Wizzkid's Dev Crit Archer made me have a second look at this build I've had in my stable for some time now. After doing a bit of polishing, this one looks alright. This is a gimmick build. However, it's a good gimmick, and should still be playable from level 1. Plenty of these Archer Archer builds around that have a focus on both melee and ranged attacks, but none quite like this that I could find (most Dev Crit archers have RDD in them). This is built for an environment where Dev Crit is enabled and it utilizes the AA's Enchant Arrow boost to get a decent ranged AB, while concentrating on STR for Dev Crit (in two weapons), and melee AB and damage. There are a number of things that just couldn't be fit into the build (Blind Fight, Called Shot, Toughness, to name a few), so it's by no means optimal in that regard, but Weapon Specializations could be sacrificed for some of these feats, if desired. Still, it should be relatively effective just the same.
High UMD allows the use of almost any item he finds, and the high Discipline score will be a big boon as well. Spellcraft adds a nice +8 to saves vs spells, which helps cover the woeful Will save (but that's one of the easiest saves to cover anyway). The character should do okay in almost any environment, but he'd really want to be looking out for Fort save-boosting items, as his Fort save isn't stellar for a Dev Crit scenario. However, anything that can be Dev Critted should be wary of this guy, since he can inst-kill from range and melee both. Possible tweaks are listed after the build.
Skills (186 points): Discipline: 41 (60) Spellcraft: 39 (40) Perform: 10 (9) Tmble: 40 UMD: 41 (40) 15 points left over (I put them into Listen).
A few comments: some may wonder why the last Bard level isn't taken at level 37. The reason is, by delaying it one level, I get to top up UMD to 41 ranks, which modifies it to a base of 40. It also gives me the benefit of an extra point into Discipline.
Why 16 DEX? Well, 13 is the minimum to get Rapid Shot. If you're going with 13, you may as well go to 14. The extra 2 points for 16 adds +1 to Relfex saves and Ranged AB, giving me a nice, round +50 with a ranged attack. If desired, you could drop DEX to 14 and put some extra points elsewhere (CON for more HPs and +1 Fort save, or INT and somewhere else - perhaps WIS? - for more skill points).
Why not 29 AA levels? Well, it would mean I'd have to drop 2 Bard levels, which means I couldn't top up Tumble, Spellcraft, or UMD. Not worth the extra +1 on Enchant Arrow, IMO.
Tweaks:
If another point on the DC of Dev Crit is desired, one option is to drop Epic Fortitude and Epic Skill Focus in order to pick up 2 more Great Strength feats. I personally don't feel that's the wisest course of action, which is why I didn't go that route, but it's an option.
Another option, if you want the Epic Weapon Specialization feats, is to drop the two feats mentioned above and take the EWS feats on your FTR level. You'd need to move Armor Skin to level 24. Again, I don't feel this is optimal.
As mentioned above, if one wanted to grab a couple different feats pre-epic, it's easy enoguh to drop the Weapon Specialization feats and replace them with (for example) Blind Fight, Called Shot, or Toughness.
Is there an obvious reason I'm missing for why you chose Half-Elf over Human?
Yep. See Coreyb's response. _________________ It's rogue, dammit, ROGUE!!!
Hmmm, I believe I undesrtand that you prefer Fortitude as it may be intended for a highly Dev Crit scenario, still, taking Great Fortitude or Blind-Fight is a tough choice.
Hmmm, I believe I undesrtand that you prefer Fortitude as it may be intended for a highly Dev Crit scenario, still, taking Great Fortitude or Blind-Fight is a tough choice.
Yeah, Thax, I'm actually thinking more and more that it would be better to drop the 2 Weapon Specializations and pick up Blind Fight and Called Shot. _________________ It's rogue, dammit, ROGUE!!!
Well, 2 damage isn't such a big deal, +6 from full EWS is normally why you'd take Fighter (and the feats of course), a more specialized build would go EWS ranged only, you chose melee too for versatility, but there's no way to fit everything, changing those WS for Blind-Fight and Called Shot is viable. CoT would be nice, but it won't fit either.
I like it. I'd get Blind-Fight though. _________________ "With Europe liberated, the people of the world turned their attention to that old devil, the United States of America [...] We taught that monster of old the true meaning of freedom." Star Wreck
What's this? A dev-crit pointy ear by Cinnabar Din? Never thought it would come to this, old boy. You might need to pay a visit to my old stone hearth, visit with me awhile, get a few ales in you and centered, and back under the guidance of a steady hand. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
To get Blind Fight, I think I would exchange 4 AA levels for Fighter and a net gain of 1 feat. Your ranged AB is still a respectable 48, but if my math is right, you'll actually be hitting more often against anything that has between ~11% and ~89% concealment. Called Shot is a bit tougher call. _________________ There's always time to procrastinate.
Can't you sub great fortitude for Blind Fight?
Quote: Posted 01/17/07 17:46 (GMT) -- Bromium
Can't you sub great fortitude for Blind Fight?
It's obviously meant for a Dev Crit world, so he needs his fort save as high as possible. I wouldn't drop it. _________________ There's always time to procrastinate.
As Kool says: you want that Fort save bolstered as much as possible in a Dev Crit world. I really think the best solution to grab Blind Fight is to drop a Weapon Specialization. Really, the point of the build is to Dev Crit the opponent from range, and if that fails, you try to do it in melee. With that in mind, the WS feats are unnecessary. If I were to rework the build, I'd drop them and take Blind Fight and Called Shot. In fact, that's what I recommend for this build now that I've thought about it some more. _________________ It's rogue, dammit, ROGUE!!!
What's this? A dev-crit pointy ear by Cinnabar Din? Never thought it would come to this, old boy. You might need to pay a visit to my old stone hearth, visit with me awhile, get a few ales in you and centered, and back under the guidance of a steady hand.
Indeed; having returned from the temple in the woods (wiping clean the taint of dem evil shadowlords from me blade, (20 levels, *sigh*, just enough for a warm up...) Anywho, so nice to return to a full 40 levels, and a dbl dev crit archer, too!! (sah-weet, CD - me likes, too
As to BF and CS, what about dropping the cleave-line for 'em (just a thought, as fort is def. neces., but WS is nice to have, too, no?).
Edited By TyrTemplar on 01/23/07 06:21
Quote: Posted 01/23/07 06:17 (GMT) -- TyrTemplar As to BF and CS, what about dropping the cleave-line for 'em (just a thought, as fort is def. neces., but WS is nice to have, too, no?).
Power Attack, Cleave and Great Cleave are required for Dev Crit, one of the key things in the build.
me bad. . . of course they are (thanks, Kurth; totally not thinking over here, and sorry all (told ya I was out in the woods re: NWN2 (boy, do I miss the lack of . . . well, lots . . . but (as if not obvious, seeing how I er had a momentary lapse on that) i.e., DevCrit especially do I miss the most (I know, whine, whine, whine --
Alright then, WS it is then ....
(thanks again, Kurth, and once again, nice build, CD, and a big hello to all!)
Tyr
Edited By TyrTemplar on 01/23/07 10:08
Given that this is Cinn posting, I assume that one level of bard opens up AA even if the charisma is 8, meaning that the build cannot cast arcane spells.
That said, this is a PvM 1-40 build; I took a stab at tweaking it toward a Level 40 PvP build. This would be best for what I call evil gankers who like to PK lowbies . . . basically, the people I fight on a daily basis. . . the Dev Crit DC will be too low to pose much of a threat to a well-built forty, and the AC will get it killed, but this would provide hours of long-distance fun when used to torment a party of level 20's. Which, again, I'd have to kill you for
AA 27 Bard 3 Fighter 10 Elf PvP 40
STR 16 DEX 16 CON 12 INT 12 WIS 8 CHA 12
1 )FTR1: LoH/ Weapon Focus:Longbow 2 )FTR2: Power Attack 3 )FTR3: Cleave 4 )FTR4: Weapon Specialization: Longbow/ STR (17) 5 )FTR5 6 )FTR6: Point Blank Shot/Rapid Shot 7 )Bard1 *Exp Penalty from here up* 8 )AA1: STR (18) 9 )AA2: Improved Critical:Longbow 10)AA3 11)AA4 12)AA5: Called Shot/ STR (19) 13)AA6 14)AA7 15)AA8: Great Cleave 16)AA9: STR (20) 17)AA10 18)FTR7: Great Fortitude 19)FTR8: Blind Fight 20)FTR9: STR (21) 21)AA11: Epic Weapon Focus:Longbow 22)Bard2 23)AA12 24)AA13: Epic Fortitude/ STR (22) 25)AA14: AA Feat: Epic Prowess 26)AA15 27)AA16: Great Strength I (23) 28)AA17: STR (24) 29)AA18: AA Feat: Overwhelming Critical:Longbow 30)FTR10: ESF:Discipline; FFeat: EWS:Longbow 31)AA19 32)AA20: STR (25) 33)AA21: Great Strength II (26) 34)AA22: AA Feat: Devastating Critical:Longbow 35)AA23 36)AA24: Armor Skin; DEX 17 37)AA25 38)AA 26 AA Feat: Great Dexterity (18) 39)AA27: Great Dex 19 40)Bard 3: DEX 20
AB: 29 base + 5 Dex + 14 AA + 3 EWF + 1 EP = 52 (no buffs, mundane longbow) + 6 Dex Equip + 3 Enhanced Bow = 61 + 1 Bard Song = 62
me bad. . . of course they are (thanks, Kurth; totally not thinking over here, and sorry all (told ya I was out in the woods re: NWN2 (boy, do I miss the lack of . . . well, lots . . . but (as if not obvious, seeing how I er had a momentary lapse on that) i.e., DevCrit especially do I miss the most (I know, whine, whine, whine -- 
