SwordandBoard

[monkeypoopie7]

In all other MMORPGs I've played in the past, I love playing a character that is hard to kill and uses a shield. I am going to make one on here. Note that I DO know that I won't be raid material, I just want to have fun. I have two questions.

1. What is class is better at S&B and is harder to kill: paladin or fighter?
2. What race would be better: human, warforged, or dwarf?

Thank you in advance.

[Nyvn]

Fighter's can make very good sword and board types. I'd recommend having an offensive side as well, fighters give alot of feats, which let them be versatile. Those can be used for the two weapon fighting or thee two handed fighting feats.

[Aranticus]

In all other MMORPGs I've played in the past, I love playing a character that is hard to kill and uses a shield. I am going to make one on here. Note that I DO know that I won't be raid material, I just want to have fun. I have two questions.

1. What is class is better at S&B and is harder to kill: paladin or fighter?
2. What race would be better: human, warforged, or dwarf?

Thank you in advance.

fighter = stalward defender

race = dwarf

get at least thf or twf feats as you do not want to snb all times, there will be times where snb is not effective

[monkeypoopie7]

Of course I won't S&B all the time, I'll probably get THF to go with it, I'll definately have the feats to.

[Impaqt]

In all other MMORPGs I've played in the past, I love playing a character that is hard to kill and uses a shield. I am going to make one on here. Note that I DO know that I won't be raid material, I just want to have fun. I have two questions.

Why wouldnt he be Raid material? My tank raids on a regular basis. A Good Intim is always welcome most of the raids in the game.

1. What is class is better at S&B and is harder to kill: paladin or fighter?
2. What race would be better: human, warforged, or dwarf?

Thank you in advance.

Dwarven Stalwat Defender. Maybe splash Paly for the extra Saves or Monk for evasion. the Capstone is certainly nice for the fighter, but a Tank buid doesnt necessarily need to Swing faster.

[monkeypoopie7]

Why wouldnt he be Raid material? My tank raids on a regular basis. A Good Intim is always welcome most of the raids in the game.


Dwarven Stalwat Defender. Maybe splash Paly for the extra Saves or Monk for evasion. the Capstone is certainly nice for the fighter, but a Tank buid doesnt necessarily need to Swing faster.

From what I've heard, S&B is useless at end game.

[monkeypoopie7]

Also, what stats should I start with? I was thinking 20 con, 16 str, and 10 dex? Or should the 2 points in dex be put elsewhere?

[WeiQuinn]

*snip*
Dwarven Stalwat Defender. Maybe splash Paly for the extra Saves or Monk for evasion. the Capstone is certainly nice for the fighter, but a Tank buid doesnt necessarily need to Swing faster.

I'm no expert, but as far as I know, Evasion only works in Light or NO Armor. Plus, you need to have the Dexterity (Reflex save) to back it up. Wouldn't a Tank need to wear Heavy Armor?

[randallflagg]

From what I've heard, S&B is useless at end game.

90-95% of players never reach end game- s&b fighter tanks are quite effective
as well as welcome in most groups.

[Aranticus]

From what I've heard, S&B is useless at end game.

DPS/Intimitank

this is my current build. he tanks suulomades with no problem

[hydra_ex]

Dwarven Intimitank. Assuming 28 pts.

16 STR (10 pts)
14 DEX (6 pts)
16 CON (6 pts)
10 INT (2 pts) (raise inti and jump as skills)
8 WIS (0 pts)
10 CHA (4 pts)

Those would be the easiest stats to play with. DEX helps your AC massively, especiall when you take fighter/dwarven armor mastery enhc, which enhance your max DEX.

Max DEX bonus is a complicated thing. In DDO, AC=10+Armor Bonus+Shield Bonus+DEX+Other.

Each sheild and armor has a bonus (for example, a fp is 8). Add on its enhc bonus to determine its total armor bonus. (Thus, a +5 fp is +13).

Each armor, as well as tower shields, have a max dex bonus. This number limits the amount of DEX you can apply to your ac. So even if you have a 30 DEX (+10) and your wearing a fp (Max DEX=1), your DEX bonus to AC will only equal 1.

Its really an art to find the right balance. A DEX of 12-16 is about the right range. Other people who have more time than me right now will come along and post the figures shortly, I'm sure.

[BlackRage]

1 – Paladin is more survivable than Fighter (that is Pal is harder to kill than Ftr), but Fighter is slightly better as a S&B tank due to Twr Shield and Intimidate.
2 – Dwarf is probably best, but WF are a little more survivable; however, Dwarf will get Dwarven Defender while Warforged get Juggernaut.

For what you want to do a Dwarf Paladin Defender of Siberys3 is probably your best bet as it leaves open the option of stacking Dwarven Defender later on. Splashing 2 Fighter is worth considering at the expense of the Paladin Captone (Weapons of Good) as the extra feats (plus free Twr Shield) and Intimidate will come in handy being a S&B tank.

Pal14 grants Holy Sword which is am outstanding weapon for all current and forthcoming end game (Mod5+). Dwarf also gives you access to both Dwarven Armor Mastery to increase your AC and Dwarf Axe Attack and Damage to increase DPS.

Fully geared in hate mode you can generate +350% Hate, which more than helps to retain agro.

[Gorstag]

If not an intimi build, then your not welcome in most end game groups if you are sword and board. At least if you run with most elitist type groups.

[BlackRage]

Another option is Dwarf BARBARIAN. Not necessarily optimal, but does nicely fill the ‘Transformatank’ role.

[William_the_Bat]

Nobody yet has even sneered at, let alone actually kicked my S&B pally out of a raid.

Except, of course, on the boards.

I think the impression you sometimes get on the boards is that half the people in DDO are elitist mega-zergers who will throw a fit if you are not one of the flavor of the month tip top DPS builds because you are "slowing down the quest". There are some of these people out there, but here's a hint: they almost never PUG.

The fact is, if you follow the recipe for the perfect 100% best DPS build, but don't have your perfect equipment yet, you are just as useless to the elitist.

And the Intimidate skill really is useful.

As for your build, paladins are probably tougher than fighters due to their savings throws and secondary abilities. You will probably have to think hard about splashing rogue or fighter to unlock full ranks on intimidate or just going pure defender of sybris. Some paladin abilities get better with each paladin level, so it's not just the capstone to think about, and you can compensate for a slightly lower intimidate skill with the agro boosters paladins can take.

As for race, I like drow for my paladins for the extra charisma (I like to start em at 16 so that it's possible to max out divine might) the constitution gets painful to raise, but if you go warforged or dwarf you won't have the charisma to take full advantage of your paladin abilities. Constitution is important if you are planning on holding the agro, but increasing the power of your saves bonus, smite evils, intimidate, lay on hands, etc. is also very good.

Or you can just go with the fighter and skip the charisma altogether. You'll need to watch that will save in particular, but you'll be able to put more points into constitution, and you won't have to worry about managing your clickies as much.

Either way, I do not advise skimping on strength. If you can't hit it, it won't matter how long it takes for it to kill you. 16 at the minimum.

[Impaqt]

From what I've heard, S&B is useless at end game.

THen you havent actually seen much of the end game.

I'm no expert, but as far as I know, Evasion only works in Light or NO Armor. Plus, you need to have the Dexterity (Reflex save) to back it up. Wouldn't a Tank need to wear Heavy Armor?

No, tanks dont need to wear heavy armor at all. Some of the best Tanks I've seen lately are Monk based.

a +5 Mithral breastplate(Light Armor) is just 1 AC behind Mithral Full Plate as far as AC Potential Goes. Since TWF is so popular as a fallback, you need a Base 17. 24 Dex isnt unheard of on a Tank nowadays. That fills out the Mithral breat Plate quite nicely with 2 levels of Fighter Armor Masters (Or daggertooth Belt)

[kamimitsu]

I made a Dwarf 15 Pal / 1 Ftr that is pretty good at the AC/Intimitank role. Yes, I miss out on the capstone (capstones weren't known about when I rolled him up, anyway). The 1 Ftr level gives you 1 extra feat, TowerShield Prof., and Intimidate as a class skill, which isn't the worst trade-off in the world.

My guy is sitting at 66 AC (unbuffed/beholder-proof). He has some raid gear, but could hit 69 with a Chattering Ring, which has eluded me to date. After Def. of Siberys comes out, he'll be in the mid 70s or low 80s I believe, before buffs.

Truth be told, you can go pure fighter, pure pally, or mix. Your playstyle (and how you want to play when you are not S&Bing) will be the determining factors.

One thing to think about going in to Mod9 however, is that DR, Tower Shield, or other Grazing Hits mitigation will be a concern. I haven't done enough playing on Lamannia to know quite what the necessary requirements are to be unconcerned with Grazing Hits.