D&D3.5 Lvl30 epic gestalt melee optimisation help!

[RCgothic]

Hi all!

I’m looking to be involved in my first epic gestalt game, and I’d really like to make a melee build that can compete. My first few attempts seem to have fallen a long way short of the required mark, so I’m going right back to the drawing board and turning to the playground for help!

The ground rules:

Lvl30 gestalt.
Standard WBL (4.3M gp)
Attributes 40pt buy
2 bonus feats, feat training as an always cc skill (3 skill ranks per feat (6 skill points))
Templates and LA allowed, flaws disallowed.
Sources: Any published book, and any linkable homebrew allowed (but has to be vetted, so let’s keep these both reasonable and to a minimum.)


Some of the lines I’m thinking along so far:
My inspiration is Link from the legend of Zelda series, so I’d like to keep things good-aligned, non-monstrous and humanoid if at all possible. (Pointy ears a plus). Magic is allowable as long as it’s not the main focus. INT and CHA have been suggested as main stats, and to try and have those buff as many things as possible, though I’m open to suggestions!

[VarianArdell]

Well, before I post too much, I have a couple questions:
How much of this game is going to be combat, and how much will be social interaction?
How, exactly, does LA work in this campaign?
Is Pathfinder material allowed?
What are the other party members' builds?


When these questions are answered, i shall begin my work... :smallamused:

[RCgothic]

Some answers:

I expect the campaign to be a decent mix of combat, social interaction and roleplay. It’s not just going to be EPIC COMBATZ, LULZ!

Pathfinder not allowed.

LA takes one side of the gestalt. Eg warblade4//drow2/factotum2


Will try and get you some comparison builds later this evening.

[AmberVael]

Honestly, in epic gestalt it's usually a good idea to have at least some casting potential. It doesn't have to be the focus of your build, but just having it available opens up a lot of options.

For this reason, I suggest having a decent investment into some kind of class that would qualify- for example, cleric, binder, and psychic warrior would all be pretty decent choices on the side of a melee class. Cleric and Psychic Warrior are both pretty good at melee already, for example, but both have some pretty cool casting type options too. Binder is just a great class, and is quite different from most "casters," and does have some fun melee synergy as well (though I am a lot less familiar with the class- I mostly suggest it because it is a decent, but not overpowered class, and it helps demonstrate that I don't just mean play a wizard or an archivist or something). I do understand not wanting it to be the character focus, so you can just downplay it by using passive buffs and utility spells, which are quite nice options anyway.

On the other side, Tome of Battle is pretty much the standard option. You really can't go wrong with any of the three classes presented there- I personally prefer the Swordsage, however, and picking up the Master of Nine PrC is always a great bet.

If you really want to move away from casting (which hey, that's fine), I suggest Factotum instead of one of the casting classes I mentioned earlier. Or, if that doesn't appeal, possibly Incarnum (Totemist or Incarnate). You'd really need to know what you were doing with the latter though, particularly in epic Gestalt. It can be a bit hard to optimize at high levels, and it may be good to have some homebrew options if you go that route. Still, it can add some great bonuses to an epic melee character.

If you want more detailed advice though, you'll need a more detailed preference in build.

[RCgothic]

I'm not against casting! My inspiration is Link, who can cast various fireballs, teleportation and shield spells, dominate creatures, change shape and control both time and the weather, so I'm not at all against having a bit of magic to back things up!

I'd still like the main focus to be 'Insert Sword A into bad guy B!' :smallwink:

Edit: My previous build was Warblade20/Fighter2/Swordsage8//Factotum20/Eternal Blade 10, but this fell far short of the general optimisation level of the party in spite of various action-economy shenanigans.

[Eldariel]

I'm not against casting! My inspiration is Link, who can cast various fireballs, teleportation and shield spells, dominate creatures, change shape and control both time and the weather, so I'm not at all against having a bit of magic to back things up!

I'd still like the main focus to be 'Insert Sword A into bad guy B!' :smallwink:

Edit: My previous build was Warblade20/Fighter2/Swordsage8//Factotum20/Eternal Blade 10, but this fell far short of the general optimisation level of the party in spite of various action-economy shenanigans.

If we consolidate this build to one side, we can get relatively full casting on the other. I'm fairly sure simple Wizard or Archivist is the way to go since we're obviously looking at Intelligence-focus here.

Perhaps:
Warblade 10/Eternal Blade 10/Factotum 8/Warblade +2//Wizard 30 (with PRCs; maybe Incantatrix if that's the level we're looking at, or Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil, Abjurant Champion or some such; sprinkling of Master Specialist & co. as desired; add Dweomerkeeper to taste)

I'm not feeling terribly imaginative (you could get your Int to a dozen more things if you want to), but this extremely simple and efficient base setup would probably be just as strong as necessary. And perfectly capable physically, while also screwing the rules far as action economy goes.

EDIT: And Eternal Blade basically is the Link PRC so it seems sorta gimme. It's not like an übersuperCelerity per encounter is a bad thing to have, anyways.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

This character could have been a former slave of the Drow, a gigantic genius who only wanted to sit and read but was forced into the arena and rose to the rank of champion. When the Drow house which owned him was wiped out he cunningly escaped and make his way to the surface, where he found work as a thug for a criminal organization. From there he could have changed his ways and become a champion of goodness, or just been hired as a mercenary by goody-two-shoes adventurers and ended up getting attached to them.

Half-Orc (PHB), Half-Minotaur (Dragon magazine 313), Lolth-Touched (MMIV).
Half-Minotaur is inherited, Lolth-Touched is acquired, so with LA Buyoff (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/reducingLevelAdjustments.htm) you could have paid 3,000 XP at ECL 4 to get rid of the Half-Minotaur's +1 LA, then gained Lolth-Touched, and then paid 6,000 XP at ECL 7 to get rid of its +1 LA.

I would include nine levels of Fighter with the Dungeoncrasher ACF from Dungeonscape, Physical Prowess (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/cwc/20061013a) added for free, and the Zhentarim Soldier (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060327a) substitution levels. Take at least one level of Half-Orc Paragon (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/racialParagonClasses.htm#halfOrcParagon), and pay 3,000 gp to gain the feat Menacing Demeanor via the Otyugh Hole in Complete Scoundrel (and another 3,000 gp for Iron Will from another visit). Also get the feat Imperious Command in Drow of the Underdark, as well as the Never Outnumbered skill trick in Complete Scoundrel. Possibly even take at least one level in Uncanny Trickster from Complete Scoundrel to use Never Outnumbered 2/encounter instead of the normal 1/encounter.

I'd go Fighter 9/ Warblade 10/ Fighter 1, to get Weapon Supremacy from PH2 at your Fighter 10 bonus feat. Get the Wrathful Healing property from Enemies and Allies (3.0 but still valid) on your primary weapon, and make it an Item Familiar (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/itemFamiliars.htm). The XP bonus from Item Familiar will easily negate the payment to buy off your previous level adjustments, and an item familiar is an intelligent item which is treated as a construct. Constructs continue to function in an antimagic field or dead magic area, and cannot be dispelled or disjoined, so this is the ultimate protection for your most needed possession.

After Fighter 9/ Warblade 10/ Fighter 1, you may as well go Warblade 10 more. Note that Half-Orc Paragon is a prestige class, and as per ToB p39 you add your full prestige class levels to your martial adept level to determine your initiator level, rather than half your levels as with base classes. Taking one or more levels of that or another prestige class along side of Fighter will increase your initiator level by one for that level instead of by only one half.

For spellcasting, you can't really go wrong with Cloistered Cleric (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#clericVariantCloistere dCleric) of Mystra, with the feat Initiate of Mystra from Player's Guide to Faerun so that your spells/buffs still function in antimagic and dead magic areas. The current Mystra is NG, but the old Mystra was LN, so as long as he's within one step of either of those alignments he should be fine. You should probably worship the old Mystra, and take the feat Servant of the Fallen from Lost Empires of Faerun, so that if the current Mystra dies (something DMs like to do to make players sweat) you'll still have access to all of your spells and other magical abilities. That's a precaution that you'll be extremely glad to have if it ever comes up. Dweomerkeeper (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20040522a), Divine Disciple for only four levels (PGtF), Contemplative for 1, 6, or 10 levels (CD), and Divine Oracle (CD) for four or ten levels are all highly recommended. You could use the feat Magical Training from PGtF (if you can qualify) to meet the arcane casting prerequisite of Dweomerkeeper without multiclassing. If you take Half-Orc Paragon and/or Human Paragon on the Cleric side, be sure to get Practiced Spellcaster (CD, CA).

Between Divine Metamagic: Persistent Spell (CD) and Night Sticks from Libris Mortis, you should have plenty of all-day buffs. Get the Spell domain (SpC) and some Pearls of Power to use Anyspell to cast DMM: Persistent Wraithstrike and Shield, and use Greater Anyspell to cast DMM: Persistent Draconic Polymorph from the Draconomicon to take the form of yourself, which is specifically allowed as per Alter Self, to gain the +8 Str from Draconic Polymorph. You should also get a standard Metamagic Rod of Extend and two 6th level Pearls of Power to have Superior Resistance and Energy Immunity x5 continually active on you for only two 6th level spell slots each day. Other choice persistent spells include Stormrage, Holy Star (multiple times), Divine Power, Divine Favor, Righteous Might, Greater Visage of the Deity, Choose Destiny from the Destiny domain in Races of Destiny, (Widened) Antimagic Field since you can just ignore its effect (multiple times in case of Disjunction), etc. Be sure to cast Greater Luminous Armor (BoED) on yourself every day if you're good-aligned, and cast Magic Vestment on both that and your Shield spell, plus Greater Magic Weapon on your primary weapon. Between Wraithstrike and two-handed Power Attack you shouldn't need to worry too much about opponents' damage reduction. There's a lot that I missed, but expect to spend a few days just putting this character together if you use tons of buffs.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Elf warblade 10/Eternal Blade 10/warblade +10//factotum 1/spell reflection feat rogue 2/factotum +19/feat rogue +8.

[RCgothic]

These are some examples of the sort of thing I'm up against:


• DR 10/epic (and a ton of other sources)
• SR 55
• 1290 hp
• 83 AC
• +98/+92/+97 saves
• Aerial charge 960 feet and then Pounce: +79/+74 Sting, +79/+74 Slam, +80/+80/+75/+70/+65 Whip (15 foot reach), +81/+81/+76/+71/+66 Claw, +81/+81/+76/+71/+66 Claw, +81/+81 Rake, 5X Rend. (For those of you wondering how I can have natural attacks and iterative attacks at once, that's because the whip is a symbiont and Creature of Legend got banned, so I had to make up for it with Half-Dragon and RapidStrike)
• 1d4 + 21 + 3 Con Drain + 1d6 Str Damage Sting, 1d4 + 42 + 3 Con Drain + 1d6 Str Damage Slam, 1d4 + 42 + 3 Con Drain + 1d6 Str Damage Whip, 1d8 + 42 + 3 Con Drain + 1d6 Str Damage Claw, 1d8 + 21 + 3 Con Drain + 1d6 Str Damage Rake, 5*(16 + 84 + 3 Con Drain + 1d6 Str Damage Rend).
• If everything hits, that's 9d4 + 11d8 + 1197 + 78 Cpn Drain + 26d6 Str Damage.
• I haven't bought items yet.

And http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=336373

There was another caster with 9th level save DC 40+, so I'd like to get my saves into the 60s if at all possible. It was frustratingly difficult to round up any character sheets, most people seem to be posting overviews.


This was my previous attempt, though I hadn't finished spending on equipment:http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=336370

Also, Epic Destinies are allowed.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Also, Epic Destinies are allowed.
You mean epic PrCs?

[Mystic Muse]

You mean epic PrCs?

Nope, Epic Destinies are something entirely different.

Here is an example of one. http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5883915#post5883915

[The Glyphstone]

YEah, one of WotC's last 3.5 web articles was a set of 3.5 backports of 4E Epic Destinies, similar to the homebrew one linked.

[AmberVael]

Nope, Epic Destinies are something entirely different.

Here is an example of one. http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5883915#post5883915

Note that this epic destiny is not representative of their general balance. Demented went pretty overboard on it.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Nope, Epic Destinies are something entirely different.

Here is an example of one. http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5883915#post5883915

Where are they from? I only know about the 4e ones.

[Mystic Muse]

Note that this epic destiny is not representative of their general balance. Demented went pretty overboard on it.

This is true. Most epic destinies are actually pretty lackluster in comparison to benefits you could get with your epic feats instead. It really varies from character to character and epic destiny to epic destiny.


Where are they from? I only know about the 4e ones.

A few 4e ones were backported, and homebrewers just went with the idea and made their own.

[AmberVael]

They were originally posted online, but I think they've since been removed for some unknown reason. Rather annoying, really. :smallannoyed:


Anyway! I would like to question whether the linked characters are truly representative of what the DM expects. While it is certainly possible to make a character to match said expectations, I have yet to find a DM who would want to deal with such things, even in epic... most seem to want more sane levels of optimization.

Not that such numbers are unbeatable (as they are just numbers, which is not precisely how you optimize D&D), it's just that they're annoying to deal with.

Some of the players on this board can get a bit... too enthusiastic in the recruiting threads, so I would not take their stats as truly representative of what one might expect in game.

[RCgothic]

Anyway! I would like to question whether the linked characters are truly representative of what the DM expects. While it is certainly possible to make a character to match said expectations, I have yet to find a DM who would want to deal with such things, even in epic... most seem to want more sane levels of optimization.

Not that such numbers are unbeatable (as they are just numbers, which is not precisely how you optimize D&D), it's just that they're annoying to deal with.

Some of the players on this board can get a bit... too enthusiastic in the recruiting threads, so I would not take their stats as truly representative of what one might expect in game.

Seems like it is what most people seem to be shooting for. :smallconfused:
If not beating them, I would like to approach them somewhat.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

I almost forgot, get a Starmantle Cloak from BoED or just cast it Persistent every day (with Supernatural Spell from Dweomerkeeper to avoid the material component), and your Persistent AMF will cause every weapon attacking you to be nonmagical. That means every melee attack against you will result in the weapon (including natural weapons) being automatically destroyed, rather than harming you. Also, Persistent Ray Deflection via Greater Anyspell. That should keep you safe from any melee attacks and any ranged attacks that exist in the game, other than epic spells which most monsters don't even use. See if you can get Greater Visage of the Deity to grant a variant Half-Fiend template (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060630a) instead of the standard one, based on a Goristro from Fiendish Codex 1 (+8 Str, +8 Con, size increase up to huge).


For something completely different, use Psion with Persistent Power (http://www.wizards.com/d20/files/msrd/ArcanaOccupationsandFeats.rtf) (from here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/article/msrd), the d20 Modern SRD) for Persistent Timeless Body (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/timelessBody.htm).

For a silly-powerful combination, go with a Tauric Human + Giant Octopus, and replace all eight tentacles with the Extracting Tentacle graft from Underdark. Add on Half-Golem (MM2) based on a Psion Killer (XPH) so your tentacles will be made from psionic crystal, optional. Take Psychic Weapon Master (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040827d) 10, designating your tentacles as your bonded weapon if they're psionic crystal, otherwise use Kensai (CW). Put the Speed, Wounding, and Marrowcrushing (BoVD) properties on them along with taking Improved Rapidstrike so each makes five attacks for potentially 80 Con damage per round, plus Improved Grabs. If you grapple an opponent and they don't break free before your next turn, they have to make eight Fort saves or be automatically killed by an Extracting Tentacle, and most Freedom of Movement effects don't work in an Antimagic Field. Use Telflammar Shadowlord or Crinti Shadow Marauder to get Shadow Pounce to make multiple (i.e. dozens of) full attacks every round.

[Re'ozul]

The Ascetic (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=214285) Class gestalted with Warblade is my sure bet for epic melee. Though at that point its becomes possibly too good.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Just play this. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/archive/index.php?t-187171.html) Sadly its character sheet doesn't appear to be up any more, but I'd bet you can figure out most of it.

[Randomguy]

I'm thinking your standard sorcadin gish, without loss of caster levels.

On the caster side: sorcerer 4/spellsword1 (to reduce spell failure chance)/abjurant champion 5/ incantrix 10 (take evocation as your prohibited school, it's pretty useless.)/ sacred exorcist 10. Get DMM persist. Make sure you have arcane fusion, greater arcane fusion, ruin delvers fortune(SC) and celerity(PHB2) as spells known. Max out charisma. Persist ruin delver's fortune three times for a luck bonus to all saves equal to your charisma modifier. It also gets you evasion and some other goodies, including fear immunity. This stacks with the bonus to saves equal to your charisma modifier you get from paladin, since that bonus is untyped.

If you want to use some evil spells, pick up the consecrate spell metamagic feat, which gives a spell the good descriptor (unless I'm misunderstanding it.) One good evil spell is avasculate, which is a no save spell that brings the target down to half their current hit points.

Wraithstrike is a good spell to persist.
You can use arcane fusion or it's greater version to cast a spell and either true strike or true casting attached, so you'll hit more reliably.

Rapid metamagic is a feat that lets you quicken spells, and incantrix gives many bonus metamagic feats, so you can grab one and then the other. It also lets you cast a spell modified by a metamgic feat as a standard action, rather than a full round action.

If you fight with a bludgeoning weapon, you can cast greater mighty wallop for more damage.

There's a spell called Sirine's grace that gives your charisma modifier as a deflection bonus to AC, but it's only for bards and druids. You could get a custom magic item that either continously gives you the benefit of that spell, though. Alternatively, you can DMM persist ghostform, which gives you the same bonus as well as making you incorporeal. It would also elliminate the need for wraithstrike, and you'd need dexterity instead of strength.
Greater ironguard makes you immune to magical metal, so if you combine that with ghostform only force effects can hit you reliably, unless the people you're fighting have either magical wooden, stone or natural weapons. Not even metal ghosttouch weapons can hurt you. You still have a 50% chance of getting hit by other elements.
If you persist forceward, then you're also immune to force.
If you ever end a day with many spell slots remaining, cast extended elemental immunity as many times as you can (start with the more common elements). The spell already lasts 24 hours, this way it will last a day and then some.

On your other side, if you want to wear full plate and still cast in it, grab a level in fighter and take the ACF from complete mage that lets you ignore spell failure chance in light armour. Then take the battle caster feat twice. Not really necessary though, since it costs two feats.

Two levels of hexblade would get you your Cha bonus to saves a third time, but you have to be non-good, so that's not really an option unless you're planning on being dark Link. (And then you couldn't be netural, you'd have to be evil, since there are evil but not neutral paladin variants. On the bright side, you can take a few levels of blackguard to add your Cha mod yet another time to saves.

I have know idea as to what class you could put after those two paladin levels, though. Ranger gives you good fortitude and reflex, as well as full BAB, but you'll be using a two handed weapon, so there isn't much synergy.
Actually, nevermind: if you choose to use DMM persist ghostform, going ranger wouldn't be as bad an idea, since dexterity would be just bellow charisma. The decrease in power attack damage hurts though. Your call: many attacks or fewer attacks but higher damage. Remember that power attack screws up your iterative attacks anyway.
If you do choose ranger, then you could prestige into Tempest (from complete adventurer), but it has a feat tax of 3 feats (and some that you'll have anyways). This should be decent, since if you take this route, you won't be taking the wearing heavy armour route. You should still take one or two levels of fighter for the bonus feats and the ACF that lets you ignore spell failure in light armour though.

You could switch to taking levels in favoured soul for divine casting, and use DMM persist Divine Power instead of getting full BAB, especially since it can get you +30BAB, higher than what you'd normally be getting with a full BAB class, (I think, I'm not completely sure on this). You'd need to take at least 2 more levels of full BAB after paladin though, since if you didn't you wouldn't be able to prestige out of sorcerer at lvl 4.

You could put ranks in ride and learn Phantom Steed, and then prestige into Cavalier (from complete warrior) . With Phantom Steed, you're faster than just about anything. Also, you don't need to learn overland flight this way. It might be possible to merge this with the ranger route, i'm not sure though.

If you choose the ranger path instead of the Favoured soul path, you can still take a few levels in the Divine Crusader PRC for a bit of charisma based divine casting anyways. I don't think it's very optimal though.

To summarize your options for the melee side of your gestalt: 2 paladin of tyranny, 2 hexblade, 2 fighter, 11 ranger, 2 blackguard, 5 Tempest, 6 (divine crusader/Cavalier/more ranger)
With the option to replace paladin of tyranny with a non-evil paladin varient, to replace levels of other non-good only classes with either more paladin or more ranger and the option to replace all ranger as well as the 6 levels at the end with Favoured soul.

Make sure you learn at least one changing shape spell. I suggest shapechange, but that's VERY cheesy. You can also take polymorph, trollshape or Dragonshape. Then, take the reserve feat Minor Shapeshift: You can spend a swift action at will to gain temporary hp equal to your HD and it lasts one round per level of the shapeshifting spell you have available to cast.

Dispel magic is your worst enemy. Get a ring of counterspelling that stores greater dispel magic and a ring of enduring arcana to make your spells harder to dispel. Also, max out spellcraft. Whenever you see someone casting any kind of dispelling spell or disjunction, cast greater celerity and teleport out of the area.

Sorry for the wall of text.

[RCgothic]

Thanks for the above, very interesting! Will have a think overnight and post thoughts tomorrow morning. :smallsmile:

[hex0]

Swashbuckler 3/Factotum 3
Wizard 1/Duskblade 1
Elven Paragon 3/Duskblade 3
Champion of Correlon 2/Duskblade 2
Bladesinger 7/Duskblade 7
Bladesinger 13/Wizard 13

Or is that too much casting? Use an elven thinblade and channel everything through it

[Randomguy]

Actually, I made a mistake: Sacred Exorcist is good only, so you have to choose between DMM persist and 2*Charisma bonus to saves (from hexblade and blackguard). You could still persist Ghostform and greater ironguard without DMM persist, but you'd need to take 4 epic feats for higher level spell slots, so about all of your epic feats. Also, remember your saves are already going to be very good.
You could get magic items that do the same things as the spells continously, but that would cost a lot.

On the bright side, I forgot to mention this monk fix (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=150122). A three level dip and the Aescetic Mage feat listed there gives you Cha to attack and damage rolls, to AC (which stacks with the deflection bonus to ghostfrom) and dex instead of strength, if it's better, to attack and damage. The armour bonus only applies when unarmoured (buy you can get a magic item called Dyrr's impervious vestment that gives a +8 armour bonus anyway, and your charisma would be better than however much you could enchant your armour.) The Cha and Dex to attack and damage only apply for special monk weapons, but you can take a second feat to turn a one handed weapon or light weapon of your choice into a special monk weapon, so you can still be link. Also, it gets you another attack each round, since flurry and TWF stack.
Even if your DM doesn't let you use this fix, taking one level of monk and the standard version of Aescetic Mage is still worth it for Cha to AC. Or you could take 2 levels for the other bonus feat and evasion, and you can trade evasion away for an ACF from complete mage that lets you reflect a spell that would have missed you back at the caster one + dex mod times per day, if you choose to take enough levels in ranger to get evasion from that.

EDIT: oh, I made another mistake: Forceward creates an immobile sphere, so if you persisted it you'd end up leaving it behind after you walked away. It's still a spell worth knowing, I think, especially if you use celerity to cast this before being hit by a force effect.. You can persist Ray Deflection, though, and that makes all ranged touch attacks miss you. You can also persist Girallon's blessing and wield some more weapons. (You couldn't use the natural attacks the spell gives you while in ghostform unless you were attacking another ethereal creature.

[Godskook]

What is allowed in your DM's version of Gestalt, since honestly, the RAW *SHOULD* be ignored, and hopefully is in an epic game.

[Sith_Happens]

These are some examples of the sort of thing I'm up against:

And http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=336373

There was another caster with 9th level save DC 40+, so I'd like to get my saves into the 60s if at all possible. It was frustratingly difficult to round up any character sheets, most people seem to be posting overviews.


This was my previous attempt, though I hadn't finished spending on equipment:http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=336370

Also, Epic Destinies are allowed.

Hm, it appears that this Bridgar guy is using an epic monster template (Paragon (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/monsters/paragonCreature.htm)) on his character. I'm pretty sure that's not possible by default, but if the DM okayed it then I'm in no place to object. Just keep in mind that about half of every number on his character sheet is coming from that one template.

My suggestion for competing with that is to do the same thing, although I would recommend Pseudonatural (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/monsters/pseudonaturalCreature.htm) over Paragon just for teh lulz.:thog:

[Hirax]

Hm, Link? Depending on how interested you are in this I can go into more detail.

Lesser aasimar gets you pointy ears. The saint template is a great option, and note that saint is an acquired template that needs to be taken by at least a 6th level character, so the LA will more properly fit into the middle of the build. Net stat bumps would be +2 con, +4 wis, +6 cha

I say point buy to 16/12/8/12/14/18. With your wealth you can afford +6 enhancement items to each stat, and +4 inherent bonuses from wish too, so basically in crease all stats by 10, except for potentially int, which is worth +4 inherent, but probably not a +6 enhancement. Except charisma, you'll want to spend all 7 ability bumps (that you get every 4th level) on it, and also spring for a +5 inherent bonus and cloak of +12 charisma. Apply racial modifiers, and you wind up with 26/22/20/16/28/40.

Note that if you can buy a feat for 6 skill points, you should get the feat nymph's kiss, which gives you a bonus skill point every level. Therefore, any time you take a level that gets 4 skill points, you can buy a feat (4 from class +1 from int +1 from nymph's kiss). Also note that inherent bonuses to int increase your skill points. But at what level are you able to say you obtained this inherent bonus at? Ask your DM.

1-4: Sorcerer1-4/crusader1-4
5: spellsword1/warblade1
6-9: abjurant champ 1-4/crusader5-8
10-12: Initiate of sevenfold veil1-3/crusader9-11
13: sacred exorcist1/crusader12
14: saint LA1/divine crusader1
15: saint LA2/prestige paladin1
16-17: sorc/prestige paladin2-3
18-20: sorc/ruby knight vindicator 1-3
21: sorc/contemplative1
22: sorc/seeker of the misty isle1
23-26: sorcerer/ruby knight vindicator4-7
27: initiate of the sevenfold veil4/crusader13
28-30: initiate of the sevenfold veil5-7/warblade2-4

Features:
-20th level sorcerer casting.
-The ability to cast dozens of spells per round by combining arcane spellsurge (Dragon Magic spell), greater arcane fusion (Complete Mage spell), and divine impetus.
-Wisdom mod (+9) as a deflection bonus to AC via saint. If you can cast Sirine's Grace through miracle or a wand, you can use your charisma mod as a deflection bonus instead.
-Grab a monk's belt for wisdom to AC. Anyone that disagrees that a monk's belt grants this is disagreeing with both RAW and the 3.5 FAQ.
-+12 armor bonus to AC and +8 shield bonus to AC via abjurant champion and greater luminous armor+shield.
-Polymorph into a sun giant for base strength of 37 and 10 natural armor, plus 5 more natural armor from an amulet or spell. You should hit AC 66 this way (sun giant actually improves your dex). Add ioun stones and other misc. magic items for more AC.
-Charisma mod (+15) to saves via prestige paladin. Add an epic cloak of resistance for another +10. Ruin Delver's fortune spell is an immediate action spell that gets you your charisma to saves AGAIN for 1d4 rounds. Add in base saves and ability mods and we're well over +60 to each save.
-10th level divine crusader which is what's getting with a spell list consisting of 3 domains and all sanctified spells.
-Pick the luck domain for your contemplative domain so that you can cast miracle, and thereby mimic any spell at all of 7th level or lower. With Athena as your deity pick the war domain for BAB of 30 from the divine power spell.
-You can drop the travel domain from seeker of the misty isle for travel devotion if you'd like, which is a solid choice.
-Divine impetus from RKV for additional swift actions equal to however many turn attempts you can generate.
-Mount appropriate for a 6th level paladin. You could go for a stronger horse, or even a hippogriff per the list of alternate paladin mounts in the DMG. And we all know Link needs a mount!
-Wards from initiate of the sevenfold veil will make you incredibly hard to hurt, and the abrupt jaunt spell gets you out of the way of anything that could hurt you.
-19 BAB and good high level maneuver selection due to back end martial adept levels
-Mettle from crusader and a ring of evasion mean that anything that allows you a save to be partially affected by something means you won't be affected at all if you make your save. Since you'll have burly saves...
-A familiar from sorcerer! What's a Zelda game without a nagging tagalong counterpart or some sort. :smallbiggrin:
-Fast healing, several immunities, and other great stuff via the saint template

Sample battle plan:
Link stops time regularly in Zelda, look at how enemies freeze whenever he casts a spell during Ocarina of Time. Therefore of course, start up with a time stop and buff yourself to the gills. Greater luminous armor and shield for +20 to AC are natural choices, and note that you can cast 3 9th level divines per day, if you prepare miracle 3 times, that means you can get any spell of 7th level or lower that would normally be unavailable to you, such as giant size, which turns you huge, gargantuan, or colossal, and grants a +16-+32 bonus to strength depending on the CL you can muster.

If you want to hurl spells at your opponent, cast arcane spellsurge, then use divine impetus for 5 swift actions in this example. This means you can now cast greater arcane fusion 5 times in a round, and suddenly you're able to unleash 5 7th level spells and 5 4th level spells all at once. Arcane spellsurge and divine impetus would also theoretically let you cast true strike multiple times in a round, so you could get +20 to hit on each attack if you want.

Nitpick notes:
-Seeker of the misty isle requires you to be an elf or half-elf. While the text of aasimar states that the one presented is a human, argue instead that you're an elf. The stat block of aasimars doesn't tie in to humans or elves in any way, so this is easy to justify, because the bit about humans is entirely fluff. In fact, the keen senses of an aasimar (racial bonus to spot and listen) arguably make their stat block more elfish. Further, look at the picture of the aasimar in the monster manual, it looks like it's an elf. It has pointy ears, but angels and other human-shaped celestials don't have pointy ears, based on the monster manual pictures.
-Zelda likes to feature goddesses more than gods. If you must stick to D&D's pantheon heironous is the obvious choice, but I believe Athena is a much better fit. This goes against ruby knight vindicator's requirement to worship Wee Jas. If your DM is a stickler the only in game ramifications you'd have for choosing Wee Jas would be having to pick from her domains, which isn't so bad.

[faceroll]

I would definitely try to get my hands on (persisted) Divine Power in epic. By RAW, it gives you BAB = character level, which, as far as I know, is the only way to get a BAB > 20 without a lot of monstrous hit dice.

[Hirax]

I would definitely try to get my hands on (persisted) Divine Power in epic. By RAW, it gives you BAB = character level, which, as far as I know, is the only way to get a BAB > 20 without a lot of monstrous hit dice.

You make a good enough point that I'm replacing knowledge with the war domain for my build above.

[drakir_nosslin]

I would definitely try to get my hands on (persisted) Divine Power in epic. By RAW, it gives you BAB = character level, which, as far as I know, is the only way to get a BAB > 20 without a lot of monstrous hit dice.


You make a good enough point that I'm replacing knowledge with the war domain for my build above.

True, and if you want to be ridiculous, BAB and Epic AB are two different things, so you get BAB = 30 plus your Epic AB of 5. It's at least a nice start for a melee type in Epic.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

If you have arcane spellcasting, definitely get Incantatrix 3+ to use Cooperative Metamagic and Metamagic Effect to (Reach/)Persist your buffs.

Abrupt Jaunt is a Wizard ACF, not a spell, but don't forget about Wings of Cover.

[RCgothic]

Ok! Thanks everyone so far. :)

It seems like I needn't really bother with full BaB classes if I can get such from Divine Power... Thinking about finessing an Elven Thinblade and INT to damage using Insightful Strike (swashbuckler3) at the moment, Combat Brute, Leap attack and Shock Trooper.

So a couple of follow-on questions:

Are elves automatically proficient with Elven Thinblades? Complete Warrior seems to imply it without actually saying it.

Does +30 BaB iterate to +30/+25/+20/+15/+10/+5? keeping the number of attacks down is a stated reason for epic BaB, so I assume yes (which is awesome).

Should I take Automatic Quicken Spell x3 + Multispell, or would an additional Multispell be beter at the expense of not quickening lvl7-9?

Are there better uses for my 25 feats than going down the Weapon Supremacy route?

[faceroll]

Last time I checked, which was a while ago, using Divine Power DOES give you more attacks in epic.

I would shy away from using insightful strike past level 10, since it's very easy to gain immunity vs. precision damage.

[Randomguy]

An additional multispell is better, since most high level spells aren't the kind you need to cast repeatedly, but the kind you cast a few times each encounter, tops. You'll mostly be using your high level slots for metamgic'd spells, so one per round is fine. In fact, most of your spells will be buffs of some sort, so you won't cast them often each day.

Even if your high BAB doesn't give you iterative attacks, you can still use it to power attack. (Remember, power attack is only limited by your BAB.)

Elves need to take a feat to become profficient with elven thinblades, sorry.

The weapon supremecy route isn't that great. Spend your feats on TWF things, since thinblades are great to dualwield. Also spend a feat for improved critical (elven thinblade): if you can attack 8 times per round (with perfect two weapon fighting) on a threat range of 15-20, you crit on average twice per round.

If you're going to be using thinblades, then get as many feats or weapon special abilities that activate on critical hits, since you'll be criting often. Some good ones are Cursespewing, souldrinking, ghost strike, prismatic burst (since after 10 rounds of fighting they'll roll a 1 on their save.) and weakening. Since cursespewing and weakening don't stack with each other, you don't need them on both weapons. Also, spend an epic feat or two to get more attacks (Like perfect two weapon fighting and two weapon rend

Go for as much SAD as you can: The more resources you spend improving less essential stats, the less you have to spend on more essential stats. If you want to be int based rather than cha based, a 3 level dip in warblade is worth it. Factotum is another great class. Also, with a 1 level dip in wizard, lvl 2 divine spells somehow (from whichever class you're getting Divine power from) and 10 levels of geomancer, you can make all your arcane and divine casting int based, and ignore spell failure for arcane casting.

Take as few levels of sorcerer as you can: The chassis on that class is terrible, and the spellcasting is the only good part. Instead, go for PRC's that advance casting.

[Anarchy_Kanya]

Don't know if it matters, but I found the 3.5 Epic Destinies. Posting for anybody who cares. (http://lonelygm.blogspot.com/2011/02/epic-destinies-for-d-35pathfinder.html)

[hex0]

The weapon supremecy route isn't that great. Spend your feats on TWF things, since thinblades are great to dualwield. Also spend a feat for improved critical (elven thinblade): if you can attack 8 times per round (with perfect two weapon fighting) on a threat range of 15-20, you crit on average twice per round.

If you are going to take something on full on the other side, Fighter or even better...Kensai Variant Fighter isn't a bad way to go. Fighters get bonus epic feats every 2 level after all. And there is going to be a high feat tax. Champion of Correlon 2 helps your damage not blow as much as well.

[Hirax]

It seems like I needn't really bother with full BaB classes if I can get such from Divine Power... Thinking about finessing an Elven Thinblade and INT to damage using Insightful Strike (swashbuckler3) at the moment, Combat Brute, Leap attack and Shock Trooper.

Should I take Automatic Quicken Spell x3 + Multispell, or would an additional Multispell be beter at the expense of not quickening lvl7-9?


Forget int to damage. Power attack, shock trooper, leap attack, battle jump, and a valorous weapon can have you doing hundreds of damage per hit, 3 hits and anything should be dead. Those 4 feats and weapon property will make you win at damage. Grab spiked chain proficiency and become huge via giant size for 30' reach.

You mentioned being able to buy feats with skill points, does this apply to epic feats too? I would buy an epic feat every single level with skill points if this is the case. Frankly, with arcane spellsurge (Dragon Magic spell) and divine impetus, I would ignore automatic quicken, and instead grab several rounds of improved spell capacity and improved metamagic. With the 40 charisma in the build I posted you could buy improved spell capacity all the way out to 15th level spells (or more if you wanted), then improved metamagic 5 times, so that every single metamagic effect, including persist and twin, are only +1. And that persisting and extending is only +2. With spell slots going all the way out to 15th level (3 in levels 10 and 11, 2 in 12, 13, 14, and 15), you could extend and persist...everything. You could have so many buffs active it would be ludicrous.

edit: for your reference, here's how to calculate melee damage, adding in the mentioned feats one at a time.

Nothing:

Red is from BAB, we're assuming you use all 30 to power attack
Blue is from strength, assumed to be +19 for being polymorphed into a sun giant with base strength of 37 and +5 inherent and +6 enhancement bonuses
Green is from a weapon's dice and enhancement bonus, assumed to be 4d6+1 for a huge greatsword with a +1 enhancement bonus. We'll average the 4d6 to 14, so 15 with the +1.
Purple is the modifer for using a 2 handed weapon that increases your power attack damage
Pink is the modifier to damage from strength for using a 2 handed weapon.

Power attack only:
14+1.5*19+2*30=103.5

Adding leap attack:
14+1.5*19+4*30=163.5

Adding battle jump
(14+1.5*19+4*30)2=327

Adding the valorous weapon property
(14+1.5*19+4*30)3=490.5

It won't matter that your +1 weapon won't bypass DR/epic ;)

[RCgothic]

I'm working on the assumption I only get the 4 regular epic feats, and feat training only gets me a feat every 3 levels. Together with two free bonus feats I can get 19 feats plus 4 epic feats plus any extra ones from class features.

[Hirax]

I'm working on the assumption I only get the 4 regular epic feats, and feat training only gets me a feat every 3 levels. Together with two free bonus feats I can get 19 feats plus 4 epic feats plus any extra ones from class features.

Wait, I'm confused now, does that that mean you'd rather use the skill points to buy ranks in skills? Or is it up in their air whether your DM will allow the purchasing of feats with skill points? At any rate, check out my previous post's edit for why int to damage isn't worth your time if I didn't edit it in time and you missed it.

[RCgothic]

Ok, have clarified and I’ve been wrong on feats on a couple of counts:

Any feat gained above lvl20 may be an epic feat. Woo!

On the other hand, feat training is a cross-class skill and so my max number of ranks is 16.5. Every 3rd rank gets a feat, so I get just 5 feats rather than 10. Boo!

[Hirax]

Ok, have clarified and I’ve been wrong on feats on a couple of counts:

Any feat gained above lvl20 may be an epic feat. Woo!

On the other hand, feat training is a cross-class skill and so my max number of ranks is 16.5. Every 3rd rank gets a feat, so I get just 5 feats rather than 10. Boo!

Hmm, that's no so bad, it still lets you get away with the metamagic shenanigans I described. Or lots of other cool stuff.

edit: oops, I neglected to mention that if you want pounce, the easiest thing to do would be to add a wand chamber to your weapon, and get a wand of Lion's charge, which you could activate with one of your plentiful swift actions. If you want to wear a mithril buckler (no armor check or spell failure risks, but a -1 to melee attacks when using a 2 hand weapon), you could also add a wander chamber to that, and put a wand of rhino's rush in there. Another handy swift action spell, it changes the damage to the first attack on your charge thusly:
(14+1.5*19+4*30)4=652

Also, if you want to do all this while mounted on your hippogriff, spirited charge and a lance would be decent substitutes for battle jump and leap attack. A lance with spirited charge would deal damage thusly:
(14+1.5*19+2*30)5=517.5 for your first attack, and 414 on your subsequent iterative attacks. If you pounced and hit with at least 3 attacks, very few things would be able to survive.

[RCgothic]

Ok, so this is starting to come together.

Attributes: CHA based, STR secondary, WIS/INT if there’s anything left over.

Fighting Style: Buffed to demigod status, with Animated Shield and 2-handed Elven Courtblade (better critical range and dual damage types compared to greatsword, miniscule damage difference at this level (average loss of 6 damage total on x4 modifier, gains 1/4 chance of threat instead of 1/5).

Feats:
EWP (Elven Courtblade)
WF (Elven Courtblade)
Improved Critical (Elven Courtblade)
Power Attack
Improved Bull Rush
Shock Trooper
Rapid Metamagic
Extend Spell
Persistent Spell
Empower Spell
Maximise Spell
Quicken Spell

Epic Feats:
Multispell
Multispell
Improved Metamagic
Improved Metamagic
Improved Spell Capacity
Improved Spell Capacity

If I get any bonus feats, Combat Brute (& therefore Improved Sunder), Improved Initiative and Leadership are all high on my purchase list!

So let’s go back to class progression. One half will be entirely sorcerer and caster prestige classes. The other half needs to get some divine in there for Divine Power. I know Hirax has already suggested some, but let’s go back through them in more detail, as I’m not familiar with a lot of the classes I’ll need to be taken through them one at a time I think.

[Hirax]

So let’s go back to class progression. One half will be entirely sorcerer and caster prestige classes. The other half needs to get some divine in there for Divine Power. I know Hirax has already suggested some, but let’s go back through them in more detail, as I’m not familiar with a lot of the classes I’ll need to be taken through them one at a time I think.

Spellsword is there because you don't qualify for anything else useful at level 5, and there's pretty much no reason not to prc out of sorcerer immediately. Spellsword removes 10% of arcane spell failure chance for armor, which beats familiar advancement that sorcerer would give. Even though you'll be using spells for armor and shields, it can be handy to be wearing a mithril chain shirt with soulfire (immunity to death spells and effects, negative energy (including effects such as chill touch, and energy drain) and not need to worry about the ASF. A mithril buckler with heavy fortification is also nice for immunity to crits.

Abjurant champion allows you to cast shield as a quickened spell with no adjustment to spell level, and adds +1 to the AC bonus of any abjuration spell you cast that grants an AC bonus. So in a round you could cast a quickened shield and greater luminous armor for a +8 shield bonus and +12 armor bonus.

Initiate of the sevenfold veil grants you the ability to put up defensive wards. As an immediate action you can put up a ward that blocks all objects and effects (including spells), causing them to be disintegrated. Living things attempting to attack through your violet veil must make a will save or be shifted to a random place on a random plane. Mage's disunction is the only thing that's going to realistically be a threat to you when you have your violet veil up. Since mage's disjunction should already be at the top of the list of things you fear, though, this doesn't change much.

Sacred exorcist grants you the ability to turn undead. This ability is only being obtained so that you can qualify for Ruby Knight Vindicator.

Saint is an incredibly powerful template in Book of Exalted Deeds. Totally worth 2 levels for the broad spectrum defensive abilities it gives. It also improves the DC of all special attacks and spells you cast by 2, and because it boosts charisma by 4, all your charisma based spells get a net DC boost of +4.

Crusader is taken to 13 for the mettle ability. Some DMs sneer at making a magic item granting mettle, and having the ability at high levels can be nice. If you were unaware, it's like evasion for fort and will saves, and pairs nicely with a ring of evasion.

Warblade is there for a few utility maneuvers including iron heart surge and stance of alacrity or leaping dragon stance. Remember that ruby knight vindicator (see below) will grant you the ability to change stances multiple times every turn if you'd like, with minimal action cost.

Ruby knight vindicator does a few things: it gets you shadow hand maneuvers, and this is worth it for shadow blink, shadow jaunt, and shadow stride if nothing else. It gets you high level stances from one of its disciplines. Immortal fortitude is often touted as the best choice for those with devoted spirit access, but in this case I'll disagree, because in epic levels, the chances of enemies doing more than 100 damage to you in a single hit is quite good, which will strain even your high save bonuses, which should be somewhere in the 60s, if not higher. Instead I would take aura of perfect order, which allows you to take 11 on any roll once per round. This includes attack rolls and saves, so if you know something vital will succeed unless you roll a single digit number, this is a godsend.

However, most importantly ruby knight vindicator gives you divine impetus at level 7. Divine impetus lets you sacrifice a turn undead attempt to gain a swift action. The synergy possibilities with this ability are incredible in gestalt. As I mentioned before, you could cast arcane spellsurge, which makes any spell that was a standard action to cast a swift action instead. So you could then use divine impetus, let's say 5 times, then use those 5 swift actiosn to cast greater arcane fusion 5 times in a single round. Greater arcane fusion is a spell that lets you cast a 7th and 4th level spell in a single action, so if you're able to cast it 5 times (and you can cast it even more if you want to use that many of your daily spells and turn attempts), that means you're about to unleashed 5 level 7 spells and 5 level 4 spells all in a single round. Note that the level 7 spell could be a heavily metamagiced enervation, or other lower level spell.

Divine crusader is a prestige class that grants you 9th level charisma based divine casting. Its spell list consists of a single domain, chosen when you take the class, and all sanctified spells, which are listed in the Book of Exalted Deeds. As mentioned, I recommend Athena for Link, and the war domain is a must for the divine power spell.

Contemplative at first level allows you to gain access to a domain allowed by your deity or alignment. The luck domain is allowed to any alignment, and it has the spells freedom of movement, miracle, and moment of prescience. Grab it and don't look back. This expands your otherwise narrow divine crusader spell list with 3 spells that are indispensable.

Seeker of the misty isle adds the travel domain, which gives you the ability to activate freedom of movement at will with no action for a few rounds each day, and adds some decent spells to your divine crusader list. Or instead of taking the travel domain, per Complete Champion you could instead take the travel devotion feat, which allows you to take extra move actions on your turn, which can be very useful.

Prestige paladin (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/prestigiousCharacterClasses.htm#prestigePaladin) is everything awesome about the paladin class in 3 levels. Divine grace, aura of courage, divine health, lay on hands, a mount (pick a hippogriff unless your DM disallows you), and it advances your divine casting.

This was my original build:
1-4: Sorcerer1-4/crusader1-4
5: spellsword1/warblade1
6-9: abjurant champ 1-4/crusader5-8
10-12: Initiate of sevenfold veil1-3/crusader9-11
13: EMPTY/crusader12
14: saint LA1/divine crusader1
15: saint LA2/prestige paladin1
16-17: sorc/prestige paladin2-3
18-20: sorc/ruby knight vindicator 1-3
21: sorc/contemplative1
22: sorc/seeker of the misty isle1
23-26: sorcerer/ruby knight vindicator4-7
27: initiate of the sevenfold veil4/crusader13
28-30: initiate of the sevenfold veil5-7/warblade2-4

However, you mentioned homebrew is allowed. Would refluffing ur-priest be something you and your DM might be okay with? Ur-priest's adaptation section states the following: "ur-priests could exist for the express purpose of elevating (or reelevating) someone or something to godhood." Perhaps Athena has been imprisoned by another god, and you're working to free Athena. If you're using D&D's pantheon, and or any non-Greek pantheon, really, you might even view the current pantheon as usurpers of the true pantheon, who are all now imprisoned or otherwise marginalized. What better reason for your character to refuse to worship them and take the power that they do not deserve from them. For that reason consider the following variant:
1-4: Sorcerer1-4/crusader1-4
5: spellsword1/warblade1
6-9: abjurant champ 1-4/crusader5-8
10-12: Initiate of sevenfold veil1-3/crusader9-11
13: sacred exorcist1/crusader12
14-5: saint LA1-2/ur-priest1-2
16-18: sorc/prestige paladin1-3
19-20: sorc/ruby knight vindicator 1-2
21: sorc/contemplative1
22-26: sorcerer/ruby knight vindicator3-7
27: initiate of the sevenfold veil4/crusader13
28-30: initiate of the sevenfold veil5-7/warblade2-4
The strengths of this would be getting the full cleric spell list, and because ur-priest grants rebuke undead, you don't need to take sacred exorcist. This means you don't need the war or luck domains, and therefore you could pick anything you want for contemplative's free domain, so long as it doesn't go against your deity and alignment. If you can convince your DM to allow you to take a shaman domain from Oriental Adventures, take the hero domain (perfect for Link) for the giant size spell. Because shamans are basically clerics with some druid thrown in with monk and paladin sprinkled on top, and because shaman domains play identically to cleric domains, this shouldn't be a problem. Also, ur-priests don't have the same gimped caster level as divine crusaders: you add half your levels in other spellcasting classes to your ur-priest caster level. So with a divine crusader you'd be stuck with a CL of 10, with an ur-priest you'd have a CL of 28. That way when you cast giant size, you gain +32 strength and become colossal.

I knocked seeker of the misty isle out of the ur-priest side to accommodate the second level of ur-priest, which is needed for rebuke undead. You could put it where sacred exorcist used to be, because seeker of the misty isle can advance arcane or divine spell casting, and travel devotion is still a good feat, or the domain power isn't bad if you want it. Alternatively, you could take the 5th level of abjurant champion, though the benefits of doing so would be marginal (+1 AC to luminous armor and shield). Really, you can slot whatever you want in there, you'll come out with a 20th level sorcerer progression regardless. Heck, if you could even put a fighter level there just for the feat.

edit: also, I see improved critical on your list. Don't take it, it's a trap. So many enemies you're going to face are going to have crit immunity that you'll wince every time you roll 17-20, because it will remind you of your wasted feat.

[TurtleKing]

Hey. I am also in that campaign. Has a/the new DM even posted a Big 16 yet? Well so far here is what I have yet still need to pick my feats saving Sacred Vow and VoP till the end, skill points, and my spells. http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=338738 So even my low opfu turns up quite a bit of power. I am planning on the character being a melee monster with spellcasting as an assist. So probably going to be Adroit Flyby Attacking with my spell buffed up attacks.

This was mostly providing another player to compare to in the campaign.

[Hirax]

As an aside, if you're going to consider epic destinies, I'd go for artifact lord. Upon first glance you might not think so, but I believe it makes the most sense for Link. I think the idea of each Link transferring their soul to the Master Sword, or perhaps other Zelda relics too (hookshot, bow, ocarina of time, mirror shield etc.) is awesome. Plus, immunity to disjunction? Hell yeah.