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Moltove

12-02-2008, 05:44 PM

Hey guys.My Paladin was put away for a long while. I used to play him like I played my Assassin before learning about timing autoattacks and using CA's effectively-- by mashing my face to the keyboard. But after grouping with this really awesome Paladin, and after getting sick of hearing that there's not enough awesome Paladins, I wanted to step up to the challenge.However, my Paladin is only lvl 45, and generally there's usually a big difference with grouping experiences with each teir, let alone the standard differences between 45 and 70+, 80.So for now, I'd like some tip on leveling up, including gear, weapons and AAs.Gear wise, I know Crusaders generally have their own kind of MC gear, but it depends on the set up for the use of the Paladin (AAs, ect) and grouping needs. I plan to solo a lot, but I'd love the opportunity to be able to MT a group if asked or if needed. Fortunately, Paladin has the best of two world. Unfortunately, you can't tank and heal at the same time and expect to live so easily. So gear wise, what should I be looking for, now that I'm sort of out of the newbie levels that let you have any stats to be successful? I'm sure it depends on AA set ups, too...I actually toyed around with the thought that I could be a complete heal/support spec. But after whitnessing that Paladins can be super awesome too, I decided to scrap that idea. I read up on some things, and got a little confused. With my level in mind, amount of AAs (35 =/ will need to work on this), and the wanting to Solo a lot of the time and group, which should I go down? From what I can gather, Str, Sta, and Int seem to be the main ones, but someone even mentioned Agi for survivability? I know we aren't supposed to be DPS machines, but we can still belt it out. If I'm able to survive longer, even if the fights might take a longer, then I'm ok. But heck, if the fights are faster, and I survive better, that's even better. So, again, level, soloing, and grouping in mind, where should I go to, and with a low amount of AAs, which trees should be done first? I heard Int and Sta then Str?Weapons. The sword and board seem to always be a must. But when are two handers appropriate and what stats should they have? Is there a specific set of stats my sword and shield should have, or should I consider carrying two sets of swords and boards- one for DPS, one for Aa little easier tanking?With traits, I understand Sta is the way to go. Is Str thrown in there any? And for the M2 choices, it doesn't seem we get too much. My 44 M2 is the Ward. What's a good way to tell which M2 is the way to go each teir? I do believe if the taunt is a choice, then to go right for that, but this round it wasn't.Between the stances, I think I have a good understanding. More o rless, stick with offensive. If it's getting rough, switch to Defensive. But what if I mix DPS settings with Defensive, or does the stance not really help out in that case?Thanks for your time guys. I know some of this is in the forums, but it seems bit overwhelming at times and most of the time, it's about trial and error. I hope to do less errors, though =P Again though, this pally is only 45, with 35 AAs (will try to fix that soon =/) and not the best spells, either. I believe I have the best buy-able one hander for my level, the Spiked Amygdalan Club, so all set there. Oh, and cloaks, what's a good cloak to be shooting for? Those aren't the most easy to come across, heh.EDIT: I do have an extra Reflective Smoldering Shard handy, so would this be a good time to get a mirror made for my Pally?

Niou

12-02-2008, 07:08 PM

Although there is MC geared towards Crusaders, you may want to stick with the agi/str stuff. Why? Because Agi is now your crit mitigation, and also effects avoidance. Beyond that, get yourself a good..what was it, flameberge? I think thats the MC 1h with a good crusader delay on it.As far as AA's go. Our healing is nowhere near as weak as it once was. Doing some hard instances with 1 healer, I believe on one of the fights she healed for 60k and I healed for 40k while I was the MT. With the speed of our heals lowered (including if you AA them or use Strength end line, or both), you can heal extremly fast and well.stamina is good all around for the melee crit, increase to hp, and DA is only on a 5 min timer now. While obviously spell crit and heal crit from int lines are important. Strength, imo, can no longer be counted out offhandedly.Honestly, i've played alot of classes, and can say that Paladin has to be the most AA dependent class i've ever seen. While other classes may gain nice effects and such, we just get so many huge improvements and abilitys from AA's, that you can not live without them. I'd devote some time to really catching up on AA, maybe hitting some grey quests now that they give AA also.Oh, and leveling up, really not much to it. Umm...what was it at 45..? I'd guess lesser fay, 50+---> KoS, 60+---> Kunark?As for grabbing those grey aa's. Maybe hit some of the early heritage quests you passed by. TD, kunarks noob zone, has about 80 quests that you can do for aa in a couple hours. BB has a ton also.Some easy heritage around or below your lvl. Some may require a group.Missing Mask- EasyStrange Black Rock- Easy I thinkAxe from the Past- Easy but semi hard last guy? if memory serves.Dragoon K'Naae of the thexians- Easy SoloFoomby's Stolen Goods- EasyHaddens Earring- EasyIn honor and Service- Easy SoloRestoring Ghoulbane- Might be hard because of the last part?Stiletto's Orders Intercepted- EasyThe Journey is half the fun- Super Easy, SoloThe Reaching Blade of the Assassin- EasyThe Return of the light- Easy SoloThese boots were made for...- Easy SoloWar and Wardrobe- Semi easyI think thats most, there are others i'm sure. Also the 2 from Death Fist Citadel you might want to look into, 1. you could use the shield, and 2. There are a ton of quests in DFC that you could get AA from, but you'll need a group for those two.

Moltove

12-03-2008, 04:01 AM

Ahh, very nice, thank you! Hmm...will we get more AA points (turning in quests) if we mentor to their level? And with the new AA xp change...In the past, some dev I believe, said that turning in red quests really didn't help you out any, and actually gave you less xp upon return. But, with the mentored updates, adding a larger percentage to AA feed to someone mentoring, woudl that mean, depending on how high a quest is to the mentored level, it could be even more?Or do you now get the same amount of points greyed out or not?, and really, does mentoring affect it at all?Hmm, but you're right though. Just doing a quick look over on the AA tree, you can tell Paladins have a lot of potential and opportunities. I'm kind of excited about that. I think from now on my combat xp will be disabled, for sure, and I'll have to start running those quests that I missed. Hmm, but to mentor, or not to mentor. I can always make another account on my laptop and level up a toon to level 10 so he can mentor on quest turn ins. But this is going to take a while, and I only have 14 days to use that extra account. But if the mentoring/quest system works the way I think, it'd prolly be best just to mentor the level of the quest and do the turn in, as it always has been.Also, with the lines I saw for Str/Sta/Int, it seems a good all around base is 448 for all three? And then any further customization is up to the player, I take it? Boy do I got to get his level up there, heh, that way I can get some more points past 50 (once I get 50). Those end lines are nice. And when advancing, sticking to Crusader then to Paladin then to Shadows is the best idea, right? I'm gonna have to read up on the AAs for sure and literally study them.

Kigneer

12-03-2008, 01:59 PM

Thing to remember is everyone has their own setup. Some Pallys love to put most of their AAs in STA or WIS lines. Others, prefer going down the AGI line (I did and survive much better). Then others the standard STR/STA/WIS 4-4-8. It all comes down to your play style; instances you're persuing (dungeon crawler; going after names, etc), and who you regularly group with.When I was a middie and locked in 50 points, I completed the AGI line (tried the STR/STA/WIS 4-4-8 and wasn't satisfied) based on a tanking tip from another Pally. Joust and Lance with the AoE auto-attack @ 30% has saved my butt more times than not (especially between casting long spells).In groups lower DPS isn't much of a problem as the Assassins/Mages/Necros will pound the enemy. If you solo, you will need to put AAs in STR/STA/INT with maybe 4 for WIS for some better resists (but the WIS line further is more for group buffs), as standard.If your forte is AoE, AGI will be your friend. If you want raw DPS for MTing instances, INT. If you want to high resists, WIS (almost required end-game -- every resist needs to be above 6k to survive raiding -- even before Shadows).As for mentoring, I do it all the time. There's a XP penalty of 50%, but your AP will skyrocket. It's a great way to get more AAs -- plus thoroughly learn the maps while helping lower levels. At this rate, I'll have 120 AAs before level 80, with about 100 collections still need completing; 65+ quests to finish (not including a chest full of dropped quests); and 14 more HQs. :/

Moltove

12-03-2008, 03:39 PM

Hmm, ok. Thanks! I guess it's really about studying the AAs, and figuring out which is best for soloing, but can be good for grouping, as well. With limited points, that's something that can hinder someone, so I definately have to get that up.Well, if AA points are going to be left for experimentation, then I'll bite hehe. With not too many AAs, it's less to worry about, but at the same time a pain since it defines this class. Now...time to find my free respec cards and get that mirror made, lolSo about that gear. The Flamberge has a 4.0 delay I think, and a Falchion has 1.6. They both have Str/Int and HP/Mana at the same stats for both blades. I was thinking hitting up the faster one?And what should I look for in 2handers. Tanking with those is a no-no, right? So sticking with DPS, I would think would be best.Hmm, I can't waiit to get working on him! I'm just two groups from my Sin's epic so once I'm done with that, I can really start to focus on my Pally.

Kigneer

12-03-2008, 04:15 PM

AA mirrors can't be used until a class is level 75.With 2H weapons, you want the most damage -- faster attack speed will come from haste buffs in groups (and the STR line). You'll do more damage from a slower weapon overall, than a faster weapon that hits with less damage over time.

Kordran

12-03-2008, 04:41 PM

<cite>Moltove@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite><blockquote>So about that gear. The Flamberge has a 4.0 delay I think, and a Falchion has 1.6. They both have Str/Int and HP/Mana at the same stats for both blades. I was thinking hitting up the faster one?And what should I look for in 2handers. Tanking with those is a no-no, right? So sticking with DPS, I would think would be best.</blockquote>Generally speaking, you want a 1H weapon with a 4.0 delay or slower. Personally, I think you'll get more mileage out of a good shield than using a 2-hander, even when soloing. The only time Paladins even come close to putting out reasonable numbers is against undead; you're a defensive fighter, so in my opinion it's best to play to your strengths.

Prestissimo

12-04-2008, 10:52 PM

Procs and auto attacks will make up a good chunk of your dps, so take the auto attack / CA inbetween autos experience from playing a scout and apply that to playing your paladin. Treat the paladin as if it was a scout with a tank body and you'll do reasonable dps. With the epic weapon (which I'd strongly advise you getting right when you hit 80), full adept 3s, and easy to obtain quested/instanced gear at level 80, my auto attack was making up about 800 of my 1,300-1,500 dps. As a note for the future when you get there, find a <a href="http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Rilissian_Elite_Targ_Shield" target="_blank">Rilissian Elite Targ Shield</a>, the firesong proc is awsome when combined with the INT tree's spell crit, and it's a cheap shield with a good protection value.Don't worry about using your dps as much as focusing on your surviveability. Amends still makes up a good portion of our hate gain (though we'll have to see when the second half of the revision occurs) and with a decent auto attack dps, your taunts should be enough to secure any desparities in your amends target. Your ward will be increadibly valueable, and is probably one of the most valueable abilities that you have spare amends and the defensive stance. It would benefit you to use it on pull to prevent pre-warding agro to the healer, and it allows them a little extra cushion to throw their debuffs in sooner as well.On a final thought, this thread posted on EQ2 Flames shows the efficiency rate of paladin abilities in raid assuming the STR line, and the bard allegro buff. It is very telling of how usefull each of your abilities really will be in actual practice in raids and instances given you have a utility class. Its not something that you need to know, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to look at and would help show you how effective certain abilities will prove to you over the course of time.<a href="http://www.eq2flames.com/paladins/36658-paladin-spell-ca-efficiency-chart.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.eq2flames.com/paladins/3...ency-chart.html</a>

Moltove

12-05-2008, 07:55 AM

Alright, thank you! Hmm...I never actually thought about putting myself as a scout in a tanks body, but now that you say it...it makes a lot of sense! Definately will have to go with that flamberge then.What are the blue stats that Pallies look for? For example, Assassins tend to really focus on Melee Crit, and Rogues aim for Double Attack (I think). With TSO, I've seen some really nice tank gear. Though, aside from the usual SK/Pally/Bard loot, there are some pure tank gear too. So, where's the line drawn? I think though, that really nice tank stuff that my Sin wouldn't mind having is built for DPS, though. So I guess, when it comes down to it, whichc stats, and how much of am I going to focus on once I get the levels? No doubt Spell Crit, but Double Attack, too?For example, Assassins generally aim for 60%+ Melee crit and a few other ones, but Melee crit is by far the most important and has the highest percentage.Hmm, so fighting wise, think like a scout. AA/Gear wise...think like a tank! hehe, more importantly a caster tank. Finally, I got my Sin's epic, and I trained with another friend of mine, and he showed me a trick with my AAs. I'm feeling pretty confident about this, and I really want to get started on my Pally now. It's going to be an interesting, tough road, especially since I have to make up for my AAs, but it's only a minor setback. Tomorrow I'm going to look through every single AA, write them down if I have to and configure what I need to do to do my best with what I got, and plan for the future.EDIT: And thank you for the EQ2Flames post! Ill have to check it out. It's not often I can find things that aren't flaming, ranting or just confusing. They have the advanced players in there, who really break down CAs down to the formula, and generally speak through a lvl capped raider's point of view, but I know there's valuable info in there if I look hard enough.

Hikinami

12-10-2008, 08:20 AM

<cite>Kigneer wrote:</cite><blockquote>AA mirrors can't be used until a class is level 75.With 2H weapons, you want the most damage -- faster attack speed will come from haste buffs in groups (and the STR line). You'll do more damage from a slower weapon overall, than a faster weapon that hits with less damage over time.</blockquote>Since when? I have a mirror on my 42 Conjy that I have not used in a while but when they came out it worked just fine. Was this changed or are you thinking that they can't be crafted until 75?Edit: Yep you can use AA mirrors before 75, Kigneer. I'm pretty sure its any level over 10 when you can get AA.I personally like Str, Sta, Int on my pally and before 70 I used str and sta. I also go for 5 points in your base heal and the ward over in the pally EoF tree.