While working on a shuriken thrower I was impressed by the number of attacks that could be made in one round and began to wonder how far the build could go. I finally settled on trying to take out the tarrasque in one round as the test of a build. What I mean by take down is that I want to lower the tarrasque to -10 HP or less (868 damage or more), but casting the wish to kill it is not necessary.
I chose the tarrasque for three reasons. First, the tarrasque has a large number of hit points, which makes it a good target to test the damage output of a build. Next, the tarrasque has DR 15/epic which cannot be overcome in the first 20 levels which further tests damage output. Finally, the tarrasque does not have any spellcasting which means that there are no questions about if it has any protective spells up during the encounter.
To simplify things the encounter will take place in an open field with no cover and ample light. I will appear between 31 and 60 feet away and will have the initiative. To be considered a success I must bring the tarrasque down to at least -10 HP before it can act during the round.
My Build
Human Monk/Fighter 4/Cloistered Cleric/Barbarian (Whirling Frenzy)/Master Thrower5/Exotic Weapon Master 1/Chameleon 7 – I need to start as Lawful for Monk, then switch to Chaotic Good for Cloistered Cleric and Barbarian.
Feats: Able Learner (h), Point Blank Shot (1), Precise Shot (f), Weapon Focus (3), Two-Weapon Fighting (f), Weapon Specialization (f), Rapid Shot (6), Knowledge Devotion (CC), Quick Draw (MT), Improved Two-weapon Fighting (9), Snatch Arrows (MT), Ranged Weapon Mastery (Piercing) (12), Greater Two-Weapon Fighting (15), Far Shot (Chameleon) and Divine Might (18).
I choose Arborea as my domain which lets me add my Charisma modifier to damage for one minute each a day. I also get the Knowledge Domain, but I trade that for Knowledge Devotion. For Exotic Weapon Master I get Close-Quarters Ranged Combat (just encase). The Master Thrower tricks I choose are Palm Throw and Weak Spot, the other is not needed in this build.
There are only two important stats for this build: Dexterity and Charisma. Both stats need to be at 16 upon creation. The first four level up bonuses need to go into Dexterity which sets it to 20. To improve my Charisma I us my ability boost (Chameleon), a +4 tome and a +6 cloak to increase it to 30.
The only other equipment needed is a pair of boots of speed, a belt of battle and the shuriken.
The shuriken are a stack of 50 +5 shuriken of Collision. The Collision enhancement adds 5 points of damage on a hit. For most other creatures I would add the Wounding property to the shuriken to add the potential of 44 Con damage in that round. Unfortunately the tarrasque is immune to ability damage.
My bonus to hit is as follows: Bab (+16), Dexterity (+5), weapon (+5 enhancement), Knowledge Devotion (+1 insight at least), Weapon Focus (+1 unnamed), Ranged Weapon Mastery (+2 unnamed), and Combat Focus (+4 competence). This gives me an attack of +34/+29/+24/+19.
With haste (boots of speed) my full attack (with full TWF, Rapid Shot, flurry, whirling frenzy and haste) looks like this (assuming a +1 bonus from Knowledge Devotion):
+27/+27/+27/+27/+27/+27/+22/+22/+18/+18/+12
My round looks like this:
Knowledge Devotion (free action)
Divine Might (free action)
Arborea Domain (free action)
Boots of Speed (free action)
Whirling Frenzy (free action)
Full Attack (full round)
Belt of Battle (3 charges) (swift action)
Full Attack (full round)
With palm throw each attack can hit with two shuriken and with weak spot each is a touch attack. I will only miss on a 1, but each miss mean two less hits. If the penalties from all of my attacks stack for the second full attack the bonus on the last it is just a +4 which still hits the tarrasque’s touch AC on a 2.
Getting the needed damage is another issue. I have a +4 Competence from Combat Focus, +5 Enhancement from the weapon, +2 from Weapon Specialization, +2 from Ranged Weapon Mastery, a +1 from Knowledge Devotion and a +5 from Collision. I then activate both Divine Might and the Aborea Domain’s granted power to add +10 each to my damage rolls for the round. This gives me a total of +39 to damage, or +24 after DR. Each attack also deals 1d3 damage for the shuriken itself.
Damage for a full round attack (after DR) is 22d3 +528 if everything hits. I then activate the Belt of Battle to do another 22 attacks bringing my total potential damage for the round to 44d3 + 1056 which will take down the tarrasque if all hit. I can miss on four attack rolls (eight hits with palm throw) and still take down the tarrasque without rolling any 1d3s. If I miss on five attack rolls (10 hits with palm throw) I can still take down the tarrasque if I roll slightly above average on the damage rolls. This gives me an over 99% chance of doing the necessary damage.
