4th Edition made a great Paladin...

[Cirex]

One of my players really wanted to play a paladin (dwarven or dragonborn) but he wasn't sure about where to place stats. He wanted to try strength/wisdom as main, but we checked a few powers, and charisma was still important...

I couldn't help him much, so he went for a Dwarven warrior. The paladin will have to wait for a while.

 

[Mercule]

I have to say the paladin is one of my favorites also. Played a warlord last night, and was not impressed with it, for some reason, I think I will switch back to the paladin for a bit more punch.

I'm actually really interested in the warlord. Without having played one, I can't say for sure, but I think a lot of the issues people are having with it stem from the fact that the warlord isn't really as geared toward doing stuff as it is toward helping others do stuff. I think the people who stand to enjoy the warlord most are either the tactically-minded or those rare folk who actually enjoy the medic and buff cleric. If you like being the guy on the front line and in the spotlight, play a defender. Or maybe a striker.

Which brings us back to paladin and how shiny they are.

 

[Trickstergod]

I'm actually really interested in the warlord. Without having played one, I can't say for sure, but I think a lot of the issues people are having with it stem from the fact that the warlord isn't really as geared toward doing stuff as it is toward helping others do stuff. I think the people who stand to enjoy the warlord most are either the tactically-minded or those rare folk who actually enjoy the medic and buff cleric. If you like being the guy on the front line and in the spotlight, play a defender. Or maybe a striker.

As I'm playing a Warlord right now in my 4th edition game, I have to say it's very satisfying. One of the highlights of last game was the whole party feeling pretty sure our Ranger was about to die - up until I charged one of the minions that just came bursting out, then followed by getting the Ranger up with Inspiring Word and finishing by giving him a move action thanks to Knight Move, thus getting his fat out of the proverbial frier it was in.

The healing is nice and all, but the class offers so much more. I've been very, very impressed by the class so far.

As for the paladin...it's a bit too supernatural for my tastes. The Divine Challenge feature was what turned me off on playing the paladin and over to playing the warlord. I preferred the class when it's only blatantly magical ability to start off was Laying on Hands (as it's one thing to do extra damage when you hit something, another thing entirely to do damage when you don't take a swing at all).

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I've had a player play a paladin in my campaign.

It's actually playable now with a "decent code" (meaning no code)! Their abilities are ... interesting, but I think, a tiny bit weaker than the fighter.

 

[Celtavian]

re

Strange. I would have thought their durability was much higher than the fighter. The fighter looks like a better damage dealer, but the Paladin looks like a better damage taker and more helpful for keeping the party alive.

Well, I'm doing a Cha/Wis dwarf paladin. On paper he looks like a beast that will be hard to kill. But I'll see if I actually like how the paladin plays Monday. Hopefully it's as fun as it seems like it will be.

I primarily want a guy that can dish decent damage, but for the most defends well as we are trying to play with a warlord as primary healer. None of us are sure how that will go.

 

[slwoyach]

I hate the new paladin. I dislike the image of them now being a traveling light show.

 

[Celtavian]

I hate the new paladin. I dislike the image of them now being a traveling light show.

Traveling light show? Seems there are quite a a few attacks that aren't radiant. That being said, radiant is a very effective form of damage.

 

[SSquirrel]

I have a Paladin I made to bring in as a 2nd character as we only have 3 players in our group. I won't get to bring him into the game until after our next session, but he's already looking very impressive. Our group should be level 9 by the time I bring him in and there are just a ton of great powers. For a Defender he sure has a lot of healing abilities It's kind of funny, b/c in 3rd Ed I hated the Paladin and didn't know why they didn't just make it a prestige class b/c it was just poorly done. 4th Ed definitely feels like the most playable Paladin ever in D&D.

ProfCirno>You know that LG is still in the game right? Paladins are more champions of their gods now and not all just LG. The Plethora of Paladins article from the 1E days had all the diametrically opposed Paladins listed in Dragon, so this isn't the first time to have non-LG Paladins (besides the CE Anti-Paladin).

 

[mach1.9pants]

I am DM NPCing a DBorn Pal (to make up party numbers) and she is pretty good. Int 5 so no helpful hints from this bimbo! I also went with a Str build which is definitely sub optimal, I didn't want my Pal doing all the talking...apart from Intimidate I reckon 2 thirds of the powers are Cha based or have Cha in it and a few levels of powers have all Cha based or no Str based powers. So I intend to multi into fighter (Pal of Kord so makes sense) and swap out the Cha powers only levels.
However a useful combatant and the minor healy bits have saved the bacon several times!

 

[Foxen]

I too enjoy the new Paladin. My favorite aspect, that she need not be Lawful Good (she's good, just not too lawful!). She also doesn't have to be this "shining" example of goodness all shiny golden and all. In fact, she's totally ragtag wearing an old torn dusty faded dress and all.

I went Wisdom high (STR 14, WIS 16, CHA 14 - rolled character versus point buy, Wisdom got the loving +2 from being human and 14s were my high rolls). The main reason why I chose Wisdom high versus Strength was...well, I thought I was getting into a "hostile" party.

My pally is durable because she gets 3x Lay on Hands a day. Between Bolstering Strike, Second Wind, and a back-up healing pot, she manages to stay up in most combats while soaking a lot of hits. And although she's a bit hampered in combat (much lower "to-hit"), the extra lay on hand HELPS especially since the party is a bit hostile towards her... (she's the crazy maid or so they all think).

Heh.

Fox