How good is Shield Slam in epic levels?

[joleda]

What is the typical Fortitude save for mobs in epic levels?

[Tsidkenu]

Too high for Shield Slam to be of much use, unfortunately. Typically mid to high 20's I guess.

[joleda]

So what you're saying is that I would need a Strength modifier of 30 to get a 50% chance of stunning the opponent? That wipes out Gnomes and Halflings.

[mrm3ntalist]

Actually most epic mobs have a fortitude save of 15-22. For example the Fire giants in GRaypeaks have a Fort save of 19, The lizard warriors 20, The frost giants 19.

The liches in the vault of the dead have 25, so do the giant guard dogs in the graypeaks.

I would say that the Shield Slam would be very efficient even in epic levels.

[Boddynock]

You also need to keep in mind that, until fixed, shield slam only gets AB bonus from Strength and BAB (and feats specific to shield bashing I suppose). So if you are playing as some sort of gish or divine build, all those buffs that raise your AB don't do squat for your shield attacks.

[joleda]

My idea is a Svirfneblin shield slammer with lots of Rogue and no HIPS. Yup, I'm a masochist.

My biggest issue is that Shield Bash was NOT available as a feat on my first Fighter level. This is a really big problem and means that the build is going to be very tough to play in the beginning. I'm considering remaking it without Fighter levels.

What are the chances of getting Shield Bash, Shield Charge, Shield Slam, Toughness, and Steadfast Determination added to the Fighter feat list?

[Flasmix]

If you're able to stack armour spells and have a Justicar Trueheart it makes shield slam work as an amazing removal.

[joleda]

Justicar what? I have no clue to what you're referring.

[joleda]

Wow! 39!

I only make non-magical characters and min-max as little as possible. My gnome would be lucky to hit 24 STR at level 30 with items, which is a DC of 32.

Maybe I'll pass on Shield Slam and make a Svirf Tank.