Question on Crit Stacking

Vathailos

Member
Hello All,

I'm taking a character from theory-craft to reality and wanted to confirm an assumption before I do.

ALC/DRG Lord/BRD (12/5/3)
Swashbuckling Sickle, Poison Dragon-aligned, going DL to Tier 5 for the 2x Crit multiplier, Vile Chemist for the poison vulnerability cleave attack and extra imbue dice.

My question is this. I know Competence bonuses don't stack. But in this case, will the largest bonus be in effect? I'll have x1 bonus from swashbuckling Sickle, but x2 from DL T5 ability.

Thanks in advance!
 

Sarlona Raiding

Well-known member
yes the largest bonus applies so if you use a sickle as a swashbuckler with tier 5 DL you will have +2 range and +2 multiplier with the range boosted by improved critical due to swashbuckler.

It's also a build that would benefit from the new patience feat.
 

Purr

Well-known member
Many thanks! Patience is on my Epic wish list, and also planning Swords to Plowshares as I level.
You aren't asking this, but in terms of Best-in-slot weapons for swashbuckling, you might want to look at:
https://ddowiki.com/page/Exceptional_Swashbuckler_weapons

The basic idea is to leverage weapons that already have expanded crit ranges with the double bonuses from swash and improved critical.

In my experience, Sky-Pirate's Dagger is good from 4 to 10, Forgotten Axe is incredible from level 10 to 14 and Forester's Brush Hook is unbelievably good from 15 to 20 (i think it ends up being 12-20x5 for criticals).

Stuff falls off really fast in early epics, though, since the ML22 forester's brush hook is only 1 1d6 or it would be great. I usually struggle through with the ML 15 one and then switch to ethereal hand axe at level 20 and then balizarde at 23.
 

Mesmerin

Well-known member
Run it as an SDK for even more fun.

(Fwiw, i switch to using a kukri for epics, even with an intended handaxe build, epic midnight greetings is just so damn nice from 20-28).
 

Purr

Well-known member
Run it as an SDK for even more fun.

(Fwiw, i switch to using a kukri for epics, even with an intended handaxe build, epic midnight greetings is just so damn nice from 20-28).
I feel like I'm sleeping on EMG. What's so great about it?
 

Rincewind

Well-known member
You aren't asking this, but in terms of Best-in-slot weapons for swashbuckling, you might want to look at:
https://ddowiki.com/page/Exceptional_Swashbuckler_weapons

The basic idea is to leverage weapons that already have expanded crit ranges with the double bonuses from swash and improved critical.

In my experience, Sky-Pirate's Dagger is good from 4 to 10, Forgotten Axe is incredible from level 10 to 14 and Forester's Brush Hook is unbelievably good from 15 to 20 (i think it ends up being 12-20x5 for criticals).

Stuff falls off really fast in early epics, though, since the ML22 forester's brush hook is only 1 1d6 or it would be great. I usually struggle through with the ML 15 one and then switch to ethereal hand axe at level 20 and then balizarde at 23.
I use sky pirate dagger until lvl 26 sometimes 28 hahaha i just love the big crits and the extra weapon dice
 

Sarlona Raiding

Well-known member
kukris and daggers benefit from synergies with vistani knife fighter. Hand axes end up with one additional crit multipier vs. sickle.

Swashbuckling Dragonlord Tier 5 isn't the top dps in the game, but it definitely doesn't fall off at epic levels or level cap. I use a bladeforged dragonlord 16, bard 3, wizard 1 to solo legendary content and VOD LH - to get my alt accounts some threads and runes. I also have a dragonlord 16, bard 3, warlock 1 shifter for raids but am a bit salty magic fang isn't working at 34. My shifter can't self heal through solo LH VOD without the old exalted angel healing.

In my case I don't try to be max dps on my solo bladeforged, but instead try and have a workable ac, workable dps, solid self healing and solid defenses overall. The shifter definitely is maxed on dps, but sadly I lose magic fang which nerfs my dps - so don't really want to play it right now.

Different builds for different purposes.
 
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Bjond

Well-known member
My shifter can't self heal through solo LH VOD without the old exalted angel healing.
Tried "How Dare You"? I've found it to be even better than old aura, but it has more caveats. Character has to be OK with it triggering late (50% hp) and it's not as mobile. It works best with DRoll.

If Shifter has wraps or twf, T5 Crusader for Law of the Divine outperforms all epic moments for sustained melee DPS by a fair bit, but the extra T5 19-20 requires favored, which is highly annoying for a shifter. Mostly a quest v raid thing whether burst-window from epic beats sustained or not.


For OP, consider handaxe for swash+DL; it gives a 15x5 profile instead of 15x4 for sickle. Kukri DL+VKF without swash is even better unless your non-VKF 15x5 build can reach 100 doublestrike. If you love sickle, use cosmetics; that's what I do when my desired RP'ish flavor clashes with practical reality.

FYI, you can't use a Cosmetic for the Brilliant Crescent in OH. It's a "wai" bug with the cosmetic system, meaning they don't care about fixing it (can't even use the OH crescent to make an OH cosmetic). You mentioned Swash, which implies "not twf", so unlikely to impact you -- but it's worth noting.
 
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