Hi everyone,
Continuing from the Warrior last week, today we are taking a look into the upcoming class refresh for the Paladin. As a reminder: what you see reflected below is meant to be a high-level conceptual overview of where we are taking each of these classes. Many details, like the level or skill requirements and effects for the different class and mastery abilities, are expected to change and fluctuate as we go through testing before the update releases. We are looking forward to everyone’s feedback once our public test realm is available, to help us with dialing all those details in so that each class feels fully realized, distinctive, and fun to play.
The Paladin
Once a Cleric themselves, the Paladin has felt a call that transcends the rigid customs of their former order. Led by their convictions, Paladins set off on their own to carry out their righteous judgment as they see fit.
Primary Role: Tank (Justicar)
Secondary Role: Healer (Devout)
Available Races: Human, Dwarf, Elf, Dark Myr
Weapons: All Simple and Martial Weapons except Dagger and Short Bow. Some Exotic Weapons unlocked at high skill levels.
Armor: Up to Light Plate.
Shields: Up to Kite Shields
Class Mechanics
Wrath: The Paladins combat resource is Wrath. Wrath is generated when the Paladin deals and receives damage in combat. It is also generated directly through various abilities.
Weapon Skills
Weapon skills represent proficiency with different types of weapons. They control which weapons can be wielded, and the skill level impacts both the chance to hit opponents and the damage dealt when using that weapon type. Weapon skills also determine which techniques can be used with a given weapon. At extremely high levels, a weapon skill may grant access to an exotic version of that weapon type or unlock additional benefits.
* Weapon types that will be implemented in future updates.
Combat Skills
Combat skills control the effectiveness of various aspects of combat, as well as the effectiveness of class abilities. High levels in combat skills may help unlock additional abilities or mastery selections for the character to use.
Spell Skills
Spell skills control the effectiveness of magical abilities. High levels in spell skills may help unlock additional abilities or mastery selections for the character to use.
Base Class Abilities
Paladin abilities focus on martial prowess and channeling divine power in melee combat.
Note: This is not a full list of Paladin abilities available within the game and is intended only to provide an overview of the class. Many of these abilities have upgrades and variations that become available as the character levels up.
| Ability | Description |
|---|---|
| Lay on Hands | Completely restore the Health of your target, with a very long cooldown. |
| Smite | Smite the target, dealing Divine damage and generating Wrath. Does additional damage and increased threat to Undead enemies. |
| Righteous Flame | Surround yourself in fiery light, granting several charges of Righteous Flame. When you take damage, one charge will be spent to deal Divine damage back at the attacker. This damage will generate a small amount of bonus threat. |
| Oathflame | Lightly heal a target ally. |
| Venger’s Vow | Generate some Wrath instantly while increasing the damage you deal and the damage you receive for a short time. |
| Cure | Attempt to cleanse a harmful disease effect from an ally. |
| Incite | Taunt your target, forcing them to attack you for a short time. |
| Hymn of Devotion | Chant a powerful hymn, increasing the healing power of your group members while in effect. |
| Valiant Cross | A sweeping strike that deals damage to all targets in front of you. |
| Armor of Faith | A blessing of protection, increasing your ally’s Armor Class. |
| Radiant Lance | Impale your target with a bolt of celestial light, dealing Divine damage. If the target is low on health, deals additional Divine damage and has a chance to stun the target. |
| Atone | Bring a fallen ally back to life, but does not restore lost experience. Causes Resurrection sickness. |
| Faithful Strike | Channel celestial light through your weapon, dealing additional Divine damage when you strike and healing yourself for some of the damage dealt. |
| Golden Aegis | Makes you invulnerable to damage and many detrimental effects for a short time. |
| Edict of Celestial Authority | Recite the edict of authority, stunning your target for a short time. |
| Edict of Celestial Fury | Recite the edict of fury, reflecting a portion of the next damage that you take back at the attacker and generating some Wrath. |
| Living Light | Channel your Wrath into a burst celestial light, healing the members of your group. |
| Hymn of Anticipation | Chant a powerful hymn, increasing the dodge rate of your group members while in effect. |
| Oath of Conviction | While in effect, your attacks have a chance to do additional Divine damage and generate additional Threat. |
| Oath of Wrath | While in effect, your attacks generate additional Wrath. |
| Turn Undead | Attempt to cause an undead target to flee in fear for a short time. |
| Hymn of the Stronghold | Chant a powerful hymn, increasing the physical defense of your group members while in effect. |
| Lightful Avenger | Temporarily increase your wrath generation and deal increased damage, especially against Undead opponents. |
| Hymn of Rites | Chant a powerful hymn, increasing the magical defense of your group members while in effect. |
| Wrathful Avenger | Each cast of your Smite line of abilities will grant a stack of Welling Wrath, increasing outgoing Divine damage per stack. |
| Unleash Wrath | Consume stacks of Welling Wrath to deal Divine damage to enemies in front of you. Does additional damage to Undead. |
Paladin Mastery
Paladins have two primary mastery branches that they can specialize into: Justicar and Devout.
Note that the Mastery abilities described below are intended as highlights and examples and do not represent the full list of Mastery options that will be available for each specialization.
Justicar Mastery Examples
The Justicar Paladin bears the burden of wrathful conviction, standing firm to shield the innocent and bring holy reckoning against the wicked.
| Mastery | Description |
|---|---|
| Ability Unlock: Lightguard | Imbue your weapon with celestial light for 4 sec, reducing the next source of incoming Physical damage by 40%. |
| Ability Unlock: Wrathful Aegis | Radiate celestial flame that ignites enemies in a radius around you, dealing Divine damage and with increased Threat over time. Additionally, all Threat generated on a target while under the effects of Wrathful Aegis will be increased. |
| Judgement of Flame | Your Smite ability now brands the target with Judgement of flame for a short time. While branded, the target deals reduced damage to other players that aren’t you. |
| Condemnation | Smite now applies Condemned. If the target dies while Condemned, you immediately gain some Wrath. The amount of Wrath gained increases if the target was Undead. |
| Smoldering Convictions | Whenever a charge of Righteous Flame is consumed, restore a small amount of Wrath. |
| Sacred Provocation | Incite now creates a window of increased threat generation on the target until the effect ends. |
| Sanctified Perimeter | Enemies are slowed while under the effects of Wrathful Aegis. If an affected enemy leaves the area of effect, they will suffer a burst of Divine damage and bonus threat. |
| Unrelenting Vows | While Venger’s Vow is active, incoming damage still increases, but you gain additional Wrath from hits taken. |
| Luminous Brace | Increase the incoming damage your Lightguard ability is able to mitigate. Additionally, if Lightguard’s full amount of mitigation is used, your next Incite will last twice as long. |
| Blaze of Glory | For a short time, greatly increase your armor, health, and outgoing damage. At the end of the effect, you are incapacitated. |
Devout Mastery Examples
The Devout Paladin is a healer forged for the front lines, capable of mending the wounded in the thick of battle.
| Mastery | Description |
|---|---|
| Ability Unlock: Vigilance | Create a bond of celestial light with a target ally, causing some of your abilities to heal that ally when used. Additionally, a percentage of your healing on other targets will apply to your bonded target. |
| Ability Unlock: Battle Meditation | Stoke your fury while in battle, increasing your Wrath generation. |
| Ability Unlock: Glory and Honor | Your melee attacks will heal your group members for a small amount. |
| Hallowed Flame | Remove the bonus threat-generation component of Righteous Flame. Additionally, whenver a charge of Righteous Flame is consumed, heal the lowest-health group member for a small amount. |
| Kindled Oath | Oathflame heals for more when cast on your Vigilance target. If the target is below a certain health threshold, this bonus is increased. |
| Afterglow | Living Light restores a small amount of Wrath for each target healed. |
| Watcher’s Grace | When your Vigilance target drops below a certain health threshold, your next Oathflame or Golden Charge costs no Wrath. |
| Faithful Restoration | When Vigilance is active, Faithful Strike heals your bonded target for more and applies a short heal-over-time effect on the bonded target. |
| Empowered Healing | Your healing abilities become more potent, in some cases gaining additional effects. |
| Purifying Grace | Your Cure ability becomes Cleanse. Cleanse is guaranteed to remove 1 Poison and 1 Disease effect from the target. Additionally, targets cured by Cleanse will receive a bonus to their Poison and Disease resistance for a short time. |
| Righteous Fury | Your wrath no longer decays outside of combat. |
Key Changes for Paladins
With the Combat and Progression Update, the Paladin class is evolving in the following ways:
- Additional weapon skills and combat skills with more meaningful impact
- Rebalanced base ability kit
- Mastery selections focused on leaning into and empowering physical abilities or spellcasting abilities
- Unique abilities and powerups unlocked through mastery selections