1st TR Pally, 34pt: Drow or Human?

[Reos]

There seems to be two schools of thought here, one camp says Drow are better suited for this, others claim Human is best. Please explain the hidden pro's and con's for each.

Thanks in advance!

[Alternative]

Generally drow are squishier a bit, though my drow pally had 519hp when I was done with him on the first life (with all enhancements, gfl, +2 exceptional con, 45hp cloak) and with evasion was pretty much unkillable. Without evasion life in epics would be scary. With 34p build you can get much better starting stats on a human - +2con -2int and then +1con +10hp via human enhancements. Personally I TR'ed my drow pally into a human, still with evasion, and not because he wasn't a viable toon, but because I couldn't push it much further.

Weapon choice is between rapiers for drow and khopeshes for humans. Including drow enhancements, the base damage of a gs rapier is 1d8+7 18-20/x2. GS Khopesh is 1d10+5 19-20/x3. I'm not an advanced math expert here but seems pretty obvious that the difference isn't meaningful (except for autocrit situations where khopesh is clearly better).


Both choices are viable for an evasion paladin, if you chose to go pure you want as much hp as you can get, so better to go human. Then again, drow are just that cool

[unbongwah]

Drow pros: higher base DEX & CHA, rapier enhs
Drow cons: lower CON
Human pros: extra feat (usually spent on khopesh), better healing amp, Versatility, Adaptability, more CON & HPs than drow (but less than WF or dwarf)
Human cons: costs more to raise DEX & CHA above 14

The higher INT on drow cancels out the extra skill pts from human, so that's a wash unless you're making a pally tank who needs INT 13 for Combat Expertise.

If we're talking 32/34 pt human vs 28/30 pt drow, I have a slight preference for human mostly for the healing amp (though the other bonuses don't hurt, obviously); but either can make a strong TWF paladin.

[Reos]

So is evasion pretty much a necessity in epics? Is there no point in capping a toon?

[Junts]

You're fine without evasion if its what you want to play: it will require a lot more healing but do a lot more damage. Think barb + better saves + limited selfhealing via lay on hands - not as good vs non-evil outsiders.


IMO, human is by far stronger than drow when you are in tr territory. You can make some arguments at 32 Human vs 28 drow, and 28 Drow beats 28 Human, but IMO the 34 and 36 pt humans blow the 30 and 32 pt drow out of the water.