Current inquis build split?

[Jastarn]

I've decided I want to keep a dedicated capped raid toon, and since I have hallowed splinters on one of my alts, an Inquis xbow user seems the logical way to go.

A split I'm thinking of is arti 2/rog 3/Paladin 15, Inquis capstone, KotC core 4, Stalwart stance, then low hanging fruit from other available trees. Artificer for rune arms, rouge 3 for the seconds sneak attack die (think thats better than the 16th paladin level, since I don't see anything specifically important that I get from 16 paladin?), and paladin for survivability, healing, dps, Holy Sword.

Thinking of this split because it should give me reasonable (if not tippy top end) DPS, backup healing capabilities (with LoH, especially if I go Aasimar), trap skills, and survivability (via evasion/paladin stance). I'm not a power gamer or anything, so I'm not looking for advice on how to squeeze every last drop of damage out of an inquisitive build, but if anyone has advice on how to hammer out this build idea I'd welcome it

EDIT: Another thought I'd had would be 12 ranger/6 paladin/2 arti, would lose out on holy sword, and some light dps/utility from the level 12 kotc core, but would gain favored enemies/DWS enhancements... so many options

[cru121]

Holy Sword doesn't stack with the inquisitive crit enhancements and is fully irrelevant.

[Jastarn]

Ah! Good to know. So it would make more sense to do a 12 paladin/6 rouge/2 arti split then, for the first option. I could still go 15/3/2, if i wanted restoration? hmmm...

[cru121]

Not sure why are you so married to the Paladin.

When building an inquisitive, consider first deciding which ability do you want to use for hit and damage. The standard option is INT via Harper; that kinda forces you into 41 Inquisitive / 12 Harper, leaving 27 AP free. People usually take at least 2 Artificer for rune arms, and the rest usually involves Rogue or Ranger, because their class trees offer some extra DPS.

An alternative defensive choice is to go heavy into Favored Soul and pick up Wis or Cha to damage from the class, along with lot of free HP and great heals.

Another fun choice is wizard inquisitive, with extra damage from eldritch knight and self healing of a pale master.

My favorite split is 4 Artificer, 15 Ranger, 1 Barb. Highlights are CSW and FoM from Ranger, as well as Evasion, bunch of favored enemies, and Deepwood Stalker, a good secondary tree to spend AP. Ranger and Artificer also give you a bunch of free feats. Barbarian is just for the run speed. Also this gives you PL:Ranger, i.e., +2 ranged damage, in case you decide to do it again.

[Jastarn]

Aha, harper had slipped my mind, good looking out thanks!

I like paladin for the saves, aura, quick self healing, and light damage from KotC. Since I'm not necessarily the best player, staying alive is more a priority than maxing my dps.

So something like 41 inquis, 14 harper (int hit+damage, favored enemy). That leaves me 26 aps+3 RAP (I have a +1 UAP tome for this character), so 6 paladin would get me smite, paladin immunities, level 6 deity ability. 11 AP's in KotC would get me 2d6 light damage (200% scaling), Ghost Touch, greater restoration (from remove disease), bonuses to hit vs evil, +2/+5 to saves vs just about everything. 11 in Sacred defender would get me +25 prr/mrr, +3 saves, 3 extra LoH's.

That leaves me 4 AP's+3 RAP's to fill out low hanging fruit, and the curve should be fine enough.

Thats my reasoning at least. Rune arms are obvious, and I have a good amount stockpiled from my arti lives. the 2 arti splash is a non negotiable for this plan.

I guess my question would be, why would I go fvs or wiz, since war soul doesn't give me much, LoH seems faster/more reliable than getting interrupted out of healing spells, and PM/EK would both require decently heavy investment in spell power/AP's? I guess the advantage of FvS is I could double as a backup healer for raids?

[Stoner81]

Two options spring to mind:

1. 9 Ranger, 4 Arti and 7 Rogue.

You get all the ranged feats for free pretty much aside from Point Blank Shot which you take at level 1 anyway. You get IPS by level 12 and a bunch of Sneak Attack dice. 41 Inquis, 12 Harper and at least 25 in to Deep Wood Stalker for Sniper Shot, Thrill of the Hunt and Killer (any remaining points spends as you will (I pick up Ranged Power from Harper usually). Trap skills etc out the wazoo and lots of utility.

2. 18 Rogue, 2 Arti.

Arguably the highest DPS Inquis split there is due to Sneak Attack dice, the down side is that you have to take all the ranged feats rather than them being auto granted. I ran this build as a Mechanic using Great Crossbows and it was nice indeed so I can imagine the DPS on this being off the chart (almost).

My preferred one is option 1 and it is what I am using to do all my racial lives with.

Stoner81.

[jskinner937]

Aha, harper had slipped my mind, good looking out thanks!

I like paladin for the saves, aura, quick self healing, and light damage from KotC. Since I'm not necessarily the best player, staying alive is more a priority than maxing my dps.

So something like 41 inquis, 14 harper (int hit+damage, favored enemy). That leaves me 26 aps+3 RAP (I have a +1 UAP tome for this character), so 6 paladin would get me smite, paladin immunities, level 6 deity ability. 11 AP's in KotC would get me 2d6 light damage (200% scaling), Ghost Touch, greater restoration (from remove disease), bonuses to hit vs evil, +2/+5 to saves vs just about everything. 11 in Sacred defender would get me +25 prr/mrr, +3 saves, 3 extra LoH's.

That leaves me 4 AP's+3 RAP's to fill out low hanging fruit, and the curve should be fine enough.

Thats my reasoning at least. Rune arms are obvious, and I have a good amount stockpiled from my arti lives. the 2 arti splash is a non negotiable for this plan.

I guess my question would be, why would I go fvs or wiz, since war soul doesn't give me much, LoH seems faster/more reliable than getting interrupted out of healing spells, and PM/EK would both require decently heavy investment in spell power/AP's? I guess the advantage of FvS is I could double as a backup healer for raids?

If survivability is your goal, then just a single level of barb would do better to keep you alive. And you can also pick up the fast movement enhancement from acrobat tree thats 1% more speed for every rogue level. 13 rogue/ 6 ranger / 1 barb will be much better DPS and likely more survivable especially if you grab insightful reflexes.