Is this min maxing?

[Thanee]

C'mon, you havn't even geared your character towards DRAGON-killing (there are plenty anti-dragon items, feats, PrC, etc out there).

No, I don't see a problem at all.

Of course, there is some degree of min/maxing, mostly every player does that. Why should you pick stuff that doesn't benefit you, anyways?

It's quite a reasonable character for the level. A cleric of a couple levels less could fight better than that one.

And you also seem to have a character concept in mind, which you followed during character creation, instead of just racking up mechanics into a monster of a powergaming character, which is the general approach, when min/maxing really bad.

The biggest problem here is the complete lack of real history, that is, the high starting level, which automatically leads to the use of feat chains and gearing towards specific purposes. That's just natural, I guess.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Arnwyn]

Is this min maxing?

Well, needless to say, your attempt at stacking two shield bonuses doesn't lend you any credibility...

However, the answer is: "beats me". Since there is no firm definition of what constitutes min-maxing, only you and your DM (and your group) can answer this. If the majority is against you, well... you're in trouble already.

 

[dontpunkme]

Wow, I can't believe I completely missed the 2 shield bonuses. I guess I'll find a different feat to replace the buckler feat perhaps combat reflexes or some other such feat. But in response to an earlier query, yes the Wild Elf Clans leaders assembled us to be the best of the best dragon killers and to kill the aforementioned mega-great wyrm green dragon, known as the Ranqwar that has terrorized the Wild Elves for eons. My character does have a backstory as to how he became so well accomplished as a dragon killer and how he has come to be the pride of his clan. Additionally, my character plans to make it a point to often recall his history and the history of his ancestors on every possible opportunity to just about everyone he meets, including each of the other pc's who will be told the story ad naseum. So far things are pretty neck and neck in the polls which is good. My gm is fine with the character (mainly because I know he plans on making me the dragon's bitch every chance he gets, which shouldn't be too hard considering that my ac will still be far below the attack bonus of a dragon that powerful.) But yes the campaign will run from 18-20th level at which point we will meet this most powerful foe of ours and settle things once and for all. Given his previous gm'ing style as giving out xp pretty generously this character has a life expectancy of only a few sessions before we meet the BBEG. As such I don't think he's gonna grow to stale too quickly.

 

[Thanee]

Hmm... if the background of the campaign is like that, I wonder why your characters havn't been specifically trained to fight this creature. With abilities specifically targeting its known weaknesses, protections specifically against its attacks and so on.

Now, if the problem with the creature arose more recently, then it would make sense to just pick the best warriors of the clan to oppose it, which means your fellow players have to make new characters, since they do not qualify!

Bye
Thanee

 

[Aaron L]

The first question you must ask is: is there something wrong with min/maxing?

The second question you must ask is: why would you make an 18th level character out of wholecloth for one specific encounter who ISN'T min/maxed?

 

[Cyrik Skylark]

So, let me get this straight... at 18th level, your fellow players think a 43 AC is too high? As you said, that 43 isn't going to stop the dragon from having its way with you. 43 is impressive if you're used to sub-10th level gaming. 43 is what high-level characters get without trying (for reference, my 19th level character's AC tops out around 80 or so.). +29 isn't too bad as an attack bonus, but you could very easily do better.

In short, while this character is built to be a good combatant, it's far from "min-maxed" - it's well within the normal bounds for characters of your level.

 

[reapersaurus]

Please - I'm dying to know your group's (especially your DM's) opinions on what they see as "min-maxing".

Seriously - what do they see wrong with it in this situation?

 

[Arc]

Seriously, the character you've presented to us is really quite far from a powergamed or optimized build. Maybe my experiances have mostly been from a high-powered group, but I'm used to hitting AC 40 and attack bonuses of around +30 at around 13th level, not 18th. My recommendation: Go over to Rules, or even better, head over to the WoTC boards, and get a really powergamed build for that character. The type with an AC of 80, or a +40 attack bonus, and few fatal weaknesses. Present it to your group, and show them what real min/maxing is.

Then don't do it. Go back to a moderate build, similar to the one you've got now (which can use a little work)

It's a shape up or ship out strategy, but it should open your group's eyes to what is and what isn't powergaming, and perhaps give them some hints on how to make effective characters.

Plus, the looks on their faces is totally awesome. Trust me on that one, I've got personal experiance (though I only took hints from Rules, not whole builds).