Optimized Builds

[Bad Wolf]

I'm currently alone, eating chips, and re-watching episodes of Community I hate, so I need something to take my mind off the terrible evening.

Anyone got any fun builds? For some weird reason, I like looking at them and seeing how they work, like this one for example: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=280365

[Snowbluff]

Yeah, that's one I like. I usually don't bother with that kind of build because it's been done, and I'd never have a game to play it in.

I like Splitting Bow Arrowsplit Arcane Archers. They can deal some good damage withotu having to hit anything. I did a gestalt build, but I think I can adapt to a single side easily.

I've been considering making a standard AA build.

[Kraken]

If you're game for incantatrix persist shenanigans, you might enjoy toying around with the dragon breath spell from the Spell Compendium. Though feat intensive, you can get yourself some hefty all day blasting with it. First cast it with snowcasting, to add the cold descriptor to the spell, then use metamagic effect to add energy admixture feats to it. The first admixture makes the breath weapon do 2 d8 per 2 CL, max 20d8, the second admixture makes it do 3d8 per 2CL, max 30d8, and so on. And maximize, empower, and whatever other goodies you'd like to add. If one of your energy admixtures is fire, because the spell now has both the cold and fire descriptors, that means you could even add both the piercing cold and searing spell feats to your all day breath weapon if you want. And then the Spell Compendium has a bunch of other persistable breath weapon augmentation spells, such as blinding breath and stunning breath. While they're technically persistable, if you're not up for quite that level of shenanigans, most of them have a swift action casting time, so they're also easy to use on demand.

[WhamBamSam]

If you're game for incantatrix persist shenanigans, you might enjoy toying around with the dragon breath spell from the Spell Compendium. Though feat intensive, you can get yourself some hefty all day blasting with it. First cast it with snowcasting, to add the cold descriptor to the spell, then use metamagic effect to add energy admixture feats to it. The first admixture makes the breath weapon do 2 d8 per 2 CL, max 20d8, the second admixture makes it do 3d8 per 2CL, max 30d8, and so on. And maximize, empower, and whatever other goodies you'd like to add. If one of your energy admixtures is fire, because the spell now has both the cold and fire descriptors, that means you could even add both the piercing cold and searing spell feats to your all day breath weapon if you want. And then the Spell Compendium has a bunch of other persistable breath weapon augmentation spells, such as blinding breath and stunning breath. While they're technically persistable, if you're not up for quite that level of shenanigans, most of them have a swift action casting time, so they're also easy to use on demand.Dispelling Breath is my personal favorite of the Breathomancy spells. One of my favorite dragon builds is Ravening Wyrmling Steel Loredrake 4/Sorcerer 1/Binder 1/Anima Mage 10/Singer of Concordance 2, using Vestige Persisted Dispelling Breath in conjunction with Ravening+Quicken Breath for free action nastiness every round alongside regular castery shenanigans (9ths with LA buyoff or an age curse) and a fair bit of Binding for good measure. If you use a Wand or Eternal Wand of Substitute Domain, you can switch the Singer of Concordance domain for the Inquisition Domain (since dragons don't have to do any of that pesky stuff like worship Io to take the PrC) to add an extra 4 to the dispel check for Dispelling Breath if you really want to focus on it in particular (though there are a number of options). It works without Ravening if you don't like dragon magazine/that particular bit of template cheese, it just is much more limited in how often you get to use the breath weapon, and puts more of a limit on the motivation for using a real dragon instead of a regular caster rocking Persisted Dragon Breath or grafting a breath weapon onto yourself via Astaroth crafting (which the Steel Dragon version could also do so long as the crafting time doesn't become an issue, though you'd need to engage in some manner of shenanigan to meet the heal prereq for Wyrmgrafter, even if you're only getting it temporarily).

Also, Stunning Breath technically isn't persistable. Most of the breath spells were updated to a one-round duration in the Spell Compendium, but Stunning Breath is still instantaneous, though you probably have to houserule it to one round duration to be functional without being broken.

Another castery thing (which also relates to dragons, though only accidentally) that I've been enamored with of late is using magic to qualify for and enhance Area Attack. My current go-to build for this is Sha'ir 3/Fighter or Feat Rogue 1/Ordained Champ 3/Earth Dreamer 4/War Weaver or Effigy Master 5/Full Casting 4. If you don't mind using spells to temporarily qualify for more than just Area Attack, Sha'ir 4/Ordained Champ 3/Earth Dreamer 4/War Weaver 5/Effigy Master 4 is better. The issue is needing both Weapon Focus and Southern Magician to enter Ordained Champion, and neither can be taken at level 1 (Sha'irs are a divine spellcasting class, so they can be advanced by Ordained Champ, but the spells they can natively cast as divine do not include Magic Weapon). Ordained Champ lets us channel spells (with more limitations than spellsword, but fewer lost caster levels) through Area Attacks. Earth Dreamer lets us see through walls, which we can swing through using the Brilliant Blade spell (this also being the impetus for Effigy Master, as Brilliant Energy passes harmlessly through your construct friends). War Weaver would be used to store up your Draconic Polymorph (Ibraldin form, a 10 HD Gargantuan Dragon from Monsters of Faerun) and possibly a Lesser Ironguard to protect your non-construct friends from your metal 'improvised' weapons.

On the more mundane side of things I've been binge reading Stormwind and co's old Weekly Optimization Showcases (http://community.wizards.com/content/forum-topic/3670571), and find myself particularly fond of some of their ToB chicanery, like the Evasion Tank (http://community.wizards.com/content/forum-topic/3536881) and Flip the Bird (http://community.wizards.com/content/forum-topic/3558551).

[thecrimsondawn]

Dispelling Breath is my personal favorite of the Breathomancy spells

Im sorry, the first thing that came to my mind was Mentos, the fresh maker build.

...im laughing a little too hard at myself right now :P

[thecrimsondawn]

I make builds one of two ways in 3.5

The first is I take one concept - anything in the 3.5 world, even if its just a skill or a move action, and I see what kind of horrifying creation I can make.

The 2nt, is if I just dont plan to ever die, I play a LG or CG aligned character godly focused on CHA and I just pick up pious templar for mettle, and as much CHA to AC and Saves as I can

Then I end the build with one level in warblade and use a high crit range weapon with blood in the water stance.

The only thing that can even remotely effect this build is force damage, something that you can easily find ways to protect yourself from due to there very limited number of spells that are worth while.

Thanks to the stance options for monk, you can get a whole lotta prereq feats for free as well as evasion at the cost of 2 levels as well.

At level 10 with no items, your saves should be on par with a pit lord for example :P

[Bad Wolf]

Dispelling Breath is my personal favorite of the Breathomancy spells. One of my favorite dragon builds is Ravening Wyrmling Steel Loredrake 4/Sorcerer 1/Binder 1/Anima Mage 10/Singer of Concordance 2, using Vestige Persisted Dispelling Breath in conjunction with Ravening+Quicken Breath for free action nastiness every round alongside regular castery shenanigans (9ths with LA buyoff or an age curse) and a fair bit of Binding for good measure. If you use a Wand or Eternal Wand of Substitute Domain, you can switch the Singer of Concordance domain for the Inquisition Domain (since dragons don't have to do any of that pesky stuff like worship Io to take the PrC) to add an extra 4 to the dispel check for Dispelling Breath if you really want to focus on it in particular (though there are a number of options). It works without Ravening if you don't like dragon magazine/that particular bit of template cheese, it just is much more limited in how often you get to use the breath weapon, and puts more of a limit on the motivation for using a real dragon instead of a regular caster rocking Persisted Dragon Breath or grafting a breath weapon onto yourself via Astaroth crafting (which the Steel Dragon version could also do so long as the crafting time doesn't become an issue, though you'd need to engage in some manner of shenanigan to meet the heal prereq for Wyrmgrafter, even if you're only getting it temporarily).

Also, Stunning Breath technically isn't persistable. Most of the breath spells were updated to a one-round duration in the Spell Compendium, but Stunning Breath is still instantaneous, though you probably have to houserule it to one round duration to be functional without being broken.

Another castery thing (which also relates to dragons, though only accidentally) that I've been enamored with of late is using magic to qualify for and enhance Area Attack. My current go-to build for this is Sha'ir 3/Fighter or Feat Rogue 1/Ordained Champ 3/Earth Dreamer 4/War Weaver or Effigy Master 5/Full Casting 4. If you don't mind using spells to temporarily qualify for more than just Area Attack, Sha'ir 4/Ordained Champ 3/Earth Dreamer 4/War Weaver 5/Effigy Master 4 is better. The issue is needing both Weapon Focus and Southern Magician to enter Ordained Champion, and neither can be taken at level 1 (Sha'irs are a divine spellcasting class, so they can be advanced by Ordained Champ, but the spells they can natively cast as divine do not include Magic Weapon). Ordained Champ lets us channel spells (with more limitations than spellsword, but fewer lost caster levels) through Area Attacks. Earth Dreamer lets us see through walls, which we can swing through using the Brilliant Blade spell (this also being the impetus for Effigy Master, as Brilliant Energy passes harmlessly through your construct friends). War Weaver would be used to store up your Draconic Polymorph (Ibraldin form, a 10 HD Gargantuan Dragon from Monsters of Faerun) and possibly a Lesser Ironguard to protect your non-construct friends from your metal 'improvised' weapons.

On the more mundane side of things I've been binge reading Stormwind and co's old Weekly Optimization Showcases (http://community.wizards.com/content/forum-topic/3670571), and find myself particularly fond of some of their ToB chicanery, like the Evasion Tank (http://community.wizards.com/content/forum-topic/3536881) and Flip the Bird (http://community.wizards.com/content/forum-topic/3558551).

Okay, thanks for the links.