A Returning Paladin

[Eragon]

Greetings all,

I am returning to DDO after a long absence, and I have a question involving favor. I am about to begin playing my level 3 paladin again but he is a 28 pt build.

Are 28 pt builds basically obsolete for higher level play?

Will other players avoid excepting players in their groups if they are a 28 pt build rather than a 32? Is there much of a difference between the two?

Would it be recommended that I start a character just to get 1750 total favor to create a permanent paladin with a 32 pt build?

Any help would be greatly appreciated thank you.

[shores11]

Greetings all,

I am returning to DDO after a long absence, and I have a question involving favor. I am about to begin playing my level 3 paladin again but he is a 28 pt build.

Are 28 pt builds basically obsolete for higher level play?

Will other players avoid excepting players in their groups if they are a 28 pt build rather than a 32? Is there much of a difference between the two?

Would it be recommended that I start a character just to get 1750 total favor to create a permanent paladin with a 32 pt build?

Any help would be greatly appreciated thank you.

My Take:

I have 6 total characters and have been playing 3+ years on DDO. All 6 of my characters are capped at level 16 (I had more characters in the past but deleted them). Of the 6 characters I have 3 that are 28 point builds and 3 that are 32 point builds. Abviously having the extra ability points is a plus however I find no drop off with my 28 point builds and have no plan on rerolling them.

To answer your question about building a character up to 1750 favor so that the rest are 32 point builds after that. If I had to choose a class that has the least drop off for a 28 point build it would be cleric.

Those are my 2 cents.

[SteeleTrueheart]

Nobody but you can tell if your character is a 28 or 32 point build.

32 point build is definitely helpful for Paladins since they have so many required stats but I run my 28 point build all the time. You will find that most of the pure paladins are generally the original 28 point builds people originally created back in the day.

[Thelmallen]

/agreed, although my current main is a 32-pointer rebuilt to do something totally different (tempest evasion paladin). My original 28-point build can hold his own no problem, he's just not as much fun to play as a dual-wielding minII/lightningII.

Nobody but you can tell if your character is a 28 or 32 point build.

32 point build is definitely helpful for Paladins since they have so many required stats but I run my 28 point build all the time. You will find that most of the pure paladins are generally the original 28 point builds people originally created back in the day.

[Dexxaan]

As it has been pointed out, Paladins are very needy in the Stat department.

I´d suggest that you identify your play-style then decide if 32pt would be better. Do you like to Solo, Zerg, Be the most you can, or casual gaming and maybe eve some Role-Playing? These will define your choice a lot.

If it were a Cleric or Barbarian (I know LOTS of 28Pt. Clerics & Barbarians) I´d say go for it and get him capped, but IMO Paladins are not the 28Pt build you want to invest in.

Hope this helps.

[Eragon]

Thank you all for the very kind and helpful advice.

There are many things I will need to think about, and what direction I want this paladin to go. I was thinking of of starting over, and making him a "Truthbringer" for a well balanced character. I would like to eventually join a guild who will accept me for my skill as a player and thinker rather than a min/maxer.

I really enjoyed playing World of Warcraft, but it seems that game has players that are more concerned with gear and specs, not how one plays their character. I want to be useful, but I do not want to be pigeon-holed into a certain spec, or HAVE to have this gear in order to get a group. Even my guild in that game requests these things to be invited to a guild group or raid.

Anyway, I appreciate the patience and kind advice these forums seem to give on a regular basis. Thank you all again!

[cdbd3rd]

I envisioned someone tossing a paladin, and having it boomerang back...


Do Returning Paladins come in all flavors, or just dorf?

[Chaos000]

There are many things I will need to think about, and what direction I want this paladin to go. I was thinking of of starting over, and making him a "Truthbringer" for a well balanced character. I would like to eventually join a guild who will accept me for my skill as a player and thinker rather than a min/maxer.

My recommendation (if re-rolling) is to take a look at some of the Paladin prestige classes that are coming out and the pre-reqs that might end up being a factor later.

The only problem with going well balanced is to end up not bad at anything and not really all that great in anything either. I'd suggest focusing on being moderately strong in the type of play you prefer.

If you love going melee, determine what damage output you want to end up with... possibly pick up power attack, and maximize the number of smite evils you get (as they recharge) moderately decent con for HP and mid AC for staying power.
- lower numbers aren't bad, it just mean different tactics and more use of consumables. less face to face, more moving and attacking behind the back so that the cleave's don't target you, drinking potions inbetween your attack strings to compensate for a lower hp total.

If you love tanking, determine what might constitute an AC you're comfortable with. start with a high enough (or eventually high enough) int for combat expertise, work on saving throws and overall hit points to last in a raid tanking even if you only get a heal every 30 seconds.

If you prefer to be full support, prep for healing via wands during combat, don't dump stat your wisdom, take the mana enhancements. possibly pick up empower healing...

[Chaos000]

If you've been away from the game a bit the numbers for what's considered decent is a bit inflated due to the gear currently available in the game now.

I would say decent would be:

Max AC -10 without buffs.
Max AC -5 with buffs.

Max HP -100

Max DPS -50

Max SP (for pali) -100

[Noctus]

...I would like to eventually join a guild who will accept me for my skill as a player and thinker rather than a min/maxer.

Player skill is much, much more important than build.

A better build makes the difference between 2 players on the same skill level, but a better skilled player will come ahead even on a average build, against the guy with the flavor-of-the-month build.

And dont fret too much on the difference between PB28 and PB32.
The difference between the two on a Wizard/Sorcerer/Cleric/Barbarian/THF-Fighter is non-existant, and only small on the other classes.

Noone besides you will be able to tell if you have a PB28 or a PB32 character. The reason why PB32 seems so much more effective is that everyone who unlocked PB32 is also an experienced player (or he wouldnt have been able to unlock PB32 in the 1st palce), almost always twinked up.

Not because their CON is 2 points higher than your PB28-build´s CON.

[Chaos000]

Noone besides you will be able to tell if you have a PB28 or a PB32 character. The reason why PB32 seems so much more effective is that everyone who unlocked PB32 is also an experienced player (or he wouldnt have been able to unlock PB32 in the 1st palce), almost always twinked up.

I can agree on that up to a certain point.

think of it this way. The monsters are a bit overinflated in AC, HP, and to-hit bonuses to compensate for our action points.

to translate comparatively the target numbers you want to hit should fall in line with your expectations. If you want to hit on a 18-20 instead of natural 20's it can be off by +1,+2. If you want to miss only on a 1, instead of missing on 5 or less same thing applies.

Depending on your critical modifier that 2-5 points of extra damage coupled with a bloodstone can significantly improve the damage you put out. Sometimes the 2-5 points will determine if you get past a monster's damage reduction.

If the monster swings at you, and only misses on a 1 while you're in a mithril breastplate, sometimes there's more benefit to wearing a robe to switch out between. In order to get to a point that they miss regularly enough, you're looking at a number in the mid 50's and the extra +1 or +2 can determine if they will need a 9 or 10 to hit you.

[DelScorcho]

As a Pally, those 4 creation points will hurt. My suggestion would be to use him to get a quick 400 favor, and reroll as a drow (which would provide some additional base dex, int and charisma). A Paladin is the most stat dependant class, and it would be disappointing to bring a 28 pointer all the way through the game only to be shelved when better builds were available.