hey there.
i have come up with a Bard21/Fighter13/Weapon Master7, dex based and dual wielding.
since on my server there are a lot of weapons with bonus damage and massive criticals around, the damage from two more extra attacks outweighs the damage bonus of a strenghter.

with bard song/curse song, improved expertise, mage armor und dex-bonus i end up with a really nice AC and AB.

my only problem is that i dont have uncanny dodge, and i am not sure if this will ruin the build in PvM (i don't plan to do any PvP!).

because of my high AC and 50% concealment, most enemies will only knockdown me on a natural 20, and still then i have discipline backed up with a high level bard song skill bonus.
spring attack negates AoO when i'm moving around, and because i am an elf i am immune to sleep, and i dont know of any mob that entangles.

well, what's your opinion?
with the given information, is uncanny dodge crucial?

greetings,
dusty

Edited By dust7 on 04/09/07 13:49

If you fight more than one enemy at a time, you'll find problems. However, if you have a high enough AC even without the +Dex to it, then you're fine. Uncanny dodge is probably more essential than Epic Dodge in this case. Assuming you are wearing light or no armor and relying on your dex for AC, then you may get into big trouble if you go flat-footed for some reason during combat (like getting a kill and auto-targetting something out of range, or having a henchie get in your way, etc.). If you are still wearing heavy armor, then it probably doesn't matter. ED would be nice, but it isn't crucial.

Of course, if the weapons have massive crits already, you could drop WM, and take 10 SD or 13 Rogue instead to get HiPS and ED.

TM
Quote: Posted 04/09/07 20:42 (GMT) -- Ariel Thomas

If you fight more than one enemy at a time, you'll find problems. However, if you have a high enough AC even without the +Dex to it, then you're fine.

i always thought that the basic rule of being flat footed is:
you are flat footed when sneak attacks could be applied to you.

however, the wiki says:
Quote: A character is considered to be flat-footed when:
They are performing a non-combat task.
They are in ready mode (have not yet acted in a combat).
They move outside of the combat radius.
They are entangled.
They are prone.
They are sleeping.

so am i considered flat footed when i am fighting one enemy and get flanked by another? Well, I'd think rangers will beat the crap out of you, but PvM rangers aren't AAs, so they really won't.

Not having Uncanny has little importance for 1 vs 1 PvP, (and even then you'll suffer greatly if you get knocked down or stunned) but in pure PvM as you state Uncanny is very important, you'll rarely fight 1 vs 1, and 2 enemies are about enough to get you flanked and lose DEX AC... about Epic Dodge, it's probably the best defensive feat there is, but it's pretty useless against mobs, it can only evade one hit per round, which mobs pierce neatly... though I'm not sure how I ended talking about ED.

I'd say you can use that build and be ok, it doesn't sounds weak or anything, so it should be playable enough; if you get killed too often, then make another build from scratch, giving Uncanny to that build would represent a considerable change even changing only 1 class.

Edited By Thaxll'ssyllia on 04/10/07 03:06

Quote: Posted 04/10/07 03:03 (GMT) -- Thaxll'ssyllia

Not having Uncanny has little importance for 1 vs 1 PvP, (and even then you'll suffer greatly if you get knocked down or stunned) but in pure PvM as you state Uncanny is very important, you'll rarely fight 1 vs 1, and 2 enemies are about enough to get you flanked and lose DEX AC... about Epic Dodge, it's probably the best defensive feat there is, but it's pretty useless against mobs, it can only evade one hit per round, which mobs pierce neatly... though I'm not sure how I ended talking about ED.

Last time I played ED avoids 1 hit per round per attacker, if I recall correctly
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Quote: Posted 04/10/07 00:27 (GMT) -- dust7

Quote: Posted 04/09/07 20:42 (GMT) -- Ariel Thomas

If you fight more than one enemy at a time, you'll find problems. However, if you have a high enough AC even without the +Dex to it, then you're fine.

i always thought that the basic rule of being flat footed is:
you are flat footed when sneak attacks could be applied to you.

however, the wiki says:
Quote: A character is considered to be flat-footed when:
They are performing a non-combat task.
They are in ready mode (have not yet acted in a combat).
They move outside of the combat radius.
They are entangled.
They are prone.
They are sleeping.

so am i considered flat footed when i am fighting one enemy and get flanked by another?

Er, I guess not. I don't know where I got that impression. Still, there are lots of ways to become flat footed, not to mention the occassional instance where you just fall out of combat. I was mistaken when I said multiple opponents would result in such a problem, though. Being flanked doesn't make anyone flat-footed. It makes you flanked! You still have your DEX-bonus etc even though you're swamped. Just pay attention so you keep having a target.
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Quote: Last time I played ED avoids 1 hit per round per attacker, if I recall correctly

I must know where are you getting that, or what should I install/uninstall for that effect, 'cause it doesn't goes for me as I'm right now I'm only evading one attack for every one of my rounds, mobs are breaching my Epic Dodge, it's not nice.

Edited By Thaxll'ssyllia on 04/11/07 01:27