I play on a level 30 server:

-RDD requires 12 levels of Bard or Sorc
-Shadowdancer is dissallowed
-Minimum of 3 levels per class taken
-No perma-haste or true seeing
-No immunities beyone 5/- Element on items
-No weapons or armour beyond +3 enchantment
-No Paladin spells have been capped or changed
-Any build must make logical RP sense

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With these requirements, I have composed an entirely new concept for a Holy Warrior, which was what I have been seeking. It combines many features from both Paladin and Cleric levels, and the good ol' stuff from the rogue skill selection. It is not a smiter as my last idea was, but rather... something different.

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Human - Paladin 15/Cleric 11/Rogue 4 (In That Order)

Strength: 15(20)
Dexterity: 8
Constitution: 14
Wisdom: 16(18)
Intelligence: 14
Charisma 8

Paladin 1: Toughness, Weapon Focus Scimitar
Paladin 2:
Paladin 3: Knockdown
Paladin 4: Str +1
Paladin 5:
Paladin 6: Blindfight
Paladin 7:
Paladin 8: Str +1
Paladin 9: Improved Knockdown
Paladin 10:
Paladin 11:
Paladin 12: Str +1, Extend Spell
Paladin 13:
Paladin 14:
Paladin 15: Improved Critical Scimitar

Cleric 1: Travel and Trickery Domains Selected, Wis +1
Cleric 2:
Cleric 3: Disarm
Cleric 4:
Cleric 5: Wis +1
Cleric 6: Epic Weapon Focus Scimitar
Cleric 7:
Cleric 8:
Cleric 9: Str +1, Epic Prowess
Cleric 10:
Cleric 11:

Rogue 1: Improved Disarm
Rogue 2: Str +1
Rogue 3:
Rogue 4: Armour Skin, Skill Dump

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Mundane Scimitar, Buffed:

-AB 53/53/48/43/38
-Critical Range 15-20/x2 (Can be Keened)
-Quite good Damage (Holy Sword, Darkfire etc.)
-Usable, Single Smite (Not very much)
-Improved Knockdown and Disarm at will ( )

Mundane Armour + Shield, +3 Ring + +3 Amulet, Buffed:

-Around 50AC
-Can hide effectively, even in Full Plate
-Does not provoke Attacks of Opportunity
-Moves unrestricted, even in Heavy Armour

Miscillanious, Buffed:

-Good Saves, Eagles Splendor and Aura of Glory help quite a bit... though I cant remember exact numbers
-Enough SR to laugh at a level 3 Wizard
-Speed + 50%
-Invisble with 50% concleament
-Bonuses against alignments
-Can use nearly any magic item IG (UMD 33)
-And Much More (Feeble Mind is working on memory here)

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Advantages and Strategies:

For my server, the build has good AB and decent AC. If I am not mistaken it has near 400 HP when buffed which makes it capable of holding its own. With Holy Sword dispelling on hit, a +5 enhancment, and Darkfire to boot, it destroyed mage-oposition by ignoring magic protection and stripping buffs; all the while doing more than decent damage.

If I am not mistaken, it suffers no XP penalties until level 26 when it begins taking rogue levels. Human Favoured class being any, Paladin and Cleric levels dont harm progress.

Most importantly, the build has Haste, Improved Invisibility, and Harm! The main strategy would be running up as fast as possible while concealed by Invisibilty, and stripping all HP from the target before they even know I am there. Even if they manage to heal quickly before I strike down thier 1hp, I can do it 2 more times! And failing that, I beat them to a pulp with my already high AB, AC, and HP.

And if face to face confrontation is unavoidable, so be it. The build still stands a fighting chance with good saves, a lowly Smite to tip the scales, and a ton of other features.

The Sneak Attacks at 2d6 also don't hurt, considering the IKD hits quite often. And my own maxed Dicipline is nice...

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Disadvantages and Such:

If a Mage is waiting for me with True Sight on and a few Mordekein's Disjunctions ready, I could be in big trouble. Without my own buffs I am diminished quite a bit with an unbuffed AB in the mid-30's (I think) and I much lower AC of mid to high 30's. This still isn't so bad, if my Holy Sword pulls through then I can still butcher the mage, though my chances will be less likely if he hits my Death Ward and/or Charisma/Save Buffs.

And... I think there is more... help me out here?

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Options and Choices:

By the end of the build there are alot of Skill Points to spend. Hide, Move Silently, Tumble, Dicipline, UMD, Spot, Listen, Concentration, Set Trap and Spellcraft are all quite useful... though 2 of them won't be able to get Maxed, so there are a few choices to make here. As far as I am concerned, Tumble is a must! Dicipline Maxed, along with Dicipline Items on my server can make one hard to knockdown so for me, it is a must as well. UMD OF COURSE! The Stealth Skills are just fun, so I took them. Trap-work is a strategic aspect that shouldn't be overlooked, though I didn't take it because I didn't realize that until now.

Armour Skin and Epic Prowess are not musts, nor are the Disarm Feats. I happen to like Disarm against slightly weaker opponents so that they provoke Attacks of Opportunity, so I took it. Epic Prowess however, I might switch out for +10 dicipline which would greatly help against the one thing I fear.

The Paladin and Cleric levels are absolutely MUSTS because they give me Harm and Holy Sword, the 2 things I love in this build.

Rogue could be swapped with Bard or Monk I suppose, though Monk doesn't give UMD and my Wisdom is not high enough to warrent it. Bards are gay. That left me with Rogue. Well, I took rogue for the sneaks. 4 levels of Bard wouldn't help as much because my Charisma is too low. If Charisma was raised though, it would help quite a bit. (Does Bard get Keen by 4th level?)

The arrangement of leveling could be changes I guess but I think this is the best way for Playability.

Oh, and if you don't take the Disarm Line, you could swap Disarm for Empower Spell and improve stat buffs by a fair amount.

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~Wheeeeee I'm done!

But please, I worked hard to type all of this based on memory! So make it worth my time and give me some comments, tips, suggestions, help... Anything useful!

Thanks all!

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P.S. Some of the content may be inacurate (slightly) due to my laziness in the matter of writing the build down. Bards are gay? By this I assume you mean the class is no good? If so, you've obviously not been playing many Bard builds. They're awesome. One of my favorite classes (Rogue is the other).

Speaking of Rogues, good luck convincing the DMs that Rogue levels in a Pally build make good roleplay sense. I've personally no problem with the idea, but I'll lay odds they'll nix your build because of it. A note on your levelling: since you don't need to do an alignment shift, I'd advise spreading out your Rogue levels. Ideally, you take Rogue at level 1 for the skills, but if that doesn't work for you, then I'd advise at levels 7, 17, 22, and 27 to top up Tumble at somewhat regular intervals.

I'd also advise 1 to 3 Cleric levels a bit earlier in the build. This is to get some of the Cleric spells available to you earleir on:

Divine Favor, Prot from Alignment, Aid, Bull's, Eagle's, Endurance, etc. (these will augment your few low level Pally spells, thus giving you a bit more versatility).
Quote: 
-Enough SR to laugh at a level 3 Wizard

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I see the fear you have inside, you can run but never hide.
I will hunt you down and tear you limb from limb.

I run the Pre-Epic Builders guild. Join and share your experience. When I say Bards are gay, I don't mean the class is bad combat wise. I mean I don't like the idea of Singers, Storytellers, Performers, Historians (etc.) in most cases. I'm kind of one-sided on this though, I just dont like Bards much.

I might be able to pass the rogue levels off as a fighting style. Since my tactic is to sprint at them while completely hidden, then take them out in a couple of hits, the Rogue class fits. Tactic wise and RP wise. I will play as a solo crusader. I will infiltrate and destroy evil. I wont be the front line "By Torm I shall slay thee" sort of Paladin, but rather "By Torm I shall find you when you arent looking and kill ye"

I think I could make it work... mehbeh...

And as for spreading out the Rogue levels; if you take 1 level of any one class, then convert back to another, you dont gain the benifits of the 1 level class until you return to it for a 2nd, then 3rd level. And it would give me an XP penalty anyways wouldnt it?

But otherwise, do you think its a good build? Any other suggestions aside from level spread alterations? When/IF you post this build in the build forum PLEASE remember to NOT post buffed stats! For some reason, this is a common thing this morning. Buffed stats are totally irrelevant cuz what you used may not be what anyone else would use! In our discussions here, we always talk about the builds merits not the items merits. (or at least, we post the mundane AND buffed, but then we state whats buffed too).

Other than that small thing, nicely done.
Quote: Posted 06/04/06 05:01:26 (GMT) -- Okembour

And as for spreading out the Rogue levels; if you take 1 level of any one class, then convert back to another, you dont gain the benifits of the 1 level class until you return to it for a 2nd, then 3rd level. And it would give me an XP penalty anyways wouldnt it?

Negative. You won't lose benefits ever. The only thing to consider is xp penalty. As long as you keep Rogue and Cleric within 1 level, you're good. You could go Pally15/Cleric/3Rogue2 pre-epic and never have a penalty.
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Ariel, Ookla, RIDE! Aye, what Grizz said. Also note, you'll get a penalty anyway with your build the way it's currently designed, albeit only for the last 4 levels. Sorry. I suppose I wasnt clear on what I meant. On the server I play on that is how it works.

If you begin leveling in another class before completing your 3rd level in it, the DM's will temporarily remove the abilities gained until the 3rd level is finally completed. In theory I could still take 1 level at a time, but I would gain no use of it, and I would get an XP penalty earlier on which is something I would prefer not to have. I think the leveling scheme is in my best interest for playability, and it is supported by my server's strict requirements (Which are designed to make it more difficult to have an uber build without working very, very hard)

Other than any of this, does anyone have any suggestions or recomendations for anything to do with the build? Feats? Skills? Different Attribute Scheme? Suggestions for what to take in the 'optional' areas?

Any comments at all? I'm having a tad bit of troubel believing that this build is perfect. I know I must be missing something, or not looking at it from all the angled.

Surely the great minds of the Epic Builders Guild can enlighten a lamen on how to improve? Well, 1 more Cleric. Perhaps from Rogue, perhaps from Paladin. Oh, and save your last Pally level until the very last level, to max Discipline at least, perhaps Taunt, should you use it.
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I see the fear you have inside, you can run but never hide.
I will hunt you down and tear you limb from limb.

I run the Pre-Epic Builders guild. Join and share your experience. My god. That is so obvious! Of course I need a Paladin level at the end! Jeez!

See... I knew I was missing something.

And if I were to take another Cleric level, it would definetly be out of rogue since that 4th level isnt as helpful as Holy Sword at my 15th Paladin level. And that reminds me, taking a Paladin at the last level would mean I get Holy Sword at the last level! Crap... unless I took a 16th Paladin level and take the extra level out of rogue. That would leave Cleric at 11 though.

So I guess that leaves me to decide what is better, Maximum dicipline and taunt and an earlier Holy Sword, or whatever a 12th Cleric level would give me...

SO... what does that 12th Cleric level really give me? +4 divine favor, +4 GMW, magic vestments, barkskin. Shield of Faith too, I believe. All these are +3 at lvl 11. If you're in a +3 setting, cleric12 increases your AC by 4 and AB by 1 (2 with DF) over Cleric11.
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Dragonlance ROH is back, better than before! and I spend a little time here WoG Ah, you're right. I forgot about the multiple of 3 thing. It would help my AC by a bit, I would get +4 Armour and Shield which would net me a +2 difference from others. And a few other buffs would become better too. But the greater Magic Weapon doesn't help because I have Holy Sword which is so much better. So I would have to take 12 Cleric, 15 Paladin, 3 Rogue. But the problem is, I want to take a Paladin level at 28-30th level. It would have to be my 15th level though, and that would mean I get Holy Sword really, really late.

I could start Cleric, and go all 12 levels right away, and begin Paladin on my 13th level. I could take it until 26th level, then go 3 rogue, then finish with Paladin. This would be awkward and annoying but it would get me the same result in the end, plus those additional cleric strengths.

Oh, and if someone could tell me how Holy Sword works that would be great. Does it gauruntee dispel on hit, or is there a chance of failure? Or what?

And what about resisting dispell? How do you do that? I know that someone said Pure Paladin 40 cant be dispelled, why not, how does it work? I'll just say this, Holysword lasts 1 round pr caster level, and GMW lasts 1h/caster level. so it counts.
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I see the fear you have inside, you can run but never hide.
I will hunt you down and tear you limb from limb.

I run the Pre-Epic Builders guild. Join and share your experience. Pfft. First of all... my PvP situations won't last long at all. Ideally, I dont have to stand toe-to-toe often, and when I do... I would not allow it to drag on more than 15 rounds without rethinking a new plan or tactic. So the sword will last. Plus, at 15th level, I believe the Paladin can cast GMW anyways... for a +5...