The focus of this build is to provide a TANK/MEATSHIELD for the party. It will focus on Epic Gargoyle or Risen Lord form (I prefer gargoyle unless you face a dev crit/sneaker). Vampire shape would be nice too.
AC is kept LOW for a reason. You WANT them to hit you and do damage to themselves against your Acid Sheath or Elemental Shield. You will be a nice party buffer, a good front line person. This is a build geared to be part of a functional party. Not a solo killer.
01: Druid(1): Luck of Heros 02: Druid(2) 03: Druid(3): Alertness 04: Druid(4): INT+1, (INT=17) 05: Druid(5) 06: Shifter(1): Toughness 07: Shifter(2) 08: Shifter(3): INT+1, (INT=18) 09: Wizard(1): Extend Spell, {Scribe Scroll} 10: Shifter(4) 11: Shifter(5) 12: Wizard(2): INT+1, Empower Spell, (INT=19) 13: Shifter(6) 14: Shifter(7) 15: Wizard(3): Great Fortitude 16: Shifter(8): INT+1, (INT=20) 17: Shifter(9) 18: Wizard(4): Skill Focus: Discipline 19: Wizard(5): Maximize Spell 20: Shifter(10): CON+1, (CON=15) 21: Shifter(11): Undead Shape 22: Wizard(6) 23: Druid(6) 24: Druid(7): CON+1, Epic Energy Resistance: Fire I, (CON=16) 25: Wizard(7) 26: Wizard(8) 27: Wizard(9): Epic Energy Resistance: Fire II 28: Wizard(10): CON+1, Great Intelligence I, (CON=17), (INT=21) 29: Wizard(11) 30: Wizard(12): Epic Energy Resistance: Acid I 31: Wizard(13) 32: Wizard(14): CON+1, (CON=18) 33: Wizard(15): Epic Fortitude, Great Intelligence II, (INT=22) 34: Wizard(16) 35: Wizard(17) 36: Wizard(18): CON+1, Epic Energy Resistance: Sonic I, (CON=19) 37: Wizard(19) 38: Wizard(20): Spell Penetration 39: Wizard(21): Epic Spell: Hellball 40: Wizard(22): CON+1, (CON=20)
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Elf for 0 xp penalty and spot bonus. Human could also be used without any trouble. This build has a lot of extra skill points.
Greater Int feats were taken in the mage metamagic slots.
Hellball can be cast while shifted.
Spell penetration was taken in the metamagic slot because it was a leftover selection.
Epic Gargoyle has DR 25/+7 and 25/- pierce resistance.
We all know the Risen Lord also makes a good tank.
If you really want to be naughty, take Disarm as a feat. Do not take Improved Disarm. When you attempt to disarm you will provoke an AoO. If you manage a very lucky disarming hit with it... hey... bonus for you, just don't count on it hitting.
An Empowered Acid Sheath will do wonders! Elemental shield will also grant you 50% immunity to fire and cold.
You will have unlimited Gargoyle form, so re-buff yourself often.
If you are tired of getting knocked on your butt, use Specter form. It's KD immune. Then just spam the Shadow Attack.
Every party loves a meat shield! So be a team player! (This build is nice on low magic worlds with no Dev Crit.)
Edited By Kail Pendragon on 06/20/10 09:11
oops, can you edit the title to say Dr 7 (not 5)? then delete this post.
thanks
Despite what the feat description says, you can take Undead Shape at Shifter 10. Might be nice to get another level of Wiz rather than the 11th Shifter, for a bonus feat and a little more damage on your shields.
11 Shifter is for Epic Gargoyle form.
Desired for the 25/+7 damage reduction.
What equipment will transfer their bonuses to your various forms?
Ithacan
Items and Armor for Gargoyle.
Consult the nwnwiki if you have want to know the others.
Ah, I see.
why take druid level 6 and 7 in epic? why not drop them for added wiz levels? almost to the dispel cap then.
Quote: Epic Gargoyle has DR 25/+7 and 25/- pierce resistance.
Nice, with that Epic Gargoyle tanks greatly, too bad Wizard gets d4 HP. I'm not sure why you increase INT to 22... shifted you won't be casting... I suspect there's a reason but I don't discover it, you could change 2 INT for 2 CON to get more HP, I'm sure you want HP as any tanker, since, according to wikipedia (I'll trust it for now) Epic Gargoyle doesn't overrides CON...
"Greater Int feats were taken in the mage metamagic slots."
Since I was not going to be casting many spells (other than buffs and summons) I was not going to select the typical epic metamagic feats of penetration and the like. That left me with Greater Int as a left over. It's true that I could have swapped out some of my basic level up stat buffs for con instead of Int. I took 4 normal INT increases pre-epic, the rest were CON. The difference between 20 and 22 INT is an extra second and sixth level spell. I thought at the time that the extra sixth level spell would do me more good (greater stoneskin, an extended Mestil's Acid Sheath, Empowered Elemental Shield). Since the Acid Sheath/Elemental shield is very important to this build, I thought that one more per day would be better than 40 HPs and a +1 Fort save. I can always drink potions while they bash up against my nice acid sheath.
The reason I took Druid up to level 7 was for the level 4 Druid Spells. Freedom can be handy, or another StoneSkin without having to sacrifice a Mage Spell Slot (probably used for Elemental Shield).
This build can be tweeked here and there according to prefferences. I just tried to get as many Elemental Shields or Acid Sheaths as I could (extended/empowered/maximized) and still have some Stoneskin left over. This build is also good in a party with others, so you'll want to buff them too.
Risen Lord (the other nice Tank form) overrides Con.
Improvement tweaks:
@lvl 18 select Disarm instead of Skill Focus Disc.
Move Druid levels 6+7 later in live (after Wizard level 9).
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Disarm is a very handy feat to spam while having an Acid Sheath up. It provokes an attack of opportunity. Good for forcing someone to hit you when they really don't want to. If it does work, then you get a nice little bonus don't you.
Taking Wiz level 9 sooner is better, since that is the level at which you first get Acid Sheath. Druid level 7 was to get Stone Skin. Acid Sheath will help you level faster and survive longer.
ACK!!! Darn Bioware broke Brewed Positions use while shifted!
You can drink then in your regular form, but you can't use them while shifted.
BLAH.
People might want to think about the Brew Potion selection in this build.
Kinda puts a bad taste in my mouth. Was hoping to make a bunch of death armor potions and just drink drink drink for damage.
Hm, definitely an interesting build - and I still think it would do well on a Dev. Crit. world, because Risen form has critical immmunity and will resist most of their damage (assuming they will be slashing as most choose such weapons for critic. range).
Can't think of any improvements though really, except what Thax already suggested.
Edited By mantis3 on 09/05/07 19:43
Evolution of the build:
I've been tweaking here and there on this build and finally came up with this:
I ditched Elf in favor of Gnome because of the Con bonus. I originally had Elf for the constant detect mode, but then realized that soaking damage was better in the long run.
EDR asap (after undead shape) was taken. I didn't really need the extra druid levels in epic. Int is now 20 vs 22 before. More Con. Still no XP loss for multiclass. 116 more HPs.
The EDR III was taken for when the gargoyle encounters people with +7 or better weapons, at least he'll be able to soak up a little bit of damage as opposed to nothing.
Recommend that you take a specialized wizard for the extra spell per level (and not one that would bar you from taking death armor, elemental shield or Mestils acid sheath.
