(by SLoTH_tobi)
This build is one that is designed to be an ultimate tank. It is almost unhittable with high Parry and AC.
Then when it does get hit, there is damage reduction and high HP to deal with.
Summary[]
| Initial Values |
Final Values | |
| STR | 8 | 8 |
| DEX | 18 | 28 |
| CON | 10 | 10 |
| INT | 14 | 14 |
| WIS | 16 | 16 |
| CHA | 6 | 6 |
| Base attack bonus | 29 | |
| Fortitude save | 20 | |
| Reflex save | 27 | |
| Will save | 16 | |
| Spell resistance | 0 | |
| Hit Points | 346 | |
| Natural AC | 31 | |
- Race: Shield dwarf
- Classes: Fighter(6) / Duelist(10) / Dwarven Defender(10) / Monk(2)
- Cleric Domains: N / A
- Build Nature: PvP, PvM
- Alignment: Any lawful
- Deity: any
DEX is the most important attribute (for AB, AC, and Parry), followed by INT and WIS (for AC), NB: WIS also pumps your Will save.
CON is useful for HP.
STR and CHA are dump stats really (STR lets you carry more).
Pros
- Very high Parry!
- High BAB (29)
- Many attacks (14 if hasted)
- High Saves
- High AC
- 189 Skill Points in total
- Free "Haste" from Duelist
- Sneak Immune (level 14 Sneaker or below)
- Does not lose AC when flat-footed from Uncanny Dodge
- DEX, WIS, and INT pump AC
- No ECL
- No XP penalty
Cons
- Low damage output :-(
Skills:
- 15 Spellcraft (+3 saves)
- 30 Tumble (+3 AC)
- 33 Spot (avoid Feint/see Rogues before they hit you!)
- 33 Parry
- 63 Spare points!
Build Explanation[]
Ok this build obviously uses Parry. Now we all know that Parry is broken, and only stops the first hit in each "flurry".
However, this build still stops (and most likely counters) 3 hits / round from each attacker. And if Parry is ever fixed, then this build will be almost unhittable (blocking 15 attacks per round BEFORE the penalties)!
This build will be an ultimate tank for PW and can hold the enemy for a long time before dying.
Anyway, lets look at the Parry of this build.
Parrying[]
The engine works as follows:
Attacker: 1d20 + AB vs. Defender: 1d20 + Parry Score + DEX Mod
You can Parry up to 13 hits (15 if hasted) before you get any AB to hit penalties! Even then, your penalties are -3 instead of -5.
No Special Equipment: The end game Parry Score for this build is:
Parry Score: 52 = 33 (Skill Points) + 2 (BG: Militia) + 10 (Duelist) + 3 (Skill Focus) + 4 (Imp. Two-Weapon Defense)
Now compare this to an end level fighter:
AB: 34 = 30 (base) + 1 (Focus) + 1 (Greater Focus) + 2 (Epic Focus) + STR Mod
If the defenders d20 roll is 2 or more then you can not be hit, that's 95% automatic miss rate! Even if you roll a 1, the attacker has to have rolled a 20 to hit you! Furthermore, a roll of 7 is an automatic counter. Even if you roll a 1, the attacker is still countered 75% of the time! (Correct me if I'm wrong, but the auto-hit 20 is still blocked by Parry. And a Parry roll of 1 is not auto failure???)
Of course, there are modifiers that we need to consider. The natural DEX of the build is 28 by the end. A similar fighter build will have STR 28 (or 30 if Orc or Fire Genasi). So these two cancel each other out.
Defender Parry Score: 61 = 52 (Parry Score) + 9 (DEX) Attacker AB: 43 = 34 (base + focuses) + 9 (STR)
Epic Equipment: Once we get equipment involved, things still are good for the Parrier. The typical equipment for an attacker would be a +8 item, with +8 STR. The offset of this is the Gloves of Swordplay +10 is the perfect item, with a +8 DEX item.
Defender Parry Score: 76 = 52 (Parry Score) + 9 (DEX) + 10 (bracers) + 4 (DEX) Attacker AB: 55 = 34 (base + focuses) + 9 (STR) + 8 (weapon) + 4 (STR)
Making the difference even bigger!
As you can see, this build has basically 3 hits that automatically miss, most are parried. When facing multiple attackers, you still defend 3 hits per attacker!
Defense and Attack (AC and AB)[]
So we now know that the Parrying Wall will defend 3 hits per round. What about the other hits you say? Lets look at the Base AC and AB
AC: 32 = 10 (base) + 4 (Dwarven Defender) + 2 (Canny Defense) + 3 (WIS AC) + 3 (Tumble) + 1 (Armor Skin) + 1 (Luck) + 8 (DEX) AB: 35 = 29 (BAB) + 8 (DEX) - 2 (Dual Wield)
Not bad?
Now lets add Epic Equipment
Lets add items with +8 WIS/DEX/INT
AC: 44 = 32 (Base AB) + 4 (DEX) + 4 (WIS) + 4 (INT) AB: 43 = 29 (BAB) + 8 (DEX) - 2 (Dual Wield) + 8 (weapon)
Add other epic items such as: +8 Cloak of Armour, +8 robe of armor, +5 Boots Sun Soul, +5 Amulet Natural Armor
AC: 68 = 44 (Epic AC) + 8 (cloak) + 8 (robe) + 5 (boots) + 5 (amulet)
Now comparing this to the fighter build listed above (AB of 55), this means that you still avoid 70% of attacks that get through. Then if they do get through, you still have damage reduction of 6/-, and your high HP to deal with.
Class Explanation[]
Here I summarise why I chose the classes.
Fighter (6):[]
- 3 Feats needed for Two-Weapon Defense / Fighting
Duelist (10):[]
- +10 Parry (from Duelist levels)
- Canny Defense: +3 AC (from INT) + 4 with a + 8 INT item
- 5 x 10 round hastes / day!
Dwarven Defender (10):[]
- Uncanny and Improved Uncanny Dodge!
- +4 AC
- 6/- Damage Reduction
Monk (2):[]
- 1st Level for WIS dependant AC
- 2nd level for Evasion
Character Progression Table[]
| Spellcraft | Tumble | |||||||||
| Spot | Save | |||||||||
| Parry | Spare | |||||||||
| CL | Class | Feat | Bonus/Class Feats | Attributes | ||||||
| 1 | Fighter 1 | Luck of Heroes, Dodge, Background: Militia | 4 | 2 | 4 | 8 | ||||
| 2 | Monk 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | |||||
| 3 | Fighter 2 | Mobility, Weapon Finesse | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| 4 | Fighter 3 | 1 | 4 | DEX+1 | ||||||
| 5 | Fighter 4 | Two-Weapon Fighting | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| 6 | Fighter 5 | Toughness | 1 | 3 | 1 | |||||
| 7 | Fighter 6 | Improved Two-Weapon Fighting | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | ||||
| 8 | Duelist 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 0 | DEX+1 | ||||
| 9 | Dwarven Defender 1 | Two-Weapon Defense | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| 10 | Dwarven Defender 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| 11 | Duelist 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | ||||
| 12 | Duelist 3 | Greater Two-Weapon Fighting | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | DEX+1 | |||
| 13 | Duelist 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| 14 | Duelist 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |||||
| 15 | Duelist 6 | Improved Two-Weapon Defense | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| 16 | Dwarven Defender 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | DEX+1 | |||||
| 17 | Duelist 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| 18 | Dwarven Defender 4 | Improved Parry | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||
| 19 | Dwarven Defender 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| 20 | Dwarven Defender 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | DEX+1 | |||||
| 21 | Dwarven Defender 7 | Great Dexterity | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 22 | Dwarven Defender 8 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
| 23 | Dwarven Defender 9 | Great Dexterity | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |||
| 24 | Dwarven Defender 10 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | DEX+1 | ||||
| 25 | Monk 2 | Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 | |||
| 26 | Fighter 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
| 27 | Duelist 8 | Great Dexterity | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | |||
| 28 | Fighter 8 | Armor Skin | 1 | 4 | DEX+1 | |||||
| 29 | Duelist 9 | Skill Focus: Parry | 1 | 2 | 4 | |||||
| 30 | Duelist 10 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||||||
Different Races / Classes / Feats[]
Ok, so the class can be changed slightly.
The first item to address is the race.
Race[]
This race has -2 DEX... so don't take it!!! Done.
Pros
- Immune to Weird, Phantasmal killer, and Paralysis
- Invisibility Spell, making Parrying Wall even harder to hit!
Cons
- +1 ECL
- Light Sensitivity (this one is bad)
Class[]
Well without taking too much away from this build, you can remove 3 levels of Duelist. Cons
- Lose 2 x haste per day
- Lose 3 in your Parry check
Lets look at other opportunities.
Fighter 2 levels
- 1 more Feat (Epic)
Monk 1 level
- Still Mind
- Better Saves
- 10% Speed Increase
- -2 HP :-(
OR
Monk 3 levels
- As above plus
- Better saves again!
- +1 AC
- Disease Immunity
- -4 more HP :-(
- -1 BAB :-(
Feats[]
You can replace Skill Focus Parry for Weapon Focus. This will give you better AB.