PALADIN KNIGHT GUIDE
Before we get started I wanted to make sure the reader is perfectly aware that the paladin aspect of this build will not be coming
into play until you've reached Scion-dom. Certainly worth the wait however. Without further ado, the Paladin Knight
(Will add pics soon)
First lets begin with your stats, I'm sure you can go with whatever works best for you but I've gone 3 str per level, reason being,
the Bloodlust skill heals you based on the damage you put out. Having all your stat points in str gives you a massive
boost to DPS and makes this build possible. Lets take a look at the skills next..
The skills are primarily Retribution in nature with Earth's Blessing for extra defense.
5/5 Valiant Slash - I consider this a priority simply because having over 50% crit in Seng for 5 seconds is pretty awesome
5/5 Crucify - I can't tell you how many people run away when I come into the fray because of this attack, after striking some unlucky sap with VS to open that 15% crit, launching this right after will ensure that some of the more squishy combatants are either going to collapse or flee altogether, either way its a perfect opportunity for your team to drive forward while your opponents are in disarray..
(1)/5 Saber Slash - The reason for the ( ) is because this attack is good enough to have at lvl 1 but if you have the points available its always nice to increase, I follow up my Crucify opening with this to thin out the remaining adversaries if they're still around. Usually at this point people are running for the hills xD But at lvl 5 this thing has a 2 second cooldown and hits up to 7 ppl for some solid damage.
5/5 Fierce Attack - Once you pop your VS, it's gonna be another 12 seconds before you can lay down another mighty combo. This is your filler while you're waiting, it has a shorter cooldown and does some pretty solid damage. I would recommend having this maxed at all times.
1/5 Slayer Swipe - I know what you're thinking, that's a magic attack, why the heck are you using it? Well once you start building your soul, you'll notice a lot of the nodes that improve your physical attack, also improve your magic attack as well. This may not seem like much but if you're up against a rogue or knight that has low magic defense, then this skill is gonna be very handy. 1 point is enough however..
5/5 Shock Blade - For all your runner needs! If you're going up against a mage that loves to teleport after you've slapped them around a bit, introduce them to your Shock Blade. This baby will lock em down and give them one more reason not to take pot-shots at you from a distance
1/5 Reckoning - I love this skill, the cooldown bites but when it's ready to go, run up to the heavy damage dealer in the battle that is jacked up with all sorts of crazy buffs and watch them vanish ^^; This skill will drain them of their attack, defense, general pwning ability and make them food for the fishes (your teammates) sure you may die in the process but sooo worth it, after all, isn't sacrifice what being a paladin is all about? :P
Alright, thats the attack skills, now for the defense skills. This is pretty easy, max everything in Earths Blessing line except Wave, you can leave that at 1.
Dat soul..
Before we get into Soul, I want to make sure you know that the effectiveness of this build is going to stem from your soul. That's right.. you can do everything we've already talked about, but unless you have the Soul it won't amount to a hill of beans. If you're having trouble getting Soul Shards, heed my advice.. Do your ladder/baths every day. Not enough SRCs for a Soul Shard? Make an alt, run bath without gaining the exp. That'll get you your 5/5 limit every day and ensure that you're powering your soul to the best of your ability.
Ice Soul
A Paladin has to have heavy armor. End of. If you don't increase your Ice Soul you may as well be wearing rogue equipment for all the good it'll do ya. But I digress, here's what I would suggest for Ice.
Spirit of Ice - 7/10 (Minimum)
Not only does this put you at a great field advantage for maxing to 10 when you hit 80. But this also will give you access to what I would consider the moderate-to-high scaling for your defense. I wouldn't recommend doing this right away, 5 would be fine so you can open up Brilliance at 40. But this is something you'll wanna strive for.
Toughness - 7/10
This doesn't give as much defense as some of the other nodes but you have to have it as a prereq, again 7/10 isn't needed right away.
Preciousness - 7/10
Here's the crossroads to greatness, having 7/10 on Preciousness opens up Stability/Flexibility which is what we want.
Flexibility - 7/10
At level 7, this node will grant you 4% Magic Damage Reduction on top of a substantial amount of magic defense.
Stability - 7/10
Same thing, at 7 this gives you 4% Physical Damage Reduction on top of some nice PDEF.
Brilliance Soul
Here's where the build starts coming together, Bloodlust is a Scion skill that heals you based on a % of the damage you deal and how fast you deal it.
Spirit of Brilliance - 7/10
Again higher threshold of improvement I feel begins at 7
Vulgarity - 7/10
Run faster, swing faster, what's not to like? This node is the reason why you don't need to spend your precious skill points on that silly Dragon Hook ability. It also scares the bejesus out of a caster when you go from point A to in-his/her-face before they have a chance to hit you with anything. I'm currently saving my Shards to get this maxed out.
Rage - 7/10
Another crossroad to greatness, I compare this to Toughness in Ice, its okay but you have to improve it to get to the good stuff..
Ferocity/Madness - 7/10
Now we're talkin! This gives you a lot of strength, a lot of physical attack and they compliment each other very well. Once you have these at 7, people on the battlefield are going to learn very quickly that you're one Knight they definitely don't want within arm's reach
Void Soul
At first glance, I'll be honest, this soul didn't really impress me. I was interested in Deftness but that was pretty much it.. but I quickly changed my mind after seeing what sort of utility this soul brought to the table
Deftness - 5/10
This gives you more attack speed which is necessary for getting those quick heals. The precursor is Simplicity which adds some crit chance which is nice as well
Forgiveness - 5/10
Ever get snared by priests, slowed by mages/rangers, stunned by rogues, and just wish you could snap out of it so you can deliver some more hurting? Now you can
At level 5 this node gives you a 10% chance upon taking damage to remove ANY negative debuffs on you. Now combine this with your incredibly high Paladin defense which takes a ridiculous amount of shots to pierce through, you have missiles flying at you every which way, 10% chance only one of those is gonna get you out of your prison. I like those odds. If you don't increase this node, you're doing it wrong lolLight Soul
I'm gonna go over this one very quickly, Power/Numbness... get those to lvl 5, more attack speed and attack is always going to be beneficial.
That's about it for important soul nodes, you can do what you wish after you reach those reqs..
Preparing For Battle
With Frag, this more or less depends on which you have improved more, if you've been grinding out honor every day and have access to yellow or better savage I would highly recommend the full savage gear for the additional run speed. However, this isn't always best for every situation, pay attention to your battle, if you're running in and getting clobbered, switch your title bonus, I usually have my bonus set on Hellfire on Horseback so I can zerg into battle, but it's not always bad to use Ethereal Warrior, or even Shadow of a Doubt... if you're targeting towers, go with SoaD for additional wave damage, if there's a lot of casters on the other team, go with high run speed.. assess the situation and choose the best tools for the job.
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