Early Info
I will be updating this guide through updates, and as I get more experience worth adding here.
My main file I spend most my time on is a Paladin with 150 magic and 100 vitality. I use the magics earth and metal, and I run a primarily defense/magic size build with some power and a tiny bit intensity. All my information comes from this character I’ve played with, or others who have shared their experiences to me.
Early Release
A Paladin’s Begginings
What is a Paladin?
A Paladin is a hybrid class in the game. You will be a paladin if at least 40% of your points are in magic, and 40% of your points are in vitality. The rest of the 20% of points you have can be divided out between magic and vitality however you wish.
I believe the best place to start understanding a Paladin is to look at the Paladin’s parent classes.
Mages
A Mage is a build that puts over 60% of their points into magic, often time putting all their points in magic. Mages will do 110% damage with magic unless they put points into vitality, in which case this is lowered.
Mages fight with a wide array of spells. These can go from blasts to explosions. These spells excel in zoning opponents, hurting them when they arent near you and making it more difficult to approach you.
If you want a more detailed explanation on this parent class of the Paladin, I’d suggest reading the guide for Mages by Dr.Archipeligo.
Wardens
Wardens are an unfinished class in Arcane Odyssey. They take 60% or more of their points into vitality, building themselves to take more hits, and fight using spirit weapons. These are weapons that drain your hp to deal damage. This class is locked however, because spirit weapons have not been implemented. So as of now, while you cant be a warden, you can add to vitality to gain hp at the cost of damage.
How a Paladin Plays
Without the use of any spirit weapons, a Paladin currently plays as a tanky Mage. As you go through the game, you will gain a natural bulkiness most builds don’t, allowing you to trade some hits most builds cannot. As you progress your magic will gain more abilities and tier up in size and damage. These spells you gain will be your primary way of fighting, and as covered in the Mage section, you will excel at zoning and keeping enemies away.
Now you may be wondering, “if I am going to be keeping my opponent away anyways, what is the point of the extra health?”. I often hear how people think Juggernaut and Knight make sense, because they fight up close, but I assure you being a tanky zoner has major benefits. When you fight you will keep them away, and if your opponent ever closes the gap, you will be able to take enough hits to readjust and fill more space between you and your opponent, and when they try to close it you will be healing, leaving you prepared to take another hit if you even need to. It is also important to note that you heal based on a percentage of your max hp, and not on your max level. This means the more hp you have the more you heal per tick in a fight, granting you even more health in comparison.
The Paladin has a very advantageous playstyle, however it has its drawbacks. Unlike the peak zoning abilities of the mage, you will have fewer spells at lower tiers, making zoning slightly less effective. Alongside this, a Paladin only does 75% damage because of their vitality. Since you only gain magic energy when you put points in offensive stats as well, you will have less magic energy than purely offensive builds.
A Paladin with 150 points in magic will have only 400 magic energy while a normal class will have 600 magic energy.
Awakenings
Currently only one awakening is implemented in the game. At level 120 a Paladin can awaken and choose a second magic. This second magic will learn spells 100 points after your first magic, so in this update it is likely you will only have blast and explosion on the second magic. You will also gain a passive recharge to your magic energy, as every class does.
When the second awakening is added, it is planned for Paladins to gain a 10% damage reduction.
PVE
When playing as a Paladin through the story, you can be more reckless. Because of your extra hp, if you want to take a hit to punish an enemy extra hard, you will be more capable of taking said hit.
When comparing Paladin hp levels to most other classes that do not invest in vitality at all, it becomes clear how much a Paladin can take.
By level 125, the hp values are as follows.
No vitality: 968
40% vitality: 1,368
50% vitality: 1,468
60% vitality: 1,568
The average Paladin will have 500 health points more than an average player by max level. While it may seem small at first, 500 can mean several extra hits taken before death.
The main challenge is being accurate with your magic as you play through the story. If you don’t land your blasts or explosions, you expose yourself to taking more hits, and will likely waste your extra hp doing so.
PVP
When playing as a Paladin, I find it is best to play in a defensive or passive way. Because hp is healed based on a percentage of maximum hp, you will heal more per tick than the average player. Because of this, if you focus mostly on avoiding your enemy’s attacks, then you will start healing at a rate that the enemy can’t keep up with. However, even though avoiding their attacks to heal is important, you need to throw out aoe attacks to widdle them down. This will also guarantee that they cannot start healing if you make sure to hit them before the health regen starts.
I would highly suggest learning how to dodge well, and how to block/parry. These will make your tanky nature shine even more, because if you learn these skills to take less damage, your opponent will find you even more unkillable. I also highly suggest making your magic jump have at least 2 charges. Magic jump is a very good tool to stall out in the air and rain down attacks from above while also being in relative safety. Having multiple charges also provides another advantage. Unpredictability. If you have multiple charges, you can sometimes use none, sometimes use one, sometimes use them all, your opponent will be always having to figure out when you will fall and when you will stall in the air with another jump. This makes it much harder to punish you, and much easier for you to survive. If you only have one charge after all, they know after you jump you have to fall down right after.
I would also highly suggest using the next section, the 60% magic paladin information, to help create a build that will support you best for PvP.
v1.11.19
Playing as a Paladin is difficult in the current update of v1.11.19. Currently, Mages rule the scene with their high size moves, high damaging moves, more diverse kit, and pulsar. With spirit weapons not out, playing as a Paladin is playing as a weaker and less diverse mage. That is not to say there isn’t hope though.
When playing as a Paladin you can obtain immense amounts of health totaling with your gear and aura. Hard Argos gear gives you more hp and makes your aura stronger, so if you use resistance, you just obtain even more hp. Investing into defense and a little intensity can make you seriously stand out from a Mage, for your tankiness will actually make a significant difference in the fight.
Now onto actual fighting suggestions. Paladins will play best when playing in a defensive or passive style. You naturally will do less damage than your average build, so if your opponent does not want to fight, you may find it very difficult to chase them and pick them off. So if you hunt players or bounty, expect it to be very hard to finish a kill if your target decides to run. However, if you are being hunted, or if you are in a duel in a set area, you have some solid advantages. Playing to avoid their attacks can leave you in a very comfortable position. Since you heal more hp per tick than the average player, resistance aura provides a quick max hp boost and heal, and magic attacks are large enough to obtain easy hits just often enough to deny your opponent of healing, you can slowly cut down many opponents you will face. If you are good enough you may even seem unkillable due to your hp and ability to avoid damage.
I would highly suggest learning how to dodge well, and how to block/parry. These will make your tanky nature shine even more, because if you learn these skills to take less damage, your opponent will find you even more unkillable. I also highly suggest making your magic jump have at least 2 charges. Magic jump is a very good tool to stall out in the air and rain down attacks from above while also being in relative safety. Having multiple charges also provides another advantage. Unpredictability. If you have multiple charges, you can sometimes use none, sometimes use one, sometimes use them all, your opponent will be always having to figure out when you will fall and when you will stall in the air with another jump. This makes it much harder to punish you, and much easier for you to survive. If you only have one charge after all, they know after you jump you have to fall down right after.
The largest downside is a problem I have not yet come up with a solution to yet. In my time bounty hunting players, I have avoided writing this section because while I can feel confident taking out just about any class of player, one eludes me. The Mage. The only strategies I can possibly suggest for fighting a Mage as a Paladin is really make a tanky build, 3k+ hp (with aura), and just get really, really good at your fundamental fighting skills. The tanky build will help you last longer and heal more during a fight, which is very helpful, but you will still need to be much better than the Mage. A Mage will outdamage you, outsize you (even as an earth Paladin with lots of magic size I’m still outsized), outspeed you, and outzone you. A Mage can make their blasts and explosions sting like hellfire or cover the size of a ketch. A Mage can deny you a moving Caravel of space and throw high speed blasts your direction while you try to get out of the way. As much as I hate to say it, if you are fighting a Mage, all I have to say is aim well, dodge well, and good luck.
60% Magic Paladin Tips
If you play as a Paladin with 150 points in magic, at the very end you get the aura spell. This spell lets you buff yourself in a specific way. Each magic has their own multipliers for each buff, and therefore it is best to choose the buff your magic synergizes with best. Have light magic? The speed buff will support you the most. Even so, the Paladin class supports one buff more than the others.
The resistance aura. The resistance aura increased your max by a percent. Since you naturally have more hp, it means the amount your hp increases will also be more. A Mage using a metal resistance aura will get less health than a Paladin using a metal resistance aura. Because of this for 60% magic Paladins, choosing a magic with a good resistance aura can be beneficial.
Conclusions
This is a very short guide as of now. I will be getting more details over numbers and comparisons to other classes soon once I play more.
I would like your opinions on this guide though!
- Yes! This guide was helpful
- No, I did not learn anything useful
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Thank you so much for your time reading through my guide! If you have any questions please respond in the comments, and if you have played as a Paladin and have any tips you wish to share, feel free to comment them or message me and I will try to get back to talk to you and potentially add your tips here!
Pre-Early Release
Pre-Early Release
Paladins Reigning Supreme
How to become The Paladin
If you wish to become a Paladin and make all the pure attack builds cry when you dont get one shotted by their moves, and even put a huge dent in their hp then I’d follow this.
With every level you obtain, you get 2 stat points. There are various options to put your points into. You could invest into weapons, if you like relying on other items, or into strength, if you really want to throw away any strategy and run right into battle. Though, if you wish to join the rank of Paladins, you’ll want to invest into vitality and magic. The points in vitality keep you alive, while the points in magic give you a strong and ranged offensive source.
To be a Paladin, you need at least 40% of your points in vitality and 40% in magic.
These might seem meaningless at first, but they hold a purpose. To understand this, it is easier to look at the classes it comes from first.
The parent classes of a Paladin
The main classes a Paladin comes from are Warden and Mage.
Wardens
Wardens are builds with at least 61% of their points in vitality. They are the tankiest build and can take a hit from any attack. This keeps them healthy in a fight, but they lack lots of offensive capabilities. They are capable of using a spiritual weapon though.
Mages
Mages are a class that has at least 61% of their points in magic. This class poses very high versatility and offensive output. Their hp is garbage though, and they’d fall over to a feather
Benefits of being a Paladin
When you are a Paladin you can obtain the benefits of both of these classes. With every point in vitality, you get points in hp. Like a Warden you can tank hits. Regeneration is percentage based too, so the more max hp you have the more hp per second you regain. Alongside this you have the potential to use a spirit weapon.
You also gain the benefit of a mage. You are given a versatile offensive source of magic. With this you can learn 2 base magics + a lost or ancient to replace one of those base magics depending on which you prefer. This gives you an incredible range of offense. You also can use lost spells and potentially arcanium weapons too. This gives you even more versatility than before.
There are many reasons a Paladin is better than a Mage or Warden. Mages fall short in hp. With all that offense and the power of a God on their side, they sacrifice their ability to survive. As for a Warden, they clad themselves in armor but lack any serious form of offense. These shortcomings are assumed until AO comes out, so take it with a grain of salt. A Paladin is simply a beautiful blend of them both.
Awakenings
Currently, the Paladin has 2 planned awakenings alongside other classes.
The first awakening will give you a 2nd base magic.
The second awakening will give you 10% dmg reduction as well as a tiny dmg boost to magic, weapons, and fighting styles.
Conclusion
Paladins are the superior choice of class and no class will keep up with us.
Thank you to @Dr.Archipelago and @ThatOneGuy for the ideas, everyone should read their guides too.
- Yes, I wish to be superior
- No, I’d rather be inferior
This guide will be updated as the game releases and as I learn more about the class
