An (Excessively) In-Depth Guide to Everything Paladin

An (Excessively) In-Depth Guide to Everything Paladin

Guide in 'Warrior' published by Dianette, Mar 22, 2018.

What you should expect to get from this guide: A general class description + pros/cons; how to build your Paladin; how to play your Paladin; in-depth skill trivia; and a FAQ at the end.

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      Who am I and what is this?

      Welcome to my humble abode. I am a Scanian Paladin who goes by the IGN: Dianette. If you are looking for a Paladin who knows his shit, then look no further. I am level 250; I can comfortably clear 40+ floors in Dojo; I can easily Solo Chaos Root Abyss, Hell Gollux, Normal Cygnus, and Hard Magnus; and I can even solo Lotus and Damien without dying (not really a feat since I'm a Paladin :^)). I’ve come to be known as the guy who knows way too much about Paladins and am always happy to offer advice to people who want help.

      This guide will be focused more towards Paladins who have reached level 150 and are looking for advice on how to improve their effectiveness in late-end game mobbing/bossing. I will give you a general summary of the class and its identity, go over pros/cons, how to build your Paladin, how to play your Paladin, and cover in depth skill explanations with trivia that people may not know about. I will have a FAQ section dedicated to very common Paladin questions such as the 1/2-handed sword/mace debate.

      For those who are just starting and are looking for a new class to play, I will have a small section dedicated in the pros/cons and a general skill build can be found in the 'Build' section.

      Now sit back, relax, and I hope you will enjoy watching someone spend a few thousand words fanboying about a bunch of pixels in a 2d side-scrolling MMORPG.

      Class Summary

      Paladins are one of the 3 possible job branches that an Adventurer Warrior may choose from upon reaching their 2nd Job Advancement. They differentiate themselves from most other classes in Maplestory by being one of the few classes that you can confidently call a ‘tank’. Over time, new powerful bosses have been introduced that render original tank stats like defence and health meaningless. All people seem to value in a class is how much damage it can do and how much mobility it has; because regardless of your HP and Def, if a boss hits you with a 100% HP attack, you will die. Paladins refuse to comply with these norms, standing to be one of the few classes in the game that can physically tank hits that would normally kill others.

      The play-style of a Paladin is one of leisure. It is not very mechanically intensive, and does not require heavy micromanagement. Fighting easier bosses generally consists of holding down the attack key and ignoring their attacks. This does not mean that Paladins are completely brain-dead though. There are many hidden quirks to a Paladin and taking advantage of these quirks can greatly enhance your mobbing and bossing alike.


      Pros/Cons
      Red text will apply to new Pallies. Blue text will apply to veteran Pallies. Black Text will apply to both.

      Pros:
      • Disgustingly tanky.
      • Decent mobbing (for an Adventurer Warrior).
      • Easy to play.
      • Acceptable damage early game.
      • 100% stance.
      • Great bossing utility.
      Cons:
      • Low range on attacks.
      • Poor mobility (only has Flash Jump and Rush).
      • Damage falls off heavily late game.
      • Boring for those who like having many attack skills

      Pros: What do Paladins have to offer?

      • Very good early game damage (1-150).
      • 2nd and 3rd job skills have very high range for an Adventurer Warrior.
      • No health potions required past 3rd Job due to insane tankiness.
      • Very simple and non-intensive playstyle for the more relaxed maplers.
      • 100% Stance chance.
      • Great training for an Adventurer Warrior, with a large range 360 degree ultimate on a 9.8 second cooldown (Heaven’s Hammer).
      • Possible to job change to Hero without requiring any gear changes when using sword+shield (not worth it though) TAKE THAT NULL
      • The only class in the game that can tank certain 100% HP moves at all stages of a battle and without requiring unreliable mechanisms.
      • Access to complete invulnerability for 30 seconds on a 5 minute cooldown that can be used at any time you want (Sacrosanctity).
      • Mobbing capabilities get further amplified in 5th Job with access to one of the most overpowered 5th job skills (Hammers of the Righteous/a.k.a. Spinning Hammers).
      • Insane bossing utility, especially when bossing with a partner, including but not limited to:
        • A 2 minute cooldown bind.
        • A 50% PDR reduction debuff against enemies.
        • A single ally revive that grants both of you invulnerability.
        • The ability to grant invulnerability to both you and a chosen ally by chaining 2 skills together.


      Cons: What setbacks do Paladins suffer from?
      • Damage falls off heavily past level 150.
      • Aside from the occasional Heaven's Hammer, 4th job training is literally the same as 2nd and 3rd. Those who were looking forward to awesome new skills, beware of disappointment.
      • Very simple and possibly boring playstyle for the more hardcore maplers.
      • A very mediocre single flash jump, making mobility very underwhelming compared to some of the more popular classes.
      • The biggest drawback that everybody loves to harp on about Paladins: They have a severe lack of damage, consistently sitting near the bottom of the Damage Per Minute (DPM) charts, along the likes of Bishops and Shades.
      • Mobbing capability is very cooldown dependent. Without your large AoE skills or Spinning Hammers up, mobbing becomes limited to medium range melee attacks.
      • Attack range on bossing skills is very low, making certain bosses much harder to hit.
      • You are not able to tank every 100% HP attack. Pretty much every map hazard (e.g. falling Magnus Meteors) that deals 100% HP damage will kill you like any other regular class.
      • Your main attacking skill has massive delays, making movement very limited whilst attacking.

      Afterword

      If there is any question about the class you have that was unanswered, feel free to ask me; I’ll answer it to the best of my ability and add it into the FAQ for future readers.

      To contact me, you can either find me online in Scania (IGN: Dianette), on Dexless (username should be obvious -.-), on the Reddit Maplestory Discord (@Dianette#3620), or PM me on Reddit (DianetteSCA).
      Youtube Channel o.o
      Dianette, Mar 22, 2018
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    2. Guide Author Dianette, Find all guides by Dianette

  • Build

    Building the Perfect Paladin

    Alright, let's get right into the most basic part of playing any class: the build!

    Countless Paladins are lost before they even begin; and how can I blame them when there's so much to keep track of?

    Well fear no longer! In this build section, I will run through everything you need to know when it comes to strengthening your character!

    Warning: I am assuming you have a at least a basic knowledge of the Maple basics, and common Maple abbreviations. If you come across something you are unsure of, please check out a beginner's guide to Maple that runs you though this info.

    Without further ado, let's get into it:

    Table of Contents:

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    Ideal Stats to Aim For

    It is incredibly important for Paladins to amass as much attack speed as reasonably possible to alleviate for the high delays of Blast. Sources for attack speed include:
    • Inner Ability
    • Monster Park Green Potion
    • Decent Speed Infusion
    With these sources and a 1-handed weapon, you can hit the attack speed hard cap, reducing Blast's delay to 540ms. With a 2-hander, Blast delay will be 600ms.

    I also heavily prioritise reaching 100% critical chance. Reaching 100% is doable without sacrificing investments:
    • Base - 5%
    • Legion - 3%, 3%
    • Mastery - 42%
    • Links - 15%, 7%
    • DSE - 10%
    • Hyper Stats - 15%
    • Total = 100%

    As for general stats:
    Everyone's stats differ. As such, the ratios between different types of stats such as %stat, flat stat, and flat attack are all different. Thankfully, credits to reddit user /u/Masterobert, we have access to a Maplestory Stat Comparison Calculator. All credit goes to him, but thanks to him, we have a way of easily calculating how much each stat is worth. Seriously, say thanks to him if you see him.

    Cubing:

    For anyone wondering what kind of stats they should be looking for when cubing their gear:
    Gear Type/Stat Priority​
    Reasoning​
    Combined:
    • Weapon
    • Secondary
    • Emblem
     Main:
    1. %Attack
    2. %Boss
    3. %IED
    Bonus:
    1. %Attack
    • Paladins have a lot of innate %Damage:
      • 25% from Elemental Charges and 32% from Elemental Force totals to 67% Damage.
    • Since %Damage scales additively with %Boss Damage, it means that Paladins will naturally scale worse with %Boss than other classes like Heroes and Dark Knights.
    • At the same time, Paladins are not too reliant on %Ignore Enemy Defence (IED):
      • High Paladin gives you a natural 31%, along with the effective 50% from an enhanced Threaten, plus 10% if you use a Blunt Weapon.
    • The most important stat to aim for as a Paladin is %attack.
    • For Bonus Potentials, you want as many %attack lines as possible:
      • All other lines are ineffective when obtained as a Bonus Potential.
    • Note: Emblems cannot get %Boss.
    Gloves:
    Main:
    1. %Crit Damage
    2. %Str
    Bonus:
    1. %Crit Damage
    2. Str/lvl
    3. %Str
    4. Attack
    • %Crit damage is very powerful, and only gloves can get so much.
    • If you cannot afford to roll for %Crit damage, %Str is the next best option.
    • %Crit damage on glove Bonus Potentials are superior to the Strength boosters.
    • Flat Strength vs %Strength vs Attack depends on your stat ratios.
    Other:
    Main:
    1. %Str
    Bonus:
    • Str/lvl
    • %Str
    • Attack
    • The rest of you gear only has access to %Str.
    • Bonus Potentials on other gear can have %Crit damage, but not as much as gloves. As such, you should ignore the line.
    • Like previously, Flat Strength vs %Strength vs Attack depends on your stat ratios.
    Training:
    • Hat
     Main:
    • -2 sec CD
    • This is a special case for training.
    • Factoring in the hyper point, this amounts to -1.4 second cooldown.
    • Incredibly useful for training.
    • Credits to reddit user /u/alostcause for letting me know.


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    Ability Points

    Uh... This should be incredibly obvious, but in case it isn't: secondary stats are no longer required. Since our main stat is STR, all you need to do is pump all your AP into STR. If that's too much for you, just click the auto assign button and the game will do it for you!

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    Skill Build

    In my opinion, Paladin skills should be simple enough for you to know what to level and when. If you are really scared of messing up and want me to help you out, then I'll give a general guideline for each Job as to what level each skill should be and the priority in levelling them..
    If there is an asterisk for the skill in the 'skill priority' column, I will have additional info for it in the 'reasoning' section
    Some skills will be know as '1-point wonders'. Put 1 point into these skills ASAP and leave them be until levelling is necessary. These all tend to be attack skills, as you only need to put 1 point in them initially to gain access to them and additional levels only add damage.

    Warning: As always, every person has different levels of funding. If you find your damage lacking, you may increase the level priority of the attacking skills for yourself. This is by no means set in stone.

    First Job
    Skill Name 1-point? Level Priority Level up to:
    War Leap - 1 10
    Warrior Mastery - 2 15
    Slash Blast YES 3 20
    Iron Body - 4 20

    Reasoning:
    • 1-points first. Always.
    • Max War Leap ASAP to give yourself the most mobility.
    • Same reasoning applies for Warrior Mastery + 40% stance is helpful.
    • Slash Blast next in case of damage issues
    • Iron Body last as it does not help in the early game.

    Second Job
    Skill Name 1-point? Level Priority Level up to:
    Weapon Mastery - 1* 10
    Weapon Booster - 2* 10
    Physical Training - 3 5
    Final Attack - 4 20
    Flame Charge YES 5 20
    Blizzard Charge YES 6 20
    Close Combat YES 7 9

    Reasoning:
    • 1-points first. Do not deviate.
    • Weapon Mastery to 5 is to unlock Weapon Booster.
    • Weapon Booster to 5 is to ensure that it lasts a decent amount of time.
    • Max out the rest in order for a good balance of stats and damage.
    • Again, if more damage is required, you can up the priority of Flame Charge and Blizzard Charge.

    Third Job
    Skill Name 1-point? Level Priority Level up to:
    Shield Mastery - 1 10
    Divine Shield - 2 10
    Combat Orders - 3 20
    Lightning Charge YES 4 18* (20)
    Parashock Guard - 5 8* (10)
    Rush YES 6 8*
    Achilles - 7 18* (20)
    Threaten - 8 18*
    HP Recovery - 9 8*

    Reasoning:
    • 1-points first. You may or may not be starting to see a trend.
    • Max Shield Mastery and Divine Shield first and you will become straight up unkillable.
    • You need 5 points in HP Recovery to level Combat Orders.
    • Max Combat Orders and it will make both Flame and Blizzard Charge on par with Lightning Charge damage wise + CO's general utility.
    • This is where things get tricky:
    • Once CO is maxed, you can leave skills 2 levels below the max, as CO will fill in the rest.
    • It doesn't really matter what order you level your skills from here.
    • You get to max out 3 of the 6 skills that you left 2 below max.
    • I recommend: Lightning Charge, Parashock Guard, Achilles, as I prefer them to always be maxed on the off-chance that CO is not active.

    Fourth Job
    Skill Name 1-point? Level Priority Level up to:
    Advanced Charge - 1 10
    High Paladin - 2 30
    Elemental Force - 3 30
    Heaven's Hammer YES 4 30
    Power Stance - 5 30
    Maple Warrior - 6 30
    Blast YES 7 30
    Divine Charge YES 8 30
    Hero's Will - 9 5
    Magic Crash - 10 10
    Guardian - 11 20

    Reasoning:
    • 1-points firs- ow okay I'll stop saying it.
    • Advanced Charge and High Paladin give incredible boosts to damage.
    • Elemental Force > Divine Charge because it gives 32% damage and brings all the other Charges to the same level as Divine Charge damage wise.
    • Max Heaven's Hammer to lower the cooldown.
    • Stance for quality of life grinding.
    • Maple Warrior as the last damage buff
    • Again, attack skills can be levelled earlier if the damage is required.
    • The rest of the skills are not used for training, so it's best to level them last. It doesn't matter which order you max them.

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    Hyper Skill Points - Passive Skill Boost

    Below, I’ll list the Hyper Points based on tiers of how essential they are. Ultimately, you will have to make some decisions based on personal preference.
    Essential Tier
    Blast - Extra Strike
    [​IMG]    		 The greatest amount of damage you can obtain from a single point - 10% final damage on Blast.
    Threaten – Enhance
    [​IMG]    		 Takes Threaten from 30% → 50% PDR Reduction. On bosses with high PDR, this is an insane amount of effective defence ignore.
    Heaven’s Hammer – Cooldown Cutter
    [​IMG]    		 Necessary to drop Heaven’s Hammer cooldown to 9.8 seconds.


    Your Choice Tier
    Blast – Reinforce
    [​IMG]    		 Most people would say it’s core, and I personally run this, I just want it to be known that this works as 20% damage when using Blast, meaning that it stacks additively with %damage and %boss damage, making it much less effective than 20% straight final damage.
    Threaten – Opportunity
    [​IMG]    		 Getting this would boost Threaten’s success rate to 100%, meaning you won’t be subjected to the RNG gods forcing you to recast this skill multiple times until Threaten gets applied. I’ve personally once had to use this skill 5 times to get the damn debuff onto a boss. Continually having to recast Threaten means less time spent attacking = less damage.
    Blast – Critical Chance
    [​IMG]    		 I heavily recommend not relying on this point to reach 100% crit chance since it only affects Blast. It is possible to get enough crit chance via alternative sources to not require this while not negatively impacting your damage.
    Heaven’s Hammer – Reinforce
    [​IMG]    		 Like the Blast point, it does not scale too well against bosses. Against mobs, Heaven’s Hammer will overkill pretty much any mob regardless of this point.
    Heaven’s Hammer – Extra Strike
    [​IMG]    		 This is superior to the previous point against bosses. Adding an extra line is very powerful since it acts as a form of pseudo final damage.


    Trash Tier
    Threaten – Persist
    [​IMG]    		 This point is unnecessary and there are too many better alternatives for it to be regarded.

    For reference, the Hyper Support Points that I run are:
    • Blast - Extra Strike
    • Threaten - Enhance
    • Heaven’s Hammer - Cooldown Cutter
    • Blast - Reinforce
    • Threaten - Opportunity


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    Optimal Boost Node

    I actually run 4 boost nodes, totalling 6 skills that get boosted. It’s not a bad idea, since you will eventually have enough core slots to run more than 2 boost nodes.

    I’ll split this into essential skills, high priority skills, optional skills, and never-boost skills:

    Essential
    • Blast: Bread and butter. If you were only allowed to choose 1, it will always be Blast; no exceptions.

    High Priority
    • Divine Charge/Lightning Charge: If you can't 1-shot whilst mobbing, these will help. You may also find yourself in situations against bosses where you have to use your charges. Both are equal in power. It’s up to personal preference which one to pick (in my case, I picked both).
    • Heaven’s Hammer: Big chunk of burst that you can use in situations where your other skills cannot hit the enemy. E.g. when Magnus/Damien are in the air.

    Optional
    • Final Attack: Assuming you only use Blast, it's the highest source of damage against bosses out of the remaining skills. Even so, it's still only ~1-2% of your total damage.
    • Rush: You end up using this more than other skills when bossing. If you can invest into Rush without losing anything else, then go for it.
    • Smite Shield: Same with Rush, if you can invest in this freely, do it. If you use Smite Shield as a training tool and it cannot 1-shot mobs, you can invest into boosting it. Do note that even if you double its damage, the bonus bind duration will be negligible.
    • Flame Charge/Blizzard Charge: Some people are adamant on alternating between 4 charges. If you are one of them, feel free to do so; I won’t stop you. It’s still a bad idea though.

    Never Boost
    • Close Combat: Any boost to this skill will never amount to anything significant. It isn’t strong enough to 1-shot mobs in higher level areas even with maxed boost nodes.

    For reference, my personal Nodestone arrangement is:
    • Blast
    • Divine Charge
    • Lightning Charge
    • Heaven’s Hammer
    • Final Attack
    • Rush


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    Nodestone Priority

    This is a 'nodestone progression guide' of sorts. At level 200, you have 4 free node slots, and you gain another every 5 levels. Here are the nodes that I recommend you use at each level range.
    I will start off with the initial 4 nodes, and for each new level range, I will add one more.
    If you are confident in your funding and are able to max out your nodes early, follow the blue text.
    If you are unfunded and unable to max out your nodes early, follow the red text.
    Level Range​
    # of Slots​
    Nodes to Add​
    Reasoning​
    200-204​
    4​
    • Spinning Hammers
    • Divine Echo
    • Blitz Shield
    • Rope Lift
    • Spinning Hammers and Divine Echo are insane to your overall damage.
    • Spinning Hammers are especially good for both training AND bossing.
    • Blitz Shield is primarily to speed up your training.
    • At this level, training should be your number 1 priority.
    • Rope Lift solves the vertical mobility issue for every class without it.
    205-209​
    5​
    • Boost Node A
    • Boost Nodes are obviously essential.
    210-214​
    6​
    • Boost Node B
    • Second boost node. Nothing to see here.
    215-219​
    7​
    • Boost Node C/Decent Speed Infusion
    		 Here we get our divergence.
    • Unfunded players will need 3 boost nodes to realistically max our their skills.
    • Funded players can afford to just move on.
    • Decent Speed Infusion is because every Paladin loves attack speed.
    220-224​
    8​
    • Decent Speed Infusion/Weapon Aura
    • Weapon Aura is to complete all the essential nodes.
    225-229​
    9​
    • Weapon Aura/Personal Choice
    • At this level, unfunded Paladins will have obtained all essential nodes.
    230+​
    10+​
    		 From this point on, any extra slot is up to personal choice.
    • From here onwards, previously unfunded Paladins may now be able to max our their boost nodes.
    • If you do, you can drop down to 2 and free up a slot.


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    Hyper Stat Points

    To be completely honest, pretty much every class follows the same hyper stat build. %Crit Damage, %Boss, %Damage, %IED are all the most important. %Crit chance is taken by those who need it to cap.
    When levelling, try to keep the essential stats around the same level, as the costs to level them increase exponentially. Keeping them around the same level is the most damage efficient.

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    Inner Ability

    • Attack Speed +1 is the best possible Inner Ability for any Paladin.
    • Always, always aim for attack speed on your inner ability if you’re rolling for perfect stats, because every other line is very mediocre in comparison.
    • For the other two lines, %Buff Duration is good for extending the duration of your Elemental Charges, and flat attack is just good in general.

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    Legion
    Same as with Hyper Stats, Legion is more or less the same for all classes. Some important things to point out:

    For the member bonuses:
    • Prioritise %crit damage classes heavily. Jett, Shade, Hayato are all very important to have in the Legion.
    • To hit 100% crit chance, you will need an S rank Night Lord and an S rank Marksman.
    • Buff duration is great for extending Elemental Charge duration, so Mechanics are a good choice.
    • Everything else is just any char that can benefit any STR based class.
    For the Legion Grid:
    • %Crit Damage ALWAYS! It is far and away the strongest stat there.
    • %Boss vs %IED is up to the ratio between your stats.
    • STR grid gives 5 STR, whereas the attack grid only gives 1 attack. It will take an incredibly messed up ratio for the attack grid to outweigh the STR grid.
    • Therefore go STR.

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    Link Skills

    Ah link skills. I feel that almost every class tends to use the same link skills. However, I guess new players may be more confused. If you can find a link skill guide somewhere, then I suggest you check it out. If not, I can include some of my recommended links.

    My recommended links will be categorised based on their use, whether it be for bossing, training, or useful overall. Do remember that we can only use 12 link skills simultaneously, so choose out of this list based on your needs. You can always change them once a day.
    Class Category Additional Notes
    Demon Avenger Overall Free damage.
    Kanna Overall Free damage.
    Xenon Overall 10% all stat is not bad.
    Kinesis Overall More sources of %critical damage.
    Phantom Overall Necessary to reach 100% critical chance
    Beast Tamer Overall Same as above. Also gives some boss damage.
    Hayato Overall A bunch of free stats.
    Cannoneer Overall Ditto. Albeit weaker than Hayato.
    Mercedes Training All extra sources of exp add up over time.
    Aran Training Same as above
    Evan Training Same as above; though this one specifically is REALLY good if you can take advantage of the runes' bonus effects.
    Demon Slayer Bossing Free damage against bosses!
    Luminous Bossing Defence ignore is a good stat for end game bossing.
    Resistance Bossing Incredible for late game bossing.
    • When maxed is 8 seconds of i-frames on respawn!
    Shade Bossing If you want to RNG the shit out of a boss. I've had two procs in a row once!
    Angelic Buster Bossing For those who like to have high burst in short time frames. If you use buff duration, this skill is better too.


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  • Skill Info

    Skill Information

    This section will be geared more towards in depth explanations on how to use each skill + any lesser known trivia surrounding it. It will probably also help to clear any confusion that may be caused by Nexon's shitty skill descriptions.
    As with the Pros/Cons, some text will be colour coded:
    • Blue text will be info that only applies to late-game Paladins
    • Red text will generally be info that is already known by current Paladins and is targetted more towards people looking to play Paladin.
    • Green colouring will be used on certain skills to indicate that their skill descriptions are important.
      Any other text in green is also very important to read.

    Job List

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    First Job
    Nothing too flashy here.
    1st Job: Warrior - The Boring Basics
    Slash Blast
    [​IMG]    		 This is your main mobbing skill in 1st Job. It immediately gets replaced in 2nd Job.
    War Leap
    [​IMG]    		 A flash jump for Warriors! For a flash jump, it’s very mediocre, but hey it’s way better than not having one like the old days. Praise flash jump! \o/
    Iron Body
    [​IMG]    		 The damage reduction that it gives does not work against %HP attacks. From personal accounts, the damage reduction applies when you are hit by an enemy within 'melee' range, so it basically doesn’t do too much. Extra HP is always nice when training though, I guess.
    Warrior Mastery
    [​IMG]    		 Any source of movement speed is great to compensate for a Warrior’s lack of mobility. Plus, it’s nice to have some semblance of stance at any point of the game. You will eventually get 100% stance in 4th job.


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    Second Job
    Say hello to our Elemental Charges.
    2nd Job: Page – Introducing our One True God
    Elemental Charge
    [​IMG]    		 Your signature skill! In the RED patch, every adventurer got a signature skill that their entire kit would be designed to work around, and I’ll be damned if this wasn’t one of the best signature skills ever. This is the bread and butter. This is the source of your 1-shot immunity.
    • Every stack gives 2% reduction against %HP attacks, so you really only need 1 stack to tank a 1-shot, but maintaining your Elemental Charges at 5 stacks is very important to minimise your chances of dying and maximise your DPM, especially post 5th Job.
    • Elemental Charges last 30 seconds, affected by buff duration.
    • Every time you use a different Charge than the last, you gain a stack of Elemental Charge and the duration refreshes.
    • Elemental charges cap at 5 stacks. Alternating Charges past that point will keep the stacks at 5 and refresh the duration.
    Flame Charge
    [​IMG]    		 For convenience, I’ll pair this with:
    Blizzard Charge
    [​IMG]    		 Flame Charge and Blizzard Charge are your first 2 Charges. Charges are your main mobbing skills.
    • They are basically the same skill, but with different elements.
    • Sadly, the elements of your attacks no longer play a big role in terms of use. Every now and then, you may run into a training area with monsters that are weak to a certain charge, but they are few and far between. End game bosses tend to not have any elemental weaknesses.
    • For 2nd Job skills, the Charges have a lot of range, including a generous backwards range making them extremely good in the early stages of the game.
    • The benefit gained from casting one Charge before the other is miniscule, so it is optimal to just alternate between 2 Charges.
    Close Combat
    [​IMG]    		 Every adventurer warrior gets their own ‘mob vac’ skill with their own perks. Yours allows you to pull in mobs from both directions. It pulls the mobs from behind you close enough that your Charges can hit them without having to turn around.
    Weapon Booster
    [​IMG]    		 It’s just a generic booster. Though this is a good time to tell you that attack speed is an essential stat for Paladins.
    Weapon Mastery
    [​IMG]    		 Most masteries give extra stats alongside the mastery. You just get mastery. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
    Final Attack
    [​IMG]    		 Unlike Heroes, Paladins do not get an upgrade to their Final Attack in 4th Job. You’re basically stuck with a weak Final Attack all through to end game. However, it is still free damage, no matter how small; and the existence of this skill will influence your future choices in 5th job.
    Physical Training
    [​IMG]    		 Free stats! \o/


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    Third Job
    Lots of good utility here.
    3rd Job: White Knight – Overloading on Defence
    Lightning Charge
    [​IMG]    		 This is your third Charge. It does more damage than your previous Charges, though the damage gets balanced out once you max out Combat Orders. Lightning Charge is still superior to the previous charges though, as it hits 2 more mobs.
    Combat Orders
    [​IMG]    		 Combat Orders is the OG Paladin party skill, alongside Dark Knight’s Hyper Body and Hero’s Rage.
    • Thanks to this skill, you can technically max every skill from 1st-4th job.
    • Only 4th Job skills can be increased past their level cap by Combat Orders.
    • It generally just adds small enhancements to many skills, but some other classes have crazy interactions that occur when they are levelled past their maximum, which will lead to some classes yearning for CO more than others.
    • For example, Dark Knights get a whole extra line added to Dark Impale when its level hits 32.
    Threaten
    [​IMG]    		 This skill is severely underrated by people who are not too well informed on Paladin mechanics.
    • To put it simply, Threaten reduces the %PDR of enemies by 30%, further increased to a whopping 50% once you unlock the hyper point to upgrade it.
    • As long as an enemy is debuffed by Threaten, ANY player who attacks it will have the equivalent of +50% IED.
    • The raw power of this skill is bonkers, so if any Paladin out there is lacking in Defence Ignore, make it a habit to chuck Threaten onto any bosses harder than Chaos Horntail.
    Rush
    [​IMG]    		 At face value, this looks like a general mob push skill + a little bit of horizontal mobility, but the true beauty in this skill comes from how it can be used to great effectiveness while bossing.
    • The distance that Rush travels allows you to perfectly dodge certain boss attacks without overshooting (e.g. falling rocks vs. CVel).
    • Rush is fast. Using Rush will let you dodge boss attacks faster than attempting to flash jump (e.g. avoiding CVel's main body).
    • Using Rush will force you into a state of ‘pseudo super stance’. Many skills that forcefully move a character while attacking do this (e.g. resisting Magnus' Spin Slash).
    Most attacking skills with in-built mobility give you pseudo super stance during their animations. Whilst in this state, if you are hit by a super knockback effect (e.g. Magnus’ Spin Attack, Lotus’ Coil Push, Vellum’s Head), you will be able to poise through it (i.e. ignore the knockback effect). You will still take damage and you will be unable to move or attack for ~1 second after taking the hit, but if we’re comparing a one second stun to potentially being knocked into a rain of hell like Magnus’ Meteors and Lotus’ falling debris, then I'd much rather take the first option any day of the week, and I'm sure you would too.
    Parashock Guard
    [​IMG]    		 Keep this skill toggled on at all times.
    • The drawbacks of using this skill are basically non-existent, as the defence loss is based off of your base defence, not your total defence, and guard chance is not required when playing a Paladin.
    • The party effects granted by this skill are more or less useless against bosses.
    • Treat it as a free 20 attack buff. Nothing more, nothing less.
    • You lose this skill on respawn, regardless of whether you use a buff freezer; so don’t forget to toggle it on after re-spawning.
    Shield Mastery
    [​IMG]    		 This is the first in a string of defensive skills that Paladins get in 3rd Job. In all honesty, this amount of defence is overkill, but damn if it isn’t fun to be unkillable.
    • Despite the name and skill description, you will gain the benefits of this skill if you equip a secondary weapon.
    • The ‘stun chance’ that the skill claims to have is a short knockback on enemies, forcing them into a state of flinching. This works on some small bosses.
    • Regarding the amount of defence this skill gives: The difference in damage you take between 15k Defence and 100k Defence is almost non-existent.
    Divine Shield
    [​IMG]    		 Paladins have 2 sources that reduce damage from %HP attacks. Your Elemental Charges are one, and Divine Shield is the other.
    • Upon activation, you will be shielded against the next 10 hits. The amount of shielding depends on the type of attack received:
    • If it is a %hp attack (excluding 1/1) or Crimson Queen's Breath, the damage of that attack will be reduced by 25%.
    • Lucid Bomb, Ursus Bomb, and Lotus' Blue Balls will have their attack entirely negated.
    • Any other type of attack that does damage will have its damage blocked completely
    • This stacks additively with Elemental Charges, leading to a 35% damage reduction against %HP attacks, which gives a ton a leeway against bosses making you less likely to die when hit by a 100% HP attack.
    Things to keep track of when utilising Divine Shield:
    • Divine Shield is activated alongside a 20 attack buff. This buff lasts 90 seconds and persists even if all 10 of your blocks are depleted.
    • Divine Shield can be replenished every 30 seconds; in other words, you can block up to 10 attacks every 30 seconds, so not nearly as much uptime as your Elemental Charges.
    • Divine Shield cannot be replenished until all 10 blocks have been used up.
    Achilles
    [​IMG]    		 Most people with little knowledge of how the Paladin class works, including some Paladins themselves, seem to believe that this is the skill that gives Paladins their 1-shot immunity.
    • This is so blatantly false but I can see where this misconception may originate from.
    • trigger warning history lesson The original %HP attack, the ‘1/1’ is the only %HP attack in the game that can have its damage reduced by regular damage reduction effects. With Achilles alone, a 1/1 would only drop your HP by 70%, leading to many people believing that Achilles applies to all %HP attacks in general.
    • Just remember this: always keep your Elemental Charges active and don’t blindly trust in Achilles to protect you.
    HP Recovery
    [​IMG]    		 Your final 3rd Job skill does not find too much use outside of certain boss situations.
    • This skill will come in handy against bosses with potion cooldowns.
    • 50% HP may not seem like much at a glance, but it can be affected by healing increasing effects. You can muster up enough healing amplifiers from random sources that most of the time you can end up healing for >80% of your maximum HP at a time.
    • Sadly, this skill is limited by its overload mechanic, so be reasonable and don't spam it.
    • HP Recovery has a decently long cast time, so don’t use it when at risk of taking a fatal attack. Either wait for the boss to stop attacking, or move to a safe distance away from harm before casting.


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    Fourth Job
    A ton of great skills for bossing.
    4th Job: Paladin - Preparing for Battle
    Advanced Charge
    [​IMG]
    • This is an upgrade to your signature skill, so it enhances the damage you gain from each Elemental Charge.
    • More importantly, it greatly enhances the attacking power of your main attacks. It adds +3 mob count to your Charges and +2 lines to both your Charges and Blast - That's a 66% and 25% final damage increase to your Charges and Blast respectively!
    Divine Charge
    [​IMG]    		 Once you learn this skill, you pretty much never want to use Flame Charge and Ice Charge. Why?
    • With the current iteration of Paladin, all of your Charges do the same damage, but Lightning and Divine Charge hit 2 more mobs, making them superior.
    When training/bossing/whatever it is you’re doing, you want to alternate between Lightning and Divine Charge only.
    Blast
    [​IMG]    		 This is your 1v1 skill. Before your Spinning Hammers were introduced, this basically consisted of 95+% of your DPM against bosses.
    • Blast has a higher delay than the 1v1's of other Adventurer Warriors, which is why attack speed is so essential on a Paladin to allow for ease of dodging.
    • Jump + attacking can allow you to move while attacking to somewhat alleviate this issue; but in turn, you attack slightly slower.
    • The apparent hitbox of Blast can be confusing depending on what weapon you choose to use.
    • The hitbox on Blast is the same regardless of what weapon you use.
    • Blast’s hitbox is: medium backwards range, medium-long forward range, small downward range, and small upward range.
    • This perfectly matches the sword animation of Blast.
    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    • The hammer animation of Blast looks completely different, but has no effect on the hitbox.
    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    • It’s important to know the hitbox of Blast, as many times, you won’t need to turn around when attacking, which will maximise DPM.
    • Additionally, you need to know that Blast's vertical range is very bad. So bad in fact that you can't hit final phase Von Bon without jumping.
    Heaven's Hammer
    [​IMG]    		 This is a great mobbing and bossing skill for many reasons:
    • It has a 360 degree attack range, so casting it in the middle of a map is a good map clear.
    • When upgraded by hyper points, it has a 9.8 second cooldown, so it is much more spammable than other ultimates.
    • It offers insane vertical range and decent horizontal range, making it a good skill to use when bosses are too far away to hit with Blast. (e.g. Damien and Magnus when they are in the air)
    • Unlike a majority of ultimates, it can be jump casted, further extending its massive range and granting you mobility while casting.
    • After the most recent change, Heaven's Hammer now grants super stance during the cast animation.
    Unlike pseudo super stance, actual super stance does not give you the short duration stun after getting hit. On top of the fact that Heaven's Hammer does not forcefully move you, it is more often ideal to use HH over Rush when anticipating a super knockback (especially when balancing on Lotus' platforms.
    High Paladin
    [​IMG]    		 This skill is insanely stacked in the free stats that it gives. The old Blast buff was shifted to become a passive and chucked onto High Paladin.
    • High Paladin gives different stats depending on your type of weapon: 1/2-handed Sword/Hammer.
    • I’ll go into detail as to which is better in the FAQ section at the end of the guide.
    Power Stance
    [​IMG]    		 100% stance is one of the most convenient stats in the game to have.
    • It does not help against %HP based super-knockback effects, making it a lot less efficient against bosses with that mechanic.
    • It does make training super easy, by preventing you from being pushed around by touch damage and getting knocked off ledges (e.g. vs. Horntail).
    • With 100% stance, you can more or less ignore most enemy attacks, so things like Damien's flying swords will be nothing but a mild nuisance.
    Elemental Force
    [​IMG]    		 This skill is a shadow of its pre-nerf state.
    • trigger warning history lesson Back in the early years after the RED rework, it gave Paladins an ‘Elemental Reset’, it made Paladins god tier against any boss with Elemental Resist (ER), as it effectively doubled your damage against them.
    • These days, it’s a humble 32% damage buff. It’s not bad, but it’s not insane.
    • It is one of only 2 buffs that you can cast onto an ally while bonded via Divine Echo.
    Hero's Will
    [​IMG]    		 Same as every other Hero’s Will skill, so it more or less loses its use against end game bosses.
    • It does have its fair uses against earlier bosses, such as Horntail and Pink Bean, because it can be used to break out of seduce.
    • Luckily, you don’t have to rely too heavily on having this skill up, as Paladins are incredibly unlikely to die while seduced.
    • Recently, a change was implemented, making Hero's Will grant its caster complete status immunity for 3 seconds. I have not tested it myself, but in theory it should work like having 100% status resist back before the status resist changes.
    • This means Hero's Will can in theory make you immune to Hilla's Cage for 3 seconds.
    • Of course, Paladins don't have to worry about this because you can just pop Sacro and Bob's your uncle ._.
    Maple Warrior
    [​IMG]    		 Same as every other Maple Warrior skill, except that thanks to having Combat Orders, it gives a 16% bonus instead of 15%, making it slightly better.
    Magic Crash
    [​IMG]    		 Magic Crash offers niche utility against certain late-game bosses (particularly ones with DR)
    • Magic Crash has a really garbage vertical range. Against bosses that are levitating, like Hilla and Cygnus, you need to jump + cast Magic Crash to guarantee that it lands.
    • Its primary and most important use is to stop bosses from casting Damage Reflect and Super Weapon Cancel. Having the liberty to do so can save minutes against certain bosses like Horntail.
    Here is a short list detailing how Magic Crash works, and how to use it:
    • Casting it onto a boss will render all buffs they cast for the next 22 seconds completely nullified.
    • Casting Magic Crash on an enemy removes all current buffs they have active except DR and Super Weapon Cancel, so Crash must be timed just before a boss is about to use one of the two.
    • Similar to binds, bosses have an internal timer after being crashed where they will 'resist' any other crash effects placed on them for the next 90 seconds. If one tries to crash a boss more than once within a 90 second period, a blue resist will appear and the boss will be unaffected.
    • When fighting a boss, take advantage of the fact that they are coded to use Weapon Cancel/DR in set intervals and Crash preemptively.
    • Wait at least 30 seconds after Magic Crash comes off cooldown before recasting to avoid being resisted by bosses.
    This even works against Crimson Queen’s Damage Reflect! Simply cast Magic Crash before, or as she casts her Damage Reflect Bubble, and it will be cancelled!
    Guardian
    [​IMG]    		 Guardian is a bossing support skill. People shouldn't be dying in locations without bosses.
    • You can only revive a total of one ally per boss fight.
    • It doesn’t reduce from the death count against bosses with a limited death counter.
    • Consequently, it can not be used to revive an ally once they have lost all their lives.
    Guardian grants both you and the revived ally 10 seconds of invulnerability:
    • This can be used to avoid otherwise unavoidable attacks.
    • Or to give both the you and your revived ally a free 10 seconds of burst.
    Using Guardian on a dead ally revives them on the spot allowing them to bypass respawn lag (the major killer vs. HMag -.-). It also allows the revived ally to keep all their buffs without expending a buff freezer.


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    Hyper Active Skills
    S A C R O S A N C T I T Y
    Hyper Skills: This is a Super Saiyan
    Epic Adventure
    [​IMG]    		 Same as any other generic level 200 hyper. Nothing exciting to see here.
    Smite Shield
    [​IMG]    		 Paladins have access to one of the better binds:
    1. It does decent damage.
    2. It does not have a travel time (unlike Erda Nova).
    3. It has a very low 2 minute cooldown.
    4. It has very similar range to Heaven’s Hammer, trading away some upwards mobility and the inability to be jump cast for a massive downwards range.
    5. As such, Smite Shield can also be used as a mobbing tool when other skills are on cooldown.
    Smite Shield checks for enemies on cast, so as long as it is cast while the enemy is targetable in range, it will hit them even if they managed to disappear during the cast animation (e.g. CVel, Damien).
    • Binding a boss renders them completely immobile and unable to act, allowing for a period of freedom against bosses.
    • Almost all Binds last 10 seconds (including Smite Shield) and the duration can be increased based on how much damage the Bind attack does - up to 20 seconds.
    • However, tests have shown that it takes in overwhelming amount of damage to increase the duration of a Bind by even a miniscule amount.
    • Once a Bind expires, the target cannot be subjected to another bind for 90 seconds.
    • As such, the optimal cooldown for a Bind is (Bind duration) + 90 seconds.
    SACROSANCTITY
    [​IMG]    		 This skill right here is what defines Paladin. When asked by others what stands out most about Paladins, this is almost always the skill that pops into mind.
    • Sacrosanctity is one of the best God-Mode skills in the game.
    • It lasts 30 seconds, with a 5 minute cooldown. Giving it incredible up-time for a God-Mode.
    • There are no requirements to cast this skill (other than cooldown), and no side-effects caused when Sacro is activated, making it very reliable.
    The reliability of this skill allows you to:
    1. Dodge an otherwise unavoidable death.
    2. Freely whale on a boss for 30 seconds with no danger.
    3. Breeze through a jump quest.
    4. Ignore super knockbacks.
    5. Show off. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
    I can rant on and on about this skill and probably won't cover all the ways this skill can be used, but I hope you get the point. THIS. SKILL. IS. LOVE.


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    Fifth Job
    Oh. My. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD
    5th Job: EVEN FURTHER… BEYOOOOND
    Weapon Aura
    [​IMG]    		 The first Adventurer Warrior specific skill isn’t too flashy. It is basically small final damage + IED buff with relatively high uptime when maxed.
    • The aura that gets fired out has a very long range, allowing you to hit enemies that are too far away for regular skills, like in the case of Damien hiding behind his pulsating swords.
    • This also means it can be used as a training tool. I personally do not train with Weapon Aura as I find it insignificant.
    • The aura's damage is not affected by boost nodes. What does this mean?
      • Let's say Blast does 100 mil per line.
      • Level 50 boost nodes takes it to 200 mil per line.
      • A level 25 Weapon Aura will generate an aura of '100%' of the skill's damage.
      • In this scenario, the aura will only deal 100 mil lines.
    • The farther the aura travels, the less damage it will do.
    Blitz Shield
    [​IMG]    		 In theory, this skill has potential to be great against bosses.
    • Over-shielding allows a player to tank 1-shots that even Paladins cannot naturally tank, such as Magnus’ Meteors.
    A recent patch has fixed the issue of Blitz Shield scaling off base HP.
    • It costs 5% HP to create a shield for 20% HP.
    • For reference, my shield at level 25 uses ~3000 HP to make a ~12000 HP shield.
    • Despite it being fixed, 20% hp is still pretty small and will often break incredibly quickly, but at least now it's more reliable.
    The main use for this skill is as a massive AOE attack when training, given its low cooldown and decent range.
    • It has a similar range to Heaven's Hammer.
    • 5th job training in small maps usually consists of cycling between Heaven's Hammer and Blitz Shield.
    • The shield has a 2 second wait-time before it can be detonated, so cast it preemptively.
    • You can issue the command to create/detonate the shield whilst in mid-air, similar to Heaven's Hammer.
    • For detonating, there is a delay between when the command is issued, and when the shield pops.
    • This means you can queue the detonation, then jump, or use Rush to re-position before the shield pops.
    Divine Echo
    [​IMG]    		 Divine Echo is, in my opinion, one of the better 5th job skills in the game due to its uptime.
    • At max level, it lasts 65 seconds on a 2 minute cooldown, giving it slightly over 50% uptime.
    This skill is the major reason why I consider Paladins one of the best classes for duo bossing.
    • In order to bond to an ally, you simply need to either cast the skill while in range of a party member, or just have them walk into range while Echo is active. You really can't mess this up.
    • When cast alone, it offers a respectable 47% final damage.
    • When bonded to an ally, it grants a Shadow Partner-like effect where your attacks get mirrored by your ally in the direction they are facing for 37% of your own damage.
      • You will still keep the 47% final damage on yourself, so the mirrored damage will be 1.47 x 0.37 = 54% of your base damage.
    • The issue with mirrored skills is that it requires your ally to be facing the boss in close quarters due to the mediocre range of Blast.
    • It also doesn’t mimic certain attacks that centre on your character, meaning Spinning Hammers damage will benefit less when bonded to an ally.
    • Other than mimicking attacks, Divine Echo also allows you to mimic certain buffs onto your bonded ally:
      • One is Elemental Force - a 32% damage buff.
      • The other, is non other than SACROSANCTITY!
    • Get one of the best buffs in the game, chuck it onto your best bud for some good old dynamic duo God-Mode fun, and you get the life of a Paladin.
    • The ability to pop a double Sacrosanctity whenever you want has so many uses during a boss fight and I cannot stress to you enough how important it is to make sure that: if you are about to cast Sacrosanctity, try to make sure you’re bonded to an ally beforehand.
    • The duration of the buff you chuck onto your ally does not last as long as the original casted on yourself.
      • With 0 STR, mimicked buffs last 62% of their original duration.
      • Every 1k STR increases this by 1%.
      • At 38k STR, the duration of mimicked buffs cap at 100% of their original duration.
    Hammers of the Righteous (a.k.a. Spinning Hammers)
    [​IMG]    		 This skill is a godsend for Paladins. Its release addressed many major issues with the Paladin kit.
    • Before this skill was introduced, Blast consisted of >95% of a Paladin’s damage to bosses.
    • Now with Spinning Hammers, you can potentially do up to 1.5x damage granted you are in range to land the Hammers.
      • The active Spinning Hammers last 30 seconds and have a 60 second cooldown, meaning you can have these hammers active half the time.
      • While on cooldown, you get passive Spinning Hammers that still deal decent damage, albeit in a much smaller range.
    • Active Hammers are also a great training tool, allowing you to effectively clear maps just by running around and letting the hammers do all the work.
    Information on Spinning Hammers:
    • Active hammers last for 30 seconds, unaffected by buff duration, summon duration, or any other modifiers that affect cooldown skills.
    • Due to inherent latency and other factors in Maplestory, Spinning Hammers actually to often last slightly longer than stated.
    • Spinning Hammers are linked to your Elemental Charge stacks. Each stack adds one more Hammer, so it is another reason to always keep your stacks at 5 at all times.
    • Following on the previous point, If you lose your Elemental Charges, the hammers will disappear regardless of whether Spinning Hammers are active.
    A word of advice: DO NOT DROP YOUR ELEMENTAL CHARGES
    Impenetrable Skin
    [​IMG]    		 The newest addition to the Warrior's 5th job skill line-up. Compared to some of the other job branches (like Thieves and Archers), this skill leaves a lot to be desired in the damage department. Nevertheless, as a super stance buff has a lot of utility against certain bosses.
    Super stance allows one to ignore the effects of super knockback attacks (excluding damage).
    • As a legitimate super stance, you will not receive a short stun upon tanking a super knockback.
    • Super stance does not prevent status effects. You will still be affected by things like stuns (CVel's body) and seduces (Gollux's Seduce Breath).
    • Paladins barely benefit from the status resist portion of buff due to their high innate status resist and how hard it plateaus when you stack it.
    • The 3% damage buff that stacks 10 times is a lot less impactful that most expect, due to how long it takes to get hit 10 times.
      • By the time you get a meaningful amount of stacks, Impenetrable Skin will have almost expired.
    • Incredibly useful vs Lotus, especially when you need to balance on his platforms.


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  • Gameplay

    Learning to Play your Paladin
    From a mechanical standpoint, Paladins are incredibly straightforward compared to many other classes. It is incredibly hard to mess up or stumble over yourself when playing one. Regardless, there are nuances to playing any class, so in this section, I will teach the ins and outs of properly utilising your skillset.

    The Fundamentals:

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    Utilising Flash Jump and Other Mobility Skills

    Flash Jumping
    This section may as well apply to every class that has a flash jump. When it comes to moving using flash jump, you are not restricted to a set distance.
    Depending on when you press the jump key again, the distance you travel will vary.
    • If you FJ at the peak of a Jump, you get your maximum distance.
    • If you Fj as you begin your descent, you will travel slightly shorter.
    • If you FJ while descending, the distance is drastically decreased.
    • Flash Jump Long [​IMG]
    • Flash Jump Medium [​IMG]
    • Flash Jump Short [​IMG]
    • On top of that, even after the flash jump is triggered, you can still use directional inputs to alter your speed in the air, thus altering how far you go.
    [​IMG]

    Using Flash Jump with Other Movement Skills
    Take note, aspiring Paladins. A mediocre Flash Jump isn't the only mobility skill we have in our arsenal; All explorer warriors have our handy, dandy Rush, and every class gains access to Rope Lift in 5th job.
    Even better is the fact that you can use Flash Jump and these skills in conjunction to greatly enhance your control over where you want to move:

    Using Flash Jump with Rush:
    • If you time Rush as you land onto the ground, you get to travel a set distance much quicker than just jumping normally.
    • If you are traversing long distances, just Flash Jumping is better.
    • The main reason to Rush upon landing is to dodge an attack incredibly quickly, as Rush is much faster if you are only travelling a short distance.
    • You can either Rush forwards after a Flash Jump to just barely out-speed something like Damien's Nebula Strike
    • Or Rush backwards if you are about to accidentally run into your death.
    • Rushing Forwards (damn it looks smooth). [​IMG]
    • Rushing Backwards. [​IMG]

    Using Flash Jump with Rope Lift:
    • You can actually cancel your Rope Lift midair by pressing either Rope Lift again, or jump.
    • From here, you will start falling straight down, but classes with Flash Jump can use this opportunity to move left/right whilst in mid-air, granting incredible freedom.
    • I have my Rope Lift key positioned very close to my jump key because of this reason.
    [​IMG]

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    Jump Attacking

    Why Jump Attack?
    Jump attacking is very self-explanatory. You jump, or Flash Jump, and cast an attack whilst in the air. It is important to note that for jump attacking, the hitbox registers where the animation begins and not when the animation ends.
    Jump attacking serves many purposes:
    • It allows you to increase the vertical reach of your skills.
    • The ability to attack in midair in itself is a form of mobility. And by mobility, I mean:
      • It allows you to chase/avoid an enemy whilst attacking, which is incredibly beneficial for some bosses.
      • You can constantly be on the move despite having long skill delays, which greatly enhances mobbing potential.
    Here is what it looks like to jump + attack:
    • Jump + Charges [​IMG]
    • Jump + Blast [​IMG]
    I can't really show it through GIFs/Videos, but it is much more difficult to chain a string of jump + Blasts. This is because Blast's delay is higher than that of our Charges.
    In order to chain together jump +
    Blasts, you will need to cast Blast incredibly early as you leave the ground.
    As for Charges, you are given a lot more leeway and freedom to cast whenever.

    Moving While Attacking
    Alright, now let's actually see what it looks like to utilise this mechanic.
    • You can do the generic jump forwards -> attack. It's very good for cycling between charges.
      [​IMG]
    • You can do the same, but this time, you Flash Jump instead. This is great for clearing large distances when training.
      [​IMG]
    • You can kite a boss by continually jumping away from them and attacking backwards. Do note that it's very difficult if you have crappy attack speed.
      [​IMG]
    • The good old-fashioned jumping Heaven's Hammer for all your mobbing needs.
      [​IMG]
    • Some skills cannot be cast in the air. However, they can be cast at the same time as a jump. The hitbox still centres on the location of cast, but at the very least you can get some movement. This applies to:
      • Close Combat.
      • Smite Shield
      • Jump + Close Combat [​IMG]
      • Jump + Smite Shield [​IMG]

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    Understanding the Elemental Charge System

    There is nothing inherently difficult about the Elemental Charge system, mechanically or complexity wise. However, this doesn't mean you are allowed to ignore them. Elemental Charges make up the core of our kit, and it is crucial to know how to maintain it without wasting resources.

    There are 3 important parts to understanding the Elemental Charge system: Stacking, Counting, and Maintaining.
    • Stacking - Every time you use a different Charge than the last, you will gain an Elemental Charge.
      • If there is no 'previous Charge' registered, then you will not gain an E-Charge.
      • The memory for the 'previous Charge' is lost upon logging out, leaving the channel, or dying.
      • As such, your first Charge after logging in, changing channels, or respawning will not give you an E-Charge, regardless of which one you use.
      [​IMG]
    • Counting - The more Elemental Charges you have stacked, the better off you will be, up to a maximum of 5 stacks.
      • The number of stacks you have is tracked by a buff in the buff bar. [​IMG]
      • Once you gain access to Spinning Hammers, you can just count your hammers to determine how many stacks you have, as number of hammers = number of stacks.
    • Maintaining - If you use a new Charge while at 5 stacks, you will remain at 5 stacks, but the buff timer will reset. It's as simple as that. [​IMG]
    The important part when it comes to bossing that that your goal is to never let your Elemental Charges fall off. At the same time, if you use your Charges too much instead of Blast, you are only hurting your own DPS.

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    General Mobbing

    Here are just some small tips to keep track of when training. Paladin's post-5th Job mobbing is an entirely different beast compared to pre-5th Job, so I'll be splitting them up.

    Pre-5th Job
    • Cycle between Lightning and Divine Charge only. Using the other 2 is a waste of key bindings and effort.
    • Jump attacking is a thing – make use of it.
    • Heaven’s Hammer is best used in a 'hotspot'. Find a location where it can hit most mobs and make it a habit to cast from there off cooldown.
    • Jump cast Heaven's Hammer to increase your vertical reach.
    • Only 2 reasons to use Rush when training:
      • If it can 1-shot mobs with Rush on a long horizontal map.
      • If you cannot kill mobs with your Charges in 1 hit, so you need to group mobs with Rush to hit more enemies at the same time.
    • When surrounded by mobs, use Close Combat to group them on top of you.
    • Use Smite Shield off cooldown. Treat it like an extra Heaven's Hammer.

    Post-5th Job
    • While Spinning Hammers are active, only use Charges to maintain Elemental Charge stacks. Otherwise, you need only to flash jump around and let the hammers do all the work.
    • While Spinning Hammers are down, cycle between Heaven’s Hammer and Blitz Shield.
      • Preferably have certain ‘hotspots’ for casting both FMAs.
      • The preferred order should be Heaven’s Hammer → Blitz Shield → Heaven’s Hammer, and then clear the map manually until you can activate Spinning Hammers again.
    • Activate Blitz Shield at least 2 seconds before the intended detonation time.
    • For Cavern Lower Path Only: It is possible to maintain an indefinite cycle of FMAs on a non-Kishin'ed/Frenzied map.
    • Here's an example I prepared earlier
    • You can detonate Blitz Shield, then use Rush to re-position before it pops.

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    General Bossing

    This here is just a list of general tips that apply universally to all bosses. All bosses Hellux+ are different from each other, so the fine details to approaching each of them cannot be fully summarised in one list.

    • Always maintain 5 Elemental Charges when bossing. If possible, have all 5 stacks before you even initiate the fight.
    • At the same time, limit Charge usage. Ideally, they should only be required to maintain E-Charges.
    • Situations to use Charges:
      1. To maintain E-Charges.
      2. When there are 3+ mobs (Charges out-damage Blast on 3+ mobs).
      3. Charges have more horizontal range than Blast. If it is too dangerous to get close to a boss, you can opt into using Charges and Heaven’s Hammer.
    • If you lack IED, or if the boss has high PDR, cast Threaten at the start of the fight. Keep the boss permanently under Threaten debuff.
    • If possible, stand on top of a boss while fighting to take advantage of passive Spinning Hammers – they still do a respectable amount of damage (up to 10% more damage compared to no hammers).
    • Sacrosanctity generally has 2 universal uses:
      1. To grant 30 seconds of crucial free damage that would otherwise be too hard to get in.
      2. To be cast in response to an otherwise unavoidable death.
    • When partying, try to be bonded to an ally whenever casting Sacrosanctity. Trust me, they will be grateful.
    • Smite Shield has a 2 minute cooldown. Divine Echo has a 2 minute cooldown. Spinning Hammers have a 1 minute cooldown. Time your Smite with Divine Echo and Spinning Hammers whenever they are up to maximise that 10 seconds of free damage.

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  • FAQ

    Frequently Asked Questions

    In this section I will be answering any questions that are commonly asked about Paladins. If you have a question related to Paladins that isn't in this section, contact me and I'll help you out

    I will add more questions to the FAQ as more questions get asked over time.

    Questions:


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    Optimal Training Locations:

    Paladins tend to prefer maps that have very close ledges, allowing them to hit multiple ledges with Spinning Hammers and Heaven's Hammer/Blitz Shield. A wide map is fine, as you can continually be flash jumping across the map, although the more compact it is, the better.
    Level Range Optimal Training Location(s)
    1-200
    • Consult a regular training guide.
    • Training locations shouldn't differ from other classes here.
    • Generally one map is superior regardless of mobbing ability.
    200-210
    • Below the Cave
    210-220
    • Torrent Zone 3
    • Bitty-Bobble Forest 1
    • Slurpy Forest Depths
    220-230
    • Revelation Place 3
    225-250
    • Cavern Lower Path


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    Sword vs Blunt Weapon, 1-Handed vs 2-Handed

    Sword vs Blunt Weapon
    When comparing the two at the most basic level:
    • Swords give 5% crit damage.
    • Blunts give 3% crit damage and 10% IED.
    • The difference between the two is 2% crit damage vs 10% IED.
    In all honesty, the difference is minuscule and you should pick based on what animations you prefer. I personally went for a blunt, because that's some good shit Paladin’s hammer animations so much damn sexier than sword animations.

    If you really want to min-max:
    • Blunts would tend to outperform swords against the 300% PDR bosses since they have so much defence
    • Swords would do more damage than blunts in most other scenarios.
    • Again, the difference is very small.

    1-Handed vs 2-Handed
    You should always aim for +1 attack speed IA. Paladins cannot cap on attack speed without it unless you use time limited buffs, or use buffs from other people.

    With that in mind, only 1h Paladins can hit the attack speed hard cap without external sources. Classes that can offer attack speed as a party buff are few and far between and attack speed use items (other than MPE Green Pot) are even fewer, so you should base your decision on the fact that you will not be using outside influence (other than MPE Green Pot) when comparing the two.

    The fastest you can get to with a 2h is: Base (6) - Booster (2) - IA (1) - DSI (1) - MPE (1) = (1) attack speed.

    The fastest you can get to with a 1h is: Base (5) - Booster (2) - IA (1) - DSI (1) - MPE (1) = (0) attack speed.
    (0) is the hard cap for attack speed in GMS.
    Additionally: Paladin's mastery, High Paladin, gives 3% bonus mastery for using a 1-Handed weapon.

    A decision such as weapon choice shouldn't really matter unless you are intending to reach late-end game. As such, my reasoning for 1h vs 2h will be based on the assumption that you have every source of internal attack speed.

    Attack Speed Comparison:
    • At (1) attack speed, Blast delay = 600ms
    • At (0) attack speed, Blast delay = 540ms
    • Using Blast, the difference between (0) and (1) attack speed = 11.11% more damage over time.
    Mastery Comparison:
    • With 94% mastery (1h), the average attack does 97% damage.
    • With 91% mastery (2h), the average attack does 95.5% damage.
    • 97/95.5 = 1.57% more damage per attack.
    Weapon Multiplier Comparison:
    • The multiplier for a 2h is: 1.34x
    • The multiplier for a 1h is: 1.20x
    • Using Blast, the difference between a 2h and 1h weapon = 11.67% more damage per attack.
    • Factoring in the mastery comparison, a 2h weapon is 1.34/(1.20 x 1.0157) = 9.94% more damage per attack.

    Factoring in the attack speed, the weapon multiplier, and the mastery comparisons, over an extended period of time, 1-handed and 2-handed weapons do almost the same damage when using Blast.

    Extra Comparisons
    • Spinning Hammers are not affected by attack speed.
    • In regular servers, 1h users have access to a shield which can be scrolled and starred.

    In the end, it basically comes down to these comparisons:

    Benefits of going 2-handed:
    • Spinning Hammers will do 9.94% more damage.
    • Damage lines will appear larger.
    Benefits of going 1-handed:
    • Access to a shield.
    • Less delays when attacking = better mobility/easier dodging whilst bossing.

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    Attacks that Can/Can't be Tanked


    In case anybody out there was curious as to which attacks Paladins can and cannot tank, I've included a table of all relevant %HP attacks:
    A blue YES means it can be tanked.
    A red NO means it cannot be tanked.
    Boss Attack Tank-able? Additional Notes
    Chaos Crimson Queen’s Fire Breath YES
    • Deals 80k flat damage.
    • Reduced to 72k with Elemental Charges
    • Reduced to 52k with E-Charges + Divine Shield.
    Chaos Crimson Queen’s Seduce Mirror NO
    • Instant kill regardless of HP.
    Chaos Crimson Queen’s Vacuum Suck YES -
    Chaos Von Bon’s Clocks NO
    • Counts as map hazard.
    Chaos Von Von’s Earthquake YES -
    Chaos Von Bon’s Hadouken YES -
    Chaos Vellum’s Body YES -
    Chaos Vellum’s Dive YES -
    Chaos Vellum’s Fireballs YES -
    Chaos Vellum’s Laser NO
    • The laser ticks multiple times.
    • The initial tick can be tanked. But the time frame is small
    • All subsequent ticks do retarded amounts of damage.
    Chaos Vellum’s Tails YES
    • Luckily, they don't count as map hazards.
    Damien’s Fireballs YES -
    Damien's Demon Mark (P1) YES -
    Damien’s Spacial Rip (P2) YES -
    Damien’s Divebomb YES -
    Damien’s Swords YES
    • Again, not a map hazard.
    • I guess the sword is coded as its own entity.
    Empress Cygnus' Geysers YES -
    Gollux’s One Punch YES -
    Gollux's Seduce Breath NO
    • Instant kill regardless of HP
    Lotus' Debris (includes Demolishizer) NO
    • Damn map hazards.
    Lotus’ Phase 1 Laser NO
    • This attack counts as a map hazard
    Lotus' Phase 2/3 Electric Floor YES
    • Works similar to CVel tails I guess.
    Lotus’ Phase 3 Blue Balls YES
    • You cannot reduce the damage of this attack.
    • Divine Shield can completely block the attack.
    Lucid Bomb YES
    • Same as with Lotus' Blue Balls.
    Lucid Dragon YES
    • VERY hard to pull off
    • Ticks 3 times.
    • ~1/second if my counting is correct
    • You gotta heal after each tick.
    • Use HP Recovery or potions for this.
    Magnus’ Diagonal Beam YES -
    Magnus’ Down Smash YES -
    Magnus’ Green Summons YES -
    Magnus' Meteors NO
    • MAP HAZAAAAARDS
    Zakum’s Phase 1 Arm Slam NO
    • Yea don't ask me why. Zakum sucks.
    Zakum’s Phase 2 Arm Laser NO
    • Ditto.
    Zakum’s Phase 3 Ground Slam YES
    • Thank god this can be tanked at least.


    This table does not tell the whole story. When it comes to taking advantage of your 1-shot immunity, there are a lot of factors to take into account that can only be gained through experiencing boss fights.
    I recommend that you take some time yourselves to practice fighting each boss again and again until you can become naturally away of how far you can push the boundaries of your tankiness.

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  • Guide Version

    2.01

    Game Version

    193.4

    Changelog

    Version number Changes made
    0.01 Incomplete Draft. Parts to add:
    • Bossing guide.
    • Skill build.
    • FAQ
    0.02
    • Fixed Grammar for 'Skill Info'.
    • Updated text colouring for 'Skill Info'.
    0.03
    • Added dumbed down version of Pros/Cons.
    • Added an afterword (for how to contact me).
    • Added Hyper Support Point allocation to FAQ.
    0.04
    • Added the rest of the questions to FAQ.
    • Added Skill Build section.
    1.00
    • Added spoiler tag skill descriptions for Blast & Rush.
    • Added general bossing tips.
    • Guide is technically complete.
    • Individual bosses can come as future additions ._.
    1.01
    • Removed spoiler tags from skill build cus that was dumb.
    2.00
    • Complete overhaul of guide formatting.
    • Now has a section for: Intro, Build, Skill info, Gameplay, and FAQ.
    • I learnt how to use anchors >.>
    2.01
    • Updated Blitz Shield post bug-fix.
    • Fixed broken GIF links.
    • Updated Divine Echo post-changes.
    • Cleaned up the tables in general.


    Updated as of: 23/03/2018
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