
============================================================================
                      THE PALADIN DEATH MANUAL v1.2
                      By Blade (BladeY2J@hotmail.com)
                      18th October 2001
                      Diablo II LOD Expansion v1.09B
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                               INDEX 
============================================================================

 Introduction
 Why?
 Concepts
 Stat Point Allocation
 Skills
----\ Combat Skills
----\ Offensive Auras
----\ Defensive Auras
 Combinations
----\ Player vs. Monster Builds
----\ Player vs. Player Combinations
--------\ vs. Paladins
--------\ vs. Barbarians
--------\ vs. Assasains
--------\ vs. Durids
--------\ vs. Necromancers
--------\ vs. Amazons
--------\ vs. Sorceress
 Equipment
 Version History
 Credits
 Copyright Information


============================================================================
                            INTRODUCTION 
============================================================================

- The Paladin is one of the most powerful and easiest to screw up characters
in D2. The reason being that the Paladin has no passive skills, but he makes
up for it in powerful auras and combat skills. Picking the right auras and
combat skills are essential to making a good Paladin. Paldin auras also 
extend to a radius so others in your party and hirelings will benefit from
it. This makes the Paladin a party favourite unlike the Necromancer.



============================================================================
                               WHY? 
============================================================================

- I've noticed a sudden drop in the number of Paladins online, maybe due to
the new Expansion classes but also due to the changes made to their skills
which made some high level Paladins less than optimal. ie Fanaticism is so
much better than Concentration now. Even I swore never to play as a Paladin
ever again after Blessed Hammer got nerfed, but a look at the skill charts
changed my mind. Hopefully after more people read this they too will want
create a new Paladin and take advantage of their upgraded skills as I have.



============================================================================
                              CONCEPTS 
============================================================================

- Skill Saving
Every time you gain a level you are granted 1 skill point for your
character. Don't waste it. Save it until you've reached  higher levels
where it will become more useful. This is a good tip for all characters and
if you wish to build a high level character of any type it is essential to
your survival.

- Auras Overlap
When in a party with other Paladins it is best to use different auras since
the same auras have no extra effect but different ones stack.
eg. Fanaticism for damage and Salvation for resistance.

- Physical Immunity
Defense rating only helps so much against attacks. The best way to not take
hits is to max out your "Chance to block" rating (75%). Holy Shield does
this quite well and also provides an extra bonus to your overall defense
rating. The mana cost is quite stiff but well worth it.

- Party up
A Paladin will be asked to join parties since all benefit from his aura.
However in a party and/or with more people in the game it becomes
increasingly harder. More experience is also given as a result of this.
Always try to be with the party and fight together, you gain more experience
than fighting solo elsewhere and getting your sorry ass whooped. The best
place to level is in ActV: Bloody Foothills and the wilderness areas beyond
that. The Ancients also give an excellent experience boost.

- Specialize
Use 3-4 main skills. You cannot specialize in everything. I like to use
Vengeance with Conviction/Fanaticism each at 20. You can attain this around
lvl 60 but if you want to max another skill you'll only do it by lvl 80.
That's a far way off. It may be of more use to have some more diverse skills
that don't need 20 points to be useful. 
eg. Holy Shield, Salvation, Holy Freeze etc.

- Hell Survival
In Nightmare and Hell modes different penalties are incurred. Leaching is
cut in half, resistances are reduced by 40 and 100, and in Hell physical
damage is reduced by a staggering 50%. Elemental damage is your best bet to
deal damage and survive. In other words... Vengeance.



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                        STAT POINT ALLOCATION 
============================================================================

- Each level you gain +2 to Life, +1 to Stamina, +1.5 to Mana. You also get
5 stat points to distribute. I suggest adding all 5 to one stat since it's
easier to keep track of things this way.

- STRENGTH: At least 170 to wear the highest defence armor. This will take
a while so don't rush it and ignore other stats. More points here will
increase your damage in very small amounts, usually by 1 at higher levels.

- DEXTERITY: This affects two very important things, your 'Attack Rating'
and your 'Chance to Block'. You should try to keep your attack rating above
75% or you'll begin to miss everything. Around 150 here should do the job
or more if needed.

- VITALITY: Each point here gives +3 to Life and +1 to Stamina. As a melee
character you'll need extra life and this becomes increasing important in
the higher difficulty settings where you get hit hard. You should add to
this every once in a while and once you've attained 170 Strength and
enough Dexterity pour all your points into this one and don't stop! You
can never have enough Life.

- ENERGY: Each point here gives +1.5 to Mana. You don't need alot of mana
as a Paladin and as a result you don't need to add any points here, it'll
be much better spent in Vitality. Get something with mana steal if you run
out too often.



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                               SKILLS 
============================================================================

 COMBAT SKILLS 
- Sacrifice (Level 1)
Offers increased damage and attack rating in exchange for 8% damage returned
to you. It's useful in Act1 but not worth it when doing high damage. If you
do 1000 damage and the monster has 10 hit points you still inflict 8% of
1000 (80) damage upon yourself. It's very easy to commit suicide this way.
Besides Charge offers higher damage and attack rating increases anyway and
Vengence offers the same effect in elemental damage for mana.
> Recommended Points: 1 if you plan on using Zeal, Vengeance etc.

- Smite (Level 1)
Smacks monsters stunning them for long periods using your shield. 
> Recommended Points: 1 if you plan on using Charge, Holy Shield etc. 20 if
you decide to become a Smiter.

- Holy Bolt (Level 6)
A bolt of energy that damages the undead or heals your allies. Wussy damage
and only to the undead. Pure crap.
> Recommended Points: 1 if you plan on using Blessed Hammer or Holy Shield.

- Zeal (Level 12)
A trademark Paladin skill. This makes the Paladin hit multiple times (Max 5)
with one click of the mouse and it offers an attack rating bonus. Useful for
clearing large groups of monsters however once you click you can't stop so
you can die in the middle of a Zeal. Best used to leach back life and mana
quickly providing you have items that leach.
> Recommended Points: 1 if you want better skills, 4-5 for ocassional
use, 20 for Zealots.

- Charge (Level 12)
A running powerful attack that knocks back the attacker. Superior to
Sacrifice but you have to be about 2 yards from the enemy to use it. Useless
in very tight situations, great against bosses and for dueling. The highest
damage Combat Skill available to the Paladin. With mana leech items you can
use this with hardly ever running out of mana.
> Recommended Points: 20 or 1 for Holy Shield.

- Vengeance (Level 18)
Adds elemental damage to attacks. At level 20 it adds +184% Cold, Lightning
and Fire damage which totals +552% in damage. In addition to that it also
adds to your attack rating and of course freezes everything you hit.
Incredible skill. Previously this skill did not work with mana or life leach
items even though a portion of the damage done is physical damage but it
has been fixed in this (1.09b) patch. With mana leach items you can use this
with hardly ever running out of mana.
> Recommended Points: 5 if you plan on using this against Physical Immunes
only, 20 if you plan on using it alot.

- Blessed Hammer (Level 18)
This summons a hammer that spirals around you outwards that hits anything
it passes through. This used to do around 700-800 damage when combined with
Concentration in the old days, I remember when letting five of these fly
while getting surrounded would wipe out more than half of the monsters, now
after it got nerfed it does about 400-450 magic damage. I'm not sure if it
does increased damage with other auras but it should. This is the best
Paladin ranged weapon IMHO.
> Recommended Points: 1 if you plan to use Holy Shield, 20 if you think
you're a Sorceress and you must have a ranged attack. Must be used with the
Concentration aura to be effective.

- Conversion (Level 24)
Allows you to convert monsters to fight for you, best used with Thorns. The
'conversion' does wear off after a while and you will have to kill them
eventually after 16 seconds. Another thing to note is the Thorns aura stays
on them for a while so you can kill yourself if you hit them too soon.
> Recommended Points: None, 20 if you use Thorns.

- Holy Shield (Level 24)
Temporarily increases your defense rating, your chance to block and Smite
damage. The max chance to block is 75% so keep that in mind while adding to
this skill.
> Recommended Points: 1-5 or 6 points, 20 for the Smiter.

- Fist of the Heavens (Level 30)
1 second casting delay. Targets an enemy and delivers a huge surge of
lightning which releases Holy Bolts to nearby enemies. Limited use, fairly
good for duels, best used with Conviction against monsters.
> Recommended Points: None or 1-20 for dueling.


 OFFENSIVE AURAS 
- Might (Level 1)
Increases damage by 60% at level 1! Good but there's plenty better down the
road. 
> Recommended Points: 1, if you plan on using Fanaticism or Conviction, 
none if you planto use Thorns.

- Holy Fire (Level 6)
Does fire damage periodically to monsters within the aura. Not powerful
enough to be of any use past Act1 Normal.
> Recommended Points: None, 1 if you plan on using Holy Freeze or
Conviction

- Thorns (Level 6)
Muliplies the damage taken upon the attacker. Very useful but it must be
maxed out if you want to go this route. Best used with Conversion. This does
1/10 the damage in PvP so it must be maxed if you want to use this in duels.
Does not work against ranged atacks.
> Recommended Points: 20 or none. 1 if you plan on using Conviction.

- Blessed Aim (Level 12)
Increases your attack rating giving you a better chance to hit monsters.
> Recommended Points: 1 if you plan to use Fanaticism.

- Concentration (Level 18)
Increases the damage inflicted much like Might except that it also offers a
20% chance of an unstoppable attack. This means that an enemy hit will not
prevent you from hitting them 20% of the time. In early days of the old
Diablo II I would have said max this but Fanaticism has been upgraded so
much that Concentration is out of the window. This aura combines with
Blessed Hammer to deal more damage.
> Recommended Points: 1 to use Fanaticism, 20 for the Hammer-din

- Holy Freeze (Level 18)
Freezes and slows monsters within it's radius. It works in PvP even if the
oponnent has item mods like "Cannot be frozen" or alot of cold resistance.
Paladins aren't very good at PvP and this evens the odds quite a bit. Also
useful when running for your dear life or retrieving your corpse around
monsters.
> Recommended Points: 7 if you plan on PvP, additional points add very
little to the effectiveness of this aura past this. 1 if you like having it
or if you plan on using Conviction.

- Holy Shock (Level 24)
Damages monsters within it's radius and adds lightning damage to your
attacks. Good but not great. In Hell many monsters are immune to lightning.
> Recommended Points: None, the Combat Skill Vengeance is superior to this
as far as elemental damage is concerned.

- Sanctuary (Level 24)
Damages, repels and offers increased damage against the Undead. Not all
monsters are Undead. Much like Prayer, not as useful as it sounds.
> Recommended Points: 1 if you plan on using Conviction.

- Fanaticism (Level 30)
Increases damage (more than Concentration) add to your attack rating and
increases your attack speed. +373% Damage and +135% to Attack Rating at
level 20... wow!
> Recommended Points: 20 for every Paladin.

- Conviction (Level 30)
Reduces enemy defense and the resistances of monsters. A nice combo with
Vengeance for the Avenger.
> Recommended Points: None or 20.


 DEFENSIVE AURAS 
- Prayer (Level 1)
This aura regenerates life however it does so at the cost of mana unlike
all other auras. It sounds good but it acts way too slowly to be of any real
use. It's easier to get regeneration from items than waste points here.
> Recommended Points: None or 1 if you plan on using Redemption.

- Resist Fire (Level 1)
Grants you resistance against fire damage. +52% at the first level is great
but not as good as Salvation.
> Recommended Points: None.

- Resist Cold (Level 6)
Grants you resistance against fire damage. +52% at the first level is great
but not as good as Salvation.
> Recommended Points: None.

- Resist Lightning (Level 12)
Grants you resistance against fire damage. +52% at the first level is great
but not as good as Salvation.
> Recommended Points: None.

- Defiance (Level 6)
Increases your defense rating. Holy Shield can do this as well as increasing
your chance to block.
> Recommended Points: None or 1 if you plan on using Redemption.

- Cleansing (Level 12)
Reduces Poison and Curse durations. Not as useful as it may sound.
> Recommended Points: None or 1 if you plan on using Redemption.

- Vigour (Level 18)
Increases stamina, stamina recovery and run/walk speed. Running out of
stamina may be a problem at level 1 but not at level 10. This can also
increase your Charge speed in PvP.
> Recommended Points: None or 1 if you plan on using Redemption

- Meditation (Level 24)
Increases your mana recovery rate by 300%. Just use a potion instead, it's
faster.
> Recommended Points: None, if you're going for Redemption you'll have the
prerequisites so it's up to you, 1 point is all you need for this to be
useful. Sorceresses like it but they can handle themselves.

- Redemption (Level 30)
Redeems corpses for life and mana. This is like a rejuvenation potion since
it instantly replenishes your life from monster corpses. Best used after a
battle to regain life. I prefer simply using leach items but some people
just love this skill.
> Recommended Points: 1-10, you may not want to go too high with this since
all corpses will be redeemed eventually. More points makes it work faster,
if it works too fast you'll use up all the corpses too quickly. If it's a
big group of dead monsters you'll only be able to redeem once at a high
level while at a low level you can maybe return for a second redeem.

- Salvation (Level 30)
Resist all elemental (fire, cold and lightning) damage 60% at the first
level. There are better auras but this one is very useful against elemental
uniques eg. the deadly lightning enchanted. Turn it on when you need the
extra resistance, use a better aura when you don't.
> Recommended Points: 1-5, possibly even none. Try to get a 4 socket shield,
preferably a Paladin shield with some + resistances already on it, and
socket it with 4 perfect diamonds to boost your resistances so you'll have
to rely on this aura less often.

* For exact current stats for all skills including other character classes
refer to... http://www.battle.net/d2exp/skills/



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                            COMBINATIONS 
============================================================================


 PvM BUILDS 
- TIP: For close combat skills eg. Vengence, Sacrifice etc, clicking on a
monster once and holding down the mouse button gives a zeal-like effect of
continuous hits until the monster dies.

- ZEALOT: MAX Fanaticism with MAX Zeal
Does quick damage but adds nothing extra. An old technique that's no longer
useful unless you have some godly weapon.

- HAMMER-DIN: MAX Concentration with MAX Blessed Hammer
It deals magic damage which is not restricted in Hell or Nightmare but only
does very low amounts of around 450. The mana cost is cheap though which
means you can cast lots of these and heve them flying all over the place.

- AVENGER: MAX Fanaticism/MAX Conviction with MAX Vengeance
It's simple, just use Conviction till all monsters are affected, then switch
to Fanaticism and hack them up quickly. Incredible combination. Don't be
fooled by the displayed damage. Conviction increases your final elemental
damage by a percentage so the damage inflicted is doubled! The best build
in my opinion.

- CHARGE-A-DIN: MAX Fanaticism/MAX Thorns with MAX Charge
Does crazy damage with Fanaticism but it's pure physical damage. Best used
to 'bounce' between monsters until you finish them off. Thorns works well
when crowded.

- SMITE-A-DIN: MAX Smite/MAX Holy Shield with MAX Fanaticism
Unless you have a godly Paladin shiled with good damage don't even attempt
to do this build. But if you do, go for it!

- MEDIC: Prayer, Meditation, Holy Bolt, Salvation.
A unique new build that does no damage but instead just heals party members.
For your morbid entertainment only.

- SHOCK-A-DIN: MAX Holy Shock/MAX Conviction with Zeal
               MAX Fist of the Heavens with Conviction
Much like the Avenger, use Conviction until all monsters are affected by the
aura and then switch to Holy Shock to hack them up with Zeal. Or summon a
Fist of the Heavens. You should put some point into Veageance for the
Lightning Immunes in Hell and Nightmare.

- MAGE-A-DIN: MAX Conviction, MAX Fist of the Heavens,
              MAX Blessed Hammer, MAX Concentration
Blessed Hammer will do magic damage which is not reduced in Hell or Nightmare
with Concentration and Fist of the Heavens with Conviction will do sweet
lightning damage.



 BEST PvP COMBINATIONS 
- Firstly Paladins aren't the best in PvP so you need to invest in the right
skills to be any good.

- Charge is your main and only good offensive attack. Can be paired with
high level Thorns, Fanaticism or low level Holy Freeze. Try to freeze your
oponnent before attacking them. Another big mistake usually made is clicking
on the oponnent to charge them, all they have to do is run a few yards away
to evade it. You should hold down 'Shift' and click far behind them so
they'll be caught in between the Charge. Of course they can just run to the
side but most people aren't that smart. You can also stick in Fist of the
Heavens but most people have huge resistance if they're dueling so you may
do very little damage. DO NOT DUEL WHILE LAGGING!

- vs. Paladins
Use Holy Freeze when he's close by to freeze him then hit him with Charge.
If he uses Thorns back away and use a ranged attack if you have one. He'll
try to do the same thing so try to be one step ahead.

- vs. Barbarians
Use Holy Freeze when he tries to Whirlwind you and step to the side. Then
switch to Fanaticism and Charge him. Or use Thorns and Charge.

- vs. Assasains
Be wary of her traps. Holy Freeze her as she comes closer and finish her
off with a Charge. Be careful if you see her fully charged up.

- vs. Druids
Use Salvation with Charge for Elemental Druids, run past his minions and
attack him. For Combat Druids take out his 'spirit' and then go for him
with Thorns and Charge.

- vs. Necromancers
He'll try to keep you far away from him while he blasts Bone Spirits at you.
Run past his minions with Holy Freeze and Charge him. Be careful if he casts
Iron Maiden on you.

- vs. Amazons
Don't duel them. Currently there is a bug with Cleglaws Pincers (gloves)
which slow you down by 75% instead of the 25% it should. One arrow from her
and you'll be walking like a snail. The only way not to die is by casting a
fast tp.

- vs. Sorceresses
Use Salvation to boost your resistances and Charge her. If she teleports
use Holy Freeze to slow her and then Charge in.



============================================================================
                             EQUIPMENT 
============================================================================

- I am not addressing those incredible unique and set armors since most
people will hardly ever have them even online. This is a simple guide to
know what to look for in an item. 

- Armor: Get the highest defense you can find. Simple.

- Shields: Try to get a 4 socket shield, preferably a Paladin shield with
some + resistances already on it, and socket it with 4 perfect diamonds to
boost your resistances. Until then try Ancients Pledge (Runeword: Ral-Ort-Tal)
with any 3 socket shield of your choice.

- Weapons: The highest damage one handed weapon you can find with a nice
fast attack speed. Blunt weapons are nice since they add an extra "+150%
damage to the Undead".

- Helms, Gloves: Defense is a plus but try to get anything with good
+resistance.

- Belts: Heavy or plated belts offer 16 potion slots try to get one with
+life and/or resistance.

- Boots: Anything with faster Run/Walk is great along with extra
resistances.

- Rings, Amulets: Anything that does mana/life steal, adds to life,
resistances or skills.

- Charms: These can fill up your inventory in a hurry. Keep only very good,
preferably smaller charms that add to your resistance etc. One thing to
keep in mind is that +x% small magic find charms can be traded for valuable
items

- The best of the four resistances to max is Fire and Lightning but try to
max them all.



============================================================================
                          VERSION HISTORY 
============================================================================

- This is the first edition of The Paladin Death Manual and is valid up to
the 1.09B patch. Beyond that things can change alot, hopefully for the
better as it has in the past for the Paladin. Generally speaking of course.

- Second update to this FAQ. Included update on Smite-a-dins, Conviction,
and updated the "Combinations" Section.

- Third update to this FAQ. Included update on Zeal, I had erroneously
typed 14 instead of 1 when describing the skill. Two new builds on
the Shock-a-Din and the Mage-a-Din.



============================================================================
                             CREDITS 
============================================================================

- God most importantly.
- GameFaqs.com for it's great collection of FAQ's
- My brother who thinks Barbarians are better but is so wrong.
- Blizzard for making a great game even though they screwed things up at
first but they made up for it.
- Slodeth (Martin Silbiger)for his Diablo II Paladin guide. It made me a
better player and pushed me to write a good Paladin FAQ for the Expansion.
- GameFaq posters for the Smite-a-Din build and the Medic build.
- Will Nociti who sent in the Shock-a-Din build which I later refined.

- If you like WRESTLING be sure to check out my site at...

                +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
                +                                       +
                -->  HTTP://vortexnews.hypermart.net  <--
                +                                       +
                +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

gotta plug the site... :)



============================================================================
                        COPYRIGHT INFORMATION 
============================================================================

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                       2001 COPYRIGHT Blade  