Are Paladins really bad?

[Raev]

Paladins are rather superfluous at level 60 here.

• Alunova overtuned every Velious raid encounter in an attempt to prevent P99's multiple overgeared zerg guilds from wrecking Velious on day one (needless to say, he failed). Knights cannot even rampage tank Vindi here.
• "Competition" forces everyone to zone pull raid bosses and kite adds, so there is no need for the Knight's traditional trash tanking job
• In theory something like a HoT crawl should be ideal for Knights, but in practice the mobs there are substantially overtuned as well (most quad when they should only double or triple) and Warriors can use the Bio Orb to generate almost as much hate (proc hate should be capped at 400).

So Paladins should be solid raiders on a classically tuned server where guilds crawl TOV and Kael and such. And indeed on TAKP knights are extremely popular.

Paladins are in my opinion a strong grouping class. If I were leveling a Paladin I would fill my friends list with competent (and fun!) Shaman and Enchanters, both of which work very well with the Paladin:

• Shamans will enjoy the Paladin's snap threat letting them slow immediately, stuns interrupting big nukes/heals (A shaman's nemesis is a wizard, since they can't slow spellcasting), +1K in HP buffs, and pacify splits keeping things simple most of the time. Throw in some sort of dps class and you have an excellent trio.
• Enchanters will enjoy the Paladin's snap threat even more (tash+slow is two big debuffs, and as a cloth class they can't just fire and suck it up), and stun on the charmed pet is excellent. Despite being the god class of EverQuest all the way through PoP, Enchanters have a tendency to die and a Paladin has more tools than other tank to keep one alive. Clarity means you can cast more. PAL/ENC plus any vaguely competent priest should wreck.

If you have a really good Monk/Enchanter/Cleric/Shaman, then a Warrior is best. They do the most damage, are the toughest, and have disciplines that really shine vs tough mobs. In an average group, you have a lot more options to keep things together with a Paladin. Also, Paladins are much less gear dependent, and most of their gear is cheap since few play them.

If you like the idea of a Paladin, I wouldn't let the naysayers scare you off unless you are absolutely certain you want to batphone/track/poopsock at 60. By the time you get there nilbog may have retuned things or tweaked the rules to favor knights a bit anyway. And if not, you can always reroll a Cleric or whatever.

[Atmas]

Originally Posted by Raev [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Paladins are rather superfluous at level 60 here. [list][*]Alunova overtuned every Velious raid encounter in an attempt to prevent P99's multiple overgeared zerg guilds from wrecking Velious on day one (needless to say, he failed). Knights cannot even rampage tank Vindi here.[*]"Competition" forces everyone to zone pull raid bosses and kite adds, so there is no need for the Knight's traditional trash tanking job[*]In theory something like a HoT crawl should be ideal for Knights, but in practice the mobs there are substantially overtuned as well (most quad when they should only double or triple) and Warriors can use the Bio Orb to generate almost as much hate (proc hate should be capped at 400).

So I've got better gear than other paladins but I've rampage tanked Vindi a lot. I've main tanked Vindi plenty. I've at some point tanked most ToV dragons (notable exceptions Vulak and Vyemm).

Things are over tuned for sure, but I still think in HoT Knights are usually better tanks than warriors if you are trying to burn through mobs.

[Raev]

Originally Posted by Atmas [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I TANK

I was remembering this and this. And Skyder getting banned for RMT.

If you have figured out how to make it work since then, more power to you!

[Trelaboon]

Originally Posted by Atmas [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

So I've got better gear than other paladins but I've rampage tanked Vindi a lot. I've main tanked Vindi plenty. I've at some point tanked most ToV dragons (notable exceptions Vulak and Vyemm).

Things are over tuned for sure, but I still think in HoT Knights are usually better tanks than warriors if you are trying to burn through mobs.

My gear pales in comparison to yours (you have like 1k more HP than me and about 200 more AC) and I’ve successfully ramp tanked Vindi with no problems. As long as you have a dedicated Shaman and a dedicated cleric assigned to RT, it’s totaly doable.

[Haghar]

The journey to 60 is a long one. I've played many characters to above level 50 and Paladin was the most fun grouping experience I've had out of any of them.

Their ability to snap and hold aggro is surpassed by none in a 6 man group - and the roots/stuns/heals/LoH really give you the ability to save people in your group better than an SK, which IMO is the job of a tank (not doing damage).

If you're interested in being a very social player and being a leader in groups then Paladin is the right class for you.

[Topgunben]

If this is your first character on this server, consider a class like necro, enchanter or Druid. Paladins are a lot of fun, and not nearly as gear dependent as a warrior, but still gear dependent nonetheless.

Also, being able to solo is a big deal on this server, as I have noticed that the pool of sub 40 players is shrinking. You will of course still be able to find groups, but it's not like how it was when I started 4 years ago here.

[elwing]

Sorry, but don't buy into this gear dependant thing... You can fulfill your group role with a 100p ec weapon and a set of banded to 30-40...

[Danth]

Paladins are poorly regarded on P1999 mostly because they're specialized towards a job (group tank) that most players don't care about. Paladins solo only slowly, aren't a critical raid class, and aren't generally great at making money, either. If you like the group tank role well enough to want to dedicate yourself to it then the Paladin gives excellent service, but as a main it's definitely a class for a niche portion of the player base. Since the Paladin is at its best during the leveling portion of the game it also serves well for those players who want a tank-type alt to play around with now and then, especially if said alt is cheaply-equipped.

Danth

[Topgunben]

Originally Posted by elwing [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Sorry, but don't buy into this gear dependant thing... You can fulfill your group role with a 100p ec weapon and a set of banded to 30-40...

Can it be done? Of course! i never discriminate against poorly geared players, most of the time I try to give them upgrades if I have anything, and they aren't ALS. But there are a lot of jerks that would prefer to pass on a Paladin, a poorly geared one at that, in favor of every other class.

Not to mention that casual players tend to not have the time to put together a full group, so solo, or duo is where it's at. A poorly geared paladin is going to suffer greatly as a solo practitioner.

[proxytoon]

Paladins got kinda week in velious. More chance of grouping with a cleric.