Before i start i just gotta say i read about 10+ various guides on making different spell blades and god knows how many fighter+wizard+X char builds - but one thing that i really am missing in those guides is the actual focus on both CASTING damaging/evil/nasty spells AND hacking away with melee weapons.
I do wanna use spell buffs for melee fighting but i don't want to neglect using my badass nuking spells and crowd controls.
I mostly play the original campaigns (bioware made) with my brother over internet (no pvp), so the character i wanna make does not need to be "super uber strong" - but i do want to make at least a decent character that goes up to level 20 for now and can stand on his own.
I am trying to build a heavily armored melee (2handed and/or 1h+shield) character that cast even the highest levels of wizard/sorcerer spells during that combat (and in heavy armor).
As you guessed it, this is just for fun and not for any kind of world record breaking... except maybe in silliness!
What i (as a complete noob) thought of was something like this:
- Wizard/Sorcerer that can do all high level spells (at least 1 lvl9 spell), also using A LOT of Still Spell (for heavy armor) and probably constant use of defensive casting to avoid AoO against me. I know i can not still spell level 9 spells without the epic auto-still-spell feat, but im making a plan for a lvl20 char (atm).
Much damaging spells, buffing spells and evil crowd control spells along side melee hacking!
- Almost no dexterity (full plate), no wisdom, no charisma, medium/high constitution, i guess 20 intellect, lots of strength?
- A couple of Fighter levels for the armor/weapon (using heaviest armor and big weapons or tower shield) feats and various combat feats like cleave and weapon spec - also to take feats for Weapon master if going that road.
- Potentially a couple/many of Weapon Master or Barbarian or Red Dragon Disciple levels, to get all the sweet feats that are worth taking.
- Definitely must reach at least 16 BAB for full 4 attacks per round at/before level 20, so that my epic levels keep the 4 attacks per round regardless of what epic class levels i take.
What i imagined is me casting big AOE spells or crowd controll spells both before and during the fight (in heavy armor) while hacking apart some FOOLS with my leet flaming weapon that does nasty crits (keen buff, maybe even weapon master feats) OR going bastard+tower like a baws.
Anyway, after all that ranting, what i am hoping for is that you experienced NWN character creators can give me some advice on how can i make this character as good as possible... or as least bad as possible...
Which feats do you suggest for me to take... which classes to pick up... how far into the improved crit/overwhelming crit feats to go in... do i take the spell focus/spell penetration feats... any suggestion on the class levelin order... do i go for weapon master (need whirlwind an other stuff for it)... what epic feats would be good for this combat approach... how much do i put into STR/Con/Intel?
Either way thank you very much for reading through this silly post, and i greatly welcome any advice you can offer for this full-plate-caster thing i am attempting '>
As stated before, you cannot have +16BAB at Level 20 and have level 9 spells. You can have 3 basic attacks and level 9 spells or 4 attacks and level 8 spells.
However, you may want to try the following concept, the Half Elf Paladin/Sorceror/Arcane Archer.
Level 1 stats: Strength 14, Dexterity 14, Constitution 10, Intelligence 10, Wisdom 14, Charisma 15 (20 at Level 20).
1. Paladin 1. Point Blank Shot.
2. Paladin 2.
3. Paladin 3. Rapid Shot
4. Paladin 4. +1 Charisma.
5. Paladin 5.
6. Paladin 6. Weapon Focus Longbow
7. Sorceror 1. Take True Strike and Identify. True Strike can be used wearing armour without penalty.
8. Arcane Archer 1. +1 Charisma.
9. Arcane Archer 2. Improved Critical Longbow. Getting to this stage can be difficult, but life becomes much easier with double critical damage and 3 fireballs.
10. Arcane Archer 3.
11. Arcane Archer 4.
12. Arcane Archer 5. Power Attack as required for Divine Might. +1 Charisma.
13. Arcane Archer 6.
14. Arcane Archer 7.
15. Paladin 7. Divine Might.
16. Arcane Archer 8. +1 Charisma.
17. Arcane Archer 9.
18. Paladin 8. Divine Shield
19. Paladin 9. Because +3 from your Divine Favour spell is better than the Arrow of Death in my experience.
20. Arcane Archer 10. +1 Charisma.
First the good news. In the OC you get four really useful pieces of henchmen kit giving you +4 strength, + 4 dexterity and +9 charisma. These are free. By level 20 you can pick up a +3 Charisma cloak, Gauntlets of Ogre Strength, +3 Composite Longbow and Boots of Haste relatively easily. You should have money to buy magical arrows as well.
Normally, this means that you will be shooting 6 arrows a round, hitting at +19BAB +5AA bonus, +3 from the bow and +3 from dexterity, and -2 for using Quick Draw.
That's a mighty +28. If every arrow hits, excluding criticals (which could raise the damage significantly) you will be doing damage averaging 81 hitpoints per round, and is without using magical arrows that would do an extra 21points per round a round.
Now for the really good news. With True Strike your arrows for one round will rarely miss. With Divine Favour and Divine Might running, you get a further 14 damage per arrow, therefore 84 extra damage if all hit (more if any hits are criticals). That's an average of 165. Divine Might will last for 11 rounds (Charisma is 32) and Divine Favour for 10, so that you will have 9 effect rounds with these two running. Even without True Strike and Divine Favour, you will still be doing an extra +11 per arrow for an average of 147 per round for 9 rounds. A level 20 wizard can do more concentrated damage with maximised Isaac's Greater Missile Storm, but a wizard will quickly run out of those.
Unfortunately there is bad news, and that is in getting the character up to level 20. I really missed having the cleave feat, especially a low levels. It was often the case of halving your melee hits per round. As a Paladin I normally take power attack and cleave at level 1 (I usually play human), weapon focus in longsword at level 3 and divine might at level 6 (in the OC at least as level 6 when you can get henchmen items). Further warrior types are rewarded far less experience than other classes. For example, when starting the OC, when I go back to finish off the goblins in the prelude, I only get 17 for each kill. A Cleric gets 75 and a wizard 42 iirc. Once you reach level 9, it becomes much easier, with your improved critical and 3 fireballs, but until then, I found life hard while testing this character concept. If I had not been played the OC a gazillion times before, and had not the stone of recall, I would have died numerous times. I normally play with a lower dexterity and this hurt my strength, especially for carrying objects. This was negated by bags of holding at higher levels, once money was less tight.
Some modules are easier. In Kingmaker you are forced to take two henchmen and these can act as a barrier between you and the target, so they are effectively pinned down.
Further, there is another consideration to take into account. By focusing on charisma, you will never gain the awesome Devastating Critical feat.