"[toc]\n\n# Playing the Paladin\n\n\u003e *Once a Cleric, the Paladin has a call transcending the customs of the Cleric\n\u003e Order. Led by her convictions, she sets off to carry out her own righteous judgment.*\n\nThe Paladins of [Terminus](#) are staunch [Tanks](#) capable of commanding the\nattention of fierce monsters and protecting their allies with Celestial magic.\nIt is safe to say a well-seasoned Paladin is a beacon of strength for adventuring\nparties and a pariah for Undeath and the denizens of the dark dungeons.\n\nA good Paladin should expect to shoulder the brunt of all threats your party\nencounters and be quick to grab the attention of anything that wants to pick on\nyour allies. Imagine yourself, the shining shield on which your foes will break\ntheir blades.\n\nYour skills will focus primarily on making sure mobs attack you rather than your\nparty and secondly on making sure you all survive the inevitable damage. While\nyou do have some abilities to increase your damage, you are at large a defensive\nfighter.\n\nNotably, some of your skills are tailored to affect Undeath **only**! This means\nyou will be extra effective diving into creepy tombs and crushing skeleton skulls.\n\nGlory awaits!\n\n## Class Resources\n\nThe Paladin has three different resources to manage:\n\n### Readiness\n\nReadiness is gained by taking or dealing damage. As you can imagine, you will steadily\ngenerate it as you stay in combat and soak up damage. Expect to both earn and spend\nthis resource liberally.\n\n### Wrath\n\nWrath is generated via several combat abilities ([Fervent Strike](#) at level 2,\nfor example) and represents the more tactical side of being a successful Paladin.\n\nActions that are powered by Wrath include a self buff that boosts damage and\nthreat generation, the ability to \"yoink\" an enemy from up to 20m away to your\nlocation, and also heals! You'll want to be sure to have some Wrath on the ready\nto manage any given combat situation while spending your excess to either heal\nor increase your dps.\n\n### Reckoning\n\nSome Paladin abilities are truly powerful and able to dramatically shift a would-be\ngroup wipe into a decisive victory. These typically use your very limited Reckoning\nresource, of which you have three.\n\nA prime example is [Lay Hands](#), perhaps the Paladin's most iconic feat which will\nfully restore the health of a player instantly.\n\n## Group Role\n\n### Tank\n\nAs a [Tank](#), you will want to attract and keep the attention of enemies so that\nyour team is safe to deal damage, heal, and otherwise participate in combat *without*\ntaking hits. How do we do that?\n\nIn Pantheon, aggro is called [Threat](#) (interchangeably referred to as Hate)\nand this is going to be your primary concern. [Threat](#) builds from your\nbasic attacks and Actions. Essentially, whoever has generated the most\n[Threat](#) on a target is the one that target is going to be attacking. As your\nparty members cast spells and attack, they will also be generating [Threat](#)\nand so generating the *most* is the crux of your role.\n\nAbilities that explicitly generate [Threat](#) are commonly referred to as\n[Taunts](#). As you'll see you have *a lot* of Taunts in your arsenal.\n\nAt level 2, you'll be able to learn your first Taunts: [Fervent Strike](#),\n[Faithful Strike](#), and [Incite](#). These three abilities vary slightly\nand those differences embody the rest of the tactical considerations you\nwill have in combat.\n\n[Incite](#) is the most pure Taunt of these. It forces an enemy to attack you\nfor 3 seconds and increases the amount of [Threat](#) generated during that time.\nThis is great to initiate combat, take a mob from a teammate who has pulled it to\nyour party, or to peel that mob away from attacking a healer or other caster who\naccidentally built more [Threat](#) than you.\n\n[Fervent Strike](#) also generates some extra [Threat](#) but also builds your\n[Wrath](#) resource which will enable your other abilities. Generating [Wrath](#)\nis always good!\n\n[Faithful Strike](#) has the all important effect of healing. With all the Taunting\nand Tanking you'll be doing, it's important to remember to heal and this spell can\ndo just that. As things get hairy and your party is taking damage as well, you\ncan later pair [Faithful Strike](#) with [Vigilance](#), enabling you to heal\nyour party as well.\n\nAs you first learn the flow of combat and build your skills as the party's Divine\nshield, managing [Threat](#), [Wrath](#), and your party's health can seem daunting.\nA truly effective Paladin will know how quickly they can build [Threat](#) before\nit is safe for casters to start damaging or healing without worry of monsters running\namok and potentially killing your healer, for example. Knowing your limits and\ncommunicating those with the team when necessary helps achieve an enjoyable flow\nof combat and let's everyone play their role better.\n\nTwo things we *haven't* talked about are damage output and defensive abilities.\nAs you manage mobs, you can also weave in a good amount of extra damage through\nwith your abilities, *especially* if they are undead. Try to add in as much extra\ndamage as you can but always be focused on your primary goals: staying alive and\nkeeping nose-to-nose with the denizens of [Terminus](#).\n\n## Which Race do I pick?\n\n\u003e **Please note!**\n\u003e\n\u003e Racial abilities are **not fully implemented** at the time of\n\u003e this writing. It will still be important to consider your racial bonuses\n\u003e since they will be implemented in the near future.\n\nPaladins can be Dark Myr, Dwarf, Elf, or Human. Choosing a race is always a matter\nof preference for aesthetic and flavor OR for their raw class effectiveness. I'll\nreview the options and offer some insight on how effective each race is as a Paladin.\n\n### Dark Myr\n\nIf a sneaky fish Paladin seems like a strange fit, remember the Dark Myr are descendant\nof the noble and kingly Myr: \"the heartbeat of Issul herself\". That being said,\ntheir racial perks may seem ill fit for Paladin.\n\nDark Myr have a natural boost to Stealth and Awareness which probably won't improve\nyour effectiveness as a tank much if at all.\n\nBeing able to breathe underwater could be a boon in some places, as could the bump\nin Perception system's Insight skill, but overall **a Dark Myr Paladin will be less\neffective** than other races when it comes to combat.\n\nIf you chose Dark Myr, do it for the flavor and capitalize on your unique stance\nas a wayfaring water warrior, bringing light and strength into the depths of Terminus.\nStart your Perception quests early and become a Keeper!\n\n### Elf\n\nThe beloved woodland ancients of every fantasy and anime ever are a pretty interesting\npick for Pantheon's Paladin. There are two different types of Elves to choose from\nbut both have some common traits to consider:\n\nAll Elves gain a bonus on skills which are Agility influenced; however, this\nimpacts a grand total of zero of the Paladin's skillset. Similarly, all Elves\nget a boost to Nature abilities which does not include any Paladin skills.\n\nWhat Elves do get that is notable is an innate resistance to Nature magic. This could\nmake certain fights much easier and a nice pocket perk to keep in mind as the party's\ndedicated damage sponge.\n\n#### Ember Elves\n\nThe [Unflinching](#) trait grants an innate 20% chance to resist knockdown and\nknockback abilities, a boon for any character who is going to be in front trading\nblows.\n\n[Deftness](#) makes your Dexterity extra effective for landing blows but since\nthis isn't one of our main attributes and most of our hate and damage will come\nfrom our spells and abilities.\n\nThe **Ember Elf could be a strong pick** for a Paladin with their Unflinching\ntrait and resistance to Natural magic.\n\n#### Ashen Elves\n\n[Deep Recitation](#) grants an innate 20% chance to resist spell interruption and\ncounterspell abilities. This seems less impactful than resisting knockdowns and\nknockbacks but may come in handy on occassion.\n\nOn the other hand, Ashen Elves gain \"Extra Spell Rating\" from each point of Wisdom\nfrom their [Sagacious](#) trait. Without speculating too much, spells are a supplement\nto the Paladin suite so this *could* be impactful but maybe not so much as for a\npure Wisdom-based caster like a Druid. (*We'll revisit this once there are\nconcrete details!*)\n\nIt's tough to tout Ashen Elves as a great choice, especially when compared to\ntheir Ember cousins.\n\n### Human\n\nSimilar to Elves, Humans gain a bonus of skills based on Charisma... which\nincludes zero Paladin skills. They also a 10 point boost to the Warrior skill\n[Shield Mastery](#).\n\nOn the plus side, they benefit from melee, ranged, and spell haste of 2%.\n\nAside from the additional bonus to neutral faction gains, a Human Paladin\nwon't be as effective as other races.\n\n### Dwarf\n\nDwarves seem tailor made for this class. They are a stout and study people\ncomplete with the proud heirs typical of Paladins.\n\nImportantly, Dwarves gain the following racial traits:\n\n* Extra hit points per Stamina (a primary stat for us)\n* Immunity to Disarm\n* Innate bonus to cold resistance, frigid and toxic acclimation\n* Bonus to Blunt Weaponry skills by 10 points (good synergy with [Devout Strike](#))\n\nAll of these are valuable traits for the Paladin making them highly recommended.\n\n## Feedback?\n\nI hope you find this guide useful and would love any feedback in the comments.\nI plan on building some level guides as I get time in game but please ask any\nquestions you have and I'll address them. Thanks!"