I can't claim rights to this build since Neverko made it in the first place for the PW I play on. There's a few variants, but the first one is most often used.
Sorc 18/pal 8/rdd 14 By Neverko Divine damager with auto still spell 3
str 14 dex 8 con 16 wis 12 int 10 cha 15 (this version allows for self cast aura of glory and goes for epic damage reduction) (if no wisdom items, lower cha to 14, and raise wis to 14)
Or
str 14, dex 10, con 14, wis 8, int 14, cha 16. (this version gives better charisma, and would replace the damage reduction feats with charisma or strength ones).
Pre-epic: sorc 4/pal 8/rdd 8
Feats: power attack, divine might, divine shield, blindfighting, knockdown, focus weapon, improved critical weapon, still spell.
Epic lvling: rdd 10->sorc 18 -> rdd 14
Epic feats: Your 36/39 feats are devoted to auto still spell 2.
Your rdd 14 feat is auto still spell 3.
Sorc 21/pal 10/rdd 9 This variant of the divine mage paladin gains epic warding, and 4 attacks per round but loses +4 str/+2 cha of the other rdd/sorc.
Sorc 6/pal 10/rdd 4 pre-epic = 16 base attack
Epic lvling looks like... 21-32: Sorc 18 33: sorc 19, auto still 1 34: rdd 5 35: rdd 6 36: sorc 20, auto still 2 37: rdd 7 38: rdd 8 39: sorc 21, epic warding 40: rdd 9
You can also drop rdd to 5 or 6, and raise sorc to 24 to gain another feat (auto still spell 3), but lose out on constitution bonus, and int bonus.
On the PW I play on, they have tenser's that's true to the pnp version, i.e. boosts your AB and stats, and doesn't polymorph you. Hence the need/want for still spells, though casting in fullplate and being able to melee is pretty fun.
Anyway, these versions gain decent strength to hit, along with sorc spells. _________________ I may not be able to get an erection, but at least I have enough balls not to hack.
Edited By griphook on 04/30/05 17:01
Why not go Sorc 23 / RDD 7 / Paladin 10 ? That way you can keep the RDD Con bonus, which is very helpful for a build that takes a lot of d4 Sorceror levels.
If you go Paladin 10 / Sorc 6 / RDD 4 pre-epic you can get 16 BAB, Flame Weapon and Greater Magic Weapon. Then pile on the Sorc levels, so you take Sorc 18 on level 33. You can take an RDD level midway through these Sorc levels too, to keep you Discipline on the straight and narrow. Taking Sorc 18 on level 33 ensures you have enough feats for Auto Still 3 and Epic Warding.
If you're levelling on a PW, by the time you hit level 30 you'd be able to see which would benefit the character more: Epic Warding & Auto Still 3, or Epic Warding & full RDD stat bonuses, or Auto Still 3 and full RDD stat bonuses. I think the first option is generally the best. The +2 to Int comes so late on it doesn't make much difference, and although +4 to Str and +2 to Cha would be marvellous for a build like this, I like the flexibility of Auto Still 3 and the non-dispellable defence of Epic Warding.
of course, if you wanted Dev Crit in there too, it would be slightly different. Most PWs have banned Dev Crit now, though.
Yeah I agree with what you say, never considered not maxing out the rdd lvls or getting close to it, and AC is pretty high already due to divine shield.
Anyway, like I say, there's a few variants, but the overall theme is a divine meleer with auto still spells. And I really like hitting that rdd 10 for the cha bonus and strength though. _________________ I may not be able to get an erection, but at least I have enough balls not to hack.
I posted a pally/sorc/RDD build in november. Click Here I chose the version with pal 10/sorc 6/RDD4 at lvl 20 to be able to get auto still spell 3 with the normal feats. The main variant is pal 10/sorc 20/RDD 10 at lvl 40. But there's no problem taking Pal 10/sorc 23/RDD 7 if you want epic warding instead of the RDD bonuses. The main build gets no bonus feats, but all the class feats and the arcane magic compensates well for that.
I've played the build and think it's great fun. I take the feats in a slightly different order now. (I've also done some testing to find out AB, AC, damage and so on with and without the buffs)
Yup, Mick's build is pretty much the kind of thing I was getting at in my post. I think this class combination is great fun to play, it makes for the best spellsword type characters, unless you have the PrC.