Post by Vichya on May 1, 2011 9:52:19 GMT
This build is designed as a strength tank with high exotic immunities for Aboleth and Abyss.
Some areas in the game have high amounts of incoming exotic damage. This build is designed to withstand it and tank successfully. This is much less an issue in Hells as it is in Aboleth and Abyss where different exotic immunities are required at the same time.
A Paladin is also the perfect tank for Aboleth, since Holy Sword is a very important spell there. In addition to high immunities this build is also a smiter, which adds some area of effect damage to it.
Goals of this build:
(Assuming 2x demi)
Some notes:
Weapon: you definitely want a slashing weapon for Aboleths. Bastard Swords are very nice because of their high critical hit multiplier and since there's a fire mega damage one (Arcfire).
Smites: I didn't take Extra Smiting on this build since I don't have enough feats for it. Most of the damage comes from direct weapon damage anyway (on my last Nessus run 55k out of 270k damage was from smites). If you really want it you can drop Exotic Weapon Proficiency and use Longswords for example.
Pandect: with the Spell Resistance Pandect a Pharlan has 79 Spell Resistance, enough to resist maybe 40-50% of spells from non-boss mobs.
Artifact: I used the Strength artifact since the stun immunity is very important in Aboleth. If you can cover this with gear, then Constitution is much better since poison immunity helps a lot in Abyss and Hell.
Abilities:
Assist Other (Player Tool 2):
Pick up any player who is knocked down, even if you're about to activate UUU. It can save precious time and prevent the death of a party member.
Divine Might & Divine Shield:
With 50 Charisma Divine Might & Shield lasts 6 minutes. Always use Divine Might since the +30 physical damage boost is one of the reasons your damage output will be quite high given your low number of attacks per round. Divine Shield is a bit more problematic, on the one hand you get +20 dodge AC which can come in quite handy if you die on a deep hell run. You also get 20% divine immunity. On the other hand you'll cause kickback damage when certain mobs hit you. However, with high AC and concealment this is usually not a real issue.
Lay on Hands:
Lay on Hands gives the target (which must not be yourself) immunity to Critical Hits for 52 rounds with this build. This is often best used on Bards or Druids, although some other classes like Cleric or Shifter might benefit from it too. If you use the Quality of Mercy gloves then using Lay on Hands on someone also applies the same effect on yourself.
Spells:
Paladins have a few very useful spells.
Level 1:
Endure Elements: 8% elemental immunity
Bless Weapon: +2 dice of divine damage
Deafening Clang: +4 dice of sonic damage
Divine Favour: +5 physical damage and attack bonus
Lionheart: complete immunity to fear, very useful in Aboleth and some Abyss runs
Protection from Alignment: prevents from being turned by Death Knights.
Level 2:
Aura of Glory: charisma modifier/2 physical and charisma modifier positive immunity. One of the reasons this paladin has very high exotic immunities.
Level 3:
Greater Magic Weapon: with an Enchantment Draughts you can give +14 GMW, in case no one in the group has anything better.
Magic Circle against Alignment: prevents anyone inside the circle from being turned by Death Knights.
Remove Blindness/Deafness: removes blindess caused by Gadacros in the Abyss.
Remove Curse: useful spell for Aboleth, Elysium and Abyss. You can release mazed party members with it.
Level 4:
Death Ward: 26 rounds of critical hit immunity
Freedom of Movement: running faster is nice
Holy Sword: cast at caster level 52, which means you can breach creatures normally immune to the effect, such as Aboleths.
Some of these spells should be cast extended since some spell levels are pretty tight. I usually cast Divine Favour, Deafening Clang, Lionhearts (if needed) and Aura of Glory as extended spells. Another useful item is the Pit of Moliation paladin ring, as it gives three level five slots. If you use it before you rest you can cast an extended Freedom of Movement, Holy Sword and Death Ward and then switch rings to something useful.
Equipment:
Randomized items make it impossible to give an optimal gear combination. So I'll just give a few hints what to use and let you figure our your personal favorite gear setup.
In order to maximize armor class for this build you have to use a BUR medium armor. This gives you 135 AC with Asmodeus artifact, Strongheart and +2 bonus from Craft Armor. However there's an alternative to that, the Plate of the Holy Avenger has a +2 armor class bonus which means it's only at -1 AC compared to a medium armor. This makes it very appealing, especially when you consider its spell slots, immunities, damage reduction and resistance.
The equipment I currently use is:
Armor: Plate of the Holy Avenger
Shield: Bastion of Cormyr
Helm: Visor of Vigilance, Gnomish Exploration Goggles (if I don't want to be hit at all)
Cloak: Corruption
Belt: The Serpent's Coil
Gloves: The Quality of Mercy (it's possible to switch to other gloves after using Lay on Hands, like Manacles of Mephistopheles for example)
Amulet: Strongheart
Boots: Mordenkainen's Mockery, Clockwork Boots (if breach immunity isn't required or if you're comfortable using a ring for it)
Mote: exotic immunity motes
Run Logs: (Character name is Silas El'Akura)
Nessus
Shedaklah 3
History:
2011-05-01: inital post
2011-05-06: added run logs
Some areas in the game have high amounts of incoming exotic damage. This build is designed to withstand it and tank successfully. This is much less an issue in Hells as it is in Aboleth and Abyss where different exotic immunities are required at the same time.
A Paladin is also the perfect tank for Aboleth, since Holy Sword is a very important spell there. In addition to high immunities this build is also a smiter, which adds some area of effect damage to it.
Goals of this build:
(Assuming 2x demi)
- Enough Strength to make most - if not all - checks in the game (DC 64 Goristro)
- Enough Dexterity to make some checks in Hell such as from Advespas and Erinyes
- Good AC
- High physical and exotic immunities
- Very high saves (70 Fortitude/Reflex/Will)
Optimized for | Level 60, Immortal | Level 60, 2x Demi |
Build | Fighter 4/Paladin 32/Champion of Torm 4 | Fighter 4/Paladin 32/Champion of Torm 4 |
Race/Subrace | Half-Elf (+1 skill point per level, immunity to sleep effects) Pharlan | Half-Elf (+1 skill point per level, immunity to sleep effects) Pharlan |
Level order The order in which levels are taken is extremely important with this build. | Fighter 1 Paladin 18 Champion of Torm 1 Fighter 2 Paladin 1 Fighter 1 Paladin 13 Champion of Torm 3 | Fighter 1 Paladin 18 Champion of Torm 1 Fighter 2 Paladin 1 Fighter 1 Paladin 13 Champion of Torm 3 |
Abilities at character creation (Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, Cha) | 14, 10, 14, 14, 12, 14 | 14, 14, 14, 14, 8, 14 |
Pre-epic and epic ability progression | Charisma 10 | Charisma 10 |
Legendary level ability progression | Strength 10 | Strength 10 |
Pre-epic feats | Blooded Weapon Focus - Bastard Sword Greater Weapon Focus - Bastard Sword Improved Critical - Bastard Sword Power Attack Divine Shield Metamagic - Extend Spell | Blooded Weapon Focus - Bastard Sword Greater Weapon Focus - Bastard Sword Improved Critical - Bastard Sword Power Attack Divine Shield Metamagic - Extend Spell |
Fighter bonus feat at Level 1 | Weapon Proficiency - Exotic | Weapon Proficiency - Exotic |
Epic feats | Weapon Specialization - Bastard Sword Cleave Greater Cleave Great Smiting I Great Smiting II Great Smiting III Great Smiting IV | Weapon Specialization - Bastard Sword Cleave Greater Cleave Great Smiting I Great Smiting II Great Smiting III Great Smiting IV |
Paladin bonus feats | Great Smiting V Great Smiting VI Great Smiting VII Great Smiting VIII | Great Smiting V Great Smiting VI Great Smiting VII Great Smiting VIII |
Fighter bonus feats at Level 21 and 24 | Epic Weapon Focus - Bastard Sword Epic Weapon Specialization - Bastard Sword | Epic Weapon Focus - Bastard Sword Epic Weapon Specialization - Bastard Sword |
Champion of Torm bonus feats | Great Smiting IX Great Smiting X | Great Smiting IX Great Smiting X |
Legendary level feats | Legendary Weapon Focus - Bastard Sword Legendary Skill Affinity - Tumble Legendary Skill Affinity - Listen Epic Prowess Armor Skin Overwhelming Critical - Bastard Sword Devestating Critical - Bastard Sword | Legendary Weapon Focus - Bastard Sword Legendary Skill Affinity - Tumble Legendary Skill Affinity - Listen Epic Prowess Armor Skin Overwhelming Critical - Bastard Sword Devestating Critical - Bastard Sword |
Tome | Enchantment | Enchantment |
Artifact | Several artifact can be useful for this build including: The Orb of Dragonkind for poison immunity, Hand of Vecna for stun immunity or | Several artifact can be useful for this build including: The Orb of Dragonkind for poison immunity, Hand of Vecna for stun immunity or |
Pandect | Spell Resistance | Spell Resistance |
Abilities (Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, Cha) | 60, 24, 28, 28, 30, 46 | 64, 32, 32, 32, 30, 50 |
Skills | Concentration 30 Craft Armor 63 Craft Weapon 33 Discipline 63 Listen 63 Tumble 60 | Concentration 30 Craft Armor 63 Craft Weapon 33 Discipline 63 Listen 63 Tumble 60 |
AB | 99 | 101 |
AC | 131 (using Strongheart) | 134 |
Saves (Fort, Ref, Will) | 77, 68, 69 | 81, 74, 71 |
Some notes:
Weapon: you definitely want a slashing weapon for Aboleths. Bastard Swords are very nice because of their high critical hit multiplier and since there's a fire mega damage one (Arcfire).
Smites: I didn't take Extra Smiting on this build since I don't have enough feats for it. Most of the damage comes from direct weapon damage anyway (on my last Nessus run 55k out of 270k damage was from smites). If you really want it you can drop Exotic Weapon Proficiency and use Longswords for example.
Pandect: with the Spell Resistance Pandect a Pharlan has 79 Spell Resistance, enough to resist maybe 40-50% of spells from non-boss mobs.
Artifact: I used the Strength artifact since the stun immunity is very important in Aboleth. If you can cover this with gear, then Constitution is much better since poison immunity helps a lot in Abyss and Hell.
Abilities:
Assist Other (Player Tool 2):
Pick up any player who is knocked down, even if you're about to activate UUU. It can save precious time and prevent the death of a party member.
Divine Might & Divine Shield:
With 50 Charisma Divine Might & Shield lasts 6 minutes. Always use Divine Might since the +30 physical damage boost is one of the reasons your damage output will be quite high given your low number of attacks per round. Divine Shield is a bit more problematic, on the one hand you get +20 dodge AC which can come in quite handy if you die on a deep hell run. You also get 20% divine immunity. On the other hand you'll cause kickback damage when certain mobs hit you. However, with high AC and concealment this is usually not a real issue.
Lay on Hands:
Lay on Hands gives the target (which must not be yourself) immunity to Critical Hits for 52 rounds with this build. This is often best used on Bards or Druids, although some other classes like Cleric or Shifter might benefit from it too. If you use the Quality of Mercy gloves then using Lay on Hands on someone also applies the same effect on yourself.
Spells:
Paladins have a few very useful spells.
Level 1:
Endure Elements: 8% elemental immunity
Bless Weapon: +2 dice of divine damage
Deafening Clang: +4 dice of sonic damage
Divine Favour: +5 physical damage and attack bonus
Lionheart: complete immunity to fear, very useful in Aboleth and some Abyss runs
Protection from Alignment: prevents from being turned by Death Knights.
Level 2:
Aura of Glory: charisma modifier/2 physical and charisma modifier positive immunity. One of the reasons this paladin has very high exotic immunities.
Level 3:
Greater Magic Weapon: with an Enchantment Draughts you can give +14 GMW, in case no one in the group has anything better.
Magic Circle against Alignment: prevents anyone inside the circle from being turned by Death Knights.
Remove Blindness/Deafness: removes blindess caused by Gadacros in the Abyss.
Remove Curse: useful spell for Aboleth, Elysium and Abyss. You can release mazed party members with it.
Level 4:
Death Ward: 26 rounds of critical hit immunity
Freedom of Movement: running faster is nice
Holy Sword: cast at caster level 52, which means you can breach creatures normally immune to the effect, such as Aboleths.
Some of these spells should be cast extended since some spell levels are pretty tight. I usually cast Divine Favour, Deafening Clang, Lionhearts (if needed) and Aura of Glory as extended spells. Another useful item is the Pit of Moliation paladin ring, as it gives three level five slots. If you use it before you rest you can cast an extended Freedom of Movement, Holy Sword and Death Ward and then switch rings to something useful.
Equipment:
Randomized items make it impossible to give an optimal gear combination. So I'll just give a few hints what to use and let you figure our your personal favorite gear setup.
In order to maximize armor class for this build you have to use a BUR medium armor. This gives you 135 AC with Asmodeus artifact, Strongheart and +2 bonus from Craft Armor. However there's an alternative to that, the Plate of the Holy Avenger has a +2 armor class bonus which means it's only at -1 AC compared to a medium armor. This makes it very appealing, especially when you consider its spell slots, immunities, damage reduction and resistance.
The equipment I currently use is:
Armor: Plate of the Holy Avenger
Shield: Bastion of Cormyr
Helm: Visor of Vigilance, Gnomish Exploration Goggles (if I don't want to be hit at all)
Cloak: Corruption
Belt: The Serpent's Coil
Gloves: The Quality of Mercy (it's possible to switch to other gloves after using Lay on Hands, like Manacles of Mephistopheles for example)
Amulet: Strongheart
Boots: Mordenkainen's Mockery, Clockwork Boots (if breach immunity isn't required or if you're comfortable using a ring for it)
Mote: exotic immunity motes
Run Logs: (Character name is Silas El'Akura)
Nessus
Shedaklah 3
History:
2011-05-01: inital post
2011-05-06: added run logs