The Baelnorn

21 Ranger/ 3 Wizard /16 Pale Master
(Elf, any non-lawful and non-good)

Concept: I’m not into D & D that much, but, as I understand it, a Baelnorn is a benevolent elven lich. I’ve always wanted to play a lich, but the fact that I don’t like the cast/rest/cast/rest/die pattern of mages has dissuaded me. I decided that 15+ levels of pale master is the next best thing, and goes well with a melee build.

There is one other example of this combo in the search engine, the Revised Ultimate Maximum Doom Lord. This is a strength-based build using a scimitar and 8th-level spells, whereas my build uses kukris, is dex-based, and limits itself to 6-level spells to get epic ones. I have to admit that my build has an infinitely less cool name, however.

Playable 1-40, PvM and PvP (strongest in epic levels, but ... what build isn’t?)

STR: 12
DEX: 18 (30)
CON: 12
WIS: 8
INT: 16
CHA: 8

Hitpoints (max): 64 Pale Master + 12 wizard + 210 ranger + 40 con + 40 toughness + 20 Pale Master bonus points = 386
Skillpoints: 257
Saving Throws (Fortitude/Will/Reflex): 22/18/26
Saving Throw bonuses: +8 versus spells (spellcraft), also buffs from spells (see discussion)
BAB: 19
AB (dual-wield, unbuffed): 41/36/31/26 and 41/36 (plus Haste if available)
AC (naked): 10 base + 10 PM + 10 dex + 2 feats + 4 tumble= 36
These stats can be increased modestly through buffs, but the biggest effect is on AC: +2 (Cat’s grace), +1 (Mage Armor), +20 (Epic Mage Armor, if not overriden) = 59, enough to make the character quite tough to hit in low/ no magic environments. True Strike is also available, although its short duration makes its utility somewhat dubious.


SKILLS
Discipline 42 (43)
Set Trap 33 (43) (note: if you cannot find even + 4 to dex items, and don’t want to rely on Cat’s Grace, then take 35 ranks to be sure of being able to place epic traps (dc=65))
Spellcraft 40 (43)
Concentration 43 (44)
Search 40 (45) (enough for all Deadly traps, and, being an elf, you don’t even need to enter Detect Mode to find them)
Tumble (cross - class) : 20 (30)
Leftover points : 19

LEVELING GUIDE
01: Wizard 1(Spell school : Illusion): toughness
02: Wizard 2
03: Ranger 1: favored enemy, weapon finesse
04: Ranger 2: Dex + 1, (dex = 19)
05: Ranger 3
06: Ranger 4 : weapon proficiency : exotic
07: Ranger 5 : favored enemy
08: Ranger 6 : Dex + 1, (dex = 20)
09: Ranger 7 : improved critical : kukri
10: Ranger 8
11 : Ranger 9
12 : Ranger 10 : favored enemy, weapon focus : kukri, dex + 1 (dex = 21)
13 : Ranger 11
14 : Ranger 12
15 : Ranger 13 : blind fight
16 : Ranger 14 : dex + 1 (dex = 22)
17 : Ranger 15 : favored enemy
18 : Ranger 16 : skill focus (discipline)
19 : Ranger 17
20 : Ranger 18, Dex + 1, (dex = 23)
21 : Wizard 3, Epic weapon focus : kukri
22 : Pale Master 1
23 : Pale Master 2
24 : Pale Master 3, Armor Skin, dex + 1 (dex = 24)
25 : Pale Master 4
26 : Pale Master 5
27 : Pale Master 6, Great Dexterity I (dex = 25)
28 : Pale Master 7, dex + 1, (dex = 26)
29 : Pale Master 8
30 : Pale Master 9, Great Dexterity II (dex = 27)
31 : Pale Master 10 (invulnerable to sneaks and crits, yay!)
32 : Pale Master 11, dex + 1 (dex = 28)
33 : Pale Master 12, Epic Skill Focus : Discipline
34 : Pale Master 13, Epic Energy Resistance (pick whatever is most common on your server)
35 : Pale Master 14
36 : Pale Master 15, Epic Warding (or other epic spell of choice), dex + 1 (dex = 29)
37 : Ranger 19
38 : Ranger 20, Favored Enemy
39: Ranger 21: Bane of Enemies, skill dump
40: Pale Master 16: Epic Mage Armor (or other epic spell of choice), dex + 1 (dex = 30) (Note: Consider taking this last level as a wizard, to add + 1 to caster level at the cost of forfeiting + 2 to AC and an epic spell).

Summary

The good: epic spells combine with high BAB, immunity to nearly everything, the ability to stun your enemies for 3 rounds or reduce their AB by 10 for the same period (Bigby spells), the ability to find traps without pausing (Keen Senses, high Search) and disarm them en masse when found (Find Traps), the ability to set all traps, high damage (versus favored enemies) for a dex build, up to seven attacks per round when hasted, and a variety of other modest but useful buffs such as Cat’s Grace, Endurance, Bull’s Strength, etc.

The bad: Very low damage versus non-favored enemies (a bigger problem in PvM than in PvP), feat starvation compared to the standard fighter/wizard/PM build, no Epic Dodge or other dex-based epic feats. Access to epic traps, high AC, and the extra damage versus favored enemies makes up for a lot. Playtesting indicated that this build could take out virtually any number of mithril golems (with Epic Warding up, +5 kukris, and no other equipment), but that adamantine golems had too much damage reduction for this build to seriously damage them before going down. I suspect, however, that most situations which require you to fight adamantine golems will also offer better than +5 kukris.

This is my first post here, so be gentle. I like the idea of the build. I play DEX based Rangers as well, but it is generally a better idea to go the STR route with them. Damage delivered can be so low, especially without EWS or Sneak Attack. Have you considered going 1-20 Ranger to achieve maximum BAB? If you can live without the last Discipline dump you can go Ranger 1-21 to get Bane of Enemies ASAP, it would be hard waiting until the end of the build to pick up that feat, atleast for me anyways. I also think it would be a good idea to pick up Epic Prowess instead of Armor Skin since your AC is so high.

Edited By galelabriel on 06/11/07 11:19

Taking Ranger 1-20 initially appealed to me, but then I realized two things:

1. This build was going to have horrible will saves. Two levels of wizard helps that.
2. I had no use for ranger buffs, and consequently no use for wisdom. Starting with ranger meant setting wisdom to 11 minimum, a significant waste.

It seems to me that these advantages counterbalance the desirability of one extra AB.

As for the strength point - I did consider this, but it seems to me that, for good or ill, rangers are meant to be dexers. A strength-based ranger will have hideously poor AB unless he wears heavy armor. The feat isn't a problem, but the fact that this would disable dual wield and make combat casting impossible is. All of the ranger's special abilities are designed around a dexer: Dual wield and favored enemies compensate for otherwise lousy damage, and set trap is modified by dex score (necessitating swapping epic skill focus: discipline for epic skill focus: set trap if you want epic traps). It's possible to rebuild this character around strength, and it might indeed be a stronger character, but in such a case - why are you building a ranger in the first place? You would be better off with a fighter for the feats (which are a little tight in this build).

It would indeed be very nice to have Bane of Enemies earlier. The problem is that you lose all the nice ranger skills (when half the attraction of the build is that it can function both as a rogue and as a front-line fighter) and push the wonderful, wonderful Epic Warding (aka "invincibility hack") later. Of course, it would be possible to solve the former (albeit not the latter) by forgetting about Epic Mage Armor, dropping a level of Pale Master, and taking levels 21, 22 and 24 as a ranger.

Anyway, as this is my first build, I'm glad that at least I was not greeted by comments like "hmm...you forgot to include weapon finesse" and "actually, I tried this build and all PWs will eat it like salami." Sorry for spamming, but I had some further thoughts on the damage.

As a completed build, buffed, and versus favored enemies, this build is not low damage at all; it's just low damage versus enemies whose damage reduction is higher than its weapon enchantment (adamantine golems...) It does 11 extra damage versus favored enemies, versus four for EWS (six for WS+EWS); you would need 32 strength to match that. It also has Flame Weapon as of level 21 - dead useful, and it lasts six minutes. Both these advantages apply in full to both kukris, whereas strength damage would be halved on the off weapon. If all 6 attacks hit, versus a favored enemy, the damage is as follows:

1d4 (kukri) + 5 (Favored Enemy) + 2d6 (Bane of Enemies) + 1 (strength) + 1 (Bull's Strength) + 1d4 + 3 (Flame Weapon) = 20 average damage, 120 per round (6 attacks)

A fighter with EWS, wielding a longsword, does the following damage:

1d8 (longsword) + 6 (WS/EWS) + strength modifier, 4 attacks per round

To match the ranger, the fighter would need 50 strength before equipment! (He would need to do 30 damage per round, of which, 20 would have to come from strength, assuming no buffs). (By the way - 45 str is the max possible unbuffed and unpolymorphed, even as a half-orc RDD with all stat increases and epic feats devoted to strength).

Of course the fighter can get the two-weapon feats too, but his off-hand attacks would probably do much less damage than the ranger's (unless his strength was absolutely titanic) because strength is half as effective on the off-hand.

It would be possible to build this as a str build and revel in the unmatched damage provided by BOTH favored enemies and strength, but you wouldn't get the full extra damage to the off-hand weapon, you would have lower AB (since you could not get str as high as an elf can get dex ... this build requires int, so no half-orc for you), and your survivability would collapse until you could get Epic Warding (a long, long way down the road).

Your suggestion regarding getting Bane of Enemies earlier is an interesting one. I think that it could be accomodated by changing the epic levels as follows:

21 Wizard (Flame Weapon)
22, 23, 24 Ranger (Bane of Enemies lvl 24)
25 - 39 Pale Master (Epic Warding lvl 39)
40 Ranger (skill dump)

(In this build, one would drop Epic Mage Armor altogether - by the time you get it, it would be mostly overriden by equipment anyway.) The problem is that you really want both Epic Warding and Bane of Enemies ASAP, and you can't have it both ways.
Quote: Posted 06/11/07 18:39 (GMT) -- rakh-talazar

The problem is that you really want both Epic Warding and Bane of Enemies ASAP, and you can't have it both ways.

But in your original build you dont get either of them until level 36. When I look at builds, I imagine playing them 1 through 40. I just dont see how one could wait that long to pick a feat like Bane of Enemies. It is your build, however, and I'm not ripping it. I am not so high on Epic Mage Armor either. Epic Warding is awesome. Try playing a STR based ranger somewhere, and then play a DEX one and then we'll talk about playability. A STR ranger has still excellent stealth, and the lack of AC (After a while ate least) is not that big a problem. It's only slightly lower than other STR builds(1 actually, if you go for the shield when needed), but you have stealth, animal, traps and an immense amount of damage. To some tests vs different enemies in a trainer module. You'll be amazed.
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We are sons of Odin, and the fire that we burn inside
is the legacy of warrior-kings who reign above in the sky
I will lead the charge, my sword into the wind
Sons of Odin fights to die and live again Well, in my opinion, a level 3 Epic Warding sucks. It lasts 3 rounds, right?
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Quote: Posted 06/12/07 11:29 (GMT) -- FinneousPJ

Well, in my opinion, a level 3 Epic Warding sucks. It lasts 3 rounds, right?

16 rounds. It comes from the PM levels, not the WIZ in this build.
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It's rogue, dammit, ROGUE!!! I am a bit surprised by the 8 Wisdom in a 21Ranger build. Granted the spells suck, but at least you guarantee stealth and a long lasting Cats Grace. With only 3 Caster levels in Wizard, I can't see a whole lot of use coming out of those spells, and so I must question the 16 starting Intelligence. Seems like you'd get more bang out of adding 6 back to Wisdom.

And since this is a Dex build without Uncanny Dodge, and there is no needed acceleration to get Epic Dodge, or HiPS or SC, I would probably go Human over Elf. Give yourself back some hit points and an extra feats and skill points for lowering the Int. And then, as echoed by others, I would go straight Ranger until Bane. There's nothing you can do about EW since the earliest anyone can take it is Level 32/33. So might as well get Bane, and push EW back to 39.

Also, it seems rather odd to see a Dex build where Tumble is not a class skill anywhere. That's going to make AoOs a bit of a hassle.
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Quote: Posted 06/12/07 14:03 (GMT) -- Cinnabar Din

Quote: Posted 06/12/07 11:29 (GMT) -- FinneousPJ

Well, in my opinion, a level 3 Epic Warding sucks. It lasts 3 rounds, right?

16 rounds. It comes from the PM levels, not the WIZ in this build.

tested? Tested, verified, endorsed and approved.
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Ariel, Ookla, RIDE! Thanks for the feedback. Remember, this is my first posted build here, so I expected flaws . Regarding the intelligence - you can use the skillpoints, and you do get two quite useful level 5 and 6 spells : Bigby's Interposing Hand and Bigby's Forceful Hand. Neither has a saving throw based on level, so the relevance of the low caster level is only to reduce the duration of the spell for three rounds. Knocking down a dexer or mage for three rounds is not trivial. As for the shift to human - it's hard to roleplay an elven lich when you are not in fact an elf; and I found that one of the biggest problems with the build was the relatively low AB, so an extra AB is not trivial either.

The point of starting with wizard is not just avoiding wisdom; it's for the improved will saves. Moreover, as this build is not a stealther, camouflage is useless, and what's the point of having Cat's Grace last an hour when all your other buffs last six minutes?

Having said that ... Note to any other readers of this thread : grizzled_dwarflord undoubtedly knows more than I do
Quote: Posted 06/13/07 17:51 (GMT) -- rakh-talazar

As for the shift to human - it's hard to roleplay an elven lich when you are not in fact an elf

I see. I forgot that Baelnorns were Elven. That really answers everything to which I queried.
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Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Quote: Posted 06/13/07 17:51 (GMT) -- rakh-talazar

Having said that ... Note to any other readers of this thread : grizzled_dwarflord undoubtedly knows more than I do

He would have you believe that, but I assure you it's all done with mirrors, an ale keg, and a good cigar.
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It's rogue, dammit, ROGUE!!!