Im looking for a epic build for a character that is good with a Sword and has a good/or able to withstand spells..
Im not to up on how to build a spell resisting PC, and Im here to learn..
Thx CA. _________________ DLA I was baptized with the Holy Spirit when I took Him by simple faith in the Word of God....
Well, to be completely immune you need 37 Monk levels and Improved SR X. Not much room for anything else, is there. That build is nearly immune (there are spell that ignore SR completely). Closest you can get anyway, but you have to sacrifice everything else to get there. That means you're not going to be able to kill the mages, you can just sit there and wait for them to waste their spells on you. _________________ The world is grey, the mountain's old The forge's fire is ashen and cold No harp is wrung, no hammer falls The darkness dwells in Druin's halls...
~ Summoning - Khazad-Dúm
Actually, I think you need SR 66, that is monk 36 and sr X feats. You attempt to resist spell, and then a draw will favor the resister.
I have not tested this, mind you. _________________ I see the fear you have inside, you can run but never hide. I will hunt you down and tear you limb from limb.
I run the Pre-Epic Builders guild. Join and share your experience.
I wasn't sure whether it favors the resister or not and said Monk 37 to not err in my advise However, as the rules often seem to be on the defender's side, it's quite safe to assume Monk 36 is enough. Monk 36'd allow Fighter4 for EWS: Unarmed or Kama, but whichever the case it's not a very enjoyable build IMHO. _________________ The world is grey, the mountain's old The forge's fire is ashen and cold No harp is wrung, no hammer falls The darkness dwells in Druin's halls...
Quote: To overcome a creature's spell resistance, the caster of the spell or spell-like ability must equal or exceed the creature's spell resistance with a caster level check (1d20 + caster level). (The defender's spell resistance is like an Armor Class against magical attacks.) If the caster fails the check, the spell doesn't affect the creature. The possessor does not have to do anything special to use spell resistance. The creature need not even be aware of the threat for its spell resistance to operate.
So a monk build would get you some abilties to raise you spell defense.. =)
And So I found this...
Quote: billb0
Joined: 22 Oct 2003 Profile: Thursday, 25 March 2004 08:13AM I don't know if anyone's posted this already, since I'm not about to read through this entire thread.
A pretty good build for PvE, especially on a high magic server, that I've had some great success with:
First 20 levels: Monk (Just to ensure you get cool glowy eyes if you are the right sex =D) Then 1 level sorc, 10 levels of RDD, and then your final 9 levels of Monk.
Focus skill points into Tumble and Discipline. Personally because I like not requiring a rogue wherever I go I tend to put 10 points or so into Lockpick and making good use of my dex bonus, I also try to keep my Lore maxxed until it is about 30. Ensure you have enough skill points to take RDD by the time you get it.
With the Monk's natural immunities and innate spell resistance, combined with a Monk's innate abilities to get a high AC, combined with the stat and AC bonuses from RDD, with the Armor skin Epic Feat, 2 levels of Epic Toughness, and 2 levels of Epic Spell Resistance, you become neigh on impervious to most attacks with the right high level gear.
His major downfall for PvE and PvP is a lack of AB. While nothing can really hit him, he can have a tough time hitting high level creatures. I find it amusing, that on the server I created him for, his AC is so high that he wouldn't be able to hit himself except for a natural 20.
He is also weak if caught "flat footed", as he looses his massive dex ac.
Lastly, Dev Crit, I imagine, would be end game for him (if you're on a server w/o immunity: Crit items) as his fort save isn't that high. Its only a matter of time till that melee rolls a natural 20 against him.
Aidon
With alittle Work, I could find something to get a good build working... =P
CA. _________________ DLA I was baptized with the Holy Spirit when I took Him by simple faith in the Word of God....
Edited By Counselor Architect on 03/05/06 20:41
Actually, a draw favors the attacker, IIRC. If the caster's SR check meets or beats the defender's SR, the casters wins.
Same idea as attack rolls and AC. _________________ Captain's Log, Stardate 6051: had trouble sleeping last night... my hiatal hernia is acting up. The ship is... drafty and damp; I complain but... nobody listens.
Quote: Posted 03/05/06 21:56:49 (GMT) -- Cinnabar Din
Actually, a draw favors the attacker, IIRC. If the caster's SR check meets or beats the defender's SR, the casters wins.
Same idea as attack rolls and AC.
Ya, but there is a better chance to not die in the first round vs die'n in a later round...
Every chance counts sometimes...
CA.. _________________ DLA I was baptized with the Holy Spirit when I took Him by simple faith in the Word of God....
Oh, and just an FYI on the Dev Crit comment in that quote you posted: if your AC is so high that you can only be hit on a roll of 20 (i.e. your AC is 21 or more higher than your attacker's AB), you cannot be Dev Critted at all. _________________ Captain's Log, Stardate 6051: had trouble sleeping last night... my hiatal hernia is acting up. The ship is... drafty and damp; I complain but... nobody listens.
Quote: Posted 03/06/06 01:30:04 (GMT) -- Cinnabar Din
Oh, and just an FYI on the Dev Crit comment in that quote you posted: if your AC is so high that you can only be hit on a roll of 20 (i.e. your AC is 21 or more higher than your attacker's AB), you cannot be Dev Critted at all.
Sweet.... _________________ DLA I was baptized with the Holy Spirit when I took Him by simple faith in the Word of God....
Alternate way of resisting spells is via the Spell Resistance spell...however this can be breached, you won't get as much SR as with monk and Improved SR ? however, can still get up to 52...combined with some useful cleric buffs u can still make a build with reasonable SR and plenty of oomph with the sword _________________ Grrr...hear my roar!!!
Q? Spell Resistance Items, do these Stack?
Thx.. _________________ DLA I was baptized with the Holy Spirit when I took Him by simple faith in the Word of God....
They don't. _________________ The world is grey, the mountain's old The forge's fire is ashen and cold No harp is wrung, no hammer falls The darkness dwells in Druin's halls...
~ Summoning - Khazad-Dúm
About that monk/sorc/rdd build - as I recall, he went dex-based for some bizarre reason on that build, thus had low AB. Don't do that. You can make a decent monk/sorc/rdd, but start Str at 16, dex at 14, and pump Str all the way. You will end up with a Str of around 40 (or at least 34 if you use all your general feats for Imp SR instead of Great Str). That will give you decent AB. I would also consider going Monk 25/Sorc 1/RDD 14 - lets you pick up another epic bonus feat, although it costs you a bit of SR.
In general, there are 3 ways to become "spell resistant", and 2 more to become a high save build:
One is to take lots of Monk levels. Yes, you need SR 57 to be totally immune to all spells, but many spellcaster builds only have 35-38 caster levels, and many skip the Spell Penetration feats to take Spell Foci or other metamagic feats (aiming just to beat the toolset 32 SR), so anything in the high 40's is usually quite effective (unless you know for sure you will be facing a level 40 caster with all spell pen feats). So a build with 30+ monk levels and a few SR feats will do pretty well against most spellcasters (but not all).
Two is to take lots of Druid or Cleric levels, and cast Spell Resistance. You get your caster level +12 SR, so again while you can't reach 57, you can get into the high 40's, which is pretty effective. A Cleric/Fighter build, or Cleric/Monk build, or Cleric/Paladin build can be very effective in melee with buffs and be nearly immune to spells with SR of 46-52.
Three is to take Sorc/Wizard levels, and cast Spell Mantle (preferably Empowered). This will absorb 12+1-12 levels of spells cast at you. You are effectively immune to spells until it is used up or ends, and you can always cast it again. Not a melee build, though.
To become a high-save build, you can take CoT levels (+1 to all saves per 2 CoT levels). Any fighter build that has room classwise should consider CoT levels - CoT can even take EWS in epic levels, so you only need 4 fighter levels to take WS/EWS. You can drop fighter completely for CoT in any Str-based build and only give up WS/EWS for 6 damage (but if you are Str-based, damage will be high anyway). Bard/CoT/RDD for example has almost all the benefits of Ftr/Bard/RDD (same # of feats, etc.), but gives up WS/EWS to gain +7 to all saves (assuming Bard 16/CoT 14/RDD 10 split).
Last, take Paladin levels and go Cha-based. Pal adds the Cha bonus to saves, so you will end up with very high saves. Pal multiclasses well with Fighter, CoT (for even higher saves), and Sorc/RDD (like the monk/sorc/rdd build above). Paladin also has the spell Holy Sword which lets you dispel on hit, very useful against casters.
TM
Ehm, tattoed Monk-boy, read the early posts, you need 66 or 67 SR to be immune, not 57. Penetration power is Caster-lvl+pen-feats+1d20, for max 40+6+1d20= 47-66 penetration power. The combat log says, <Grimnir> attempts to resist spell: spell resisted, that's why I think 66 is enough. 67 definitly is enough. 57 isn't. _________________ I see the fear you have inside, you can run but never hide. I will hunt you down and tear you limb from limb.
I run the Pre-Epic Builders guild. Join and share your experience.
Since you didn't say it, TM, the Clerics or Druids are as good as plush dolls after the initial Mord's.
Having saves in the 60s is nice, yes, but Ike's Yikes has no save. Same goes for Ice Storm and of the Bigby's line only Clenched Fist ever lets you save (against the stun effect).
A high level Sorcerer or Wizard can obviously fight fire with fire, and that's your best bet, too. Other than that, Monk seems the only viable choice to me. _________________ The world is grey, the mountain's old The forge's fire is ashen and cold No harp is wrung, no hammer falls The darkness dwells in Druin's halls...
Ehm, tattoed Monk-boy, read the early posts, you need 66 or 67 SR to be immune, not 57. Penetration power is Caster-lvl+pen-feats+1d20, for max 40+6+1d20= 47-66 penetration power. The combat log says, <Grimnir> attempts to resist spell: spell resisted, that's why I think 66 is enough. 67 definitly is enough. 57 isn't.
Sorry, the 57 was a typo, I had read the first posts.
The main point that SR in the high 40's or low 50's is sufficient for many caster builds still stands. Yes, I know it won't give 100% protection against a level 40 pure sorc with Epic Spell Pen, but those are rare. Most sorc's skip the Spell Pen feats since they want to have room for some spell foci, and they often take a few levels of Pal, Monk, or Fighter. Wizards are more likely to take the Spell Penetration feats since they have more bonus feats to spend, but also tend to multiclass more with Fighter, Rogue, or Monk for a few levels. Most spellcaster builds I have seen have 30-35 caster levels, usually without spell pen feats. Against those, 55 SR is enough for 100% protection, and 48-50 will give you better than 75%.
Yes, you will get hit very often by a pure caster with ESP with such a build, but aiming for ~50 SR leaves you a lot more flexibility to keep the build reasonably effective against other enemies. Going for Imp SR X leaves you only 1 epic feat to use for anything else, so you end with low AB and abilities. Fine if you are in a party as the anti-mage specialist, but not so good for a playable character against anything else.
TM
You are right about most caster builds focusing in penetrating the toolset SR of 32. However, if I were to build a character designed to battle spellcasters and laugh at their pitiful attempts at nuking you with Ike's, I'd want to be absolutely sure _________________ The world is grey, the mountain's old The forge's fire is ashen and cold No harp is wrung, no hammer falls The darkness dwells in Druin's halls...
You are right about most caster builds focusing in penetrating the toolset SR of 32. However, if I were to build a character designed to battle spellcasters and laugh at their pitiful attempts at nuking you with Ike's, I'd want to be absolutely sure
The only problem with that it leaves you easy meat for a melee build - no room for Epic Prowess, Armor Skin, Great Str or Great Dex, etc. You may also have problems with spellcasters who use Epic Mage Armor and/or have Autostill III and wear armor/shield due to your low AB. Like I said, if you are going to be the party's anti-mage, go ahead and take all the SR feats, and hide behind the fighters against the melee mobs. But if you want to solo, or be able to have a chance against non-casters as well, you can build a level 35-40 monk with an SR of around 50-55 and still get Dex or Str up to 30, take ED or EWS, and have a decent AB. You will still be able to handle most mages, but you won't be worthless against anything else.
TM
That's what I said in my first post (though I recall I said you can't even handle the mages ). My experience tells me you're not going to be able to kill the mages just like that - you will have to stand there, waiting for their protections to go down, plonking arrows at them so you don't get hit by their damage shields. Perhaps, when they are out of spells and their shields have worn out, you'll be able to take them out. Correct?
Interesting topic, actually, cheers to the OP _________________ The world is grey, the mountain's old The forge's fire is ashen and cold No harp is wrung, no hammer falls The darkness dwells in Druin's halls...
Would it be better to try Dammage Reduction vs Spell resist?
CA. _________________ DLA I was baptized with the Holy Spirit when I took Him by simple faith in the Word of God....
Do you mean taking a DD against Spell Casters? No, absolutely not. It'd help against the bludgeoning damage from Ice Storm, I guess, but that's about it _________________ The world is grey, the mountain's old The forge's fire is ashen and cold No harp is wrung, no hammer falls The darkness dwells in Druin's halls...
However, as the rules often seem to be on the defender's side, it's quite safe to assume Monk 36 is enough. Monk 36'd allow Fighter4 for EWS: Unarmed or Kama, but whichever the case it's not a very enjoyable build IMHO.
). My experience tells me you're not going to be able to kill the mages just like that - you will have to stand there, waiting for their protections to go down, plonking arrows at them so you don't get hit by their damage shields. Perhaps, when they are out of spells and their shields have worn out, you'll be able to take them out. Correct?