Matt Goodman wrote: Regarding fixed fate.
I will create an actual build; however, my main point with the previous build is that by investing very little, a ranger, who yes wants to do melee, can create a build that is mostly geared for melee and still do a ton in range. (I know I'm not explaining myself well enough, I'm too worked up about this right now).
Two other arguments to hold us over. I read that people were comparing fixed fate to Thor's. Please reread that sentence. This token is so good, people are comparing it, an ultra-rare, to Thor's, a legendary! If that doesn't concern people, I don't know what will.
Second argument. You're taking away design space. Taking away choices. Now, even though they won't do as much damage, a pure melee character can easily engage in ranged combat. There is now no (or very little) downside. They don't have to wonder or have a plan if ranged attack is necessary. I just really believe this token is bad for the game in the long run.
I think you're doing a good job advocating your position, and I certainly am willing to be wrong on mine. Last year I thought the Thor's Hammers were OK, in retrospect I think I'd have preferred some changes - so I could be wrong here too.
Let me try to take a stab at 'breaking' this token - and lets see how the results pan out.
"Breaking" means: achieve a superior result with much fewer resources than would otherwise be possible.
The scenario I have in mind is: "What if I wanted to play Nightmare, could I come up with a competitive Nightmare build that features Fixed Fate and uses much less resources than would otherwise be needed for that goal."
I'll consider a Dwarf Fighter for this purpose.
To be effective on Nightmare I'd recommend you need:
1. The ability to hit monsters with an AC of ~24 (~28 for bosses).
2. The ability to deal an average of ~15 damage a round (if each party member does this you can kill NM monsters in 3-4 rounds)3
3. An AC of around 26 (this means monsters are about 50/50 to hit you).
4. Saves of around +12 (this means your about 50/50 to save).
Let's try to build up a Dwarf Fighter using minimal resources to get to this goal. Let's assume a +2/+4 bardsong is always in effect, and players are getting +1 to-hit from Cleric bless/prayer or other effects.
Let's build up the Dwarf Fighter with the minimum resources required to hit these build goals above using Fixed Fate Lt. Crossbow, and then see how those resources compare to a melee or other ranged weapon build.
1. Need to hit monsters with an AC of ~24-28. This is addressed with the Fixed Fate alone - no further effort required.
I'm going to assume the player can hit a 15+ 60% of the time, and that they can add +5% for each lower number to a maximum of 90% (e.g. a 10+ would be 85% of the time, a 1+ would be 90%).
Resources used: 1 UR
2. Deal 15 damage a round. With their 60% hit chance, the player will need to have an average damage of 25 per round.
Fixed Fate damage wheel: 6.66
Bardsong: 4
UR - Ring of the Yeti: 3
R - Bracers of Archery: 2
R - Runestone: 1
UR - Gloves of Greater Archery: 4
UR Boots of the West Wind: 3
Total: 23.66 - close enough.
Resources used: 3 URs , 1 rare, and 1 consumable rare.
There are some other options too:
UR Quiver of Annointment + 3-4x Rare Oils: 4
Relic: Draco-Lich Claw Charm: 2
ER Boots of the Four Winds: 5
R 10x Rare Arrows: 3
3. Get AC to 26:
Base AC 11
Defender Set 3x Rare: 13
Amulet of Natural Armor: 2
Resources used: 4 rares
4. Get to +12 saves:
Base saves: Fort 7, Refx: 2, Will: 1
R Defender Helm: +1
R +2 Cloak of Resistance: +2
R Ioun Stone Beryl Prism: +1
R Charm of Enlightenment: +4 Will
R Ring of Reflexes: +4 Refx
R Boots of Agility: +2 DEX -> +1 Refx
R Earcuff of Intellect: +1 Will
Volunteer Rare: Ioun Stone Tanzanite Sphere: +1 all
Final saves: Fort: 12, Refx: 12, Will: 11 (close enough)
Resources used: 6 rares, 1 volunteer rare (Defender helm accounted for above)
So!
We have a Nightmare Capable Dwarf Fighter with:
4 URs
11 Rares
1 Volunteer rare
1 Consumable Rare
(This fighter is 4th level)
This Fighter has a ranged to-hit bonus of: +1 from the card +1 from Dex bonuses, +2 from Bardsong, +1 from bless = +5.
If they had a different UR ranged weapon, it could be a +2, giving them a total of +6 to hit. This would require them to be sliding 18s or so, and 20s on bosses. So - Fixed Fate is the best ranged weapon they could have.
Now let's sanity check: Could we get a better build for Melee with the same or fewer resources?
The Defender Set and Saves items will basically remain the same, so we're left with 4 URs, 1 Rare, and 1 Rare consumable to work with.
For a melee build instead we'd do something like:
1. Add a rare +2 STR belt
2. Add a UR +5 STR gloves
3. Add a rare lenses of Hiemdall sight (+1 to hit)
4. Swap rare Neck for Exalted +4 DEX Neck
5. Add Rare Ring of the Bliss
6. Add Rare +1 2 handed weapon
7. Add Rare fiendish charm
8. Swap rare +2 melee damage bracers for +2 ranged damage bracers
9. R Fiendish Charm + UC Earcuff of the Bliss
10. R melee consumable runestone +1 to damage
11. Swap Rare Boots of Agility for UR +5 Sonic Boots
We're at +10 to hit before bardsong, +12 with bardsong, +13 with Bless.
So we're sliding to hit at ~+11, +15 vs bosses (same as fixed fate).
Our damage is: 18+ a damage wheel on a 2 handed rare.
So, this build gets a better to-hit, similar damage, and costs:
2 fewer URs
1 more Exalted
3 more rares
1 more uncommon
Since I think 2 URs is worth a lot more than 1 exalted, 3 rares, and an uncommon we could throw in some other stuff like maybe a +2 weapon instead, or a +4 STR belt.
So - I think this item today:
1. Doesn't break things.
2. However, is the best UR ranged weapon for min-maxing lowest gear for nightmare.
It might be a shade too good because of #2.
It might become a problem if we get a few more items like a +3 ranged damage charm, a slotless +1 to ranged damage, a ranged damage belt, etc.
