D&D 4E Paladins - The first 4e class to fail

[Lord Sessadore]

Another very important note is that Lay on Hands is really a completely defender power; it's not really leadery at all. Basically you're rewriting what happened before and saying "no, I took that hit, not you". It's retroactive defending

 

[The Human Target]

I don't think the class is bad exactly.

I just don't like their mechanical implementation.

And I think the Paladin at-wills are lame.

Not so much weak as uninteresting.

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

I've played a human paladin and have encountered a couple of issues.

Basically the human extra at-will encourages a balanced str/cha split, while the human single stat bonus isn't really enough to counter the class MAD and certainly not for a balanced build.

If you take into account feat pre-reqs like 15 dex for HBO / shield spec. The ability points are spread extremely thin.

So here are my wish list of fixes:
1) Do something to mitigate the MAD.
2) Support full str and cha builds.
3) Do something about basic attacks being str based.

 

[DracoSuave]

Paladins are -way- better than Fighters at defending against undead or swarms, which come up a lot more than you'd think, as both have vulnerability against either radiant damage, or against close abilities (which DC qualifies as)

 

[Jack99]

A cha-based paladin works just fine. I know my tiefling paladin did, and so did the halfling paladin we had in beta. As a class, paladin does suffer from a few issues (MAD being one of them), but nothing that would make me label it as fail.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

hmmh... MAD for the paladin...

hasn´t that always been his problem?

there is a reason most paladins in any edition before dumped int and sometimes dexterity...

the only problematic thing is human paladins beeing peoblematic for their 3rd at will is ot that useful, but that could late be quite helpful if you consider multiclassing to fighter or something

 

[Cadfan]

Just go straight strength of straight charisma. Our charisma paladin is pretty amazing. Wrath of the Gods might be the best power in the whole game.

 

[Hejdun]

. . . If you take into account feat pre-reqs like 15 dex for HBO / shield spec. The ability points are spread extremely thin. . . .

Why would the paladin need either feat? HBO is rather lackluster to begin with, and not worth pouring points into Str and/or Dex just to get it. If you can't get 15 Dex for shield spec, you have probably spent points getting 15 Con for Plate spec. Maybe you miss out on +1 Reflex, but it's hardly a crippling disability.

 

[Mal Malenkirk]

Paladins are Defender with a minor in leader, just like Fighter are somewhat strikers and swordmage somewhat controllers. Their overall usefulness depends on the party make up but they are by no means failures. Even with the available powers at this point, they are a solid team member. A CHA paladin is also a pretty good social character.

As for stickiness, it is overrated. Sometime, the fighter is too sticky for his own good. The other classes need to take some hits too. A wizard that ends his day with 6 healing surge has essentially wasted a chunk of the party's ressource. In that sense, the Paladin's ability to lock down the toughest foe on the field is usually sufficient. You just have to get the squishier PC to man up a bit and realize they aren't that squishy.

 

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Does anyone have any experience with a Str Palladin?

For me, the only real weakness of the class is that the Cha option seems like a no-brainer compaired to the Str option...