Wellard wanted me to send him this build, but I thought I'd share it with all of you.

[StigTC]

There's not that much to say about this build, it's a high AB, high damage fighter 11 / weapon master 28 / rogue 1 build.
It certainly has it's weaknesses, but it seems to shine in Undermountain if you use the right equipment.

I'm not gonna tell what to take for each level, but just list the requirements for the build to work and the level by which you need them.

The starting attributes should be:
Strength 20.
Dexterity 13.
Constitution 8.
Intelligence 13.
Wisdom 8.
Charisma 6.
You will have one point left after that, I recommend putting that into dexterity since that's the only attribute where it will actually make a difference (since you can't put it into intelligence due to cost).
Also, your intimidate skill should get 2 points right from the start.

During the first 10 levels (all fighter levels) you need the following feats and skills:
Dodge.
Mobility.
Expertise.
Spring Attack.
Whirlwind Attack.
Weapon Focus (Any simple or martial weapon).
Weapon Specialization for your chosen weapon type.
Improved Critical in your chosen weapon type.
Intimidate, raised to 4.

The next 28 levels form there should be weapon master (This is a half truth though, but I wont get into the details of that just yet). During these levels you should get the following feats (I've tried to put them in order of importance):
Great Strength VI, these feats should be taken whenever they can, they take priority over any other feat, take them whenever you can until you have 6 levels in it.
Power Attack.*
Cleave.*
Great Cleave.*
Overwhelming Critical.
Devastating Critical.
Epic weapon focus.
Epic Prowess.

There are some more feats that can be taken besides these and some of them can't be taken until after level 20 (I've marked those that can be taken before with an asterix). Besides those that are essential to the build, I recommend the following:
Improved Power Attack.*
Blind Fight.*
Toughnes.*
Epic Armor Class.
Epic Toughnes.

At level 39 you should take the 11th fighter level, this is because that after the 28th weapon master level, there are no longer enough total levels left before 40 for the weapon master prestige class to give you any more benefits. The fighter class however offers you a feat that no other class can give you (as far as I remember):
Epic Weapon Specialization!
This feat might not be an essential, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna give up on +2 damage to each and every hit that I land on an enemy, so Epic Weapon Specialization it is.

That leaves just 1 level before we hit the cap and if you've actually read this whole thing, you'll have noticed that the only class left from the build, is the single level of rogue. The even more perceptive of you will have noticed that I haven't distributed any skillpoints at all after I got the 4 intimidate that I needed to become a weapon master. This i because the rogue gets all those nice class skills such as:
Use Magic Device. Use it, love it, worship it's cheesiness.
Tumble. Yes, you could have put points into this before, but if we wait until this level, we get 4 more armor class for free since the tumble points now only cost half.
Open Lock. Nowhere near being essential, but it comes in handy sometimes.
Spot or Search. Because I have no clue whatsoever as to which one of them helps you spot secret door. Not as important as it used to be, after we got the new portal system. But let's face it, finding traps when you're level 40 just isn't worth it, they just don't have enough kapowy to be worth it.

Now, about those 28 half-true successive weapon master levels. These are only half-true because you can actually move the 11th fighter level to level 21, 24, 27, 30, 33 or 36 if you want to without changing anything vital to the build. The only thing that matters is that it falls on a level where you are allowed to chose a new general feat.

I'll be the first to admit that this build is heavily dependant on getting your hands on some value armor, this is due to the build being pretty damn offensive and offering little thought to the defensive side of combat, this can however be remedied by chosing a single handed weapon alongside a shield.
Another weakness to the build is that if you don't get your hands on a weapon up near the +10 range, you will be up a certain creek without a paddle when you hit the Proving Grounds and other similar places with very high AC enemies.

There are a few other things to note about the build:
1 - Since the strength can get as high as 48 with equipment, it actually makes a difference to go with two handed weapons and getting that 1.5 multiplication to the strength modifier, it does after all mean 9-10 points of damage more to each hit.
2 - You can actually use an exotic weapon if you want to, this means that you 'll be giving up on one of your low level feats though. It's a small sacrifice, but with the exotic weapons that are currently in Undermountain, it just isn't worth it.
3 - The person writing this has before been called a rambling madman, so all this info is to be taken with a grain of salt...

Hope you all find good use for it.

[Neo the Warrior Cat]

It's a neat build, but would be better served by swapping out 1 fighter level for 1 rogue level. Lose 4 HP but gain 6 skillpoints and the chance to take the first rogue level early for a headstart of some of the rogue skills, instead of not having them until way late in the build's lifetime.


Another version of it has 12 fighter/ 25 WM/ 3 rogue(or bard) Gains E Weapon Spec at the expense of 1 AB.

[StigTC]

I wont deny that there's a lot of different way to do this build or just something very close to it. This is just the one that closest to replication what I was using when Wellard asked for my build (It was actually a fighter 10 / weapon master 30, the last two WM levels are just useless).

[Greything]

Looks like we're all going the same way.

I'm using similar builds but with Monk instead of Rogue.

The only reason for this is to use the better set of Boots of Tumbling and Suni's gloves. Even with the Use Magic Device skill at max, I have never had another class able to use these items.

Together they give a nice bonus to AC over and above any other combination with Suni's gloves giving massive immunities (death magic, etc). This frees up your character to wear items like rings of fortitude which, with the Proving Grounds cloak, makes most spells bounce off (except for Harm - never been able to do anything about that!).

I do go with Neo on taking two levels of Monk or Rogue. I hate it when my characters get killed and taking a first Monk/Rogue level at, say, around level 8 can give quite a boost to armour, skills and immunities.

[roddybug]

I really love rogue as a first level character choice for those extra skill points (and possibly to finish of with one level for those o' so cheesy skill areas!) A bit like one level of shadowdancer I suppose.

I like 14 intelligence as well - more skill points, more feat options as well as ability to communicate with others.

Undermountain is more than beating the dpg guys. There's more to come I hope!

[ 08-15-2006, 01:35 PM: Message edited by: roddybug ]

[Greything]

Apologies.

I should have said Boots of the Diamond rather than Boots of Tumbling in my earlier post.

And while there is a lot more to Undermountain than the DPG (you're right there Roddybug), there is a lot of satisfaction in charging in and smashing the bad guys all over the place.

I think the psychiatrists call it compensation.

[StigTC]

Originally posted by roddybug: I like 14 intelligence as well - more skill points, more feat options as well as ability to communicate with others.

I wouldn't mind 14 intelligence either, but I didn't find it worthwhile to lower my strength to get that last point, neither were I willing to give up my epic weapon specialization. It's a matter of choice though, I know which gear I'll be using and have already been in Undermountain so much that I feel that I know which skills I can compromise with to make up for lacking intelligence, so my choice is to stay with the 13.

[roddybug]

Fair point Stig, I didn't realize that it was going to cost two points to raise the stat at character creation. And they seem to believe that half-orcs are the only stupid ones!

[wellard]

Thanks for posting Stig

Can we have a moments silence to show respect for Stigs 'Mad Slasher' character who has, I am informed, now retired much to the relief of all things evil in undermountain. Who amongst our fellow adventurers has not stood back in a fight and watched the total devastation 'Mad Slasher' handed out in awe

*respect*

[img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img]

[wellard]

You start with Charisma as 6. How is that achieved I thought 8 was the minimum on a build?