new pally, looking for build/gear tips

[Reverant]

Hey all, was reading up on rolling a pally on the server, and had some questions for the old vets.

Always loved EDM builds, thinking of taking a dip into DC for some smite 'kick'. Is a hybrid viable, or is smite an all or nothing? Like a 4 lvl dip, with practiced spellcater. Or 20/10, and just take the hit on dispelling. Planning on PvE for a while, until I get my feet wet then trying out some cool pvp stuff. Will a 20/10 hit render my guy useless due to dispelling in pve or pvp?

edit - nevermind, EDM will take everything. Earliest I can see is 25, which will take a while. Only one or two flavor feats I can use, if I want to have CHA 25

Are spot/listen/blindfight required for hipsters? Or, if in pvp, their hide/move silently is so high, it won't matter how much I dump into those skills it wont make a difference since pallys are traditionaly feat starved? Or with pve mobs, there isn't a viable reason to spend on those skills on the server because they are only needed in very specific instances?

Also, umd = 5? Thought it would need to be more for fighters, up around 14 or so.

So, I heard people floating around DEX 9, CON 11, WIS 11. What are the types of paladin gear that I should be working towards to round these up? I don't want to build a toon on the crazy-off-chance(mithral) of some rare gear drop, say building everything around Gram Mouse cloak, and be screwed later.

Was wanting INT to be higher, with Able Learner, to grab some RP skills. Are there any for pallys that are well worth getting? Such as diplomacy, sense motive, heal, etc?

Also, do bgtscc pallys have the spirit of healing type feats?

Any help would be appreciated, lots of questions.

[Deathgrowl]

With the paladin spells on the server, going pure paladin is probably better for a smiter than a paladin/dc. You're not getting that many more Great Smites with DC on a 3by20 server, and you're losing a bunch of Caster Level.

Yes, you need spot or listen to detect sneaks.

UMD score (rather than rank, so rank + charisma) is good to end on 13 to use wands, class restricted items, alignment restricted items and race restricted items.

[Reverant]

Thanks Deathgrowl for the quick response to....yet -another-...paladin question haha. Been reading alot, see you pop up on the boards often. Thanks again for helping another newbie out

Yes, you need spot or listen to detect sneaks.

With 16 spot cross-classed? Will that do anything for me in pvp, or even pve...?

I have a build I am considering, nothing new, just a plain ole paladin. The only problem is the reliance on +3 wis/con/dex gear, especially the WIS. Is getting a drop/buying a WIS +3 a problem, so my pally wont be able to cast over lvl 1 spells for the next 8+ months? haha, that would totally mess up my guy if he makes it to the later levels. Time to buff up, lvl 25 zone, my guy casts 'Bless'.....aaannnddd I am done

edit - apparently a periaph of wisdon +3 goes for around 5k, and I have seen lots of +2 DEX/CON items. Still wondering on the social and rp skills, don't know what is fun for a hick paladin, maybe beet growing?

[Deathgrowl]

With 16 spot cross-classed? Will that do anything for me in pvp, or even pve...?

PvP, no. PvE, maybe? With a bit of the easily accessible spot gear (from merchants), you'd probably be able to detect most standard PvE sneaks.

[Zanniej]

With 16 spot cross-classed? Will that do anything for me in pvp, or even pve...?

PvP, no. PvE, maybe? With a bit of the easily accessible spot gear (from merchants), you'd probably be able to detect most standard PvE sneaks.

And don't forget low level sneaks! Not everybody is level 30, so for flavor it would definately be fun, as well as useful!

[Kinkurono]

That depends on what you want, a smiter is all or nothing and its a bit better going P20/DC10 if you are going pure smiter, you will end up with a CL of 24 using practiced spell caster and one more Great smite compared to paladin 30 (Which in turn means around 30 damage i think on your smite). with this build you can also go EDM and great smite 4 i believe, never tried it myself.
but the problem with a smiter is he is not a very good solo kind of guy it's all about burst damage, you will kill bosses easily i think but the problem will be getting to them haha, so it's good to have a group you play with a lot.

[xLegionx]

If you go great smiter you could go pal 20/dc 10 and basically go for great smite 8, meaning that each smite you land hits for 270 pts of damage against evil characters. However, I think players take advantage of the alignment system and make their evil characters neutral to avoid this sort of thing so...I don't think going a great smiter is worth it and if you waste all your smites in a fight well...your pretty much hitting your target for 20-30 pts of damage with each hit you land.

26 FS/ Pal 4 I hear is very highly adaptive and ranks amongst some of the most op builds in the game. If you like playing a buffed up warrior thats the way to go. Just be ready for those who will seek to dispel your buffs.

[Deathgrowl]

26 FS/ Pal 4 I hear is very highly adaptive and ranks amongst some of the most op builds in the game. If you like playing a buffed up warrior thats the way to go. Just be ready for those who will seek to dispel your buffs.

It's also a big bucket of cheese!

And who doesn't like cheese?!

[Reverant]

Yeah, fs/pa is an easy build, if you like buffing a lot. Honestly I am looking at a Helm pally. New to trying this stuff out, wanting to try basic pally out and go from there.

Another thread mentioned that with the May update Pally are useless now. Are they talking with how dispel lvl is now calculated, or is it something else I am missing...?