How to build a paladin

[ikkyhirsch]

How to build a paladin tanker / supp to play side by side a Fighter (eder or some hired fighter) ?

Edited April 2, 2015 by ikkyhirsch

[illathid]

I made mine an off tank, and it's work pretty well.

M 19

C 8

D 8

P 14

I 15

R 14

 

Gave him an estoc, weapon focus: adventurer and two handed style.

He does the most single target damage in my party, and due to faith and conviction he almost never goes down if an enemy starts focusing on him.

[ikkyhirsch]

Thanks Illathid, but if i wanted him as a tanker? Should i take lay on hands an somethint about:

 

M 10
C 12
D 8
P 14
I 15
R 16

 

It will be good ?

[mazeltov]

My character, a pally "main" tank and maximum support, with a special focus on passing dialogue checks (I say "main" because Eder actually keeps aggro on more targets even though I built him a tank/DPS hybrid):

 

M   7

C   9

D   6 

P  18

I   18

R  20

 

Hatchet, Large Shield, Deflection Ring, Weapon and Shield Style, Hold the Line, Cautious Attack. The only issue is making up for a lowish Fortitude defense. Low Con doesn't matter too much because tanking is more about damage mitigation than Endurance stacking.

[Lasci]

Pallegina functions fine beside Eder with her two-hander despite not having optimized stats. Your paladin doesn't necessarily need a shield as long as Eder is the first into combat to distract the enemy.

[gkathellar]

For a full tank, go all in with Perception and Resolve, and take some Con on the side.

 

A Wild Orlan with a hatchet and shield and a 6/16/6/20/10/20 spread works nicely. Maybe drop Dex all the way for a bit of Might or Int, depending on what you want.

[ikkyhirsch]

And about lay on hands ?

[Judicator]

I'm currently playing with a Bleak Walker off-tank.

18

10

10

12

10

18

 

And he's tanking well thanks to Faith and Conviction even when armed with a two-hander. With a shield he's as good as a fighter with the defender talent. And his damage with FoD and an Arbalest is great, he can take out an enemy priest or wizard in one shot.

[Lasci]

And about lay on hands ?

 

What about it? It's a good, free heal 1/encounter.

Edited April 2, 2015 by Lasci

[gkathellar]

 

 

And about lay on hands ?

What about it? It's a good, free heal 1/encounter.

Aye. If you're tanking, take it over Flames.

[ikkyhirsch]

Thanks so much all of you guys !

[dunehunter]

And about lay on hands ?

 

Don't take this ability, it just sucks in later game.

[Anthile]

I'm currently running Goldpact and 14/7/7/18/14/18. Seems to work well enough. I'm using greatsword and warhammer/shield.

[Ichthyic]

 

 

And about lay on hands ?

What about it? It's a good, free heal 1/encounter.

Aye. If you're tanking, take it over Flames.

 

totally, TOTALLY disagree.

 

this ignores the path bonuses you get to the flames ability that aid defense in an AOE fashion; especially if you play shieldbearer.

 

the bonuses to lay on hands are very minor in comparison, and healing abilities and potions are common from your companions, drops, and you can of course make your own.

 

your first bonus as a shield bearer to flames (shielding flames) gives you +10 deflection to all of your allies whenever you use the flames ability; which of course you can start rigth off any battle with.

 

so yeah, since the OP was talking ideal build for paladin as tank, you want to pick shieldbearer, flames, and then upgrade flames with shielding flames.

 

pick Orlan for the perception and resolve bonuses (wild gives you even more defense; but it doesn't add much value until enemies start using will attacks, which really isn't common in the first half of the game; you can pick hearth to add a tad more offense to your build from the crit conversions, since your might is so low - both are workable choices for a tank).

 

then use the stat distribution posted by gkathellar.  that's pretty much ideal for tanking.  By level 2, you should be near 75 deflection already.  at level 3, you can buy the special pally only shield from the smith in the first town, which will not just add +5 bonus to YOUR defense... but if you look at the bonuses during combat... it adds that to your entire party!

 

pick hold the line at some point to increase your aggro.  You and Eder together make basically an impenetrable wall, but you don't even need Eder once you get "hold the line".

 

so, you could, if you wanted, build Eder as an off-tank more oriented towards DPS instead, and he will do quite well in this role.  or, you can give him "defender", and double down on your defensive abilities.  I went the later, and am quite please with the result.  so far, not much makes it through that wall, and I can pummel from the back row with my custom rogue archer, Aloth, Kana, and durance.

 

anywho, yeah... tank paladin.

 

FWIW, I soloed the bear in the cave on normal at level 2 with that build.  deflection is *just* high enough to force the bear to miss about 33% of his attacks, which, so long as it doesn't get a crit on you, is enough to win that fight.

 

I found this site a big help in planning my build, as it has all the abilities you can gain dependent on your chosen order, etc.

 

http://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Paladin

oh, and don't forget to add in your faith and conviction bonuses when you calculate what your defense will be in combat.

 

those just get better and better as you gain in your preffered dispostions.

 

with just 2 points each in your preferred dispositions, you get:

 

+11 deflection, +18 to fortitude, reflex, and will.  none too shabby.

 

so basically, at level 5, my pally is running around 100 in all defenses except fortitude, and that's at about 70 (during combat).

 

add on the bonuses when I use flaming shield, and my deflection is well over 100.  no bugs, no gimmicks, that's the bonus you can get with a shieldbearer pally built as a pure defensive tank.

 

you can go even higher if you use the larder door, but it doesn't add the extra defense bonuses that the little pally shield does.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 2, 2015 by Ichthyic