Curious why is paladin's the least played class?

[Kodim]

Paladins with enough clerics can tank a lot of slowable dragons in ToV. Also had one tank Vindicator.

It's not preferred, but slow turns dragons into retards.

[douglas1999]

Play what you want and have fun as long as it's not a paladin.

[Alanus]

I played paladin on live.

In exp groups, I was either MT or crowd control. I could draw aggro well and take a beating, so I could easily root mobs away from the group (and keep myself healed), and I could also hold aggro well enough and take a beating enough to be a MT.

However, paladins really were terrible until celestial cleansing came out. After Luclin, we were awesome with slay undead. After PoP came out, I was soloing Kunark dragons (fearless AA + PoP gear) and Venril Sathir (slay undead + that PoWater weapon with insane dmg would kill him with a double proc). I soloed Rhag cycle in Ssra pretty early, too, but I think that was Omens of War expansion.

It was harder on live than on here, too, since the real good weapons (Baton of Faith) were like 40k on live. Here they are like 100pp or less.

[Spyder73]

Best tank while leveling up is a twinked Bard (until about level 40-45). Always kind of wanted to play a pally - but they are just not very good end game on P99, thats the real reason why they are quasi shunned. Literally have almost no role in end game content. So you put in 500 hours to level to 60 and realize you have no spot.../WRISTS!

[azeth]

Originally Posted by Spyder73 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Best tank while leveling up is a twinked Bard (until about level 40-45). Always kind of wanted to play a pally - but they are just not very good end game on P99, thats the real reason why they are quasi shunned. Literally have almost no role in end game content. So you put in 500 hours to level to 60 and realize you have no spot.../WRISTS!

Twinked bard to tank? Go on

[Trelaboon]

Mostly because after level 60, they really become sort of worthless. They're damage is terrible, they can't tank high end mobs, or even mid range mobs for that matter. They basically just spot heal and do awful DPS....LoH can be nice in a pinch. Warrior is the opposite...pre-60 they're really not ideal, but after 60, your world really starts to open

[Atmas]

Originally Posted by Tasslehofp99 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

This is because Paladins simply don't have the HP/AC that warriors have, nor the discipline abilities warriors get. The raid bosses at end game hit way too hard for a paladin.

My guild recently had the best geared paladin on the server (atleast I think?) attempt to tank Vulak'aerr in ToV. He literally couldn't survive more than one or two rounds of melee.

I don't think there is any Paly as geared as I am on the blue server (I think Pint was close for a while, not sure if he still plays that toon), and I would most likely eat it really quick from Vulak.

My two cents:
(Disclaimer: I think Palies are cool, both in the gameplay sense and lore so I have some bias.

I've been playing a Paly for a while leveled it up pre-velious. Put in enough work and been lucky enough to a point where if I have best buffs and the random defense skill gods smile on me I can have 5900+ hpts,1540ish AC, and 3200 mana . The AC is actually higher than the high majority of warriors on this server.)

Honestly I could write a book about this subject because there is enough info and anecdotes but I will try (and fail to be concise)

Outside of raids:
Paladins are phenomenal group tanks because they have awesome utility. The provide great snap agro and cc that minimizes damage to non-tanks. Additionally they can heal, rez, lull pull, DA, stun like mad, etc.. They can't FD pull, but you are never going to have a tank that is going to be able to heal others in danger in a clutch situation.

In soloing situations they aren't great unless you have awesome gear. In duoing situations with certain classes they are pretty effective (enchanter/sham/bard) but also still suffer from poor dps.

What I do at raids:
Tanking: Paladins lack the defensive disc that warriors have so they generally are not main tank for serious end game unless shit goes wrong. I've tanked some NToV dragons and a lot of raid trash from Sleeepers Tomb to NToV but could never tank Tunare or AoW. In some situations I rampage tank but usually preferable to have a warrior handle it. Mobs on this server hit hard consistently so a hybrid tank is usually not viable for the hardest hitting mobs. I do tank a lot though because of content like minis, trash, and the random shit that happens. I also save a lot of asses when pets break because I snap agro and heal.

Healing: I actually do this a lot during raids. I obviously don't have cheal or torpor and that sets me behind Clerics and Shamans but Paladin healing can be on par (or above or below) with Druid healing because I have a HoT that is very mana efficient. Druids tend to have higher mana pools and sit more though. I also have a group heal (which is a lot of agro but can be a benefit when used effectively)

In actual raid situations clerics are just healing main tanks so I might be solo/helping to keep dps up. Or save the day with an LH.

Buffing: I have one buff that no other class casts so I cast a lot. It's not huge but it helps and if no Palies are around you are SoL. I actually checked once and I casted it about 2000 times in a month. I also have other less effective versions of clerics buffs which I do get asked to cast to save some cleric mana (I can add 975 hpts in buffs, making me the highest hpt self buffed player [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]. I also help out with cures sometimes, though Shamans are generally better for that. (I have a clicky shield too ;P). I guess doing emergency and battle rezzes falls under here? Also I can cast single MR.

DPS: Paladin dps sucks, pretty freaking bad. I guess mine is a little better than total suck because I have a primal and high end weapons but it still sucks when I am comparing it to high end geared rogues/monks/warriors going for dps. But hey, I still do dps some other classes can't do shit and become near useless in an additive perspective.

The real upshot/why Paladins are awesome: I do all this shit all the time! The classic saying is Palies are good at some things not the best at anything but that is only a half truth because sometimes being the best at somethings means being able to do two things where some other classes can only do one thing really well. On a typical raid it's not unusual for me to buff 20-30 people, do damage to the mob while I heal some rogues to keep them dpsing, LH someone to keep them from eating it in low hpt agro, patch the last tank when defensive goes down, pickup an add or loose mob. So basically I get to do a little of a lot and juggle it.

Also I benefit from almost every stat in some way or another so most upgrades are gains in multiple facets [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]


TL;DR Paladins aren't popular because most people think like min/maxers. The class has so much utility though that it's always nice to have around and in certain situations is awesome.

[Erati]

Confirmed, Opmeter is indeed OP.

[Sage Truthbearer]

Paladins are the best tanks for experience groups.

It's not even a question. They bring so much to the table that make your group more efficient and save people's asses in emergency situations.

• Regular pulls: A Paladin's snap aggro lets everyone play loose with their aggro management. Shaman slows early, Wizard nukes hard, Bard can snare, Rogue doesn't get hit.
• When the Enchanter's charmed, hasted pet breaks: Paladin stuns the mob, roots, patch heals Enchanter or lay hands to save his ass.
• Bad pull or train: Paladin has a group heal that is a gigantic AE spell that will peel 5+ mobs onto him instantly. Can root park mobs as well.
• Partial group wipe: Paladin has a 90% rez, this is huge if knee deep in a place like HS and your Cleric goes down.
• Spell casting mobs: Paladin has multiple stuns, each on different cooldowns, to interrupt things like ice cometing frogloks in seb.

[snergle]

Originally Posted by Sage Truthbearer [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

• When the Enchanter's charmed, hasted pet breaks: Paladin stuns the mob, roots, patch heals Enchanter or lay hands to save his ass.

• Partial group wipe: Paladin has a 90% rez, this is huge if knee deep in a place like HS and your Cleric goes down.

As an enc I agree with everything you said but these two. You dont get an exp rezz until 59. The second is if you root my pet after the stun you assume im bad and if im not bad you just cut the groups dps in half until it wears off. That said please stun the fuck out of the pet so i can lvl 4 mezz then recharm.