Storm/Defence or Earth/Defence

[Nakatomi_Uk]

How would this skill combo do I was looking into defence and the Colossuss looks like a cool skill to have but Earth/Defence looks like a good combo as well I am stuck between Storm or Earth its reallt difficult.

[Shaddow]

Both are powerfull combinations . For my point of view anything that comes with Defense = uber char .
Now chosing between earth and storm ....I will pick Storm for sure cuz I do like the powerfull debuffs , good buffs and I like to stun or to slow things :).
My vote go to Storm .

[Violos]

Definitely Storm/Defense.
The most useful Earth skill for a Defender is Heat Shield, and you get that from at least three different items.

[Irma2]

I have both at exactly the same point (~level 50 at end of Act II Epic) and am expecting Storm to be the stronger end-game build. However, Earth has its uses - not least from the Core Dweller.

Unfortunately, both my toons died to the Epic Manticore for the simple reason that neither had a way to distract him. The Wisp doesn't hold aggro, and Manti's Lightning breath insta-killed the CD. That left me to tackle Manti on my own, not very easy when you don't twink and don't have the necessary Lightning and Poison resistances. As much as I ducked and dived trying to avoid his nasty attacks, he eventually nailed me with Pounce and Lightning breath respectively, ending the hardcore runs of both toons. It also doesn't help that I usually get some lag when fighting Manti.

Compare that to my Spellbinder, for example, who cast Outsider and, by the time he'd also cast Rally and Colossus and was ready to engage Manti, the pets had reduced the boss to only a sliver of life left. I only had to hit him once or twice and that was it. Easy peasy.

However, for other bosses, CD is a lifesaver. My Battlemage just beat Epic Typhon and he never even saw me coming. As I rushed into his arena, CD made a beeline for him and engaged him while I touched a Battle Marker shrine. I then circled around behind Typhon, who was hitting my CD with ineffectual fire attacks. I cast Ancestors and Battle Standard just as Typhon summoned his meteors onto the CD, and the Titan died a few seconds thereafter. The CD was untouched, and I didn't take one HP of damage in a fight that took maybe 10-12 seconds total. Crazy. Not even my Harb or Conq nailed him so quickly and easily.

CD is also good against Talos and the Hydra, as well as Nehebkau, as I think he's immune to poison as well as fire. He's really useful to have in boss fights. Being able to stand behind the boss hacking away at its tail while it fixates on CD is a lifesaver.

Paladin is more of a solo toon as Wisp just cannot hold aggro. But then, Paladin gets more tools in his arsenal to solo mobs and bosses without the need for a distraction. Paladin's crowd control is way superior. Squall alone is uber. When you no longer have to worry about ranged foes, that's about half the game done. Add in that Storm is the only mastery in the game that has an easy counter to Dactyls (Spell Breaker/Spell Shock), and Pally just looks better and better.

[Violos]

Pally has the rare combination of a charging multi-hit melee skill and SB/SS, allowing him to hit whole groups of casters with Sapros and additional ML resistance breakers, and then nuke their brains out. Quite true to the class, in a way.

But most of all, this is his #1 boss killer combo that you should capitalize on.

[Nakatomi_Uk]

Right I know this is a very old thread but I am starting a new one again but I dont know what to do with stats since defence is what is is and basically makes you nearly or if not fully immune to attacks I was looking at Strength and Intelligence since I'll be going for Storm/Defence and chain lighting and storm surge would get extra damage with Intel on.

What do you think??? I'm currently creating a back up starter character getting them to level 8 with no stat points or masteries selected therefore I go wrong I can start again.

Also the round icon skills like above like shield smash as long as I am carrying a sword and shield they are used automatically ain't they?