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View Full Version : [3.5] Epic Factotum building help



Ancro
2010-09-25, 12:10 PM
Hey everybody, first post here, gentle please! :D

I'm trying to build a skillmonkey Factotum (because Skills: All is somewhat hard to ignore) for tonight to fill in the role for a group that I could practically be anything and do okay in: a malconvoker, a mystic theurge, a warlock, a barbarian, and an order of the bow scout.

Level: 22nd
Magic Items: As normal for 22nd
Banned books: Tome of Battle (my group hates melee who try to be as good as spellcasters. Yes, I know, I've tried to convince them, but nothing works. :smallfurious:), any of the Forgotten Realms-related books
Role to fill: Skillmonkey, melee (or at least try to circumvent things getting close enough to attack the party)
Prior knowledge: I've played Factotums before, but nothing near this level. Suggestions for arcane dilettante would be very welcome. I definitely have no clue as to what I should be picking up with Cunning Brilliance.
On being epic: As far as the DM is concerned, the spell level available for arcane dilettante scales all the way up to 9th+, so probably sticking to Factotum for the full 22 levels might be the way to go, unless there's a PrC out there that would be more efficient.

Draz74
2010-09-25, 02:24 PM
Even if Arcane Dilettante continues in epic levels, I would be sorely tempted to splash a level in Master of Masks (a la Haberdash), or two levels in Chameleon, or both. Even if you do both, you'll still get Cunning Brilliance, which is sort of the Factotum capstone. Uncanny Trickster 3 is another way to lose 1 level of Factotum features that might be worthwhile.

Overall, I suggest you go with more-or-less a Haberdash build. Loads of useful exotic weapons, most particularly the Gnomish Quickrazor for use with Iaijutsu Focus.

Are you planning on focusing on Font of Inspiration? It's boring, and possibly considered cheesy, but undeniably powerful. If you're going the cheesy route, one nasty trick is to carry a wand of Ray of Stupidity. With enough standard actions in one turn, and a Ray of Stupidity, you can one-shot pretty much anything that's not immune to the spell.

Good arcane dilettante spells (mostly either Core or from Spell Compendium):

L8: I haven't studied these in the context of Factotums (since they don't get them pre-epic), but Superior Invisibility obviously comes to mind.
L7: Arrow of Bone, Bite of the Werebear, Brilliant Aura, Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion
L6: Bite of the Weretiger, Ruby Ray of Reversal, Starmantle (BoED), Superior Resistance, Cloak of the Sea. Note that Hardening is an awesome use of your abilities on downtime days, to protect your most valuable equipment.
L5: Greater Blink, Overland Flight, Nightstalker's Transformation, Draconic Might. Note that you can get around the expensive material component of Nighstalker's Transformation by using the spells Cat's Grace and [Dramij's] Quick Potion, either the same day you want to use Nightstalker's, or the previous evening.
L4: Mass Resist Energy, Ethereal Mount

Ancro
2010-09-25, 04:24 PM
After checking in with the DM, I'm limited to two uses of Surge a round, but that still makes FoI too good to pass up. Are there any extra feats outside of EWP:GQ that I should be looking at, maybe Imp. Trip to synergize with BoB to stop anybody getting too close, or should I literally just pump every last feat I can get my grubby hands on for more inspiration? Also, I've never heard of Haberdashery before, any convenient links?

Here's what we're looking at as far as epic progression for FT:
BAB/Saves: As epic
Spell level: Progression to 9th, afterwards requiring Improved Spell Capacity. (We've more or less thrown out Epic Spellcasting)
Inspiration points: The progression of the main class doesn't stay steady after level 17, but we figured 2 points for every 3 levels is fair.
Opportunistic Piety: +1 use per 5 levels, newest at 25th

Edit: The stat rolls I'm looking at are 17 17 14 14 14 11. Thinking 17 STR 14 DEX 14 CON 17 INT 11 WIS 14 CHA.

Draz74
2010-09-25, 05:17 PM
Here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88633). Note that you don't need to spend a feat on EWP: GQ if you take a Master of Masks level.

Improved Trip strikes me as being ... limited in utility at epic levels. Too many creatures that fly, or get +248 bonuses from Size to their Strength checks, or whatever. Good trip checks are one good trick for the Factotum, but they're far from the only one.

Mostly, good feats for the Factotum (besides FoI) are just good feats in general. Skillmonkey feats, like Darkstalker (LoM). Quicken Spell isn't generally worth it pre-epic, but in epic I could see it being awesome. On the other hand, Knowledge Devotion (CChamp) is a great Factotum feat in normal levels, but ask your DM if it scales into epic before you select it. Keen Intellect (OA) has some fluff requirements that you'll probably have to handwave away, but makes the Factotum even less MAD.

Ancro
2010-09-25, 05:32 PM
Guh, okay, definitely getting the Master of Masks hint there. Gladiator Mask makes me drool, now that I see it. Heh. Thanks for the help, Draz.

Talbot
2010-09-25, 09:52 PM
It's from Dragon, and therefore possibly off-limits, but Faerie Mysteries Initiate is absolutely amazing for Factotum; how does basing your HP off of Int instead of Con grab you? Because at level 22, that's going to be probably close to at least 100 extra HP, and you can dump Con (you can inflate your Fort save arbitrarily anyways).

Depending on how your DM feels about letting them apply to your starting loot, the crafting feats are all pretty amazing for Factoti and let you get a lot more out of your WBL. Since you're hanging out in Epic Land anyways, you should see if your DM will let you craft an item that gives you Int -> damage ala Insightful Strike... it's powerful, but by no means gamebreaking and there are other items that already exist that give you Cha/other stats to damage so there's probably a pretty easy way to ballpark the price.

Insightful Reflexes more or less lets you dump Dex (since you already add Int to Dex skill checks, AC, and Initiative anyways), so with that + Keen Intellect + Faerie Mysteries you're basically down to only needing Int (Knowledge Devotion goes a long way towards eliminating the need for Str).

Again depending on how your DM feels about it, but Extra Turning + Domain Feats can give you a lot of cool tricks. You could actually skip Extra turning if you wanted, I suppose, but if you take more than one or two of the Domain Feats you'll probably want the extra uses.

Craven is a handy source of bonus damage, but I think it's Forgotten Realms exclusive, so probably off limits.

I'd warn you against the MoM level unless you're absolutely committed to playing Haberdash; Exotic Weapons are mostly situational, and making sure they're all still useful at level 22 will be expensive. A Skillful Quickrazor only sets you back about 18k IIRC (less with the appropriate crafting feats), which is a pretty minor chunk of your wealth.

Glimbur
2010-09-25, 10:58 PM
If you have feats burning a hole in your pocket, consider taking Shape Soulmeld from Magic of Incarnum. You can get anything from immunity to mental control to elemental resistances to Uncanny Dodge to immunity to flanking. If you spend more feats on them, they can get better. A two level dip in Totemist might also pay interesting dividends.