18 Fighter 2 Paladin still viable with capstones?

[BoBoDaClown]

Hey guys,

My character is currently 7/2 Fighter/Pally (32pt). Nothing too remarkable about stats/feats etc. Is a tank build but can switch to twf readily and twf is probably what he going to be predominantly doing.

He has eaten a few resources (for a casual player). A couple of +2 tomes. +5 MFP +5 MTS with alchemy bonuses, both bound, chaosgardes.

Should I continue levelling him? Will the loss of the capstone hurt? I am probably going to go kensai 3, although I haven't ruled out defender.

I am levelling another tank (less flavourful and more min/max), who is going to be 20 Fighter. Should I focus on this one instead?

Cheers for any advice

[BoBoDaClown]

So, at the moment I enjoy playing this guy because of the survivabilty he has (at level quaffing a barkskin see his AC to c.54), combined with his dps; if I whip out the twf.

I have decided to keep more of a focus on dps (i.e. kensai) as he levels, while trying to maintain some of that survivability.

Should I continue as I am: Fighter 18/2 Pally (Kensai 3)
Should I try to mitigate the loss of the 10% speed bonus by picking up 6 levels of ranger - Fgt 12/ Pally 2/ Rgr 6

What are some other combinations?
More levels of Pally? More of Ranger? Rogue? Barb?

Cheers

BoBo

[Varr]

10% is no big deal. Everyone is so worried about +2 here and 10% there......sure it is nice to get the most bang for the buck......but no reason to sacrifice build concept for 880 instead of 800 a round. The gear and quality of play dominates a tiny boost to swing speed, focus more on that and you will be smoking.

[spifflove]

I would say it depends on what you personally really want, sorta a catch 22. One way out is to build a capstone fighter for contrast. If you are a tank build the paladin levels will save you some feats on iron will, luck of the heros, rapid reflexes. You could use these feats to buy the twf line and still have enought to tank in which case the 10% means nothing at all since dps isnt your main purpose.

[Varr]

Does it annoy you spiff, as much as it annoys me, that we have the same Avatar picture. One other heavy poster does as well.....if only I could make mines hair black....

[spifflove]

Does it annoy you spiff, as much as it annoys me, that we have the same Avatar picture. One other heavy poster does as well.....if only I could make mines hair black....

YESSSSSSS!! But I had mine first. +1 to your reputation ;p

[Hadrian]

Should I continue as I am: Fighter 18/2 Pally (Kensai 3)
Should I try to mitigate the loss of the 10% speed bonus by picking up 6 levels of ranger - Fgt 12/ Pally 2/ Rgr 6

Going the ranger route would be a decent option. 10% melee alacrity, +2 AC when dual wielding and ram's might for an extra 3 damage and 1 to-hit per attack looks good. You would also get two favored enemies. This should improve your offense without making you less survivable.

There is no need to restart him, even if he's not going to turn out to be what you originally planned.

I think that for mod 9 you'd be better off with a pure paladin or a paladin 18/monk 2 for the type of build you seem to be shooting for there. Maybe a pure fighter would work as well, but it would be a lot less independent.

[sigtrent]

Viable? Certainly.

Most uberest possible? Hard to say.

I am a huge fan of multi classing but the capstones and the level 2-3 prestige enhancements do offer a compelling argument for pure class characters.

I think your character will be fine. It comes down to if you feel missing that 10% attack speed bonus is something you would pine after or not.

I know many of my own characters are less than optimal, yet I've found all of them can be viable and in some cases awesome. It really depends on playing to your characters strengths.

[MysticRhythms]

Two comments:

1) If the alacrity bonus is that big a deal to you, just run Tor until yuo get Jorgundal's Collar or buy one on the AH for the pricetag - you can essentially get the capstone without getting Fighter 20.

2) Paladin levels and your AC and gear are much more suited to the Defender prestige enhancement than the Kensai version. You probably already qualify for a lot of the prerequisites of Defender (though enhancements are easy to respec). I think you'd be far more valuable trying to play to your build's strengths (defense, from what I can tell) than forcing yourself to get into Kensai.

[BoBoDaClown]

10% is no big deal. Everyone is so worried about +2 here and 10% there......sure it is nice to get the most bang for the buck......but no reason to sacrifice build concept for 880 instead of 800 a round. The gear and quality of play dominates a tiny boost to swing speed, focus more on that and you will be smoking.

Good point.

Mystic: I thought it was just named alacrity, and is actually a competence bonus? Am I wrong? You are right about the defensive build, but I have been enjoying his offense and I have a pure 20 tank coming through the levels, so I thought I might gun for a bit of dps on this one (he seems effective dps the minute I pull twf out).

Hadrian: the ranger level is certainly something to think about - +2 AC for twf. Wouldn't this even out by one or two wioth armour mastery though?

Thanks for all the awesome advice guys.

Just the stuff I was looking for. I might just keep gunning for 18/2, which means I can go defender/kensai as the mood takes me

Cheers

BoBo

[Tanka]

1) If the alacrity bonus is that big a deal to you, just run Tor until yuo get Jorgundal's Collar or buy one on the AH for the pricetag - you can essentially get the capstone without getting Fighter 20.

The Collar does not stack with Haste. If the Capstone is the same as the Collar, there are going to be a lot of angry Fighters.

[Noctus]

1) If the alacrity bonus is that big a deal to you, just run Tor until yuo get Jorgundal's Collar or buy one on the AH for the pricetag - you can essentially get the capstone without getting Fighter 20.

The collar is a useless piece of Junk, only good to trick some unknowing new person out of their 1st earned "big buch´a gold", as it doesnt stack with Haste.



@topic:
Cant tell if the much better saves from 2 Paladin will be better than +10% attack speed untill Mod 9 goes live. Fail a Will-Save and be banished from Shavarath (Hello Marketplace!) doesnt sound very appealing......

[Hadrian]

Good point.


Hadrian: the ranger level is certainly something to think about - +2 AC for twf. Wouldn't this even out by one or two wioth armour mastery though?

You would still be level 12 fighter. You could still take the armor mastery enhancements.

Jorgundal's Collar does not stack with haste.

It's hard for me to agree that 10% is small. As someone said earlier, people go out of their way for an extra +2. Ten percent is going to be a lot more than that, and is one of the most significant single additions of DPS you can get.

If your goal is to be high offense, then I would call it required.

[Leyoni]

IMO you have a solid build plan and should stick with it.

In spite of the general forum chatter, not every character is tweaked out for max performance.

Clearly you put a lot of thought and resources into the character. Play it.

[bandyman1]

Viable? Absolutely.

Optimal ( DPS-wise )? Nope.


The question is;

A) Are you of the personality type that must squeeze every last drop of performance from your toons, and is going to be crushed if they suddenly lag behind??? ( And contrary to the opinions of some, this is by no means a bad thing; There is room for every playstyle in DDO. ) Then the loss of that 10% is going to hurt. Because your DPS isn't top-notch, you'll never be satisfied with this character.

B) Are you of the personailty type that can accept less than 100% top-notch < insert whatever here really, but in this case; DPS >, as long as the toon is fun to play? Then you won't have any issues. Good luck.