paladin 16 / druid 18 / monk 6

[bad_karma]

TL;DR
- (buffed) AB around 69, AC around 81
- proper amount of divine damage from divine might to add to whatever existing weapon dmg type you already have
- easy leveling due to high ab pre-epic class

So, I've now been back for a couple of months and I am thoroughly enjoying myself! It took some time to get used to all the "new" rules/feats/spells, but now that I did, I think it's all working quite nicely.

I will share two dragon builds I've created. Why dragons? Because when you start on either faction side with your first toon, a dragon is just such a nice versatile toon, that combines both good survival skills with decent damage: an ideal toon to farm for proper equipment! And later on they continue to be a proper addition to any party that wants to kill some bosses.

Both builds take advantage of some of the rule changes, in this case the fact that you can now take paladin with druid AND the enhanced paladin (divine favor/might duration) and druid (premonition) spells/feats.

race: human

starting stats: str 14, wis 18, int 10, char 14
all stat points go to wisdom, except for the last two, which go to charisma.

1 through 16: paladin
feats: blind fight, pwr attack, divine might, extend spell, spell focus (divination), greater spell focus (divination), exotic weap prof <-- this one may be changed to whatever you want, but I like the wide weapon choice it gives

17 through 35: 17 druid and 2 monk
feats: impr crit (unarmed)
epic feats: great wisdom (up to IV), epic prowess

36: take your 18th druid lvl here
epic feat: dragon shape (finally!)

37 through 40: monk
epic feat: epic spell focus (divination)

put skill points in discipline, tumble and spellcraft (35, can be made 40, but I really wanted dragon shape on 36)

Some rationale/remarks:

About the 6 monk lvls, I just LOVE the improved knockdown you get, so yes, I am willing to live with a bit (slightly) shorter spell duration and easier dispel in favor of these monk feats. If I would have to drop any, I would take more paladin lvls (21) and take 20 of them pre-epic for one more ab (dragon@39 though).

The spell foci will ensure the max +3 bonus from druid premonition spell.

This lvl progression was just what I did. I needed to take a "good" alignment anyway, because I wanted this one to use the evenstar sword (combines for superb magic and divine dmg!). You can probably also start out with druid and play this bad boy on mordor side (alignment restriction being turned off and all).

[hfodf]

One problem with this build: it doesnt fit through too many doors! 

[Sanjuro]

starting stats: str 14, wis 18, int 13, char 14

I only get 27 points to spent initially, but these stats seem to require 30. Am I doing something wrong?

[bad_karma]

Thx! Fixed: int 10, not 13

[Sanjuro]

Thx,

I care more about maximizing skills than reaching dragon shape at level 36. Would you say this is a good levelling plan?

1 P1 Discipline 6, Blind Fight, Power Attack
2 P2
3 P3 Divine Might
4 P4 [Wis 19]
5 P5
6 P6 Extend Spell
7 P7
8 P8 [Wis 20]
9 P9 Spell Focus (Diviniation)
10 P10
11 P11
12 P12 [Wis 21] Greate Spell Focus
13 P13
14 P14
15 P15 Weapon Proficiency (exotic)
16 M1 [Wis 22] Tumble 19
17 D1 Spellcraft 20
18 D2 Improved Critical (unarmed strike)
19 D3
20 D4 [Wis 23]
21 D5 Greater Wisdom I
22 D6
23 D7
24 D8 [Wis 25] Greater Wisdom II
25 D9
26 D10
27 D11 Greater Wisdom III
28 D12 [Wis 28]
29 D13
30 D14 Greater Wisdom IV
31 D15
32 D16 [Wis 30]
33 M2 Tumble 36, Epic Prowess
34 D17 Spellcraft 37
35 M3
36 M4 [Cha 15] Epic Spell Focus
37 M5
38 M6 Tumble 41
39 D18 Spellcraft 42, Dragon Shape
40 P16 [Cha 16] Discipline 43

Which leaves 51 skill points! Where to put them?

[bad_karma]

As stated in my OP, if you rly want to max skill (actually only interesting for spellcraft 40 due to +1 save vs spells) you should take original plan but take last druid lvl on 39. Now you take monk and druid pre20 which gives -1 ab.

[Sanjuro]

I think I take D18 at level 39. Can you elaborate on what you mean? Also suggestions for the other skills to pick?

[Sanjuro]

I got this build at level 40 now and it is GREAT! Incredibly easy to level and amazingly powerful, especially against bosses. With a decent tank you can two man many of the bosses.

The final step by step guide I used is below, don't deviate from it, or you will loose out on some AB, as I found out the hard way.

1 P1 Blind Fight, Power Attack
2 P2 Discipline 5
3 P3 Divine Might
4 P4 [Wis 19]
5 P5
6 P6 Extend Spell
7 P7 Discipline 10, Search 5
8 P8 [Wis 20]
9 P9 Spell Focus (Diviniation)
10 P10
11 P11
12 P12 [Wis 21] Discipline 15, Greate Spell Focus
13 P13
14 P14
15 P15 Weapon Proficiency (exotic)
16 P16 [Wis 22]
17 D1 Spellcraft 20, Heal 10
18 D2 Improved Critical (unarmed strike)
19 D3
20 D4 [Wis 23]
21 D5 Greater Wisdom I
22 M1 Tumble 25, Discipline 20
23 D6
24 D7 [Wis 25] Greater Wisdom II
25 D8
26 D9
27 D10 Spellcraft 25, Heal 19, Greater Wisdom III
28 D11 [Wis 28]
29 D12
30 D13 Greater Wisdom IV
31 D14
32 M2 [Wis 30] Discipline 35, Tumble 35
33 D15 Epic Prowess
34 D16
35 D17
36 D18 [Cha 15] Spellcraft 35, Dragon Shape
37 M3 Tumble 40, Discipline 40, Search 10
38 M4
39 M5 Epic Spell Focus
40 M6 [Cha 16] Search 20

Which leaves a couple of points you could, for example, put in Discipline.