Drow or human?

[wickerman]

Which race is better and make a more powerful male fighter4/paladinx character( for normal and hof mode) - a drow or human aasimar?

[RTP]

Well, for FTR4/PALX you'd rather want Aasimar because if you take Drow, you will get 20% multiclass penalty (which means that your character will get 20% less exp points)

drows are great for Wizard multiclassing (for males) or Cleric multiclassing (for females)

[wickerman]

Well, for FTR4/PALX you'd rather want Aasimar because if you take Drow, you will get 20% multiclass penalty (which means that your character will get 20% less exp points)

drows are great for Wizard multiclassing (for males) or Cleric multiclassing (for females)

What if I dont multiclass and become a paladin only?

[kmonster]

It depends on the role you have in mind for this character, the rest of your party and your playing style.

Both have their advantadges and disadvantadges.

[Monolith]

What if I dont multiclass and become a paladin only?

A drow paladin? Even R. A. Salvatore didn't go *that* far .

[Crucis]

I've never played a Drow Pally. But, roleplaying issues aside, I'd think that a drow paladin has the potential to be a rather powerful character. Think about it. Pallies, by their very nature, are a rather stat intentive class. The +4 stat points that a drow will get you will help point greatly, as will the spell resistance, +2 to Will saves, and +2 to Enchantment magic. You'll end up with a paladin who is exceptionally resistant to magic.


Wickerman, if you don't mind playing a drow, why not give it a try? Let's face it. Most people play human or aasimar pallies. A drow paladin would be a serious change of pace.

[wickerman]

It depends on the role you have in mind for this character, the rest of your party and your playing style.

Both have their advantadges and disadvantadges.

The paladin going to be the first character in the party of 6. He will be the main melee character and my 2nd melee character is cleric tempus no multiclassing this character. The rest of my party all casters.

[dragon wench]

A drow paladin? Even R. A. Salvatore didn't go *that* far .

I hope this isn't getting too far off topic, but in terms of roleplaying, I actually think a Drow Paladin has great potential. Think of the story a character like that would have, and the internal conflicts that they would wrestle with. There are all kinds of possibilities here for a truly complex "personality."

So, I say, to Hell (or should that be "the Underdark?" ) with stereotyping, and go for it!

[Galuf the Dwarf]

Galuf's tips on paladins in IWD2

The paladin going to be the first character in the party of 6. He will be the main melee character and my 2nd melee character is cleric tempus no multiclassing this character. The rest of my party all casters.

My advice for a melee-oriented paladin is to go with Aasimar, because I have two words for you: Constitution score. Drow get a -2 penalty to constitution, and +2 bonuses to Dexterity, Intelligence, and Charisma, with Charisma being the only bonus statistic really helpful for a paladin.

For an aasimar tankadin (as some of us World of Warcraft players call WoW paladins meant to soak damage while fighting in melee), I'd suggest these stats:
16 Strength
10 Dexterity
16 Constitution
10 Intelligence
12 Wisdom*
16 Charisma

Still, if a Drow tankadin appeals to you, this is what I'd suggest. Note: The stat ranges are due to trying to balance Constitution to fit a paladin meant to really see a lot of melee combat.
14-16 strength
10-12 Dexterity
14-16 Constitution
10-12 Intelligence
10-12 Wisdom*
14-16 Charisma

Semi-Edit: Well, after attempting to make a Drow tankadin, here's what I came up with for likely stats:
16 Strenght
12 Dexterity
16 Constitution
10 Intelligence
10 Wisdom
16 Charisma

However, here's a highlightable Chpt 2 spoiler to at least remedy the lack of Wisdom for said tankadin build (if that's even an issue), or help your Battleguard of Tempus:

Spoiler

As soon as you hit either level 4 or 8, I'd say add a point to your Dexterity score, because there's a potion you can win from the Battle Squares that will make the drinker sacrifice 1 point of Dexterity for 2 points of Wisdom.

Addition notes: * = suggested if you want to at least cast 1st- and 2nd-level paladin spells and to lightly influence their Will saves, which will be higher as is due to their Divine Grace adding their Charisma score to their saving throw bonuses.

Just take my advice as just that, advice.

[Crucis]

Galuf, actually those "semi-edit" drow stats aren't all that bad for a pally. You've got to remember that the paladins are rather stat intensive. And if you've played IWD2 all the way thru, you know that you can actually get by with a lowish pally WIS for starters and not be in any trouble later on for pally spell casting when it actually gets good enough to matter. (wink, wink)

I'd even go so far as to suggest the following stats for a drow pally:

18 Strength
12 Dexterity
16 Constitution
8 Intelligence
8 Wisdom
18 Charisma

I've played a elven pally with the following stats (STR 16, DEX 14, CON 14, INT 8, WIS 8, CHA 16) and was quite satisfied with the results. I see no reason to believe that a drow pally with the above stats wouldn't be rather potent character.

[Crenshinibon]

Actually, one of the characters in my very first party, on the day, IWD II was released, (I camped out next to the doors of Electronic Boutique), was indeed a Drow Paladin. I have to say that this is a powerful combination. I would suggest adding a few levels of fighter nonetheless for certain items and weapon specialization. At least two... which is more or less made up by the drow's ECL of +2. This bonus applies to spells so as my Paladin started with little of that stat, I had to rely on the strength buff for the whole game. He was strong nonetheless and great roleplaying potential indeed.

I have excessive love for the drow, if you will.

Let me end it with this:

"This book says that my powers will fide in one dee six months, whatever that means."

Ah the D&D references.

[wickerman]

Mutliclassing

When I reach hof mode with the fighter4/paladinx what should I multiclass into or should I stay a paladinx? I will also be level squating.

[kmonster]

If you are level squatting there's no need to take a human instead of a drow. I'd take the stats 18-13-16-5-14-14. Increase strength at level up if you want to do more damage (fun), con if you want to survive longer (boring).
13 dex is required for rapid shot and other feats. Lower cha if you can't bear stupid paladins, the saving throw bonus for cha isn't that important if you have spell resistance, definitely not important enough to take a low wis paladin who's forced to increase wisdom at level up and wear wisdom raising equipment. The potion you'll find is better used on your druid or maybe cleric.

You can take 4 fighter levels together after 26 paladin levels if you want to multiclass without penalty.
Keeping the paladin pure isn't bad either. So you get level 6 spells, 4 more damage with "holy smite" and don't feel bad if you specialised in the wrong weapon type.

[Galuf the Dwarf]

When I reach hof mode with the fighter4/paladinx what should I multiclass into or should I stay a paladinx? I will also be level squating.

Errr, what's level squating?

I'd suggest against Multiclassing in more than one other class as a paladin. As said before, if you want to continue as a paladin, don't multiclass outside of what said paladin order allows you to.

[Rabain]

As you level up in IWD2 you get less XP for killing enemies. Level squatting is when you don't press the level up button even if you have enough XP to level up. This way you continue to gain more XP for kills until you have enough to go up several levels at once. XP over the value needed for your next level up is not lost so you can save as much as you want.

It basically means faster level progression for your character vs. slightly harder battles in the interim.

[Klorox]

Go with a female Drow Paladin 2/Cleric of Lathander X for a real powerhouse!

Max out WIS and add a Monk level when you realize that armor stinks and she's even better!

[Claudius]

Good idea Klorox! Take a level of ranger and dual wield since you can wield the one handed cera sumat and you can't wear a shield..

Claudius

[RTP]

Or even better, start the character with monk.
Not only do you get more skills at the beginning, but there is also one very specific monk bug.

When you create 1st level monk and get to the FEAT assignation table, invest one feat in something (anything), and then take it back: you'll get one more feat to designate (out of the blue!!!).

I use that feat mainly on my fighter chars to get Ambidexterity
(I've convinced myself that it's not technically cheating because Ambidexterity no longer exists in 3.5ed)

[kmonster]

One problem when following the last three suggestions is that you won't get a paladin but a second cleric with a few other levels this way and two characters of the same class are less interesting.
You'll probably have more fun playing a real paladin.

[Klorox]

One problem when following the last three suggestions is that you won't get a paladin but a second cleric with a few other levels this way and two characters of the same class are less interesting.
You'll probably have more fun playing a real paladin.

From a powergaming viewpoint, more than 3 paladin levels aren't that good.

It's unfortunate, really.