Recommend a Class or Build for Me to Play

[Darius]

I finished the OC and SotU and just started HotU. I used a pure wizard and had a lot of fun, but I want to try something else. I started a monk, a paladin and a ranger but I find pure melee to be a little dull right now. Is there any hybrid build that effectively incorporates melee and spells and requires a lot of micromanaging?

Any suggestions are welcome. If you have found a fun build let me know.

[Cap'n CJ]

How about a Druid?

Edit: Or a melee sorcerer. You know you want to.

Further Edit: Or a Bard?

[Darius]

I hadn't even thought of a bard. I'll give it a try and see how I like it. Thanks for the advice.

Also, how exactly would a melee sorcerer work? Literally just a sorcerer that engages in melee in addition to spell casting?

[T2Bruno]

I've done a fighter/thief (4/x), weapon's master, sorcerer, shifter, and ranger. The weapon's master was the funnest to use, but sorcerer and shifter were pretty good too.

[Darius]

Originally Posted by T2Bruno

I've done a fighter/thief (4/x), weapon's master, sorcerer, shifter, and ranger. The weapon's master was the funnest to use, but sorcerer and shifter were pretty good too.

What type of class combination did you use for the weapon master?

[Rawgrim]

Pure monk. Its unbalanced as hell, and makes the last chapters a walkover.

[T2Bruno]

I had a halfling fighter/weapon master (gave a couple of fighter levels in epic to max out specialization). She dualled kukris -- challenging at the beginning but once she got hatred and strife she was unstoppable.

[henkie]

There's tons of combinations for Fighter/Weapon Master.

• F 8/Barb x/WM 7 - For combining extra criticals with Barbarian rage.
• F 8/WM x/CoT 10 - Add some Champion of Torm levels for bonus to saves.
• F 10/DD x/WM 7 - Have to be Dwarf, naturally, mainly to add some offensive power to a mostly defensive build.
• F 8/Blackguard x/WM 7 - If you want to play an evil character.
• F 8/ M x/ WM 7 - And you thought a straight Monk was unbalanced. Specialize in Kama so you can still use your unarmed attack rolls (up to 10 attacks per round!), but with higher enchantment and more options to add elemental damage.

Good weapons to use for a Weapon Master are weapons that already have a large base critical range. Like the Kukri, Rapier and Scimitar. All are great for dual wielding - the kukris have a low base damage, but because they're small, you'll recieve less of a penalty when dual wielding them. The rapier and scimitar have a higher base damage, but as mentioned at the cost of AB.

But there's no wrong choice here, though. Any weapon will do. Greatsword has great base damage, plus a strength multiplier for being two handed, dual wielding katanas or bastard swords is also fun, if sligthy surreal. Scythe is fun if you want to go for the highest critical damage, as it ends with a 5x critical multiplier. Instakill anything that isn't crit immune.

Melee sorc can work by giving him either a Monk or a Paladin level (or both) for the proficiencies (Pally also for bonuses from CHA) and discipline is also nice to have, of course, then make sure you get the Automatic Still Spell feats. Then you'll be all set to fling spells from full armor. Note that you'll only get the full potential from this build at later levels, due to the requirements for the Automatic Still Spell feats.

Bard x/F 4/RDD 10 is also a nice build for a melee caster. Use Bard mainly for buffing, and add Red Dragon Disciple levels for the many bonuses and sprinkle in some Fighter levels to make sure you'll be able to get the 3 attacks per round.

Or if you want variety, a Druid/Shifter build is a lot of fun as well. Maybe add a few Monk levels for the extra feats and bonuses (WIS to AC is great given how high your WIS needs to be for some of the shape change feats). I really loved my Druid 20/Monk 3/Shifter 17. Buff yourself, cast a ranged spell, then transform into a minotaur and wade in to join the fun. At higher levels you can even change into a Risen Lord, a Golem, or even a Dragon! Tactical play is possible too - for strong fighters, you can change into a Basilisk or Medusa and try to petrify the opponent - match your shape to your opponent

[Darius]

Wow, thanks for the responses. I am going to give druid/shifter a go. I like having spellcasting abilities but I want to compliment them with some melee.

[General Ghoul]

I enjoyed a rogue/cleric. Start as a rogue for the extra skill points, then go heavy into cleric for better melee and spellcasting. Pick up rogue levels now and then to increase your skills, and sneak attack. I went heavy into disarm device, then sold all of the traps I found for extra cash. Also heavy into Use Magic Device so I could use wizard scrolls, noting like having a planar ally for some of those tough boss fights.

[henkie]

Originally Posted by Darius

Wow, thanks for the responses. I am going to give druid/shifter a go. I like having spellcasting abilities but I want to compliment them with some melee.

It's a great build - not very powerful, but with lots of variety. Just remember that you're not going to be very good at meleeing due to you poor druid AB (with the exception of some forms - dragon shape, for instance). There's a demi-lich hidden somewhere in HotU, but when I tried to fight him, I only hit him on a 20 roll. Didn't have the most powerful shapes yet at that point, but it is something to keep in mind. Same with the boss fight at the end of Chapter 2 in HotU, actually, though at least there I got lucky and she failed a save when I tried to petrify her

For most normal enemies it isn't a problem, though, and is a bundle of fun.

You might also want to read up on the specifics in the Unofficial Shifter FAQ by Douglas Crews (somewhere near the end of the page). It has a lot of detailed info on the attributes of the various shapes.

[T2Bruno]

The demi-lich was nearly impossible even with some of the better shapes. On the other hand dragons were easy and it was cool to use a drow shape against drow.

[Darius]

Originally Posted by T2Bruno

The demi-lich was nearly impossible even with some of the better shapes. On the other hand dragons were easy and it was cool to use a drow shape against drow.

So far I am enjoying playing a druidshifter and drow on drow crime sounds fun.

How did you defeat the demi-lich?

[omnigodly]

some mods add PrC's to the game like spellsword if you want a fighter/wizard that pre-enchants his sword to strike with a lightning bolt, or wizard/sorc PrC's that lose spell casting for touch/ranged attacks, pale-master is a good example, though there are others.

cleric classes like warpriest or the tempus prc, even added hospitaler for the paladin.

Right now I'm doing a playthrough with a barbx/CoTx/WM7. I do like me some DR and greater rage, though I did consider trying out frenzied berserker (if only the power attack feats weren't broken).

[henkie]

Originally Posted by Darius

How did you defeat the demi-lich?

As I recall, I was running around a lot, then got bored from not being able to hit him, or rather of his damage reductions absorbing all my damage, so just cheated. But I didn't have much more than just the basic shapes, certainly no golem or dragon shapes in any case.

These forms certainly would have helped, as the higher base strength allows for a much higher damage, which in turn allows you to bypass the demi-lich's damage reductions.

Possibly some different choice of items, or even just taking Valen along and equip him with a heavy mace that you upgraded heavily would've done the trick as well - I didn't try very hard to be honest. Actually, letting Valen do the hard work would almost certainly work quite well, assuming you bothered to give him a good and upgraded weapon.

[T2Bruno]

I couldn't defeat him until I had epic humanoid shapes (although the epic drider or epic minotaur may work as well). They have decent BAB and good weapons. Construct shapes might work as might the outsider shapes. The real key is to stay alive long enough to kill him.