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Welcome to the Character Optimization Build FAQ
By Forum member Chris7476
Last update: 4/29/03
Contents:
Section 1: Q&A
Section 2: Melee builds
Section 3: Cleric
Section 4: Druid
Section 5: Monk
Section 6: Rogue/Sneak attack builds
Section 7: Sorcerers & Wizards
Section 8: Archers
Section 9: Ninjas
Section 10: Arcane Trickster
Section 11: Bladesinger
Appendix 1: Abbreviations
Appendix 2: Definitions
(possible sections to be added: Bard, Paladin/Holy Warrior builds, Dragon Disciple, Sacred Fist)
**********Section 1: Q&A**********
Q: What is the purpose of this FAQ?
A: The purpose of the Build FAQ is to provide a source for standard builds and concepts used in the min/max board. The information provided in this FAQ is essentially the building blocks used in many of the builds found in this forum. This FAQ is an excellent place to start if someone is new to the min/max boards or just to min/maxing in general.
It also seeks to provides a quick reference and eliminate the need for the “go search” response.
Q: What criteria is used to determine what builds and information make it into the Build FAQ?
A: This is largely subjective but there are common themes that continue to recur in this board. Many times there is a baseline for a particular build that is almost always mentioned. There are also builds and combos that are “tried and true”.
Q: Why isn't each class or PrC given its own section? Why isn't such and such a PrC or build listed?
A: Again, this is largely a judgement call but there are two main reasons. The first is that certain character concepts may take precedence over individuals classes. For example, there are many ways to build archers. On the other hand, creating a section for Fighters is just too vague.
The second answer is that certain builds or PrC's may be just too specific or, quite simply, not requested that often. Remember, this FAQ is meant to be a high-level reference.
Q: What books are considered "standard" for the builds list in this FAQ?
A: Mainly, it is material from Wizards of the Coast only. This includes the core books as well as the splatbooks (S&F, T&B, DotF, S&S, MotW). Material from the Forgotten Realms books (FRCS, MoF, F&P) will also be used but as this material is not used by everyone, it will be noted.
In general, 3rd party material is not used. If there any exceptions, these will be noted in the applicable sections (Ex. Monte Cook's Rng).
Q: Why aren't Epic level builds listed?
A: Epic level builds are a bit more specialized. It's tough to give generalized guidelines for epic level builds. This FAQ will be concerned with 20-level builds only although there will be an occasional comment on epic levels.
Q: Why aren't psionics discussed?
A: Two reasons. The first is that psionics follow their own set of rules and would go beyond the scope of this FAQ. The second is that I know nothing about psionics.
Q: How will the introduction of 3.5 affect this FAQ?
A: Well it most likely certainly will. This FAQ will be updated accordingly after the new rules are made available and the expert min/maxers go to work.
**********Section 2: Melee builds**********
Races: Human and half-orc are the most common but any race can be used. Halflings work better as rogue/sneak attack characters, however.
Abilities: Strength should be the highest (high-Dex melee builds are covered in the rogue/sneak attack and archer sections). Constitution should be the next priority because at higher levels, hp's are much more important. Unless your AC is extremely at high, most opponents will be able to hit you.
Weapon and Fighting Style considerations: There are few general fighting style concepts:
Massive damage : This is the classic high Str warrior. The key here is to use a two-handed weapon. Getting the 1.5x Str damage bonus is crucial. Good weapon choices are greatsword, greataxe, or halberd.
Sword & Board : This is also known as Weapon & Shield and refers to using a one-handed weapon with a shield. This style emphasizes defense over damage. Defensive feats and PrC's, such as the Dwarven Defender, should be used to maximize AC. Good weapons to use are the longsword, battleaxe, warhammer, morningstar, and heavy mace.
This style also lends itself well to tank builds. A high amount of hit points, high AC, and damage reduction can make a character extremely difficult to bring down.
Two weapons : You fight with two weapons. Umm, yeah. This style is much better suited for the high-Dex character with some rogue levels. The attack penalty will make it difficult to hit enemies with a high AC and the damage bonus using the off-hand weapon is only 0.5X Str. See the Rogue/sneak attack builds section below for more information on this fighting style.
Reach weapons : Reach weapons can be very effective but do have limitations. The main disadvantage is the inability to attack adjacent opponents (this can be overcome by using a spiked chain). Feats such as Combat Reflexes and Spring Attack are very beneficial when using a reach weapon. Reach weapons include the ranseur, glaive, guisarme, and longspear.
High crit : This concept entails maximizing a weapon's critical range or damage. Weapons with a high crit range are the scimitar, rapier, and falchion. An incredibly high crit range can be acheived by using one of these weapons with the Keen enhancement and the Improved Critical feat.
A weapon's crit multiplier can also be maximized. The best weapons for this are the greataxe, halberd, or scythe. This can be highly effective when using the Power Critical feat as well as take the Weapon Master PrC. Mercurial weapons, notably the mercurial greatsword, in the hand of a Weapon Master are devastating.
Mobile/Tactical : This style involves using feats and tactics such as disarm, trip, or sunder. Characters using these tactics usually require many feats to be successful as well as higher ability scores, such as Int, to meet certain feat requirements (Expertise). Good weapons to use are ones that grants bonuses to these tactics: flails, ranseur, halberb, and spiked chain are all good choices.
The spiked chain is the ulimate tactical weapon. It has reach, can attack adjacent opponents, can be used to trip opponents, and grants a bonus to disarm. It does suffer from average damage and a poor crit, however.
Builds: As described above, there are various concepts when building a melee character. Each general concept will be discussed below.
Massive damage : You want to kill stuff fast. Onto the builds...
Bbn X/Ftr X: While not terribly min/maxed, this is preferred to a single class fighter or barbarian. The extra feats provided by the Ftr and rage from the Bbn synergize very well. Even two levels of Bbn can be viable with the Extra Rage feat.
Ftr 10/Weapon Master 10: The master of a single weapon. Its beauty lies in its simplicity. The Weapon Master PrC is also highly effective for increasing crit range and damage (see High Crit above).
Bbn 2/Ftr 8/Weapon Master 10: Similar to the above but with two levels of Bbn. The rage is excellent for this build but limits the feat selection even further, especially if Extra Rage is taken. This character is almost required to be human because of Extra Rage (if taken) and one less feat (Ftr 8 vs 10).
Bbn 2/Ftr 8/Frenzied Berserker 10: The ultimate crazed warrior. This build becomes extremely nasty since rage and frenzy stack. Iron Will can help immensely to overcome the frenzy before it ends and not attack your companions. Great Cleave is also very useful for this build because of Supreme Cleave.
Tank : Being a tank usually implies standing in one place and soaking up damage (or avoiding it completely) and acting as a wall between your enemies and allies. The best way to maximize this is to have a high AC, damage reduction, high hp's, or a combination of all three. Since there are many methods and directions to build a tank character, some PrC's will be discussed below:
Dwarven Defender: The tank PrC. Use a shield and heavy armor to boost AC. If Int is high enough, Expertise can also be taken. Since the Dwarven Defender gains DR, it can be boosted even higher with the Templar PrC or the Roll With It feat from Savage Species. Roll With It works especially well since Toughness is a Def req as well. Templar also synergizes well because Endurance is a shared req of both PrC's. Levels of Paladin can be taken to meet the knowledge (religion) req's of Templar.
Templar: This is a very flexible PrC that can work as both a tank or traditional melee build since it gains some DR, spells, some combat abilities, and bonus feats. It also works very well in conjunction with other PrC's.
Devoted Defender: Very adept at defense as well as the defense of others. Has very high hp's (d12), two good saves, and some good defensive abilities. Usually, some rogue levels are taken with this PrC to meet the req's. As with the Templar, this PrC is usually not the main focus of a build but can enhance a tank build greatly. Three levels of this PrC will gain access to its main abilities as well as a +2 bonus to AC.
Ftr 10/Def 10: Simple enough. Lots of feats for things like Expertise and Weapon Spec.
Pal 2/Ftr 4/Temp 4/Def 10: This is more of a holy warrior. The Paladin levels help to meet the knowledge (relgion) req of the Templar.
Ftr 2/Pal 2/Rog 2/DevDef 3/Temp 4/Def 6: This build incorporates all the concepts detailed above. This build has many defensive abilties from the Dwarven Defender and Devoted Defender levels. Since only six levels of Dwarven Defender are taken, Roll With It can be taken multiple times to further increase DR. This build has one remaining level.
Mobile/Tactical : Rogue levels are also extremely beneficial to a melee build that emphasizes mobility and tactics. Three levels of rogue provides +2d6 sneak attack, evasion, uncanny dodge, more skills, and an increased reflex save while only sacrificing +1 BAB and hit points. Rogue and Bbn levels also stack when determining uncanny dodge which further increases their effectiveness together.
Using a reach weapon and Spring Attack is a good tactic to use. This will make excellent use of sneak attack by springing in and getting into a flanking position and then springing out. The Bbn's increased movement as well as the reach provided by the reach weapon allow for maximum coverage on the battlefield.
The rogue levels, however, assume that medium or heavy armor will not be worn. Because of this, this build is usually not characterized as a tank. A chain shirt or mithril breast plate is the best armor to wear so as to not lose movement or access to other abilities (like evasion).
Bbn 2/Rog 3/Ftr 14: This build uses the concepts discussed above to incorporate the rogue levels. Start with the foundation of Bbn 2/Ftr 2/Rog 3. This build is quite effective with Spring Attack (and its required feats: Dodge, Mobility) because of the added movement from Bbn and the available feats from the Ftr levels to meet the requirements for Spring Attack. Bbn 5/Rog 5/Ftr 10 is also a viable alternative.
Bbn 2/Ftr 2/Rog 3/PrC 10: Again, start with the baseline but then add a PrC. Go nuts! Good choices for this build are Frenzied Berserker, King of the Wild (good survivalist build), Templar, and Holy Liberator. Levels of Holy Lib also help to meet the Templar req's and also fit nicely with the Frenzied Berserker (the increased Will save helps overcome frenzy).
Unarmored fighter: It is also possible to have a melee character that does wear armor. The best way to do this is to take levels of classes or PrC's that add ability scores to AC. The most common is the Duelist. Other PrC's that work well in unarmored builds are the Iaijutsu Master (OA), the Blade Dancer (OA), and Devoted Defender.
In general, the best melee PrC's are (in no particular order) Holy Liberator, Frenzied Berserker, Duelist, Templar, Divine Champion (FRCS), Tribal Protector, Dwarven Defender, Singh Rager (OA), Blade Dancer (OA), Weapon Master, Iaijutsu Master (OA).
The Holy Liberator: It's so cool it gets its own section! Well at least some quick comments since it shows up a lot in this board.
Essentially, for some relatively low req's, the Holy Lib is a gold mine. First level nets detect evil at will and resist enchantment. Not bad to start. The real prize, however, is at level two: Divine Grace (Cha mod to all saves). Level three also grants turn undead and immunity to charm and compulsion. While turn undead may not be extremely useful to a melee character, it opens the door to the divine feats, most notably, Divine Might (just make sure your group decides whether it's a free or standard action to activate). The nice thing about Divine Might is that as the Cha bonus increases, both the duration and the damage of Divine Might increase. While the Holy Lib progression can stop there, level five grants a celestial companion, which is also nice to have.
As far as spells go, the best ones on the list are bull's strength (HL 3), greater magic weapon (HL 5), and holy sword (HL 7), with holy sword being the best of the bunch. Bear in mind, however, that this will require a Wis score of 14 to use.
One of the major downsides, however, is that the Holy Lib is very stat-intensive. The Holy Lib makes use of two abilities that might not be otherwise important for a melee build: Wis and Cha. Wis is only a big concern if the higher levels spells are desired. Cha, however, does become more important because one of the main reasons to take level of Holy Lib, divine grace, is purely based on Cha. Cha also greatly affects Divine Might.
**********Section 3: Cleric**********
Races: Any race can make an effective cleric although humans are the most common. Clerics don't have many feats to work with so the extra feat gained from being human is a big plus.
Abilities: Wisdom is obviously the highest priority. After that, it depends on the type of cleric. If turning undead is a concern, the a high Cha is beneficial. A good Cha score also makes the Divine Might feat (DotF) very powerful. As far as physical abilities, Con is usually the most important. A high Con increases survivability especially since the cleric may find himself engaged in melee from time to time. Str can be useful for a melee cleric but there is magic available (see below) that can make up for a low Str. Dex is usually the dump stat since a cleric can wear heavy armor (and should). A Dex penalty isn't good, however.
Feats: Clerics can be very diverse but some common feats will be discussed here.
As with other spellcasters, if FR is available, Spellcasting Prodigy should be taken. Clerics can also make good use of metamagic feats such as Extend and Empower Spell. Extend Spell is also a requirement for a very powerful metamagic feat to the cleric: Persistent Spell. This can be used in conjunction with the spells Divine Favor and Divine Power.
TThese combinations will significantly boost the cleric's melee ability. Other good metamagic feats for the cleric are Reach and Quicken Spell.
Spell Focus is generally not as useful to a cleric as it is to an arcane spellcaster. The most useful schools for Spell Focus for a cleric are probably Necro, Ench, or Evoc. Spell Penetration, however, is extremely useful for a cleric, especially at higher levels.
A cleric can also make good use of item creation feats. Scribe Scroll, Craft Wonderous Item, Craft Wand, and Craft Arms & Armor are all useful.
Usually, melee feats in general aren't very useful to clerics. This is because they have a limited feat selection to begin with and they can use magic to buff themselves if they choose to enter melee. If the cleric has a high Cha score, however, an exception to this is Power Attack and Divine Might. Divine Might continues to increase in both power and duration as your Cha increases. It is also highly effective if the build has the Extra Turning feat. make sure you consult with your DM on the time required to activate this feat as there is some debate on this issue.
Domains:
Animal: Good for a nature cleric. Since Animal Friendship is not normally on the cleric's spell list, this can be used to gain some animal minions. Unfortunately, this domain does not grant the Awaken spell (although Miracle can be used). This domain also grants Knowledge (nature) which can be helpful for meeting PrC requirements and has a good amount of non-cleric spells, many of which are druid spells. Useful when combined with the Plant domain.
Destruction: A very useful domain for melee clerics. The smite ability is very good and has a good spell list with some non-cleric spells (Shatter, Disintegrate, Earthquake, etc).
Elemental domains (Air, Earth, Fire, Water): These can be useful if taken in pairs. The Air or Earth domain taken with the Fire or Water domain will allow the cleric to turn/rebuke any elemental encountered. All the elemental domains have good spell lists with a variety of non-cleric spells.
Knowledge: Extremely useful for meeting PrC Knowledge skill requirements. Also has some nice divination spells, some of which are not on the cleric list (Detect Secret Doors, Detect Thoughts, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Legend Lore, Foresight) and a +1 caster increase.
Luck: Generally considered to be one of the best domains because of the reroll granted ability. Also has a decent spell list although only a couple of them are not normal cleric spells (Mislead, Spell Turning).
Magic: Excellent granted power. This enables a cleric to use arcane scrolls and wands. The spell list also has some very good, non-cleric spells, although most of them are high-level (Identify, Spell Turning, Protection from Spells, Mordenkainen's Disjunction).
Plant: Another good domain for a nature priest. The granted ability may not be the most useful but all the spell's are not normally on the cleric's list. Useful when taken with the Animal domain.
Strength: Another good domain for a melee cleric. The feat of strength ability is good and the spell list has some good, non-cleric spells (Heat Metal, Stoneskin, the Bigby spells).
Sun: A must-have for an undead hunter. Greater Turning is extremely powerful against undead. Also has a good spell list with some fire and heat-based combat spells, many of which are not normally on the cleric's spell list (Heat Metal, Fire Shield, Fire Seeds, etc).
Travel: Also one of the top domains. Grants a freedom of movement ability, wilderness lore as a class skill, and has many excellent spells that are not normally on the cleric spell list (Expeditious Retreat, Fly, Dimenson Door, Teleport, etc).
Trickery: A good domain power that grants Bluff, Disguise, and Hide as class skills. The spell list is also one of the best because all the spells are non-cleric spells (Invisibility, Confusion, Time Stop, etc).
War: The War domain does grant Weapon Focus but the spells are all on the normal cleric spell list. This domain is may be useful in meeting the req's of some PrC's (like Templar).
If FR is used, the following domains from the FRCS are good:
Elf: Grants Point Blank Shot. Also has spells such as True Strike and Cat's Grace in the spell list. See the cleric archer below for further details on this domain.
Planning: Grants Extend Spell. The spell list is not the greatest but does grant Time Stop at level 9.
Time: Grants Improved Initiative. The spell list is fairly powerful as well (Haste, Permanency, Time Stop) but this domain is not granted by many deities.
Builds: Once again, the key is not lose any caster levels. A cleric's power increases significantly with each spell level attainted. Any abilities gained by multiclassing (Ftr, Rog, Monk, etc) will pale in comparison to the power gained by getting the next level spells as quickly as possible.
In contrast to the other class builds, cleric builds are quite varied. And while Cleric 20 is certainly playbale, there are a few PrC's that are usually mentioned:
Sacred Exorcist: This is an excellent PrC that makes a good undead hunter and melee cleric. The Knowledge (the planes) requirement is very high since it is not a class skill for the cleric. Some developers have mentioned that it should be lower (5 ranks has been discussed) but nothing has been made official in the form of a FAQ or errata. If it your DM does not alter it, the requirement may be met by taking the Knowledge domain or by taking either the Education or Cosmopolitan feats from the FRCS.
The SE also works well with a high Cha and the Power Attack/Divine Might feat chain discussed above.
Hospitaler: This is a powerful PrC since it grants full caster progression as well as a +1/level BAB. Its requirements is significant since it requires two feats that a cleric probably wouldn't otherwise take. Double check the FAQ on this PrC though: The "Spells" paragraph is incorrect.
Contemplative: Higher-level clerics would do well to take at least one level of this class. For relatively low requirements (unless your DM enforces the whole "direct contact" thing), the cleric gains access to a prestige domain as well as immunity to disease. The rest of the PrC remains relevant as well as an additional prestige domain is gained as well as other useful abilities. The main disadvantage of this PrC are its lower Hit Die and BAB.
Divine Disciple (FRCS): This is a decent, 5-level PrC that continues casting progression. A new domain is gained at first level (not a prestige domain, however).
Runecaster (FRCS): Also a PrC that continues casting progression. The rune ability is very useful for clerics concentrating on item creation.
If Magic of Faerun or Faiths & Pantheons are used, then the following PrC's are also good choices: Harper Priest, Mystic Wanderer, Auspician (very high req's but powerful abilities), and Techsmith (craftsman and inventor, good abilities as well as a construct "cohort").
Cleric Archer: This is listed seperately because it requires a very specific set of feats, spells, domains, etc. While it isn't required, using FR material is ideal for this build.
Race: Elf (if FR) or Human
Abilities: Wisdom, Dexterity
Domains: If FR is used, the Elf domain is a must. War is a good second choice for Weapon Focus (Solonar Thelandira grants both of these domains). Time is also a good choice because it grants Improved Initiative and has Haste in its spell list (Elf and Time are both granted by Labelas Enoreth).
If FR is not used, the domains are not as crucial. The War, Luck, and Travel domains are all useful to a cleric archer.
Feats: Point Blank Shot (free from Elf domain), Weapon Focus (free from War domain) or Imp Init (from Time domain), Extend Spell, Empower Spell, Persistent Spell, Rapid Shot
Builds: Many builds can be used to develop a cleric archer as long as the casting progression is maintained and feat slots don't have to be spent on req's. An excellent addition is to take a level of Contemplative and get the Celerity domain.
There are still three feat left with this arrangement. Precise Shot is useful as are any other feats listed in the Feat section above. Craft Arms & Armor or Wonderous Item are good to create any of the items listed below.
Equipment: Bracers of Archery, Gloves of Dexterity, Periapt of Wisdom, Quiver of Ehlonna or Heward's Handy Haversack, Bead of Karma, +1 mighty [+4] composite longbow with elemental damage. More than a +1 bow isn't absolutely necessary because only arrows can get by DR and Greater Magic Weapon covers that. A +4 Mighty Bow is needed because Divine Power increases the cleric's Str to 18.
The setup: (Make sure all spells are cast using the Bead of Karma)
Extended, Empowered Cat's Grace (if available)
Persistent Divine Favor
Persistent Divine Power (these stack because Divine Favor is a luck bonus)
Extended Greater Magic Weapon on arrows
**********Section 4: Druid**********
Races: Gnomes are an excellent choice for a non-human druid because of their small size and Con bonus. Human is also good because of a druid's limited feat slots.
Abilities: Druids have a slightly different priority for ability scores than other classes. Wisdom, of course, is the highest priority. After that, however, Con is probably the most important. This is because when using wild shape, the druid's hit points do not change even if their Con changes due to the assumed form. As noted above, the gnome's bonus to Con helps in this department. Cha is also useful for a druid that uses Cha-based skills like Handle Animal and Animal Empathy. Handle Animal also helps when training animal companions. Int is also helpful because the druid has a good skill list. Str and Dex are of less importance because these will change when the druid uses wild shape.
Feats: A druid doesn't have a lot of feats to choose from. There are a few that are a cut above the rest, however. Natural Spell is probably the first of these. The ability to cast spells while wild shaped is amazing. Remember, though, that spells with material components or a divine focus still cannot be cast.
Other good wild shape-related feats are Extra Wild Shape and Fast Wild Shape. Extra Wild Shape is usually regarded as more important than Fast Wild Shape.
Scent and Blindsight are also both excellent, especially Blindsight. Blindsight is probably a must-have since it grants the ability to "see" in darkness and invisible creatures among other things. Scent is also useful but is not as crucial as Blindsight. Track is also helpful since the druid has Wilderness Lore on her skill list (and usually has a high Wis). It's also helpful if the party doesn't have a Rng.
A druid can also make use of metamagic feats although they are not as useful as they are to clerics and wizards. The best choices are Extend Spell and Empower Spell. While a druid doesn't have the "buff" spells that a cleric has, there are spells in MotW and DoF that can be Extended (Regenerate spells, Spikes, Greater Magic Fang). A druid also has access to many damage-dealing elemental spells so Empower may be useful with those (Flame Strike, Ice Storm). Since many of the elemental spells are Evocation spells, Spell Focus (Evocation) can be taken for druids that cast a lot of these spells. Spellcasting Prodigy, if available (FRCS), is also an option for a druid that wants more casting power.
Finally, there are some craft feats that may be useful for a druid but on the whole, there will be less useful than they are to a cleric or wizard. Create Infusion, however, is an exception. Create Infusion is useful because a druid usually has the skills to create these infusions and they can also be consumed while the druid is in a wild shaped form. Craft Wonderous Item is also useful because a druid can create Wilding Clasps.
Builds: There aren't many complex builds that involve the druid. The key is to get the higher level spells and wild shape abilities as soon as possible. Also, make sure all the rules regarding wild shape are understood as they have changed quite a bit (see MotW and the FAQ's), especially if the Shifter PrC is taken. There are also some excellent threads discussing the uses and rules of wild shape.
Druid 20: No secrets here.
Druid 10/Verdant Lord 10: Another simple build but good for a druid that wants to focus more on plants. It does lose some of the higher level wild shape abilities but does gain Treat Wild Shape as well as some other decent abilities.
Druid 10/Shifter 10: The ultimate shapeshifter. Further casting ability is lost but this is not a caster build. Druid levels can also be dropped for levels in a melee classes or classes (Ftr, Bbn, etc). There are some more "involved" builds regarding the Shifter but this build is definitely the baseline and quite effective as is.
For some help with the Shifter and wild shape in general, Harzerkatze has created two extremely comprehensive threads:
THE SHIFTER FAQs
THE SHIFTER BIBLE
**********Section 5: Monk**********
Races: Humans are by far the best monks. Any other race comes in a distant second.
Abilities: The monk is class that relies on many abilities to be successful. Wisdom is usually the most important as it improves their AC, stunning attack abilities, and skills. Depending on the build, Str and Dex are equally important. Ideally, both of these will be high but usually a specific build will focus on one. A high Dex correlates to a high AC/finesse monk whereas a high Str monk will be primarily concerned with dealing damage.
Builds: A monk build will vary greatly depending if OA is used. Because the most common build is Monk 20, this build will be analyzed with and without OA.
Non-OA Monk 20: Unfortunately, a non-OA monk doesn't have a lot of options. A better route is to emphasize defense over damage. At higher levels, monks are hampered by their lower BAB, hit points, and AC.
Possible feat choices are the Spring Attack chain (Dodge, Mobility), Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus, Improved Critical, Improved Initiative, Expertise, Fists of Iron (S&F), Combat Reflexes, and Expert Tactician.
OA Monk 20: OA introduces a plethora of choices for monks. OA also has the added benefits of being able to swap out the monk feats and also the option to gain Masteries once the req's are met. And while there are many monk PrC's in OA, they will not be discussed here. Builds using these PrC's vary greatly and are usually more specialized.
A standard monk using OA usually has the following feats. This build also assumes that Stunning Fist and Deflect Arrows are kept while Improved Trip is dropped.
Foot & Fist Mastery: Power Attack, Fists of Iron, Flying Kick, and Roundabout Kick.
Meditation of War Mastery: Falling Star Strike, Freezing the Lifeblood.
There are a few options after this. If the race is human, then you have three feats remaining. The Mighty Works Mastery can be gained relatively easily by taking some grappling feats: Improved Grapple and Choke Hold. Grappling can be extremely useful in certain situations, especially against spellcasters. You can continue to specialize in grappling by taking Earth's Embrace.
Otherwise, any feat listed in the non-OA monk section can be taken.
mean_liar maintains an excellent thread on advanced monk builds. It can be found here: monk minmax creation guide
**********Section 6: Rogue/sneak attack builds**********
Races: Humans and halflings excel here. Halflings benefit from the Dex bonus and have added skill bonuses as well as a bonus with thrown weapons (great for throwing dagger builds).
Abilities: The goal here is definitely different than for the melee builds. Instead, Dex is the high priority. Str is really not much of a priority at all because these builds rely on sneak attack damage. Constitution is useful but this type of character should not stay in melee for too long. A good Int is desired for the added skill ranks and a high Cha will help with Bluff.
Feats: The key is to maximize the character's ability to use sneak attack. Since sneak attack damage will apply to all attacks that qualify, more attacks means more sneak attacks. Enter Two-Weapon Fighting (or Rapid Shot).
Melee weapon build: This build implies the use of a light weapon in each hand. Using the same weapon in each hand reduces the need to spend feat slots for the same feat for multiple weapons. The most common weapons used are short swords and daggers.
Recommended feats: Weapon Finesse (dagger or short sword), Improved Initiative, Ambidexterity and Two-Weapon Fighting (from Ranger), Quick Draw, Flick of the Wrist, Combat Reflexes, Expert Tactician, and Quicker than the Eye. It is common to continue with Improved and Greater TWF after these feats.
Ranged weapon build: The concept is similar except a ranged/thrown weapon is used. This obviously requires a different set of feats. A level of Rng to be taken to get Ambidexterity and TWF. Even though this is not the focus of the build, it is good to have a melee backup and not much is lost by taking a level of Rng.
Recommended feats: Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, Quick Draw (if a thrown weapon is used), Precise Shot, Improved Initiative, and Weapon Finesse (for melee).
Rogue Special Abilities: This is largely subjective. Improved Evasion is usually the first choice, however. After that, it really depends if the character will find its way in the epic levels. Searching in this forum as well as others may yield info on the rogue abilities.
Builds: The information above on feats can be applied to any of the following builds with minimal effort.
Rog 20: Not too fancy but still quite effective. Because it doesn't have as many feats as the builds below, it's too costly to take Ambidexterity and TWF so it works better as a ranged weapon build.
Rng 1/Rog 19: 'Nuff said.
Rng 1/Ftr 2/Rog 17: Swap two Rogue levels for two Ftr levels. The extra feats really help, especially for a non-human character. A d6 of sneak attack damage and a rogue special ability is lost.
X 1/Rng 1/Ftr 2/Rog 16: The "X" in this case is any class that has a +1 BAB. This is so the build can acheive a BAB of +16 and therefore attaining 4 attacks in epic levels. The most common classes used are Barbarian or Duelist.
**********Section 7: Sorcerers & Wizards**********
Races: Human is by far the most common for either class, especially for sorcs. Sun Elf is also used for wizards at times due to their +2 bonus to Intelligence.
Abilities: After Intelligence or Charisma, Constitution is probably the most important ability. More hit points will provide a better chance of survival than a high Dexterity.
Feats: The most common feat choices for wizards are usually Extend Spell, Empower Spell, and Craft Wonderous Item. If Forgotten Realms material is available, Spellcasting Prodigy is essential. It is not recommended to take Maximize Spell as Empower Spell provides much more bang for the buck in the long term. It also costs less to use than Maximize. Other good feat choices are Spell Focus, Spell Penetration, Craft Wand, Craft Arms & Armor, Still Spell, Silent Spell, Quicken Spell, and Chain Spell.
Sorcerers have less feat slots than wizards. Extend and Empower Spell are still the best metamagic feats, however. A sorc can also make use of the other metamagic feats listed above for the wizard. Spell Focus, Greater Spell Focus, Spell Penetration, and Greater Spell Penetration are all good choices since the sorcerer is usually very combat-focused. Craft feats, in general, aren't as popular for sorcs because of their limited spell list and the fact that they can cast those spells much more than a wizard can.
Combat Casting is not a good feat to take. Its usefulness will diminish in the higher levels. Combat Casting only applies to casting defensively. It is easy to determine the maximum ranks needed in Concentration to be successful at any skill checks (DC 15 + spell level). This is another reason for casters to have decent Con scores.
Wiz Builds: Don't lose any caster levels, blah, blah, blah.
Wiz 5/PrC 10/Acm 5: This build is by far the most popular although it does use FR rules. Recommended PrC's are Elemental Savant, Alienist, Shadow Adept (FRCS), Red Wizard, and of course, Incantatrix (MoF). The War Wizard and Arcane Devotee are also good PrC's also they require slightly modified builds since they are five level PrC's and require the ability to cast 7th level spells.
If FR is not allowed, Wiz 10/PrC 10 is the best bet. Good PrC's for this build are Alienist, Elemental Savant, or Loremaster.
Wiz 5/Harper Mage 5/Loremaster 10 (X/Acm X): This is a great diviner build. Harper Mage helps to meet the req's of Loremaster and Archmage because of the granted Skill Focus feats. Levels of Loremaster and Harper Mage also stack to determine the level of the bardic lore/Harper knowledge ability. Two levels of Harper Mage can also be dropped for two levels Divine Oracle. This will gain access to the Divination domain and prescient sense.
Since this is usually not a build tailored to arcane combat, taking levels of Archmage (and how many) is subjective. In order to take levels of Acn, however, some levels of Loremaster will have to be sacrificed. The first Loremaster ability that will have to go is True lore. After that, additional secrets and bonus languages will be lost.
Wiz 5/Harper Mage 5/War Wizard 5/Dev 1/Acm 4: This build emphasizes PrC's that grant instant metamagic abilities. This build has the ability to instantly use Extend, Enlarge, and Widen Spell each a number of times per day equal to 1 + Cha bonus. A Sun elf is a good choice for this build as they have a bonus to Int and the Martial Weapon Profiency needed for War Wizard. The Harper Mage PrC can also be dropped for more levels of Arcane Devotee: Wiz 5/War Wizard 5/Dev 5/Acm 5. The Arcane Devotee gains SR at level 5.
Sorc Builds: Sorcerers have much less options than the wizard does. This is mostly due to their limited class skill list. It is much more difficult to meet the req's of certain PrC's because of this. A sorc can't meet the req's for Elemental Savant, for example, until level 13 because of the cross-class knowledge ranks. If FR is used, this limitation can be overcome with either the Cosmopolitan or Education feats. Also, because of the slow spell progression of the sorc, multiclassing is even more of a concern.
If FR is used, however, PrC's such as the Shadow Adept, War Wizard, Mage Killer, and Guild Wizard of Waterdeep can all be taken by a sorcerer without the Cosmopolitan feat. If a sorc does take a PrC, then the req's for the Archmage can usually be met with the class skills of the PrC.
If the sorcerer is able to meet the ranks of a PrC, then Sorc 10/PrC 10 or Sorc 6/PrC 10/Acm 4 are both good builds. Otherwise, Sorc 20 works as well.
There is also much debate about taking one level of Paladin in a sorc build. The immediate benefit is being able to add your Cha bonus to all saving throws. Of course, a caster level is lost. The main argument against this is that the sorc already has to wait an extra level more than the wiz to get higher level spells and this just delays the progression further. There is also the LG alignment restriction. In the end, it's a judgement call.
A good Pal/Sorc build is Pal 1/Sorc 9/Dev 5/Acm 5.
While a breakdown of sorcerer spells is not covered in this FAQ, here are two threads that are very helpful:
The Definitive Sorcerers' Spell Thread
Summary of the Definitive Sorcerer's Spell Thread
Wizard Specialization: Generally, it is a good idea to specialize. The extra spell per day makes a big difference. There isn't really a “best” choice for specialization, however. In most cases, however, you don't want to lose the schools of Abjuration or Transmutation. Divination can be difficult to lose as well. Any of the others can be chosen as opposing school without too much ill effect.
Archmage abilities:
**********Section 8: Archers**********
Races: Humans and wood elves are the norm here. Wood elf is necessary because they have Rng as a favored class. Normal elves will receive XP penalities in some of the builds below. Wood elves are found in the MM and the FRCS. Although halflings have a Dex bonus, their small size limits their weapon choices. Their Str penalty also prevents them from using the stronger Mighty bows.
Abilities: Str comes in second behind Dex as the priority. Cha is usually a dump stat. The other abilities can be arranged to taste. Con isn't as crucial because most of the time should be spent out of melee.
Feats: Regardless of build, Point Blank Shot and Rapid Shot are a necessity. Precise Shot and Far Shot are also important depending on the build. Other useful feats to consider are Improved Initiative, Improved Critical, Weapon Focus, and Weapon Specialization. Shot on the Run is actually not very common because of the feat requirements to get it (Dodge, Mobility) and their limited usefulness for an archer.
Builds: There are many archer builds that entail a variety of classes and PrC's. The most common will be listed below. The Arcane Archer PrC is not seen as one of the more potent archer PrC's. There are also a variety of builds that use the Arcane Archer. Because of these two reasons, the Arcane Archer will not be discussed.
For the cleric archer, see the Cleric section.
Rng 1/Ftr 4/DS 7/OotBI 8: The best of both PrC's. Rng 1/Ftr 4 is much better than Ftr 5 as the 5th level of Ftr does not yield a feat and the Rng level helps in meeting the skill req's for DS. DS 7 is ideal for getting projectile imp crit +2. After that, there aren't any DS abilities that are crucial. Even true strike at level 10 isn't that necessary as this character's attack modifier should be very high already. OotBI 8 has a total of +4d6 sneak attack damage. While Banked Shot at level 9 is a nice ability, projectile imp crit +2 at level 7 of the DS is much more important.
Monte's Ranger can also be used here with great sucess.
Ftr 4/Rog 5/DS 2/OotBI 8: This build mainly swaps DS levels for Rogue levels. The main DS ability that is given up is projectile imp crit +2. The best abilities of the DS are gained in the first two levels (keen arrows, projectile imp crit +1) so DS 2 is crucial. The rogue level, however, grant an additional +3d6 sneak attack damage, evasion, uncanny dodge, and a lot of skills ranks. This build does lose +2 in BAB, however, although there is one additional level left over before level 20.
Rng 1/Ftr 4/DS 2/PA 3/OotBI 10: This build introduces the PA (Silver Marches) into first build. The two best abilities of the PA are Power Shot (PA 3) and Threaten (PA 8). The general consensus is that Power Shot is more useful and viable because it only requires a 3 level investment into PA. Aside from sneak attack, the other PA abilities are not crucial. Because the DS levels are decreased in the first build, there are two remaining. These are placed into OotBI and completels the build. Additional levels into DS or PA do not yield anything too useful. This also is advantageous if going to epic levels.
Rog 3/Ftr 4/DC S/PA 3/OotBI 8: This build also introduces the PA into the second build. In this case, the Rogue levels are decreased. This only causes a loss of skill ranks since PA 3 gains sneak attack +1d6.
**********Section 9: Ninjas**********
Races: For both multiclassing and optimization reasons, ninjas are almost exclusively humans. Ninjas usually fill the fole between fighters and rogues so the the extra feat and skill points are extremely helpful.
Abilities: Almost all the abilities can be useful to a ninja in one way another. The type of character or build desired will obviously have a big effect on the primary abilities. Dex, however, is usually at the forefront. Ninjas rely on stealth, sneak attacks, and wear light armor, if any, so a high Dex is crucial. After that, it is very dependent on the character in question. If the ninja is involved in melee combat, Str and Con are important. If the ninja is more of a spy, a high Int will give the ninja access to more skills. Many of the ninjas skills and abilities are also dependent on Cha. Lastly, if monk levels are used in the build, Wis is important as it will provide an AC bonus.
Feats: Feat selection is usually very similar to that in the Rogue/sneak attack builds section, above.
Builds: Ninja builds vary widely depending on the role that the character will fill. Various builds will be discussed below.
Note: The Rokugan Ninja class will not be discussed in this FAQ as it is third-party material. It can be found here for those that are interested:
Rokugan Ninja
The Ninja of the Crescent Moon and Ninja Spy are the best PrC's to use to build a ninja character. They are somewhat different, however, and fill different roles. The NotCM is a more combat and sneak-attack oriented PrC. It also resembles (and behaves) somewhat like a monk. The Ninja Spy, on the other hand, is more skill and stealth-oriented. It does have the same amount of sneak attack damage as the NotCM or a rogue but has abilities that are ideal for spying and infiltration.
Note: The NotCM has been heavily errata'ed from how it appears in S&F.
While the req's for the Ninja Spy can met with rogue levels alone, the NotCM is a bit more complicated. The real problem is the high BAB combined with the need for monk and rogue levels. While the req's can be met with monk or a multiclassed Ftr/Monk, this is not ideal. For one thing, it does not take advantage of the NotCM's increased sneak attack damage. Adding some rogue levels go a long way and also add some much-needed skill ranks. Also, using many monk levels to meet the req's is less advantageous because the monk's unarmed BAB and damage will not be high enough to help at the mid and high levels.
Ftr 2/Monk 3/Rog 5/NOCM 10: This is a standard NotCM build. Levels of monk and rogue are a good way to start a ninja build. The monk levels provide the feats and the rogue levels provide the skills to meet most ninja PrC req's. Ideally, rogue will be taken first for the increased skill ranks provided that you are allowed to multiclass into and then out of monk. The Ftr levels add some hp's and BAB but are mostly taken for the extra feats. This build has sneak attack damage of +8d6. The req's of the NotCM can be met with Ftr 2/Monk 3/Rog 3 or Ftr 2/Monk 2/Rog 4.
Ftr 2/Monk 2/Rog 3/Nin 3/NotCM 10: A variation on the first build. Three levels of Ninja Spy are taken instead of additional levels in rogue and monk. This delays entry into NotCM by one level but does provide some additional abilities. This will provide another d6 of sneak attack as well as leap of the clouds and acrobatics. Also, if hide in plain sight is desired, another level of Ninja Spy can be taken at the expense of one level of NotCM. Doing this loses the tenth level abilities (always sneaky, ethereal jaunt) of the NotCM. This build has sneak attack damage of +8d6. The req's of the NotCM can be met with Ftr 2/Monk 2/Rog 3/Nin 2.
Rng 1/Ftr 2/Monk 2/Rog 3/NotCM 10: This is a much more melee-focused ninja build that incorporates TWF by taking a level of Rng. Essentially, entry into NotCM is delayed by one level for the Rng level. The urban ranger variant from MotW also fits in with the ninja concept. This build has sneak attack damage of +7d6. The req's of the NotCM can be met with Rng 1/Ftr 2/Monk 2/Rog 3.
Because of the extra level, only two levels remain in this build. Levels of Ninja Spy can be taken but two levels in it do not provide anything extraordinary (leap of the clouds and acrobatics are gained at level 3). If leap of the clouds is sought, one or two levels of Thief-Acrobat can be taken: kip up and unbounded leap are gained at level 1, fast balance and Imp Trip at 2.
Rog 3/Ftr 4/NotCM 10: This is a simple but effective melee ninja build. The advantage to this build is that the entry into NotCM is very quick. The levels of Ftr provide more hp's and BAB but the feats will be needed to meet the NotCM req's. This build will also be lacking in skills compared to some of the other builds but the three remaining levels can be used on a +1 BAB/level PrC to further increase this build's melee effectiveness. The req's of NotCM can be met with Rog 3/Ftr 4.
Rng 1/Rog 9/Nin 10: This is very similar to the Rng 1/Rog 19 build in Section 6. This build emphasizes stealth and infiltration over combat. While the sneak attack damage will not be as high as a Rng 1/Rog 19, this is offset by the many abilities provided by Ninja Spy. This build has sneak attack damage of +8d6. The req's of the Ninja Spy can be met with Rng 1/Rog 6.
**********Section 10: Arcane Trickster**********
Races: An Arcane Trickster build can be successful with a variety of races. Humans, while definitely usable, are not, interestinly enough, the most common race. Elves, gnomes, and halflings all make good Arcane Tricksters. Elves benefit from the increased Dex and Wizard favored class. Their small size helps halflings and gnomes as well as their respective favored classes.
Abilities: Int and Dex are by far the most important. Cha is important is sorcerer is used in the build but this is less desired because an AT benefits greatly from the additional skill ranks granted by a high Int. Str and Con are not that important because the AT will want to stay out of melee as much as possible.
Feats: Feat selection for the AT is very similar to an arcane spellcaster. Extend Spell, Empower Spell, and Craft Wonderous Item are all extremely useful. Other good feats are Craft Wand (for ranged sneak attacks), Silent and/or Still Spell (for sneak attacks), and Quicken Spell (for multiple sneak attacks in a round). Energy Substitution and Energy Admixture are useful with the various "orb" spells in T&B. If FR is used, Spellcasting Prodigy is a must because of the already delayed caster progression.
As far as non-magic feats go, Improved Initiative is essential. Sometimes ranged feats like Point Blank Shot are taken but in general, magic-related feats are much more useful.
Builds: The main issue with the AT is that it requires 7 ranks of Decipher Script. Since this is an exclusive skill, 4 levels of classes that have it as a class skill are needed. The easiest way to achieve this is with Rog 4. This isn't ideal because a 4th level of Rogue doesn't gain any other abilities and another caster level is lost. Each build should always start with a level of Rogue for the additional skill ranks.
Also, using wizard levels is preferred over sorc because a sorc requires 6 levels to gain 3rd-level spells instead of just 5 for the wizard. It also requires emphasis on an additional ability: Cha.
The key with the AT is to try to maximize caster levels and to concentrate on using ranged spells for sneak attack damage.
Rog 5/Wiz 5/AT 10: This build is simplest but by no means the most powerful. It has a caster level of 15 (8th-level spells) and a sneak attack of +8d6.
Rog 3/Wiz 5/Asn 1/AT 10: This build substitutes a level of Assassin for Rogue. This build gains the death attack ability of the Asn but, of course, must be evil.
Rog 3/Wiz 5/Loremaster 1/AT 10: This build uses a level of Loremaster to meet the Dechiper Script ranks and also gains an additional caster level. If one more level of a caster class or PrC is taken, the total caster level of this build will be 17 (9th-level spells). The req's to meet the Loremaster req's are high, however, so this may not be desired. The Loremaster level doesn't gain much beyond the additional caster level and one secret.
If FR is used, levels of Archmage can be substitued for AT. Usually, two levels of Acm are taken in this way. This is desired because the Acm abilities are extremely useful to an AT. Spell Power, Arcane Fire (can be used for sneak attacks and is Su), and Mastery of Elements are the best.
Rog 4/Sorc 6/AT 10: Standard AT build using sorc. This is generally not desired because the caster progression willbe very slow. Taking a level of Loremaster is also extremely difficult for this build because of the spell requirements.
Rog 3/Bard 7/AT 10: Bards also make good AT's. While they won't have the casting versatility of a wiz-based build, they will have better hp's, saves, BAB, and more skills. Because of the bard's delayed spell progression, the build cannot take AT levels until level 11.
**********Section 11: Bladesinger**********
This section assumes the use of the Bladesinger found in the T&B Web Enhancement.
Races: Elf or half-elf, not much of a choice. Elves are by far the favorite because of the Dex bonus.
Abilities: Unfortunately, Bladesingers are very stat-dependent and some builds more than others. Int is probably the most important because a BS gains bonus as well as an AC bonus equal to his Int bonus. Str, Dex, and Con are all important to a BS since they will be in melee combat. It is usually very difficult, however, to excel in all of these because of the Int needed. Usually, Dex is higher because of the elf's bonus to Dex. Con usually suffers because of their Con penalty. A good Str is nice to have but isn't absolutely necessary because of magic that can be used later on. Wis and Cha are usually dump stats. It is never good to have a Wis penalty though as it will affect Will saves.
The BS's abilities scretch out further if the Bard is used in the build. In this case, the BS's Cha will have to be at least 12 so the BS can get a 1st-level bard bonus spell.
Feats: A BS has a fairly long feat requirement list. After the requirements are met, other good feats are the Spring Attack chain (great with Expeditious Retreat), Power Attack (combined with True Strike), Weapon Specialization (especially if Str is low), Quick Draw, Improved Critical, or Improved Initiative (especially if the build has Rogue levels).
Good magic-related feats are Extend Spell (increase buff spell duration) and Craft Wonderous Item. Craft Wonderous Item is useful because the BS has many spells on their spell list that can be used to make items.
Builds: There are few common BS builds that are quite different in nature. Most builds use wizard levels to meet the requirements but bard can be used as well. Rogue levels can also be incorporated into a BS build although this usually results in delaying when BS levels can be taken.
Wiz 2/Ftr 4/BS 10: This is the most standard build. Two levels of Wiz are needed in order to get another +1 BAB. After this progress has been completed, additional Ftr or Wiz levels can be taken. There are also some other, more complex variations.
Wiz 1/Rog 3/Ftr 4/BS 10: Rogue levels fit very well with the BS. The Rogue levels provide skill ranks which can be used to meet the BS skill req's and evasion, which works well since the BS has a good Reflex save. At least two Rog levels are needed in order to meet the BS BAB req. This will delay entry into BS by one level more than the build above, two if three levels of Rogue are taken.
Rog 3/Ftr 4/Asn 1/BS 10: This build is very similar to the previous except it substitutes a level of Assassin for the wizard level. This is beneficial because it increases sneak attack damage, gains additional skill ranks, and acquires the death attack ability. This build may not be available, however, because of the required evil alignment.
Bard 2/Ftr 4/BS 10: This build replaces the wizard levels from build one with bard levels. Although the bard requires a 12 in Cha (as described in the Abilities section, above), there are advantages to using bard levels to meet the BS req's. The bard receives more skills ranks than the wizard and also has all the skills that the BS requires on their class skill list. The bard also has a better hit die and Reflex save than the wizard does.
**********Appendix 1: Abbreviations**********
Acm: Archmage
Asn: Assassin
AT: Arcane Trickster
Bbn: Barbarian
BS: Bladesinger
Cha: Charisma
Clr: Cleric
Con: Constitution
Def: Dwarven Defender
Dev: Arcane Devotee
Dex: Dexterity
DR: Damage Reduction
DS: Deepwood Sniper
FRCS: Forgotten Realms Campaign Sourcebook
Ftr: Fighter
HL: Holy Liberator; also, Holy Lib
hp's: hit points
Int: Intelligence
MM: Monster Manual
MoF: Magic of Faerun
MotW: Masters of the Wild
Nin: Ninja Spy
NotCM: Ninja of the Crescent Moon
OA: Oriental Adventures
OotBI: Order of the Bow Initiate
PA: Peerless Archer
PrC: Prestige class
req: requirement
Rng: Ranger
Rog: Rogue
Sorc: Sorcerer
SR: Spell Resistance
Str: Strength
Temp: Templar
TWF: Two-Weapon Fighting
Wis: Wisdom
Wiz: Wizard
**********Appendix 2: Definitions**********
buff spells: spells that increase abilities (Bull's Strength, Endurance, etc)
dump stat: an ability that is not important to the build in question; usually the lowest score is placed in this ability
tank: a character that stands at the front line to take the brunt of the attack. This can be due to a character's high hp's, high AC, damage reduction, or a combination of all three.
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