Playable from level 1 40 ..PvM Build

I considered calling this build "Ex-Dragon Knight" as this is my character on the world I play on. Originally, the character was a Pali/Sorc/RDD, but she met her father, a not-so-nice Ancient Red Dragon, and wasn't thrilled with the idea of being related to him. Praying to her god, she had all the dragon "cleansed" from her system. As a result, she lost her ability to cast spells, but her god chose to protect her by granting her the ability to resist the spells of others.

Here's what I've done:

Stats
STR 16-->26
DEX 12
CON 10
INT 10
WIS 10 (I know, this doesn't look possible, but it works)
CHA 16-->18

This character is intended to wear plate mail. Hold on! I know what you're thinking, but hear me out. Yes, you give up your wis bonus. Notice above, not the least worrried about it. Also, the hand attacks and speed are useless. OK, well, that's true, but we're not really concerned about that either. She's designed to be a tank who resists spells and doesn't lose her ac bonus when flat-footed, as she relies entirely on her armor (and faith in god) to protect her. Her attacks still progress like a pali mixed with primarily cleric. The world I play on is relatively high-magic, so good weapons aren't much of an issue.

On the skills, let me preface by saying that I don't save any points as the PW I play on has a cap on skills that is class skill level +3. So, you could probably do some other things with the skills as you choose, but this is what I've done to match the rules I have to play with.

Level Guide
1 Monk - Luck of Heroes, Power Attack, Disc+4, Heal+4, Lore+4, Listen+4, Tumble+4
2 Paladin - Disc+1,Heal+1,Lore+1
3 Paladin - Weap Foc:Longsword,Disc+1,Heal+1,Lore+1
4 Paladin - STR+1,Disc+1,Heal+1,Lore+1
5 Monk - Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
6 Paladin - Divine Shield, Disc+1,Heal+1,Lore+1
7 Monk - Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
8 Monk - STR+1,Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
9 Paladin - Divine Might, Disc+1,Heal+1,Lore+1
10 Monk - Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
11 Monk - Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
12 Paladin - CHA+1, Extra Turning, Disc+1,Heal+1,Lore+1
13 Monk - Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
14 Monk - Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
15 Monk - Weap Foc:Greatsword, Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
16 Monk - CHA+1, Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
17 Monk - Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
18 Monk - Imp Crit:Longsword, Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
19 Monk - Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
20 Monk - STR+1, Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
21 Monk - Imp Crit:Greatsword, Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
22 Monk - Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
23 Monk - Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
24 Monk - STR+1, Armor Skin, Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
25 Monk - Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
26 Monk - Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
27 Monk - Epic Weap Foc:Longsword, Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
28 Monk - STR+1, Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
29 Monk - Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
30 Monk - Epic Weap Foc:Greatsword, Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
31 Monk - Imp Spell Resist 1, Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
32 Monk - STR+1, Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
33 Monk - Great STR 1, Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
34 Monk - Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
35 Monk - Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
36 Monk - STR+1, Great STR 2, Imp Spell Resist 2, Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
37 Monk - Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
38 Monk - Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
39 Monk - Imp Spell Resist 3, Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1
40 Monk - STR+1, Disc+1, Heal+1, Lore+1, Listen+1, Tumble+1

Now, the ending stats:

Base Attack 26
Unarmed w/o Armor AB: +34/+31/+28/+25/+22/+19
Unarmed w/Armor AB: +34/+29/+24/+19
Longsword/Greatsword AB: +37/+32/+27/+22

AC w/o Armor: 26
AC w/Armor: 28
AC w/Armor & Shield: 31
(I was able to get her tumble to a 35 on the PW I play)

Spell Resist: 50
Saves:
Fortitude 29
Reflex 27
Will 26

Max Hit Points: 332

PROS: Basically a low AB fighter that can only be hit by spells from the higher DC casters, has Empty Body, Perfect Self, Divine Might & Shield 12 times/day, can drop the armor & shield for 6 open hand attacks/rnd & monk speed, and pretty descent saves. She's very versatile.

CONS: No Pali spells , WIS boosting items really do little-to-nothing for her, AB is really not good. Low HP.

One could substitute the two Great STR feats and epic weap focus feats for more epic spell resist and get her up to a 56-58 SR (though this significantly lowers her ability to hit something).

Basically I feel this build is sort-of "out of the box" and won't be seen coming by most mage types in PvP. "Oh look, another fighter type! I love those, they're crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside!" Even if they're a pure caster, they're in for a surprise! On the world I play, pure casters are an absolute rarity due the harsh nature of the lower levels. Most tend to multi-class early so they can survive, and then devote themselves to casting later. She works well there.

Let me know what you think!

K'

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Aligory

If you really don't care about wisdom, why not drop it to 8 and add the extra two points to constitution.

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K’orwyn

That's a great idea! Honestly it hadn't occurred to me. Would help those pitiful hitpoints somewhat.

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MartinJHolm

Is there any particular reason that it's a paladin and not a fighter - I don't see that you really get anything from going paladin!!!

with the feats you get from a fighter you could take great fortiude, lightning reflexes, iron will as regular feats and use the ability points you put in CHA for something else like more STR or CON.

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Deltutammatre

Well besides the saves there's fear immunity, disease immunity, a teeny tiny turn undead and remove disease. Oh, also a level 1 paladin spell and a mini smite.

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K’orwyn

Actually, a buddy of mine is building one using fighter instead of pali. We're finding that it isn't as strong, for whatever reason, and by strong, I mean overall survivable. Sure, he only really has to concentrate on one stat, but his saves aren't nearly as good. Also, with 6 pali you get divine might & divine shield which gives you a little extra "umph" when needed, something the fighter variant doesn't have.

But this may not work as well on your mod or PW as on ours.

Edited By griphook on 05/06/05 19:25

Hi
K’orwyn
My apologies.. but somehow your build got deleted
I just managed to save it this way …forgive me *over gasps*
Oh Griphook! NP, these things happen. Thanks for saving it though!
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"Some mornings, it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps."
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