Combat Master (HotU, SPOILERS, a bit long so beware)
Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2004 7:13 pm
I've played through this game numerous times, and I've always had one goal in mind, to create my own personal "combat master".
MINOR SPOILER ALERT
The idea was, to combine the power of a spellcaster with the ability to survive, say, the attack of the belbiath (sp?) in the null-magic zone under the Beholder Lair. In other words, I wanted somebody who was truly a master, who can survive virtually any situation and prevail. I wanted a perfect blend of caster and tank, and I worked very hard to get it. And even then I wasn't sure if I did.
In order for me to get such a character, I knew I had to sacrifice something. For one thing, social niceties went out the window. If you want a combat master, I suppose you'd just have to sacrifice pursuasion and the like. And, unless I planned to include Rogues or Bards in my plan (I didn't), I supposed thieving and hiding were out too.
With those thoughts set aside, I worked, and came up with the following possibilities, all of which I tried:
Paladin 2/Red Dragon Disciple 10/Sorcerer x
This first attempt tried to combine the spellcasting power of a Sorcerer, with the improved strength and constitution of a Red Dragon Disciple, and the enhanced saving throws of the paladin, not to mention the immunities (fear, disease, fire, paralysis, sleep). There were several issues with this one. Granted, when you got to lvl 40, you're incredible, but before then, you were rather weak. In order not to be stuck with 11 wisdom, I had to start out as a sorcerer. At lvl 2, I switched over to Paladin and stayed there for 2 levels. Then, I switched back to sorcerer until I could get RDD, and it was RDD until level 10, and then sorcerer from then on. I discovered that, until my sorcerer levels reached about 14-15, I was heavily reliant on my combat abilities. But, in order not to undermine my spellcasting, I couldn't wear armor or shields. Although I eventually got automatic quicken spell level III, it was a long way down the road. Too long, by my opinion.
Monk/Cleric
This was, by far, one of the strangest and yet most entertaining classes I've ever leveled. It was difficult to balance how I wanted this to go, because it's hard to decide whether you want more combat proficiency or better spellcasting. In the end, I found it best to lvl the monk until Knockdown and Improved Knockdown, then level cleric until you've got level 9 spells, then switch to monk until you hit 20, and then finish off cleric. The advantage of this build is that you're millitant enough to survive most non-magical battles (and your AC is high, because your wisdom should be at least 19 and your dex shouldn't be too low) and clerical spells are universally recognized to be quite awesome. Not to mention, you can take excellent domains like Animal and Magic (Unfortunatly, you have to sacrifice Cha for this build, and with it, any real effective turning, so Sun, Good, Evil, Destruction, and Plant domains are fairly useless). With those 2, you can cast some useful extra spells and your animal summoning is improved, quite useful things since you'll want some extra meat. By far, this combo was easier to level, though maybe not as powerful.
Fighter 4/Wizard 23/Arcane Archer x
With 23 levels in wizard (I found it really doesn't matter what you specialize in), You get a few lvl 9 spells to play with, and your Arcane Archer levels make your arrows hurt more than they probably would otherwise. But this turned out to be a major disappointment.
It turns out, if you want a hard-hitting caster, you should choose Sorcerer instead of Wizard. But if you choose sorcerer in this build, you've got to raise an otherwise rather useless Charisma instead of Intel (there's no Paladin levels to take advantage of the high Cha bonus, and no do NOT tell me to switch out the 4 fighter levels for Paladin levels, because they're there for a reason, namely, for Specialization). The very first place I headed to was the null-magic area. This character could hold out, but really, not as well as any of the two above. A very major disappointment, and hardly what I'd call a Combat Master.
There were a few other builds I tried, but they were mostly disappointments. Some of them showed potential, such as a Fighter 4/Weapon Master 7/Sorcerer x, which showed a real potential if I could only find a weapon that would compliment the build (probably some 2-hander), but I just couldn't make this build match the Sorcerer/RDD/Paladin. And now, after this huge, long-winded discussion, comes your part.
First, I would very much appreciate any comments or suggestions on how to improve any of the above builds. I'm still trying to perfect them, and so they're just rough sketches for now, and far from where I want them. Just keep in mind, though, that I'm looking for the "perfect" blend of casting and combat, so I'd appreciate it if no-one suggests things like, "Hey, man, why don't u jes make a lvl 40 barb. Like, that would be a real combat master!"
Second, feel more than free to post your own thoughts! I'd love to see builds that you feel might be a good candidate for the title of "Combat Master". Remember, though, that for me, I want a build that's not only powerful when it hits lvl 40, but is also (relatively) easy to level, in other words is not ridiculously weak to start (as in, can't defeat NWN original campaign, prologue, when difficulty has been set to easy), even if said build is able to kill dragons with 1 hit at lvl 40. Because, I'll actually try and play the game through with your build, so I'd appreciate ones that are actually doable.
MINOR SPOILER ALERT
The idea was, to combine the power of a spellcaster with the ability to survive, say, the attack of the belbiath (sp?) in the null-magic zone under the Beholder Lair. In other words, I wanted somebody who was truly a master, who can survive virtually any situation and prevail. I wanted a perfect blend of caster and tank, and I worked very hard to get it. And even then I wasn't sure if I did.
In order for me to get such a character, I knew I had to sacrifice something. For one thing, social niceties went out the window. If you want a combat master, I suppose you'd just have to sacrifice pursuasion and the like. And, unless I planned to include Rogues or Bards in my plan (I didn't), I supposed thieving and hiding were out too.
With those thoughts set aside, I worked, and came up with the following possibilities, all of which I tried:
Paladin 2/Red Dragon Disciple 10/Sorcerer x
This first attempt tried to combine the spellcasting power of a Sorcerer, with the improved strength and constitution of a Red Dragon Disciple, and the enhanced saving throws of the paladin, not to mention the immunities (fear, disease, fire, paralysis, sleep). There were several issues with this one. Granted, when you got to lvl 40, you're incredible, but before then, you were rather weak. In order not to be stuck with 11 wisdom, I had to start out as a sorcerer. At lvl 2, I switched over to Paladin and stayed there for 2 levels. Then, I switched back to sorcerer until I could get RDD, and it was RDD until level 10, and then sorcerer from then on. I discovered that, until my sorcerer levels reached about 14-15, I was heavily reliant on my combat abilities. But, in order not to undermine my spellcasting, I couldn't wear armor or shields. Although I eventually got automatic quicken spell level III, it was a long way down the road. Too long, by my opinion.
Monk/Cleric
This was, by far, one of the strangest and yet most entertaining classes I've ever leveled. It was difficult to balance how I wanted this to go, because it's hard to decide whether you want more combat proficiency or better spellcasting. In the end, I found it best to lvl the monk until Knockdown and Improved Knockdown, then level cleric until you've got level 9 spells, then switch to monk until you hit 20, and then finish off cleric. The advantage of this build is that you're millitant enough to survive most non-magical battles (and your AC is high, because your wisdom should be at least 19 and your dex shouldn't be too low) and clerical spells are universally recognized to be quite awesome. Not to mention, you can take excellent domains like Animal and Magic (Unfortunatly, you have to sacrifice Cha for this build, and with it, any real effective turning, so Sun, Good, Evil, Destruction, and Plant domains are fairly useless). With those 2, you can cast some useful extra spells and your animal summoning is improved, quite useful things since you'll want some extra meat. By far, this combo was easier to level, though maybe not as powerful.
Fighter 4/Wizard 23/Arcane Archer x
With 23 levels in wizard (I found it really doesn't matter what you specialize in), You get a few lvl 9 spells to play with, and your Arcane Archer levels make your arrows hurt more than they probably would otherwise. But this turned out to be a major disappointment.
It turns out, if you want a hard-hitting caster, you should choose Sorcerer instead of Wizard. But if you choose sorcerer in this build, you've got to raise an otherwise rather useless Charisma instead of Intel (there's no Paladin levels to take advantage of the high Cha bonus, and no do NOT tell me to switch out the 4 fighter levels for Paladin levels, because they're there for a reason, namely, for Specialization). The very first place I headed to was the null-magic area. This character could hold out, but really, not as well as any of the two above. A very major disappointment, and hardly what I'd call a Combat Master.
There were a few other builds I tried, but they were mostly disappointments. Some of them showed potential, such as a Fighter 4/Weapon Master 7/Sorcerer x, which showed a real potential if I could only find a weapon that would compliment the build (probably some 2-hander), but I just couldn't make this build match the Sorcerer/RDD/Paladin. And now, after this huge, long-winded discussion, comes your part.
First, I would very much appreciate any comments or suggestions on how to improve any of the above builds. I'm still trying to perfect them, and so they're just rough sketches for now, and far from where I want them. Just keep in mind, though, that I'm looking for the "perfect" blend of casting and combat, so I'd appreciate it if no-one suggests things like, "Hey, man, why don't u jes make a lvl 40 barb. Like, that would be a real combat master!"
Second, feel more than free to post your own thoughts! I'd love to see builds that you feel might be a good candidate for the title of "Combat Master". Remember, though, that for me, I want a build that's not only powerful when it hits lvl 40, but is also (relatively) easy to level, in other words is not ridiculously weak to start (as in, can't defeat NWN original campaign, prologue, when difficulty has been set to easy), even if said build is able to kill dragons with 1 hit at lvl 40. Because, I'll actually try and play the game through with your build, so I'd appreciate ones that are actually doable.
), and is completely invulnerable to critical hits, and therefore Dev Crit. Immunity to Dev Crit is important seeing as almost all melee build revolve around it. Has all Bard spells and skills, as well as Curse Song.