Paladin

AVAILABLE ON: Eden, Blackthorn, Live

Like their Cleric and Friar compatriots, Paladins also act in service of the Church of Albion but where the Friar might plead with his enemy to see reason before resorting the violence, the Paladins of Albion have no such desires. Where Clerics and Friars are the open hands of mercy, Paladins are the closed fist of righteousness. Unshakable in their faith, unquestioning in their righteousness, unwavering in their duty, the Paladins of Albion fight like men possessed in order to see Arthur’s legacy restored.

Paladins are the second heavy tank class of Albion, able to wear the supremely defensive Plate Armour. Though they trade quite a few hit points for the ability to cast a wide array of powerful support chants instead.

All tanks, both heavy and light, receive access to Intercept. This is a skill that can be applied to a friendly target, causing the next melee attack intended for that same friendly target to be absorbed by you.

Any class with access to the Shield skill line, who has also invested between 5 and 15 skill points in said skill line, will gain access to Guard. Guard is, like Intercept, a skill you apply to a friendly target which, as long as you remain within melee attacking distance of the friendly target, allows you to block incoming melee attacks on behalf of your guarded target. Unlike Intercept, Guard does not have a cooldown and should be swapped as needed. Players from WARHAMMER Online: Age of Reckoning will be familiar with this mechanic.

Both of these abilities will allow your healers and spellcasters to avoid

interruption of their skills.

PvE:

Due to their strong Chants, Paladins make for a reliable class when playing solo, able to defeat enemies, even those more powerful than the Paladin, in quick succession with little risk of death.

In groups, Paladins are always welcome due to their Chants and their ability to fill the role of tank. Unlike Armsmen, Paladins should generally not attempt to tank without a Shield, due to their decreased overall Hit Points. Pull enemies with your ranged Taunt spell, generate agro and maintain your Chants, especially the Endurance regenerating and Attack Speed increasing ones*, and you will do just fine in any group.

*The Attack Speed increasing Chant is only available on Eden

RvR:

Paladins are mid tier duellist, capable of both dealing and sustaining decent amounts of damage. Like most tanks when venturing out into RvR as a solo player, your greatest asset is your ability to outlast and control enemies.

In groups, much like in PvE, everyone will want a Paladin for their Chants. Paladins are a Jack-of-all-Trades type of class, where they are not the best at the jobs they can do but they are able to do more than most. They are okay damage dealers, okay tanks, okay supports, adding a lot of small things to a group while only taking up a single spot. Maintaining Chants is a Paladin’s top priority.** Otherwise, Paladins should be constantly re-examining and evaluating priorities for where they can do the most good for their group, with the ability to make the correct decisions being paramount to top tier Paladin play. As a Paladin, you should constantly be trying to create breathing room for your back-line, making sure that enemies cannot cross over into your back-line, guarding and peeling for your spellcasters and healers, changing Chants*** (commonly called “twisting” in-game) as the situation calls for, and when prudent, switching to a more aggressive play-style.

**On Blackthorn, Chants costs Power to maintain, making balancing Power much, much harder than on Eden where Chants only cost power to activate and a free to maintain.

*** On Eden, you are able to maintain all Chants (technically a limit of 8 but this covers all) so there is no need to change Chants based on the situation. This is only required on Blackthorn.

Character planners:

Eden: https://eden-daoc.net/charplan?c=Paladin

Blackthorn: https://blackthorn-daoc.com/class/Paladin

Live: https://daoc.gg/charplanner/overview#c=PALADIN

Suggested starting stat point distribution:

10 Constitution / 10 Strength / 10 Quickness

15 Constitution / 10 Strength (Avalonian)

10 Constitution / 10 Dexterity / 10 Strength (Sword & Shield variant with extra block & parry rate)

10 Constitution / 15 Strength (Two-handed variant with extra damage)

Suggested class skills:

50 Two Handed, 50 Chants, 39 Weapon, 19 Parry, 7 Shield (Solo Two Handed)

50 Chants, 42 Shield, 39 Weapon, 31 Parry (Solo Weapon & Shield)