"Dragonslayer" build

[chad878262]

So there is a Bastard Sword called "DragonSlayer" +2 EB, +4 vs. Dragons and bonus d6 damage vs. dragons. So, if you were going to build a "DragonSlayer" how would you go about it, with the only rule being must use the Bastard Sword?

My initial thought is simply Ranger 21/DS9 for 2d6+6+9 damage vs. Dragons, and CL30 Ranger spells... Off-hand could just wield whatever light weapon is found. This does seem kind of boring though as I play a LOT of Rangers and similar character types. Plus I kind of envision a Dragon Slayer as using a Shield most of the time (so they can raise it up and block the Dragon Fire...the metal doesn't burn their arm off cuz MAGIC! )

I would like to keep some amount of Dragon Slayer in the build, but it can be a caster or not... Paladin (Cavalier) 20 / DragonSlayer 10 seems like it might be kind of cool, especially since I have been wanting to experiment more with shield feats. No EDM which is a bonus as I don't really want it, so can really pump STR. CL30 thanks to 6/10 DS progression. I am currently leaning toward this build, with Mithril Full Plate, alternating between Tower/Heavy Shield depending on the situation and the trusty Bastard Sword.

That said, nothing is out of bounds, what else can you come up with? Is there any weapons, armors, items you might want to come up with a concept around?

[aaron22]

To me is a Gish style Sorc is what i think of when I imagine a DragonSlayer. Sorc10/AS10/DS10. A type of mage that is gifted naturally but has to know his way around a library to find these dragons and the weaknesses of such foes. The natural skill with magic gives the archanist the freedom to be a true adventurer. A Laura Croft style delver with the best stuff to handle a dragon and collect HUGE wealth.

[Sun Wukong]

Cavalier 20/Dragon Slayer is something I got on my character vault:

Paladins get the elemental damage resistance feat at level 8, thus when wearing medium or heavy armour they got something like 15% or 20% elemental damage resistance. Dragon Slayer grants up to 10/- elemental damage reduction. These two alone won't block a dragon's breath attack, but they do lower the amount of elemental damage you take. There are also some helms that offer +10% elemental damage resistance in various elements, and the same holds true with shields. Basically, you can considerably reduce the amount of elemental damage you take. The Paladin spell book is also quite nice with the spell that increases Reflex saves along with Shield AC. +8 Strength, Greater Magic Weapon, Divine Favor, etc...

Just remember that small races cannot use Tower Shields, at all, not even with Monkey Grip. :/


Then I have had Barbarian 20/Dragonslayer 10 builds. Epic Rage is enough said.



And generall, I guess strength based Favored Soul 20/Dragon Slayer 10 would also be an option.

[chad878262]

B20/DS10 is interesting, though it's unfortunate the DR doesn't stack. Still would be a good build for a Earth Genasi to get to 22 STR/CON, get 3 epic DR's, Epic Rage, Epic Prowess and Expose Weakness. Good mix of offense and defense for sure. might be able to squeeze 14 DEX and use mithral chainmail to make good use of evasion, though INT would be 10 so not much in the way of skill points.

I think I still lean toward the Cavalier Paladin, though since DragonSlayer DR stacks with Epics it might still be interesting to try for Epic DR/- Only issue is it would be a MESS with stats. Needs a minimum 13 DEX to qualify for DS, 14 WIS for Paladin spells without being item dependent, then you want as much strength as possible for shield slam DC. Of course thanks to Paladin spells you would still be just fine with ~22 STR, 13 DEX, 21 CON, 14 WIS. Would likely need to be Half-Orc or something similar to make it work. Certainly far easier to forego Epic DR/- and use the epic feats for something else.

[Sun Wukong]

My Barbarian 20/Dragon Slayer 10 was a strength based halfling with Whirlwind Frenzy and Northlander Hewing. It was actually rather wonderful against dragons.

Anyhow, as for your paladin. Tiefling might make a good choice of race for what you are after. They do get +2 dexterity and intelligence with only a panelty on charisma, which a Cavalier does not need.

[Sun Wukong]

Nevermind on the Tiefling, it will not have enough feats to get Epic DR if you want 22 STR and 21 CON.

Fighter 12/Dragon Slayer 10/Divine Champion 8, or Fighter 10/Dragon Slayer 10/Divine Champion 10 will not have the feat problem. Divine Champion feats can be spent on Epic Damage Reduction.

[Steve]

Wizard (7), Eldritch Knight (10), Dragonslayer (10), Cleric (3)

Follower of Helm with War Domain (for Exotic weapon Proficiency).

26 CL, but according to M3nt such a CL isn't an issue anymore, because so many mobs have had their Dispel spells removed. With IPA you'll be doing an average of 35~ dmg per hit, which isn't great. As long as not getting dispelled, this build is pretty much immune to everything (and even if dispelled, you'd be at 44 AC with +4 gear...which everyone has these days anyway). Can get Imp. Knockdown as well for farts and laughs. You could also get One Weapon for added AC/AB at times. Or forgo IPA and get Northlander Hewing, for same dmg output but take an AC hit, but then higher AB. NH would allow for Toughness/Steadfast, which is cool.

Anyway, I played this build for a while, up to 21 or so, and it was a blast...and did really well, if you have a really nice exotic weapon.

[Sun Wukong]

Why not an EDM sorcerer instead of a wizard?

[Steve]

Why not an EDM sorcerer instead of a wizard?

Bonus Feat at WIZ 5, and because I like Skill Points. As well, I have a stupid amount of Extra Wizard Spell items. So personal choicer, really.

[chad878262]

It's certainly a decent build, but I already have a blade singer, a W/EK/A/AT and used to have a W/EK/DS. I could do sorc as I haven't played one, but the mechanics of a gish would be the same... Considering either FvS (or possibly Cleric) or Cavalier right now, though barbarian is in the mix too.

Still interested in additional ideas/ thoughts. Thanks all

[Sun Wukong]

How about a strength based Swashbuckler 12/Fighter 8/Dragon Slayer 10? Oh yeah, you wanted to use Bastard Swords, but anyhow... You can use finesse weapons with a high strength modifier. So... it could be an interesting choice to go for...

Then the final build suggestion is as follows:

Bard 7/Dread Pirate 10/Dragon Slayer 10/Tempest 3

Dread Pirate improves Inspire Courage and brings free Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Tempest 3 grants free Greater Two-Weapon Fighting... Well, they do cost some feats, but it could be something to consider at least.

Weapon Finesse, Mobility, Spring Attack for the Greater Two-Weapon Fighting and +5 Inspire Courage is the bit cheaper choice than spending four feats on Shield Specialization, Agile Shield Fighter, Shield Weapon (Focus or Specialization) x 2.

Not to mention that if you do not feel like using a shield for a bit, you can always lean towards two-weapon fighting as well. It is always nice when a character has multiple ways of fighting.

[mrm3ntalist]

Nobody said STR Bard20/Dragonslayer10? In theory that would have been great. 15(DS + Inspiration ) + 1d6 (weapon ) magic damage.

Unfortunately, in practice I will have to be the mood killer. If i remember correctly, the damage from DS against dragons, does not stack with the damage from the weapon, since both are VS Dragon.

That was back in the Mirari days when i tried that ( i have the exact same weapon and iat the time i was playing a Sorc/fighter/EK/DS ) an di am pretty certain that didnt work.

EDIT: Talking about that character always reminds me of this - https://www.bgtscc.net/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=28336. One of the best adventures....

[Hendrak]

I always liked the idea of a cavalier halfling of aroveen. A rogue dip is legal with this.

One of the smallest races journing outside his village to fight the biggest fiends with courage and agility.

Call hmk "Willow".

But can only wield up to heavy shields... That hurts shield bash a bit. We need a heavy shield with bonus damage just for the small folk.

[Deathgrowl]

Ranger3/fighter12/fb5/dragonslayer10

You may need to go ranger4/ds9, as you don't get spells on ranger until level 4, but... Yeah. Favoured power attack with FB and lots of damage from ds.

[chad878262]

Unfortunately, in practice I will have to be the mood killer. If i remember correctly, the damage from DS against dragons, does not stack with the damage from the weapon, since both are VS Dragon.

Boooooo! Hisss!

Well, you certainly killed my mood on this weapon. It's odd because I believe the damage is magic damage which stacks in other situations. For Instance the epic Long Sword in Doron Amar does 1d4 Magic Damage and it stacks with the Magic damage from Bard Inspire Courage. Thus the damage from Dragon Slayer should also stack, right? which would mean the potential for a Cavalier/Dragon Slayer to do 10 (DS levels) + 5 (Cavalier FE) + 1d6 (Sword) = 16-21 bonus damage vs. Dragons. I'll need to test it as I certainly believe you, but don't understand mechanically how the engine could stack certain types of magic damage and not others.

Does Favored Enemies/Bane of Enemies stack with damage from DragonSlayer PRC and/or the sword?

Bard 7/Dread Pirate 10/Dragon Slayer 10/Tempest 3

Intriguing if a bit feat starved... Might be better to go B8/DS9 since you lose 1 damage vs. Dragons, but gain 1AB/Damage via Inspire Courage against everything... Same CL either way, will be dispelled easily at CL13 (17 if you get PSC). Still, BAB28 so almost a full Fighter type with decent AC to boot. Will be very difficult to get Shield Slam with the heavy requirements though.

Nobody said STR Bard20/Dragonslayer10? In theory that would have been great. 15(DS + Inspiration ) + 1d6 (weapon ) magic damage.

It would be, but I already have a Bard... Still a strong option.

I always liked the idea of a cavalier halfling of aroveen. A rogue dip is legal with this.

Somebody had a crush on Mazzy Fenten, hmmm?

Note that Heavy Shield vs. Tower shield is only a drop in average damage from ~3.5 down to 2.5 (d6 vs. d4). There is no impact on Shield Slam DC. However, I would have difficulties playing a Halfling even at max height wielding a Bastard Sword and Shield.

Ranger3/fighter12/fb5/dragonslayer10

You may need to go ranger4/ds9, as you don't get spells on ranger until level 4, but... Yeah. Favoured power attack with FB and lots of damage from ds.

I like it. It would need R4 I think and would only get level 2 spells (CL10) and not very many at that. I suppose with Practiced Caster you can still get +5 natural AC from Barkskin for a long duration, but it's easily dispelled. However, R6/F12/DS9/T3 might be great to get the shield feats and 3 APR similar to SW's build with Bard levels. F12 allows for lots of feats too. CL is still only 12/16, but 16 would give +4 deflection AC, again dispels will make it fairly useless. Love the RP of tracking the dragon and such though so still think it is a very cool idea and is now in the mix!

Of course all moot if the dang sword doesn't even work with the class that would covet such a weapon!