Paladin armor

[Korgoth]

I am a returning player after stopping in 1999. I now have a level 12 Dwarven paladin, but a lot has changed in 17 years.
I need some sound advise about gearing my paladin.
I have managed to collect a full set of small bronze for my brave dwarf, what should be my next goal?
I dont have tons of plat, and only an enchanter for an alt.
That being said, where can i go for armor next? Is there a small armor drop that is a step up from bronze?
A drop would be best for me.
I read here that bronze is good until 30's.
What can i look for to upgrade next?
Thanks from a returning player.

[Troxx]

Honestly? You can wear bronze easily into your 40s.

Small fine steel has more AC and is lighter. Deepwater is an obvious step up, but for not much more you can buy pieces of crustacean armor from Cobalt Scar.

Before you buy any more visible armor, I'd start saving up 500p for 2 5ac 55hp rings. They are cheap for the quality and are good enough to wear all the way up to 60.

[Jauna]

Save that plat.
5ac/55hp rings
orc fang earrings
chipped velium amulet
And for the best bang for the plat, Crustacean armor is the way to go, modest AC, big sta/str. as a dwarf pal you will not miss the cha or dex all too much

[Korgoth]

So are there any places where mobs drop better armor? And save plat for jewelry. Remember my funds are limited anyway, so the plan is to get exp in a place that drops it.

For example when i played in classic, everyone farmed in Cazic Thule, for the bronze, and mire importantly, the rubicite. You would grind out exp in groups and improve your gear along the way.

Any armor drops like that?

[Sage Truthbearer]

Keep the bronze and get two 5/55 rings and a Baton of Faith. These are the only items that will make a significant improvement in your character in your budget.

Down the road, three items to look for that will give you the most improvement in your Paladin are 1) a haste item 2) fungi 3) good weapon.

[Korgoth]

What about blackened alloy armor. I have a wrist piece and it is better than my bronze. Start to learn the layout of runnyeye?

[Korgoth]

First, thanks for all of the tips, and for tolerating my ignorance. With a paladin, 2h weapons cost me bash. Is it worth it to give up bash? My current setup is blackened alloy longsword and a shiny brass shield.
Thanks for the help with my character

[Pyrion]

As a paladin you can use stun to interrupt spells. Of course bash is nice, but you can do without. Of course without a shield you become more squishy.

[nothsa]

I would say J boots > haste > better weapons are better.
Add in A deepwater Helm is great post 45. (thought those are cheap ish)

[Lartanin63]

Being level 12 with mostly bronze, you are doing better than most. As for farming some upgrades gear you are going to need to be in your 20ish range. To find some upgrades. Use the wiki to search equipment by class and find what slots you are looking for and where you need to go. It takes some digging but its kinda fun to make up a list of mobs/zones you need to hit. I always liked to find an item I would like to have and plan my leveling around it. Do not be afraid to ask for help with some kills. Just because a quest has a suggested level doesn't mean a level 50 in the zone wouldn't be willing to smoke a mob for you.

I've never played a dwarf, but I've leveled quite a bit on fey. So maybe these will give you some things to do in your level range.

Orc warlord level 16- Try and get your hands on a couple bracers of battle.
See the screaming mace quest, you want to hand on bracer for the Prayer cloth of Tunare. Keep one bracer for wearing.

Emporer Crush level 18- Dwarven ring mail tunic.

Bloodforge armor quest- See Ogre heads quest. Suit is looks cool, helmet has resistance.

Capt Surestout 21 in ocean of tears- Drops a Bracers of Erollisi. There is always people on that island. Jump off and ask for help then get back to the docks.

See brass earring quest in crushbone. Collect 4 of them from the taskmaster. You want to hand 2 of them to high elf male slaves. Get a set of the two strenght rings for completing that quest. Wear the other two.

Look into the chalice of conquest quest. I believe dwarfs are the only ones with high enough faction to do this quest? Nets a cool polearm that you can use or wear on your back.

If you end up traveling to the karana are there is a guy in south karana names Marik clubthorn. He drops a 3stam +10hp neck he's only level 16.

Look into doing the Bone thunder staff quest while you are in the area.

Regardless if you want to get all your gear yourself or buy it when the money flows in, that is up to you.
I would suggest maybe farming CB belts and pads for plat to purchase some items that cannot be obtained at lower levels. The 55hp rings are a good buy. I'd save up some money for a ghoulbane to make unrest leveling a joy. The rest will come with time. Keep using the wiki a d plan for your future.
Good luck!