1. SPS Accounts:
    Do you find yourself coming back time after time? Do you appreciate the ongoing hard work to keep this community focused and successful in its mission? Please consider supporting us by upgrading to an SPS Account. Besides the warm and fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting a good cause, you'll also get a significant number of ever-expanding perks and benefits on the site and the forums. Click here to find out more.
    Dismiss Notice
Dismiss Notice
You are currently viewing Boards o' Magick as a guest, but you can register an account here. Registration is fast, easy and free. Once registered you will have access to search the forums, create and respond to threads, PM other members, upload screenshots and access many other features unavailable to guests.

BoM cultivates a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. We have been aiming for quality over quantity with our forums from their inception, and believe that this distinction is truly tangible and valued by our members. We'd love to have you join us today!

(If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you've forgotten your username or password, click here.)

Ultimate melee characters

Discussion in 'Icewind Dale 2' started by Anarkii, Jan 23, 2005.

  1. Anarkii Gems: 1/31
    Latest gem: Turquoise


    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2005
    Messages:
    9
    Likes Received:
    0
    Hi to everyone here!

    Im pretty new to RPG's (the only one ive played before IWD2 is IWD1) but im mostly a powergamer (i.e. i make the monster char and then invent the story behind his origins)

    Anyway, recently ive been obsessed with the Ultimate melee character. These are what ive tried... Ive read JUPP (its amazing) and the other UPP and i got most of my ideas from there. Thanks to the authors

    half orc Fighter (4) Barbarian (x) - Good, but when my battleguard began dishing out more damage i thought i needed a change. Tested up to lvl 14

    Half orc Barb (1) Fighter(5) Talos (6) - Quite successful, but my hands were tied by the fighter levels. Feats were convinient- i planned to specialise in maces, spears (i used the nine paces very effectively) and axes, but it meant i couldnt squat for more than 2 levels at a time. Also i couldnt risk dropping a fireball on him. His reflex saves werent amazing and he had no spell resistance

    New proposition - Drow male wizard (15) Stormlord (8) Fighter (7) (could be Stromlord 11, fighter 4)

    Stats
    STR 18
    Dex 9
    Con 16
    Int 18
    Wis 14
    Cha 5

    Plan - Start as wizard, get fighter at level 2 for various weapons, rush to tensers (level 12/maybe 13), then return to fighter/talos until holy power is reached, and finish up with wizard spells.

    I plan to use heavy armour in battle, using the wizards spells to buff him up nad help him survive e.g. mirror image. Cats grace gives him sufficent dex to take full advantage of heavy plate mail. If in trouble, cast invisibility and walk out. perhaps even use vampiric touch to heal a bit. Primary role - berserker, secondary arcane caster/divine buffer

    Other characters -
    Deep gnome tank/ wizard (straight out of JUPP arcane party), secondary arcane caster, learns rogue skills
    Drow Monk/cleric - can tank, but high dex means shes an excellent archer and as the frontlines are crowded anyway... primary divine caster
    Drow sorceress - primary arcane spellcaster/Diplomat
    Drow druid - supremely fragile until level 5, when he takes his place in the frontlines. Also acts as an primary healer, freeing up slots for the cleric.

    Anyway, the question i wanted to ask is - does tenser;s bonus and champions strenght stack?
    Also does divine shell and shield/ghost/ spirit armour stack?
    if not perhaps a drow stormlord/fighter would make a better berserker. If anyone has any suggestions to how to make my berseker better, please tell me. thx in advance.

    Alternative Choices

    Watcher of Helm (12), Sorceress (12) Fighter (4) Paladin (1) Ranger (1)

    Str 18
    Dex 9
    Con 16
    Int 5
    Wis 16
    Cha 16

    The whole point of this char is to dual wield the Holy avenger and something else (prolly golden heart longsword). This character gets the advantage of divine grace, divine shell, self cast buffs, and can be a better auxillary healer/divine caster, but loses some arcane castings, the ability to use all weapons until level 24 (without incurring multiclass penalty that is). Also she will lose elemental feats - not a big deal as not a great arcane caster anyway

    The other possible char is:
    Female Drow Cleric of Lathlander (20) Paladin(3) Fighter(4) Monk(3)

    Str 18
    Dex 18
    Con 16
    Int 5
    Wis 18
    Cha 5

    This character can have decent AC due to monk bonus and magic armour, as well as be a good secondary divine caster and use the dual longswords effectively due to decent BAB bonuses. But she misses out on tenser's transformation nd all those protective arcane spells. (And it begs the question - why did a drow decide to be a paladin anyway?)

    Thx

    [ January 23, 2005, 17:35: Message edited by: Taluntain ]
     
  2. KaaH Gems: 1/31
    Latest gem: Turquoise


    Joined:
    Jan 17, 2005
    Messages:
    8
    Likes Received:
    0
    Do you intent to use Wes Weimers' Ease-of-Use Mod?

    if your answer is yes:

    use alternate shapes and
    additional spells for druids
    remove alignment restriction
    better bastard swords
    (some HoF items in normal)

    Druid24/Paladin2/Barbar2/Monk1/Cleric(Bane)1

    Leveling:

    Paladin2
    Barbarian2
    Druid 4
    Monk1
    Cleric1
    Druid 20

    Stats:
    Str. 12
    Dex. 06
    Con. 10
    Int. 14
    Wis. 18
    Cha. 16

    always improve Wis (on lvl. up)
    further impr. of Wisdom:
    +2 Paladin quest (and +2 Str.(needed to gain Pwr Attack and Cleave)
    +4 Cleric(Bane) quest
    +4 (-2 Dex.) via Holy Transferrence
    +5 items (ring of gods)
    final Wis = 40 -> AC +15
    Dex in highest half-dragon form 28 -> AC +9
    Attack rating around 45/40/35/30
    natural DR 16
    natural MR 29

    Important feats (feats in brackets are optional):
    exotic weapon, bastard sword (once)
    (large swords)
    (TWF)
    impr. crit
    (ageis of rime)
    (aqua mortis)
    (scion of storms)
    (spirit of flames)
    blindfight
    lightning reflexes
    (snake blood, 1st lvl only)

    This build is able to dish out 40-115 damage per strike, crit. 13-20 x2 (with know they family as an offhander -> translates to shifted forms as do other items affects, but not haste)

    concentrate on spells which are (long time) buffs and area damage spells that last several rounds (cloud spells, electric charge)

    cast buffs, hide in shadow (or get invisible by other means) locate mob; cast cloud spells (out of line-of-sight), change to appropriate elemental form (so you won't recive damage from your own spell) and let the slug feast beginn.

    Skill as you wish. I invest some in the rogue department as I use this build for soloing (normal).

    Only con I can think of is the slow speed (use potion of speed to counter this, has to be use via inventory screen) and the use of mods (but if you are a powergamer you may overlook this)
     
  3. Shire Gems: 4/31
    Latest gem: Sunstone


    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2004
    Messages:
    86
    Likes Received:
    0
    Pure arcane casters (wizzie/sorc) can get pretty nasty meleers. Mordy's sword takes care of weapon and hitting, all the buffs make you next to immortal.
     
  4. Harbourboy

    Harbourboy Take thy form from off my door! Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

    Joined:
    May 29, 2003
    Messages:
    13,354
    Likes Received:
    99
    I don't count Mordenkainen's Sword as being 'melee'.
     
  5. Shire Gems: 4/31
    Latest gem: Sunstone


    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2004
    Messages:
    86
    Likes Received:
    0
    It summons a weapon. Nuff for me
     
  6. Silvery

    Silvery I won't pretend to be your friend coz I'm just not ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2005
    Messages:
    3,224
    Media:
    40
    Likes Received:
    218
    Gender:
    Female
    it's stil not a melee weapon though
     
  7. Shire Gems: 4/31
    Latest gem: Sunstone


    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2004
    Messages:
    86
    Likes Received:
    0
    If the enemy is within touch range when you fight, then I say it's melee.
     
  8. Shrikant

    Shrikant Swords! Not words! Veteran

    Joined:
    Apr 23, 2003
    Messages:
    2,620
    Likes Received:
    3
    Gender:
    Male
    This is so :yot:
    I found arcane casters could be good tanks/ decoys, but melee damage? That must be done via summons (eg. Mordy's sword, Animate Dead).

    My Human Battlegaurd[8]/ Barbarian[20]/ Fighter[2] was good at melee. But then, he usually hid behind the deep gnome since he had to neglect his AC in favour of his damage capability.
     
  9. Anarkii Gems: 1/31
    Latest gem: Turquoise


    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2005
    Messages:
    9
    Likes Received:
    0
    Ive finally decided on a
    Deep gnome rogue 3/Paladin of mystra 3/fighter 3/Illusionist (20?)(13?) Cleric of helm (7) Although its still flexible.

    But looking at the damage my druid is dealing in wildshape, this guy may finally end up not being my berserker.

    Im gonna try a Deep Gnome Druid(16)/Illusionist(12)/Monk(1)/ Dreadmaster(1) next game. Combining powerful wildshapes with massive WIS monk bonuses, magic armours and tensers suggests a monster-tank who can deal enormous damage as well, as well as cast spells when not berserking

    Stats
    Str 8
    Dex 13 (or whatever max dex can be)
    Con 10
    Int 18
    Wis 20
    Cha 1
     
Sorcerer's Place is a project run entirely by fans and for fans. Maintaining Sorcerer's Place and a stable environment for all our hosted sites requires a substantial amount of our time and funds on a regular basis, so please consider supporting us to keep the site up & running smoothly. Thank you!

Sorcerers.net is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to products on amazon.com, amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.