Crossbow builds

[Born2BeWild]

Hi, i wanna build character based on crossbow. Since number of attacks for crossbow is 3 max+1 from haste, i went lvl 6 warlock route for infinity haste(also free +4 dex buff, 4hide/ms buff and free blindfight). 12 fighter for ab\damage\feat boost and i really wanna fit hips in. So there is my options:
http://nwn2db.com/build/?284204 best ab\damage+evasion but low saves
http://nwn2db.com/build/?284237 1 less ab\dmg and no evasion but 4d6 death attack and assasin spellbook, low saves also
http://nwn2db.com/build/?284336 another 1ab\dmg loss, but got evasion and great saves+short buff from divine champion
http://nwn2db.com/build/?284340 lowest ab\dmg but immune to fear+10 reduction in all elements, +10 dmg vs dragons, better warlock casterlvl
Whitch one is better? Any ideas for improve?

[Hendrak]

Hey,

I played a hin crossbow sniper myself until lvl 20. Was very fun, but missed defenses at lvl 20. I would consider Assassin as DeathAttack is doubled with Manyshot. Could even enter 10 Rouge to get Epic Precision and HitS as second defense. Blinding Speed epic feat can compensate for Flee the Scene. Its instantly activated and doesnt break Stealth as far as i know.
Overall i missed defenses and stopped playing because of that.
If i redo a crossbower i would personally prefer Bard21/Ass9 : Inspire Courage,DeathAttack,HIPS,Dex and STR spell,SonicWeaponSpell, MirrorImages,Displacement,EtheralVisage,G.Heroism.

[Hendrak]

I ve looked into your first build. Would give up Power Crit and pick blind fight for it.
Also get WeaponMastery earlier,can already pick it on Fighter4.

[Born2BeWild]

I ve looked into your first build. Would give up Power Crit and pick blind fight for it.
Also get WeaponMastery earlier,can already pick it on Fighter4.

power crit is crossbow master, got blind fight from warlock spell

[chad878262]

F12/A9/W6/WD3 might be an option that gets everything you want. Do note though you will be refreshing haste a LOT...B22/A8 won't get evasion but will have many casts of haste and bonus damage from inspire courage. Could also go F12/W15/SD3 which won't get sneak damage, but had more warlock.

[Hendrak]

Consider earth path instead air path for EA.

A build i play sometimes:

http://nwn2db.com/build/?225798

[Sun Wukong]

When you build a crossbow user, you got to remember that your number of attacks per round is limited. Highest BAB attack, -5 BAB attack with Rapid Reload, additional attack from Rapid Shot mode, and the extra Haste based attack. Therefore, as a crossbower you can actually ignore BAB progression because you will not be getting extra attacks from it after BAB of 6, and the attacks you do get, are all done around at your highest AB.

[electric mayhem]

R3/SD3/EA5/F19 if my memory serves.

R for HS/M/UMD/DDev/App/Tumble/OLock skills. Evasion.
SD Hips.
EA 2 AB and 2Elem Dmg. Acid good choice.
Fighter: High AB, great HP, heaps of feat choices avail. Can take all ranged feats for EA quals, ranged weap mastery, weap specialisation epic, weapon focus epic, blind fight, steadfast (think i had room for it).
Obviously pick the two crossbow mastery feats.
Pick rapid shot but not rapid reload (free on good crossbows in game). Rapid shot works with crossbow.
Epic dex feats as well.
Stack Dex on creation and all lvlups except for a couple if you want to get STR up for carrying cap, and couple mighty points.
Get high INT for skills and languages.

Basically become a crossbow sniper specialist with HIPS and a heap of skills to use for any situation. Wand use through UMD.
If built correct, you can still do awesome damage into Epics, but yes, your AC sucks, and you'll only get a couple rounds off before fast, DR, High AB enemies run you down. Play safe, shoot from afar, HIPS and evade.

Good fun build, seeing those crits roll on Manyshots... good feeling. (100+ dmg).

But yes, there are other better ranged builds with Longbows that offer similar RP.

[chad878262]

R3/SD3/EA5/F19 if my memory serves.

R for HS/M/UMD/DDev/App/Tumble/OLock skills. Evasion.
SD Hips.
EA 2 AB and 2Elem Dmg. Acid good choice.
Fighter: High AB, great HP, heaps of feat choices avail. Can take all ranged feats for EA quals, ranged weap mastery, weap specialisation epic, weapon focus epic, blind fight, steadfast (think i had room for it).
Obviously pick the two crossbow mastery feats.
Pick rapid shot but not rapid reload (free on good crossbows in game). Rapid shot works with crossbow.
Epic dex feats as well.
Stack Dex on creation and all lvlups except for a couple if you want to get STR up for carrying cap, and couple mighty points.
Get high INT for skills and languages.

Basically become a crossbow sniper specialist with HIPS and a heap of skills to use for any situation. Wand use through UMD.
If built correct, you can still do awesome damage into Epics, but yes, your AC sucks, and you'll only get a couple rounds off before fast, DR, High AB enemies run you down. Play safe, shoot from afar, HIPS and evade.

Good fun build, seeing those crits roll on Manyshots... good feeling. (100+ dmg).

But yes, there are other better ranged builds with Longbows that offer similar RP.

Not sure about the build overall, but looks fine. I would drop Fighter to 18 in favor of Rogue 4... Gets more skills and gains Uncanny Dodge whereas F19 gives nothing. Could honestly afford to change it to F12/EA5/R10/SD3 which would gain you sneak dice, even more skills and crippling strike/epic precision. I think this is probably a better split for the reasons Sun Wukong mentioned. And even better than that (IMO) would be to drop SD and go R11/F4/A10/EA5 11d6 sneak dice, HiPS, death attack and Assassin spells. Still gets Ranged Mastery, just no greater/epic weapon specialization. 2xdeath attack while haste is up really pumps your damage far more though. Also doesn't require Dodge/Mobility so opens a couple feats up.

[Sun Wukong]

R11/F4/A10/EA5

I think this one was the better of the two.


But as for a Warlock based crossbow sniper, it got me thinking and I put this together: http://nwn2db.com/build/?284464

It is a Warlock 23/Figther 4/Shadowdancer 3, it does not deal as much damage per crossbow hit, but I think this combination of Invocations could be rather fun for you:

Least: All-Seeing Eyes (Blind Fight), Entropic Warding (+4 Stealth), Leaps and Bounds (+4 Dex)

Lesser: Flee the Scene (Haste), Ignore the Pyre (Elemental Resistance), The Dead Walk (Meat Shield),

Greater: Caustic Web (Electric AoE), Chilling Tentacles (Cold AoE), Wall of Perilous Flame (Fire AoE)

Dark: Dark Premonition (15/Alchemical Silver DR), Lure Shadow Demons (More Meat Shields), Otherworldly Leap (Close Range Teleport)


And if all else fails, you can just spam Eldritch Blast.

[mrm3ntalist]

One build to consider is this - http://nwn2db.com/build/?266656

Through my experience with an xbow sniper type of char you need to be very far away in order to safely attack a mob - especially in the epics. That makes the SA dice less efficient. This build focuses on damage from range and defensive dodge can be very useful for the low AC snipers.

The other xbow build i play which is based heavily on SA dice is this - http://nwn2db.com/build/?223612.

For my playstyle the first build works better