Dark Magic Permeater- Barbarian(15), Assassin(5), Wizard(20)
A warrior mage devoted to the dark arts raises fear and trembling at his silent approach. Even a subtle touch from him can leave enemies motionless, and he calls upon fierce magical powers to aid him.
Human, Neutral Evil or Chaotic Evil PvM, Level 40 (Can be done 1-40 but lower levels are tougher) Lower Magic Setting Preferable
LEVELING GUIDE 01: Barbarian(1): Power Attack, Knockdown 02: Barbarian(2): 03: Barbarian(3): Blind fight 04: Barbarian(4): Int+1 (19) 05: Barbarian(5): 06: Barbarian(6): Cleave 07: Barbarian(7): 08: Barbarian(8): Int+1 (20) 09: Barbarian(9): Improved Unarmed Strike 10: Barbarian(10): 11: Barbarian(11): 12: Barbarian(12): Deflect Arrows, Int+1 (21) 13: Barbarian(13): 14: Barbarian(14): 15: Wizard(1):{School: Necromancy}, Spell Focus: Necromancy 16: Assassin(1): Int+1 (22) 17: Assassin(2): 18: Wizard(2): Greater Spell Focus: Necromancy 19: Assassin(3): 20: Assassin(4): Int+1 (23) 21: Wizard(3): Great Int I (24) 22: Wizard(4): 23: Wizard(5): Great Int II (25) 24: Wizard(6): Great Int III, Int+1 (27) 25: Wizard(7): 26: Wizard(8): 27: Wizard(9): Great Int IV (28) 28: Wizard(10): Great Int V, Int+1 (30) 29: Wizard(11): 30: Wizard(12): Great Int VI (31) 31: Wizard(13): 32: Wizard(14): Int+1 (32) 33: Wizard(15): Great Int VII, Great Int VIII (34) 34: Wizard(16): 35: Wizard(17): 36: Wizard(18): Epic Skill Focus: Intimidate, Int+1 (35) 37: Wizard(19): 38: Wizard(20): Epic Spell Focus: Necromancy 39: Barbarian(15): Terrifying Rage 40: Assassin(5): Int+1 (36)
Pros: Terrifying Rage holds off mobs of smaller creatures, making it easier to cast spells uninterrupted. Wail of the banshee can be used to destroy groups of these enemies. For special cases death attack paralysis works nicely. For bosses damage shields, greater sanctuary and deflect arrow help protect you.
Cons: No epic spells, terrifying rage and death attack may not coordinate well when used together*, not good against high SR
*Terrifying rage simulates combat setting immediately every time a creature makes the save, and death attack will not deal paralysis until after the usual waiting time free from combat. Death attack paralysis will not extend the paralysis time of an already paralyzed creature. Thus one must wait until after the terrifying rage paralysis wears off before conducting a paralysis death attack.
As a side note I actually reconsidered this and found
Set trap 10 (14) Disable trap 15 (30)
to be a better distribution of these points (enabling the setting of all but the gas deadly traps (with cat's grace buff) and the ability to disarm traps since find traps is excluded from my spell selection being divination. (Open lock is transmutation and thus still available). Of course things would be better had I more skill points to work with
Edited By WhiZard on 10/07/08 14:25
This is an interesting build, and certainly not one for a beginner. Maybe needs a bit of a play-by-play since it is so unique. I'm curious about your Unarmed tactic that you go with in pre-epic. I might actually try to pick up more Wizard levels pre-epic, and try to nail down some Spell Penetration feats. 20 Wizard levels, especially 20 late levels, could probably use a bit more teeth. It'd also give him a bit more playability as you can actually harness that Int and put it to work up front. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
I'm curious about your Unarmed tactic that you go with in pre-epic.
Its a prerequisite for deflect arrows. While the scope is more with the terrifying rage in mind, deflect arrows can still be useful with damage shields employed. Basically it does close to nothing pre-epic, but rather is taken pre-epic because it can be.
I am currently taking this build through SoU (and then HotU) to see how well it does. So far with the very low levels he does pretty well (though at those levels he looks almost identical to most barbarian builds statwise and has a lot of HP to help him).
The build focuses on the follow transition. First fight like a barbarian, then fight like an assassin (intelligence helps here) then fight with offensive spells. Even though the Caster level is low there are breach spells that the character has access to and at level 40 his 20 caster levels will be significant penetration after mording a 32 SR opponent.
Edited By WhiZard on 10/13/08 13:39
That sounds carefully considered, and makes just enough sense that it could work. My only suggestion then, would be to take your first mage level up front somewhere, to give him the ability to scroll cast in his early levels when he might need it rather than wait until Level 15. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
My only suggestion then, would be to take your first mage level up front somewhere, to give him the ability to scroll cast in his early levels when he might need it rather than wait until Level 15.
Good suggestion. I did not consider scroll usage when leveling to 15 (I saw the barbarian leveling as solid on its own). The only reason why I had delayed the first wizard level in the build was to take advantage of an extra level one spell by taking the first wizard level after the intelligence raw score reached 20 (First level wizards get to choose 3+int modifier level one spells in addition to all the cantrips). Of course, early scroll casting is better than an additional level one spell.
Yes, but you can do both. You can take Barb1 at Level 1 for the skill points, and then take Wizard1 at Level 2. This will allow the use of wands, scrolls, rods and so on, and will give you an instant +2 bonus to Will Save, as well as allowing an instant Spellcraft dump of 5 which, coupled with your high Int, will give you almost an immediate +1 to +2 to spell saves. Your pre-epic playability suddenly shoots up 200%. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Edited By grizzled_dwarflord on 10/13/08 22:31
I would rather take wizard at level three so I can take the spell focus feat.
And just to clarify the above post was not stating the benefit of taking barbarian at level 1 (which I will probably do no matter what) but rather the mere fact that if you take the first wizard level on or after the level natural int modifier increases you will get another level one spell to select on it. Granted this in the long run is meaningless as a wizard can learn that spell later by scroll.
So you understand the circumstance I was referring to above: The number of spells a wizard learns at his first wizard level on level-up is all the arcane cantrips, and 3+natural int modifier number of first level spells. On later wizard levels he can only learn two spells on level-up (this does not count the spells that the wizard can learn from scrolls).
Quote: Posted 10/14/08 00:48 (GMT) -- WhiZard
So you understand the circumstance I was referring to above: The number of spells a wizard learns at his first wizard level on level-up is all the arcane cantrips, and 3+natural int modifier number of first level spells. On later wizard levels he can only learn two spells on level-up (this does not count the spells that the wizard can learn from scrolls).
Right, but that wouldn't enter into my equation for taking Wizard at 1st. Not worth it. I only meant taking Wizard early on, within the first 2-4 levels. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Quote: Posted 10/14/08 00:57 (GMT) -- grizzled_dwarflord Right, but that wouldn't enter into my equation for taking Wizard at 1st. Not worth it. I only meant taking Wizard early on, within the first 2-4 levels.
Quote: Posted 10/13/08 19:49 (GMT) -- WhiZard Of course, early scroll casting is better than an additional level one spell.
We're already in agreement, the other talk was just one aspect being considered when I made the build and wasn't looking at the prospective of scroll casting or other mage benefits, but rather how well it could imitate a warrior of proportional leveling.
Gotcha. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
