Tempest Trapmonkey for new players

[EllisDee37]

Last updated Jan 8th, 2017

This is a self-sufficient TWF trapper build with a decent range option. The achilles heal is low will saves, but that can be mitigated somewhat with spells and clickies. The original build concept was developed by unbongwah.

No tomes are required or listed. If you happen to have a +2 or better int tome, put the extra skill points toward maxing Open Lock, then the rest in Heal.

Alignment doesn't matter. In general True Neutral takes less damage from certain rare enemies, but non-neutral alignments open up the possibility for specialty twists in epics. eg: Your weapons bypass DR/Good if you're good aligned.

The build is written as human for dimension door, but you might prefer a different race. Elf, Dwarf and Drow variations are laid out in post 4.


Tempest Trapmonkey
18/1/1 Ranger/Fighter/Rogue


Level Order

1. Rogue . . . . . 6. Ranger. . . . .11. Ranger. . . . .16. Ranger
2. Ranger . . . . .7. Ranger . . . . 12. Ranger . . . . 17. Ranger
3. Ranger . . . . .8. Ranger . . . . 13. Ranger . . . . 18. Ranger
4. Fighter . . . . 9. Ranger. . . . .14. Ranger. . . . .19. Ranger
5. Ranger . . . . 10. Ranger . . . . 15. Ranger . . . . 20. Ranger


Stats
. . . . . . . .28pt . . 32pt . . 34pt . . 36pt . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ---- . . ---- . . ---- . . --------
Strength. . . . 16. . . .16. . . .18. . . .18. . . .4: STR
Dexterity . . . 14. . . .14. . . .14. . . .14. . . .8: STR
Constitution. . 14. . . .16. . . .14. . . .15. . . 12: STR
Intelligence. . 14. . . .14. . . .14. . . .14. . . 16: STR
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . . 8. . . . 8. . . . 8. . . 20: STR
Charisma. . . . .8. . . . 8. . . . 8. . . . 8. . . 24: STR
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28: STR

Skills
. . . . .Rg Rn Rn Fi Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn
. . . . . 1 .2 .3 .4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Concent . 2 .1 .1 . . 1. 1. 3. 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Disable . 4 .1 .1 .1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Search. . 4 .1 .1 . . 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Spot. . . 4 .1 .1 .1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
UMD . . . 4 .1 .1 . . 1. 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Open Lo . 4 .1 .1 .½. ½. . . . . .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .19
Balance . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Jump. . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Haggle. . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Heal. . . 2 . . . . . . . . . .1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Swim. . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Tumble. . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .44 .9 .9 .5. 9. 9. 9. 9. 9. 9. 9. 9. 9. 9. 9. 9. 9. 9. 9. 9


Feats

.1. . . . : Point Blank Shot
.1 Human. : Least Dragonmark: Passage
.2 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Undead
.3. . . . : Precision
.4 Fighter: Exotic Weapon: Khopesh
.6. . . . : Dodge
.7 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Construct
.9. . . . : Improved Critical: Slashing
12. . . . : Improved Critical: Ranged
12 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Giant
15. . . . : Empower Healing Spell
17 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Evil Outsider
18. . . . : Quicken Spell
21 Epic . : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic . : Mobility
26 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
27 Epic . : Epic Reflexes
28 Destiny: Doubleshot
29 Destiny: Deific Warding OR Dire Charge
30 Epic . : Epic Damage Reduction
30 Legend : Scion of: Arborea OR Astral Plane


Spells

Ranger

1. Resist Energy, Ram's Might, Jump, Merfolk's Blessing
2. Cure Light Wounds, Protection from Energy, Barkskin
3. Cure Moderate Wounds, Wild Instincts
4. Freedom of Movement, Cure Serious Wounds

Enhancements (80 AP)

Tempest (41 AP)

• Shield of Whirling Steel, Tempest, Graceful Death, Deflect Arrows, Whirlwind
  
  1. Improved Reaction III, Whirling Blades
  2. Improved Parry III, Whirling Blades, Sprint Boost I
  3. Storm Dancer, Whirling Blades, Strength
  4. Storm Tempest, The Growing Storm III, Whirling Blades, Strength
  5. Dual Perfection, A Thousand Cuts III, Whirling Blades, Dance of Death III

Deepwood Stalker (26 AP)

• Far Shot, Sneak Attack, Exposing Strike, Advanced Sneak Attack
  
  1. Increased Empathy III, Versatile Empathy II
  2. Survivalist, Skill Boost II
  3. Survivalist, Thrill of the Hunt III, Favored Hunter III
  4. Survivalist, Killer III

Human (9 AP)

• Damage Boost, Strength, Saves Boost
  
  1. Dragonmark Focus: Orien I, Improved Recovery
  2. Lesser Dragonmark: Dimension Door

Kensei (4 AP)

• Kensei Focus: Archery
  
  1. Haste Boost III

Leveling Guide

1. Hum0 Damage Boost; Hum1 Dragonmark Focus: Orien I, II
2. Tem0 Shield of Whirling Steel; Tem1 Item Defense I, II; Tem1 Whirling Blades
3. Tem2 Haste Boost I, II; Hum1 Skill Focus: Awareness I, II
4. Hum2 Lesser Dragonmark: Dimension Door; Hum2 Skill Focus: Nimble Fingers I, II
5. Hum1 Improved Recovery; Hum3 Improved Recovery
6. Hum3 Heroism; Hum4 Greater Heroism
7. Tem0 Tempest; Tem1 Item Defense III; Tem2 Whirling Blades
8. Tem1 Improved Reaction I, II, III; Tem2 Haste Boost III
9. Tem3 Storm Dancer; Tem3 Whirling Blades
10. Tem3 Strength; Tem4 Strength
11. Tem4 Storm Tempest; Tem4 Whirling Blades
12. Tem4 The Growing Storm I, II, III; Tem5 Dance of Death I
13. Tem5 Dance of Death II, III; Tem5 Dual Perfection
14. Tem0 Graceful Death; Tem0 Deflect Arrows; Tem5 Whirling Blades
15. DS0 Far Shot; DS1 Increased Empathy I, II, III
16. DS1 Versatile Empathy I, II; DS2 Survivalist
17. DS0 Sneak Attack; DS2 Skill Boost I; DS3 Survivalist
18. DS3 Thrill of the Hunt I, II, III; DS3 Favored Hunter I
19. (Bank 4 AP)
20. Reset All Trees

Destiny (24 AP)

Fury of the Wild

1. Tunnel Vision III, Primal Scream III
2. Acute Instincts III, Damage Reduction III
3. (none)
4. Gird Against Demons I, Sense Weakness III, Overwhelming Force III
5. Fury Eternal
6. Unbridled Fury

Twists of Fate (22 fate points)

1. Symetric Strikes (Tier 4 Primal)
2. Lithe (Tier 2 Shadowdancer)
3. Rejuvenation Cocoon (Tier 1 Primal)
4. Extra Action Boost (Tier 1 Dreadnought)

Rogue @ 1 for skills, Ranger 2-3 to race to TWF, Fighter @ 4 for Khopesh, then Ranger rest of the way.

This build used to optionally include cleaves, sacrificing range dps to fit them in, but this has been dropped due dance of death (tier 5 tempest) being a much better option.

Enhancements are different while leveling through heroics than they are in epics. In heroics, race to Greater Heroism in the human tree to help with trapping skills, then race to tempest Tier 5s for dps. The remaining heroic levels focus on deepwood stalker. Don't take level 19 until you have enough xp to also take 20, then reset all trees and take the final enhancements as listed. By this point you can scroll Greater Heroism. (Use skill boost for help with umd.)


Harper Variant

The build as written doesn't use the Harper Agent tree for two reasons: First, it's a premium feature, and thus not available to brand new players without spending money. And second, I don't personally use the Harper tree on my actual tempest trapmonkey on live. However, Know the Angles would increase your dps, so if you happen to have access to Harper Agent (starting as a VIP, maybe?) and want to make use of it, here's how I would fit it in:

- Drop the kensei tree entirely
- Cut back the human tree to 3 AP: Damage Boost & Improved Recovery
- Switch tempest sprint boost to haste boost, and take it to rank III

This saves 8 AP, which you then spend on Agent of Good, Toughness II, Know the Angles III. (You might prefer Awareness II to Toughness II.)

The net result is losing Sprint Boost and Dimension Door for Know the Angles. For me personally, I don't like this trade because I value movement over dps, but it's a perfectly valid choice to prefer dps.

If doing the Harper variant, the leveling plan through heroics remains the same. The change would take place at 20 when you reset all trees.


Tactics Variant

You might prefer having Dire Charge for crowd control. If so, at the same time you take dire charge you might want to use your free feat exchange to replace Empower Healing Spell with Stunning Blow for even more stunny goodness. You'll then want to work in a Stunning item as well as Insightful Combat Mastery. You might even want to squeeze in a Vertigo item to help out your Trips.

At first glance, Epic Boots of the Innocent looks promising for this, but those bonuses are all low. Cannith Crafting can provide +12 to all tactics with just a single Combat Mastery item, and in doing so you're leaving at least 5 points on the table since specific tactics effects go to +17 with cannith crafting, +20 with slave lord crafting.

[EllisDee37]

Casting Spells
The build as written only starts with 8 wisdom, and you need at least 11 wisdom to cast level 1 spells. (14 wisdom to cast level 4 spells.) When you first get spells at level 6, you'll want to find a wisdom item of at least +3 to allow spellcasting. Until you find a wisdom item you can use Owl's Wisdom potions in the market to get by with. They give you a temporary +4 wisdom that will allow you to memorize and cast your spells. Note that ship buffs often grant +2 wisdom, so that can reduce how much you need from gear.


Self Healing
I just use Cure Serious potions until I start getting cure spells, which come late: Cure Light at level 10, Cure Moderate at 13 and Cure Serious at 17. Once you get to epic levels you can twist in Rejuvenation Cocoon from Primal Avatar to be your main source of heals.


Combat
Your bread and butter melee attack is Dance of Death (level 12-13), which turns all your attacks into AoE attacks. This includes special attacks like Trip and Exposing Strike, though you don't get Exposing Strike until epics. The Growing Storm (level 11) is an excellent opener to any engagement; the cooldown means it should be available again for the next encounter. You also get 5 action boosts per rest (or 6 with ship buffs) -- up to 8 or 9 in epics -- and you can use both your human damage boost and kensei haste boost at the same time. Try to get in the habit of activating both when fighting any orange and red named bosses.

Your range burst DPS is actually pretty decent once you get Manyshot at level 8. Don't be afraid to pull out a bow at the drop of a hat. Once you get to epics, "Furyshot" (Manyshot + Unbridled Fury) is pretty darn fun. It's not true furyshot dps like you see from monkchers, but it's not nothing. Be sure to drink a haste pot and activate haste & damage boosts before engaging your furyshot to squeeze the most out of it.

In epics, Adrenaline Overload pairs nicely with Exposing Strike: +2[W] and +1 crit multiplier. Yummy!


Buffs
At creation you can use your dragonmark feat for expeditious retreat, which is a nice quality of life improvement. At level 6 you get Greater Heroism from the Human tree, which helps with saves and trapping skills. You also get the typical ranger spells: Resist Energy, Ram's Might, Freedom of Movement, Jump, Wild Instincts and Barkskin.


Trapping
The build as written spends points in trapping skills to give you some margin of error, but you'll still need trapping gear. If you're a crafter, making two sets of ML10 and ML15 gear that include insightfuls will cover all your needs from 10-30. (eg: Search +16 goggles of Insightful Search +8, ML15.) Until then, keep an eye on the auction house for trapping gear to hold you over.


Weapons
ML12 Water Khopeshes are pretty nice, since they have paralyzing. Otherwise just look for decent DPS lootgen khopeshes, or craft your own. I typically use a greatsword or falchion until level 4.


Weaknesses
Will saves are the bane of your existence. Greater Heroism at level 6 gives you immunity to fear, which is a huge help. At level 16 you get Freedom of Movement to make you immune to hold person, but until then holds can be pretty rough. Also annoying are command and greater command, which requires protection from evil to avoid. You can buy Protection from Evil potions in the Harbor and Market to grant immunity to Command, and Magic Circle against Evil scrolls in House Phiarlan to grant immunity to Greater Command. Similarly, magic missiles can get painful, so shield scrolls are worth UMDing in magic missile-heavy quests.

Of special note is level draining, which you need deathward to prevent. The visor of the flesh render from Tangleroot will be your best friend. They are BTA, so you can stock up with 4-5 of them and then pass them between alts via the shared bank. Another option is to bring hirelings that cast deathward, even if just to summon, cast it, then dismiss them. (You can always DDoor back from the middle of the quest to re-apply deathward as necessary.) Another option is the silver flame necklace from the necropolis packs, but that has limited uses. Once in epics you can buy long lasting deathward potions in Eveningstar for cleric commendations.

[EllisDee37]

See this thread for information on first life and/or leveling gear. I use the gearsets listed in the OP of that thread, including keeping my Cloak of Invisibility equipped until 30. Complete details of my 1-29 gear can be found here, but the <ML10 items in that list can no longer be crafted.


Here's what my Tempest Trapmonkey on live wears at 30:

Head: ML34 Intelligence 15 Helmet of Resistance 12 w/Ins. Fortification 79 (Water Breathing)
Eyes: ML34 Seeker 15 Goggles of Accuracy 23 w/Ins. Seeker 7
Neck: ML34 Constitution 15 Necklace of Spot 22 w/Ins. Constitution 7 (Deathblock)
Back: ML34 Wisdom 15 Cloak of Dodge Bonus 15 w/Ins. Wisdom 7 (Charisma +6)
Wrist: Greensteel Smoke
Hand: ML34 Melee Alacrity 15 Gloves of Deadly 12 w/Ins. Accuracy 11 (Feather Falling)
Waist: ML34 Doublestrike 17 Belt of Strength 15 w/Ins. Strength 7 (Fear Immunity)
Feet: ML34 Dexterity 15 Boots of Sheltering 38 w/Ins. Dexterity 7 (Striding 30%)
Ring: Epic Ring of the Stalker (Heavy Fort, Vitality)
Ring: ML34 Wizardry 310 Ring of False Life 57 w/Ins. PRR 18 (Blindness Immunity)
Trinket: ML34 Spell Saves 12 Trinket of Armor Piercing 23 w/Ins. Dodge Bonus 7
Body: ML34 Devotion 159 Celestial Leather of Healing Amp 61 w/Parrying 7 (Good Luck +2)

Weapons

Mainhand: Thunderforge Tier 2: 1st Degree Burns, Dragon's Edge
Offhand: ML34 Force 7d6 Adamantine Khopesh of Aligned w/Insightful Deadly 5 (Silver)
Longbow: Pinion

Fury of the Wild gives us Cold Iron bypass, which means the crafted offhand weapon breaks all alignment dr plus Silver, Adamantine and Cold Iron. And since it's a base +13 4[W] weapon, it's actually not bad in its own right. Plus it adds +5 insightful deadly for both weapons.

Swaps and Clickies

Pale Lavender Ioun Stone
Silver Flame Talisman (if PLIS runs out)
Visor of the Flesh Render (x4)
Cannith Boots of Propulsion
Cursed Blade of Jack Jibbers
Goggles of Search +22 w/Insightful Search +11
Goggles of Disable Device +22 w/Insightful Disable Device +11
Gloves of Open Lock +22 w/Insightful Open Lock +11
Helm of Haggle +22 w/Insightful Haggle +11


Dodge

25 dodge cap
2 ship buffs
---
27 dodge cap

20 MDB (Celestial Leather)
2 Mobility
6 Lithe (Shadowdancer Tier 2 twist)
----
28 MDB

15 Dodge item (cloak)
7 Insightful Dodge item (trinket)
3 Dodge (feat)
2 Mobility (feat)
----
27 Dodge


I prefer using cannith crafted for almost all my gear solely because I have a lot of characters, and cannith crafted is quick and easy to make. That way I can quickly gear him up and than start working on someone else. If this were my only character, I would consider this gearset a "starter" endgame set he'd equip to go out and farm up the real endgame gearset. For ideas on what real endgame tempest gear might look like, this thread looks promising: LE, Melee Rangers, And Your Gear!

[EllisDee37]

Here are three racial variations, color coded to help prevent accidentally following the wrong one.


Elf w/Scimitar, Dex-based with dragonmark for displacement

Push the second fighter level back to 5 so we can race to ranger 3 for dex to damage with scimitars. After getting dex to damage, race to the displacement dragonmark SLA, taking the Extend Spell feat solely for displacement. (Extended displacement: Yum!) Drop haste boost since we have no damage boost to pair it with.

Tempest Trapmonkey (Elf)
18/1/1 Ranger/Fighter/Rogue
True Neutral Elf


Level Order

1. Rogue           6. Ranger         11. Ranger         16. Ranger
2. Ranger          7. Ranger         12. Ranger         17. Ranger
3. Ranger          8. Ranger         13. Ranger         18. Ranger
4. Ranger          9. Ranger         14. Ranger         19. Ranger
5. Fighter        10. Ranger         15. Ranger         20. Ranger


Stats
               28pt     32pt     34pt     36pt     Level Up
               ----     ----     ----     ----     --------
Strength        10       10       10       10       4: DEX
Dexterity       18       18       20       20       8: DEX
Constitution    12       14       12       13      12: DEX
Intelligence    16       16       16       16      16: DEX
Wisdom           8        8        8        8      20: DEX
Charisma         8        8        8        8      24: DEX
                                                   28: DEX

Skills
         Rg Rn Rn Rn Fi Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn
          1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
         ------------------------------------------------------------
Concent   2  1  1  1     1  1  3  2  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Disable   4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Search    4  1  1  1     2  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Spot      4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
UMD       4  1  1  1     1  2  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Open Lo   4  1  1  1  ½  ½           1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  19
Balance   4                                                            4
Jump      4                                                            4
Haggle    4                                                            4
Heal      2                       1                                    3
Swim      3                                                            3
Tumble    1                                                            1
         ------------------------------------------------------------
         44  9  9  9  5  9  9  9  9  9  9  9  9  9  9  9  9  9  9  9


Feats

 1        : Point Blank Shot
 2 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Undead
 3        : Least Dragonmark: Shadow
 5 Fighter: Precision
 6        : Extend Spell
 7 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Construct
 9        : Improved Critical: Slashing
12        : Improved Critical: Ranged
12 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Giant
15        : Empower Healing Spell
17 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Evil Outsider
18        : Quicken Spell
21 Epic   : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic   : Dodge
26 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
27 Epic   : Epic Reflexes
28 Destiny: Doubleshot
29 Destiny: Deific Warding OR Dire Charge
30 Epic   : Epic Damage Reduction
30 Legend : Scion of: Arborea OR Astral Plane


Spells

Ranger
Jump, Ram's Might, Resist Energy, Merfolk's Blessing
Cure Light Wounds, Protection from Energy, Barkskin
Cure Moderate Wounds, Wild Instincts
Freedom of Movement, Cure Serious Wounds

Enhancements (80 AP)

Tempest (42 AP)
Shield of Whirling Steel, Tempest, Graceful Death, Deflect Arrows, Whirlwind
Item Defense I, Improved Reaction III, Whirling Blades
Improved Parry III, Whirling Blades, Sprint Boost I
Storm Dancer, Whirling Blades, Dexterity
Storm Tempest, The Growing Storm III, Whirling Blades, Dexterity
Dual Perfection, A Thousand Cuts III, Whirling Blades, Dance of Death III
Deepwood Stalker (26 AP)
Far Shot, Sneak Attack, Exposing Strike, Advanced Sneak Attack
Increased Empathy II, Versatile Empathy II
Survivalist, Improved Weapon Finesse, Skill Boost II
Survivalist, Thrill of the Hunt III, Favored Hunter I, Dexterity
Survivalist, Killer III
Elf (12 AP)
Elven Accuracy, Elven Dexterity
Phiarlan Dragonmark Focus III, Keen Senses II
Lesser Dragonmark of Shadow
Greater Dragonmark of Shadow
Leveling Guide
(Bank 4 AP)
Tem0 Shield of Whirling Steel; Tem1 Item Defense I; Tem1 Whirling Blades; Tem1 Improved Reaction I; (Bank 3 AP)
DS0 Far Shot; DS1 Increased Empathy I, II; DS1 Versatile Empathy I, II; DS2 Improved Weapon Finesse; (Bank 1 AP)
Tem0 Tempest; Elf0 Elven Accuracy; Elf0 Elven Dexterity; Elf1 Phiarlan Dragonmark Focus I
Elf1 Keen Senses I, II; Elf1 Phiarlan Dragonmark Focus II, III
Elf2 Lesser Dragonmark of Shadow; Elf3 Greater Dragonmark of Shadow
Tem2 Sprint Boost I; Tem2 Whirling Blades; Tem2 Improved Parry I
Tem3 Dexterity; Tem3 Storm Dancer
Tem3 Whirling Blades; Tem1 Improved Reaction II, III
Tem2 Improved Parry II, III; Tem4 Storm Tempest
Tem4 The Growing Storm I, II, III; Tem0 Graceful Death
Tem4 Dexterity; Tem4 Whirling Blades
Tem5 Dance of Death I, II, III; (Bank 1 AP)
Tem0 Deflect Arrows; Tem5 Whirling Blades; Tem5 Dual Perfection
Tem5 A Thousand Cuts I, II, III; DS0 Sneak Attack
DS2 Skill Boost I, II; DS2 Survivalist
DS3 Dexterity; DS3 Survivalist
DS0 Exposing Strike; DS3 Thrill of the Hunt I, II, III
DS3 Favored Hunter I; DS4 Killer I, II, III
Tem0 Whirlwind; DS0 Advanced Sneak Attack; DS4 Survivalist

Destiny (24 AP)

Fury of the Wild
Tunnel Vision III, Primal Scream III
Acute Instincts III, Damage Reduction III
(none)
Gird Against Demons I, Sense Weakness III, Overwhelming Force III
Fury Eternal
Unbridled Fury
Twists of Fate (22 fate points)
Symetric Strikes (Tier 4 Primal)
Lithe (Tier 2 Shadowdancer)
Rejuvenation Cocoon (Tier 1 Primal)
Unearthly Reactions (Tier 1 Magister)

Dwarf w/Dwarven Axe, Strength-based

Push the fighter level back to 5 only so that you can take tempest strength @ 4 to pair with the levelup in strength. Use dwarven axe instead of khopesh for flavor. Khopesh is actually better, so feel free to take khopesh @ 5 with the fighter bonus feat, moving dodge to 6 and mobility to 24 instead of TWD. No dragonmark, and no haste boost since there's no damage boost to pair it with.

After taking everything available that we want from tempest, spend "temporary" points in deepwood stalker until level 12. At 12, reset deepwood stalker and take all the tier 5 tempest goodies immediately. Woohoo! Spend the remaining points back into deepwood stalker.

Tempest Trapmonkey (Dwarf)
18/1/1 Ranger/Fighter/Rogue
True Neutral Dwarf


Level Order

1. Rogue           6. Ranger         11. Ranger         16. Ranger
2. Ranger          7. Ranger         12. Ranger         17. Ranger
3. Ranger          8. Ranger         13. Ranger         18. Ranger
4. Ranger          9. Ranger         14. Ranger         19. Ranger
5. Fighter        10. Ranger         15. Ranger         20. Ranger


Stats
               28pt     32pt     34pt     36pt     Level Up
               ----     ----     ----     ----     --------
Strength        16       16       18       18       4: STR
Dexterity       14       14       14       14       8: STR
Constitution    16       18       16       16      12: STR
Intelligence    14       14       14       14      16: STR
Wisdom           8        8        8        8      20: STR
Charisma         6        6        6        8      24: STR
                                                   28: STR

Skills
         Rg Rn Rn Rn Fi Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn
          1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
         ------------------------------------------------------------
Concent   2     2  2     1  2     2  2     2     2     2     2     2  23
Disable   4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Search    4  1  1  1     2  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Spot      4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
UMD       4  1  1  1     1  1  2  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Open Lo   4  1                          1     1     1     1     1     10
Balance   4                                                            4
Jump      4                                                            4
Haggle    4                                                            4
Swim      3                                                            3
Tumble    1                                                            1
         ------------------------------------------------------------
         40  8  8  8  4  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8


Feats

 1        : Point Blank Shot
 2 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Undead
 3        : Precision
 5 Fighter: Dodge
 6        : Mobility
 7 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Construct
 9        : Improved Critical: Slashing
12        : Improved Critical: Ranged
12 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Giant
15        : Empower Healing Spell
17 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Evil Outsider
18        : Quicken Spell
21 Epic   : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic   : Two Weapon Defense
26 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
27 Epic   : Epic Reflexes
28 Destiny: Doubleshot
29 Destiny: Deific Warding OR Dire Charge
30 Epic   : Epic Damage Reduction
30 Legend : Scion of: Arborea OR Astral Plane


Spells

Ranger
Resist Energy, Ram's Might, Jump, Merfolk's Blessing
Cure Light Wounds, Protection from Energy, Barkskin
Cure Moderate Wounds, Wild Instincts
Freedom of Movement, Cure Serious Wounds

Enhancements (80 AP)

Tempest (42 AP)
Shield of Whirling Steel, Tempest, Graceful Death, Deflect Arrows, Whirlwind
Item Defense I, Improved Reaction III, Whirling Blades
Improved Parry III, Whirling Blades, Sprint Boost I
Storm Dancer, Whirling Blades, Strength
Storm Tempest, The Growing Storm III, Whirling Blades, Strength
Dual Perfection, A Thousand Cuts III, Whirling Blades, Dance of Death III
Deepwood Stalker (31 AP)
Far Shot, Sneak Attack, Exposing Strike, Advanced Sneak Attack, Mark of the Hunted
Favored Defense II, Increased Empathy III, Versatile Empathy II
Survivalist, Skill Boost II
Survivalist, Thrill of the Hunt III, Favored Hunter III
Survivalist, Killer III, Merciful Shot
Dwarf (7 AP)
Dwarven Toughness, Dwarven Constitution, Dwarven Toughness II, Dwarven Constitution II, Dwarven Toughness III
Leveling Guide
Dwf0 Dwarven Toughness; (Bank 3 AP)
Tem0 Shield of Whirling Steel; Tem1 Item Defense I; Tem1 Whirling Blades; Tem1 Improved Reaction I, II, III
Tem2 Sprint Boost I; Tem2 Whirling Blades; Tem2 Improved Parry I
Tem0 Tempest; Tem3 Strength; Tem2 Improved Parry II
Tem3 Storm Dancer; Tem3 Whirling Blades
Tem2 Improved Parry III; Tem4 The Growing Storm I, II, III
Tem4 Storm Tempest; Tem4 Whirling Blades
Tem4 Strength; DS0 Far Shot; DS1 Increased Empathy I
DS1 Increased Empathy II, III; DS1 Versatile Empathy I, II
DS2 Survivalist; DS2 Skill Boost I, II
DS0 Sneak Attack; DS0 Exposing Strike; DS3 Survivalist
Reset Deepwood Stalker
Deepwood Stalker: Far Shot, Sneak Attack
Favored Defense II, Increased Empathy III
Tempest: Graceful Death
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
Dual Perfection, A Thousand Cuts III, Whirling Blades, Dance of Death III
DS2 Survivalist; DS2 Skill Boost I; DS0 Exposing Strike
Tem0 Deflect Arrows; DS3 Survivalist; DS2 Skill Boost II
DS1 Versatile Empathy I; DS3 Thrill of the Hunt I, II, III
DS3 Favored Hunter I, II; DS0 Advanced Sneak Attack; DS3 Favored Hunter III
DS4 Killer I, II, III; DS1 Versatile Empathy II
DS4 Survivalist; DS4 Merciful Shot
Dwf0 Dwarven Constitution; Dwf0 Dwarven Toughness II; (Bank 1 AP)
Tem0 Whirlwind; DS0 Mark of the Hunted; Dwf0 Dwarven Constitution II; Dwf0 Dwarven Toughness III

Destiny (24 AP)

Fury of the Wild
Tunnel Vision III, Primal Scream III
Acute Instincts III, Damage Reduction III
(none)
Gird Against Demons I, Sense Weakness III, Overwhelming Force III
Fury Eternal
Unbridled Fury
Twists of Fate (22 fate points)
Symetric Strikes (Tier 4 Primal)
Lithe (Tier 2 Shadowdancer)
Rejuvenation Cocoon (Tier 1 Primal)
Unearthly Reactions (Tier 1 Magister)

Drow w/Rapier, Int-based Harper Agent

Note: This variant requires access to both drow (easily unlocked via favor) and harper agent (probably a TP purchase, unless you can unlock via favor with an epic alt) but no other premium features are required.

Take insightful reflexes immediately. Race up the harper tree to get int to attack and damage, grabbing know the angles along the way for some nice dps. Use rapiers instead of khopesh for flavor. Khopesh is actually better, so feel free to take khopesh @ 4 with the fighter bonus feat, moving dodge to 24 and dropping mobility. No dragonmark, and no haste boost since there's no damage boost to pair it with.

Tempest Trapmonkey (Drow)
18/1/1 Ranger/Fighter/Rogue
True Neutral Drow


Level Order

1. Rogue           6. Ranger         11. Ranger         16. Ranger
2. Ranger          7. Ranger         12. Ranger         17. Ranger
3. Ranger          8. Ranger         13. Ranger         18. Ranger
4. Fighter         9. Ranger         14. Ranger         19. Ranger
5. Ranger         10. Ranger         15. Ranger         20. Ranger


Stats
               28pt     30pt     32pt     Level Up
               ----     ----     ----     --------
Strength        10       12       12       4: INT
Dexterity       14       14       14       8: INT
Constitution    12       12       13      12: INT
Intelligence    20       20       20      16: INT
Wisdom           8        8        8      20: INT
Charisma        10       10       10      24: INT
                                          28: INT

Skills
         Rg Rn Rn Fi Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn
          1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
         ------------------------------------------------------------
Concent   2  2  2     1  2  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Heal      2                    2  3  3  3  1  1  1  1  2     2     2  23
Disable   4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Open Lo   4  1  1     1  1  2  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Search    4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Spot      4  1  1     2  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
UMD       4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Haggle    4                                1  1  1  1  1  2  1  2  1  15
Jump      4  1  1  1  1  1     1                                      10
Bluff     4                                                            4
Diplo     4                                                            4
Balance   4                                                            4
Swim      3                                                            3
Tumble    1                                                            1
         ------------------------------------------------------------
         52 11 11  7 11 11 11 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 13 13


Feats

 1        : Insightful Reflexes
 2 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Undead
 3        : Precision
 4 Fighter: Dodge
 6        : Point Blank Shot
 7 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Construct
 9        : Improved Critical: Slashing
12        : Improved Critical: Ranged
12 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Giant
15        : Empower Healing Spell
17 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Evil Outsider
18        : Quicken Spell
21 Epic   : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic   : Mobility
26 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
27 Epic   : Epic Reflexes
28 Destiny: Doubleshot
29 Destiny: Deific Warding OR Dire Charge
30 Epic   : Epic Damage Reduction
30 Legend : Scion of: Arborea OR Astral Plane


Spells

Ranger
Jump, Ram's Might, Resist Energy, Merfolk's Blessing
Cure Light Wounds, Protection from Energy, Barkskin
Cure Moderate Wounds, Wild Instincts
Freedom of Movement, Cure Serious Wounds

Enhancements (80 AP)

Tempest (42 AP)
Shield of Whirling Steel, Tempest, Graceful Death, Deflect Arrows, Whirlwind
Improved Reaction III, Improved Defense III, Whirling Blades
Improved Parry III, Whirling Blades, Sprint Boost III
Storm Dancer, Whirling Blades
Storm Tempest, The Growing Storm III, Whirling Blades
Dual Perfection, A Thousand Cuts III, Whirling Blades, Dance of Death III
Deepwood Stalker (26 AP)
Far Shot, Sneak Attack, Exposing Strike, Advanced Sneak Attack
Increased Empathy III, Versatile Empathy II
Survivalist, Skill Boost II
Survivalist, Thrill of the Hunt III, Favored Hunter III
Survivalist, Killer III
Harper Agent (12 AP)
Agent of Good I
Harper Enchantment, Strategic Combat, Awareness II
Know the Angles III
Strategic Combat
Leveling Guide
Hrp0 Agent of Good I; Hrp1 Strategic Combat; Hrp1 Awareness I
Hrp1 Harper Enchantment; Hrp2 Know the Angles I, II
Hrp2 Know the Angles III; Hrp1 Awareness II; Hrp3 Strategic Combat
Tem0 Shield of Whirling Steel; Tem1 Improved Reaction I, II, III
Tem1 Improved Defense I; Tem0 Tempest; Tem2 Sprint Boost I; Tem2 Improved Parry I
Tem1 Whirling Blades; Tem2 Whirling Blades
Tem3 Storm Dancer; Tem3 Whirling Blades
Tem2 Improved Parry II, III; Tem2 Sprint Boost II, III
Tem4 Storm Tempest; Tem4 Whirling Blades
Tem4 The Growing Storm I, II, III; Tem0 Graceful Death
Tem1 Improved Defense II, III; (Bank 2 AP)
Tem5 Dance of Death I, II, III; Tem5 A Thousand Cuts I, II, III
Tem5 Dual Perfection; Tem5 Whirling Blades
Tem0 Deflect Arrows; DS0 Far Shot; DS1 Increased Empathy I, II
DS1 Versatile Empathy I, II; DS2 Survivalist
DS2 Skill Boost I, II; DS0 Sneak Attack; DS0 Exposing Strike
DS3 Survivalist; DS3 Thrill of the Hunt I, II
DS3 Thrill of the Hunt III; DS3 Favored Hunter I, II, III
DS1 Increased Empathy III; DS0 Advanced Sneak Attack; DS4 Survivalist
Tem0 Whirlwind; DS4 Killer I, II, III

Destiny (24 AP)

Fury of the Wild
Tunnel Vision III, Primal Scream III
Acute Instincts III, Damage Reduction III
(none)
Gird Against Demons I, Sense Weakness III, Overwhelming Force III
Fury Eternal
Unbridled Fury
Twists of Fate (22 fate points)
Symetric Strikes (Tier 4 Primal)
Lithe (Tier 2 Shadowdancer)
Rejuvenation Cocoon (Tier 1 Primal)
Unearthly Reactions (Tier 1 Magister)

[mna]

Excellent.

Dragonmarks aside, what about the proficiency thing for non-humans? I for example have some of the dwarf variant, is khopesh still better than D-axe or heavy pick even if I take the racial enhancements?



(Hm, what were the Kundarak SLAs again, Neutralize Poison and Glyphs of Warding?)

[EllisDee37]

Oh, good call. Yeah, if you use non-human I'd go with the racial weapon of choice. (d.axe, scimiies or rapiers) I'll add a note.

[BOgre]

1) I think you probably don't need any investment in Jump. As is by 25 you're sitting at 42 or so, so at the very least those 4 points could go to Open Lock. I keep the spell loaded simply because there are non Jumpers in my static group.

2) I like to solo in Legendary Dred, and as such I need some Improved Sunder. I'd pick that over Quicken. In the same vein, it seems silly to invest so strongly into Concentration and then also take Quicken. Me, I'd drop the Concentration as well as the Quicken, mainly because 99% of a Ranger TT's spells are out of combat. If I'm swarmed and can't get off a heal, I'll jump away and Heal on the fly. But at the very least, EITHER invest in Quicken OR Concentration, right? Again, more points to Open Lock.

3) I haven't run enough yet to know if the new Disable/Open DCs in epic content are even doable by a Ranger TT, or any shallow splashed rog/arti. I'm holding off on the LR+20 until I see for myself whether or not remaining a trapmonkey is viable. It seems to me that if Turb really did adjust trap/lock DCs, then it may be time to abandon that particular aspect of the TT's Jack-of-all-trade-edness, in favor of focusing on DPS/Heal. I'd love to still be able to unlock Shroud puzzles at the very least, so I stocked up on Cove Greater Dowsing Rods, but haven't tested them in the field yet.

[EllisDee37]

1) I think you probably don't need any investment in Jump. As is by 25 you're sitting at 42 or so, so at the very least those 4 points could go to Open Lock. I keep the spell loaded simply because there are non Jumpers in my static group.

It's not possible to put those 4 points from jump into open lock; those are spent on level 1, and on level 1 both jump & OL get the full four points.

2) I like to solo in Legendary Dred, and as such I need some Improved Sunder. I'd pick that over Quicken. In the same vein, it seems silly to invest so strongly into Concentration and then also take Quicken. Me, I'd drop the Concentration as well as the Quicken, mainly because 99% of a Ranger TT's spells are out of combat. If I'm swarmed and can't get off a heal, I'll jump away and Heal on the fly. But at the very least, EITHER invest in Quicken OR Concentration, right? Again, more points to Open Lock.

The only spells to cast are long duration buffs and heals, so the bulk of spellcasting will be in-combat. Concentration is for EH and under, quicken is for if you want to play EE. Concentration is also for scroll healing if you need to conserve mana for whatever reason.

3) I haven't run enough yet to know if the new Disable/Open DCs in epic content are even doable by a Ranger TT, or any shallow splashed rog/arti. I'm holding off on the LR+20 until I see for myself whether or not remaining a trapmonkey is viable. It seems to me that if Turb really did adjust trap/lock DCs, then it may be time to abandon that particular aspect of the TT's Jack-of-all-trade-edness, in favor of focusing on DPS/Heal. I'd love to still be able to unlock Shroud puzzles at the very least, so I stocked up on Cove Greater Dowsing Rods, but haven't tested them in the field yet.

I would be very surprised if this build couldn't handle traps on heroic elite for bravery. It starts with 14 int, takes full ranks and even tosses in another several points from enhancements. (Enhancement totals are +3 search & spot, +5 disable & OL.)

Note that OL is largely a dump skill. My TT on live before the pass wasn't able to open the MotU locks of note anyway -- DC of 80 IIRC -- so why bother chasing an unattainable goal, y'know? Instead, just go for a reasonable OL so you can hit most of them while leveling.

[BOgre]

It's not possible to put those 4 points from jump into open lock; those are spent on level 1, and on level 1 both jump & OL get the full four points.

The only spells to cast are long duration buffs and heals, so the bulk of spellcasting will be in-combat. Concentration is for EH and under, quicken is for if you want to play EE. Concentration is also for scroll healing if you need to conserve mana for whatever reason.

I would be very surprised if this build couldn't handle traps on heroic elite for bravery. It starts with 14 int, takes full ranks and even tosses in another several points from enhancements. (Enhancement totals are +3 search & spot, +5 disable & OL.)

Note that OL is largely a dump skill. My TT on live before the pass wasn't able to open the MotU locks of note anyway -- DC of 80 IIRC -- so why bother chasing an unattainable goal, y'know? Instead, just go for a reasonable OL so you can hit most of them while leveling.

My mistake, I'm looking at it from the perspective of my L25, instead of new player. Yes, in Heroic content he should be just fine.
As to casting in combat, you're talking about just heals right? And there I rely on jump and terrain to give me the coupla seconds I need, but I can see as a new player having uninterruptable heals as a desirable.

Anyways, nice work on the build.

[thouston]

have been eagerly awaiting this build since you mentioned that you were working on one.
i will be doing a dwarf version

many thanks to you and others, for sharing your knowledge

[karl_k0ch]

Did you consider taking the Dodge feat for some additional Damage Mitigation (iirc, there are some enhancements in the Tempest Tree which further enhance this)?

Post-Update, some Sschindlyryn Lock and Trap DCs were at roughly 80 on EH.

[MartinusWyllt]

I wonder if more AA and less tempest could result in more utility for a new player?

Can access paralyzing/smiting/banishing through enhancements that way as those take some time to acquire if you're actually new.

I just tested the smiting/metalline on a 1st life elf ranger/rogue/arti (11/3/2) in the manufactury last night and was relatively pleased. I feel like a smiting repeater would have had been faster, but could still effectively get through on manyshot and kiting.

[SiliconShadow]

I tried to come up with a 15/3/2 ranger/rogue/fighter variant but I kept running into issues. Either skills took a major hit, or the self-healing and evasion was backloaded too late in the heroic levels. In the end, 18/1/1 seemed like the best compromise. The end result certainly isn't hurting for either feats or sneak attack damage.

I found that 12 Ranger / 6 Rogue / 2 Fighter gave the most skill points and feats and also actually the most dps.

First life sitting at a 47 DD at 25 naked and more importantly self buffed a 41 UMD.

The new update has dropped this unless you take mechanic but purely taking tempest/kensai/human the dps is fantastic (Playing with 12 Ranger / 6 Kensai / 2 Druid to go even more dps)

Remember you can dump dexterity, reflex can be heroism pots early on. Fighter isn't needed in this setup until later on for epic feats either so you can go 1 rogue, 12 ranger, 5 rogue, 2 fighter.

Taking Cleave, PA, Great Cleave, ICS unlocking overwhelming critical to stack with the primal epic destiny or if you are trash mob mostly dreadnought.

Even with basic gear this build destroys everything and has high survivability (29 dodge with twists and dun robar ring) and a max dodge cap of 32 which gets filled by the primal buff when it activates.

Having dropped mechanic I sit at a 51 DD with +17 item only unbuffed and no int item giving me a possible:
LEVEL 25 not 28! (You can go +3 more base + 3 more from stats and +8 more from items at 28)
+7 tools
+4 GH
+1 Ship Buffs
+4 from intelligence item swap outs
Totalling 66 Add in a human skill boost you can disable any trap I know in the game on a 1, most are only a 60 DC anyway on EE that I have come across.

[Bolo_Grubb]

the core enhancement of Graceful Death (in the tempest tree) uses Dex for damage when using light weapons.

mmm

If I take finesse, then the "to hit" and damage are both Dex based. My current 18/1/1 Ranger/fighter/rogue uses just short swords and rapiers. I might be willing to change the level splits to increase DPS and utility.

Wonder how much I could lower str?

[EllisDee37]

A dex-based ranger is a cool build concept that should be plenty viable with the enhancement pass. It's different enough to merit its own thread, I think.

[randomcleric]

Seriously new here...would I want to be using light armor for the most part for this build?

[unbongwah]

Seriously new here...would I want to be using light armor for the most part for this build?

Light armor (or robes) is a requirement for Evasion to work; also rog & rgr only get lt armor prof. Ftr provides med & hvy armor prof, though, and this build doesn't get Evasion until lvl 11 (rgr 9 / rog 1 / ftr 1). So, from lvls 2-10, you can wear any armor you want; once you have Evasion, though, you should switch full-time to lt armor.

[randomcleric]

Light armor (or robes) is a requirement for Evasion to work; also rog & rgr only get lt armor prof. Ftr provides med & hvy armor prof, though, and this build doesn't get Evasion until lvl 11 (rgr 9 / rog 1 / ftr 1). So, from lvls 2-10, you can wear any armor you want; once you have Evasion, though, you should switch full-time to lt armor.

thanks for the quick reply

[gorocz]

Hi, I'm playing multiclassed Tempest (2nd life, level 8 atm) as well and since I plan to TR as soon as possible (buying the heart for Epic Tokens, so around lvl 22), I was wondering if it wouldn't be better to pick a different multiclass than the Fighter (with the free +20 LR), since the extra fighter feat is no longer "needed" for Tempest and would only be useful to me to be able to have both Haste and Sprint boosts. And so I went through the classes to find an interesting combo and two of them came up (keep in mind it's mostly for heroic levels and soloing thereof):

Barbarian - makes up for the Sprint Boost with Fast Movement and also if you put a couple of points into FrB enhancements, you can Rage to get Sprint Boost in addition to the Fast Movement (as well as other bonuses), on the other hand it has the downside of not being able to cast or search/disable when raged and you are fatigued afterwards, which would require you to chug Lesser Resto pots or something...

Wizard - yes, wizard - you get a load of Spell Points (increased even more by INT modifier, which is nice), as well as Echoes of Power (from Magical Training) and a wizard bonus feat, which could be the Quicken (allowing you to not take concentration) or Mental Toughness (increasing your spell point pool even more). You also get +2 will save, which isn't something to frown upon, downside being a bit of a hinderance in your BAB progression, but since you really want to take this level only after you get CLW (i.e. level 10), it doesn't hinder getting Improved Critical...

Thoughts?

[AbyssalMage]

Thanks, not looking forward to updating my Tempest but this gives me a starting place. Dropping the Fighter and Rogue for pure ranger is so tempting lol.