I've recently returned to Elanthia after 6 years away, and I've decided to dust off my Paladin. Now I'm on a crash course to relearn the class and the changes that have been made to the game. After lurking the forums, it looks like I should make some slight tweaks to my training regimen. Currently it looks like this:

Aenternoll (at level 29), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 160 60
Combat Maneuvers...................| 120 30
Two-Handed Weapons.................| 160 60
Multi Opponent Combat..............| 74 16
Physical Fitness...................| 120 30
Dodging............................| 120 30
Harness Power......................| 120 30
Spirit Mana Control................| 96 22
Climbing...........................| 35 7
Spell Lists
Minor Spiritual....................| 3
Spell Lists
Paladin............................| 27

What I'm considering changing it to is:

Aenternoll (at level 29), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 190 90
Combat Maneuvers...................| 120 30
Two-Handed Weapons.................| 160 60
Multi Opponent Combat..............| 120 30
Physical Fitness...................| 120 30
Harness Power......................| 120 30
Spell Lists
Paladin............................| 29

It seems the general consensus is to get to MBP as soon as you can. I'll train MoC until 35 as well as the Paladin spell list then switch to minor spiritual. I have a sorcerer friend who can supply 101 and 103 until then.

With the extra TPs, should I dump those into CMAN or dodge? Once MoC is 35 ranks, I'll start picking up some swimming and climbing.

As far as CMANs go, currently I have 4 ranks of wspec1. Is there different CMANs I should be looking at?

I'm currently swinging an invar claidhmore. It's great fun, but it probably shouldn't be the weapon I'm bonded to. Should i be looking for a higher X weapon that the guiding light flares would work on?

Is there any changes to the Paladin that I've missed? I appreciate any advice.

My initial thought is that you are going to miss not having any Dodge or Shield Defense. I would generally want to include one or the other in any build I considered. Maybe spell tanking and getting to plate armor sooner (with 3x armor) will help offset this though.

-- Robert

I'm with Robert on this, you'll want to be 1x in dodge, dropping the other skills is fine though. Years ago I knew a paladin who basically did what you are thinking about, he died quite a bit. I got him to cut back on his armor training so he could afford the dodge and he did a lot better. I do agree that getting into plate quickly is always a good idea. I'd also suggest holding your MoC ranks at 30 for a bit while working on armor.

>>I also don't necessarily agree with getting into plate as THW ASAP as it makes field casting with no lores for 1603 nearly impossible.

Dgry, I am guessing this statement is more geared towards field casting minor spirit spells and not paladin spells, correct? If that is the case it isn't really something he'll be needing for a while anyway. He'll be around 50 by the time he learns 117 and other then that the 100s are defensive in nature. And while casting 117 in the field can certainly be handy there shouldn't be much of a need for it, and in situations where it would really be needed blue crystals would serve in a pinch.

I also wouldn't say two handed weapons are over kill, they allow one to kill a wider range of creatures quickly and easily. And while you may have the temperament to handle the slow but steady pace of using sword/board not everyone is of the same mind set.

Hmmm maybe.


I won't lie and say the thought of a shield at times sounds great. However; my defense is just fine as long as I don't panic, paying attention, and (more importantly as of late) my connection is good meaning no latency / lag spikes. That's what's been killing me lately sadly. Since then, I re customized my configuration settings and changed the buffer from 5000 to 2000. That SEEMS to have gotten rid of the problem I've been having.


Back to TWW... I love my katana. Yes, it's weighted; however it is max lightened at 4 pounds. This means my swing is 5 seconds and I still hit hard. Sometimes I am curious if guiding light is better than the weighting, but I think I still prefer the weighting because it's constantly there and things tend to die a lot faster.

So... the question would be this: Let's say I do cap one of these days and decide to not only have maxed out my THW training but learn Edged Weapons as well so that I could use my katana as a single hand weapon. Is it worth it to get a shield? At first my thoughts go towards the ability use the shield blocking increase spell (can't think off hand) vs zealot. That spell would actually be beneficial to me for once though I still think it should do a check if you have a shield or a Two Hander and then if it's a Two Hander to increase parry vs shield... My second thought goes towards the ability to block as well as the added defense with a shield that's enchanted. Just how much higher would my defense go? I don't think it would be worth it simple because my katana would then not be hitting nearly as hard and when I'm not using zealot, I can still stance dance and have a decent defense.

For my CMANs, I'm about to max out my cunning defense since manuevers are the constant thorn in my side. While it's not a guarantee to stop it all the time, it still helps and it shows especially now at the warcamps and fighting the minos. I'm not getting CMAN'd to death as a way to put it. Yes, I obviously have other CMANs too such as surge of strenght and weapon specialization, but this is just an example of me addressing my specific problems that I'm having. Usually when I fight multiple foes at once, I go with 1614, followed by a 1630. I then wait for the attacks, and MSTRIKE them all then play the stance / dance game and focus on the casters first. Thankfully 1619 lasts long enough to get rid of them.

Anyhow.. my thoughts on this. I still think 1640 should at least give us the ability to learn the same as a cleric does with this being a 40th level spell. It's bad enough we only cast once a day without lore and it's a 40th circle. As mentioned earlier, the only reason to even learn it is if you are in Plat.

I do have one question though as I'm still confused some on Redux as the description still throws me off. If I am understanding it correctly.. with me knowing up to 1635 and currently at 120 for minors, I can learn 135 and my Redux doesn't go down, right? Or am I misreading the description with it saying highest spell circle?

I don't regret ever becoming a paladin. It for RP purposes, and it just made more sense since I was always a sword swinger with my cleric. I gave runestaves a try as a pure caster and even learned a lot of lores with gems. The only things I wish I could have back are heroism, and the ability to commune. I can honestly care less of being able to raise again which is proven over the years of me being a paladin :P

One of these days though I'm going to have learn has Aid the Fallen works exactly. That's one spell I never messed with since I don't do rescues hardly anymore though I don't mind helping on dragging bodies back to town when the ability to fog isn't available.

Weighting is ALWAYS better than Guiding Light, since it affects every swing.

---

Phat loot swims around Taeghan just out of his reach.

A honey badger suddenly charges into the room and bites Jaired viciously on the ankle before dashing off through the stage exit.

Scott/Taeghan

>Weighting is ALWAYS better than Guiding Light, since it affects every swing.
>Scott/Taeghan

That is not as accurate a statement as it may seem on it's face. Weighting is only going to factor into an attack when the base damage is below that 5-9 crit rank range. In those instances, because it is impossible for the crit level to go up, the weighting will not come into play. This should in no way detract from the general statement that weighting is very helpful in combat.

I will agree with Scott in so much as for the more common paladin builds, weighting is going to be a better choice. However, some builds (like the one I use) are better served with 1625 flares.

I can think of two particular instances where the flares are superior. Both tend to involve builds that generate higher endrolls.

The first is if moving away from the weighting lets you use a better weapon base, such as moving from a low DF weighted weapon (katana, claid) into something with a higher DF. In those cases the higher multiplier will beat out the flat bonus of the weighting. It will also produce more HP damage, giving you bleed out kills ontop of crit kills.

The second instance is when you are using the same base, but producing hits that already reach the 5-9 crit rank range. At that point, weighting is just being removed by the truncating at 9 crits, so it may as well not be there.

Both are sort of in play with Menos. I use alot of setup abilities to generate easy shots and then use a very high DF weapon (lance).

AIM: GS4Menos

>Here lies the formless world we´re living in
>Gravity is finally giving in
>High altitudes and still upward we go
>I was never meant to lead but to follow

yes, I was thinking encumbrance when I mentioned that. originally I think it was 7 or so pounds if I recall correctly. Lord.. it's been a few years since I had it lightened.

I still have mixed thoughts on shields. Blocking would be nice, and some of the manuevers sound cool, but at the same time the costs associated with doing that don't make it worthwhile to me with my thw build. I'll probably mess with it when I cap just for fun.

Lances.. just aren't me unless I'm jousting with a horse. I just don't picture it saying "I'm a favored with for Ronan". I do understand why it's a better weapon choice for flares, but I choose the katana more for RP reasons and it works fine on most things I go after.

Good stuff to talk about. :-) Especially when I"m not drinking my raspberry mocha and thus not talking as "jibber jabber"

I think Feint might come in handy, drop some ranks of cdefense/wspec each?

Meh... infusion is just a waste of lore for points to be better spent for doubling in CMs or improving MS. I know paladins fairly well, though I won't call myself an expert since I don't do sword/board nor polearm though I respect the builds.

To answer a few questions: I'm a mix of AS and casting. I'm in guarded stance when I do my initial 1614 followed by a 1630 and an MSTRIKE when dealing with a lot of mobs at once (at least 3).

I rarely do zealot unless I feel comfortable being with a group or having a lucky day :P

If it's two or less, I play the stance dance game. I open with a 1615 after they swing, then stance dance away. Usually it's two swings at the most - depends on what I'm after but with minos this holds true vs trolls (they regenerate after all).

As it stands, I will have about 6 or so points in CM points once my conversion stuff is done. I opened up those points to double in CM by taking away a few ranks of Multi Ops since I can regain those in a few trains.

At the moment, I still disagree with learning 1640 or even going higher although I am considering going to the 35th circle of Minor Spiritual or at the very least up to 30 to get group fog back. The only thing that stops me right now is I don't understand the redux formula correctly and every GM I spoke to in game asking of such weren't able to answer my question. I don't know if would hurt me or not simply because of the wording.. my translation of it at the moment is it won't hurt my current redux since my paladin circle is at 35 so thus if it's matching with 35 circles it's the same. Or is redux based off all total spells and would I lose it?

Feint I am considering learning as I believe it adds RT to the creature.

I liked Bullrush.