Revisiting paths: Builds for new players

[tihocan]

Hello i'm currently following Warpriest of Siberys path as my first char ever on DDO .
I already got to level 3 with it but I'm wondering what 3 spells should i prepare and what should i use for just fighting and what enchantments to get (i'm a dwarf) i now its in the guide but i dont understand it fully
Thx in advance and gj with this guide

I would suggest to prepare Bless, Command, Nightshield.
Other potentially useful L1 spells at this level are Divine Favor, Nimbus of Light, Protection from Evil, Summon Monster I.
Fighting: find a greataxe and swing it. Or any other two-handed weapon really, it doesn't matter much at this level.
Enchantments: Assuming you mean enhancements here, pick those listed in the build. Click the link above the enhancement list if you need more information. If there is still something you don't understand, feel free to ask

[djspider37]

tell us wat lvl to get wat enchansment and what feat at wat lvl

[tihocan]

tell us wat lvl to get wat enchansment and what feat at wat lvl

The feats / level are listed in the build.
I purposedly decided not to give a specific enhancement progression because of the extra work involved and because it removes some freedom to tweak the build to your own liking. I may add some as suggestions later on, but in the meantime, just try to do it by yourself (it's not a big deal if you make mistakes with enhancements, you'll be able to easily fix them later once you understand better the mechanics, and as long as you pick the enhancements listed in the build, any mistake you make won't really hurt the build).

[lorkar]

Tempest (L18 Ranger/L1 Rogue/L1 Fighter)

Concept: High damage dealer with decent survivability and self-sufficiency, focused on dual wielding weapons, but able to pull out a bow when needed.
Original path's flaws: Some weapon feats are messed up (e.g. Elves are given Improved Crit: Slash and Weapon Focus: Pierce, Humans are given Khopesh proficiency but Improved Critial and Weapon Focus in Piercing weapons).
Main fixes: Revised combat feats, also splashed Rogue and Figther for UMD and an extra feat.

Multi-class progression <- click for more info: Create your character as Rogue, then take levels 2 to 5 as Ranger, level 6 as Fighter, and 7 to 20 as Ranger.
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral, Chaotic Good, Neutral, Neutral Good, Lawful Neutral, Lawful Good

Stats and Race (28/32 pt):
........Drow.....Dwarf......Elf.....Halfling...Human...Warforged.
.Str.....16......16/17.....16/17.....15/16.....16/17.....16/17...
.Dex.....16........14........16........16........14........14....
.Con.....14........18........14........14........16........17....
.Int.....10........8.........8.........8.........8.........8.....
.Wis.....10......10/11.....10/11.......11......10/11.....10/11...
.Cha.....10........6.........8........8/9........8.........6.....

Ability increase every 4 levels: All in Str.

Skills (except Human and Drow): At L1, max out Balance, UMD, Concentration, Spot, Tumble, Jump, Open Locks. On next levels max out UMD, Open Locks and Spot (make Open Locks absorb the skill points lost by the Fighter level, so that eventually Open Locks should be -2 compared to the max score you could reach).
Skills (Human and Drow): Same, but at L1 you can dump extra points into Haggle, and on next levels spend your extra skill point into Balance (except at the Fighter level and the three levels after, where you should use this skill point to catch up on UMD, Open Locks and Spot to max them out).

Feats (by level), except Human: Toughness (1), Favored Enemy: Undead (2), Dodge (3), Mobility (6), Spring Attack (6), Favored Enemy: Construct (7), Improved Crit: Slash (9), Power Attack (12), Favored Enemy: Evil Outsider (12), Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Khopesh (15), Favored Enemy: Elemental (17), Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting (18)
Feats (by level), Human: Dodge (1), Toughness (1), Favored Enemy: Undead (2), Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Khopesh (3), Mobility (6), Spring Attack (6), Favored Enemy: Construct (7), Improved Crit: Slash (9), Power Attack (12), Favored Enemy: Evil Outsider (12), Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting (15), Favored Enemy: Elemental (17), Skill Focus: UMD (18)

For more information about picking enhancements please read this post.
Enhancements (Fighter): Attack Boost I (except on Human), Toughness I
Enhancements (Ranger): Devotion II, Dexterity II, Energy Resistance Boost I, Favored Attack I, Favored Damage II, Favored Resistance I, Skill Boost III (except on Human), Sprint Boost I, Tempest III
Enhancements (Rogue): Haste Boost I, Sneak Attack Training I
Enhancements (Drow): Enchantment Resistance I, Racial Toughness II
Enhancements (Dwarf): Constitution I, Racial Toughness II, Spell Defense II
Enhancements (Elf): Enchantment Resistance I, Racial Toughness II, Ranged Attack I, Ranged Damage I
Enhancements (Halfling): Cunning I, Guile II, Hero's Companion III, Luck (Fortitude) I, Luck (Reflex) II, Luck (Will) I, Racial Toughness II
Enhancements (Human): Adaptability Strength I, Improved Recovery I, Racial Toughness II, Versatility III
Enhancements (Warforged): Constitution I, Construct Thinking I, Hardiness I, Healer's Friend II, Racial Toughness II

Soloability by level:
No hireling..: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
With hireling: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Tips:
- You may start dual-wielding weapons at L3. Before you obtain Khopesh proficiency (i.e. before L3 for Human and before L15 for others), your ideal main-hand weapon will be a scimitar (or a Dwarven Axe on a Dwarf if you invest on the axe enhancements - remember to get rid of them once you start using Khopeshes). In the off-hand, start by using a light weapon (ideally a kukri, or possibly a race-favored weapon if you pick enhancements for it). Once you see you are almost never missing anymore (or once you take the Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting feat), switch to a weapon similar to your main hand for better damage output (ultimately, you should be dual-wielding Khopeshes).
- Good khopeshes can be difficult to find (this is a reason why except on the Human version, the proficiency feat is taken rather late). But once you reach L15 you can start looking into crafting to make your own.
- Remember that you need a Wis of at least (10 + spell level) to cast a spell. You can use items, enhancements, tomes and the Owl's Wisdom spell to meet this requirement.
- Once you get Evasion at L11, make sure you are using light (or no) armor as otherwise Evasion will not work.
- This build has the potential to reach useful UMD, but it will take a while (and some gear) before it really makes a difference.
- Rangers get archery feats for free. Even without being a bow specialist, starting at L8 you will be able to deal meaningful damage from range while Manyshot is active (drag it somewhere on a hotbar!).
- Remember you can open locks, so carry thieves tools and try to get your hands on an item boosting this skill.
- You may start using healing wands at L2, even if you are not able to cast any spell yet.

Variants:
- It is possible to go Dex-based instead of Str-based, in which case dual-wielding rapiers would be your best weapon choice. It requires Weapon Finesse (taken at L3, so that a non Human would delay Toughness to L15, taking Dodge at L1), and gives better AC/reflex saves/ranged to-hit, at the cost of reduced damage output.
- With slight modifications, this build can be able to handle traps as well. Increase Int to 14 (12 on a human), so as to be able to max out Disable Device, Search, Open Locks, UMD and Spot (give up a few points in Open Locks to compensate for the loss of skill points on the Fighter level). 32 pt build, Drow and/or going Dex-based will make this easier to achieve.
- Instead of going for traps, +4 to Int (obtained by 32 pt build or by taking down Con/Wis slightly) can let you max out the Hide and Move Silently skills, if you enjoy sneaking (which can mostly be useful in solo play).
- The so-called "exploiter" build consists in replacing the Fighter level with a Monk level, the goal being to reach higher AC. For such a build it makes most sense to be Dex-based, and ideally to add Combat Expertise in order to be able to reach really high AC. Wisdom should be increased to at least 14, at the expense of Str, and Int should also be boosted so you can qualify for the 13 Int requirement for Combat Expertise (access to 32 pt build and Int tome will help with that). Also, remember than Monk requires being Lawful.
- Races who get bonuses with specific weapons through enhancements (Dwarf, Elf and Drow) may use these weapons instead of Khopeshes without incurring too much of a DPS loss. Khopesh may then be replaced by Skill Focus: UMD, or one may choose to go for either a pure Ranger or a Ranger 19/Rogue 1 build instead (both are also very good options). Remember to swap feats for Slashing weapons by similar feats for Piercing weapons when using Rapiers.
- If you already have good Khopeshes to use at L12 on a non Human, feel free to swap Power Attack and Khopesh proficiency.
- Other potentially useful Favored Enemies include Aberration (useful from mid to high level), Giant (low-mid to high level), and Goblinoid (low to mid level). In the current state of the game, the most important Favored Enemy to get in the long term is Evil Outsider.

Color code: best to worst = green, yellow, orange, red

hey dude pls help, i was using the character creator, but i dont get the tempest 3 enhancement how i get it?
so it needs prereq?

[sirgog]

Here's a heavily melee-specced variant of your Warpriest of Siberis build.

Warpriest of Siberys (L19 Cleric/L1 Fighter)

Concept: Cleric who eschews offensive spellcasting almost entirely to focus on both healing and melee.
Original path's flaws: Going sword and board (which is not a long term viable way to contribute in melee), giving up too much offensive spellcasting (some level-up points in Str, no Maximize), and no Toughness
Main fixes: Going two-handed fighting for higher damage output (splashing Fighter for proficiencies, feats and Fighter Strength 1 and Fighter Haste Boost 1 enhancements), seriously increasing Strength, and with more HPs. These come at a cost - your Mass Cure spells have ~5% less effect, your Mass Heal 10% less, and you have slightly less SP and much less capacity to land offensive spells.

Multi-class progression <- click for more info: Create your character as a Cleric, then take your second level as Fighter, then levels 3 to 19 as Cleric, then level 20 as a fighter.
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral, Chaotic Good, Neutral, Neutral Good, Lawful Neutral, Lawful Good

Stats and Race (28/32 pt):
28 point (all races): Str 18 Dex 8 Con 14 Int 8 Wis 14 Cha 8 before racial modifiers
32 point (all races): Str 18 Dex 8 Con 16 Int 8 Wis 14 Cha 8 before racial modifiers
[/font]
Ability increase every 4 levels: All in Str.

Skills: Invest one skill point at creation in Tumble. Put all others into Concentration. Where other points are available (human/drow/after eating tomes), invest them in Balance, or if Balance is maxxed out, Jump.

Feats (by level), except Human: Toughness (1), Two-Handed Fighting (2), Extend (3), Power Attack (6), Maximize (9), Improved Critical: Slash (12), Quicken (15), Empower Healing (18), Improved Two-Handed Fighting (20)
Feats (by level), Human: Toughness (1), Two-Handed Fighting (1), Power Attack (2), Extend (3), Maximize (6), Quicken (9), Improved Critical: Slash (12), Empower Healing (15), Improved Two-Handed Fighting (18), Greater Two-Handed Fighting (20)

For more information about picking enhancements please read this post.
Enhancements (Cleric): Energy of the Zealot I, Life Magic IV, Wand and Scroll Mastery IV, Wisdom II
Enhancements (Figther): Haste Boost I, Toughness I, Fighter Strength I, Fighter Item Defense I
Enhancements (Drow): Racial Toughness II
Enhancements (Dwarf): Axe Attack II, Axe Damage II, Constitution I, Faith I, Racial Toughness III, Spell Defense II
Enhancements (Elf): Racial Toughness II, Valenar Elf Melee Attack II, Valenar Elf Melee Damage II
Enhancements (Halfling): Cunning II, Guile II, Hero's Companion III, Luck (Fortitude) I, Luck (Reflex) I, Racial Toughness II
Enhancements (Human): Adaptability Strength I, Improved Recovery I, Racial Toughness II, Versatility III
Enhancements (Warforged): Combat Training I, Constitution I, Great Weapon Aptitude II, Hardiness I, Healer's Friend I, Racial Toughness II

Soloability by level:
No hireling..: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
With hireling: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Tips:
- Even though you can fight, people will typically expect you to act as the party healer. With practice, you will be quite effective at doing both. Until you have this experience, prioritize healing over damage if you are the sole healer, and damage over healing when there's another Cleric or FvS in your group.
- At level 2 you can start wielding a two-handed weapon. If Dwarf, use a Greataxe. If Elf, use a Falchion. Otherwise, use either a Falchion, Greataxe or Greatsword. If you find a particularly good other weapon (say you are a Dwarf and find a +1 Holy Maul of Pure Good), use it instead until you find something better.
- Armor-wise, use the best Full Plate you can find up to mid-levels (ideally Adamantine for the Damage Reduction). You may even switch to a one-handed weapon + shield when you are being hit too much compared to your wand supply. However, at some point (typically around L13 when you move into Gianthold), you can stop worrying about AC and simply favor armor (or robes/outfits) with useful effects.
- Remember you can also cast offensive spells (e.g. at low level Command / Soundburst, then later Greater Command, Slay Living, Blade Barrier, Cometfall, Destruction, Implosion...). Most of the time these should only be used to target a foe's weaker saves (you'll learn these through trial and error), but Bladebarrier is good from levels 12 to 19
- Useful buffs include Divine Favor, Divine Power, Prayer, Recitation (and Bless / Bull's Strength at low levels). Divine Power is the most important of these to keep active.
[b]


Color code: best to worst = green, yellow, orange, red

[karl_k0ch]

hey dude pls help, i was using the character creator, but i dont get the tempest 3 enhancement how i get it?
so it needs prereq?

As one can find out in the compendium or ingame by choosing "Show Unavaliable Enhancements" at the trainer, Tempest III's prereqs are:
Spent: 66 action points
Requires One of: Lightning Reflexes, Two Weapon Defense, Two Weapon Blocking, Oversized Two Weapon Fighting
Requires All of: Ranger Tempest II
Available to Ranger class level 18

[Dafalgan]

I would suggest to prepare Bless, Command, Nightshield.
Other potentially useful L1 spells at this level are Divine Favor, Nimbus of Light, Protection from Evil, Summon Monster I.
Fighting: find a greataxe and swing it. Or any other two-handed weapon really, it doesn't matter much at this level.
Enchantments: Assuming you mean enhancements here, pick those listed in the build. Click the link above the enhancement list if you need more information. If there is still something you don't understand, feel free to ask

Thx so far but i cant use Divine favor and command they are grey in my spellbook and the word '' will '' is red . What did i do wrong ?

[tihocan]

hey dude pls help, i was using the character creator, but i dont get the tempest 3 enhancement how i get it?
so it needs prereq?

It has some prereqs (see here: http://compendium.ddo.com/wiki/Enhan...er_Tempest_III) but it should be available to you at L18 if you follow the build.

[tihocan]

Here's a heavily melee-specced variant of your Warpriest of Siberis build.

Thanks, I took note to add a link to it (I got a bunch of such notes I need to take care of, hopefully I'll catch up on these this week... sorry it's not just as easy as editing the post itself because of the way I'm organizing the builds on my computer).

[tihocan]

Thx so far but i cant use Divine favor and command they are grey in my spellbook and the word '' will '' is red . What did i do wrong ?

Not sure, but you should be able to prepare and cast them. Make sure the spell is prepared, it may be the reason why it doesn't work. Also, there is a visual bug where sometimes a spell is greyed out on your hotbar even though it's prepared, but you can still cast it by clicking the greyed icon.

[Faelyndel]

For the Tempest build, if I were to go with dual Scimitars using the Valenar enhancements and the elf race, what are the advantages/disadvantages of splashing rogue and fighter levels? Do 1 or 2 levels of fighter provide any benefits besides the bonus feat? Can I achieve viable levels of Disable Device with a 1 or 2 level rogue splash?

Also, would a ~6 Fighter / ~14 Ranger Kensai/Tempest build be worthwhile and, more importantly, fun to level?

I think the work you've put into these iss great +1 for you

[lorkar]

It has some prereqs (see here: http://compendium.ddo.com/wiki/Enhan...er_Tempest_III) but it should be available to you at L18 if you follow the build.

:O thanks i didn't noticed that u didn't put all of the enhancements in your build, but only the most important, so i had only 28 action points when i was at lvl 20 (18-ranger/1-rogue/1-fighter) xD
so i had to train some "extra enhancements" not mentioned in your build.

Can u recommend me the best of these extra enhancements, i really need some help with this, because i'm a newbie and i don't know so much about the usefulness of the bonus given by each one.

[tihocan]

For the Tempest build, if I were to go with dual Scimitars using the Valenar enhancements and the elf race, what are the advantages/disadvantages of splashing rogue and fighter levels? Do 1 or 2 levels of fighter provide any benefits besides the bonus feat? Can I achieve viable levels of Disable Device with a 1 or 2 level rogue splash?

Splashing Rogue mostly gives you UMD as class skill and +6.5 sneak attack damage. Splashing Fighter is mostly for the bonust feat. A 2nd level of fighter would give you one more feat, as well as +1 Str through the Fighter Strength enhancement. You mostly lose the Ranger capstone (currently used to boost ranged attack speed), as well as one Favored Enemy (I can't remember if Manyshot gets an extra arrow at 20 BAB, if that's the case then the Rogue level also makes you lose that arrow unless you are using Divine Power or another way to boost your BAB, like the Madstone boots).

Also, would a ~6 Fighter / ~14 Ranger Kensai/Tempest build be worthwhile and, more importantly, fun to level?

Yes, it should work and be fun. I'm not sure there's much reason to go 14 Ranger instead of 12 though (would need to verify what Ranger 13/14 gives you), so maybe it'd be best to get either 2 more Fighter levels or splash something else (Rogue for UMD, Monk for an AC build, or Paladin for saves for instance).

[tihocan]

:O thanks i didn't noticed that u didn't put all of the enhancements in your build, but only the most important, so i had only 28 action points when i was at lvl 20 (18-ranger/1-rogue/1-fighter) xD
so i had to train some "extra enhancements" not mentioned in your build.

Can u recommend me the best of these extra enhancements, i really need some help with this, because i'm a newbie and i don't know so much about the usefulness of the bonus given by each one.

In doubt, just take higher tiers of the same enhancements listed in the build. If you're not sure, go with your instinct. It doesn't matter much, and you can re-do them later if you realized you made a mistake.
I play some characters with 8-20 action points unspent at L20 and they work just fine. So don't worry too much about enhancements, as long as you get the basic ones, you'll be ok

[lorkar]

In doubt, just take higher tiers of the same enhancements listed in the build. If you're not sure, go with your instinct. It doesn't matter much, and you can re-do them later if you realized you made a mistake.
I play some characters with 8-20 action points unspent at L20 and they work just fine. So don't worry too much about enhancements, as long as you get the basic ones, you'll be ok

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 3.34
DDO Character Planner Home Page

Girion hatchback
Level 20 Lawful Good Elf Male
(12 Fighter \ 8 Wizard) 
Hit Points: 284
Spell Points: 447 
BAB: 16\16\21\26\26
Fortitude: 12
Reflex: 10
Will: 11

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(28 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 20)
Strength             16                    22
Dexterity            16                    19
Constitution         14                    14
Intelligence         10                    12
Wisdom                8                     8
Charisma              8                     8

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Skills         Modified Skills
Skills           (Level 1)            (Level 20)
Balance               5                    15.5
Bluff                -1                     1
Concentration         2                     4
Diplomacy            -1                     1
Disable Device        n/a                   n/a
Haggle               -1                    -1
Heal                 -1                    -1
Hide                  3                     4
Intimidate           -1                     1
Jump                  5                    23.5
Listen               -1                     1
Move Silently         3                     4
Open Lock             n/a                   n/a
Perform              n/a                   n/a
Repair                0                     1
Search                0                     3
Spot                 -1                     1
Swim                  3                     6
Tumble                n/a                   n/a
Use Magic Device     n/a                   n/a

Level 1 (Wizard)
Feat: (Wizard Bonus) Extend Spell
Feat: (Selected) Toughness
Enhancement: Elven Arcanum I


Level 2 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Weapon Focus: Slashing Weapons
Enhancement: Fighter Attack Boost I
Enhancement: Fighter Haste Boost I
Enhancement: Valenar Elf Melee Damage I
Enhancement: Fighter Critical Accuracy I
Enhancement: Wizard Energy of the Scholar I
Enhancement: Fighter Toughness I


Level 3 (Fighter)
Feat: (Selected) Iron Will
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Two Weapon Fighting
Enhancement: Elven Dexterity I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Wizard Elemental Manipulation I


Level 4 (Fighter)
Enhancement: Valenar Elf Melee Attack I
Enhancement: Fighter Armor Mastery I


Level 5 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Weapon Specialization: Slashing Weapons
Enhancement: Fighter Strength I
Enhancement: Fighter Toughness II


Level 6 (Wizard)
Feat: (Selected) Dodge
Enhancement: Fighter Attack Boost II
Enhancement: Fighter Haste Boost II


Level 7 (Wizard)
Enhancement: Elven Arcanum II
Enhancement: Fighter Critical Accuracy II


Level 8 (Wizard)
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Wizard Intelligence I


Level 9 (Wizard)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Two Weapon Fighting
Feat: (Wizard Bonus) Quicken Spell
Enhancement: Elven Arcanum III


Level 10 (Wizard)
Enhancement: Elven Dexterity II


Level 11 (Wizard)
Enhancement: Valenar Elf Melee Attack II


Level 12 (Fighter)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Slashing Weapons
Enhancement: Valenar Elf Melee Damage II


Level 13 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Power Attack
Enhancement: Fighter Kensei I


Level 14 (Fighter)
Enhancement: Fighter Haste Boost III
Enhancement: Kensei Scimitar Mastery I


Level 15 (Fighter)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Two Weapon Fighting
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Greater Weapon Focus: Slashing Weapons
Enhancement: Fighter Armor Mastery II


Level 16 (Fighter)
Enhancement: Fighter Scimitar Specialization I
Enhancement: Wizard Intelligence II


Level 17 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Two Weapon Defense
Enhancement: Fighter Haste Boost IV


Level 18 (Fighter)
Feat: (Selected) Oversized Two Weapon Fighting
Enhancement: Fighter Strength II


Level 19 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Greater Weapon Specialization: Slashing Weapons
Enhancement: Fighter Toughness III


Level 20 (Wizard)
Enhancement: Kensei Scimitar Mastery II
Enhancement: Fighter Kensei II
Enhancement: Wizard Energy of the Scholar II

finally i have my mage warrior ready what spells are better for him?
pls help me and thanks for all your previous support

[tihocan]

finally i have my mage warrior ready what spells are better for him?

Buffs. Anyway on a wizard it's easy to swap spells.
You should get rid of the defensive feats like dodge / two-weapon defense, which won't do you any good past the low levels.
Besides that, expect to be weaker than other melees, with a bit more self-sufficiency to somewhat make up for it in solo / shortman situations. But not a lot of self-sufficiency since you lack efficient self-heal.

[Ikeas]

Besides that, expect to be weaker than other melees, with a bit more self-sufficiency to somewhat make up for it in solo / shortman situations. But not a lot of self-sufficiency since you lack efficient self-heal.

...which would be different beign warforfed? I'm rolling a similar wizard/fighter warforged build, but two-hander instead of two weapon wielder. For now, it's been very funny...

[yugi1111]

'Coughs' 10 Int 'Coughs'

[lorkar]

'Coughs' 10 Int 'Coughs'

the purpose of this build is a self buffed kensai, and also this wont be my main toon
since i'm already playing a better one, this would be my own experiment for RP and fun
so stop trolling -.-! and read some more i raised it to 12
this is more strengh based than int, the ideal items i would get him are +6 items to the main 4 atributes:
str, dex, con and int, which would be in 12+6 that is 18...

PD: this is my favorite thread

[Devia]

Hello, again! Still having a great time and am also leveling the Dark Blade. Now, I want to try a Fighter build.

RE: Stalwart build notes:

Variants:
- Such a build can benefit from splashing two levels of Paladin: this gives in particular a significant bonus to saves (equal to your Cha modifier), early access to healing wands, and +1 AC through the Paladin Aura (assuming no other Paladin is near you). The drawback is the loss of the Fighter capstone (+10% attack speed) and one feat (for instance Lightning Reflexes on a Human, or Greater Two-Weapon Fighting otherwise). Overall it is well worth it on such a defensive build, and it was not done here mostly because it would not work well with all races without 32 pt builds and/or tomes (you would want to start with a bit more Cha to gain more benefit from the bonus to saves). If you go this route, remember to start with the Lawful Good alignment (required for Paladins), and run your character through the character planner to make sure your feat plan works (some feats are Fighter bonus feats that must be chosen among a subset of all feats, which can make planning tricky).

I cannot find any 18Fighter/2Paladin builds anywhere. They are all 18Pal/2Fighter. I would love to try out your suggestion above. Can anyone point me to more info? I am worried about picking the right feats, and the character planner doesn't work for me.

I have 32pt builds unlocked (no Drow yet).

1) What stats should I lower to raise my CHA and which race would be best?
2) What feats would you switch out and when?
3) Any particular Paladin enhancements I should use/other enhancements that would work better going this route?
4) Is this not really a viable build for soloing and that's why there are more pally/fighter splash builds?

If it's easier to link to something, that would be really great. I've tried google and searching the forums. Thanks again!