Danceofmasks
First Post
Eh, most of my builds work across all levels, 'cos I make my builds on a spreadsheet, level by level.
I'm particularly wary of any build that is a liability* to the party at any point during their career .. several builds out there are of the "I'm just a little suboptimal before paragon" type, which probably should be "you weak 'cos you ain't getting there, wormfood"
(* Liability definition: doesn't at least contribute sufficiently to compensate for the increased combat difficulty due to party size)
'cos if you're supposed to be in group of powergamers, your encounters are gonna be so tough being suboptimal at any point almost guarantees a total party kill.
On the subject of synergy ... I'm usually more concerned with synergy with the party than synergy within any character.
Having an awesome will defense, for instance ... is almost useless if you're the only one with a will defense worth anything.
'cos the likelihood is, the party is gonna nova vs. any will-targeting foe.
There are, of course, exceptions ... such as being a iron-willed leader that's able to grant everyone saves.
Or being a dwarf tank in a party that's all elves, choc full of extra-long ranged attacks, movement rate boosting feats & items, likes to throw around difficult terrain and obstacles, and skirmish.
Heck, in such a party, having a good fort defense is of arguably dubious value ... just focus on AC+ref ('cos high dex or int characters get both) and will.
Ok, I'm gonna throw in a "one trick pony" character that would probably score quite low in a synergy table ... yet makes a godlike contribution to the party.
My pyro:
Tiefling wizard, staff o' defense
Str 8, Con 10, Dex 13, Int 20, Wis 13, Cha 12
Feats: Hellfire blood, Implement ex, Destructive Wizardry, Dual Implement, Leather prof, Acolyte of Divine Secrets.
Powers: Fire, and more fire.
Before paragon, all it cares about is multitarget fire damage (of course, keep up with armour & neck slot items too, but just enhancement is enough).
It's a staff wizard .... dual wield staff of ruin & defensive staff and have neat defenses (though the interrupt is useless until con gets to 12 .. you still have shield & wizard's escape).
Sure, it's no sorcerer ... damage can't even begin to compete there, but teh much higher defenses and hit-cancelling interrupts make up for it.
Soon as it hits paragon though, watch out.
It's a Flame of Hope (Invoker PP, PH2) ...
Ok, are the divine attack powers useful without much wisdom? not particularly.
Retrain out destructive wizardry at 11th ... for another heroic feat: enlarge spell. Wtf is with reducing damage, you may ask?
It's teh AP + enlarged flame shroud that grants everybody +6 to hit everything ... even yourself ... 'cos you attacked with your AP action first. Heck, even those divine powers have a good chance of hitting right now.
See, it's still mostly just a firebug.
Is the build therefore weak?
I say, even against encounters that are comprised mostly of fire resistance 20+ enemies, it's not weak.
3 non-fire powers is usually sufficient to still be badass. I went with Visions of Avarice, Twist of Space, and Ray of Frost ('cos if they like fire they won't like cold, right?).
If I'm heading into a volcano, I might ditch wall of fire for mordenkainen's doggy instead.
Bad in-character synergy, low DPR, fail at inflicting status effects, but I declare this build is still quite optimised.
I'm particularly wary of any build that is a liability* to the party at any point during their career .. several builds out there are of the "I'm just a little suboptimal before paragon" type, which probably should be "you weak 'cos you ain't getting there, wormfood"
(* Liability definition: doesn't at least contribute sufficiently to compensate for the increased combat difficulty due to party size)
'cos if you're supposed to be in group of powergamers, your encounters are gonna be so tough being suboptimal at any point almost guarantees a total party kill.
On the subject of synergy ... I'm usually more concerned with synergy with the party than synergy within any character.
Having an awesome will defense, for instance ... is almost useless if you're the only one with a will defense worth anything.
'cos the likelihood is, the party is gonna nova vs. any will-targeting foe.
There are, of course, exceptions ... such as being a iron-willed leader that's able to grant everyone saves.
Or being a dwarf tank in a party that's all elves, choc full of extra-long ranged attacks, movement rate boosting feats & items, likes to throw around difficult terrain and obstacles, and skirmish.
Heck, in such a party, having a good fort defense is of arguably dubious value ... just focus on AC+ref ('cos high dex or int characters get both) and will.
Ok, I'm gonna throw in a "one trick pony" character that would probably score quite low in a synergy table ... yet makes a godlike contribution to the party.
My pyro:
Tiefling wizard, staff o' defense
Str 8, Con 10, Dex 13, Int 20, Wis 13, Cha 12
Feats: Hellfire blood, Implement ex, Destructive Wizardry, Dual Implement, Leather prof, Acolyte of Divine Secrets.
Powers: Fire, and more fire.
Before paragon, all it cares about is multitarget fire damage (of course, keep up with armour & neck slot items too, but just enhancement is enough).
It's a staff wizard .... dual wield staff of ruin & defensive staff and have neat defenses (though the interrupt is useless until con gets to 12 .. you still have shield & wizard's escape).
Sure, it's no sorcerer ... damage can't even begin to compete there, but teh much higher defenses and hit-cancelling interrupts make up for it.
Soon as it hits paragon though, watch out.
It's a Flame of Hope (Invoker PP, PH2) ...
Ok, are the divine attack powers useful without much wisdom? not particularly.
Retrain out destructive wizardry at 11th ... for another heroic feat: enlarge spell. Wtf is with reducing damage, you may ask?
It's teh AP + enlarged flame shroud that grants everybody +6 to hit everything ... even yourself ... 'cos you attacked with your AP action first. Heck, even those divine powers have a good chance of hitting right now.
See, it's still mostly just a firebug.
Is the build therefore weak?
I say, even against encounters that are comprised mostly of fire resistance 20+ enemies, it's not weak.
3 non-fire powers is usually sufficient to still be badass. I went with Visions of Avarice, Twist of Space, and Ray of Frost ('cos if they like fire they won't like cold, right?).
If I'm heading into a volcano, I might ditch wall of fire for mordenkainen's doggy instead.
Bad in-character synergy, low DPR, fail at inflicting status effects, but I declare this build is still quite optimised.
