Paladin 18/Rogue 2 give up Str for Int?

[PopeJual]

Junts Guide to Creating Paladins on the Paladin board has a few builds and one of them is a Paladin 18/Rogue 2 to add Evasion and UMD. I'm thinking of a change in the sample Human TWF Paladin 18/Rogue 2. I'd like to be able to do a bit more with skills and I don't think I'd be giving up all that much, so I'm asking here to see just how significant the loss of 4 points of end game Strength really is.


Quote:
IX. Sample Human TWF/Evasion

Lawful Good Human Paladin 18 / rogue 2 (rogue levels at 1 and 10)

Str: 16 + 5 level ups (6 item, 1 human enh, 3 exceptional, 2 tome = 33, 34 with +3 tome)
Dex: 15 + 2 tome (qualifies for twf .. if +1 tome only, reverse str/dex)
Con: 12 (20 with tome and item)
Int: 8 (2 skill points)
Wis: 8 (16 with tome and item)
Cha: 16 + 2 tome (qualifies for DM3: 26 charisma with assorted gear)

I already have eaten a +2 tome of Int, Wis and Cha and I'm planning of using a Lesser Reincarnate +1 so that I can rebuild my current Paladin 15/Rogue 2 and take the Rogue level later in his career. Here's my thought:

Str: 14 + 4 level ups (6 item, 1 human enh, 3 exceptional, 2 tome = 30)
Dex: 14 + 1 level up +2 tome (qualifies for twf at level 7 when the tome kicks in)
Con: 14 (22 with tome and item)
Int: 12 +2 tome (4 skill points per level until 7 when it becomes 5)
Wis: 8 (16 with tome and item)
Cha: 16 + 2 tome (qualifies for DM3: 26 charisma with assorted gear)

That saves 6 points from Str and Dex and puts them into 2 points of Con and 4 points of Int. With a x5 multiplier on crits, I'd lose 10 points of damage on a crit or 2 points of damage on regular attacks. Along with losing that extra 2 To HIt, that doesn't seem like a catastrophe.

I think that trying to squeeze Search and Disable Device would be painful, but I'm going to see if I can figure out how to get end game appropriate numbers. Right now, I'm just looking to see if I'm missing something important when I give up that 4 Strength and delay the 1 Dex. First level of Rogue goes at level 1, second level of Rogue comes at level 10 or later.

Feats:
1 - Toughness
1 - Exotic Weapon - Khopesh
3 - Something Else (Power Attack?)
6 - Extend Spell
9 - TWF
12 - ITWF
15 - Improved Critical: Slashing
18 - GTWF

Any thoughts or suggestions? Am I missing something critical? Does this skeleton of a build just suck?

[unbongwah]

First off, if I'm following your plans correctly, you'll need a +3 LR, because you're changing two of your levels: you're flipping one rogue level to paladin and one paladin level to rogue; unless you're planning to become rogue 1 / paladin 16 and by "later in his career" you mean at a future level.

Second, if you've already eaten any +2 tomes, when you LR you'll get +1 to your stat(s) at level 3 and another +1 to your stat(s), IIUC. This means with starting DEX 14 you'll qualify for TWF at level 3, AFAIK. [Never quite sure if tomes apply before or after feat selection.]

Third, if you end up with INT 14 and expect to tank, you might want to pick up Combat Expertise for the AC boost.

I think the real questions here are: what are you gaining with those extra skill points (and CE if you take it); and is it worth the hit to your DPS? That's tough to answer without knowing what you want to be able to do.

[PopeJual]

First off, if I'm following your plans correctly, you'll need a +3 LR, because you're changing two of your levels: you're flipping one rogue level to paladin and one paladin level to rogue; unless you're planning to become rogue 1 / paladin 16 and by "later in his career" you mean at a future level.

I'm just about to hit level 17 (just 20K more xp to go) and I can take that as a Rogue level. I'd then LR +1 to drop the "extra" rogue level that I took at lvl 4.

After seeing the fact that LR +1 appears to cost just about exactly the same as a True Reincarnate, I'm tempted to just finish out to level 20 and True Reincarnate as soon as I've crafted a Greensteel weapon and an item. I wish Turbine had seen fit to price the Lesser and Greater Reincarnates less than the True Reincarnate.

[LAWPRE]

Depending upon how easy it is for you to get to level 20 and OFTEN, I would just true rein (TR) as opposed to less(LR) or great rein. As you can TR more than 2X as of today, you can quickly(ish) get a +6 to your starting stats. I would put all of these points on Int and be done with it.

Still, if you are going to LR, I would put my stats something like this:

28 pt build
Str 14
Dex 14
Con 14
Int 14
Wis 10
Cha 10

32 pt build

Str 14
Dex 14
Con 14
Int 14
Wis 12
Cha 12

You can put the Int down by 2 and the Cha up by 2 as you are human. However, the idea here is as many skill points as soon as possible. That way, you can keep the Rogue critical skills maxxed out. Pal does not need Cha until 3rd level - for Divine Grace (Cha Mod to Ref sv). Also, this is why you see so many Drow Pals or Rogs around (+2 to Dex, Int and Cha).

Next, you can take 2 points from Wis and put it into Cha but I would not put Wis below 10 as that is the stat for your Will save. Unless you use Vet Status (going straight to level 4) or already have Wis gear to inherit, those first few levels can be bad when you are hit with Command, etc. (not that this happens often but...)