Quick questions (Exalted Smite & Skills)

[EllisDee37]

First question, does the improved crit range of Exalted Smith II & III stack with the Improved Crit feat? (If not, seems like they're not worth the AP.)

Second, what skills does a Paladin need above ~8 base? In other words, if taking a /2 Rogue splash, the Rogue level can get most skills up to 8. If I have 1 (or .5 for crossclass) skills per Paladin level, what should I put them on?

I was thinking if the other skills aren't that important beyond 8 (or 4 for rogue crossclass) I'd like to dump all the .5 Pally skills on Open Locks. Would this be nutso?

[ElfedLied4]

You will want to get Search and Disable Device up to 23 ranks at level 20 if you're planning on doing traps. This means that when taking your Pally levels that you may want to get 4 skill points per level (2 base +2 from 14 int or 12 int and human)

Your question seems to indicate that you started with 8 int (since you say 1 skill per paladin level) this is not enough to maintain trap skills. I was thinking of suggesting putting it in Use Magic Device, but again, it would be better to have full ranks, which would require 2 skill points per pally level to keep up.

Since you're going the 2 rogue splash for evasion, I'd probably go with Open Lock as the skill of choice, since it doesnt need to be maxxed to be useful.



Concerning Exalted Smite, I'm not certain, but I'd assume that the crit range is added on after IC's doubling of the crit range.

[sephiroth1084]

The crit range bonus on Exalted Smite stacks after other modifiers. So, your longsword is normally 19-20, becomes 17-20 with Improved Crit, and smites for up to 15-20.

Take UMD.

[EllisDee37]

Oh, sorry I wasn't clear. UMD is maxed every level, which is why I only have 1 skill point left over for each pally level. (Human, Int 10.)

The original plan was to be a trapmonkey, but I realized there just aren't enough skill points. So I rolled up a tempest trapmonkey for that role and am very happy with him.

For the pally, I'm thinking I could manage just open locks with no search, spot or disable traps and be good to go. I solo about half the time, so self-sufficency is pretty important.

But then I started wondering, will I be gimped with only 4 or 8 points on everything else? Balance? Intimidate? Tumble? Jump?

[SetofBs]

Oh, sorry I wasn't clear. UMD is maxed every level, which is why I only have 1 skill point left over for each pally level. (Human, Int 10.)

The original plan was to be a trapmonkey, but I realized there just aren't enough skill points. So I rolled up a tempest trapmonkey for that role and am very happy with him.

For the pally, I'm thinking I could manage just open locks with no search, spot or disable traps and be good to go. I solo about half the time, so self-sufficency is pretty important.

But then I started wondering, will I be gimped with only 4 or 8 points on everything else? Balance? Intimidate? Tumble? Jump?

There is little need to max open locks. Just take in on your rogue levels and you will be fine. Probably 8 ranks or so is fine for most locks with good gear (can someone confirm this?)

[Nyvn]

There is little need to max open locks. Just take in on your rogue levels and you will be fine. Probably 8 ranks or so is fine for most locks with good gear (can someone confirm this?)

With gear buffs, and a decent dex score you can get the majority of locks with as little as 1-4 ranks in OL... it might take several attempts but you can keep trying until you get a 20.

[EllisDee37]

I was thinking along the lines of:


Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 3.8.0
DDO Character Planner Home Page (http://www.rjcyberware.com/DDO)

Starting Feat/Enhancement
Base Skills Modified Skills
Skills (Level 1) (Level 20)
Balance 4 5
Bluff 3 3
Concentration 2 8
Diplomacy 3 3
Disable Device n/a n/a
Haggle 7 7
Heal -1 -1
Hide 0 0
Intimidate 7 7
Jump 6 9
Listen -1 -1
Move Silently 0 0
Open Lock 4 17
Perform n/a n/a
Repair 0 0
Search 0 0
Spot -1 -1
Swim 6 9
Tumble 4 4
Use Magic Device 7 26

Level 1 (Rogue)
Skill: Balance (+4)
Skill: Haggle (+4)
Skill: Intimidate (+4)
Skill: Jump (+4)
Skill: Open Lock (+4)
Skill: Swim (+4)
Skill: Tumble (+4)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+4)


Level 2 (Paladin)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Open Lock (+0.5)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)


Level 3 (Paladin)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Open Lock (+0.5)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)


Level 4 (Paladin)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Open Lock (+0.5)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)


Level 5 (Paladin)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Open Lock (+0.5)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)


Level 6 (Paladin)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Open Lock (+0.5)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)


Level 7 (Paladin)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Open Lock (+0.5)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)


Level 8 (Rogue)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Open Lock (+4)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+4)


Level 9 (Paladin)
Skill: Open Lock (+0.5)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)


Level 10 (Paladin)
Skill: Open Lock (+0.5)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)


Level 11 (Paladin)
Skill: Open Lock (+0.5)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)


Level 12 (Paladin)
Skill: Open Lock (+0.5)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)


Level 13 (Paladin)
Skill: Open Lock (+0.5)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)


Level 14 (Paladin)
Skill: Open Lock (+0.5)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)


Level 15 (Paladin)
Skill: Open Lock (+0.5)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)


Level 16 (Paladin)
Skill: Open Lock (+0.5)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)


Level 17 (Paladin)
Skill: Open Lock (+0.5)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)


Level 18 (Paladin)
Skill: Open Lock (+0.5)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)


Level 19 (Paladin)
Skill: Open Lock (+0.5)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)


Level 20 (Paladin)
Skill: Open Lock (+0.5)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)




Thoughts? Would this be gimped in some ways? Also, if it's workable but requires specific item bonuses, what would those be?

While I could theoretically open locks by standing there waiting for a 20, I'd really rather not have to. I'd ideally like to be able to open most locks if not on the first try, at least in the first several tries, all the way through endgame.

EDIT: I ended up playing catchup with UMD in the second splash level instead of keeping it maxed throughout in a nod to optimizing the skill points. If I kept it maxed, I'd miss out on six concentration points, and those six points would end up being only 3 points to spend for the second rogue level.