The Artful Dodger Cleric(35), Monk(2), Rogue(3) Race - Human Alignment - Any Lawful (Preferably Good or Neutral to retain spontaneous spell casting for healing spells) PvM playable 1-40, PvP should be as easy as it can get for a pure caster cleric...
Starting Stats: STR - 8 DEX - 14 CON - 10 WIS - 18 INT - 14 CHA - 8
I've noticed a fair few of the caster builds which were posted on these pages were designed to excel in low magic worlds. I believe this was an inherent weakness of caster classes who rely on their spell DCs and their reliance on damage reduction spells etc in order to survive in melee. Of course, clerics are not as bad as wizards/sorcerers but they are still lacking in melee presence in high magic worlds when built as a caster.
High AC values generally SHOULD be the answer but because of +6 and greater weapons being available on the respective high magic worlds where the value of these casters is nerfed, most have no other option but to rely on Epic Warding. However, THIS particular build (which has been done to death, I know) relies on stratospheric AC values to survive. Basically, it buffs itself to such an extent that NOTHING can hit it and those 35 Cleric lvls mean it is nigh impossible to dispel those buffs. In testing this build, I was able to achieve a NAKED ac of 36 (unbuffed) / 84 (buffed).
Now, I would like to remind you that this build is supposed to be able to survive on a high magic world...I don't play online much but I am assuming that this translates to +6 items or better. Keeping this in mind, here's the modified AC using +6 items and DEX boosting items - 95. The highest AB you could get in the game is with an Arcane Archer, which is in the range of 75+ and you stil have Entropic Shield to help with that. Nothing's going to touch you!! Oh and I forgot...you also have Improved Invisibility for 50% concealment...as well as Darkness (with Ultravision cast on self of course) for a FURTHER 50% concealment. The idea is to make yourself unhittable on anything other than a natural critical, and EVEN THEN you have your concealment bonuses to back you up and make sure their criticals miss you half the time. And I failed to mention earlier, but because a significant chunk of that AC is dodge and tumble ac, the build picks up Uncanny Dodge I from the 3 Rog lvls so you never have to worry about losing it.
And you can have around 12-14 casts of Heal as well...this build is meant to be a good survivor in high magic environments and in order to make sure he can put the hurt on the enemies who are trying to hit him, he has:
Implosion DC - 42 (+6 with WIS boosting items - 48) Hammer of the Gods DC - 34 (+6 with WIS boosting items - 40) Blade Barrier DC - 36 (+6 with WIS boosting items - 42)
As well as Harm, Flame Strike and all your standard melee buffs...not that he needs it...
Note: For his domains, you need Plant and Trickery. If you dont mind foregoing Improved Invisibility, you could go ahead and take War...which gets you Aura of Vitality and Cat's Grace...this pushes his maximum naked buffed AC to 91...but reduces his playability and effectiveness somewhat as you don't have Invisibility and Improved Invisibility to fall back on...
I considered taking Toughness but I wanted the flexibility afforded by having all the metamagic feats...especially Silent Spell! Lvl 7 is nothing great, and I can just use these as Silent Heals and Harms which is a lot more useful IMO. Maximised Blade Barriers are doing something like 210 dmg and Empowered Blade Barriers do 40-240 dmg on a failed save. Not easy to pass it up just for 40 more hitpoints...however, any suggestions as to how to further optimise this build are welcome. This is my first formal build for the Epic Characters Guild so...be nice!
Added character level to leveling guide - Kail Pendragon
Edited By Kail Pendragon on 06/09/06 17:09
nice build, well done.
for worlds don't allow casting with improved expertise on, i'd drop those two feats for toughness and great fortitude, since your fort save isn't great.
i'd probably also drop the dex to 10 and put con up to 14. this combined with toughness would give an extra 120 hit points, it's not like he needs the +2 AC from the dex modifier anyway.
My only criticism is in the name, which methinks is misleading. I would expect an Artful Dodger to have either Dodge, Epic Dodge, high Dex, pickpocket, and Artist Feat combined with some Perform and Bardsong. 35 levels of Cleric says something other than Artful Dodger. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
The Fartful Codger? _________________ Where I'm playing now: World of Greyhawk.
I do agree the title seems off. Maybe the Evasive Evoker? Or Evasive Evangelist?
I'd suggest Zen Archery in place of Maximize Spell. I don't think there's a need for Extend Spell and Maximize Spell unless you're overflowing with feats.
And I'd drop Dex as suggested.
Did you mention he gets an XP penalty from somewhere around level 11 on? (Next time follow the post guidelines to include character level and class level.)
Grats on your first post.
Edited By Ubernachtung on 05/25/06 20:05
I dont think he gets an exp penalty. Nice build.
Quote: Posted 05/25/06 20:27:39 (GMT) -- Bruce Lee 72
I dont think he gets an exp penalty.
You're correct, my mistake.
Bah...I named it after thinking about it for all of 30 seconds before posting it!
And besides...isnt AC about dodging hits? Well yes, I concede that I could have named it better and I don't really care what its called...griphook can feel free to change it if he wants!
About the +2 Dex...I really would have preferred to have 16 starting DEX but that would mean sacrificing from CON and I wasn't prepared to do that. I could have played this as a Halfling but I would have had one less feat and I was strapped for feats in this build as it is...
Also, this build is a very tried and tested combination, as you will find after searching through the indexed list of builds and as such should be fairly flexible if you want to modify certain parts of it. HOWEVER, please keep in mind that if you are ditching Expertise...you are going to get knocked around a fair bit by some melee builds which is not a good thing as this build does NOT have a single point of Discipline to speak of! (In fact, I believe it has a -1 Discipline score ).
Thanks for the input guys!!
EdiT:@Ubernachtung: Mate...this build RELIES on all those metamagick'd Blade Barriers, Hammer of the Gods, Flame Strike etc to have a steady output of damage, and IMO those metamagic feats are ESSENTIAL to the build.
D'you know how awesome it is to in PvM to cast say 2-3 Extended Blade Barriers and lure enemies over them repeatedly? You get a lot of mileage for one spell...
And besides...isnt AC about dodging hits? Well yes, I concede that I could have named it better and I don't really care what its called...griphook can feel free to change it if he wants!
_________________
Quote: Posted 04/26/06 12:05:52 (GMT) -- Ithacan
[...]Harper Scout, the only class so powerful it's capped at five. [...]
Err...this is very embarassing...
I meant the mods of course..
And I was browsing a HP forum at the same time so...
And I was browsing a HP forum at the same time so...
Um...yeah...
griphook went missing a while back, so you have to call for Kail nowadays. _________________
Quote: Posted 04/26/06 12:05:52 (GMT) -- Ithacan
[...]Harper Scout, the only class so powerful it's capped at five. [...]
Edited By FinneousPJ on 05/26/06 09:53
This build has confused me for a while now. I have made this build in a test module, and once reaching level 40 am unable to reach the designated 83 or so AC naked. the highest I can get is I think nearing 63. What am I forgetting? _________________ Unnoted-
Quote: Posted 06/09/06 17:01:17 (GMT) -- Myzterie
This build has confused me for a while now. I have made this build in a test module, and once reaching level 40 am unable to reach the designated 83 or so AC naked. the highest I can get is I think nearing 63. What am I forgetting?
The builder never really specified the calculation with which he reached 84 AC, so one can't tell (he mentions high magic, so perhaps he's using +20 items). Frankly, I'd not care about that. He says his unbuffed AC is 36, that's the figure that truly matters. I can see his AC reach some 70 in a standard, mid-magic environment (+5 items). _________________ "... C'est un pays plus nu que la terre polaire — Ni bêtes, ni ruisseaux, ni verdure, ni bois!
Or il n'est pas d'horreur au monde qui surpasse La froide cruauté de ce soleil de glace Et cette immense nuit semblable au vieux Chaos; ..."
That is all true, yes, and thank you. But what really bewilders me is the second screenshot depicting him naked with 84 AC. _________________ Unnoted-
BTW, assuming you can stack Undeath's Eternal Foe for +20 Dodge, he gets 83 AC with +5 items and +12 DEX/WIS. _________________ "... C'est un pays plus nu que la terre polaire — Ni bêtes, ni ruisseaux, ni verdure, ni bois!
Or il n'est pas d'horreur au monde qui surpasse La froide cruauté de ce soleil de glace Et cette immense nuit semblable au vieux Chaos; ..."
He's a cleric. He can pump his AC like there's no tomorrow:
Shield of Faith +5 deflection AC Magic Vestment +5 Armor AC Barkskin +5 Natural AC UEF multiple castings +20 dodge AC Owl's Wisdom (lucky empowered roll) +3 AC
You get a +38 AC without any equipment at all, for a total of 82. Some moderate WIS gear will bring you at 84 as stated.
PS: there's Improved Expertise too there, that's another +10 AC
Cheers, Kail _________________ Looking for a realm of adventure? Check out World of Greyhawk, you won't regret it.
Edited By Kail Pendragon on 06/09/06 17:17
Quote: Posted 06/09/06 17:09:35 (GMT) -- Myzterie
That is all true, yes, and thank you. But what really bewilders me is the second screenshot depicting him naked with 84 AC.
He has probably stacked UEF for +20 dodge, has IE on, Magic Vestment, WIS/DEX buffs, etc. etc. _________________ "... C'est un pays plus nu que la terre polaire — Ni bêtes, ni ruisseaux, ni verdure, ni bois!
Or il n'est pas d'horreur au monde qui surpasse La froide cruauté de ce soleil de glace Et cette immense nuit semblable au vieux Chaos; ..."
Yeah, that is what he did. By stacking UEF one is able to achieve 83/84 AC completely naked. _________________ Unnoted-
Quote: Posted 06/09/06 18:16:54 (GMT) -- Myzterie
Yeah, that is what he did. By stacking UEF one is able to achieve 83/84 AC completely naked.
It is, however, an exploit, and I'd expect many PWs to have prevented it. _________________ "... C'est un pays plus nu que la terre polaire — Ni bêtes, ni ruisseaux, ni verdure, ni bois!
Or il n'est pas d'horreur au monde qui surpasse La froide cruauté de ce soleil de glace Et cette immense nuit semblable au vieux Chaos; ..."
