[CLASS BUILD] The Dull Runner (caster clipper paladin tank)

[Boeroer]

The Dull Runner is a paladin from the order of the Bleak Walkers dedicated to burn rubber. With blinding speed he reaches the perfect position to shoot enemy casters down in order to bring a swift end to all spellcasting. If three nasty shots from his custom made arquebuses are not enough, he will quickly catch up and stamp the caster's forehead with a fat hammer. Known for his unnatural speed, but also his dullness and bullishness, most nobles will only call on him as a really, really last resort (since he's light on his feet, but slow off the mark). Besides his dopiness, the Dull Runner's behavior generally reinforces cruelty and brutality. The quickest resolution to a conflict is one in which the Dull Runner's arrival is announced and a shot in the crotch immediately follows. To ensure that people believe that no smart comment will ever be given by the Dull Runner, he avoids any dealings where he could be seen as clever given the right circumstances. For the Dull Runner, there are no right circumstances. The Dull Runner won't call off an attack even if his "employer" asks him to or turns forces on him - because he's just to fast to be stopped.

 

The Dull Runner isn't a sadist (at least, not most of the time), and while he's effectively a mercenary, the control that his employers exert over him is fairly limited because he's thick as a brick. Much like the arquebuses he's wielding, the Dull Runner should only be pointed at things you don't mind being completely shattered to pieces.

 

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The Dull Runner

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Difficulty: PotD; Version 2.03

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Class: Paladin (Bleak Walker)

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Race: Island Aumaua

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Background: Rauatai - Mercenary

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Stats:

 

MIG: 20

CON: 10

DEX: 15

PER: 15

INT: 3

RES: 15

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Skills: Stealth 7, Athl. 4, Lore 8, Surv. 7

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Talents (a=auto, r=recommended, !=important)

Armed to the Teeth (a)

Weapon Focus Soldier ®

Weapon & Shield ®

Appr. Sneak Attack or Scion of Flame or Fast Runner

Runner's Wounding Shot

Remember Rhakan Field

Intense Flames ®

Arms Bearer (!)

 

 

Abilities

Faith and Conviction (a)

Flames of Devotion (!)

Lay on Hands

Zealous Charge (!)

Reviving Exhortation

Sworn Enemy

Righteous Soul

Healing Chain

 

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Items (*=additional echantments by me; !=important, r=recommended):

 

Weapon set 1: arquebus (Exceptional*, Burning Lash*, Kith-Slaying*) ®

Weapon Set 2: arquebus (Exceptional*, Burning Lash*, Kith-Slaying*) ®

Weapon set 3: arquebus (Exceptional*, Burning Lash*, Kith-Slaying*) ®

Weapon Set 4: Shatterstar (Exceptional*, Burning Lash*) & Outworn Buckler;

later: Godansthunyr(Exceptional*, Burning Lash*, Durgan-Refined*) & The Last Tower(Durgan-Refined*) ®

 

Boots: Boots of Speed ® or Malina's Boots

 

Head: Waage's Hat of Leadership

 

Armor: Argwes Adra ® or Äru Brekr

 

Neck: Engwithan Adra Ban Amulet or Cape of Withdrawal

 

Belt: Coil of Resourcefulness

 

Rings: Ring of Deflection, Ring of Protection

 

Hands: Archer's Gloves

 

Quick slots: healing potions, summons, scrolls

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The Dull Runner uses Zealous Charge, Boots of Speed, The Last Tower(shield) and Fast Runner (optional) to stack his movement speed bonus up to +6 (+7) which makes him the fastest runner there is. He once even beat Fulmineo Prondroni in a race for the cold buffet. This way he can quickly position himself and shoot his arquebueses with Flames of Devotion (Burning Lash+Intense Flames+Remember Rakhan Field+Scion of Flame). With this setup the burn damage is even higher than the original damage from the arquebus itself. On top of that there's also some corrode damage. Because he has 4 Weapon slots - 3 arquebuses and ine melee setup, only 2 FoD strikes are not enough - so he also my shoot foes with a Wounding Shot that does 180% arquebus damage over time +25% burn + Scion of Flame. All arquebuses are also kith-slaying so that most of the time one shot is enough to kill an enemy kith caster. Damage easily goes up to >120 per shot. When his guns are fired, he switches to war hammer & shield and is a good tank that can easily hold the line against most enemies while doing ok damage. The Coil of Resourcefulness spares a talent point because we don't need to take quick switch. Talent points are rare in this build - but you an freely choose from the abilities since only few are really needed.

I just took abilities that need no INT to be good - like Healing Chain and so on. That's also the reason I quit Sacred Immolation: the duration is bad, the aoe is too small and the raw damage is quite high (because of high MIG).

 

This guy makes a good tag team with Fulmineo when it comes to clipping enemy casters and stretching out the battlefield. When light armored Prondroni ever gets into a pretty pickle, the Dull Runner comes for the rescue with his blinding speed, Lay on Hands and Healing Chain. And if everything fails, he will just revive the fallen. How cruel is that?

 

Last but not least, his outfit is all green (corrode) and golden (fire) and matches his theme. That's the reason I chose Argwes Adra: it fits beautifully to the Last Tower, so does Godansthunyr. The Outworn Buckler also looks nice because it's green. And you can have it very early. It's herald radius is pretty small because of the low INT though. The hats (Liripipe and Waage's) also look very neat because you can change their colors to green/gold - and nobody else wanted to wear them, so... For more ironic laughs use Liripipe of Thinking.

 

The Last Tower is a bit tough to get early, but it's possible: you have to switch on Zealous Charge and wear Boots of Speed and maybe also take Fast Runner. Put on a Cape of Withdrawal. Get some figurines. Go to Crägholt (even if you're to weak to fight the Torn Bannermen) and just run past them. Since you're superfast and your defenses are quite high that should be no problem. Try to avoid the drunken orlan and the brawlers - they are also very fast and sometimes manage to land disengagement attacks which hurts a lot. From time to time drop some summons to stop the Torn Bannermen to follow you forever (they will try). Run to the Tower and pull the Torn Bannermen with you. When they see the Death Guards and Alghuls, they will all attack each other and you can sneak away to the entrance of the tower. Be sure to drop summons so that nobody will chase you. If you're at the stairs and nobody followed you, wait until the combat ends and enter the tower. Go to the treasure room and pick the lock of the chest that contains the Last Tower (mechanics 10 minimum I think) - tadaa! You have it - and with it the title of the fastest man alive - since it's move speed bonus stacks with all the others. Well maybe some day there will be a barabrian with Wild+Powerful Sprint + Boots of Speed + Fast Runner and he will be faster... but he has to sleep a lot to be that fast all the time - so that's kind of lame.

 

Ok, this paladin build is different - but it's fun to play and absolutely viable for PoTD. Maybe there are other builds that are stronger, but this one gives you some tactical advantages because aof the speed and the huge alpha strike damage. Besides that, he's very sturdy for a dps oriented character - and he just looks awesome!

 

Have fun!

 

edit: maaan - to lazy to correct all the typos today. Maybe tomorrow...

Edited December 3, 2015 by Boeroer

[Torm51]

I don't think I ever laughed so hard at a post. Sweet build too. I've been taking more CON since 2.0 I see you have 10. Do you think it's not necessary for a Paladin?

[Boeroer]

No, I had no problems. He's not supposed to hold the line all the time - he's tanky and all but his role is not that of the main tank. But you could easily swap DEX and CON. Depends how you want to use him I guess.

 

He wasn't even my main char by the way.

Edited December 3, 2015 by Boeroer

[mosspit]

I must say Boeroer, you have a flair with writing back stories I mean "he once even beat Fulmineo Prondroni in a race for the cold buffet."? That's just gold lol

 

Btw, your Stealth is quite high at 7. Is there anything interesting that happens at that kind of Stealth level combat-wise? Or is that for your char to sneak past mobs? Does that mean your party also has that kind of Stealth investment as if Im not mistaken you need the whole party to gather for area transitions.

[AlexDeLarge]

Very nice, i imagine this will go very well with the chanter based shooting strategy, just gonna copy paste it for all to see what i'm talking about:

 

"Chanters - Speed Metal

(last time I checked it, arrows were metallic and pretty fast)

Role: third-line damage dealer and buffer.

Race: Wood Elf.

Stats (with the Old Vailia bonus included):

M 18
C 10
D 18
P 10
I 19
R 3

The Sure-Handed Ha phrase is pretty decent and so the ranged build around it is quite predictable. Note that you build your entire party around this idea – 2 x rangers, shooting paladin with zealous charge, such chanter, a wizard and a druid. Some control & lots of shooty death & some serious shooting & running potential.

Weapon of Choice: eventually, anything ranged without reloads - you play from the speed & running.

Talents, ability and spell choices:

1st level: At the Sight of their Comrades, their Hearts Grew Bold – however good Come, Come is, ranged chanter just does not want to stay close enough to his foes to use it. So let's take the defensive phrase for the future.

Blessed Was Wengridh, Quickest of His tribe – coupled with zealous charge of the paladin, can make for some nice shoot & run tactics.

But Reny Daret's Ghost, He Would not Rest – still a decent summon. Gotta have some early game tools, right?

2nd level: White Worms Writhed in the Bellies of the Dead – the range is huge (a definite plus for us) and it can be rather devastating in early game combats.

Fast Runner – this party loves to have some mobility and the ability to lure the monsters away (while the rest of the squad shoots at them). So fast movement speed is a must.

3rd level: Dull the Edge, Blunt the Point – all the remaining phrases need to be aimed at foes (whom you want to avoid) and thus not very useful. So it doesn't matter what you pick here.

4th level: The Thunder Rolled Like Waves on Black Seas – should anyone get close to your gunner stack, they'll definitely regret that.

Shot on the Run – I'd call this a run n' gun party setup but guns are horrible here, unfortunately. Reload time just doesn't work well with this stuff - it's too long and anyone catches up to us. That's why we need to use either bows or implements. The chanter himself won't do any major damage so he's more about weapons with some side effect - like the Elawen Ein (-5 to victim's accuracy on the hit) or Cgadob's Hazel (+10 to all allies shooting at the same target).

5th level: Sure-Handed Ha Nocked Her Arrows with Speed – the raison d'etre of this build.

6th level: At the Sound of His Voice, the Killers Froze Stiff.

Marksman – you probably won't find your weapons of choice yet so this is a more universal one.

7th level: Rime and Frost Followed the Footfalls of Karth – considering that this party composition is build around kiting, why not take the tool which amplifies that aspect greatly?

8th level: Shatter their Shackles, Cast off their Chains – +25 defense against disengaging looks especially sweet for us.

Weapon Focus. Probably Adventurer.

9th level: Aefyllath Ues Myth Fyr – 25% extra damage to our shots is not a bad deal at all. Pretty much a no-brainer.

10th level: Oh, But Knock Not on the Door of Urdel and Gurdel – you'll throw you summons to slow down and distract your foes and ogre duo is better at this.

Scion of Flame - improves both of our 3rd level phrases.

11th level: The Dragon Thrashed, The Dragon Wailed – not our main plan, but why not?


12th level: Seven Nights She Waited While the White Winds Wept – with your running speed, it shouldn't be too hard to get in close and finish them up with one potent blast.

Secrets of Rime - to make said blast truly potent.

13th level: They Shielded Their Eyes 'Gainst the Fampyr's Gaze.

14th level: Their Champion Braved The Horde Alone – combined with Sure-Handed Ha, that's 60% bonus speed alone. Add the Durgan Steel enhancement and the druid's Nature's Bounty and we're already at 100%. Yay to the triple damage output!

Apprentice's Sneak Attack."

[AndreaColombo]

Dude, you're on a roll--and you weren't kidding about no sleep for the builders (then again I'd have problems sleeping too, if I had stolen thousands of souls to create artificial gods ;P)

[Boeroer]

Thanks all. The background story at the beginnng is just the altered introduction text from the Bleak Walker's character creation though.

Edited December 4, 2015 by Boeroer

[Boeroer]

Stealth 7 was just for sneaking around mobs when combat started and my tankiest char (another paladin) attracted all the enemies. It's not mandatory. 8 lore was enough because of +2 lore from the armor and mechanics were done by a chanter (see, Alex ). So that's why stealth is so high. Also helps with stealing. Chanter opens chests - Dull Runner grabs it.

Too bad move speed bonus doesn't work out of combat any more.

[mosspit]

Ah okay so its for plundering... Maybe it's just me but I think Dull Runner reminds me of a pirate lol

Edited December 4, 2015 by mosspit

[L4wlight]

Weapon Set 4: Shatterstar (Exceptional*, Burning Lash*) & Outworn Buckler;

later: Godansthunyr(Exceptional*, Burning Lash*, Durgan-Refined*) & The Last Tower(Durgan-Refined*) ®

 

Alternative: Strike Hard (Exceptional*, Burning Lash*, Durgan-Refined*) & Badgradr's Barricade (Exceptional*, Durgan-Refined)

 

Pretty good combo thanks to Sworn Enemy! Poor, poor casters... 

But then we need some color changes (White Crest Armor looks nice together with Badgradr's Barricade) and don't look so evil anymore: So we go for the Goldpact Knights (Enduring Flames instead of Remember Rakhan Field). The tradoff here would be some serious melee oumpf (!!!) for a reduction in movementspeed speed (-2 or -1 with Fast Runner). I'd then rise INT a bit (at the cost of RES) and spec into Sacred Immolation (to make good use of all the fire damage).

 

To complete our mercenary team (and our fire power) we then hire Kana Rua.

 

Boeroer you are a pretty damn good muse.

Edited December 4, 2015 by L4wlight

[Boeroer]

Thanks.

 

Of course you can always change the style and therefore the equipment. For Badgradr's Barricade you definetely need the White Crest armor. I tried Heldric's Coat - but the blue is a different one. What you can also do is take a plate of the Crucible Knights since you can color it yourself because it has this long piece of cloth running down from chest to feet.

I wonder if the red medium shield with harbinger (forgot the name) fits to the Äru Brekr brigandine (+1 move speed).

[rheingold]

Nice build, only major issue I have( coming from a role player) is how on earth do you justify high lore with such a low intelligence .

 

PS I do realize it's a power build.

[Abbzug]

Ben Carson taught me that intellect is a dump stat for brain surgeons. I would rationalize it the same way.

[Boeroer]

He read a lot of picture-books to get that 8 points.

 

Skills are totally irrelevant for this build by the way. Could as well max survival.

[QuiteGoneJin]

Possibly one of the most useful builds, highly underrated compared to how many comments your other builds get, I dislike quick switching but still, love the speed, alpha striking, and tankiness. 

[Boeroer]

Thanks - it's quite old now and lacks some of the awesome WM stuff (e.g. Ultimate Hat of Alluring Perfection: lowers INT 3 to INT 1), but it still is fun. A very quirky build though.

Alpha strike damage is still top notch!

The melee weapon should be Drawn in Spring - back then I didn't realize how good it is with 1 INT. Or I could make a Goldpact variant with Enduring Flames and Tidefall...

Edited March 14, 2017 by Boeroer

[QuiteGoneJin]

I also like how it shines from early midgame on, you have too many builds that I have to DRAG myself to lvl 13 to enjoy.  No offense. 

[QuiteGoneJin]

One thing I just can't do in this game is have a small finesse weapon in one hand and a giant shield in the other while wearing heavy armor, no matter how min-max it is. 

[Boeroer]

How come? As far as I can remember only the Chillfog build is a late bloomer (and says so in the build description)...?

 

Which ones are only enjoyable from lvl 13 on? Just curious - maybe I can improve something.

[QuiteGoneJin]

For me it's just a class thing, and I shouldn't jump to saying your builds specifically  you just have so many... there's lots of classes that just aren't fun for me till 11-13+, but with this one you can have FoD/Remember Rakhan field and an arquebus (Ty Kana) with fine/flame lash with in a few short moments of entering the vale.  

 

Examples

fighter aren't fun for me till charge (13)

and barbarian till heart of fury and then leap (11/13)

and some of your builds hing on later gear.

 

One that doesn't and should have been my fav is the Witch Doctor but I just don't like the wounds system the build is fantastic... really It's not the build.  I want to picture an Avatar dodging around and throwing magical fists and kicks at people not some masochist hulk who has to walk in to range to get his face slapped, run away then shoot angry pummels of energy back at someone. 

/endrant

 

I'm just weird... No matter how awesome a build ends up if its only awesome for the last 15%-20% of the game and I'm just drudging through and I wont make it. 1400 hrs and I've only completed the game 2x, and still have yet to finish WM2 completely! 

Edited March 14, 2017 by QuiteGoneJin

[Boeroer]

Yeah, it's true that a build idea is better the earlier it works as planned.

[JerekKruger]

That's why I rate Harpagornis's builds as the best builds around