All About Paladins!

[ToxicWi]

I have been through many classes. Sorceror, Scout, Shaman, and here I am fixing to try out a Crusader and will take the path of a Paladin. However, I do have a few questions concerning them. Can they solo well? Can they be MT? Do they get any buffs? I am pretty much clueless about fighters, so all info would be great! :smileyhappy:

[djhbeek]

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ToxicWire wrote:

I have been through many classes. Sorceror, Scout, Shaman, and here I am fixing to try out a Crusader and will take the path of a Paladin. However, I do have a few questions concerning them. Can they solo well? Can they be MT? Do they get any buffs? I am pretty much clueless about fighters, so all info would be great! :smileyhappy:

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your answers are: yes, yes most of the time, and not really.  I'm sure you'll get alot of long answers, as alot of those questions generate controversy, so i thought i'd give you the summary first.:smileyhappy:

Message Edited by djhbeek on 07-25-2005 11:09 PM

[Pilo]

I have also played many classes and finally settled on Paladin after a lot of experiences. To be slightly more in depth in answering your questions than the guy above me... Yes, we solo great.  This character is the easiest and quickest soloer I've played.  You have to pick and choose just like you would with any class, but you can get good bang fo the buck pretty easily and safely. Through the late 30s I haven't been unable to be MT in any encounter I've experienced.  I have slightly above average gear for my level, but I don't think its making a big difference.  If you play the class well and are supported by others who play their classes well, you will have absolutely no problem MTing anything except perhaps some level 50+ multi-group multi-epic raids.  Basically, we're fairly close to guardians in ability, but because we have a more diverse skillset we're slightly less "powerful" (if you don't have imagination in using your diverse skills) and more difficult to play to the max of the class' ability. Like any class, we have some buffs.  They aren't terribly powerful, and don't make a huge difference or anything.  You have self-buffs that certainly have a big impact, but they're the sort you'll pretty much always have up anyway so you won't be comparing any time when you don't to that.  Consider your self-buffed HP your minimum HP, for example.

[Roble]

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Can they solo well?

A paladin is a very efficient solo class.  A good strategy is to wear the mob down by doing heals as it uses all its power up.  Once the mob's power is gove have at it and kill them.  I have no problem at all in solo encounters.... as a matter of fact I think you will find Paladins to be one of the best solo classes in the game.  I have tried a few other classes so far... a Templar (50), Monk (42), Defiler (42), and Swashbuckler (47).  So far I have to say Paladin is easily the best solo class of those I listed.

 

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Can they be MT?

Yes you can.  Actually you will be a great tank.  You can do good DPS, you have numerous taunts, stuns, and heals.  Do not believe the nay-sayers.  A paladin can certaintly tank good.  I have tanked all manner of mobs from level 1 to level 57 x4 epic encounters... no problem.  A paladin is also able to keep aggro while tanking if he/she so desires.

 

 

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Do they get any buffs?

A Paladin has one of the best ressurections in the game.  Paladins also have a great heal spell.  Our group buffs consist of raising wis, power, str, sta, mitigation, and raising tanking skills like kite/tower shield.  You can also use protection spells and skills to keep aggro off a caster or healer.  Your ward also has a nice little addition to it, it transfers aggro from the person you casted it on to you.  Great for getting aggro.

 

I hope that helped.

[Boli32]

We can do ALL of the above... very well but we do fall down in power efficiently... something we all hope is going to be remedied in the combat upgrade. Suffice to say you have to watch you power almost as much (if not more) than you watch your health, I have never failed in one of these tasks becaseu I didn't have enough health / heals / combat arts... I only fail when I run out of power.

[hieronym]

as the above posers said. We can solo great, I do hardclave on the most difficult all the time and find it easy, i do have a few ebon pieces of armour though. finished doing the solo arena as well, something i cant do very well with my ranger.

 

Tanking isnt hard providing everyone in the group knows what they are doing and doesnt offload their big hits straight off. DPS is great at the moment. Im sure this will go down like a lead baloon in the combat revamp but when i first rolled my pally i wasnt looking at doing DPS, im of the old school that thinks a tank is there to get hit and keep the aggro and not do the DPS, thats the other classes role.

 

We are a little power hungry so if tanking concentrate on taunts more than trying to DPS and you will keep aggro better in the long run. Nothing worse than being out of power and getting another ^^ add that starts chewing on the healer :smileyhappy:

[BlackW]

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ToxicWire wrote:

I have been through many classes. Sorceror, Scout, Shaman, and here I am fixing to try out a Crusader and will take the path of a Paladin. However, I do have a few questions concerning them. Can they solo well? Can they be MT? Do they get any buffs? I am pretty much clueless about fighters, so all info would be great! :smileyhappy:

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Take a look at my guide for starters.   Right now, it will take you through your mid-30s  Once you get to about lvl 35, this forum can be extremely helpful for Paladins.   Click on the link below.

There are some extremely knowledgable Paladins in this forum who can answer any question my guide does not, especially Paladin end-game questions.

[BlackW]

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boli wrote:
We can do ALL of the above... very well but we do fall down in power efficiently... something we all hope is going to be remedied in the combat upgrade. Suffice to say you have to watch you power almost as much (if not more) than you watch your health, I have never failed in one of these tasks becaseu I didn't have enough health / heals / combat arts... I only fail when I run out of power.

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/agreed

Lets hope they do not try to fix power efficiency by tweaking the races, rather by balancing the classes and lowering the power cost of upgraded spells and CAs.  What I mean by tweaking the races is  I hope they dont say, "choose a race with a large power pool for Paladin (elves for example)".   That is not the solution, especially for those who already have Paladins of low power pool races(primarily high strength races).   I am NOT going to change the racial suggestions in my guide based on Paladins poor power efficiency, that imho would be a mistake.

I use Adept III Wild Swing (Power Cost: 11) continue spamming (Heroic Opportunities)HOs when I am out of power.  I would prefer to use other spells and CAs when low on power.   A3 WS only does about 50 damage but the HOs are effective when I am out of power.

[ToxicWi]

The statement about Paladin DPS dropping horrible in the combat revamp worries me. I have always been one big on DPS, and have always been a mage in other MMORPGs. But at about lvl 12 Sorceror I got bored with my 2 nukes, 1 AoE Encounter, and 1 DoT, simply spamming the 2 nukes until the mob dies with some HOs in there. I try scout and they are alright, nothing special to me. I go with priest and reach a level 10 shaman and I am loving it. I have a decent solo melee ability and I can heal - and heal a whole lot. But I send some random tells to priests on my server asking them about later on in the game, and the majority said that they cannot solo worth a flip. So now here I am, my last option in the game that has atleast some magic. While I do not think that Paladins should have wonderful DPS, I still think it shouldn't be horrible...

[Rochir]

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ToxicWire wrote:

The statement about Paladin DPS dropping horrible in the combat revamp worries me. I have always been one big on DPS, and have always been a mage in other MMORPGs. But at about lvl 12 Sorceror I got bored with my 2 nukes, 1 AoE Encounter, and 1 DoT, simply spamming the 2 nukes until the mob dies with some HOs in there. I try scout and they are alright, nothing special to me. I go with priest and reach a level 10 shaman and I am loving it. I have a decent solo melee ability and I can heal - and heal a whole lot. But I send some random tells to priests on my server asking them about later on in the game, and the majority said that they cannot solo worth a flip. So now here I am, my last option in the game that has atleast some magic. While I do not think that Paladins should have wonderful DPS, I still think it shouldn't be horrible...

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Until the combat changes are released, there is no way to know what the changes will be.  

Message Edited by Rochir on 07-26-2005 07:14 AM

[BlackW]

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ToxicWire wrote:

The statement about Paladin DPS dropping horrible in the combat revamp worries me. I have always been one big on DPS, and have always been a mage in other MMORPGs. But at about lvl 12 Sorceror I got bored with my 2 nukes, 1 AoE Encounter, and 1 DoT, simply spamming the 2 nukes until the mob dies with some HOs in there. I try scout and they are alright, nothing special to me. I go with priest and reach a level 10 shaman and I am loving it. I have a decent solo melee ability and I can heal - and heal a whole lot. But I send some random tells to priests on my server asking them about later on in the game, and the majority said that they cannot solo worth a flip. So now here I am, my last option in the game that has atleast some magic. While I do not think that Paladins should have wonderful DPS, I still think it shouldn't be horrible...

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The best way to find out is after they are released on the test server, go check it out.   Experience is double (quadruple if you have low adventure vitality) on the test server so lvling up a character does not take long.   From what I was told, Paladin DPS will be reduced for those with starter spells and CAs but may actually increase for those with Adept III+ spells and CAs.   I have not personally seen the changes and if I had, we are not supposed to talk about them here.   A bigger problem than DPS is power efficiency which has a huge effect on DPS.   Right now, our power efficiency is so low that it is already affecting our DPS.   More power = more spells and CAs.

[Nydysean]

I was just skimming throught this thread and noticed that someone mentioned that the high strenght races were having power problems as palladins.  It is my understanding that since a palladin is a part of the fighter archtype then it gets it's power pool from strength.  Am I wrong in this?  If so where does the power come from?  Wisdom?

[djhbeek]

mostly str, but some wis.  think it's 2:1 or so ... i read that somewhere, but i forget.  :smileysad:

[GilfalasElaandrin]

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ToxicWire wrote:

I have been through many classes. Sorceror, Scout, Shaman, and here I am fixing to try out a Crusader and will take the path of a Paladin. However, I do have a few questions concerning them. Can they solo well? Can they be MT? Do they get any buffs? I am pretty much clueless about fighters, so all info would be great! :smileyhappy:

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--Can they solo well?-- Yes, very well. I have solo'd about half my level given my and my friends play schedules are pretty erratic. While this is the only class I have extensively played in EQ 2, compared to all the classed I played in EQ 1 the Paladin solo's better than any of them, with far less downtime.

 

--Can they be MT?-- Absolutely. I regularly main tank in all the groups I am in. We make excellent tanks when played intelligently. While the bersker and guardian do generate more aggro than us normally speaking, a properly played Paladin is just as good and brings other options to the group as well.

 

--Do they get any buffs?-- We get a lot of buffs. We get self buffs to boost Str and Stam and another to boost Wis and HP while generating casting reagents for our self heal as well, we get one that boost the party Wisdom and later it improves to boost Wis and Divien resist. We get another part buff that boosts Crushing, slashing anmd peircing while stealing aggro from the party to give to ourselves. We also get many one on one buffs that will protect a party member while either boosting our own defense, or decreasing our defense to increase anothers and even another to steal a large portiono of another party members hate generation and give it to us. Also we have a buff that allows us to sometimes absorb some of the damage a party member would take so that we 'share' damage.

 

Not to mention we get a targetable heal, a Lay hands style heal, a LARGE self heal and a 'ward' or 'rune' style spell that can make a large difference in both party survivability as well as aggro generation.

 

Melee classes in this game have a much borader spectrum and are a lot of fun to play. You'll find that those melee players from other games who stick to the 'auto attack on' and that is it strategy will make the WORST tanks and melee players in this game. You have to be involved in EQ 2 combat and a well played Paladin has many tools to help the party as a whole and to keep very involved in the combat.

[BlackW]

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Nydysean wrote:
I was just skimming throught this thread and noticed that someone mentioned that the high strenght races were having power problems as palladins.  It is my understanding that since a palladin is a part of the fighter archtype then it gets it's power pool from strength.  Am I wrong in this?  If so where does the power come from?  Wisdom?

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Yes, you summed it up perfectly.   The high-strength races tend to have a low power pool to start the game.  However Paladin power depends on strength or it is supposed to.   The size of the power pool and adding strength are both important.   At this time, high strength races are having difficulty making up for their low starting power pool.

Power efficiency depends on:

1.  The size of our power pool.

2. The amount of power used by each spell and combat art.

The ways to fix the current problem are to increase the size of our power pool as we level and lower the power cost of each spell.  Currently, leveling does not adequately make up for the low starting power pool of the high-strength races.     Paladins are fighters, healers and spellcasters.    All of these roles require a lot of power.   Basically, we need more power and to use less power per spell and combat art just to break even with other classes.

[Oakbr]

1)  Can we solo?  Oh yeah.  I'm playing three toons these days, Pally, Warlock, and Monk.  The pally is the easiest of the three to solo.  We're self-healing tanks that do decent damage--better than decent with a two-handed weapon. 2)  Can we tank?  You betcha.  At level 47, I can tank pretty much any group mob I've ever seen, and some raid mobs as well.  Last week I mentored down to 38 and was MT for a Caldron's Hollow raid.  The thing about tanking is we have to work a little harder at it than a guardian.  Our taunts alone aren't quite enough...but we have other aggro-generation options--group buffs, AE abilities, heals, wards, shield bash, shield buffs (single target), aggro transfer (I don't use Redemption, but others swear by it). 3)  Do we get buffs?  Well, sorta.  I'm old school, and when I think about serious buffage, I think EQ1 Shammy buffs + Virtue + Kei.   We can't do that.  In "New Norrath", when it comes to buffing...we're good tanks.  Yes, we do have a few buffs, including a weapon proc, and a training ability that increases our stats among others.  Also got some group buffs--I use these all the time, mostly for the aggro they generate--the Call to Arms line and the Prayer line  really help lock aggro early in a battle.