Been building a lot of Dwarves lately and am intrigued by the Dwarven Defender class. I've read through some of the posts on here and it seems that some people have trouble staying in Dwarven Stance mode. Saying that it is really easy to come out of the Stance. Is this still a problem for most people? Also, the build I have in mind will have room for 4 or 5 Epic Energy Resistances. First of all, is it a good idea to invest in these? And secondly, is it better to put all 4 or 5 into say Fire or spread them out, like 3 into Fire and 2 into Cold or...? Thanks in advance to all replies.
Dwarven Defenders rock man, let no one say the opposite. Defensive Stance difficult? it depends, I kind of hate it to fight both melee and ranged at the same time, since I have to deactivate it to chase the ranged, but other than that it's no big deal, don't overuse it either, it's to be used when facing more than one melee enemy, it's of no use to activate it for a few seconds on every single enemy that draws near. I think Cleave and Circle Kick somehow are able to hit beyond your regular attack range or something like that, so it can get your stance to deactivate by hitting opponents that are beyond normal range, though I rarely ever take Cleave with a Dwarven Defender, only if I pretend to get Dev Crit.
For Energy Resistance Dwarven Defenders, you might want to check this build first.
It's not a bad idea to invest on Energy Resistance, especially if you wish to serve as a tank for a party, just check your other options, it's pretty much that or Great Strength in most cases, so it's not a bad option.
What Energy Resistance to pick is difficult, at the end, it depends on your environment, I like 2 Epic Energy Resistance: Fire, to avoid all damage that can come from Darkfire and Flame Weapon (both deal 0 when you have 20/- fire resistance, and they don't stack), that alone makes you pretty much invulnerable to almost all damage from melees on low magical servers. I'm thinking PvP, of course...
In environments where you can add magical damage easily to weapons it's probably better to split it a bit and cover them all... take Energy Resistance thinking on possible melees having energy damage on weapons, you just can't do anything against casters, they can deal Negative, Magical or Divine damage anyway, so there is no point, except you want to party with casters, and you can arrange it so they cast spells you're immune to, say, shifter Rakshasas with Ice Storm will be grateful with you having Cold Resistance, so they can spam with a safe tanker.
For PvM, it's pretty hard, I never settle on something if I start thinking on it...
Edited By Thaxll'ssyllia on 04/05/07 05:47
Thanks for that reply Thax, that is a lot of good information. Helped me to better see how the Dwarven Stance should be used. I'm not sure if I will post the build I have in mind or not, I will have to check other builds to make sure it warrants posting. I have seen the build you posted by Cinnabar, it is a good build and mine my share too many of the same qualities. I will probably use Champion of Torm instead of Rogue though. I envision him being a tank for a group as well. If my calculations are right, should end up with a 42 AB, close to 700 hp's, 24 DR, 20 Fire and 20 Cold Resistance and a regular Fort save of 38. Should be good against melee, mages and instant death spells, and devastating criticals. As with most DD builds, wish the AB could be a little higher, but you cant have everything, right?
Dwarven Defender isn't a low AB class, it might seem so because you normally take EDR III with them, which is a great investment, it takes 3 feats and an important amount of stats to CON, so your AB drops by the difference you could get in STR instead, which isn't too big, only about 4 AB difference.
For high AB Dwarven Defenders I've had great results with Cleric, since it can greatly buff AB, as well as adding magical and fire damage to your weapon, you can get Improved Inivsibility and Haste with Domains, and even AC buffs; but there are other paths, UMD gained by little amount of Rogue or Bard will allow you to cast True Strike from scrolls (or just take Wizard for the spell) to pump up AB, Dwarven Defenders get a very decent AB for its powerful defense, but they don't get any buffs other than Defensive Stance, so 4 Rogue levels like in Cinn's Resistor are sometimes enough to buff a bit when needed, and allows you to take higher amounts of Dwarven Defender levels for more DR than a Cleric.
Here is the build that I have been working on. I havent got a chance to look through all the builds yet, so I wont post it on the builds page. Have a question about which feat to pick at 36, was hoping you all could give me some help in deciding. Thanks.
1. Fighter1 Weapon Prof: Exotic, WF: Dwarven Waraxe 2. Fighter2 Knockdown 3. Fighter3 Blind Fight 4. Fighter4 STR (17), WS: Dwarven Waraxe 5. Fighter5 6. Fighter6 Iron Will, Dodge 7. Fighter7 8. COT1 STR (18) 9. COT2 Toughness, Improved Knockdown 10. DD1 11. DD2 12. DD3 STR (19), Improved Critical 13. DD4 14. DD5 15. DD6 Lightning Reflexes 16. DD7 STR (20) 17. DD8 18. DD9 Great Fortitude 19. DD10 20. COT3 CON (19) 21. COT4 Great CON I (20), Armor Skin 22. DD11 23. DD12 24. Fighter8 CON (21), EWF, EWS 25. DD13 26. COT5 27. COT6 Great STR I (21), EDR I 28. DD14 STR (22), EDR II 29. COT7 30. COT8 Great STR II (23), EDR III 31. DD15 32. DD16 STR (24) 33. DD17 EER: Fire I 34. DD18 EER: Cold I 35. COT9 36. COT10 STR (25), ****, Epic Prowess 37. DD19 38. DD20 39. DD21 EER: Fire II 40. DD22 STR (26), EER: Cold II
****Epic Save, ESF: Spot, Great CON II, EER?
Now for the feat at level 36. Saves are already pretty good, but I like the save feats, the higher the better. ESF: Spot to help with sneakers, Great CON II adds another point to the FORT save and 40 hps. Or another Energy Resistance to add to Fire or Cold or maybe to add a little resistance to Acid?
What would you recommend?
Since I generally find it easy to get 10-15 resistance to the common Fire/Cold/Lightning, I would put all of the Energy resists into Acid. First, because acid resistance is less common. Second, because acid resistance is extremely useful against Mestil's mages, where you can be taking 50+ damage per hit.
TM
That's why I say it's dependant on the environment, in places where you find this resistance 15/- to fire/cold/electricity stuff you won't take those for obvious reasons, it doesn't stacks.
Thinking crazy stuff, you could make a Dwarven Defender / Fighter / Wizard which buffs Energy Buffer and then Epic Energy Resistance would be of use for sonic.
Aye, Mestil's Acid Sheath is devastating.
Thanks for the replies TM and Thax. Yes, as you say, I suppose it is all dependant on environment. And good points about Mestils Acid Sheath. Now I will have to find a PW to take this guy out on...and since the feats in question dont come til much later in the build, I can worry about what to take when the time comes.