Character building takes a certain thought process and proper method to not turn out like crap on BadLands RPG. Here's a few ideas to help you along.
Few things to remember and consider in my opinion are as follows.
1.) No one build is going to accomplish everything, so you need to make a hand full of toons to get the job done.
2.) Decide what you want to accomplish, are you going for PvP or to kill a specific Boss or maybe a dual purpose when alotted.
3.) Do you need to be Crit Immune? Spell resistant? Have an exceptionally high Attack Bonus? Ect…
4.) Some excellent feats to consider on BadLands include in no specific order, Dev Crit, Epic Dodge, Epic Mage Armor, Epic Warding, Knock Down / Improved Knock Down, any Great Attribute feat, epic prowess, armor skin, blind fight.
5.) Don’t screw up your PRE-EPIC ATTACK BONUS!!!! By taking your 3rd class to early!
6.) I like to focus all attribute points into 1 attribute. Choose a subrace accordingly. A good basic dev-crit build will want all points into strength at character creation, then choose a subrace with a strength bonus to add even more. Same goes with a good dexer.
7.) Don’t use shitty weapons, there are excellent boss drops to be had, make sure you focus your build to use them. Research the links in the side bar of this blog to choose a good weapon.
8.) Don’t take your skill points for granted! Use them to the best of your ability without wasting them! Tumble, Use Magic Device, Heal, Concentration, Discipline, open lock are excellent ones to use if you didn’t already know that.
9.) Use a shield if you can! One of the best boss drops in all of BadLands is the Devastation Shield.
10.) Spend some time outlining your character on paper, don’t waste precious game time hoping you have all the requirements met for your character, a few minutes out of game goes along way to a successful in game character.
11.) Keep your equipment always maxed for what ever level you are currently at. If you’re lvl 16, make sure your armor and weapons are upgraded that high ect. Every little bit helps ensure your survival before you hit lvl 21 and can max out everything.
12.) Don’t forget to add extra spell slots to your cloak! Especially you mages and clerics out there!
13.) You can only have a +12 total attribute bonus to your gear, so don’t waste space and money adding more than that.
14.) Keep a watchful eye on your level splits, no need taking extra pale master if you don’t finish on a level that gets you that extra AC bonus.
These are just a few things you can do to make sure you do end up with a crappy character on BadLands RPG. Please make sure to add your advice in the comments section.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
18 comments:
Open Locks is a pretty useless skill in badlands. It's not as useless as find and remove traps but it's still not what I'd call a key skill. Rogues in general don't have a lot of applications in BL.
The other pc of advice I'd add is not to over do things that aren't very usefull.
With a high SR subrace you only need 14 levels of monk to be all but immune to spells.
More than 15 levels of cleric are usually a waste. The upper level spells aren't that useful on BL. The extra damage to blade barrier isn't very good since you can only have one in effect at time. The extra damage on Harm isn't very effective for PVP since you'll have a hard time touching dexers and melee builds will knock you down and beat the snot out of you.
Ride is a useful skill to keep in mind.
Actually, Open locks is good if you're build a rogue to break into the newport barracks. But other than that, yeah.
There are two ways of approaching this topic. One way, is to outline how you should set up a build. The other way, is to explain what NOT to do.
For example, if we consider the latter above, you should NOT make a Wizard37/PaleMaster3.
Really good advice. I don’t know how often I have logged in, looked at the Character list to see who’s on and laughed myself silly at some nOOb that had 11 levels of Pale Master, or 14 levels of Cleric. The worse was someone with 9 levels of RDD. It was so sad I couldn’t laugh; I just sighed heavily and wrote his name down to try to find and PK him later.
Along those lines, here are some REALLY awesome classes that I see people taking levels in that look really cool and might be UBER on other servers but are a waste of time here for whatever reason.
-Assassin: Every build on the server worth a Nickle has either Blind Sight or can cast True Sight. You wont be sneaking up on them. You might be able to kill some monsters that way, but not the higher level ones. Also, the class forces you to split your Ability points to be effective. Your “Death Attack” DC is based on your Intelligence and you’re going to want to pump your Dexterity to be able to sneak up on and hit anything. You’re much better off going with levels of Rogue.
-Druid: Apparently there are some awesome builds that use Druid, and a well built Druid can be Godlike on other servers, but here they are the crappy version of a Cleric. On Badlands RPG the only reason to become a Druid is for Dragon Shape, and you had better have a good plan on how you’re going to be using it or you’ll just be able to turn into a Dragon. Cool, but not extremely useful. While the Druid has a few really powerful spells, the super high Saves that toons and monsters have on Badlands will make most of them useless. You’re probably better off getting those levels in Cleric instead.
-Weapon Master: I’m probably going to upset some people with this one, but hear me out. In order to become a Weapon Master, you need at least 13 Intelligence and Dexterity, and you will want to go ahead and make that 14 for the Ability Point Bonus to both. That alone will critically restrict what your build can do unless it’s a Dex build. Most people want to make Weapon Masters for the bigger Crit Range, and most of THOSE want the bigger Crit Range because they’re going with Dev Crit. But right off the bat you have to spend 12 of your starting Ability points just to get access to the class. Then you have to have the following feats: dodge, mobility, expertise, spring attack, weapon focus in a melee weapon, and whirlwind attack. Unless you’re a Fighter, that will take you to level 15 before you can get a single level of Weapon Master. So most people I see with levels of WM start as a Fighter for the extra feats. So you’ll be able to take WM at level 7 (I think) if you start as a Fighter. However, you’ve just taken 2 of your 3 possible classes, and it’s impossible to get RDD now, so many people in this situation go with levels of Barbarian for the Strength from Rage. But you now have a class that cant buff it’s Attack Bonus. While you might be able to get a Crit from 10-20 (a 55% chance) that doesn’t mean anything if you can’t hit what you’re swinging at and you only hit on a natural 20. But here’s the real problem with WM: what you get isn’t worth what you have to spend. With 10 levels of WM you’re only getting +1 to attack and +2 to your Crit Range and you have to spend 12 Ability Points and 6 Feats. If you got those 10 levels in Cleric you would get a much higher AB boost from Buff Spells (Bless, Aid, Divine Power, Divine Favor at level 10 would give you a +8 AB buff) and using a Keen Scimitar, Rapier (Rapier of the High) or Kukri with Improved Crit will still give you an awesome Crit Range (12-20, a 45% chance). In a world with less magic that limited the number of times you could rest and re-buff maybe Weapon Master would be worth it, but on Badlands you have so many better options that in my opinion, what you get just isn’t worth what you have to spend.
Excellent post Simon. I will be adding my two cents worth later.
Deurack does have a point there.. to become a weapon master you gotta restrict your build a lot.
But then again, pure melees (when I mean "pure", I don't mean necessarily one class only but any that can't buff) never really had any change against a cleric.. well, unless they caught the cleric resting or out of buffs, they may have a chance..
Like someone said on Garble's topic, you need to have every powerhouse build in your list.. then you can make the "fun" builds, as I call them, just to hang around, grind some levels and have some fun.. otherwise you'd be just a paranoid guy who never makes any build besides the uber ones intended for pk'lling..
No irony intended.. LOL
I dont know what you're talking about, I make TONS of fun builds. The fun builds are the ones that are the best at PK'ing :P
And you're not paranoid if they're really after you...
Simon says: 5.) Don’t screw up your PRE-EPIC ATTACK BONUS!!!! By taking your 3rd class to early!I want to expand on this, a lot.
Pre-Epic Attack Bonus is more correctly called Base Attack Bonus (BAB) and is shown on your stats sheet just below your Spell Resistance. There it is simply called "Attack Bonus". This is easily confused with your "Adjusted Attack Bonus" (AAB) which is shown near the top of your stats sheet. If you use two weapons, you will see this AAB listed twice.
As you adventure about the BadLands, you will hear players asking what another's AB is. The response might be, "35 AB", which means, 'my Adjusted Attack Bonus is 35'. What is their BAB? They probably don't know or care. They might be loosing 3 AB and not even know it!
The BAB is not as complicated as it might seem. From levels 1 to 20 is the most important. From 21 to 40 you will get 10 more BAB no matter what.
In the first 20 levels, a pure melee fighter will get 20 BAB. A Cleric will get 15 BAB. A Mage will get 10 BAB.
Strength, Dexterity, and Feats do not effect the BAB. The do effect the AAB, which is why that is called Adjusted Attack Bonus.
20 BAB: Barbarian, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger, Blackguard, Champion of Torm (COT), Dwarven Defender, Purple Dragon Knight (PDK), Weapon Master.
15 BAB: Bard, Cleric, Druid, Monk, Rogue, Arcane Archer (?not sure?), Assassin, Harper Scout, Red Dragon Disciple (RDD), Shifter, Shadowdancer.
10 BAB: Sorcerer, Wizard, Pale Master (PM).
Taking a second or even third class before level 20 is not an issue. The real issue is how many levels you take of each class. If all classes get 20 BAB, you will get 20 BAB. If not, then you need to plan and understand how to plan.
Bioware (the NWN Engine) works in sets of 4. Plan on taking your classes in sets of 4. That might be 12 Bard / 8 RDD to get 15 BAB. Taking 10 Bard / 10 RDD will get you 14 BAB.
The math is this: Each class level is calculated separately, then added together.
20 Fighter: 20 / 4 * 4 = 20
20 Cleric: 20 / 4 * 3 = 15
20 Wizard: 20 / 4 * 2 = 10
Let look at some real examples:
12 Bard: 12 / 4 * 3 = 9
8 RDD: 8 / 4 * 3 = 6
Total BAB: 9 + 6 = 15
10 Bard: 10 / 4 * 3 = 7.5
10 RDD: 10 / 4 * 3 = 7.5
Total BAB: 7 + 7 = 14
(all fractions are rounded down)
Now lets add in a third class.
8 Bard: 8 / 4 * 3 = 6
8 RDD: 8 / 4 * 3 = 6
4 PM: 4 / 4 * 2 = 1
Total BAB: 6 + 6 + 1 = 13
And finally, bad low BAB
3 Bard: 3 / 4 * 3 = 2
10 RDD: 10 / 4 * 3 = 7
7 PM: 7 / 4 * 2 = 3
Total BAB: 2 + 7 + 3 = 12
In these examples I used the classic Bard / RDD / PM for a reason. It gets played as a melee build even though it's not a true melee class. At best, it's lost 5 BAB as compared to a pure fighter. The way I see most players' builds' (I'm a DM, I snoop), they use my last example and loose another 3 BAB. At level 40, that's 22 compared to 30.
If your trying to build for melee, get as much BAB by level 20 as you can. Then, from 21 on, do all your weird stuff.
My Bard/RDD/PM: I take 12 Bard and 8 RDD. At level 21 I take 16 levels of PM and finally, 2 more RDD and 2 more Bard. It's a bit slower to level up, but I have a much stronger build at 40.
How you juggle the classes during these to sections is a whole other discussion. Each time you take a level you can look at your BAB and see if it changes. You don't have to take the classes in any particular order. At level 20, the final calculation is done and it's all added up.
I'm glad someone finally mentioned how the WM isn't actually all that good for the cost of it. It's only slightly worth while if your using a weapon that has a low crit range like and axe or something but it is still costly.
Somebody should start a topic just for the Weapon Master and how to build for it. In fact, it might be good to have a separate discussion about each major class (Harper Scout and Purple Dragon Knight are not major classes).
For all the bad rap you're giving the Weapon Master, I like the WM and use it a lot. It is tricky to build and plan for as has been pointed out. As a whole, you should start with Fighter or you just won't have any feat slots left for the stuff you really want.
If you do take WM, and if you will be dual-wielding, don't forget to get Two Weapon Shield. You can get +3 AC just by taking two more feats, Improved Initiative and Superior Initiative. If you're a strength based build, you should be taking these anyway. Now all you need is 21 levels in any single class and 41 total levels.
There are two ways to look at WM. Take 7 levels and stop, or take as many as you possibly can (30 is max). Seven WM level will get you extra critical damage as well as a wider critical hit range. After 7, you get +1 AB every 3rd WM level (10, 13, 16, 19, 21, 24, 27 and 30). So plan on reaching one of these points.
Some like the Scythe because WM turns it from x4 to x5 crit damage. Overwhelming Critical bumps it up again to x6.
Some like to build for a Scimitar so they can get a critical hit range of 10 to 20. You will need Keen and Feat Improved Critical.
As a whole, I think WM is best suited for strength builds, but it does work well with dexterity based builds too. Critical Damage is based in large by the Physical Damage which is in part, weapon related (base damage), and in large based on your strength bonus.
A Great Axe (str build) can be 1d12 +35 while a Kukri (dex build) might be 1d4 +3.
47 x5 = 235 compared to 7 x3 = 21. KaPow!
One build concept I found that works for me is Fighter / WM / Monk. I use 21 WM / 9 Monk / 10 Fighter. Although 6 Monk / 24 WM / 10 Fighter should be good.
I take Monk for the AC, the wad of extra feats and the speed bonus. 9 Monk levels is 30% faster, even a lumbering Orc is going to be faster than most other players.
I reserve at least one Fighter level for Epic Weapon Specialization. This adds +6 physical damage (+2 from Weapon Specialization and and +4 from Epic Weapon Specialization) complimenting the critical hits.
Some of you might remember a toon I had before the first Great Crash named Molly Hatchet. She was a Hobgoblin subrace. I chose Hobgoblin because it does not have any negatives. Being a Human base, it gets extra skill points and one extra feat. Molly used two Hand-Axes (called Hatchet in the USA). Being a small weapon I didn't get the heavy AB penalty of a larger weapon and started with an x3 crit damage. Molly was 10 Fighter / 9 Monk / 21 WM. She had decent AC, Dev Crit and one hell of a nice critical hit damage. She was, if nothing else, a true Beetle Hunter.
I don't remember her stats, but she was very quick, had 29 BAB and a high AAB coupled with x5 crit damage. I think her physical damage was 1d6 +30 (off hand would be slightly lower). Molly was strength based with higher AC than can be had from Full Plate and a Tower Shield. Two good crits in one round will knock your socks off!
2 Things, Arcane Archer does get +1 BAB / Level. Nice class. Also, I think the reason Simon was mentioning not taking multiple classes before level 20 is because the 2nd tier BAB classes (Cleric, Bard, Monk, ect.) don’t start with +1 to BAB at level 1. Their progression is +0, +1, +2, +3, +3, +4, +5, +6, +6, Ect. The important thing to notice here is the +0 at 1st level. Taking 3 different classes with that progression in your first 20 levels means that you’ll have 3 levels where you got NO BAB that level. That can lower your ultimate BAB by at least 3. Not a huge deal, but on Badlands you want as much AAB as you can get.
Also, now that I think about it this is a good time to mention that although your Character sheet might not show it, there IS a +20 AB cap on Badlands. So if you had a Cleric build that could get tons of Buffs and who could also cast True Strike for +20, the MOST you can buff your AB is by 20 over your BAB. If you don’t believe me, look at your battle spam next time you fight something. Regardless of what your character sheet says your AB is, the Battle Spam will show what it really is. THAT is why BAB is so important. The Cleric buff Divine Power will give you the equivalent of the same BAB of a Fighter, but whatever that number is, it still applies to the +20 AB Cap.
As a side note, I was thinking about your old build Molly. I remember Xp’ing with her and I will agree that she was very effective and a prolific “Beetle Slayer”. I also remember trying to recreate that build in the CBC and not being able to figure it out :P
Anyway, I have a hunch that introducing a “Boss Drop” Hand Axe could have a significant effect on the builds we see on a regular basis. I know I would at least consider using it if it were comparable with Mysteria. Right now that Kukri is the only Boss Drop that is worth considering for a build using 2 light weapons. For all my talking about how the Weapon Master class isn’t worth it, if there was a good Hand Axe I would consider making one to expand on the Crit range and damage of the weapon.
Just a thought :P
On my "test" module where I made someone that gives unlimited Xp at the click of a button I created a Paladin/WM/Monk that used a Hand Axe...at level 40 he had 75 AC and 60 AB fully buffed with typical level 21 Badlands equipment. Did some quick calculations and he would get Critical hits 25% of the time and hit for an average of 100hp on his crits.
It's interesting. I guess WM "might" be worth it if you made the build around those 7 levels to maximize what you get and minimize what you have to give up (in feats I mean). Hand Axe definitely makes it an interesting class possibility :)
Oh, and that was a Dex build, not a Str build. A Str build would do MUCH more damage on their crits.
Apparently I've taken over this post. It's mine now, I'll just keep posting things to myself.
I love myself. So there.
Molly had 25 points in both strength and dexterity at level 30 or 40. This got me dev crit. Molly took weapon finesse as well, so if she got hit for a stat dropper, she would use the higher attribute for AB. Granted, her AC and AB were low because she shared str and dex as well as wisdom. My plan was to stop at 26 str and go all dex from there. I don't think she got past 45, she just could not travel alone any longer.
Hmm, I thought u had done that point spreading to get epic dodge and become the first and probably only dever with epic dodge on Badlands.
But getting dex that high just to use weapon finesse in case ur str gets decreased somehow.. lol.. tell me, was it dano, dark the brilliant or mickles who taught you that one?
There was a topic or at least a post out there about spreading your points at level up. While on rpg servers, you may benefit with having an all around character, on Badlands, you get nothing extra for having good int or charisma. NPCs won't give you extra info or attack you if you fail a bluff or persuade roll.
You either go with high ac, good ab and shit damage or shit ac, good ab and good damage..
Deurack?
Yeah, I would tend to agree with old Deimonos on this one. If I desperately wanted to dual wield as a Str build and I didnt want 9 levels of Ranger then I would take as little Dex as I could and max my Str.
Like Deim said, most Melee builds are either High AC, High AB and Low Damage (typical Dex Build) or Low AC, High AB and High Damage (typical Str Build). Whats fun is trying to create builds that do all 3 well. It's possible, but they usually suffer in some other way as a result. AB and AC are easy to get; 15 Cleric levels gives any build pretty good AB, and 16 levels of PM gives any build pretty good AC, but trying to get both of them with good Damage is the tough part.
In my defense,
"The Devil made me do it."
"I was drunk at the time."
"The sun was in my eyes."
"But honestly, I wasn't even there at the time."
"What speed limit, Officer?"
"Mickles said it worked for him."
"My dog ate my homework."
"Oh my God! What was I thinking?"
"Surely you jest, oh Wise One."
Molly was an early attempt of mine to get more AC on a Fighter without losing the damage from strength. I wanted Dev Crit, saw WM as a way to boost my AB and improve my critical hits, and thought Monk would help.
Getting WM is kind of pointless without taking Fighter to get it. I saw Monk as speed, AC (from DEX, WIS, and Tumble), and a lot of good feats that I can't get with six levels of any other class.
There is no way this build can get Epic Dodge. I would need to trade Fighter for SD or Rogue. Then I would be spending 15 or more levels just to get WM, killing my AB and losing a lot of other feats.
Molly did quite well up to 43 or so. Compared to a pure fighter or fighter/WM that dropped off at 30-35.
Things have changed since those early days. Better subraces; UBER Barbarian; A melee shop with +6 gear. My knowlage of building for BadLands. I would still try that build base again, but with different attributes. Maybe a different subrace.
Post a Comment