New Paladin Help
 

Hello everyone,

I'm starting a paladin for my first time in EQ and I have a few questions.

What is my stat priority? I'm guessing HP>STA>AC>STR>WIS>AGI?

What kind of weapons generally hold aggro better? 2H or 1H + Shield?

Also, if anyone has time, I have a budget of about 1kpp to gear a paladin, what should I look to get to ensure that I'm not super squishy and that I'm a viable tank to a group.

Putting all of your points to Stamina is the general consensus. However, with Velious coming I've seen some Paladins start working on some Wisdom gear. We get some fairly decent heals and we'll be HP buffing on raids so we will need a mana pool more in Velious than we do now.
As long as you don't put your points in Int, Agi, or Cha then you can't really go wrong.
Regarding weapons, I leveled 1-50 using a Sword of Morning and a Sarnak shield.
On a 1K budget I would probably buy a Sword of the Morning, 5/55 rings and spend the rest on banded so you're not taken.
If you can afford a decent shield after that go for it. If not, head to crushbone and get one a S(hining. Not Sarnak)BS.

Drop me a PM if you have any questions. I have a 57 Paladin so I have some experience but I'm by no means an expert.

While you're leveling, HP/AC is king.
Aggro is mostly generated via spells (blind/stun) so your weapon choice is pretty indifferent. 2h will see some nice big hits, 1h gives you bash to interupt casting.
Either way, blind/stun your way to aggro victory, don't auto attack and expect to out-aggro the epic rogue in your level 20 group.

If i had 1k plat to gear up a pally i would approach it as such;
4ac/45hp ring's x2 - 300p (for both, or 150p each)
Baton of Faith - 150p
Full Bronze set - 150p to 200p

Save the rest of the plat for something down the road after you get some levels/loots.
Things like Darkmail Gauntlets are usually around 100p and offer +50mana - but with such a limited budget i would say get yourself un-naked with ac/hp then worry about replacing these low cost filler slots with more appropriate items as you grow.

I would not worry much about Wis as a starting class. Buy these for like 100 plat. http://wiki.project1999.com/Dark_Mail_Gauntlets Paladins, just like Rangers, use low level Cleric, Druid spells that take hardly any mana to cast at the level you get them.

Strength you need both for HP help but to carry Plate gear, lots of weapons and plat, loot. I would go with some Sta, and I think you NEED to add like 5 Agi if you make Dwarf to get to 75. Dwarf has hands down the best starting stats for a Pally. Agi is pretty useless on here, and Dex helps with weapon proc's.

Weapons wise use 1 Hander and Shield to start. You won't be able to hit a bull in the ass at low levels with any weapon, let alone a slow 2 Hander. And the Damage cap doesn't come off till level 20 anyways.

1k sounds like a lot but it won't get you very far gear wise at least for plate stuff. Get a good weapon, decent Shield, the 9 Wis one would be nice, and maybe 55 HP rings, some cheap jewelry str, sta stats wise ears wise and be happy. There is a really cheap, good Waist item for Pally only, can't remember the name, that is like 100 plat.

They will be a great class in Velious. Make damn good pullers in it and the heals and Rez will be Needed with how hard mobs hit in Velious. Your DPS will suck ass, now and then. But Tanks are made to be beat on, not really for high DPS. :p

They can be frustrating to play, but high end, just like a SK, they come into their own. :cool: AC comes with gear and levels. I would not worry too much about it till higher high levels.

Banded Mail, 5/55's, Sword of Skyfire, Baton of Faith & a cheap shield would be a good way to start. Sword and board 1-20, then while grouping or fighting casters (for bash). Use the baton 20+ while soloing or if your group needs the damage more than some extra shield AC.

Also, depending on race, don't worry about buying bronze - it's extremely heavy for not a huge boost to AC, so unless you're a dwarf (#1 best pallies!) you'll just be encumbered most of the time without strength gear. If you take the unrest/mistmoore leveling path, you can pick up small bronze (dwarf/high elf), bloodstained mantle, diamondine earrings and an HBC (with a little luck).