[Paladin] - Complete Guide

Blaze · #1 (**permalink**) 07-21-2006, 06:28 AM

Greetings,

I was browsing the forum and I didn't see any strategy guide on my main class so I thought I'd write one to save people who are new to the class some time. I know there is a thread about Defenders but I saw it easier to sum it all up in one post.

Why did I choose Paladin?
I'll start by explaining why I chose Paladin and how I feel about it having played it for quite some time now. I chose to play a Paladin after getting bored with my (over)powerer Conjurer, which retired at level 42. Paladin seemed like an odd combination but as a great challenge as it can't summon a tanking pet.

If you'd like to play a character with many different abilities at it's disposal and want to try something different for a Ternion Attack-caster, then paladin is for you.

Getting started
For early game start with the Storm Mastery and put points in the Storm Nimbus-tree and max Storm Surge as soon as possible. When you have those move on to the Defense Mastery and get Batter, Shield Charge, Shield Slam and so on. This should get you started.

*NEW*
Why melee-oriented Paladin over caster-oriented Paladin?
I've heard many people saying that they play a more caster-oriented of Paladin. I however think that you should go mainly Defense as there ain't that many good skills to support a caster in the Defense tree, therefore you can't fully benefit from your other Mastery if you choose to play the Paladin as a caster.

*UPDATED*
Useful and less useful skills
Let's look a bit at the Defensive Mastery first, this will be your main Mastery (meaning the most skill points will be put in this Mastery).

1 Point in Mastery

Concussive Blow - This is a pretty good skill if you're using a mace-type of weapon and testing have shown that this does indeed lengthen the duration of all your stuns (eg. Storm Surge) while wielding a mace.
Battle Awardness - Very good when combined with its synergies aura. However I don't think you need more than 1 point in it.
Batter - This skill is awesome combined with it's synergy. Worth maxing early but in late game when you have Pulverize maxed you can drop it down to 1 point.
Armor Handling - Very good at lower levels, however hardly useful for a melee build in late game.

4 Points in Mastery

Adrenaline - Good skill but the health regeneration is minimal so only 1 point here.
Rally - Decent skill in early and mid game but even with this skill maxed and Adrenaline maxed the heal ain't really worth it on Legendary anymore and it ain't that good for Energy recovery either.
Quick Recovery - Good skill if you have points to spend in it, I'd however only spend 1 point in it. At the moment I don't have this as I very rarely used it.
Shield Smash - Good passive skill, more damage and decent chance to be used. Worth maxing.

10 Points in Mastery

Resilience - Necessary synergy for Adrenaline. Adrenaline has a 30 second cooldown. Max it.
Focus - I don't think you need this before legendary. This skill becomes more useful on Legendary. Worth maxing.
Shield Charge - Very good skill, but you only need 1 point in it. Very useful for killing ranged mobs.

16 Points in Mastery

Inspiration - I'd say that this skill ain't that useful as the Energy recovered is pretty close to the Energy used for Rally alone. Might be somewhat useful in early game though.
Rend Armor - Very good synergy for Batter. It increases the damage you do on mobs alot after using Batter on them. This also allows you to hit up to 3 mobs while using Batter.
Disable - Same as Shield Smash basically and the slowing is nice. Worth maxing.

24 Points in Mastery

Defensive Reaction - Very good synergy for Adrenaline, more speed more damage. Worth maxing.
Iron Will - Resists are always nice so put atleast 1 point in this.
Disruption - Good synergy to Shield Charge. It will hit multiple mobs and apply Skill Disruption, however you only need 1 point in it.

32 Points in Mastery

Defiance - As Rally ain't that good this ain't either, also if you're somewhat correctly geared you should have enough elemental resistances.
Colossus Form - Very good skill, but I don't think you will need more than 1 point in this as a Paladin.
Pulverize - Very good passive skill. Hits 3 enemies, more damage, decent chance to be used and also applies Skill Disruption. I might add that from my experience the reduction to your offensive ability doesn't hurt that much.

Now lets look at the Storm Mastery:
(I will only mention skill that I feel that supports the class in question)

Storm Nimbus - Good skill. More damage. Max it.
Heart of Frost - Good synergy to Storm Nimbus. More damage. Worth maxing.
Static Charge - Same as Heart of Frost. However I would priorize this before Heart of Frost.

Squall - This skill becomes very useful at Legendary. It will be a life saver versus archers. Put atleast 6 points in it when you reach Legendary.
Obscured Visibility - Very good synergy to Squall. Reduces resistances which makes you do more damage. Worth maxing.

Storm Surge - Very good skill. I would max it for Normal/Epic, drop it to one point when you reach Legendary and max it again when you have enough points. This is because you will need the points elsewhere at start of Legendary and the damage bonus ain't that big anymore. However this is pretty much useless if you run Legendary Typhon as he hits so slow and he's immune to stun.

Summon Wisp - Good pet because of it's synergy, however you will only need 1 point in it. If want an extra stun ability then you might want to put 4 or more points in this skill.
Eye of the Storm - Very good synergy to Wisp. 100% more lightning damage. Worth maxing.

That's all about skills for now, if I forgot something or you disagree on something please leave me a message.

Placing Attributes
On to attributes. You will need a lot of strenght to wear the armor you need and you will also need a decent dexterity to raise your Offensive- and Defensive Ability and to allow you to use a wider range of weapons. You should balance strenght dexterity so that you can use your weapons, that would be about 2:1-3:1 streght:dexterity (Clarification: 3:1 meaning three times more strenght than dexterity). I'd say you need around 400 base strenght if you have maxed Armor Handling and around 500 if you haven't. After that you want to raise dexterity to get a decent Offensive- and Defensive Ability, this will help you do more critical strikes, there for more damage, you will also take less damage over all. You won't survive long with a low DA on Legendary. I have around 3000 hitpoints without raising my health at all, that should do pretty well. Of course you can spend some points in health late in the game if you wish.

*NEW*
About weapon speed
The weapon speed cap is 190% and you want to reach it, once you've reached it you can start using slower weapons, the most important thing is that you hold your attack speed at 190% or atleast very close to it at all the time, this will help you maximize your dps.

*UPDATED*
If you're interested you can find my current build by following the link below. (Note: This is my build I have at level 50.)
TitanCalc by stonedonkey - A Titan Quest Calculator - Paladin

Performance of my own Paladin
I'll explain my build quickly and what it can do. My build is Basically a fullout Defender with the addition of the Storm Masterys lightning damage bonus, which is a quiet sweet bonus I might add. It works as following, I charge in, Batter, drop the mobs with normal attack + shield procs, if the mobs are within 10 levels of my own level they will die within a few seconds, this is because of Batter, if I drop Squall they will die even faster. With my current gear with max buffs (own buffs + Battle Marker) I have reached a maximum dps of approximetly 20000 (piercing) and 5000 with minimal piercing damage. (...and yes I agree that piercing damage is overpowered and lame but it helps me do Typhon in under 10 seconds so I use it while farming him. Which is normally a pain as it takes forever.)

*NEW*
Here's a screenshot of my character screen. (This is with own buffs + Battle Marker)

Please post below if you have something to add and I will add it to the Guide. All feedback is always welcome. Thank you for reading.

This is a repost from the old Skills/Masteries forum but due to having spread some false info I reposted the thread completely. I heavily updated the thread now with my resent findings so it should be even more complete now.

salsero71ita · #2 (**permalink**) 07-21-2006, 08:01 AM

I Blaze, nice guide.
I'm asking your permission to translate your guide in Italian, giving obviously credit for this good work, and put it a forum called Hwupgrade?
If not, never mind, no problem, I'll keep it for my personal use.
Howerer, I repeat, VERY NICE guide, it'll be my second character after a Conjurer. Michele.

Blaze · #3 (**permalink**) 07-21-2006, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by salsero71ita

I Blaze, nice guide.
I'm asking your permission to translate your guide in Italian, giving obviously credit for this good work, and put it a forum called Hwupgrade?
If not, never mind, no problem, I'll keep it for my personal use.
Howerer, I repeat, VERY NICE guide, it'll be my second character after a Conjurer. Michele.

I do not mind at all, feel free to translate it.

sednan · #4 (**permalink**) 07-21-2006, 08:22 AM

i got a doubt about the stats:

I only need to put 2-1 or 3-1 str-dex ? The other atributes came with skills ?

Blaze · #5 (**permalink**) 07-21-2006, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sednan

i got a doubt about the stats:

I only need to put 2-1 or 3-1 str-dex ? The other atributes came with skills ?

My character has 370 base strenght and 170 base dexterity if that's what you're asking. That's about 2:1 strenght:dexterity.

If your question was I mean by 3:1 and 2:1 is :
3:1 - That you have 3 strenght for each point in dexterity, also three times more strenght than dexterity.
2:1 - Same as above but just two times more strenght than dexterity.

sednan · #6 (**permalink**) 07-21-2006, 08:31 AM

"base" atributes mean: with out items bonsu atributes ?

PS: LOL i really like ur char names. Like my paladin char names in Diablo 2: Zakh, Zefh, Zigh, Zodh, Zubh.