Comprehensive Paladin Guide- Haplopelma-

You both make valid points.
I speak from experience as my first pally I maxed rush last and my 2nd pally before defensive skills. Another aspect that is often forgotten is the damage. With rush 30, I would do like 30k rush damage. For grinding purposes it was insane as obv4/5 would be litterally dead by the end of the platform. Also I found that having a bigger acquisition range, I was way more efficient at bossing (but that could be because I am very proficient with paladins). Lastly, defensive skills are nice to have but you can simply play safer (use better pots or be more aware of the damage your taking).

On the other hand, Guardian is worth maxing before rush if you intend to boss quite a bit and are unsure of the mechanics or if you wanna abuse the push mechanic (auf or bga) for example. Also, for new paladins who want to asume the role of sed, guardian will definitely save you from death at some point.

All in all, I think these discussions show how versatile paladin is and how adaptable you can be. Thank you @Ayane and @Tect for contributing to the conversation.

Will add more later on this since im in some random mountain with poor reception. Also formatting might be weird cuz on phone.

Cheers,
Haplopelma

 

Things comes different when ur fresh start as a warrior..than passing form 1 char to another..i still remember one close friend that was a quite pro Nl..who decided to make a drk as 2nd main..asking me in whisper: "how can u not die in cwkpq?"
and i was thinking: "how can u struggle there????"...later i found that, is precisely for being an NL previous to warrior...wich is a hard change of gamestyle bcs....well...u have to pay atention now ..other than that...also chating and make jokes become even more hard at bossing...if u want to deal the best dps u can ofc. A warrior wich has 30k hp shoudlnt die so easily at any boss unless its sed target at HT..and even with that, if u have to choose to raise either achilles or rush, u probably wont have lvl enough to go auf/HT yet....

Guardian aside, rush 1st or achiles 1st both are viable options(bcs if u die as a hero/pally with 30k hp, its kind of players fault..not autohp, unless its lag...but lag kills u even with max achilles sometimes)

Rush20..is a MUST...from 20 to 30..is kind of a luxury but....it has uses.......

Rember that rush isnt just for pushing mosnters.....it kinds of "teleport" yourself to bosses.....ill detail benefits that i can remeber:

1.-Every 10 points of rush allows u to teleport 2 steps far from bosses(save 1 sec=more dps) and let u reposicionate at bosses..wich is key bcs were melees

2.-Rush lvl1 takes 7 rushes to move bottom cwkpq bosses lvl 10 takes 6 lvl20 takes5.....and lvl 30 allows u to do it in 4 sometimes......works really similar in shao less than lvl15 is always taking u 2 rushes at the very least...and with rush 30 u can do it in a single rush sometimes.

3.- i Havent exprienced this yet, but, if u grind a 5% more distance could mean reach a pair more mobs while u do and having it max means u deal a bit of dmg meanwhile putting them togheter....so..i think it makes a decent different, for those who not leech they entire road from 1-155........

Remember that being an official Paladin guide its suposed to give the best advices to every single one..including those who just joined and decide to start with a pally instead of the current meta of making a bish..and pretty much skip all the low lvl content.

 

Low level content is irrelevant here cause you got more important skills to max first (acb, blast, stance, holy charge, mw, heroes will if you sed)
By the time you start leveling these you'd be lvl 165-170 usually when you can already do stuff like ht and bg

Also I think you should level mw early on (at around 150-160) cause even if almost all parties have mw it's still useful for grinding/doing quests/soloing stuff or if your party dced. It's good not being dependant on people
MW20 is good too (since most lower level parties don't have it) but the price of it is quite high so its probably better to get decent gear first

 

Yo @Haplopelma and any other pally vets,
Would yall be down to help me figure out where i should be focusing on improving my lvl149 pally? Not only is this my main and first and only charachter in Royals, its actually my first 4th job character in all maplestory. Even in GMS i never made it past lvl 11x, so all 4th job content is new to me. Im not sure what I should be doing and focusing on, which gear i should prioritize upgrading, skills, etc (i read this whole thread, interesting stuff).

Can you please critique my build so far?
What gear should i prioritize upgrading?
Should i just keep doing my APQ>bosses rotation?
Mesos come in very slow. How can I make more money as a paladin?

I know im asking for a lot. No hard feelings if its too much, but I'm grateful and have an open mind for any insights from yall more experienced pallys
Many thanks!

Heres a breakdown of where I'm at:

Spoiler: My general situation

LVL 149.
This is my first character in royals. no mules.
This is also my first 4th job character in all maplestory.
Lately ive just been doing a rotation of APQ>zak>krex>pap>dojo & cwkpq when i can

I currently have 2.5 bil in mesos.
Income is very slow. All of my income comes from gach (mainly zipangu) and selling helm/sb/ring services
Id would have over 3 bil but just i spent a lot on about 50-60 aprs because someone told me id need extra HP to be desirable in HT, and i def wanna HT

For pots i use pure water for MP, and for HP elixers when i have them, honster when i dont.

Spoiler: Base stats

LVL: 149
HP: 16416 (washed a little bit, bought like ~60 aprs)
MP: 1241
STR: 811(716+95)
DEX: 131(50+81)
INT: 37 (4+33)
LUK: 30(4+26)

ATT: 3111-5999
ACC: 205
SPD: 115%
JMP: 123%

Spoiler: Gear

ZHELM: 17/17/18/14, +22acc, 2slots
Maple leaf: +6str, 6slots
Racoon Mask: +1 dex, 6slots
Quest Specialist: 5/5/5/5
Earrings: +10dex
Pink Gaia Cape: 7watt
MoN: 4/6/5/4, 3watt, +14acc
Top: +24str, +7dex, +6acc
Bottom: +8str, +15dex, +9acc
Yellow Belt: 2/2/2/2
Warrior Glove: +8str , +10watt, +4acc
Warrior Boots: +9str, +17dex, +7acc
Almighty ring: 3/1/3/1

Claymore: 125att, (+3)

I also have int equips that get me like 60int, and some similar top/bottom/gloves that give more dex than str
Been lvling up with the int gear as often as possible

Spoiler: Skill Build

Rush: 1
HH: 1
ACB: Max
Blast: Max
Stance: Max
Holy Charge: 18
Everything else: 0

Currently maxing Holy
I was thinking about maxing HH next but im not sure. sounds like achilles is a valid choice also from what im reading in this thread

 

Since you got so high dex already why not use stonetooth?
It's a lot stronger than claymore without si and you don't have an si mule
Also do some shaolin, it gives a lot of exp and is faster than krex

For skills lvl mw or hammer I guess

 

You are doing great. One thing paladins do not take advantage is how good they are at soloing stuff. I used to do plenty of Pianus (might be hard to find with current numbers and BF/HH hunting. I made quite a bit of money with 5k nx drops. Group bossing nets big money rarely so keep that up and you will eventually hit gold.

As for your gear, your doing great but there is room for improvement. I think at the point you are, I would spend most of ur 2.5b on a better weapon and then get a 7-8 atk facestompers.
Furthermore, you are gonna need a way better zhelm so start relooting.

You are on the right track buddy, once you hit 155, go HT and your money will start rocketing. Start saving your apples for HT since you will require approx 6-9 per run.

If you need any other info lmk

 

I was wondering about ST, but

Cool. Thank you so much!

Weapons: The guy above you said stonetooth. Should I dump my 2 bil on a the best ST i can get for the price, or should i balance it with other stuff? Like buy a 1bil ST and 1bil on other stuff like better cape/gloves/shoes?
EDIT: right now im eyeballing a 125att ST for 1.2b, and 127att ST for 2.1b. 2att prolly isnt worth 1 bil for someone relatively poor like me. And its still a nice upgrade over my claymore. Does that sound like sound reasoning?

HP: How is my HP? should i keep boosting it with APRs or is it good enough? is 17k HP high enough to be desirable in HT?


Thanks bro!

 

Shaolin: it seems like everyone duos shao, but no one ever wants me. Am i not strong enough? Can i solo shao?

 

It depends entirely on ur range...when starting off, even Shao trio worth the effort,probably you should start with trio,till youre strong enough to duo, bcs you need quite a nice range to solo it buffless

 

You'd probably get the same damage with with either (around 500m per atk)
Your shoe is equal to around 3 atk and a 7 atk FS is around 2.5b while a 5 atk one is around 1b. Your glove is like 12 atk and a 15 atk one costs 1.5b. A 10 atk cape also costs around 2b
The ST itself is far stronger than Claymore without SI though, it's something like 120 atk st with no si=140 atk claymore with no si (with stopper or apple) which is a huge difference so any ST above 120 atk will be an upgrade. Another option is to get a Flame Sword+ shield (117 atk is around 1b and a 19 atk shield is like 500m) which will be around equal in damage with the 127 ST without SI but you will need to switch back to your Claymore when you have SI. Your DEX will be kinda wasted without ST though

As for HP it's enough for now but keep wearing INT gear so that you can wash later if you want. When you get to a higher lvl when you have more money try get 20k+ hp

As for Shao if you get the ST/Flame Sword you'd be strong enough to do it (paladin is pretty good in shaolin) , find a good partner (don't partner with an NL without SE, it's weak and will fail the run. usually melee classes are best there) and if you see it's slow just use an apple. If you are with a ranged person you can rush the mobs a bit back and they will be frozen. You aren't strong enough to solo, you only got 10 minutes to kill him so you need high damage
The main issue is that you don't have HS though, you'd need to find someone with HS

 

The way I see it is the following : With the amount of money I have, what is the maximum att improvement I can do. For example, if you are at 148 claymore (lets say 20b) and you are eyeballing a 150 claymore (lets say 30b) those 2 attack would be worth 10b. If you had 15 atk gloves, with 10b you could get 18-19 atk (3-4 atk improvement). Your money would take you further. Look at your gear and decide where the most value could come from depending on current market values (I am not sure since I have not played in about 3 months).

St vs Claymore : as Ayane has been saying ST will gain you more raw damage as the speed is faster. If you have various friends and party with buccs often, you can still go claymore. I personally hate how ST looks so I rather use Claymore but that is a personal point. I do recognize that without Si, st is way better hence why it is more expensive than claymore for same att.

As for Shaolin, it is pretty hard to join random parties as a low level because most people have daily partners that they run with for ease. For shao, everyone aims for duo but do not be scares of going trio and quad for it as the xp is insane, quad shao is still better than no shao.

Lastly, I started hting on my first pally with 14k hp. I am not washed and do fine (17k at 200 I think). It is more important to learn the mechanics of the fight than having 30k hp.

Cheers mate

 

Very informative, thank you for this!

 

Hi, would like to seek help from pala community.
I have been doing daily bosses and just hit lv 160. My new target would be to join a HT party.
Any advice on do & don't in HT as a paladin?
My clean range is at 7k with mw 20 and 15k hp. Would it be sufficient for HT party?

I am having 2 set of weapon. Sparta 130 Shield 19 and Claymore 129. I will switch to Claymore if there is SI.
Is it better to sell both set to fund a ST (About 2b)? Or sell 1 set and upgrade the other?
Appreciate your help in advance. =)

 

As for your range, most HT parties will most likely not want you yet, but that doesn't mean you should not try, because a paladin will be useful due to hammer + crash regardless of range (open the HT section of this thread, this should cover the 'what to do' part of your question).
Your hp is definitely enough especially when Power Guard comes into play, just use Honsters/Ginger Ales, watch your hp during legs and don't jump into heads

And as for the gear question, I think that if anything you should sell your sparta, buy a flame sword and keep 2 sets of weapons: flame sword for non-SI parties and Claymore for when you do have SI, with upgrading your Claymore slowly being a higher priority.

Thats just my opinion, other people might be smarter than me, good luck!

 

Hey, how is it going!
As a low level paladin, you range is acceptable so do not worry too much. The only thing that you need to do at this point is to come prepared. A ht run is long and people usually show up with 30-50 stoppers and about 10 apples just to be safe. As for pots, I would suggest Power elixirs (main body until leg dies) and after that you should be fine on honster.

As for your role in the HT, you will most likely be the seduce target, your hp is enough to HT if you know the mechanics. So the most important thing for you to do now is to learn how seduce mechanics work. Being a stable seduce target will get you in a lot more runs if you want. As a paladin, knowing what to hit and what to do will take time so only practice will get you there. Eventually, you might even become an attacker and someone will take over the Sed role.

As for your gear, Donn1e makes a good point, if you are okay with 2 pieces of gear, I suggest using flame sword and shield in parties with no bucc and claymore with parties that have Si. That being said, if you want to invest in a better weapon, just follow your heart but the most bang for your buck is ST (as long as you have 120 dex).

If you have any other questions, let me know!

 

Thanks both of you for the advice!

 

Great guide dude! Can't count how many people I've converted to pally and linked this guide to them. Now we just gotta make a petition to increase DMG cap lol. Those juicy crits could help so much more!

 

Although I would love to remove the damage cap, there is something oddly satisfying hitting max damage and it is something most paladins can experience and work towards. Paladins always remember their first 50k, 100k, 150k amd 200k crit and finally 200k non crit so at least it gives us great joy.

Thanks for sharing my guide and I hope some valuable knowledge can be found in this guide for every paladin.

Cheers,
Haplopelma

 

Are you going to make a section on auf haven?

 

I have not been in a position to play for the past 3-4 months. Let me see what I can do. I feel like it would be pretty bad to have a section on Auf and not be able to supply pictures and stuff.