Advice for Aasimar Henshin Mystic Multiclass Split

[darkniteyogi]

I'm undecided on some options:

1) 12 Monk 1 Rogue 7 FVS
2) 18 Monk 1 Rogue 1 Fighter
3) 12 Monk 1 Rogue 7 Wizard

So far, i am leaning towards option 1 & 2 more than 3. My objective is Heroic solo leveling on low reaper (1-4 skulls), then just 1 Epic fast life for TR again.

Currently, I am level 6 (5 Monk 1 Rogue). I am doing a Strength and Wisdom THF build so I can have Stunning Blow with Quarterstaff and Full Strikethrough, and also the other benefits from Wisdom.

There are many bonuses that 7 FVS can give me, and I think the tier 6 Warsoul will give a lot more than Henshin tier 6. The only thing Henshin gets advantage over Warsoul is +1 Crit Range.

The advantage of going 1 Fighter is early access to Haste Boost and +3 Action Boosts, which would boost leveling power and speed a lot more and would speed up the life. But it would not have as much flexibility, utility and potential as 7 FVS.

There are also a lot of Enhancement points and where to allocate is also a tough decision.
We have:

Aasimar Tree
Falconry Tree
Henshin Tree
Warsoul Tree

Going 1 fighter, 1 rogue would be the easiest choice but also the least fun. 1 rogue, btw is strictly for +15% Qstaff speed at level 1 and traps.

Anyone with experience along these kinds of builds?
Any suggestions within my splits are welcome, but if you have suggestions outside my splits, they're also welcome.

Thanks

[SocratesBastardSon]

I'm speaking as one who has not done a Henshin build, although I keep eyeing it as something I want to try out. Here's what I've gathered in my notes.

You may want to consider going pure monk Henshin for your epic life. I usually like multi-class builds for heroic leveling, but Henshin's level 18 core and capstone are so good it's worth going that route. Take a look at Strimtom's Henshin build and you'll get a good view of how this works. They're not the best at DPS, but they have very high survivability. He combines Henshin with Falconry for extra crowd control and attack options. Perfect for an Aasimar.

As I said, I haven't tried it myself yet, but I'm very tempted. I'm also tempted to try it using Tiefling instead of Aasimar, despite the AP cost to Falconry and loss of Aasimar's healing and WIS bonus. It's an offense vs. defense trade-off. But if you were doing a Shintao fist build, I'd advocate for Aasimar all the way.

As for your options, I would not dismiss the Wiz option. I assume you mention 7 levels because that's optimal for PM-splash builds. Personally I want to try an EK/Henshin build, not PM. If you go Aasimar, you have healing covered and may not need PM's Death Aura/NEB. But it looks to me that EK fire imbue for your Spellsword toggle should synergize nicely with Henshin. Off the top of my head I couldn't say which is better: t5 in EK or in Henshin. Both are very powerful if built right.

On the downside, staff builds in general are sub-optimal DPS, but EK may help alleviate that to a degree. I think I'd like to give Tiefling a whirl with an EK build for Improved Scorch. Given the fact that Tiefling gets a Charisma bonus, it's tempting to go Sorc EK instead of Wiz EK, but I don't recommend it because of the loss of two Wiz bonus feats (well, one really since Wiz needs Quicken and Sorc may not), and a melee build does not need Sorc's extra SPs.

Henshin uses Melee Power to boost their fire damage, while EK and Tiefling rely on Spell Power. This is where EK shines because Synergetic Magic boosts both MP and SP at the same time. Both Incinerating Wave and Lighting the Candle rely on MP, so boosting SP through Tiefling enhancements and Henshin's Focus, activating All-Consuming Flame and then Synergetic Magic may prove effective. I'm not sure if Tiefling's Servant of Darkness stacks with Synergetic Magic, but if so it might justify taking the Obscuring Darkness line.

Anyway, there's even more gems hidden in those three enhancements (Henshin, EK and Tiefling). Now whether what looks good on paper works in real play, well... If you're just doing heroic lives it's hard to screw things up, so give some different approaches a try and let us know what you think.

[SocratesBastardSon]

So the previous post was just to suggest a completely different direction. Now something closer to your original questions.

I have run a similar build, although it was not a Henshin. Rather, I did a dual Khopesh Fighter/Monk/FvS, with Kensai t5 for One with the Blade, t4 Warsoul, and a little Shintao.

My experience in heroic was that Ameliorating Strike from Warsoul worked really nicely paired with triple light strikes and Shintao elemental curatives. It was a great way to keep the party healed without having to disengage from combat.

Adapting that idea to your build I would suggest Aasimar and the following:

t5 Henshin: 38 APs for all t5 enhancements
t4 Warsoul: 25 APs with Ameliorating Strike and Holy Striker
t1 TA: 4 APs for Thief Acrobatics
t3 Falconry: 12 APs for Killer Instinct I and II
1 pt into Aasimar for 2 Lay on Hands

I call this a "Heal by Hitting" build. Or maybe "Heal by Hurting." Not having to stop fighting to cast heal spells means you're dishing out a steady stream of DPS. If you're casting heal spells, you're not fighting = 0 DPS. Healing spells are for post-fight clean up and "oh sh*t we have to run away" moments.

The problem: self- and group healing is excellent, until you get into Epic, especially Reaper. Healing just drops like a stone and is incapable of dealing with the amount of incoming damage at that level. The build just did not have enough health, PRR and other defenses to hold up. So if you're doing heroic, it works great. After that, not so much.

If you want more from Falconry, like the various bird attacks, you have to do a Henshin/Falc build, and you might as well just go with Strimtom's build that I mentioned previously.