Be careful not to choke on your aspirations...
Originally Posted by Azorgkhal
Azorgkhal, The Treacherous Breath
LE Dragonborn of Bahamut (Lesser Aasimar) Dragonscale Husk Duskblade 3/Dragonblood Sorcerer 2/Talon of Tiamat 4/Divine Crusader 1/Dragonheart Mage 10
"Have you ever heard the story of Azorgkhal, The Treacherous Breath... it's no a story the Platinum Knights would tell you... he was once a champion of Bahamut...before he fell to rage and evil" - A very trustworthy politician
Spoiler: StoryThe warriors of the Kingdom of Dale found the mountain pass strangely empty and desolate. There in the middle of the road stood a single figure. Draconic and covered with thick scales, a billowing dark cloak behind him. The leader of the knights of Dale approached, calling out.
“You’ve betrayed your oath to Bahamut, creature of Evil, we have you surrounded, surrender now.”
“Betrayed my oath… I was betrayed. And the only thing I am surrounded by is fear and dead men.” The creature’s hiss turned into a roar as it spoke and then it’s roar turned into a massive gout of fire, fire hot enough to burn anything and the Knights of Dale knew no more.
Spoiler: Concept and Party Role
Azorgkhal is principally a damage and area blast focused character. He also has some ability to act as a party face having high Charisma and plenty of ranks in intimidate and bluff. Given that he isn’t Diplomacy focused you can generally aim for more of a rough and tumble character with that.
This is a fairly traditional breath weapon focused character, he breathes, does a bunch of breath damage using metabreath feats. Stacks a lot of rounds of Clinging Breath and then just lets the magic happen. Unlike many other such characters Azorgkhal has quite a bit he can be doing after that. He can buff himself to considerable strength, he has spells he can channel at low to mid-levels. This character is like a better version of the Dragon Shaman.
We also use some pretty good build tricks with Talon of Tiamat, those will be explored later.
Spoiler: Stats
Abilities Initial Race / Template 4th 8th 12th 16th 20th STR 14 DEX 12 10 (-2) CON 16 18 (+2) INT 12 WIS 8 10 (+2) CHA 15 17 (+2) 18 (+1) 19 (+1) 20 (+1) 21 (+1) 22 (+1)
Spoiler: Level Table
Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Reflex Save Will Save Skills Feats Spells Known Class Features 1st Dragonscale Husk Duskblade 1 1 2 0 2 Bluff: 2 Ranks (4) Intimidate: 2 Ranks (4), Concentration 4 Ranks (4), Knowledge (Arcana) 4 Ranks (4) Maximize Breath Touch of Fatigue, Ray of Frost, Chill Touch, Shocking Grasp Arcane Attunement, Armored Mage 2nd Dragonscale Husk Duskblade 2 2 3 0 3 Concentration 5 Ranks Knowledge (Arcana) 5 Ranks. Tumble (Trade for Ride) 2 Ranks Swift Expeditious Retreat Combat Casting 3rd Dragonblood Sorcerer 1 2 3 0 5 Bluff 4 Ranks, Intimidate 4 Ranks Dragonthrall, Draconic Heritage - Red (Class Bonus) Message, Prestigiditation, Daze, Light, Shield, Lesser Shivering Touch Draconic Heritage, Arcane insight +2 4th Dragonblood Sorcerer 2 3 3 0 6 Bluff 6 Ranks, Intimidate 6 Ranks. 5th Dragonscale Husk Duskblade 3 4 3 1 6 Concentration 5 Ranks, Knowledge (Arcana) 5 Ranks, Knowledge (Religion) 2 Ranks Arcane Channeling 6th Talon of Tiamat 1 4 5 1 6 Intimidate 8 Ranks, Knowledge (Arcana) 7 Ranks Clinging Breath Breath Weapon (3d6 Cone of Cold) 7th Talon of Tiamat 2 5 6 1 6 Intimidate 10 Ranks, Knowledge (Arcana) 8 Ranks, Bluff 7 Ranks Mirror Image Voice of the Dragon +2 8th Talon of Tiamat 3 6 6 2 7 Intimidate 11 Ranks, Concentration 7 Ranks, Bluff 9 Ranks Breath Weapon (8d4 Line of Acid) 9th Talon of Tiamat 4 7 7 2 7 Intimidate 12 Ranks, Concentration 9 Ranks, Bluff 11 Ranks Weapon Focus (Heavy Pick) Keen Senses 10th Divine Crusader 1 7 9 2 9 Intimidate 13 Ranks, Concentration 12 Ranks Aura 11th Dragonheart Mage 1 7 11 2 11 Intimidate 14 Ranks, Bluff 13 Ranks, Concentration 13 Ranks Draconic Breath (Class Bonus) Draconic Breath (2d6) 12th Dragonheart Mage 2 8 12 2 12 Intimidate 15 Ranks, Bluff 15 Ranks, Concentration 14 Ranks Shape Breath, Draconic Toughness (Class Bonus) Draconic Feat 13th Dragonheart Mage 3 8 12 3 12 Intimidate 16 Ranks, Bluff 16 Ranks, Concentration 16, Ranks 14th Dragonheart Mage 4 9 13 3 13 Intimidate 17 Ranks, Bluff 17 Ranks, Concentration 17 Ranks Spellcraft 1 Rank Draconic Arcane Grace (Class Bonus) Draconic Feat 15th Dragonheart Mage 5 9 13 3 13 Intimidate 18 Ranks, Bluff 18 Ranks, Concentration 18 Ranks, Spellcraft 2 Ranks War Devotion 16th Dragonheart Mage 6 10 14 4 14 Intimidate 19 Ranks, Bluff 19 Ranks, Concentration 19 Ranks, Spellcraft 3 Ranks Draconic Breath (2d8) 17th Dragonheart Mage 7 10 14 4 14 Intimidate 20 Ranks, Bluff 20 Ranks, Concentration 20 Ranks, Spellcraft 4 Ranks 18th Dragonheart Mage 8 11 15 4 15 Intimidate 21 Ranks, Bluff 21 Ranks, Concentration 21 Ranks, Spellcraft 5 Ranks Split Breath, Draconic Resistance (Class Bonus) Draconic Feat 19th Dragonheart Mage 9 11 15 5 15 Intimidate 22 Ranks, Bluff 22 Ranks, Concentration 22 Ranks, Spellcraft 6 Ranks 20th Dragonheart Mage 10 12 16 5 16 Intimidate 23 Ranks, Bluff 23 Ranks, Concentration 23 Ranks, Spellcraft 6 Ranks Draconic Breath (3d6)
Spoiler: Spellcasting
Duskblade Casting
Level 0th 1st 1st 3 2 2nd 4 3 3rd 4 3 4th 5 4 5th - 20th 6 5
Sorcerer Casting
Level 0th 1st 2nd 3rd 5 3 4th 6 4 5th 6 4 6th 6 4 7th 6 5 8th 6 5 9th - 20th 6 6 3
Divine Crusader Casting
Level 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 0 11th 0 12th 1 0 13th 2 1 0 14th 2 2 1 0 15th 3 2 2 1 0 16th 3 2 2 1 0 17th 3 3 2 2 1 0 18th 3 3 3 2 2 1 0 19th 3 3 3 3 2 2 1 0 20th 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 1 0
Spoiler: Breath Weapons
Highest damage options are in bold.
Level Dragonheart Damage Talon 1 Damage Talon 2 Damage Dragonic Breath Damage 1st 1d8 (5' Line) Average = 4.5 Fail, 2 Pass, Max = 8 Fail, 4 Pass 2nd 1d8 (10' Line) Average = 4.5 Fail, 2 Pass, Max = 8 Fail, 4 Pass 3rd 2d8 (15' Line) Average = 9 Fail, 4 Pass, Max = 16 Fail, 8 Pass 4th 2d8 (20' Line) Average = 9 Fail, 4 Pass, Max = 16 Fail, 8 Pass 5th 2d8 (25' Line) Average = 9 Fail, 4 Pass, Max = 16 Fail, 8 Pass 6th 3d8 (30' Line) Average = 13.5 Fail, 6.75 Pass, Max = 24 Fail, 12 Pass 3d6 (30' Cone of Cold) Average = 10.5 Fail, 5.75 Pass Max = 18 Fail 9 Pass 7th 3d8 (35' Line) Average = 13.5 Fail, 6.75 Pass, Max = 24 Fail, 12 Pass 3d6 (30' Cone of Cold) Average = 10.5 Fail, 5.75 Pass Max = 18 Fail 9 Pass 8th 3d8 (40' Line) Average = 13.5 Fail, 6.75 Pass, Max = 24 Fail, 12 Pass 3d6 (30' Cone of Cold) Average = 10.5 Fail, 5.75 Pass Max = 18 Fail 9 Pass 8d4 (60' Line of Acid) Average = 20 Fail, 10 Pass Max = 32 Fail 16 Pass 9th 4d8 (45' Line) Average = 18 Fail, 9 Pass, Max = 32 Fail, 16 Pass 3d6 (30' Cone of Cold) Average = 10.5 Fail, 5.75 Pass Max = 18 Fail 9 Pass 8d4 (60' Line of Acid) Average = 20 Fail, 10 Pass Max = 32 Fail 16 Pass 10th 4d8 (50' Line) Average = 18 Fail, 9 Pass, Max = 32 Fail, 16 Pass 3d6 (30' Cone of Cold) Average = 10.5 Fail, 5.75 Pass Max = 18 Fail 9 Pass 8d4 (60' Line of Acid) Average = 20 Fail, 10 Pass Max = 32 Fail 16 Pass 4d6 (30' Cone Fire or Cold. 60' Line Acid or Electricity) Average = 14 Fail, 7 Pass Max = 24 Fail 12 Pass 11th 4d8 (55' Line) Average = 18 Fail, 9 Pass, Max = 32 Fail, 16 Pass 3d6 (30' Cone of Cold) Average = 10.5 Fail, 5.75 Pass Max = 18 Fail 9 Pass 8d4 (60' Line of Acid) Average = 20 Fail, 10 Pass Max = 32 Fail 16 Pass 4d6 (30' Cone Fire or Cold. 60' Line Acid or Electricity) Average = 14 Fail, 7 Pass Max = 24 Fail 12 Pass 12th 5d8 (60' Line or 30' Cone) Average = 22.5 Fail 11.25 Pass, Max = 40 Fail, 20 Pass 3d6 (30' Cone or 60' Line Cold) Average = 10.5 Fail, 5.75 Pass Max = 18 Fail 9 Pass 8d4 (60' Line or 30' Cone Acid) Average = 20 Fail, 10 Pass Max = 32 Fail 16 Pass 4d6 (30' Cone or 60' Line Acid, Electricity, Fire or Cold) Average = 14 Fail, 7 Pass Max = 24 Fail 12 Pass 13th 5d8 (65' Line or 30' Cone) Average = 22.5 Fail 11.25 Pass, Max = 40 Fail, 20 Pass 3d6 (30' Cone or 60' Line Cold) Average = 10.5 Fail, 5.75 Pass Max = 18 Fail 9 Pass 8d4 (60' Line or 30' Cone Acid) Average = 20 Fail, 10 Pass Max = 32 Fail 16 Pass 6d6 (30' Cone or 60' Line Acid, Electricity, Fire or Cold) Average = 21 Fail, 13.5 Pass. Max = 36 Fail, 18 Pass 14th 5d8 (70' Line or 30' Cone) Average = 22.5 Fail 11.25 Pass, Max = 40 Fail, 20 Pass 3d6 (30' Cone or 60' Line Cold) Average = 10.5 Fail, 5.75 Pass Max = 18 Fail 9 Pass 8d4 (60' Line or 30' Cone Acid) Average = 20 Fail, 10 Pass Max = 32 Fail 16 Pass 8d6 (30' Cone or 60' Line Acid, Electricity, Fire or Cold) Average = 28 Fail. 14 Pass. Max = 48 Fail, 24 Pass 15th 6d8 (75' Line or 30' Cone) Average = 27 Fail, 13.5 Pass, Max = 48 Fail, 24 Pass 3d6 (30' Cone or 60' Line Cold) Average = 10.5 Fail, 5.75 Pass Max = 18 Fail 9 Pass 8d4 (60' Line or 30' Cone Acid) Average = 20 Fail, 10 Pass Max = 32 Fail 16 Pass 10d6 (30' Cone or 60' Line Acid, Electricity, Fire or Cold) Average = 35 Fail, 17.5 Pass. Max = 60 Fail, 30 Pass 16th 6d8 (80' Line or 30' Cone) Average = 27 Fail, 13.5 Pass, Max = 48 Fail, 24 Pass 3d6 (30' Cone or 60' Line Cold) Average = 10.5 Fail, 5.75 Pass Max = 18 Fail 9 Pass 8d4 (60' Line or 30' Cone Acid) Average = 20 Fail, 10 Pass Max = 32 Fail 16 Pass 10d8 (30' Cone or 60' Line Acid, Electricity, Fire or Cold) Average = 45 Fail, 22.5 Pass. Max = 80 Fail, 40 Pass 17th 6d8 (85' Line or 30' Cone) Average = 27 Fail, 13.5 Pass, Max = 48 Fail, 24 Pass 3d6 (30' Cone or 60' Line Cold) Average = 10.5 Fail, 5.75 Pass Max = 18 Fail 9 Pass 8d4 (60' Line or 30' Cone Acid) Average = 20 Fail, 10 Pass Max = 32 Fail 16 Pass 12d8 (30' Cone or 60' Line Acid, Electricity, Fire or Cold) Average = 54 Fail, 27 Pass. Max = 96 Fail, 48 Pass. 18th 7d8 (90' Line or 30' Cone) Average = 31.5 Fail, 15.75 Pass Max = 56 Fail, 28 Pass 3d6 (30' Cone or 60' Line Cold) Average = 10.5 Fail, 5.75 Pass Max = 18 Fail 9 Pass 8d4 (60' Line or 30' Cone Acid) Average = 20 Fail, 10 Pass Max = 32 Fail 16 Pass 14d8 (30' Cone or 60' Line Acid, Electricity, Fire or Cold) Average = 63 Fail, 31.5 Pass. Max = 112 Fail, 56 Pass 19th 7d8 (95' Line or 30' Cone) Average = 31.5 Fail, 15.75 Pass Max = 56 Fail, 28 Pass 3d6 (30' Cone or 60' Line Cold) Average = 10.5 Fail, 5.75 Pass Max = 18 Fail 9 Pass 8d4 (60' Line or 30' Cone Acid) Average = 20 Fail, 10 Pass Max = 32 Fail 16 Pass 16d8 (30' Cone or 60' Line Acid, Electricity, Fire or Cold) Average = 72 Fail, 36 Pass. Max = 128 Fail, 64 Pass 20th 7d8 (100' Line or 30' Cone) Average = 31.5 Fail, 15.75 Pass Max = 56 Fail, 28 Pass 3d6 (30' Cone or 60' Line Cold) Average = 10.5 Fail, 5.75 Pass Max = 18 Fail 9 Pass 8d4 (60' Line or 30' Cone Acid) Average = 20 Fail, 10 Pass Max = 32 Fail 16 Pass 27d6 (30' Cone or 60' Line Acid, Electricity, Fire or Cold) Average = 94.5 Fail, 47.25 Pass, Max = 162 Fail, 81 Pass
Spoiler: Level Breakdown
Spoiler: 1st Level - 5th Level
At level 1, we begin our character as a Duskblade. Our Dragonborn breath weapon isn't particularly strong, being only 5', but at level one we do have both a breath weapon and spell-like abilities. Technically they're called "Spell Like Powers" but they're Spell Like Abilities. Mostly some generic small stuff. But we've succeeded, we have a functional build that fulfills all the requirements... So all we need to do now is take 19 levels of Commoner. I suppose that we probably should do something a little more creative and interesting... I guess.
From levels 1 - 5, we function mostly as a Duskblade. Our breath weapon is not super viable at levels 1 and 2, although we can still use it. At level 3, it increases to 2d8, which makes it considerably better. We can start a combat by catching a couple enemies in it, maximizing it and essentially starting off with a pretty nice chunk of damage, not an amazing chunk of damage, but some. Essentially we are doing a very similar strategy to a Dragon Shaman, except that after we breath we have a few nice options for combat. At third level we pick up Dragonthrall as to allow our entry into Talon of Tiamat. At this point our character has shifted from a follower of Bahamut to a Tiamat Worshipper. And we get to play as a fallen Dragonborn, there are notably no mechanical consequences for this, but it is a really interesting thing.
Sorcerer is pretty integral here, it saves us two feats. Which we really don’t otherwise have, and we really don’t lose any casting here, because we’re charisma based. The reason I’m taking two levels is to mitigate potential XP penalties as the Dragonborn of Bahamut’s favored class is fighter.
Since we’re multiclassing in Sorcerer we will take the Dragonscale Husk feature. This will give us +7 to our Armor Class at our third level of Duskblade. And is generally going to be useful in the early levels when we want to cast
Spoiler: Talon of Tiamat
At 6th level we go into the Prestige Class, Talon of Tiamat. This has a reputation as one of the worst Prestige classes of all and it is not entirely an undeserved reputation. It has a lot of poorly written, janky stuff. We're going to use some of that jank.
What that is likely intended to mean is that the Talon of Tiamat can't stack his own breath weapons. What that actually says is that all of the Talon's breath weapons cannot be used within 1d4 rounds of each other.
As we can see the language is almost identical to the standard Breath Weapon language. So now all of our breath weapons have an added recovery time. This sounds pretty bad, "Where is the upside" you ask, well now that they have a recovery time expressed in rounds... they all qualify for Metabreath feats. Which is very strong. There is however another downside. This very likely ties all of your recoveries together. Meaning that the 1d4 recovery for any breath weapon is probably affected by your Metabreath feats. So using any Metabreath feat is likely to mean that you are getting the full negative effect. So we're likely breathing once a combat, but so is the Dragon Shaman, and we'll be doing it a lot better later on. (I mean we're currently doing it better, but we will continue to be doing it better).
Also you'll note that none of our current breath weapons don't have a duration in rounds that will change shortly.
Spoiler: 6th Level - 10th Level
At this point our spellcasting is starting to fall behind. At tenth level we will have Divine Crusader casting at level 1, Sorcerer casting at level 4, and Duskblade Casting at level 3. That gives us a lot of low level spells to spam… but we don’t get that many high level spells. We’re going to use Talon of Tiamat to advance our Sorcerous casting, because our Charisma is a far better stat for us than our intelligence is. We also can pick some points in Intimidate due to our Red Dragon heritage.
At this point the character is also getting more focused on breath weapons. At level 6, we pick up Clinging Breath. Which allows us to basically continue to damage enemies long after the initial breath. It is important to note that this damage halves each round. So at level 6… if we maximize our best breath weapon (the 3d8 Line), we will do 24 on a failed save first round, 12 on a failed save second round, then 6, 3, then 1. Then by rounding rules of 3.5, 0. At this level range we also do not have Shape Breath, so we are going to have to consider when it would be more appropriate to use the 3d6 Cone shape over the line. At level 8, we pick up the line of Acid which is likely to be our best breath weapon for a few levels.
Spoiler: 11th Level - 15th Level
At this point we take a level in Divine Crusader, permanently binding us to Tiamat. This is an interesting and somewhat well known prestige class. It gets you extremely limited 9th level divine casting in the span of 10 levels. But we’re not actually going to be using those spells (for the most part). We’re going to be using them to fuel our breath weapon. We’re going to take the War Domain as our source of spells. This gives us a few nice buff spells we can use when we do decide to cast spells. Which we will on occasion. We have Divine Power which we can use to buff ourselves if we decide to do any melee combat.
One thing to note is that since the Divine Crusader is a prepared caster we can potentially prepare Corrupt Spells. Which gives us a few more nasty options as we’re leveling up. We also get a bunch of Draconic feats, none of these are great, but they give us some resistances and what-not. It is a shame that the writers of the Dragonheart Mage did not realize that you can’t take Breath Channeling or Metabreath feats with those. Because I expect that channeling would have at least been something they would have intended.
Our main source of breath weapon is our third Prestige Class, The Dragonheart Mage. This gives us the ability to channel spells into a breath weapon through the feat Draconic Breath. Because we have taken levels in Talon of Tiamat, we can only do this every 1d4 rounds, however because it now has a recovery time measured in rounds. We can apply metabreath feats to this, which is not normally the case. While this Prestige Class requires Arcane Casting to enter it can advance any casting. So we’re advancing our Divine Crusader levels.
At 15th level, we have a Breath Weapon that is equal to a level 20 Dragon Shaman’s and we’ve got Divine Power and potentially some other goodies. So we are now able to function as a pretty amazing breather.
Spoiler: 16th Level - 20th Level
At this point our character’s breath is rapidly advancing in power. We’re getting rapid spellcasting and at 6th and 10th level of Dragonheart Mage we advance the amount of Breath Weapon dice we get for sacrificing a spell. At 16th level we are breathing more intensely than a level 20 Dragon Shaman or a level 20 Dragonfire Adept, although the adept can breathe more frequently. This advances rapidly from this point.
At 20th level, we gain our final breath weapon advancement. If we channel a 9th level spell, we will do 27d6 damage. That is more damage than almost every Ancient Dragon except for Red and Gold. We do not actually gain any 9th level slots, and we will need to buy a Charisma item to gain them. At level 20 this should be feasible but if it isn’t our 8th level slots do 24d6 damage which is plenty.
At first round when we maximize our 9th level Draconic Breath, it does 162 damage on a failed save. 81 the next round. That is bonkers. We do more damage than a 20th level Dragon Shaman would on the second round of our breathing. And we can use our lower level slots as needed here as well. 81 damage is enough that most creatures are probably going to risk the save to try to put out the Clinging Breath. Which means that we are burning actions at a level when that’s very significant.
Spoiler: Sweet Spot Level 15
I would say that level 15 is about the sweet spot for this build. Normally I try to focus on builds that have an earlier peaking point. But basically with Divine Crusader and the mechanics of this build… once we’re past level 10 everything spikes really rapidly. At 15th level we are as good at breath weapons as a level 20 Dragon Shaman. We can buff ourselves up with Divine Power if we want to wade into combat after breathing, since we have 5th level slots to use for our channeling we can spend fourths on self-buffing. a
Spoiler: Heighten Breath?
You may have noticed that we did not take the Heighten Breath metabreath feat. That is intentional. If we increase our save by too much then creatures will not try to pass it on the second round. We want creatures to potentially risk losing their actions to try to remove the Clinging Breath. That is the goal here. Over pumping the save is a mistake, because then enemies will take the damage, but they’re likely to take the damage anyway.
Spoiler: Sources
Players Guide to Faerun
Races of the Dragon
Draconomicon
Complete Divine
Dragon Magic
Complete Champion
View Single Post
-
Titan in the Playground
- Join Date
- Feb 2014
- Location
- Arcadia
- Gender
Re: Junkyard Wars XLVII: SLAs + Breath Weapon - Dragonfire Adept
Creator of the LA-assignment thread.
Join the new Junkyard Wars round and build with Cloaked Dancer and a companion creature!
Interested in judging a build competition on the 3.5 forums but not sure where to begin? Check out the judging handbook!
Extended signature!
Reply With QuotePowered by vBulletin®
Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.
Usage of this site, including but not limited to making or editing a post or private message or the creation of an account, constitutes acceptance of the Forum Rules.