What a Paladin to do?

[Saxywoo]

After hearing that they pretty much killed the Paladin compared to what they were before, I thought that I would give it a try. I hadn't played one before, so I wasn't locked into a set way or mentality on how to play one. And thus, SaxyCoo was born. In character creation, I decided to go with the good old-fashioned look, tracing my roots back in time. If you seem me, I’ll very closely resemble my old tank mage from the original Diablo, also named SaxyCoo, down to the closest I could get with skin color as well. Standing there, with his mace and shield, ready to pound on anything that comes his way.

I first found it rather unsettling how few Paladins there were. I don’t know if it’s because I had gotten the patch downloaded early enough, or if the rumor was true that nobody wanted to play it because it got nerffed. There were quite a few people over in the ‘Din newbie area, but for the most part, they were all human priests.

I have found that the Paladin has a terrible defense, and that a monster my same level could easily take my health down halfway. The one good thing that can come from that is that I will become good at asking Holy Light (the healing ability). Now granted, I was stuck with the beginning equipment, which included a two handed mace. But to complete the look of my very much loved SaxyCoo from the days of old, (not to mention my experience crunch in D1), I had to switch to the mace and shield configuration. My defense was doing a little better, to where I could take on a monster a level higher than I was, but I would sometimes have to heal myself in the middle of the fight.

Though I am young (level 5), and I’ve played warriors in the past two pushes, I’ve found that the only halfway decent attacking ability is the Holy Strike, which may or may not help you. Holy Strike will add X to Y damage to your attack, unlike the fixed amount that is added by the warrior’s ability Strike.

You have the auras, which makes it helpful, since when you’re playing solo, you can take advantage of your own aura. That helped, though I was still getting pounded on in a mine in the newbie area. One thing that I think is interesting though is that you really do need to watch what you do with the ‘Din since you can’t just charge into battle with your mace swinging madly. Pulling is extremely important with the ‘Din now. I remember seeing ‘Dins in other pushes powering through mobs with no problem at all, taking on 2 and sometimes 3 monsters at a time. At least at this point in time, doing that for me right now would mean I’d be performing the rite of the unburied dead, destined to roam the lands.

I like the ‘Din, however. It’s a nice class, or so I think so far. I have noticed though that compared to a warrior, it’s got quite a few disadvantages. Those disadvantages definitely keep a ‘Din from being the “Tank” in a party, which puts it into a halfway point of being an attack and supporting party member. I can see that if there is a warrior in the party, you’re major point would be to heal, even if there is a priest in the party as well, and any additional damage you can dole out would be helpful, though chances are that it’s not going to be significant.

Now, as I’ve said before, I haven’t played the ‘Din before, which means that I don’t know how to play it. I do, however, also wonder that if some of you that have plated the ‘Din were to give me pointers, how effective they would be. I think that it would be interesting to collaborate with another ‘Din, who has played a ‘Din before, so we can compare notes, and see what has really changed, not only with being nerffed, but how that has effected how one should play. I would love to hear how the play styles have changed.

So the call is now officially open. Anyone want to compare notes? If so, PM me, and we’ll get to work on it.

-SaxyCorp

SaxyDoo (Night Elf Warrior – Level 13)
SaxyMoo (Tauran Warrior – Level 16)
SaxyCoo (Human Paladin – Level 5)