High Elf Paladin Starting Stats

[Ezalor]

I know, I know, Dwarfs are the best and pumping STA is standard for tanks after you get AGI to 75 but....

I'm gonna go High Elf and can't really be talked out of it. My options are to go +20 STA but I would still be incredibly weak (base 65 strength). I could go +20 STR but that seems silly. I'm tempted to just go +20 WIS for my starting stats because mana pool is pretty important for a Paladin, especially compared to SKs, and I feel like +20 WIS plays off the natural advantage of the High Elf (high starting WIS).

Thoughts?

[liveitup1216]

I'd go 20str. Yeah gear has lots of str/sta, but you'll be very behind and unless you're twinking you'll always be very close to or over your weight limit always. Being encumbered hampers your tanking much more than anything else there.

Don't do wis, having a bigger mana pool won't help you all that much. Str if you're not twinking, sta if you are. Either way you'll need to pump them as a high elf.

[Danth]

For a High Elf, where you put your stats depends largely on how much money you have for gear (ie, are you a twink?) and how quickly you intend to be leveled or power-leveled. Who you group with also matters. If you have a lot of twink gear and/or intend to level at rocket speed, go ahead and put your stats in end-game statistics. If you know you'll always have a strength-buffing class around (Shaman, Druid, etc) you can get by with less of it. However, if you're a main without a lot of money and that'll level at the usual modest rate--without having consistent group partners--you want to go heavy into strength. Even 80 or 85 strength isn't truly enough and you'll find yourself wishing for more. 65 is laughably inadequate.

Stamina simply isn't as big a deal as some folks make it out to be. At 60 on P1999 it's 5 HP per stamina for a Paladin; your full 20 points amounts to 100 HP in-game. A 60 Paladin even with just group gear will fully buff to in the vicinity of 4000 hit points, and will exceed 3000 with just self buffs. In so many words, that 20 stamina is worth only a couple percent more life with full buffs, and not even four percent self-buffed. Only large races (particularly Ogres) actually have enough innate stamina to give them a noticeable advantage on the order of ten percent, and even that advantage declines with high-stat Velious gear as people reach stat caps.

Strength of course doesn't have a huge impact on your combat performance either (none of the primary stats do, really...not as much as AC/Resists do). Strength does, however, massively improve your quality of life during the leveling process. Your gear will commonly weigh in the 70-90 range even without heavy items like Imbued Granite Spauldors. On top of that, loot weight adds up quickly. Having excessively low strength as a plate class is a constant drag that often reduces fun and not uncommonly causes people to lose interest and quit. When P1999 first opened, I knew numerous Paladins (and a few Warriors) who ignored strength as a stat (as is commonplace on modern EQ) and quit by the mid levels due to being permanently encumbered. Having ideal level 60 stats doesn't matter if your Paladin gets shelved at level 35.

If you care solely about end-game (and particularly if you can race there quickly), there's a fair argument to be made for Wisdom. Paladins in end-game raids aren't really a key class and tend to be used primarily as either "ignorable weak damage" or as tertiary healers. For that you may as well want a large mana pool.

Danth

[Nogdar]

It's all about mana regen more than mana pool; especially for hybrids. What you want is a clarity pet, not +20 WIS [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Pyrion]

Its a common misconception that a bigger mana pool somehow gives you more mana per encounter. That is only true if you spend an equal amount of more time in between fights, which you probably dont want to do anyways. A bigger mana pool is nice for emergencies (at least for pure caster classes), if and only if you med up enough between fights. A bigger mana pool will not help you level faster unless you need it for something like quad kiting.

[Ezalor]

Hey all,

I've been watching this thread for replies. Thanks to everyone for the advice, and especially Danth for the long but informative post. Since it's been brought up, no I will not be twinked. I have less than 10k to completely gear this toon so that means no haste item or anything. It seems like the clear consensus is to pump +20 in STR then?

[Barkingturtle]

I'd go stamina with 10k to spend. A 7str/7wis veil and a hero bracer and there's almost all that strength for less than 1k. Can't say the same for stamina.

[kaev]

I suggest strongly that you NOT put promqueen gear on a Paladin. Get a Sarnak-hide Mask, NOT a platinum ruby veil. You're a tank class, +WIS is worth very little, AC is your bread and HP is your butter. WIS is a junk stat for a Paladin, worth barely more to you in your primary role than it is to an SK. Whatever gear-out you can manage that gives the best combination of AC and HP, that's what you want. Get your strength high enough to not be encumbered and be able to carry a little loot, and do it at the lowest cost in AC & HP that you can manage. Get affordable weight reduction bags (EE Bag & etc.) to carry swap gear and loot.

[lecompte]

^ Straight from the paladin's mouth.

[Gustoo]

Definitely + wisdom is a horrible idea you will regret for eternity.

Some strength just so you can wear a full set of armor is a good choice, but as you mentioned probably at end game you will wish you just did + stamina.