Suggestions on a powerful fighter-y/frontliner type?

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Kaeladin
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Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2018 1:20 am

Suggestions on a powerful fighter-y/frontliner type?

Post by Kaeladin » Tue May 15, 2018 4:43 pm

Howdy all,

I'll be rolling up a new character on the mainland (just to mix things up). I'm looking for some suggestions of powerful melee/frontliner builds and maybe a few pro's/con's comparing them, if possible. A few things for my own criteria:

1) I am not really interested in PvP, although I'm not opposed to taking UMD.

2) I'm not wedded to any specific classes or races; the ones that stuck out to me so far were some mix of fighter/rogue/weapon master (a classic Arelith build), although I'd be curious how that stacks to the current generation of other melee types (e.g. maybe a heavier fighter or almost pure fighter? A rogue primary/WM/fighter? Post-change barbarians?)

3) I'll be traveling with a companion for a good chunk of the time, most likely a cleric of some sort.

Edit: 4) I HAVE consulted the linked build compendium (super helpful, thank you!). I'm looking more for expert opinions, especially when comparing pro's and con's.

Thank you all so much in advance!

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Baron Saturday
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Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2014 4:34 am

Re: Suggestions on a powerful fighter-y/frontliner type?

Post by Baron Saturday » Tue May 15, 2018 5:29 pm

If it's in the cookie-cutter thread, you can be assured that it's fairly powerful. The fighter/WM/rogue, in particular, remains the way it has for years because it's simply a very good way to build a fighter. It will out-damage pretty much every other fighter build in the thread, though it doesn't have as much tank potential as, say, the 23 fighter/4 paladin/3 rogue Brycer.

Compared to a pure 30 fighter, the 20/7/3 will do more damage thanks to WM crits, have better saves (WM gets reflex as a primary save, and rogue gives evasion), while having 3 less AC (3 fighter bonus & 6 tumble vs. 9 fighter bonus and 3 tumble), and 2 less AB (1 WM bonus vs. 3 fighter bonus).
Rolled: Helene d'Arque, Sara Lyonall
Shelved: Kels Vetian, Cin ys'Andalis, Saul Haidt
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Dr. B
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Re: Suggestions on a powerful fighter-y/frontliner type?

Post by Dr. B » Tue May 15, 2018 6:52 pm

Overall, the best melee build on Arelith is the Bard 20/fighter 6/blackguard or paladin 4; or its cousin, Bard 20/Fighter 5/Harper Paragon 5. It gets some of the highest AC and saves in the game, with access to Bard Song, spells, and solid damage output, though not as much as a WM. It is easy to level with early access to UMD, and can be effective and reliable without all its buffs. Its only drawback is that it can be dispelled and has lackluster HP compared to other melee classes, but this can be patched with some con gear and zoo buffs. The blackguard version has the additional benefit of being able to cast a Bulls Strength feat that stacks with the base spell. Go for Templar Armor and gear for +12 to str, cha, and con, fully buffed, and use curse song and taunt to reduce your enemies’ stats to smithereens. Dr. B’s #1 Recommended Melee Build.

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BegoneThoth
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Re: Suggestions on a powerful fighter-y/frontliner type?

Post by BegoneThoth » Tue May 15, 2018 6:58 pm

Monk spellsword is also good. Once they re-enable SS's I think the build is like 27/3 or 23/4/3 ss fight monk.

You can easily hit 70 or so mostly undispellable AC and have a respectable mid 40's ab with most of your damage being elemental and coming with a debuff, not to mention a very high APR from monk.
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