surtic151 Paladin Skill Guide

Every other class has one, so I figured Paladins deserve one too.

(Note that I haven't used every skill so any explanation from experience on them would be appreciated.)

-Tier 1-

Shield bash - lv 1, 18mp, 12s cooldown; deals 26 physical damage and stuns for 3 seconds
Info: Deals minor damage and causes stun like it says. This is the starter skill, so the single point in it isn't removable. Great all around skill.
Recommendation: The one point you're forced into the skill is more then enough. The damage scaling is minor and it takes NINE whole skill points to raise the stun time to 4 seconds, not really worth it.

Recover - lv 4, 53mp, 2s cooldown, 2s cast; Heals for 116 hp
Info: It heals minor amounts of HP on yourself or a friendly target.
Recommendation: I ignored this completely as the 2s cast time for such a minor heal just didn't appeal to me. Maybe useful for early grinding, but the points are better in Transference or a defensive skill.

Divine Strike - lv 6, 41mp, 2s cooldown, 2s cast; deals 68 physical damage and decreases move speed by 15 for 6 seconds, deals 150% damage to Demons/Undead
Info: A ranged skill that slows the target decently for a short time. It also does some additional damage to Demon an Undead type monsters. Damage raises slightly each level and the slow increases by 1 point, effect time and Demon/Undead damage do not change.
Recommendation: Not really useful in PvE as you're a melee class. It can be useful in PvP if you're not in move speed enchanted gear and the target is running. I've never used it personally as any RM or DG that is decently skilled can take us out before we even get close. The 2s cast time doesn't help either, as it gives the target more time to run.

Provoke - lv 8, 32mp, 12s cooldown; Increases threat level by 1. Affects enemies within 4 meters
Info: Your main tanking skill, pretty much pulls all attention of mobs onto you until they either die, you die, or a DPS class deals enough damage to pull the aggro away. Repeat casting this often if you fear losing aggro. Threat level increases by 1 each level, range doesn't change.
Recommendation: I, myself, only have 10 points in this. It's been holding aggro well enough for me (even in LMW). This skill is useful even in PvP as it procs Divine Ward charges, shows the crossed swords above stealthed targets, and affects skills like Reflect Blow, Sidestep, etc.

Vanguard - lv 10, 75mp, 6s cooldown, 3s cast, 10 minute duration; Increases physical defense by 63. Increases magical defense by 49. Reduces dodge rate by 1.
Info: It's a self-buff that raises your defenses at the cost of some dodge rate. This skill is your lifeblood for early dungeons and most of your grinding. Defenses raise decently each level, dodge rate reduction raises by 1 every 3 levels.
Recommendation: I used this until the high 40s until I figured out, after talking to a more experienced pally, that the defense boost was pathetic for LMH and above where the mobs deal 400+ damage a hit (as 8 defense = 1 damage reduced, lv 50 Vanguard reduces ~57 phy damage and ~45 mag damage). Great skill for PvE grinding, but not for higher dungeons or PvP.

Transference - lv 12, 56mp, 2 minute cooldown; Adds 50% life leech for 20 seconds.
Info: A self-buff that adds a percentage of damage from your attacks to your hp for a time. Percent healed raises 5% and duration by 2 seconds per level (maxes at 100% leech)
Recommendation: You want at least 6 points (75% leech, 30s duration) in this, if not maxed. This skill is great for grinding as you can gather a few mobs and use skills like judgment and proc the heal once for each target hit. This is a life saver (and your cleric will love you) in dungeons too. PvP is slightly less useful (in mass PvP at least) but still nice for some survivability.

-Tier 2-

Challenge - lv 17, 44mp, 6s cooldown; Deals 76 physical damage. Enemy focuses on player for 3 seconds.
Info: Deals a bit of extra damage and forces the target to target you for a short time (note that the focus effect doesn't work against other players). Damage raises some each level, every 4 levels adds a second of focus time.
Recommendation: I've only used a single point in the skill myself. Whether the extra damage and second of focus will make that much difference, I'm unsure. It's best used in dungeons when Provoke misses a mob or in PvP to proc DW.

Perseverance - lv 19, 80mp. 12s cooldown; Focuses for 12 seconds. Blocks 30% of damage for 3 attacks.
Info: Self-buff that reduces damage from the next 3 attacks by a percentage. Percent blocked raises by 3% per level, attacks blocks do not change.
Recommendation: Easily your best defensive skill. I originally had only 1 point in the skill, but i changed to max it. Quick-cast skill that reduces a percentage of attacks is nice. It has a decent cooldown too. Absolutely needed for dungeons for normal mobs and bosses. Useful for boss mobs (like Mike Jones) in PvE too. Great for PvP to escape from multiple targets or for survivability vs heavy hitters.

Enrage (Passive) - lv 21; Generates 8 threat points per action
Info: Passive skill that (supposedly) increases your threat with each action you perform (assuming this includes normal attacks on a mob). Points generated increases by 8 points per level.
Recommendation: I've heard that this skill doesn't work right, so i haven't used it. If we could get a test on this it'd be nice.

Benediction (Passive) - lv 23; Increases max HP by 65. Increases max MP by 45.
Info: Passive skill that gives an hp/mp boost. Adds 65 HP and 45 MP per level, maxing at 650 HP and 450 MP.
Recommendation: Not worth it. There is no scaling at all and it maxes at a minor amount. You can get better boosts from equip sets and gear reinforcement.

Martyr - lv 25, 112mp, 20s cooldown, 2s cast; Takes 30% of damage dealt to the target up to 1117 for 3 minutes.
Info: Targeted buff that transfers a percentage of damage dealt to the target to yourself, only transfers a certain amount of damage before it must be re-cast. Damage cap raises ~300 per level with decent scaling later and percent of each attack raises by 2% a level.
Recommendation: I've never used this skill, any info given on it would be appreciated. I presume it'd be best used on the cleric though.

Divine Ward - lv 27, 175mp, 5 minute cooldown, 2s cast, 10 minute duration; Blocks the next 2 harmful skills.
Info: Blocks the damage and any effects of a certain number of skills used by enemies. Number of skills blocked raises by 1 per level. (Note that even skills like Provoke and Insight proc charges)
Recommendation: Any Paladin without this maxed is a fool. This skill is what keeps you alive in mass PvP, this also makes dungeon bosses easier on the cleric for part of the fight. Definitely use this if you get jumped by an RM or DG (stun/silence them first if possible).

-Tier 3-

Judgment - lv 32, 199mp, 12s cooldown; deals 306 damage and silences all enemies within 4 meters for 3 seconds. Deals 150% to Demons/Undead.
Info: AoE skill that deals decent damage and silences enemies for a short time. Damage dealt raises fairly well, silence duration, range, and demon/undead damage do not change.
Recommendation: You want at least a single point in this for the silence effect. I recommend maxing though, as it's our only straight damage AoE and it deals nice damage. Excellent for PvE grinding and for dungeon mobs (silence seem to prevent range attackers like White Lion Musketeers from attacking for some reason). Great for PvP, use it on a group and that group has a good chance of dying and their targets surviving.

Reflect Blow - lv 34, 240mp, 20s cooldown; Returns 100% of one attack. Lasts for 20 seconds.
Info: Self-buff that returns a percentage of the damage from the next attack you take. Doesn't seem to proc on normal attacks and even non-damage skills proc it. Seems to only return half damage in PvP. Percent returned raises by 10% per level.
Recommendation: Either 1 point in this or none, though at 54 you could level it to return 150%. Kinda useless in PvE outside of boss mobs, but useful in dungeons vs mobs and bosses. Great in PvP vs RMs and DGs with their spike damage (If you get hit with Maelstorm against a DG, use it and laugh at them as they near one-shot themselves)

Deliverance - lv 36, All mp, 20s cooldown, 1.5s cast; Consumes all of your mana to recover targets HP by 100% of the consumed mana.
Info: Targeted heal that turns any remaining mp into hp (meaning if your max is 1000 and you have 600 remaining, it reduces your mp to 0 and heals yourself or a target by 600). Skills that reduce mp cost (Like Wind Pran buff Tailwind) do not affect this skill as it does not have a set cost. MP to HP conversion raises by 10% per level.
Recommendation: Decently useful skill. Useful if you need a bulk emergency heal. Not great for PvE, but nice in dungeons if your cleric is struggling (or is in danger). Nice in PvP if you can get it off, i usually use it after resurrecting for a quick 1-2k heal so i can get right back to defending.

Onslaught - lv 40, 521mp, 3 minute cooldown, 1.5s cast; Increases physical attack by 68 and move speed by 10. Also adds 60% splash damage to normal attacks. Lasts for 40 seconds.
Info: Self-buff that increases your damage and move speed (does not stack with Cleric's Haste) for a short time. also adds splash damage (enemies within a very short distance of your target take a percentage of damage dealt in addition) to your normal attacks. Physical attack raise increases decently per level, splash damage raises by 2% per level. Move speed increase does not raise.
Recommendation: Until 60 I'd say a single point is fine. The move speed is nice, but useless with a cleric, the splash damage is great for PvE and dungeons (the damage from the splash attacks procs Transference healing). It's nice in PvP for scattering a mass of enemies that are attacking a temple (all the damage popping up, no matter how minor, freaks people out).

Aegis - lv 40, 416mp, 3 minute cooldown, 1.5s cast; Increases physical defense by 893 and magical defense by 703. Adds HP recovery of 73 every 2 seconds. Lasts for 40 seconds.
Info: Self-buff that raises your defenses by a good amount and gives a small heal every 2 seconds, think of it as a super Vanguard but short term. Defenses raise pretty well and Hp recovery raises slightly per level.
Recommendation: This is a decent skill, but the whole defense system weakens it a fair bit. Nice for bosses to make it easier on the cleric and good for PvP if you need to heal and Transference is on cooldown. PvP, i hardly used it unless i was about to rush into a group.

-Tier 5- (Note that these skills require you to have become a Templar and require pieces of caelium for their use, i'll use PoC for pieces of caelium used)

Repentance - lv 51, 249mp, 40s cooldown; Draws a target within 10 meters towards the player and forces it to repent for its misdeeds and immobilizes it for 3 seconds. (PoC: 1)
Info: Pulls a target from a certain distance away towards yourself and binds them in place for a time. The pull seems to not work properly each time and the target may just get bound and not pulled. Bind time raises by 1 and cooldown reduces by 1 every level, range and PoC required raises by 1 every 2 levels.
Recommendaion: THIS.SKILL.IS.AWESOME. This completely changes how distance enemies are fought, it drags the target towards you and prevents it from moving for a time. In PvE, use it to grab an annoying range enemy in your AoE grind. In dungeons, use it on a target you missed Provoke or is ranged (like those diambus in Zant Hell!) In PvP, grab an annoying rift camping RM/DG or pull a cleric from a group. For laughs, turn on PvP and grab an unsuspecting nation-mate!

(Note that I am only 51 so these next two skills are pure speculation on recommendations)

Stronghold (Passive) - lv 55; Fortifies your stances and grants a 5% chance to reduce all damage by 10%
Info: Passive skill that gives a minor chance to reduce damage by a percent. I'm unsure if this is a chances to reduce damage for a short time or if it's just a chance to reduce a single attack. Chance to reduces raises by 1% and damage reduced raises by 2% per level
Recommendation: I'd say that either way it goes, if you have a spare point, use it here. Who knows, that 5% chance and 10% reduction may save you.

Blades of Aika - lv 59, 1,242mp, 3 minute cooldown, 1.5s cast; Summons an ancient relics to deal damage equivalent to 70% of weapon damage to enemies within 3 meters every second for 20 seconds. Deals 150% damage to Demons/Undead. (PoC: 3)
Info: Self-buff that deals a percent of weapon damage to enemies within 3 meters of yourself. Percent damage raises by 3% and duration raises by 1 every level, PoC required raises by 1 every two levels.
Recommendation: Why not? This seems like it'll be fun to use. Combine this with Onslaught and Transference for major damage and healing. Great for scattering attackers at a temple.

NERF!