A Rakshasa with DS. Feedback's welcome! _________________ "... 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; ..."
Introduction: Generic Rakshasa w/ Dragon Shape (yeah, I'm having fun making up these names all right!)
Well, this time around you get a more versatile character in the end. Just in case you should have to face those pesky SR-dudes.
But 4 builds in 2 days? Plus some in hte pre-epics? Don't exhaust yourself.
Anyhow, cool build. Rak on. _________________ 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.
If you move up ICC or AS you can take DS at 36th charcater level, no biggie but earlier is better anyhow.
What else to say? The build was cool before, now it's even cooler. I agree with Grim, don't exhaust yourself; judging from the names of the builds you are already close to drain out your intellectual resources
Cheers, Kail _________________ Stand and fight, live by your heart Always one more try, I'm not afraid to die Stand and fight, say what you feel Born with a Heart of Steel!
You can breathe fire and call down blizzards and stomp on people and call upon nature to destroy your foes.
There's not much more to add - it's really just teh awesome. _________________ CATS!
To get dragon, think he'd have to go shifter 29, take dragon shape, and only needs 5 druid to go there. This would leave room to boost monk levels to i.e., 6, for some neat monk feats. This would lead to good melee, now that the monk is in here, but it would greatly detract from his combat spells, which are pretty awesome, and many different damage types. (but Kail, construct is good for melee, too
Was just a thought This rak, as-is, is very cool!
Edited By Robert Tyr on 06/04/06 18:13
Quote: Posted 06/04/06 18:12:45 (GMT) -- Robert Tyr
To get dragon, think he'd have to go shifter 29, take dragon shape, and only needs 5 druid to go there. This would leave room to boost monk levels to i.e., 6, for some neat monk feats. This would lead to good melee, now that the monk is in here, but it would greatly detract from his combat spells, which are pretty awesome, and many different damage types. (but Kail, construct is good for melee, too
Was just a thought This rak, as-is, is very cool!
You don't need shifter AT ALL to get dragon shape. All you need is wild shape (6/day, I think) and 30 wisdom. _________________ CATS!
Quote: Posted 06/04/06 19:03:46 (GMT) -- avarielo
[You don't need shifter AT ALL to get dragon shape. All you need is wild shape (6/day, I think) and 30 wisdom.
Really? No Shifter? Wild Shape does it all by itself? Always thought you needed more shifter for that (thanks for clearing that up; did not know that (obviously -- tee hee). Well then, there's you have it folks -- Cool!
And so is this build
You just need Druid 14 or Shifter 10 (which implies Druid 5 at least) and WIS 30 for DS. You can take the feat leveling up as a druid or shifter only, both as a general feat or as a bonus feat.
The actual requirements are Wildshape 5x or Greater Wildshape IV plus WIS 30.
Cheers, Kail _________________ Wait for me Dragon, we'll meet in the sky By fire and magic, I'm sworn Hell is calling, we cannot be denied Fly to the blackness of the Storm
We must die to be reborn!
Finn, name idea: "Wrathful Dragon" -- for the other, Mage Slayer or Mage Hunter . . . . you can ruminate on these (or not) and treat yourself (so many builds, so incredible productive: you have soooo earned it!!!!!) - Pat yourself on the back, Finn: very very cool builds (raks rule!)
"Come not between the dragon, and his wrath." - William Shakespeare, King Lear
Now if he only had IDK aswell in there somewhere hehe. Why do you take Monk pre epic? For the saves or for tumble and playability? 12 druid 8 shifter would be better for ab right?
Edited By Bruce Lee 72 on 06/04/06 23:12
Quote: Posted 06/04/06 23:10:19 (GMT) -- Bruce Lee 72
Why do you take Monk pre epic? For the saves or for tumble and playability? 12 druid 8 shifter would be better for ab right?
Yes, and yes. _________________ "... 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; ..."
Depending on just how highly you value the extra speed, 28 druid/10 shifter/2 monk might be a good option for another feat.
If you're willing to sacrifice some constitution you could take one less great wisdom, increase it normally at level 40, and take dragon shape with your last bonus feat. Effectively 2 extra feats at the expense of -1 constitution and monk speed.
I've had great fun playing rakshasa builds PvM, but that depends a lot on the setting. Infinite ice storms are awesome if you can find lots of enemies to use them on. I posted something similar a while back ( clicky ), but it was more aimed at a low-magic setting.
Quote: Posted 06/05/06 20:30:39 (GMT) -- FinneousPJ -- oh, and I worship Nietzsche! --
Here you go:
"He who fights too long against dragons becomes a dragon himself; and if you gaze too long into the abyss, the abyss will gaze into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche
(Nietzsche's great! Ah, in light of your class-combo, either of these two following quotes would work very well, too (and, uh, as good as a story, too, oui?!)
"O to be a dragon, a symbol of the power of Heaven - of silkworm size or immense; at times invisible." - Marianne Moore, O To Be A Dragon
"Never laugh at live dragons." - J.R.R. Tolkein - The Hobbit
Edited By Robert Tyr on 06/06/06 04:38
Quote: Posted 06/05/06 23:54:21 (GMT) -- pulse cap
Depending on just how highly you value the extra speed, 28 druid/10 shifter/2 monk might be a good option for another feat.
I value it a lot. Besides, I don't feel I'm missing out on anything...
Quote: Posted 06/05/06 23:54:21 (GMT) -- pulse cap
If you're willing to sacrifice some constitution you could take one less great wisdom, increase it normally at level 40, and take dragon shape with your last bonus feat. Effectively 2 extra feats at the expense of -1 constitution and monk speed.
But, IMO, I don't need the extra feats so badly. I'd rather keep the speed and the 40 HP.
Quote: Posted 06/05/06 23:54:21 (GMT) -- pulse cap
I've had great fun playing rakshasa builds PvM, but that depends a lot on the setting. Infinite ice storms are awesome if you can find lots of enemies to use them on. I posted something similar a while back ( clicky ), but it was more aimed at a low-magic setting.
Yeah, I know that build, it's a good one. I've played a Rakshasa build in PvM - not this one exactly, but a Gnome shifter with EDR3 He was quite enjoyable, as the Rakshasa DR (15/+5 IIRC) stacks (against mobs with no +5 weapons). _________________ "... 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; ..."
I see you drop druid at lev 11 and don't pick it up again until lev 22. But the wild shape forms improve greatly at lev 12, am I recalling that correctly? Why not pull one more druid lev. 12th druid is a BAB-gaining lev as well.
Wow Crit, how many years can pass before the time limit on the spell "resurrect thread" is finished?
Just kidding around, but on the real, Finn probably wanted to increase the early playability of the build with the monk WIS bonus to ac and discipline skilldump. Both make shifting into bears and whatever a much easier proposition.
Your probably right though, the endgame of the build would benefit from holding off until the epics to add monk.
No I was talking about adding a druid lev pre-epic, but not at the cost of the monk lev, but rather a shifter level, so shifter 9 would come at lev 22.
As far as the age of the post, in this forum, I think it's good to post to old builds. Why not help to refine them? And along the way, some may be found to be nullified by later patches and so forth.
Also, one more shifter lev (to 11) and one less Druid lev (to 26) give the build either undead or construct shape.
And, if the build doesn't switch out, say, toughness for KD, then it will be a dragon that can't KD, correct? (Or does dragon shape get KD free?)
Do most people use empowered in Rak form or maximize? If empowered is just as desireable, then blind fighting could be in there too.
When facing spell resistance - with the ice storms - do the druid + shifter levels add together for rolling against the SR?
Quote: As far as the age of the post, in this forum, I think it's good to post to old builds. Why not help to refine them? And along the way, some may be found to be nullified by later patches and so forth.
Yeah, I know, there are actually several dragon builds that became illegal with version 1.69, luckily this one isn't one of those.
Druid 12 early would indeed increase playability, however, that would mean you won't get the Rakshasa until level 27 with 25 base WIS. You need to be on a feat level and be shifter level 10, it's impossible to get 25 WIS below level 24 unless you're a Champion of Torm or an Epic Druid, both options won't do, so he's basically taking the Rakshasa as fast as possible. I assume Outsider Shape a bit earlier was more important.
The Construct and Undead Shapes are feats, so you'd need to sacrifice another epic feat for them, but given he gets elder elemental shapes and later even dragon shape, there's not much into it, he just wanted the Rakshasa.
There's no free KD except for Monk level 6, so yeah, he could change Toughness for KD, sounds nice. Blind-Fight is also a good thing to have, personally, I think Empowered is better than maximized, but I'd actually drop Extended. What I believe is Finn made the build too centered in the Rak shape, since the dragon appears way too late, that's why there's an early focus to Improved Expertise and the offensive combat feats are long forgotten, but to change that is very acceptable IMO. _________________ "My name is Thaxll'ssyllia, but you simians may refer to me merely as "Sir", if you prefer a less... syllable intensive workout."
Edwin Odesseiron - Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
Edited By Thaxll'ssyllia on 02/22/09 04:52
Quote: Posted 02/22/09 04:37 (GMT) -- Thaxll'ssyllia Druid 12 early would indeed increase playability, however, that would mean you won't get the Rakshasa until level 27, you need to be on a feat level and be shifter level 10. I assume Outsider Shape a bit earlier was more important.
[Edit: And do you know about the SR/ice storm question?]
Edited By the_critical_process on 02/22/09 04:53
Ok, I see it now, good pointing out. _________________ "My name is Thaxll'ssyllia, but you simians may refer to me merely as "Sir", if you prefer a less... syllable intensive workout."
Edwin Odesseiron - Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
Whatever class you have that can actually cast ice storm or Mestil's acid breath has their levels count for the spell resistance and damage of spells if you put your normal, empowered, and/or maximized spells from that class on the toolbar before shifting. Shifter levels don't matter since they can't cast the spells.
Edited By Malignant Manor on 02/22/09 08:17
So this build, specializing in Rak/ice storm, will roll against SR with d20+26, correct?
The basic toolset has a max of 32 SR so you might want to fit in at least spell penetration and greater spell penetration. They don't stack so you will only get a +4 bonus but that guarantees 31+. This is of course, mostly a pvm guideline.
1 less druid level means 1d6 less cold damage on ice storms. Dragon shape doesn't get knockdown as a bonus.
Edited By Malignant Manor on 02/22/09 10:29
Thank you, Thax, for answering for me. Indeed I made this build focused on Rak shape. It's not a bad tweak to take some melee combat feats - build to taste. _________________ Ghaash agh akûl - Nazgûl skoiz Mirdautas vras! Karn ghaamp agh nût Shaut Manwe quiinubat gukh
I see you drop druid at lev 11 and don't pick it up again until lev 22. But the wild shape forms improve greatly at lev 12, am I recalling that correctly? Why not pull one more druid lev. 12th druid is a BAB-gaining lev as well.
Finn probably wanted to increase the early playability of the build with the monk WIS bonus to ac and discipline skilldump. Both make shifting into bears and whatever a much easier proposition.
Sorry man. You may have noticed that I said I was kidding, but I did answer your question I think. I have whipped out the paddles on LOTS of stuff I don't understand on this forum. I think my last one was with the parry skill, which a few people here helped me with.
This rak, as-is, is very cool! 