Tainted Drow Avatar (Multi build)

[donotdirect1]

Built this for fun. My wife might play it when she unlocks drow. I have a build I'm going to use and thought this might really use the charisma bonus for the drow to great use.

The idea: An incredible smiter, a low level high DC caster, great saves with evasion, guaranteeing hit at different levels and has an incredible use magic device skill. Possibly a light off tank with high intimidate, at max level self induced tensers transformation for possible tanking but there are other choices for my 6th level if that really doesn't work.

The disappointing result: Trying to squeeze to hit into this build is rough imo. Lots of divine power clickies would be extremely nice, I could be wrong but I feel forced into precision when I'd rather take improved critical. The other possible change out is extend, but I think that tops the build nicely, or force of personality, which I think is a cornerstone of this build. Hit points are so low it's shocking coming from someone who always makes dwarves. Honestly this build could be made with a warforged even better, and with the ability to repair yourself may make you very durable. There are some key things that a warforged would miss out on however, such as that ridiculous charisma score. And some things that warforged would do better, as they would be covered on many immunities.

Enhancement Issues: Building my first paladin was interesting, and at 6th lv they kind of shine in a charisma heavy build. Exalted Smite is a really useful addition to this build. The extra turning, lay on hands, and improved turning were taken as prerequisites for other goodies, including hunter of the dead which makes weapons ghost touch (meh) and gives the drow bonus to incoming heals (yes please). The bonus from wands is also increased allowing a wand to fill up my modest hit points very quickly. Paladin Attack Boost I and II to help me hit things with my low BAB. Then we come to the drow path of paladin, which is uninspiring but seems acceptable for flavor at the least.

Progression: Goes by checkmarks of 2 rogue/2 paladin for survival then onto 8 sorcerer for firewall, back to paladin 6 for super smiting, and then finishing sorcerer. I did use 1 ability point of my character level ups in dexterity, the rest in charisma, which isn't exactly min/max of me I guess. However I'm almost willing to let my charisma down a few notches, say to a 24, to get more hit points.

Contemplations on gear: A +3 wisdom item will give access to divine spells, a +3 tome would work as well. I can see this build using lots of scrolls and wands. I'd prefer to use rapiers at high levels, but this build may have to use a short sword early to use the paladin drow enhancement. Was going to invest in arcane fluidity, but with a high dex item (which is essential) the dex will be capped to armor class anyway. For the most part equipped like a melee: heavy fortification, as much + con and false life it can find, but will probably look for status weapons instead of heavy damage ones.

Conclusion: Came out better than I expected, although I feel like the build is a cardboard chainsaw against specific enemies. Ranger splash would have been interesting to work in there, but I really needed UMD and I can't scoff at evasion. It was fun to build at least.

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

Level 20 Lawful Good Drow Female
(6 Paladin \ 2 Rogue \ 12 Sorcerer) 
Hit Points: 242
Spell Points: 1158 
BAB: 13\13\18\23
Fortitude: 21
Reflex: 24
Will: 28

                  Starting            Ending          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats         Base Stats         Modified Stats
(28 Point)       (Level 1)          (Level 20)           (Level 20)
Strength             12                 14                   14
Dexterity            14                 17                   20
Constitution         12                 14                   14
Intelligence         14                 16                   16
Wisdom                8                  8                    8
Charisma             18                 24                   26

Tomes Used
+2 Tome of Strength used at level 7
+2 Tome of Dexterity used at level 7
+2 Tome of Constitution used at level 7
+2 Tome of Intelligence used at level 7
+2 Tome of Charisma used at level 7

                  Starting            Ending          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Skills        Base Skills        Modified Skills
Skills           (Level 1)          (Level 20)          (Level 20)
Balance               6                 11                   11
Bluff                 4                  8                    8
Concentration         1                 23                   23
Diplomacy             8                 12                   12
Disable Device        n/a               n/a                   n/a
Haggle                8                 19                   19
Heal                 -1                 -1                   -1
Hide                  2                  5                    5
Intimidate            8                 22                   22
Jump                  5                  9                    9
Listen               -1                 -1                    1
Move Silently         2                  5                    5
Open Lock             6                  9                    9
Perform               n/a               n/a                   n/a
Repair                2                  3                    3
Search                2                  3                    5
Spot                  3                  3                    5
Swim                  1                  2                    2
Tumble                6                 10                   10
Use Magic Device      8                 31                   31

Level 1 (Rogue)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness


Level 2 (Paladin)


Level 3 (Paladin)
Feat: (Selected) Weapon Finesse


Level 4 (Rogue)
Ability Raise: DEX


Level 5 (Sorcerer)
Spell (1): Charm Person
Spell (1): Magic Missle


Level 6 (Sorcerer)
Feat: (Selected) Two Weapon Fighting
Spell (1): Hypnotism


Level 7 (Sorcerer)
Spell (1): Grease


Level 8 (Sorcerer)
Ability Raise: CHA
Spell (2): Knock


Level 9 (Sorcerer)
Feat: (Selected) Force of Personality
Spell (2): Web


Level 10 (Sorcerer)
Spell (3): Dispel Magic


Level 11 (Sorcerer)
Spell (2): Daze Monster
Spell (3): Rage


Level 12 (Sorcerer)
Ability Raise: CHA
Feat: (Selected) Improved Two Weapon Fighting
Spell (4): Wall of Fire


Level 13 (Sorcerer)
Spell (4): Stoneskin


Level 14 (Paladin)


Level 15 (Paladin)
Feat: (Selected) Precision


Level 16 (Paladin)
Ability Raise: CHA


Level 17 (Paladin)


Level 18 (Sorcerer)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Two Weapon Fighting
Spell (5): Mind Fog


Level 19 (Sorcerer)
Spell (3): Haste
Spell (4): Fire Shield
Spell (5): Protection From Elements


Level 20 (Sorcerer)
Ability Raise: CHA
Spell (6): Tenser's Transformation
Enhancement: Paladin Armor Class Boost II
Enhancement: Paladin Attack Boost I
Enhancement: Paladin Attack Boost II
Enhancement: Drow Melee Attack I
Enhancement: Drow Melee Attack II
Enhancement: Drow Melee Damage I
Enhancement: Drow Melee Damage II
Enhancement: Elven Dexterity I
Enhancement: Elven Dexterity II
Enhancement: Vulkoor's Avatar
Enhancement: Follower of Vulkoor
Enhancement: Paladin Bulwark of Good I
Enhancement: Paladin Resistance of Good I
Enhancement: Paladin Exalted Smite I
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Lay on Hands I
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Smite Evil I
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Smite Evil II
Enhancement: Paladin Hunter of the Dead I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Sorcerer Spell Penetration I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Spell Penetration II
Enhancement: Sorcerer Energy of the Dragonblooded I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Energy of the Dragonblooded II
Enhancement: Sorcerer Energy of the Dragonblooded III
Enhancement: Sorcerer Charisma I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Charisma II
Enhancement: Rogue Dexterity I
Enhancement: Paladin Toughness I
Enhancement: Paladin Toughness II
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Turning I
Enhancement: Paladin Improved Turning I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Wand Mastery I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Wand Mastery II
Enhancement: Sorcerer Wand Mastery III
Enhancement: Sorcerer Wand Heightening I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Wand Heightening II
Enhancement: Sorcerer Wand Heightening III

[unbongwah]

Weaksauce melee + weaksauce spellcasting + <250 HPs = can't possibly fail!

*cough*

[donotdirect1]

Weaksauce melee + weaksauce spellcasting + <250 HPs = can't possibly fail!

*cough*

You did read something besides the code, right? I can see the deficiencies quite well, thank you.

[unbongwah]

OK, let's try it without the snark. :-)

Apart from having all saving throws above 20, I don't see what this build has going for it:
- with only 12 sorcerer levels, you won't have high enough DCs to be much of an offensive caster, despite your high CHA; yet about half your spells are offense.
- with STR 14 and no Power Attack, you won't do a lot of DPS outside of what Smite Evil etc. add to your hits. And personally I don't like melee builds which rely too much on limited-use clickie effects.
- you burned a feat on Finesse, yet your DEX isn't really all that high. That plus your low-ish BAB (13) means you won't hit that often without strong assistance.
- you gave yourself INT 14 so you could pick up Intimidate on a low-HP low-AC character? Ummm...

I try to be supportive of novel build ideas, but this one just seems...ill-advised. Now, if you respecced your build to focus on melee and use arcane spells mostly for buffs, you might be onto something.

[donotdirect1]

Thanks. I knew the whole thing felt awkward, but was hoping for spell dc's to be higher. I tried to pick spells that aren't based off of caster level for effect.

You were thinking something more like this?

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

Level 20 Lawful Good Drow Female
(12 Paladin \ 2 Rogue \ 6 Sorcerer) 
Hit Points: 318
Spell Points: 595 
BAB: 16\16\21\26\26
Fortitude: 19
Reflex: 19
Will: 18

                  Starting            Ending          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats         Base Stats         Modified Stats
(28 Point)       (Level 1)          (Level 20)           (Level 20)
Strength             16                 22                   22
Dexterity            14                 17                   18
Constitution         14                 16                   16
Intelligence         10                 12                   12
Wisdom                8                 10                   10
Charisma             14                 16                   16

Tomes Used
+2 Tome of Strength used at level 7
+2 Tome of Dexterity used at level 7
+2 Tome of Constitution used at level 7
+2 Tome of Intelligence used at level 7
+2 Tome of Wisdom used at level 7
+2 Tome of Charisma used at level 7

                  Starting            Ending          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Skills        Base Skills        Modified Skills
Skills           (Level 1)          (Level 20)          (Level 20)
Balance               6                 10                   10
Bluff                 2                  3                    3
Concentration         2                 17                   17
Diplomacy             6                  7                    7
Disable Device        n/a               n/a                   n/a
Haggle                6                  8                    8
Heal                 -1                  0                    0
Hide                  2                  4                    4
Intimidate            2                  3                    3
Jump                  7                 12                   12
Listen               -1                  0                    2
Move Silently         2                  4                    4
Open Lock             6                  8                    8
Perform               n/a               n/a                   n/a
Repair                0                  1                    1
Search                0                  1                    3
Spot                  3                  4                    6
Swim                  3                  6                    6
Tumble                6                  9                    9
Use Magic Device      6                 26                   26

Level 1 (Rogue)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness


Level 2 (Paladin)


Level 3 (Paladin)
Feat: (Selected) Power Attack


Level 4 (Rogue)
Ability Raise: DEX


Level 5 (Sorcerer)
Spell (1): Expeditious Retreat
Spell (1): Mage Armor


Level 6 (Sorcerer)
Feat: (Selected) Two Weapon Fighting
Spell (1): Jump


Level 7 (Sorcerer)
Spell (1): Nightshield


Level 8 (Sorcerer)
Ability Raise: STR
Spell (2): Knock


Level 9 (Sorcerer)
Feat: (Selected) Force of Personality
Spell (2): False Life


Level 10 (Sorcerer)
Spell (3): Haste


Level 11 (Paladin)


Level 12 (Paladin)
Ability Raise: STR
Feat: (Selected) Improved Two Weapon Fighting


Level 13 (Paladin)


Level 14 (Paladin)


Level 15 (Paladin)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Piercing Weapons


Level 16 (Paladin)
Ability Raise: STR


Level 17 (Paladin)


Level 18 (Paladin)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Two Weapon Fighting


Level 19 (Paladin)


Level 20 (Paladin)
Ability Raise: STR
Enhancement: Rogue Haste Boost I
Enhancement: Drow Melee Attack I
Enhancement: Drow Melee Attack II
Enhancement: Drow Melee Damage I
Enhancement: Drow Melee Damage II
Enhancement: Vulkoor's Avatar
Enhancement: Follower of Vulkoor
Enhancement: Paladin Bulwark of Good I
Enhancement: Paladin Bulwark of Good II
Enhancement: Paladin Resistance of Good I
Enhancement: Paladin Resistance of Good II
Enhancement: Paladin Divine Righteousness I
Enhancement: Paladin Exalted Smite I
Enhancement: Paladin Exalted Smite II
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Lay on Hands I
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Lay on Hands II
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Smite Evil I
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Smite Evil II
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Smite Evil III
Enhancement: Paladin Hunter of the Dead I
Enhancement: Paladin Hunter of the Dead II
Enhancement: Paladin Redemption I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Paladin Devotion I
Enhancement: Paladin Devotion II
Enhancement: Rogue Dexterity I
Enhancement: Paladin Toughness I
Enhancement: Paladin Toughness II
Enhancement: Paladin Toughness III
Enhancement: Paladin Toughness IV
Enhancement: Paladin Divine Might I
Enhancement: Paladin Divine Might II
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Turning I
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Turning II
Enhancement: Paladin Improved Turning I
Enhancement: Paladin Improved Turning II
Enhancement: Sorcerer Wand Mastery I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Wand Mastery II
Enhancement: Sorcerer Wand Heightening I

Guess the points in concentration could be moved into balance and jump, and because I didn't start fresh the enhancements were bugged so that I couldn't take paladin charisma instead. A +4 - +6 Charisma item would increase all his saves above 20.