*Indicates these can be substituted without affecting build integrity. ** Instead of Taunt, Spellcraft could be crossclassed for Save boosters _______
Following a similar template to the Assassin King, this primal savage has a few more tricks to offer. Starting with a lot more skill points (346), he can top out all the important skills every level. The Barbarian gives the Assassin much needed Discipline, 110% movement speed, built in DR, Taunt, Uncanny Dodge, more hit points, and instant AB and Hit Point boost with Greater Rage.
But the real killer is when he uses the Terrifying Rage/Hide in Plain Sight/Death Attack combination. When he activates Rage, he will force everyone (in range) to make a Will save against his Intimidate check + 1-10. Unless they are immune to fear and the like, opponents will fail this save. Those who panic will suffer a coup de grace. Against those who fail but only suffer a –2AB and Saves, he activates Hide in Plain Sight, and then launches a Death Attack with a DC that has just improved by 2. Even if they make the Death Attack save, they are going to suffer 12d6 sneak on top of weapon, strength, rage, and other damage bonuses.
What I found extremely effective in this build are the number of weapons he acquires between Levels 21-25. In those 5 levels he acquires Epic Weapon Focus, Hide in Plain Sight, Invisibility, Improved Invisibility, Greater Rage and Terrifying Rage.
Further, Terrifying Rage never becomes handicapped by the Epic Assassin levels due to Intimidate being a class skill for Assassins. This insures that Terrifying Rage will always be optimized for maximum performance.
As for Armour, one must wear only medium or light. In playtesting, the Heart of Darkness wore only normal Chainmail and a Large Shield, and still achieved a Steath skill of 50.
His primary weakness are his saves. Fortunately, a 36 UMD will insure he can wear the best gear available, and use scrolls without failure. There is further room in the build for the save-conscious to drop the initiative feats, move Toughness to pre-epic, and take Epic Reflexes and Epic Will.
One might question the 16 Int. I make most of my Assassin builds with only 14, but in this one, I felt the need to have enough skill points to satisfy both Taunt and Intimidate and still keep up with the other assn skills. As a happy side effect, it allowed the character to get his Death Attack DC up a notch. But I’m sure one will find somewhere between zero and nil the number of Barbarians who start with a 16 Intelligence.
Happy hunting!
Fixed ability increase typo - Kail Pendragon _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Edited By Kail Pendragon on 04/12/08 14:44
Grizz, it's about time this guy showed up!
Impressive build. I really like the toolbox this guy brings to the table. And the skill points: wow - you sure he doesn't have Rogue levels in there somewhere?
Well done; looks pretty darned effective. Nice concept. _________________ It's rogue, dammit, ROGUE!!!
Is this build competition mode now? I give up. Somewhat similar to the Master of Fear tactics build but... Ow.
Quote: Posted 09/17/05 09:05:17 (GMT) -- Jennalee
Is this build competition mode now?
After seeing the flood of anti-assassin builds, I felt I was besieged, a pariah, a lone bastion against the hordes of goodness, so in short, yes.
Quote: Somewhat similar to the Master of Fear tactics build but... Ow.
Thanks for reminding me of that guy. I went and had a look at him. I think he is officially called the Master of Scare Tactics. And he's just a little guy, Dex-based. He's charming in his own right, but the Heart of Darkness definitely outdoes him in the lethality category, and perhaps even the Stealth category as well.
Also, regarding the Terrifying Rage/HiPS/DA combo. These types of things are easily resisted these days. Palemasters are immune to both the stun and the crits, RDDs are immune to the stun, Paladins are immune to fear, many folk are running around with True Sight-- there are many things out there that will have immunity somehow, someway. Fortunately, the build still has good hitpoints, a little DR, 110% movement, UMD, high damage output and Improved Invis to fall back on.
In a high magic world, I would probably look for another Assassin than this one. In a low magic world, he has the potential to be quite devastating. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Edited By grizzled_dwarflord on 09/17/05 14:34
a raging assassin. now i have seen ALMOST everything (i have yet to see a man eat his own head). very nice combination of stealth with a shield. i really like the idea of using terrifying rage, hips and death attack together. quite powerful, as long as one is not facing a lot of magic.
just to set the record straight, i didn't create the anti-assassin thread out of spite, i just felt as you did, inundated with assassin builds. in trying to come up with some new builds, i thought to myself, why not try something anti-assassin-y. sorry if i made you feel backed into a corner.
very nice build. unique and powerful, everything i have come to expect from the dwarflord.
-c _________________ "Perception is strong and sight weak. In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things." - Miyamoto Musashi
Terrifying rage sucks. From what I can tell from testing it, you can't paralyze anyone at your own level or higher. So if you are level 40, you can't paralyze other level 40s but you can paralyze a level 39 guy.
Terrifying rage sucks. From what I can tell from testing it, you can't paralyze anyone at your own level or higher. So if you are level 40, you can't paralyze other level 40s but you can paralyze a level 39 guy.
That's actually what the feat description says (and for once the documentation is correct). However, at level 40, you can lower your opponent's AB by 2 as well as his Will save. Keep in mind as well that not every build is born as a level 40 character, so TR will be quite useful long before level 40. _________________ It's rogue, dammit, ROGUE!!!
Well, I wouldn't say Terrifying Rage "sucks." Granted, it's not perfect, but it's the only Barbarian feat worth getting. And while it's not particularly useful in most PvP environs, it is quite useful in PvM. It is quite effective at Lvl 24 and beyond. At level 24, his unmodified TR DC is 26+1-10 = 27-36 Range. This is more than enough to beat Will Saves at that level. Further, the majority of opponents are going to be less in Hit Dice than the character, except for Bosses. And even if they are not, -2AB and -2 to all saves is pretty decent. My one complaint about Terrifying Rage is it's variable duration. 1-6 rounds is nothing to write home about, and I wish it were a more static duration like a Bardsong.
What I find most effective about TR when combined with an Assassin is that you can effectively raise your Death Attack DC by 2. By going into TR, then activating HiPS, you can land a Death Attack whose DC will be 23 at level 24. Not real high, but not real low, and just enough to probably get about a 20-30% success rate.
And even if TR fails, and Death Attack fails, and HiPS fails, you're still a pretty nasty guy-- hefty strength, solid hit points, still all your Greater Rage bonuses cooking, 110% movement to get out of Dodge, UMD and Darkness, Ghostly Visage and Invis, and with Improved Invis coming at Lvl25, you have quite an arsenal in your inventory. By no means does Terrifying Rage make or define this build; it's just one facet of the many facets which add to his depth and complexity and his...goodness. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Edited By grizzled_dwarflord on 09/19/05 12:13
Quote: ...goodness.
*smite*
Nice build, along with the Master of Scare Tactics, it is also mildly similar to my build from a short while ago Eidolon.
I like the rage & sneak combo, it's pretty effective against monsters, i'm not sure in PvP, but I don't do that and don't build characters for that purpose.
Is there any class you haven't combined with Assassin yet?
<<Off-topic>> Just curious---does the title by chance have any relevance to the Joseph Conrad classic "Heart of Darkness"?
Check out the link below if you haven't read this masterpiece--many people don't know that it is actually the original inspiration for the movie "Apocalypse Now".
Is there any class you haven't combined with Assassin yet?
Well, there's still Paladin....
Quote: Posted 09/19/05 16:18:38 (GMT) -- chsmi
<<Off-topic>> Just curious---does the title by chance have any relevance to the Joseph Conrad classic "Heart of Darkness"?
Relevance? That's the origin of his name. In fact, I even wrote up a little short story about this character in which a Bard travels deep into the heart of a perilous jungle to find this guy and interview him. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
"Relevance" <-- poor wording, I meant to use the word origin but my fingers sometimes have minds of their own
Very cool. I'd be interested in that story if you'd care to share it.
Cheers!
(BTW, I am playing your awesome deathstroke build on the AW - Underdark Wars PW server (a female duergar for RP purposes). I must say that it's the strongest build I've ever played that combines a stealth class and a warrior class---she's tougher than nails right from the start, and every level she just gets meaner, nastier, and more deadly! I'm already beating the tar out of anything I meet -- including undead -- and stealthing around in heavy armor at lvl 10! What a blast! ::I gave you credit for the build in my in-game bio::)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Grizz, you've hit the big time -- you've got your first groupie!
Nah, we're all impressed by your builds. You put a great deal of thought and decision into them, rather than just spewing them out in volume.
Seriously though, how would you compare The DeathStroke vs The Assassin King vs the Heart of Darkness? Where would you see one excelling over the others? Why would you choose to play one over the others? With these three excellent Assassin builds recently posted, I think such advise would be of great benefit to everyone, both builders and players.
Grizz, you've hit the big time -- you've got your first groupie!
Nah, we're all impressed by your builds. You put a great deal of thought and decision into them, rather than just spewing them out in volume.
Thanks, Kal. I'm glad people enjoy them.
Quote: Seriously though, how would you compare The DeathStroke vs The Assassin King vs the Heart of Darkness? Where would you see one excelling over the others? Why would you choose to play one over the others? With these three excellent Assassin builds recently posted, I think such advise would be of great benefit to everyone, both builders and players.
Kaliban
Those are some good questions. I'll try to answer the best I can.
I'm currently running a Dwarven version of the Deathstroke on single player. I find that as far as Death Attack goes, he's the best. At level 12 he already enjoys an 18 DC. This means that a 12th lvl Fighter (or Barb, Ranger or any character with Fort as a high save) with a 14 Con still has a 40% (8 in 20) chance of failing that Save. I also find that he is the best Stealther of the 3 due to his 18Dex and capacity to wear lighter armor if needed.
Pound for pound, I find that the Assassin King is probably the most balanced of the bunch. He can just do more raw damage, has a better AB, and still commands respect with his Death Attack DC, and has the best initiative. And then he has HiPS if things go awry, but yet is not bound by HiPS nor reliant upon it. If it came to PvP, I would pick this guy.
The Heart of Darkness is a close runner-up. He loses TWF/ITWF, WS/EWS/, 2AB, 1d6sneak, 1DC on DA. He gets faster movement, more hit points, DR 2/-, and Terrifying Rage, and Greater Rage.
Personally, I still pick the Deathstroke. But that's only because I find him more honorable because he didn't take 1 level of Cheesedancer (ChiPS--Cheese in Plain Sight).
Cheese aside, though, and pound for pound, the Assassin King is the Master Cheddar, err, Shredder.
But there's quite a few good Assassin builds out there other than mine. There's a few that come to mind like the StoneDeath, Shifty Shiv, Darkstalker, Drow Assassin, etc. I really can't say that mine are any better than someone else's, because it all boils down to environment and how one likes to play. For instance, I tend to be a sloppy stealther, so most of my sneaks have 400+ hit points and a high strength to compensate for my lack of playing ability. I build to my playing style, strengths and weaknesses.
Hell, even my finesse builds are meaty. I'm playing a character with a group at the moment in which I am a kukri-finessing dwarven Rogue/CoT/Ftr(Fighting Rogue of War). Yet somehow, someway, he's wielding a 2-handed, strength-driven maul, and has a higher strength, higher AC, more hit points, and does more damage than anybody in the party. And I'm like, "Hey, how did I get to be the tank? Why is the Paladin in the back?" And my good ole kukris are stuck in my backpocket, getting rusty, and I'll pull them out at night and have dreams of finessing them again some day....but the quest calls, and heroes are needed, and a red sun rises, and I must be ready to visit violence on those who would do us harm.
Anyway, what were we talking about? _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
LOL, seriously though, you guys are great. The banter and discussion on this board is always entertaining and definitely a cut above your average newsgroup.
Cheers _________________ Favorite PW's: Hall of the Worlds, Higher Ground, World of Iniquity.
i just want to say how much FUN this build is to play.
(yeah, the topic is old, but it can never be buried, due to the marvelous character build search!!)
i played a bit of a variant with my evil berserker, specializing in bastard swords, and i had discord. i tell you, this woman was the specialist in freezing up enemies. maybe not the strongest in pvp, but pvm -- what a blast!
i'd mow down bugbear tribes: first, the terrifying rage hits them, freezes them, makes them pee in their loincloths. discord hits them and sometimes dazes them. the best part is when the dazed creatures get REALLY confused and start fighting each other! and then there was the death attack paralyzation. doesn't hit often, but when it does... man, this thing lasts like five minutes. evil sadistic witch that she was, she'd leave those guys standing until finished wiping out the rest of the map. and then come back and use a whip on the poor blighters. so mean!
then there was an area on the server with demons. demons with FEAR auras! i tell you right now, those demons were more afraid of her than she was of them! oh man.... that was sweet!
Is this build competition mode now? 
I give up. Somewhat similar to the Master of Fear tactics build but... Ow.
Nice build, along with the Master of Scare Tactics, it is also mildly similar to my build from a short while ago 
