Critique My Build: Dragonborn Paladin of Sehanine

[ourchair]

So almost six months after my first heroic tier campaign, we're picking up the paragon arc. This will be my first serious paragon-tier character. I know I'm going to have difficulty playing this one because:

a) it's not a character I played through the ten levels of heroic tier and therefore don't have the experience of knowing how he 'works' and

b) it's a class I've ever played before (My heroic-tier mastery is limited to a dragonborn great weapon fighter and an warforged earthstrength warden)

So I'd like to learn how to play this character effectively. My warforged warden had a martyr's death at the end of the heroic tier, so it was necessary for me to come up with a new character.

So my goals are to play effectively alongside a deva avenger (and occasionally a human artificer who is often separated from us due to his unpredictable and often obscure motivations) while roleplaying as an effective foil to their actions in the heroic tier.

So, what do you guys think of this build so far?

Keep in mind that the stats are rolled, rather than point-bought and that I am exploring the infamous frost-cheese derided by self-proclaimed ‘ethical minmaxers’ out of curiosity.

On an RP note, I've refluffed Mithral Arm with the DM's permission to enable the character to directly communicate and consult with Sehanine rather than the Mithral Pentad, since communing with gods was such a big deal in the previous tier.

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Kilrah, level 11
Dragonborn, Paladin, Mithral Arm
Versatile Expertise: Versatile Expertise (Hammer)
Versatile Expertise: Versatile Expertise (Holy Symbol)
Dragonborn: Dragon Breath
Dragon Breath Key Ability: Dragon Breath Strength
Dragon Breath Damage Type: Dragon Breath Lightning

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 23, Con 17, Dex 16, Int 11, Wis 17, Cha 22.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 18, Con 16, Dex 15, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 17.


AC: 27 Fort: 24 Reflex: 23 Will: 24
HP: 92 Surges: 13 Surge Value: 26

TRAINED SKILLS
Religion +10, Diplomacy +16, Intimidate +18, Endurance +9

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +4, Arcana +5, Bluff +11, Dungeoneering +8, Heal +8, History +7, Insight +8, Nature +8, Perception +8, Stealth +4, Streetwise +11, Thievery +6, Athletics +7

FEATS
Level 1: Power of Trickery
Level 2: Versatile Expertise
Level 4: Weapon Proficiency (Craghammer)
Level 6: Draconic Challenge
Level 8: Weapon Focus (Hammer)
Level 10: Wintertouched
Level 11: Lasting Frost

POWERS
Astral Knowledge: Ravenfrost Strike
Lay on Hands: Lay on Hands
Paladin at-will 1: Enfeebling Strike
Paladin at-will 1: Virtuous Strike
Paladin encounter 1: Valorous Smite
Paladin daily 1: Paladin's Judgment
Paladin utility 2: Call of Challenge
Paladin encounter 3: Hold Fast
Paladin daily 5: Prayer of Two Paths
Paladin utility 6: Deliverance of Faith
Paladin encounter 7: Astral Thunder
Paladin daily 9: Shadow Blades of Shared Doom
Paladin utility 10: Winter's Arrival

ITEMS
Plate Armor, Heavy Shield, Craghammer, Adventurer's Kit, Frost Craghammer +3, Meliorating Plate Armor +2, Steadfast Amulet +2, Symbol of the Champion's Code +2, Iron Armbands of Power (heroic tier)
====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======

 

[Klaus]

Just as a sidenote, in the recent article on Sehanine I created a few Paladin powers. I also mentioned that followers of Sehanine prefer falchions, scimitars and other "crescent-shaped" weapons. There's also the feat Silvery Light, which gives you a bonus with cold and radiant powers.

 

[BobTheNob]

Is that a 41 point build?

Im more used to 22 point builds. Its hard to critique...I mean, with starting stats like that it almost impossible for anything to be a challenge

 

[Klaus]

Is that a 41 point build?

Im more used to 22 point builds. Its hard to critique...I mean, with starting stats like that it almost impossible for anything to be a challenge

That's an 11th level character.

 

[BobTheNob]

That's an 11th level character.

Ah, silly me

Even so, still coming out as a 30 pt build to me.

But that aside, our party had a DragonBorn Paladin. Around level 8 or 9 the player sorta let me know he was grossly disappointed with the character, so we gave it a bit of a review.

The conclusion we came to is that DragonBorn are NOT the ultimate paladin race they appear to be. Why? Well, the best Paladin builds tend to be Str/Wis or Chr/Wis, not Str/Chr

With Str/Chr, you aren't restricted in what powers you can pick, but all those neat secondary effects are based on wisdom : Holy Strike (the players "go-to" at will), uses of lay on hands per day, Honored Foe(Single best paladin pick for a level 11 feat) and many more key off wisdom.

So, whilst the paladin could pick any power he liked, he couldnt do anything particularly brilliantly.

I let the player have a free re-spec under this revelation and his Str/Wis paladin (still the same Dragonborn character, we just ajusted stats and re-powerpicked) is far better at his job of off tank (our party has a primary tank) / off DPR.

 

[ourchair]

Just as a sidenote, in the recent article on Sehanine I created a few Paladin powers. I also mentioned that followers of Sehanine prefer falchions, scimitars and other "crescent-shaped" weapons. There's also the feat Silvery Light, which gives you a bonus with cold and radiant powers.

It's on my reading pile for this morning. Will definitely look at crescent shaped weapons and that feat.

Is that a 41 point build?

Im more used to 22 point builds. Its hard to critique...I mean, with starting stats like that it almost impossible for anything to be a challenge

It's rolled stats, on top of being 11th level.

I'll admit that it makes balancing encounters a bit tricky for the DM, who herself isn't really that much of a combat designer so much as she is a story-focused improvisationalist.

But generally she just throws higher level monsters at us, which makes level advancement move faster. Which isn't a problem if the monster level pacing doesn't bother everyone else.

But that aside, our party had a DragonBorn Paladin. Around level 8 or 9 the player sorta let me know he was grossly disappointed with the character, so we gave it a bit of a review.

The conclusion we came to is that DragonBorn are NOT the ultimate paladin race they appear to be. Why? Well, the best Paladin builds tend to be Str/Wis or Chr/Wis, not Str/Chr

With Str/Chr, you aren't restricted in what powers you can pick, but all those neat secondary effects are based on wisdom : Holy Strike (the players "go-to" at will), uses of lay on hands per day, Honored Foe(Single best paladin pick for a level 11 feat) and many more key off wisdom.

So, whilst the paladin could pick any power he liked, he couldnt do anything particularly brilliantly.

I let the player have a free re-spec under this revelation and his Str/Wis paladin (still the same Dragonborn character, we just ajusted stats and re-powerpicked) is far better at his job of off tank (our party has a primary tank) / off DPR.

I already got to play the character in one encounter before I made the OP, so I'm kind of locked into the race/class combo. My DM might permit a retrain, though for RP purposes I like having my in-game CHA skills being better than my real-world eloquence and acting skills.

Still, I'm more interested in the power/feat synergy since the main issue your friend had (WIS dependency) isn't much of a problem with these monstrously rolled stats. So really, how the underlying math works out for this character isn't really important.

I'm not trying to figure out if he can handle things well with his stat spread, but rather if the power/feat synergy is effective (regardless of the stats its applied to) or if I just threw together a haphazard design.

 

[ourchair]

So is there anything to be said about this build BESIDES the point budget?

 

[Klaus]

The Wintertouched/Lasting Frost combo is less appealing to you, since you don't have much benefit from it -- certainly not in the same manner as a rogue.

 

[ourchair]

The Wintertouched/Lasting Frost combo is less appealing to you, since you don't have much benefit from it -- certainly not in the same manner as a rogue.

Perhaps, but it would be thematically consistent with Sehanine.

I'm totally open to a different kind of attack power/feat synergy, if you have any suggestions. I wish I could go lightning, since Lightning Breath is my favorite Dragon Breath, but Sehanine doesn't really roll with the lightning crowd and I have to stick with the deity because a) she's already my declared deity in the game and b) I chose her because she's the previous deity of one of our characters. (He totally betrayed her and now our DM has lots of fun plot plans for her)

 

[Klaus]

Sehanine is the god of autumn, not winter. I'd say take those feats and invest them in a weapon like the falchion. That works well if you take the Paladin power Crescent Blade, which is meant for Sehanine worshippers.