Well, I was looking at the highest AB threads using AA builds( click here ), and thinking that in certain situations, they will have a real hard time hitting no matter what their AB is. So here is the Furry Feet of Fury (FFF) build, designed specifically for PvP vs. Arcane Archer builds.

Monk(35), Shadowdancer(5), Halfling
STR: 8
DEX: 20 (34)
CON: 12
WIS: 14
INT: 10
CHA: 8

Hitpoints: 440
Skillpoints: 182
Saving Throws (Fortitude/Will/Reflex): 23/24/37
Saving Throw bonuses: Mind Effects: +2, Traps: +1, Poison: +1, Fear: +2
BAB: 25
AB (max, naked): 42 (melee), 40 (ranged)
AC (naked/mundane armor/shield only): 42/42

Discipline 43(42), Hide 43(57), Move Silently 43(59), Tumble 40(52)

01: M(1): Dodge, {Cleave, Evasion, Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist}
02: M(2): {Deflect Arrows}
03: M(3): Weapon Finesse
04: M(4): DEX+1, (DEX=21)
05: M(5)
06: M(6): Mobility, {Knockdown, Improved Knockdown}
07: M(7)
08: SD(1): DEX+1, {Hide in Plain Sight}, (DEX=22)
09: SD(2): Toughness, {Darkvision, Uncanny Dodge I}
10: SD(3)
11: SD(4)
12: M(8): DEX+1, Weapon Focus: Unarmed, (DEX=23)
13: M(9): {Improved Evasion}
14: M(10)
15: M(11): Stealthy
16: M(12): DEX+1, (DEX=24)
17: M(13)
18: M(14): Blind Fight
19: M(15)
20: M(16): DEX+1, (DEX=25)
21: M(17): Epic Weapon Focus: Unarmed
22: SD(5): {Defensive Roll}
23: M(18): {Empty Body}
24: M(19): DEX+1, Epic Dodge, (DEX=26)
25: M(20): {Perfect Self}
26: M(21)
27: M(22): Epic Prowess
28: M(23): DEX+1, (DEX=27)
29: M(24)
30: M(25): Great Dexterity I, Armor Skin, (DEX=28)
31: M(26)
32: M(27): DEX+1, (DEX=29)
33: M(28): Great Dexterity II, (DEX=30)
34: M(29)
35: M(30): Epic Toughness I
36: M(31): DEX+1, Great Dexterity III, (DEX=32)
37: M(32)
38: M(33)
39: M(34): Great Dexterity IV, (DEX=33)
40: M(35): DEX+1, Epic Toughness II, (DEX=34)


The idea of this build is basically to combine high AC, Epic Dodge, Deflect Arrows, Empty Body, IKD, Stunning Fist and Monk speed.

Let's assume the AA has a haste item, and Rapid Shot, so gets 6 attacks per round.

Empty Body gives 50% concealment, so on average 3 of those 6 miss.
Deflect Arrows deflects the first arrow that would have hit, so now 4 out of 6 miss.
Epic Dodge dodges the first arrow that wasn't deflected and would have hit, so now 5 out of 6 miss.

So on average, only 1 shot per round even has a chance of hitting. The first 2 always miss, so the AA is starting at -10 or more to AB for the shots that have any chance of hitting. And with his naked AC of 42, he could get his AC quite high with decent equipment, so that 1 shot may actually have some chance of missing. Just buffing Dex and Wis gets him to 54, with Hotu items (+7 robe, +10 Ring, +5 Boots, +7 amulet of NA) he can reach 83, or 87 hasted.

Even with the 1 shot hitting, that means that the AA's prime tactic of spamming Called Shots to the legs won't be very effective. He'll get at most a 40% speed reduction, and the FFF starts with +100% speed from monk speed, so he'll still be faster unhasted than a hasted AA.

The FFF has 57 and 59 in Hide and MS, plus HiPS, so has a good chance of sneaking up without being spotted but the AA. Monk speed helps a lot with this, letting him sneak faster than most characters can run.

Once he catches up to the AA, he has Stunning Fist with a 32 DC. The Bullseye Bowman build only has a Fort save of 20 (and since Elves have low Con, and must take at least a few Bard or Wiz or Sorc levels pre-epic, they tend to have low Fort saves in general, despite it being a strong one for AA levels).

If that doesn't work, he also has IKD (most AA's have low Discipline, although the Bullseye Bowman's is actually decent at 43. Even at 43, though, if the FFF has decent gloves or dex enhancement, it won't be enough).

Damage output for the FFF is low (2d6 since he is small stature, -1 for the low str), but that won't matter. He has decent HP, won't be taking many hits, and once he gets that first successful IKD or SF in, it's all over.

TM


Added link - Kail Pendragon

Edited By Kail Pendragon on 05/17/06 09:30

Quote: Posted 05/09/06 15:06:12 (GMT) -- Tattoed Monk

Empty Body gives 50% concealment, so on average 3 of those 6 miss.

IIRC, Blind-Fight works in 30-feet range.
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Quote: Posted 04/26/06 12:05:52 (GMT) -- Ithacan

[...]Harper Scout, the only class so powerful it's capped at five.
[...]

Only if they take it (which the Bullseye Bowman didn't).

With Blindfight, 1.5 out of the 6 attacks still miss, plus DA and ED, so on average an AA with Blindfight will get 2.5 chances to hit the FFF, if they spot him before he stuns them. Again, the shots with a chance to hit will still be at least the 3rd attack or later, at -10 ro more to hit, vs. an AC potantially high enough to miss.

TM Well, good vs AA's, yes. But I don't know if the MAX AB build is the best to compare to. Since he is only made to reach the highest possible AB. With high magic items. That aside, a monk/Sd is a tough nut to crack with an AA, no doubt about it.
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I see the fear you have inside, you can run but never hide.
I will hunt you down and tear you limb from limb.

I run the Pre-Epic Builders guild. Join and share your experience.
Quote: (aka Bullseye Bowman's Bane)

LOL

I suddenly don't want to use a ranged build against you... although, you just gave me an idea, for the archer killer, how about an archer that kills archer killers? I think a Barbarian 14 /Bard 3/AA 23 with 9 DR from EDR III and 2 DR from Barbarian (as I don't want to sacrifice too much AA), gets enough DR to resist your damage at a level to actually compete (your 1-11 damage vs DR 11), or even win, aside from criticals, he gets immune.

I won't bother you with higher DR builds, since I have one specialized for this kind of situations and could be mean to pop it up.

There are some AA builds that try to get a decent melee, but you could still win against them, just because they get melee doesn't means they hit, your AC is high and Concealment works the same.

I'd say this character is very dependant on strong monk gloves, with them, it's fierce (the Barbarian 14 / Bard 3 / AA 23 now needs Epic Energy Resistance Sonic and Cold to become a winner).

Edited By Thaxll'ssyllia on 05/10/06 00:20