Paladin is one of the support subclasses in Lost Ark like Bard of Mage Class. It is a bit unusual to have a supporting character in the Warrior class who are widely known as frontline heroes. But Paladin does a very good job at being a support hero. This guide will show you how Paladin should be played as a Support character in Lost Ark.
Paladin Subclass in Lost Ark
The Paladin subclass is a male character and one of the two dedicated support characters in Lost Ark. It can heal itself and its teammates. Along with supporting, you can also deal damage but not like dedicated damage dealing characters. So, you can say it is an offensive support character. Another great thing about this subclass is that it can provide a damage buff to teammates. But it is quite hard to play for beginners. You must have the right sense of support with its Holy Magic Skills on top of dealing damage to enemies. Paladin carries a single sword as a weapon and a book for Holy Magic Spells. You know Paladin is a support hero and also deals damage. So, let’s see the stats of this subclass.
Stats of Paladin Subclass
Like every other Warrior class, the movement speed and agility of this subclass are also low. It possesses decent DPS. But has tons of damage buffs for you and your teammates. Mana is crucial for this subclass. There are two kinds of abilities in this subclass. One is damage skill and another is support skill. Mana is not that needed for damage skills but for support skills, it is very important. So, you have to manage mana wisely. As it is a Warrior class, it has high HP and defensive stats (more than another dedicated support Bard). So, at times you can also fight to deal damage and tank for the team. The attack speed is pretty low for this subclass. So, don’t expect fast damage skills.
Pros and Cons of Paladin Subclass
Being only a support class, you will find it has some weaknesses and some strengths. Let’s point those out so you can decide are they worth playing. There is not much this subclass offers you in terms of pure damage and raw tankiness. But it is a great support character for both PvP and PvE content. It will give you both damage and heal in battle. So, what more can you expect from a supporting character? So, if you want a support hero for both PvE and PvP content who can also deal decent damage and tank for the team along with damage buffs and healing abilities, go for this subclass. If you want more healing abilities and agility, then Bard will be better support for you.
Skills of Paladin
Like other subclasses in Lost Ark, you have Normal Skills, Awakening Skills, and Identity Skills for this subclass too. In Normal Skills, you will find two types, i.e., Holy Skills and Damage Skills. If you look at the skill tree, the Holy Skills have yellow-colored icons and the damage skills have blue-colored icons. There are 18 normal skills and you can equip 8 of them. So, you need to pick from both kinds of skills and build your character. There are two Awakening/Ultimate Skills. One is a pure damage skill and another is a support skill. You can choose any one of them. So, in total, you can equip 9 skills for this subclass. There is also an Identity Skill that will be discussed below.
Normal Skills
These are the 18 normal skills of the Paladin Subclass with their required level and cooldown.
Awakening Skills
You have to choose between these two skills for this subclass.
Identity Skills
There are two identity skills for the Paladin subclass. Like every other subclass to use these skills, you must fill the Identity Gauge called Piety Meter which acts like Mana for your identity skills. You can fill the gauge with each skills usage. When you fill the identity gauge, you can only one of the identity skills. Sacred Executioner grants you more damage and range to clear out the enemies. Holy Aura grants the damage buff to your teammates. So as a supporting character you will use Holy Aura more and when dealing damage, you will use Sacred Executioner. While playing the main storyline, use only Sacred Executioner but after you come to the end-game and start doing end-game content, you have to act like a supporting character. Then, you should use Holy Aura more.
Engravings for Paladin
There are two class engravings for the Paladin subclass which determine the playstyle. You have to combine other combat engravings with these class engravings to get the most out of the two playstyles. Blessed Aura is a support role engraving whereas Judgement is a DPS role engraving. Now let’s talk about the two playstyles of the Paladin subclass.
Blessed Aura Playstyle
This playstyle is for pure support play. Equipping this engraving will decrease the damage received and increases HP over time. You have to use as many skills as you can to increase the identity gauge and then use Holy Aura. Your main focus will be on Holy Skills to support your team and buff their attacks while also healing them. Some damage skills will also be used to deal some damage and keep range from enemies. You should focus on Swiftness and Specialization stats. You should invest 70% of your points on Swiftness and 30% on Specialization.
Recommended Skills for PvE and PvP
As in this playstyle, you will be playing as dedicated support, your skill builds for PvE and PvP will be the same. Play with this playstyle/build-in parties and for solo opt for Judgement playstyle build skills. If you decide to go alone in PvE or fight alone in PvP, then you can replace Holy Protection, Godsent Law, and Holy Land with Flash Thrust, Holy Explosion, and Execution of Justice. Also, instead of Alithane’s Judgement, you can use Alithane’s Light.
Recommended Engravings
Here is the list of recommended Engravings for this support playstyle.
Judgment Playstyle
This engraving playstyle will increase Punishment Damage and doubles the Piety Meter. Also, the Identity Skill Sacred Executioner duration doubles. This will ensure the maximum and continuous use of Sacred Executioner and damage skills to inflict damage on enemies. But no matter how much damage you gain, you cannot compete with the damage of pure DPS class characters. Make sure you get Crit, Swiftness, and Endurance stats at a ratio of 60/20/20.
Recommended Skills for PvE and PvP
Like in Blessed Aura Playstyle, this playstyle also has the same skill built for both PvP and PvE content.
Recommended Engravings
These are the Engraving you should get for this Playstyle: As a dedicated support character, you should always go for the Blessed Aura Playstyle. Every role has its importance and support characters are very crucial for any kind of content. If after choosing Paladin, you choose to play as a DPS class, this can create a problem in your party. Here both playstyles are mentioned so that you can get information about both playstyles. But the most recommended is Blessed Aura Playstyle.
