Xanos Messarmos – The Half-orc Sorcerer – Barbarian 4 / Sorcerer 26 / RDD 10

[Maximillian Kane]

Hail, everyone!

 

This is my interpretation of Xanos Messarmos, the Barbarian / Sorcerer and fellow pupil who is tied with Boddyknock for the must useless henchman in all NWN campaigns. This was a HARD build to pull off. He’s a Half-orc, so he gets a penalty to CHA, which is also his casting stat as a Sorcerer, but at least he gets a bonus to STR, which we also use in this build. In the end, he didn’t turn out as bad as you would’ve expected, even though he’s far from a powerbuild. But, within the concept, I believe this is as good as it gets. I gave him focus in Scimitar so he could at least wield the Scimitar of Speed and not need to learn Haste as a spell. And so he can outrun his opponents if he is in over his head.

 

I played him on WoG solo until about level 22, then there was a crash in the server and I lost all my characters, but let me tell you it was PAINFUL to level him up. It takes him forever to get his second attack per round, and with very few spells, he can’t cast efficiently. He also needs to unequip armor and shield to buff, re-equip to fight, but with only 1 attack per round for a very long time, his buffs won’t last the whole encounter, so you need to keep KDing enemies just to avoid getting hit, and kill them 1 by 1 in a process that seems to take forever. But, the good news is that I WAS ABLE to do it solo, hard as it may have been, whereas with builds like Daelan Red Tiger, it’s simply not possible! Of course, any Arcane caster build is playable on WoG with sufficient server knowledge, but this was definitely the hardest one!

 

In the end, he didn’t turn out as bad as I thought he would!

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Xanos Messarmos!

 

 

Barbarian(4), Sorcerer(26), Red Dragon Disciple(10), Half-Orc

STR: 18 (32)
DEX: 8
CON: 12 (14)
WIS: 8
INT: 12 (14)
CHA: 14 (20)

Half-Orc: (Darkvision)
01: Barbarian(1): Armor Proficiency Heavy
02: Sorcerer(1)
03: Sorcerer(2): Still Spell
04: Sorcerer(3): STR+1, (STR=19)
05: Sorcerer(4)
06: Barbarian(2): Weapon Focus: Scimitar, {Uncanny Dodge I}
07: Red Dragon Disciple(1)
08: Red Dragon Disciple(2): STR+1, (STR=22)
09: Red Dragon Disciple(3): Knockdown
10: Red Dragon Disciple(4): (STR=24)
11: Red Dragon Disciple(5)
12: Red Dragon Disciple(6): STR+1, Improved Critical: Scimitar, (STR=25)
13: Red Dragon Disciple(7): (CON=14)
14: Red Dragon Disciple(8)
15: Red Dragon Disciple(9): Extend Spell, (INT=14)
16: Red Dragon Disciple(10): STR+1, (STR=30), (CHA=16)
17: Sorcerer(5)
18: Sorcerer(6): Expertise
19: Sorcerer(7)
20: Sorcerer(8): CHA+1, (CHA=17)
21: Sorcerer(9): Armor Skin
22: Sorcerer(10)
23: Sorcerer(11)
24: Sorcerer(12): CHA+1, Epic Weapon Focus: Scimitar, (CHA=18)
25: Sorcerer(13)
26: Sorcerer(14)
27: Barbarian(3): Epic Prowess
28: Sorcerer(15): CHA+1, (CHA=19)
29: Sorcerer(16)
30: Sorcerer(17): Epic Skill Focus: Discipline
31: Sorcerer(18)
32: Sorcerer(19): STR+1, (STR=31)
33: Sorcerer(20): Automatic Still Spell I
34: Sorcerer(21)
35: Sorcerer(22)
36: Sorcerer(23): STR+1, Automatic Still Spell II, Automatic Still Spell III, (STR=32)
37: Sorcerer(24)
38: Sorcerer(25)
39: Sorcerer(26): Epic Spell: Epic Warding, Epic Spell: Epic Mage Armor
40: Barbarian(4): CHA+1, (CHA=20)

Hitpoints: 316
Skillpoints: 168
Saving Throws (Fortitude/Will/Reflex): 24/22/14
Saving Throw bonuses: Spells: +7
BAB: 23
AB (max, naked): 38 (melee), 23 (ranged)
AC (naked/mundane armor/shield only): 19/30
Spell Casting: Sorcerer(9)
Alignment Changes: 0

Discipline 43(64), Lore 8(10), Spellcraft 34(36), Taunt 43(48), Tumble 20(19)

01: Discipline(4), Lore(4), Tumble(2), Save(8),
02: Lore(1), Spellcraft(5), Save(5),
03: Lore(1), Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), Save(4),
04: Lore(1), Spellcraft(1), Save(5),
05: Lore(1), Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), Save(4),
06: Discipline(5), Save(4),
07: Discipline(1), Spellcraft(2), Tumble(1), Save(2),
08: Discipline(1), Spellcraft(1), Save(3),
09: Discipline(1), Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), Save(2),
10: Discipline(1), Spellcraft(1), Save(3),
11: Discipline(1), Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), Save(2),
12: Discipline(1), Spellcraft(1), Save(3),
13: Discipline(1), Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), Save(2),
14: Discipline(1), Spellcraft(1), Save(3),
15: Discipline(1), Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), Save(2),
16: Discipline(1), Spellcraft(1), Save(4),
17: Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), Save(5),
18: Spellcraft(1), Save(8),
19: Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), Save(9),
20: Spellcraft(1), Save(12),
21: Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), Save(13),
22: Spellcraft(1), Save(16),
23: Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), Save(17),
24: Spellcraft(1), Save(20),
25: Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), Save(21),
26: Spellcraft(1), Save(24),
27: Discipline(11), Taunt(17), Tumble(1),
28: Spellcraft(2), Save(2),
29: Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), Save(3),
30: Spellcraft(1), Save(6),
31: Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), Save(7),
32: Save(11),
33: Tumble(1), Save(13),
34: Save(17),
35: Tumble(1), Save(19),
36: Save(23),
37: Tumble(1), Save(25),
38: Save(29),
39: Save(33),
40: Discipline(13), Taunt(26),

 

I hope you like him!

 

Take it EZ!

[Orion]

Hey Max, Xanos looks nice. A Taunting half-orc sorcerer spellblade! Now that is an ambitious build! Well done.

Were you ever tempted with all that strength, to go two handed?

I think you would level more easily rushing Sorc 6-8 before pumping into RDD. You may have to drop Expertise and lose some skill points though. If you are playing for maximum build power you might want to keep things as they are.

[Maximillian Kane]

Hey Orion!

 

Well, back when I built him, I had the Scimitar of Speed in mind, which was the perfect weapon for him to not only survive, but actually level up a bit easier with the extra AC and bonus attack gained with perma-haste. It was instrumental in getting him through the first 12 levels. What a PAIN! However, the fact that he focuses on a Scimitar doesn’t mean he can’t carry around a 2-hander (preferably a Heavy Flail for Bludgeoning damage) and switch up when the situaion calls for it. However, his AC is terrible enough as is with no Tumble as a class skill and 8 DEX, and Expertise is a feat that will be useful to him all along. Not to mention the Taunt / Expertise combo, which is absolutely incredible if used properly. It makes otherwise unplayable builds playable, albeit very slowly. So, I wouldn’t advise dropping Expertise at all. I got him to level 22 on old WoG before the crash happened and we all lost all characters.

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