Category:Paladins

Realizing that even a peaceful deity will at times require a martial defense, Tul Sith's Priests developed their Order of Paladins. While the close involvement of hero priests focused the training on the goodness of Tul-Sith's healing and peacefulness, the actual combat training was inspired by the rigor and honor of Werredan's followers. These origins influence the early training stages of Paladins - and the principles of Paladinhood - to this day.

It did not take long though for the other priesthoods to recognize the strong bond these meditations and physical training developed between Paladin and deity and the power such a bond unleashed

The first to join the Paladin training were the followers of Werredan, who had actually been involved in the more combat oriented aspects of the tutelage of the Paladins of Tul-Sith. This was only slightly controversial however, and later when followers of Bhyss and Gorn requested to be allowed to train alongside the others, the voices demanding restriction grew more numerous and insistent.

Forced into a decision, the priests of Tul-Sith opted for the opening of the school. Some believe this was done out of fear of the supporters of other Deities, while others attribute it fully to the graciousness of Tul-Sith. Another theory rumors that the priests of Tul-Sith believed the training, with its focus on peacefulness, protection and healing would result in spreading the love and gentleness of Tul-Sith, and - on a more practical level - that it would limit the danger of other paladin orders being developed that have very different and more powerful knowledge.

In the end though, for whichever reason, the training of Paladins was opened to worshippers of all Deities, resulting in a widening of the skills sought for and granted.

Paladins are a class only available through re-mortality by Warriors, Bodyguards, Monks and Clerics.

Abbreviation: Pal.

Prime Requisite: Strength.

Paladins in General

Paladins are a versatile class. They can serve as either tanks or hitters, healers, and/or casters. They get moderate hp and mana. Choice of worship and use of oaths is very important.

Note from Visaran: Before choosing a race, think about what you want to do with your paladin. At hero, paladins are fantastic hitters and tanks, so a brute race seems best. But at lord, most brute races won't be able to take full advantage of their many useful spells. Strongly consider mana gains, spell failure rate, and spell cost if planning on taking a paladin into lord. I'm partial to sprite but other good options are elf, drw, cen, tua, hie, drg, grf, dri, gth, tok.

Paladins can get special weapons made from Aleryia. Some of the mobs in the area around her will give you quests (unlocked at certain levels) which allows you to add enhancements to your weapon. The most important enhancement is Severity, which increases chance of critical hits.

Paladin Creation

Paladins are a remort-only class, and can be accessed via monks (Lord 100), bodyguards (Lord 100), clerics (Lord 150), and warriors (Lord 150).

Paladins at Lowmort Tier

From level 1 to 51, paladins can easily be summed up as warriors with the ability to cast cure light, only not as strong in the hitting department.

Training

Paladins make use of every single statistic so it is important to maximize both constitution and intelligence as soon as possible. Unlike warriors, paladins make good (better) use of having mana as well as hitpoints.

Practicing

The main paladin trainer is Ganastrikos, in the Hall of Paladins, located at the northwest corner of Midgaard.

It is a good rule of thumb as a paladin to mainly focus on melee skills and abilities while leveling up from 1 to 51. When it comes to healing spells, cure light will be the most efficient and beneficial one to learn due to the low mana cost of this spell combined with having a smaller mana pool. Once you've reached hero status cure light and heal will be of the most use.

At level 25, get access to Oath, which permits them an extra attack (with Oath of Destruction).

At level 35, Paladins can report to Aleryia, the elven smith (also in the Hall of Paladins), to obtain their paladin greatsword. At this level, they can add the enhancements Attack (+2/+2) or Defence (-20AC) to their weapon. A new weapon, to replace their current weapon, can be crafted, with different enhancements, at any time.

Worshipping

There are several good worship options including: Shizaga, Quixoltan, Kra, Tul-Sith Gorn and Werredan. Don't forget to worship Gorn for practicing at levels 10 thru 19!

Visaran is partial to Shizaga for several reasons: Oath will show that Shz offers some of the best bonuses to oaths (including an additional 25% xp boost using oath open!). She also offers increased casting speed, xp boost, mana and practice gains. These bonuses are most important for lord paladins that plan on using their mana.

Quixoltan offers the best mixture of combat and overall statistics.

Kra is similar to Quixoltan, but does not offer the best possible statistics. Worship Kra for a mixture of combat and casting/healing.

Tul-Sith is generally the god paladin's worship for the lord tier for 2 reasons: 1 is, you must worship Tul-Sith to learn new lord skills such as Aegis, and 2 is, most paladins aim to maximize their healing powers for their boon(s) which can be a rather helpful boost for most lord groups. It's important to understand all of the bonuses worship and oath affect. Tul likely has the best healing, but it's not by as much as you'd think. Tul grants 20% overall better healing, plus 20% for evolution. Shz gives -10% healing, but +35% for evolution oath, plus a better casting speed. For straight rescue healing, sure tul will grant more. But if you are a casting race with a mana pool, you could easily out heal tul using shz.

Werredan is not entirely suggested for paladins, but for those that enjoy more experience and the best melee combat possible, Werredan can speed up your trek between mortal and lord, and can be viable if you plan to remort to another race. Do not go Werredan if you wish to have mana.

Fighting

Soloing: Soloing is pretty easy at lowmort.

Tanking: Able to tank in hit gear.

Hitting: Strong enough to get you through.

Healing: Focus on cure light and using bots.

Paladin Prestige Options

None.

Paladins at Hero Tier

Paladins usually serve as hitters at hero. They hit extremely well now. They can also serve as rescuers in groups using their heroic and joined boons to good effect.

Training

Standard - maximize each stat as soon as possible.

Practicing

From 1 to 99, focus on learning Identify, Arcane Knowledge, Smash, Acumen, Teleport, Frenzy, Water Breathing, Sanctuary, Portal, Armor Optimization, Riposte, Nexus, and Divinity. These will provide you the spot buffs and skills that will make leveling up easier in both solo or group scenarios.

From 101 to 500, all of these abilities are useful and are more or less suggested to practice.

See Paladin Skills and Spells for Class Definers, Paladin Weapon, Oath, Prayer, Fervor, Exorcism

Worshipping

Due to the revamp, Worship has changed for Paladins. Worship is highly complex and affects a great deal more than is typical for most classes. Information is not publicly available as to the consequences of worship on oath, prayer, etc; if you are new to the class, consult with a senior Paladin for details on what choices will suit your playstyle.

The most common gods to worship are Werredan, Quixoltan and Kra.

If you want to maximize your melee and don't care much about mana, Werredan is best. It is the most common choice if you plan to remort.

Quixoltan is a bit less hitting but gives good hp and mana.

Kra is similar to Quixoltan. It doesn't improve stats as much as Quixoltan but allows one to hit a bit better. It also helps with healing.

Fighting

Soloing: Paladins hit extremely well now and soloing is a very viable option. One suggestion is to use full hr/dr, using severity/severity on your Greatsword, taking an Oath of War, buffing yourself with Holy Zeal, Prayer: Precision, and Fervor, and sticking to small areas such as Displacer Beast or Ajuu.

Tanking: Paladins have lost certain skills including but not limited to Shield Block. The paladin prayer boons provide options to mitigate this: anticipation and deflection. If used in conjunction with 'Defence' on the Greatsword, tanking in AC is quite effective.

Hitting: Much like soloing, a Paladin who upkeeps their buffs will have no trouble hitting like a truck.

Healing: For the majority of Hero, a paladin will use his/her boons to heal themselves or their groupmates. By making use of certain oaths, a paladin can also be healed more efficiently. Oaths may also be used to increase the healing efficacy towards others. At Hero 250, a paladin can begin to rescue heal by using oath evolution and casting joined boon (this can be combined with prayer soothe and applying redemption to your greatsword) which will heal the party everytime the paladin rescues an injured target.

Paladins at Lord Tier

Paladins at lord tier usually serve as backup tanks. They usually use an oath of peace or evolution, cast shared boon, and rescue the tank when the mob is almost dead. This will either heal the tank or heal all the groupmates. They don't tank as well as monks or warriors because they have lower hp and lose out on a few tanking skills.

Their mana can also be used in a pinch for healing or casting offensive spells.

Oath evolution allows for area heal boon and healing amplification at the expense of xp gain. Assimilation is available and brimstone is the most common choice assuming a sor is in the group. Assimilation is most paladins best bet at doing any actual damage, as lord paladin melee is laughable. Evolution will block your ability to create shrines or safe havens.

Oath destruction with frenzy and fervor allows for excellent damage with divine wrath. It will do equal damage as brimstone with half the mana cost. However, destruction removes your ability to heal and you receive less health when healed. No shrine or haven.

When shock is applied to your paladin sword: assimilation, divine wrath, and melee can apply stun, which is hugely useful. Stun will prevent mobs from fleeing or using combat abilities, healing in particular. Neyne recommends running with one shock weapon mod at all times, regardless of whatever else you're speccing your paladin to do. Being able to target a walkin healer mob and hope for a stun can prevent it from turning the tide of a battle against you. Boost its consistency midrun with the stupefy prayer.

Oath peace allows significant targeted rescue heals. It offers healing amplification and access to create shrine and safe haven. If you have a mass healer in the lord group (prs, cleric, viz) than this is likely your best choice for lord runs.

When tanking, the defence weapon mod gets a big upgrade at lord, but race specific protections like silver, essence, and judgement will be better against giths, elementals, and demons, respectively. Prayer of deflection does help noticeably; Neyne recommends it when backup tanking the occasional combat round in hitgear.

Paladins are capable of building no-stun (depending on worship, oath, prayer, sword, gear). A shz pal with oath freedom (35%), 3x steadfast on sword (60%), and a bulwark prayer (15%) cannot be stunned. If you have a carapace of molten rock (5%), you can skip the prayer and still hit 100%. This can be quite beneficial on several lord runs like gearbox and air royalty.