Never Ending Dungeon build help?

[gallagher]

so i figure that a friend of mine and i are planning on doing a duo dungeon. he is playing a factotum/warblade.

i want to do something with a psychic warrior, and i was thinking possibly a cleric? would that work as a build? i would probably go with a human, because it is just that awesome, or possibly a whisper gnome, but i dont want to have to deal with the strength penalty. would half-orc be bad in this build?

for those who dont know, it is a level 1 gestalt.

[IonDragon]

Whisper Gnome is not a good idea for a melee character, you're burdened by your size. I don't know much about Psy War, but Cleric is a good idea (not for the gestalt w/ psy war part just in general). I haven't read the source material for Factotem, but I know their primary role is... everything for a little bit.

You don't have an arcanist in the party. Given what your friend is doing and that there are only the two of you, I'd probably go Druid//Sorcerer or possibly Wizard just so you have all of your bases covered. Personal preference on the Sorcerer part. Wizard is almost definitely a better choice.

[gallagher]

Whisper Gnome is not a good idea for a melee character, you're burdened by your size. I don't know much about Psy War, but Cleric is a good idea (not for the gestalt w/ psy war part just in general). I haven't read the source material for Factotem, but I know their primary role is... everything for a little bit.

You don't have an arcanist in the party. Given what your friend is doing and that there are only the two of you, I'd probably go Druid//Sorcerer or possibly Wizard just so you have all of your bases covered. Personal preference on the Sorcerer part. Wizard is almost definitely a better choice.

well its a 32 point buy, and if i am an arcanist i would need to have no armor and try to minimize the MADness.

i would need wisdom and charisma for a cleric, plus con and dex for defense, and there is no room left for Int.

and i think factotums have access to arcane spells.

with psywarrior, i can have my cleric spells and psywarrior spells work off of Wisdom, and have heavy armor since there is no fail chance for psionics as i recall. so then i need Wis, then Strength, then Con, then Dex, Int, and Cha in no particular order. i dont care about turning undead, i like killing them too.

that would be a 16 Wis, 14 Str Con and Dex, and then a 10 Int and Cha

[IonDragon]

For Druid//Wizard, which is what I suggest based on what your friend is playing.

You would need Wisdom for Druid. Your physical stats don't matter because at level 5 you get Wildshape for most of the day, and at level 6 you get Natural Spell so you don't have to shift out in order to cast and it doesn't stipulate only one spell list, so you can cast your Sorcerer (or Wizard) spells while a Fleshraker.

Armor doesn't apply when Wildshaped anyway, and you get access to Mage Armor as an arcane caster.

Your stats would be

Str 8
Dex 10
Con 16
Int 16
Wis 16
Cha 8

Charisma doesn't do anything for you but help your Handle Animal, and you already get a +4 to your Animal Companion. Strength is replaced when you Wildshape, and you're a full caster until then. Dex is replaced when you Wildshape as well, but it is more important than your Str because it's used to determine your init until you get Wildshape all day (level 6). Con is also replaced, but your replaced Con does not replace your HP. Int and Wis would be your casting stats and need to be high.

Read druid optimization guides, and/or wizard op guides.

[Yorrin]

Hmm, I'll say up front that Psywar isn't a great choice to go with a Factotum|Warblade. That being said, Cleric is a good choice to pair with it. Both classes have strong melee-based passives that will make you rather scary in addition to your regular ability to cast spells. Grab DMM and take Travel Devotion to maximize this route.

I'd personally suggest a Druid|Swordsage. More tasty Wis Synergy, plus the wonders of Wildshape mixed with the joys of martial maneuvers.

Despite what some people tell you, a party of this size does not require an arcanist. You will more than take care of your party's casting with either of the above builds, and if your DM tosses any arcane-only stuff at your party he's just screwing with you. Demand your money back.

[Jarian]

While helpful, I don't think the above advice takes into account the, er, brutal reality of the Neverending Dungeon.

My advice? Just try to survive the first floor. You can always retrain later.

Persistence Pays Off:

Spoiler

Show

Lawful Neutral Human Cloistered Cleric 1//Crusader 1

Stats:
Str: 16
Dex: 12
Con: 14
Int: 8
Wis: 16
Cha: 10

Domains: Undeath (Extra Turning), Planning (Extend Spell), Knowledge (Swapped for Knowledge Devotion)

Feats:
Domain: Extra Turning
Domain: Extend Spell
1st: Persistent Spell
Human: Divine Metamagic (Persistent Spell)
Flaw: Extra Turning
Flaw: Extra Turning

Swap Turn Undead for Destroy Undead (Long-term planning, you'll be taking the Libris Mortis PrC that maybe-kinda grants Turn Undead, which it does in the NED, so you'll want all the Turn attempts you can get)

Prepare two copies of lesser vigor. Persist them on yourself and your buddy. There, you'll always be at full health at the start of an encounter. At 2nd level, take Cloistered Cleric//Dread Necromancer. DN gives you Rebuke Undead, so you can now persist twice as many spells per day.

Aside from that, you function as a healing beatstick. Hit stuff with the Martial Spirit stance on to keep morale high, or use Iron Guard's Glare to make your buddy a lot harder to hit. Use Crusader's Strike for in-combat emergencies. Et cetera, et cetera.

Basically, it's a persist-bot, yeah. It should do to keep the two of you alive to figure out how the Duo version of the dungeon works, at least.

[PhoenixRivers]

I run a slightly different philosophy.

Moderate healing, and brutal damage with pinpoint accuracy.

Shapeshift Druid // Warblade

Here's a basic workup: Sheet

You Martial Study/Martial Stance to get Crusader Strike and Martial spirit. Now, you have healing on tap (Warblades get maneuvers back easily).

While shifted, you're hitting at +10 to hit for 1d6+12.
When you Charging Minotaur, your bull rush is 2d6+8, with a 1d20+10 bonus to the bull rush.
Need Accuracy? Steely Strike, +14 to hit.
Need Damage? Punishing stance. With that and Steely Strike?
+14 to hit, 2d6+12 damage... at level 1.

You've got accuracy, movement, healing, and damage potential. The druid spells give you a couple lesser vigors for clutch healing. All in all? You be the judge.

[veovius]

Necro from the dead....Apologies in advance!


The reason why I resurrected this thread is that for the life of me, I can't figure out what above poster's build is.

Shapeshift Druid // Warblade
Here's a basic workup: Sheet

You Martial Study/Martial Stance to get Crusader Strike and Martial spirit. Now, you have healing on tap (Warblades get maneuvers back easily).

While shifted, you're hitting at +10 to hit for 1d6+12.
When you Charging Minotaur, your bull rush is 2d6+8, with a 1d20+10 bonus to the bull rush.
Need Accuracy? Steely Strike, +14 to hit.
Need Damage? Punishing stance. With that and Steely Strike?
+14 to hit, 2d6+12 damage... at level 1.

Is he talking about Shifters from Races of Eberron?

[Volthawk]

Necro from the dead....Apologies in advance!


The reason why I resurrected this thread is that for the life of me, I can't figure out what above poster's build is.



Is he talking about Shifters from Races of Eberron?

Shapeshift variant, I think. PHBII.