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Order of Gungnir (Paladin 15 / WeaponMaster 22 / ShadowDancer 3)

Human
Lawful-Good
Playable 1-40, PvM

Str 15 (32)
Dex 14
Con12
Int 14
Wis 14
Cha 8


1 Paladin - Dodge, Mobility
2 Paladin
3 Paladin - Weapon Focus: Spear
4 Paladin
5 Paladin
6 Paladin - Expertise
7 Paladin
8 Paladin
9 Paladin - Spring Attack
10 Paladin
11 Paladin
12 Paladin - Whirlwind Attack
13 WeaponMaster
14 WeaponMaster
15 WeaponMaster - Improved Critical: Spear
16 WeaponMaster
17 Weapon Master (+1 AB w/spear)
18 ShadowDancer - BlindFight
19 WeaponMaster
20 WeaponMaster

21 Paladin - Great St. I
22 ShadowDancer
23 Paladin
24 Paladin - Great Str. II
25 WeaponMaster
26 WeaponMaster
27 WeaponMaster - Great Str. III
28 WeaponMaster
29 WeaponMaster
30 WeaponMaster - Great Str. IV, Epic Weapon Focus: Spear, (+1 AB w/spear)
31 WeaponMaster
32 WeaponMaster
33 WeaponMaster - Great Str. V, Armor Skin (+1 AB w/spear)
34 WeaponMaster
35 WeaponMaster
36 WeaponMaster - Great Str. VI, Epic Prowess (+1 AB w/spear)
37 ShadowDancer
38 WeaponMaster
39 WeaponMaster - Great Str. VII
40 WeaponMaster - Epic Toughness (+1 AB w/spear)

AB (w/spear) 49
AB (w/spear, Divine Favor, Aid, Prayer, Holy Avenger, Bulls Strength) 63
AC (w/spear) 29

AB (w/sword & shield) 41
AB (w/sword & shield, Divine Favor, Aid, Prayer, Holy Avenger, Bulls Strength) 53
AC (w/sword & shield) 32

Fortitude 21
Reflex 23
Will18

A few notes about the build:

I just finished "American Gods" (by Neil Gaiman) and it prompted me to read a little Norse mythology. In doing so, I read about Gungnir, Odin's spear. This made me toy around with the idea of a sect of warriors that fought on behalf of Odin, using the spear as a symbol of their allegiance.

It felt wrong to create a Norse warrior out of Paladin, and I rebuilt it using Barbarian. But as I thought about a warrior that was utterly devoted to his diety, it made me go back to Paladin. I suppose that one could easily swap out Paladin for Barbarian if one wanted. You would lose some buffs, but you would gain a small bit of DR and Greater Rage. You could also drop a couple of Great Strengths for a Terrifying Rage and something else, if you wanted.

The ShadowDancer class was thrown in mainly to boost the AC (via Tumble) to offset the lack of a sheild. It also worked out nicely with some synergy between Evasion and the WeaponMaster's Reflex saving throws. And it fits a little RP-wise, as Loki was allegedly the one who gave the spear to Odin (rogue probably would work better than ShadowDancer, but alignment restrictions nixed that idea).

I hated to give up the Charisma and it's bonuses, but with the WeaponMaster pre-req's, I would have had to water down the Strength and lose the Dexterity (leave it at . And since I was going to be tight in the AC Department anyway, I didn't want to scrimp on the extra 2 AC from the Dex.

Anyway, it seemed to work pretty well in the leveler, but it is more of a RP build due to some weaknesses in it's saves and AC.

Feel free to tweak away....

Edited By griphook on 10/30/05 17:48

Quote: Posted 10/28/05 13:08:53 (GMT) -- dmuzzy

(rogue probably would work better than ShadowDancer, but alignment restrictions nixed that idea).

I hated to give up the Charisma and it's bonuses, but with the WeaponMaster pre-req's, I would have had to water down the Strength and lose the Dexterity (leave it at . And since I was going to be tight in the AC Department anyway, I didn't want to scrimp on the extra 2 AC from the Dex.

There are no alignment restrictions for rogue, so you can mix it with paladin (yes a rogue can be LG).
Also, you need 13 DEx to qualify for WM required feats, so at most you could get 1 point from DEX.

I'd suggest you to take your first SD lvl epic, it would net you +1 AB (total 50 AB w/ spear).
Also, since HP are kinda low for a meleer, you could drop starting STR to 14 and put CON to 14 (+40 HP) then in epic drop 1 Great STR for toughness (+40 HP). You get +80 HP and +1 For save at the cost of -1 AB (offsets the +1 AB from moving SD in epic) and -1 DAM. Might be worth it.
Cheers,
Kail
_________________
Dilegua notte
Tramontate stelle
Tramontate stelle
All'alba vinceṛ
Vinceṛ
Vinceṛ Actually, I think Odin's spear is called Grungnir. Welcome to Norse heroes guild. You will not be using HipS, right, so go rogue.
Nice powerful build, able to pierce any opponent, just like Odins spear. Get a holy avenger spear, eh?
Kudos. interesting build. the synergy is interesting, although for powerfaming of course other choices can be made (rogue in stead of SD mayhaps?). they can be of any alignment, IIRC. solid. with the pally buffs i think you can boost your cha a little bit, so that you boost saves. probably not by much, but a little bit goes a long way sometimes.
a story for this would make this amazing. as it stands, very nicely done.

-c
_________________
"You cannot pass!"
Quote: Posted 10/28/05 13:36:12 (GMT) -- Kail Pendragon

Quote: Posted 10/28/05 13:08:53 (GMT) -- dmuzzy

(rogue probably would work better than ShadowDancer, but alignment restrictions nixed that idea).

I hated to give up the Charisma and it's bonuses, but with the WeaponMaster pre-req's, I would have had to water down the Strength and lose the Dexterity (leave it at . And since I was going to be tight in the AC Department anyway, I didn't want to scrimp on the extra 2 AC from the Dex.

There are no alignment restrictions for rogue, so you can mix it with paladin (yes a rogue can be LG).
Also, you need 13 DEx to qualify for WM required feats, so at most you could get 1 point from DEX.

I'd suggest you to take your first SD lvl epic, it would net you +1 AB (total 50 AB w/ spear).
Also, since HP are kinda low for a meleer, you could drop starting STR to 14 and put CON to 14 (+40 HP) then in epic drop 1 Great STR for toughness (+40 HP). You get +80 HP and +1 For save at the cost of -1 AB (offsets the +1 AB from moving SD in epic) and -1 DAM. Might be worth it.
Cheers,
Kail

hmmmm....it seems I relied on the one resource more unreliable than the Manual...my brain. Seems you are right; I can have a LG Rogue. Whooda thunk it?

This begs another question, though; should I take the first Rogue level pre-epic around level 12 for the pre-mid-epic AC boost or forgo it till after epic and juggle the stats and Great Strengths for Extra HP as you suggested. My only fear is that the loss of the Tumble AC will hurt this build pre-epic.

It seems I'm weighing playability vs. overall build strength. And I'm not sure which route to go....any suggestions?

Thanks for the input.
Quote: Posted 10/28/05 17:20:41 (GMT) -- dmuzzy


hmmmm....it seems I relied on the one resource more unreliable than the Manual...my brain. Seems you are right; I can have a LG Rogue. Whooda thunk it?

This begs another question, though; should I take the first Rogue level pre-epic around level 12 for the pre-mid-epic AC boost or forgo it till after epic and juggle the stats and Great Strengths for Extra HP as you suggested. My only fear is that the loss of the Tumble AC will hurt this build pre-epic.

It seems I'm weighing playability vs. overall build strength. And I'm not sure which route to go....any suggestions?

Thanks for the input.

Personally I'd go rogue and not SD (UMD and 2d6 sneaks over HiPS). Also, I'd go for the extra HP...after all it costs you only +1 DAM (if you move rogue/SD in epic). Sure taking your first rogue lvl in epic will delay the AC boost, but you'll have anyhow a solid meleer till that point so I don't think it will really "hurt" you. If you want to keep a rogue lvl pre-epic that means -1 AB forever instead of -3AC for only the 8 last pre-epic lvls(since you plan Rogue on 12th lvl). I'd go for rogue lvls only in epic therefore, but that's me.

Edit:
PS: it wouldn't be a bad idea to max out Taunt so you might consider delaying till 40th lvl your last Pally lvl

Edited By Kail Pendragon on 10/28/05 19:08