Celestial Dwarf King - Pal(6), F(4), DD(10), DC(10)
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[edit] Description
The Celestial Dwarf King is an axe-wielding juggernaut designed to combine the extremely solid defensive capabilities of the Defender, Divine Champion, and Paladin with the offensive power of Epic Divine Might and Divine Wrath.
Pros
- Great AC (Natural 17, before buffing with Pally's Divine Shield and DD's Defensive Stance)
- Very high saves due to Divine Grace and the +5 bonus from the DC levels
- DD levels add DR 6/-
- Loads of Hitpoints (500+)
- Full 30 BAB/ 6 attacks
- Solid offense with EDM and Divine Wrath to significantly boost damage output
- No experience penalties or alignment changes
- Maintains an overall fantastic balance between offense and defense
- Plays extremely well from level 1 to level 30
Cons
- Lacks the insane Str/Damage bonus of RDD/FB builds
- No natural spell resistance outside of saves
- Hilariously dismal skill point situation
- No spellcasting (or extremely weak spellcasting, if the Wis bonus is tweaked)
This character ends up quite similar in spirit to Lord of the Mountain Brd(4),Pal(6),RDD(10),DD(10): taking the natural abilities and buffs of both builds into consideration, the Lord of the Mountain has:
- 8 extra points of AC (+2 Tumble, +4 RDD, +2 Divine Shield)
- Immunity to fire/paralysis
- Much better skill assortment.
Whereas the Dwarf King has:
- Higher HP (560 vs 504)
- +3 AB (Same Base Strength, CDK has +4 BAB and +1 Weapon Spec, whereas LoTM has +1 Epic Prowess, +1 Inspire Courage for a net difference of 3)
- Does not suffer any multiclassing experience penalties or alignment changes.
Essentially, the better AC, buffs, and skills make the LotM a better PvP build, whereas the CDK's higher AB and lack of penalties make it a much more campaign-friendly build.
[edit] Character Creation
| Initial Values | Final Values | |
| STR | 16 | 22 |
| DEX | 13 | 13 |
| CON | 14 | 14 |
| INT | 8 | 8 |
| WIS | 8 | 8 |
| CHA | 16 | 21 |
| Base attack bonus | 30 | |
| Fortitude save | 36 | |
| Reflex save | 21 | |
| Will save | 23 | |
| Spell resistance | 0 | |
| Hit Points | 560 | |
| Natural AC | 17 | |
Race: Gold Dwarf
Classes: Fighter(4), Paladin(6), Dwarven Defender(10), Divine Champion (10)
Cleric Domains: -N/A
Build Nature: Universal
Alignment: Lawful Good
Deity: Gorm Gulthyn
All stats shown are unarmored and unbuffed. A Nymph Cloak +8 is a great addition for this character, as it adds +4 to all saves and +8 damage and rounds to EDM.
[edit] Notes
Race/Alignment:
The Gold Dwarf is clearly the best race for this build because it is the only dwarf that does not suffer the Charisma penalty (which would greatly handicap any build hoping to achieve EDM).
Naturally, the Paladin levels allow only a Lawful Good alignment. However, although substituting Blackguard for Paladin levels is a bit more difficult for this build than most EDM builds, it is not impossible; the character must be Lawful Evil alignment, take 7 Fighter levels and 3 Blackguard, and devote 10 cross-class levels (5 points) of skill points to Hide. The evil build loses Divine Shield and disease/fear immunity, but it does gain an extra feat from the additional Fighter levels.
Attributes
There is very little breathing room in the starting attributes. The starting stats for Str., Cha., and Dex.(16, 16, 13 respectively) are minimums and cannot be dropped. Well, EDM is still technically possible by dropping either Str. or Cha. to 15, but then every epic feat except the final EDM must be either Gr. Cha or Gr. Str, which will end the two scores at exactly 21 each. The Con. score is optional and can be dropped, but every bonus point lost is worth 30 HP. Adding to Int is pointless because these classes have among the worst class skill access in the game (neither Tumble nor Spellcraft in any of them). Constitution can be dropped to 10 and Wisdom increased to 12, which sacrifices 60 HP for two lvl 1 Paladin spells by lvl 30- I do not think it's worth it.
Classes:
-The 4 Fighter levels provide 3 essential bonus feats
-The Paladin levels are taken for Divine Shield, Epic Divine Might, and Cha. bonus to saves (with a couple handy immunities tossed into the mix)
-The Dwarven Defender levels add excellent defensive capabilities: +4 AC, + another 4 AC and bonus hitpoints in Defensive Stance, DR 6/-, and immunity to Sneak Attacks.
-The Divine Champion levels are chosen for +5 to all saves, Divine Wrath (+3 AB/Dam/saves for Cha. bonus rounds), and +150 hitpoints via 5 Epic Toughness bonus feats
The Paladin, Fighter, and Dwarven Defender levels may be taken in any order desired between 1-20 (DD only after level 7), but Paladin levels 4 and 5 must fall on feat levels to get Divine Might and Shield. The Divine Champion levels must come after 20 in order to gain access to the Epic bonus feats.
Feats:
Power Attack must be taken some time before Divine Might, and Dodge and Toughness before the DD levels. Cleave, Great Cleave, and Blindfight are all good but not absolutely necessary and they may be substituted out for whichever feats one prefers; Improved Crit and Weap. Spec. feats would be good substitutes. Additionally, although I think that Epic Toughness is by far the best use of the DC's bonus feats, one may sacrifice a couple to grab Armor Skin and Epic Prowess instead. The only non-bonus Epic feat that is optional, however, is the final Gr. Str. I included it to increase the Str. score to an even number for another +1 AB/Dam; however, this can be substituted for absolutely anything to which one is inclined; Gr. Cha for better saves and EDM, Gr. Dex or Armor Skin for another AC (if armor allows), Epic Resilience, ANOTHER Epic Toughness, etc. EDM comes late at 29 because it takes a long time to boost the stats. On a final note, it goes without saying that you may choose any Weapon Focus you like (Divine Champ. prerequisite). I think the Dwarven Waraxe is an excellent choice because it is the only 1d10 one-handed weapon that the dwarf can access without spending a feat on exotic weapon prof.; plus, it's got style :). For OC players, the longsword is a solid choice (Holy Avenger and Sword of Gith).
Skills:
Ha! You have 33 points to spend, and even that seems like more than you need, considering your options. Parry, Craft Armor, and Craft Weapon are the only class skills that remain consistent across the four classes. Pick one and go nuts :). You could also slowly increase Tumble or Spellcraft to 10 to get the +1 AC or spell save. IMO, Able Learner would only be worth the feat if any of the 4 classes had access to one of these two skills.
Comments:
I really enjoyed playing this character. He seriously breezed through both campaigns. As a matter of fact, that is almost a disadvantage of this build. Some of the more insanely-high damage/crap-defense builds might provide a more sexy and challenging experience with their kamikaze play style; they mow through grunts and struggle to stay alive against some of the more damaging boss characters or elite groups of enemies. This build, on the other hand, is smooth sailing the whole way through. He is almost impossible to kill and deals very good damage. Throughout the whole of both campaigns, it was very rare to encounter enemies that could even consistently connect with hits or spells (I did require the help of Qara and Sand's ice spells to take down the Red Dragon, however - he was tough). When enemy blows finally do connect, the damage disappears into the damage reduction and huge bucket of HP. This is an effortless character.
[edit] Character Progression
| CL | Class | Feat | Bonus/Class Feats | Attributes | ||||||||
| 1 | Fighter | Luck of Heroes | Dodge | |||||||||
| 2 | Fighter | Power Attack | ||||||||||
| 3 | Paladin | Toughness | Smite Evil | |||||||||
| 4 | Paladin | +1 Str | ||||||||||
| 5 | Paladin | Divine Grace, Lay on Hands | ||||||||||
| 6 | Paladin | Divine Might | Aura of Courage, Divine Health | |||||||||
| 7 | Fighter | |||||||||||
| 8 | Dwarven Defender | Defensive Stance, +1 AC | +1 Str | |||||||||
| 9 | Dwarven Defender | Cleave | Uncanny Dodge | |||||||||
| 10 | Dwarven Defender | |||||||||||
| 11 | Dwarven Defender | +1 AC, +1 Reflex vs. Traps | ||||||||||
| 12 | Dwarven Defender | Great Cleave | +1 Str | |||||||||
| 13 | Dwarven Defender | DR 3/-, Improved Uncanny Dodge (Immune to Sneak Attack) | ||||||||||
| 14 | Dwarven Defender | +1 AC | ||||||||||
| 15 | Paladin | Divine Shield | ||||||||||
| 16 | Dwarven Defender | +1 Str | ||||||||||
| 17 | Dwarven Defender | +1 Reflex vs. Traps | ||||||||||
| 18 | Dwarven Defender | Blindfight | +1 AC, DR 6/- | |||||||||
| 19 | Fighter | Weapon Focus (Dwarven Waraxe) | ||||||||||
| 20 | Divine Champion | +1 Cha | ||||||||||
| 21 | Divine Champion | Great Charisma | Epic Toughness, +1 Saves | |||||||||
| 22 | Divine Champion | Smite Infidel | ||||||||||
| 23 | Divine Champion | Great Charisma | Epic Toughness, +1 Saves | |||||||||
| 24 | Divine Champion | Divine Wrath | +1 Cha | |||||||||
| 25 | Divine Champion | Great Charisma | Epic Toughness, +1 Saves | |||||||||
| 26 | Divine Champion | |||||||||||
| 27 | Divine Champion | Great Strength | Epic Toughness, +1 Saves | |||||||||
| 28 | Divine Champion | +1 Str | ||||||||||
| 29 | Divine Champion | Epic Divine Might | Epic Toughness, +1 Saves | |||||||||
| 30 | Paladin | Remove Disease | ||||||||||
