The Arcane Warrior - 3 different builds

[CThruTheEgo]

Update:

I'm about to TR out of this build and I just wanted to pop in here to say, the int-based half-elf version in post #30 worked surprisingly well. It performed very well in EE's, much better than I expected tbh. After taking a break from the game for several months, I was in the mid 20s with this build when I returned to the game, and I never brought it into reaper so I have no idea how it would perform there.

Survivability was excellent. Arcane barrier is awesome and saved me from my reckless playstyle countless times. If I was in a group and things went south, I was often the last one standing.

Melee dps was pretty solid also. I often led kill counts (for whatever that's worth), though not always by a large margin.

Casting dps was just OK, but it offered some nice versatility. Although I did not use casting dps all the time, I enjoyed having it available when I wanted it.

SP only became an issue when I relied heavily on casting dps. For this reason, if you want the casting dps option, I think int based is a necessity, unless you don't mind chugging pots.

Four cleaves and energy burst makes for some awesome AoE dps, and arcane barrier helps with the damage you inevitably take with that playstyle. Great synergy throughout the build.

Thanks to all who helped work out the details, especially to unbongwah who pointed out the helf possibility in the first place. It was a lot of fun to play.

End update.

The Builds:
Post #2: Str-based Bladeforged
Post #3: Str-based Human with Wraith form
Post #4: Int-based Warforged with Harper
Post #30: Int-based Half-elf with harper, fire specced in divine crusader

These are all arcane melee builds that utilize some combination of kensai, stalwart defender, and eldritch knight. The first build, and probably the strongest overall, is a str based bladeforged which invests heavily into the racial tree for communion of scribing and power of the forge. This build probably has the highest dps and best self healing with two quickened reconstructs available. The second is a str based human that invests heavily into pale master for wraith form. This build will have lower base dps, comparable burst dps, healing over time with weaker burst healing, and lower damage mitigation with higher damage avoidance. The third build is an int based warforged that invests in harper for int to hit and damage, know the angles, and versatile adept. I'll give each build it's own post below. Please let me know if you see any errors. As always, any and all feedback is welcome. Thanks in advance.

My Reasoning:
With the recent changes to kensai, eldritch knight multiclass builds now have easier access to crit enhancements. In the past, I had considered an eldritch swashbuckler, but was never pleased with the results. The synergy just wasn't quite there. Kensai, however, has introduced some decent options. It may not even be fair to call these builds eldritch kensais because I don't invest heavily into eldritch knight. Although there is some decent low hanging fruit, the higher tiers are simply not worth the investment imo. Nevertheless, these are all arcane melee builds. Spells are used primarily for buffs and convenience, but there are a few no-save damage spells as well. These are definitely not uber endgame builds. At this point, I haven't played any of them so it's all still theory-crafting. On paper at least, they should perform just fine even in EE content. I probably wouldn't take them into LE though (well, maybe one of them if properly maxed out).

My initial assumption was to go int based and use harper for int to hit and damage as well as undead form for the self healing. This proves to be rather difficult, however, as AP can get spread pretty thin. Here are the basics I started with for each of these builds:

~32 minimum in kensai and at least 6 fighter levels for one with the blade (20 melee power), keen edge (+1 crit range), and strike with no thought (+1 crit multiplier)
~13 minimum in stalwart defender for defensive stance (25 PRR/MRR) and tenacious defense (+20% hp)
~13 minimum in eldritch knight for improved shield (10 PRR) and arcane barrier (take 25% less damage for 20 seconds when below 50% health)

With these basics, that only leaves 22 AP. Self healing is essential and, on an eldritch kensai, that's either going to be repairs on a warforged/bladeforged, or undead form on a fleshy. With this in mind, I came up with three different variations. I built each of them for THF because that's what I want for my next build, but each of them would work equally well with SWF. Just swap those feats and you're done. A sword and board arcane melee would probably have quite a few differences from these builds (e.g. shield mastery feats and invest in vanguard), so these builds may not translate well into that fighting style. I wouldn't build a TWF arcane melee because there is less synergy with cleaves and it would spread stats thin.

EDIT: unbongwah pointed out the possibility of going int based with harper and using divine crusader for healing. The half elf version is the result of that.

[CThruTheEgo]

This build requires a +1 heart of wood to get rid of the paladin level, and an alignment change if you don't want to stay lawful good.

Arcane Warrior
11/8/1 Wizard/Fighter/Favored Soul
True Neutral Bladeforged


Level Order

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


Stats
. . . . . . . .28pt. . .32pt. . .34pt. . .36pt . . Tome . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .----. . .----. . .----. . .---- . . ---- . . --------
Strength. . . . 18 . . . 18 . . . 18 . . . 18. . . .+6. . . .4: STR
Dexterity . . . .6 . . . .6 . . . .6 . . . .6. . . .+6. . . .8: STR
Constitution. . 18 . . . 18 . . . 18 . . . 18. . . .+6. . . 12: STR
Intelligence. . .8 . . . .8 . . . 10 . . . 12. . . .+6. . . 16: STR
Wisdom. . . . . .6 . . . .6 . . . .6 . . . .6. . . .+6. . . 20: STR
Charisma. . . . 10 . . . 14 . . . 14 . . . 14. . . .+6. . . 24: STR
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28: STR

Skills
. . . . .Fi Fi Fi Fi Fi Fi Fi Fi Wz Wz Wz Wz Wz Wz Wz Wz Wz Wz Wz Fv
. . . . . 1 .2. 3 .4. 5 .6. 7 .8. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Repair. . 4 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. . . . . . . . .1 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .1. 23
Spellcr . 2 .½. ½ .½. ½ .½. ½ . . 3. 2. 2. 2. 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1 .23
Concent . . . . . . . . . . ½ .½. . .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1. 12
UMD . . . 2 .½. ½ .½. ½ .½. ½ . . ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½ .11
Tumble. . . . . . . . . . . . .1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .12 .3. 3 .3. 3 .3. 4 .4. 4. 4. 4. 4. 4. 4. 5. 5. 5. 5. 5. 5


Feats

.1. . . . : Power Attack
.1 Fighter: Cleave
.2 Fighter: Two Handed Fighting
.3. . . . : Weapon Focus: Slashing
.4 Fighter: Great Cleave
.6. . . . : Weapon Specialization: Slashing
.6 Fighter: Improved Two Handed Fighting
.8 Fighter: Improved Critical: Slashing
.9. . . . : Greater Weapon Focus: Slashing
.9 Wizard : Extend Spell
12. . . . : Insightful Reflexes
13 Wizard : Quicken Spell
15. . . . : Greater Two Handed Fighting
18. . . . : Adamantine Body
18 Wizard : Empower Spell
20 Deity. : Follower of: Lord of Blades
21 Epic . : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic . : Intensify Spell
26 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
27 Epic . : Epic Damage Reduction
28 Destiny: Perfect Two Handed Fighting
29 Destiny: Arcane Warrior
30 Epic . : Maximize Spell
30 Legend : Scion of: Plane of Earth


Spells

Wizard

1. Jump, Feather Fall, Magic Missile, Merfolk's Blessing, Grease
2. Blur, Invisibility, Knock, Gust of Wind, Flaming Sphere
3. Displacement, Haste, Repair Serious Damage, Chain Missiles, Rage
4. Ice Storm, Force Missiles, Dimension Door, Fire Shield
5. Eladar's Electric Surge, Niac's Biting Cold, Protection from Elements
6. Reconstruct, Tenser's Transformation

Favored Soul

1. Divine Favor, Protection from Evil

Enhancements (80 AP)

Kensei (33 AP)

• Kensei Focus: Heavy Blades, Spiritual Bond, Strike with No Thought
  
  1. Extra Action Boost II, Weapon Group Specialization, Haste Boost III
  2. Weapon Group Specialization
  3. Critical Mastery III, Weapon Group Specialization, Shattering Strike I, Strength
  4. Opportunity Attack, Weapon Group Specialization, Liquid Courage, Strike at the Heart
  5. Weapon Master, One with the Blade, Keen Edge

Bladeforged (16 AP)

• Improved Fortification
  
  1. Mechanist I, Inscribed Armor III
  2. Communion of Scribing III, Fearsome Presence
  3. Improved Power Attack I
  4. Power of the Forge

Eldritch Knight (Wizard) (14 AP)

• Eldritch Strike, Spellsword: Acid
  
  1. Improved Mage Armor III, Toughness I
  2. Improved Shield III, Martial Training
  3. Arcane Barrier III

Stalwart Defender (13 AP)

• Toughness, Stalwart Defense
  
  1. Durable Defense III, Stalwart Defensive Mastery III
  2. Resilient Defense II
  3. Tenacious Defense III

Warpriest (4 AP)

• Smite Foe
  
  1. Divine Might III

Destiny (24 AP)

Legendary Dreadnought

1. Extra Action Boost II, Strength
2. Momentum Swing III, Imp. Power Attack, Damage Boost III, Strength
3. Lay Waste, Critical Damage III
4. (none)
5. Advancing Blows, Devastating Critical
6. Master's Blitz

Twists of Fate (22 fate points)

1. Energy Burst: Acid (Tier 4 Draconic)
2. Dragon Heritage: Black (Tier 3 Draconic)
3. Endless Faith (Tier 1 Exalted)

[CThruTheEgo]

You could really use any fleshy race for this build, but since you have to invest so heavily into pale master, you don't have much to spend in the racial tree. Plus, int is only for spell points, so any race with a higher starting int doesn't really give you much of an advantage. The extra feat and human damage boost are the most valuable imo.

To fit in human damage boost, I decided to drop weapon master, which means tier 4 weapon group specialization, greater weapon focus, and fighter levels 7-8 are unnecessary. This lowers base damage a bit, but the extra 2 wiz levels means a longer duration of death aura. The 12/8 split would work just fine though.

This build has to go with medium armor instead of heavy because there are no fleshy racial enhancements to lower arcane spell failure.

Arcane Warrior
14/6 Wizard/Fighter
True Neutral Human


Level Order

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


Stats
. . . . . . . .28pt. . .32pt. . .34pt. . .36pt . . Tome . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .----. . .----. . .----. . .---- . . ---- . . --------
Strength. . . . 18 . . . 18 . . . 18 . . . 18. . . .+6. . . .4: STR
Dexterity . . . .8 . . . .8 . . . .8 . . . .8. . . .+6. . . .8: STR
Constitution. . 16 . . . 16 . . . 16 . . . 16. . . .+6. . . 12: STR
Intelligence. . 10 . . . 14 . . . 15 . . . 16. . . .+6. . . 16: STR
Wisdom. . . . . .8 . . . .8 . . . .8 . . . .8. . . .+6. . . 20: STR
Charisma. . . . .8 . . . .8 . . . .8 . . . .8. . . .+6. . . 24: STR
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28: STR

Skills
. . . . . F .F. F .F. F .F. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W
. . . . . 1 .2. 3 .4. 5 .6. 7. 8. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Concent . 2 .½. ½ .½. ½ . . . .2 .3 .3 .2 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .23
Spellcr . 2 .½. ½ .½. ½ . . 5. 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Swim. . . 4 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. . . . . . . . .1 .1 .1 .1½ 1½ 1½ 1½ 1½ 3. 22½
Heal. . . 2 .½. ½ .½. ½ .½. . .½ .½ .½ .1 .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ . . 11
Balance . 2 .½. ½ .½. ½ .½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . .11
UMD . . . 2 .½. ½ .½. ½ .½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . .11
Tumble. . . . . . . . . .1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .24 .6. 6 .6. 6 .6. 7. 7. 7. 7. 7. 7. 7. 7. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8


Feats

.1. . . . : Power Attack
.1 Human. : Cleave
.1 Fighter: Two Handed Fighting
.2 Fighter: Weapon Focus: Slashing
.3. . . . : Insightful Reflexes
.4 Fighter: Great Cleave
.6. . . . : Weapon Specialization: Slashing
.6 Fighter: Improved Two Handed Fighting
.7 Wizard : Empower Spell
.9. . . . : Maximize Spell
11 Wizard : Extend Spell
12. . . . : Improved Critical: Slashing
15. . . . : Quicken Spell
16 Wizard : Mental Toughness
18. . . . : Greater Two Handed Fighting
21 Epic . : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic . : Intensify Spell
26 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
27 Epic . : Epic Damage Reduction
28 Destiny: Perfect Two Handed Fighting
29 Destiny: Arcane Warrior
30 Epic . : Improved Mental Toughness
30 Legend : Scion of: Plane of Earth


Spells

Wizard

1. Jump, Feather Fall, Magic Missile, Merfolk's Blessing, Grease
2. Blur, Invisibility, Knock, Lesser Death Aura, Gust of Wind
3. Displacement, Haste, Chain Missiles, Magic Circle Against Evil, Water Breathing
4. Death Aura, Negative Energy Burst, Ice Storm, Fire Shield, Dimension Door
5. Eladar's Electric Surge, Niac's Biting Cold, Teleport, Break Enchantment
6. Tenser's Transformation, True Seeing, Greater Heroism, Shadow Walk
7. Greater Teleport, Mass Protection from Elements, Power Word: Blind

Enhancements (80 AP)

Kensei (32 AP)

• Kensei Focus: Heavy Blades, Spiritual Bond, Strike with No Thought
  
  1. Extra Action Boost III, Weapon Group Specialization, Haste Boost III
  2. Weapon Group Specialization
  3. Critical Mastery III, Weapon Group Specialization, Shattering Strike I, Strength
  4. Opportunity Attack, Strike at the Heart, Strength
  5. One with the Blade, Keen Edge

Pale Master (21 AP)

• Dark Reaping, Zombie Form, Vampire Form, Wraith Form
  
  1. Deathless Vigor I, Spell Critical, Negative Energy Conduit III
  2. Efficient Maximize III, Spell Critical
  3. Spell Critical

Stalwart Defender (13 AP)

• Toughness, Stalwart Defense
  
  1. Durable Defense III, Stalwart Defensive Mastery III
  2. Resilient Defense II
  3. Tenacious Defense III

Eldritch Knight (Wizard) (13 AP)

• Eldritch Strike, Spellsword: Acid
  
  1. Improved Mage Armor II, Toughness II
  2. Improved Shield II, Light Armor Proficiency
  3. Arcane Barrier III

Human (1 AP)

• Damage Boost

Destiny (24 AP)

Legendary Dreadnought

1. Extra Action Boost II, Strength
2. Momentum Swing III, Imp. Power Attack, Damage Boost III, Strength
3. Lay Waste, Critical Damage III
4. (none)
5. Advancing Blows, Devastating Critical
6. Master's Blitz

Twists of Fate (22 fate points)

1. Energy Burst: Acid (Tier 4 Draconic)
2. Dragon Heritage: Black (Tier 3 Draconic)
3. Endless Faith (Tier 1 Exalted)

[CThruTheEgo]

This is the only build that seems strong as int based with harper. The bladeforged build requires investing into the racial tree to get the most out of what bladeforged has to offer. The undead form build requires investing into pale master. Bother options don't leave enough to invest into harper.

This build actually makes the most sense as SWF. In fact, because you only need 13 str for power attack, SWF is probably more optimal than THF on this build. If you want to convert this one to SWF, then drop str to 13 and funnel those points into con with any leftovers into wis for a slightly better will save.

Arcane Warrior
12/8 Wizard/Fighter
True Neutral Warforged


Level Order

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


Stats
. . . . . . . .28pt. . .32pt. . .34pt. . .36pt . . Tome . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .----. . .----. . .----. . .---- . . ---- . . --------
Strength. . . . 16 . . . 16 . . . 16 . . . 16. . . .+6. . . .4: INT
Dexterity . . . .8 . . . .8 . . . .8 . . . .8. . . .+6. . . .8: INT
Constitution. . 12 . . . 16 . . . 17 . . . 18. . . .+6. . . 12: INT
Intelligence. . 18 . . . 18 . . . 18 . . . 18. . . .+6. . . 16: INT
Wisdom. . . . . .6 . . . .6 . . . .6 . . . .6. . . .+6. . . 20: INT
Charisma. . . . .6 . . . .6 . . . .6 . . . .6. . . .+6. . . 24: INT
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28: INT

Skills
. . . . . F .F. F .F. F .F. F .F. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W
. . . . . 1 .2. 3 .4. 5 .6. 7 .8. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Concent . 2 .½. ½ .½. ½ .½. ½ . . . .4 .5 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .23
Repair. . 4 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. . . . . .4 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .23
Spellcr . 2 .½. ½ .½. ½ .½. ½ . . 6. 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Swim. . . 4 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. . . . . .½ .2 .2 .2 .1½ 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Balance . 2 .½. ½ .½. ½ .½. ½ .½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. 11½
Spot. . . . . . . . . . .½. ½ .2. . . . . . . . . . . .1 .1½ 1½ 1½ 2½ 11
UMD . . . 2 .½. ½ .½. ½ .½. ½ .½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . .11
Tumble. . . . . . .½. ½ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .24 .6. 6 .7. 7 .7. 7 .8. 8. 8. 8. 9. 9. 9. 9 10 10 10 10 11


Feats

.1. . . . : Power Attack
.1 Fighter: Cleave
.2 Fighter: Two Handed Fighting
.3. . . . : Weapon Focus: Slashing
.4 Fighter: Great Cleave
.6. . . . : Weapon Specialization: Slashing
.6 Fighter: Improved Two Handed Fighting
.8 Fighter: Improved Critical: Slashing
.9. . . . : Greater Weapon Focus: Slashing
.9 Wizard : Empower Spell
12. . . . : Insightful Reflexes
13 Wizard : Extend Spell
15. . . . : Greater Two Handed Fighting
18. . . . : Adamantine Body
18 Wizard : Quicken Spell
21 Epic . : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic . : Intensify Spell
26 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
27 Epic . : Epic Damage Reduction
28 Destiny: Perfect Two Handed Fighting
29 Destiny: Arcane Warrior
30 Epic . : Maximize Spell
30 Legend : Scion of: Plane of Earth


Spells

Wizard

1. Jump, Feather Fall, Magic Missile, Merfolk's Blessing, Grease
2. Blur, Invisibility, Knock, Gust of Wind, Flaming Sphere
3. Displacement, Haste, Repair Serious Damage, Chain Missiles, Magic Circle Against Evil
4. Ice Storm, Force Missiles, Dimension Door, Fire Shield
5. Eladar's Electric Surge, Niac's Biting Cold, Protection from Elements, Teleport
6. Reconstruct, Tenser's Transformation, True Seeing

Enhancements (80 AP)

Kensei (33 AP)

• Kensei Focus: Heavy Blades, Spiritual Bond, Strike with No Thought
  
  1. Extra Action Boost III, Weapon Group Specialization, Haste Boost III
  2. Weapon Group Specialization
  3. Critical Mastery III, Weapon Group Specialization, Shattering Strike I
  4. Opportunity Attack, Weapon Group Specialization, Liquid Courage, Strike at the Heart
  5. Weapon Master, One with the Blade, Keen Edge

Eldritch Knight (Wizard) (15 AP)

• Eldritch Strike, Spellsword: Acid, Spellsword II: Shock
  
  1. Improved Mage Armor III, Toughness I
  2. Improved Shield III, Martial Training
  3. Arcane Barrier III

Harper Agent (15 AP)

• Agent of Good I
  
  1. Harper Enchantment, Strategic Combat
  2. Versatile Adept III, Know the Angles III
  3. Versatile Adept II, Strategic Combat

Stalwart Defender (13 AP)

• Toughness, Stalwart Defense
  
  1. Durable Defense III, Stalwart Defensive Mastery II
  2. Resilient Defense III
  3. Tenacious Defense III

Warforged (4 AP)

• Improved Fortification
  
  1. Inscribed Armor III

Destiny (24 AP)

Legendary Dreadnought

1. Extra Action Boost II, Strength
2. Momentum Swing III, Imp. Power Attack, Damage Boost III, Strength
3. Lay Waste, Critical Damage III
4. (none)
5. Advancing Blows, Devastating Critical
6. Master's Blitz

Twists of Fate (22 fate points)

1. Energy Burst: Acid (Tier 4 Draconic)
2. Dragon Heritage: Black (Tier 3 Draconic)
3. Endless Faith (Tier 1 Exalted)

[SealedInSong]

All three appear well-reasoned.

[BigErkyKid]

I theory crafted this kind of build when the new fighters came out (see my u31 undead fighter for the discussion). I think they are alright but not truly "great". In any case, I have some comments.

1. All the versions must get KTA: EK enhancements certainly are not, IMHO, a good reason to drop KTA. The additional defense is pretty minimal for the big DPS hit.

2. Arcane warrior: without warlock auras, how do you intend to charge this? It will be a PITA.

IMHO there are two better options:

A) Warlock + fighter: the aura will give you permanent 20 MP, you can grab the same or more MRR+PRR from warlock, plus displacement (the only real thing of value, IMO, among buffs).

B) Bard + fighter: nice buffs, plus the songs add decent damage + CC, plus you can build nicely for freezing ice. I did a 12 bard / 8 fighter with eRift maker that kicked ass pretty hard. He was wearing heavy armor because the ASF was irrelevant. You could drop some bard for 1-2 warlock for aura to charge arcane warrior.

[slarden]

Great concepts!

The 12 wizard / 8 fighter bladeforged looks the strongest to me, but I would consider 11 wizard / 8 fighter / 1 fvs for divine might since there is nothing in the 12 cores worth sacrificing divine might + low hanging fvs fruit. 11 wizard gets you recon.

I am underwhelmed with death aura for melees for LE content. It works well enough on a necro or PK wizard that faces less risk. Negative energy burst is solid, but expensive compared to cocoon, bladeforged reconstruct and shining through. The investment is too much for subpar melee healing. The 25-35% incorporeal is nice though.

I played 15 paladin / 5 warlock bladeforged a few times and it's an arcane warrior build esp suited for newer players since you get racial reconstruct sla, shining through, lay on hands, holy sword, great saves, displacement sla (only a few of my chars have 3+ gs displacement clickies). It's not as solid offensively as 15 paladin / 5 ranger, but it can also go THF instead of TWF for dealing with mobs better and only a little slower on bosses. The aura isn't super damage with only 5 levels so I am not even counting that as part of dps, but with an easy button hat from the U31 content it's easy to get spellpower now for everything in one gear slot.

I am going to keep an eye on this thread!

[CThruTheEgo]

Updated the builds with destiny and twist info. Went with dreadnaught, energy burst, dragon heritage, and endless faith.

I think they are alright but not truly "great".

Yeah, anything that utilizes eldritch knight isn't going to be top of the build hierarchy. I'm well aware of that, and OK with it.

1. All the versions must get KTA: EK enhancements certainly are not, IMHO, a good reason to drop KTA. The additional defense is pretty minimal for the big DPS hit.

Part of my intention with creating these builds is to try out the eldritch knight tree. By using eldritch knight, these are already flavor builds. I'm not trying to min-max for endgame dps, so know the angles isn't essential. For reasons already mentioned in the OP, fitting in know the angles is difficult on such a build. It works well for the int based warforged version, but not so much for the bladeforged or pale master versions.

2. Arcane warrior: without warlock auras, how do you intend to charge this? It will be a PITA.

I don't know, to be honest. I know on my arti that each pass through a blade barrior gives a stack of arcane warrior: physical. Each of these builds has ice storm as well as magic missile, chain missiles, and force missiles (the pale master version does not have this one). If multiple stacks can be gained from a single use of any/all of these spells, then it won't be a problem at all. If not, I'll probably be looking to swap out that feat.

A) Warlock + fighter: the aura will give you permanent 20 MP, you can grab the same or more MRR+PRR from warlock, plus displacement (the only real thing of value, IMO, among buffs).

I've given some thought to a warlock fighter build. Kensai definitely offers something for a melee warlock. You can get the aura to tick every 3 seconds with at least 12 levels of warlock, which leaves plenty of room to fit the crit bonuses from kensai (6 levels minimum). The problem, however, is which tier 5 to take. You need kensai tier 5 for the crit range, but enlightened spirit tier 5 offers some big advantages from that tree (mainly spirit blast and shining through). So there is some conflict there. A melee warlock can also get crit bonuses from swashbuckler, but I've not been too happy with those options either.

B) Bard + fighter: nice buffs, plus the songs add decent damage + CC, plus you can build nicely for freezing ice. I did a 12 bard / 8 fighter with eRift maker that kicked ass pretty hard. He was wearing heavy armor because the ASF was irrelevant. You could drop some bard for 1-2 warlock for aura to charge arcane warrior.

Yeah, this would work also, but it's simply not what I'm interested in right now. As mentioned earlier, part of my intention was to use the eldritch knight tree, so I'm not looking for alternative builds, but how to tweak these.

[CThruTheEgo]

Great concepts!

The 12 wizard / 8 fighter bladeforged looks the strongest to me, but I would consider 11 wizard / 8 fighter / 1 fvs for divine might since there is nothing in the 12 cores worth sacrificing divine might + low hanging fvs fruit. 11 wizard gets you recon.

Thanks slarden. For only 4 AP, that's not a bad suggestion. I'll have to give that some thought.

I am underwhelmed with death aura for melees for LE content. It works well enough on a necro or PK wizard that faces less risk. Negative energy burst is solid, but expensive compared to cocoon, bladeforged reconstruct and shining through. The investment is too much for subpar melee healing. The 25-35% incorporeal is nice though.

Yeah I definitely wouldn't take the pale master version into LE. The only one I would consider potentially LE viable (fully geared, of course, and possibly several past lives to really fill out its potential), is the bladeforged version. It has the strongest dps, self healing, and damage mitigation.

[unbongwah]

.2 Fighter: Two Handed Fighting
.3. . . . : Weapon Focus: Piercing

Uhh, why do you take Piercing feats on a 2H build? Did this build start out as SWF and get switched?

EDIT: for the BF version, I was thinking ftr 12 / wiz 7 / FvS or cleric 1: better melee DPS & DCs from Power Surge (and maybe GWS or higher-lvl tactics / hvy armor feats); add Div Might as slarden suggests. You lose lvl 5 & 6 spells, but since you have Recon SLA, the only ones I would miss are Tensors & Gtr Heroism and you can always UMD those.

Quick build:

BF Eldritch Kensei
12/7/1 Fighter/Wizard/Favored Soul
Lawful Good Bladeforged


Level Order

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


Stats
               34pt     36pt     Tome     Level Up
               ----     ----     ----     --------
Strength        18       18       +4       4: STR
Dexterity        6        6       +4       8: STR
Constitution    18       18       +4      12: STR
Intelligence     8        8       +4      16: STR
Wisdom           6        6       +4      20: STR
Charisma        15       16       +4      24: STR
                                          28: STR

Feats

 1        : Adamantine Body
 1 Fighter: Power Attack
 2 Fighter: Cleave
 3        : Two Handed Fighting
 4 Fighter: Great Cleave
 6        : Improved Two Handed Fighting
 6 Fighter: Weapon Focus: Slashing
 8 Fighter: Weapon Specialization: Slashing
 9        : Greater Weapon Focus: Slashing
10 Fighter: Improved Critical: Slashing
12        : Greater Two Handed Fighting
12 Fighter: Tactical Mastery
13 Wizard : Quicken Spell
15        : Stunning Blow
17 Wizard : Extend Spell
18        : Toughness
20 Deity  : Follower of: Lord of Blades
21 Epic   : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic   : Epic Toughness
26 Destiny: Perfect Two Handed Fighting
27 Epic   : Epic Damage Reduction
28 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
29 Destiny: Dire Charge
30 Epic   : Heavy Armor Master
30 Legend : Scion of: Plane of Earth


Enhancements (80 AP)

Kensei (33 AP)

Kensei Focus: Heavy Blades, Spiritual Bond, Strike with No Thought, Power Surge

Extra Action Boost III, Weapon Group Specialization, Haste Boost III
Weapon Group Specialization
Weapon Group Specialization, Shattering Strike I, Strength
Weapon Group Specialization, Strike at the Heart, Opportunity Attack, Strength
Weapon Master, One with the Blade, Keen Edge

Bladeforged (16 AP)

Improved Fortification

Mechanist II, Inscribed Armor III
Communion of Scribing III, Fearsome Presence
(none)
Power of the Forge

Eldritch Knight (Wizard) (14 AP)

Eldritch Strike, Spellsword: Acid

Improved Mage Armor III, Toughness I
Improved Shield III, Martial Training
Arcane Barrier III

Stalwart Defender (13 AP)

Toughness, Stalwart Defense

Item Defense I, Durable Defense III
Resilient Defense III, Instinctive Defense I
Tenacious Defense III

Warpriest (4 AP)

Smite Foe

Divine Might III


Destiny (24 AP)

Legendary Dreadnought

Legendary Tactics III, Extra Action Boost III, Strength
Momentum Swing III, Imp. Power Attack, Strength
Lay Waste
Volcano's Edge
Advancing Blows, Devastating Critical
Master's Blitz

Twists of Fate (35 fate points)

Sense Weakness (Tier 4 Fury)
Grim Precision (Tier 3 Shadowdancer)
Hail of Blows (Tier 2 Flowers)
Endless Faith (Tier 1 Exalted)
Brace for Impact (Tier 1 Sentinel)

[BigErkyKid]

The reason why I bring this up is because I am not seeing the synergy.

At first I thought you wanted to stack MP using the arcane warrior feat (hence name of thread), but the builds are not well suited for that. If you read my thread players have reported that ice storm, firewall, magic missiles, death auras, do not trigger arcane warrior prove beyond the first tick.

Then the goal might be some utility, heals, displacement on a build that gives up a bit of dps from Kensei. But then giving up KTA makes no sense, since it is a very big dpi enhancement (easily equivalent to the full line of damage specialization in kensei, or at least close).

IMHO the best build is blade forged pure fighter and then use either resources or a twist (endless faith) to keep recon fueled. Other builds are just crouches when you lack the gear and rest of stuff to make the pure bf viable.

I have yet to see anything significant coming out from EK. The prr is minimal and the arcane barrier has a long cool down and isn't even uber.

That's my honest assessment but I don't want to derail the thread too much, just giving me thoughts on a topic I have explored painfully.

[Enoach]

Well thought out...

It has given me some ideas on some builds I've been tossing around.

------------
Personally I have an Elf 12/8 Ftr/Wiz. I use the Elf/AA/EK trees. I did build it to be an Archer (90%+ time with bow in hand). I've debated several time using the Arcane Warrior Destiny Feat, but my biggest concern is charging it.

I have just enough Intelligence to cast 4th Level Spells and use the spells for buffs. I can see charging up the Spell Part, just not so sure how I can charge it up for my bow. I may just need to give it a try, much like I tried Strength based and Wisdom based for this 12/8 ftr/wiz build. I settled on Dexterity and Light/Medium armor.

[CThruTheEgo]

Uhh, why do you take Piercing feats on a 2H build? Did this build start out as SWF and get switched?

Sort of. It actually started out as THF, then switched to SWF, then back to THF. Good catch. Thanks for pointing it out.

EDIT: for the BF version, I was thinking ftr 12 / wiz 7 / FvS or cleric 1: better melee DPS & DCs from Power Surge (and maybe GWS or higher-lvl tactics / hvy armor feats); add Div Might as slarden suggests. You lose lvl 5 & 6 spells, but since you have Recon SLA, the only ones I would miss are Tensors & Gtr Heroism and you can always UMD those.

That would provide stronger melee, but would relegate spells to buffs only. I'm looking for more of a hybrid build. I know spell dps isn't going to be anything to write home about, but I'd like to have that capability nonetheless. I envision the playstyle as fighting in ice storm and stacking dots on bosses. The 12 fighter/7 wiz/1 FvS split would simply be a self buffing melee. That has been the playstyle of nearly every melee I've ever played, and I just want something a little different.

I like how you split AP between bladeforged, eldritch knight, and warpriest though. I already updated the bladeforged version with 1 level of favored soul and borrowed some of your ideas for spending AP.

Thanks for the feedback unbongwah.

[CThruTheEgo]

If you read my thread players have reported that ice storm, firewall, magic missiles, death auras, do not trigger arcane warrior prove beyond the first tick.

What thread are you referring to? Do you have a link?

Then the goal might be some utility, heals, displacement on a build that gives up a bit of dps from Kensei. But then giving up KTA makes no sense, since it is a very big dpi enhancement (easily equivalent to the full line of damage specialization in kensei, or at least close).

IMHO the best build is blade forged pure fighter and then use either resources or a twist (endless faith) to keep recon fueled. Other builds are just crouches when you lack the gear and rest of stuff to make the pure bf viable.

I have yet to see anything significant coming out from EK. The prr is minimal and the arcane barrier has a long cool down and isn't even uber.

That's my honest assessment but I don't want to derail the thread too much, just giving me thoughts on a topic I have explored painfully.

I appreciate the feedback, but that's just not the kind of build I'm interested in playing right now. I'm looking for a flavor build, and I'm perfectly OK with it being subpar compared to other builds, such as a pure BF fighter or nearly any other pure melee build. I've played those builds. Now I want to play something different.

I'd be interested in a link to that thread you mention above, though.

[CThruTheEgo]

Basic wiz tree build

Interesting ideas. Some great outside the box thinking, but it doesn't sound like the kind of build I want to play.

Well thought out...

It has given me some ideas on some builds I've been tossing around.

------------
Personally I have an Elf 12/8 Ftr/Wiz. I use the Elf/AA/EK trees. I did build it to be an Archer (90%+ time with bow in hand).

Thanks Enoach. I actually saw your build (or your comments on it, don't recall now if you had the full build laid out) when I was researching these. There's some good synergy in an AA/EK build.

I've debated several time using the Arcane Warrior Destiny Feat, but my biggest concern is charging it.

I have just enough Intelligence to cast 4th Level Spells and use the spells for buffs. I can see charging up the Spell Part, just not so sure how I can charge it up for my bow. I may just need to give it a try, much like I tried Strength based and Wisdom based for this 12/8 ftr/wiz build. I settled on Dexterity and Light/Medium armor.

Hopefully Erky will provide a link to that thread he mentioned about arcane warrior testing.

[Grailhawk]

I'm looking for more of a hybrid build. I know spell dps isn't going to be anything to write home about, but I'd like to have that capability nonetheless. I envision the playstyle as fighting in ice storm and stacking dots on bosses.

I think Druid would work as a better platform for this then wizard (at the very least for any race other then Forged). Something on the lines of 13/6/1 Druid/Fighter/FVS. I think Fire is a better element then Cold but I'm sure Cold can make do. Take the points you have in EK and put them in SD for Tenacious Defense (EK is mostly defense anyways) or maybe put a bit in Season Herald for Spell power.

[the_one_dwarfforged]

its unfortunate, but i have to agree that i dont see any synergy here. i think whats really devastating to me personally about this kind of build, is that you arent going to be a hybrid, youre just going to be a melee that isnt as good as other melees, who can optionally waste some of his sp on offensive spells. i dont think there is a good balance given how much damage you need to do in the game, and how much damage these builds can do when they have two primary damage types which cant be directly invested in at the same time.

all i really see happening by reducing fighter levels and adding wizard levels is decreasing the effectiveness of the character, without sufficiently differentiating the play style.


i think ek builds should be revisited when they revamp the class/tree. in order to be successful, i really think eks would need to be mostly pure, and i think their elemental weapon buffs need to scale with spp so that they are meaningful damagewise without being so strong as to invalidate spellcasting.

ideally the shield enhancements of ek are consolidating into only one enhancement, the elemental weapon buffs are given scaling based off of spp (or perhaps mp actually), and some spp and mp are added to the tree. im not sure what else should exactly be changed in order to fill out the tree and make it really worthwhile to be an ek or a pure one or what not, but i think giving them moderate/moderately high damage that is reliable and consistent while allowing them to build their spellcasting dps simultaneously would allow them to play effectively as a hybrid, be a realistic alternative to spellcasting nukers and ccers as well as physical dps melees who should be doing higher damage, especially since more of their damage will be from crits.

[CThruTheEgo]

its unfortunate, but i have to agree that i dont see any synergy here. i think whats really devastating to me personally about this kind of build, is that you arent going to be a hybrid, youre just going to be a melee that isnt as good as other melees, who can optionally waste some of his sp on offensive spells. i dont think there is a good balance given how much damage you need to do in the game, and how much damage these builds can do when they have two primary damage types which cant be directly invested in at the same time.

Emphasis added. This part makes me think you are referring to endgame, because you don't need to do that much damage in heroic or even epic elite. Thanks to power creep, the only part of the game that presents the sort of challenge where a build needs to be fully optimized is legendary elite. As mentioned, I don't intend to play this build at endgame. I probably won't even keep it at cap for very long. It's just something different to play through the levels with.

The largest dps boost in the current game comes from increasing crit range and multiplier. Yes, there are other sources which these builds miss out on, but crit bonuses are the largest. The synergy is in being able to fit in the crit bonuses and still maintain some degree of casting ability. Before kensai, builds like this leveraged other crit bonuses, such as holy sword or swashbuckler. I have no illusions about any of these builds being competitive with top notch builds, and I'm OK with that. But I also have no doubt that they will succeed in the content for which they are intended.

[slarden]

I think in general it's a good idea to try out different builds and see how it plays out. Shiradi caster is a good example of a build that looked bad at first glance by many people but at one time was the top build in the game.

The success of a build should me measured solely on whether it reaches your goals and is fun to play NOT based on how fast it beats up a kobold.

things like current gear, past life's , play style and the people you run with are all huge considerations that should outweigh max dps potential.

[Vhayre]

Here's the link to BigErkyKid's undead fighter thread and my arcane warrior test results. Haven't tested with missile spells so if you're planning to do a rotation of those it may just be enough, however spells do have the annoying habit of breaking your attack sequence.

I must say I disagree with the idea that pale master healing is too weak for an endgame melee. It doesn't work for every build and takes more investment to make it work, but it definitely has it's place. If you're looking to make a wizard melee dps build I would not rely on death aura in LE content of course. Instead view wraith as a defensive platform. You get a ton of blanket immunities and 25% incorp. If you add easily available displacement and tensers from wizard levels and the PRR and AC you can grab from fighter with a small splash in EK death aura can heal enough to keep you going in LE.

For my own build I have a dedicated tank based on that and I have yet to come across a more survivable self healing character. That is with no epic past lives and no lgs spellpower stick, so my defenses and self healing even have plenty of opportunity for improvement left. With spare points in kensai I'm able to contribute to the corpse pile just fine, and keeping aggro hasn't been an issue either. Add the defenses and the 150 negative spellpower that I'm missing to a non shield user with a bit more dodge and I don't see why death aura wont be able to keep them up just as well. But as I said, it does take a lot more investment than slapping on a recon/devotion item and calling it a day.

Just some food for thoughts which I'm afraid doesn't address your wish to be a hybrid spellcaster/melee as a wizard. I would personally love to see EK cater to a hybrid play style better when it gets it's pass. Or at least help us charge arcane warrior.