new pally seeking help!

[DragoonPenguin]

Im trying to weigh out the pros and cons of staying pure or taking a couple rogue levels for evasion and umd.

community, what are your thoughts?

[Comfortably]

Give up now Clam.

[Comfortably]

lol, But on a more serious note:


I think that a dwarf pimpadin is the way to go (Knight of the chalice) I'd stay pure but thats just me.


Dual weilding dwaven axes is the way to go.

[Thrudh]

This is a very tough question....

(and Kudos to the devs because it is tough! Good balance there).

Evasion is huge... but the paladin capstone is very good...

And if you decide evasion is worth it... should one go rogue or monk?

Two extra feats for a feat-starved class (especially if you go TWF) is pretty tempting...

But Intimidate and UMD and sneak attack from the Rogue are awfully good too...

I would definitely wait to decide... See how the Mod 9 quests look...

[toughguyjoe]

my take on the matter is this:

You can make a fine Pally now by going pure class. It won't be the best, but it'll be **** good if you make it right.

I like the 2 splash. Rogue will give you umd and intimidate right off the bat. Thats pretty good stuff.

I went 2 monk. I have a 38 intimidate with a +15 item on. 42 with GH. Works fine in most situations.

I just wish i had thought to put UMD on that toon. I didn't even think of it and now i'm klicking myself because i would have enough UMD to activate tenth level shield wands. As a rogue i bet you could get heal scrolls if you tried hard enough

[slaymen]

Depends on what you want your pally to do. Mine is a 12 pally/2rouge/2fighter evasion pally intimitank. I have a 50 intimidate and 37 umd so I hardly ever fail a heal scroll. Its all in what you want.

[Mithran]

Rogues get the Skills, and Monks get the Feats.

My honest impression is that it's a wash, in the end. Monk splashes would gravitate toward Defense and Rogue splashes toward offense, in my opinion. I'm building what will eventually be an 18 Paladin/2 Rogue:

http://forums.ddo.com/showpost.php?p...4&postcount=13

She's currently level 11 and frankly, not as much fun to play as my first twenty or so Paladin builds were, but I'm optimistic about what the end result will look like.

If I were doing a Monk variation, it would probably look something like this:

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 3.00
DDO Character Planner Home Page

Level 16 Lawful Good Drow Female
(14 Paladin \ 2 Monk) 
Hit Points: 286
Spell Points: 168 
BAB: 15\15\20\25\25
Fortitude: 21
Reflex: 18
Will: 15

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Stats          Modified Stats
Abilities        (Level 1)             (Level 16)
Strength             16                    20
Dexterity            15                    18
Constitution         12                    14
Intelligence         11                    13
Wisdom               11                    13
Charisma             13                    18

Tomes Used
+2 Tome of Dexterity used at level 1
+2 Tome of Intelligence used at level 1
+1 Tome of Wisdom used at level 1
+2 Tome of Charisma used at level 1
+2 Tome of Constitution used at level 16

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Skills         Modified Skills
Skills           (Level 1)            (Level 16)
Balance               7                    24
Bluff                 2                     4
Concentration         1                     2
Diplomacy             2                    18
Disable Device        n/a                   n/a
Haggle                2                     4
Heal                  1                     1
Hide                  3                     4
Intimidate            2                     4
Jump                  7                    14
Listen                1                     3
Move Silently         3                     4
Open Lock             n/a                   n/a
Perform               n/a                   n/a
Repair                1                     1
Search                1                     3
Spot                  5                     7
Swim                  3                     5
Tumble                7                     8
Use Magic Device      n/a                   n/a

Level 1 (Monk)
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Toughness
Feat: (Selected) Two Weapon Fighting


Level 2 (Paladin)


Level 3 (Paladin)
Feat: (Selected) Combat Expertise


Level 4 (Paladin)


Level 5 (Paladin)


Level 6 (Paladin)
Feat: (Selected) Oversized Two Weapon Fighting


Level 7 (Paladin)


Level 8 (Paladin)


Level 9 (Paladin)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Two Weapon Fighting


Level 10 (Paladin)


Level 11 (Paladin)


Level 12 (Paladin)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Two Weapon Fighting


Level 13 (Paladin)


Level 14 (Paladin)


Level 15 (Paladin)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Piercing Weapons


Level 16 (Monk)
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Power Attack
Enhancement: Drow Melee Attack I
Enhancement: Improved Drow Spell Resistence I
Enhancement: Elven Dexterity I
Enhancement: Follower of Vulkoor
Enhancement: Paladin Bulwark of Good I
Enhancement: Paladin Bulwark of Good II
Enhancement: Paladin Resistance of Good I
Enhancement: Paladin Resistance of Good II
Enhancement: Paladin Divine Righteousness I
Enhancement: Paladin Divine Sacrifice I
Enhancement: Paladin Exalted Smite I
Enhancement: Paladin Exalted Smite II
Enhancement: Paladin Exalted Smite III
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Lay on Hands I
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Lay on Hands II
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Smite Evil I
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Smite Evil II
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Smite Evil III
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Smite Evil IV
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Monk Balance I
Enhancement: Monk Jump I
Enhancement: Paladin Charisma I
Enhancement: Paladin Charisma II
Enhancement: Paladin Charisma III
Enhancement: Monk Wisdom I
Enhancement: Paladin Toughness I
Enhancement: Paladin Toughness II
Enhancement: Paladin Toughness III
Enhancement: Paladin Toughness IV

[Venar]

Your first decision is: what is this paladin gona be?? And why?
I see many Paladin go TWF with evasion splash. But then, seriously, budy, just make a ranger.

I am a big fan of the balanced Paladin, a pure build with versatility.
Remember, DPS is nice, but it only takes a 20 to vorpal a head.

I really enjoy my pure Human paladin versatility build.
Full Bulwark line (people invite paladins for that after all)
Full Smiting line (exhalted 3 and Sacrifice 2)
Full Divine Might line.

Feats:
Toughness
Extend (for 4+ minutes of Zeal and DF, works well with Madstone duration)
Power Attack (when the time comes to beat on things like a Pit Fiend or a portal)
Precision (when the time comes just to cut some head or banish)
Improve Critic pierce (smiters/banishers/wops/Heavy Picks + exhalted smites)
Extra turn undead = 15 minutes of divine might. Should cover most quests.
Another feat of your choice


So basically, you can fill most rolls. Pit fiend? Use Holy Sword to make a +5 Holy Burst silver Greataxe/Maul (and save on scales since you dont need a mineral 2), go power attack, divine might, zeal, and spam the Smites for awesome dmg.
Elite Bearded Devils in VoD? Hit precision, take out that +3 vorpal, and cut some heads.
High threat Trash Mob (casters, beholders)? Grab that +5 Holy Burst Heavy Pick and land an exhalted Smite for 500+ dmage for solid burst dmg.

So, the option to either burst DPS, Steady DPS or Precision Decapitation, make for a very nice well rounded character, with, of course, the high Saves, decent AC, good hP, and self-heals.

As for Pure vs Evasion... My question is: what armor would you wear? Dragontouch light armor is Leather, and so very hard to fill up Dex wise. A paladin needs to sacrifice stat points to get a good dex. With the DT full plate and no evasion, you can where the madstone boots and have enough DEX for the bonus. So you can just start with 11 dex (+2 tome = 13 = precision)

[Ralmeth]

With the new prestige classes and capstone coming out I think that the best Paladin builds would be depending on what you want to accomplish. Of course all bets are off when the new content comes out because we just don't know what is going to be in there.

My best guess is that if you want DPS with all of the Paladin perks then stay pure Paladin. Evasion is nice, but if want evasion and DPS I agree with Venar, build a Ranger. Staying pure will get you the capstone and you can either take knight of the chalice or hunter of the undead. If you want to play a defensive character then go the Defender of Siberys route. In my opinion, a Defender is best off going with 18 levels of Paladin and then splashing two levels of Fighter and/or Rogue (I think 1 Fighter/1Rogue is ideal).

[Timjc86]

My rogue has severely spoiled me with both evasion and UMD; I have significant trouble playing a character that doesn't have both, so my paladin is aiming for a two rogue splash.

Having said that, pure paladin is looking more and appealing... if you aren't used to evasion or UMD, pure might be the way to go.

[Wu_Jen]

If your character is already a Paladin and your planning on 'splashing' Rogue levels then you might want to rethink it. You've already lost out on a LOT of skill point's and the ability to invest them wisely. If your going to splash Rogue then you need to take Rogue at lvl 1, just IMO but you're missing out on allocating your skill point's to the best effect. They can't be redone once taken, at least atm and into the forseeable future.

If your not worried about losing out on skill point's or it fits into your RP of the character, then go for it. The biggest factor is for you to have fun. If maximizing gives you fun then reroll and take Rogue at lvl 1, otherwise go for it. Just make sure you know what you are doing when you multi. You can mess a character up very badly if it's not planned out right. Again, if it works for you and it doesn't bother you then go for it. Just have fun and good luck to you!