Lost Ark’s Warriors are, admittedly, the simplest and easiest for players to pick up and immediately contribute to a fight.

Featuring above average survivability, damage output, and total potential health pool, the Warrior subclasses are key fixtures to standard dungeon raiding parties. While far from mobile, Warriors have the benefit of most NPC enemy hordes shambling toward the player by design, minimizing their greatest weakness by naturally closing distance.

In choosing the Paladin subclass, however, warriors gain a means of paying their good fortune forward to their allies in the form of support skills and AoE buffs.

Playstyle: The anchor

When together in a dungeon-crawling party, players will tend to orbit the Paladin, if a given team features one.

The large health pools and defensive abilities of Paladins make them ideal for grabbing the attention of passing enemies and tanking their aggression. As enemies advance on the Paladin, his allies will naturally join in on the fight around him, drawing them closer.

Accounting for this expected change in team playstyle, much of the Paladin’s skillset provides utility to any allies within his close range.

  • Wrath of God: AoE lightning strikes in a circle around the Paladin’s feet that can stagger nearby enemies, preventing them from attacking teammatesHoly Explosion: Long-range, easy-to-position AoE blast that serves the same stagger purpose of Wrath of God, albeit to broader areasHoly Protection: Adds a temporary 11% health bar buff to both the user and all teammates within range

Priorities and piety

Beside the variety of support options present in the Paladin’s kit, what sets him apart from the other two Warrior classes is the inclusion of the Piety Meter.

While the Paladin deals damage in combat, piety is added to the HUD’s central orb. Once this meter is full, the Paladin can use one of two types of skills to buff either himself or his allies to suit the needs of the situation.

  • Sacred Executioner: Adds attack range and damage to the Paladin only, and is best used when playing solo or with teams that lack substantial damage-dealersHoly Aura: Adds damage to nearby allies’ attacks, padding the output of DPS-heavy teams that can manage to cooperate and play around each other