PL for a Tank

[vraelliott]

I currently have a Human 11 Paladin/1 Fighter (DoS) that is pretty much stuck there. He has such poor DPS that it's not fun to play him. The build (based off Darkstar's Dark Knight) and I aren't really meshing. Granted, that build is certainly meant for end-game, which I haven't gotten to yet, but I have no desire to cap him as is. I want to get him to 20, get him a few completions and then TR him into some other melee build (probably Human DM'd Stalwart Defender, since I already made him the eChimera's Crown already), with the paladin PL.
So, I'm thinking of +3 LR'ing and turning him into a 12 Pally/6 Fighter/2 Monk KotC/Kensai, and am wondering how viable the following build is:

Leveling might not be ideal, but it has to fit around what I already have (1-8 Pally, 9F, 10-12 Pally)

1M
2-7P
8M
9-10F
11-16P
17-20F

Base Abilities (32 Point Build)
16 Strength (+5 Level-ups)
15 Dexterity
14 Constitution
8 Intelligence (I may have eaten a +1 Tome here already, if so I'll up this to 9)
10 Wisdom
14 Charisma

Feats:
1 - Toughness
1H - Power Attack
1M - TWF
3 - Kopesh
6 - iTWF
8M - Improved Sunder
9 - Toughness
9F - IC: Slashing
10F - WF: Slashing
12 - gTWF
15 - Stunning Blow
18 - Toughness
18F - WSpec: Slashing
20F - Shield Mastery (just in case I need to switch PrE's for tanking normal ToD's)

I should be able to get my Reflex save into the low 30's (not sure how useful it'll be but it can't be *worse* than no evasion.

How viable is this build for end game? The goal is a versatile and survivable DPS/Evasion toon. DPS is far from ideal, but I'm hoping it'll be "good enough" for Hard Raids (LoB, ToD) and the normal range of the easier epics.

Thoughts? Critiques? Suggestions? All are welcome.

[Memek]

Meh, discard my post, i didnt catch that the OP was talking about an LR and thought he was discussing a TR.../

So you dislike your Paladin (good taste!) and you want to TR it into another Paladin? Why?

Main benefit from the Paladin past life doesnt come from the passive PL (+5% healing) but the active one (cast Divine Favor).
With 12 Paladin levels, the 2nd life Paladin build can cast Divine Favor on his own already.

Roll something else, Anything else, with at most 2 Paladin levels.

Pala PL is great for any melee, overall probably best for Fighter/Monks build. You get feats, you get lots of attacks with Unarmed+Haste Boost to really make use of the static damage boost from the PL. Oh, and Fighter/ Monk builds tend to suffer from low attack scores compared to the usual high-end DPS builds (Barb and Kensei), so the +3 attack from DF should give a nice benefit.

/edit: Concerining your LR plans, KotC is only good against Evil Outsiders which mainly applies to the old raids. If you care about Epics or the Cannith raids, it wont help much. Kensai 1 doesnt give much - Kensai 2 is where it's at. So with your Paladin levels, you are between a rock and hard place.You might be able to make use of the Healing Amp from HotD, search for Divine Phoenix on the forums.

[Enoach]

As one that loves playing his paladin all I can say is I'm sorry that this class didn't work out for you.

One option you have that you might considered would be to LR the Fighter level out and try out DoS Tier II or switch over to KoTC Tier II.

I also recommend reading Junt's Paladin guide if you have not already. He has some good insight on Paladins both builds and playstyle.

[Kinerd]

If you are focused on TRing, it does not make sense to make a 12/6/2 build that will see a dramatic power increase at level 20.

The Dark Knight is a tank build, and will therefore suffer somewhat when it comes to DPS and suffer more in content where tanking is not critical, which is to say the overwhelming majority of content below level 18. Again, if you are focused on TRing this life it does not make sense to make a tank build.

If you are set on +3 LRing, I would go 18/2 paladin/monk TWF HotD. HotD is an exceedingly non-specialized PrE, which means it is useful in a huge variety of situations. Heal Amp, ghost touch, immunity to energy drain, none of these are wow but all of them are nice. It also means dropping 4 feats: WFocus, WSpec, Stunning Blow, Shield Mastery, one of your extra Toughnesses are the ones that stand out to me. HotD also has the advantage of being heavily front loaded: all rank 3 gets you is Light Bringer and a bit more Healing Amp, nothing you'll pine for as you're toiling away at level 18. Your stat distribution is fine. Paladins with khopeshes and Divine Sacrifice do plenty of DPS. With evasion, heal amp, LoH, saves, CSW, you will be very survivable.

I wouldn't bother even flagging for LoB to be honest. House C quests are very poor xp/time. When you get a build you're happy with, sure, but on a transition life? No. Even more so when, as a first life, you can easily get to cap without touching it.

[vraelliott]

Thanks for the replies.

I actually decided to bite the bullet and pick up a +5 heart and lose 5 of the pally levels in favor of 2 monk and 3 fighter (currently 6 pally/4 fighter/2 monk), the rest will be fighter. After taking him for a quick tour around the sands, I'm much happier with the toon as he is now, and it should just keep getting better as I pick up more fighter levels. The plan is to go Kensai2/KotC1 for more DPS in the raids that I'm focusing on at the moment, but I may try out tanking with SD2/HotD1.

I recently TR'd another toon, so this one is getting put on the back burner for a little while anyways. Some ideas for him popped into my head while I was at work today, so I thought I'd post. With my playstyle it'll probably be about 2 months before I cap him.