Palidin tank help - end build

[cave_diver]

Looking to make a 36 point pali tank but have a few questions regarding pali's.

First of all I this build will be primarily used as a tank raids only (e-chrono, VOD, TOD, EDQ, E-Von, MA, LOB), as I have other toons better adapted for the 6 man epic quests, when this toon is not tanking i would like it still to put out meaningful dps

I would prefer this toon to be primarily THF'ing in most raids to take advantage of my ESOS and switch to S&B for the tougher raids (Epic LOB, E-VOD/TOD).

AC is not a primary concern but if i can get meaningful AC for normal/hard vod/tod i'd be happy...DR is a main concern from what i see/hear from folks

1) Race:
Human: extra feat for feat starved class, extra amp, racial stat boost
H-elf: Dilettante feat (prob barb or fighter as monk is exp due to stats), extra amp, racial stat boost
Dwarf: more HP's, dwarf enhancements

From my understanding the main reason people are taking human/h-elf over dwarfs is really the for the extra healing amp. I question how important the extra amp since I can get: (5% pali past life, 10% ship buff, 30% claw, 20% tod or DT, 10% DT), is the extra 20% really that important?


2) Multiclass or Pure:
Pure: capstone for more dps
18 pali/2 fighter: fighter str, haste boost, combat enhancements. 2 extra feats
18/pali/2 monk: evasion when required, extra ac, 2 extra feats


3) Weapon choices:
when THF'ing well it will be the ESOS all the time but when I need to go to S&B....what do I use? Dwarf I imagine Dwarf axe, but if I choose human or H-elf....do I go bastard sword and take 1 dragonmark feat for the e-fang so I can get glancing blows?


Thats it for now...will have a few more later.


Thanks

[wax_on_wax_off]

I quite like Darkstar's The Dark Knight.

I'm not sure about the metamagic feats but these could easily be replaced with THF'ing feats or you could go pure (to make breaking DR easier).

DM*3 is a great idea to unlock the full epic chimaera's fang which is just so excellent at full power (+10 enhancement, +10/15/20 hate, insight bonuses, fortification bonuses etc).

[cave_diver]

Thanks wax.....I was looking at it and am quite impressed with his build, and I do have the all the bits for to make an e-fang & e-crown.....my only question is are all those feats worth it? (at least for me)

By taking the DM3 would probably rule out Dwarf but would open up halfling (for self heals with LOH's) which is another option though -2 on intim's.

Still debating on pure vs a 2 fighter or 2 monk, the DR braking of the pali is not a deal breaker as I can craft twink items for whoever I'm fighting and from reading dark knights build it seems the extra damage is not required to hold agg but would be nice when I'm not tanking

[aristarchus1000]

You need to be human to get max benefit from efang.

I think human is the best choice. Extra feat, skill points and healing amp, versatility. Hard to argue. The main reason to go dwarf or half elf in tanks is saves, in my opinion, but paladins generally don't need any higher saves.

If you have the pieces to the crown as well, dwarf won't have much more hitpoints.

[wax_on_wax_off]

Yeah, definitely stick with human, the additional perks from Dragonmarks of Sentinel are really worthwhile on a tank build.

[cave_diver]

Thanks again...so it looks like human is the way to go.

As a pure paladin, I would get 8 feats for human which the following 7 are required:

1 Barbarian PL
1 Power Attack
3 Dragon Mark's of the Sentinel I, II, & III
1 Improved Crit: Slash
1 Shield Mastery


This leaves 1 feat which I feel leaves me probably extend for additional length of self-buffs

If I multiclassed with 2 fighter or 2 monk it would give me 3 feats to play around with which gives me the additional options:

1) Go the way of Dark Knight and take maximize, empower healing, & quicken for no fail self heals.
2) Take the full THF line for additional DPS and glancing blows (though not as effective as on a h-orc or WF)
3) Take extend, improved shield mastery & toughness for additional HP's, DR mitigation & increased length on buffs.

I'm kinda partial to option 3 personally. Does this look right?

[Ayseifn]

I wouldn't bother with extend or another toughness, and instead go with quicken/maximize.

If you don't want self healing through blue bar then why not just go fighter? Feats aren't as tight, get more HP, more intim, etc.

[cave_diver]

I wouldn't bother with extend or another toughness, and instead go with quicken/maximize.

If you don't want self healing through blue bar then why not just go fighter? Feats aren't as tight, get more HP, more intim, etc.

Hehe...you got me on that last one. I am a self-admitted noob to paladins. In retrospect I guess quicken/maximize makes sense, i can probably play around with Improved shield mastery vs Empower healing vs. Extend

To be honest I never really played my pally when it was a pally (1st life, built poorly, no gear) and leveled it up quickly & tr'd immediately to another build to get the past life feat.

I really hated my pally it sucked so bad.....yet I seemed to have accumulated gear when I was a FVS that would lend itself well to a pally build + I have another toon for a fighter build I want to use.


Now to decide if I want 2 fighter or 2 monk as a split.

[cave_diver]

So I'm still waffling between 18P/2M or 18P/2F (plus some more...see below) as I'm approaching my 20th raid completions on this life

I am trying to be realistic with my build expectations, what it can/could do and my play abilities. As I mentioned:

.........................First of all I this build will be primarily used as a tank raids only (e-chrono, VOD, TOD, EDQ, E-Von, MA, LOB), blah blah blah...... when this toon is not tanking i would like it still to put out meaningful dps

This still holds true, but realistically I will probably run the following and tank:

E-Chrono (probably my favorite raid ATM), E-DQ, Normal LOB & MA on a regular basis.
Hard VOD/HOX & normal tod (because I have to/group is waiting for tank/other toons on timer)
...and on the off-chance I'm lucky, off-tank LOB on Epic every once in a blue moon.


With that said I'm leaning towards 2 monk as for the above content I believe evasion+ high saves = win, 2 feats, full skill points in balance, AC option easier to build for, monk splash not action point intensive; also it makes up for problems that occur between my chair & keyboard sometimes


I am also leaning towards not taking the full sentinels DM line (maybe just 1 for free bastard sword prof) and use the other 2 for Imp.Sunder & Imp Shield mastery .


Will be posting sample build soon.....your thoughts on the above?