User:Arek/Toons/Arek A Ombra
From HGWiki
Please note: This version of this build is outdated and unmaintained. I used this originally so that I could more easily reformat the post for the forums. --Arek
Ombra Monjo (Catelan for "Shadow Monk") is my take on an Open Subrace ShadowDancer.
Ombra Monjo is a dual-wielding Dex-based SD with Monk levels for added AC. It also gets 60% conceal and 20/+15 damage reduction, and has 65fort/74ref/62will saves. It can also get up to 93 AB with the monk progression and no arti, pre-demi. 92 will be more typical, tho (keep an eye open for a DEX artifact), since 93 requires maxed Craft Weapon. This is a bit low, but is mitigated somewhat by the monk attack progression. You do get max listen to beat conceal with, and the Shadow Rift buff for added damage on demand.
ShadowDancers on HG have many unique abilities. The important ones for this build are as follows:
- Shadow Evade: Modified to gain Unlimited Usage with 20 ShadowDancer levels, provides Conceal and Damage Reduction scaling with SD level, up to 60% conceal and 20/+15 damage reduction.
- Shadow Rift: Finding a certain item after getting 10 levels of ShadowDancer will grant your SD the Shadow Rift ability, which allows you to add a negative damage buff to your weapons.
- Shadow Daze: At SD 22, this becomes a long-range attack that curses an enemy similar to a bard's curse, with the level of the curse being equal to your SD level.
- Shadow Step: Immortal characters with at least 25 levels of ShadowDancer can find an item in-game which grants them the Shadow Step ability. This ability allows the SD to instantly teleport to most nearby living targets, and puts the SD into Shadow Sanctuary (GS) when used.
Ombra Monjo also gets the ability to search in later levels, adding to its utility. It is not, however, a full rogue, since it lacks both the rogue level and the skills to disarm traps or open locks.
On class choices:
- Monk: Monk grants extra AC, extra attacks/round, and a better attack progression (read: higher ab for later attacks), and is a bit of a no-brainer for a dual-wielder that can manage it.
- Fighter: Gives bonus feats. 5 of them from 8 levels. Important for this build since it's a dual-wielding build.
- ShadowDancer: The main part of this build, since it eventually gets a total of 50 ShadowDancer levels, and therefore all the benefits of the class. :-)
As far as weapons are concerned, there are 3 weapons that this build can effectively use: Kama, Goad, and Nunchaku. Of these, the Nunchaku is what I recommend, and list in the build. The reasons:
- First and foremost, it's non-slaggable, which is important since this build can only reach 118 Discipline with items.
- Second, it does bludgeoning damage, which is still excellent in the Hells.
- Third, the LL set megadamage versions are very Hell-friendly, which means you're not hunting for the L50 randoms as much.
- Finally, even tho gloves (fists) also have many of these traits, Nunchaku have one major advantage over them: Nunchaku can be dual-wielded.
Now for the build:
Base race: Gnome Subrace: Svirfneblin
Stats at creation/after subrace
STR: 6/6 DEX: 18/20 CON: 16/14 INT: 10/10 WIS: 14/16 CHA: 8/6
Level Progression:
- 1: Monk
- Feat: Bullheaded
- Bullheaded is what we call an "enabler" feat. In this case, it enables you to take Legendary Skill Affinity: Discipline which, in turn, allows you to take discipline as a class feat in Legendary Levels.
- Skills: None (save all points)
- This build needs to take a lot of skills at specific times. If you don't skill up correctly you can break the build very easily, as it has very few spare skill points.
- Feat: Bullheaded
- 2: Fighter
- Feat (F): Weapon finesse
- Weapon Finesse is a required feat for any dex tank who wishes to actually hit his/her enemies, since it lets you use your DEX modifier to determine your AB instead of your STR modifier.
- Skills: None (save all points)
- Feat (F): Weapon finesse
- 3: Fighter
- Feat: Toughness
- Toughness gives you +1 HP per Level, for a total of +60 HP at Level 60. Every HP helps on this build.
- Feat (F): Weapon focus: Nunchaku
- Weapon focus improves your AB by +1. Given that this build's AB is borderline, anything that can improve it helps.
- Skills: None (save all points)
- Feat: Toughness
- 4: Fighter
- Stat: Dexterity
- This is a Dexterity-based build, meaning that Dexterity determines both your AB and your AC. With that in mind, you need all the Dexterity you can get, so take Dexterity every time the game asks you what stat to increase.
- Skills: None (save all points)
- Stat: Dexterity
- 5: Fighter
- Feat (F): Dodge
- Dodge is nice in that it grants you +1 AC vs. your current target or last attacker, but more importantly for us it's required for Shadow Dancer.
- Skills: None (save all points)
- Feat (F): Dodge
- 6: Fighter
- Feat: Iron Will
- Iron Will increases your Will save by +2. It is required for Legendary Will later.
- Skills: None (save all points)
- Feat: Iron Will
- 7: Fighter
- Feat (F): Mobility
- Mobility provides +4 to your AC against attacks of opportunity, and is required for Shadow Dancer.
- Skills: None (save all points)
- Feat (F): Mobility
- 8: Fighter
- Stat: Dexterity
- Skills: None (save all points)
- 9: Monk
- Feat: Improved Critical: Nunchaku
- Skills: Get to 10 Tumble, 10 Hide, and 8 Move Silently (save the rest)
- These skills are required in order to unlock Shadow Dancer, so take them.
- 10: Shadowdancer
- Skills: None (save all points)
- 11: Shadowdancer
- Skills: None (save all points)
- 12: Shadowdancer
- Feat: Two-Weapon Fighting
- Two-Weapon Fighting significantly reduces the penalties for fighting with 2 weapons, and is thus a required feat for any dual-wielder.
- Stat: Dexterity
- Skills: None (save all points)
- Feat: Two-Weapon Fighting
- 13: Shadowdancer
- Skills: None (save all points)
- 14: Shadowdancer
- Skills: None (save all points)
- 15: Shadowdancer
- Feat: Ambidexterity
- Ambidexterity reduces the penalties to offhand attacks when fighting with 2 weapons, so it's necessary for dual-wielding.
- Skills: None (save all points)
- Feat: Ambidexterity
- 16: Shadowdancer
- - Stat: Dexterity
- - Skills: None (save all points)
- 17: Shadowdancer
- Skills: None (save all points)
- 18: Shadowdancer
- Feat: Great Fortitude
- Great Fortitude increases your Fortitude Save by +2, and is also required for Legendary Fortitude later.
- Skills: None (save all points)
- Feat: Great Fortitude
- 19: Shadowdancer
- Skills: None (save all points)
- 20: Fighter
- Feat (F): Improved two-weapon fighting
- Improved two-weapon fighting gives you 1 extra offhand attack, which is nice, so take it. :-)
- Stat: Dexterity
- Skills: Max Concentration and Discipline, dump the remaining points in Parry.
- Decent concentration is needed an many late-game and endgame areas to avoid certain checks that can disarm, disable, or even kill your character. This is also your last chance to get it, so make sure you do.
- Parry reduces the damage done by Critical hits, and can even prevent certain instakill abilities at high levels. With your low HP total, every little bit of protection helps, and this is your last chance to take it before LLs, so do so.
- Finally, high Discipline is needed in many areas of the mod in order to prevent nasty things from happening to you, like having your armor and/or shield stripped, having your armor destroyed, etc. Again, this is your last chance to take this skill before LLs.
- Feat (F): Improved two-weapon fighting
- 21: Shadowdancer
- Feat: Epic Weapon Focus: Nunchaku
- Epic Wepon Focus adds +2 AB to your attacks, and this build needs every point of AB it can get.
- Skills: None (save all points)
- Feat: Epic Weapon Focus: Nunchaku
- 22: Shadowdancer
- Skills: None (save all points)
- 23: Shadowdancer
- Feat (SD): Great Dexterity I
- Each Great Dexterity feat you take increases your Dexterity score by 1. As stated before, this build needs all the Dexterity it can get, so it takes all 10 of these feats.
- Skills: None (save all points)
- Feat (SD): Great Dexterity I
- 24: Shadowdancer
- Feat: Armor Skin
- Armor Skin gives you +2 AC, which is very nice.
- Stat: Dexterity
- Skills: None (save all points)
- Feat: Armor Skin
- 25: Shadowdancer
- Skills: None (save all points)
- 26: Shadowdancer
- Feat (SD): Great Dexterity II
- Skills: None (save all points)
- 27: Shadowdancer
- Feat: Epic Dodge
- Epic Dodge makes the first attack that would normally hit you in any round miss. This makes it the single most important feat this character takes for its survivability! Don't miss it!
- Skills: 30 Tumble
- Every 5 ranks (not points) of tumble you take nets you +1 AC. Eventually, this build gets 60 ranks in Tumble, for +12 AC, but the real reason for dumping 30 points in Tumble at this time is to allow you to take Epic Dodge on this level (since skills are applied before feats).
- Feat: Epic Dodge
- 28: Shadowdancer
- Stat: Dexterity
- Skills: None (save all points)
- 29: Shadowdancer
- Feat (SD): Great Dexterity III
- Skills: Max Tumble and Search
- Search allows you to find hidden items and secret rooms, which is very useful in all areas of the module. This build can eventually get 127 search with items and buffs.
- 30: Shadowdancer
- Feat: Epic Prowess
- Epic prowess adds +1 to your AB, which is useful. It also synergizes with Legendary Weapon Focus for a further boost to AB later.
- Skills: Max Tumble and Search
- Feat: Epic Prowess
- 31: Shadowdancer
- Skills: Max Tumble and Search
- 32: Shadowdancer
- Feat (SD): Great Dexterity IV
- Stat: Dexterity
- Skills: Max Tumble and Search
- 33: Shadowdancer
- Feat: Great Dexterity V
- Skills: Max Tumble and Search
- 34: Shadowdancer
- Skills: Max Tumble and Search
- 35: Shadowdancer
- Feat (SD): Great Dexterity VI
- Skills: Max Tumble and Search
- 36: Shadowdancer
- Feat: Great Dexterity VII
- Stat: Dexterity
- Skills: Max Tumble and Search
- 37: Shadowdancer
- Skills: Max Tumble and Search
- 38: Shadowdancer
- Feat (SD): Great Dexterity VIII
- Skills: Max Tumble and Search
- 39: Shadowdancer
- Feat: Great Dexterity IX
- Skills: Max Tumble and Search
- 40: Shadowdancer
- Stat: Dexterity
- Skills: Max Tumble and Search
- 41: (Shadowdancer)
- Skills: Max Tumble, Search, Craft Weapon, and Craft Armor
- Craft Weapon and Craft Armor increase your AB and AC, respectively, by +1 for every 40 points, for a potential total of +3 AB and AC. +2 will, however, be more typical.
- Skills: Max Tumble, Search, Craft Weapon, and Craft Armor
- 42: (Shadowdancer)
- Feat: Legendary Skill Affinity: Discipline
- LSA: Discipline allows you to take Discipline as a class skill in later levels, which will allow you to eventually get 63 ranks in Discipline, for a potential of 118 Discipline with buffs.
- Stat: Dexterity
- Skills: Max Tumble, Search, Craft Weapon, and Craft Armor
- Feat: Legendary Skill Affinity: Discipline
- 43: (Shadowdancer)
- Skills: Max Tumble, Search, Discipline, Craft Weapon, and Craft Armor. Put all remaining points in Listen.
- On Higher Ground, Listen helps to defeat/reduce the conceal of enemies, similar to blind-fight. 63 points in listen provides the same reduction in conceal as blind-fight. This build can reach 125 listen with just +skill gear, and there is a helmet out there that provides Epic Skill Focus: Listen, which will max it.
- Skills: Max Tumble, Search, Discipline, Craft Weapon, and Craft Armor. Put all remaining points in Listen.
- 44: (Shadowdancer)
- Stat: Dexterity
- Skills: Max Tumble, Search, Discipline, Craft Weapon, and Craft Armor. Put all remaining points in Listen.
- 45: (Shadowdancer)
- Feat: Legendary Weapon Focus: Nunchaku
- Legendary Weapon Focus by itself provides +2 to AB. However, since this build also takes Epic Prowess, it provides +3 AB instead, which this build needs very, very badly.
- Skills: Max Tumble, Search, Discipline, Craft Weapon, and Craft Armor. Put all remaining points in Listen.
- Feat: Legendary Weapon Focus: Nunchaku
- 46: (Shadowdancer)
- Stat: Dexterity
- Skills: Max Tumble, Search, Discipline, Craft Weapon, and Craft Armor. Put all remaining points in Listen.
- 47: (Shadowdancer)
- Skills: Max Tumble, Search, Discipline, Craft Weapon, and Craft Armor. Put all remaining points in Listen.
- 48: (Shadowdancer)
- Feat: Epic Skill focus: Search
- Epic Skill Focus: Search adds +10 to search, which falls outside the normal cap of +50, meaning that this character will eventually get 73 search before gear instead of the normal 63.
- Stat: Dexterity
- Skills: Max Tumble, Search, Discipline, Craft Weapon, and Craft Armor. Put all remaining points in Listen.
- Feat: Epic Skill focus: Search
- 49: (Shadowdancer)
- Skills: Max Tumble, Search, Discipline, Craft Weapon, and Craft Armor. Put all remaining points in Listen.
- 50: (Shadowdancer)
- Stat: Dexterity
- Skills: Max Tumble, Search, Discipline, Craft Weapon, and Craft Armor. Put all remaining points in Listen.
- 51: (Shadowdancer)
- Feat: Greater Weapon Focus: Nunchaku
- Greater Weapon Focus is a HG Enhanced feat that increases your AB by +1.
- Skills: Max Tumble, Search, Discipline, Craft Weapon, and Craft Armor. Put all remaining points in Listen.
- Feat: Greater Weapon Focus: Nunchaku
- 52: (Shadowdancer)
- Stat: Dexterity
- Skills: Max Tumble, Search, Discipline, Craft Weapon, and Craft Armor. Put all remaining points in Listen.
- 53: (Shadowdancer)
- Skills: Max Tumble, Search, Discipline, Craft Weapon, Craft Armor, and Listen.
- 54: (Shadowdancer)
- Feat: Great Dexterity X
- Stat: Dexterity
- Skills: Max Tumble, Search, Discipline, Craft Weapon, Craft Armor, and Listen.
- 55: (Shadowdancer)
- Skills: Max Tumble, Search, Discipline, Craft Weapon, Craft Armor, and Listen.
- 56: (Shadowdancer)
- Stat: Dexterity
- Skills: Max Tumble, Search, Discipline, Craft Weapon, Craft Armor, and Listen.
- 57: (Shadowdancer)
- Feat: Legendary Fortitude
- Legendary Fortitude increases your Fortitude save by +7, which you'll really need by now, in order to avoid getting killed by many instakill abilities.
- Skills: Max Tumble, Search, Discipline, Craft Weapon, Craft Armor, and Listen.
- Feat: Legendary Fortitude
- 58: (Shadowdancer)
- Stat: Dexterity
- Skills: Max Search, Discipline, Craft Weapon, Craft Armor, and Listen.
- Do not take any more points in Tumble on this or any later level!
- 59: (Shadowdancer)
- Skills: Max Search, Discipline, Craft Weapon, Craft Armor, and Listen.
- 60: (Shadowdancer)
- Feat: Legendary Will
- Stat: Dexterity
- Skills: Max Tumble, Search, Discipline, Parry, Craft Weapon, Craft Armor, and Listen. Dump your last few points in Concentration, and then anywhere you want to after that if you have any left over. I recommend Hide.
Possible improvements
- Greater Weapon Focus: Nunchaku is a pre-epic feat. With that in mind, if you have HG Enhanced installed (you don't need to enable enhmode), you could take this in the place of Toughness pre-epic, possibly with a little bit of feat shuffling, thus freeing up a Legendary feat. That said, there are a few things you could do here:
- First, you could take ESF: Discipline, which is what I recommend if you decide to use Kamas or Goads instead of Nunchaku (if you're using nunchaku, you probably don't need this).
- Second, you could take LSF: Listen. This is a very good option if you're short on Listen gear.
- Third, you could take LSF: Craft Weapon. This is a great option if you don't need the extra discipline and have plenty of Listen gear, since it will help your AB considerably.
- Finally, you could take LSF: Craft Armor. This option could help your AC in the same way LSF: CW could help your AB. However, I don't think this build is going to need the AC help as much as it will the AB help, so this is less useful. That said, if you have all of the above covered, including having plenty of gear with bonuses to Craft Weapon added, This is a good option - and is made even better if you happen to have the Craft Armor pandect. :-)
- With some feat shuffling, it is possible to take Two-Weapon Fighting and Ambidexterity as the fighter bonus feats at levels 2 and 3, which would allow you to dual-wield right out of the box. I'll probably work this one into the next revision of the build, since it won't affect the final build, but will greatly improve the leveling experience.
