Am thinking of doing a sort of damage-type sink and I thought it might be slightly fun to do a Shifter build around the Risen Lord shape and also take DD levels to give me some more damage reduction.
Anyone have some good builds along this line? And if so, has anyone played them and did they turn out reasonably well?
Thanks in advance!
Joe
I havent played any but I have seen people using them.
The experiences I talk you about are from "World of Amon", a mid magic PW designed for party play (In other words, very hard, where the creatures have really high AB (You need 90 AC to survive the hardest zones) and hit hard).
The people who I have been talking to about those characters say they perform really well. With all the DR items you can get to stack with yours and a fairly good gear you can reduce the damage income to make it meaningless.
I think I will "play" a bit with the numbers to see what I come up with. _________________ HEAD KNIGHT: Shh shh. We are now the Knights Who Say Ekke ekke ekke ptang zoo boing! RANDOM: Ni!
Ive made a couple of these in the past, and they do perform quite well as "damage sinks", the important thing is to largely ignore wisdom requirements, apart from a few low level spells for buffing and surviving the first few levels, I'd suggest a wisdom of 14. Constitution should be reasonably high, but only going to 21, since this will automatically be set to 19 in the risen lord form, but 21 will access the epic DR feats. Strength is also overridden in the risen lord form, so unless you want the OW crit and dev crit feats then it isn't that important. Dexterity is the only physical stat that isn't overridden in risen lord form, so it could be worth upping this, since with the dwarven defenders defensive awareness feat, Dex AC wont be lost under any circumstance (I think).
Regards level distribution, Id go for druid 5, shifter 7, DD 8 pre epic, this nets 4/round and the humanoid shape feat. At level 40 something like Druid 6, Shifter 10, DD 24 would probably be best, with a late druid level to maximise spellcraft.
Hope this helps.
There's a few of posted here already just do a search...
Some links (there's more than this posted I know):
Juggernaut - Druid 7/ Shifter 11/ DwD 22 Click Here
Tank Build - Druid 5/ Shifter 17/ DwD 18 Click Here
Risen Defender (DR + Dev Crit) - Druid 5/ Shifter 13/ DwD 22 Click Here
Thanks for all the replies thus far!
fernandooa: Thanks for the response -- I also play on Amon (though it has been awhile...my friends have corrupted me into the WOW universe for the past couple of months or so), and have heard others talk about doing fairly well with a Shifter/DD build based on the Risen Lord form. My first epic char on there was a Shifter, though it was basically a "generalist" sort of Shifter build.
Jennalee: Thanks for the link(s). Though I had seen most of them (though the last one I somehow missed w/ my last search). I was mainly looking for those people who have done a Risen Lord/DD sort of build and have had experience playing it on a PW. Some of these builds sound great in theory, but sometimes in practical use they aren't quite as good as first imagined. So in my original post was mainly looking for those who have played such a build and could give me some insight on both the build itself, and how well they fared.
M1ke47: Thanks for the info -- didn't know about the DEX part of the build not being overridden. So it may pay to put more points into DEX .. though since the char would be swinging a Scythe (which isn't finessable), it still might benefit from putting points into STR for AB purposes (since Shifters can be a bit lacking in that area).
Will play around myself and see what combos I can come up with later..
Thanks again for the great replies .. keep 'em coming!
Joe
Quote: Posted 09/29/05 09:09:14 (GMT) -- JettaJoe Though since the char would be swinging a Scythe (which isn't finessable), it still might benefit from putting points into STR for AB purposes (since Shifters can be a bit lacking in that area).
You dont need to swing a scythe in human form. I am planning one of these characters and I am thinking on weapon finesse + a finesseable but really well enhanced weapon.
Once you shift into a risen lord your str will be overriden, so there is no point on raising your human form strength, your dex isn't, there is a good point there for AC purposes (And you wont lose it due to DD's defensive awareness).
Your con will be overriden too, but it would be really useful taking it to, at least 21 (maybe 22) for getting the epic DR features.
IIRC your wis wont be overriden but risen lord is inmune to mind affecting spells. As someone said a while ago, 14 wis might be enough.
About the weapon to wield in human form, again, I think that you should invest in dex and pick finesse and a finesseable weapon, remember that only your weapon properties (if better than the ones from the shifted weapon) transfer to the shifted form, so there is no need to wield a scythe (BTW, if you have two feats for sacrificing you could take exotic weapons proficiency and focus/epic focus/improved critical on scythe. It would help a lot with AB).
For getting risen lord form it is enough with 10shifter levels. I would make a 8Druid/10Shifter/22DD getting as many pre-epic DD levels as possible (8-10). It would get you decent AB and buffs from the 8 druid levels.
Tip for World of Amon: If I were you I would make him evil. Use a queen's fang (Cataglypts queen at Osiria) or a maul Clotho drops at the Maze (Osiria too), these are the best weapon enhancements pre-kelt. Once you get access to Keltria I would try to find an "esmagando a morte". Those items will transfer their properties to your risen lord scythe making it really dangerous. _________________ HEAD KNIGHT: Shh shh. We are now the Knights Who Say Ekke ekke ekke ptang zoo boing! RANDOM: Ni!
Hmm .. I know that the STR would be overridden, but I guess if you have *more* STR (i.e. if the Shifter gives you 21 STR and say your character has 26 STR), then the Shifter STR will still be the one the game uses?
Anyway, with regard to that maul -- is that a CEP weapon? If so, then I do not think that the weapon can be focused or specialized.
Do not know about that weapon that drops from that Queen thingie .. is that a relatively new item?
Thanks!
Joe
Quote: Posted 09/29/05 12:02:54 (GMT) -- JettaJoe Hmm .. I know that the STR would be overridden, but I guess if you have *more* STR (i.e. if the Shifter gives you 21 STR and say your character has 26 STR), then the Shifter STR will still be the one the game uses?
IIRC, when shifted you will have 21 base str (add your buffs and gear on top).
Quote: Posted 09/29/05 12:02:54 (GMT) -- JettaJoe Anyway, with regard to that maul -- is that a CEP weapon? If so, then I do not think that the weapon can be focused or specialized.
We are talking about a druid/shifter/DD, focus/imp-crit on scythe, but carry the CEP maul (it is CEP) while in human form. Once you shift, your maul will "shift" into a scythe.
I talk about the maul because it is really good (+6, 20 magic damage, keen, massive criticals +20), I think it is better than most Keltria gear. Those properties will transfer to your scyte (Calculate how much damage you will deal in a critical).
Quote: Posted 09/29/05 12:02:54 (GMT) -- JettaJoe Do not know about that weapon that drops from that Queen thingie .. is that a relatively new item?
No idea, I am quite new to World of Amon (3-4 months). _________________ HEAD KNIGHT: Shh shh. We are now the Knights Who Say Ekke ekke ekke ptang zoo boing! RANDOM: Ni!
So I guess if I do go the Risen Lord route, there's not a great deal of sense in going past 21 STR then..
Good point on the Maul .. forgot about the extra abilities also melding into the Scythe when in shifted form. So it makes carrying some of those CEP weapons actually worthwhile! And you're right -- it is better than most of the Kelt items (except for that evil mace .. which I have found ONCE in like 6 months of searching Keltria..)
Great stuff..thanks for the input!
Joe
I have made a risen lord just for kicks, after testing him it looks like he works like heaven. He is able to buff himself a bit before shifting and he will have good damage reduction (plus stoneskin from druid spells):
For your companion I reccomend you the panther, it can do a bit of damage (only a bit) while you tank (deffensive stance?)
Saving Throws (Human form): Fort: 32 (40 vs spells) Will: 25 (34 vs spells) Reflex: 25 (34 vs spells)
You don't really need good saves, you have a lot of nice inmunities (death magic, mind spells), but you should be very resistant to anything else with a save.
Animal Empathy 3(1) //It would be funny to go around with a ravenka boar Discipline 43(53) // 53 disc turns into 58 in unbuffed shifter form, with deffensive stance (+2), bull's str (+1) and, perhaps, that rage-like spell (+1) you get 62 discipline without any other gear, I would call it decent Open Lock 1(7) //That would get you access to a few low level places Spellcraft 40(40) // +8 to saves always handy Tumble 20(26) // +4 AC and no AoO for moving around Concentration 0(0) // You are not an offensive caster, you dont even have good healing spells
He also has decent AB in risen lord form and, if holding a good weapon in human form, your damage output can be fairly good with a 19-20 crit range with a non keen weapon and 18-20 with a keen one (they aren't any hard to find in Amon). Your AC wont be great, but there are many damage reduction items around, find all those you find that can stack and put them on, I have been told you can completely nullify the damage from most creatures. _________________ HEAD KNIGHT: Shh shh. We are now the Knights Who Say Ekke ekke ekke ptang zoo boing! RANDOM: Ni!
Hey fernandooa,
Great stuff! Thanks so much for the build and posting it on here!
It really does seem like a fine concept on paper. Yes, AC isn't the strongest, but hey .. if you don't take much damage when you do get hit, who cares?
Fine build. Will try it out when I have some time here.
Thanks again!
Joe
Ah! You must be lawful(for DD) neutral(for Druid), no way to get to use the evil mace (esmagando a morte), anyway there are still good weapons out there. _________________ HEAD KNIGHT: Shh shh. We are now the Knights Who Say Ekke ekke ekke ptang zoo boing! RANDOM: Ni!
Ah! You must be lawful(for DD) neutral(for Druid), no way to get to use the evil mace (esmagando a morte), anyway there are still good weapons out there.
Depends on how you level. You only need to retain your alignment in order to take a level in those classes. If at least your last level is DwD, you can slip to evil right before that and have no problems. Of course, if this is an RP server, that would probably be a bit over the top.
And you're right -- it is better than most of the Kelt items (except for that evil mace .. which I have found ONCE in like 6 months of searching Keltria..)
always handy