To splash or not to splash?

[Luxx0r]

Well, my heavily gimped fighter has leveled to 18 almost, and I don't know what to do know.

The build is horrendous so in my no-so-far plans, I will greater reincarnate him, and put all the things in his right place. Basic idea is a reasonable DPS kensai 3 THF mode, with the abbility to change to stalward 3 (AC tanking) when the need arises (and I catch some decent loot).

But now the question wich gives name to this post: pure fighter or not?

My first plan was to put 2 rogue levels to maximize UMD and get a strong balance, with evasion as a bonus. But evasion will only work in the DPS light armored mode, so I have lots of doubts.

2 levels of pally to get some improvement in my saves?
Barb, perhaps, to get some more HP and a bit of rage?
Staying pure fighter to get the capstone?

I will love opinions and experiences on the topic. Thanks.

[ArloOne]

Complete as a pure fighter and then TR into a half-orc barb!

[Aaxeyu]

Complete as a pure fighter and then TR into a half-orc barb!

Or TR into a half orc fighter, so he won't end up losing DPS.

[Luxx0r]

It's my first toon so TR it's out of the question for at least a couple of months (me wanna loot and shinies and GS and DT and lotsa things)

[Entelech]

You've played a fighter for 18 levels. What about said fighter did you enjoy? What do you want to be better at? And what don't you care about?

If you ignore all the supertastic uber builds on the forums and just think about what you want to do, it will be much easier to find some clarity. After you have all that clear in your mind, you can start coming here.

It's better to sort through stuff when you know WHAT you want, and are just looking for how to get there, than it is to be wandering around looking at everything there is and wondering if it's for you.

Example: When you go to the grocery store on a budget, do you do a better job when you have a list going in? Or do you do better if you walk in hungry, aimlessly roam the aisles looking at everything, and toss whatever looks good into your cart?

[Luxx0r]

You've played a fighter for 18 levels. What about said fighter did you enjoy? What do you want to be better at? And what don't you care about?

If you ignore all the supertastic uber builds on the forums and just think about what you want to do, it will be much easier to find some clarity. After you have all that clear in your mind, you can start coming here.

It's better to sort through stuff when you know WHAT you want, and are just looking for how to get there, than it is to be wandering around looking at everything there is and wondering if it's for you.

Example: When you go to the grocery store on a budget, do you do a better job when you have a list going in? Or do you do better if you walk in hungry, aimlessly roam the aisles looking at everything, and toss whatever looks good into your cart?

+1 Very good point. The true it's tha I don't really know what I want.

Taking a steep back the first idea is to be somewhat flexible, so rogue will do me the best service...

*rumbling*

[RoboVanguard]

Here's some advice:

2 rogue will work if you don't wear heavy/medium armor. As a fighter, you'll have to decide between heavy and light armor. I suggest you go with light armor. AC isn't that big a deal in most raids (with the exception of HoX I think) and chances are stuff is going to hit you anyway, especially considering this is your first toon. In order to achieve a proper AC build, you'll need a ton of gear that you won't have on a new toon. It'll take months to gather all the gear needed to make your AC marginally useful (+4 insight item, chattering ring, etc.) It's better when you GR your fighter, you take shield mastery and improved shield mastery and maybe some intimidate feats for when you want to tank with DR (stuff will hit you, but it'll do 40 less damage).

2 paladin is useless without evasion. From raid bosses you'll probably reduce 200 damage to 100 damage marginally more often, since the save bonus is dependent on your charisma. Most fighters don't have that much charisma.

So my advice is to go with light armor (or just outfits) and get the 2 rogue.

[unbongwah]

As much as I love Evasion, one big issue is getting your Reflex save high enough to do you any good at endgame. You're THF, which implies your DEX (even after GRing) will be a bit low-ish compared to a TWF; and Reflex is a low save for ftrs, so that's two marks against you. The usual recommendation I've seen is get your Reflex to 30+ at level cap to be useful. It's not impossible, but you should definitely figure out what gear etc. you'd need to hit that. Especially if you also want good AC as a SD.

If you decide you're willing to sacrifice the capstone for max ranks in UMD but don't think your Reflex save will be high enough for Evasion, what about rogue 1 (taken at 1st lvl of course presuming you GR+1) / barb 1 splash? Barb 1 adds +10% movement, single use of Rage, +1 PA enh, and Sprint Boost if you want it. And AC becomes a little easier if you can stick with heavy armor.

[blametroi]

It isn't free, but I greater reincarnated my pure fighter 28pt build at level 13 and she rocks now. It's possible to do a reasonable job of degimping and it will make the loot grind easier. Seriously, I put her on the Kensai path and only made one mistake in her enhancements (why oh why did I pick the armor agility enhancement since she doesn't wear armor anymore) and she's much more playable and raidable.

[Dragavon]

It isn't free, but I greater reincarnated my pure fighter 28pt build at level 13 and she rocks now. It's possible to do a reasonable job of degimping and it will make the loot grind easier. Seriously, I put her on the Kensai path and only made one mistake in her enhancements (why oh why did I pick the armor agility enhancement since she doesn't wear armor anymore) and she's much more playable and raidable.

You know you can redo your enhancements every 3 days?

[blametroi]

You know you can redo your enhancements every 3 days?

Yep, I knew that, but thanks. I am postponing this since I don't really need the enhancement rank for anything else atm. She is about half way through level 17 and I figure I'll take a serious look at her enhancements after she turns 18.

[blitzschlag]

as has been said before, evasion is only worth it if you have the dex to back it up (e.g. going twf route).

in the end the capstone is too good to give it up for little to no gain. 2 barb would get you 3 1.5 minute rages, +1 con enhancement, sprint boost and barbarian powerattack 1. paladin would give you a minor lay on hands, a charisma enhancement (that is not needed) and the charisma bonus to all saves.

the thing is, good builds/templates don't make good chars. you need equipment, dedication and most of all you need is experience...