Old player returning to try something new

[Aiyana]

ok well new for me . I have played off and on since mod 3 or 4 and last yr I quit due to my idea of a ranger being different from DDO's and my frustration in trying to make my play style fit DDO's vision. Around Oct I came back with the liberating idea of just making a char that fits my play style and not trying to fit DDO's. Due to unemployment striking I had to quit shortly after. Now that I am back (for good I hope). I would like some advice on my build.

Drow 28 point - 2 rouge 1 cleric 13 pal (currently lvl 2 rouge and about to get cleric in a little bit)

Initial Feat Lightning Reflexes

Str -10
Dex - 18
Con - 10
Int -12
Wis -14
Chr -14

Going to get weapon finesse at lvl 3 and will probably use all ability boosts for Chr. Main weapons will be rapier and shield with mith plate as armor. The plan is to max reflex save (I already have trap blast goggles) and use finesse weapons.

I know that taking to rouge is common so I am not worried about that and I know my combat will suffer in the start. Its the lvl of cleric I am interested in advice on. Personally I am taking it for early access to healing spells(I tend to solo) , higher SP , better wand access and divine vitality. I guess the big question is advice on making it work and "IF" I will have any luck getting invites to mid lvl raids. As for why not go battle cleric , well I just prefer pali and I do plan on taking aura enhancements. I started a char like this expect fighter instead of pali before I had to quit the last time that was a elf not Drow but I found myself wanting for the 2 extra points.

Oh well I am a ruthless reroller so remaking is not a issue if it does not work but I would like to try and make it work any advice appreciated.

[Varis]

hmm, well first off, stay off the plate. It's not good for your health.

(evasion with your rogue levels won't work anymore, caps at 3 dex, skill penalties)

finesse weapons are a good idea... lightning reflexes not so much. You will have a staggering reflex save as it is.


Also, while there is nothing wrong with splashing a bit of cleric, I would ask of you why?
To have access to 1st level cleric spells along with a nice boost to your mana pool?


The extra mana is nice, but to what end? It's not enough to start healing and you have plenty of mana for resists and to keep combat buffs up.

I would recommend going 11 pally and 5 rogue, get a nice kick to your UMD. Being able to use a heal and rez scroll reliably will do more then a bit more mana. (with 11 pally you get the best auras and highest cha bonus)

Another cutoff that works well is 14 pally and 2 rogue. You get 4th level spells and 1 more lay on hands for a bit less rogue stuff.


Just my thought atm, hope that bit of input helps

[sigtrent]

The build you outline isn't going to be wowing anyone but it could work. It's what I'd deem a "support fighter" in that you arn't any kind of killing machine but you can land hits and you don't die very easily.

The healing spell from cleric won't do much for you beyond early levels but in the late game the DVs could be appreciated and the extra mana is certainly nice. It fits the support fighter kind of build idea though.

Mithral full plate as noted, won't work wtih evasion. Mithral breast plate or Mithral Chain mail has the highest Armor value for light armor. A breast plate is dex 3 so mithral is dex 5 (aka 20 dex). You really have more dex than you need to fill that out which means you may be better off wearing lighter armor or no armor at all at higher levels. If you took UMD this is especialy true since any arcane scrolls you would want to use would suffer from spell failure in armor.

You may want to trade out lightning reflexes eventualy, its going to be overkill in the long run but might be handy at early levels before you pick up your paladin levels.