Dwarven TWF Paladin

[Falske_bengt]

Lately i have been thinking a lot about a build like this. A TWF dwarven paladin. He is supposed to be a frontline fighter, who will easly kill the enemy casters with a smite. But i dont know how he will handle epics? I know that he wont be the tank, but will he even survive epics? Guess you could change Extend for Toughness and rearrange in the enhancement list, change extra turning, perhaps a smite and dwarven faith for some Toughness.

Skill points goes to balance, jump and spot, in that order. Balance is your nr 1 priority always a point here (Getting tripped by dogs ain't fun at all). The other is depending on your playstyle, I love jumping over melees and killing casters so ill go for jump. And if you somehow gets points over put them in spot and grab your +15 spot item and you will see atleast some of the sneaks.

Also he needs a double TR which for me will take for ever. The first life i was thinking about a TWF dwarven Barb (a la Shade) and the second as a Blitz but as a dwarf with dwarven axes.

So here is my questions:
1 Do you think he will be as good DPSer as his former TWF Barb/Blitz?
2 Will he survive Epics? Or is his hp doing to be his downfall? If so, does picking Toughness instead of Extend help?

Here he is:
The TWF dwarven Paladin

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 3.9.1
DDO Character Planner Home Page

Level 20 Lawful Good Dwarf Male
(20 Paladin) 
Hit Points: 310
Spell Points: 315 
BAB: 20\20\25\30\30
Fortitude: 21
Reflex: 15
Will: 12

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(36 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 20)
Strength             16                    23
Dexterity            15                    17
Constitution         12                    16
Intelligence          8                    10
Wisdom                8                    10
Charisma             16                    20

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
+4 Tome of Charisma used at level 20

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Skills         Modified Skills
Skills           (Level 1)            (Level 20)
Balance               2                     7
Bluff                 3                     5
Concentration         1                     3
Diplomacy             3                     5
Disable Device       n/a                    n/a
Haggle                3                     5
Heal                 -1                     0
Hide                  2                     3
Intimidate            3                     7
Jump                  3                     6
Listen               -1                     0
Move Silently         2                     3
Open Lock             n/a                   n/a
Perform               n/a                   n/a
Repair               -1                     0
Search               -1                     2
Spot                 -1                     0
Swim                  3                     6
Tumble                n/a                   n/a
Use Magic Device      n/a                   n/a

Level 1 (Paladin)
Feat: (Past Life) Past Life: Barbarian
Feat: (Past Life) Past Life: Fighter
Feat: (Selected) Two Weapon Fighting
Feat: (Automatic) Attack
Feat: (Automatic) Aura of Good
Feat: (Automatic) Defensive Fighting
Feat: (Automatic) Dwarven Stability
Feat: (Automatic) Dwarven Stonecutting
Feat: (Automatic) Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Dwarven Waraxe
Feat: (Automatic) Giant Evasion
Feat: (Automatic) Heavy Armor Proficiency
Feat: (Automatic) Heroic Durability
Feat: (Automatic) Light Armor Proficiency
Feat: (Automatic) Martial Weapon Proficiency (ALL)
Feat: (Automatic) Medium Armor Proficiency
Feat: (Automatic) Orc and Goblin Bonus
Feat: (Automatic) Poison Save Bonus
Feat: (Automatic) Shield Proficiency (General)
Feat: (Automatic) Simple Weapon Proficiency
Feat: (Automatic) Smite Evil
Feat: (Automatic) Sneak
Feat: (Automatic) Spell Save Bonus
Feat: (Automatic) Sunder
Feat: (Automatic) Trip


Level 2 (Paladin)
Feat: (Automatic) Divine Grace
Feat: (Automatic) Lay on Hands


Level 3 (Paladin)
Feat: (Selected) Power Attack
Feat: (Automatic) Aura of Courage
Feat: (Automatic) Divine Health
Feat: (Automatic) Fear Immunity


Level 4 (Paladin)
Ability Raise: STR
Feat: (Automatic) Turn Undead


Level 5 (Paladin)


Level 6 (Paladin)
Feat: (Selected) Past Life: Berserker's Fury
Feat: (Automatic) Remove Disease


Level 7 (Paladin)


Level 8 (Paladin)
Ability Raise: STR


Level 9 (Paladin)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Two Weapon Fighting


Level 10 (Paladin)


Level 11 (Paladin)


Level 12 (Paladin)
Ability Raise: STR
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Slashing Weapons


Level 13 (Paladin)


Level 14 (Paladin)


Level 15 (Paladin)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Two Weapon Fighting


Level 16 (Paladin)
Ability Raise: STR


Level 17 (Paladin)


Level 18 (Paladin)
Feat: (Selected) Extend Spell/Toughness


Level 19 (Paladin)


Level 20 (Paladin)
Ability Raise: STR
Enhancement: Paladin Weapons of Good
Enhancement: Dwarven Axe Attack I
Enhancement: Dwarven Axe Attack II
Enhancement: Dwarven Axe Damage I
Enhancement: Dwarven Axe Damage II
Enhancement: Dwarven Constitution I
Enhancement: Dwarven Constitution II
Enhancement: Dwarven Faith I
Enhancement: Dwarven Spell Defense I
Enhancement: Dwarven Spell Defense II
Enhancement: Dwarven Spell Defense III
Enhancement: Unyielding Sovereignty
Enhancement: Follower of the Sovereign Host
Enhancement: Paladin Courage of Good I
Enhancement: Paladin Courage of Good II
Enhancement: Paladin Exalted Smite I
Enhancement: Paladin Exalted Smite II
Enhancement: Paladin Exalted Smite III
Enhancement: Paladin Exalted Smite IV
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Smite Evil I
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Smite Evil II
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Smite Evil III
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Smite Evil IV
Enhancement: Paladin Knight of the Chalice I
Enhancement: Paladin Knight of the Chalice II
Enhancement: Paladin Knight of the Chalice III
Enhancement: Paladin Energy of the Templar I
Enhancement: Paladin Energy of the Templar II
Enhancement: Paladin Divine Might I
Enhancement: Paladin Divine Might II
Enhancement: Paladin Divine Might III
Enhancement: Paladin Divine Might IV
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Turning I
Enhancement: Paladin Extra Turning II

If anyone has played as this build please share your storys and tales.

[NovaNZ]

Hi

My guild leader has ++ XP playing TWF Dwarf Paladins.
Guild - Killer Dwarfs - Cannith.
Forum name = Catain Purge.

Good luck.

[Falske_bengt]

Thanks Nova! Atleast now i know that a TWF dwarf pally is playable. Maybe Purge want to put in a comment about his dwarf?

But i still need some more direct answers to my first two questions.

[Kinerd]

Balance doesn't help you defend against trips, it only helps you get up faster.

Your HP is a little low for a frontline melee. Taking Toughness or having a higher base Constitution would be a huge help. You could drop Str to 14 and get Con to 16 on a dwarf. The DPS contribution of 1 Strength bonus to a TWF build is very small, especially one with to-hit goodies.

Paladins are extremely well-suited to TWF, and with equal gear can do better DPS than a barbarian TWF. One key to this is Divine Sacrifice, which you do not have. It is much more important than getting all ranks in Exalted Smite. Divine Sacrifice strongly favors high-threat weapons, which dwarven axes are the antithesis of, but it's still a very good ability to have.

[PNellesen]

If you do run this guy, please update his progress - I have a Dwarf Tempest Ranger/Fighter I've been thinking of TRing eventually to an TWF Pally, would definitely interested in a build like yours.

[Ralmeth]

Hi Falske,

I have a few suggestions and comments to perhaps improve on your build.
1) I think you're making a huge sacrifice to your hit points to obtain a starting 16 charisma and divine might 4. I would recommend dropping charisma to a 14 (this is the downside of playing a dwarven paladin) and bump con up to 16. With the last 2 build points you could put them into intelligence so that you could take balance and UMD for your 2 skill points every level.

2) Take divine sacrifice at least up to level 2, level 3 if you can fit it in. It is a good boost to your DPS and you should be spamming it in combat.

3) For your final feat definitely go with toughness. Extend is more helpful on a Defender of Siberys build where it costs double to cast while in combat expertise mode, so in that case it's really helpful. As you're going a DPS route those extra hit points from toughness and the toughness enhancements will make you much more survivable.

Hope that helps

[NovaNZ]

Falske

Looks like you have had some good advice from others so far.

I'm concerned that my reply may have accidently mislead you.

Firstly I didnt answer your 2 questions because A) I have not played a Palli, and B) I usually prefer THW on my characters.

Secondly - by providing a contact to a player that has a lot of experience in playing the sort of character you are inquiring about - NEITHER CAPTAIN PURGE OR I ARE GOING TO RUN AROUND CHASING YOU FOR YOUR INFORMATION THAT YOU WANT.

It is reasonable to think that you could attempt to contact the guild leader of Killer Dwarfs with your thoughts/questions about dwarf TWF Palli. Who knows? - he may even be of some assistance.

Good luck with Dwarfs - They ROCK!!

[CaptainPurge]

o hai.

quickly...

I echo a couple of the responses here: you'll have to forgo DM4 (and take a racial toughness since your HP is low), DS2 I personally don't use in favor of other things - its only an extra 2d6 light damage for 2 AP's and the crit profile of DA's doesn't help it any more. Dwarven spell defense 3 is not cost effective for a dwarf pally of which both race and class you're very strong vs spells. You'll be able to take pally CHA +1.

BTW, past life berserker's fury on a non-barbarian is broken. You only get the 5 HP, I used it on a fighter who has a past life barb and decided to dump for something else. I'd dump that for toughness.

Back to DM4, do you have a +4 CHA tome or are you just hoping to get one? If you are going to try to chase such, then you'll end up acquiring +3 tomes before ever actually getting that +4. My current TWF dwarf pally, is 36 pt w/ 4 +3 tomes and in this case you can drop a point of DEX w a +3 DEX tome and still get GTWF and bump up starting CON by 2.

Any opinions expressed herein are strictly those of Purge, the character, and not Captain Purge the player.

[eulogy098]

Paladins don't really work all that well with a critical range of 19-20. Divine Sacrifice, for example, increases your critical damage multiplier by 1x, so any time you use it and don't roll a crit you are basically not benefiting from the large of the abilities benefits. Smite is the same deal.

Paladins benefit much more from large critical ranges then others because of this.

This fact makes Dwarves slightly less ideal for Paladins simply because a big benefit of the dwarf is the free exotic, and axe enhancements.

Even as a dwarf with full enhancements you would likely be outputting more overall damage with Scimitars than Dwarven Waraxes.



Then there's your con problem. 12 con is not cool. There is not a race, class, or build in the game I would ever recommend starting with under 14 con. Front line melees especially.


Still, if you insist on your Dwarven TWF paladin just for the sake of fun and flavor, go for it. But at least lower your CHA to 14 and get some con. Why make an all out sacrifice for DPS (divine might 4) on a toon that is already sub-par for max dps anyhow?



Also, the barbarian selected past life sucks. It gives you a total of 5hp and 1 clickie of a 30 second rage that gives you 1 minute of fatigue. It's not worth your feat slot.

[eulogy098]

2) Take divine sacrifice at least up to level 2, level 3 if you can fit it in. I

)

I don't agree with this. Divine Sacrifice rank 1 is all anyone really needs. further ranks are not worth the enhancement points, paladins are already extremely enhancement tight.

Divine Sacrifice rank 1 is must have. Rank 2 and 3 are lame.