Need Inputs on Paladin Build

[ellestil]

I'd like some opinions on my Paladin build I'm thinking of. First off, of the races I was thinking of either a Thestran human, Kojan human, or a Dwarf. Thestran's get three group buffs as a racial ability (2% mitigation buff, 2% dps buff, or 3% decrease in mana cost buff). This was appealing because they reflect paladin buffs and can either enhance or offset them. (like a paladin in defensive stance can have human dps buff on to offset the dps loss, or he can use the def stance and further raise his mitigation.) These buffs have no duration, and after 10 mins I can add a second buff, after 10 more I can add a third buf, thus ending up with all three human buffs on at once. But if I die I would have to start over with only 1 again.

Kojan's get the 45% heal to hp/mana once every 30 mins. It's like a 2nd LoH without the penalty if I use it on myself. Dwarves get the stoneskin ability which negates poison, raises mitigation by 10%, and negates effects like kickback or stun for 60 sec's.

Humans get +1 to all stats, then 14 to spend how they want.
Dwarves get +1 to all, then +3 con and +1 wis, with 10 points left to spend.

Now on to my desired build. I mainly want to build a Paladin that focuses on MT/2nd tank. So I've figured my primary two stats are Dex and Con for avoidance, crits, hp's and spell resists. My secondary stats are Vit and Int, increased regen of hp's and mana (more healing power as well), and increased combat awareness with a perk of higher spell damage. (who is targeted). My tertiary stats are Wis and Str (Paladins get strength buffs to help offset low points).

If going human I had planned on taking my 14 points and per level spending them like this....Dex 4 Con 4 Vit 2 Int 2 Str 1 Wis 1....giving me a total of Dex 5 Con 5 Vit 3 Int 3 Str 2 Wis 2 per level.

So, does anyone see an inherent problem with stat allocation? Also, considering racial abilities and points, which race of those three would you think best matches his abilities and role? Which racial ability between Dwarf, Thestran, and Kojan looked to be more useful? THanks for any input.

[Saty]

Dwarf racial is nice, but the +3 CON spent each level I'd rather spend somewhere else myself (CON is in many many heavy armour pieces)
Kojani racial is my favourite, a free heal for 45% of my HP ... lifesaver.
+ as a Human I can spend every single point the way I want em.
For my tank I think DEX > CON > VIT > STR as to dividing the stats.

Not sure if STR shouldn't be higher in my list. Any updates from more experienced tanks ?

[ellestil]

All I've heard is that higher strength increases dps and 1 damage=1 hate in VG, therefore, the higher the str the better the hate gain. Of course, high int also raises hate as well, but most of our abilities are melee related more so than caster related.

[Vengeful]

Really the build doesn't matter too much. All it will change is what sort of gear you'll need to shoot for.

I personally am going High Elf paladin simply because I don't want to worry about my Int and Wisdom.

And then i'll be dumping points as such: Dex>Str>Con and I'll make sure I get some Vitality pieces.

The thing with Paladins is that they benefit from all stats pretty equally. We won't need to max out our stats like Warriors will probably need to.

If you dump all your points into Str, Dex, and Con with no love for the others...You are going to run out of mana too quickly, Your +Hate abilities won't be as effective, and your heals will be smaller...which directly effects your survivability and ability to hold aggro.

Just my opinion though.

[Sunndar]

I my self am choosing a Thestran human under the idea that with more freedom to choose where my points go I will have a more rounded tank, but Im still very confused at what stats is most important in the Dex > Con > Str area.

I will probably be shooting for something like:

STR: 200 CON: 200 DEX: 286 (Maxed) VIT: 200 WIS: 200 INT: 66
leaves 4 points unspent.


Im not sure if this is to spread out, but the idea is more str for damage/hate, dex maxed, wis high for more engery = more hate and better IDing of the mobs target, and high vit for better healing and high regen.

Again I have reallly no idea what im doing and im probably totaly screwed up but with gear im hoping to make a good solid tank. Who the hell knows :shock:

[Oldpaly]

I would suggest that you ignore strength completely, and just go for Dexterity as your primary and Constitution and Vitality as your secondary. Vitality plays a major role in our play that you wouldn’t comprehend until you are at very high levels and find out that energy does play a major role for paladins.

Some of the high consuming abilities "Marshalling Cry", "Cry of Solace", "Judgments", "Heals" and such.

Btw a paladin with high vitality can solo better than a paladin with low vitality.

[Fuury]

Originally Posted by Oldpaly

I would suggest that you ignore strength completely, and just go for Dexterity as your primary and Constitution and Vitality as your secondary. Vitality plays a major role in our play that you wouldn’t comprehend until you are at very high levels and find out that energy does play a major role for paladins.

Some of the high consuming abilities "Marshalling Cry", "Cry of Solace", "Judgments", "Heals" and such.

Btw a paladin with high vitality can solo better than a paladin with low vitality.

that's why Im going to go off the beaten path a bit and go with high elf. I won't have to worry about energy at all.

[Vengeful]

Originally Posted by Fuury

that's why Im going to go off the beaten path a bit and go with high elf. I won't have to worry about energy at all.

Almost did that myself, but I decided on Thestran Human. Couldn't pass up the auras which compliment our class auras.

[ellestil]

In the end I went with a Kojan Paladin. The 45% heal to both hp's and mana is a very nice ability and definitely has merit in solo, group, and raid play. As we know, Paladins are penalized for using LoH on ourselves. This gives me another major heal in my arsenal, is an instant cast ability, and carries no penalty.

I almost went with Thestran Human, but I didn't think the 3% was a significant enough increase (or mana cost decrease) in the long run. Even at 5000 defense rating, that's 5150. An average dps of 300 would be 309 instead. Although I do see the value of either offsetting a paladins buff penalties, or doubling up on buffs, it just didn't seem to carry the "ooo" factor I was looking for.

As far as stats go, at this stage ( I am level 15 at this posting), I am placing my points like this. 2 str 4 con 4 dex 2 vit 1 int 1 wis. This gives me 3 str 5 con 5 dex 3 vit 2 int 2 wis per level. I spread out the points while keeping an emphasis on tanking first, dps second. I feel that paladins can benefit from all stats, depending on which role they see themselves playing. I wanted to focus on tanking, while not totally neglecting dps. Since there is no formula as of yet to determine exactly how much int or wis in needed to easily see what mobs are doing, I used the least points in these stats. If at a later time I need to raise them, I can always refund points or adjust gear.

Anyway, that's what I went with, I think it will do well. Although really, any race can do well as a paladin. As long as you stay away from extreme builds, and pick a race that matches how you want to play, you should do fine. Every race has it's own perk, so it's just added flavor to the game without pushing a "prefered" build on us all.

[ellestil]

I have to say, I'm not really seeing much benefit from Int or Wis other than on paper. Int does increase spell damage yes, but most of my damage comes from weapons anyway. I'd say its 75% weapons and 25% magic. Int also increases hate gain on taunts, but so does weapon damage.

Wisdom increases my energy pool. But I rarely run OOE, unless I'm soloing a tough mob for funsies. In this case, Vit seems to be a bigger help due to the energy regen rate and increased healing.

So now I'm think of going 4 str 4 con 4 dex 2 vit. That would give me 5 str 5 con 5 dex 3 vit 1 int 1wis per level. At this point I just don't see long term benefit returns from Int and Wis that my higher str con dex and vit offer. Wis maybe during longer fight raids where you could run OOE faster, but like I say, Vit helps there with a faster regen to make up for it.

I also find that most Paladin abilities in combat and related to tanking rely mostly on endurance not energy. Heals being the biggest mana user, which again, higher Vit is bigger heals, and compensates for the lower energy pool.

Any thoughts?