Hardcore Test Build WIP - Inquisitive Ranger 14 Artificer 6

[Gnominal_Aphasia]

Hello,

Looking for feedback and comments on this HC build. Thanks...

I am a casual player who loves builds and trying to think of ways of synergizing classes. I also played in HC season 3 and loved it for many reasons, except for the lag! Currently testing this build as a first lifer (currently lvl 7) on Sarlona and generally just using items this character farms (though I will grab my Ratcatcher at level 8)... its been fun so far, generally soloing elites at level or above and "normal" r1 in groups, because its Inquisitive so its easy. I am trying to come up with a decent yet survivable Inquisitive build which would work nicely on HC and that would have some neat abilities. I also have tried to compensate for a lack of KtA by (hopefully) optimizing Ranged Power, Burst Damage and Survivability.

INQUISITIVE 14 Ranger 6 Artificer
Race> Aasimar (Fallen)
18 Action Boosts (Endless Fusilade + No Holds Barred)
Permanent Ranged Power at level 20 (no items) = 50
Shiradi Champion

Starting Stats (32 point build)
STR 8
DEX 16
CON 16
INT 14
WIS 16
CHA 8

All level ups in DEX.

LEVELLING
Arti (1, 6-8, 19-20) Ranger (2-5, 9-18)

Level 1 - Artificer Trap Skills, Rapid Reload, Conjure Bolts, FEAT PBS
Level 3 - Ranger Rapid Shot, Favored Enemy UNDEAD, FEAT Precision
Level 5 - Ranger Precise Shot, JUMP
Level 6 - Artificer Rune Arm, FEAT Dodge
Level 8 - Artificer Bonus Feat Weapon Focus (+2 Ranged Power)
Level 9 - Favored Enemy (Evil Outsider), FEAT Mobility
Level 12 - FEAT Improved Critical Ranged
Level 13 - Ranger EVASION (and at this point I will drop medium armour for light)
Level 15 - Ranger Improved Precise Shot, FEAT Shot on the Run (+3 Ranged Power)
Level 18 - Ranger FOM Spell, FEAT Power Critical
Level 20 - Artificer Adamantine Weapon Spell

ENHANCEMENTS
Inquisitive 41, Battle Engineer 23, Aasimar 16

Inquisitive (41)
All Cores (+20 Ranged Power)
T1 Duel Shooter, True Law
T2 Crossbow Adept, Wand/Scroll II, Observation, True Law
T3 Crossbow Adept, Shoot First*, Improved Observation, +1 DEX
T4 Crossbow Adept, Ask Questions Later*, Martial Inquisition (+5% Doubleshot), Greater Law, +1 DEX
T5 No Holds Barred (+5/+15** Ranger Power), Improved Uncanny Dodge, Optimistic (+10 Ranger Power), Diplomatic Immunity

* can be changed after you get Diplomatic Immunity

Battle Engineer (23)
1st Core only
T1 Weapon Training, Field Engineer III,
T2 Weapon Training, Wracking Shot III, Caustic Shot I, Extra Action Boost III
T3 Weapon Training
T4 Battle Mastery (Endless Fusilade**), Agility Engine II (+6 Doubleshot)

Aasimar (16)
All Cores +2 WIS
T1 Counsel I, True Resilience III, Aasimar Improved Healing
T2 none
T3 Aasimar Improved Healing
T4 Fallen Ascendant Bond (+10 Ranged Power)

Planned Epic Feats
Level 21 - Overwhelming Critical
Level 24 - Combat Archery
Level 27 - Blinding Speed
Level 30 - Epic Will?

Shiradi Champion (24)
- Healing Spring and extras (9)
- Prism/Rainbow/Double Rainbow (6)
- Pin (2)
- Stand and Deliver (2)
- Nerve Venom (3)
- Rain of Arrows (1)
- Hunt's End (1)

Planned Epic Destiny Feats (first lifer)
Level 26 - Toughness
Level 28 - Toughness
Level 29 - Toughness

Legendary Feat
Scion of Arborea

THOUGHTS and CONCLUSION
Thought long and hard about taking Rogue levels for SA but think that FOM is really strong and the Adamantine Weapon spell will be useful. No extra to hit and damage stance like KtA is a big down-side, but am counting on (eventually) using level 3 Artificer scrolls (Insightful Damage) for INT to damage which will be better than nothing. I think spending 16 AP into Aasimar for not only +10 Ranged Power but also +40 Healing Amp is worth it as it will directly impact Shiradi Champion abilities, which is where this build should shine in epics over other non-Primal class Inquisitors. Healing Hands in r1 has saved my own life countless times but where it shines is healing others who are in trouble, and trouble in HC can be fatal. I also would have loved to go FvS but the 3 free ranged feats plus evasion from Ranger is difficult to forego. A pure Warforged Artificer (or 18 Arti 2 splash) would also be excellent, especially if you can get lucky and farm the boots from Death House! Ranger also gives full BAB which gives marginally better attack (this build only starts with 16 DEX) and, I believe, attack speed. I opted for Shot on the Move not only because of the extra Ranged Power but also the effective +4 to hit while moving. Skill-wise, I think it can be an effective trapper in heroics even with a base 14 INT (with INT items, trapper items, Heroism pots, etc) but will probably not be that good in epics; which is a shame as by maxing all of the trapper skills this build has nothing left for Balance, Heal, Jump or Swim.

I think it can work, be survivable with evasion, dodge and Healing Hands, have pretty good base Ranged Power and have a few good extra abilities. However, it has no cc. None! But it can spam No Holds Barred/Endless Fusilade for 9 minutes.

EDIT SKILLS: Disable Device, Unlock Doors, Search, Spot and UMD which is all I can take each level as a 14 INT Artificer or Ranger.

[Seph1roth5]

Ditch shot on the run, 3 RP totally not worth a feat. Power critical isn't worth it either. Also, can you buy the artificer scrolls you plan to use? Not sure which are on the rare list.

I guess a lot depends on how you play HC. Mostly solo, static group, pug? Might be more survivable to just go full arti warforged and pick up IPS as a regular feat. Or full rogue inquis and rely on aasimar healing hands, which should be more than enough heals unless you solo.

FoM is awesome but easily obtainable at lv 10 from death house shoes.

[Gnominal_Aphasia]

Ditch shot on the run, 3 RP totally not worth a feat. Power critical isn't worth it either. Also, can you buy the artificer scrolls you plan to use? Not sure which are on the rare list.

I guess a lot depends on how you play HC. Mostly solo, static group, pug? Might be more survivable to just go full arti warforged and pick up IPS as a regular feat. Or full rogue inquis and rely on aasimar healing hands, which should be more than enough heals unless you solo.

FoM is awesome but easily obtainable at lv 10 from death house shoes.

Thanks for your reply. The build philosophy is to survive, and perform well, until Epics where I will immediately select Shiradi Champion as the ED: Pure Artificer or Rogue does not make that achievable. I do agree with you on the advantages on the survivability of a Warforged Artificer build and the implied better DPS using an INT-based build with KtA with or without extra SA damage. But again passing on the advantages of Shiradi +60 Ranged Power + extra damage + some cc + Healing Spring would be not only painful but would be defeating the object of the build.

The build, thanks to the 14 levels of Ranger, is Feat-rich, and there aren't better options for increasing survivability (dodge) or DPS (removes -4 penalty to hit on move and +3 Ranged Power), so apart from taking Toughness I couldn't see anything that useful. I generally never take Power Critical but again it's a slight gain on DPS crits and this is a Duel-Wielding Crossbow build with 18 burst actions boosts!

Insightful Damage scrolls are found with Cannith seller and are cheap as chips!

I really like the group-focus and cooperative guild atmosphere that HC brings, so I tend to group more than solo. But I do solo sometimes.

[magaiti]

You need 24 AP to take Fusillade.

According to wiki you need 6 levels of ranger/druid/barbarian in order to unlock Shiradi as your first destiny.

What if you go with Rogue 10 Barbarian 6 Artificer 4? barb has extra action boosts, sprint boost, 10% fast movement that should stack with Thief Acrobat fast movement.
I guess self-healing will be a concern though.

Or, or, 10 FvS 6 barb 4 arti, and go wisdom-based through Knowledge of Battle & Divine Inquisition. Hmm, that might require purchasing FvS for DP.

80 AP: 7 Aasimar for heals, 24 BE for Fusillade, 41 Inquis, 8 FB for extra boosts

[Gnominal_Aphasia]

You need 24 AP to take Fusillade.

According to wiki you need 6 levels of ranger/druid/barbarian in order to unlock Shiradi as your first destiny.

What if you go with Rogue 10 Barbarian 6 Artificer 4? barb has extra action boosts, sprint boost, 10% fast movement that should stack with Thief Acrobat fast movement.
I guess self-healing will be a concern though.

Or, or, 10 FvS 6 barb 4 arti, and go wisdom-based through Knowledge of Battle & Divine Inquisition. Hmm, that might require purchasing FvS for DP.

80 AP: 7 Aasimar for heals, 24 BE for Fusillade, 41 Inquis, 8 FB for extra boosts

Hi,

22 AP for Fusilade (but ty as I had written only 1 AP instead of 2 for that ability in my build)

Rogue 10 Barbarian 6 Artificer 4 would lose 3 ranged feats but I guess its not a game breaker. Faster movement is always good, agreed. But with only 7 AP into Aasimar and 8 into FB, I would lose a net 30 Healing Amp (10 instead of 40). Also -10 Ranged Power. I'm guessing from what you have written that the Extra Action Boosts from FB and BE stack... thanks, didn't know that!

I also thought about a Warforged FvS/Ranger/Arti build... similar to your proposed FvS/Barb/Arti idea. The extra health and spells from FvS would be excellent (shield, healing, buffs)... one thing I wasn't sure about is if the level 7 FvS ability (Stout of Heart) would also add 10 health per epic level if I multi-classed? Warforged for the extra +15 Ranged Power (11 AP) as I really want to max this. But in the end I abandoned that route as FvS wouldn't allow me to pursue the trapper option but I think one day I will try it out as it, perhaps as an Aasimar, as I think it would be fun, especially on a character with extra racial AP so you could take all those juicy tier 4 Warforged abilities too.

Much appreciated.

[magaiti]

Hi,

22 AP for Fusilade (but ty as I had written only 1 AP instead of 2 for that ability in my build)

Rogue 10 Barbarian 6 Artificer 4 would lose 3 ranged feats but I guess its not a game breaker. Faster movement is always good, agreed. But with only 7 AP into Aasimar and 8 into FB, I would lose a net 30 Healing Amp (10 instead of 40). Also -10 Ranged Power. I'm guessing from what you have written that the Extra Action Boosts from FB and BE stack... thanks, didn't know that!

I also thought about a Warforged FvS/Ranger/Arti build... similar to your proposed FvS/Barb/Arti idea. The extra health and spells from FvS would be excellent (shield, healing, buffs)... one thing I wasn't sure about is if the level 7 FvS ability (Stout of Heart) would also add 10 health per epic level if I multi-classed? Warforged for the extra +15 Ranged Power (11 AP) as I really want to max this. But in the end I abandoned that route as FvS wouldn't allow me to pursue the trapper option but I think one day I will try it out as it, perhaps as an Aasimar, as I think it would be fun, especially on a character with extra racial AP so you could take all those juicy tier 4 Warforged abilities too.

Much appreciated.

Endless Fusillade requires Weapon Training Tier 4, so it takes 24 AP to unlock it. you need at least 81 AP (+1 racial or universal) to take all 3 of Aasimar Ascendant Bond, Inquisitor Capstone and Endless Fusillade.

Stout of Heart should count all epic levels regardless how many FvS levels you have, as long as you have enough for the feat to be granted (7).

All extra boosts enhancements stack afaik.

am counting on (eventually) using level 3 Artificer scrolls (Insightful Damage) for INT to damage which will be better than nothing.

You can't use scrolls for that. you have to hold the scroll in your main hand, and you can't hold crossbow in your offhand. You do have 6 levels of Arti so you can cast the spell though.
But this means you have to take 6 Arti levels early, might mess up your feats or build viability while leveling.


regarding rogue 10 / barb 6 / arti 4 build, you get Improved Uncanny Dodge, 5d6 sneak attack and 10% fort bypass (opportunist feat) from rogue, as well as extended sneak range and int to damage (core 3 mechanic), this should make up for 10 ranged power.
AP distribution i think should be 41 Inquis, 11 Mechanic, 24 BE, 3 Thief Acrobat (fast movement), this is 79 AP, not much left for racial tree, that's a concern.

[C-Dog]

Ditch shot on the run, 3 RP totally not worth a feat. Power critical isn't worth it either.

That depends entirely on how many feats you get, and what else you can take.

In this case, after 14 levels of free Ranger + Arti feats, SotR is probably the best Ranged Feat available. And Power Crit may be up there as well.

What else would you suggest in their place? 2x Toughness?

Also, can you buy the artificer scrolls you plan to use? Not sure which are on the rare list.

https://ddowiki.com/page/Scrolls#Scr...e_from_vendors