Since DDO released the newest class Favored Soul, I have seen quite a few great builds and even more bad ones. Biggest problem most players experienced and inexperienced alike was trying to do too much. Being a jack of all trades truly means being a master of none with Favored Soul.
I have always been the rough and tumble grab a weapon and kill stuff. So having a nearly endless supply of spell points to keep me healed is what appealed to me with this class.
When first rolling a favored soul, the very first question you should ask yourself is "What is the role I wish to fill?". If it is grab a weapon and smash stuff to a pulp your in the right thread. If it is mainly heal the party and cast crowd control, stop reading this.
When creating a battle melee build, the first thing you need to do is forget about offensive casting. Ditch the notion of throwing points into wisdom. With wisdom it is an all or nothing venture. You may be able to pull off spells mid game. But end game without a maxed out wisdom you will be falling short on both Difficulty Checks (dcs) and Feats.
The top three melee races for favored soul are Drow, Elf and Warforge. Humans and Dwarves can hold their own and have certain abilities that make them strong for FVS.
Whichever race is choosen there are four feats that are essential. Those are Toughness, and the three two weapon fighting feats or the three two handed fighting feats if Warforge.
This leaves the class with three feats left or four if Human. Of those improved critical, extend spell, empower heal, power attack, force personality and oversized two weapon fighting should be considered to round out your character.
Since you have 5 level up stat points it is best to start with a 17 str, 16 if human.
Dex should be set at 16 if you have a plus 1 tome, 15 if you have a plus 2 tome or 17 if you have no tomes. Warforge are the exception, keeping dex at 8 is ideal for warforge.
Constitution should have at least 6 points starting out put into them with the rest thrown into charisma. Charisma is highly debated on the DDO forums. Some suggest starting with a very low charisma. The truth is there is very little difference in spell points end game with a high charisma vs. a low charisma. But there are other variables that can make charisma very appealing aside from spell points. UMD and the Force Personality feat. When charisma is around the 26 point range these two make a great excuse for grabbing more free spell points.
Skill points are something that is real nice in FVS but only one is really essential for a battle fvs and that is Concentration. Personally I choose to put a few points into intelligence so I can pick up Jump, UMD and Balance. Out of those three Balance is probably the most essential for a battle build. No one wants to lay flat on their back for very long when knocked down.
Differences in the races
Elves should go with scimitars. They get racial bonuses making their damage and to hit even more powerful.
Drow should go with short swords. Racial bonuses as well.
Warforge should go with Great Swords. Racial bonuses for the THF and power attack line.
Human and Dwarves are left with Long Swords.
With all that said here is a look at my warforge favored soul
Starting Stats
17 str
8 dex
16 con
13 int
6 wis
13 cha
3 Two Handed Fighting Feats
Toughness
Extend Spell
Power Attack
Force Personality
I ate a plus one intel tome at level 3 to give me one more skill point. And put that point into jump from there on out. My other skill points went into Balance, UMD, and Concentration.
Since DDO released the newest class Favored Soul, I have seen quite a few great builds and even more bad ones. Biggest problem most players experienced and inexperienced alike was trying to do too much. Being a jack of all trades truly means being a master of none with Favored Soul.
I have always been the rough and tumble grab a weapon and kill stuff. So having a nearly endless supply of spell points to keep me healed is what appealed to me with this class.
When first rolling a favored soul, the very first question you should ask yourself is "What is the role I wish to fill?". If it is grab a weapon and smash stuff to a pulp your in the right thread. If it is mainly heal the party and cast crowd control, stop reading this.
When creating a battle melee build, the first thing you need to do is forget about offensive casting. Ditch the notion of throwing points into wisdom. With wisdom it is an all or nothing venture. You may be able to pull off spells mid game. But end game without a maxed out wisdom you will be falling short on both Difficulty Checks (dcs) and Feats.
The top three melee races for favored soul are Drow, Elf and Warforge. Humans and Dwarves can hold their own and have certain abilities that make them strong for FVS.
Whichever race is choosen there are four feats that are essential. Those are Toughness, and the three two weapon fighting feats or the three two handed fighting feats if Warforge.
This leaves the class with three feats left or four if Human. Of those improved critical, extend spell, empower heal, power attack, force personality and oversized two weapon fighting should be considered to round out your character.
Since you have 5 level up stat points it is best to start with a 17 str, 16 if human.
Dex should be set at 16 if you have a plus 1 tome, 15 if you have a plus 2 tome or 17 if you have no tomes. Warforge are the exception, keeping dex at 8 is ideal for warforge.
Constitution should have at least 6 points starting out put into them with the rest thrown into charisma. Charisma is highly debated on the DDO forums. Some suggest starting with a very low charisma. The truth is there is very little difference in spell points end game with a high charisma vs. a low charisma. But there are other variables that can make charisma very appealing aside from spell points. UMD and the Force Personality feat. When charisma is around the 26 point range these two make a great excuse for grabbing more free spell points.
Skill points are something that is real nice in FVS but only one is really essential for a battle fvs and that is Concentration. Personally I choose to put a few points into intelligence so I can pick up Jump, UMD and Balance. Out of those three Balance is probably the most essential for a battle build. No one wants to lay flat on their back for very long when knocked down.
Differences in the races
Elves should go with scimitars. They get racial bonuses making their damage and to hit even more powerful.
Drow should go with short swords. Racial bonuses as well.
Warforge should go with Great Swords. Racial bonuses for the THF and power attack line.
Human and Dwarves are left with Long Swords.
With all that said here is a look at my warforge favored soul
Starting Stats
17 str
8 dex
16 con
13 int
6 wis
13 cha
3 Two Handed Fighting Feats
Toughness
Extend Spell
Power Attack
Force Personality
I ate a plus one intel tome at level 3 to give me one more skill point. And put that point into jump from there on out. My other skill points went into Balance, UMD, and Concentration.