Guess I have to throw my Pale Master build into the mix as well. This was intended solely as a tank build, but with some of the Bard skills, he can do a little self buffing through Song and scrolls as well. However, he'd be best in a party with a mage that can help him out vs spell attacks. There are a few in the Guild with this class mix, but none with this specific class split. The closest are:
Fighter 20/Bard 4/PaleMaster 16 by Eindride DeathDozer /Fighter 20/Bard 4/Palemaster 16 by Faign The Unknown Warrior /Bard 4/Fighter 26/Pale Master 10 by krsboss
None of them go quite the same route as this one though. Eindride's build chases Dev Crit and has lower CON. Krsboss' build also has high CON and DR, but is so min/maxed that there are 3 8s and a 9 in the 4 ability scores. Faign goes for epic spells.Anyway, I think this is different enough to merit posting.
His saves aren't too horrible, and are quite okay vs spells. He has some decent skills as well. The UMD may be a candidate to drop lower in order to pick up Taunt, depending on what gear's available in his environment (since Bard enables the use of arcane items, he really only needs UMD for Monk gear and possibly obscure Cleric items).
The AC boost and immunities from PM coupled with high AC and DR make him much more servicaeable as a tank than other FTR-heavy builds. His unbuffed AB is okay, but it could be raised by 2 more points if you delay PM to epic levels. However, this will lose you some epic FTR bonus feats and I'm not sure what I'd give up in order to do it. It does achieve 4 attacks per round though, which I definitely wanted for this build.
21)FTR13: GRT STR I (22) 22)PM5 23)PM6 24)PM7: GRT STR II (23)/ STR (24) 25)PM8 26)PM9 27)Bard5: GRT STR III (25) 28)PM10: STR (26) 29)FTR14: Epic Weapon Focus 30)FTR15: GRT STR IV (27) 31)FTR16: Epic Prowess 32)FTR17: STR (28) 33)FTR18: GRT CON I (19)/ Armor Skin 34)FTR19 35)FTR20: Epic Weapon Specialization 36)FTR21: GRT CON II (20)/ CON (21) 37)Bard6 38)FTR22: DR I 39)FTR23: DR II 40)FTR24: DR III/ CON (22)
*You can opt to switch this for Imp Expertise for even more AC or any other bonus FTR feat that may appeal to you.
Nicely balanced, Cin. I think you are right about the UMD and Taunt. I don't really see the need to wear the best Monk robes for this build, although I suppose if there is something uber enough where you play it might be worthwhile. But Taunt is a definite advantage for a tank like this guy.
Well done, as usual.
-cs
Nice build CD, PMs with DR are tough buggers, aren't they?
It looks pretty solid, but if you wanted a 1 point higher AB you could shift 4 fighter levels pre-epic and push all the PM levels to epic levels. You would lose a pair of great strenghts but you would pick up a pair of pre-epic feats. I guess you would also lose 2 Fortitude and 3 will, so it might not be worth it. It would come down to a trade off between 2 fortitude, 3 will and 1 point of damage for 1 AB and two pre-epic combat feats. _________________ Two wrongs don't make a right but three lefts do.
