Smashing! A Guide to Paladins

***With the recent updates to paladins, I wanted to write up a little thing to help guide some potentially new paladins in the server. The older warrior guide/and pretty much everything you find via googling Paladin Guides for Maplestory will not be accurate because of the changes.***

Spoiler: Update Log

3/21/18 - Guide written. Still have some final touches to make, pictures, more links, etc.
3/22/18 - Fixed some spelling mistakes and changed holy charge from 150% to 140% because I'm an idiot. Added in bits from Eli, and mentioned the stab/slash ratio in blast.
5/23/19 - Added in the ***current*** elemental boss/demi-boss list from update 59 since I've got a few PM's about it! Enjoy Lovelies.
8/9/2020 - Added a few misc fixes/stuffs

Table of Contents
Introduction
AP Allocation
SP Allocation

First Job
Second Job
Third Job
Fourth Job​

Sword or Blunt Weapon?
Training Spots
HP Washing and Bossing
FAQ
Considerations and Thanks

Spoiler: Quick Links

Elemental Weakness List - *Note* this is not 100% accurate due to changes in the server to fix/accommodate elemental damage.
HP Washing Guide - A good resource for those who want to wash.
Catlaunch's Training Guide - *Note* a little outdated (or a lot outdated), but still a good resource.

Introduction​

Paladins are a relatively uncommon class (although they're gaining traction) in the warrior branch, namely Page --> White Knight --> Paladin. Starting in 3rd job with White Knights, they gain access to elemental charges that power up their attacks, starting with Fire, Ice, and Lightning in 3rd, and Holy Charge in 4th job.

Starting with pages, they're also the only class that has access to skill augmented (Booster/Mastery) access to blunt weapons. This makes them unique, and at 120, they gain access to Crushed Skull, which on the server has a clean godly damage of up to 125, allowing for upon perfect completion, a 160 attack 1h BW (considerable compared to Sparta's 143 max (what i'd argue is the 1h sword equivalent).) Till recently, they had very little party contribution at bossing, but I will touch upon that later, and how they are bossing with more details.

Is this class for you? Well, that's subjective. I had a lot of fun leveling mine, and still do, even though I don't have the time to play it as much as I used to (despite all my other projects). I like to think of Paladins are a more... unique hero with a flavor twist with leveling. They access to some spots because of charges, but they also are kind of pushed into those spots because they heavily rely on those charges for good damage.

AP Allocation​

I would argue most warriors have between 4 and 40 or 60 base dex that they have added for accuracy. The only weapon which requires dex is the 2h sword Stonetooth. A viable weapon, but I will be advocating for 1h BW throughout this guide, but I will explain the differences in a different section.

Now, to become a warrior at level 10, you need 35 strength, and this should no trouble, as through Maple Island and early levels, you don't need the dex to hit anything. I would say if you start having trouble hitting monsters (pigs, some ludi monsters, etc), add 1 dex per level for a bit. Once you hit 2nd job, you'll gain access to maple weapons and mastery which will give you a nice boost to your accuracy. With the ease of access to Zakum Helmets for warriors (you'll have the HP naturally), you'll get a nice boost in accuracy there. Now, you can always reset dex if you add a little bit too much, if you vote every day you get ~2 AP washes a day, so it's no the end of the world if you need to reset.

SP Allocation​

First Job - Swordman
+5 Improving HP recovery
+10 Improving Max HP Increase
+20 Slash Blast
+20 Power Strike
Then you can add remaining points to Endure, Improving HP recovery, or Iron Body. They're all equally awful IMO.


Second Job - Page[master]

+5 Blunt Weapon Mastery
+6 Blunt Weapon Booster
+15 Blunt Weapon mastery
+30 power Guard
+14 Blunt Weapon Booster
Then either max sword mastery and booster and put remaining points into threaten, or max threaten and use all remaining points however you like, just don't add to Final Attack, for the love of all that is holy.

Third Job - White Knight [Fedora]

Spoiler: Charges and Armor Crash skill windows

​

+30 Fire Charge or +30 Ice Charge
+30 Ice Charge or +30 Fire Charge (whichever one you didn't max first)
+30 Lightning Charge
+30 Charged Blow
+20 Armour Crash
Then add all remaining points wherever you'd like (I put what I had left into threaten)

Spoiler: Alternative Bossing Focus/21 Lightning Charge by Eli

I think this is fair for people who want to focus on bossing. I personally used lightning charge extensively through later 3rd and into 4th, and I still hunt crow/HH which are lightning weak, but something to consider!

Fourth Job - [Prot]Paladin

ACB drops from Zakum. If you're lucky, and nice, people will bring you on runs for free to grab it as there's very little market for it and you should have it well before 135 when you'd be leeching EXP so you being there won't harm anyone. ACB is basically Slash Blast on steroids, and once you hit level 10, won't deplete your charge. It's a beast. Blast is next, it's your powerhouse single target, it's Power Strike on steroids. This is what you'll be using to take down bosses like Krex, Zakum bodies, Black Crow, etc. Holy charge is your strongest charge on neutral monsters at 140% instead of 130% like the others, and will be your go to on non-elemental weak things (as long as they aren't resistant to holy) then Stance, because it makes your life easier in bossing.

The other skills in 4th job like Heaven's Hammer, Achilles, etc are all up to personal preference. HH will be more useful if you're a grinder, but it has a cool down, achilles lowers damage you take, etc. You'll have your "core" skills kind of early, so the rest is gravy on the Paladin turkey.

Spoiler: Fourth Job nuggets from Eli

Definitely an arguement for stance before holy charge, you probably lose more than the 10% damage increase from holy over other charges if you get knocked around, but this is a more bossing centric-build. With the addition of Armour Crash, it's probably more ideal to go stance before holy charge, especially with how Skeles are currently.

Sword or Blunt Weapon?​

I prefer blunt weapon because it makes pallies stick out a bit more from heroes. We're the only ones who can use them, and they have access to Crushed Skulls which is one of the best weapons a pally can use if not the best. This gets fishy with the use of potions, but I believe *and people can correct me on this* that a perfect skull and maple shield (190 attack) is the best with apples/gelts, but this is under ideal situations, as both of those can be hard to find, or make (I have yet to see a perfect 160 skull.

A dragon Claymore with SI or a Stonetooth are also viable alternatives, but have their pitfalls (needing SI, or the dex to wield a ST).

Something to note, a perfect godly crushed skull and Maple shield is 17 slots that you need to scroll, compared to 7 on a claymore or Stonetooth.

Training Spots​

1-10: Maple Island quests/mobs are all you really have. This won't take long.

10-15: Slime Tree near Ellinia
15-20: Pig beach
20-30: Caution Falling Down (if you have the accuracy) or Ant Tunnel 1 or Scorpions near Magatia

30-35: Teddies and Pink Teddies in Ludi
35-45: Mutaes (I had the accuracy here and enjoyed the flat map, but it gets slow after a while.)
45-50: Truckers
50-70: MP3 or FoG (Forest of Golem

90-100: Spirit Vikings are amazing. Rextons are also an option.
100-120: Once you max Lightning Charge, you can start hunting Headless Horsemen, or going to Temple of Time. The memory section sort of sucks, but the Qualm Monks and on are all weak to Lightning.

120-135: Max ACB asap and keep doing what you're doing. ToT is your friend as you get into Obilvion, it's all weak to ice. Stuns from ACB and Freeze from Ice charge means you should take little damage here outside of touch damage.
135+: Grinders stay at ToT and enjoy some of the best exp from mobs possible. The Qualm section offers good drops for money as well. Bossers can start going to Zak. At 155 HT becomes an option as well. You're in for the long haul now.

HP Washing and Bossing​

As a warrior, you do NOT need to HP wash to be able to boss at normal levels, and you'll be able to do so without HB. However, a lot of people like to wash because of the insane return warriors have on HP from MP (-4MP = >50 HP per wash). They can get the MP to wash to 30k HP by 80/90 if they add enough base INT, but you can level with INT equips and still get a nice chunk of washing done with minimal effort.

To those who do want to wash, you can cram 120-200 INT, leech, do some MP washing, and reset the INT and still have a chunk of 3rd job to grind if you'd like. But there's not much to say here other than it's easy, and there's plenty of guides that can help you. I'll be posting my spreadsheet I made when I leveled my pally with how I washed as an example.

Spoiler: My Pally HP washing sheet

lvl	HP	HP gain	MP	MIN mp	Bonus MP	# of resets	~50 HP per wash	Total HP if all washes used
22	1042	0	234	144	90	22.5	1125	2167
23	1107	65	250	148	102	25.5	1275	2382
24	1172	65	267	152	115	28.75	1437.5	2609.5
25	1236	64	284	156	128	32	1600	2836
26	1303	67	302	160	142	35.5	1775	3078
27	1371	68	318	164	154	38.5	1925	3296
28	1437	66	334	168	166	41.5	2075	3512
29	1505	68	352	172	180	45	2250	3755
30	1571	66	489	176	313	78.25	3912.5	5483.5
31	1636	65	505	180	325	81.25	4062.5	5698.5
32	1701	65	521	184	337	84.25	4212.5	5913.5
33	1768	67	538	188	350	87.5	4375	6143
34	1832	64	556	192	364	91	4550	6382
35	1896	64	573	196	377	94.25	4712.5	6608.5
36	1963	67	589	200	389	97.25	4862.5	6825.5
37	2027	64	605	204	401	100.25	5012.5	7039.5
38	2093	66	622	208	414	103.5	5175	7268
39	2159	66	639	212	427	106.75	5337.5	7496.5
40	2224	65	657	216	441	110.25	5512.5	7736.5
41	2291	67	675	220	455	113.75	5687.5	7978.5
42	2355	64	693	224	469	117.25	5862.5	8217.5
43	2419	64	711	228	483	120.75	6037.5	8456.5
44	2487	68	729	232	497	124.25	6212.5	8699.5
45	2551	64	745	236	509	127.25	6362.5	8913.5
46	2617	66	764	240	524	131	6550	9167
47	2680	63	782	244	538	134.5	6725	9405
48	2748	68	799	248	551	137.75	6887.5	9635.5
49	2813	65	816	252	564	141	7050	9863
50	2879	66	833	256	577	144.25	7212.5	10091.5
51	2944	65	852	260	592	148	7400	10344
52	3009	65	870	264	606	151.5	7575	10584
53	3073	64	887	268	619	154.75	7737.5	10810.5
54	3139	66	906	272	634	158.5	7925	11064
55	3200	61	910	276	634	158.5	7925	11125
56	3265	65	915	280	635	158.75	7937.5	11202.5
57	3330	65	920	284	636	159	7950	11280
58	3395	65	925	288	637	159.25	7962.5	11357.5
59	3467	72	995	292	703	175.75	8787.5	12254.5
60	3533	66	1013	296	717	179.25	8962.5	12495.5
61	3600	67	1020	300	720	180	9000	12600
62	3665	65	1025	304	721	180.25	9012.5	12677.5
63	3730	65	1030	308	722	180.5	9025	12755
64	3797	67	1086	312	774	193.5	9675	13472
65	3864	67	1901	316	1585	396.25	19812.5	23676.5
66	3929	65	1920	320	1600	400	20000	23929
67	3995	66	1940	324	1616	404	20200	24195
68	4058	63	1960	328	1632	408	20400	24458
69	4124	66	1977	332	1645	411.25	20562.5	24686.5
70	4192	68	1996	336	1660	415	20750	24942
71	4257	65	2016	340	1676	419	20950	25207
72	4322	65	2036	344	1692	423	21150	25472
73	4387	65	2056	348	1708	427	21350	25737
74	4451	64	2076	352	1724	431	21550	26001
75	4516	65	2093	356	1737	434.25	21712.5	26228.5
76	4590	74	2105	360	1745	436.25	21812.5	26402.5
77	4650	60	2132	364	1768	442	22100	26750
78	4717	67	2151	368	1783	445.75	22287.5	27004.5
79	4782	65	2170	372	1798	449.5	22475	27257
80	4847	65	2189	376	1813	453.25	22662.5	27509.5
81	4915	68	2207	380	1827	456.75	22837.5	27752.5
82	4982	67	2226	384	1842	460.5	23025	28007
83	5050	68	2244	388	1856	464	23200	28250
84	5118	68	2262	392	1870	467.5	23375	28493
85	5184	66	2281	396	1885	471.25	23562.5	28746.5
86	5252	68	2299	400	1899	474.75	23737.5	28989.5
87	5317	65	2318	404	1914	478.5	23925	29242
88	5385	68	2336	408	1928	482	24100	29485
89	5452	67	2356	412	1944	486	24300	29752
90	5516	64	2375	416	1959	489.75	24487.5	30003.5
91	5583	67	2392	420	1972	493	24650	30233

Now, bossing. With the recent update and the changes to armour crash/Wep Cancel that White Knights now have, you can nullify wep cancel at bosses like Zak (ya know, that annoying thing that makes NL and other DPS classes do 1's). It has a long-ish cooldown, but it gives pallies a party skill essentially for bossing. ( I won't get into the whole Pally vs WK mule debate here though).

Spoiler: Boss Elemental List as of Update 59

Boss	Mob ID	Weakness
Capt. Latanica	9420513	Holy
Headless Horseman	9400549	Lightning*
Manon	8180000	Ice*
Griffey	8180001	Poison*
Pianus	8510000	Fire*
Pianus	8520000	Fire*
Bigfoot	9400575	Fire*
Black Crow	9400014	Lightning*
Leviathan	8220003	Ice
Dodo	8220004	Fire
Kacchuu Musha	9400405	Ice*, Lightning*, Holy*
Papulatus Clock	8500001	Lightning
Papulatus	8500002	Holy
Female Boss (Anego)	9400121	Lightning*, Holy*
Margana	9400590	Holy
Red Nirg	9400591	Lightning
Rellik	9400592	Fire*
Hsalf	9400593	Ice*
Lilynouch	8220005	Lightning*
Lyka	8220006	Poison*
Zakum1	8800000	Lightning
Zakum2	8800001	Ice
Zakum3	8800002	Fire
Zakum's Arm 1	8800003	Holy
Zakum's Arm 2	8800004	Holy
Zakum's Arm 3	8800005	Ice*
Zakum's Arm 4	8800006	Fire*
Zakum's Arm 5	8800007	Lightning
Zakum's Arm 6	8800008	Lightning
Zakum's Arm 7	8800009	Ice
Zakum's Arm 8	8800010	Fire
Krexel (2)	9420521	Fire*
Krexel (3)	9420522	Fire*
Wulin Yaoseng	9600025	Ice
Bodyguard A	9400112	Fire*
Bodyguard B	9400113	Ice*
Horntail's Left Head	8810000	Lightning
Horntail's Right Head	8810001	Fire
Horntail's Head A	8810002	Lightning
Horntail's Head B	8810003	Ice
Horntail's Head C	8810004	Fire
Horntail's Left Hand	8810005	Lightning
Horntail's Right Hand	8810006	Fire
Horntail's Wings	8810007	Ice
Horntail's Legs	8810008	Holy
Horntail's Tails	8810009	Holy
The Boss	9400300	Fire*
Castellan	9400408	Poison*, Holy
Castellan Toad	9400409	Lightning

Mobs marked with an * were already weak to this element before the change, these were kept in tact to avoid confusion

Paladins who have a decent amount of funding (I'd argue around what other classes spend (less than Buccs)), you can obtain pretty nice damage on elemental weak monsters/bosses. With Stoppers I think I was hitting 80k's at krex with blast 30, and a 135 skull, 18 attack shield, and like a 4 attack cape (I'm a scrub and have no FS or other good gear) with fire charge. It's by no means stellar, but with SE and gelts/better gear, you can actually hit cap with crits and lose out on damage because of that.

FAQ​

Nothing yet!

Considerations and Thanks​

Special shoutout to the Ironman Pally/WK I know who make me feel like a champ for playing a non-ironman paladin and getting to experience a slightly less masochist playthrough. Oh and @Jebbernaught for leveling a Pally with me and spending hours in Deep Ludi looking for a godly 12 str battlelord for you to blow up. And of course to all the other Pallies out there that I see in game living the life.

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Omg, thanks! This really helped me make my A/M

 

Wow there's a burning desire swelling in my chest right now and it's telling me to create a pally right this moment

 

PALLY FTW!

 

I think bains@armory is pretty fast now with max ice first!

 

I'd personally do 3rd job differently because IMO there already aren't enough points to max everything important.

I'd add(not in order):
30 Fire Charge
30 Ice Charge
30 Charged Blow
20 Armor Crash
20 Increased MP Recovery
21 Lightning Charge

My reasoning for this is that Lightning charge is arguably the least useful charge and can be maxed later in 4th job since 21 is already pretty nice. I chose to max MP recovery because it's invaluable at HT assuming you're the seduce target(A common role for warriors). HT's arms constantly drain your MP down to 0 and max level Hero's Will costs 30 MP, which is what max MP recovery heals. This can get you out of some very sticky situations.

For 4th job I'd definitely prioritize Stance over Holy Charge. Stance is amazing for bossing and pretty great during grinding too. Your main focus should be fighting monsters that are weak to your elements rather that prioritizing having the best neutral damage. It takes 15 out of the 20 levels to max Holy Charge just to equal the neutral damage of your maxed 3rd job charges. The best things to do for EXP are Bigfoot(Weak to fire), Krexel(Weak to fire) and Oblivion grinding(Weak to ice) so I feel that Holy charge really gets the short end of the stick in ideal situations. I've personally gone a step further and have 0 points in Holy Charge on my 16x Paladin, opting for other skills that seem more useful to me to get first.

 

Question...does blast and ACB trigger final attack animation?

 

I think there's hope to skeles yet. Keeping lightning charge down though is possible, but I don't know about other people, I used lightning charge for a majority of late third (past 100) into 4th till I maxed ACB and got some blast and went to ToT, but I can add it as an alternative when I'm not on my phone

I don't think they're even capable of activating it. Last I heard at least. Brandish shouldn't either, nor does the DrK skills (well, DK skills). Does remind me to add that blast still uses the normal slash/stab ratio, the animation is just fixed.

 

That's weird.

 

I've been told my thought process is a little... illogical sometimes ha. Updated with some more stuff, and fixed some spelling mistakes

 

I meant it's illogical to include the both the slash and stab multiplier into the Blast skill. It would be equally weird to have Dragon Crusher include the slash multiplier, for example. Hm, well... I guess this is done on purpose to not make BW paladins useless?

 

They already have charges being seperate. I guess it would have been too much, sides, it's not the same really, blast is single target and ACB is multi, and it's not like swords are weaker with swings and stronger with stabs like spears are.

Probably just easiest to make blast and acb mimic power strike and slash blast to keep it consistent.

 

If I were to make any other class to main, it would be a pally. I think about it sometimes, but in reality I cant be asked to develop another character + the shad life too fun atm. Nonetheless, mad respect to all u pallies out there I always be trying to boss w u guys

 

Nice guide I just hope that not too many people will jump on paladin now, I enjoy playing rare class

 

Nice guide, I didn't know there was even one!

For training locations, you can also add dual ghost pirates from 80 to 100, doing map rotation from top to bottom then ccing back and forth to get back to top. At lvl 100 until 121 himes are a good option using ice charge, luring mobs to one corner or have a priest do it for you.

Skull + 30wa shield is the best with SI at a certain point, but in the end claymore and ST are top-2 under apples/gelts and even stoppers if you're well-geared: https://royals.ms/forum/threads/the-balancing-of-axes-blunt-weapons-data-included.53212/ (2nd page, Chrizz's post). Furthermore, you can hit wing, left arm and legs at the same time at HT with ST and claymore (only 2 at once with 1-handed weapon), but it's not consistent due to acb lack of range.

About the "alternative bossing focus/21 lightning charge" 3rd job build, a lvl 10 improving MP recovery will be enough to cast hero's will (20 mp from this skill + 10 mp normal recovery), so you can still max lightning charge by lvl 120.

 

Sword paladins @Nessi

 

Can we get some suggestions towards gearing options?

 

doesn't that make bw better than it should be though?

 

Ill work on adding it. Been meaning to update the guide as it is, just been busy.

Hard to say. I just think... there's already a lot going on with so many skills for BW and Sword to keep them seperate. As for better or worse, I don't know, I don't have the math but last I checked theres a small difference between perfect BW and perfect sword in terms of Skull and ST, and it boils down to using attack buffs. I don't think it's as bad as the damage difference between a perfect sword and perfect axe (when it comes to slash/stab forced with brandish)... if I had to guess, if blast was forced stab, no one, period, would be BW.

 

Because of the recent updates, having just 1 point into Heaven's Hammer at level 120 was a huge boost in bossing and grinding speed.