Hi all,

I've been playing for a few weeks now on and off and I've got a couple of Dwarf fighters on the go but I'm not really happy with either of them. I think the problem is I don't really know what I'm doing, I've messed around with the DDO character generator utility but generally I'm a bit overwhelmed by the sheer scope of making a character that can do well and isn't gimped.

I started playing the game with a group of friends, the idea being that we all meet up one night a week to do a dungeon crawl PnP style, so consequently we each have one char reserved for that dedicated one night a week group play and another that is to play whenever the mood takes. In my case both my chars are the same as I do love my close quarters and Dwarfs obviously rule.

I get a bit put off by reading some of the threads on the forums about how certain play styles are less viable. The talk about how AC isn't really that useful later on compared with massive amounts of HP makes me think none of my ideas are feasible.

I originally wanted to create a melee Dwarf who has high dex for avoiding getting hit, using medium armour with high dex bonus and also focusing on str for landing hits and dealing damage. So essentially an evasion build (perhaps splash rogue?) but with str based attacks (not a finesse fighter attack-wise).

I was also considering some rogue levels because our weekly group doesn't contain a rogue and we frequently come up against traps, locks or blatant secret doors we can't deal with so it would be useful from that perspective.

I'm not sure whether to go with axes or hammers and whether to go 2h or TWF. If TWF I thought about using DWA and a Kukri in the offhand. I also read that in the next update DWA (and b*stard sword) will do more dmg with a shield and count as 2h for purposes of damage and glancing blows so I wondered whether to build in anticipation of that change. I also think its a bit of a shame dwarfs don't get a choice to take some kind of dwarven hammer enhancement instead of the dwarven axe enhancement as they're both equally dwarfy weapons in my mind but with only the axe enhance available if I think of taking hammers I just think of the extra damage I'm missing out on.

I suppose ideally I would like adequate AC and HP but it seems like you have to pick one or the other?

Its a bit of a tricky one because on the one hand I want a character that is fun to play and effective in terms of game mechanics, but on the other hand I'm not necessarily after something that is precisely honed to perfection at the cost of everything else as I do enjoy flavour builds, RP and co-op group play, so at some point I have to balance it out.

Anyway, my mind has turned to goo at trying to think of the right build for me.

Anyone have any suggestions?