Adventures in Theorycrafting - Tempest Warpriests

[Tinco]

Looking for a place to post this build, I came across this thread and I think my little idea of a newbie-friendly self-sufficient build belongs here.

Preface:

This build is dex-based and doesn't require any tomes or p2p-classes/races at all. It is free of any fotm-shenanigans and designed for especially new players who are interested in a jack-of-all-trades kind of build . This build includes TWF with scimitars (early), rapiers (mid) and daggers or kukris (late), decent sneak attack, full trap-abilities and umd, a decent ranged combat option with throwing weapons and/or Bows and a lot of selfhealing (although your group will also benefit from this). It has potential soloing and still brings nice buffs for parties (ameliorating strike/inflame/dragonmarks/trapping).

This build is primarily for exploring heroic (1-20) level content, it is not a high dps build and it's not an epic-tested build. Enhancements are set but they are only a suggestion and highly customizable, for example, if you want to use rapiers/short swords later on you can invest less into assassin and more into tempest, if you want to use bows more often you might want to invest into deepwood sniper or arcane archer.

If you only have 28 point-buy available, drop the starting dex to 16.

I present you "The rusty Shiv"

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 04.20.02
DDO Character Planner Home Page

Level 20 True Neutral Halfling (Fe)male
(5 Rogue \ 11 Ranger \ 4 Cleric) 
Hit Points: 245
Spell Points: 363 
BAB: 17\17\22\27\27
Fortitude: 18
Reflex: 24
Will: 13

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(32 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 20)
Strength             13                    13
Dexterity            18                    27
Constitution         14                    14
Intelligence         12                    12
Wisdom               12                    12
Charisma              8                     8

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Skills         Modified Skills
Skills           (Level 1)            (Level 20)
Balance               4                     8
Bluff                 3                     4
Concentration         2                     2
Diplomacy             3                     4
Disable Device        5                    24
Haggle               -1                    -1
Heal                  1                    27
Hide                  4                    12
Intimidate           -1                    -1
Jump                  1                     4
Listen                1                     6
Move Silently         4                    10
Open Lock             8                    18
Perform              n/a                   n/a
Repair                1                     1
Search                5                    27
Spellcraft            1                     1
Spot                  5                    19
Swim                  1                     1
Tumble                5                     9
Use Magic Device      3                    22

Level 1 (Rogue)
Feat: (Selected) Least Dragonmark of Healing


Level 2 (Ranger)
Feat: (Favored Enemy) Favored Enemy: Undead


Level 3 (Rogue)
Feat: (Selected) Power Attack


Level 4 (Ranger)
Ability Raise: DEX


Level 5 (Ranger)


Level 6 (Ranger)
Feat: (Selected) Cleave


Level 7 (Ranger)
Feat: (Favored Enemy) Favored Enemy: Construct


Level 8 (Ranger)
Ability Raise: DEX


Level 9 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Empower Healing Spell
Feat: (Deity) Follower of the Sovereign Host


Level 10 (Cleric)


Level 11 (Cleric)


Level 12 (Cleric)
Ability Raise: DEX
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Piercing Weapons


Level 13 (Ranger)


Level 14 (Ranger)


Level 15 (Ranger)
Feat: (Selected) Great Cleave


Level 16 (Ranger)
Ability Raise: DEX
Feat: (Favored Enemy) Favored Enemy: Elemental


Level 17 (Ranger)


Level 18 (Rogue)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Ranged Weapons


Level 19 (Rogue)


Level 20 (Rogue)
Ability Raise: DEX
Enhancement: Halfling - Halfling Luck (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Halfling - Dexterity (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Halfling - Halfling Luck (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Halfling - Dexterity (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Halfling - Halfling Luck (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Halfling - Jorasco Dragonmark Focus (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Halfling - Jorasco Dragonmark Focus (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Halfling - Jorasco Dragonmark Focus (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Halfling - Lesser Dragonmark of Healing (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Halfling - Greater Dragonmark of Healing (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Assassin (Rog) - Knife in the Darkness (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Assassin (Rog) - Heartseeker Poison (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Assassin (Rog) - Sneak Attack Training (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Assassin (Rog) - Venomed Blades (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Assassin (Rog) - Venomed Blades (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Assassin (Rog) - Venomed Blades (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Assassin (Rog) - Sneak Attack Training (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Assassin (Rog) - Critical Accuracy (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Assassin (Rog) - Critical Accuracy (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Assassin (Rog) - Critical Accuracy (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Assassin (Rog) - Sneak Attack Training (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Assassin (Rog) - Dexterity (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Assassin (Rog) - Critical Damage (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Assassin (Rog) - Critical Damage (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Assassin (Rog) - Critical Damage (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Assassin (Rog) - Killer (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Assassin (Rog) - Killer (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Assassin (Rog) - Killer (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Assassin (Rog) - Sneak Attack Training (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Assassin (Rog) - Dexterity (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Assassin (Rog) - Knife Specialization (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Shield of Whirling Steel (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Tempest (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Graceful Death (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Improved Reaction (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Improved Reaction (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Improved Reaction (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Whirling Blades (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Improved Parry (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Improved Parry (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Smite Foe (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Resilience of Battle (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Toughness (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Toughness (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Toughness (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Awareness (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Awareness (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Awareness (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Smite Weakness (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Wall of Steel (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Wall of Steel (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Wall of Steel (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Inflame (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Inflame (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Inflame (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Inflame: Saving Throws (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Inflame: Saving Throws (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Inflame: Saving Throws (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Inflame: Energy Absorption (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Ameliorating Strike (Rank 1)

Stats: Stat distribution is tailored towards making the build work without items. You can drop Wisdom if you have items that allow you to access your spells.

Feats: Cleave and Great Cleave are a strong melee option to take down multiple mobs at once. If you want to use more ranged combat, you can swap them for ranged feats like point blank shot.

Enhancements: Cornerstones are the Halfling dragonmark enhancements, Warpriest enhancements up to ameliorating strike and the first three tempest core abilities. Anything else is up to your liking, whether investing in Assassin, Tempest or even Mechanic, Deepwood Sniper or Arcane Archer.

Skills: 5 Rogue levels allow for maxing trapskills (Search / Disable Device) and UMD. You want to cross-skill Disable Device / UMD on your ranger levels, too. Heal is another important skill to boost your self-healing. All other points are up to you, I suggest getting some open lock, spot and diplo / bluff for quests.

[mna]

Looking for a place to post this build, I came across this thread and I think my little idea of a newbie-friendly self-sufficient build belongs here.
...
If you only have 28 point-buy available, drop the starting dex to 16.

Looks interesting.

On the stat distribution... is that 12 starting wisdom for will save, or so that a variant would qualify for Zen Archery with just a +1 tome?

Because I'd think 8 would otherwise be enough, +stat items being plentiful nowadays and these don't get high level spells anyway... even my 12/7/1 28pt dwarf version that was quite happy with 8 starting Wis, and then there's the 12 Cleric version (which I'm running on two servers, too) that happily started with 10.


Oh, and another thing... Great Cleave, but nowhere near enough Str to get Overwhelming Critical; I'd like to hear your reasoning for this, not that there's anything specifically wrong with it but... well, there are plenty of other feats I'd consider too...?

[Tinco]

Looks interesting.

On the stat distribution... is that 12 starting wisdom for will save, or so that a variant would qualify for Zen Archery with just a +1 tome?

Because I'd think 8 would otherwise be enough, +stat items being plentiful nowadays and these don't get high level spells anyway... even my 12/7/1 28pt dwarf version that was quite happy with 8 starting Wis, and then there's the 12 Cleric version (which I'm running on two servers, too) that happily started with 10.


Oh, and another thing... Great Cleave, but nowhere near enough Str to get Overwhelming Critical; I'd like to hear your reasoning for this, not that there's anything specifically wrong with it but... well, there are plenty of other feats I'd consider too...?

You can basically dump wis it completely if you have enough items. It's a convenient stat number because it's low investment (1 point per stat) and nice for saves and spellcasting without an item.

I love cleave in heroic content - even with TWF. Maybe even more than with THF because it gives you a much needed AoE-Option that is worth a lot when fighting a lot of low-HP monsters. A cleave into great cleave often kills entire packs on normal/hard.

[ValariusK]

My character is now Ranger-9/Priest-6/rogue-1 having just hit 16th level. He's pretty close to the 1st build, although since he's a 36 point build with decent tomes (+5 wisdom, +4 dex and int, +3 for the rest), his trapping skills are a bit better.

My last life was 18 ranger/1 rogue/1 fighter, a build that supported both a strong ranged focus as well as a tempest focus depending on enhancements.

This guys real delta from the previous life is that he's a lot crunchier, and he has a bit more group utility (my Ameliorating strike really helps a lot in the cleric-starved environment that is Orien in keeping fellow melees and casters that I'm peeling off of alive). The PRR and AC from warpriest (+6 AC, 5/- DR from the first 3 cores in warpriest) make this version of Valariax somewhat stronger defensively, although still not a tank by any means.

I've done Ranger-12/priest-7/rogue-1 now for 2 ETRs and I'm working on my 3rd ETR before I do a heroic TR. My build is similar to the original.
The base build is solid, and it is really flexible in terms of what you can shift it into when you change EDs and enhancements.
I've spent a reasonable amount of time in Fury of the Wild, and its my go-to when I need burst dps (when I'm in fury, I also spend 36 on arcane archer and practically strip tempest down to 4-5 points, but I never strip warpriest below 24). In that configuration I also twist haste boost from LD.
My favorite ED though is Divine Crusader. It gives me a big accuracy increase right off the bat, with BAB=LEVEL all the time. When I do this ED I do enough tempest for the level 12 core, the 10 PRR, the reflex save improvements and the dodge improvements, +4 hit/damage with dual wield, and +2 strength, costing usually around 28. Divine crusader is a REALLY useful raiding destiny, reinforcing this build right where it brings the most to the table:

In divine crusader, you're adding
Significant heals through consecrated ground, along with some damage for stuff to be kited through. Your consecrated ground allows freshly rezzed characters a place to recover if they're not fully self-sufficient, and it can tick for a lot if you have good positive spell power
Extra dps for the whole party through crusade
More doublestrike and PRR all the time, even a little extra heal amp
Righteous zeal surprisingly frequently for lots of extra damage and doublestrike.
5 more levels of cleric casting, which helps your cast heals a lot but more importantly, takes your durations from the annoying (7 minutes) to the adequate (12 minutes). In this destiny I don't feel the pinch of not slotting the extend feat.
Strike down is an excellent cleave attack, and it is up a lot. It rocks for cutting through the undead trash in places like Thunderholme.

[mna]

I love cleave in heroic content - even with TWF. Maybe even more than with THF because it gives you a much needed AoE-Option that is worth a lot when fighting a lot of low-HP monsters. A cleave into great cleave often kills entire packs on normal/hard.

And of course just Power Attack + Cleave is sufficient to have fun in Legendary Dreadnought. Done that too. (With my first and so far only epic-level character.) Just, I was told it wasn't "recommended" ... not sure why but...

[mna]

I was thinking about this some more and decided I could use some a bit of fine-tuning advice on this...

So, I was following this plan, and am currently at level 14, thinking about the level 15 feat... should I take IC Ranged already?

Also sort of miss Extend, buff durations are a bit short to my liking. Should I take that instead of Point Blank Shot? But then again, since I'd like to get positive spellpower from DWS anyway, and Arbalester as a prerequisite for the other 3 points into Mechanics, PBS would have obivous synergies...

Level 24 True Neutral Dwarf Male
(1 Rogue \ 12 Ranger \ 7 Cleric \ 4 Epic) 
                  Starting            Ending          
Abilities        Base Stats         Base Stats        
(28 Point)       (Level 1)          (Level 24)        
Strength             16                 23            
Dexterity            14                 16            
Constitution         14                 14            
Intelligence         14                 16            
Wisdom                8                  8            
Charisma              8                  8            
Level 1 (Rogue)
Feat: (Selected) Power Attack
Level 2 (Cleric)
Feat: (Deity) Follower of the Silver Flame
Level 3 (Ranger)
Feat: (Selected) Cleave
Feat: (Favored Enemy) Favored Enemy: Undead
Level 4 (Cleric)
Ability Raise: INT
Level 5 (Ranger)
Feat: (Automatic) Rapid Shot
Feat: (Automatic) Two Weapon Fighting
Level 6 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Great Cleave
Level 7 (Ranger)
Level 8 (Cleric)
Ability Raise: STR
Level 9 (Ranger)
Feat: (Selected) Empower Healing Spell
Level 10 (Cleric)
Level 11 (Ranger)
Feat: (Favored Enemy) Favored Enemy: Construct
Level 12 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Slashing Weapons
Feat: (Automatic) Silver Flame Exorcism
Level 13 (Ranger)
Feat: (Automatic) Improved Two Weapon Fighting
Feat: (Automatic) Manyshot
Level 14 (Cleric)
Final Cleric level - 85% caster level check on Raise Dead scrolls.
Level 15 (Ranger)
Feat: (Selected) Point Blank Shot
Level 16 (Ranger)
Ability Raise: STR
Level 17 (Ranger)
Feat: (Automatic) Evasion
Level 18 (Ranger)
Feat: (Favored Enemy) Favored Enemy: Giant
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Ranged Weapons
Level 19 (Ranger)
Feat: (Automatic) Greater Two Weapon Fighting
Feat: (Automatic) Improved Precise Shot
Level 20 (Ranger)
Ability Raise: STR
Level 21 (Epic)
Feat: (Selected) Quicken Spell
Feat: (Automatic) Epic: Epic Skills
Level 24 (Epic)
Ability Raise: STR
Feat: (Selected) Epic: Overwhelming Critical

Quicken is mostly for Cocoon. (I figure, start EDs in Shiradi ->3, switch to Primal for Cocoon, Shiradi ->4, LD ->3, Shadowdancer for Technician, and ...?)
Point Blank Shot isn't all that essential, I suppose.

Actually I got several +3 tomes from the anniversary cards, and did happen to be at exactly level 11 when using the Int one, so +1 skill point from there on.
And the +3 Str one means I would qualify for Overwhelming Critical at 21 already too if I got this right...? Alternatively, put that one point somewhere else - Wis or Dex, say? Didn't add the extra tomes into the stat distribution yet.


Main shortcoming so far is that Concentration really needs some skill points. Fortunately I now have some of those to spare. Also put that on the Cove hat instead of Disable. After taking 15 I could always go farm up the +15 Spare Hand if necessary. (Got uncharacteristically lucky and managed to get a +13 Disable item off the AH, already. Oh and two Icy Depths dwarven axes, one of them Bloodletting which goes really well with Smite Weakness.)

Haven't missed Evasion much YET, except having either that or 30 elemental resist (which should become self-castable at 19) would've been nice against the gunner pirates.


Enhancements are of course wildly variable. I don't think I'll be willing to drop Ameliorating Strike for much anything, but I could see going into Arcane Archer a lot if I don't need the Improved Evasion replacement from Tempest.



Oh, and Epic Destinies may be a harder decision too - Divine Crusader looks like it'd be fun, possibly more so than FotW. But no easy way to get centered for GMoF, again, and I may need the trap bonuses from Shadowdancer which can be reached fairly painlessly through LD since this thing does have Power Attack and Cleave...

[mna]

I was thinking about this some more and decided I could use some a bit of fine-tuning advice on this...

So, I was following this plan, and am currently at level 14, thinking about the level 15 feat... should I take IC Ranged already?

Well, I did take IC Ranged, goes nicely with the burst of heartseeking bow that's about the best I've managed to get so far. No luck with the good named longbows so far. Of course I could go for the L16 Elemental Longbow but...



On a human version, what should that extra feat be? (Extend, Dragonmark of Passage, Khopesh proficiency, ...?)

[mrcjr1]

I like this build but where would the extra 6 stat points go for a 34 pt-build? Also, how are saves since Rangers get evasion, I just want to be able to easily evade traps on elite quests.

[Nodoze]

I like this build but where would the extra 6 stat points go for a 34 pt-build? Also, how are saves since Rangers get evasion, I just want to be able to easily evade traps on elite quests.

Reviewing the initial post I see the following:

...

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 04.19.03
DDO Character Planner Home Page

Level 28 True Neutral Human Female
(1 Rogue \ 12 Ranger \ 7 Cleric \ 8 Epic) 
...
                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(28 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 28)
Strength             16                    27
Dexterity            12                    14
Constitution         14                    16
Intelligence         12                    12
Wisdom                8                     8
Charisma             12                    14
...
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Graceful Death (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Deflect Arrows (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Improved Parry (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Improved Parry (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Improved Parry (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Whirling Blades (Rank 1)
...
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Strength (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Elaborate Parry (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Elaborate Parry (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Elaborate Parry (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Whirling Blades (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Evasive Dance (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Evasive Dance (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Evasive Dance (Rank 3)
...
Feat: (Selected) Epic: Blinding Speed


Level 28 (Epic)
Ability Raise: STR
Feat: (Epic Destiny) Epic Destiny: Elusive Target

...That leaves 37 APs to spread around; you can see I went for Evasive Dance in Tempest (Reflex saves are a bit low, so having Imp Evasion is nice), some human enhs (+20% heal amp, action boosts, +2d6 ranged SAs), and a few odds & ends...

Splashing: the rogue splash opens up UMD and trap skills; ... Other options include: ... pally (switch to LG and 12/6/2 split for Divine Grace).

While the build gets Evasion at Ranger 9 it actually gets more like Improved Evasion via the Tempest Tier 5 'Evasive Dance' which per the DDO Wiki reads: Improves your Evasion ability so on a failed Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, you only take 85/70/50% damage. NOTE: Does not stack with improved evasion...

I suspect if you run on EH and below your saves are decent but for EE you pretty much are going to just be relying on Improved Evasion. To improve saves you could look to change to HE with a Pally Dilettante or do the above mentioned Pally splash (switch to LG and 12/6/2-Paladin split for Divine Grace). That being said I believe they are working on changing the way Divine Grace scales for splashes so that may or may not meet end game goals after the changes go live.

Regarding going from a 28 pointer to a 34 pointer the build is strength based with currently a 16 starting strength so you could min/max and start at 18 in your primary stat. Personally I like more well-rounded characters and don't have all the traps in the game memorized so I would put 2 points into Intel for more skills (increasing spot and maybe bumping up other skills) and maybe also bump up Constitution.

If you go the Paladin splash route you may get more out of putting 6 points into Charisma (starting at 16 vs 12) getting the same benefits of increasing Strength from 16-18 via Divine Might but also boosting saves (depending on the final changes to Divine Grace).

Those are my initial thoughts though I don't have a character at cap with this exact build to directly compare with and note that I did the above calculations in my head (I did not put the above into a planner). It would be great to also hear unbongwah's thoughts as I always value them in general and this is, after all, his build...

[unbongwah]

I like this build but where would the extra 6 stat points go for a 34 pt-build? Also, how are saves since Rangers get evasion, I just want to be able to easily evade traps on elite quests.

As Nodoze mentioned, saves on the first build are decent but not great; it's tough to hit viable EE saves without a pally splash for Div Grace. Rgr 12 / FvS 6 / pal 2 or 12/4/4 (after the DG nerf) splits will have much better saves while keeping Ameliorating Strike and 100% offhand procs; but you give up trap skills & UMD. Switching to dwarf or halfling would also open up racial enhs to boost saves further, though you'd be giving up heal amp etc.

As for what to do with extra build pts, that's up to you, although my inclination is to bump up CHA to at least 14 first.

[mrcjr1]

As Nodoze mentioned, saves on the first build are decent but not great; it's tough to hit viable EE saves without a pally splash for Div Grace. Rgr 12 / FvS 6 / pal 2 or 12/4/4 (after the DG nerf) splits will have much better saves while keeping Ameliorating Strike and 100% offhand procs; but you give up trap skills & UMD. Switching to dwarf or halfling would also open up racial enhs to boost saves further, though you'd be giving up heal amp etc.

As for what to do with extra build pts, that's up to you, although my inclination is to bump up CHA to at least 14 first.

Thanks I think I'll go Rgr 12 / FvS 6 / Pal 2 then, that seems like what I want. Not as interested in traps and UMD as long as I can evade the traps :P. Is there a certain order I should take each lvl? Or certain class to TR into as lvl 1? Sorry for so many questions, just very unfamiliar with build making as I always did pure class.
Also, how would the fvs spells be? I figured I could do fvs for the heals but I'm unsure if lvl 6 heals would be enough. Maybe less ranger lvls and more fvs lvls?

[Nodoze]

Thanks I think I'll go Rgr 12 / FvS 6 / Pal 2 then, that seems like what I want. Not as interested in traps and UMD as long as I can evade the traps :P. Is there a certain order I should take each lvl? Or certain class to TR into as lvl 1? Sorry for so many questions, just very unfamiliar with build making as I always did pure class.
Also, how would the fvs spells be? I figured I could do fvs for the heals but I'm unsure if lvl 6 heals would be enough. Maybe less ranger lvls and more fvs lvls?

In the epics likely your main healing will be cocoon supplementing your dual/triple procing Ameliorating Strikes. Note that if you drop below Ranger 12 you lose access to Tempest Core 4's +10% offhand strikes...

With only 6 divine levels your spell casting will be limited as follows:
- 6 FvS you get 4/2/1 spells maxing at Cure Serious;
- 6 Cleric gets 5/5/4 spells maxing at Cure Serious also but being able to swap around spells at shrines;

[mna]

On a human version, what should that extra feat be? (Extend, Dragonmark of Passage, Khopesh proficiency, ...?)

I've been having fun with one of these that had both Great Cleave, and Dimension Door from the dragonmark, at level 6. And a bunch of trap skills enhancements too...

Has to be about my favorite build so far. (Then again I haven't gotten it into epics yet.)

And having the cleric icon (for maxed skills, still doing 1 rogue, then alternating cleric and ranger until 7 cleric, rest ranger... just like my dwarf version. No half ranks in ranger class skills, ever.) still causes weird reactions in PUGs, with all the stuff I'm doing with it.


Still not sure about choosing between Point Blank Shot, Extend and Dodge for that one feat slot though. Or khopesh I suppose...

[mna]

Still not sure about choosing between Point Blank Shot, Extend and Dodge for that one feat slot though. Or khopesh I suppose...

Well, I got lucky with Wis tomes on that character and was able to take Zen Archery at level 18. So I suppose I'll be starting epics in Unyielding Sentinel, grind my way through GMoF using mostly bows as soon as I can, and then swap it out with Lockania.

[Emizand]

As Nodoze mentioned, saves on the first build are decent but not great; it's tough to hit viable EE saves without a pally splash for Div Grace. Rgr 12 / FvS 6 / pal 2 or 12/4/4 (after the DG nerf) splits will have much better saves while keeping Ameliorating Strike and 100% offhand procs;

3 pal is the sweet spot for me. 13 AP will get you 25 PRR and +6 to save. 12 ranger for the 100% offhand strike, leaves you 5 for cleric and Am strike or % for rogue and dagger lovliness.

At least thats my thought at this moment in time.

[mrunlimited]

I went and built a 12 Rang/4fls/4pally build on lammia today to try it out thinking to myself this could be fun. I was a little worried about the damage output in comparison to a pally that had access to holy sword and zeal however the results proved to surprise me greatly. I was running in Fury and tried out two runs of EE LOD(i didnt have a lot of time and that quest is super fast and has a little bit of everything). I had mostly the new abbot gear on for simplicity running with dual tf scimitars one run, dual tf khopeshes the next. Twists were 5% dual weild damage (t4 PA), hail of blows and cocoon. Using light tf armor with dodge at 20%, blurry ghostly and prr of around 100.

My initial thoughts were that khopeshes would come out way ahead even with all the extra + damage you could get to scimitars. The two runs came out just about the same in terms of speed however, I assume that the scimitars did better average damage and khopeshes just did better spikes. I breezed through these runs easily having plenty of spell points left over and didnt need to shrine. One thing that caught my attention was that I somehow had a 22k crit each run. Not sure how that worked out because they happened at very inopportune times to check the combat logs. I assume fury eternal had something to do with it as well as probably it was likely on an 19-20 crit as I had overwhelming critical. Still thats a huge number to see dualweilding. Another interesting facet, Ameliorating strikes were healing me around 80% of my health bar(~800 max health). Thats insane as you can proc that every 15seconds. I still needed to heal with cocoon and cure serious sometimes but usually against red names only. With the t5 ability for aoe i was dropping groups quickly. Paralyzing fear on the off hand weapon was proccing left and right so I had a good bit of cc too. Saves were all in the 60s. This is a solid EE capable build. Maybe not for soloing harder EES but it is def good for EE.

Id still like to test the build in divine crusader and after that could make a call whether scimitars or khopeshes are the way to go.

[unbongwah]

The U23 improvements to Dance With Death make it pretty much a must-have for any Tempest build. And with the recent changes to pallies, I'm leaning more towards the rgr 12 / FvS 4 / pal 4 split. Dropping from FvS 6 to 4 costs you lvl 3 spells, your lvl 6 bonus feat, and lvl 5 elemental DR; but with pal 3 you gain defensive stance and pal 4 will get you Turn Undead. Rgr 12 / cleric 5 / pal 3 would also work, since that lets you keep lvl 3 divine spells.

First stab at a new F2P Tempest Warpriest:

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 04.23.01
DDO Character Planner Home Page

Level 28 Lawful Good Human Female
(3 Paladin \ 12 Ranger \ 5 Cleric \ 8 Epic) 
Hit Points: 342
Spell Points: 750 
BAB: 18\18\23\28\28
Fortitude: 20
Reflex: 15
Will: 11

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(28 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 28)
Strength             16                    23
Dexterity            14                    14
Constitution         14                    14
Intelligence          8                     8
Wisdom                8                     8
Charisma             14                    14

Level 1 (Ranger)
Feat: (Human Bonus) Dodge
Feat: (Favored Enemy) Favored Enemy: Undead
Feat: (Selected) Power Attack (or Precision)


Level 2 (Ranger)


Level 3 (Ranger)
Feat: (Selected) Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Khopesh


Level 4 (Cleric)
Ability Raise: STR
Feat: (Deity) Follower of the Sovereign Host


Level 5 (Cleric)


Level 6 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Point Blank Shot


Level 7 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Shield of Whirling Steel (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Tempest (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Improved Reaction (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Improved Reaction (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Whirling Blades (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Smite Foe (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Resilience of Battle (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Divine Might (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Divine Might (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Divine Might (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Sacred Touch (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Smite Weakness (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Wall of Steel (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Wall of Steel (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Wall of Steel (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Inflame (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Inflame (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Inflame (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Inflame: Saving Throws (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Inflame: Saving Throws (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Inflame: Saving Throws (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Inflame: Energy Absorption (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Inflame: Energy Absorption (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Inflame: Energy Absorption (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Ameliorating Strike (Rank 1)


Level 8 (Ranger)
Ability Raise: STR


Level 9 (Ranger)
Feat: (Favored Enemy) Favored Enemy: Giant
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Slashing Weapons


Level 10 (Ranger)


Level 11 (Ranger)


Level 12 (Ranger)
Ability Raise: STR
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Ranged Weapons
Enhancement: Human - Human Versatility: Damage Boost (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Human - Improved Recovery (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Graceful Death (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Improved Reaction (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Improved Dodge (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Improved Dodge (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Improved Dodge (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Whirling Blades (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Haste Boost (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Haste Boost (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Haste Boost (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Whirling Blades (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Whirling Blades (Rank 1)


Level 13 (Ranger)


Level 14 (Ranger)


Level 15 (Ranger)
Feat: (Selected) Empower Healing Spell


Level 16 (Ranger)
Ability Raise: STR


Level 17 (Paladin)


Level 18 (Paladin)
Feat: (Selected) Quicken Spell


Level 19 (Paladin)


Level 20 (Cleric)
Ability Raise: STR
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Deflect Arrows (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Improved Parry (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Improved Parry (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Improved Parry (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Dance of Death (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Dance of Death (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Tempest (Rgr) - Dance of Death (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Sacred Defender (Pal) - Holy Bastion (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Sacred Defender (Pal) - Sacred Defense (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Sacred Defender (Pal) - Durable Defense (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Sacred Defender (Pal) - Durable Defense (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Sacred Defender (Pal) - Durable Defense (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Sacred Defender (Pal) - Sacred Armor Mastery (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Arcane Archer (Rgr) - Arcane Archer (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Arcane Archer (Rgr) - Morphic Arrows (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Arcane Archer (Rgr) - Conjure Arrows (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Arcane Archer (Rgr) - Corrosive Arrows (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Deepwood Stalker (Rgr) - Far Shot (Rank 1)


Level 21 (Epic)
Feat: (Selected) Epic: Overwhelming Critical


Level 22 (Epic)


Level 23 (Epic)


Level 24 (Epic)
Ability Raise: STR


Level 25 (Epic)


Level 26 (Epic)
Feat: (Epic Destiny) Epic Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting


Level 27 (Epic)
Feat: (Selected) Epic: Blinding Speed


Level 28 (Epic)
Ability Raise: STR
Feat: (Epic Destiny) Epic Destiny: Elusive Target

It costs 54 APs to pick up Ameliorating Strike plus the first rank of Dance of Death, so you can't have both until at least lvl 14. There's 6 APs left over which I haven't decided what to do with; likewise the lvl 24 feat.

Cleave and Gt Cleave are no longer pre-reqs for Overwhelming Crit; but Cleave is still a pre-req for Momentum Swing, so you'll need to take the feat if you wish to pick it up.

Anyone on Sarlona got a ton of Tome pages they wanna give me so I can try out a Morninglord version using dual Phosphors?

[Mindos]

Anyone on Sarlona got a ton of Tome pages they wanna give me so I can try out a Morninglord version using dual Phosphors?

This is on my todo list, cept I am thinking dual Mornh, hammer of mountains.

[mna]

Well, I got lucky with Wis tomes on that character and was able to take Zen Archery at level 18. So I suppose I'll be starting epics in Unyielding Sentinel, grind my way through GMoF using mostly bows as soon as I can, and then swap it out with Lockania.

... how come swapping out Zen Archery (replaced with Dodge) causes Unyielding Sentinel destiny points to be reset, anyway? I mean, I don't see them being connected in any way... no cross-requirements, or is there one somewhere?

Oh well. It also caused some of the enhancement trees to reset, that too for no reason that I could see.


Would understand it better if it caused *all* of them to reset, rather than this essentially random partial thing...

[mna]

The U23 improvements to Dance With Death make it pretty much a must-have for any Tempest build.

...yeah, it looks really nice, maybe I'll give up on the EE traps thing on a first life, and free up the points for it.

(Really need to get some more stacking bonus gear from somewhere anyway... like a Conc-Opp greensteel item with +4 exceptional search & disable, say... what equipment slot should I put that in? Not belt or bracers because the other named trapper items go there, and I guess not goggles either?)