Max. Melee Damage build

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What knowledge I have on NwN is quite poor, since I've never played it with any of its expansions. But I've played the original game enough to know that as far sa max damage goes a dual kukri-using finesse-based character with Improved Power Attack goes a long way, especially with the right cleric buffs and warrior specializations.
Central to such a build is the Improved Power Attack skill, and the simple logic behind it is that it is much easier to increase your hit by 10 points than increase your strength by 20. Also, remember that although your BaB will now be dex-based your strength modifier will still affect your damage - which is why this build revolves around the cleric class and its many buffs.
One may argue that such a build might have problems against enemies with very high AC but thankfully such enemy types are rare, and once special powers like the Strength and War Domain buffs come to play it just won't matter any more.
A few levels of fighter will complement this build nicely.
Downside to this build is that you won't be seeing it shine until chapter 3 of the OC or so because of the necessary number of feats, spells and items involved. And unless you like resting a lot, this build is also a bit more item dependent than the rest (surely there's a +3 kukri somewhere in that module you're playing?).
This build also has no Bard levels.

[ April 25, 2007, 07:37: Message edited by: Scythesong Immortal ]

 

All things being equal let create two level 40 characters for maximum damage build. The first build is going to be a

Half-Orc Fighter/Bard/RDD
Level: 16/14/10
Stats
STR 44
DEX 12
CON 10
INT 12
WIS 8
CHA 14
Weapon: Great Sword
# Attacks round: 4 – 5
Special Ability: +3 damage from Bard Song
Minimum Damage: (Great Sword 2d6 = 2) + (1.5 * STR bonus = 26) + (Weapon specializations = 6) = minimum damage of 34
Maximum Damage: (Great Sword 2d6 = 12) + (1.5 * STR bonus = 26) + (Weapon specializations = 6) = maximum damage of 44
Average Damage: (Great Sword 2d6 = 12) + (1.5 * STR bonus = 26) + (Weapon specializations = 6) = average damage of 38
Average Damage per round: 152 – 190
Special Average Damage per round: 164- 205


Dwarf Monk/Fighter/Rogue
Level: 30/6/4
STR 34
DEX 15
CON 10
INT 10
WIS 12
CHA -6
Weapon: Fist
# Attacks round: 6
Special Ability: +1 attack a round
Minimum Damage: (Fist = 1) + (STR bonus = 12) + (Weapon specializations = 6) = minimum damage of 19
Maximum Damage: (Fist = 20) + (STR bonus = 12) + (Weapon specializations = 6) = maximum damage of 38
Average Damage: (Fist = 10) + (STR bonus = 12) + (Weapon specializations = 6) = maximum damage of 28
Average Damage per round: 168
Special Average Damage per round: 196

Here are two builds both of which can hit for high damage per hit and per a round. Of the two the Fighter/Bard/RDD deals out more damage per a hit and round thanks to the Great Sword special ability of applying 1.5 strength bonus to damage vs. standard strength bonus. This build with the right spell selection can deal out quite a bit more damage per a round. This is a deadly and powerful build since this character if build right can use all item such as monk only items with UMI. This build to me is a super build; though I prefer the Monk/Fighter/Rogue build since this build provide a bunch of useful feats that increase the characters overall ability such as magic resistance. But that is not the point of this post; it is to find the most damaging none special attack build and I believe the Fighter/Bard/RDD fits that to a tee.

 

Has anyone tried another build that deals out more damage per a hit than the one posted above? I would like to know what is the max damage (none crit and non-sneak) damage per a hit anyone here achieved. Thanks.

Using the Fighter/Bard/RDD above with all buffs...

2 (great sword minimum damage) + 33 (Strength enhanced to 54 = 22 *1.5 damage for 2 handed weapon) + 6 (weapon specialization) + 3 (bard song)+ 5 (weapon bonus)= 49 damage per a hit

4 attacks a round = 196 minimum damage per a round without critical or sneak attacks....

Can anyone find a build that can deal out more damage per a hit and round.

 

Per round a dual-weapon build might win out. 2 more attacks per round doesn't seem much at first but combined with Improved Power Attack and other +str/damage feats and buffs it can potentially do higher damage than two-handed/fist weapon builds. My previous post shows an attempt to balance offense and def by going dex path and kukris for the sake of practicality. (you really don't need super damage)

Going all-out damage though the damage calculation would look something like this:

Fighter/Cleric 16/24
5 attks/round, katana (best 1 hand damage), max damage given 40 str (20 base, +10 points and Str domain buff)

Per hit main hand: 10(max katana damage)+15(Str bonus*1)+6(Weapon specializations) = 31
Per hit off hand: 10(max katana damage)+8 (Str bonus*.5)+6(Weapon specializations) = 24

Total damage per round: (31*5) + (24*2) = 203

Your Fighter/Bard/RDD above's max buffed damage is 49, for a total of 245 damage in 5 attacks.

245-203 = 42 points of difference in damage.

Note that two-weapon users will benefit more from +damage sources that modify the damage of a single attack, simply because they will be doing two more attacks than one-weapon users (with Improved Two weapon fighting).
So if both our builds activate Improved Power Attack my build will do 20 more damage than your build, reducing the difference between damages to 22. Other +damage buffs include: the War domain buff will grant + 5 damage given 24 cleric levels (+35 total damage, allowing this build to do more damage per round), Bull's Strength (+str), Bless(+1), and Prayer(+1).

The penalty from Improved Power doesn't affect this character much - he has too many buffs to offset it.

I could be wrong in my calculations though. I've never made a character like this.

 

Your analysis is at maximum damage… which is not what I was aiming for; I was looking at the maximum minimum damage per a hit and round…

The Fighter/Bard/RDD with levels of 16/14/10 has the following..

# Attacks a round 4 without haste – 5 with haste
Maximum Damage by Great Sword: 12
Strength Damage (44 Natural + 10 for Str enhancing items = 54): 22 * 1.5 (Great Sword Str modifier) = 33
Weapon Specialization = 6
Weapon Bonus = 5
A Great Sword +5 wield by the character above would deal out…56 points of damage a hit with 5 attacks around when hasted = 280 points a round… This is not including cleave.

Using the Fighter/Monk build above with flurry of blows
# Attacks a round: 6 + 1 (Flurry of Blows) + 1 (Haste)
Damage by Fist: 20
Strength Damage (34 Natural +10 for Str Enhancing items = 44): 17
Weapon Specialization = 6
Glove Bonus = 5
Maximum damage per a hit is 48 and maximum damage a round is 384; this is not including circle kick or cleave.

Maximum damage is easy obtain by the Fighter/Monk build, but I am looking at is Maximum minimum damage by a build without buffs or enhancing items other than the weapon damage.

[ May 04, 2007, 19:10: Message edited by: Munchkin Blender ]

 

Don't forget I haven't included items into my build yet. My build wasn't based off a hasted character, and the buffs were chosen from the old NwN cleric list.
I based my analysis on maximum damage per round to prove my point, because it is at maximum damage per round that two-handed weapon and fist builds excel. My build proves that two-weapon builds can be just as, or possibly more, powerful. If I had based my calculations on minimum damage per round then there wouldn't have been a point because two-weapon style builds dominate that category.
It's for a similar reason that I didn't bother with per hit calculations. Basically that's the territory of two-handed weapon builds.

Can't help you much there.