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1 year ago ::
Mar 07, 2012 - 2:32PM
#1
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Date Joined:
Jun 16, 2010
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The Unlikely DefenderA Pixie Striker?
My original build had a few problems preventing it from being effctive. 1) It had no way of preventing the enemy from attacking non-adjacent allies with melee or close attacks. 2) The penalties imposed by Riposte Strike relied on feats that do not stack. 3) My refusal to hybrid or MC into any defender class prevented me from obtaining marks or defender auras. In this new build addresses all of those problems. 1) A pixie can occupy the same square as other creatures, by sticking on the target or on a melee ally I will be able to make use of Vigilante Justice Style by always being adjacent to my ally. 2) I have replaced those feats for other attack penalty feats: Psychic Lock and Protective Hex. This was made possible by going hybrid warlock. 3) A defender's mark or aura debuffs enemy attacks against allies and punishes for disobeying said marks/auras. I effectively replicate this: melee/close attacks suffer -2 from Protective Hex and I retaliate with Riposte Strike's immediate interrupt, ranged/area attacks suffer -2 from Psychic Lock because I retaliate with OAs using Eldritch Strike. Build Summary Spoiler:
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====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Whisper, level 30
Pixie, Rogue/Warlock, Daring Blade, Destined Scion
Eldritch Strike Option: Eldritch Strike Charisma
Eldritch Pact (Hybrid) Option: Sorcerer-King Pact (Hybrid)
Hybrid Warlock Option: Hybrid Warlock Reflex
Hybrid Talent Option: Rogue Combat Talent
Rogue Combat Talent Option: Rogue Weapon Talent (Hybrid)
Epic Heroism Option: Dexterity
Epic Heroism Option: Charisma
Born Under a Bad Sign (Born Under a Bad Sign Benefit)
Theme: Yakuza
FINAL ABILITY SCORES
STR 10, CON 12, DEX 26, INT 12, WIS 13, CHA 30
STARTING ABILITY SCORES
STR 8, CON 10, DEX 14, INT 10, WIS 11, CHA 18
AC: 43 Fort: 41 Ref: 44 Will: 45
HP: 187 Surges: 16 Surge Value: 46
TRAINED SKILLS
Bluff +30, Diplomacy +30, Intimidate +30, Perception +21, Stealth +30, Streetwise +32
UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +23, Arcana +16, Athletics +15, Dungeoneering +16, Endurance +16, Heal +16, History +16, Insight +16, Nature +18, Religion +16, Thievery +23
POWERS
Basic Attack: Melee Basic Attack
Basic Attack: Ranged Basic Attack
Yakuza Utility: Ruthless Demonstration
Pixie Utility: Pixie Dust
Pixie Utility: Shrink
Warlock's Curse Power: Warlock's Curse
Bard Utility: Skald's Aura
Warlock Attack 1: Eldritch Strike
Rogue Attack 1: Riposte Strike
Rogue Utility 2: Sneak in the Attack
Yakuza Utility 2: Life's Losing Hand
Intimidate Utility 2: Ominous Threat
Rogue Attack 3: Low Slash
Yakuza Utility 10: Underworld Vendetta
Daring Blade Attack 11: Weapon Display
Daring Blade Utility 12: Defensive Posture (Daring Blade)
Pixie Utility 16: Fairy Dance
Rogue Attack 19: Maiming Strike
Daring Blade Attack 20: Offensive Spin Slash
Warlock Attack 23: Command of Execution
Warlock Attack 25: Word of the Sorcerer-King
Destined Scion Utility 26: Epic Recovery
Rogue Attack 27: Safe Bet
Rogue Attack 29: Kiss of Death
Destined Scion Utility 30: Undeniable Victory
FEATS
Level 1: Light Blade Expertise
Level 2: Hybrid Talent
Level 4: Underhanded Tactics
Level 6: Master of Stories
Level 8: Nimble Blade
Level 10: Vigilante Justice Style
Level 11: Disheartening Ambush
Level 12: Protective Hex
Level 14: Improved Defenses
Level 16: Mindbite Scorn
Level 18: Psychic Lock
Level 20: Two-Weapon Fighting
Level 21: Two-Weapon Flurry
Level 22: Spirit Breaker
Level 24: Warding Curse
Level 26: Epic Fortitude
Level 28: Weapon Focus (Light blade)
Level 30: Sneaky Opportunity
ITEMS
Starleather Armor of Dark Deeds +6 x1
Iron Armbands of Power (paragon tier) x1
Zephyr Boots x1
Helm of Able Defense x1
Ring of Tenacious Will x1
Amulet of Protection +6 x1
Golden Ring of Teros x1
Belt of Vim (paragon tier) x1
Antipathy Gloves x1
Feyslaughter Dagger +6 x1
Pact Blade Dagger +6 x1
====== End ====== Damage Calculations Riposte Strike Spoiler:
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Attack Breakdown
+10 CHA
+15 half your level
+3 proficiency
+6 enhancement
+3 feat
+1 rogue weapon talent
+1 epic combatant
+2 CA
+1 nimble blade
=42 attack vs 44 AC (95% accuracy)
Damage Breakdown
2d4 weapon damage
+10 CHA
+6 enhancement
+1 TWF
+4 iron armbands of power
+3 feat bonus
+3 light blade expertise
=32 damage on immediate interrupt riposte, 35+6d6 crit
+3d6 sneak attack
=42.5 damage on riposte strike w/ sneak attack, 53+6d6 crit
Riposte Strike w/ Sneak Attack 0.05*0 (0)+0.9*42.5 (38.25)+0.05*74 (3.7)= 41.95
Riposte Strike Immediate Interrupt 0.05*0 (0)+0.9*32 (28.8)+0.05*57(2.85)= 31.65 Opportunity Attack using Eldritch Strike Spoiler:
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Main Weapon Attack Breakdown
+42 (same as riposte strike) +10 (Yakuza level 5 feature) = +52 vs 44 AC
Main Weapon Damage Breakdown
2d4 weapon damage
+10 CHA
+6 enhancement
+1 TWF
+4 iron armbands of power
+3 feat bonus
+3 light blade expertise
+10 lvl 5 yakuza feature
+2d6 sneaky opportunity
+4d6 warlock's curse
=63 damage, 81+6d6 on crit
Main Weapon OA 0.05*0 (0)+0.9*63 (56.7)+0.05*102 (5.1)= 61.8
Offhand Weapon Attack Breakdown
+52 vs 44 AC (same as Main Weapon OA)
Offhand Weapon Damage Breakdown
2d4 weapon damage
+10 CHA
+6 enhancement
+1 TWF
+4 iron armbands of power
+3 feat bonus
+3 light blade expertise
+10 lvl 5 yakuza feature
+2d6 sneaky opportunity
=49 damage, 57+6d6 on crit
Offhand Weapon OA 0.05*0 (0)+0.9*49 (44.1)+0.05*78 (3.9)= 48
Total OA damage Main(61.8)+0.95*Offhand(48)=107.4 Defender Calculations Accuracy vs Me Spoiler:
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Attack vs AC
43 AC
+2 all def until take dmg after first turn
+2 while not bloodied
+2 warding curse
=49 AC
35 attack
-2 underhanded tactics
-2 rattling
-2 until hit after dropping minion
-2 concealment
=27 attack, can only hit on natural 20
Attack vs lowest NAD
41 Fort
+2 all def until take dmg after first turn
+2 while not bloodied
+2 warding curse
=47 Fort
33 attack
-2 underhanded tactics
-2 rattling
-2 until hit after dropping minion
-2 concealment
=25 attack, can only hit on natural 20 Accuracy vs AlliesSpoiler:
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I'm not sure what the average non-defender AC and NAD are, so I'm going to assume the same as the accepted standard monster: 44/42/42/42. The target is already at -4 attack from my underhanded tactics and rattling, plus a further -2 penalty from either protective hex (close/melee) or psychic lock (ranged/area provokes eldritch strike OA, warlock's curse adds psychic keyword). That leaves the target with only 30% chance to hit my allies. My Catch-22 Spoiler:
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After hitting the target, the target has a few options for what to do on its turn:
A) Target attacks me. The target will have a 5% chance to hit me and takes 31.65 damage (see above, Riposte Strike).
B) Target makes a melee or close attack against an ally adjacent to me. Target will have a 30% chance to hit ally and takes 31.65 damage. (see above, Riposte Strike). Against a medium creature, I just stay in the target's space, so long as my melee ally is adjacent to the target (which he/she should be to hit) he/she will be adjacent to me. Against large or larger targets I would stay in my melee ally's space (assuming one melee ally), or in a corner of the target's space (assuming more that one melee ally, this leaves 5 spaces adjacent to the target for them to attack from while still being adjecent to me). There is NO reason for my melee allies to want to attack from a square not adjacent to me, flanking is unneccesay as the target grants CA thanks to my Spirit Breaker.
C) Target makes a ranged or area attack against an ally. Target will have a 30% chance to hit ally and takes 107.4 damage (see above, Opportunity Attack using Eldritch Strike).
D) Target moves away from me. The target cannot teleport thanks to feyslaughter weapon, antipathy gloves preventing shifting in any direction (assuming medium sized target whose space I'm in), and normal movement provokes OA for 107.4 damage. The target would have been better off not moving since it still takes the same penalty to attack rolls (or worse if target moves to make a melee/close attack since it will now suffer from both psychic lock and protective hex). In Conclusion This build is a better defender than my previous one (the human thief) because it can mimick a defender's mark/aura with penalties to attacks and punishment for disobeying marks/auras. And I did it all within the criteria I set for myself: No defender Hybrid or MC. There are of course weak points to this character that other defenders don't have (if built right): 1) The Catch-22 isn't very effective. Given options A) and B), the target would pick B). I would first have to get hit (possibly by someone else other than the target from the enemy team) to increase the target's chance of hitting me to 25%, or 35% if I'm bloodied, at which point the target will have a better chance of hitting me than my allies. 2) I can only defend against one enemy at a time, most encounters aren't solo. Then again, I could argue that enemies I'm not targetting have on average a 20% chance to hit me (40% after I do get hit), so they might consider attacking me anyways.
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1 year ago ::
Mar 07, 2012 - 3:06PM
#2
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Date Joined:
Feb 13, 2006
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Very nice. Quick question: how do you intend to generate CA? You really want it natively (and off turn), to maintain your sticky Mark of Findng and keep your punishment deadly.
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1 year ago ::
Mar 07, 2012 - 5:27PM
#3
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Date Joined:
Apr 25, 2002
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You can't use more than one style per attack. So no Impending Doom and Vigilante Styles in the same attack...
NETH4-1 Containing Shadow (co-author) Handbooks
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Builds
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1 year ago ::
Mar 07, 2012 - 5:48PM
#4
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Date Joined:
Jul 16, 2010
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What MwaO said. You won't find anything to that effect in the CB or online compendium, but the book that introduced the style feats (Martial Power?) specified that only one can modify the power at a time.
Also, onecrazymojo, what's generating CA for him are all the Thief tricks. You really don't need anything else with a Thief, especially since the "defender" part of this build assumes that an ally is adjacent to you, meaning it's very likely that Tactical Trick will apply.
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1 year ago ::
Mar 07, 2012 - 5:52PM
#5
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Date Joined:
Feb 26, 2006
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What MwaO said. You won't find anything to that effect in the CB or online compendium, but the book that introduced the style feats (Martial Power?) specified that only one can modify the power at a time.
Also, onecrazymojo, what's generating CA for him are all the Thief tricks. You really don't need anything else with a Thief, especially since the "defender" part of this build assumes that an ally is adjacent to you, meaning it's very likely that Tactical Trick will apply.
They don't generate off-turn CA though, so he would otherwise be dependant on flanking or other means for CA.
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1 year ago ::
Mar 07, 2012 - 5:53PM
#6
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Date Joined:
Jun 16, 2010
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@onecrazymojo: Spirit Breaker makes target grant CA if I attack it while it is rattled. Disheartening Ambush allows me to give up 1 die of Sneak Attack to give my attack the rattling keyword.
@Mommy_was_an_Orc: Sorry, I'm using the CB and it allowed me to add the feats. The feats' effects also show up on the power card for Riposte Strike, so I thought it was a legal move. Could you point me to where it says I can't use more than one style per attack?
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1 year ago ::
Mar 07, 2012 - 5:58PM
#7
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Date Joined:
Jun 16, 2010
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Er, pardon the double post. Thanks for verifying mommy's point, tobascodagama. Not stacking styles is going to kill my ability to defend... Gah! Will have to retrain a few feats 
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1 year ago ::
Mar 07, 2012 - 5:58PM
#8
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Date Joined:
Feb 19, 2006
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For reference its in Martial Power 2 at the very least, page 110.
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1 year ago ::
Mar 07, 2012 - 7:20PM
#9
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Date Joined:
Feb 13, 2006
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What MwaO said. You won't find anything to that effect in the CB or online compendium, but the book that introduced the style feats (Martial Power?) specified that only one can modify the power at a time.
Also, onecrazymojo, what's generating CA for him are all the Thief tricks. You really don't need anything else with a Thief, especially since the "defender" part of this build assumes that an ally is adjacent to you, meaning it's very likely that Tactical Trick will apply.
They don't generate off-turn CA though, so he would otherwise be dependant on flanking or other means for CA.
That was my initial point. But cuddlez has it under control with rattling. I seem to recall an easier way to add rattling to all your attacks other than giving up a sneak die, though....
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1 year ago ::
Mar 07, 2012 - 7:32PM
#10
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Date Joined:
Nov 16, 2007
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Also your riposte interrupt will do far less damage as it keys off of strength, and this character only has a 12.
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