Holy Defender

[phlinn]

By combining the Paladin and Defender class, and focusing on the shining armor talent, I have made a character with an AC of 2005 unbuffed at level 21. Here are the current special ability distributions:

Priest:
Holy Might: 1

Defender:
Heavy Armored Defense: 1
Iron Skin: 1
Shield Fighting: 1
Block Magic:1
Armored Health:1

Paladin
Retrograde Darkness:1
Shining Armor: 14

Skills of Interest:
Swords: 20
Defense: 12
Agility: 13
Magical Defense: 10

Attributes, as paladin.
23, 8, 31, 13, 15, 20

The shining armor allowed me to get a cheap armor with 100 base ac, which is then multiplied by the defense modifier, which is then increased by agility as well as added to my hp. My con is a bit lacking, but when things do hit me they don't generally hit that hard, and that's why I picked up iron skin and some hit points from armored health . The single biggest flaw currently is damage returning creatures, which is why i picked up retrograde darkness while I traversed the temple of fidac. I could sit there using the ability over and over until it worked, but one swing of my sword would kill me. I do a fair amount of wisdom casting, but I could have picked up a few ranks in holy bolt for a much better attack spell. We'll see if it becomes necessary.

The magic defense skill works pretty well, and It's convenient to have multiple checks to avoid spell damage. I picked up shield fighting largely for one more chance to completely avoid damage on attacks, but the additional to_hit and to_dam is nice.

Future plans: 2 more points in shining armor for the next pval, then enchant some mithril plate i purchased.

Complaint: Can't apply shining armor to dragon mail.

[Variaz]

Sounds like a fun build!

You'll appreciate your build when facing the current beta's boss(if you haven't already faced him), because... unless your physical resistance is very high, surviving his hits is extremely unlikely. But his hit rate is pretty standard for a monster of his caliber, so if he can't hit you, you won't have to worry about his insane damages.

[phlinn]

Here's an alternate paladin build I toyed with. Holy Cuisinart. High dual wield and sword skill, 12 points in blade of purity (5d8 damage, 34 duration), save other points for bless weapon from justice warrior. Then dual wield 2 blessed, summoned swords. Incidentally, the game allows you to summon a second sword while wearing a shield.

Btw, is shining armor supposed to work on dragon armor? I'd love to have an armor with base 100 AC before buffing it if i could.

[Variaz]

Not sure in 0.2, but I believe I did change the dragon armors to be enchantable in 0.3 Will have to check it out.