Lately I've found myself including 16 PM levels in a lot of my melee/ranged builds. 16 PM adds a huge amount to a character: 10 AC, Immune to Crits, Spellcraft(for saves), and the chance to get 3 epic spells. With this char I tried to take advantage of the huge combat potential offered by bards and PMs, 2 classes you might not otherwise consider powerful melee classes.
Undeath's Eternal Champion
Bard 16/PM 16/Fighter 8
Starting Stats Human str 10 dex 16 con 14 int 12 wis 8 chr 15 All ability points to Dex
Lvling Order 1 Fighter 12 Bard 2 PM 5 Fighter
2 Fighter 12 PM 1 bard 1 PM 2 bard 1 PM 1 Bard
Feats 1 Weapon Finesse, Two Hand Fighting, Exotic Wp Prof 3 Weapon Focus Kukri 6 Curse Song 9 Ambidexterity 12 Imp Crit Kukri 15 Roughness 16 Knockdown 18 Imp TWF, Called Shot 20 Weapon Specialization Kukri 21 Epic WF Kukri 22 Epic WS Kukri 24 Armor Skin 27 Gr Dex 1 30 Gr Dex 2 33 Epic Energy Res Fire, Epic Prowness 36 Epic Warding 39 Epic Mage Armor, Hellball
Ending Stats str 10 dex 28 con 14 int 12 wis 8 chr 15
AB 26 base +9 dex +4 wf/ewf/ep +5 GMW +2 bard song +2 war song = 48/43/38/33 Duel Wielding (46)46/41/36/31 1-4+6(12-20)x2 46/41 1-4+6(12-20)x2
AC 10 base +9 dex +10 PM +20 Ep Mage Armor +1 Mage armor +5 Bard Song +4 Haste +3 Tower shield = 62 ac
Saves Fort - 23(+7) Reflex - 29(+7) Will - 22(+7)
HP - 412
One of the key advantages of this char is it's ability to reduce the ac of your opponent. When you combine taunt and curse song which drops your oppenants ac by 11! That means that even WITHOUT GMW your effective ab would be 54/49/44/39, which is EXACTLY the same as a Fighter 12/WM 28 which means this is one of the highest ab characters possible. You can also reduce their ab with curse song and called shot, giving your massive ac an even bigger boost.
In addition to the excellent chance to hit you also have 3 epic spells: epic mage armor, epic warding and hellball. These spells give you an enormous advantage in a melee fight, giving you 50/+20 dmg red that lasts long enough for one pvp fight, huge ac and the ability to do massive damage before even entering combat, up to 240 dmg and have a chance at knocking them down. You also have greater dispelling which allows you to remove your oppenants buffs which is especially brutal against a cleric.
Advantages Immune to Criticals Huge AC Huge effective AB Epic Warding Hellball lvl 5 Spells High Critical Range Dual Wielding Ability to use scrolls and restricted equipment
Disadvantages Mediocre saves Low HP Low dmg
Edited By Anuis on 07/14/04 13:58
Here is a str based version of the build.
Undeath's Eternal Champion
Bard 16/PM 16/Fighter 8
Starting Stats str 17 dex 8 con 14 int 13 wis 8 chr 14
Lvling Order 1 Fighter 12 Bard 2 PM 5 Fighter
2 Fighter 12 PM 1 bard 1 PM 2 bard 1 PM 1 Bard
Feats 1 WF Scimitar, Power Attack, Cleave 3 Knockdown 6 Curse Song 9 Extend Spell 12 Imp Crit Scimitar 15 Toughness 16 Imp Knockdown 18 Great Cleave, Called Shot 20 Weapon Specialization Scimitar 21 Gr Str 1 22 Epic WS Scimitar 24 Ep WF Scimitar 27 Overwhelming Crit Scimitar 30 Dev Crit Scimitar 33 Epic Energy Res Fire, Armor Skin 36 Hellball 39 Epic Mage Armor, Epic Warding
Ending Stats str 28 dex 8 con 14 int 13 wis 8 chr 14
AB 26 Base +3 WF/EWF +9 Str +5 GMW +2 bard song +2 war song = (47)47/42/37/32 1-6+15(12-20)x2
AC 10 base +1 cats grace +8 Full plate +10 PM +20 Ep Mage Armor +1 Mage armor +5 Bard Song +4 Haste +3 Tower shield = 62 ac
Saves Fort - 23(+7) Reflex - 21(+7) Will - 22(+7)
HP - 412
This build has many advantages over the first. After you take into account +12 str/dex items it only has 6 less ac than the dex based one, which can't be negated due to being flatfooted and does 15 more dmg. The str based build loses the dual wielding ability, and the big thing is the loss of ability to cast spells in combat. Because of that I only gave it 14 chr, past lvl 4 is mostly offensive spells, and took extend spell since you won't be able to recast in a long combat.
You can decide which one you like better.
Edited By evo_dragon on 07/14/04 17:27
Wouldn't the dex version be better with more attacks?
I mean, you still do the spell buff dmg such as darkfire or whatever... aye?
And well.. waht if you went Halfling and wielded a Rapier. This way you get the two handed wielding STR bonus on a crazy critical weapon.