downloading DDI content

from wizards forum:

"There's also the issue that some of us have had with being able to actually download and view Insider content. This is briefly acknowledged in Digital Insider #12, as a problem that WotC is aware of and being looked into. WotC no longer employs the fellow who wrote this however, so that particular issue may have fallen by the wayside; I don't know. In any case, fixing the problem does not appear to be a priority, it's on the backburner for now.

The work-around I use is pretty straight-forward once you know about it: Right-click on "See It Now!", right-click on "Save Target As". This brings up an option to save a html page, so I close the menu. Then, I right-click on "See it Now" (yes, again ), right-click on "Save Target As" (again). This time, an option comes up to save an actual PDF file. Good to go. In brief: Open, click, then close, then open (again), and save. This gets me past the "asp" page (whatever that is).

If I don't use the work-around, all I see is a page of gibberish. Insider PDFs are the only ones I've ever had trouble with. It's not just me, several others have posted similar problems. As already mentioned, it is acknowledged as a genuine problem in Digital Insider #12.

So, for those who don't know about this work-around then, it's possible for them to subscribe to Insider. Then, they find out that they're one of the unlucky ones, who can't actually see the stuff they've paid for."

orb wizards

gotten from wizards d&d forum:

Spell Focus, Earthroot Staff, Phrenic Crown, and Skull Mask. If you want, go WotST for a Cunning Weapon as well.

Here are the best of the constant saving throw-affecting items/feats that don't require much investment (Cunning requires WotST, for example)

Spell Focus - -2 to saving throws. Applies to all spells.

Phrenic Crown - attacking Will = -1,2,3 to saving throws. Levels 7,17,27. Applies to all of the best spells. (Sleep, Prismatic Spray, Legion's Hold)

Skull Mask - fear effect (which I assume means a power with the fear keyword) = -2 to saving throws. Works at all levels, lowest = 5. Applies to Prismatic Spray.

Earthroot Staff - penalty = enh bonus of staff on attacks that impose immobilized, petrified, restrained, or slowed conditions. Perhaps the worst offender of the bunch, applies to both Sleep and Prismatic Spray, applies a very large penalty, and does it constantly.

When you have Spell Focus, a level 27 Phrenic Crown, a +6 Earthroot Staff, and a Skull Mask, when using Prismatic Spray you don't even need your Orb of Imposition until you meet a Solo. And then you only need a 16 in Wis to perma-stun it. Note that these all apply to everything hit. Anything other than a Solo is screwed, and you don't even have to use any magic item dailies or even encounter powers.

Next, good items that don't have constant effects:
Orb of Ultimate Imposition (AV): I'm not very impressed by it, frankly. Once a day I can impose a very large penalty. How about instead I use Earthroot Staff and impose the that same penalty on everyone without using a magic item daily slot or my Orb of Imposition? (you can only use it on Sleep and Prismatic Spray, but that should not be a hindrance at all.)

Veteran's Armor (AV): Completely ridiculous. Lug around a few +1 armors and use them when you need them. Trading an action point and magic item daily use to get back a ridiculously powerful, encounter changing Wizard daily is a great deal. You might want to get back Sleep, since you're optimizing to be teh-uber stun-locker. One round and all your enemies are down for a long time.

Orb of Karmic Resonance (AV): Amusing. What, you saved? No, you didn't. Uses up a magic item daily, though, which I think you should be using pretty much entirely on Veteran's Armor.

Orb of Mental Dominion (AV): Very nice. It's even the same price as a normal orb. You have to be attacking with this orb, though. 2 saves and take the lower lowers chances of saving very significantly, and they probably won't ever save if you've got any reasonable penalty on them. Unfortunately, I'd rather have Earthroot as my top level, and you'll want to spend your magic item dailies on Veteran's Armor.

Arcane Mastery (feat, PHB): This basically lets you use the Veteran's Armor power all the time, except you keep your magic item dailies as well. Awesome, especially when combined with the next one.

Violet Solitaire (Wondrous Item, AV): Once you get this, you may not have fun anymore. You make a massive number of attacks over the course of the encounter, so critting is almost an eventuality. Then, you get an action point. Then, you get back a daily, which you can either use again or save for the next encounter. You can use a daily every single encounter with this, and if you use the right one, pretty much any encounter will be trivial from this point on (you'll want to use Prismatic Spray, most likely).


Once you combine these, you'll want to hit with your ridiculously powerful powers. Conveniently, they all attack Will. Conveniently, Divine Oracle lets you roll twice against Will. Multiclass Cleric and go Divine Oracle. Also, you don't need Wisdom past a certain point, since it becomes pretty much pointless. You can raise your other stats instead once you reach that point. Ironically, Legion's Hold isn't affected by the biggest of these, Earthroot Staff, and is so less likely to keep enemies affected than the other two, and so amusingly likely to be your worst stunner.
______________________________

also gotten from wizards d&d forum:

You could probably do it as early as Paragon.

-5 Orb of Imposition Wisdom mod(assuming you are a Dwarf/Elf)
-3 Orb of Ultimate Imposition +3(from Adventurer's Vault)
-2 Spell Focus
-2 Lvl 6 Swordmage Utility(from FR player's guide)

drow rogue feat suggestions

gotten from en world:

Backstabber - D8 sneak attack dice
Two Fisted Shooter - one handed reload of hand crossbow as free action, free attack if you crit.
Slaying Action - Sneak attack twice with action point
Ruthless Hunter - crossbow D8 and high crit
Drow Fighting style - no OA provoke if hand crossbow in hand with melee weapon in other
Agile Athlete - roll acrobatics or althetics rolls twice, take better roll
Venemous Heritage - resists 5 poison +2 vs poison saves
Dager Sense - Roll initiative twice, keep better
Fleet footed - +1 speed
Master of FIre and darkness - use darkness and darkfire both per encounter
Merciless Killer - +5 damage vs bloodied foes you have CA against

Epic resurgance - regain encounter power on crit
Martial Mastery - regain martial encounter power if you spend action point
Flanking Manuever - move diagonal through hard corners move through enemies
Clutch of Darkness - bigger globe of darkness
Unfettered Stride - ignore difficult terrain

Devestating Critical - +1d10 on crits as a daggermaster it's very nice too
Blood Thirst - +2 damage to bloodied foes, stacks wtih merciless killer.

that's 18 there, I'm sure I'll want others too but I think that may be my set of 18 by 30.

Whirlwind sneak attack looks kinda sexy too, combined with Martial mastery if you move first run up, aoe blast sneak attack a group, action point and do it again with the same power. sneak attacking everyone twice in one turn. and if you crit on anyone during all this, regain hte use of the encounter power you used to do it wtih again.

nonevil gods, as revised by me

key to revisions:
added
removed

Avandra (good unaligned) change, trickery, luck, love, trade, travel, autumn,halfling

Bahamut (lawful good) justice, honor, nobility, protection, dragonborn

Corellon (unaligned) arcane magic, spring, beauty, the arts, arcane and artistic knowledge and skills, eladrin, fey

Erathis (unaligned) civilization, invention, laws

Ioun (unaligned) knowledge, prophecy, skill

Kord (unaligned) strength, battle, storms, goliath, half-orc

Melora (unaligned) wilderness, sea, storms, moon, elf, shifter, primal

Moradin (lawful good) creation, invention, artisans, scientific and technical knowledge and skills , family, civilization, laws, dwarf

Pelor (good) sun, summer, agriculture, time, man

Raven Queen (unaligned) death, time, fate, prophecy, winter, shadar kai

Sehanine (unaligned) trickery, moon, love, autumn

tharizdun

after the gods discovered the existence of the shard of ultimate chaotic evil, they sought to destroy it, but could not succeed because its power exceeded their own.

tharizdun, originally the greatest of the gods and of lawful good alignment, removed the shard to the bottom-most depths of the elemental chaos, seeking to minimize its influence upon the plane. tharizdun, having possessed the shard, succumbed to its overwhelming influence and became more chaotic evil than even the greatest of demon princes. tharizdun now seeks nothing less than the utter destruction of everything.

all of the gods, both good and evil, sharing a fundamental interest in the preservation of the world and the planes, endeavored to vanquish tharizdun, but because of his own remarkable power, combined with some the shard's power that now resides within him, the gods could only succeed in banishing tharizdun to a potent demiplane of imprisonment.

io, who once was tharizdun's closest ally, was the god who ultimately performed the banishment. when io died, the precise knowledge of the demiplane of imprisonment died with him.

misc

coven - a term associated with druids

hobgoblins build many castles

torog and the far realm

torog was the first--and only--deity to travel extensively through the far realm. the far realm drastically and permanently changed torog. since his return from the far realm, torog became associated with aberrations as well as his original portfolio.

alternatively, some speculate that torog, while exploring the far realm, was consumed/absorbed by a creature of inestimable power who now also possesses the power of a god.