Author: The Flying Rodent
Created: 16-JUN-2020
For those looking for general features to include in a build, here is a list of some things to consider when making your own build. At least, for the moment.
Support Options
- Characters with 20 Bard levels and above have access to Lasting Inspiration, which increased party AC, AB, skills, and damage by proxy of lowering enemy AC, for up to 100 minutes per rest if you include alternating song/curse in one area.
- Characters with around 30 Arcane Caster levels have access to ‘useable’ Bigby Hands, notably Interposing Hand (-10 AB, great for raid bosses), Forceful Hand (somewhat useful for spellcasters and sneaky enemies), and Grasping/Crushing Hand (which both immobilise ‘and’ lower the AC of their target by rendering them flat-footed). Evocation focus increases caster grapple check here, as does caster level + ability modifier. Grapple is particularly effective as Crowd Control in boss rooms with multiple critters, and can keep exploding enemies away from the party.
- Characters with at least 1 Rogue or Assassin level and a bunch of skill points, have access to Open Lock (for extra loot), Disable Trap (for making certain locations safer, which can be important in some dungeons), and Pickpocket (which can be used to remove the final Heal potion from a boss’ inventory). Several other classes, like Shadowdancer, also have access to pickpocket, but not Disable Trap/Open Lock.
- Characters with 15 Cleric levels have access to special Balms, which drastically lowers the penalty for ressing someone. Rods of Resurrection can also be found in loot for non-clerics, so parties without a Balmer generally use these.
Carry Options
- Characters with 7 WM levels or higher have access to increased crit damage. More WM levels also equates to higher AB, which is nice, but comes at the expense of benefits from other classes.
- Paladins, Blackguards and Clerics have access to Divine Might and Shield, which have slightly increased durations here. Probably not a feat to revolve a build around, given the length of certain boss fights, but none the less useful. Paladins also have access to Level 2 spell slot gems via green items, which can drastically increase their amount of Divine Favours castable per day.
- Barbarians can make use of buffs to Greater/Terrifying/Mighty Rage . Terrifying Rage now lowers enemy AB by 4, and Greater/Mighty Rage simulate boosting AB/Damage beyond the strength cap. Which means +3 AB/damage for Greater Rage, and +4 AB/Damage for Mighty Rage. They also stack, which is nice.
- Champions of Torm have had Divine Wrath duration increased to minutes rather than rounds.
- Sneak Attack now works against just about everything. Including you, even if you’re a Palemaster!
- Rangers and Arcane Archers have quite favourable set bonuses , in that they gain 2 sources of increased AC. Which is nice for a class that gets AB amplification in some form or another! (Bane of Enemies for ranger, Enchant Arrow for AA’s)
- Pure Casters get access to High level summons, which can ‘ in a way’ be used as a carry option (though not very reliably at the high end). Druids have access to the best summons, but the class itself lacks defensive options, so its a good idea to give Druids some crafted wands and Nordock Shaman Staves to make up for this.
Defensive Options
- Characters with 10 PM levels get Critical/Stun/Paralysis Immunity, which is handy for tanky characters in dungeons with Bigby spammers and Dev Crit users. The most ‘useful’ Pm’s tend to be Dex Based, and include lots of Bard levels to double as a support.
- Monks gain access to extra movement speed, which can allow characters to more effectively run away from a sticky situation. They also add Wisdom modifier to their AC, and gain extra AC points every 5 monk levels.
- Shadowdancer has had Shadow Evade duration increased 10 fold. This opens up an interesting range of Dex Tank builds that can nab Epic Dodge + lots of Dodge AC from 10 SD, and use their remaining 30 class levels for other things.
- Speaking of which: Epic Dodge is pretty commonly taken here, given the importance of defense in boss rooms. A lot of offensively-inclined dex characters choose to take 13 Rogue, or 10 SD, or 9 Monk 5 SD, or 9 Monk 10 Rogue, to get access to Epic Dodge. Examples include Ranger 26 / Fighter 4/ SD 10, Paladin 20 / Monk 10 / Rogue 10, and Rogue 13 / Fighter 8 / WM 19.