Paladin vs SK

[kaev]

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

I should make a Paladin just to see. Paladin was my main back in the days of Luclin.

It's not universal, just as the similarly foolish Ranger hate is not universal. It is strong enough that decent Paladin gear is super cheap.

Flash of Light is, imo, way more effective here than it ever was on live. There were some negative issues with FoL before they got most of the wonky pathing fixed. It seems to me that FoL lasts full/near-full duration way more than it did on live, I'm not sure I've ever even noticed it not lasting full duration on me or a mob, and the spell itself seems to me to give much more agro than it did in-era on live.

So agro is pretty easy to manage here for a Paladin. You don't really need your stuns for much of anything except bailing out the Enchanter until you run into gating mobs (Hate, Sebilis, maybe Chardok but that place is toxic with AEers so not sure) and the CH casting healers and Ice Comet casting wizards in various higher level dungeons. Maybe toss one stun in with your FoLs if your group's Monk/Rogue is too lazy to dump agro even once during a fight and you don't feel like calling them out on it. FoL works so well here it's funny that the anti-Paladin hate continues, Paladin agro advantage over Warrior is about as OP here as it was in Luclin/PoP on live due to the cheap/fast stuns they added in Luclin. (For raid bosses the Warriors here have Midnight Mallets for easy-mode snap agro.) All I can figure is there must've been a lot of really poorly played Paladins around here before I started that permanently scarred the server's collective consciousness.

Also, people here are even more close-minded than they were on live about the advantages of having both a knight and a Warrior in group. About the only thing they can imagine doing is having the Warrior berzerk for semi-decent dps.

[Phased]

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

I also get a lot of interrupts when trying to peel mobs off casters if many are hitting me, but i guess thats just life :-)

That'll happen regularly until your channeling skill goes up significantly. Although you shouldn't be tanking too many things at a time since you should be root parking them anyhow.

As far as weapons go you want to use 2Handers unless you're going up against casters. People don't like paladins due to their low DPS (at least with SKs, they can use spells to increase theirs). So get yourself an Axe of Lost Souls and have at it.

[falkun]

Why axe of lost souls when a baton of faith is the same ratio...is -5AC/WIS/INT +10STR/STA, +5SvALL really worth 1900p?

[Phased]

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

Why axe of lost souls when a baton of faith is the same ratio...is -5AC/WIS/INT +10STR/STA, +5SvALL really worth 1900p?

The stats have nothing to do with it. It's all about the look!

[falkun]

OP's trying to keep costs down, so the vanity can wait until OP can afford it. Practically...get the baton and don't replace it until FA/FD.

[iruinedyourday]

I always felt like high elf paladins were always a little, mentally challenged.

no offence. :/

[kaev]

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

I always felt like high elf paladins were always a little, mentally challenged.

no offence. :/

No offence taken by this Half-Elf Paladin. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Loadsamoney]

If I'm gonna be a Paladin, it's gonna be a Dwarf. I like my barrel roll.

[iruinedyourday]

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

If I'm gonna be a Paladin, it's gonna be a Dwarf. I like my barrel roll.

Do a Barrel roll!

[Danth]

I have a Paladin and a Shadow Knight as the two classes I've played to high levels on P1999. The Shadow Knight is my current P1999 main character. I have a couple other, lower-level Paladin alts (it's my favorite class, historically). Here are my feelings on the matter:

I duo'd with a Cleric (my wife played one) most the time on my Paladin. It's a serviceable duo for low-mid levels but it sort of runs out of steam past about 50 as monster hit point pools and damage output begin to scale much more rapidly than your own damage output. I consider Paladins a bit more specialized than Shadow Knights. Paladins make probably the best tank for experience groups in the game due to having massive tanking control, excellent ability to shut down casting monsters, and useful defensive healing ability. Beyond that, however, they're not in high demand for raids and aren't a stellar solo or duo class. If you want to tank for experience groups as your primary job in Norrath, it's a fine class and you'll like the cheap cost of equipment. Most players prefer something either more versatile or more focused on the end-game, hence the Paladin's lack of popularity.

Shadow Knights don't have as many defensive tanking tools as Paladins, but still perform the job adequately and either class tanks more easily than Warriors do for typical groups. In exchange for less control while tanking, Shadow Knights come with generally better versatility and more quality of life utility. They solo better than Paladins, make generally better duo partners (particularly at higher levels), get around more easily, and typically won't die as often. A Shadow Knight/Cleric duo would have an easier time duo'ing than a Paladin/Cleric duo past about level 50 or so, though it's still not an ideal duo.

The Cleric part of either duo forms a fine backbone for building larger groups and for getting guild invites, but as a pure duo partner it isn't so optimal a choice as a Shaman would've been. You probably already know that but I figured I'd mention it all the same.

Comparing the two classes in terms of relative power at various levels, I'd say the Paladin is at its best at mid levels, particularly the 30's and 40's. The Shadow Knight seems to come into its own at very high levels, 50+ and especially 55+. I enjoy Paladins as alts from 10 through to into the 40's, but I wouldn't care to level another Shadow Knight...just feels too weak until 50+. At 60 I consider the Shadow Knight generally the better class for typical conditions on P1999, but getting to 60 is a very long road, the majority of hybrids don't make it, and the Paladin feels stronger for much of the leveling process.

Danth