Guide on Paladin Skill Build

Welcome to the Guide on Paladin Skill Build.

There are many types of Paladin skill builds available, depending on which skills to prioritize. In my skill build shown below, you will see that I prioritise more on defense and the party’s survivability. I have used up all the SPs available as these are the skills I would add for my Paladin. Nevertheless, I will be discussing about all the skills that you will be the one to decide which is better for you.

On the Physical Track, there is more defensive skills in which Physical Paladins will attack using mainly Armor Break, Half Turn Kick and Direct Kick. The DPS is ensured when dealing with single targets like Nest Bosses. On the Magic Track, there are more skills that deal considerably high damage in a huge AOE. The downside is that these skills have long cooldown.

Advantages of Hybrid build:

• More skills to use, meaning better gameplay. Wouldn’t it be boring if you are simply normal attacking most of the time?
• Able to have a good DPS plus good mob control.
• Able to fend off mobs with either high physical defense or high magic defense.
• Being a decent damage dealer, with good defensive skills plus the ability to heal make Paladins even more valuable.
• Taunting mobs keep your party safe from damage.

Disadvantages of Hybrid build:

• Lower skill damage as the SPs can be spent in levelling the skills high.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the skill build I have in mind. Alternatively, if you want to create your own build, you can go to the Resources Tab of this blog for the simulator.

Cleric

• Shield Blow – Leave it at pre-requisite.
• Lightning Upper – Leave it at pre-requisite. Level this high if you have sufficient SPs.
• Charge Volt – More for Magic Paladins. This skill is only very effective when there are numerous mobs near the point of casting, or the boss is huge to be hit by 4 waves at once. Leave it at pre-requisite, or level this high if you have sufficient SPs.
• Block – Able to block any attacks. The higher the level, the more number of blocks you can achieve. However, the skill only lasts for 15 seconds. It is unlikely that you will be hit by more than 5 times within that period of time (unless due to certain boss skills that generate multiple hits, or you simply have to improve on your dodging skills). Minimum Lv3, recommended Lv5.
• Holy Bolt -A far moving spell that binds enemies at their position for a few seconds. Leave it at pre-requisite.
• Heal – As you increase the level of Heal above Lv7 (for 2nd job), the amount of Heal is increased based on the HP you have. Some Paladins find it useless as they are more focused on defending and attacking. For me, I believe being a secondary healer would be nice. The main changes on the heal calculation is based on these levels, 1,5,8 and 9. Thanks to Yggdrasil who pointed my mistake out. Those who wish to add Heal, the recommended levels are as stated.
• Divine Combo – Some players say it’s for PvP, but I find this useless through the gameplay. Don’t add this, or add it to Lv1.
• Hand of Healing – A skill that doesn’t require any SPs. Why not add it? Increases the amount of healing done from potions used and healing skills.
• Sliding Step – Dodging skill. Max it. Nuff said.
• Stomping Kick – Leave it at pre-requisite.
• Half Turn Kick – One of the primary attacks for Physical Paladins.
• Counter Blow – Gets you up after being knocked down on the floor. Add this to Lv1, or don’t add it.
• Fly Kick – A plunging kick when you’re in the air. Useless, but it’s a pre-requisite for Direct Kick. Leave it at pre-requisite.
• Direct Kick/Holy Kick – Another kick continued after Half Turn Kick. These 2 kicks are part and parcel of Physical Paladin’s DPS.
• Axe Kick – Useless, don’t add it.
• Sliding Knee Kick – More of a PvP skill. Add this to Lv1, or Lv3 for an additional kick, or simply don’t add it.
• Aerial Evasion – At least Lv1. Add if you have extra SPs.
• Toughness – At least Lv1. Add if you have extra SPs.
• Physical Mastery – Max it.
• Mental Mastery – Add if you have extra SPs.
• Mental Training – Add if you have extra SPs.

Note: As you can see I’ve pretty much maxed skills for Aerial Evasion, Toughness, Physical Mastery, Mental Mastery and Mental Training. This is because I did not add the SPs to maximize damage of the Cleric skills.

Paladin

• Holy Cross – Deals damage in an area in front of you. Leave it at Lv1, add it high if you’re going Magic.
• Provocation – Taunt enemies which are not in an attacking motion. Some Paladins focus all on attack and defense, that they decided not to waste SPs on this. However, I find this very useful especially in Dark Boundary. In the Sea Dragon Nest, Provocation is a must-have for Paladins. I would recommend at least Lv4 and then use a Heraldry Plate to increase the duration. For me, I would increase it to Lv6, and save a Heraldry slot.
• Stance of Faith – Grants you unlimited blocks for a period of time as long as you hold [space] down after casting the skill. Max this. Bread and butter for complete tanking duration.
• Armor Break – 8 second cooldown for a splendid skill. Leave it at pre-requisite, but recommended to add as high as possible.
• Sacred Hammering – Grants you a golden hammer when you use normal attack. Able to generate insane number of combos easily. Able to stun enemies considerably easily, excluding bosses. Leave it at pre-requisite.
• Lightning Charger – Conjures multiple lightning waves from a focal point in front of you. The latest patch has reduced the number of affected targets to 5. Nonetheless, it is still a decent AOE skill. Leave it at pre-requisite, or add as high as you can.
• Shield Charge – Dash forward while holding your shield in front to attack the enemies. Not meant to be a DPS skill, but an approaching/escaping skill. Add to Lv1, or higher if you have sufficient SPs.
• Elemental Aura – Grants you Fire and Ice attack increment, plus Fire and Ice defense increment. As Paladins are light-based, this seems useless. However, for Sea Dragon Nest, it is incredibly useful to fend off various Bosses’ attack.
• Smite – A superb damage skill for Paladin regardless of Physical or Magic. Max it.
• Divine Punishment – Reflect damage when hit. You will try to avoid/block as many attacks as possible. And the damage is based on the damage you received. Leave it at pre-requisite.
• Will of Iron -Increases your defense by a huge margin. Leave it at pre-requisite.
• Conviction Aura – Increases light-based attacks and defense. Max it.
• Auto Block – There is a small chance for you to block attacks automatically. Add this high if you’re going Guardian as your 2nd job.
• Sin Breaker/Divine Breaker – A continuation attack after you slide. Leave it at pre-requisite.
• Divine Ascension – When you block successfully, you can activate this skill to attack while remain invulnerable for a slight duration. Some Paladins find this useless, but some add this to have an additional threat generating attack. Leave it at pre-requisite or don’t add it at all.
• Divine Vengeance – When you block successfully, you can activate this skill to attack while remain invulnerable for a slight duration. Some Paladins find this useless, but some add this to have an additional threat generating attack. Lv1 will do, or don’t add it at all.
• Aerial Block – There is a certain chance for you to block attacks from above. Leave it at pre-requisite.
• Thor’s Hammer/Divine Avatar – Only able to pick either one of them. Thor’s Hammer is a 3 successive hits within a huge AOE in front of you. Divine Avatar grants you invulnerability for 20+ seconds, plus various stat increment to boost your attack.

Feel free to add in any comments.

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