WF DoS advice sought

[rexservorum]

I'm attempting to build a pure Warforged Paladin tank now that intimidate is a class skill. However, I'm finding that I am a little short on feats... such that I might do a fighter splash regardless of the state of intimidate. Please note that I've never played a tank before.

I'm interested in taking Adamantine Body, Toughness, Power Attack, Combat Expertise, Dodge, IC: Slashing, and the three THF feats (for DPS mode). That's nine feats... a fighter splash would let me take them all, unless I'm counting wrong.

So my question is twofold: fighter splash or pure, and (if pure) which of those feats could I drop?

I'm also curious how important tower shields are for tanking, since that might tip the scale in favor of 18/2.

Thanks in advance!

[Dylvish]

Hi, and welcome to the Brotherhood of Smite.

Couple of things to keep in mind, and one you may want to do. First, give Junts' thread a read. It has a ton of useful information, and some great builds. Keep in mind some of his builds are a bit on the advanced side, and may be very gear dependant, but he also has a couple of more easily achieable builds in there. Regardless you can use them for a guildeline to get a feel for what you want, and dont want to miss. Everyone new and wanting info on paladins, be it casual or hardcore, should give that thread a read.
His post is here ----> http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=218542

As for WF. While they make godly nice Fighters and Barbs, they do not synergize all that well with Paladins, namely because of the -2 Cha and -2 Wis, both of which are important stats for a Paladin (you would need to put at least 2 pts or a +2 tome into Wis so that you can cast all spells with a +6 item later on. Most pallies don't bother for Divine Might IV unless they are Drow, but they do try to get Divine Might III which requires an 18 base Cha after tomes, level ups).

For your feat list, its just my advice, but I would drop Dodge. You only need 1 feat for DoS (CE, Tower Shield, Die Hard, or Shield Mastery). I would go with CE if you have the Int for it, or Tower Shield if you do not. Either will satisfy the requirements for DoS. As a side note, Defender spec is the only one that requires a feat, so you can go HoTD or Chalice spec at any time if you want later.

Going a splash of Fighter does give nice things to the Paladin. However you lose the Capstone. So its really a personal choice there. I myself try to go pure whenever I can, but in your particular case, going WF, fighter may give you what you need (extra feats for Khopesh or Bastard Sword if you want it, free tower shield spec).

Hope this was of some help.

Best of luck,
~Dylvish

[rexservorum]

It was definitely of assistance, thanks a ton. ^_^

I have read and taken Junts's guide to heart. I'm just torn between 18/2 (which he recommends for a tank, but that recommendation depends in part on the old status of intimidate) and pure.

I know WF isn't the ideal match; though this be madness, yet there is method in't. Their THF bonuses will be useful for when I solo or switch to THF DPS mode, the brute fighting should help with aggro, and I happen to have a Blademark's Docent lying around to help with leveling. Lay on Hands healing them for full is nice too...

I think I will go 18/2 unless someone comes up with a good reason or two to stay pure. Capstone is nice, but I think the feats will help this AC tank more.

[Khellendros13]

How about Monk splash? You will get 2 combat feats still, and I feel is superior for a WF ac build, due to evasion in any docent + wisdom bonus to ac (min +3ac here).

Prior to U7, this was not an option without Intimidate, but now...and you have a few more skill points with the monk levels too.

[rexservorum]

Intriguing thought, and one I hadn't considered. Assuming non-centered and not wearing a shield (to get the wis bonus), the two monk levels add evasion, feats, and 2 AC (with a wisdom of 14). The basic monk AC bonus which brings that to +3 AC requires you to be centered, I think. I would also lose out on any AC benefit if I took adamantine body.

I don't really know enough to do all the math, but it seems like a fighter splash (or pure paladin) would provide more AC from the body feat and a heavy or tower shield, whereas the monk splash provides evasion. Anyone used to doing this kind of thing who can illuminate the specific difference in AC? I can go look up how much is required at endgame and decide based on that.

[rexservorum]

Well, here is how I see the comparison, although I may be off by a bit.

Monk splash:

- +4 (+5) AC: +2 composite, +2 wis bonus at 14 wis, (+1 centered bonus)
- Evasion
- 2 feats

Fighter splash:

- +12 AC: +8 adamantine, +4 tower shield
- DR 2/adamantine (boostable with enhancements) from plating
- 2 feats, plus free tower shield prof.

Pure:

- +10 AC: +8 adamantine, +2 heavy shield
- DR 2/adamantine (boostable with enhancements) from plating
- Weapons of Good

All of that ignores magical bonuses to the equipment. They all look pretty attractive. I guess it is simply up to me at this point. ^_^