I've been (unsuccessfully) experimenting with high-con damage shield based mages who kill by shields only instead of nukes, just for fun, and tried a search on builds here. The thing closest to what I had in mind were gnome PMs mostly, but I didnt find any quite where I wanted them.
Wishes/thoughts:
Main class: Wizard, preferably lv 25+ for undispellable buffs and lasting shields. Wizard>sorcerer due to number of spells needed. Race:Dwarf/gnome, both get the Con bonus. Starting Int at 15-16, starting Con at 16-18.
Starting to boost int to 20, then con all the way.
What I was interested in knowing was mainly what other classes would benefit this build? I guess PM for sneak/crit immune is a good idea, but apart from that..?
Perhaps Barbarian just to be mean, high hps and all, and rage boosts Con and Str, while lowering AC to get more hits in and more pain to others. Perhaps a wiz25/barb15, giving greater rage and undispellable shields, that would be wicked.
I didnt really picture it as a melee char, so being able to hit others hard is not an important issue.
And would a build like this be effective in any settings? (I usually play low-magic PvE servers up to +5 on some, often only +2)
I'd like either a pointing to build similiar to this (dont need to include the barb part8)), or perhaps a general layout that I can work out from.
In advance: thanks.
Well, typically, the best PM spammers for a Wizard are 29 Wizard/1 Fighter/10 Palemaster.
But since you're going just for shield damage and not for spell power (which I don't understand why - if they don't wanna die they just won't attack you), you may want to toss in some Dwarven Defender. Wizard 16 Palemaster 10 Dwarven Defender 14 would do OK for that.
I think you've pretty much got a good outline, although I don't see the advantage of adding any other classes other than maybe PM if you're worried about crits. A buddy of mine loves to play the high CON Sorcerer (and I'd recommend Sorcerer for this actually, since you get more spells per day. He just throws up the damage shields, Stoneskin or Premonition, and a few other buffs and then runs around the mobs, drawing AoOs from them. Not many of them last long.
The only other thing I can think of is maybe some CLC (enough to get the at least one of the regeneration spells. Then you can cast regen on yourself while you're being pummelled by the mobs). But that's getting into MAD territory (Multiple Attribute Dependency) and will make your ability score spread rather harsh, as you need 15 WIS for Monstrous regen and 17 WIS for Regenerate. _________________ It's rogue, dammit, ROGUE!!!
Well, I have this build: Arcane Wall V2 (Wizard 22 / Dwarven Defender 18) which is pretty nice for PvM, but not exaclty as you want it, might work as reference.
A Pale Master 10 / Sorcerer 29 / Palaidn 1 should be nice, if your enemies don't breach Premonition then that will work great. Pale Master 10 / Wizard 29 / Bard 1 (skilldumps) on the Wizard side.
EDIT: Cleric Wizard? use The Magic Master (Monk 2 / Cleric 17 / Wizard 21), no problem with stats, it's a cool build (yeah, only say hat because I made it). _________________
Quote: Posted 12/19/06 19:54 (GMT) -- FinneousPJ
Thax the Shadow Dragon sez: MONKS USE KAMAS. Just ask him.
Edited By Thaxll'ssyllia on 08/29/07 23:53
Since it is mainly for PvE I imagine you have lots of heal potions available so you might want to go with a pure dwarven wizard.
Go dwarf over gnome so you don't have small size restrictions.
Wizard
Mestils:1d6 + 80 = 86 MAX Acid Elemental:1d6 + 40 = 46 MAX Fire Death Armor: 1d4 + 5 = 9 MAX Magical
TOTAL = 141 Damage
29W/10PM/1Rogue Dwarf or go 1 Bard like Thax for Discipline. Pre-Epic: 10 W/ 10 PM to max Fort
Mestils: 1d6 + 58 = 64 MAX Acid Elemental: 1d6 + 29 = 35 MAX Fire Death Armor: 1d4 + 5 = 9 MAX Magical
TOTAL = 108 Damage But Crit/Sneak Immunity
I would rock out the PM version with 21 or 22 CON, EDR 3, Epic Warding, Extend spell, 20ish AC O.o, 0 Tumble, and high heal skill if you dont have heal potions. I played this back in the day when Elemental Shields stacked. I called him PinBall because everything would just bounce off of him and die instantly. Was quite boring though. Don't take Improved Combat casting so you will invoke AoO's while spamming your favorite AoE spell. Ice Storms? Stand in the middle of an encounter of say 50 spawns, cast 3 AoE's then use 4 heal kits, 3 AoE's, kits, AoE's,kits, etc. etc. etc..
XPsors FTW!
Edited By SKIPPNUTTZ on 08/30/07 16:02
You can take Disarm to provoke a lot of AoOs, for that it's better to take 1 monk level and equip 2 kamas, you don't need to hit, you just need the APR to provoke the AoOs, even with the lowest BAB and without ITWF you still get 5 APR of a dual-wielding kama monk with flurry of blows activated. _________________
Quote: Posted 12/19/06 19:54 (GMT) -- FinneousPJ
Thax the Shadow Dragon sez: MONKS USE KAMAS. Just ask him.
Hmm... I think I'm starting to get the general idea.
But one thing: some of you mention DwD as a class here, with say.. 10-14 DwD and EDRIII gives me a 15-18 constant DR, would that be better than to rely on Premonition with less than 30 caster levels you think? Epic warding would be a good idea nonetheless, at least as an ace up the sleeve for tough fights.
I know this could likely prove to be a boring build, a not-very-powerful build, but at least its very player friendly, and not very much used (I don't want to make something twenty others have posted before me).
And why I thought Wiz>Sorc was for two reasons: I thought I'd need very many different spells (I've never played a sorc build farther than lv 10ish, so I don't know how many different ones they gain all in all.), and that Dwarf was my planned race, so to avoid the racial Charisma negating from dwarves.
I think I'll try to build the wiz/barb version just for laughs, and then try something proper after I read through the ones you linked.
Thanks so far.
You might want to try something like this, Mestil's Pale Emissary, since a Shield Mage is still vulnerable to the wayward high critical or sneak attack. This one gives you both DR, Crit/Sneak Immunity, high hit points, and 25+ levels of wizard casting levels. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
I give Dwarven Defender as an option because I like the class, and it gives you unbreachable undispellable DR that never fades off.
Premonition can be breached but it is a higher amount of DR than the Dwarven Defender, it can be dispelled but duration is pretty good. If weapons on your server can't breach Premonition then you won't really need other DR sources.
Epic Warding rules, it can't be dispelled or breached and has the highest DR value but the duration is very low.
Edited By Thaxll'ssyllia on 08/30/07 23:43
Contrary to what Skippnutz advised, I'd go with Gnome for that type of build. Then, since you're immune to it, you can spam Evard's around yourself while standing there with your shields up. Not much is going to stand up to you. _________________ It's rogue, dammit, ROGUE!!!
i suppose that would all depend on what equipment you plan on using. I prefer the dwarf so I can wield a Short Sword of Quickness or a Lucky One Dagger offhand and a staff in my main hand.
Thanks alot for the help folks.
Thax's Wall, and Grizz' Emmisary were very close to what I had in mind, so I guess this is settled.
I'll be going away for some days, so expect my barbarian caster by next weekend, if I remember it by then.
Could a barb/wiz be called shaman, or is cleric more shamanish? I was thinking of mabye a half orc/dwarf barbarian shaman thingie now.
With cleric I could go wis based and throw in a level of monk of 5 for pure evil, and still wear robes!
I made a Barbarian Wizard Monk build. Focused on Tenser form It is actually a pretty effective build in a low magic setting, if you can get the alignment changes.
23 Barb 15 Wiz 2 Monk or something like that.
Quote: Posted 09/01/07 11:00 (GMT) -- Cerolill Could a barb/wiz be called shaman, or is cleric more shamanish?
Hard to say. I see shamen type NPCs casting arcane and divine spells in a desperate attempt to avoid pwnage.
Shaman
I have always associated Shaman with Cleric/Druid.
Quote: Posted 09/01/07 11:00 (GMT) -- Cerolill Could a barb/wiz be called shaman, or is cleric more shamanish?
Hard to say. I see shamen type NPCs casting arcane and divine spells in a desperate attempt to avoid pwnage.
That was my thought too. However, you do get some arcane spells with the domains (read magic), its not enough to cover what they got most of the time. I'll think about it, and see what I find most useful.
I see a shaman as a combination of nature and spirit to be honest; and when I RP one I do it through a combo of sorcerer and druid. Any third class according to what style you want (sneaky; warrior-like, etc)
Sorcerer's innate power and druid's ties to nature combine to fit perfectly as a shamanistic character; and it is not too difficult to combine the two; high Cha would be important for that magnetism of a shaman anyway _________________ -4SakN
The Moonshae Isles - Forgotten Realms A Role Play, Low Magic world
Here's my Epic Gargoyle Mage Tank.
Click Here
25/+7 DR 25/- DR Pierce 10/- EEDR Sonic 10/- EEDR Acid 20/- EEDR Fire
You could add more DR soaking if you had a Brawler/Swordsmen Belt.
Disarm is used to provoke AoO.
Undead Shape is also available in/when you face Dev Crit people.
EEDR can be changed at your pleasure. I would suggest at least 2 Fire since people like to flame their weapons. Sonic would be a good choice too since few items offer that protection.
I'm not sure if this has been posted, but have you considered using the 9th level shapechange spell for Construct shape?
With critical immunity, ability to guzzle Heal potions, and DR from spells (i'm not sure how much construct shape gets, probably very little Damage Soak), things die fast. Oh, and your HPs become very high, too (unless you're CON-based,then you'd probably lose HPs).
I've used Iron Golem for it before. I call it godmode with extended shields,haste, and heal potions...
Quote: Posted 09/05/07 13:12 (GMT) -- mantis3 (i'm not sure how much construct shape gets, probably very little Damage Soak)
30/+3
Edited By whirlin_merlin on 09/05/07 22:31
You die quite fast after Warding drops. Unless your server doesn't exceed +5 weapons.
If your server has Heal potions at easy access, it's quite likely that you kill whatever attacks you before you can have a chance to die. Even w/o Epic Warding - just have to spam the heal pots.
Well, I have this build: Arcane Wall V2 (Wizard 22 / Dwarven Defender 18) which is pretty nice for PvM, but not exaclty as you want it, might work as reference.
You might want to try something like this, Mestil's Pale Emissary, since a Shield Mage is still vulnerable to the wayward high critical or sneak attack. This one gives you both DR, Crit/Sneak Immunity, high hit points, and 25+ levels of wizard casting levels.
