Paladin
Creation
Guide
by Joshmvii
Archetype:
Defensive
Fighter
Primary Attributes:
DEX,
CON, STR
Continents:
All
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class="pn-content-page-body">Paladins
are the most defensive of the protective fighters in Vanguard
Saga of Heroes. The Paladin's primary job is absorbing
damage. The Paladin specializes in retribution with her
rescues. She also has a secondary role in healing, buffing,
auras,
gifts and special attacks.
Dexterity, constitution, and strength
are the Paladin's primary attributes. Dexterity helps the Paladin evade
or mitigate damage. Constitution gives him plenty of life
points and higher resistances. Strength enables the Paladin to do
enough damage to keep the attention of enemies.
Building a good Paladin takes some careful planning at the
character
creation screen and requires you to learn a handful of tactics in the
lower levels.
style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">Selecting
the Right Race
Paladins of all races start with the same attributes, but the
choice
of race can affect how many points the Paladin automatically gets
placed
into its prime attributes.
Starting
attributes:
Each character
gets 20 attribute
points
(AP) per level, starting at level 10. 6 of your AP are placed
for you automatically--one per attribute (STR, CON, DEX, VIT, INT,
WIS). 4 points are assigned to attributes based on your race if you are
not a human (humans are kojani, mordebi, qaliathari, and thestran).
You can
place 10 (14 for humans) wherever you want to within soft caps of 5 per
level.
Additionally,
characters get
racial bonuses to their soft caps. These
are called preferred stats and allow characters of a race to flesh out
in a way that reflects the traits of the race. Non-human races get 4
bonus points to soft caps (usually two or three attributes only) while
human
races get 6, 1 for each attribute. Thus, a human can be more balanced,
while a non-human becomes more specialized.
The table below shows the attribute scores at level 50 before
gear
and buffs for
the Paladin based on the race selected. We've highlighted the best
results for each of the primary attributes for you. It is possible to
reach the soft cap for three attributes as a human, but those soft caps
may be lower than those attainable by other races.
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/vanguard/gallery/albums/album32/Paladin.jpg">
style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">Racial
Abilities
The other important factor to consider when picking the race for your
Paladin is racial abilities. With their short durations and long
recasts,
racial abilities are less important than attributes in the selection
process, but they can be used to pick between races that are otherwise
equal. The racial abilities are listed below.
Thestran: Inspirational
Commands
You will have 3 inspirational commands at your disposal:
Inspirational Presence, Inspirational Wisdom, and Inspirational
Tactics. Each command is a group buff that will add either 2% to
mitigation, a 3% reduction to mana cost of all spells, or a 2% increase
in damage. You may only maintain one command at a time, however you may
have all 3 effects active at the same time. Recast is instant.
Human Ingenuity: + 10 bonus to all weapon skills, and dodge.
Crafting: +10 Ingenuity
Harvesting: +5 Lumberjacking
style="font-weight: bold;">Dwarf: Earthen Embrace
For 60 seconds, this ability will turn your body to stone. Along with
removing all poison effects, you will mitigate 25% damage and become
immune to movement impairing spells such as knock back, stun, and
snare. Recast is 30 minutes.
Small Race: 2% bonus to evasion
Crafting: +10 Finesse
Harvesting: +5 Mining
style="font-weight: bold;">High
Elf: Arcane Balance
This ability will take the cumulative amount of mana in a group, add
25% to that number, and evenly redistribute it to all members. Recast
is 15 minutes.
Elven Wisdom: 2% reduction in mana cost
Crafting: +10 Reasoning
Harvesting: +5 Reaping
style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;">Kojani:
Spirit of Jin
This ability will immediately restore 45% of energy and hit points to
the target. This ability has a diminishing effect on any target that
has benefitted from this ability (used by another player) in the last
10 minutes. Recast is 30 minutes.
Human Ingenuity + 10 bonus to all weapon skills, and dodge.
Crafting: +10 Ingenuity
Harvesting: +5 Lumberjacking
style="font-weight: bold;">
Raki: Planar Shift
While this ability is active, you will gain a 50% mitigation to all
spell damage. Recast is 30 minutes.
Animal Reflexes: 10% bonus to run speed.
Crafting: +10 Reasoning
Harvesting: +5 Reaping
style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;">Qaliathari:
Swiftness of the Sands
For this next 10 seconds, you will evade all melee attacks and spells.
Recast is 30 minutes.
Human Ingenuity + 10 bonus to all weapon skills, and dodge.
Crafting: +10 Ingenuity
Harvesting: +5 Lumberjacking
style="font-weight: bold;">Mordebi: Curse of the
Ancients
This ability stuns the target for 8 seconds,
and reduces the aggro range to 0. The target will not assist/aggro
while
stunned, and the effect does not generate any aggro. Recast is 30
minutes.
Human Ingenuity + 10 bonus to all weapon skills, and dodge.
Crafting: +10 Finesse
Harvesting: +5 Reaping
Level 1-10 Tactics
style="font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: Tahoma; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">In
the early levels of the game, you are mostly getting introduced to your
general
area, and you’ll find a multitude of
‘newbie’ quests to complete to help you
make some progress. These
early levels
go by pretty quickly, and you will be able to solo through them without
must
trouble. While
Paladins don’t do the
kind of heavy damage that makes some classes good at soloing, the
Paladin can
heal themselves and have decent buffs as well.
In spite of this ability to solo, it is a good idea to try
to make some
friends early, or at least get into a group.
You will find that in a group is where the Paladin really
shines.
style="font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: Tahoma; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Combat
Tactics
style="font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: Tahoma; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Whether
soloing or grouping from levels 1 to 10, you will find that Holy Strike
will be
your main staple.
As long as you have the endurance to use
it, you can repeatedly use this attack.
At level 2
when you get Smite, you will use it for pulling and to finish
off monsters when they try to flee at low health.
Smite also adds hate, so it’s not a bad idea
to keep using it as soon as it refreshes.
At low levels, you’re not using much energy, so
you won’t have to worry
about running low. Don’t
be afraid to throw
in some healing when party members need it.
Healing Touch is a good solid spell, and Lay on Hands is
an amazing tool
to use, and as long as you don’t use it on a Paladin, it is
completely free to
use once every five minutes!
style="font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: Tahoma; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">At style="font-weight: bold;">
level 4, you will get Hammer of Judgment, which is when
you need to get
tactical! This
ability, like many combat
abilities in Vanguard, does extra damage when you are flanking the
opponent
with another group member. If
you are
not a D&D player, or are not familiar with flanking, it just
means that
another group member is on the opposite side of the monster from you. style=""> Flanking simulates the
weaknesses in a
monsters defenses because they can’t watch what both people
are doing at the
same time.
style="font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: Tahoma; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">At style="font-weight: bold;">
level 6, you get a few new abilities to help you out. style=""> Blessing of Vothdar is a
nice little buff
that adds +6 to strength. It’s
nice
because you toggle the blessing on and off, instead of casting it and
it having
a set duration. You
also get Boon of
Valus this level, which gives your weapon attacks a chance to do a
little more
damage each time. You
will keep this on
all the time to boost your damage.
Devout Foeman is a nice ability that almost guarantees you
will block
the next attack your enemy does, but also lowers their hate toward you. style=""> It is a nice ability if
you are not the
primary tank in the group and you’re just trying to let a
Warrior or Dread
Knight get the agro back, but if you’re the main tank of the
group you won’t
want to use it too much, as you will lose the agro to another party
member like
a caster, or a healer. Finally,
you get
your first finishing attack this level, Hammer of Valus. style=""> This attack can only be
used after you have
gotten a critical hit with Holy Strike.
Your Hammer of Valus button will highlight and you will
see a green
countdown bar, which tells you that you have 10 seconds to use the
finisher. It costs
low endurance, and is
a pretty powerful attack. Like
Hammer of
Judgment, it does more damage when flanking.
style="font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: Tahoma; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">
At style="font-weight: bold;">
level 8 you get a few new buffs, as well as a new special
attack called
Champion’s Might, which adds a short duration(40 seconds)
strength buff to you
when you use it, which is a nice boost.
You also get your first ‘taunt’
ability “Upbraid,” which increases hate
against the monster you use it on.
You
will use these abilities to keep the agro on you when you are the main
tank.
style="font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: Tahoma; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">
style="font-weight: bold;">Level
10 is when the class starts to get a little more complex,
so we will wait for
the next guide to delve too much deeper into tactics.
Below I will give a short description of some
of the major Paladin features which they bring to a group from levels
10 and
on.
style="font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: Tahoma; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"> style=""> style="font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: Tahoma; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Gifts
of Virtue
style="font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: Tahoma; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Gifts
of Virtue are special Paladin abilities that really define the class. style=""> You may notice that your
Lay on Hands ability
that you get at level 1 uses 3 virtue points, but only when used on a
Paladin. The real
Gifts of Virtue start
at level 10, when you get Dictum of Valus.
This is a single target damage spell.
With the exception of Smite, Paladins don’t get
ranged attack spells, so
this is a good tool for situations when you really need to kill a
monster that
is trying to run, or just a big damage burst quickly.
You gain other Gifts of Virtue later, such
as Zeal, which will makes all your special attacks hit twice, and
Paragon of Justice,
which gives you a huge boost to your stats as well as your accuracy and
damage. These
abilities really define
the Paladin, and using them at the right times to turn the tide of
battle will
be very important to being a successful Paladin.
style="font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: Tahoma; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"> style=""> style="font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: Tahoma; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Rescues style="font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: Tahoma; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">
style="font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: Tahoma; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">You
only get your first rescue Protector’s Fury, at level 10, but
it is worth
noting because they are one of the Paladin’s best tools in
combat. When you
use a rescue on your defensive
target, whatever monster that is attacking her will be forced to attack
you for
a short period of time. The
duration is
different for different rescues, and they do different extra effects,
such as
added damage, or healing your defensive target.
You will be using these abilities all the time in combat,
so you will
want to familiarize yourself with using them in group situations.
style="font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: Tahoma; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Make
friends!
style="font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: Tahoma; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">The
Paladin is a
great class in Vanguard. They
are
nothing like Paladins have been in previous games where they were weak
Warriors
with weak healing spells. They
bring
their own unique set of skills to the table in Vanguard, and along with
their
buffs, auras, and warcries, the Paladin really shines bright in a group. style=""> You will be the protector
of your party
members, taking the brunt of the enemy attacks, as well as playing
savior with
timely heals. There
is little better
than saving your entire group from wiping with a well timed used of Lay
on
Hands. Have fun,
and enjoy being a
Paladin in Telon!
style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">Other
Paladin Resources at Ten Ton
Hammer
-
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Class Guide - Paladin Skills & Abilities ( style="font-style: italic;">coming soon!)
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Your Role - Defensive Fighter -
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to Vanguard Statistics
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