Mechgraber's Endgame Paladin

[Concavenator]

If looking to get tankier (especially 1st life) then it might make sense to dump vistani haste boost for the +10-50 PRR/MRR shield smash boost. Not having haste boost might feel a bit gross but if grouping a lot and you end up tanking, that might be better overall. 50 PRR/MRR is a lot, won't be 100% of the time but in tougher r10 boss fights you should be able to keep it up. So something like 41 KoTC 31 SD 8 vanguard with the 2 universal points maybe in harper+inquisitive for the +2 attack.

Overall, the buffs to melee power for vanguard certainly bring it closer, or even ahead in some ways. I'll probably try it out. Just keep in mind that the shield is a relatively small % of damage due to the inherent 1 second cap on it striking, so jacking that up past ~50-60% has very diminishing benefits, we're talking probably about 2-4% more single target dps going from 60% to 100%. When using quick cutter or cleaves, the shield does nothing and even with the QC nerf that's still a good chunk of your damage.

As an uber completionist with 83 ED points, you can still pick up 3d6 bleed damage (barely, not a single point to spare) but for a 1st lifer you can really only get to 2d6. Still the best epic strike for this build, they really need to make the other ones better.

Overall, 41+31 of any of the combination of the 3 paladin trees are all very much viable.

41 SD for the tankiest option and tons of lay on hands, then 31 in either vanguard or KotC, either are good.
41 KoTC for the 3% damage capstone, heal amp, blessed purpose, then 31 vanguard for more damage or SD for extra tankiness.
41 Vanguard for more attack speed/shield goodness, then 31 KotC for energy drain immunity/greater restos/damage or SD for tankiness

If you go 41/31 vanguard/KotC (or vice versa) throwing that last 8 points in SD for the 25 PRR/MRR and extra lay on hands might be better than vistani haste boost, unless you raid a lot but are not the tank.

If you go 41 SD though, you might as well just go T5 unyielding sentinel to further boost defenses and get AOE lay on hands. Now you're basically pretty close to just being a full tank and not bringing a ton of DPS in most groups, especially on a 1st lifer. Having a lot of past lives boosts defenses a ton so you can tank a lot of stuff even without 41 SD, but if low on past lives and expected to tank, you kind of have to go all in on that.

Lots of ways to season it to taste, just depends on your goals and the groups you run with. If running r10 raids you just have to specialize a ton in your role, but that's a tiny minority of the content being run. There are always tradeoffs between tankiness and damage, I've found it fun trying to do both at a moderate level, and at the end of the day it's a game so fun is kinda important.

i might try 41 van and 31 SD. i been playing monk for too long cant live without some speed and leap/shield charge

 

[Sehenry033]

I know this is a bit to ask, but would you change much if you were going hardcore first life 32pt build with a focus on surviving hits more then dps?

I will be doing most content on elite, only a little on R1 or R2, but champ casters hit hard as do reapers. Would you keep the same race? I was thinking of giving this a try but just lvling with 1h/shield for safety reasons, was even thinking of going dwarf for extra health and dwarven axe.

Thoughts?

 

[Sehenry033]

I just thought of something, can I even get dwarven axes as favored weapons for pally? If not then scratch dwarf I guess

 

[unbongwah]

I just thought of something, can I even get dwarven axes as favored weapons for pally? If not then scratch dwarf I guess

Dwarf racial tree, costs 12 APs. Also gives +15% Strikethrough.

 

[Sehenry033]

Dwarf racial tree, costs 12 APs. Also gives +15% Strikethrough.

Thanks, now would I have enough points to spend 12 in dwarf and also get the KnotC and Vanguard stuff. I could live without Vistani if needed.

 

[unbongwah]

Thanks, now would I have enough points to spend 12 in dwarf and also get the KnotC and Vanguard stuff. I could live without Vistani if needed.

Not on a first-life build without compromise. E.g. 41 KotC / 12 dwarf / 8 Vistani / 21 Vanguard is doable with +2 AP's worth of tomes.

 

[Mechgraber]

Yea I think Unbongwah nailed it, that AP split looks good. That being said, if you have to drop Vistani haste boost for KoTC melee power boost because you don't want to drop a tome on the project...eh, not the end of the world IMO.

That or going Sacred Defender instead of Vanguard, +15AC/PRR on an action boost isn't bad at low levels either, especially on top of the stance. Plus better saves, extra LOH and AC....good amount of survivability there. So 41 KoTC 21 SD 14 Dwarf (grabbing the Radiant forcefield 25% damage reduction) then last 4 wherever (probably tier 4 SD movement speed or more str/con) would work, too.

 

[unbongwah]

Thanks, now would I have enough points to spend 12 in dwarf and also get the KnotC and Vanguard stuff. I could live without Vistani if needed.

BTW if you're not wedded to S&B, have a look at Hammatimes' dwarf paladin. SWF is higher DPS than S&B; and not needing to go heavy into Vanguard gives you more flexibility with APs after spending 41 KotC / 14 dwarf. The only tricky thing on a first life might be the stat split, since it needs DEX 13 for Precision, STR & CHA for melee DPS, enough INT for skill points, and then some CON for not dying.