New Paladin Guide

[Xgaren]

Introduction

Hey guys, this is Xgaren, bringing you my first guide for Pocket Legends. Keep in mind as of starting this guide my Paladin is only level 25 and my first character, but I'm starting to realize the strengths and weaknesses as well as the role this class plays.

The Paladin is meant to be played as a support-tank. He has a heal, a revive, buffs to increase damage or armor separately, and a large AoE with a chance to stun. This allows you to get some breathing room when you're waiting for your heals to come off of cooldown.

Pros
600 Mana to start, which means better restore from mana pots
Nice group heal, even stronger for self
High survivability if you know how to to use your skills
Only other class with a revive skill
Can clear entire dungeons without using ANY pots if you stack mana regen items due to having two heals
Has a dash skill which is low cooldown

Cons
Low hit-rate, about 70% accuracy at start
Eats mana potions like candy early on
Most buffs are very weak until you put in a lot of points
Mana regen skill is useless at all ranks
Very low multi-target damage
A lot of the skills just outright suck


Stat Distribution

STR - You will need a lot. You're a tank, and your survival depends on being able to soak up damage.

DEX - The Paladin has low hit rate, but one 20 second buff gives him plenty.

INT - A few points into early on, to reach 1 mana regen. You'll need 37 to equip the ring I highly suggest buying.

Verdict

STR - All of it.
DEX - Not nessecarily needed.
INT - Put in 37 points

Skills

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/Bobb11118/Paladin%20Skills/Charge_zps9ac89bb8.png
Charge!!
- A gap closer, combo starter, and distance traveler for moving through dungeons. Has a bit of knockback. Put only one point into this skill.

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/Bobb11118/Paladin%20Skills/Rhinomight_zps6c9a7f9f.png
Rhino Might
- Very weak, small AoE damage. Rank 1 starts it off with a 20% chance to stun for 3s. Because of its short range, I choose not to use it. You can, but I guarantee it's for the most part worthless and will drain your mana pool too quickly.

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/Bobb11118/Paladin%20Skills/Restore_zps5b4b70a6.png
Restore
- A pretty nice AoE heal which also increases your health regen for 3s after, effectively doubling the heal for yourself. Keep this skill equal to Redemption.

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/Bobb11118/Paladin%20Skills/Redemption_zpsa26c8b3b.png
Redemption
- Your main damage dealer, which gives you tons of survivability. This skill has a 1-for-1 heal based on your damage dealt, and does double damage when combo-ed. Along with Restore, you will usually not have to use health potions unless Redemption misses. Keep this skill equal to Restore.

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/Bobb11118/Paladin%20Skills/Bruteforce_zps2a50be24.png
Brute Force
- An armor buff for your party, and dodge chance for yourself. You can't have Brute Force and Vital Force active at the same time. This skill sucks. The armor bonus is capped at 5 from rank 1 onward, and you get an extra 1% dodge for each point.

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/Bobb11118/Paladin%20Skills/Divineaura_zps6e86d118.png
Divine Aura
- Extremely low mana regen buff for 3s that also costs mana. Absolute garbage. Never spec into this. Ever.

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/Bobb11118/Paladin%20Skills/Summon_zps8ba5c652.png
Summon
- A large AoE taunt. It cannot taunt enemies that are already focused on another player. Run into a room, then hold the initial aggro till your mage uses everything. Target the strongest enemy before you taunt as that is the one you want to stick to you. It is also very nice for opening chests as it does some damage. Put one point into this as you unlock it.

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/Bobb11118/Paladin%20Skills/Guardian_zps5e45ce69.png
Guardian
- A buff that removes negative effects on members of your party and gives a tiny bit of dodge and armor to yourself for 5s. This skill sucks. Don't use.

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/Bobb11118/Paladin%20Skills/Vitalforce_zpsbbc9c3ea.png
Vital Force
- A damage buff for your party, and hit chance / critical hit chance for yourself. You can't have Vital Force and Brute Force active at the same time. This skill is the Paladin's bread-and-butter buff, which you will want to max as soon as possible. You'll find yourself clearing faster and faster as you rank this up.

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/Bobb11118/Paladin%20Skills/HolyTempest_zps7f25808b.png
Holy Tempest
- AoE damage causing whirlwind that can knock enemies back and cause them to have reduced hit chance for 3s. This skill does nice damage and increases in range and debuff chance with each rank. Use this skill after Summon for a chance to stun enemies for a bit. Put one point into this as you unlock it, and keep it equal to Stone Skin.

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/Bobb11118/Paladin%20Skills/Reincarnate_zps1a95f745.png
Reincarnate
- Your revive skill. The only class to have one besides the Enchantress. Ranking up only increases the range. Put one point into this as you unlock it.

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/Bobb11118/Paladin%20Skills/Stoneskin_zpsa3c2b5d9.png
Stone Skin
- A very strong armor self buff. Use this before diving into a group of enemies. Put one point into this as you unlock it, and keep it equal to Vital Force.

Gear

You will want heavy gear, with dodge, hit chance, and mana regen. Below are some highly recommended items to consider early on for the Paladin.

Lv. 20 Eerie Haunted Doll
Shield
4 Int, 2 M/s, 3 Damage, 7 Armor
bought for 2000g in auction

Platinum Store
Lv. 10 Fine Crystal Ring of Life
Ring
1 H/s, 3 M/s, 2 Damage
cost 10 platinum

Why Mana Regen?

The Paladin has two self heals. With mana regen on a Paladin, and any kind of group, you can store all your potions in your stash, go through a dungeon, and come out with 15 of each kind. This is because the Paladin does not have to use potions to survive! The way the game works is until you have 25 of Health or Mana potions, you find them randomly when defeating enemies. You can repeatedly stock them to save up a lot for free.

Also, with high mana regen, you can use all of your abilities without worrying about running out. When you finally do, a short rest of 15 seconds is sufficient to continue and usually finish the dungeon.

How to Fight

Before the mob group, activate Vital Force and Stone Skin (be sure to activate Stone Skin second as it has a much shorter duration). Now taunt the mobs, and use Holy Tempest. Use your Charge!!/Redemption combo whenever possible, as you will need to to stay alive. Now you can basically use everything, just make sure to always Charge!! before Redemption.

Level 30 - Stats / Skills / Items

Stats

STR - 117
DEX - 1
INT - 37

Skills


SkillRank
Charge!!1
Rhino Might0
Restore5
Redemption5
Brute Force0
Divine Aura0
Summon1
Guardian0
Vital Force6
Holy Tempest5
Reincarnate1
Stone Skin5


Items

Weapon - Iceberg Frosty Hatchet
Helmet - Crusader's Polar Bear Snowcap
Armor - Iceberg Frost Knight Plate
Shield - Iceberg Frozen Shield
Ring - Fine Crystal Ring of Life

There are better helmets, I have yet to see the level 30 frozen Legendary one in the store.


Level 40 - Stats / Skills / Items

Stats

STR - 167
DEX - 1
INT - 37

Skills


SkillRank
Charge!!6
Rhino Might0
Restore6
Redemption6
Brute Force0
Divine Aura0
Summon2
Guardian0
Vital Force6
Holy Tempest6
Reincarnate1
Stone Skin6


Items

Soon, I promise.

[Xgaren]

Update 1: 1/16/2013 - Level 30 Reached
Guide rearranged. Level 30 stat distribution guide and itemizations added.

Update 2: 1/24/2013 - Level 40 Reached
Most information updated, stat and skill distributions. Level 40 stats added.

[Prack]

Very nice guide! I hope that you continue to update it as you level up.

[Xgaren]

Very nice guide! I hope that you continue to update it as you level up.

Thanks Prack! I definitely will.

[MageMaster]

is at lvl 76 gd for : _300 str
_40 dex
_60 int

[Xgaren]

is at lvl 76 gd for : _300 str
_40 dex
_60 int

Probably. Maybe more DEX because I heard Cyber Armor gives plenty of mana regen, you only need like 12 M/s to spam skills infinitely so you could go 300 STR and enough DEX to hit 90% acc

[MageMaster]

Probably. Maybe more DEX because I heard Cyber Armor gives plenty of mana regen, you only need like 12 M/s to spam skills infinitely so you could go 300 STR and enough DEX to hit 90% acc
is 280 str and 60 int and 60 dex gd?

[Prack]

I have 38 in INT right now. WOOPS lol. Well here is to hoping that we will need more than 37 at end game :)

[Xgaren]

I have 38 in INT right now. WOOPS lol. Well here is to hoping that we will need more than 37 at end game :)

Even if that was so, I'm going to suggest a respec around level 50 to take all those points back out of Int and go full STR or 10:1 STR/DEX depending on what you feel like doing. Armor sets at that level will have enough mana regen. Or you can keep the 37 INT if you can't get enough free plat for a respec and new ring.

[MageMaster]

everything is gd exept for the skills ...

[MageMaster]

you should be level 75-76 to start this guild because on level 25 you barely have information , and the skills of increase armor and the one of increase damage , i think these are the toughest buffs in the game becase later on they wl giuve you a lot

[Xgaren]

you should be level 75-76 to start this guild because on level 25 you barely have information , and the skills of increase armor and the one of increase damage , i think these are the toughest buffs in the game becase later on they wl giuve you a lot

Force buffs override each other. I just maxed all the other important skills with just 1 point into Summon and Reincarnate, now I'm at the level where the party armor/dodge buff is more appreciated so you can put points into it if you want to. I did state that this is a NEW paladin guide.

Btw, I'm level 39 now.

EDIT: Brute Force sucks balls.

[Asicheenivy]

This is really good but i would put more skill points on charge

[Slcinuup]

Really helped me with my rhino, great job.

[Xgaren]

This is really good but i would put more skill points on charge
Yes. Max it right after the skills I mentioned are all 6.


Really helped me with my rhino, great job.
Thanks is always appreciated(:

[RonnieDonnie]

Digging the guide, going to use it for my new paladin since the skill suggestions are very reasonable. :)

BTW: When would you suggest starting to put in some DEX? It seems like having a higher hit chance then 70% would be nice.

[Prack]

I know you don't use it but I'm going to have to disagree with you on the Guardian skill. At rank 6 it gives 30 armor and 8% dodge for 8 seconds and clears all negative effects on party. Compare it to Stone Skin rank 6 and it's only 8 less armor but 8% more dodge, clears negative effects for group etc. I think Guardian is a great choice.

[Naetheanimal]

Sorry, but thoose builds sucks

[Battlegrinder]

I think you're being a little bit harsh in your skill descriptions, and a little bit premature. For example, Guardian gets much more useful later in the game, as you encounter more enemies that can give your party a debuff effect. Also, the build you're recommending is going to leave you at level 76 with a bunch of leftover skill points, so you're going to end up putting points into some of the skills you write off as useless. Unless I miss my guess, you've already hit that point with your own character, and have started dumping points into Charge and Summon to get rid of the excess.

Paladin skills aren't like the skills of the other classes, especially the original three. For the other classes, the skill list contains a lot of skills that are basically independent of one another, with very little interaction outside of combos. Those skills are also designed to work fine on their own, and if you don't have some other skill ranked, it likely won't be a problem for you. Paladins, on the other hand, have a set of synergistic skills, i.e. ones that are designed to work together to produce an effect that is much stronger than the sum of its parts. Paladins are ok tanks with Guardian or Stone Skin or Holy Tempest being used, but are an order of magnitude more effective when all three are combined together. The trick with Paladin is to figure out those combinations and what tactics you should use with them.

[Oskitopee]

how does brute force improve over time at each rank?

[Oskitopee]

srry for double post but aren't rhino's skills scaled with int? why only 37 int for just ring?

[whisperwalk]

Because 1 point of int, 1 point of str, 1 point of dex, does relatively little to your overall stats. It is important to think of base stats as item wearing prerequisites rather than trying to get stat advantages from them. 37 int is necessary for the ring, so 37 int it is.

2 int only adds 1 skill damage to the rhino's most powerful skill, Holy Tempest. This means that a 50% str, 50% int rhino gains about 90-ish damage which will barely tickle mobs with several thousand HP. Meanwhile, Rhino skills have 5-6 second cooldowns and are hardly anything to scream about. What I mean is, adding a lot of int will not do much to your character. The majority of skill damage comes from equipped weapon.

A second aspect to consider is, whenever you want damage, dex is always a better choice. Dex adds dodge which is THE MOST important stat of a tank; it also adds more crit n base damage than int does. I play a 50% str and 50% dex rhino, and the Molten set surpasses any benefits I can gain from int. Using Molten Raptorhide Helm, Molten Whipcord Leather, Molten Trickster Wing, and Lvl75 Beastly Dragonscale Scythe, I have 66% critical (unbuffed), 361-381 damage, and 19% dodge (unbuffed). How's that for a "tank" class? I can easily slip back into a Str set whenever I feel threatened.

So, this means that rhinos will want as little int as possible; 37 int for the lower levels for the ring, and re-spec it back into str and dex in the endgame. I am now using an Acrobat's Fine Iron Band for dodge.

[Battlegrinder]

how does brute force improve over time at each rank?

It doesn't. Each rank will give increase you chance to dodge by 1%. That can be useful, but its generally best to put points into other skills.

[Oskitopee]

Because 1 point of int, 1 point of str, 1 point of dex, does relatively little to your overall stats. It is important to think of base stats as item wearing prerequisites rather than trying to get stat advantages from them. 37 int is necessary for the ring, so 37 int it is.

2 int only adds 1 skill damage to the rhino's most powerful skill, Holy Tempest. This means that a 50% str, 50% int rhino gains about 90-ish damage which will barely tickle mobs with several thousand HP. Meanwhile, Rhino skills have 5-6 second cooldowns and are hardly anything to scream about. What I mean is, adding a lot of int will not do much to your character. The majority of skill damage comes from equipped weapon.

A second aspect to consider is, whenever you want damage, dex is always a better choice. Dex adds dodge which is THE MOST important stat of a tank; it also adds more crit n base damage than int does. I play a 50% str and 50% dex rhino, and the Molten set surpasses any benefits I can gain from int. Using Molten Raptorhide Helm, Molten Whipcord Leather, Molten Trickster Wing, and Lvl75 Beastly Dragonscale Scythe, I have 66% critical (unbuffed), 361-381 damage, and 19% dodge (unbuffed). How's that for a "tank" class? I can easily slip back into a Str set whenever I feel threatened.

So, this means that rhinos will want as little int as possible; 37 int for the lower levels for the ring, and re-spec it back into str and dex in the endgame. I am now using an Acrobat's Fine Iron Band for dodge.

Thanks for clearing this up! I appreciate your well thought out and polite reply. Great job.

[Oskitopee]

Heh...another question...guardian says it protects caster, so should i put more points in it early on so that i get a longer protection time?

[whisperwalk]

Well I finally finished my comprehensive guide (http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?89244-Whisperwalk-s-Definitive-Guide-to-Rhinos) so you can have a look at the levelup cheat sheet.

Guardian is not a high priority because the first killer debuff is "Gravestoned" at Nuri's Hallows (Lvl 55). You'll only want it earlier for low level PVP. The most important skills for Rhino are Restore, Vital Force, and Holy Tempest. Get three of these ASAP the rest can take time.

[Oskitopee]

Well I finally finished my comprehensive guide (http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?89244-Whisperwalk-s-Definitive-Guide-to-Rhinos) so you can have a look at the levelup cheat sheet.

Guardian is not a high priority because the first killer debuff is "Gravestoned" at Nuri's Hallows (Lvl 55). You'll only want it earlier for low level PVP. The most important skills for Rhino are Restore, Vital Force, and Holy Tempest. Get three of these ASAP the rest can take time.

I meant guardian not for the debuff removal, but for the protection part

[whisperwalk]

I meant guardian not for the debuff removal, but for the protection part

Get it straight after the triad Restore/Vital Force/Holy Tempesh are maxed. Armor and dodge are good.