I was surprised to see no builds with this combo of levels in the search engine. This is a mod of my earlier Acerarak's Bane, concentrating a bit more on offensive power (trading CoT's save bonuses for the Fighter's WS/EWS). You could also get the same number of feats by going Pal 29/Fighter 6/Rogue 5, but the extra Rogue level is nice for a few more skill points and an extra skill dump at level 32. I took Dev Crit primarily because there isn't much else he can take with his epic Paladin feats. If you don't want it, drop Great Cleave for Toughness pre-epic, and take 2 Great Toughness feat instead of OC/DC to pick up 80 more HP, or take some save boosters like Lightning Reflexes to help make Evasion more useful. He's quite playable from level 1, but he really takes off at level 17 when he gets that second Tumble/UMD dump.
THE GRIZZLED KNIGHT - PALADIN(26), FIGHTER(8), ROGUE(6) Human, LG
Notes - Divine Might is still reasonably useful since he can self-buff Cha by 9, and only needs +3 from items to max it out at 26. That also helps with the low reflex save (finding some Dex buffing items will also be a priority). Damage output is very nice - he can self-buff with Bull's Str, Prayer, Divine Favor, GMW, HS, and DM. Put all that on top of his high Str and WS/EWS, and he can really dish out the damage.
I didn't specify a weapon, he works quite well with almost anything. I tend to favor sword and board for the AC boost, but he is also quite effective with a 2-handed weapon. You could go with Scim or Rapier to take advantage of Dev Crit, or even something like heavy flail to help against crit-immunes (although the Divine damage tends to make them not so bad). He is obviously quite good against undead with Bless Weapon and a respectable Turn Undead.
Search and Disable Trap were left high enough to handle all Deadly traps, but not Epic ones. There are 21 points left over for things like Lore or Heal or Persuade. If you want to handle Epic traps, I recommend dropping 2 points of Con to pump Int to 14.
TM
Edited By Kail Pendragon on 05/27/10 21:14
There's my Defender of the Faith (Paladin 26 / Rogue 10 / FTR 4) which has a slightly different lvl split and is no dev critter. Just pointing it out for reference _________________ They can't stop us Let them try For Heavy Metal We will die
TM, glad to see you still thinking about the possibilities. However, where's the fanfare? Where's the pomp and circumstance, the heraldry, the banners, the trumpeteers, where's the galloping of hooves and the gleam of steel along the lists, where is the promise of a kiss, unrequited love, passion, courage, the darkest before the dawn, and a new sun rising?
Paladin builds such as these should shine gloriously in their moment, and as such should at least have a title, not just "Paladin26/Fighter8/Rogue6." Come on, let's get personal, make this pile of cold numbers into a living breathing hero that inspires me to play a knight once again. Make me. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
At least he's a member of the Clumsy Paladin Lodge.
Build as this, is some of the most soloable builds around. A paladins spells ain't half bad either. Bless, GMW, Aid, Prayer and divine Favor gives you +13 to AB. _________________ We are sons of Odin, and the fire that we burn inside is the legacy of warrior-kings who reign above in the sky I will lead the charge, my sword into the wind Sons of Odin fights to die and live again
As you wish. In your honor, Dwarflord, I name him:
The Grizzled Knight - Pal 26/Fighter 8/Rogue 6
Augustin took off his helmet, his iron-gray hair dripped with sweat and blood. He looked at the corpses of the dracolich, and the two younger knights who had come before him. He shook his head sadly.
Kelwin, the impetuous one, lay impaled on the poisoned spikes he hadn't noticed in his rush to do battle. He had never listened when Augustin had tried to impress upon him the danger of traps, and usefulness of knowing how they worked.
Gavin, the beautiful one, lay surrounded by the corpses of 3 of the dracolich's brood. They had each been killed by a single mighty blow, but with those his greatest strength had been spent. He had thought the prayers he had uttered would give him the power to defeat the enemy, but the the divine glow of his sword had been extinguished by a Disjunction from the ancient dracolich, and as that light died so had his chances of victory. Augustin had offered to help the boy with his physical training, but he had been too easily distracted from the hard days of sword practice by the young maidens who found him so irresistable.
Augustin had faith in his lord, and was grateful for the divine aid he received, but had always felt his calling was to use his strength to fight for his god, not to count on his god's strength to fight for him. Besides, no demon or lich could dispel the strength in his arms, or his skill with his weapon.
He arranged the young knights on their shields as best he could, tied the ends of a rope to each, and looped it over his broad shoulders. He began the long, wearying journey back to the citadel, where they could be given a proper funeral.
As he crested the hill and the lookouts spotted him, he could hear the trumpeteers declaring his triumph. Tonight, he thought, there would be feasting and toasts to his "glorious victory" by those who knew nothing of real battle, only tournaments with blunted swords. Looking back at contents of the shields, he wondered how many more foolish young knights would rush into battle believing themselves invincible, with no thought to what dangers could spring from beneath their feet, or what they would do if their first great swing didn't make an end to their foe.
TM
The story pretty much outlines my philosophy about Paladins. While I like the buffs, I don't trust Smite, and prefer to use DM as "extra" damage instead of the main source of it. My goals with this one were similar to Acererak's Bane - use Rogue for UMD and trap detecting/disarming, use Strength for AB and damage that never runs out or gets dispelled, then use the buffs to make him even better. His unbuffed AB and damage are up there with most non-buffing fighter builds (44 AB and +17 damage from Str and WS/EWS). Then he can get +8 to +9 from long term buffs (Bull's, Bless, Aid, GMW), another +6 from short-term ones (Prayer, DF), and with buffed Cha he can get up to another +8 of divine damage. When he's fully buffed, he can get his AB into the high 50's, and his damage up to +29 physical damage, +5 magic, and +8 divine (with another +1d6 or +2d6 against evil and undead, respectively, with Holy Sword and Bless Weapon). Don't forget the defensive buffs, either - PfA, Death Ward, Resist Elements, etc., help him with some of the things that standard fighters have the most trouble with.
TM
Bravo! Much better! The name works for me, too! _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Quote: by Tatooed Monk I took Dev Crit primarily because there isn't much else he can take with his epic Paladin feats. If you don't want it, drop Great Cleave for Toughness pre-epic, and take 2 Great Toughness feat instead of OC/DC to pick up 80 more HP
I say it's perfect as it is, those Great Toughness feats have never been to my liking, they're just made so that you don't end with a blank bonus feat IMO.
It looks pretty good, you've got Knockdown from the start, and stats are good, hell if I wasn't an anti-Paladin I'd probably play this guy. _________________
Quote: Posted 07/28/06 23:16:09 (GMT) -- Big Meph Using the 2 ESF's in a dex based sneak build, to me, just looks like you're teasing your diabetic opponent with extra sugar on your whipcream covered chocolate mudcake.
The Dev Crit route fits better with the high-offense design of the build. I primarily mentioned the Epic Toughness route for those on PW's where Dev Crit is banned, or those who just don't like it.
