As a wielder of the light, it’s a Paladin’s sworn duty to confront the denizens of evil in Last Epoch. Fortunately, they are also very good at it, able to take on a considerable number of enemies without a significant fear of death.
The Paladin is one of the Masteries players can choose after gaining a few levels of experience in the Sentinel class. The Sentinel is the most naturally tanky of the classes, though it also has significant damage potential.
The Paladin takes that premise and runs with it, adding further survivability buffs for both the player and their party. Additionally, it benefits from immense Physical Damage that can be scaled effectively by building into the right talent nodes.
Here’s everything you need to know about building the perfect Paladin.
Complete Last Epoch Paladin guide
Our Paladin build is designed to turn the player into a near-immortal wrecking ball. Paying close attention to the relationship between damage scaling and Strength, it also prioritizes nodes that reduce incoming damage via high block chances and increased armor.
Paladin Passive choices
Our choices for Paladin Passives draw from an unusually high number of nodes in the main class tree. The Sentinel tree has some critical general buffs that feel like a near-necessity, regardless of Mastery.
Maxing out Fearless and Overwhelm at the beginning of the tree adds damage, stun chance and additional Health. Five points in Juggernaut is enough to draw the Strength we need from this tree while allowing enough points to prioritize elsewhere.
Further survivability is added by Valiant Charge, Armour Clad and Aegis of Renewal, with Relentless adding a final damage buff for this tree.
The Paladin Passive tree can seem slightly intimidating, but there is a relatively simple route to dominance. Maxing out Conviction and Honour is vital at the start of the tree, thanks to the increased survivability from the latter. Conviction provides a ton of damage penetration, which can bring enemies below 0% resistance and cause them to lose Health even faster.
Valor adds more Health and five points in Heaven Fire is enough as a shield-based damage boost. The top tree is designed to add Fire damage to the equation, which should dovetail nicely with Conviction, as well as a worthwhile Strength buff. Sanctuary Guardian and Shield Wall are designed to further the Tanking potential of the class.
At the end of the tree, there are two nodes that are impossible to ignore. The first is Reverence of Duality, an inordinately wide-ranging buff to major elements of the class makeup. The other is Light of Rahyeh, which should work to double the damage caused by the Fire damage we built into earlier.
Last Epoch Paladin Skills and tree breakdown
The Paladin has several skills that are worth including, depending on the desirable build. Though we haven’t elected to use them here, Warpath, Void Cleave and Smite are all worthwhile damaging abilities. Equally, Healing Hands will be the choice for a lot of Paladins who are looking to work in a more supportive role.
Rive
Rive is a triple melee attack, where the third attack in each chain deals damage in a circle around the player. Champion buffs the ability’s damage, and a point in Laceration tags as many mobs as possible with the affliction. The rest of the nodes cover general buffs, while Coup de Grace turns it into an execution below 15% health.
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Additionally, the build takes advantage of attack speed buffs, as it allows the character’s Javelin ability to scale accordingly.
Javelin
Javelin is the best ranged ability on offer to the Paladin. This build maximizes Go For The Legs, to take advantage of the Bleed. Mighty Delivery adds further Attack Speed to scale Javelin, while Serrated Javelin and Horde Spiker increase Armor Piercing and 30% Hit Damage per pierced enemy.
Monster Piercer adds 120% damage to high-health enemies. This is particularly useful because Javelin is a great ability to use when starting engagements with the enemy.
Holy Aura
Our Holy Aura tree leverages four points in Vital Boon for increased health regeneration. Call To Arms buffs damage by 50%. Demoralizing Aura has a 50% proc chance to slow the enemy, which is highly useful in tight spots.
Fanaticism and Strength From Afar are great complimentary ability nodes for Javelin, allowing it to scale further and output more throwing damage.
Judgement
Judgement and the subsequent Consecrated Ground are the most impactful Skills available to the Paladin. To maximize its effectiveness, the build uses Destructive Impact to provide healing in a significantly larger area when Consecrated Ground procs.
This is furthered by the addition of Holy Eruption, which deals extra damage when Consecrated Ground ends. The bottom tree is built towards Proclamation, which provides 100% extra damage and 100% stun chance when casting Judgement.
Sigils of Hope
Sigils of Hope is perfect for outputting area damage and healing yourself and allies in the process. Empowering Sigils grants 25% bonus damage per sigil, and Last Wish gives a 6% chance of summoning another sigil each time the Paladin gets a kill.
The other nodes in the tree largely buff its healing capacity and mana efficiency. The other big choice is Exigency, which turns Judgement into an instant cast.
Paladin gear and stat priority guide
In terms of gear selection, Volcanus stands out as the most effective unique on offer to the Paladin at the time of writing. It grants a ridiculous +90 melee damage implicitly, and it has a 10% chance to cast Magma Shards. This is further buffed by the additional damage bonuses it offers and a 7% health leech.
In terms of stat priorities, Paladins should build as follows:
- Increasing Health is a priority, particularly in Helmet, Torso and Waist slots.
- Block Chance and Critical Strike Chance are also a very high priority.
- Physical Damage increases are important.
- Attack Speed is a nice secondary focus for Javelin scaling.
That’s our complete guide on how to build a highly effective Paladin in Last Epoch.