Endgame Warforged Evasion Paladin

[Sirgleno]

Hi and welcome to a summary of my characters just started 4th life. I just TR'd today (2/13/2013), here is the build plan:

Dystopia TR3 (18 Pally, 2 Monk)

STR: 16 +6 Level Ups (+3 tome)
DEX: 8 (+3 tome)
CON: 18 (+3 tome)
INT: 14 (+4 tome)
WIS: 6 (+3 tome)
CHA: 14 (+4 tome)

Feats:

Past Lives (1 Cleric, 1 Fighter, 1 Monk)
1 - Mithral Body
1(M) - Power Attack
3 - Cleave
6 - Great Cleave
8(M) - Toughness
9 - Improved Critical Slashing
12 - Two Handed Fighting
15 - Improved Two Handed Fighting
18 - Greater Two Handed Fighting
21 - Overwhelming Critical
24 - Improved Sunder

Skills (89 pally 31 monk):

23 Balance (11 pts monk) (24* pts pally)
4 Jump (4 pts monk)
6 Spot (4 pts monk) (4* pts pally)
1 Tumble (1 pt monk)
23 Concentration (4 pts monk) (19 pts pally)
4 Swim (4 pts monk)
11 UMD (3* pts monk) (19* pts pally)
23 Intimidate (23 pts pally)

Gear (*Will gather (or complete) during this life):

Purple Dragon Knight helm and gloves
Draconic Ring w/ 20% healing amp
*Epic Ring of the Stalker (tier 3) w/ +7 dex slotted
Stone Heart (+8 CHA *w/ set bonus)
Greensteel Bracers, (+45 HP, +6 Dex Skills, Blurry, Displacement clicky)
Torc / *Draconic Necklace [Bastion of Power] (depending on aggro management & need for SP), Torc default
Boots of the Woodsman
*Epic Spare Hand (tier 3) w/ Heavy fort and +1 exceptional CHA
Upgraded Litany of the Dead / Treasure Hunters Spyglass *w/ good luck +2 slotted
*Cloak of the Wolf (L24) / *Cloak of the Bear (L24) (depending on aggro management)
Cleansed Greensteel Goggles (+150 SP, +5 CHA skills, Blindness immunity, +6 WIS, Con Opp)

Notable Weapons:

Sword of Shadow (non-epic)
Tier 1 (level 16) Cold Iron Alchemical Falchion (martial earth)
Lit 2 Falacion (useful against neutral mob version)
Breach, The Dividing Blade
*Triple positive maul

Enhancements:

Paladin Extra Turning III - 6
Paladin Improved Turning III - 6
Bladesworn Transformation - 6
Paladin Hunter of the Dead III - 8
Paladin Extra Lay on Hands II - 3
Subtotal 1, PRE minimum - 27

Warforged Healers Friend III - 6
Warforged Power Attack III - 6
Warforged Great Weapon Aptitude III - 6
Racial Toughness I - 1
Paladin Toughness I - 1
Paladin Divine Might III - 6
Paladin Divine Righteousness - 1
Paladin Extra Smite Evil IV - 10
Paladin Exalted Smite IV - 10
Subtotal 2 - 74

Optional for remaining 6 points:
Racial Toughness II - 2
Paladin Toughness II - 2
Warforged Constitution I - 2
Paladin Charisma I - 2
Paladin Charisma II - 4

As you can see from above, the build will be focused on burst dps (pursuing exalted smite 4, along with divine might 3), while having evasion, high con/reflex, and mithril body for passable damage mitigation. Additionally, with Hunter of the Dead 3 and Warforged Healers Friend 3, healing amp should be pretty good for a WF. The gear layout could probably use some tweaking, although I am hesitant to add in anything that isn't easy to get (e.g. shroud/challenge gear is ok, while eSOS is more of a pipe dream at this point). I certainly wasn't going to count on getting a Litany, but did get lucky recently so I now have it in here.

I do plan on doing some tanking on easier raids using hate and/or intimidate (up to eH LOB, hard TOD, etc.), although I do realize I won't have quite the staying power that a true S&B + heavy armor tank would bring to the table. I am hopeful that high saves and decent tanking, coupled with evasion, can open the door for this character to do some worthwhile things once I get to level 8 and through to endgame epic elites.

Anyways, feedback or suggestions are appreciated. Do note that I will be sticking with the listed race and class breakdown, so although I'm sure there are opinions on if this is even a good foundation for an endgame viable character, I would encourage any suggestions to focus on working within this race/class framework.

[Symerith]

Hey there!

Just a couple of suggestions

• Drop Improved Sunder - The reason why it used to be a really good feat for the AC debuff... In raids such as Epic chrono, many average-gear toons actually had to take off Power Attack to actually be able to hit.. Improved sunder resulted in a noticeable DPS gain. Since AC changes, it's not a requirement to have anymore and should always be secondary to stunning blow (although it might become nice again in a near future with EGH). The fort save debuff was nice to land some stuns but with all the equipment to raise that stun DC, you will be fine even on EE content with some investment. Finally, the fortification debuff was nice but that's really all you get at this point.
• You seem to say you will not be able to get a great THF weapon. There are some awesome TWF weapons (although THF>TWF after many years of TWF domination) that are easy to get and will give you higher DPS than a base sos. I'm thinking of the U17 deathnips: Deathnip (Heavy Pick): 1.5[1d6], 19-20x4, +5, Improved Heartseeker, Seeker +10, Red Augment Slot.
• Race wise - Dwarf/WF will have the Stalwart Defender racial tree when the enh. pass comes (no timeframe), Horcs will have Ravager and Human will be able to get Ravager as well for a higher investment. So my advice is one of the two, knowing you can go pure if you go human (You lose 1 feat - mithral body being a waste anyway). No evasion but DR breaking Deathnips? F*ck yeah.
  Stat wise, you should be fine, just start with 8 int (I have no clue why you would want 14 int base on a pally :O) and 14 dex, +3 dex tome will get you there. Saves will be great without the need for evasion.
• Skills are simple: 1. UMD 2. Balance 3. Concentration Dump the rest, besides 1 pt into tumble. Intim is a total waste. Either max it or dump it. You are no tank, and the truth is ANY toon can tank EH LOB or hard TOD... Get some threat gear and divine rightousness running, you'll be fine.

Hope that helps you a bit,
Sith

[Bacab]

I like the idea of DR breaking Deathnips too.


About the build...I am not sure your INT needs to start at a 14.

I would allocate those points into something else.

DEX if you wanna TWF.

For the most part...I do like your build lot.

Then again...I love Warforged and I have a soft spot in my heart for WF Paladins.

Are you staying 20 and doing epics a lot...or just passing through on a TR?

I would drop inproved sunder and consider...
*Maximize for some Self-Healing (will be hard ona WF though)
*Extend for your buffs
*Epic Toughness

To get those in early...just push back your THF feat a tick.

Though at 21 for sure take OC.

[voodoogroves]

There are other THF options for weapons out there - but honestly he's got a Lit2 falchion - that should suffice.

Another fun one mid-levels that is easy to get is the Fury of the Flame maul from the Web of Chaos chain - Flaming Burst (1d6 fire plus x3 crit burst), Incandescent (1d6 light) and Fracturing (extra 2d6 for things w/ bones) ... plus it's got Impact, so no worries about Improved Crit. It may not synergize as well with crit-smite stuff, but it's definitely servicable.

[Symerith]

I would drop inproved sunder and consider...
*Maximize for some Self-Healing (will be hard ona WF though)
*Extend for your buffs
*Epic Toughness

Self sufficiency on a paladin is already incredible, I wouldn't push it to maximize. Even for EE content, LOH for emergency & Scrolls/SF pots for heals out of combat. I mean, if you feel like you need more.. get cocoon as your last twist.

Extend is a total waste IMO. Content is easier than ever and a rebuff every 2 min is a good enough.

Epic toughness is another waste. 50 hitpoints on a 800+ HP makes little difference. Plus, with 4 main stats, it's tough to get the con req. Only tank focused characters should pick this up (Or builds with spare feats).

Stunning Blow is the way to go. Major increase in damage output, major increase in self sufficiency (therefore little need for healing). No other feat can rival with Stunning Blow on a melee. Not taking that feat is critical. Now, if you already have it on a build and have spare feats, then maybe you can consider others.

[Bacab]

Self sufficiency on a paladin is already incredible, I wouldn't push it to maximize. Even for EE content, LOH for emergency & Scrolls/SF pots for heals out of combat. I mean, if you feel like you need more.. get cocoon as your last twist.

Extend is a total waste IMO. Content is easier than ever and a rebuff every 2 min is a good enough.

Epic toughness is another waste. 50 hitpoints on a 800+ HP makes little difference. Plus, with 4 main stats, it's tough to get the con req. Only tank focused characters should pick this up (Or builds with spare feats).

Stunning Blow is the way to go. Major increase in damage output, major increase in self sufficiency (therefore little need for healing). No other feat can rival with Stunning Blow on a melee. Not taking that feat is critical. Now, if you already have it on a build and have spare feats, then maybe you can consider others.

Yeah, I can agree on stunning blow.

He also has a fighter PL for an extra DC and WF gets bonus to DCs.

You are probably right about the Maximize.
*Though I have run with some Healing Amped/Devotion specced Torc/Concord Opp PLDs and they pretty much never relied on any healing.
*On the other hand...I have run with UMD PLDs that just Heal scroll when needed (or even reconned)


I disagree about Extend. I like it a lot on PLD. Though you bring up a valid point about it is more of a convenience.

I like Epic Toughness, but you did make a valid point about that also.
I almost think Epic Toughness is a trap.
Anyone with a 21 CON probably do not *need* to burn one of your epic feats on just 50HP.

I just want the OP to know Improved Sunder is just not needed.

Oh about THF vs TWF

Forgot about the SoS and Lit2 Falchion.
I bet he can farm up an Antique GAxe and be set or some other nice two-hander

[Sirgleno]

Terrific comments everyone! I am especially thankful for the suggestion (and rationale) for dropping Improved Sunder - and will plan on swapping it out for Stunning Blow as suggested. One question, would it be better to take Stunning blow at 12 (pushing back the THF chain), or only pick it up at 24? I suspect I will get more value here if I snag it at 12, though I really didn't want to wait until so late in the build to get the THF chain.

Regarding the high INT, and by extension maxed out Intimidate, I often find myself chasing mobs around due to primarily running in PUGs, and as a melee, I often find myself wanting to pull the enemies back to me. Plus, even though I won't be doing any EE raid tanking, I do think it will be a nice bump in quality of life to have a serviceable intimidate - especially given high base charisma. Also, the alternatives to investing in Int would have been to trade 6 INT (and more skill points than I want to lose) for 2 more STR (or CHA or CON), or to trade a couple points for more DEX. Being that I am not going TWF, and that my saves will already be very high, the DEX basically does nothing for me.

I have also been looking at those schmexy new Deathnips, and do plan on building something around them at some point in the future, and the suggestion to give that a go on a pure human pally is a good one - maybe next life (no harm in getting more than 1 pally past life after all).

I am not yet sure if I will TR right away when I hit 20, or if I'll do some more endgame raiding this life. I was at 20 for over a year on my last life (dark monk), and I am finding the variety of leveling to be pretty enjoyable - especially after running basically the same 10 raids for about a year. I expect that it will come down to ease of leveling, and if I find it to take a reasonable amount of time to get back to 20 (2 months-ish or less, I might TR into another pally life before I spend another chunk of time at endgame).

Anyways, thank you for the very valuable comments! Additional thoughts are very much appreciated.

[Bacab]

I would take Stunning blow really early...like level 1.

Honestly, I would push Mithral Body back to level 12.
Grab a House D Blademark Docent at level 5 (get it now..if you are on Ghallanda...Ill run you through those quest RQ and get ya it).

Level 8...that Gorgon Docent with his Stoneskin proc is amazing.

At level 12...I would then grab Mithral and push the THF feats back.

Always take OC at 21 though.

Just talking about this build makes me wanna finish out my Sorc life on "Zweihander" my old WF FVS build...and TR him into this or something close to this. Looks fun.

[Sirgleno]

I would take Stunning blow really early...like level 1.

Honestly, I would push Mithral Body back to level 12.
Grab a House D Blademark Docent at level 5 (get it now..if you are on Ghallanda...Ill run you through those quest RQ and get ya it).

Level 8...that Gorgon Docent with his Stoneskin proc is amazing.

At level 12...I would then grab Mithral and push the THF feats back.

Always take OC at 21 though.

Just talking about this build makes me wanna finish out my Sorc life on "Zweihander" my old WF FVS build...and TR him into this or something close to this. Looks fun.

Good suggestions on docents, I have those and several others (+10 reflex Fleshaper's Docent, Upgraded Quarforged Docent of Battle, Epic Docent of Grace, and lots of others), waiting for me until I hit 23 and can wear the Stone Heart full time. Regarding the body type feats, I thought those were level 1 feats only (I might be wrong on this, but at one point I thought this was the case), although it would be easy enough to level to work this out with some timely feat swapping.