Paladin

Paladins are one of the Templar Classes you may choose to deploy on missions.

## Overview

Paladins are powerful bulwarks of defense as well as wielders of the primary source of healing in the game. Paladins have no ranged attacks but compensate with excellent defenses, the ability to counter-attack, potentially powerful melee attacks, and excellent group buffing skills in addition to their life-saving medical abilities.

Paladin builds typically follow either a healer role or a melee combat role. The melee combat role is typically broken into two or three sub-roles depending upon whether defensive talents are emphasized, offensive talents are emphasized, or if the shield is entirely foregone in favor of the mighty warhammer and its associated offensive talents. Even the combat roles typically invest at least a little in the medic talents as battlefield healing is incredibly difficult to come by otherwise.

## Starting Attributes

Paladins begin with the following attributes, skills, and class features:

### Class Features

* Base HP: 102 + 1 per Level
* HP Modifier: + 6 HP per Fortitude
* Toughness Modifier: 150% of Fortitude
* Resistance Modifier: 125% of Willpower
* SP Cost: 600 + 5 x Level, maximum = 650

### Attributes

* Fortitude: 3
* Willpower: 4
* Focus: 3
* Strength: 3
* Quickness: 2

### Skills

* Warrior: 4
* Tactics: 3
* Evasion: 3
* Medic: 3

## Starting Talents

The Paladin starts with a single rank in Slay, and Battlefield Medic.

## Usable Gear

The Paladin uses Blades and Shields, or alternatively, two-handed Shock Hammers. They also use Armor Coating (War Gear shared with Hydras and Neptunes) and Tact-Systems (War Gear shared with the Captain.) Paladins may use Assault (shared with Berserkers) and Command armor (shared with Captains).

## Paladin Talents

##### Slay

Single-target melee attack.
Has a low heat cost, good accuracy and damage bonuses.
While mundane, this skill is used in counter-attacks and thus typically merits some investment.

* Weapon: Blade or Hammer
* Max targets: 1
* Range: 1 (melee)
* Cost: 2 AP, +3 Heat

##### Battlefield Medic

Single-target healing for an adjacent ally or the Paladin him/herself.
Heals a significant amount of healing which is vastly increased by the Paladin's Medic skill.
Has limited uses, and a high heat cost, making judicious use of this skill necessary.
Does not work on non-living things such as Sentry Turrets or Landmines.

* Heal: $Base + $Multiplier \* Medic skill HP (see table below)
* Max targets: 1
* Range: 0-1 (self or ally)
* Cost: 2 AP, +15 Heat
* Restriction: Limited Use
* Ordnance: Medic's Resupply

##### Shieldbearer

Self-only buff that improves Auto-block by a large amount and grants a significant bonus to parry.
With moderate AP and heat costs, this is a good buff to always have active, although lower ranks only have a small number of uses.
Requires a shield, as you might imagine given the name.

* Buff: 4 turns
* Range: 0 (self)
* Cost 1 AP, +6 Heat
* Restriction: Limited Use, Requires Shield

##### Battlefield Enhancers

Group healing at a moderate range that also grants a large bonus to damage and a small bonus to dodge.
The healing is limited, especially at lower ranks and doesn't benefit from high levels of Medic nearly as much as Battlefield Medic.
The damage buff from ranks 5 onward increases dramatically per rank.
Number of targets healed is limited by medic skill, up to 9 Templars in a 3x3 are healed with at least 9 Medic skill.
Useful even at low ranks to offset some minor injuries sustained from a bit of overheating.

* Heal: $Base + Medic skill HP (see table below)
* Buff: 4 turns
* Max targets: 9 3x3

, limited by Paladin's Medic skill

* Range: 3
* Cost: 1 AP, +15 Heat
* Restriction: Limited Use
* Ordnance: Medic's Resupply

##### Devastating Strikes

Crippling Melee attack that hinders the foe damaged with a penalty to all accuracy and dodge for 3 turns.
Has comparable accuracy to Slay but doesn't deal as much damage, and costs double the Heat.
A Dodge debuff necessitates a ranged attacker Templar to take advantage of it as the Paladin's attacks are all melee.

* Weapon: Blade or Hammer
* Hinder: 3 turns
* Max targets: 1
* Range: 1 (melee)
* Cost: 2 AP, +6 Heat

##### Inspiration

A group buff that improves melee accuracy, any damage, and parry.
As the AP cost is only 1 for this skill, it is an easy way to prepare the Paladin and any nearby melee Templars for an assault on nearby Xeno without sacrificing an attack that turn.
Requires an investment in Tactics to affect more than 3 Templars. Because the damage and parry can be valuable to non-melee Templars as well, affecting only 3 Templars might not be optimal.

* Buff: 4 turns
* Max targets: 9 3x3

, limited by Paladin's Tactics skill

* Range: 3
* Cost: 1 AP, +15 Heat
* Restriction: Limited Use

##### Shalun's Wrath

A single-target melee attack that buffs the paladin for 3 turns upon dealing damage to his/her target.
The buff increases damage and critical hit chance by a large amount, and can be taken advantage of by other talents, such as Slay.
The heat cost is double Slay's and it doesn't deal quite as much damage, ignoring the buff, leading open the strategy to invest equally in Slay and Shalun's Wrath and only use the latter when the buff has, or is about to, run out.
This skill isn't used in counter-attacks but the buff from it can be.

* Weapon: Blade or Hammer
* Buff: 3 turns
* Max target: 1
* Range: 1 (melee)
* Cost: 2 AP, +6 Heat

##### Warding Fire

A group buff providing a massive bonus to auto-block and a small bonus to dodge for 4 turns.
The auto-block bonus is so massive at higher ranks, that it might be worthwhile to switch out gear that grants auto-block in your squadron for gear that provides more offensive benefits as you are likely to hit the 59% auto-block soft cap with high ranks of this skill active.
An AP cost of 2 will preclude the Paladin from using two melee attacks in the turn this is used.
The heat cost is massive, adding 30 Heat to the Paladin upon use. Having an Engineer with heat venting options nearby or at least some investment in Willpower may be prudent.
Requires an investment in Tactics to affect more than 3 Templars. You will want everyone to have this powerful buff, so putting points into Tactics is extremely helpful.

* Buff: 4 turns
* Max targets: 9 3x3

, limited by Paladin's Tactics skill

* Range: 3
* Cost: 2 AP, +30 Heat
* Restriction: Limited Use

##### Staggering Blows

A limited-use melee attack hitting a cross shaped AoE with bonus plasma damage and extra penetration.
Requires a warhammer, and thus a shield cannot be equipped.
Has less accuracy than other Paladin melee talents, but is the only AoE.
Both the plasma damage and the penetration bonus make it a useful skill for harming foes with high armor. The plasma can ignore the armor (but face any plasma resistance present) and the penetration bonus can give a better chance at ignoring a substantial amount of the armor.

* Weapon: Hammer
* Max targets: 5 Cross
* Range: 1 (melee)
* Cost: 2 AP, +9 Heat
* Restriction: Limited Use, Requires 2H Hammer
* Ordnance: Shock Resupply

##### Righteous Embrace

A limited-use self-buff that enables the Paladin to gain incredible bonuses for kills performed while buffed.
Requires a hammer, and thus a shield cannot be equipped.
Begins with a single buff "Death's Embrace" at rank 1 requiring a single kill. At rank 3 if a second kill is acquired during the buff, "Militant" will be added to the previous buff increasing melee accuracy and damage much further. At rank 7 if a third kill is acquired during the buff, "Ultra" will be added to the previous buffs increasing accuracy and damage to obscene levels. At rank 10 with 3 kills, it gives +1 MP, +18 Accuracy, +52 Damage, +16% Auto-Block, +36% Critical, +32% Penetration, +44 Plasma Damage.
Requires 1 AP, which may replace the timing/use of Shieldbearer (which cannot be used while a hammer is equipped anyway.)

* Weapon: Hammer
* 1st Buff (rank 1+, kill 1+): +1 MP, +20 Damage, +16% Auto-Block, +16% Penetration
* 2nd Buff (rank 3+, kill 2+): +6 Accuracy, +12 Damage, +12% Critical, +12 Plasma Damage
* 3rd Buff (rank 7+, kill 3+): +24% Critical, +32 Plasma Damage, +16% Penetration
* Max targets: 1
* Range: 1 (melee)
* Cost: 1 AP, +12 Heat
* Restriction: Limited Use, Requires 2H Hammer
* Ordnance: Shock Resupply

##### War Machine

A limited-use self-only buff/heal combination that trades MP for Max Heat, Deflection, and Auto-Block for 3 turns.
The maximum heat bonus aids with Paladin builds that use many high-heat talents frequently.
As the skill uses only 1 AP, it can be used in conjunction with attacks, perhaps after suffering an injurious counter-attack.
At rank 6+ the MP penalty is raised to -2 MP, making rank 5 a potential sweet-spot for investment.
This is a useful talent for hammer Paladins which cannot use Shieldbearer but would like to gain a bit of defense.
Benefits heavily from Medic skill.

* Buff: 3 turns
* Heal: $Base + $Multiplier \* Medic skill HP (see table below)
* Max targets: 1
* Range: 0 (self)
* Cost: 1 AP, +6 Heat
* Restriction: Limited Use
* Ordnance: Shock Resupply