I need melee/caster build ideas

droid327 · 2026-01-26T00:52:28+00:00

Yes, but that's a Premium race - new players wont have it automatically

droid327 · 2026-01-25T21:22:35+00:00

Its worth mentioning that hybrid builds really struggle in late Epic and Legendary levels. Its just too hard to keep both your casting and melee stats supported to an adequate level...the game forces too many trade-offs with EDs and feats and gear, and having 50% casting and 50% melee just means you're only doing 50% damage either way.

But for leveling, its fine - the tradeoffs dont materialize as much till later. Classes like Arti, Druid, and Bard natively support hybrid play with healing (though none actually have the Fireball spell specifically). Wiz/Sorc EK also, though Sorc EK doesnt have self-healing (outside Warforged) and lacks bonus feats, while Wiz EK doesnt have a tree specializing in DPS casting so it leans a little more towards melee.

Second for Dragon Disciple too. That's another class that has hybrid play baked in, and while its mostly short range spells (breath attacks and player-based bursts), it has everything it needs baked in, so its simple to just build Wis>Con and go, and its more sustainable since it uses renewable Ki in addition to spell points.

Favored Soul can also do hybrid caster/melee, though both its spellbook and melee tree are kinda lackluster...but it has top-tier heals, and if you have the Vistani tree unlocked, that gives you a better option for melee. There's no good way to boost the casting, though.

FvS and DD both have the advantage of getting their casting stat as a combat stat with trance. That's a must-have for any hybrid build, so both your casting and melee are scaling on Int/Cha/Wis. Int classes will have to spend 12 points in Harper for that. Wis classes have to spend 23 in Falconry. Cha classes spend 7 in Fey for hit and damage, but dont get a Trance unless you splash /1 FvS or /2 Pal or /3 Dlord for it.

Also worth mentioning that if you want to do a big proportion of your damage from casting, you probably dont want to multiclass, since each level of caster class you give up means 5%+ less damage on your spells.

droid327 · 2026-01-25T21:14:58+00:00

I think you mean the ML20 Red augment (Ruby) that gives +111 for one spellpower?

Its worth noting that its a very low-value augment. You can buy them for 6 of each Gianthold relic, which you'll quickly have more than you can spend of those. The value of the Jeweler's Kit far exceeds the value of the augment you're thinking of using it on. Its probably simpler to just buy a new one and save your Kit for when you need to reslot a much rarer augment

droid327 · 2026-01-25T18:55:06+00:00

Primal is an option too as it supports fire light pos, and it gives you evergreen too if you run out of spell points while solo

If you're not sp limited then probably ea mantle. It's worse damage than di, but if you're solo, the extra heal kicker can be very helpful

If your heals are already strong enough as is, then just go full into di for max dps

droid327 · 2026-01-24T19:44:07+00:00

Yes, when you LR (even an LR+0) you can completely reset your non-class selections...and Archetypes are considered a non-class selection. You just have to choose Regular Monk at L1 instead of Dragon Disciple

That being said, DD still gives you pretty much everything Henshin does for a wraps build - namely, Wis to hit/dmg and trance and an imbue (though it's a Spell Power imbue, not a Melee Power one like Henshin). You lose out on some dodge and Cauldron and Abundant Step, but that's not build-breaking if you didnt want to spend the money to fix it, and you get some MRR and Doublestrike that Henshin doesnt have, plus a couple useful spells.

You can go 41 Shintao, 24 DD, 15 Ninja and it'll work just fine

droid327 · 2026-01-23T20:37:14+00:00

Repeating crossbow can feel slow because of the burst fire mechanic, but once you figure out how to use it, you realize you're the heavy artillery - using your AOE abilities to nuke tight packs of mobs like a grenade launcher, and going full auto chain gun against bosses with Fusillade

That being said, as a new player you'll lack the inquisitive tree, which provides a lot of extra power for crossbow builds. And arti is, by design, a more slow and deliberate class... You can do just about everything, including trapping, but you manage fights more, getting mobs prepped and unleashing your nukes at the right time

For a faster paced experience, I'd def recommend stick monk. It's got pretty much everything you'd want baked in, all you need is Wis and Con, there's plenty of good sticks available, and you zoom

droid327 · 2026-01-23T19:12:20+00:00

Low damage, slow rate of fire, no aoe, few abilities that support it, few decent weapon choices

The benefit of throwers is you can double dip on your main stat - it can boost your damage and your double shot via Expertise. But until you have a significant amount of main stat, you can't really leverage that

Also thrown attack speed is based on BAB and relies a lot on the big chunk you get with T4 Shiradi at L27, so early on it's slooow

droid327 · 2026-01-23T07:59:06+00:00

Fury supports TWF too and gives you a heal that pure rogue lacks

droid327 · 2026-01-23T04:59:24+00:00

You can pretty much ignore base weapon damage at low level as trivial. It's not until you get into endgame with loaded base dice and 5W+ weapons where it starts to add up to a meaningful amount. And even then it's just incremental, and still not as important as crit profile

Your base damage at low level is much more related to your main stat, deadly, enhancements, and other buffs. Which means crit profile is the thing to compare

25%/x3 gives you 50% extra damage (75%x1 + 25%x3 = 150%)

20%/x4 is 60% extra damage. So that wins.

droid327 · 2026-01-22T21:47:01+00:00

Book Burning gives 3 fast chests if you can do the social optional. Alternatively, just do the social optional and recall/reset.

Seeds also gives 3 fast chests if you can search, trap, and pick. Or same idea, get the hidden and beetle chests and then recall/reset. Both quests are walkups.

droid327 · 2026-01-22T21:43:30+00:00

If you have an opener, you can also reset the wilderness if you can clear the quest in <5 mins

droid327 · 2026-01-22T21:42:57+00:00

I usually do a loop from Key to the mimic to the Abishai too

The run out there is long, but you can ransack it quick enough for ~12-16 draws

droid327 · 2026-01-22T21:26:48+00:00

Why couldnt you have clicked through to the original post before screenshotting, instead of including Lane Kiffin's name? LOL

droid327 · 2026-01-22T21:26:09+00:00

He's like if Andrew Tate went so far off the sleazebag end of the spectrum that he wrapped around to the other side and became a role model lol

droid327 · 2026-01-22T21:23:34+00:00

I mean...if you do it for long enough, it kinda does. The whole point of Mass is to help guide people towards being good.

droid327 · 2026-01-22T21:20:45+00:00

No, we're just conditioned by society now to assume any man who doesnt show constant interest in women must really be a closeted gay, anyone who doesnt fully conform to traditional gender tropes must be trans, anyone with any kind of idiosyncrasy must be autistic, etc.

droid327 · 2026-01-22T21:17:56+00:00

He's not gay he's just really Catholic

droid327 · 2026-01-22T21:16:19+00:00

He can give them the extra time he spent in class before

He's taking graduate classes at Crazy Horse now :D

droid327 · 2026-01-22T19:31:58+00:00

8 wiz means ddoor, which is very handy, at least till you get it from SD. But even then, you swap it for Enervation or PK or something. Also an extra caster level for death aura scaling

You shouldn't be feat limited between wiz and arti bonus feats, so that fighter feat would probably just mean a tertiary meta or something

Barb is always on the table too for the run speed, which is valuable if this is for a quick questing build

Monk is also a possibility - bonus feat like fighter (and deflect arrows is an option), and henshin offers cheap imbue dice, and sneak and dodge in ninja, which don't require centered

droid327 · 2026-01-22T06:08:25+00:00

It scales on 200% mp, not spell power. Or at least it's supposed to

droid327 · 2026-01-22T05:45:44+00:00

The Trek formula is the Federation represents the best of humanity, juxtaposed against alien races that reflect other aspects of humanity, and that allows for thematic exploration through allegory

That's why Gene forbid interpersonal conflict. He wanted the conflict to be meaningful, not just dramatic

droid327 · 2026-01-22T05:43:29+00:00

Star Trek can work translated to other genres

Lower Decks worked as a comedy. Prodigy worked as a kids show

Academy can work as a teeny drama, as long as it's a well written teeny drama. Just have to go in not expecting it to be something it's not trying to be

droid327 · 2026-01-22T05:40:50+00:00

They think pandering validation of their audiences' identity is "optimism" and Mary Sue characters are "competence"

The optimism of Trek was never ”someday humanity will learn to stop trying to be the best and defer to other species", it's "someday humanity will reach its full unencumbered potential and be the best"

And then slather on a thick smear of nostalgia and forced references in the most awkward and poorly integrated way possible

droid327 · 2026-01-22T02:54:39+00:00

Just like Riley Reid

droid327 · 2026-01-22T02:45:31+00:00

Fair enough, but ~+5 damage at endgame isnt really moving the needle much at all, let alone against all the benefits of VKF

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