Paladin or Shadow Knight

[Vanessa]

I am completely torn between which one to go, was hoping I could come to forums and get some opinions from you guys to help me make up my mind. I know they are both basically the same class with just small differences right? As in, Pallys use Flash of Light while SKs use DC, Pally armor is white and SK armor is black, Pally have LoH SK have Harm Touch etc

But what are some of the bigger / more important things I am missing here because it seems like there is hardly any Paladins on this server, and if they are so similar to SK's then why is it that there are like 10x as many SK's as there are Paladins?

Advice / Info / Opinions / Suggestions wanted! Thanks!

[xshayla701]

SKs can FD and dot shit as well as lifetap. SKs get the lower level necro pets. Paladins have stuns/blinds, lull, bebe heals, and root. I think it just depends more on your play style. GL choosing!

[Ektar]

it'll come down to what you want to play. I love paladins and would never play a different class in any game ever. I never roleplay in eq but the idea of what a paladin is tingles my giblets.

Otherwise they're not "the same" class with opposing differences like that. For example, LoH and HT are counterparts, but they aren't "opposites" like white vs black armor. They have distinct different roles in the game.

Paladins are good safety nets. They armored and can steal a mob off someone with a quick cast of stun or whatever else. They can heal well in a disaster and, obviously, LoH also. Now in kunark with a group heal, they're even better safety nets. When I played my groups were ever safer when I was there. Not only because I was a paladin but because I rocked socks.

SKs I can't say as much about, someone else can hop in.

[Extunarian]

Paladins ...bebe heals

A 57 paladin can heal as well as I can :(

[Ektar]

ya. Paladins get greater heal along with druids and shamansi n original. In kunark they get superior heal along with druids and shamans. The difference is mana total. This is why their heals are only good in a moment of need, and not reliant on them otherwise.

[Supaskillz]

SK's get utility advantages like invis(insta click with CoS), snare, and feign death. They also have the ability to be a race with innate regen(troll, iksar), or that cannot be stunned from the front(ogre).

Paladins have self heals and stuns which can mean better damage mitigation and saving your healer mana. There are not many paladins so you will get class specific armor and weapons easier than as an sk.

[xshayla701]

A 57 paladin can heal as well as I can :(

Ahaha that sucks. Shows how much I know about paladins~

[Vanessa]

Is the Paladin Flash of Light just as good of a snap aggro spell as the SKs Disease Cloud?

[Extunarian]

Is the Paladin Flash of Light just as good of a snap aggro spell as the SKs Disease Cloud?

If you are the closest person in melee range, blind works like root and the mob will snap to you. Step on the mob's toes and its guaranteed agro.

An sk can charm in here, but I think DC was nerfed some time ago and isn't the 'hold-agro-forever-with-one-cast' spell it formerly was.

[Ektar]

blind is not like root in melee. The key difference is this:

rooted mob will attack whoever is closest. A blinded mob will attack according to its agro list, but ignore anyone it can't reach without moving.

I've cast 1 spell (I forget if it was stun or blind) versus an SK's 1 cast of DC on an incoming mob in plane of fear. the mob ran to me.

Me and my SK pals would often fight for agro for the hell of it. I'd often win.

Who can hold agro better? Basically the same. They're both very good with snap agro. But if we're talking blind, you obviously must be careful to not blind an inc mob and have him running off... and.. pulling a train of mobs.. lol oops!

[Extunarian]

rooted mob will attack whoever is closest. A blinded mob will attack according to its agro list, but ignore anyone it can't reach without moving.


funny. I guess blind produces decent agro then because I don't think I've ever seen a blinded mob fail to turn on the paladin immediately. I have however seen the "blind-fear" mechanic in action several times.

[Ektar]

oh ya. it's terrific agro. but as a former poopsocker paladin of p99, I can tell you that's how it works. Unless they changed it in the past year or something.

[Dr4z3r]

HT is really weak on P99, but FD is stronger than LoH for saving your own bacon (mainly due to cooldown).

Paladins have less faction trouble, but SKs have better racial options.

SKs get fear & pets which let them solo (very slowly), but Paladins can eventually get Fiery Avenger.

[Zeelot]

SKs can actually solo at a rate comparable to any other solo class once they reach level 49. You just have to work out efficient fear kiting and have the right items (Blood Ember Gauntlets/boots/vambraces + Polished Obsidian Great Axe).

[aresprophet]

My SK was soloing specs from 40 to 45 just as fast as my necro. Once I hit 45 and BE gaunts started to work it was faster than my necro. Spook the Dead is an amazing spell.

The downside to SK soloing is that there is no downtime, it's exhausting to fearkite stuff in melee for an extended period and you don't get med breaks.

SK soloing isn't slow at all, but with the exp penalty and your limited options for doing it it becomes a boring grind very quickly. I only did it for those levels because if I never hunt in Dreadlands again it'll be too soon. Fuck that zone.

I've seen paladin soloing in action, though. With proper use of root/heal (DW helm helps for this) they can take on tough mobs in confined spaces, something that SKs can struggle with. They, like SKs, do better against undead but paladins can handle LGuk a lot better thanks to lulls, roots, and Ghoulbane. It's definitely slower than SK soloing but it's a lot more versatile.

In groups, my SK never really needs things like lull or root to split rooms or hold aggro. The right choice of weapon and judicious use of your mana pool means that you'll never lose aggro (Soul Binder/Zealots Sword is great because the dot is a huge aggro generator). I prefer dark elf for this reason: there are times I've had to keep pulling at under 20% mana to keep spawns split, and if I was an ogre I just wouldn't have had to mana to do it. Stunning from the front or innate regen would be nice but running OOM in a clutch situation can wipe a group.

That and you don't have to rely on shrink in dungeons.

[Ektar]

paladins and sks don't solo. I mean, yeah you can kill a mob by yourself, but to do so is overwhelmingly inefficient. Want to solo while waiting for a group? go for it. Just have your train hotkey ready.

[Zeelot]

paladins and sks don't solo. I mean, yeah you can kill a mob by yourself, but to do so is overwhelmingly inefficient. Want to solo while waiting for a group? go for it. Just have your train hotkey ready.


/shrug... A majority of my exp (especially from 50-60) was done solo and my exp moved faster than group exp when I did it. Depends how you solo. If an SK is spending more than 100-200 mana per mob then yeah it'll become inefficient.

Though just as aresprophet said...it can get pretty mentally taxing due to the focus thats needed.

[Ektar]

yeah maybe sks can solo efficiently.. as mentioned above I don't really know SKs. I just figure that a long grueling feark ite battle will be time inefficient. But I don't really know so I'm fine to say sure. But paladiiiiins.. no.

[Doors]

Pallies solo undead effectively. SKs have better racial options. I've played both SKs and Pals over 50 on live progression servers I basically just alternate to keep it fresh as fawk.