Paladin
Paladins are a semi profession in GemStone IV, and were the first new profession added to the original eight from GemStone III. As holy warriors, paladins span the range of space between Warriors and Clerics; characters of these two professions were granted the ability to convert to paladins until the release of the tenth profession, Monks. Because of this history, paladins have professional abilities which are otherwise considered exclusive to both Warriors and Clerics; for instance, compare Sanctify (1625) to Weapon Bonding or Divine Word (1640) to Raise Dead (318). Some of these were not even retained by the original class; Zealot (1617) used to be a Cleric Base spell, its slot now occupied by Divine Fury (317).
Although in the most general sense Paladins find themselves in between a Square and a Pure class, they should be considered the most square of the semi classes, having the cheapest total skill costs to attain Redux, the ability to triple train in Armor Use, and a more difficult time hunting by solely magical means than Rangers or Bards.
Paladins are spiritual fighters who can boast the lowest Spell hindrance and one of the highest physical Attack strengths of any class. The price paid for this melee combat prowess is largely higher training costs for general skills and diversity compared to the other square and semi classes.
General Training Suggestions
As square-leaning semis, Paladins should ensure they have enough physical skills to be robust hunters. A typical path will also include some magical skills and general skills to improve and supplement their combat prowess. Naturally, the information below is merely a guide, particularly for those unfamiliar with the class, and a variety of training paths can be effective.
Physical Skills
The core of any paladin is their selection and dedication to combat-oriented physical skills.
Weapon Skills
Paladins will normally specialize in a melee weapon: Edged Weapons, Blunt Weapons, Polearm Weapons, or Two-Handed Weapons. As far as the remaining options, it can be said that Thrown Weapons are unpopular in general, Paladins are somewhat lacking in access to abundant and cheap skills to be effective at Ranged Weapons, and they would not be as effective at Brawling as Warriors or Monks (although it may be a useful supplementary skill). Paladins also have access to specific spells which increase the power of melee and thrown weapons: Arm of the Arkati (1605), Zealot (1617) and Sanctify (1625). The choice of the particular melee weapon is largely up to the player's taste. Two-Handed Weapons will prohibit the effective use of a shield, where as the damage factor for these and polearms are generally higher than for edged or blunt weapons. A more flexible hunting style is possible coupling weapons that can be used one or two handed (katana, bastard swords, or various approaches with polearms) with a shield. Whatever the choice, the paladin should train twice per level in at least one type of weapon.
Two Weapon Combat
As Paladins have the highest training cost for Two Weapon Combat among all the other squares and semis, they are not necessarily the best suited for the skill. However, the effectiveness of Arm of the Arkati (1605) and Zealot (1617) is certainly improved when using two weapons. Coupling this skill with edged or blunt weapons is most sensible, although brawling and in principle polearms are also possibilities. The dedicated paladin would train twice every level, and also forego the benefits of a shield.
Shield Use
Access to shield specializations (detailed below) as well as the spell Divine Shield (1609) gives Paladins more reason than most to be efficient at using a shield. Furthermore, the Paladin Base circle is largely lacking in good defenses against Bolt spells (although this is reasonably supplemented by the Minor Spiritual circle). Using Zealot (1617) also forces the paladin into offensive stance and further lowers their defenses (although this cannot be cast at the same time as Divine Shield). That being said, many paladins choose to use primarily two-handed weapons or large polearms and forego the benefits of a shield. Certainly the choice of weapon skill should be coupled with the shield training. If using a shield, a paladin should single or double train the skill.
Dodging
As the primary factor in evading, this is a staple defensive skill. However, paladins do have Dauntless (1606) to give them dodging skill without this training. Any paladin without a shield ought to at least single train in this skill, and as a paladin wears heavier armor, the skill becomes more important. This skill (in any amount, more always being better) fits well into any training path, but training twice per level becomes prohibitively expensive.
Combat Maneuvers
Combat maneuvers is another staple skill for any melee-combat oriented character. It helps defend against opposing maneuvers (combat or creature), increases physical AS, and gains one CMAN point per rank for learning specific maneuvers (see below). However, it should be said that paladins have Patron's Blessing (1611) to increase their AS in a similar manner, and Sanctify (1625) for better CM defenses. Even so, a paladin should be expected to single train in this skill.
Armor Use
Every paladin should quickly find themselves in heavier armor; paladins have few reasons to stay in soft or even hard leather. Heavier armor obviously protects the wearer better when fully trained (with the exception of some aspects of the evade system), typically considered as a trade-off for the ability to easily cast spells. However, paladins have many advantages when it comes to casting spells in armor. In the first place, the Paladin Base circle has the lowest Spell hindrance of any circle (often by half or much more), and the Minor Spiritual circle has the second lowest hindrance. But these low base hindrances are only the beginning, as paladins have Faith's Clarity (1603) to temporarily reduce the hindrance, which can be important when casting a high-cost spell such as Faith Shield (1619), Spirit Strike (117), or Wall of Force (140). Finally, paladins have access to two unique Armor Specializations (see below); not only does each rank of armor use give one point towards learning either of these skills, but they both decrease the penalties for casting spells when well-armored. As the ability to easily cast spells in heavy armor is unique to paladins, one ought to take advantage of this fact with dedicated training in armor use.
Unlike the other physical skills, armor use should be trained in a tiered system rather than on a per-level basis, because a new armor should not be used until one is fully trained for at least the RT and maneuver penalties (which is usually similar to the requirements for the Paladin Base), and it isn't realistic to expect most paladins to change armors every few levels (unless they enjoy an extensive armor collection). On the whole, the paladin should have some goals set with their next armor set in their possession as they gain the ability to wear it. As an example, by triple-training armor use, a paladin, like a warrior, can be in augmented chain by level 20. The paladin could then skip training in armor use for many levels, picking up other skills, while eventually working towards the next goal, for instance, being triple trained again at level 50 to wear full plate. A simple reason to choose a type of armor may very well be having access to a particularly nice set of a given armor, but most paladins eventually are working towards full platemail. This system is feasible because of other threshold based skills (particularly magical skills, see below), as well as stat growth which increases the total training points available.
Physical Fitness
Physical fitness increases hitpoints up to a character's maximum, plays the most important role in Redux, helps with some environmental checks, defends against some combat maneuvers, and is the strongest factor in defending against creature maneuvers. Training less than once per level in this skill is absolutely silly, and every paladin should have the eventual goal of reaching two times per level as their training path allows. In particular, training more than once per level may be used to achieve redux faster or gain full HPs.
Multi-Opponent Combat
Training in multi-opponent combat helps both defend against swarms and attack multiple times at once. As paladins do not have access to Berserk, this is as good as it gets (besides of course, Judgment (1630)). However, a normal training path would already allocate most of a paladin's training points without including this skill, and similar to armor use, it is better viewed as a threshold skill than something to train each level. Although the defensive benefits increase with each rank, the offensive benefits are strictly tiered. A paladin is well-advised to quickly get five ranks so two opponents can be attacked at once, and after that set their own goals for additional training as they can. The benefits of this skill will be self-evident after a short time playing a paladin, and each player can choose how quickly or slowly to progress beyond the first five ranks.
Ambush
This skill helps aim attacks or successfully ambush from hiding, as well as with ranged and thrown weapons in general. However, this spell is costly for paladins and can only be trained once per level. Coupled with the same situation for Stalking and Hiding, this skill is not worthwhile for a normal paladin training path. It can be useful later on for open aimed swings, for example to prevent creatures from casting spell, and so on.
Combat Maneuvers List
Paladins have the ability to train in the following combat maneuvers.
- Bull Rush
- Charge
- Combat Focus
- Combat Mastery
- Combat Movement
- Combat Toughness
- Crowd Press
- Cunning Defense
- Dirtkick
- Disarm Weapon
- Feint
- Multi-Fire
- Precision
- Shield Bash
- Shield Charge
- Side by Side
- Specialization
- Spin Attack
- Subdual Strike
- Surge of Strength
- Trip
- Truehand
Shield Specializations
Paladins have the ability to train in the following shield specializations.
- Medium Shield Focus
- Large Shield Focus
- Tower Shield Focus
- Shield Bash
- Shield Charge
- Shield Push
- Shielded Brawler
- Prop Up
- Shield Forward
- Shield Spike Focus
- Shield Spike Mastery
- Block the Elements
- Spell Block
- Shield Mind
- Protective Wall
- Shield Strike
- Shield Strike Mastery
- Steely Resolve
- Phalanx
Armor Specializations
Paladins can train in a couple Armor Specializations relevant for spell casting in heavy armor.
Paladin Statistic Growth Rates
For more information see the page on statistic growth rates.
| Profession | Strength | Constitution | Dexterity | Agility | Discipline | Aura | Logic | Intuition | Wisdom | Influence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paladin | 30 | 25 | 20 | 20 | 25 | 15 | 10 | 15 | 25 | 20 |
Note: The table above is the baseline statistic growth rates. These values are actually modified for every race in GemStone IV, including humans.
External Links
- Professions: Paladins, on Play.net.
- Paladin Base Spell Circle, on Play.net
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| Profession - edit |
|---|
| Squares: Rogue | Warrior | Monk |
| Semis: Bard | Paladin | Ranger |
| Pures: Cleric | Empath | Sorcerer | Wizard |