Optimized Character Builds

[MukkTB]

How many named character optimizations are out there? Jack B Quick, Ubercharger, The Mailman...

Not to mention the game breakers like Pun-Pun, and the Omnimancer.

[Eldariel]

A good starting place (forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=482636) for the most venerable of the work.

[Grendus]

More than I can count. Off the top of my head:

Cindy
Mailman
UPS Man
Ubercharger
Hi Welcome
The Wish and the Word
Omnificer
Bubs the Commoner

And that's really the tip of the iceberg. Question is, how obscure are we going? There are plenty of common archtypes (Sorcadin, Ur-Theurge, Batman Wizard) that aren't really named builds per-se but they're used like they are.

[gorfnab]

Ted the Enabler
Killer Gnome
Master of Kluck-Fu

[Dusk Eclipse]

The King of Smack
The Nasty Gentleman
Takahashi no Onisan
The Cube
The other Killer Gnome

[OracleofSilence]

Twice Betrayer of Shar
Team Solars
Jumplomancer
The Dream of Metal (more roleplaying based with a nice semi doomsday trick)

[Physics_Rook]

Pun-Pun, obviously.
And we shall never forget, Bearington Bearman, the Bearbearian. :smallsmile:

[Socratov]

the diplomancer

[Axinian]

The Riddler (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=8270)! :smallbiggrin:

[Incanur]

Chuck E. Cheese (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19861942/Chuck_E._Cheese), though that one doesn't work anymore.

[Dusk Eclipse]

The Jumplomancer
Pervirtuoso
Chrono Legionary
The Dragoon

[Person_Man]

From my melee combo guide (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127026):

Handbooks, index threads, and melee builds:

Haberdash the Masked (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5266526)
Frozen Dwarf Hulk Smash!!! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50588)
Flaming Homer, the Bowling Ball of DOOM!!! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4108954&postcount=22)
Darrin's King of Pong (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5897646)
Saph's Horizon Tripper (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80415)
King of Smack (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19866038/The_king_of_smack)
Psychic Warrior Build Compendium (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19539114/Psychic_Warrior_Build_Guide_38_Compendium_RevisedP sychic) (including Tashalatoran God of Smack)
Takahashi no Onisan (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=153726)
The Incredible Hulk (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=6658861)
War Master (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=138082)
Stock ACF Fighter Build

Fighter is actually quite a respectable choice up to ECL 12ish if you know what you're doing. The keys are alternate class features (forums.gleemax.com/wotc_archive/index.php/t-906113.html) and careful feat selection (see combos above).

At level 1, Fighters get the Tower Shield for free. This in itself is useful. Races of Stone also lets you trade it away for Exotic Shield Proficiency, which has several uses (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=6848292). I suggest using it for a Gnome Battle Cloak, which is essentially a shield you wear on your back, which is essentially a free Animated shield. Or you can take the Extreme Shield if you want +3 AC without a To-Hit penalty (but don't care about making shield bash attacks). If you want a mounted build (which is one of your best core-ish options) then I suggest a Riding Shield.

At levels 2 and 6, Dungonscape lets you trade away feats for the Dungeoncrasher ability, which gives you massive damage when you Bull Rush an enemy into a wall or solid object. As others have opined, the easiest way to abuse this is through the Knockback feat. Check out Flaming Homer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4108954&postcount=22) and the King of Pong (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107248). If you want to be less abusive and/or don't want to be a Goliath, then I suggest you be a Raptorian or Dragonborn (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20060105b&page=1) for free flight (though it doesn't kick in until ECL 12). This lets you move above enemies, so that you can Bull Rush them into the floor. You can also get free Bull Rush attempts from the Shield of the Severed Hand (Complete Divine pg 102 or MIC) and/or Brutal Surge weapons (MIC). It's also worth mentioning that Dungeoncrasher damage is so high that even a single mundane Bull Rush per turn can kill most enemies.

At 2nd level or higher you can give up a Fighter bonus feat to gain the Resolute ability (Complete Champion). It allows you to immediately shift 1/2 your BAB to your Will Save. Hugely useful at mid to high levels, as Will Saves are often Save or Lose. Once you get to level 10 or higher I would definitely pick this one up, unless you can find some other form of mental protection.

A nifty web ad on (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060327a) gives you various buffs to your ability to Demoralize. The most important kicks in at 11th level, which lets you Demoralize as a Swift Action. This can be a powerful tool (http://boards-test-dev.wizards.com/wotc_archive/index.php/t-911167), especially when combined with the Imperious Command feat (Drow of the Underdark) which makes Demoralized enemies Cower (www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Cowering).

Put that together, and you get respectable defense, strong offense, and two forms of battlefield control (Bull Rush and Fear). Pretty solid for any low to mid level melee build.

Echo the Active

Human Factotum (forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=791436) 3/Warblade (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060802a&page=2) 2/Chameleon (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20041210b&page=1) 5/Warblade 3

At this ECL you get:

+8 BAB
All Skills as Class Skills
Int bonus applied to tons of different checks (Str/Dex Skills, Trip/Bull Rush/Disarm/Grapple, critical confirmation, Saves, etc).
4th level manuevers (and you can choose a different one every morning using Martial Study or Martial Stance as one of your floating feats)
4th level divine or arcane spells (I suggest Divine spells. Like an Archivist, a Chameleon can use Cleric, Druid, Blackguard, Paladin, Ranger, domain, PrC, spells, but without the need for a prayer book. And many 3rd and 4th level Blackguard/Paladin/Ranger spells are the equivalent of 5th or 6th level Cleric spells (the easiest example is Holy Sword (www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/holySword.htm), but the splat books are filled with them).


Take the Exotic Weapon proficiency feat, and learn what it can do (www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5266526). You can swap this out to be any exotic weapon each morning using the Warblade's Weapon Aptitude ability. If you want, you can swap out Warblade for Master of Masks (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20070105a&page=3), as it gives you access to every Exotic Weapon.

The Chameleon bonus feat can swap out it's bonus feat every morning.

The Heroics spell (Spell Compendium) gives you a Fighter bonus feat of your choice that you otherwise qualify for. As a 2nd level Sorcerer Wizard spell, it's quite easy for you to cast yourself or put in a wand. It lasts 10 minutes per level, so you rarely need to bother with Persistent Spell or other chicanery.

You could also do a psionic or incarnum or binder version of this build, using your floating bonus feat to gain a different power every morning using Expanded Knowledge, Shape Soulmeld, or Bind Vestige. For your purposes, I'd suggest a Factotum 3/Incarnate 2/Chameleon 5/Incarnate X. With Brains Over Brawn, souldmelds, spells, and floating feats, you could pretty much accomplish any Skill task. With some creativity and planning, this build can pretty much do anything.
Keld Denar's DORF POWAH!

Ranger1/Fighter2/Barb2/Deepwarden2/X
Take Steadfast Determination (PHBII)

Nearly completely Str/Con dependant. Str gets you attack and damage, Con gets you HP, AC, Touch AC, Fort, and Will. X can be anything full BAB, but I highly recommend a bit of Exotic Weapon Master (Uncanny Blow and/or Flurry of Strikes with Waraxe or Urgrosh), Occult Slayer, and Pious Templar for maximum resiliancey. Runescar Berzerker is also fun, and with your massive will save, Frenzied Berzerker wouldn't be terrible with proper planning.

Not really good for AoO based control build due to lack of Dex focus.

Keld Denar's Tashalatora Grappler

Human or Psionic Half Giant
Monk2/PsyWar18
1st IUAS, Imp Grapple, Scorpion's Grasp (if human)
2nd Monastic Training (ECS)
3rd Tashalatora(Sec of Sarlona), Psionic Meditation
4th Link Power (CPsi)
From there, go nuts with Improved Natural Attack, Snap Kick, Superior Unarmed Strike, Shape Soulmeld (Kraken Mantle) + Open Least Chakra (Arms)

Inspired by Thurbane's Debuffer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126008)
Bard 1/Paladin of Tyranny 3/Hexblade 4/Warchanter X

Bard gives access to Doomspeak feat (Champions of Ruin), which lets you burn a Bardic music use to impose a -10 penalty to one enemy for one round. (Standard Action, allows a Save).

Paladin of Tyranny (or Blackguard, if you don't mind the pre-reqs) gives you Cha to your Saves (Dark Blessing/Divine Grace) and a -2 penalty from your enemies (Aura of Despair).

The PHBII alternate class feature Hexblade let you trade your Familiar to pick up a Dark Companion, which imposes another -2 penalty on your enemies. You can also use your Hexblade Curse once per day for another -2. Hexblade also gives you Cha to Saves vs Spells and Mettle. Put together with your Cha to Saves from Paladin of Tyranny and a Ring of Evasion, and you don't have much to worry about from 90% of spells.

If you're willing to spend two feats to get Improved Bind Vestige (Tome of Magic) you can bind Focalor to impose another -2 penalty. Or you can take a few levels of Binder.

Warchanter is a full BAB class whose levels stack to determine Bardic music uses per day (to fuel Doomspeak, and maybe Snowflake Wardance) and Bardic music effectiveness. It also grants some nifty buffs for your party, so that you can do more then just debuff.

In addition, you might want to pick up some Fear and/or Ability Damage combos (see above), since your enemies Saves will suck so much.
Can't Touch This! Inspired by woodenbandman's Yellow Jester (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7044122#post7044122)

This is a build based on tactical movement (see above).

Whatever 5/Tactical Soldier 2/Crusader or Warblade 2

Tactical Soldier (Miniatures Handbook) provides the Sidestep feat as a bonus feat (without the lousy pre-reqs). Sidestep lets you take a 5 ft step once per round after making an attack of opportunity, in addition to your normal 5 ft step.

Or you can drop Tactical Soldier and use the Evasive Reflexes feat, which lets you trade an AoO for a 5 ft step. You'll get fewer attacks per round, but it's a much lower investment.

Press the Advantage (White Raven Stance, Tome of Battle) lets you take an additional 5 ft step whenever you take a 5 ft step.

You can get Magic Rollerskates (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/cw/20061120a) and/or Sparing Dummy (Arms and Equipment Guide) of the Master to make your 5 ft steps 10 ft steps.

And you can get bonus attacks of opportunity via Combat Reflexes + Hold the Line + Karmic Strike and/or Robilar's Gambit and/or other means.

You'll also want to get a reasonably large reach (see above).

You'll be able to step 10 or 20 feet away whenever your enemy moves through your threatened area, Charges you (thus avoiding the Charge entirely), or attacks you (though your movement comes after their attack. So you avoid full attacks, but not every attack).

A nice defensive combo that's independent of AC, which can be had for a moderate investment of 4 class levels or 5ish feats.
Adumbration's The Barn Door that Hits Back (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=7182982&postcount=48):
Spirit lion Barbarian 1/Bard 1/Warblade 3/War chanter 8. This is ECL 13, but if I wanted to turn it into a level 20 build, I would probably finish War chanter and go into Frenzied Berserker.

Feats:
1st: Power attack
Flaw: Improved Bullrush
Flaw: Combat expertise
3rd: Weapon focus
6th: Song of the White raven
9th: Shock trooper
12th: Extra music

Shock trooper (feat): Power attack, but AC takes the penalty. Wield a two-handed weapon. -14 AC, +24 damage, +2 to attack roll.

Inspire recklessness (class feature): Deduct a number up to your base attack bonus from your AC, add it as a morale bonus to attack. +12 to attack, -12 to AC.

Attack bonus: 12 (BaB) + 12 (Inspire recklessness) + 1 (Weapon focus) + X (strength) + Y (enhanced weapon) = +25+X+Y, up to +39.

Other features of this build include Inspire Toughness (2xWar chanter level in temporary hitpoints) via Combine Songs, Pounce, bardic music as a swift action, Inspire Awe (a fear effect, delivered via song), some Warblade maneuvers and an AC that is easier to hit than the door to the barn.

Person_Man's Commentary: Warchanter is an excellent PrC, in that it has full BAB and progresses Bardic music and Bardic Music uses per day. So this is a solid build. But I'd go with different feats. In particular, I would do more to Optimize Inspire Courage (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=816095), and pick up the uber Snowflake Wardance (Frostburn) which lets you burn a Bardic Music use to add your Cha bonus To-Hit.

[GeekGirl]

We can forget the Sandwich (http://thestormwindfallacy.multiply.com/journal/item/76?&show_interstitial=1&u=%2Fjournal%2Fitem)

I'm not sure this really counts

[sonofzeal]

Terminator
Omniscificer
H.I.V.E.

And my very own...

Henry the Indomitable
Bubs the Commoner (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=7097263&postcount=38)

(not that they belong in the same list)