I'm looking at making a Blackguard for the PW I play on (level 30 max), but not too sure which other classes/class to have with the Blackguard. I'm mostly interested in PvP but also want a character that is playable 1-30.
Some info about the server that I play on:
Devastating Critical is enabled but requires lvl 27+
All summoning spells have been given upgrades
# The Epic Fiendish Servant feat grants the fiend the following benefits:
The blackguard has been given these additional spells:
Corrupt Weapon The caster corrupts a melee weapon to strike true against good opponents, granting a +1 enhancement bonus and 2d6 negative energy damage vs. good.
Demon Flesh The caster grows the thick, leather flesh of a demon, granting a +1 natural armor bonus to Armor Class for every five caster levels (at least +1, maximum +4).
Aura of Despair Beginning at 3rd level, the blackguard radiates a malign aura that causes enemies within 10 feet to take a -2 penalty on all saving throws.
Veil of Shadow Swirling wisps of darkness obscure the caster's form, granting a 20% concealment bonus.
Darkness All creatures within the area of effect are shrouded in a haze of darkness which can only be pierced using Ultravision. The creator of the zone of Darkness is able to see as normal.
Deeper Darkness This spell functions like Darkness, though the shadowy illumination lasts 1 turn per caster level.
Abyssal Might The caster summons evil energy from the Abyss and is imbued with its might. The caster gains a +2 enhancement bonus to Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity. The caster's spell resistance improves by 2.
Unholy Sword This spell transforms the caster's melee weapon into a powerful Unholy Avenger, a specially blessed weapon that, when wielded by a Blackguard, acts as a +5 unholy weapon that dispells on hit.
All these spells require a Wisdom score of 11 for the first Blackguard spell to 14 for the level 8 Blackguard spell; Unholy Sword.
Also there is a book available that gives a further upgrade to Blackguards with the Epic Fiendish Servant feat giving the Blackguard a very powerful summon.
Any build suggestions would be very much appreciated, i've tried making a few builds in my character gen module but none of them turned out decent!
Seems the Bg has received a nice and much needed upgrade. You want Dev-Crit? If so, a Fighter Combo would probably serve you best along with Rogue or bard. A bard heavy build could very well work too. Cleric could be nice with that WIS you get and is a cool combo to have with BG. I'll give it look and see what I can come up with. Any build-restrictions? _________________ 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.
Check this out, same build as in your other thread: FTR 12/Rogue (or Bard) 2/BG 16 could be a good split for you. I dunno, something like this:
If you want Dev Crit: drop one preepic feat for great cleave and either 1 Great Strength or Epic Reflexes and 1 BG bonus feat or 2 BG bonus feats for Overwhelming and Devastating Critical. I wouldn't drop Epic Reflexes, it is there to make evasion work.
It's a quickly drafted build, I'm sure much can be improved.
Cheers, Kail _________________ Unto to the darkness I commend my soul Never shall I repent Never shall I be saved
I'll go into the House of Death Before my last breath My enemies all shall die!
Thanks for the replies, there are no build restrictions that I know of.
I like your build Kali but the only problem is that a lot of people on the server have Devastating Crit with DC's around 37, it would be possible with your builds fortitude save to save against it but quite tough. Is there any way possible I could get his fortitude save up a bit higher without losing too much?
If you want Dev Crit: drop one preepic feat for great cleave and either 1 Great Strength or Epic Reflexes and 1 BG bonus feat or 2 BG bonus feats for Overwhelming and Devastating Critical. I wouldn't drop Epic Reflexes, it is there to make evasion work.
It's a quickly drafted build, I'm sure much can be improved.
Cheers, Kail
I changed your build around a bit, on the server I play on there is a Subrace that has +1 str and -1 dex (favored class: Fighter with extra feat Blooded) i'm not too sure what this means for exp penaltys, would I get a penalty?
Since I started with +1 str it meant I could miss out a great STR and use it for something else... heres what I did.
01: Rogue(1): Thug, Power Attack 02: Fighter(1): Weapon Focus: Longsword 03: Fighter(2): Cleave, Knockdown 04: Fighter(3): STR+1, (STR=18) 05: Fighter(4): Weapon Specialization Longsword 06: Fighter(5): Improved Initiative 07: Fighter(6): Blind Fight 08: Blackguard(1): STR+1, (STR=19) 09: Blackguard(2): Improved Knockdown, {Smite Good} 10: Blackguard(3) 11: Blackguard(4) 12: Blackguard(5): STR+1, Toughness changed to Great Cleave, (STR=20) 13: Fighter(7) 14: Fighter(8): Improved Critical Longsword 15: Blackguard(6): Lightning Reflexes 16: Blackguard(7): STR+1, (STR=21) 17: Blackguard(8) 18: Blackguard(9): Iron Will 19: Blackguard(10) 20: Fighter(9): STR+1, (STR=22) 21: Fighter(10): Great Strength I, Epic Weapon Focus, (STR=22) 22: Fighter(11) 23: Fighter(12): Epic Weapon Specialization Longsword 24: Blackguard(11): STR+1, Great Strength II, (STR=25) 25: Blackguard(12) 26: Blackguard(13): Epic Prowess changed to Overwhelming Crit 27: Rogue(2): Epic Reflexes, {Evasion} 28: Blackguard(14): STR+1, (STR=26) 29: Blackguard(15) 30: Blackguard(16): Great Strength III, Armor Skin, (STR=26)changed to Devastating Critical and Epic Fiendish Servant (I'm not too sure about this one though, I need to find out just how powerful they have made it on my server, if its worth getting instead of Armor Skin)
I've put everything that i've changed/added in Bold to make it easier to see.
Could the Rogue level be taken at 7 and Fighter in it's place at 1, so I could have 5 points in tumble for the extra AC?
Also i'm not too sure about weapon choice.. would it be better to go with the Scimitar for extra crit-range or the Longsword for 2 extra damage?
Please give any further suggestions you have i'm completely new to character building so i'm very much so still learning and this is all helping
Edited By kaihoa on 10/23/06 23:07
Well, I think your better bet is to worry about Dev Crit against something focused on it. I don't know what sort of save boosting items you have, but a level 30 Half-Orc RDD build could have a Dev Crit DC of 45 (10 (base) + 15 (level) + 14 (38 STR) + 6 (+12 STR items)). + 12 Con items + 10 Fort ring would give you a 36 Fort save, which is nice against those aforementioned 37 DC Dev Critters as you only fail on a 1, but against the RDD you could probably throw on some +12 Cha gear as well and have a nicer 42 save. (honestly, a 45 is unlikely, 43 or 44 being moreso, but you're still only dying on 15% of hits, at least.)
*coughs*
At any rate, are you married to the longsword? Depending on the weapon +s and the AC +s it might be better to go with a scimitar for the increased threat range since you're building for Dev Crit.
RDD has been changed on the server:
1. At RDD level 3 you’ll get your Dragon Breath Weapon, which can be used thrice per day to breathe a cone of Fire, 20-feet long, dealing 1d10 fire damage per RDD level; Reflex Save DC 10 + RDD Level + Constitution modifier, for half damage.
2. Your draconic benefits have been balanced as follows: 2.1. At RDD level 4 to 9 you’ll get a –1 penalty to Armor Class; and 2.2. At RDD level 10 you’ll get a –2 penalty to Armor Class, 50% Vulnerability to Cold damage, and –4 penalty to Strength.
I think there are +5 Rings of Resistances available and probably with buffs I could easily get the fortitude save high enough to save nearly all the time.
Edited By kaihoa on 10/24/06 00:33
Would a Bard/Palemaster/Blackguard be any good? I was thinking, with the changes to blackguards on my server (+4 AC) and the AC bonuses from the palemaster with immunity to sneak attacks, crits etc... could it be a decent character for pvp? he would probably have tons of AC
maybe something like 8 Bard 12 Palemaster 10 Blackguard
the only thing i'm not too sure about is on the page where it has how they have changed the blackguard it says:
The caster grows the thick, leather flesh of a demon, granting a +1 natural armor bonus to Armor Class for every five caster levels (at least +1, maximum +4)
what does it mean by caster levels? is that just the level of the player or how many levels the player has in Blackguard?
Quote: Posted 10/23/06 23:06 (GMT) -- kaihoa
I changed your build around a bit, on the server I play on there is a Subrace that has +1 str and -1 dex (favored class: Fighter with extra feat Blooded) i'm not too sure what this means for exp penaltys, would I get a penalty?
Since I started with +1 str it meant I could miss out a great STR and use it for something else... heres what I did.
01: Rogue(1): Thug, Power Attack 02: Fighter(1): Weapon Focus: Longsword 03: Fighter(2): Cleave, Knockdown 04: Fighter(3): STR+1, (STR=18) 05: Fighter(4): Weapon Specialization Longsword 06: Fighter(5): Improved Initiative 07: Fighter(6): Blind Fight 08: Blackguard(1): STR+1, (STR=19) 09: Blackguard(2): Improved Knockdown, {Smite Good} 10: Blackguard(3) 11: Blackguard(4) 12: Blackguard(5): STR+1, Toughness changed to Great Cleave, (STR=20) 13: Fighter(7) 14: Fighter(8): Improved Critical Longsword 15: Blackguard(6): Lightning Reflexes 16: Blackguard(7): STR+1, (STR=21) 17: Blackguard(8) 18: Blackguard(9): Iron Will 19: Blackguard(10) 20: Fighter(9): STR+1, (STR=22) 21: Fighter(10): Great Strength I, Epic Weapon Focus, (STR=22) 22: Fighter(11) 23: Fighter(12): Epic Weapon Specialization Longsword 24: Blackguard(11): STR+1, Great Strength II, (STR=25) 25: Blackguard(12) 26: Blackguard(13): Epic Prowess changed to Overwhelming Crit 27: Rogue(2): Epic Reflexes, {Evasion} 28: Blackguard(14): STR+1, (STR=26) 29: Blackguard(15) 30: Blackguard(16): Great Strength III, Armor Skin, (STR=26)changed to Devastating Critical and Epic Fiendish Servant (I'm not too sure about this one though, I need to find out just how powerful they have made it on my server, if its worth getting instead of Armor Skin)
I've put everything that i've changed/added in Bold to make it easier to see.
Could the Rogue level be taken at 7 and Fighter in it's place at 1, so I could have 5 points in tumble for the extra AC?
Rogue at first lvl gives +24 skillpoints. If you don't need them, move it around. Me, I always need skillpoints, more than an earlier AC bonus.
Quote: Also i'm not too sure about weapon choice.. would it be better to go with the Scimitar for extra crit-range or the Longsword for 2 extra damage?
It totally depends on how good scimitars and long swords are where you play. Generally speaking, if you know you can crit on the whole of the range then go scimmy, otherwise stick with longsword (magic long sword are in general more abundant or more powerful... or both).
Quote: Please give any further suggestions you have i'm completely new to character building so i'm very much so still learning and this is all helping
Thug is in just for the initiative bonus, if you think you can do without it you can get Toughness back. Actually IMO toughness is more needed than Thug.
About Epic Fiendish Servant instead of AS (or EP) it depends how powerful is the summon where you play. Check it out and compare it to the summon you get without the feat to see if it's worth -2 AC.
BTW, if I may, where do you play?
Cheers, Kail _________________
Quote: Posted 09/25/06 11:58:10 (GMT) by xitooner
I find its better to be flexible, THINK, and know your enemy.
Quote: Posted 10/24/06 01:19 (GMT) -- kaihoa
Would a Bard/Palemaster/Blackguard be any good? I was thinking, with the changes to blackguards on my server (+4 AC) and the AC bonuses from the palemaster with immunity to sneak attacks, crits etc... could it be a decent character for pvp? he would probably have tons of AC
maybe something like 8 Bard 12 Palemaster 10 Blackguard
the only thing i'm not too sure about is on the page where it has how they have changed the blackguard it says:
The caster grows the thick, leather flesh of a demon, granting a +1 natural armor bonus to Armor Class for every five caster levels (at least +1, maximum +4)
what does it mean by caster levels? is that just the level of the player or how many levels the player has in Blackguard?
Eh-eh I was about to suggest the same, but with a different split. Stop PM at 10 and go Bard 10/PM 10/BG 10 maybe. The caster lvl is BG lvls. Is it Natural Armor or Natural Armor Enhancement the bonus you get? (ie is it a permanent AC boost like PM or RDD give or a temporary enhancement like barkskin?)
Anyhow, anything with PM will make dev crit useless (or any crit or sneak attacks) so it's the perfect defense against it.
01: Bard(1): Lingering Song, Blind Fight 02: Bard(2) 03: Bard(3): Weapon Focus 04: Bard(4): STR+1, (STR=17) 05: Bard(5) 06: Bard(6): Power Attack 07: Bard(7) 08: Pale Master(1): STR+1, (STR=18) 09: Pale Master(2): Cleave 10: Pale Master(3): {Darkvision} 11: Pale Master(4) 12: Bard(8): STR+1, Knockdown, (STR=19) 13: Blackguard(1) 14: Blackguard(2): {Smite Good} 15: Blackguard(3): Improved Critical 16: Blackguard(4): STR+1, (STR=20) 17: Blackguard(5) 18: Blackguard(6): Toughness 19: Blackguard(7) 20: Blackguard(8): STR+1, (STR=21) 21: Blackguard(9): Epic Weapon Focus 22: Blackguard(10) 23: Bard(9) 24: Pale Master(5): STR+1, Epic Prowess, (STR=22) 25: Pale Master(6) 26: Pale Master(7) 27: Pale Master(8): Armor Skin 28: Pale Master(9): STR+1, (STR=23) 29: Pale Master(10) 30: Bard(10): Great Strength I, (STR=24)
Cheers, Kail _________________
Quote: Posted 09/25/06 11:58:10 (GMT) by xitooner
I find its better to be flexible, THINK, and know your enemy.
I think it's a temporary enhancement and the server I play on is Amia (www.amiaworld.net)
With 10 levels of bard I couldn't cast any 4th level spells for some reason, is it meant to be like this?
Edited By kaihoa on 10/24/06 11:37
Quote: Posted 10/24/06 11:34 (GMT) -- kaihoa
I think it's a temporary enhancement and the server I play on is Amia (www.amiaworld.net)
With 10 levels of bard I couldn't cast any 4th level spells for some reason, is it meant to be like this?
You'd need a Cha of 18 to get the bonus slot. A 10th level Bard has 0 4th level spells to cast per day. _________________ "With Europe liberated, the people of the world turned their attention to that old devil, the United States of America [...] We taught that monster of old the true meaning of freedom." Star Wreck
does that mean I could reduce my charisma to 13 and it wouldn't affect the build?
You should be able to cast 4th lvl spells easily, you've got the spell slots of a 15th lvl bard there thanks to PM. BTW you can metamagic into 5th lvl spellslots too.
Reducing CHA to 13 means -1 to saves and no access to 4th lvl spells.
Cheers, Kail _________________
Quote: Posted 09/25/06 11:58:10 (GMT) by xitooner
I find its better to be flexible, THINK, and know your enemy.
would I have to take my armor off to cast a spell as a bard?
Quote: Posted 10/24/06 20:27 (GMT) -- kaihoa
would I have to take my armor off to cast a spell as a bard?
Yes, unless you have Still Spell (which bumps your spells up a level).
BTW, how in hell does giving a RDD a penalty to AC and STR make any sense whatsoever? I understand it's supposed to be in regards to 'balance', but it makes absolutely zero sense. My 2 coppers. _________________ It's rogue, dammit, ROGUE!!!
Looking at the RDD changes, I think the intention is to nerf their strong points a bit and bolster their weakness (breath weapons in this case, as they do 10d10 at level 10 now... And the DC looks way better on the breath than before as it is modified by a buffable statistic and ramps up way more quickly.
01: Bard(1): Lingering Song, Blind Fight 02: Bard(2) 03: Bard(3): Weapon Focus 04: Bard(4): STR+1, (STR=17) 05: Bard(5) 06: Bard(6): Power Attack 07: Bard(7) 08: Pale Master(1): STR+1, (STR=18) 09: Pale Master(2): Cleave 10: Pale Master(3): {Darkvision} 11: Pale Master(4) 12: Bard(8): STR+1, Knockdown, (STR=19) 13: Blackguard(1) 14: Blackguard(2): {Smite Good} 15: Blackguard(3): Improved Critical 16: Blackguard(4): STR+1, (STR=20) 17: Blackguard(5) 18: Blackguard(6): Toughness 19: Blackguard(7) 20: Blackguard(8): STR+1, (STR=21) 21: Blackguard(9): Epic Weapon Focus 22: Blackguard(10) 23: Bard(9) 24: Pale Master(5): STR+1, Epic Prowess, (STR=22) 25: Pale Master(6) 26: Pale Master(7) 27: Pale Master(8): Armor Skin 28: Pale Master(9): STR+1, (STR=23) 29: Pale Master(10) 30: Bard(10): Great Strength I, (STR=24)
Cheers, Kail
Is there any way devastating critical could be put into this build? I could pick the subrace that gives +1 str -1 dex (fav class: fighter) if that would make any difference.
I'd say drop IC for Great Cleave (and maybe go Scimitar so the crit range loss is minimized... unless you already planned on using scimitar of course but anyhow, your crit range should suffice); you can drop another feat of your choice, of course. Then take Great STR I instead of EP and change Armor Skin and Great STR to Overwhelming Critical and Devastating Critical. You'll face no XP penalties with any race by the way, this build's got 2 PrCs.
It's not like your DC will be that high so I don't think it's worth it.
Cheers, Kail _________________
Quote: Posted 09/25/06 11:58:10 (GMT) by xitooner
I find its better to be flexible, THINK, and know your enemy.
i'm completely new to character building so i'm very much so still learning and this is all helping
Looking at the RDD changes, I think the intention is to nerf their strong points a bit and bolster their weakness (breath weapons in this case, as they do 10d10 at level 10 now... And the DC looks way better on the breath than before as it is modified by a buffable statistic and ramps up way more quickly.
but anyhow, your crit range should suffice); you can drop another feat of your choice, of course. Then take Great STR I instead of EP and change Armor Skin and Great STR to Overwhelming Critical and Devastating Critical. You'll face no XP penalties with any race by the way, this build's got 2 PrCs.