Preparing To Be a Paladin
Rolling a Character to be a Paladin
� There are four races allowed to be Paladins, these being Human, Half-Elf, Dwarf and Lacertain. There are advantages and disadvantages to each, and you should weigh them all before deciding which is best for you.Humans are completely average in all stats and vitals. The highest you can ever aspire to get any stat is 18 (except for Int and Wis, you can up these to 19� Wis you get +1 on for joining the Paladins, and Int you can complete the NE tower quest and gain +1 and it will push it above 18 if your Int is 18 when you do the quest) In gameplay terms, only take a Human if you are heavy into role-playing. Sad as it may seem, there is no reason I can see besides this to play a Human Paladin.
Half-Elf is what I opted to go with for my permanent character. I noticed during playtesting that at high levels, Paladins tend to burn through the SP rapidly. (Actually, any Guild burns through SP at high levels) and Half-Elves have the highest potential for SP than any of the other three races by far. As of this writing, Seiya is 33/20 and he has a max Sp of 508. He is finished donating to raise stats, he has done the Morigar Museum quest (which gives you +10 to all three vitals permanently) and started level 1 in the Guild with a 20 Int and a 20 Wis. Fighting some of the larger creatures on the mud can drain a lot of SP. For instance, I can easily burn thru 1000-1250 SP fighting Magnemmar. Hence my decision to go with a Half-Elf. On the down side, Half-Elves do not have a lot of HP compared to the other three available Paladin races.
Dwarves are little tanks. High Str and Con are a big plus to have at any level, but the Dwarf will suffer slightly on his SP from the start. One big plus to being a Dwarf is you can take advantage of the +5 Prayer skill bonus from wearing the Dwarven Talisman. Non-Dwarves do not get this bonus added. When combined with a Shield of Artrimas� +5 Prayer skill bonus as well as a Specialization in Prayer, this can lead to a BASE Prayer skill of 100 at level 36/20! Even without the Specialization in Prayer, that extra +5 Dwarves receive with the Talisman can easily equate to things like an additional +1/+1 with Ceremony, or a few extra points of damage with Shine.
I played a Lacertain Paladin during playtesting. They can have obnoxious physical stats if you roll over and over, searching for them before creating your Heritage character. For instance, I had a 20 Str, 21 Dex and 21 Con. The downside is they have incredibly low SP compared to other races, which can be a hinderance at higher levels. Lac�s are easy to be low levels with, but starting at about 20th or 21st level, the lack of an SP base can be a problem when tackling creatures like Kain or Magnemmar. Plus it may be tough to generate the minimum Wisdom needed to join the Guild (see below for minimum stats needed)
Alignment
� Obviously, to be a Paladin in Astaria you have to follow the Good ethos. During your time as a Heritage level, you will have the ability to alter your Alignment, which will assign your Ethos once you advance to player level 1 automatically. If you are kind and advance to level 1, you will be Neutral, as kind falls in the Neutral ethos. The three levels of Goodness are Good, Virtuous and Paragon. Being Good is enough to allow you to follow the Good ethos.Now, if you advance past Heritage 9 to player level 1 and are not Good, you still have the chance to change your ethos in one of two ways. One is to work on bumping your alignment up into the Good range and utilize the Ethos-changing room, 1e 1n 1u from the Great Hall. The second way is to find a willing 18th level or higher Paladin to convert you to Good. Please note, though, that not all Paladins are willing to do this for players not yet in a Guild, I being one of the more outspoken ones about this. It is my fervent belief that a player needs to work towards being a Paladin. It is not anyone�s "right" to belong to any Guild. You have responsibilities to adhere to. If you are too laxidasical to alter your own alignment to Good, or change your Ethos yourself utilizing the changing room, you really should find another Guild to join. This is just this author�s personal opinion though. There are Paladins who will convert anyone. Don�t ask me to, for I will not.
Minimum Stats Needed
� The minimum stats needed to be a Paladin are the most strict of any Guild in the game. A Paladin must be as tough and resiliant as a Fighter (Strength 15 and Constitution 10) have the wisdom of a Cleric (Wisdom 12) and have the communication and people skills of a diplomat (Charisma 10)It can be frustrating to roll a Lacertain character and get outstanding physical stats, and lack the Wisdom needed to join. It is possible, if you have the resources, to increase your stats by donating cash in the Temple located to the south of the Great Hall, but this is not usually an option unless you are a rich reroll. Just persevere, and you will eventually get decent stats for whatever you are looking for.
Also of note is the fact that while you need a 12 Wisdom to join, you will automatically gain a +1 to your Wisdom stat immediately upon joining. This is to reflect the training you receive upon becoming a Paladin. You also will receive an autoloading Shield of Faith, which is our symbol of office. It will always be with you, even if you leave the realm and return at a later date. You can unequip it and either use a two-handed weapon, or equip a different shield. Many of the abilities we as Paladins use require the use of a shield, and rare will the time be once you pass 14th level that you will not be using a shield, be it your Shield of Faith or a different shield. All of this is described in more detail in the mid-level tactics section.