What is your favorite Melee build?

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I_Am_King_Midas
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What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by I_Am_King_Midas » Sat Nov 11, 2017 7:36 pm

I'm open to it being a mundane class or one that augments its abilities with magic. I am looking for a characters whos focus though is melee combat and preferably a strength-based build. What are some of your favorites?

I see Ftr 20/Wm 7/ Ro 3 mentioned a bit. I have also heard that a Bard 20 / Harper Paragon 5/ Ftr 5 can be really good for melee with the ability to also use the divine power and might feats.

Any other suggestions? Thoughts on these?
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Baron Saturday
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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by Baron Saturday » Sat Nov 11, 2017 7:58 pm

Ftr/WM/Rog is pretty much the staple melee build. Don't know much about Bard/Harper Paragon/Ftr, but be aware of the RP requirements before going after that one.

Personally, I greatly enjoy quarterstaff builds. Ftr 18/Mnk 6/Rog 6 comes to mind, or Ranger 23/Mnk 3/Ftr 4 (though you're limited to divine wands, there).
Last edited by Baron Saturday on Sat Nov 11, 2017 10:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by Astral » Sat Nov 11, 2017 8:33 pm

My favourite is 20 bard, 3 fighter, 7 wm. However, I played in the old gift system and with full ASF reduction on greensteel items.
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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by Dalenger » Mon Nov 13, 2017 7:52 pm

Baron Saturday wrote: Personally, I greatly enjoy quarterstaff builds. Ftr 18/Mnk 6/Rog 6 comes to mind, or Ranger 23/Mnk 3/Ftr 4 (though you're limited to divine wands, there).
I've always wanted to play a nice stick-fighting gnoll. Quarterstaffs just aren't in a good place. :/ or has a reasonable build been made?
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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by Baron Saturday » Mon Nov 13, 2017 8:10 pm

Wait, how are quarterstaves not in a good place?
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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by Lurch » Mon Nov 13, 2017 8:11 pm

Fighter 18 / Monk 6 / Rogue 6 sounds very weird, almost like rogue and fighter levels should be the other way around.

Let's face it: monk forces you into an unarmored dex based build, so all the fighter shield and armor bonuses don't mean squat. Instead, try something like this: Rogue 16 / Monk 6 / Fighter 8, which gets more skills and way better sneak attacks, along with epic dodge out of the deal, for a few lost points of BAB.

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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by Baron Saturday » Mon Nov 13, 2017 8:18 pm

The fighter armor bonus applies to cloth as well, and the helmet bonus + an addy helm makes the shield spell redundant except for resisting missile spam. +6 discipline and +1 (soft) dex are also nice. You could certainly adjust the rogue/fighter ratio, though.

Actually, with blade thirst the way it is now, I prefer the ranger/monk combo, especially since it gives access to GSF Abjuration.
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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by Dalenger » Mon Nov 13, 2017 8:25 pm

Baron Saturday wrote:Wait, how are quarterstaves not in a good place?
I'm a bit far behind in the recent state of builds, haven't been able to play this semester due to overloading my schedule. Has some love trickled its way down the monks/quarterstaves?
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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by Baron Saturday » Mon Nov 13, 2017 8:33 pm

They're finessable, get +2 AB as a large weapon, benefit from monk APR, and they have a masterly damask variant. Personally I would pick quarterstaff over kama any day of the week.
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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by Aero Silver » Mon Nov 13, 2017 9:44 pm

Question:
Is the purpose of GSF Abjuration to give additional DC versus Breach spells?

Because from a role play perspective, Transmutation makes more sense to a ranger.
Abjuration only benefits a few spells, mainly Protection from Elements and Freedom of Movement.
On the other hand, Transmutation benefits Blade Thirst, Cat's Grace, Ultravision,
Camouflage, Entangle, Magic Fang, and a few others.
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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by Baron Saturday » Mon Nov 13, 2017 9:50 pm

GSF Transmutation might actually not be a terrible choice. It doesn't actually change anything on most of those, but a +1 to all the zoo buffs is nice, and -teleport is fantastic.

GSF Abjuration makes it so that the Shield spell gives you immunity to Isaac's Greater Missile Storm, which can be a Big Deal when going up against casters.
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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by gilescorey » Tue Nov 14, 2017 6:04 am

Dalenger wrote:Quarterstaffs just aren't in a good place.
They're in a very good place, basically being "large sized kamas with 2 more ab but can't use flurry of blows."

tl;dr, they aren't as good versus targets with less ac, better against those with more.

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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by High Primate » Tue Nov 14, 2017 2:18 pm

My favorite melee builds are generally the ones that are strength and charisma-based and use divine might and shield. Most of these builds have alignment restrictions though (you must be either LG, evil, or a harper); charisma battlecleric allows any alignment. Those that take paladin or Blackguard get very high saves, in addition to excellent AB, AC, and damage. More than that, high-charisma characters are just fun to play.

Some examples:

22 ftr/3 rogue/4 paladin or BG
20 Bard/6 ftr/4 paladin or BG
11 Ftr/16 BG/3 rogue or bard
23 Paladin/4 ftr/3 rogue or bard
20 Bard/5 ftr/5 Harper Paragon


All of these builds start with ~17 str and ~16-18 cha, putting all attributes into strength while leveling and gearing for str and cha.
Some builds I've worked on (not recommended):
Charisma Battlecleric
"E-Dodge Brycer"

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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by I_Am_King_Midas » Sat Nov 18, 2017 6:07 am

How would the Ftr 20 WM 7 Ro 3 compare against a battle priest for pvm or in their power level equivalently? Does anyone have a good build example of the ftr/wm/ro?
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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by Baron Saturday » Sat Nov 18, 2017 7:04 am

There's a guide to the WM builds here. It's one of the most "stable" builds out there in that none of the classes involved are likely to see major mechanical changes.

As for WM v Battlecleric, you have to understand that WM is dangerous and ready to kill at the drop of a penny, while Battlecleric requires lots (and lots and lots and lots) of time to buff to reach its full potential. In a PvM party, I would probably rather have a battlecleric, because of party buffs and other potential utility - access to all of the ESF spells is a tool that cannot be underestimated.

But if me and a buddy are just chilling out rping and suddenly Drow raiders pop outta nowhere? You bet I'm gonna want my buddy to be a WM.
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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by OutOfChwi » Sat Nov 18, 2017 11:37 pm

20/7/3 with the right scrolls and tactics will ruin just about any builds/classes day besides few big AC builds like PM.

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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by Astral » Sun Nov 19, 2017 4:52 pm

OutOfChwi wrote:20/7/3 with the right scrolls and tactics will ruin just about any builds/classes day besides few big AC builds like PM.
Is that the most powerful melee build or your favorite melee build?

A barbarian is arguably stronger than this in 1v1 in the current meta. Maybe a dedicated paladin too.
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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by BegoneThoth » Sun Nov 19, 2017 4:53 pm

It's the rock melee build. It's stable as hell basically all the time and never turns off unless you're crit immune, and even then it's good.
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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by OutOfChwi » Mon Nov 20, 2017 2:11 am

Astral wrote:
OutOfChwi wrote:20/7/3 with the right scrolls and tactics will ruin just about any builds/classes day besides few big AC builds like PM.
Is that the most powerful melee build or your favorite melee build?

A barbarian is arguably stronger than this in 1v1 in the current meta. Maybe a dedicated paladin too.
I have a Barb WM and its been my favourite. The cookie cutter WM is just consistently good against a variety of builds.

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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by I_Am_King_Midas » Mon Nov 20, 2017 12:49 pm

OutOfChwi wrote:
Astral wrote:
OutOfChwi wrote:20/7/3 with the right scrolls and tactics will ruin just about any builds/classes day besides few big AC builds like PM.
Is that the most powerful melee build or your favorite melee build?

A barbarian is arguably stronger than this in 1v1 in the current meta. Maybe a dedicated paladin too.
I have a Barb WM and its been my favourite. The cookie cutter WM is just consistently good against a variety of builds.
What build are you using for your Barb?

Also doesn’t the 20/7:3 build suffer from poor saves?
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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by OutOfChwi » Mon Nov 20, 2017 11:00 pm

With gear and bard I think you can get them pretty respectable. Im using 17/6/7 barb fighter wm kensai

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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by Barradoor » Tue Nov 21, 2017 7:09 am

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Palemaster or Battle Cleric.

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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by Astral » Tue Nov 21, 2017 8:13 am

Jeloran wrote: What build are you using for your Barb?

Also doesn’t the 20/7:3 build suffer from poor saves?
It doesn't. With spell craft, will save gear and some artefects later on you get really okay saves vs spells.

And about the barb build, I'm curious as well. I'd use 17 barb, 6 fighter, 7 wm and go kensai with two handed weapon. But that's a full on offense build with no tricks.
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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by OutOfChwi » Tue Nov 21, 2017 11:48 am

Astral wrote:
Jeloran wrote: What build are you using for your Barb?

Also doesn’t the 20/7:3 build suffer from poor saves?
It doesn't. With spell craft, will save gear and some artefects later on you get really okay saves vs spells.

And about the barb build, I'm curious as well. I'd use 17 barb, 6 fighter, 7 wm and go kensai with two handed weapon. But that's a full on offense build with no tricks.
Yep thats what I have, see above post. Its got no umd but it does hilarious damage. Probably one of the biggest dps in game.

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Re: What is your favorite Melee build?

Post by godhand- » Thu Nov 23, 2017 12:25 pm

I'm currently playing a kensai rogue/wm/shadow dancer with a scythe.
I opted not to do it, but if i went down the path of overwhelming critical i know my criticals would be around 300 at 30..... base hits roughly 80 damage each. But the issue with this is you NEED true strike pots to hit a wall when you're standing next to it, because power attack(-5) on a toon with 40 ab isn't really that practical.

Honestly even without the overwhelming critical its the most broken toon i've ever played, level 21 and i was soloing duergars....
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