How to build and Exalted Combat Monkey

[Bodhisattva]

I remember a thread on the old Exalted Compendium that was something along the lines of How to build a Solar Combat Monkey in 10 Charms or less - basically fresh out of the box, and I was wondering why that wasn't here as well.  I'd be interested to see what kinds of ideas that people might have for building a Combat Monkey of any Exalted type, particularly since we now have a fairly broad list of Exalts to choose from.  What's worked out in your stories?  What has really "twinked" the game (basically caused an imbalance)?

 

[riven5]

Question:  What about artifacts and/or hearthstones?  These things play a BIG role in the twinkery of ANY Exalt type and are what give DBs and Abyssals a special advantage.


Question 2:  10 charms or less?  But...you want a fresh exalt?  Lunars, DBs and Siddies all have differing charm numbers for fresh Exalts.  Clarify please.

 

[Bodhisattva]

The original thread on the original Exalted Compendium focused in on Solars, so knowing that different types of Exalts start with different numbers of charms, of course set it down with the basics, please.  Also, stick to charms mostly, but if you want to include hearthstones or artifacts, it would be best to explain why you include them (as well as the charms themselves) and what impact they have on both the charms and the decisions that you made when choosing them.

 

[Persell]

It's not that hard, should you be a munchkinizer (I despise them, despite being one myself, big hypocrite I am).


First of all, they should be from the Cult of the Illuminated, simply becaus they are better. If that isn't an option, it's harder, yet you can still create a real monster.


So, Caste is important. Dawn is the obvious choice, but I find them useless because of a simple reason- they favor all combat abilities, while most characters only need one. Their anima power is so- so, useful against Extras but an Exalted would likely not run away and flee only because Joe has a big, scary thing around him.


Zenith are very useful. First of all, they favor Endurance and Resistance, both of which are paramount for a fighter. Presence is also very useful- Terrifying Apparition of Glory makes you terribly hard to fight against, especially if you have high Essence.


Twilight are deceptively useless. In truth, their anima power is damn useful, saving your HLs and decreasing damage even if you've lashed out with an all- combat combo. Their abilities are less useful, however.


Night have an useless anima power, but Dodge is very important, and Athletics can be helpful.


Last of all, the Eclipse. Awesome as Swan might be, they are the least suitable for munchkinizing.


So, what Abilities would you like to favor? You'd only need a single Combat ability, I'd suggest Martial Arts for the sheer woohoo-iness of it. Endurance is very important, as is Resistance- not only for those with armor, but also for resisting knockback and knockdown.


Dodge is, of course, also very useful.


Needless to say, you max out your most important abilities. The merit Prodigy is recommended.


Backgrounds are also rather important, in particular: Experience, Knowledge, Artifacts, Familiar and Hearthstone. Followers en masse could be useful, but they don't directly help your character. If you're not allowed to have Experience or Knowledge, bad, but elsewise, make sure to max 'em out.


Lastly, Charms. Eh, well, make sure to take Ox- Body Tech (take as many HL's as possible), as well as Shadow over Water. Martial Arts styles are recommended to be either one of the Five Glorious Dragon Paths, Viloet Bier of Sorrows or Snake. Tiger is useful, too. Mantis is also sneaky- against armed foes, it is superior by miles.


I have omitted sorcery, simply because it is more useful against hordes of Extras than against lone foes. Sure, should you like that, I suggest Summoning the Heart of Darkness comboed with Owl- Eye Sight, or Rebuke of Gaia if you are mad.


Other than that?


Hmm... Try using a character that knows nothing about combat.

 

[Bodhisattva]

Okay, those are some good opinions on the benefits and drawbacks of some of the various choices one can make when constructing a combat monkey (and yeah, there's merit in using something other than combat, but that's not the purpose of this thread), but do you have any suggestions on what charms to use in combination to create your combat monkey?

 

[Persell]

Really, an effective Solar warrior can be built with any of the five combat Abilities (Archery, Brawl, Martial Arts, Melee, Thrown) as primary, and none of them necessarily outclass the others.  The possible exception is Thrown, since the Charmset wasn't really created with arena-style combat in mind.


You'll also find that the most powerful warriors take from more than one combat Ability - might be two, might be three.  Ability synergy comes in the form of cross-comboable Charms (Thunderclap Rush Attack, I'm looking at you), as well as tactical synergy - such as Archery for the ranged element on a Meleeist.


Other Abilities great for combat synergy include Athletics, Dodge, Endurance and Resistance.


As to specific Charms - ask me for a focus, and I'll provide some examples.

 

[Hanat-Osul]

I would suggest a Melee fighter, because the Solar's Melee Charms are some of the most powerful in the game (especially Heavenly Guardian Defense).  Favored or Caste abilities should include Athletics, Dodge, Endurance, and Resistance.  I'd also recommend getting the Signature Style merit and/ or Daredevil, so you can stunt constantly & to great effect.


Charms you should buy:


*Graceful Crane Stance


-->either Monkey Leap or Lighting Speed


--->the appropriate follow-up Charm that lets you double damage


*Increasing Strength Exercise.


*Ox-Body.  You knew this.  Buy the -1/-2/-2 version, 'cause doing otherwise is simply inefficient.


*Durability of Oak


-->Spirit Strengthens the Skin.  Since most people don't throw agg, a high natural soak is a good idea.


*One Weapon, Two Blows is wicked cheap for its level of utility, and it Combos well with Hungry Tiger.


*Either a reflexive parry or a reflexive dodge Charm.


That would be the 12 Charms an Illuminated Solar starts with; then you can buy Combos and whatnot with bonus points.


Also good ideas: Thunderclap Rush, and a couple of those Brawl Charms from CoTI - namely, Irrepressible Bravery, which works EXTREMELY well with the aforementioned Merits.


Now if you REALLY wanted to twink out, you could get a starmetal thunderbolt shield (from Book of Three Circles) with your Artifact background.  Force it to harmonize with your anima, and you'll be immune to the dreaded Mook-Fuck.

 

[Djalan Pride]

alright. here's a shot.


Lunar.


str 3


dex 5


sta 4


Ess 2


shaping the ideal form (reqired)


DBT x2, gifts are the 2 soak (rugged hide. inpenetrable beast armor), and the gift that gives a bonus to attribute point (horrifying might, must be taken in the first rank of DBT)..  pour as many points into dex as possible (should be 4). the rest into stamina (should be 2).


secrets of future strife (req)


blade of the battle maiden


ox body's and a few dodge charms, if desired.  there are still 4 charm slots open for a starting lunar.


the hearthstone that gives +4 to acc with ma strike's (manse 4)


starmetal hearthone bracers (artifact 2)


moonsilver daiklave (artifact 2)


MA of 5


MA specialty- Grand Daiklavies x3


fisrt turn reflexively enter DBT


second turn reflex Blade of the Battle maiden for +14 acc/parry for the rest of the scene.


should end up with(before even taking the second action) accuracy of 41, damge of 9L base, defence of 34 and a rate of 5.  soak should be 12L/12B natural soak, just in case.  could go with the regeneration charms instead.  


dont even need to spend essence in combat, unless you decided to pick up some dodge charms.


split your actions 5 ways each turn, and it would take quite a bit to even slow you down.


still leaves the character with 7.5 bonus points to spend as well.  could bump up a ranged combat skill if desired, but this guy is desinged for getting close and personal.

 

[Viragos]

The basic build a Solar combat monkey in 10 charms or less was as I recall.


Golden Essence Block


Dipping Swallow Defense


Bulwark Stance


Fivefold Bulwark Stance


Solar Counterattack


Reed in the Wind


Shadow over Water


Seven Shadow Evasion


Reflex Sidestep Technique


Flow Like Blood


Just barely doable as a starting character, gives you full persistent defense setup and counterattacks as needed.


Now as to other Exalt types that varies, are we talking starting character or 10 charms or less? because those 2 things can be vastly different depending upon what kind of Exalt youre talking about.

 

[Quchu]

I'll try an Alchemical one, I guess. I'll follow the Alchemical Abilities rule and use the Merits and Flaws because they are mean.


Deathly Deathy Deathbot


Caste: Moonsilver


Attributes- Str 4, Dex 7, Sta 3, Cha 1, Manip 2, App 2, Per 4, Int 2, Wits 3


Abilities- Archery 1, Ath 3, Dodge 3, End 3, MA 5 (Specialty: Sword-based styles +3), Res 2, Craft: Pain 1, Performance 1, Presence 2, Bur 2, Lore 1, Occ 1


Backgrounds- Class 3, Artifact 5, Vats 3


Charms-


General:


Perfected Lotus Matrix


Dedicated:


Sustained Augmentation of Dexterity


Transitory Augmentation of Dexterity


Accelerated Response System (Parry)


Strain-Resistant Chassis Modification (-2 x3)


Auxiliary Essence Storage Unit x1


Martial Arts: (I assumed that these count as General Charms)


Secrets of Future Strife


Blade of the Battle Maiden


Joy in Adversity Stance


Artifacts- Moonsilver Grand Beam Klave (Spd +10, Acc +4, Dam +12L, Def -1, Rate 3), Moonsilver Superheavy Plate, Moonsilver Hearthstone Bracers, and Perfected Kata Bracers or Silken Armor.


Merits and Flaws- Legendary Dexterity, and 8 Derangements, however that works. Or Dying. Or Gremlin Syndrome + Greater Curse 5. Any Flaws that stack up to 10 points.


Essence 2


Willpower 9


Comp 1, Conv 4, Temp 2, Val 5


Personal Motes - 8/15, Peripheral Motes - 40/57


Hmm. Not as scary as the Lunar above. Turn on BoBM and JIS, and for the rest of the combat Deathbot has Acc pool of 31 and Def pool of 26. Use Moonsilver Anima Power before combat and he has Init of 34 on the first turn. Kill someone before others act. Getting ready would cost 32 motes, but with JIS it's not THAT bad, I believe... or something.


Meh, could've been better, I think.

 

[Fruan]

Martial Arts: (I assumed that these count as General Charms)

If you read Perfected Lotus Matrix, you'll see that the MA charms are stored within it - They don't need slots of their own.


I suspect this means that if you take MA as starting charms you'll have free starting slots to put panolpy charms you get from your Vats and artifact background in.

 

[Persell]

Getting ready would cost 32 motes, but with JIS it's not THAT bad, I believe.

Well, you can't regain the motes you've spent on BotBM, as they're committed. That, IMO, is the only thing that makes BotBM not borkened.

if you take MA as starting charms you'll have free starting slots to put panolpy charms you get from your Vats and artifact background in.

Indeed.

 

[Persell]

Actually in my experience the fighting style does not matter all that much, get a few offensive charms, get a good defense and most of the time you are set. It is more important to get some tactical tools afterwards, especially since powercombat. hopping defenses, mobility enhancing charms, these win duels and battles.