Updated: 17 Dec 2010.
This build is now updated to current, reflecting changes in equipment, paladin access to intimidate, and the transition to a 36 point build.
People interested in making this build should consult the very bottom of the post, where I'll discuss what statistical layouts are appropriate for someone who isn't building their statistics around +3 and +4 tomes. I've also chosen not to take divine might 4: I'd need to drop a strength bracket to get it, and I'd rather have 1 hit, 1 damage and spend 0 AP than get 0 hit, 2 damage and spend 4 action points. It simply improves the build more, especially for epic quests, where I'm pretty much able to never turn off power attack. With the change to epic mob to hit, it's also pretty easy to become unhittable for epic trash, though I rarely find this necessary in a good group; its easier to two-hand and kill the held stuff. It is, however, a nice option if something's going badly.
Jaerlach, Defender of Siberys v 4.0
Human Paladin 20 (36 pt)
Code:
Str: 40/42/44 (18 base + 4 tome + 5 lvs + 1 enh + 6 item + 4 DoS + 2 yugo, and +2 helm swap and +2 ring swap)
Dex: 22 (12 base + 4 tome + 6 item)
Con: 22/26 (14 base + 2 tome + 6 item, +4 dos or +2 excep)
Int: 13 (10 base + 3 tome)
Wis: 17 (8 base + 3 tome + 6 item)
Cha: 26 (15 base + 3 tome + 6 item + 1 excep + 1 enhancement)
Note: Ship buffs not included in statistics (add 2 to each for all 6 shrines if you wish)
Code:
Skills:
11 ranks UMD
23 ranks intimidate
23 ranks concentration
6 ranks balance
1 rank tumble
Code:
Feats:
1: Toughness
H: Khopesh
3: Dodge
6: Power Attack
9: Improved crit: slash
12: Combat Expertise
15: Maximize Spell
18: Quicken Spell
Equipment layout: Ideal gear
Note: I have a ton of swap items.
Eyes: Mineral 2 goggles: wizardry 6, 15 hp, 20 hp, 1 cha skills, 5 con skills, heavy fort, protection +5
Head: Epic Shining Crest of St Markus (deathblock, gtr healing lore, toughness), Seeker +6/intim 15 event hat, natural armor 5/intim 15 hat
Neck: Torc of Prince Raiyum-de II (no need to epic it: it's just a colorless slot), Epic Hyena-Claw Necklace (15 intim, con 7, toughness), Epic Siren's Charm
Cloak: Concordant Opposition: 10 hp, 1 str skills, 150 sp, 5 cha skills, 6 wisdom
Belt: Belt of the Defenders of Siberys (6 con, greater false life) or Colethenis's belt (6 con)
Hands: Epic Gloves of the Claw (6 str, 5 stacking intim, 30% healing amp), Seven-fingered gloves
Boots: Epic Kundarak Delving Boots (fom, 6 cha), Epic Firestorm Greaves (fire absorb, 6 cha, greater falselife), Epic Golden Greaves (striding 20, 6 cha), boots of anchoring
Bracers: Chaosgarde (dodge +2), Epic Bracers of the Claw (heavy fortification, +2 excep con)
Ring1: Band of Siberys (6 strength, 1 charisma, healing amp or +2 str, dos set bonus), Ring of the Ravager (6 str, 1 str, 2 str, ravager set bonus)
Ring2: Chattering ring (dodge +3), Epic Ring of Venom (6 dex, sneak attack +4)
Trinket: Epic Bloodstone, Epic Gem of Many Facets
Armor: Epic Red Dragonplate: Socketed Greater Nimbleness, +6 dexterity
Shield: Epic Kundarak Warding Shield, socketed +7 ac and Good Luck. Epic swashbuckler also an option for doublestrike.
Weaponry:
Mineral 2 Khopesh: Insight 4
Lightning 2 Khopesh: Insight 4
Epic Sword of Shadows, silvered: main DPS weapon
Epic Chaosblade, silvered: Main threat-tanking weapon
Major gear swaps:
Sevenfingered+epic big top is 39 UMD. Ravager ring+belt and ring of venom provide DPS mode, along with Claw Bracers+gloves. In tanking mode, the epic gem of many facets allows continued completion of the claw set bonus (4 damage, 20% threat) as well as completion of the epic Siren's set, providing insight 4 when using either the epic sword of shadow or the epic chaosblade. The chaosblade is, accordingly, a better threat weapon than the mineral2 khopesh by a fair margin. These combine to significantly improve threat-tanking ability. Hyena claw provides intimidate and toughness and can be socketed +1 con to provide 20 additional hit points.
The helms are interchangable: The shining crest is Minos Legens on steroids, providing greater lore for my healing as well as toughness and a free deathblock. Putting +1 str on the helm of the red dragon means its +2 str to wear it in dps situations, meaning that in straight DPS gear I'll run 40+ strength before titan's grip with full sneak attack, seeker, and an epic SoS that break all raid boss DR. Its not quite the same as the same build as a KOTC, but for a character who's DPS mode is their 3rd priority, it's incredibly good. Its also more flexible than KOTC dps builds against non-outsider damage, making it a more flexible damage-dealer for epic content. Big Top provides a UMD bonus to help make up for the UMD I've shed through giving up Command and my old skill focus: UMD.
Especially in tank mode, the saves on this build are incredibly high, well into the range of being meaningless numbers (the buffed numbers are over 40 in every category).
In addition to covering the armor class and damage, the healing amplification is also extremely high: 20% from human, 30% from claw, 20% more from tod ring, 5% from paladin and 10% from the airship buff create 216% healing amplification. With a +2 str ring instead of the healing amp ring, it's a mere 180%. Combining the 85-90 armor class with healing amplification on that level ensures that the waves of exhaustion fix does not make tanking overly difficult.
The AC and skill breakdowns will follow the enhancement layout for those interested in the specifics.
My enhancements:
Code:
Divine Might 1-3 [6 AP]
Paladin Cha 1 [2 AP]
Human Str 1 [2 AP]
Human Healing Amp 1-2 [4 AP]
Bulwark of Good 1-4 [10 AP]
Resistance of Good 1-3 [6 AP]
Follower/Sov host [2 AP]
Unyielding Sovereignty [4 AP]
Extra Smiting 1-3 [6 AP]
Exalted Smiting 1-2 [3 AP]
Divine Sacrifice 1-2 [6 AP]
Extra Lay on Hands 1-3 [6 AP]
Defender of Siberys 1-3 [8 AP]
Paladin Weapons of Good [2 AP]
Paladin Devotion 1-2 [3 AP]
Divine Righteousness [1 AP]
Racial Toughness 1-2 [3 AP]
Paladin Toughness 1-2 [3 AP]
Total [76 AP]
(defender of siberys requirements: 3 AP)
Focus of Good 1
Courage of Good 1
Paladin AC Boost 1
I have one left-over action point. I use it on extra turning to have an even number of turns for when divine righteousness and divine might are dual-purposing.
AC breakdown (base)
Code:
10 base
16 plate
06 dexterity
05 protection
03 chattering
02 chaosgarde
06 own aura
01 dodge
02 set
01 armor alchemical
04 stance
05 natural
04 inspire heroics
01 haste
02 recitation
04 insight
03 airship buffs
--
75 ac base
THF mode:
Code:
+4 shield wand
--
79 ac THF PA mode
S/B Modes
Code:
09 shield
01 shield alchemical
---
85 ac s/b PA
05 combat expertise
---
90 ac S/B CE mode
Airship buffs make a big difference.
---
Skill breakdown:
Intimidate:
23 ranks
15 item
6 charisma skills
8 charisma bonus
4 greater heroism
2 luck
5 gloves of the claw
2 coinlord feat
2 bard song
--
67 intimidate
UMD:
11 ranks
6 cha skills
8 cha bonus
4 gh
--
29 before swaps
+3 epic bigtop
+5 seven-fingered gloves
+2 luck
---
39 umd swapped around (though there's rarely a need to do that)
New Character advice
A gear layout that's more modest, especially one that isn't based on the red plate, is a lot easier to do: only 20 dex, not 22, is necessary for even the other epic armors. This makes it easier to go 12 dex and drop to 16 strength to bring charisma to 16 for a new build. It'll also be necessary for those players to find one more point for intelligence, so it might be easier to go to 15 str and keep the 13 dex: then you can hit 20 with regular spectral gloves before you get your epics, too. A 15/13/14/11/8/16 build is probably the way to go for a new 32 pt build.
If you are a 34 or 36 pointer, you should spend those points bringing back strength. A 16 str is very good (a 34 pt) so that you are back at a bracket with just a +2 tome (putting you 1 tome, 1 base behind me, so just 2 points).This is the kind of build that benefits a lot from doing a lesser reincarnation after you've raided a while and really started to tome twink, since almost everything is based on a minimum-required statistic (dex, int, cha).
I have no commentary on your action points. Action points are variable and easy to reset. What's best for you will depend on particulars of your equipment and exactly what you're doing at a given time. You need to learn to figure that stuff out yourself. With a character like this, you'll adjust all your AP every time you get a new item or tome to take advantage of AP savings offered by human stat enhancements.
I have no comments on other racial variants. I think the human healing amplification and feat are very important to doing this particular build. I would not want to make the commitment to 12 con for a drow build. I don't think the elven falchion advantage is significant either, since both it and drow bonuses cost a lot of AP that you simply do not have. Human healing amp I + 1 feat + better stat enhancements = win.