suggestions for soloing as paladin

nukaze

i might i have posted this on the general discussions but maybe this will be read here

for soloing content as paladin, the lack of power from forte reduced so much damage output

invest in power so you can heal too? yeah, no, healing is not good enough from oathkeeper skills, invest in outgoing heals too! and still no contribution for soloing
even my all-purple, outdated geared fighter do more damage just because of the power forte, 25% free power for having a dps paragon! awareness forte for oathkeeper? really?
invest in defense so you can tank properly? sure, but still doesnt help in soloing (if only aura of vengeance actually does any damage at all that scales with your defense)

would be nice if i could change class OR
blessed wanderer bonus was boosted to 50% OR
i never run out of divinity while killing one mob OR
oathkeeper's awareness forte is changed to power

greywynd

Get a bigger mace?

armadeonx

Paladins absolutely need Awareness for endgame dungeons as bosses now deal Combat Advantage damage in massive proportions.

The simplest & cheapest fix would be to add 15% to Blessed Wanderer (making it 20%) which would bring the Pallys base damage up to DPS player levels when soloing.

Sure, this won't add extra power, but unlike DPS classes we can use companions/mounts that give Power bonuses. DPS players are finding they have too much power and are having to swap out these bonuses to not go over the cap.

Auras are another matter entirely. They have nerfed the HAMSTER out of these and they do need improving as they are now worthless. Giving the group a 2% crit chance or 5% defence is a drop in the ocean and not worth slotting - and the damage from Vengeance barely tickles enemies. I'd suggest it should reflect 10% of incoming damage back on the attacker, capped to the Pallys base damage.

It sounds like you're having trouble with healing during a fight. Are you using the following insignia bonuses:

Barbarians Revelry: Heals you when you crit
Oppressors Reprieve: Heals you when you get controlled or stunned
Champions Return: Heals you when you go below 50% HP

armadeonx

Suggestion for a new mount insignia btw: Receive a Heal Over Time when you receive Combat Advantage damage!

ultramath

There's probably another relevant insignia power you can get --> Survivor's Blessing: heal when you deflect.

But if you are having trouble surviving solo, level as a healer. The healer spec is now the versatile and less-niche side of paragons since the rework. To do more damage, pay attention to getting and maintaining combat advantage on your enemies. It's not some paltry 10% bonus or something IT'S DOUBLE DAMAGE.

Everyone who strikes from CA hits super hard without having to spec for it or concentrate stats in some special way anymore. This goes for your enemies too, which is why Armadeon's suggestion of having some awareness is a great idea for tanks. In group content you are going to be surrounded a lot. The enemies will hit super hard because they have CA. Awareness cuts down on that somewhat, depending on how much you have.

nukaze

ultramath#3953 said:

There's probably another relevant insignia power you can get --> Survivor's Blessing: heal when you deflect.

But if you are having trouble surviving solo, level as a healer. The healer spec is now the versatile and less-niche side of paragons since the rework. To do more damage, pay attention to getting and maintaining combat advantage on your enemies. It's not some paltry 10% bonus or something IT'S DOUBLE DAMAGE.

Everyone who strikes from CA hits super hard without having to spec for it or concentrate stats in some special way anymore. This goes for your enemies too, which is why Armadeon's suggestion of having some awareness is a great idea for tanks. In group content you are going to be surrounded a lot. The enemies will hit super hard because they have CA. Awareness cuts down on that somewhat, depending on how much you have.

oathkeeper (heal paragon) gets the awareness forte for some reason, justicar (tank) doesnt get it at all
also ive been boosting ca but its still not enough without the free 25% power from being a dps paragon

ultramath

nukaze#1578 said:

oathkeeper (heal paragon) gets the awareness forte for some reason, justicar (tank) doesnt get it at all
also ive been boosting ca but its still not enough without the free 25% power from being a dps paragon

I'm sorry if I miscommunicated. I'm not suggesting you do anything with your CA stat, I'm simply pointing out that if you are in the right positioning you will do double damage from having CA against your enemies. You know, being in their "purple zone". You don't need to invest in stats for that, its crazy strong compared to before the patch.

nukaze

ultramath#3953 said:

nukaze#1578 said:

oathkeeper (heal paragon) gets the awareness forte for some reason, justicar (tank) doesnt get it at all
also ive been boosting ca but its still not enough without the free 25% power from being a dps paragon

I'm sorry if I miscommunicated. I'm not suggesting you do anything with your CA stat, I'm simply pointing out that if you are in the right positioning you will do double damage from having CA against your enemies. You know, being in their "purple zone". You don't need to invest in stats for that, its crazy strong compared to before the patch.

ive been doing that since i noticed it, but still i think all other class have it easy, if only class change was a thing here, id do it in a heartbeat

armadeonx

I've been running a Paladin since they first brought them out and soloing has always been slow compared to DPS classes. This is offset a little by the extra survivability.

Of course, the major nerfs to Pally powers don't help at all so you really need a 'solo DPS build' on your loadouts. That's one that focuses on Crit/Crit Severity/CA and uses an offensive weapon enchantment such as Vorpal - also stack points into Intelligence as this boosts magic based damage (all of your encounters) and only slot one encounter that uses Divinity: Smite.

Make sure your feats include Divine Pursuit so that every time you Smite, your at-wills will give you a bit of Divinity back (really not much but it helps a little). Also if you've aggro'd a mob you can just burn through your divinity with 5-6 Smites then put your shield up to recharge it - then repeat.

The best mount collar for this approach is the one that boosts encounter damage but you should also look for recovery, AP gain and at-will damage (yes I know they are very expensive).

pitshade

Baneful Strikes feat procs a lot if you hit multiple mobs with Oath Strike at will. It seems to check per mob hit. Open the fight with Bane, start using Oath Strike and when Baneful procs, use Bane again. Divinity is filling because of Pursuit. I cast Bane whenever Baneful procs or Divinity is full. Other encounters are Smite for single target and usually Burning Light for interrupting mobs doing things I don't want.

thelawra

I have a level 29 paladin right now. I was in the middle of leveling them when the rework hit - and boy, did it hit hard. I went from "Hm, I think I am able to do this" to "oh god I am so dead".

Paladins aren't very DPS oriented and it definitely shows. Tanking and healing mean nothing if you can't kill anything. As a solo player, my progression has been almost completely halted. I have no idea what sub-class to choose. I feel like both of them are a bad choice. Originally, I wanted to be a tank but I shudder at the though of it and I don't want to spend the rest of my life trying to keep my OWN a*s alive, let alone others.

My gear is what the game has given me so far, same with companions. I'm F2P and casual-ish and very much doomed. The game stopped being fun and turned very frustrating, very fast. It's such a shame.

drago

In my honest opinion. The "rework" was a huge tank nerf. Ofcourse every class got hit by rework. All had higher output in damage before. And all had more defense capabilities. But in the end if I do a fair comparison, the "rework" was a huge(!!!) tank nerf.
I will give real world examples that prove what I write.
In short: Tanks lost more possible maximum in damage % relative to DPS. DPS gain more possible maximum defense % relative to Tank. Do not forget. If a tank is able to choose stats to target maximum damage, a DPS is able to choose stats to target maximum defense vice versa. The gap between a tank and DPS both build for maximum defense is only of little difference.
Pre-Buffed HP - only IL HP+Boost = 800K vs 640K.
A DPS can achieve high Defense rating: 55(55K IL)+7,5(Slime)+3,75+,375+3,75+3,75 several companions+Angel of Protection 5%=82,5% without food. If you can dodge 100% damage you are stronger than with block of a tank - if you know what you need to block.
But the damage output of this 55K IL DPS Tank is much more than a Tank DPS build while they have only little difference in defense capabilities. Ofcourse a Tank has some defense encounters, that make him a better tank, but in comparison, if you use them, you loose damage.

Pre tank nerf:
https://ibb.co/gyYbxvy
https://ibb.co/KyPtYVy
Tiamat much more difference because in this example I tanked Demo+DPS.

After tank nerf:
30K IL DPS are able to beat you in DPS. A Tank built for maximum DPS. Not only 20K+ less IL but big difference in playing skills too.

Please. I do not want start a discusson with all stubborn guys tell me "ehhh, tank are not for dealing damage". I want a discussion about balance, and Aggro is not a stat. I will celebrate the day I am not forced as Paladin to play this kind of Tank. Before Tank nerf it was easier to like the game. Now I have more fun in other games.