Paladin Build

[jlaflair]

Hey all,

So, I finally heard back from a GM at BandaiNamco, and he says I was banned (complete with frowny face emoticon) while my laptop was away for repairs. He says he doesn't know why - that makes two of us - and the server team won't tell him. So, as a co-op player, that means starting all over on a family sharing account and losing hundreds of hours of work. For a "first offense" of some sort.

Anyway. I almost finished the game as a makeshift paladin build I put together as I played, using no real guidance. I actually enjoyed it pretty well, but I can't remember my build and it was probably flawed anyway.

Could someone please help me figure out some exact stat numbers for my goals? For my vision of a paladin, the keys are...

* Ability to wear heavy armor/tower shield
* Able to swing a decent weapon
* Enough FAI/ATN for a few utility miracles, and to use faith-based weapons/infusions
* Health never hurts for someone who tanks!

I really appreciate any help from the wise ones out there. Thanks.

[Tax evasion]

so it's basically a STR/FTH build.
30 Vigor
50 Strength
36 Faith (for sunlight blade)
else is up to you. For weapon, I usually use the Grand Lance sinec it can be found really early and is a really good weapon.

[jlaflair]

Originally posted by Arkhtor:

so it's basically a STR/FTH build.
30 Vigor
50 Strength
36 Faith (for sunlight blade)
else is up to you. For weapon, I usually use the Grand Lance sinec it can be found really early and is a really good weapon.

Thanks for your suggestions! Before I had to switch out my hard driive and lost my old character, I remember the Craftsman's Hammer carried me through much of the game. Before that, it was the Heide Lance you get in the Gutter. :)

I'll give your stat suggestions a try!

[jlaflair]

Oh, and what do you suggest for base class? Knight?

[Tax evasion]

I usually go for deprived, but it's up to you what you want : armor with knight, or spell slots with cleric.
EDIT : the Heide Lance is also pretty good, but the huge advantage with the Grand Lance is that you can get it after the Last Giant, it's by the King's door in the Forest of Fallen Giants.

[jlaflair]

So, I'm a little lost on this one with the above guidance. Using the stats suggested above, if I want to stick with the meta level, I'm tight for points everywhere else. Any suggestions for the remaining stats?

[Tax evasion]

Oh, if you want to go for PvP, then you can sacrifice some strength if you're only using the claymore. You can cap at 40 or 30, depending on the weapon you'll wield.

On the other hand, PvP relies on Soul Memory, not on Soul Level. But I'm really not a PvP dude, so take my build with a pinch of salt.

[jlaflair]

I'm mostly PvE, but I try to stick with the meta because I enjoy co-op play. I don't want to fly past where everybody's stopping and have nobody to group up with.

Points are slim after the above investment. I need enough attunement for some spells, health, all that good stuff.

[ShiroiŌkami (白い狼)]

Originally posted by Arkhtor:

so it's basically a STR/FTH build.
30 Vigor
50 Strength
36 Faith (for sunlight blade)
else is up to you. For weapon, I usually use the Grand Lance sinec it can be found really early and is a really good weapon.

Ignore this^
Always go for 50 vig pvp or pve
50str is unnecessary, 40 is fine if you're not a str focused build.
36 faith is too low for a Paladin
Go 50 or above and use dragon chime lightning infused.
Since faith builds are heavily nerfed in ds2 I'd suggest to look more for healing spells and buffs such as great magic barrier or sacred oath.
Useful pve offensive miracles are great lightning spear and sunlight spear.
If you go 65 faith you can use binding bolt.

Also depends on what "meta" you wanna stay in, pvp is 2M - 4.9M sm around sl 150 - 200
There is nothing such as PvE meta since random coop comunity is mostly dead, but common sm for coop is 30k - 3M
If you wanna make a powerful paladin for pve and stay in a reasonable sm I'd say make a 1.2M character and camp in drangleic castle, amana shrine and undead crypt. If you cannot allow yourself to invest too much in fth go to 40 amd use priest chime lightning infused.

[ShiroiŌkami (白い狼)]

Originally posted by jlaflair:

Oh, and what do you suggest for base class? Knight?

Bandit

[Tax evasion]

50 Vigor is useless for NG imo, 30 is fairly enough. The only time you might get nuked is on Giant Lord or Darklurker. Or if you are running naked.
I can agree on everything else. I ran a similar build but it was too much a strength investment to wield correct shields.
EDIT : why bandit though ? because of the bow ?
EDIT 2 : And yeah, the guy above is right. You either go for 50+ Faith or not at all. Spells have been nerfed to the ground.

[TrueArchery]

The optimal starting class is the one with the least points in stats that you don't need, in this case Int. But if you need less Dex than the default 14 another class might become better.

If you infuse weapons (and you should if you plan to buff them) every point and I mean literally every single point in a scaling stat is wasted unless it's an innate elemental weapon and the scaling stat in question is said element. So 50 Str is tons of wasted levels and even 40 is too much. If you plan to use heavier weapons or greatshields you obviously need some Str due to requirements, but it can be a lot less than 40. Already at 28 you can use the Greatsword and the Great Club and the Twin Dragon Greatshield. If you go to 32 you can also use the Gyrm Greatshield, Rebel's Greatshield and Greataxe. If you don't even want to use heavy weapons stick to 20 Str.

The main issue is that having a heavy weapon, (heavy) greatshield and heavy armor requires a ton of equipload which you don't have unless you sacrifice health (bad idea, 50 Vigor is totally worth it for endgame content) or Adp (less bad idea, you can block almost everything in the game so having a good roll isn't as useful) or Fth (then you'd deal poor damage but many utility spells and buffs are still worth it).

So go for something like this:
Knight
50 Vigor
24 End
29 Vit
base 4 Atn
32 Str
10 Dex
15 Adp
base 3 Int
36 Fth
Dragon Ring, Chloranthy Ring, Southern Ritual Band, Royal Soldier's Ring
I'd go for Sunlightblade, Great Magic Barrier and Replenishment.

You can also start as a Bandit if you want a bit more freedom in terms of weapon choices, for this particular build you'd just sacrifice 1 level in End and put that in Adp.

For lighter weapons/shields:
Bandit
50 Vgr
34 End
11 Vit
2 Atn
20 Str
14 Dex
21 Adp
1 Int
50 Fth
Same rings, but the Cloranthy one isn't as useful due to a larger stamina pool and less stamina needed for each swing.
You still only have 3 slots but you aren't limited to utility spells.

[jlaflair]

Thank you for the detailed reply, TrueArchery! That's what I needed.

For the first build, I noticed you take 36 Fth but only 4 Atn. Are you relying upon the Southern Ritual Band to supply spell slots, then, and not much spell use until it can be reached?

I'd probably go with that build, as I do want heavier armor and shields.

[TrueArchery]

Yes, cutting corners here and there is something you have to deal with on such a demanding build.
Go to the Shaded Woods early on (I'd use the branch from the nomans wharf) and use a bonfire ascetic on Najka for a +2 ring and 3 slots. Luckily she's not only an early game-ish boss but also pretty easy to beat/cheese.

[HeroicNinja1337]

I'm curious, what's your armor set-up?
Knight/Paladin/Crusader Builds is one of my favorites across games like these as there are many different armor combinations (if not regular armor sets) and weapons you can use.

[koldean]

To be honest with you, I can't completely recall what my paladin used for armor, but it was more fashion souls than anything. I believe Syan Armor and Legs, Desert Sorceress Hood, and something matching for gauntlets. Used a twin dragon greatshield, as well as the craftsman's hammer/sun sword.