melee/caster build help

[Vesgar]

Hello everyone,

I'm trying to play a melee warrior who has his "own" tricks, that means I'd like to play something that does a fine job in melee combat, but still can buff himself to be a little bit better. (so it wouldn't be just dead weight after dispelled or during a surprise attack so no wizard/sorcerer gishes) Sadly I didn't become better at character building, so I could use your help.

Right now I'm still leaning towards my meleelock build ([http://nwn2db.com/build/?257703 and http://nwn2db.com/build/?258074), as mechanically that would be the "easiest" to play, but in the last few days when I tried to create his background story it felt a little bit "cheesy", so maybe I should consider a more "materialistic" approach, or maybe a cleric or favoured soul. (even tho my last experience with a divine caster was in NWN1 )

I tried to think a little bit more about the criteria of my future character so here they are:

• - Melee (str) heavy (he is going to be a mercenary/bounty hunter/assassin kind of character)
  - Can put up a fight even without his buffs or at least be able to choose when to fight (invisiblity or hips)
  - I'd prefer a single weapon, so no shields (most likely swords)
  - Preferably Lawful Neutral or maybe Lawful Evil

A follower of Hoar would fit quite nicely, even tho I don't really like his favored weapon (spear), but at least his clergy isn't that high on church service, as mostly they are lonely wanderers dealing in revenge and justice.

Thanks in advance! \o

[aaron22]

from my experience it doesnt pay to have a little of a a bunch of skills. if you want sneaky/lock go all the way with it. if you want melee fighter based then go all the way with that and dont mix in the sin. rogue would be better anyway for the evasion, but if i dip on a build like that i would dip cleric for DS and/or DM.

imho. build what you want. its hard to make something unplayable. it just might not be a demigod squashing giants at level 10.

[Vesgar]

Luckily I'm not planning to play a demigod, so I don't really mind if it won't annihilate everything in his early teens. (but that doesn't mean I'd happily play a useless, weak character :p) Actually I kinda like to play jack of all trades characters. That's why most of my toons are all over the place when it comes to their skills, a little bit of this and that.

Basically I'd like to play a sturdy melee warlock/blackguard (maybe with hideous blow).

[Steve]

If you want to go the Hideous Blow route, and want some Skills, and want to make sure your build isn't disabled by Dispels, then consider Warlock 17 / Rogue 3 / Dragonslayer 10. It will have 26 CL with Practised Invoker feat, build to utilize mithral Full plate so take Battle Caster feat, and of course Eldritch Master.

If you can, go Human and take Able Learner at level 1, along with Luck of Heroes.

[Vesgar]

Hideous blow was just an idea as a flavoring for this dark fighter figure as I'd rather not use blasts left and right. Mainly he would be a melee fighter with the potential to decide when and where to strike.

Blackguard would fit this concept well or at least I thought so, and the divine might or the additional saves from the cha bonus aren't that bad. :p

[Kanada]

Unfortunately, the Dragonslayetr DR bug makes them a not good choice. If you take Dslayer then your warlock DR invocations don't work.

[Steve]

Unfortunately, the Dragonslayetr DR bug makes them a not good choice. If you take Dslayer then your warlock DR invocations don't work.

I can't find this bug documented on the Forum here. Can you explain what is the issue?

[Tsidkenu]

This.

[Vesgar]

Thank you for your ideas so far. I edited the first post with my current meleelock build and with a little bit more details about my future character. I hope someone will be able to shed light on the perfect build that would help me play this character.

I don't really think I can do anything more about that melee warlock build. I don't need more caster level as I have all the buffs/abilities I want and even if he gets dispelled he can just turn invisible/rebuff himself.

Other than that, I don't really have any idea anymore how to build a proper warrior with a pint of divine power. It kinda needs more CL, so it won't get dispelled that easily as he doesn't have endless supply of buffs, and he won't have invisibility with the current deities I'd choose, so he either needs to be a tough warrior or be able to hips.

Do you have any ideas or pointers on where should I start?

[aaron22]

sounds to me like a strength based bard with a dip into something that will provide DM/ADM would fit the best.

its not a unique build on the server at all.

[Aurali]

A build I've been mulling over playing is 12 fighter / 8 warlock / 6 dragonslayer / 4 blackguard. Take Aasimar for the cha boost to start to set up for EDM. This build has tumble skill as dragonslayer, cha saves of BG, EDM, 28 BAB, access to vitriolic blast hideous blow with three ticks of acid (practiced invoker for 15 CL), dark transient for lvl 15 haste and extra ab, Epic Weapon focus and mastery, bonus reflex from lvl 6 DS, can turn invisible, and even more. I can come up with a decent build order if interested/needed.

Another route you could take is 24 warlock /3 dragonslayer / 3 BG if EDM is needed. The upper tier invocations do wonders for meleelocks. Having 50% concealment at all times is very nice along with the +2 ac.

[Vesgar]

sounds to me like a strength based bard with a dip into something that will provide DM/ADM would fit the best.

its not a unique build on the server at all.

Luckily I'm not going for uniqueness. The str bard piqued my interest, but all those bard specific things are all new to me, songs, bard spells, talents and abilities... It has amazing amount of content and I'm totally lost here. Then there's that the bard would require a different kind of rp and would forbid me to pick a lawful alignment. Anyway right now I'm totally hyped to see what can I do with the fighter/bard base. thanks for that!

There are things that I only want because it would be a waste not to take them. That's why I considered the warlock for the lasting and infinite buffs and extra damage or the blackguard mainly for the additional cha bonuses and the DM. If there's anything that would make the toon just as strong/reliable I'd be happy to hear about them.

A build I've been mulling over playing is 12 fighter / 8 warlock / 6 dragonslayer / 4 blackguard. Take Aasimar for the cha boost to start to set up for EDM. This build has tumble skill as dragonslayer, cha saves of BG, EDM, 28 BAB, access to vitriolic blast hideous blow with three ticks of acid (practiced invoker for 15 CL), dark transient for lvl 15 haste and extra ab, Epic Weapon focus and mastery, bonus reflex from lvl 6 DS, can turn invisible, and even more. I can come up with a decent build order if interested/needed.

Another route you could take is 24 warlock /3 dragonslayer / 3 BG if EDM is needed. The upper tier invocations do wonders for meleelocks. Having 50% concealment at all times is very nice along with the +2 ac.

Tsidkenu already mentioned that there's a bug with the dragonslayer DR if there are other feats/abilities with the same bonuses. That's why I didn't try to use the dragonslayer class. I know it'd be a solid choice for any melee caster build. I would like to keep the caster part of this build at a bare minimum. That's why I picked 8-9 warlock levels and not more. 24 warlock levels would mean less AB so the character is, not as much as a wizard or sorcerer would be, but almost useless in melee combat without his buffs and abilities.

I tried to compare the 12f/8w/6ds/4bg (and a 12/9/6/3 version) with the 12 fighter/9 warlock/6 divine champion/3 blackguard and it seems like other than the extra invocations (the vitriolic hideous blow sounds great) and the elemental resistances it doesn't really offer much more compared to the extra turning, steadfast determination and sacred defense.

edit: one more thing the asimar has paladin as a favored class and it's an ECL+1 race, wouldn't that xp penalty hurt a lot? :p

[aaron22]

just a thought but what do you think your ac is gonna look like. that may be a potential problem there.

[Vesgar]

That's a really good question. Tbh I didn't even think about that, I went full on offense, so if he can't overpower something with his superior firepower in a few rounds then he could just turn invisible and try again.

Right now I have a mithral bp for him, but I'd like to get at least a mithral full plate later. Without a shield and/or divine shield he is going to be paper thin.

Maybe I should really think about getting more warlock levels for at least one dark invocation (like the imp inv with the 50% concealment effect)

[aaron22]

divine shield and extra turning might be another approach if you think the MFP is achievable. you are looking at around +6 for that i think from your builds with +4 Cha item or wand.