First-Character-to-20 Build Considerations

[excess]

Having now experimented with a number of builds since coming back for F2P launch in September, I decided to put pen to paper and provide my thoughts on particularly effective 28pts/no resources builds.

These builds were intended to function well as a first character. My constraints in building the various characters I played into the mid to high levels were simple:

1. Not resource intensive: I was poor, leveling up a new character on a new server, without the pockets to afford expensive items or tomes.
2. Not requiring purchasable store upgrades: no 32pts builds or non-F2P races (the exception here being Drow, as they should be easily unlockable for any player willing to get a character past level 7-8).
3. Relatively self-sufficient: without the support of a guild, soloing or short-manning (in ByoH type parties) is a necessity. Without deep pockets, some builds were abandonned due to maintenance costs.

I believe a lot of players probably have similar concerns when first considering what character they would like to play regularly on their first climb through the game content. Additionally, I later revised my requirements to include the cost of outfitting the character to perform well at or near the level cap.

1st Build:

My first character was planned as a 18/2 tempest ranger/rogue splash. The build is quite common and you can easily find examples in the ranger forums, but briefly:

16/16/16/10/8/6 - level up in str, +1 tome in dex for GTWF.

+good DPS build (getting to 18 str would be optimal, but too costly on 28pts.)
+access to wands for easy healing (with unlocked UMD allowing scrolls later on - this is more gear dependent on a low cha character though)

-Expensive to outfit for end game (2 GS weapons to craft)
-Static combat system (find target, hold down mouse button)
-Ideally built with 32pts.

2nd Build:

Pure barb or 18/2 barb/rogue splash. Once again the splash is for evasion, which, in the low level range, is not that noticeable. It becomes very useful later on however and the unlocked UMD is a nice plus and, though low-int, barbarians do get decent number of points/level, so maxing out UMD is definitely doable.

The issues I ran into are two-fold: TWF is again difficult to afford on 28pts. Moreover, when compared to a ranger, a barb's abilities all scale well with the THF line (str modifier damage is x1.5 when wielding a 2Hander, vicious damage procs on all glancing blows). Compare this to a ranger who gets flat damage added to all hits, no matter the weapon type (FE) and you can see how this mechanic would relatively favour the TWF line of combat over THF. Were I to go with THF, I could afford to lower my dex score and bump up to 18str, but the lower dex meant a rogue splash for evasion was not nearly as attractive, as my reflex save would not be very high.

18/12/16/10/8/6 - level up in str, no tome requirements for feats.

+THF means only 1 weapon to purchase.
+Very effective DPS against groups via glancing blows - nice while leveling.
+No tomes required.

-Very expensive on pots (though a hireling cleric is cheaper, in groups, even with a healer present, potting is going to be a part of your life as barb.

3rd Build:

I had unlocked the Drow and after toying around with the idea of a caster (which I thought they would be perfectly suited for), I landed on the DPS paladin.

16/16/12/10/8/16 - level up in str, +1 dex for ITWF and GTWF, +2/+4 later on for DM3/4.

I chose a 2 rogue splash once again, for evasion and UMD. The idea was once again that a balanced character would be more enjoyable for my first go up to 20, with the extra flexibility helping out in PUGs and solo situations. The high cha of the paladin meant I started having meaningful UMD (for picking up cheap weapons and blur wands with an acceptable failure rate) by the time I took my second rogue level at 9. This also allowed me to grab evasion before I started missing it too much.

The advantages were many:

+Great saves (with the cha modifier to saves aura at 2 paladin), an often overlooked feature at low levels. Became a huge concern by mid levels on my barb - will saves owned him hard.
+Great DPS via the KotC line.
+Wands + LoH/Unyielding Sovereignty meant easy, affordable healing.
+The ability to grab a raise ability while leveling can be a life saver (top end DPS builds require this be dropped at cap however)
+A 2 rogue splash, while costing me the capstone, opened up evasion with very good reflex saves (high dex + cha modifier) and unlocked UMD on a high cha character - easily reached no fail heal/rez scroll + some nice arcane buffs if casters are missing. This results in an all around very versatile and independently high performing character.
+Drow build, while not 32pts, is actually pretty close to equivalent stat wise. You never have to feel inadequate!

-No sprint ability (I am serious, I miss this a lot).
-Tome requirements: may seem high, but the +1 is the only required one at low level - and can even be pushed back all the way to 12 without really feeling the pinch (I picked one up for 15k plat, which you should be able to accumulate by level 9 - the earliest you can grab ITWF due to BAB requirements and the 2 rogue levels). If splashing as I did, you only require a +2 (a DM4 won't be available to you anyways) and that won't be required until 15.

Similar to a ranger you might say. Main differences here for me where:
-better saves (in particular when considering a 2 rogue splash for evasion)
-more dynamic DPS abilities (lots of short buffs and 2 strikes to watch for - Div Sacrifice and Exalted Smite)
-better healing (LoH and Sovereignty)
-killer burst damage.

Ultimately though, I liked the flavour of the character a bit better and found the combat, though more challenging, to also be more engaging on a paladin. The final nail in the coffin was Holy Sword, a 4th level paladin spell that allows the creation of +5 Holy Burst Silver/Cold Iron/Byesk of permanent Protection from Evil (no Holds, yay!) for a few plat. This meant that, even though I was running a TWF character, the cost of outfitting for end game would be less than on my "cheaper" THF barb, allowing me to build up ressources for use experimenting with other characters rather than sinking more and more ressources into a first toon. This made the most sense for a first toon to 20.

Hope this can help a few people out with this type of decision. I can provide more details about the builds, but they are fairly generic versions and I could scarcely claim credit for them.