Paladins
Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2009 12:52 am
I'm not sure if this belongs here, but the idea behind this thread is to talk about paladin builds and strategies with them. Hopefully we can discuss the pros and cons of each build and decide which is the best(if there is a single best).
I play only unworldly characters, so I need durability and stability in my characters. Probably my favorite build is the holy off/sup paladin. The build is a weapon mastery (I prefer hafted, but any mastery will do really), holy offense, and holy support for your main skills. You will use your weapon to bash monsters, and when that fails, you can either buff up with holy support or kill from afar with orb of draining. This is a really nice build because you won't be losing weapons to ringwraiths, and you don't need too much fancy equipment to get to a relatively high level or be strong.
Build and Strategy:
Low level(1-27):
Go to 9 and purchase a Sense Monsters book and Holy Light. As soon as you can, put 2 and only 2 points into holy support; this way, the cost of Sense Monsters will not increase. Use Sense Monsters to... sense monsters(the more information you know in TomeNET, the better). Max out your specific weapon mastery and holy offense. Put a bit of points into magic (5 to 10 or so, it's up to you). Holy Light will be pretty useless until you're higher level (14 or so, I can't recall), but once it kicks in it can be a life saver. Try not to mash out Holy Light if you're in a bind; cast it once, wait a few moments for the monsters to recover from their confusion, then cast it again when they are all near you. You will have spare skill points; put some into combat, but make sure you have 36 spare points by the time you hit level 28.
Mid level(28-36):
When you hit level 28, max out holy support (with those 36 spare points you saved up); in this way, you will get ESP from casting Sense Monsters. Don't put anymore points into holy support after this, for now anyways. Keep maxing holy offense and your specific weapon mastery as usual. At this point you will want to use your ESP for stat hunting; minas is pretty good for stat hunting, just make sure that you have nether res. If you prefer gondolin, dark elven warlocks are a good source of stat pots(just watch out for their manabolts).
Also, you will want to pick up a book of Orb of Draining(OoD) eventually. OoD is a great spell that doesn't cost too much sp and does double damage against evil creatures. At first, your casting rate will be abysmal, but once you get higher wisdom, you will be able to cast it consistently. If you're having mana problems, I suggest that you first try to get a mana regeneration item (some magi gloves, some magi crowns, or an amulet of mana regeneration will do). If that does not solve your mana problem, you can put some more points into magic. Remember that you are not a mage, so you shouldn't be using magic to kill everything. But against ringwraiths, it is possible(and I suggest) to kill them using only OoD.
You'll probably have spare points again; save some of them, as you will be maxing holy support later on. The rest(the spare spares) can go into combat or weaponmastery.
High level(37-50+): Max out holy support when you hit level 37 and pick up a book of Sense Surroundings. At this level, sense surroundings gives enlightenment or clairvoyance, which lights up and maps the whole level for you. Very useful. You'll want to pick up a spellbook of Zeal eventually. Zeal gives you extra attacks(up to 3), which helps very much with your combat potential.
Keep maxing out your specific weapon mastery, holy offense, and holy support. As holy support levels, your fail rate on Zeal will lower, which lets it be more useful. Save Zeal for especially tough uniques, angels, or demons, as it costs quite a bit of sp. You'll probably keep getting spare skill points as usual, so just put them into combat or weaponmastery for maximum damage. When holy support hits skill level 40, you will no longer need food. This is important, because now you can chug potions without getting gorged. As holy offense levels up, you get various slay brands(undead, demons, and evil, I think) automatically, which helps with damage.
Some people really like stealth, so instead of putting points into combat or weaponmastery, you could put points into stealth. It might be worth it, but you can get stealth from a variety of different items (elven armor, cloaks, and boots), so to me, they are better spent elsewhere. Alternatively, you could put points into health, but I never really have hp problems as a dwarf paladin as long as you have enough +CON items (I usually die to stupidity, something more hp helps resist).
I play only unworldly characters, so I need durability and stability in my characters. Probably my favorite build is the holy off/sup paladin. The build is a weapon mastery (I prefer hafted, but any mastery will do really), holy offense, and holy support for your main skills. You will use your weapon to bash monsters, and when that fails, you can either buff up with holy support or kill from afar with orb of draining. This is a really nice build because you won't be losing weapons to ringwraiths, and you don't need too much fancy equipment to get to a relatively high level or be strong.
Build and Strategy:
Low level(1-27):
Go to 9 and purchase a Sense Monsters book and Holy Light. As soon as you can, put 2 and only 2 points into holy support; this way, the cost of Sense Monsters will not increase. Use Sense Monsters to... sense monsters(the more information you know in TomeNET, the better). Max out your specific weapon mastery and holy offense. Put a bit of points into magic (5 to 10 or so, it's up to you). Holy Light will be pretty useless until you're higher level (14 or so, I can't recall), but once it kicks in it can be a life saver. Try not to mash out Holy Light if you're in a bind; cast it once, wait a few moments for the monsters to recover from their confusion, then cast it again when they are all near you. You will have spare skill points; put some into combat, but make sure you have 36 spare points by the time you hit level 28.
Mid level(28-36):
When you hit level 28, max out holy support (with those 36 spare points you saved up); in this way, you will get ESP from casting Sense Monsters. Don't put anymore points into holy support after this, for now anyways. Keep maxing holy offense and your specific weapon mastery as usual. At this point you will want to use your ESP for stat hunting; minas is pretty good for stat hunting, just make sure that you have nether res. If you prefer gondolin, dark elven warlocks are a good source of stat pots(just watch out for their manabolts).
Also, you will want to pick up a book of Orb of Draining(OoD) eventually. OoD is a great spell that doesn't cost too much sp and does double damage against evil creatures. At first, your casting rate will be abysmal, but once you get higher wisdom, you will be able to cast it consistently. If you're having mana problems, I suggest that you first try to get a mana regeneration item (some magi gloves, some magi crowns, or an amulet of mana regeneration will do). If that does not solve your mana problem, you can put some more points into magic. Remember that you are not a mage, so you shouldn't be using magic to kill everything. But against ringwraiths, it is possible(and I suggest) to kill them using only OoD.
You'll probably have spare points again; save some of them, as you will be maxing holy support later on. The rest(the spare spares) can go into combat or weaponmastery.
High level(37-50+): Max out holy support when you hit level 37 and pick up a book of Sense Surroundings. At this level, sense surroundings gives enlightenment or clairvoyance, which lights up and maps the whole level for you. Very useful. You'll want to pick up a spellbook of Zeal eventually. Zeal gives you extra attacks(up to 3), which helps very much with your combat potential.
Keep maxing out your specific weapon mastery, holy offense, and holy support. As holy support levels, your fail rate on Zeal will lower, which lets it be more useful. Save Zeal for especially tough uniques, angels, or demons, as it costs quite a bit of sp. You'll probably keep getting spare skill points as usual, so just put them into combat or weaponmastery for maximum damage. When holy support hits skill level 40, you will no longer need food. This is important, because now you can chug potions without getting gorged. As holy offense levels up, you get various slay brands(undead, demons, and evil, I think) automatically, which helps with damage.
Some people really like stealth, so instead of putting points into combat or weaponmastery, you could put points into stealth. It might be worth it, but you can get stealth from a variety of different items (elven armor, cloaks, and boots), so to me, they are better spent elsewhere. Alternatively, you could put points into health, but I never really have hp problems as a dwarf paladin as long as you have enough +CON items (I usually die to stupidity, something more hp helps resist).