Fabrizio the Stallion - Dwarven Paladin (32 Pointer)

[Maldini]

This is a pretty standard Paladin build that I recently put together and leveled up to 14. I like the self-sufficiency of the Paladin class.

Level 14 Dwarf Paladin

Stats:
Strength - 16
Dexterity - 14
Constitution - 14
Intelligence - 8
Wisdom - 14
Charisma - 12

Maxxed Stats:
Strength - 16 +3 Levels +5 Item +2 Tome +2 Rage = 28 or +9 Mod -> Madstone Boots can get you another +3 Mod
Dexterity - 14 +5 Item +1 Tome = 20 or +5 Mod
Constitution - 14 +2 Dwarven Con +6 Item +2 Rage = 24 or +7 Mod
Wisdom - 14 +5 Item +1 Tome = 20
Charisma - 12 +6 Item +2 Pally Charisma II = 20 or +5 Mod

Feats:
1) Weapon Focus: Slashing
3) Toughness
6) Mental Toughness
9) Improved Critical: Slashing
12) Power Attack

Enhancements:
Dwarven Armor Mastery I (2)
Dwarven Axe Damage I (4)
Paladin Toughness I (5)
Paladin Charisma I (7)
Dwarven Constitution I (9)
Paladin Extra Lay on Hands I (11)
Paladin Bulwark of Good I (13)
Dwarven Toughness I (14)
Paladin Toughness II (16)
Paladin Charisma II (20)
Dwarven Axe Attack I (22)
Dwarven Toughness II (24)
Paladin Extra Lay on Hands II (28)
Dwarven Constitution II (32)
Paladin Bulwark of Good II (36)
Dwarven Toughness III (39)
Paladin Toughness III (42)
Paladin Toughness IV (46)
Dwarven Toughness IV (50)
Paladin Bulwark of Good III (56)

Hit Points:
140 Base
14 * 7 = 98 Con
16 Toughness Feat
100 Toughness Enhancements
30 Greater False Life
10 AA Favor
20 Heroic Durability
Total: 414

Spell Points:
145 Base
115 Wisdom Mod
75 Mental Toughness
125 Wizardry V (Black Dragon Armor)
Total: 460

Spell Choice:
Level 1: Virtue, Divine Favor, Bless
Level 2: Angleskin, Resist Energy
Level 3: Cure Moderate Wounds, Prayer
Level 4: Restoration

NOTE: I have a Superior Devotion III Ring that I wear so that's why I took Cure Mod. I can cure for about 30 - 40 HP which ain't bad when you're low on LoH's.

Lay on Hands will heal for 120 with a 20 Charisma.

Saves:
Fort - 9 Base +4 GH +5 Divine Grace +7 Constitution +4 Resistance +1 Aura = 30
Reflex - 4 Base +4 GH +5 Divine Grace +5 Dexterity +4 Resistance +1 Aura = 25
Will - 4 Base +4 GH +5 Divine Grace +5 Wisdom +4 Resistance +1 Aura = 25

Attack:
9 Strength
14 BAB
3 Divine Favor
4 GH (Planar Gird)
5 Weapon
Total (Self-Buffed): 35 - 5 (Power Attack) = 30

Damage:
9 Strength (One-Handed)
5 Power Attack (One-Handed)
3 Divine Favor
5 Weapon
Total (Self-Buffed): 22

AC:
10 Base
13 +5 Mith FP
7 +5 Mith Heavy Shield or 9 Madstone Shield
4 Aura of Good
2 Chaosguardes
4 Max Dex
2 Recitation
1 Haste
5 Barkskin
2 Defensive Fighting (if you're not in Power Attack mode)
5 Protection
1 Parrying (Optional)
Total: 56/58 Buffed or 59/61 with Chattering Ring and without Combat Expertise


Final Note:

Again I really like the well-roundedness of Paladins. They're a lot of fun to play, especially Dwarven Paladins with the higher AC and HP possibilities.

If you want to spec in single handed weapons, Heavy Picks (Piercing) might be the way to go instead of slashing and Dwarven Axes which I like to use.

I've been having a blast with it so far.

[Riekan]

Mal,
Do you se taking this toon to 20 Paladin, or splitting off into fighter levels for more feats? After getting Deathward at 14, is there much reason to stay in the Paladin class?

[Harbinder]

Nice build, a couple questions:

Is the con modifier for his hit points correct? You listed it at 14*7 = 98 Con. Will he not be running around with 24 Con and therefor have more hit points?

Your to-hit includes a +5 weapon, but your AC includes a parrying bonus. Does parrying come on armor or are you eqipped with a +5 parrying weapon?

Also for AC, if you include +5 Barkskin from a ranger and Haste, why not include Recitation? Otherwise I would leave out the ranger AC buff.

Is there any way you could fit UMD into this build?

~Harb

[Maldini]

Mal,
Do you se taking this toon to 20 Paladin, or splitting off into fighter levels for more feats? After getting Deathward at 14, is there much reason to stay in the Paladin class?

By 20 you'll have 3 Level 4 Spells. Cure Serious, Restoration and Deathward are good ones. Of course I personally carry the Tangleroot Visors.

If you stay in the Paladin class, the enhancements look to get much better. I would stay pure Paladin with this build.

[Maldini]

Nice build, a couple questions:

Is the con modifier for his hit points correct? You listed it at 14*7 = 98 Con. Will he not be running around with 24 Con and therefor have more hit points?

Your to-hit includes a +5 weapon, but your AC includes a parrying bonus. Does parrying come on armor or are you eqipped with a +5 parrying weapon?

Also for AC, if you include +5 Barkskin from a ranger and Haste, why not include Recitation? Otherwise I would leave out the ranger AC buff.

Is there any way you could fit UMD into this build?

~Harb

You could fit UMD. You could put Int at 10 and maybe Dex at 12. And put both your points into UMD at each level up. It's up to you. You could also take Skill Focus UMD instead of Weapon Focus.

Ha! I totally forgot about Recitation. I knew I was missing something from my Calc. The parrying is optional. Not everyone needs a parrying weapon, but if you find a really good one, why not use it?

From what I understand your Con modifier is added to your hit points for each level up. So at a 24 Con you'd have a +7 Modifier. 7 * 14 = 98. I could be wrong though.

[nbhs275]

Not bad mal. Though your AC calcs look a little wonky. I think it should be:

10 base
13 armor(mith FP)
5 Dex (daggertooth belt)
5 Protection
7 shield
3 bark pot
4 pally
2 choasguard
______________
49 standing

+3 chattering ring
+1 haste
+1 parrying
+2 recitation
+2 defensive fighting
+2 full barkskin
______________
60 buffed

Pretty nice.

Though i don't see many people giving up power attack for 2 AC.

Also, Weapon Focus isn't all that worth it with plain PA, and Mental Toughness isn't a must with that many SP. Maybe replace them with extend and skill focus UMD.

[Maldini]

I had Extend. I just recently switched it out because of the change they're making. +10 SP with extend on, makes it pointless. Divine Favor is 10 base SP, so it wouldn't benefit me there. Resists are 15 base I think, so it would be 25 SP with the new extend. The extra SP from Mental Toughness more than makes up for the very minor SP I'd be saving with Extend.

I could use the Daggertooth Belt, but I'm saving the Belt slot for a Proof of Poison Belt of Greater False Life. The character can afford 1 less AC. If it's really needed I can work in Armor Mastery II into the build.

PA with two-handed weapons is great. With one-handed weapons it's okay. I only turn on Defensive Fighting when absolutely needed, and it gives the CE builds only a +3 AC difference.

Skill Focus UMD would be better for builds that put points into UMD and have a higher INT score. I started with an 8 Int so I only have 1 skill point per level. I've put my points into Heal to help with solo'ing at the lower levels.

[nbhs275]

the main benefit from extend on a pally wouldn't be the saving of SP, but the fact that you could just DF every too minutes. Which is especially nice when you have madstone boots.

PA is nice, thats why im saying that while getting such a high AC is great, both of us know that that 2 would never be enough to give up Power Attack.

Overall though mal, like i said before. Nice build. Just wonder, could you drop your 3rd LOH for something else? 120 is 30hp per action point, not very efficient.

[Maldini]

the main benefit from extend on a pally wouldn't be the saving of SP, but the fact that you could just DF every too minutes. Which is especially nice when you have madstone boots.

PA is nice, thats why im saying that while getting such a high AC is great, both of us know that that 2 would never be enough to give up Power Attack.

Overall though mal, like i said before. Nice build. Just wonder, could you drop your 3rd LOH for something else? 120 is 30hp per action point, not very efficient.

I didn't pick up the 4th to save AP's. 4 AP's isn't that much. I use my LoH's on other people more than myself, when the Cleric's slacking off. They come in handy very often.

Madstone Boots are nice. Worse case, you cast one minute, get madstone, then have a Cleric cast Prayer on you until it wears off. Both Prayer and DF are luck bonuses so they don't stack, so you're only down by +2 instead of +3.

The only time I really use Defensive Fighting is when I'm main tank. If someone made this build with Intimidate, they would probably use it more than I do. Where does it make a difference? When you're in a group without a cleric and you really need to watch the damage you take. 10% AC increase is decent.

I use Dwarven Axes at the moment for my one-handed weapon of choice. I'm considering switching to Heavy Picks, where the +5 from Power Attack will make more of a difference.