Need trapper build

[jessku]

Hello,

Looking for a build that can survive, DPS, and trap on R1 - melee or caster. Plan to TR at 20.
First life was 20 warlock, 2nd life is xbow 16 rogue 4 fighter. I am VIP. I played 15 years ago and recently started again.
This toon has a 50% learning tome, & a supreme +6.
I am not very familiar with the quests, even less familiar with the higher level quests.

Things I value and would like on this character (all may not be possible):
trapping (need spot high enough to not walk face first into a trap unless I can survive it)
jump
DPS (prefer AOE)
not squishy
evasion or somehow able to survive reflex saves
dimension door

Thank you and any input would be appreciated.

 

[Savage]

You might want to look up Strimtom's builds.

 

[unbongwah]

Dark Hunter ticks off most of the checkboxes you listed. Although rather than Evasion, they get Underdark Armor: "While wearing Medium Armor, you gain a +10% Exceptional bonus to Armor Class and take 50% less damage from Traps." Or you can add Evasion with rogue / monk 2 splash though you'd lose ranger capstones. [Best part of pure Dark Hunter IMO is having trap skills with Dervish.] A human with the Dragonmark of Passage can grab Dimension Door for 7 APs.

Ranger / Dark Hunter get the TWF feats free but nothing prevents from taking THF feats; or SWF as long as you take the first feat before ranger 2.

Otherwise I'd probably use a Pale Trapper / Eldritch Knight like this build I posted recently.

 

[Zvdegor]

This build is 32p iconic 1st lifer. R4 capable and got no fail trap skills. Made for survive.

https://forums-old.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/535540-R4-Solo-capable-1st-Lifer-Melee-Artificer?highlight=Handyman

 

[Sympl]

While not exactly an answer to your question....

In order to have a full set of "rogueskills", all you need is one level of Rogue/Artificer/Dark Hunter and enough INT to invest in search/spot/disable/open lock. I often lead off with a level of rogue at level 1 and take a second level of rogue at 20 to pump out the UMD that I have intentionally let slide just enough to max it and my rogue skills at level 20.

If you want evasion* (which is nice, but not something I typically aim for, my current trapper is 2/18 rogue/fighter in heavy armor, so evasion capable, but not something I build towards using) all you need is a second level of rogue/monk or 9 levels of non-DarkHunter Ranger.

Investing heavily into INT for the INT dependent rogue skills (Search/Disable, the only two skills needed for the trapping side of the rogue skillset) makes going into either Wizard/Alchemist for the spell casting synergy or Harper Agent or Alchemist (Battalion Brew) for the INT to-hit/damage a wise move.

Or even relying on Artificer's Insightful Damage spell in conjunction with Harper Agent's INT to-hit to conserve action points on the proper build is even a viable thing.

This opens up a wide range of potential builds that are quite viable without shoe-horning you into one particular thing.

Just a couple class combos:

2/18 rogue/wizard
2/18 rogue/fighter (Harper Agent, heavily invested in the THF and Heavy Armor feat chains)
2/18 rogue/alchemist (Inquisitive, evasion early with Liquid Luck, swapped out later for Heighten with second level of rogue at 20)
2/18 monk/artificer
6/14 monk/rogue

Heck, to be honest, you can make FUN (but arguably less than the purists needs for an OPTIMAL) build by mixing up some wierd stuff. And sometimes get something that's both.

You only need 3 levels of Bard and 11 AP to get Swashbuckling with an orb/runearm/buckler (with both SWF & ShieldMastery feats). Two extra AP and you can take Different Tack: Two Steps Ahead to make INT-to-Damage a thing. 4 levels of basic Bard (non-stormsinger) gets you some other build related tasties worth considering at 21-26 total AP expenditure.

So....

3/2/15 Bard/Monk/Artificer

and while I haven't tried it or even thought about it before now....

3/2/15 Bard/Rogue/Warlock(Enlightened Spirit) might be super fun.

At any rate, my point is...if you want Rogue-skills (or just trap skills), the basic idea is you need at least 1 level in a class that grants access to them, and enough skill points per level to keep them invested in (at potentially cross-class point expenditures).

After that, the rest gets....fun....INT to hit/damage or as a spell casting stat is great synergy, but not required. Especially once you consider skill boosting equipment/spells/tomes, etc. Heck, you can even make a passable Barbarian into a trapper with a 2 level rogue splash. Giving up the capstone is only really a huge sacrifice if you plan on LIVING on the build. Otherwise, good/fun viable builds don't have to be optimal-on-paper.

I'm really starting to digress here, but I've been thinking recently.....

Barbarian 4, 23AP in Ravager
Fighter 4, 23AP in Stalwart Defender
Artificer 12, 31 pts in Renegade Mastermaker
Harper Agent, 3 pts

No evasion, and I'd have to look into it deeper to see if/where it breaks down, but could be fun. It won't be soon, though and I already have variations in mind to try on it.....::


*Footnote: Keep in mind that evasion only works if you MAKE your reflex save to begin with. Builds with lower reflex saves make Evasion increasingly ::meh::. I'm not saying you should ignore your reflex saves....just pointing out the relationship. And builds that don't have stellar reflex saves DO exist. And some of them are quite viable as well.

**Edited for spelling.

 

[jessku]

Thank you everyone. I went with Rogue Paladin Qstaff build. Let's see how it goes. I am optimistic, but a little worried.

 

[RangerOne]

A single level of rogue on a standard ranger will get you what you want except for the AOE. (There is Improved Precise Shot but it is so situational I don't think you can really call it AOE) For that, once you hit epics, Primal gets all sorts of acid based damage effects.

 

[Sylvado]

Thank you everyone. I went with Rogue Paladin Qstaff build. Let's see how it goes. I am optimistic, but a little worried.

That is a tough mix because the trapper in it needs INT and DEX

 

[Palumtra]

That is a tough mix because the trapper in it needs INT and DEX

Dex for what? Open Lock? Natural 20 opens all locks as long as you have 1 point trained and nothing extraordinary is hidden behind locked doors.
INTelligence is what you need and you can use your INT for reflex saves by taking the Insightful Reflexes feat. If you don't know where the traps are then you also need Spot (Wisdom). The only reason I'd invest in DEX is to get Precision/TWF, if you are a ranged/melee attacker.
Sure for melee/ranged attackers you need the Harper Tree to use your INT to hit and damage but for INT based casters it's free real estate

 

[Tembinarr]

An undead wraith staff fighting build.
While not my build, I'm running it now and its a pretty good experience. 3 monk/7wiz/10 rogue. Dex build
the wiz and rogue levels can be adjusted., minimum 7 wiz, minimum 5 rogue.
3 monk for a bit faster running + stances
7 wiz for both death auras
5 rogue for top tier in thief Acrobat tree
Uses alot of tree's, henshin/thief acrobat/eldritch knight
Essentially evasion, high dodge, self healing and trapping and a lot of immunities.
Damage is pretty darn good too, with strikethrough and a decent AoE trip.

A lot of fun while not being a slouch in the damage bucket. This is my first life with it , just going to try getting some racial lives with it since it seems pretty good.
I don't have the exact build, just did what i thought worked.
On a side note, stats might be an issue as it needs a lot. +8 to all tome highly recommended

 

[Mand O'Lin]

Thank you everyone. I went with Rogue Paladin Qstaff build. Let's see how it goes. I am optimistic, but a little worried.

Excellent choice!

This is similar to the build I use for leveling 1-20. I assume Paladin is Sacred Fist.

Chieftain's Spear 4-6
Elemental Bloom 7-20

First three levels Rogue, then start in with the Sacred Fist. You may want to consider also adding Monk or Fighter. I used to include Monk, but my last life tried Fighter and was quite pleased with the increased dps.

 

[seph1roth5]

Are you planning to solo or group? Any int-based rogue or artificer will be very good at trapping, and with insightful reflexes evade it all too. After that you just need to figure out what you want. If you have harper unlocked anyone can use int to hit/dam. Assassin is fun but not much aoe. My main is on a rogue assassin qstaff build right now, it's weird but works fine.

Also, do you have shadarkai? I love sdk and it gives anyone really good aoe active attacks.

 

[DYWYPI]

Certain Locks purposely have high DCs and others lower for example; Level 32: White Plume Mountain (Epic). The "critical path" locked door (requiring the Silver key, you can find the key elsewhere) can be opened with a DC of less than 40.

[...] Natural 20 opens all locks as long as you have 1 point trained and nothing extraordinary is hidden behind locked doors. ...

No, Locks work upon DC values (rolling a natural 20 is irrelevant). However, Open Lock must be trained to use. There are Locks at Level 2 (Elite); needing an Open Lock DC of 25, even some generic locked doors require a DC of 25 by around Level 3.

Obviously the Content Developers' wanted some locks to be harder than others to bypass or all the lock DCs in Epic would just increase. For example, Level 3; The Waterworks quest, The Kobold's Den: Clan Gnashtooth, locked door DC, is actually higher than the one within Level 32, White Plume Mountain on Epic.

If quests are being designed with locked chests (or doors), which lead to special 'named loot', that cannot be obtained by other means. For example, finding named keys in quest, that of course is dreadful design! I can only think of about one very low level quest where that happens. :-/

All standard DDO quests can be completed without the need to pick locks so it's not a critical ability for DDO, in fantasy it may prevent progress or completion of the quest.

 

[Dendrix Deathblade]

Rogue 2. Wizard 18. (1 level of rogue, 5 levels of wizard for fireball access, 1 level of rogue to boost rogue skills and gain evasion. Rest wizard)
Take Insightful Reflexes feat for Int to reflex saves. Then take Maximise followed by Empower. After that take in any order that seems fun to you Quicken, Heighten, the extended range feat.
Maximum Int and Con. Splash any points you have extra points into dex (for AC). All level ups into Int, everything important on your character is powered by Int.

Skills: spot, search, disable, a few points into open locks then ignore that, UMD. Spellcraft on your wizard level ups. (Possibly concentration, but quicken covers for that).
You don't need to spend many points on jump as the jump spell gives you +10 (1-3), 20 (4-6), 30 (level 7+)

This is a pretty simple build but works well because it is. You can focus on AOE damage spells as much as you want. Wizard has the awesome flexibility of being able to do most anything if you have the right spells. The greatest limitation of the build is spell points, soloing you will never have enough. Make sure to use every shrine, backtracking as necessary. Don't be afraid to buy a stack of 100 mana potions from the store and then drink them when and as you need them. You won't use 100 in a life and those mana potions will be there for your future lives.

If you are going to solo a lot and want good self healing, be a warforged. Repair spells are your friend. Soloing is the mana intensive way as alluded to above. With good (maximised) UMD you can use heal scrolls and be any race (using potions until then).