Paladin | Character classes Sword Coast Legends Guide
Last update: 11 May 2016
Paladin, similarly to the fighter, is the strongest link of your team. His abilities create perfect synergy with the cleric. There's a bond between them based on healing abilities, dealing damage of the same type and, due to the skills that reduce Radiant damage resistance, both classes deal increased damage. If you have a paladin, you don't need to build your cleric as a typical healer. However, it is not recommended to build your paladin for dealing the maximum damage. The rest of the party must also use your offensive-controlling skills. Below you will find few rules of playing as paladin. Similarly to rogues, these rules aren't binding. You can change your paladin into a damage dealer any time you want.
Paladin is a typical tank - When playing as paladin, you must remember that you are focusing the damage of all opponents on yourself. You must have a shield which will block the incoming attacks and will work better than a typical fighter in this job. However, when being the tank, you must sacrifice the perfect job of a warrior which is controlling the battlefield.
Paladin can take care of himself without the help of a cleric - A well build and equipped paladin, thanks to his skills that restores lost health points, can survive the battle even without the help of a cleric. Of course, it's not as effective as in case of a cleric, but when combined with him you can consider changing the role of the cleric and build him into a damage dealing character that will backup your party in dire situations. However, in that case the whole build described previously must be changed drastically.
Only holy damage matters when it comes to paladin - Try to use items which increase the holy damage. The synergy between you and the cleric who uses the same damage type will be high.
Character development
When developing the paladin, remember that his base statistics are strength and charisma. Below you will find example skills which create synergy with the cleric and with the rogue. In this build, the paladin is mostly a tank and not a warrior.
Life
Bless | A blessing that increases the chance for your allies to obtain spell resistance. Second level is required for maximizing the effect. |
Aid | A blessing which increases the defense of all allies. This effect also adds a small bonus to maximum damage. Third level is required for maximizing the effect. |
Beacon of Hope | Marks the ally to become the central point of the effect. Each ally that is nearby will receive a bonus to regained health points. Fourth level is required for maximizing the effect. |
Restoration | Removes any negative effects from the ally. Second level is required for maximizing the effect. |
Revivify | Revives a fallen monster. The creature will fight for you and your party. Third level is required for maximizing the effect. |
War
Divine Smite | This ability deals holy damage. Fourth level is required for maximizing the effect. |
Arcing Smite | Releases a beam of holy energy which jumps from one enemy to another, dealing massive holy damage. Level four is required for maximizing the effect. |
Game style
You should play as paladin in two different ways. One of them is typical taking great numbers of damage and healing yourself, second is dealing damage and healing. No matter the preference, your game style is based on standing in the center of the battle and focusing the attention of the enemies on you. Your direct companion in the party is the cleric with whom you create a synergy of damage and skills. Thanks to that you are almost invincible as not only are you the strongest link in the party, but, in difference to the fighter, you can heal yourself without the help of the cleric as well. During the battles, position yourself in narrow passages and focus the incoming damage of all enemies on you. Due to the fact that you have the Life skill tree, you can cleanse and heal other wounded allies, which give even more advantage to the rogue decimating enemy forces. Together with the cleric you can heal the weakly armored ally during boss fights, it is a great help for the rogue. Since the paladin has no effects that strengthens the party or control the battlefield in similar manner to the fighter, you must decide whether you prefer to be invincible or to quickly travel the game world and end the battles much faster.
Equipment
When playing as the paladin, have his base abilities in mind. Because of them, it is best to equip him in heavy armor and a shield. Of course, you cannot exclude two-handed weapons as paladin has abilities related to that weapon type. As for the weapon, Sunblade is a perfect choice, it has a base statistic boost for holy damage.
As for the jewelry, paladin should focus on strength and charisma statistics. You can also think about a reduction to the skill reload time.
Paladin's armors should be heavy. He should have high defense and bonus statistics to resistance from various damage type and elements. As for the shield, Shield of Helm which can be obtained in the Gilded Eye Chapterhouse is a perfect choice.