Soontir Fel wrote:Divine Dragon is the perfect melee build with ridiculously high saves -get Epic Resilience feat and you will never fail a save, 500 something Hp, and Epic Divine Might is just not fair!
Perfect? I don't think so.
Again, you can certainly fail saves in MOTB. (..that Warlock character I mentioned had MUCH higher saves then the "divine dragon" - and failed saves all the time in MOTB. Ok, I didn't so much "fail" the saves but rather the damage persisted DESPITE the saves. Spell resistance on the other hand worked with a lot of traps and against most spells.)
Anyway..
I did find a problem with the initial build proposed by ShadowontheSun - that the additional damage for improved power attack via the Frenzied Berserker at level 5 does NOT work with a 2 handed weapon AND a shield.
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Now for my proposed build (which WAS tested):
The "Intellectual Barbarian".
Race Drow:
Barbarian: 19, Frenzied Berserker 10, Fighter or Cleric 1.
First 13 levels are as a Barbarian. Next 5 are as a Frenzied Berserker. Next 6 are back again as a Barbarian. Then 1 level as a Fighter or Cleric. Finally the remaining 5 as a Frenzied Berserker.
Starting Attributes: Str. 16, Dex. 10, Con. 16, Wis. 8, Chr. 10.
Level increases in nothing but Constitution.
Feat selection (in order):
Able Learner, Power Attack, Cleave, Greater Resiliency, Greater Cleave, Extended Rage, Improved Power Attack, Epic Damage Reduction 3/-, Epic Damage Reduction 6/-, Epic Damage Reduction 9/-, Extra Rage, *Blind Fight.
Rational:
First off - the Drow is IMO a no-brainer. That spell resistance is something you just won't be able to get any other way with a melee character (besides the Monk). Furthermore, the net attribute point distribution is the highest of any race (though it isn't particularly well suited to this build). Finally, it has some actually USEFUL racial "spells" and bonuses other than spell resistance. Note that *some* players may find it difficult to play this character, but frankly its pretty easy to play melee build characters already - so there is some compensation here.
The "Intellectual" part of the Intellectual Barbarian is there strictly for "padding" your skill points. It allows you to increase non-class skills. Furthermore, the 1st feat should be Able Learner - which cuts the net cost on those off-class skills, and effectively allows for moderate proficiency in a LOT more skills.
The Barbarian class was chosen for several reasons. Number one - its a high BAB class. Number two - its one of the highest hitpoint classes. Number three - it does provide attribute enhancement via Rage. Most importantly (number four) - it has damage reduction (in addition to 1-3). Number Five - its a medium skill point class with 4 points (plus intelligence modifiers) every level, thats *twice* the number of skill points per level when compared to most other melee classes. Number six - it has bonuses to trap saves and will saves where any melee character is traditionally weak.
Numbers 1 & 3, provide excellent offensive capability. Moreover the offensive capability scales well throughout the character's level progression. Because the class's BAB is high - Power Attack (needed for the Frenzied Berserker class) will likely be "ON" all the time and *still be effective*. (i.e. your higher BAB compensates for Power Attack's hit penalty.) Note that Power Attack would be your second feat selection (at level 3). For those rare opponents that have higher AC's early in the game - you have Rage (which should modify your Strength enough to be able to hit them WITH Power Attack ON).
Numbers 2 & 3 & 4 - all provide excellent defense. In particular that damage reduction is "SPECIAL". First of all its doesn't have any negating feature (like Magical, Alchemical, or Cold Iron), rather it works *all the time*. Next it stacks with epic damage reduction (..and only the Dwarven Defender has this same feature). Finally, at least some of this protection can be had early on. In this build the first point of damage reduction is acquired at level 7. At level 9 you should choose the "Greater Resiliency" feat for another point of damage reduction. At level 10 you'll receive one more point (..3/- in damage reduction at level 10 is pretty outstanding). At level 13 you'll have one more point (total 4/-) until you get to epic character levels. At character level 21 you'll have another point of damage reduction from the Barbarian class AND you'll grab the epic feat damage reduction for another 3/- (..total 8/-). At 23 another epic feat damage reduction of 3/- (..total 11/-). At 24 your final point from your final level as a Barbarian (..total 12/-). At 25 your final epic feat damage reduction of 3/- (..total 15/-).
The Frenzied Berserker was chosen because it can add to Rage, but more importantly for its effect on Power Attack and Improved Power Attack - ESPECIALLY WITH *2* Handed Weapons. The "bulk" of this Power Attack Improvement coincides with your selection of Improved Power Attack at level 18 and nets a staggering +20 damage per hit with 2-handed weapons (..at a time when you can take the "shaving" of - 6 to your attack).
The Fighter or Cleric is pure "gravy". Foremost either selection provides access to Heavy Armor. In truth this isn't that big a deal because there are excellent Medium armors available .. but its there if you want it. 2nd the Fighter provides an extra Feat without penalty to your base attack. Conversely the Cleric provides 2 Feats via the Cleric Domains - some of which you can NOT choose from your standard feat list. For instance my preference is for the Cleric (over the Fighter) taking the Cleric Domains: Good or Chaos & Water. "Good" gives the Paladin "Aura of Courage" feat (..fear immunity). "Water" provides Evasion (which works well with the Barbarian's "trap sense"). The "Chaos" domain (as an alternative to the "Good" domain), gives "Slippery Mind" which works well with the Barbarian's will bonuses via Indomitable Will and Rage. The only negative with the Cleric is a net reduction of one point to the character's BAB. Also note that the Cleric "opens up" the Diplomacy skill to higher skill levels.
The specific progression (i.e. "when" the Barbarian was multi-classed), was chosen for several reasons. First - it had to accommodate the feat Able Learner at the beginning. Even with that accommodation we could have structured the crossover to a Frenzied Berserker at character level 10 - BUT we wouldn't have had a high enough BAB to really make use of the class's Power Attack enhancement, nor would we have had Improved Power attack. Most importantly however we would only have had 1/- in damage reduction - which really doesn't balance the character's offensive and defensive qualities.
*Note that Blind Fight is chosen last.. not only does this character have the highest listen skill to "see" opponents that might be hiding or invisible, but the Drow also has the spell "See Invisibility", so IMO the feat is the least important of the group and as a result is basically a "bonus" at the end.
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So whats the builds final "tally" (at level 30)?
Good skills values and number of skills, in particular a 16 in "use magic item" can allow the use of most spells via scrolls. Also, *all* of the dialog-type skills can be at *least* at moderate levels (for a given character level).
At *least* 550 hit points (depending on fighter vs. cleric and choosing epic constitution when selecting the fighter class).
15/- Damage Reduction.
Spell Resistance 41.
High Fortitude save of 25.
Good Trap saves.
Good Will saves with Rage ON.
7 Rages & Frenzy.
With a "one level Cleric build":
With Improved Power Attack *ON* and unarmed attack:
25/20/15/10/5/0
1-3 +15
With Improved Power Attack *ON* but with the *two handed weapon* Great sword (basic with no bonuses):
25/20/15/10/5/0
2-12 +28
..as above but with Rage in addition:
28/23/18/13/8/3
2-12 +33
..as above and adding Frenzy:
31/26/21/16/11/6
2-12 +37
- Again, that is without any enhancement bonuses OR attack/damage modifiers of any kind (..which is HIGHLY unlikely). And of course *all* of those modifiers would stack to these figures.:mischief:
So where is the character "weak"?
Without "Slippery Mind" and Rage "on", non-spell mental attacks (like stun from an illithid) can sometimes work.. BUT chances are most opponents that can perform such "attacks" usually can *not* overcome the character's damage reduction when they start to physically attack. Actual "Will" type spells however rarely penetrate the character's spell resistance.
The character can still be knocked down.
The AC level even with good full plate is at best moderate. Of course with damage reduction of 15 its a fairly moot point. 10 in Tumble can also add a + 1 to AC.
The exceedingly rare "deafening" effect coupled with some sort of concealment could pose a problem. But again though, when will that happen that spell resistance won't prevent it? Moreover, the concealment is often via hiding or invisibility - and for that you have a racial spell.
Of course spell casting is limited, it *is* a melee build after all. However spell casting is NOT eliminated (because of the skill points in "use magic device").
Finally, (and most notably), without *any* additional enhancement bonuses to hit, 3 of your attacks per round may not make contact. With Rage and Frenzy you can usually get that down to -2 or -1 (..overall 4 to 5 attacks per round instead of 6). Again though, that is *without* any additional hit modifiers.