Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

If you're going for a Punisher- or Ozmyndias-type of evil-hunter, you can still pull off the build I gave earlier. You just have to be evil-aligned and then add Warrior of Darkness instead of Anointed Knight.

PhantomLamb wrote: A crossbow specialist could be pretty interesting, too. There's that DEX damage feat. Anyone gone down that path for some crazy archery builds?

Ran a strongheart halfling build as a crossbow specialist for a while. a VERY fun build.
Regularly pumping out 100+ dmg on manyshot EDIT[CRIT] shots. Followed up by 50-60 manyshots.

Rogue/Fighter/EA/SD
Access to heaps of skills (max H/MS, max tumble, some lock and trap, UMD to 14 (cha 8 base), other skill placement personal choices), heaps of weapon specific feats (bonus AB and dmg), HIPS, acid dmg all shots. Get some other elemental type bolts with a +3 reloading bow, you're good to go.
AB up around 50 at max level.
DONT choose One shot at epics, it doesn't work with dmg calculation for Dex bonus dmg (crossbow dex feats).
Get a mage companion as a haste dispenser, you're gonna shoot death like theres no tomorrow. Or a wand.
This build is killer until around level 22, whereby all enemies beyond have high damage reduction, high dmg and possibly controlling magic.
Saving grace on this build is, fire off 3 salvos, HIPs, move, fire again.

If you've got a meat shield distraction, you're good to go. Great build to support any party.

Other class variants include Assasin, more Rogue to 10 (for crippling then precision in epics), Ranger variant.

Thanks guys! I do like the Xbow specialist [EDIT] and may try that another time. Too much Van Helsing nod in that one. I think a Warlock DSM fits very well.

I've looked over the top builds on NWN2DB along these lines. There are a couple routes I could go and wanted some opinions or alternatives. I'm quite needy ... thanks in advance

* 3 Ro / 15 Wk / 3 SD / 9 DSM
This is the most popular build there. Some CL to sacrifice for the sake of HIPS.

* 3 Ro, Bodyguard, or IB / 18 Wk / 9 DSM
Highest possible CL for a DSM build here. No HIPS, but is it necessary with Warlock Invis? And do you have any preferences for the three class levels giving SA?

* 13 Wk / 8 Assa / 9 DSM
Sacrifices a lot of CR, but gains HIPS and Death Attack. But does Death Attack even proc on a warlock strike? Seems like the least likely candidate because of the stat spread.

Other questions:
* Do only specific eldritch shapes work with SA damage AND DSM dagger damage?
* Are there other build ideas you might have?
- I haven't made a Hellfire Warlock before, so I'm out of my depth there, but it seems less popular for DSM.
- Harper Agent could be interesting, though I'm pretty sure Warlock won't qualify for its caster progression.

RE: Sneak attack damage, I have never seen any blast shape proc sneak attack damage on my rogue/warlock/DSM.

In my experience, all the shapes requiring a ranged touch attack (of which there are several that are AOE, including repelling blast, undead bane blast and tempest blast) benefit from DSM dagger damage.

The only way to combine SA and warlock damage is to use Hideous blow in melee. Any ranged shape won't benefit from SA. All shapes benefit from added DSM dagger damage though.

Hellfire warlock certainly isn't weak with high extra damage and a free summon. But it requires being evil and constantly restoring your drained constitution.

Yes Hips is still good despite invisbility, since invisibility takes a full round to cast while Hips is instant. And some creatures see through invisibility.

As for build the typically recommended one is with SD and bodyguard. High CL (which also means high blast damage), evasion and no xp penalty.