Krythan's Warforged Kensei Fighter

[Krythan]

We are planning to Epic Reincarnate our Warforged Fighter (20 Fighter). It's been about 10 years since we last played, so it's a good chance to fix up the build. The purpose of this build is to let us dip our toes into epic and higher reaper content, collect some gear (that's not 10 years old), and prepare for our next reincarnation.

Key aspects:

• Focus on Tactics & DCs: Stunning Blow, Trip, Sunder
• Kensei for Weapon Critical Profile
• Falconry for Helpless Damage
• Fury of the Wild (Primal Scream + Unquenchable Rage) and Fighter Action Boost for Self Healing
• Warforged for Tactics DC and Greater Weapon Aptitude
• Legendary Dreadnought for General Damage Enhancements
• Dip into Grandmaster of Flowers for Stunning DCs

[ Updated build posted in the comments ]

Edit: Looking for thoughts, and feedback on this build!

 

[Krythan]

Classes: 20 Fighter
Race: Warforged
Alignment: Neutral Good
Past Life: Fighter

Abilities

Str: 18
Dex: 8
Con: 20
Int: 10
Wis: 6
Cha: 6

Feats

Level	Class	Feats
1	Fighter(1)	Standard: Stunning Blow
		Fighter Bonus Feat: Power Attack
2	Fighter(2)	Fighter Bonus Feat: Two Handed Fighting
3	Fighter(3)	Standard: Weapon Focus: Slashing Weapons
4	Fighter(4)	Fighter Bonus Feat: Weapon Specialization: Slashing Weapons
		Alter Dark Gift: Empty Feat Slot
		Strength: +1 Level up
5	Fighter(5)
6	Fighter(6)	Standard: Improved Two Handed Fighting
		Fighter Bonus Feat: Heavy Armor Combatant
7	Fighter(7)
8	Fighter(8)	Fighter Bonus Feat: Greater Weapon Focus: Slashing Weapons
		Strength: +1 Level up
9	Fighter(9)	Standard: Improved Critical: Slashing Weapons
10	Fighter(10)	Fighter Bonus Feat: Tactical Combatant
11	Fighter(11)
12	Fighter(12)	Standard: Greater Two Handed Fighting
		Fighter Bonus Feat: Greater Weapon Specialization: Slashing Weapons
		Strength: +1 Level up
13	Fighter(13)
14	Fighter(14)	Fighter Bonus Feat: Tactical Master
15	Fighter(15)	Standard: Heavy Armor Champion
16	Fighter(16)	Fighter Bonus Feat: Superior Weapon Focus: Slashing Weapons
		Strength: +1 Level up
17	Fighter(17)
18	Fighter(18)	Standard: Tactical Supremacy
		Fighter Bonus Feat: Heavy Armor Master
19	Fighter(19)
20	Fighter(20)	Fighter Bonus Feat: Power Critical
		Strength: +1 Level up
21	Epic(1)	Epic Feat: Overwhelming Critical
22	Epic(2)	Epic Destiny Feat: Perfect Two Handed Fighting
23	Epic(3)
24	Epic(4)	Epic Feat: Improved Sunder
		Strength: +1 Level up
25	Epic(5)	Epic Destiny Feat: Tactician
26	Epic(6)
27	Epic(7)	Epic Feat: Great Strength
28	Epic(8)	Epic Destiny Feat: Doublestrike
		Strength: +1 Level up
29	Epic(9)
30	Epic(10)	Epic Feat: Tactical Training
		Legendary Feat: Scion of the Astral Plane
		Dark Gift Upgrade: Empty Feat Slot
31	Legendary(1)	Epic Destiny Feat: Crush Weakness
32	Legendary(2)	Strength: +1 Level up
33	Legendary(3)	Epic Feat: Great Strength
34	Legendary(4)	Epic Destiny Feat: Titan's Blood

Skills

1. UMD
2. Intimidate
3. Tumble

Enhancements: 80 APs, Racial 1

Warforged - Points spent: 15
Core1 Improved Fortification I
Core2 Constitution I
Tier1 Construct Toughness I
Tier2 Great Weapon Aptitude - 3 Ranks
Tier2 Tactics - 3 Ranks
Tier3 Improved Power Attack - 3 Ranks
Tier3 Memories of the Last War I: Front Lines

Kensei - Points spent: 41
Core1 Kensei Focus: Kensei Focus: Heavy Blades
Tier1 Weapon Group Specialization I: Kensei Focus: Heavy Blades
Tier1 Extra Action Boost - 3 Ranks
Tier1 Action Boost: Haste Boost - 3 Ranks
Tier2 Weapon Group Specialization II: Kensei Focus: Heavy Blades
Tier2 Tactics - 3 Ranks
Core2 Spiritual Bond
Tier3 Critical Mastery - 3 Ranks
Tier3 Weapon Group Specialization III: Kensei Focus: Heavy Blades
Tier3 Ability I: +1 Strength
Core3 Strike With No Thought
Tier3 Shattering Strike: Shattering Strike - 3 Ranks
Tier4 Ability II: +1 Strength
Tier4 Strike at the Heart
Tier4 Liquid Courage
Tier4 Weapon Group Specialization IV: Kensei Focus: Heavy Blades
Tier4 Opportunity Attack
Core4 Power Surge
Tier5 Weapon Master
Tier5 Keen Edge
Core5 One Cut
Tier5 A Good Death: A Good Death (Melee)
Tier5 Deadly Strike: Deadly Strike
Core6 Alacrity

Falconry - Points spent: 25
Core1 Summon Falcon: Summon Falcon
Tier1 Practiced Accuracy - 3 Ranks
Tier1 Rugged - 2 Ranks
Tier2 Action Boost: Sprint - 3 Ranks
Tier2 Diving Attack: Diving Strike - 1 Ranks
Core2 Ability I: Strength
Tier3 Go for the Eyes: Go for the Eyes Strike - 3 Ranks
Tier3 Conditioning
Core3 Well Rounded I
Tier3 Eyes of the Eagle
Tier4 No Mercy - 3 Ranks
Tier4 Deadly Instinct - 2 Ranks

Legendary Dreadnought - Points spent: 35
Core1 Fearless
Tier1 Push Through The Line - 3 Ranks
Tier1 Epic Tactics - 3 Ranks
Tier1 Dire Attack: Dire Charge
Tier2 Honor or Backstab: Honor - 3 Ranks
Core2 Weaponmaster
Tier2 Esoteric Touch
Tier2 Extra Action Boost - 1 Ranks
Tier3 Strike Twice - 3 Ranks
Tier3 Momentum Swing
Tier3 Epic Power & Precision - 3 Ranks
Tier4 Carry On
Tier4 Untouchable
Tier4 Strike with Fear
Tier4 Lay Waste
Tier5 Overpower: Lacerator
Tier5 Legendary Rally: Legendary Rally (Melee)
Tier5 Sundering Swings
Tier5 Action Hero
Tier5 Dusk Surge

Fury of the Wild - Points spent: 30
Core1 Die Hard
Tier1 Mantle of Fury - 3 Ranks
Tier1 Strength or Swiftness: Quick Cutter - 3 Ranks
Tier1 Savage Take Down - 1 Ranks
Tier2 Fear my Vengeance - 3 Ranks
Tier2 Speed or Strength: Boulder's Might - 3 Ranks
Tier2 Primal Scream
Tier3 Wild Weapons: Doublestrike - 3 Ranks
Tier3 Sense Weakness - 3 Ranks
Tier4 Top Dog
Tier4 Wilder Weapons: Wilder Weapons - Doublestrike - 3 Ranks
Tier4 Unquenchable Rage - 3 Ranks

Grandmaster of Flowers - Points spent: 4
Core1 Inner Focus
Tier1 Strike with Poise - 3 Ranks

Summary
Thoughts? Feedback? What should I change?

 

[Krythan]

I'll edit the build post to be more readable once the thread is approved, and I can edit that comment.

 

[FVSHasBeenEvenMoreGutted]

when you said "fix it up" I thought you were going to fix it and make it a good build. clearly I made a mistake
stunning blow???
great strength twice??????????????????????????????????????????????
NO HASTE BOOST?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

 

[Krythan]

when you said "fix it up" I thought you were going to fix it and make it a good build. clearly I made a mistake
stunning blow???
great strength twice??????????????????????????????????????????????
NO HASTE BOOST?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

LOL

Ouch, but also... fair

Just updated, and refined the above comment to be much more read-able The enhancements should now show haste boost! (Whoops).

What other Epic Feats are worth taking in place of Great Strength?

Open to suggestions!

 

[Djoe]

LOL

Just updated, and refined the above comment to be much more read-able The enhancements should now show haste boost! (Whoops).

What other Epic Feats are worth taking in place of Great Strength?

Open to suggestions!

There are actually quite a lot. I haven't been on in a few months so the names aren't coming to me very easily, but I almost always take legendary aim (the +attack one) and defensive roll. You can also take legendary toughness and a couple other good ones in legendary levels.

For optimizing this build, most people would tell you to go 18/1/1 fighter, barb (for run speed, or warlock if you do the aura thing), and favored soul (for 3 pt trance). That would mean taking capstone in Visatani Knife Fighter, which is way better than Kensei's. But if trances aren't your thing, and you really don't want to give up the falconry and warforged points, I'd suggest using a different one-hander like a longsword. There isn't much point in using a kukri if you don't put any points into VKF.

 

[Krythan]

There are actually quite a lot. I haven't been on in a few months so the names aren't coming to me very easily, but I almost always take legendary aim (the +attack one) and defensive roll. You can also take legendary toughness and a couple other good ones in legendary levels.

For optimizing this build, most people would tell you to go 18/1/1 fighter, barb (for run speed, or warlock if you do the aura thing), and favored soul (for 3 pt trance). That would mean taking capstone in Visatani Knife Fighter, which is way better than Kensei's. But if trances aren't your thing, and you really don't want to give up the falconry and warforged points, I'd suggest using a different one-hander like a longsword. There isn't much point in using a kukri if you don't put any points into VKF.

Good points! Starting from a fresh character, the 18/1/1 fighter, barb/warlock, fvs looks like a really fun build! I think that'll be my next build after this life.

However, if we're just looking to spend some time in Legendaries before we TR, probly doesn't make sense to +2 Lesser Reincarnate to go from 20 to 18/1/1, right?

 

[Djoe]

Good points! Starting from a fresh character, the 18/1/1 fighter, barb/warlock, fvs looks like a really fun build! I think that'll be my next build after this life.

However, if we're just looking to spend some time in Legendaries before we TR, probly doesn't make sense to +2 Lesser Reincarnate to go from 20 to 18/1/1, right?

no, probably not. But maybe you should play around with the enhancement points a bit. I have the suspicion that 12 points in vistani knife fighter would be really useful. Lots of people take it for the first three cores (deflect arrows and extra doublestrike are great).

Sorry, I think I was tired last night or something, but I read your "Kensei" in the title as "Kukri." If you're two-handed fighting, I really suggest a good falchion over a greatsword or greataxe.

 

[Krythan]

no, probably not. But maybe you should play around with the enhancement points a bit. I have the suspicion that 12 points in vistani knife fighter would be really useful. Lots of people take it for the first three cores (deflect arrows and extra doublestrike are great).

Sorry, I think I was tired last night or something, but I read your "Kensei" in the title as "Kukri." If you're two-handed fighting, I really suggest a good falchion over a greatsword or greataxe.

Ha ha, I'm already looking at a future build being VKF, the tree just looks too good!

For now, I have my old Epic Sword of Shadows which is better than nothing... With the increased crit profile, it's been a fun weapon to use. However, based on general sentiment across posts, I need to start looking for how to find an upgrade (likely Falchion) that can out-perform my Epic Sword of Shadows.

 

[Krythan]

Assuming our goal is to Epic Reincarnate our Level 30 Character (20 Fighter), in order to get this character into a better state for Leveling 20-34 and farming gear for our next life... how could I fix up the above build?

 

[unbongwah]

We are planning to Epic Reincarnate our Warforged Fighter (20 Fighter).

You're allowed to switch archetypes after an epic Reincarnation IIRC. Is there some reason you're using fighter Kensei instead of Dragonlord? This isn't a S&B build, so it's not for the Vanguard tree. You dipped into GMoF but it doesn't appear you're going for a centered build. Though FYI you took Heavy Armor feats but forgot Adamantine Body.

 

[Krythan]

You're allowed to switch archetypes after an epic Reincarnation IIRC. Is there some reason you're using fighter Kensei instead of Dragonlord? This isn't a S&B build, so it's not for the Vanguard tree. You dipped into GMoF but it doesn't appear you're going for a centered build. Though FYI you took Heavy Armor feats but forgot Adamantine Body.

Whoops, thank you - good catch on Adamantine Body. I'll add that.

From the GMoF Enhancements, does "Strike with Poise" require you to be centered or in the tree's Mantle? Based on the descriptions, it looks like I can get +6 Stunning Blow DC for 4 Epic Enhancement Points.

Dragonlord looks really good - I just don't own it yet (hoping for a Black Friday sale??). I might do that in a future reincarnation, as it looks like a lot of fun.

 

[FVSHasBeenEvenMoreGutted]

LOL

Ouch, but also... fair

Just updated, and refined the above comment to be much more read-able The enhancements should now show haste boost! (Whoops).

What other Epic Feats are worth taking in place of Great Strength?

Open to suggestions!

ah my bad, I thought you were telling us how to play the build, not asking for feedback. maybe make that more clear in OP? my apologies for jumping to conclusions

 

[Krythan]

ah my bad, I thought you were telling us how to play the build, not asking for feedback. maybe make that more clear in OP? my apologies for jumping to conclusions

Whoops. I could have been more clear in that regard - my bad! I don't know enough to give instructions on anything Updated the original post to be more clear.

 

[Krythan]

Our current plan is to ER this character, fix up it's current build (see proposed build above), then re-level to 34 to dip our toes into some Legendaries and Raids. That should give us some time to collect gear, learn a bit more, and hopefully by then we'll have gotten something like Dragon Lord or Razerclaw on sale, allowing us to TR into, and level up a more on-meta build.

 

[Cadaulus]

As a perennial Melee-type player this is pretty close to what I have for my main, it's great. Right now, I'm dabbling in some Barb multi class just to see what happens, but my core Fighter (with Strength PLs from Dhampir and Half-Orc) deals 6-digit damage in raids on crits. Buffed, Strength can hit 115-120 (Reaper even more, I have 92 RPs) and melee power hovering around 400. The crit profile for Falchions is just delicious and I'm currently using the Undying Age (fully upgraded) falchion with mostly Myth Drannor gear. The other great aspect is the DC on Dire Charge and other tactical feats hanging around 105-115 unbuffed and even more in Reaper. I did like Dragon Lord, definitely helped getting my tactics DCs up and was great in raids. Hoping to post my build as soon as I get everything into DDObuilder.

 

[unbongwah]

From the GMoF Enhancements, does "Strike with Poise" require you to be centered or in the tree's Mantle?

It should be a passive bonus. You should probably add Hail of Blows too if you can: +10% Strikethrough and +3% Doublestrike for 3 more EDPs.

Dragonlord looks really good - I just don't own it yet (hoping for a Black Friday sale??).

Ah, it was a free giveaway originally so I forgot it's technically P2P.

 

[Krythan]

What a tease ha ha

 

[Krythan]

As a perennial Melee-type player...

Your build looks like a blast!

I'm leaning towards getting something similar up into raids to try it out. Obviously, I won't have the same level of gear yet - but all in good time. The goal's to get a character into end-game, and give time for some store discounts, gear, and planning before my next TR.

Looking at the build above - what are your thoughts on the feats? That's the main aspect of the build I'm not confident on. Enhancements are easy to swap around, but feats I want to get right on the first pass. I'm specifically curious if the "Armor" feats hold up in end-game, as well as the choices for Epic and Legendary feats.

 

[Cadaulus]

Level	Class	Ability Boost	Feat 1	Feat 2	Skills (typically)
1	Fighter		Two-Handed Fighting	Power Attack	Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Tumble
2	Fighter		WF: Slashing		Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
3	Fighter		Dodge		Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
4	Fighter	Strength +1	Mobility		Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
5	Fighter				Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
6	Fighter		Improved Two Handed	Whirlwind Attack	Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
7	Fighter				Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
8	Fighter	Strength +1	GWF: Slashing		Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
9	Fighter		WS: Slashing		Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
10	Fighter		Improved Critical: Slashing		Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
11	Fighter				Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
12	Fighter	Strength +1	GWS: Slashing	Greater Two Handed	Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
13	Fighter				Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
14	Fighter		Tactical Master		Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
15	Fighter		Power Critical		Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
16	Fighter	Strength +1	SWF: Slashing		Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
17	Fighter				Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
18	Fighter		Tactical Supremacy	Heavy Armor Champion	Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
19	Fighter				Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
20	Fighter	Strength +1	Tactical Combatant		Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
21	Fighter		Overwhelming Critical		Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
22	Fighter		Perfect Two Handed		Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
23	Fighter				Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
24	Fighter	Strength +1	Great Strength		Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
25	Fighter		Tactician		Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
26	Fighter				Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
27	Fighter		Eerie Aim		Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
28	Fighter	Strength +1	Crush Weakness		Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
29	Fighter				Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
30	Fighter		Great Strength	Scion of Arborea	Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
31	Fighter		Doublestrike		Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
32	Fighter	Strength +1			Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
33	Fighter		Great Strength		Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal
34	Fighter		Titan's Blood		Intimidate, UMD, Balance, Heal

Here's what I did last time around with a standard Fighter (just Feats, Abilities and Skills). I tend to swap out Whirlwind Attack (helpful at low levels) later for more Tactics or Heavy Armor. I'll also adjust some feats depending on the role I expect to have at end game raids and legendary reapers. This is obv a Two-hander and I neglected to mention earlier my Doublestrike is in the 90s usually.