Ganak Goblinjuicer - Fighter Vanguard - Circa Late 2020

[Ganak]

Ganak Goblinjuicer - All Dwarf - 20 Pure Fighter



What follows is my humble attempt at a Kensei/Vanguard, circa late 2020.


This build post is a living work in progress, and I am getting the barebones build up first and will work to add detail.





A Ramble of a Preamble:

True story: In beta I first rolled up Ganak, SO excited for the first D&D MMO. Life pulled me away from PNP in my mid-teens and DDO was a path to recapture a part of my youth I felt I missed. I logged in, super stoked, and after 30 seconds screen went blank. Exited, logged back in, good for 30 seconds, then screen blank again. And so on. I played for an hour this way in 30 second snippets. Bad power supply, (upgraded prior to launch), but was hooked and have played Ganak since then, now one of two characters I play (RIP Alts).

I've been a fan of the works of RA Salvatore for 30 years and counting, and even had the chance to meet Bob. Ganak has always been in the image of a Delzoun dwarf; gonna bury in like a tick on a dog. Fans will recognize the influences to the name and what this build hopes to achieve.

Since beta, Ganak has primarily been S&B, through thick and thin (lots of thin), minus a few foray's into THF. I'm lucky that through practice I've achieved some level of competency to be a contributor, and more so that many great players let me tag along.





Acknowledgements:

• Must send a nod to Strim for his excellent build which re-enthused me for S&B a few years back. He's a tremendous player and person: https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...ghter-Vanguard
• Also a shoutout to Ballrus for his influential build: https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...Vanguard-build

Cautions and Design Goals:

• This build intends to be a min/max within the concept of a furious dwarf with a dwarven axe, shield and an appetite for destruction.
• This is not an attempt to build the best x, y or z. In fact, I expect to make improvements based off generous feedback given here.
• I make no claims as to the effectiveness of this build as compared to other classes or playstyles.
• I aspire to help people who may find interest in this playstyle, and hope to see them put their own personal touch and improvements.
• This is a build intended for end game and high reaper. This build is not optimized for the leveling process.
• This is not an easy character to play, especially from a self-healing standpoint. Saves are not great (they stink).
• This character is not a tank, but will be mistaken for one.
• Not a solo build.
• This is a high tactics build, allowing crowd control on the battefield, and mitigating the fact that, well, you're not a tank.

Why Vanguard Now?

The addition of Strikethrough and changes to hand and a half weapons were a huge, huge boon to this build. The ability to hit (3) mobs with a stunning blow, then chop them all down all at once is superb.

I view this build as a combination of all styles: THF, SWF (by virtue of 15% Combat Style bonus to Melee Attack Speed) and TWF (having the passive shield bash go off once per second).

Also, as of late August 2020 per U47 Lam preview, it appears shields are getting a significant boost (Many shields have had their dice W scalar and base dice increased in epic levels) so hopefully there will be more options for dps shields than just The Legendary Best Defense.






Stats
. . . . . . . .36pt . . Tome . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ----. . .--------
Strength. . . . 18. . . .+8. . . .4: STR
Dexterity . . . 10. . . .+7. . . .8: STR
Constitution. . 20. . . .+8. . . 12: STR
Intelligence. . 10. . . .+7. . . 16: STR
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . .+7. . . 20: STR
Charisma. . . . .8. . . .+7. . . 24: STR
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... . .28: STR




Commentary:

• Outside maxing Str and Con, put the rest of the points wherever you like. 10 Int gives me the skill points I want, but could easily go 8 Int and go with 10 wis for the extra will save.

Skills:
Max: UMD, Heal, Balance

Jump to 10 (any more is a waste)
1 point in tumble
I have left over points and put some more into jump and swim.


Commentary:

• I've thought about taking intim just to grab kiting mobs, but then would need to invest in intim gear and meh.

Feats:
1. Toughness & Stunning Blow
2. THF
3. Completionist
4. Improved Shield Bash
6. Shield Mastery & ITHF
8. Improved Shield Mastery
9. IC: Slash
10. Precision
12. WF: Slash & GTHF
14. WS: Slash
15. GWF: Slash
16. Tactical Supremacy
18. Tactical Mastery & Heavy Armor Champion
20. GWS: Slash
21. OC
24. Epic Toughness
26. PTHF
27. Blinding Speed
28. PTWF
29. Dire Charge
30. Heavy Armor Master & Scion of Arborea


Commentary:

• I value having lots of HP, thus going against the general grain with Toughness/Epic Toughness. The combo adds 82 hp at cap. Need to be able to take some hard hits and survive.
• Alternatives to Completionist would include Heavy Armor Combatant or Tactical Combatant. Magical Training is also one to consider for extra SP and Echoes of Power for Cocoon.
• Of course, all (4) THF feats are a must (resulting in 170% strikethrough).
• The level 30 selection of Heavy Armor Master (+9 PRR and MRR) is more a reflection that I didn't find any of the other epic feats to carry more benefit. Would love to hear suggestions.

Enhancements: (will flush out at a future time)

Kensei (41 points):

• All cores (Kensei Focus: Axes)
• Weapon Group Specialization: Axes, Extra Action Boost III, Haste Boost III
• Weapon Group Specialization: Axes, Tactics III,
• Weapon Group Specialization: Axes, Strength
• Weapon Group Specialization: Axes, Strength, Liquid Courage, Strike at the Heart
• All tier 5's

Vanguard (31 points):

• First (5) cores
• Shield Specialization I, Armor Training II
• Shield Specialization II, Brutality III, Stunning Shield, Missile Shield III
• Shield Specialization III, Fatal Bulwark, Strength, Follow Up I
• Shield Specialization IV, Strength

Falconry (8 points):

• Completely and only investing in Falconry for the sprint boost. How can you be a Vanguard running behind everyone??? In fact, I really believe the Vanguard tree should have an option for Sprint Boost.

Dwarf (6 points - because I have 12 racial past lives and a +1 racial tome, and then after all the above I have 1 point left over and use it for an extra Dwarven Toughness 10 hp):

• Dwarven Toughness
• Dwarven Constitution
• Dwarven Weapon Training
• Dwarven Toughness

Commentary:

• Tier 5 Vanguard abilites do not compare to the dps boost you get from going Tier 5 Kensai. Not even close. Shield Rush is easily replaced by Dire Charge which is better.
• If you don't need sprint boost, can invest in Stalwart Defender or racials or something else.

Epic Destiny:
Legendary Dreadnaught




Twists:

• Martial Hymn
• Meld Into Darkness
• A Dance of Flowers
• Rejuvenation Cocoon
• First Harmonic Chord

Gear: Coming Soon (going to evaluate once U47 hits).



Playstyle:

• At higher reaper, while you can take a hit or two, but have to be careful and best to not have agro. I enjoy high reaper without a healer (in a group) but have to be very, very careful and strategic. Lose focus or bite off too much and you're in soul stone timeout.
• Stun, stun, more stun, and trip. Control the battlefield. If it can be stunned, it will be stunned. Stunning Shield is awesome, and I think works on everything, and highly effective with reapers. I do try to conserve it somewhat as it's a great get out of jail free ability. Ttrip is effective depending on the mob, though not to the level of the stunning blow and shield.
• I do not utilize any hate/incite gear, as gaining agro isn't the goal, killing stuff quickly is.

More updates to come, but wanted to get the barebones out.



And remember...the true meta of DDO is: Player > Build.

Play how you want to play, however you want to play.




Thank you for your time and look forward to feedback!

[Ballrus]

Hello.

Looks good!

A few comments.

With all those stuns, think about Sense Weakness.

Curious about your doublestrike. I have 100% (100.xx, dont remember exactly) with Legendary Shield Mastery (US)

Sprint boost.
Smart. Got it on my last vanguard WF past life.
Agree with vanguard in need of a sprint boost. Maybe in place of melee power boost in future.

If no Stawart Defender, one option is Fury.
Strong Swings and BloodBath was working with bastard swds (need test with Daxes). So you can twist Martial Hynn, Leg SM, and whatever.

On Kensei AP. Got Exotic Weapon Mastery (tier1)? Usually it's 43 AP here (if no tactics, 3x Critical mastery and 1 AP on Shattering Strike).

I hope that with the boost to the other shields damage, dont come a stealth nerf to Best Defense...

Ps. Thanks for citation.

[Ganak]

Thanks Ballrus for the great questions and comments.

With all those stuns, think about Sense Weakness.

Yes, cannot go wrong with Sense Weakness and was a tough choice. With Martial Hymn, it came down to the well rounded boosts, and 'always on' nature of it.

Curious about your doublestrike. I have 100% (100.xx, dont remember exactly) with Legendary Shield Mastery (US)

At present moment, I am using a Legendary Bone Figurine (adds 23% doublestrike) and have an overall 93.3% doublestrike. I do need to do a gear reevaluation and will certainly be making some changes, but I will strive to keep a doublestrike item. Without the bone figurine, I am sitting at 69.42%, and like you think it's important to keep doublestrike as high as possible. While the shield bash can be very powerful, at the end of the day it's an effect that goes off once per second, and thus investment priority to the main weapon attack. A doublestrike item also allows me to not take Legendary Shield Mastery and take Meld instead. I wish I could take both.

On Kensei AP. Got Exotic Weapon Mastery (tier1)? Usually it's 43 AP here (if no tactics, 3x Critical mastery and 1 AP on Shattering Strike).

One of the very few practical benefits to this dwarf build is don't need to take Exotic Weapon Mastery.

I hope that with the boost to the other shields damage, dont come a stealth nerf to Best Defense...

Best Defense I think will still have the best crit profile due to Impact effect on the item, but base damage appears to favor the new VOD shield, but haven't evaluated deeply. I would love to see the Incite replaced by Impact on the new VOD shield as S&B deserves a win

Ps. Thanks for citation.

Thank you, learned a lot from you.

[Ganak]

Here's a draft of my gear set after Feywild.

Thanks to Ivo and his outstanding twitch channel for taking us through some gear tetris, and I used his template.

Thanks to IllusionistPM for his awesome gear planning website: https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...anning-Website


A preamble on the new Ferrocrystal Shield which is a competitor to Legendary Best Defense. At a glance, the dps is less than the Best Defense, (difference being Sov Vorpal vs quality MRR), but Ferrocrystal counts as a SUMMER set bonus item. Though, the quality MRR bonus only being a +4 is eyebrow raising as why not have it on par with other high level quality MRR bonuses? Anyway, happy with finally putting aside my Legendary Best Defense (sorry Lyn as know it has a spot in your heart).



Here is the setup as well as stats important to me and this build. This is a draft, but feeling this was the best I could do. ITS IN A RAW FORMAT SO APOLOLOGIES!!


ARMOR* - Enforcer's Plate - Fort 214, PRR 54, HAMP 85, FALSE LIFE 81 - FAMILY
GOGGLE - Tharne's Goggles - TS, DECEP 18, GHOSTLY, DIVERSION - THARNE
HELM - Crown of Butterflies - HAMP 15, MELEE POWER 10, MRR 54, Winged Allure - SPRING
NECKLACE* - Family Recruit Sigil - TS, FORT BYPASS 33, DEADLY 17, Relentless Fury - FAMILY
TRINKET - Heart of Suulomades - QUA CON 5, RESIST 18, Fire absorb 31, Evil Absorb 31
CLOAK* - Cloak of Summer - Fire Absorb 50, STR 21, INS STR 10, DOUBLESTRIKE 23 - SUMMER
BELT* - Belt of the Ram - Ram's Might, Speed 30, QUA STR 5, CON 21 - SUMMER
RING* - Lionheart Ring - Stun 23, Action Boost, INS FORT BYPASS 16, INS CON - SUMMER
GLOVES* - Hammerfist - INS DOUBLESTRIKE 11, CCI, INS DEADLY 8, SEEKER 21 - FAMILY
BOOTS - Red Dragonscale - Fire Shield, Combat Mastery 17, Seeker 21, Prot 17 - SUMMER
RING2 - Tumbleweed - INS DEX 10, ACCURACY 34, DEADLY 17
BRACERS - Green Dragonscale - Vitality 72, INS RESIST 8, POISON RESIST 81 - AUTUMN
SHIELD* - Ferrocrystal Shield - QUA MRR 4 - SUMMER


* = items essential to get desired set bonus's.



SET BONUS(s)

FAMILY - +15% Artifact Doublestrike, +25 Artifact Melee Power, +15% Artifact damage vs Helpless, +10% Artifact Fortification Bypass

SUMMER - 2 Pieces: +25 Artifact MRR
3 Pieces: +25% Artifact Fortification Bypass
4 Pieces: +5 Artifact to Tactical Abilities



STR - Cloak of Summer
INS STR - Cloak of Summer
QUA STR - Belt of the Ram

CON - Belt of the Ram
INS CON - Lionheart Ring
QUA CON - Heart of Suulomades

FORT - Enforcer's Plate
FALSE LIFE - Enforcer's Plate
HAMP - Enforcer's Plate
HAMP EQUIP - Crown of Butterflies

PRR - Enforcer's Plate
INS PRR -
QUA PRR -

MRR - Crown of Butterflies
INS MRR -
QUA MRR - Ferrocrystal Shield
ART MRR - SUMMER SET

FORT BYPASS - Family Recruit Sigil
INS FORT BYPASS - Lionheart Ring
QUA FORT BYPASS -
ART FORT BYPASS - SUMMER SET

DEADLY - Family Recruit Sigil / Tumbleweed
INS DEADLY - Hammerfist
QUA DEADLY -

DOUBLESTRIKE - Cloak of Summer
INS DOUBLESTRIKE - Hammerfist
QUA DOUBLESTRIKE -
ART DOUBLESTRIKE - FAMILY SET

SEEKER - Hammerfist / Red Dragonscale
INS SEEKER -
QUA SEEKER -

STUNNING - Lionheart Ring
INS STUNNING - Red Dragonscale
ART STUNNING - SUMMER SET

RESIST - Heart of Suulomades
INS RESIST -
QUA RESIST -

GHOSTLY - Tharne's Goggles
RELENTLESS FURY - Family Recruit Sigil
CCI - Hammerfist

ACCURACY - Tumbleweed
INS ACCURACY -
QUA ACCURACY -

TRUE SEEING - Family Recruit Sigil / Tharne's Goggles
PROTECTION - Red Dragonscale




COMMENTARY:

Gear tetris is hard, yet fun.

Lots of compromise. In a good compromise, no one feels good.

Really tried to make a 7 piece summer work, but Fort Bypass was a glaring omission I just could not work in.

The Summer Raid trinket (as published on LAM) was really slanted to monks and WIS builds, and so disappointing to see this.

[unhappymeal]

Here's a draft of my gear set after Feywild.

Thanks to Ivo and his outstanding twitch channel for taking us through some gear tetris, and I used his template.

Thanks to IllusionistPM for his awesome gear planning website: https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...anning-Website


A preamble on the new Ferrocrystal Shield which is a competitor to Legendary Best Defense. At a glance, the dps is less than the Best Defense, (difference being Sov Vorpal vs quality MRR), but Ferrocrystal counts as a SUMMER set bonus item. Though, the quality MRR bonus only being a +4 is eyebrow raising as why not have it on par with other high level quality MRR bonuses? Anyway, happy with finally putting aside my Legendary Best Defense (sorry Lyn as know it has a spot in your heart).



Here is the setup as well as stats important to me and this build. This is a draft, but feeling this was the best I could do. ITS IN A RAW FORMAT SO APOLOLOGIES!!


ARMOR* - Enforcer's Plate - Fort 214, PRR 54, HAMP 85, FALSE LIFE 81 - FAMILY
GOGGLE - Tharne's Goggles - TS, DECEP 18, GHOSTLY, DIVERSION - THARNE
HELM - Crown of Butterflies - HAMP 15, MELEE POWER 10, MRR 54, Winged Allure - SPRING
NECKLACE* - Family Recruit Sigil - TS, FORT BYPASS 33, DEADLY 17, Relentless Fury - FAMILY
TRINKET - Heart of Suulomades - QUA CON 5, RESIST 18, Fire absorb 31, Evil Absorb 31
CLOAK* - Cloak of Summer - Fire Absorb 50, STR 21, INS STR 10, DOUBLESTRIKE 23 - SUMMER
BELT* - Belt of the Ram - Ram's Might, Speed 30, QUA STR 5, CON 21 - SUMMER
RING* - Lionheart Ring - Stun 23, Action Boost, INS FORT BYPASS 16, INS CON - SUMMER
GLOVES* - Hammerfist - INS DOUBLESTRIKE 11, CCI, INS DEADLY 8, SEEKER 21 - FAMILY
BOOTS - Red Dragonscale - Fire Shield, Combat Mastery 17, Seeker 21, Prot 17 - SUMMER
RING2 - Tumbleweed - INS DEX 10, ACCURACY 34, DEADLY 17
BRACERS - Green Dragonscale - Vitality 72, INS RESIST 8, POISON RESIST 81 - AUTUMN
SHIELD* - Ferrocrystal Shield - QUA MRR 4 - SUMMER


* = items essential to get desired set bonus's.



SET BONUS(s)

FAMILY - +15% Artifact Doublestrike, +25 Artifact Melee Power, +15% Artifact damage vs Helpless, +10% Artifact Fortification Bypass

SUMMER - 2 Pieces: +25 Artifact MRR
3 Pieces: +25% Artifact Fortification Bypass
4 Pieces: +5 Artifact to Tactical Abilities



STR - Cloak of Summer
INS STR - Cloak of Summer
QUA STR - Belt of the Ram

CON - Belt of the Ram
INS CON - Lionheart Ring
QUA CON - Heart of Suulomades

FORT - Enforcer's Plate
FALSE LIFE - Enforcer's Plate
HAMP - Enforcer's Plate
HAMP EQUIP - Crown of Butterflies

PRR - Enforcer's Plate
INS PRR -
QUA PRR -

MRR - Crown of Butterflies
INS MRR -
QUA MRR - Ferrocrystal Shield
ART MRR - SUMMER SET

FORT BYPASS - Family Recruit Sigil
INS FORT BYPASS - Lionheart Ring
QUA FORT BYPASS -
ART FORT BYPASS - SUMMER SET

DEADLY - Family Recruit Sigil / Tumbleweed
INS DEADLY - Hammerfist
QUA DEADLY -

DOUBLESTRIKE - Cloak of Summer
INS DOUBLESTRIKE - Hammerfist
QUA DOUBLESTRIKE -
ART DOUBLESTRIKE - FAMILY SET

SEEKER - Hammerfist / Red Dragonscale
INS SEEKER -
QUA SEEKER -

STUNNING - Lionheart Ring
INS STUNNING - Red Dragonscale
ART STUNNING - SUMMER SET

RESIST - Heart of Suulomades
INS RESIST -
QUA RESIST -

GHOSTLY - Tharne's Goggles
RELENTLESS FURY - Family Recruit Sigil
CCI - Hammerfist

ACCURACY - Tumbleweed
INS ACCURACY -
QUA ACCURACY -

TRUE SEEING - Family Recruit Sigil / Tharne's Goggles
PROTECTION - Red Dragonscale




COMMENTARY:

Gear tetris is hard, yet fun.

Lots of compromise. In a good compromise, no one feels good.

Really tried to make a 7 piece summer work, but Fort Bypass was a glaring omission I just could not work in.

The Summer Raid trinket (as published on LAM) was really slanted to monks and WIS builds, and so disappointing to see this.

Any thoughts on doing a CHA-based twist of this build now that Feydark Illusionist is out? 11 points in Feydark gets you:

-CHA-to-hit and damage
-1 stat point
-The ability to change your damage type to Force for oozes/rust,
-Your choice of Blur SLA, Immunity to MM or +3 to all saves
-Greater Color Spray

I've been trying it based on the build posted in the Paladin forum and Greater Color Spray is borderline broken for soloing. DC 17 + highest of Int/Wis/Cha and the enemies are all Dazed, Blinded or Silenced for 4 spell points? Bonkers.

[Ganak]

Since the original posting, there have been many changes to feats and the destiny system, so want to append updates in both areas.

Feats for this build today are:

Feats:
1. Toughness & Stunning Blow
2. THF
3. Completionist
4. Shield Mastery
6. Improved Shield Bash & ITHF
8. WF: Slash
9. IC: Slash
10. Improved Shield Mastery
12. WS: Slash & GTHF
14. GWF: Slash
15. Tactical Mastery
16. Greater Shield Mastery
18. Tactical Supremacy & Precision
20. GWS: Slash
21. OC
22. Perfect Shield Mastery
24. Epic Toughness
25. Doublestrike
27. Blinding Speed
28. Crush Weakness
30. Heavy Armor Champion & Scion of Arborea


From a destiny standpoint, doing 34 points in Legendary Dreadnought into Tier 5, and 22 points into Fury of the Wild for the Tier 4 Top Dog: You gain the Improved Trip Feat.

With the T5 LD ability Sundering Swings (Creatures affected by your Improved Trip are also made Helpless). I have 4 abilities on cycle that make mobs helpless (SB, Improved Trip, Dire Charge and Stunning Shield which works on everything but red named).