Question about Paladin

[Galhedhros]

Hey there friends,

Before setting a foot into the realm of PoE i wanted to ask some questions about Paladin class. I am planning to play the game on Normal Difficulty and i want to use my Paladin(main character) as 2handed DPS. Most of you maybe used Paladin as tanks and i am aware of it according to the guides on the internet.

Main question is, am i going to be punished by this choice? Difficulty is just Normal and i am planning to use Eder as tank, my Paladin as DPS and maybe Rogue / Barbarian for 3rd DPS spot. Rest is gonna be ranged dps. Cheers!

[Radical Rat]

I'm playing 2h Shieldbearer of St. Elcga on PoTD rn and all i can say with maxed disposition paladins defences are nuts . He is frontliner together with 2h spear Fighter and dual wielding Zerker. No shields. ( Other two characters are ranger and wizard ) I'm almost done with all content except last part of WMII and final act, but so far they beat everything upscaled.
Paladin dps isn't the best but he adds a lot to a party with auras and great support skills.
On normal you should have no problems if you are familiar with isometric rpgs, but keep in mind that if you pick paladin as main character you'll have to care about party reputation to fully benefit from that choice

[Galhedhros]

Do you recommend using Rogue, Barbarian and Tank Paladin for melee comp?

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Some guides make the weirdest claims, so depending on what you may have read, it should be taken with a grain of salt. Paladins are certainly not limited to a defensive role or weapon'n'shield style. Find your own playstyle. The freedom on Normal mode is high enough.

Let's get to the basics.

Paladin class traits are: Average Endurance, High Health, Average Deflection, Average Accuracy. That is the base. Compared with fighter class that is -10 Deflection and -5 Accuracy, and fighters get Rapid Recovery while paladins can learn at most the lesser cross-class talent Veteran's Recovery in case they want to regenerate endurance like fighters. Fighters also can learn more abilities/talents to increase engagement slots. All that makes fighters in PoE tanky by class traits, even if you build them in a very offensive way (which is what I favor and recommend). Fighter class in PoE is the primary tank class. Paladins can gain the highest set of four defenses thanks to Faith and Conviction and Deep Faith. That makes the paladin class another obvious choice, if you want a capable frontline defender.

With regard to offense rather than defense, just shifting the base attributes to increased MIG/DEX/PER won't suffice. You will also need to invest more into offensive abilities rather than defensive ones, since the Paladin class doesn't offer many offensive abilities. In the Wiki you can look them up better than ingame:
--> https://pillarsofeternity.fandom.com/wiki/Paladin_abilities

Conclusively, and especially on Normal mode, I would not turn Eder into a defensive coward, since he rocks as an offensive Ruffian with 1-2 weapons from that weapon class. Extra Knock Down to prone attackers, later Charge to storm through the battle field. An overly defensive Eder is a waste. Also look up Pallegina, the companion paladin, so you don't turn your main character into a duplicate of Pallegina. She is versatile enough to wield 2H weapons.

[Galhedhros]

Thank you sir, well explained. In this case i assume that there's no duplicate companion for barbarian? If only i knew Pallegina is a paladin i wouldnt do that. I just started as a ranger but in my honest opinion i have nothing unique for group game-play compared to other classes. Thats why i'm trying to find the best party leader class.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

The base game contains a companion for each class except Barbarian, Monk, Rogue.

The White March 1&2 adds companions for those classes. You learn about the first accessible expansion area(s) around level 4-5 within chapter 2 at the end of the Temple of Woedica quest - but waiting for level 6-8 is what most players do before they start travelling forth and back between base game and expansion areas.