First things first, I hate alignment changes, and even more if there's so little RP justification like in this build. I mean, yes, maybe a change from evil to neutral and from BG to CoT isn't so drastic, but the slope gets slippier when it's done backwards also. It has two alignment changes, one at level 17 from evil to neutral and at level 28 from neutral to evil. That apart, I felt that this build deserved its post, so I decided to go for it.
I got inspiration from GD's The Shrike, although his uses Fighter instead of CoT and more BG. After looking at his build I tried different combinations with BG and Bard, and this one seems the best I could come up with. There's only one similar build in the search engine, I...Samphus' Angel of Redemption (Bard 26/BG 4/CoT 10), but the class split is different as well as the nature of the build.
The aim of this build is a meleer with decent saves, spell potential and the ability to be useful in party environment. To achieve this, 16 levels of Bard were taken, in order to get an excellent Bard Song and some much needed spells. This, in conjunction with BG summons (namely the Epic Vrock) results in a fearsome warrior with useful backup. AB is ok, but buffable with spells and stacking Bull's Strength. AC is not excellent (I'm still getting used to epic numbers), but Improved Invisibility and UMD should make up for it. Saves are nice for a meleer and even better against spells, and this character has a wide array of tricks to play with. Also, Taunt will help with high AC enemies, should he run into some of these. So here he is:
Divine Traitor (playable 1-40 PvM) Human Bard 16/CoT 8/BG 16
Abilities STR 16 (30) DEX 8 CON 14 INT 14 WIS 8 CHA 16 (16)
Level progression 01: Bard(1): Blind Fight, Curse Song 02: Bard(2) 03: Bard(3): Power Attack 04: Bard(4): CHA+1, (CHA=16) 05: Bard(5) 06: Bard(6): Cleave 07: Bard(7) 08: Bard(8): STR+1, (STR=17) 09: Blackguard(1): Still Spell 10: Blackguard(2): {Smite Good} 11: Blackguard(3) 12: Blackguard(4): STR+1, Improved Critical, (STR=18) 13: Blackguard(5) 14: Blackguard(6) 15: Blackguard(7): Weapon Focus: Greatsword 16: Blackguard(8): STR+1, (STR=19) 17: Champion of Torm(1): *Alignment Change* 18: Champion of Torm(2): Toughness, Knockdown 19: Champion of Torm(3): {Smite Evil} 20: Champion of Torm(4): STR+1, Improved Knockdown, (STR=20) 21: Champion of Torm(5): Great Strength I, (STR=21) 22: Bard(9) 23: Champion of Torm(6): Epic Weapon Focus: Greatsword 24: Champion of Torm(7): STR+1, Great Strength II, (STR=23) 25: Champion of Torm(8): Epic Prowess 26: Bard(10) 27: Bard(11): Lingering Song 28: Blackguard(9): STR+1, (STR=24), *Alignment Change* 29: Blackguard(10) 30: Blackguard(11): Great Strength III, (STR=25) 31: Blackguard(12) 32: Bard(12): STR+1, (STR=26) 33: Blackguard(13): Epic Skill Focus: Taunt, Armor Skin 34: Blackguard(14) 35: Blackguard(15) 36: Blackguard(16): STR+1, Great Strength IV, Epic Fiendish Servant, (STR=28) 37: Bard(13) 38: Bard(14) 39: Bard(15): Great Strength V, (STR=29) 40: Bard(16): STR+1, (STR=30)
Special abilities (worth noting) Bard Song and Curse Song: increases AB +2, damage +3, Fort +2, Will +3, Reflex +2, HP +20, AC +5, skills +4 and the opposite to enemies. BG Bull's Strength (stacks with normal Bull's) Dark Blessing: increases saves by 3 5d6 Sneak Attack Epic Vrock 56 Taunt (60 with Bard Song) Improved Knockdown Bard spellcasting: up to level 5, level 6 spells would require +6 CHA Divine Wrath Turn Undead
I know many have issues with taking pre-Epic feats in Epic, so you may swap around some feats and ability points in order to drop Lingering Song.
Any input or suggestions are welcome.
Edited By rafa10pj on 10/30/07 11:34
Get div might and shield and use scimi and towershield. U ll get way more ac. And get 6gr str, start with 12con only. Dev is banned on your server ya?
Quote: Posted 10/30/07 20:16 (GMT) -- bloodymerc Get div might and shield
Divine Might and Shield are't really options with a 16 CHA, they would last only 3 rounds and increase damage and AC by 3, which is kind of useless.
Quote: and use scimi and towershield
That’s for the player's choice. I thought I had not specified weapons, but apparently I did. If that is what you want, by al means do it. Scimitar would benefit more from Improved Critical and Keen Edge, but I prefer the greatsword. You could always swap gear if you need more AC.
Quote: And get 6gr str, start with 12con only.
I’d prefer the extra HP and Fort save, considering that you have stacking Bull’s Strength.
Quote: Dev is banned on your server ya?
I hate building with Dev Crit, but it can be done obviously. Maybe dropping Toughness and 2 Great Str for Great Cleave, Over Crit and Dev Crit.