Ogre SK or Dwarf Paladin for an occasional alt?

[Asteria]

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

So which of these could I realistically achieve more with in a shorter span of time and with less engagement?

Since both classes will suffer slower leveling with the hybrid exp penalty pain on this server, I think they will both be rather slow unless you stay in the best exp zones in the game throughout most of your leveling and/or get some power-leveling.

That said, I would go dwarf pally for several reasons:
- 1999 ogre and troll models are absurdly blocky, fat, and comical [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] It's like Minecraft or something in 3D?
- Flaming swords (Soulfire, Fiery Avenger, Fiery defender)
- Barrel rolls!! Few have that ability on Green
- You don't need shrink pots, Guise of the deceiver clicky, or a friendly grouped shaman to shrink you constantly to fit in alot of dungeons more better
- I have seen far more SKs than paladins on Green
- I have seen a monumental amount of Ogre players on Green
- I have seen few Dwarven players on Green
- Feign death saves the SK, first and foremost. If a pull is too big without FD, there are so many SKs and monks around already it seems to FD pull. No FD pull necessary with a very good chanter to lull and/or mez adds. Lay on hands or an extra normal heal can save your healer in a very sticky situation - sometimes making you the hero of the hour.

[Brut]

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

To greatly oversimplify it, Pal is slightly better in most situations than the SK

We talking about the ability to cast lvl19 cleric buffs at lvl49?

[Troxx]

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

We talking about the ability to cast lvl19 cleric buffs at lvl49?

That’s not even remotely accurate. Check the wiki.

To greatly oversimplify it, Pal is slightly better in most situations than the SK, but in a few situations SK is far better (generally involving FD and/or snare).

Regarding groups, it’s more like paladin is frankly better (not slightly) in most situations. In a few situations SKs can pull things off a paladin can’t. In the scope of holding threat and taking hits they are equal. Damage is comparable with the SK holding a minor advantage if they use spells. But they get to only rarely due to mana constraints in most groups.

In an head to head match off SKs uniquely have snare, fear and FD. These spells make for some impressive situational power plays it’s true but that’s basically it. They do have some self heal potential but it’s comparatively weak for the mana cost. In terms of global utility, that’s pretty much it.

Paladins? Root (only tank with it), multiple stuns, pacify, potent targeted heals including a fast cast overpowered heal over time, a unique stacking hp buff line, cleric buff lines up to include 2nd best cleric symbol and standard hp buff, resist buffs, 90% rez, DA.

Specials? LoH runs circles around harm touch.

Both knights are exceedingly capable at tanking and holding threat. The power difference is in the sum total toolkit. The paladin toolkit is insanely broad and potent for a tank class. It’s for this reason that paladins are simply better all around in most situations. The utility and toolkit helps both the paladin and the group. SK toolkit is smaller and mostly only helps the SK.

If you really need a pull completed, can’t risk a lull resist, and have nobody more capable then yes SKs are better. If you’re in a small duo/trio without a healer then yes snare/fear is OP. If you’re on a raid and need bodies to help the pull team ... yes SK is the way to go.

As an aside, SKs do have the creature comfort of mobility with invis/fd. In that regard they can be more convenient for the player piloting the toon.

[Snaggles]

Across the board Pal spells are also faster casting so interrupts are less common. FOL has half the recast time as DC. Stun costs half the mana as Shroud of Pain. Heals are much more efficient across the board. Come Kunark self-healing with a DW helm or BP is amazing.

I soloed to 60 with the pally. I have a sk and will do the same, probably easier. The SK has some nice tools for split pulls (snare + FD). Great for tanking and pulling off weird solo/duo tricks. The pally though is a better group tank if anyone else can snare (get an epic Druid). An OCD players dream.

[Grimstrike]

Dwarf Paladin for the STR to wear all of that sweet Bronze! Grab a Deepwater Harpoon and you are set into your 20s. You can get a Bullsmasher, Mino Axe or a Shining Star of Light and a Shiny Brass Shield.

[Keebz]

If you already did the 'good' route with the shaman, go SK. Leveling in the same zones twice in a row is for the birds.

[BlackBellamy]

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

I'll be doing 50% solo 50% tanking in groups I'd say.

Yeah. As an Ogre SK who has traveled the world, soloing various popular spots and teaching the local inhabitants to fear my mailed fist, I have never ever seen a Paladin soloing anything anywhere. Ever. Oh, I've run into them. I see them here and there. But sitting down at some camp solo, never. I compete with all the cloth casters, bards, priests; all voracious campers and soloers. I sometimes see another SK, but never a Pally. There is a reason for that I think.

[Snaggles]

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

Yeah. As an Ogre SK who has traveled the world, soloing various popular spots and teaching the local inhabitants to fear my mailed fist, I have never ever seen a Paladin soloing anything anywhere. Ever. Oh, I've run into them. I see them here and there. But sitting down at some camp solo, never. I compete with all the cloth casters, bards, priests; all voracious campers and soloers. I sometimes see another SK, but never a Pally. There is a reason for that I think.

Hmm, well I've never seen a narwhal but they exist [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.].

I soloed to 60 as a pally almost exclusively. Grobb guards from 45-54 and HK/Hole/Karnors the rest of the time. Super easy, never had a fungi either.

At level 55 I killed this by myself in the Hole using a Narandi Lance when it was 38/45.

https://wiki.project1999.com/Rocksoul

Probably 7 procs and over 10 mins of fighting. That was prior to the knight dps upgrade and healing with a DW helm. With a deepwater BP and a bag of jaspers you can heal 3x faster, about 30hps/second.

I still think pallies are not the best soloers but they certainly get by. They don't need a football field to kill a mob either....root it 3 feet away and just stare at it while you click back hps.

[Vexenu]

^ This is why Pally/Rogue is such an underrated XP duo at 45+. Each class perfectly compensates for the other's weakness. The Pally can tank/heal/CC and the Rogue just unloads DPS. Helm heals are more than adequate with the Rogue shooting your kill speed through the roof. Minimal downtime. Two of the worst solo classes combine for a surprisingly good duo for grinding out XP mobs.

[DMN]

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

Hmm, well I've never seen a narwhal but they exist [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.].

I soloed to 60 as a pally almost exclusively.

Now do it with vanilla weapons and likely no haste. Hehe.

paladins can certainly solo but it's incredibly slow and not very efficient.

And as far as needing a "football field" to solo as an SK, that's just not true; you just need one decent strip, just long enough for a full duration invoke on a dark'd mob. Then you just run back to the beginning after fear breaks. You can even do it even more tight aeas once you have higher darks, like dooming, and then you can just use plain old fear hich won't last near as long. You'll loose efficiency but significantly reduce the amount of territory you need to use.

SK solo is still slow but it's miles more efficient than paladins.

As far as grouping it's always going to come down to the group composition. Relative to original EQ, p99 is loaded with bards, enchanter, clerics, many of whom will outstrip of lot of the tools in the paladin kit. a lot of the time your fucnion will end up 100% the same as the SK in most groups, snap aggro/general aggro tanking.