Advice sought

[Lethander]

No point of going DoS or Shield and Board if you dont plan to reach good AC, of course dodge is the less important of the feats for ac,

*Nod*
The only reason I considered it is because Junts' build didn't have it until level 18.

but you are forgetting that if you dont take fighter, you cant use tower shield either unless you pick the feat.

AH!
I might not be able to take GTHF --
I burned my level 1 Human Feat on Tower Shield.

Junts' Feat structure:
1: Power Attack
1f: EWP: Khopesh
1h: Toughness
3: Two-handed fighting
6: Extend Spell
8f: Improved crit: slash
9: Combat Expertise
12: Improved two-handed fighting
15: Greater two-handed fighting
18: Dodge

My ideas so far (I'm only at level 4):
1: Power Attack
1h: Tower Shield
3: EWP: BS
6: Toughness
9: Combat Expertise
12: THF
15: Improved crit: slash
18: ITHF

[AzraeloFastico]

Lethander
Have you decided on which Prestige class to take yet?

Also i'm assuming your going pure Pally and dropping the 2 levels of fighter Junts suggest? What advantages are there in going 20 Pally over 18/20 Pally/fighter?
I'm rolling another character myself using the guides on here and want to do the same as yourself with S & B + Bstard sword. Getting lost in the options as i'm quite new to D&D ingeneral.
Cheers

[Lethander]

Lethander
Have you decided on which Prestige class to take yet?

Also i'm assuming your going pure Pally and dropping the 2 levels of fighter Junts suggest? What advantages are there in going 20 Pally over 18/20 Pally/fighter?
I'm rolling another character myself using the guides on here and want to do the same as yourself with S & B + Bastard sword. Getting lost in the options as i'm quite new to D&D ingeneral.
Cheers

I'm mostly leaning toward the Defender of Siberys; though the large number of outsiders, etc in the endgame might seem to favor Knight of the Chalice (KotC also doesn't require the initial feats the DoS does). Going pure pally lets me reach the level 20 "capstone" abilities of the class, but at a high cost while leveling -- I lose Extend Spell, Dodge (+1 AC), and Greater Two-Handed Fighting (which improves the same glancing blows that now make bastard sword more attractive). Those two splash level of Fighter really do help (you gain two other combat feat slots, as well as getting the tower shield proficiency "free").

I've only been playing DDO a few months myself, but I have had fun dabbling (several fighters/fighter hybrids, of which I still have a Fighter-4; a Rog/Ranger mix that I deleted around 4th level, I think; a Rogue-2/Wiz-3 Evasion mage; a Fighter-1/Bard-5 who's one level from Warchanter; and the level 7 solo / mêlée cleric that I've been loving). If I didn't want the capstone and didn't have other fighters, I'd likely splash those two levels of Fighter.

[Noctus]

Could I TWF a pair of bastard swords AND get glancing blows all around?

No. It is very clear.

Only when you wield it with a shield or nothing in your off-hand.

[Gercho]

I'm mostly leaning toward the Defender of Siberys; though the large number of outsiders, etc in the endgame might seem to favor Knight of the Chalice (KotC also doesn't require the initial feats the DoS does). Going pure pally lets me reach the level 20 "capstone" abilities of the class, but at a high cost while leveling -- I lose Extend Spell, Dodge (+1 AC), and Greater Two-Handed Fighting (which improves the same glancing blows that now make bastard sword more attractive). Those two splash level of Fighter really do help (you gain two other combat feat slots, as well as getting the tower shield proficiency "free").

I've only been playing DDO a few months myself, but I have had fun dabbling (several fighters/fighter hybrids, of which I still have a Fighter-4; a Rog/Ranger mix that I deleted around 4th level, I think; a Rogue-2/Wiz-3 Evasion mage; a Fighter-1/Bard-5 who's one level from Warchanter; and the level 7 solo / mêlée cleric that I've been loving). If I didn't want the capstone and didn't have other fighters, I'd likely splash those two levels of Fighter.

You have a problem here, you are building your paladin as a tank, taking tanking feats and tanking initial stats, but then you sacrifice some tanking capabilities (including intimidate) for the dps from the capstone...
You need to make a choice and make all your decisions based on that choice:

My main role will be tank? (that doesnt means i should not have any dps)
My main role will be dps? (that means i wont have any AC)

If you want to be a tank, take DoS feats and stats according, and splash fighter.
If you want to be dps, go pure KotC and take feats and stats according

If you do something in the middle, you wont be a great tank, and you wont be a great dps either.

It seems from the post i quoted you still dont know what you want to be, if you plan to go KotC, then lower int, and dex drop ce and tower shield, and get higher str/cha

[Lethander]

My main role will be tank? (that doesnt means i should not have any dps)
My main role will be dps? (that means i wont have any AC)

*Nod*
I'm almost certainly going DoS and tanking (though a Reincarnation is always possible later if I change my mind). But then in most games I typically prefer tanking. Aspects of doing so in DDO are exacerbated by AC's nigh-nonexistent rôle in endgame tanking (particularly epics), at least from what I read; but it seems that non-epic content still has a a place for it if you are willing to raid for it (and can find a crew to do so).

But since my reply was to someone else I pointed out the endgame rôle of KotC even though I don't see myself branching out that way; I also pointed out what my tradeoffs were.

In my case the die is cast; I've started the character and begun working on quests and favor over the past two nights. I've eaten a +1 tome and will likely eat a +2 tome at level 7; if I remember correctly my current stats (before equipment) are now something like STR 17, DEX 13, CON 15, INT 13, WIS 9, and CHA 18. My feats are as noted above: Power Attack, Tower Shield (a DoS pre-req choice), and Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Bastard Sword... and man are bastard swords cheaper than khopeshes with similar qualities! ^_^

[Ralmeth]

As a long time Paladin tank, I highly recommend taking a 2 level Fighter splash. This will give you:

Intimidate as a class skill.
This is critical if you want to tank. What's the point of being a tank if you can't grab aggro? I will guarantee as a S&B tank without intimidate you will have a heck of a time grabbing aggro. Intimidate will be useful on trash mobs and as you are leveling up. At high levels you will want to hate tank the big boss guys, but intimidate will go a long way in your build.

Tower Shield for FREE
On a feat starved class, this is a really great boon. Just swap out your tower shield feat for another feat you're going to take later, such as toughness.

Two Extra Feats
This will leave you room for GTHF and one other feat of your choice, such as extend. Just rearrange the order of your feats to make it all fit.

The last two levels of Paladin are nice, but they are ideal for DPS focused Paladins, while a DoS should really splash Fighter and/or Rogue.

[Lethander]

As a long time Paladin tank, I highly recommend taking a 2 level Fighter splash. This will give you:

Intimidate as a class skill.
This is critical if you want to tank. What's the point of being a tank if you can't grab aggro? I will guarantee as a S&B tank without intimidate you will have a heck of a time grabbing aggro. Intimidate will be useful on trash mobs and as you are leveling up. At high levels you will want to hate tank the big boss guys, but intimidate will go a long way in your build.

That's probably what will make up my mind --
As I understand it I want a 45 or so (or better) as my goal.

Given that I am already level 4 --
Which levels would you swap out?

[lord_of_rage]

No. It is very clear.

Only when you wield it with a shield or nothing in your off-hand.

which is awesome. Because if it worked twf it would be too overpowered.

[Ralmeth]

That's probably what will make up my mind --
As I understand it I want a 45 or so (or better) as my goal.

Given that I am already level 4 --
Which levels would you swap out?

That's what did it for me too. As for when to take your fighter levels, that's up to you. I would probably take 1 Fighter level in the next level or two. Then I would go mostly Paladin and only take the 2nd Fighter level when you really want and can use that extra feat.

Good luck with it!

[Lethander]

That's what did it for me too. As for when to take your fighter levels, that's up to you. I would probably take 1 Fighter level in the next level or two. Then I would go mostly Paladin and only take the 2nd Fighter level when you really want and can use that extra feat.

Good luck with it!

Thank you!
And, yah, went ahead and took Fighter as my 5th level. ^_^