First Life No Tomes Feydark Illusionist

[Zarkarion]

Just to see if it is viable, and it is not only viable but great fun. Obviously it would work even better with Tomes, multiple lives etc.

Main source of damage is Shadowblade and Fan of Shadowblades, with Illusory Shortsword to finish off any mobs not killed by the above, and Ring of Shadowblades from level 12. Because all the damage spells are SLAs you can have Maximise and Empower active at all times at no cost, and later also Intensify Spell.

Colour Spray renders most mobs Helpless, so the basic plan is bunch the mobs up, Colour Spray then Fan of Shadowblades, then finish any surviving mobs off with shortsword while they are helpless. Undead are partially immune to Color Spray, but are Blinded.

The main reason for having most of the levels in Favoured Soul is to maximise spell points, but it also gives 150 extra hit points, excellent self-healing, and if Deity is Vulkoor it gives extra damage with shortsword, and saves 4AP in the Feydark Illusionist tree as Familiar's Flourish I and II are not needed. (And even without those I would use at least 43 AP in the tree). Which means that this version is a Drow only build, but slightly less effective variants could easily be made for other races.

This was a level 7 starting build, so if starting from level 1 you might want to take the first 7 levels in a different order. The priority is to get to Fan of Shadowblades (23 AP) so you won't be Swashbuckling till level 8 anyway. Level 1 should certainly be Bard, for the extra Skill points.

Does anyone know whether Master of Shadowblades affects Fan of Shadowblades as well as Shadowblade? Maybe even Ring of Shadowblades too?

First Life No Tomes Feydark Illusionist
15/3/2 Favored Soul/Bard/Fighter
Neutral Good Drow


Level Order

1. Bard. . . . . . 6. Bard . . . . . 11. Favored Soul . 16. Favored Soul
2. Favored Soul . .7. Bard. . . . . .12. Fighter. . . . 17. Favored Soul
3. Favored Soul . .8. Fighter . . . .13. Favored Soul. .18. Favored Soul
4. Favored Soul . .9. Favored Soul . 14. Favored Soul . 19. Favored Soul
5. Favored Soul . 10. Favored Soul . 15. Favored Soul . 20. Favored Soul


Stats
. . . . . . . .28pt . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . --------
Strength. . . . .8. . . .4: CHA
Dexterity . . . 10. . . .8: CHA
Constitution. . 14. . . 12: CHA
Intelligence. . 12. . . 16: CHA
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . 20: CHA
Charisma. . . . 20. . . 24: CHA
. . . . . . . . . . . . 28: CHA

Skills
. . . . .Bd Fv Fv Fv Fv Bd Bd Fi Fv Fv Fv Fi Fv Fv Fv Fv Fv Fv Fv Fv
. . . . . 1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .6. 7 .8. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Concent . 4 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1. 1 . . 2. 1. 1. . .2 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .23
Heal. . . 2 .2 .2 .1 . . . . . . .1 .1 .1 . . 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 18
Spellcr . 4 . . . .1 . . . . . . . . 1. 1. . . . 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 14
Jump. . . 4 . . . . . . .1. 1 .3. . . . . .3. . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
UMD . . . 4 . . . . . . .3. 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Balance . 4 . . . . . 1. 1 .1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Perform . 4 . . . . . . .1. 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .28 .3 .3 .3 .3 .7. 7 .3. 3. 3. 3. 3 .3 .3 .3 .3 .3 .3 .3 .3


Feats

.1. . . . : Single Weapon Fighting
.3. . . . : Maximize Spell
.6. . . . : Empower Spell
.8 Fighter: Improved Single Weapon Fighting
.9. . . . : Spell Focus: Illusion
12. . . . : Augment Summoning
12 Fighter: Improved Critical: Piercing
15. . . . : Greater Single Weapon Fighting
18. . . . : Greater Spell Focus: Illusion
21 Epic . : Force of Personality.
24 Epic . : Master of Shadowblades
26 Destiny: Perfect Single Weapon Fighting
27 Epic . : Overwhelming Critical
28 Destiny: Epic Spell Power: Force
29 Destiny: Toughness (due to lack of options on first life)
30 Epic . : Improved Augment Summoning
30 Legend : Scion of: Feywild

.3 FavSoul: Grace of Battle
11 FavSoul: Stout of Heart

.9 FavSoul: Energy Absorption: Electricity
15 FavSoul: Energy Absorption: Fire
20 FavSoul: Energy Absorption: Cold

.2 Deity. : Follower of: Vulkoor
10 Deity. : Vulkoor's Avatar


Spells

Favored Soul

1. Cure Light Wounds (2), Nightshield (2), <Any>, <Any>
2. Cure Moderate Wounds (5), Aid (9), Resist Energy (11), <Any>
3. Cure Serious Wounds (10), Remove Curse (11), Remove Disease (14), <Any>
4. Cure Critical Wounds (13), Death Ward (14), Restoration (16), Panacea (18)
5. Raise Dead (15), Mass Cure Light Wounds (16), <Any>, <Any>
6. Heal (17), <Any>, <Any>
7. Greater Restoration (19), Resurrection (20)

Bard

1. Cure Light Wounds (1), Feather Fall (6), Detect Secret Doors (7)

Enhancements (80 of 80 AP)

Feydark Illusionist (46 AP)
Find Familiar, Charisma, Greater Color Spray, Charisma, Familiar's Reach, Master Illusionist
1. Study the Arcane III, Illusionary Weaponry, Feydark Explorer I
2. Shadowblade, Reality Bulwark III, You've Got My Back, Bend Light
3. Magical Attunement I, Charisma
4. Fan of Shadowblades III, Magical Attunement II, Charisma
5. Permanent Displacement, Ring of Shadowblades III, Magical Attunement III, Force in Tandem, Illusory Augmentation

(Blur can be replaced once you have Permanent Displacement)

War Soul (23 AP)

• Smite Foe: Melee, Resilience of Battle, Sanctuary
  1. Divine Presence III, Toughness III, Righteous Weapons
  2. Wall of Steel III, Righteous Weapons
  3. Righteous Weapons, Charisma
  4. Holy Striker: Doublestrike III

Swashbuckler (11 AP)

• Confidence, Swashbuckling
  1. On Your Toes III, Limber Up I
  2. Deflect Arrows, Fast Movement
  3. Skirmisher

Epic Destiny

Fatesinger for (amongst other things) +150 Universal Spell Power (including free Intensify Spell), +60 melee power.

[Pandjed]

Does anyone know whether Master of Shadowblades affects Fan of Shadowblades as well as Shadowblade? Maybe even Ring of Shadowblades too?

It does affect both of them as well from what I've witnessed so far. Small hint, when you use ring of shadowblade on top of a blade barrier, only one triggers. If you move even a tiny bit between both spells, both will proc.

[Zarkarion]

It does affect both of them as well from what I've witnessed so far. Small hint, when you use ring of shadowblade on top of a blade barrier, only one triggers. If you move even a tiny bit between both spells, both will proc.

Useful to know, thanks.

Is there enough extra damage from Blade Barrier in Epics to be worth using it as well as Ring of Shadowblades? I must admit I have rather given up on Blade Barrier in epics - you may have noticed I didn't even include it in the spell list.

[Pandjed]

Is there enough extra damage from Blade Barrier in Epics to be worth using it as well as Ring of Shadowblades? I must admit I have rather given up on Blade Barrier in epics - you may have noticed I didn't even include it in the spell list.

Both suffer much in epics, but when you decide to use RoSB, you can do a BB as well, as you're drawing enemies anyway. As you like to have force spellpower, which also adds to BB, it's not the worst, but when I played my caster cleric, I found more use of my other SLAs than of RoSB and BB most of the time in the later epics. Early epics, the combo works still well enough.

[Zarkarion]

Thanks

[Elsarin]

Have you considered dropping the spell focuses for improved shield mastery? Losing 2 DCs sucks, but 5 PRR and 8% doublestrike might make up for it.

[Zarkarion]

Have you considered dropping the spell focuses for improved shield mastery? Losing 2 DCs sucks, but 5 PRR and 8% doublestrike might make up for it.

It's a thought, thanks.

But the bulk of my damage is from the Shadow SLAs, and having them do only half damage (e.g. on Flameskulls) isn't good. It makes the difference between one-shotting most trash mobs and having to finish them off with melee. The sword is mainly for finishing off, so improving the sword but needing to use it more may not be a good tradeoff. Some experimentation is probably in order.

[Zarkarion]

Now up to level 24 and still great fun. Running in Fatesinger which, amongst other things , increases shadowblade spells force spell power by 150 (including tier 5 Intensify Spell metamagic) and caster level by 5.

I can confirm that the maximum caster level of the Shadowblade spells is 20, and Master of Shadowblades increases the max caster level of all of them to 30.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

As far as I can tell Colour Spray renders most mobs Helpless,

It does, I'm using it all of the time. Works very well at least up to level 4 (haven't tested it above that yet).

[Zarkarion]

It does, I'm using it all of the time. Works very well at least up to level 4 (haven't tested it above that yet).

Still working great at level 30.