[CLASS BUILD] Bilestomper (tanky & corrosive drainer wizard)

[Boeroer 15,425]

"Your a cruel device

your blood, like ice

one look, could kill

my pain, your thrill!

 

I wanna hit you but I better not touch

(Don't touch)

I wanna smack you, but my senses tell me to stop

I wanna smite you but I want it too much

(Too much)

I wanna hack you but your limbs are venomous poison

You're poison running through my veins

You're poison I don't wanna break these chains"

 

- Arlise Pooper, Death Godlike wandering minstrel, after meeting Bilestomper - 

 

Nobody knows Bilestomper's real name. Nobody knows what he did before he became a drainer in Tâkowa. The only thing we know is that one day he emerged from the sewers in a really pissy mood and went of to the Dyrwood, mumbling something about his own patch of well mucked land...

 

 

===================================

Bilestomper

===================================

Difficulty: PotD v. 3.02

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Class: Wizard

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Race: Mountain Dwarf

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Background: Rauatai - Laborer

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Stats:

MIG: 20 

CON: 20

DEX: 02

PER: 10

INT: 16

RES: 10

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Skills: Stealth 0, Athl. 9, Lore 4, Mech. 10, Surv. 5  

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

Spirit of Decay

Weapon and Shield Style

Bear's Fortitude

Veteran's Recovery

Arcane Veil

Hardened Veil

Superior Deflection

Body Control

 

Abilities

Hale and Hardy (a)

Arcane Assault (a)

Second Wind

 

Mastered Wizard Spells

Mirrored Image

Noxious Burst

Pull of Eora

Spirit Shield

 

1st Level Wizard Spells

Eldritch Aim

Slicken

Spirit Shield

Wizard's Double

 

2nd Level Wizard Spells

Fetid Caress

Mirrored Image

Necrotic Lance

Bulwark against the Elements

 

3rd Level Wizard Spells

Concelhaut's Draining Touch

Noxious Burst

Ryngrim's Repulsive Visage

 

4th Level Wizard Spells

Ironskin

Pull of Eora

Essential Phantom

 

5th Level Wizard Spells

Llengrath's Safeguard

Malignant Cloud

Ryngrim's Enervating Terror

 

6th Level Wizard Spells

Citzal's Martial Power

Death Ring

Minoletta's Precisely Piercing Burst

 

7th Level Wizard Spells

Ninagauth's Killing Bolt

Substantial Phantom

Wall of Draining

 

8th Level Wizard Spells

Llengrath's Superior Elemental Bulwark

Wilting Wind

 

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

 

Weapon set 1: Wodewys (*Exceptional, *Corrosive Lash), Little Savior (*Durgan Reinforced)

Weapon Set 2: whatever

 

Boots: Bilestompers

 

Head: Iverra's Diving Helmet

 

Armor: Argwes Adra (*Superb, *Crush-Proofed, *Durgan Reinforced, MIG+2)

 

Neck: Father's Teeth

 

Belt: Looped Rope

 

Rings: Ring of Deflection, Ring of Protection

 

Hands: Bracers of Spiritual Power

 

Quick slots: Traps mostly

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So as some of you may have noticed OBS put a lot of the spells (and monsters' abilities) that do raw or corrode damage into the "poison" or "disease" category with the latest patches.

That can be annoying because nowadays some foes have immunities against poison and disease - namely vessels and such. But it also means that the mountain dwarves' racial ability finally makes some sense.

So I figured it might be a good idea to use this ability and build around it (I love to take an aspect of the game and take it to the limit and see where this takes the build - if it's viable, fun to play and so on). I mean piling up defenses against all kinds of corrosion, poison, disease and such things. This would allow me to stand right in the middle of such effects and just shrug them off while the enemy would suffer big time.

So I thought about which class might get the most out of it. At first the druid came to mind but then I realized that the wizard has the most powerful AoE spells that fall into that category. Also, most of them are not DoT spells and therefore profit from Spirit of Decay (which I planned to use anyway because of the corrode DR bonus).

Wizards can also make great short time tanks because of those great self buffs they can learn.

You can't tank forever though and that means you also want to kill your opponents fast. Luckily spells like Noxious Burst, Malignant Cloud etc. are very potent. Especially if you don't care if they also hit you.

 

The tactics with this guy are very simple:

- lay a poisonous trap

- stand right behind it

- start encounter

- buff

- lure the mob onto the trap

- cast all those nasty poison spells onto your own head while the monstes try to kill you

- watch them all die while you remain unharmed

 

Let's talk about stats and numbers. I went max MIG and CON because I wanted my fortitude defense to be very, very high. That's because most of those spells and effects (and also the most annoying other ones like paralyzing, stunning, prone and so on) target fortitude. So with the stats alone I get a bonus of +40 to my fortitude defense. My armor gives me +2 MIG, so that's +4 fort. Bear's Fortitude makes this +54. I also wear Father's Teeth (around my neck...) which give my another +18 which leads to +72 fortitude. I took the Little Savior because it's another item that gives a bonus to fortitude which stacks with the rest. +77 now!

On top of that you can add the racial ability "Hale and Hardy" which adds +25 against poison and disease. I also wear that nice bulky diving helmet which gives my +20 (and +35 against dragon's breath - which is nice because our reflex defense sucks a bit) and the axe Wodewys which adds another +20 to that (and since it's a weapon it stacks with everything). Now... against poison and disease effects we have a defensive bonus of +142. At level 16 that means 207. Without any buffs, potions, scolls, food or resting bonuses. You can add spells to boost this even further if you need. But honestly it's more than enough to avoid that you hit yourself with your own spells. It will never happen. Well - never say never- but if you shoot yourself in the foot, you will have a very high DR against your own spells (28 without buffs, thanks to Bilestomper's boots).

You can always cast Bulwark against the elements to boost that to 43. The other DR values are also pretty good, so with the bulwark you won't be one-shotted by dragons. Thanks high CON, too!

 

But there's more: Funnily, most of the monsters' abilities that are considered poison or diseases also sicken, weaken or paralyze you. Since I took Body Control I gain another defense buff: +10. Aaand the Looped Rope adds another +20 to that (and to most toher afflictions, too). All in all, against attacks that are poisonous or a disease AND do sicken, paralyze, petrify, stun or weaken we will have a defense of 237. You can image how a Plague of Insects (poison, sickening)... never even grazes you anymore - while you're bathing in your own Malignant Cloud (after those baked beans).

 

The most difficult and annoying fights suddenly become trivial if you're at this point. Of course it takes some time to get there. But since I didn't raise my ACC too high I started to avoid my own spell efffects quite early in the game. Your ACC gets better and better, and so do your defenses. Most of the time those defenses are way better than your ACC. It's a good thing to use survival in order to get an ACC bonus against certain enemies. That helps to crit them but miss yourself. I seldomly used Eldritch Aim when I wanted to cast Noxious Burst or Malignant Cloud onto my own head for that reason. Later on you can do that because your defenses will be so high that Eldritch Aim doesn't matter at all - for yourself that is. Of course it still helps hitting foes.

 

Keep one thing in mind: this build ois very slooow. So make use of Spirit SHield. You don't want to get interrupted. With high RES and Spirit Shield this almost never happens - but just keep it in mind. If you think you are too slow there's always Alacrity.

 

And last but not least: this build is fun to play. Micromamangement is quite low for a wizard, he's very sturdy - even against other attacks than poinson and so on.

He just looks so adorable in his bulky helmet and his green suit, standing in the middle of the mob and melting them. The Devil of Caroc is a great addition to this build because she's immune to all that poison stuff anyway. So you can tank and she can flank while taking an acid shower together. Awesome! And kind of romantic in a weird way, too. 

 

Thanks for reading - good night my fellow builders!

 

p.s.: THis build idea also works very well when you use ice/freeze instead of corrode/poison/disease. Use a pale elf and pick up different gear that allows for more freeze DR and feezing spells and such (Wyrwood Ring, Scath Gwannek shield and so on) and pick up the Crossed Patch that makes you immune to blind. Then stand in the midst of you own chill fog while you await the incoming mobs. Chill FOg targets fortitude so will will seldomly get hit. And if this happens the Crossed Patch will prevent you from getting blinded. Tested this and it also works great. I had to decide which element to use and I took the poison route because mountain dwarves got no love so far and I liked the corrode AoE spells better. But chill fog is a really nice spell throughout the whole game.

Edited April 16, 2017 by Boeroer

[Desire 4]

Brilliant!

This is what I want!

Thanks Boeroer

[Boeroer 15,425]

Tehehe. You're welcome.

[Yosharian 757]

Can it solo POTD?

[Desire 4]

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/baldursgategame/images/0/04/Jan_Portrait_BG2.png/revision/latest?cb=20130515170438

 

Image of Jan Jansen from Baldur's Gate perfectly fit for this concept I think.

[Boeroer 15,425]

I think. I was playing this on PotD with a party - so I didn't solo the whole game with this guy. But I sucessfully did some of the most difficult bounty quests solo (like upscaled Nalrend and the WM bounty quests) - just to test if he's able to beat them alone. So I guess it would work. Don't know if you could put out all dragons solo, but  I can try to solo the upscaled Sky Dragon (I have a savegame with this char where that dragon is still alive) and tell you what happened.

Edited May 15, 2016 by Boeroer

[Boeroer 15,425]

Added a short variant at the end of the initial post. This works with ice/freeze instead of poision/corrode.

Edited May 15, 2016 by Boeroer

[Boeroer 15,425]

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/baldursgategame/images/0/04/Jan_Portrait_BG2.png/revision/latest?cb=20130515170438

 

Image of Jan Jansen from Baldur's Gate perfectly fit for this concept I think.

Indeed - but in fact that portrait's even better for my Engineer build.

[MaxQuest 2,808]

Ahh, finally a solid build to capitalize on toxic/draining/rotting spells and the Ryngrym/Concelhaut archetype

 

Now waiting for the Minoletta piercing/frost specialist )

[Boeroer 15,425]

Ahh, finally a solid build to capitalize on toxic/draining/rotting spells and the Ryngrym/Concelhaut archetype

 

Now waiting for the Minoletta piercing/frost specialist )

 

Like I added to the original post: it's very easy to turn this guy into a tanky frost mage. Same tactics. Used the White Crest armor and other "winter style" items.

 

But I remembered our conversation about a freeze based character (I think we also talked about chanters and that they are kind of limited to The Dragon Thrashed or Aefyllath Ues Mith Fyr) and build a frosty chanter tank which I like very much (although his true awesomeness only starts at lvl 15). No Dragon Thrashed, no burning lash chant, no Sure Handed Ila... I'm writing that class build post at the moment. So stay tuned.  

[MaxQuest 2,808]

Like I added to the original post: it's very easy to turn this guy into a tanky frost mage. Same tactics. Used the White Crest armor and other "winter style" items.

Hmm, I was thinking of a ranged wizard with average or even low intellect, built to capitalize on the burst of missile, single-target and beam spells that do not depend on that attribute.

 

But yeah I definitely see how a frost version of Bilestomper could work out. As a frontliner this one can also make great use of Blast of Frost and inoletta's Precisely Piercing Burst with Piercing Sigil.

 

But I remembered our conversation about a freeze based character (I think we also talked about chanters and that they are kind of limited to The Dragon Thrashed or Aefyllath Ues Mith Fyr) and build a frosty chanter tank which I like very much (although his true awesomeness only starts at lvl 15). No Dragon Thrashed, no burning lash chant, no Sure Handed Ila... I'm writing that class build post at the moment. So stay tuned.

I remember that

Dunno how effective is kitting in this game (I must confess haven't even tried that yet). But the more builds - the better)

[Jojobobo 612]

It looks like a Big Daddy, which is always a good thing.

[Boeroer 15,425]

Hmm, I'm too tired to finish the frozen yoghurt chanter build post. Will do that tomorrow.  

[Yosharian 757]

I think. I was playing this on PotD with a party - so I didn't solo the whole game with this guy. But I sucessfully did some of the most difficult bounty quests solo (like upscaled Nalrend and the WM bounty quests) - just to test if he's able to beat them alone. So I guess it would work. Don't know if you could put out all dragons solo, but I can try to solo the upscaled Sky Dragon (I have a savegame with this char where that dragon is still alive) and tell you what happened.

Please do, I'm interested because I love the concept and it might be one of the few builds that would interest me enough to see through a solo playthrough to the end

 

Although I'm not so sure about that divers helmet haha

[nennafir 0]

 

 

 it's very easy to turn this guy into a tanky frost mage. 

 

 

Can you post a build for a tanky frost mage?  Pretty please?

[dainbramage 11]

 

 

 

 it's very easy to turn this guy into a tanky frost mage. 

 

 

Can you post a build for a tanky frost mage?  Pretty please?

 

 

I'm obviously not Boeroer, but I imagine something like

 

• Race is pale elf instead.
• Switch neck slot to rymrgand's mantle, boots to fenwalkers, headgear to the crossed eyepatch.
• Switch corrode talent for ice talent
• Switch poison-oriented spells for freezing ones.
• Go stand in a chill fog and cast shadowflame and frozen pillar on yourself

Edited May 16, 2016 by dainbramage

[Boeroer 15,425]

Yeah. Exactly - you pretty much nailed it. Shadowflame is a great spell to spam. Maybe because of that you should also consider the talent for a bonus 4th level spell and wearing that wizardry ring that gives you another 4th level spell use. +2 uses of shadowflame can be very useful.

Not entirely sure how much defenses against the paralyze effect you can pile up. Surely not 237. But I think you can get enough to avoid the paralyze effect.

Edited May 16, 2016 by Boeroer

[Dr <3 474]

Wonderfuf job, as always!

Just a question for the Ice element variant: i always toght that most AOE effects ( freezing pillar, ice cloud, shadowflame ... ) affect refex for the hit/ grazie/ miss... Is not best to pile up reflex savings instead of fortitude if you go for the "Ice path" variant? Getting paralyze is not an issue if you are miss from the start by the spell

 

Edit: when i have time i will try a pale Elf build with max refex ( High dex & per, good/ average str& int, sword & shield, some reflex boosting item) and see how it performs. I hope that with reflex High enough i will always miss myself with aoe spells so i don' t even have to bother for the save vs the affliction...

Edited May 16, 2016 by Dr <3

[Dr <3 474]

Why not mantle of excavator instead of fathers theet?

[bigwillystyle 57]

Wonderfuf job, as always!

Just a question for the Ice element variant: i always toght that most AOE effects ( freezing pillar, ice cloud, shadowflame ... ) affect refex for the hit/ grazie/ miss... Is not best to pile up reflex savings instead of fortitude if you go for the "Ice path" variant? Getting paralyze is not an issue if you are miss from the start by the spell

 

I've been playing around with this - Chilling Fog hits Fortitude.  For the others - they target reflex as you said.  But in some cases are Foe AOE only.  I'm playing around with Shadowflame tonight to see how it goes.

 

I will say that at low level, high Fortitude / Pale Elf Chilling Fog is amazing.  I took down some folks at level 2 & 3 that I've never taken down solo before.  

 

I also will say that its irritatingly slow to use - interrupts suck - but its very effective.  turn on chill fog, go grab a beer, come back to dead mobs

Edited to add: Rymrgand's Mantle is also a great level 2 pickup as well.

Edited May 16, 2016 by bigwillystyle

[Boeroer 15,425]

 

 

Why not mantle of excavator instead of fathers theet? 

 

Doesn't stack with the diving helmet (which I like very much). And because you get that mantle very late. So I chose the helmet and the teeth. You can get that stuff early via stronghold quests. Together it's better in terms of defense against poison.

 

But of course you can use the mantle. Especially i you don't like the diving helmet.    

Edited May 16, 2016 by Boeroer

[Boeroer 15,425]

 

I also will say that its irritatingly slow to use - interrupts suck - but its very effective.  turn on chill fog, go grab a beer, come back to dead mobs

Edited to add: Rymrgand's Mantle is also a great level 2 pickup as well.

 

Yes, that's why I recommended Spirit Shield (potion or spell). It helps a lot.

Edited May 16, 2016 by Boeroer

[bigwillystyle 57]

 

 

I also will say that its irritatingly slow to use - interrupts suck - but its very effective.  turn on chill fog, go grab a beer, come back to dead mobs

Edited to add: Rymrgand's Mantle is also a great level 2 pickup as well.

 

Yes, that's why I recommended Spirit Shield (potion or spell). It helps a lot.

 

 

Yeah, one thing I realized early on was ... cast Spirit Shield first, then Chilling Fog.  Doing it the other way around was ... not as good.  

 

The Freeze build is a fun variant, but on strict effectiveness, your Bilestomper build should be much better - the freeze variant suffers a bit by having to have both Spirit Shield and Chilling Fog.  We'll see how well potions help, but long term this is a build tailor made for the Celebrants gloves.  I think I prefer the binding rope to the belt of chimes.

[Dr <3 474]

 

 

Why not mantle of excavator instead of fathers theet?

Doesn't stack with the diving helmet (which I like very much). And because you get that mantle very late. So I chose the helmet and the teeth. You can get that stuff early via stronghold quests. Together it's better in terms of defense against poison.

 

But of course you can use the mantle. Especially i you don't like the diving helmet.

No, no like other said the big Daddy helmet is a must!

[Boeroer 15,425]

It's also my favorite. It looks a bit grimy and paints the picture of somebody who we'd call "Fäkalientaucher" in Germany. I think that would translate into something like feces diver or so.