) about to TR. A few detours that should have been ignored/avoided did her no favors, but she gimped her way to 20 eventually. (It turns out they don't put those same warnings on bourbon!).

[TestPilot]

(It turns out they don't put those same warnings on bourbon!).

Friends don't let friends build drunk! :P

You will definitely want at least fighter 6 to take Strike with No Thought, otherwise you will have no critical multiplier bonus unless you use daggers with Vistani Knife Fighter. At which point you don't need fighter anyway, but as you are constrained in what you can LR out of...

Monk 6 / fighter 12 or monk 12 / fighter 6 would both work. Fighter 12 gets you Power Surge + Greater Weapon Specialization; monk 12 gets you +10% run speed, Abundant Step, and Improved Evasion. So my hunch is majority-fighter is better DPS while majority-monk has a couple of unique survivability / QoL perks.

Your last two levels could be a splash of something else, like Favored Soul for Divine Will / Presence and access to metamagics (i.e., Quicken for Reconstruct SLA). Or keep two wizard levels so you save some TPs by only buying an HoW +3; free metamagic and a splash of Eldritch Knight for the added Cleave and AC bonus.

I have a +5 heart already(from one of the free giveaways when Turbine really liked to make their fans happy), so I can TR out of 5 levels. Plus, the character is only lvl 15(and unplayable) so as long as I can LR into a build that's actually functional, I have a lot of options.

I would prefer to go majority monk. I miss the fast movement speed, abundant step, and I like survivability. So definitely thinking monk 12 fighter 6. You've offered some interesting ideas for those other two levels, but the more I work on this the more I think Wizard might actually be the right answer. Just need to make sure I don't go artificer, like another entirely gimped alt in my stable... seriously what is it with me and bad build choices?

Do you want to be STR-, DEX-, or WIS-based? The latter requires Falconry tree and eats up a lot of APs; but you get bird attacks for added CC.

Assuming I go monk 12/fighter 6/ ?? 2, What's going to be the best? I probably don't want to go wis because I prefer versatility over being locked in to a specific tree. I'd also like to fight more like a monk than a falconer :P

I like dex for the high saves, but would str be better? I would *like* for the character to wield some kind of sword as a ki weapon, but wraps would be acceptable.