Balanced Leveling Paladin

[Zamol]

I'm a new player and I just got the VIP subscription. I did first try a wizard but found out that having to worry that much about mana is not my thing, so I next tried a paladin. I think I really the paladin. First one I played I just used the premade Balanced build from the game, then I spent some more time reading the forums and found out the default builds are not that great.

Right now I have an almost level 3 paladin following the build from http://forums.ddo.com/showpost.php?p=2916014&postcount=137 - so pretty much I'm going for a two weapon fighting, human with khopesh weapons. But of course as I read through the forums and played a bit, I started to have a lot of questions. So I would like to ask some more help on how to build my paladin while leveling. I have found some builds, but my impression is that they are mostly geared for max efficiency at level 20, which I don't really care about now. I am looking into something that's going to be great to play from 1-20 and if I really like it, I'll just TR and create The Best Paladin(TM) in my future life.

1. Right now I am going for a TWF khopesh human paladin, but I am not sure how durable will it be while I pug my way to 20. I would like to be able to be pretty sturdy, so I can overcome group screwups. That's one of the reasons I chose pally, it seems to me to be more sturdy than fighters/barbarians. So does the increase in damage from TWF dps justify the loss of the shield? Will I be sturdy enough for pugs ?

2. What about 2 levels of fighter? Will using the tower shields and some of the other benefits be better while leveling vs just staying pure paladin? I don't care about the lvl 20 efficiency.

3. With UMD we can use wands. Could I use for example a Light Wound Cure Wand to heal myself between fights? Are there any cheap ways to provide healing - for a new player without much funds.

4. What about bringing a cleric hireling along on missions to provide healing? Is that viable? Can I bring hirelings while in groups?

So pretty much I am looking for character that will feel strong while leveling, I want it to be sturdy, but not waste more AP/feats on tanking than is necessary. I want to leave a trail of corpses behind me.

[t0r012]

I'm a new player and I just got the VIP subscription. I did first try a wizard but found out that having to worry that much about mana is not my thing, so I next tried a paladin. I think I really the paladin. First one I played I just used the premade Balanced build from the game, then I spent some more time reading the forums and found out the default builds are not that great.

Right now I have an almost level 3 paladin following the build from http://forums.ddo.com/showpost.php?p=2916014&postcount=137 - so pretty much I'm going for a two weapon fighting, human with khopesh weapons. But of course as I read through the forums and played a bit, I started to have a lot of questions. So I would like to ask some more help on how to build my paladin while leveling. I have found some builds, but my impression is that they are mostly geared for max efficiency at level 20, which I don't really care about now. I am looking into something that's going to be great to play from 1-20 and if I really like it, I'll just TR and create The Best Paladin(TM) in my future life.

1. Right now I am going for a TWF khopesh human paladin, but I am not sure how durable will it be while I pug my way to 20. I would like to be able to be pretty sturdy, so I can overcome group screwups. That's one of the reasons I chose pally, it seems to me to be more sturdy than fighters/barbarians. So does the increase in damage from TWF dps justify the loss of the shield? Will I be sturdy enough for pugs ?

2. What about 2 levels of fighter? Will using the tower shields and some of the other benefits be better while leveling vs just staying pure paladin? I don't care about the lvl 20 efficiency.

3. With UMD we can use wands. Could I use for example a Light Wound Cure Wand to heal myself between fights? Are there any cheap ways to provide healing - for a new player without much funds.

4. What about bringing a cleric hireling along on missions to provide healing? Is that viable? Can I bring hirelings while in groups?

So pretty much I am looking for character that will feel strong while leveling, I want it to be sturdy, but not waste more AP/feats on tanking than is necessary. I want to leave a trail of corpses behind me.

new player so I'm guessing 28 point build?
I strongly suggest going two handed fighting and not two weapon fighting. You will not have enough starting points to make a decent TWF pally with only 28 points, no real access to tomes and just as importantly you won't have the money to afford decent kopeshes.

Please, please strongly consider going two handed fighting with your pally to save yourself the build points and the money from trying to go with kopeshes. Save that till you TR as you plan when you have the plat and the spare build points and tomes to eat.

now for your questions
1. twf does by far make up for not having a shield. A shield doesn't give enough defense to justify itself compared to another weapon. but please please consider my advice on the THF.

2. splash or not, fighter will bring you extra feats which isn't bad but not a whole lot else. I say stay pure. you give up the capstone which is nice and the possibility of divine might 4 if you happen to have enough charisma.

3. UMD is nice but for a pally you will get access to some cure wands from your class. plaus you will get some spell points and be able to cast some cure spells of your own , plus lay on hands. If all you are after for your UMD is cure wands then no need. Like I said nice for some race restriced gear and the like but not a deal breaker at all.

4. yeah you can bring hireling in a group happens all the time but but save your money unless your pug is tired of waiting for a healer to show up , then offer to bring out your "pocket healer".

[Bozone]

I'm a fairly new player, so if someone else comes along with a different opinion, you should probably take theirs ;) .

1. Yes. Armor class helps in the lower levels, but it requires progressively higher armor class to make a difference. Generally at higher levels armor class becomes less important to the average player as keeping AC high enough becomes more dependent on the build and equipment. Typically, new players will not have the equipment needed without a lot of grinding. The recommended route for new players (most players) is DPS, not AC.

2. I'm not sure. It depends on your playstyle, etc. My primary character is a paladin in hte mid-levels. I've kept him pure and am enjoying it.

3. You don't need UMD for cure light wands. If you will be able to cast the spell, you can use the wand. You can turn in collectibles for cure light and cure medium wands. That's the cheapest way to get them. I forget which collectibles are for those wands, but you can check collectibles at ddowiki. Also break crates, etc. - some of them will have potions.

4. Hirelings are a fairly cheap way to get healing. You can have one in groups if you don't exceed the size allowed for groups (they count the same as a player character - not more than 6 members of a group).

Good luck

Edit: I type too slow. t0r012 beat me to it. Also, I agree with him about the 2 handed weapon if you're not already committed to 2 weapon fighting.

[Zamol]

Hah, I guess I'll roll my third paladin then to go THF. I was using a build that I thought was for new players (it's linked from the new player forums). Also if UMD is not that great while leveling, where should I put my points instead ?

I'll go with with Junts build for THF:

VIII. Sample Human THF DPS

Lawful Good Human Paladin 20

Str: 17 + 5 level ups (6 item, 2 tome, 3 exceptional, 1 human = 34)
Dex: 8
Con: 14 (6 item, 2 tome = 22)
Int: 8 (2 sp/level)
Wis: 8 (16 with tome and item)
Cha: 17 (DM4 with +3 tome; 26-28 modified)

28 point: 16 str, 13 con, use the human enhancement on con instead of str)

Feats:

1: Toughness
1: Two-handed fighting
3: Power Attack
6: Extend Spell
9: Improved Two-handed Fighting
12: Improved critical: Slashing weapons
15: Greater Two-handed Fighting
18: skill focus: Use Magic Device or Stunning Blow (to taste)

Skills: Use Magic device and balance; 2 ranks in tumble to permit tumbling. +2 tome, add some jump

Knight of the Chalice 1-3 (8 ap)
Courage of Good 1-2 (3 ap, pre-req)
Energy of the Templar 1-2 (3 ap, pre-req)
Divine Sacrifice 1-3 (6 ap)
Divine Might 1-4 (10 ap)
Extra Lay on Hands 1-3 (6 ap)
Extra Smiting 1-4 (10 ap, pre-req)
Exalted Smiting 1-4 (10 ap)
Racial Toughness 1-2 (3 AP)
Paladin Toughness 1-2 (3 ap)
Follower of the Sovereign Host (2 ap, pre-req)
Unyielding Sovereignty (4 ap, pre-req)
Human adaptability: Strength
Human improved recovery 1-2
Paladin Weapons of Good
Paladin Charisma 1 (if needed for evenness)

[t0r012]

Hah, I guess I'll roll my third paladin then to go THF. I was using a build that I thought was for new players (it's linked from the new player forums). Also if UMD is not that great while leveling, where should I put my points instead ?

There is noting "wrong" with UMD , quite he opposite in fact , it is awesome. Just if you are only looking to use wands for healing from it you are already covered . There are other great benefits like bypassing race or alignment restricted items, and getting access to wands of the arcane type that you won't get access to from your pally.

and no worries I'm on at least the 47th iteration of my monk.
yes junts thf build is a very much the mold for thf pallys. it is a fine template and you can't really go wrong.

If you are heck bent on going twf run up your favor on the thf to get drow at least. But being cheap, fun and effective a thf pally isn't a bad choice at all.

[Strik3r]

1. Yes. Armor class helps in the lower levels, but it requires progressively higher armor class to make a difference. Generally at higher levels armor class becomes less important to the average player as keeping AC high enough becomes more dependent on the build and equipment. Typically, new players will not have the equipment needed without a lot of grinding. The recommended route for new players (most players) is DPS, not AC.



bang on!! wat he said and applies for every new player :)

[LuckyLuke2]

1. twf does by far make up for not having a shield. A shield doesn't give enough defense to justify itself compared to another weapon. but please please consider my advice on the THF.


* cough * Levik's set bonus * cough * (and Levik's set in general).


2. splash or not, fighter will bring you extra feats which isn't bad but not a whole lot else. I say stay pure. you give up the capstone which is nice and the possibility of divine might 4 if you happen to have enough charisma.


Capstone + Divine Sacrifice III + Divine Might IV (if you meet the base CHA requirements) add a nice punch, true (not even referring to Exalted Smite). But with the right weapon set up (Banishers/ Vorpals/ Paralyzers/ Disruptors/ Smiters/ GCB/ GEOB) pure damage becomes "less" important. A dead mob is a mob that cannot hit you back and the faster that the mobs are dead, the faster they do not hit back ... but there is more than 1 mean to kill a mob. For that matter it is advisable to have a look at the "bypass DR" posts hanging around on this forum.

Taking a 2-level fighter splash grants 3 feats (counting the free tower-shield feat) to a "feat-starved" class (opening up feats like Force of Personality and all). Two rogue levels grant evasion + class skill for umd and balance. Taking one of both classes combines the advantages, but excludes evasion. In any circumstances I would not go beyond a 2-level splash (you really want the PrE III on lvl 18).


3. UMD is nice but for a pally you will get access to some cure wands from your class. plaus you will get some spell points and be able to cast some cure spells of your own , plus lay on hands. If all you are after for your UMD is cure wands then no need. Like I said nice for some race restriced gear and the like but not a deal breaker at all.


The usefulness of a maxed UMD skill (meaning being able to use e.g. raise dead and heal scrolls) will become very clear once you get to do e.g. elite CoC's where healers tend to run out of sp's fast. Using healing wands is nice at start, but once you get to say Gianthold do not count on wand heals to keep you up-and-running during combat.


4. yeah you can bring hireling in a group happens all the time but but save your money unless your pug is tired of waiting for a healer to show up , then offer to bring out your "pocket healer".

No one mentioned it yet I think, but you can only bring hirelings in on a quest, not on a raid.

[t0r012]

* cough * Levik's set bonus * cough * (and Levik's set in general).
Yes levik's is awesome but we are talking a "balanced leveling pally" and thats a ML14 shield that drops in a level 18 quest.


Capstone + Divine Sacrifice III + Divine Might IV (if you meet the base CHA requirements) add a nice punch, true (not even referring to Exalted Smite). But with the right weapon set up (Banishers/ Vorpals/ Paralyzers/ Disruptors/ Smiters/ GCB/ GEOB) pure damage becomes "less" important. A dead mob is a mob that cannot hit you back and the faster that the mobs are dead, the faster they do not hit back ... but there is more than 1 mean to kill a mob. For that matter it is advisable to have a look at the "bypass DR" posts hanging around on this forum.
yes great for an end game full grinded/geared out player with the best weapons for every possible situation, not a 28 point starter pally who will most likely be using his holy sword.

Taking a 2-level fighter splash grants 3 feats (counting the free tower-shield feat) to a "feat-starved" class (opening up feats like Force of Personality and all). Two rogue levels grant evasion + class skill for umd and balance. Taking one of both classes combines the advantages, but excludes evasion. In any circumstances I would not go beyond a 2-level splash (you really want the PrE III on lvl 18).

aye force of personality is sweet another reason I suggested a THF as you aren't having to eat the kopesh feat.
For a rogue splash yes it is nice to get UMD and evasion and the fighter bonus feats are nice but if your just a first timer trying to level your pally , I think a pure THF is a better option

The usefulness of a maxed UMD skill (meaning being able to use e.g. raise dead and heal scrolls) will become very clear once you get to do e.g. elite CoC's where healers tend to run out of sp's fast. Using healing wands is nice at start, but once you get to say Gianthold do not count on wand heals to keep you up-and-running during combat.

Yeah RD and heals are nice and pallies lack of any decent class skills means umd is a great option I was just pointing out that it isn't required for what he was looking to do.

No one mentioned it yet I think, but you can only bring hirelings in on a quest, not on a raid.
good additional info

replys in red , obviously.

[shablala]

I'm a new player and I just got the VIP subscription. I did first try a wizard but found out that having to worry that much about mana is not my thing, so I next tried a paladin. I think I really the paladin. First one I played I just used the premade Balanced build from the game, then I spent some more time reading the forums and found out the default builds are not that great.

Right now I have an almost level 3 paladin following the build from http://forums.ddo.com/showpost.php?p=2916014&postcount=137 - so pretty much I'm going for a two weapon fighting, human with khopesh weapons. But of course as I read through the forums and played a bit, I started to have a lot of questions. So I would like to ask some more help on how to build my paladin while leveling. I have found some builds, but my impression is that they are mostly geared for max efficiency at level 20, which I don't really care about now. I am looking into something that's going to be great to play from 1-20 and if I really like it, I'll just TR and create The Best Paladin(TM) in my future life.

1. Right now I am going for a TWF khopesh human paladin, but I am not sure how durable will it be while I pug my way to 20. I would like to be able to be pretty sturdy, so I can overcome group screwups. That's one of the reasons I chose pally, it seems to me to be more sturdy than fighters/barbarians. So does the increase in damage from TWF dps justify the loss of the shield? Will I be sturdy enough for pugs ?

2. What about 2 levels of fighter? Will using the tower shields and some of the other benefits be better while leveling vs just staying pure paladin? I don't care about the lvl 20 efficiency.

3. With UMD we can use wands. Could I use for example a Light Wound Cure Wand to heal myself between fights? Are there any cheap ways to provide healing - for a new player without much funds.

4. What about bringing a cleric hireling along on missions to provide healing? Is that viable? Can I bring hirelings while in groups?

So pretty much I am looking for character that will feel strong while leveling, I want it to be sturdy, but not waste more AP/feats on tanking than is necessary. I want to leave a trail of corpses behind me.

Level 3 is not an investment of time, so my honest suggestion is to scrap the paladin and roll a ranger. The ranger class, Tempest Path, is VERY much a solid toon for 1-20. You get all the TWF feats for free, and early on in the game lvls. Range can be useful when you are soloing slayer areas. Very self sufficient with heals and buffs. Having Evasion gives the class one leg up over Paladin for survivability. Paladins tend to shine in the mid teens.

Paladins are extremely STAT starved, even with 32build I feel you still need to make use of +2tomes.

[deathtouch]

Something I would think about also is if you are making a twf khopesh paladin, dont try and duel weld for the early levels your to hit would take a massive dump.

All the other advice looks good, you mentioned that you were looking at an 18/2 split. That looks good on paper, but the extra damage with the paladin capstone in my opinion is to good to be missed.

[Zamol]

Thanks all for the advice. I did make a new paladin with two-handers, but this is gonna be the last for a while - I really wanna see the world past the starter island. Two-handers seem to work just fine.

Of course I got some more questions now:

5. Do wand charges recharge when you rest? like the other on use items (for example those bracers that give you a 3 min hp boos and recharge after rest). Are wands viable to use to top off between fights? I mean go kill a group of enemies, stop, wand a few times, get back to next group. Right now on the starting island really health is not a problem when I solo, but I think these quests are easier than average.

6. Is there some good log parser for ddo? to check your dps and other things.

[jstawarz2]

Thanks all for the advice. I did make a new paladin with two-handers, but this is gonna be the last for a while - I really wanna see the world past the starter island. Two-handers seem to work just fine.

Of course I got some more questions now:

5. Do wand charges recharge when you rest? like the other on use items (for example those bracers that give you a 3 min hp boos and recharge after rest). Are wands viable to use to top off between fights? I mean go kill a group of enemies, stop, wand a few times, get back to next group. Right now on the starting island really health is not a problem when I solo, but I think these quests are easier than average.

6. Is there some good log parser for ddo? to check your dps and other things.

Unless it's an Eternal Wand of X (Finger of Fire, Acid Splash, Cure Minor Wounds), they don't replenish. Once the charges are used up, the wand's gone. Now, using wands (up to Wand of Cure Serious Wounds without UMD) is a good way for ANY class that has cure spells in their list to top up between fights. At level 10, I usually keep 1 or 2 Cure Serious Wands and a couple Cure Moderate wands on me and use both to top me off.

There's also the trick of using your last Lay on Hands to heal yourself right before you hit the shrine. :) Since your Heal skill won't be enough to bring you back to full (especially after the lower levels), it keeps you from needing to do it AFTER you shrine (or use a wand afterwards).

Re: log parser - no. The combat log is not exportable and Turbine's explicitly stated that they don't want to even start down that path. You can estimate your DPS using various formulas available, but it's just an estimated.

As for other wands - think about getting wands for Lesser Restoration, Restoration, Death Ward, and Resist Energy. The Restoration ones work the same as the spell, but allow you to put something else in it's place. Resist Energy, imo, would be better to memorize it, because the caster level affects duration and the level of resist it gives you. When you gain access to 2nd level spells, you'll automatically have a caster level of 8 (20 resist for an 8 minute duration) vs the 10 resist and 3 minute duration from the wand (since Clerics get it as a 2nd level spell at character level 3, that's what the wands use).

[Zamol]

Ok, I got my two handed paladin to level 6 now, been using a +2 falchion to great effect.

8. The falchion works indeed pretty well on zombies and most flesh stuff, but seems to not work too well against skelies. That's due to slashing weapons not working well on skeletons and needing some crushing weapon for that. Now I read that falchion is the best weapon for two handed paladins, but for skelies would it be better to get a crushing weapon? What's a good crushing weapon for a palading?

9. Some times mobs are up on ledges and some other really hard to reach places, I think I want some sort of ranged weapon to plink them, or some way to kill them - any recommendations ?

[eonfreon]

Ok, I got my two handed paladin to level 6 now, been using a +2 falchion to great effect.

8. The falchion works indeed pretty well on zombies and most flesh stuff, but seems to not work too well against skelies. That's due to slashing weapons not working well on skeletons and needing some crushing weapon for that. Now I read that falchion is the best weapon for two handed paladins, but for skelies would it be better to get a crushing weapon? What's a good crushing weapon for a palading?

9. Some times mobs are up on ledges and some other really hard to reach places, I think I want some sort of ranged weapon to plink them, or some way to kill them - any recommendations ?

8. You should always keep extra weapons for what ever might be needed along the way. Any blunt weapon will do for skellies. Since you will have the THF Feats you'll want the best Maul or Great Club you can find so that you'll still get Glancing Blows. Look for fire effects in general or acid, those work on just about all undead, fire even hurts many undead more then anything else. Keep an eye on what your damage is like and switch and try other weapons if you have the chance to see if it works better.

9. Always carry some kind of ranged weapon for situational use. Returning weapons are what I recommend if you can get them, then at least you won't have to worry about running out of ammo at an inopportune time.

[t0r012]

Ok, I got my two handed paladin to level 6 now, been using a +2 falchion to great effect.

8. The falchion works indeed pretty well on zombies and most flesh stuff, but seems to not work too well against skelies. That's due to slashing weapons not working well on skeletons and needing some crushing weapon for that. Now I read that falchion is the best weapon for two handed paladins, but for skelies would it be better to get a crushing weapon? What's a good crushing weapon for a palading?

9. Some times mobs are up on ledges and some other really hard to reach places, I think I want some sort of ranged weapon to plink them, or some way to kill them - any recommendations ?

falc is a good choice. I know it is tough with starter toon money but see if you can at least grab a x of pure good it will help a lot. Also don't limit yourself yet to one weapon. if you find a better great axe or greatsword or even a maul (see below) use it. No sense in limiting yourself when your cash starved look for the best effects you can get a hold on and use that weapon.

for skeletons grab a blunt weapon for a THF build i suggest a Maul, a nice skeleton beater. I just started a THF pally the other day and for a small amount on the auction house I grabbed a true law maul of pure good that just destroys skeletons.

For my slasher I have a frost of pure good great axe that is probably out of your price range at the moment but I think that true law or pure good maul I picked up for 3,000 plat which should be around your price range at level 6.

Also at level 6 you should consider grabbing the Hunter of the Dead PrC as it comes in quite helpful on the f2p house quests house J and K specifically.
---------------

How did you go with your stat distribution and what have you taken for your feats so far? are you following the plan in the pally builder thread or have you diverged?
If you haven't already take it I would suggest grabbing the Power Attack feat and be sure to turn it on every time you log in. Not much beats a THF power attacker for early levels.

[Tobril]

Something you can acquire cheap as a new player is a simple high plus weapon.

A +4 greatclub/maul with power attack activated will often perform better than a +2 elemental/holy on skeletons due to attack bonus issues. The skeletal archers in delera's and the knights in catacombs spring to mind as examples of this.

[t0r012]

Something you can acquire cheap as a new player is a simple high plus weapon.

A +4 greatclub/maul with power attack activated will often perform better than a +2 elemental/holy on skeletons due to attack bonus issues. The skeletal archers in delera's and the knights in catacombs spring to mind as examples of this.

yeah good point those skeleton arcus in delera's are a pain in the butt.
i don't know why they littered the whole quest with archer trash mobs that are more difficult by a significant margin than the mini boss soul lock guardians or even the necromancer boss at the end who is a push-over except for the one big damage spell he gets off before you kill him.

I didn't notice all that much trouble with the anger's wrath set, korthos goggles, and bulls strength wands (which I found plenty of) on top of the +1 weapon.
==========

[Zamol]

Also at level 6 you should consider grabbing the Hunter of the Dead PrC as it comes in quite helpful on the f2p house quests house J and K specifically.
---------------

How did you go with your stat distribution and what have you taken for your feats so far? are you following the plan in the pally builder thread or have you diverged?
If you haven't already take it I would suggest grabbing the Power Attack feat and be sure to turn it on every time you log in. Not much beats a THF power attacker for early levels.
I have followed exactly Junts build, the one I copy and pasted earlier in the thread, so I got the power attack feat (which indeed does make a BIG difference) and now I just got extend spell.

And yeah, I just did the catacombs last night and some of the armored skelies were hard to hit indeed :( So I'll be looking to upgrade my weapons a bit. And I got the eternal wand of cure light wounds reward from the catacombs chain quest. I think that one is going to be in handy. Are there quests at later levels that have eternal wands of cure medium and serious wounds as rewards? I think those would be nice

I just took the Unyeilding Sovereignity enhancement, which should give me another nice heal. So next would be one of prestige classes. I was initially thinking of going to the Knight of the Chalice PrC - didn't have the points for it yet. You recommend though to take Hunter of the Undead. I can respec enhancements easily later on right ?

[Tobril]

I have followed exactly Junts build, the one I copy and pasted earlier in the thread, so I got the power attack feat (which indeed does make a BIG difference) and now I just got extend spell.

And yeah, I just did the catacombs last night and some of the armored skelies were hard to hit indeed :( So I'll be looking to upgrade my weapons a bit. And I got the eternal wand of cure light wounds reward from the catacombs chain quest. I think that one is going to be in handy. Are there quests at later levels that have eternal wands of cure medium and serious wounds as rewards? I think those would be nice

I just took the Unyeilding Sovereignity enhancement, which should give me another nice heal. So next would be one of prestige classes. I was initially thinking of going to the Knight of the Chalice PrC - didn't have the points for it yet. You recommend though to take Hunter of the Undead. I can respec enhancements easily later on right ?


You can respec enhancements every three days for a mild gold cost.

Switching from hunter to knight is pretty easy. There are no feat requirements so you shouldn’t have an issue. Experiment with both and see which is better for you based on what your needs are at the moment.

A lot of monsters in high level areas/raids are evil outsiders. Also, the knight enhancement is bugged to also effect undead with the extra damage. That’s why so many people advise taking knight later in the game.

[t0r012]

I have followed exactly Junts build, the one I copy and pasted earlier in the thread, so I got the power attack feat (which indeed does make a BIG difference) and now I just got extend spell.

And yeah, I just did the catacombs last night and some of the armored skelies were hard to hit indeed :( So I'll be looking to upgrade my weapons a bit. And I got the eternal wand of cure light wounds reward from the catacombs chain quest. I think that one is going to be in handy. Are there quests at later levels that have eternal wands of cure medium and serious wounds as rewards? I think those would be nice

I just took the Unyeilding Sovereignity enhancement, which should give me another nice heal. So next would be one of prestige classes. I was initially thinking of going to the Knight of the Chalice PrC - didn't have the points for it yet. You recommend though to take Hunter of the Undead. I can respec enhancements easily later on right ?

Yes i like HotD early for the ghost touch mainly since the early level house quests in J & K are chock full of incorps. and you don't need to hunt down or buy ghosttouch weapons after level 6. and that is right about the time when you need GT a lot.
as stated it is easy to swap out APs just talk to your trainer and it costs a small sum. So I run to the first PrC level of 6 picking up what ever helps me the most AP wise on the way then respec at 6 for the PrC. I think it cost me something like 566 plat (could be wrong that number just rings a bell) .

I plan on switching to KotC later but for right now the convenience of not having to switch out to GT weapons is nice, plus the rest of the stuff is situationally useful.
-------

level 6 you should be looking to run deleras for your voice of the master and linen handwraps, and maybe even a carnifex which will save you buying much in the way of weapons. Great XP and it is a fun quest chain so its all good.
just be sure to have something of pure good to beat the ghastly skeletons with and preferably a blunt for the arcuses (arcusi?)
even a quarterstaff would be an acceptable weapon as a THF if you can get one of PG.
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on the topic do you need PG for the ghastly skeles or will righteous pass their DR? I never ran a toon though without PG to know.

[t0r012]

If you happen to be on Thelanis look up my pally Alomera , I still need a delera's run and I just did a small equip upgrade and haven't auctioned my old gear yet and I'll donate to a worth cause, if you'll have it.
Some are very much against this sorta thing so I won't take offense if you feel that way.

[Zamol]

If you happen to be on Thelanis look up my pally Alomera , I still need a delera's run and I just did a small equip upgrade and haven't auctioned my old gear yet and I'll donate to a worth cause, if you'll have it.
Some are very much against this sorta thing so I won't take offense if you feel that way.

I'm on Argonessen unfortunately.

[davidcampa]

For you I would go Pally KOTC enhancement line.

Holy Sword Spell For an Incredible Free Weapon or weapons at end game

LOH for emergency heals as well as good buffing spells

very powerful and survivable class with very little grinding

when you grind out some gear than you can make changes accordingly

[Zamol]

Ok, got to level 8 and been doing pretty nice damage. I had to buy a few different weapons for different occasions. I got a +4 falchion against normal enemies, some maul of undead bane against skelies and a weapon of pure good against ghostly skelies.

Problem is that I haven't seen much armor upgrades in the last few levels, so right now I only have 22 + 2 armor (that's in the char sheet), which I think it's low, cause I get hit pretty often compared with low levels and take quite a bit of damage. Fortunately I got 3 LoHs and US which helps me get healed, but still.

10. What's some armor recommendations that I could pick up cheaply? (I got 10k pp) and about what AC should I be shooting for so I won't be a paper bag?

[Tobril]

Ok, got to level 8 and been doing pretty nice damage. I had to buy a few different weapons for different occasions. I got a +4 falchion against normal enemies, some maul of undead bane against skelies and a weapon of pure good against ghostly skelies.

Problem is that I haven't seen much armor upgrades in the last few levels, so right now I only have 22 + 2 armor (that's in the char sheet), which I think it's low, cause I get hit pretty often compared with low levels and take quite a bit of damage. Fortunately I got 3 LoHs and US which helps me get healed, but still.

10. What's some armor recommendations that I could pick up cheaply? (I got 10k pp) and about what AC should I be shooting for so I won't be a paper bag?


Option 1 - Work on AC

Barkskin potions
Deflection item or shield of faith potion
+5 shield (requires switching to sword and board, but you can always switch out when needed)
Generic +5 armor, adamantine or mithral if you find a crazy deal
Dex item to fill out the max dex of your armor

Later on you'll need to invest a lot of time and effort in acquiring AC gear. It's doable, but takes time to get there.


Option 2 - Abandon AC

Generally speaking, while TWF you won't reach the same AC numbers as someone with a shield. At this point you should work on learning how monsters move and how your two-hander gives you just a little more reach than most monsters.

Practice slowly backing up in a line or curve while swinging at a monster. Charge at monsters and veer to the side when you get to the point where you can hit them. There are a lot of other movement options available that will prevent you from being hit due to reach while still being able to hit monsters.

You can do the same things while TWF, but the distance tolerances are a lot tighter.

[t0r012]

Ok, got to level 8 and been doing pretty nice damage. I had to buy a few different weapons for different occasions. I got a +4 falchion against normal enemies, some maul of undead bane against skelies and a weapon of pure good against ghostly skelies.

Problem is that I haven't seen much armor upgrades in the last few levels, so right now I only have 22 + 2 armor (that's in the char sheet), which I think it's low, cause I get hit pretty often compared with low levels and take quite a bit of damage. Fortunately I got 3 LoHs and US which helps me get healed, but still.

10. What's some armor recommendations that I could pick up cheaply? (I got 10k pp) and about what AC should I be shooting for so I won't be a paper bag?

yeah AC starts to get troublesome at level 8. keep an eye out for adamatine full plate for the DR 3 which helps a small amount. keep a eye out for some shield clickies for a +4. sure they only last one min but I have a pair of boots w/ 3charges and two pair of the 1 clickie korthos gloves. which is enough to get me between shrines.

keep an eye out for + deflection AC items I think level 7 brings +2 and you can even get +3 with Race restrictions. Add in being able to throw in a couple more pluses on your armor and you should get a "useable" AC. if you get lucky and can find a suit of full plate with invulnerability with the DR 5/magic that will help a bit.

also at level 8 you need to get a mod fort item it is very important if you don't have one. I grabbed mine on my armor at level 6. went from +3/4 plate back down to +1 just to get mod fort, it is that important.

you want to look into grabbing a +dex item to fill out your armor dex bonus if you haven't already. I suggest a +3 for a level 7 which will even you out when you get your linen handwraps (+4 str -1 dex gloves from delera's end rewards)
If you get lucky with a suit of mithiril FP of invulnerability you'll want to start pumping the dex item up sooner level 9 a +4 (+5 if you can get a RR).

Level 9 will bring chaos guard bracers form xorian cypher for a +2 dodge AC bonus.

so at level 9 things start to get better with the AC situation, with a decent dodge bonus item, mith Full plate allowing higher dex bonus (and +'s) , better + deflection items. Throw in some mod fort and your set for a time. your AC still won't be great but passable ,s but thats all you really need.

[Zamol]

What do you mean by mod fort? "of light fortification" or fortitude saves or ... ?

[t0r012]

What do you mean by mod fort? "of light fortification" or fortitude saves or ... ?

mod fort means moderate fortification (http://ddowiki.com/page/Fortification)
meaning 75% resistance to critical hits , just like light fort is 25% reduction in crit hits.
by level 11 you will want to get your heavy fort item minos legens (http://ddowiki.com/page/Minos_Legens) helm