This one was designed for the build request forums, but it seems like there is no other one like this (There is a Risen defender, but he gets devastating critical, this one is more focused on defense), so I have decided posting him.
This build is focused (Of course, another one, did you think you had enough?) on the shifter risen lord's shape, trying to get a good overall tank.
Playable from 1 to 40.. PvP & PvM First levels will be a pain but it is still playable
For your companion I think the panther could be good, it can do a bit of damage (only a bit) while you tank (defensive stance?) but it will not last long at high levels.
Saving Throws: Fort: 32 (40 vs spells) (42 vs spells in Defensive Stance) Will: 25 (34 vs spells) (36 vs fear) (38 vs fear in defensive stance) Reflex: 25 (34 vs spells) (36 vs spells in defensive stance)
Animal Empathy 3(1) // I did not know where to put these three remaining points Discipline 43(53) Open Lock 1(7) // That would get you access to a few low level places Spellcraft 40(40) // +8 to saves always handy Tumble 20(26) // +4 AC and no AoO for moving around Concentration 0(0) // You are not an offensive caster, you dont even have good healing spells
Risen Lord Form I am not completely sure about the following, this has been calculated on paper
Merges Armor properties, Merge Items properties, Merge Weapon properties (The weapon does not need to be a scythe)
You get the Risen Lord Scythe (+5) Bonus Feats: Cleave, Whirlwind Attack, Vampiric Regeneration +2
I have tested him in a +5 max enhancement PW with haste, damage reduction and inmunity items and I managed to wipe the floor with most melee builds in PvP, If you find the right gear and the best melee weapon you can find (Have you noticed how many PWs tweak whips as nobody uses them? *grins*).
Even if fighting characters who can bypass your damage reductions (paladins mostly) you will live long due to your high HP and your damage output and AB use to be good enough to make them live shorter than you do.
Pro: - Insane damage reduction against the most common weapons, an attacker with a slashing/piercing weapon can only hurt you if it is a +5 one and his damage roll is greater than 48 in a non critical/sneak/death attack (49 will net you a whole 1 damage ). - Good saves vs spells - Lots of inmunities - High HP - Decent damage output exceling when scoring a critical hit - Good AB for a shifter build
Con: - Hard to level up (At least I have discovered really useful forms, like the lizardfolk... gotta love that whip). - You can't heal yourself while shifted. - You can't use items while shifted. - You can be turned (It is really really annoying). - Most gear properties will not stack, that's a great disadvantage in mid-high magic worlds, if you get used to the item merging mechanics you can still be a decent one in mid-magic worlds, but not on high magic ones. - Low AC (it shouldn't be a problem unless your enemy has elemental damage on her weapon).
I hope you like it. _________________ This is my sword. There are many like it, but this one is MINE. My sword is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My sword without me is useless. Without my sword, I am useless. I must swing my sword true. [...]
Edited By griphook on 12/08/05 13:10
I forgot (Sorry griphook):
Playable from 1 to 40.. PvP & PvM
Its first levels will be a pain but it is still playable (it also depends on your environment and the available gear). _________________ This is my sword. There are many like it, but this one is MINE. My sword is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My sword without me is useless. Without my sword, I am useless. I must swing my sword true. [...]
I have never seen it built but I have fought one in my PW. It was a weird fight. I won the first round with a dev crit. We reset, rebuffed and went again for about twenty minutes. Very hard to damage the build. The shifter won the second round by switching to mindflayer form and removing my brain. Which was . . . discomforting.
Cheers, Fernando, nice build.
I have some questions. And this is because I know next to nothing about Shifters. But what advantage is gained by going Dexterity in this build? Does the Dex merge with the Risen shape? Does the Risen shape receieve a penalty to Dex?
Other than the Dexterity, how does this build differ from, say, The Juggernaut? I assumed that the builder went for a 7/11 split to use the last Shifter level to top out certain skills.
Quote: grizzled_dwarflord I have some questions. And this is because I know next to nothing about Shifters. But what advantage is gained by going Dexterity in this build? Does the Dex merge with the Risen shape? Does the Risen shape receieve a penalty to Dex?
Your link answers your question - the builder states that
Quote: yrtsns (It’s important to note that dex bonuses travel over to the shape’s AC, even when wearing a full plate. Whether this will be true in the next patch or not is hard to say. The plate’s base AC doesn’t carry over, so I would assume that the dex bonus will always be there.)
_________________ < XmikeW> im glad though.. i used to think that -all- finns were supersmart nerds.. but, after seeing 1) (C) law ..2) your culture minister ..and 3) the äm-irk girls... i can say that you guys are definately typical human beings after all [smile_:-)
Roger that. _________________ "Well, he's kind of had it in for me ever since I accidentally ran over his dog. Actually, replace 'accidentally' with 'repeatedly,' and replace 'dog' with 'son.'" ----Lionel Hutz
Quote: But what advantage is gained by going Dexterity in this build? Does the Dex merge with the Risen shape? Does the Risen shape receieve a penalty to Dex?
Already answered. The risen lord form will have the same dex you do on your original form and you will retain the bonus due to defensive awareness. In short: AC and reflex.
Quote: Other than the Dexterity, how does this build differ from, say, The Juggernaut?
I did not notice that one when I looked for similar builds. My bad. They are almost exactly the same but for the fact this one has slighly better AC, slighly better AB, his buffs last a bit longer (only a round/turn/hour, depending on the spell) and has worse saves.
Quote: I assumed that the builder went for a 7/11 split to use the last Shifter level to top out certain skills.
I think the builder did not know you can take your first epic shifter feature at level 10 so he pushed it to epic (At the moment -1.66- it has not been changed, if it gets changed this build will have to change to the 7/11 split too). _________________ This is my sword. There are many like it, but this one is MINE. My sword is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My sword without me is useless. Without my sword, I am useless. I must swing my sword true. [...]
Edited By fernandooa on 12/07/05 15:33
I must say the risen lord and defender abilites complete each other very well, and I think your build is using these abilities at their best even more then previous ones, and it seems playable 1-40 PvM wihtout too much trouble at early levels since he doesn't get 8 to STR and CON like many shifter builds and has a good AC that helps despite the lack of uncanny dodge/defensive awareness before halfway though pre-epic.
My only concern with such a build is that your creature type changes to undead, giving you major weaknesses that can be exploited by the right character classes. The biggest examples I have are spells like Sunburst, Undeath to Death and Mass Heal (which I think denies a saving throw, but I'm really not sure...) and of course turning, even though most cleric builds are not optimized for turning a big mummified scythe-wielding 40HD undead dwarf who got up in a bad mood.
But it's still a rocking build though, don't get me wrong
@Saosin
The creature type changes to undead, but it is very weird, for example, negative energy does not heal you (so (mass) heal should not harm you, I have yet to test it because it could, then it would be 2 disadvantages).
About sunburst and undead to death... I found no wizard/cleric to test my build on PvP. But I bet they should be able to kill him really fast.
About turning... I have been turned by an NPC, it is really annoying, it made my char to run scared for what It looked like an eternity while that stupid cleric was trying to hurt me with a wimpy mace.
I bet a PC cleric or Paladin (even blackguard) could instakill me by turning me with incredible ease.
Other than that he is an awesome tank to have in a party, that 50% damage inmunity + critical hit inmunity makes you survive almost anything. If I were you I would carry a lot of raise dead spells because you will have to get used to be the last dwarf standing. _________________ This is my sword. There are many like it, but this one is MINE. My sword is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My sword without me is useless. Without my sword, I am useless. I must swing my sword true. [...]
Quote: Other than that he is an awesome tank to have in a party, that 50% damage inmunity + critical hit inmunity makes you survive almost anything.
Actually, you got better protection than epic warding. fex. they hit you for 70, it will inflict 10 damage. As for healing, get a ring of regen, it works. A blunt weapon can hurt you, but just barely, with 25 redux and no crits..... A weapon with element damage will be horrible, considering the AC. Try to get a greater ring of power or something like it.
It's really cool, but it will have somewhat of a hard time until you can become the risen lord. No way to get it earlier?
Quote: Posted 12/09/05 11:23:38 (GMT) -- Grimnir77 No way to get it earlier?
It is possible to get it at level 24 at the cost of 1 AB (the problem with this build is that AB will be really hard to raise due to the fact he already has a +5 weapon and the str enhancement from items will not stack, almost the same with AC).
It is possible to get it even earlier, at level 21, but at the cost of 2 AB and 1 attack/round.
About the elemental damage. True, he will have a hard time against that one but most PWs with elemental damage weapons use to have elemental damage reduction items too (At least the ones I have seen). _________________ This is my sword. There are many like it, but this one is MINE. My sword is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My sword without me is useless. Without my sword, I am useless. I must swing my sword true. [...]
Items granting you immunity to fear should make you unturnable, AFAIK. At least it's what happened to my vampire priestess on a PW I played on... undeath to dead is "deadly" though. My vamp got healed by neg energy and harmed by positive though, but I couldn't target myself with neg energy spells. I dunno how it works with risen lord
Edited By Kail Pendragon on 12/09/05 14:56
I just happen to be pondering a Risen Lord build myself though switching DwD for WM. There is one build like this already but it has Dev crit so I changed a few things around. Perhaps I will post it.
Any ways, where I play, heals hurt you and harms heal you. These make great tanks, but healing can prove to be a major pain. God forbid you should get caught in a mass heal when your cleric comes running in...
I like the DwD spin though. Makes you nearly immune to any slashing/piercing damage. Mind immunity won't prevent turning, but I'm not sure on fear immunity. I thought fear was covered under the mind umbrella.
).
@Saosin
(At least the ones I have seen).