Basic Endgame Character Building Guidelines

These are some very basic guidelines for building strong level 40 characters. You don't have to make a strong level 40 character in order to beat people in PvP or to beat the hardest bosses in PvE, but it certainly helps if you do. If you don't want to read a guide and just build a character, then click the previous/back button in your browser and go do that.

PvP vs. PvE

PvE has all been done already, and its easy enough that a group of 10 players of the right roles(not necessarily builds) can reliably beat every boss in the game. Feel free to use PvP characters to do PvE, endgame or not.
PvP, however, is hard, as it is in all games. This intentionally barebones guide will cover building characters for PvP, though it may be changed in the future to account for PvE as well.

Faction

Decide which faction you want to be in before you make your character. All characters have to be in a faction.
The factions are actually balanced pretty well these days, believe it or not.
Players generally decide that they are obligated to support one specific faction and its allied faction above all other factions, and new players are encouraged to do so, though some players just try to get PvP wherever they can by playing as all 6 factions.
Each faction has its own Jobs, the completion of which bestow permanent bonuses upon your character that persist through death and de-levelling, which usually totals to 2 items with 1 or 2 uses of a significant unique power per day, +1(magical) to one stat and another stat, various magical skill bonuses ranging from +2 to +7, and other miscellaneous bonuses.
You may only do your own faction's jobs, and not those of your ally or enemies.
However, if you manage to lose enough reputation with your faction, via. friendly fire against an NPC or not, then all of your job bonuses will be lost forever, barring DM intervention.

Raiding vs. Defending

PvP on this server is typically a version of capture-the-flag whose playing field spans most of this very large module, and the flags are located in capital cities. You may read the Relic System page for more information, although this will regardless be briefly explained below.

All capital cities are, obviously, guarded by NPCs; there are a good number of these NPCs, whose challenge ratings average out at 19 across all factions.
However, relic rooms, where the flags are stored, have a chance to spawn with 1-4 epic NPCs, whose challenge ratings are 31-34 or so, do not drop loot(unless its unique), and are no more or less powerful than other typical NPCs of their level; it is extremely frowned upon to, when defending, pump your relic room until you have epic defenders, and people may ostracize and refuse to PvP with you if you do this.
It is very realistically possible to clean out a relic room that spawns with 4 epic defenders, depending on your build and which faction you're invading, although you'd better hope that theres nobody there to defend the relic room if a few epic NPCs spawn.
You cannot remove a relic(flag) from a relic cradle right away. In order to remove a relic from its relic cradle, you must first slay all hostile NPCs on the map where the relic cradle is, and then you must click on the relic cradle, after which point the relic cradle will put a relevant message in the /shout channel, and the relic cradle will then weaken over a duration of 2-4 minutes or so(variable) until the cradle allows you to take a relic from the cradle(at which point the relic cradle shouts again). If you, at that point, wait for more than 2 rounds or so to take the relic, then the relic cradle will have to be weakened all over again before you can take a cradle out of it.
After taking an enemy's relic, all of your buffs get dispelled, and then you must carry it all the way back to your or your ally's capital city, and then deposit it into the friendly relic cradle or get a friend to do it for you.
Invading an enemy's capital city to capture a relic that they have is called raiding, and defending your relic cradle in your or your ally's capital city is called defending.
Some PvP characters make good raiders, but bad defenders, and some PvP characters make bad raiders, but good defenders, and some PvP characters are good at both. The ones that are not good at both are not necessarily better than other characters.

So, when choosing what kind of character to make, consider whether you want your character to raid, defend, or both. Feel free to make a character to kill people out in the world instead, though people don't really do that anymore.

Gender

Gender has no non-cosmetic effect on your character beyond whether a Drow's favored class is Wizard(male) or Cleric(female), which only impacts how fast you'll level up if you pick the relevant class.

Race

Half-Elves are perhaps the only bad race. No items have a racial restriction of half-elf only, and half-elves have no subraces.
Base races are almost always outclassed by their subraces, though they aren't bad enough that you shouldn't entertain the idea of picking a base race other than half-elf.
All subraces are good for at least one optimal character build.

However, some subraces are Planar races, which means that players with Planar Turning can turn them. Furthermore, Clerics of the Good Domain can turn evil planar characters without Planar Turning, and Clerics of the Evil Domain can turn good planar characters without Planar Turning, although, in the case of the good or evil domain being used to turn you without planar turning, you'll get to add your spell resistance to your turn resistance.
Azerblood and elemental genasi are treated as outsiders, rather than as elementals, by Turn Undead. Spell resistance does increase your turn resistance if the turner doesn't have Planar Turning. And although good number of people have characters who have >39 levels and planar turning, the benefits of picking a planar race usually outweigh the risk of being turned.
Turn Undead has been heavily modified on Neversummer 4; refer to its article for more information.

In order to encourage the diversity of character builds, no further advice will be given about race selection. See Category:Race for more details about races and subraces.

Classes

Most classes have been changed in some way or the other from version 1.69 of Neverwinter Nights. Players who want to build a strong character are advised to look up each class that they want to know more about before making a character.
Furthermore, many class restrictions exist on this server.
Neversummer 4 has possibly a few hundred optimal PvP character builds, considering only which classes are picked, and when other factors are considered, excluding which weapon(s) you specialize in(but not how many) and only considering what the gist(key phrase: the gist) of the build is, the number of optimal PvP character builds probably exceeds 1,000.
Furthermore, some classes, at epic levels, receive something called pure class bonuses if they only ever have 1 class.
All classes have some sort of optimal use or the other, including even Harper Scouts and Purple Dragon Knights, except that characters with more than 35 Rogue levels kinda suck, str-focused characters with the Epic Blackguard feat are also kinda bad, and undead shape is a wasted feat.
Do note, however, that no one build can beat all other builds; all builds have a weakness in 1v1. 1v1 PvP is often a game of rock, paper, scissors, so people prefer to engage in group PvP over 1v1 PvP when they can.
For more information on classes, pure class bonuses, and class restrictions, see Category:Class and Category:Factions.
In order to encourage people the diversity of builds, no further advice will be given about class selection, except that you shouldn't get Undead Shape because it sucks.
Also, read the Shifting Guide if you plan to make a character that is built around shapeshifting, and be extra sure to read the page on Shifters if you plan to make a shifter.

Alignments

Some items have alignment restrictions on them, and some of these items are powerful. You won't be missing out on too much if you can't wear it, as slightly-less-powerful alternatives exist.
Some people make characters who take a number of Great Smiting feats, and can kill you very quickly and easily if you're of the wrong alignment. Changes have been made on Neversummer 4 that grant high-level Paladins and Blackguards a token that refreshes their smites unlimited times per day on a cooldown, so smiting is a real consideration when making a character.
Some endgame NPCs have smite good or smite evil, as well as Extra Smiting and Great Smiting X, which can hit for upwards of 500 raw damage, and critically strike even harder.

Feats

Many feats have been changed in Neversummer 4.
The most prominent examples of these are that the Spell Focus feats grant bonuses to certain spells beyond increasing their DC, that Hellball becomes self-friendly at caster lvl 35, and party-friendly at caster level 40(both counting only your highest caster class), that Dragon Knight and Mummy Dust were massively buffed, that Blinding Speed lasts for clvl*2 rounds and offers 1 more dodge AC than haste does, that Overwhelming Critical additionally increases your critical threat range by 2, stacking with Ki Critical, Improved Critical, and the Keen weapon property, and that Devastating Critical, instead of causing its victim to make fortitude save or die, increases your critical damage multiplier by 1, stacking with Increased Multiplier.
This does indeed mean that scythes can have 14-20/x6 crits, that rapiers can have 8-20/x4 crits, and overwhelming and devastating critical do work for ranged weapons and unarmed strike, as well as for creature weapons such as dragon claws(via. unarmed strike feats), although Weapon Masters still can't pick fists or ranged weapons as their weapon of choice. Believe it or not, these changes to overwhelming and devastating critical don't make dex characters bad, but instead allow strength characters to compete with dex characters on roughly equal footing.

Books

Some books in Neversummer 4 are rare and valuable items that have the amazing power to permanently increase your strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom, or charisma by +2 or +4, applying to your character in the same way that subracial stat bonuses do(and stacking with them), and so qualifying you for feats and such. These increases persist through death, and through de-levelling all the way down to to level 1. You may have a combined total of +4 to all stats from these books(subracials and Dragon Abilities don't count towards or against the cap), and +2 books of the same stat do not stack, and are overwritten by +4 books of its stat.
Books disappear into thin air after being used, and are non-refundable, although a nice dungeon master might give you a full or partial book refund in exchange for the head of an NPC called The Great Wandering One and the deletion of your character(said character's items can be transferred to another character of yours before deletion).
Pretty much everybody, even hardcore powergamers, did not make an optimal first character on Neversummer 4, and still wouldn't if someone actually gave them 6 +4 books because this is all pretty much new ground to tread if you haven't tried building a few characters here before.
+2 books are obtained by killing NPCs of a challenge rating of 9 or higher that aren't animals or vermin, and by opening most chests associated with enemies of those levels(fine wooden or better). Their drop rate is estimated to be 1/1000, and so they are realistically farmable. CR=9 enemies have the same drop rate as CR=40+ enemies.
+4 books are obtained by killing NPCs of a challenge rating of 20 or higher that aren't animals or vermin, and by opening most chests associated with enemies of those levels(magical jeweled or better). Their drop rate was recently increased by the devs, and is currently unknown, though they are supposed to be realistically farmable. The higher an enemy's challenge rating, the higher their chance of dropping a +4 book.

People who use an intelligence book will typically delevel their character to level 1 after using it, in order to get the most out of the book, as skill points are not retroactively granted by intelligence books.

Spells

Many spells have been changed to act differently in Neversummer 4 than they did in the Bioware campaigns. Among these changes are Time Stop and Black Blade of Disaster not being ridiculously overpowered, Flame Lash and Call Lightning getting buffed, persistent AoE and non-AoE effects of the same type not stacking(so you can't stack multiple Infernos on the same guy or Creeping Dooms in the same place, for example), Holy Sword's dispel level being massively nerfed, and True Seeing only increasing your spot and search skills by 20-30(depending on focus feats) and acting as see invisibility instead of causing you to automatically see through stealth and whatnot. Please see Spell Changes for more information.
Casting a spell or using a spell-like ability will cancel Expertise and Improved Expertise.

Weapons

Most weapon types are currently good for building an optimal character around.
Unfortunately, the following few weapon types are not advisable to build your character around, either because they aren't worth the feat or because a high-enough-level option doesn't exist for them; these weapons are the Bastard Sword(which would be okay if not outclassed by the longsword), the Dwarven Waraxe(unless you're a dwarf), the Club(not counting the demonflesh golem's weapon), the Dart, the Light Crossbow, the Throwing Axe, and, unless you know exactly what you're building, the Sickle.
Furthermore, you shouldn't build your character around Unarmed Strike if you're a strength-focused character unless you're a shapeshifter of some sort, since the options for hard-hitting gloves that have high strength aren't very good compared to the ones with less strength on them.

Each weapon type has a maximum available enhancement bonus that ranges between +6 and +8, though the best Shurikens and Sickles are only +5. +6 weapons are not necessarily bad(nor are Shurikens if you use them right), and +8 weapons are not necessarily the best, but if the weapon type you're specialized in has a higher enhancement/attack bonus available than what you're using, then you should probably use that weapon over what you have.
Endgame sources of x/+6 damage reduction include Skull of Demogorgon the Demon Lord and Nature's Balance.
Endgame sources of x/+7 damage reduction include Dragon Shape and the Red Dragon Disciple's Red Dragon Shape.
Endgame sources of x/+8 damage reduction include the Earth Genasi's racial token, Divine Wrath when between 25 and 29 Champion of Torm levels are used to cast it, Shadow Evade when between 26 and 29 Shadowdancer levels are used to cast it, Epic Warding, and Inertial Barrier from Mindflayer Shape from Greater Wildshape IV.
Endgame sources of x/+9 damage reduction include Shadow Evade at Shadowdancer lv30, and Divine Wrath for Champion of Torm at lv30. These are the highest available forms of damage reduction available to players.

One-handed endgame weapons will typically have +20 average damage's worth of damage flares on it, 7 of which are non-physical, as well as being keen and having 2d10 massive criticals.
Double-sided endgame weapons(the good ones) will typically have +30 average damage's worth of damage flares on it, 12.5 of which are non-physical, as well as being keen and having 2d10 or 2d12 massive criticals, 15% to a physical damage immunity, and 10/- to a physical damage resistance.
Large endgame weapons that aren't double-sided(the good ones) will typically have +30-40 average damage's worth of damage flares on it, 10-13 of which are non-physical, as well as being keen and having +2d12 massive criticals. Be warned, however, that some level 35 large weapons hit much harder than other level 35 large weapons, so research the weapon options well before picking a weapon.
Punching gloves/gauntlets(the good ones) will typically have a +7 attack bonus and +20-23.5 average damage's worth of damage flares on it, 11-13 of which are physical. Fists of Poseidon are generally regarded to be the best punching gloves, though you might find a reason to punch people with a different pair of gloves.

Do note that you can't make use of a large critical threat range if you can barely hit your opponent in the first place, so if your attack bonus is only going to be "Decent", then consider specializing in a weapon that has a low critical threat range, as opposed to one with a medium or high critical threat range.

Furthermore, some weapons types have had their base properties changed in Neversummer 4, and these changes are not necessarily reflected in the items' tooltips. These changes include:
-The base damage type dealt by Scythes is only slashing, whereas it was both piercing and slashing before.
-The base damage type dealt by Heavy Flails is both bludgeoning and piercing, whereas it was only bludgeoning before.
-Light Hammers gain +1 to their critical threat multiplier, which stacks with both Devastating Critical and Increased Multiplier.
-Dire Maces gain +1 to their critical threat multiplier, which stacks with both Devastating Critical and Increased Multiplier.
-Tridents innately have a 19-20 critical threat range, where as their innate threat range was only 20 before; this threat range is increased by 2 points by each of Improved Critical: trident, and the keen weapon property, together resulting in 15-20/x2(not 17-20/x2). This can obviously stack with Overwhelming Critical and Ki Critical, granting a combined total of an 11-20 threat range.
-Quarterstaves use the Monk's special unarmed base attack bonus progression if you are a Monk, and you can use Flurry of Blows with quarterstaves.
-Shurikens use the Monk's special unarmed base attack bonus progression if you are a Monk, and you can use Flurry of Blows with shurikens.

Additionally, some weapons have options available that have an extra damage type; specifically:
-Greatswords have an endgame option(+7) that has extra melee damage: bludgeoning on it.
-Katanas have an endgame option(+7) that has extra melee damage: piercing on it, but is not keen.
-Light Flails have an endgame option(+7) that has extra melee damage: slashing on it.
-Sickles have an endgame option(+5) that has extra melee damage: piercing on it; only a pure paladin might care about this, and only if they want a finessable double-damage type weapon and don't have room for exotic weapon proficiency.
-Whips have an endgame option(+6) that has extra melee damage: piercing on it.

Other Equipment

All equipment in the entire game lacks the following item properties: permahaste, permaFoM, permaTS, immunity to critical hits, and immunity to any debuff. As such, spells such as Mass Charm, Wail of the Banshee, Phantasmal Killer, Entangle, and Sanctuary aren't completely useless on this server.
Armor AC doesn't get higher than +6. Some items offer +7 armor AC vs. an alignment.
Shield AC doesn't get higher than +6. Some items offer +7 shield AC vs. an alignment.
Deflection AC doesn't get higher than +5 unless you're an Arcane Archer. Some items offer +6 deflection AC vs. an alignment.
Natural AC doesn't get higher than +5.
Endgame dodge AC from items comes in 3 packages: boots that have 3 dodge AC and 8 dexterity, boots that have 5 dodge AC and 7 dexterity, and boots that have 7 dodge AC and no dexterity.
Helms typically offer intelligence, skill bonuses, deflection AC, and/or will save, among other miscellaneous things. Their intelligence bonus typically doesn't get higher than +8, except a few reach +9.
Non-punching gloves/gauntlets/bracers typically offer strength and/or skill bonuses, and possibly also other miscellaneous bonuses. Their strength never gets higher than +8.
Punching gloves/gauntlets typically offer damage, as well as low strength, and possibly also other miscellaneous bonuses. Their strength never gets higher than +4 or +5
Rings typically offer skill bonuses, and possibly also other miscellaneous bonuses.
Amulets typically offer wisdom, natural AC, and/or will save, and possibly also other miscellaneous bonuses. Their wisdom never gets higher than +8, except a certain amulet gives +9.
Belts typically offer constitution and fortitude save, and possibly also other miscellaneous bonuses. Their constitution never gets higher than +8.
Boots typically offer dexterity, dodge AC, and/or reflex save, and possibly also other miscellaneous bonuses. Their dexterity is described above, in the part about dodge AC.
Cloaks typically offer charisma, deflection AC, and/or saves vs. an element, and possibly also other miscellaneous bonuses. Their charisma, doesn't go above +8, with the exception of Death's Mantle

Magical strength bonuses can only be found on gloves/gauntlets/bracers and from jobs and buffs.
Magical dexterity bonuses can only be found on boots and from jobs and buffs.
Magical constitution bonuses can only be found on belts and from jobs and buffs.
Magical intelligence bonuses can only be found on helms and from jobs and buffs, as well as on Gith's Star.
Magical wisdom bonuses can only be found on amulets and from jobs and buffs.
Magical charisma bonuses can only be found on cloaks and from jobs and buffs, as well as on Gith's Star.

Chest armor typically offers +armor AC, as well as immunity to one physical damage type, and resistance to the same or a different physical damage type, as well as other miscellaneous bonuses, which can include 10-25% immunity to a non-physical non-divine damage type. Armor AC limitations are described above. The granted physical immunity typically doesn't surpass 25%, while the granted physical resistance never surpasses 20/-.
Shields, small, large, or tower, typically offer +shield AC, as well as immunity to one physical damage type, and resistance to the same or a different physical damage type, as well as other miscellaneous bonuses, which can include 10-25% immunity to a non-physical non-divine damage type. Shield AC limitations are described above. The granted physical immunity typically doesn't surpass 25%, while the granted physical resistance never surpasses 20/-.

On Neversummer 4, people will typically change out their chest armor, and, if they use them, shields, according to what type of physical damage is dealt by the enemy that they are preparing to face. This makes a tremendous difference in the outcome of the fight, PvP or not. This also means that weapons with two damage types are particularly useful in small-scale PvP, though it doesn't matter so much in large-scale PvP.
NPCs will typically also have physical damage resistances and immunities, except at low levels.
In PvP, dexterity-based melee characters are about as powerful as Strength-based melee characters are on this server, even with the changes to overwhelming and devastating critical, believe it or not.

Consumables and Use Per Day items

Only one single item in Neversummer 4 that isn't equippable or a job item offers uses per day of anything, and that is Formian Planar Link. Its only real use in PvP is to annoy people(possibly including the caster) with its low-level summon and to dispel bigby's hands.
Neversummer 4 has some equippable items that offer a use per day of something that is good. Notable effects from such items that you won't be frowned upon for using in PvP just to use the spell and then take it off include:
-Bull's Strength(15), from Demon Lord Bracers and Fiend Plate
-Cat's Grace(15), from Black Shield
-Eagle's Splendor(15), from Sentinel of the Elder Eye Amulet
-Ultravision(6), from Darkstar Amulet
-True Seeing(9), from Sioxinala Amulet of Sight, 2x/day, and a helm that you can buy from merchants has charges of true seeing, but does nothing else
-Freedom of Movement(7), from Forest Imbued Leather
-Aura of Vitality(13), from Elysian Dragon Scale Torc, which casts it as an extended spell
-Invisibility(3), from Derro Robes
-Greater Dispelling(15), from The Purifier, Bahumat Sword of Righteousness, and the spell, Holy Sword
-Bless Weapon(10), from Ring of Brom; although this only helps vs. Mummy Dust and Create Greater Undead
-Darkness(3), from Drow Elite Robes, 3x/day
-Haste(10), from Glimmerskin Boots, Black Cloth, and Ice Plate -Expeditious Retreat, from Dragonskin Boots; this has a special duration of rounds=str(not str mod), and is undispellable

Some other equipment exists with 1 or more use per day of other spells, such as Cure Critical Wounds or Cone of Cold, but it is frowned upon to use these items' spells per day unless you have them equipped in PvP most of the time, so, for example, you can use the chain lightning on Skull of the Demilich in PvP, but only if you were going to wear that helm during combat anyway, and you can use cure critical wounds from Ring of Health, but only if you don't mind wearing it most of the time during PvP and when anticipating PvP.

Many consumable items exist in Neversummer 4, and most of them come from the Arcane Crafting profession.
Here is a list of consumables that people are generally not frowned upon for using in PvP:
-traps
-items with bless, aid, or prayer
-items with haste
-items with bull's, cat's, endurance, fox's, owl's, eagle's, greater cat's grace, or aura of vitality
-anything that grants True Seeing
-anything that grants Ultravision
-anything that grants Light
-anything that casts Darkness
-anything that grants Freedom of Movement
-anything that dispels magic, including scrolls of Mordenkainen's Disjunction and Greater Dispelling
-scrolls of Raise Dead or Resurrection

Using any consumables in PvP that aren't listed above, such as potions of lesser spell mantle, potions of elemental shield, scrolls of delayed blast fireball, scrolls of elemental swarm, and healing potions, might get you ostracized and made fun of in PvP, and perhaps have other consequences as well.

Haste

Every successful PvP character has either haste, expeditious retreat, or another way to get themselves +50% or more to their movement speed, or they exclusively PvP with a friend that can cast haste on them. Slow players are dead players, unless they're extremely beefy. You need at least +50% movement speed to count as not being slow.
Heres what you probably want to know about haste on this server:
The current function of haste, as has been mentioned earlier in this guide, is a total of only the following effects:
1: +1 AB
2: +1 AC(2 if from Blinding Speed)
3: +1 reflex save
4: +1 attack per round
5: +50% movement speed(less if you're a lvl 3+ monk, see below)
As such, spellcasters will not have their spells quickened by haste, and will cast spells just as fast with haste as they will without it. Therefore, all builds that invest more than half of their levels into cleric, druid, sorceror, or wizard will be severely gimped if they don't get Automatic Quicken Spell III, unless of course you're a dragon shape pure druid or some kind of shifter, the former of whom loves AQ3, but can survive without if they focus hard enough on dragon shape.
Some important notes about haste's movement speed, however, are that only two forms of movement speed increase will stack with haste or expeditious retreat: The first is Barbarian Fast Movement, which fully stacks with haste, and the second is Monk Speed, which only partially stacks with haste and expeditious retreat. For every 3 monk levels you have, haste or expeditious retreat will boost your movement speed by 5% less, subtractively, until haste doesn't boost your movement speed anymore. Also, haste doesn't stack with expeditious retreat, and having one will prevent the other from working until it wears off.

That said, these are the sources of +50%(or more) movement speed that Neversummer 4 has to offer to player characters:
-the spell, Haste; the vast majority of clerics will pick the travel domain for this one spell, and Barbarians get free undispellable haste while raging once they have 25 or more barbarian levels, pure barbarian or not -the spell, Expeditious Retreat; this is commonly used by sorcerors and wizards that aren't built around Tenser's Transformation because, unlike haste, this isn't dispelled by Slow or Vine Mine
-the item, Dragonskin Boots; this popular pair of boots has a special version of expeditious retreat twice per day that lasts for a duration equal to your raw strength score, and cannot be dispelled... don't rely on these unless you have 25 or more naked and unbuffed strength
-the feat, Blinding Speed; this popular feat lasts for 2 rounds per character level(so 8 turns at level 40), grants +1 dodge AC over all other forms of haste, and cannot be dispelled
-Monk Speed
-the pure Fighter's sprint token, which lasts for 1 round/lvl and can be used twice per day
-Wild Shape: panther; this form, dire or not, is extremely ineffective in endgame combat, but comes with a passive +50% movement speed boost, which can be used to save blinding speed for later if you're paranoid about being ambushed before reaching your enemy's capital city, or to run the flag to your capital city after blinding speed wears off if there isn't anyone close enough to attack you, but you can't afford to rest... this one is only mentioned because I'm listing all of the sources of +50% or more to movement speed
-potions of haste, which only last for a minute, take half a round to use, invoke an attack of opportunity, and are easily dispelled; do not rely on these, except to use them on summoned creatures, if at all

Unique Items

Whenever an NPC that can drop an equippable item spawns, it has an extremely small chance to be unique item, similar to the chance of finding a +2 book; a unique item is a special version of the specified item, with one or more of its properties changed. Unique items can be game-changers depending on what they do, and can constitute a reason to make a new +4 character or replace an existing one. See Unique for more information, and do not feel obligated to find a decent unique item before making even a character that uses 6 +4 books.

Skills

Animal Empathy: This skill is of little use to people who aren't members of The Circle. Members of The Circle have quick access from their capital city of Melencia to the Forest Home, where they can use animal empathy on an Elder Dire Bear, or, if it is nighttime, a Silvastalker or Dark Mamba. Elder Dire Bears are big and have "extremely high" hp and hit for 60 or so piercingslashing damage, but have an "extremely low" attack bonus and armor class. Silvastalkers have Hide in Plain Sight with "low" hide and move silently skills, as well as an "extremely low" attack bonus and armor class and "good" hp, and will sneak attack for 80 or so piercingslashing damage if unresisted, and they make up for their tiny attack bonus by sometimes attacking from stealth. Dark Mambas are assassins with "extremely low" AB and AC, "decent" hp, and 40 or so piercing damage if unresisted(80 or so if its a sneak attack), except instead of lolth poison(and death attack?), they have a DC=low-40s poison that initially lowers your constitution, and then puts you to sleep for 1 turn if you fail your second save. Don't get a Dark Mamba unless you know that your opponent has a very low fortitude save. You only need 25 animal empathy(and a take 20) to get an Elder Dire Bear or Silvastalker, and slightly less for Dark Mambas. Other factions can only get low-level animals at the best, and aren't worth it except to potentially provide an attack of opportunity at a time that is bad for your enemy or annoy someone. Animal Empathy has a 6 second cooldown, and is a free action.
People who aren't members of the circle will want to get 1 point into animal empathy if they can spare the point so that they can, for example, empathy a nearby deer or something in PvP to distract a summon, or bait an attack of opportunity while you're out of range of the opponent, and by doing so make the opponent lose all other attacks during that round, allowing you to get some hits in without worrying about retaliation.

Concentration: This skill is desired to resist taunts and prevent your spells from being interrupted by damage taken. Do note that players with Automatic Quicken Spell III aren't absolutely immune to having their spells be interrupted by damage taken, and that it will happen every now and then if you don't have enough concentration, even on other servers... below are the ranges for concentration, concerning only the resisting of taunts:
Extremely High: 96+
Very High: 86-95
High: 76-85
Decent: 66-75
Low: 56-65
Very Low: 55 or lower
If you cast spells during combat, you always want to have concentration, even if its "Very Low", unless maybe its just a divine favor every now and then when noone is attacking you. Do consider that characters with high amounts of damage immunity/resistance/reduction don't need as much concentration to prevent their spellcasting from being interrupted, although these characters should try to have 43 base concentration anyway. Do also that it is acceptable to have 0 concentration as a build that relies on casting spells if you have AQIII, so long as you can tolerate the small risk of having your spells interrupted by a luckily-timed attack, or maybe some caltrops.

Craft Trap: See the Craft Trap article for more information.

Disable Trap: If you have disable trap, try to get it to 43, and possibly also 5 into Set Trap; some players think they can't have too much set trap, so try to get as much disable trap as you can if you take this skill, though don't feel pigeonholed into getting more than 1 feat to help with it.

Discipline: Arguably the most important skill in the game, this prevents you from getting knocked down, disarmed, or getting debilitated by called shot, which doesn't just happen in PvP, but also in PvE, starting at lvl 9-13 or so. Your character will be a bad character without discipline unless you have Hide in Plain Sight, are an Assassin, or rely on the Protection Domain to stay hidden until you rest. These are the ranges for discipline:
Pure Fighter: 99-127
Only Worried About Pure Fighters: 95-98
Very Safe: 91-94
Mostly Safe: 87-90
Generally Safe: 83-86
Somewhat Unsafe: 79-82
Vulnerable: 75-78
Very Vulnerable: 71-74
Knockdown Bait/Don't Bother: 70 or lower

Some players feel safe having 80 discipline. Feel free to knock them down with only 65 attack bonus.

Heal: Some players will relentlessly make fun of you for using healing kits in PvP and possibly refuse to fight or team up with you until you stop doing it. The number of hit points healed by a healing kit is (1d20+Heal Skill+Heal Kit Modifier)d3. Do not ever invest a single raw skill point into heal unless you can't think of a better dump stat, or you're a PvE character.

Hide: The most important component of stealth due to how Spot works, there is no such thing as too much Hide; these are the ranges for Hide:
Very High: 120-127; 127 is realistically attainable
High: 110-119
Medium: 100-109
Somewhat Low: 90-99
Low: 80-89
Very Low: 60-79
Might be seen by NPCs in capital cities or players who didn't invest into spot: 59 or lower

Even with 59 or less hide, corner sneaking can still be of limited use; consider taking hide and MS as a dump stat for corner sneaking if you don't have anything better to spend skill points on.

Intimidate: Only useful for barbarians with terrifying rage; you should, if you get terrifying rage, try to get as much intimidate as you can, possibly excluding regular skill focus: intimidate.

Listen: The little brother of Spot, Listen is generally regarded to be inferior to Spot, due to how it, unlike spot, doesn't make the enemy stay detected after you detect the enemy, allowing a non-HiPSer to elude you after detection without having to go around a corner. You should only take spot over listen if you have alot of Bard levels. There regardless is no such thing as too much Listen. Here are the ranges for Listen:
Very High: 120-127; 127 is realistically attainable
High: 110-119
Medium: 100-109
Somewhat Low: 90-99
Low: 80-89
Don't Bother or Dump Stat: 79 or lower

Lore: Items of a level higher than 30 can only be identified by players. You need less than 50 lore in order to identify the most powerful items in the game. Obviously, this skill is completely useless in PvP, given that disarmed weapons can't be identified until the victim rests, but the skill is otherwise great for farming gold.

Move Silently: Barely any players are listeners, so you don't need as much move silently as you do hide, to the extent that you can even consider foregoing epic skill focus: move silently if you're a HiPSer, so long as you're sure that NPCs won't see you. There is still no such thing as too much Move Silently. Here are the ranges for Move Silently:
Very High: 120-127
High: 110-119
Medium: 100-109
Somewhat Low: 90-99
Low: 80-89
Very Low: 60-79
Might be heard by NPCs in capital cities: 44-59
Might be heard by players who didn't invest into Listen: 43 or lower

Even with 43 or less MS, corner sneaking can still be of limited use; consider taking hide and MS as a dump stat for corner sneaking if you don't have anything better to spend skill points on.

Open Lock: Some endgame locks need something like 100 Open Lock to pick, but any and all PvP locks, of which there is only one in a certain tunnel leading to Menzoduran, need only 1 raw skill point, as well as a take 20 and some open lock gear, to be picked. If you get more than 1 raw skill point into open lock, then invest very many raw skill points into it, even if its just so that you can lock that certain door to prevent someone from coming that particular way or chasing you through there.

Parry: One might think that high parry+Epic Dodge will always deflect 4 attacks per round from an enemy with 4 attacks per round, but, due to Bioware's implementation of parry, this is not the case. Do not ever get parry unless you know exactly what you're doing.

Perform: See Bard Song and Curse Song for more details. Do not get more points into perform than you need to get the highest possible non-THP/damage effects from bard/curse song that your bard level can get, unless you don't have anything better to spend your skill points on.

Search: If you have Search, try to get it to 43; some players think they can't have too much set trap, so try to get as much search as you can if you take this skill, though don't feel pigeonholed into getting more than 1 feat to help with it.

Set Trap: If you have Set Trap, try to get it to 43, and possibly also 5 into Disable Trap; some players think theres no such thing as too much set trap.

Spellcraft: This skill increases your saves vs. spells by Spellcraft/5, as well as identifying spells so that you can counterspell them or know what people are casting, and its also a prerequisite for epic spells. Try to make sure that your total spellcraft skill, including non-raw spellcraft, ends in 0 or 5, and is high enough to counterspell if you want to do that. This is one of the best choices for a dump skill.

Spot: If you hate HiPSers, theres no such thing as having too much spot; here are the ranges for Spot:
Very High: 120-127; 127 is realistically attainable
High: 110-119
Medium: 100-109
Somewhat Low: 90-99
Low: 80-89
Don't Bother or Dump Stat: 79 or lower

Taunt: The bane of many a dexer and spellcaster, taunt allows you to reduce a person's AC by up to 6, as well as inflicting them with 30% spell failure, both for 4 rounds. Taunt has a 6 second cooldown, and is a free action. Some players have more damage immunity/resistance/reduction than others, and can taunt more safely than other players can; consider also that, while spending the 3 or so seconds that it takes to Taunt, you'll be flat-footed, which spells death for dexers if they time it wrong. Furthermore, people can just run from you if you taunt them, but it is regardless a great skill to have for PvP. Do consider taking this as a dump stat if you don't have a more important skill to dump into, such as spellcraft. Here are the taunt ranges:
Nigh-Irresistable: 90+
Works Pretty Much Every Time: 85-89
Very Reliable: 80-84
More Than Reliable: 75-79
Reliable: 70-74
Somewhat Reliable: 65-69
Unreliable: 60-64
Very Unreliable: 55-59
Extremely Unreliable: 50-54
Don't Bother or Dump Stat: 49 or lower

Having something like 3 or 8 raw skill into taunt as a dump stat can be of limited use vs. people who have 0 concentration, but do note that, in that case, their sheer constitution modifier and coincidental skill bonuses from gear might be enough to resist your taunt.

Tumble: Tumble not only allows you to avoid attacks of opportunity while moving, but it also increases your AC when you aren't flat-footed by (tumble/5), which, unlike spellcraft, does not count effects such as Glimmerskin Boots, epic skill focus: tumble, or your dexterity modifier. Make sure that you have either 0, 20, 21, or 40 raw points into tumble. 21 is for people who use full plate and a shield with a low dexterity modifier, while 0 is for weapon masters who don't care about how much AC they have.

Use Magic Device: Be sure to consider your resting charisma modifier when calculating how much Use Magic Device you'll want to have, if any at all, or feel free to rely upon equipping UMD items in order to be able to equip your normal gear and then unequipping the UMD items, and having to do so every single time you log in, but do consider that this takes time to do, which you might not have under some circumstances. See Use Magic Device for more details.

Other Important Stats

Attack Bonus: Here are the ranges for Attack Bonus:
Nigh-undodgeable: 76+
Extremely High: 74-75
Very High: 72-73
High: 70-71
Good: 68-69
Pretty Good: 66-67
Decent: 64-65
Somewhat Low: 62-63; consider making a different character if you rely on AB and can't get more than 61 AB
Low: 60-61
Very Low: 58-59
Don't Bother Without Support: 57 or lower

Do note, however, that people who can rely on being able to taunt their opponent will effectively have an extra 6 AB, that bards can rely on curse song being up for an extra 2-4 effective AB, that HiPSers tend to ignore dex and dodge AC, and that assassins also ignore dex and dodge AC until they apply their poison, after which point it probably won't matter. Furthermore, some builds that have certain disables can get away with having a low AB if they can defeat or almost-defeat their opponent during said disables, though pure fighters probably won't like having less than 62 AB either way.
Just don't expect something like a devcritting dual-kama 27 rogue/6 monk/7 weapon master with improved sneak attacks and 53 AB to do more than a small amount of damage to people who care enough about their AC to get armor skin unless you've got support from a con barb or something to disable them so you can actually hit them.

Armor Class: Here are the ranges for Armor Class:
Nigh-invulnerable: 87+
Extremely High: 84-86
Very High: 81-83
High: 78-80
Good: 75-77
Pretty Good: 72-74
Decent: 69-71; consider not bothering with AC if you can't get at least 69 AC
Somewhat Low: 66-68
Low: 63-65
Very Low: 60-62
You Probably Don't Care: 59 or lower

Do note that, if your opponent's attack bonus is too low, he can't critically strike you because his threat rolls won't be high enough, even if he rolls a double 20.

Hit Points: Here are the ranges for Hit Points, not counting Temporary Hit Points:
Your Build is Probably Bad: 1427 or higher
Con Barb: 1330-1426
Extremely High: 1200-1329
Very High: 1100-1199
High: 1000-1099
Pretty High: 900-999
Good: 800-899
Pretty Good: 700-799
Decent: 600-699
Somewhat Low: 500-599
Low: 400-499
Very Low: 300-399
Make a New Character: 299 or lower

Even a drow pure wizard with 6 base con and no toughness can manage to have more than 300 hp(with a +4-5 endurance and +7-8 con belt), so its hard to imagine a build that has less than 300 hp.

Saves: Instead of listing ranges for saves, I'll list what the threats are in PvP that check each save.
Do note that, in Neversummer 4, rolling a 1 does not result in an automatic failure, concerning saving throws, while rolling a 20 still results in an automatic success, also concerning saving throws.
I won't be listing weapon procs as threats, including vorpal, because all of these are DC=26 at the most, and everyone should be able to beat these every time unless they're evil-planar-turned or something.

Fortitude Save: Here are the threats in PvP that check your fortitude save:
-Great Thunderclap: Max DC=46; deafens you for 1 turn if you fail. Don't expect the DC to be higher than 43.
-Slow Iron Golem Breath: Max DC=46, radius=medium cone. Slows people who fail the save for 5 rounds. Used by Shifters in Iron Golem shape from Construct Shape. Checks poison immunity and +saves vs. poison.
-Wail of the Banshee: Max DC=48; pretty much nobody wails in PvP, except to deafen people, if at all.
-Weird: Max DC=48; pretty much nobody uses weird in PvP.
-Black Blade of Disaster: Like implosion, except the radius is about an in-game inch long. Don't worry about this unless you're standing still or something for more than a second. Max DC=48
-Implosion: Almost as dangerous as ever, this fatal spell usually has a DC of 47, or 48(which is max DC) if the enemy is a member of the Northern Coalition. Almost nobody outside of the Northern Coalition makes imploders.
-Lolth Poison: max DC=56-59, depending on where the Assassin is. This poison is only obtainable and usable by Assassins, and ignores poison immunity, immunity to death magic, and immunity to sneak attacks and critical hits, but does not work on non-living targets, such as Druids in Elemental Shape and people under the effects of Polymorph Self: Zombie. This divine poison's initial effect is death.
-Death Attack: max DC=61, or you can just cast freedom of movement or get some Forest Imbued Leather.
-Stunning Fist: DC=variable; expect it to be 50 or higher. Do note that beamdog nerfed its duration from 3 rounds to 1 round.

Reflex Save: Here are the threats in PvP that check your reflex save:
-many damage-dealing spells
-Grease: max DC=25; failing the save knocks you down for 1 round, +saves vs. spells do not apply to this spell, and the knockdown component ignores both spell resistance and spell immunity, including that from Woodland Stride.
-Great Thunderclap: max DC=46; knocks you down for 2 rounds if you fail. Don't expect the DC to be higher than 43.
-Earthquake: Deals 20d6 bludgeoning damage in a colossal radius(reflex for half), ignores spell resistance, and causes all affected creatures to make a reflex save or be knocked down for 1 round. Max DC=48. Friendly fires.
-Knockdown Bolt: This ranged touch attack is used by Shifters in Stone Golem form, granted by Construct Shape. +saves vs. spells apply. Max DC=46, and Discipline is not checked. Failure results in a 2 round knockdown.
-Fire Dragon Breath: This is used by Druids and Shifters in Brass Dragon Shape, by Red Dragon Disciples in Red Dragon Shape, and by people that cast Shapechange: Red Dragon; DC=50, damage=20d10 fire, reflex save for half.
-Slow Dragon Breath: This is used by Druids and Shifters in Copper Dragon Shape, DC=40+1d10, duration=5 rounds

Will Save: Here are the threats in PvP that check your will save:
-Great Thunderclap: max DC=46; stuns you for 2 rounds if you fail. Don't expect the DC to be higher than 43.
-Dominate Monster: max DC=48; duration=(casterlvl/2)+1 rounds, failing the save dazes you, and high HD will not save you from this spell.
-Bigby's Crushing Hand: max DC=48; duration=3 rounds, failing the save stuns you, and it counts as a mind-affecting spell.
-Terrifying Rage: All this does is, if you fail a will save, it lowers your AB and saves by 2 for 2 turns... unless the barbarian is of a higher level than you are; the DC can vary, but don't expect it to be higher than 51.
-Bloody Roar: An ability exclusive to pure Barbarians, this ability will hold you if you fail the fortitude save; the DC is usually 47, but con barbs(which are a real build) can get a DC of up to 56.
-Psionic Assault: An ability exclusive to the Githyanki, this ability is usually used by con barbs if Bloody Roar fails to debilitate you or you're still alive after it ends. DC=Bloody Roar DC. Failure results in 5 rounds of confusion.
-Contagion(Blackguard): This attempts to curse you, and is only used by the extremely rare(and kinda bad) planar-turning 10/30 fighter or cleric/blackguard that stacks charisma: Max DC=51. Failing the will save applies a curse that reduces all 6 ability scores by half of the blackguard's charisma modifier, which in that case would be 10.
-Storm of Vengeance: +saves vs. spells don't apply to this spell. Max DC=48
-Weird: Max DC=48; pretty much nobody uses weird in PvP.
-Sleep(Harper Scout): Max DC=53, Duration=Same as spell. Having more than 5 HD will not protect you from this version of the spell.
-Fear Aura(Purple Dragon Knight): Max DC=53, radius=medium, duration=5 rounds. After being feared, you'll have -2 AB and saves and be immune to fear for 2 turns, which does not result in already-existing fears being removed from you.
-Fear Aura(Red Dragon Disciple): DC=35, radius=colossal, duration=5 rounds. After being feared, you'll have -2 AB and saves and be immune to fear for 2 turns, which does not result in already-existing fears being removed from you. If you actually get feared by this, then consider changing your equipment or re-making your character, as this is a non-rare hazard in PvP that is very easy to protect yourself against.
-Shadow Daze: Max DC=63!!!; fortunately, shadowdancers don't hit very hard when their DC is that high... duration=5 rounds.
-Fear Aura(Shifter): Max DC=53, radius=colossal, duration=5 rounds; after being feared, you'll have -2 AB and saves and be immune to fear for 2 turns, which does not result in already-existing fears being removed from you.
-Mind Blast: Max DC=45, radius=medium cone, duration=5 rounds. Failing a will save will subtractively reduce your slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning immunities by 50%, and whether or not you make the save, your will save will be reduced by 4 after the fact, not stacking. Used by Shifters in Mindflayer shape.
-Sleep Dragon Breath: This is used by Druids and Shifters in Bronze Dragon Shape, DC=40+1d10, duration=5 rounds.