Guide written by Greybeard on the DiabloII.Net Single Player Forums.
The paladin is not blessed with the passive skills, nor high hit points of the Barbarian, neither has he the Druids pets and shape shifting, which also gives the ww or wb insanely high hit points.
Please note that this is just a basic guide to help those who have not played a Paladin or those who need some basic information on the Paladin.
Also there is really no right or wrong way to play a Paladin, just the fun way. His main claim to fame is his naturally high blocking with a shield, and his overall "jack of all trades" skills-
So as is shown the Paladin has many things going for him, and his only weakness is his rather low hit points for a melee fighter, and depending on weapons used, he is comparatively weak in the damage department, when comparing him to a Barb, Assy or Druid ww/wb.
Strength this like most stats depends on the equipment/weapons used, generally around 110-150 is the amount to shoot for.
Dexterity Same applies here in general, more if using a bow, a average of 1.5 per level keeps you set.
Energy unless using FOH, or starved for mana to feed Vengence then keep this at base.
Vitality All the rest and everyone you can spare into Vitality, you can never have too much life.
Fanaticism (lvl 30) For most this is your big skill, adding not only damage, but also attack speed, and AR, without a doubt “the” skill of the Paladin. No other skill of his does so much.
Conviction (lvl 30) Also one of the main skills of the Pally, it reduces, when maxed, monster defense by a huge amount, thereby allowing you to hit with a very high success rate, and in effect increasing the damage of your weapon.. This skill also reduces monsters resistances by a whooping -125% when maxed, a great “hell” skill,
Holy Freeze (lvl 18) This is a great one, and also the Pallys only crowd control skill. By slvl 18 you will cover a screens worth of area, slowing most all monsters by over half. This means less hits taken, and in turn more given. This in many ways has to be one of the most all around useful skills the Pally has. Remember the last Holy Freeze enhanced monster you tried, oh,so slowly to attack?
Holy Shock (lvl 24) One of the Pallys elemental damage skills this one is pure lighting damage, It deals a good amount to your weapon, allowing you to use any weapon and get a good amount of lighting damage.It also periodically gives a pulse of lightning damage to surrounding monsters. The downside is Lighting immune monsters also its 3 second delay, making it hard to flash with other auras..
Holy Shield (lvl 24) This skill augments the Pallys chance to block and the DR rating on his shield.
By using this skill you can easily maintain a 75% chance to block, regardless of the shield you are using base chance to block, requiring less points into dex to maintain maxed blocking.
Vengence (lvl 24) For many this is their "Hell PI" killer, dealing huge amounts of cold, lightning and fire damage, while using huge amounts of mana.
This skill is usally prefered over Holy Shock since it does deal 3 elemental damages vrs just Lightning for HS. You will need some serious mana recovery and steal to fuel this skill when maxed, use Meditation or Redemption skills to help keep this one going.
Cleansing (lvl 12) Reduces the length of Poison and Curse duration, very useful with only one point for the strong poison and curses especially in nm and hell mode.
Salvation (lvl 30) At slvl 1 provides 60% resist all (except poison), also good to counteract Conviction enhanced monsters.
Vigor (lvl 18) Gives Pally extra run speed and stamina boost, a good skill if not wearing fast run boots, or if you just like to “turbo” around.
Zeal (lvl 12) probally the most used of all the Pallys skills generally 3-5 points is all you need, certainly no more than 5 unless playing a AR short build.
Smite (lvl 1) Some use this skill alot as a "Smiter" it can make a handly utility skill in the early game, for some pretty good damage, unless playing a Smiter one point only.
Charge (lvl 12) Another skill that is used by some know as a Charger or Chargeadin, if not playing that build one point as a pre for Holy Shield. Charge can make a useful utility skill without maxing it, use it for mainly single stationary targets dealing high damage and a knockback, this skill has the highest damage of any of the Pally skills, but is also a very limited skill overall.
Redemption (lvl 30) A great one point skill for filling your heath and or mana for corspes, this skill increases in chance to redeem and the speed at which it does redeem with each point added to it. A great skill mainly for those using a mana intense skill such as Charge, Vengence, Fist Of Heavens, etc, for health refills potions are aplenty in the game and cold damage takes care of alot of corspes. If you get Vigor its worth one more point to get this skill.
Meditation (lvl 24) Another mana filler upper, one point in this skill will replentish your mana at a rate of 300%, faster than a Sorcys skill Warmth at slvl 22!
If you don't get Redemption this is a very handy skill to have.
Sanctuary (lvl 24) The undead killer this skill is soley for killing the undead, doing knockback and damage, not the most useful unless you are playing as a "Undead Hunter" variant. One little known benifit of this skill is that you can leech life off skellys with this skill, the only one you can.
Concentration (lvl 18) This one carries you to lvl 30) when Fananticism becomes available, Concentration is good only for Party play as it has a much larger radius and gives other player full damage. One point only since you will be getting Fananticism, if for some reason you like this skill better (why?) then go with it.
Fist Of Heavens (lvl 30) A skill that on paper looks very good and very effective, when neither are really true. First off is the huge mana cost, 25 per cast, that is one cast only, you need some serious mana recovery and +mana gear to keep this one going enough to be used as a main skill. It also has a 1 second timer on it. It deals lightning damage and is auto targeting, the intital strike hits one target but the holy bolts from it hit surrounding monsters. Its a fun skill but not overly effective unless playing a "Fister".
Thats it for the main skills.
I won't go into all the uniques or hardly any of them since they can be read about in many areas, and many of you already know them, I will cover some good runewored equipment you can make and also some good Uniques and set items that can be used.
Runeword Steel clvl 13 makes for a cheap and very effective early game weapon, using two common runes, Tir and El, works good in Scepters and Swords.
Runeword Kings Grace clvl 25 a excellant weapon maker using 3 sockets with Amn, Ral and Thul runes, this makes a very good weapon with a Scepter or sword, better than many uniques.
Runeword Strength clvl 25 another good one although in my opinion not as good as Kings Grace, you only need 2 sockets to make this one, it needs Amn and Tir runes.
Lightsabre I think most everyone has at least heard of this, a fine weapon in anyones book.
Baranars Star Another legendary weapon, I like to call it "Vengence on a stick" since it deals huge amounts of elemental damage, and a good amount of physcial damage, along with a huge AR boost. This one can make Vengence and Holy Shock obsolete in Hell mode saving you alot of skill points.
Butchers Pupil Another great hard hitting weapon, with high chance for deadly strike, chanhce for open wounds, great speed and indestructable, this one can get you all the way thru Hell. Use it at clvl 39.
This is a huge area to cover so I will just list some of the better lower, middle and late game Unique and Set gear that is good for a Pally to have and use.
Acrtic Furs great starter armor with +10% resist all clvl 3 you can use it.
Greyform another low level armor, fire resists and life steal make for some good clvl 7 armor.
Iceblink My favorite armor and great for most any mid-game Pally build, its really hard to beat "hit freezes target", makes the monsters like statues while you take your time and slice through them, simply great. You can use this at cvl 22 which makes it all the better.
Shaftstop A armor made for a melee fighter like the Paladin, with its + 60 to life and 30% physcial damage reduction, it is hard to beat for a melee fighter, you can use this at clvl 38, and it can be used all the way through, especially when socketed with a reist all jewel or a UM rune.
Guardian Angel If you need extra blocking speed then this armor will give you a 20% faster speed, along with higher max resists, which help alot if your resists are already maxed, also the +1 to all Paladin skills make this hard to beat. Req clvl- 45
Griswalds "Set" armor Another good one with huge defense, 3 sockets and +2 to Paladin Defensive skills, great when you need to customize your resists, or add a ED jewel, or even a Sheal rune for Hit Recovery. Use this at clvl 45 also.
Lionheart This is some great runeworded armor you can make with some fairly easy to get runes, and in return get some great armor, just try to find the highest defense rated armor with 3 sockets you can find. Remember 'grey' armor only for runewords.
Duriels Shell Great armor best mod is the "can't be frozen" also good resists, makes excellant merc armor, lvl 41
Bloodfist A much overlooked low level set that has very good mods on them, +8 min damage, 30% faster hit recovery, + 40 to life, 10% ias, all avialble to use at clvl 9!
Lava Gout 20% ias, fire damage, chance to cast enchant, makes for very good gloves.
Magnus Skin a good set item pair of gloves with a great ar boost and 20% ias and fire resists.
Laying Of Hands Probably some of the best gloves you can use, yet not hard to get, a set item they give you - +350% damage to Demons, 20% ias, 50% fire resist, these are very hard to beat for Hell, simply great gloves. Use em at clvl 63, a little high but worth the wait.
String Of Ears Great belt with damage reduction by %, life steal, magic damage reduction, all make for a good melee fighter belt, use at clvl 29
Thundergods Vigor This is imo, the best overall belt in the game, with Lightning absorb ( a real life saver), lightning damage, huge strength and life boost, lightning resists, this is simply a great belt and Hell mode belt, since lightning damage is so powerfull in this game. Put this one on at clvl 47.
Goblin Toe Interesting boots in that they really only have one great thing going and that is the 25% chance to cast crushing blow, which that alone makes these worth wearing at cvl 22 for that mod alone.
Sanders Ripraps A set pair of boots with some good mods on them such as dex boost, ar boost and 40% faster run, a great pair of lower level boots, easy to find, put them on at clvl 20
Infernostrides Great boots, extra gold, 20% faster run, fire damage and resists, will work well in Hell mode. Clvl 29
Goreriders My favorites, with super mods such as chance to cast-crushing blow, deadly strike, and open wounds, these will certainly help your damage output, not to mention the 30% faster run. These you need to slip on at clvl 47, you can keep them on all through the game.
There are a ton of different shields a Pally can use, I will just go over a few, try to get a shield with-
Pelta Lunata A low level shield with some very good stats, fast block, high chance to block, bonus to stats, it only lacks resists, but at this low of a level resists are not a major issue, blocking is, put this to use at only clvl 3.
Steelclash A lower level unique Pally shield,usually called a HOZ "light", giving 20% resist all and +1 to all Pally skills a great lower level shield, use this at clvl 16.
Any 2 socket shield can be made into a great one using the runeword Rhyme, which takes Shael and Eth runes, its best to find a Pally shield which usually will already have some reists on it, also some can be found with ED mod on them, equip this great and cheap shield at lvl 29.
Herald Of Zakarum or HOZ for short This is overall the best Pally shield you can get, pretty hard to get ahold of but well worth it, the list of mods is a page long but some of the better are: +2 to all Pally skills, +2 to all Combat skills, All resists +50%, 75% block rate, very fast block speed
There is really nothing this shield is lacking in what you would want or need, use it at lvl 40.
There are several great helms to choose from so I will list just a few.
Duskdeep A great helm with +8 to max damage, 15% to all resists and a good defense rating all at lvl 17, excellant for a merc also.
Lore Another good runeword you can make with any 2 socket helm using Ort and Sol runes, it gives you +1 all skills, +2 mana per kill, +30% lightning resist, damage reduction, a really nice helm as good as many Unique ones, use it at lvl 25.
Rockstopper Great for PDR, which varies on each one, good resists, high defense all at lvl 31
Vampire Gaze Imo this is about as good as it gets for a helm: Dual leech, MDR, PDR, High Defense
If you can get one you have a very good helm that can take you all the way through the game, put it on at lvl 41, which imo, is a low clvl for such a awesome helm.
Guillaumes Face This is a set item and what a great helm, if you need some extra damage this one gives it with: Chance of Deady strike, Chance of crushing blow, 30% faster hit recovery, +15 str
All this in a set item its part of the Orphans Call set as are the Magnus skin gloves mentioned before, should be fairly easy to find or trade for, all this at lvl 34. It lacks resists but a UM or resist all jewel will make this a real helper.
Tal Rashas Death Mask Another set item with very high dual leech, large + life bonus, and 15% resist all, the only drawback is the overally high requirement of clvl 66 before you can use it, also perfect for a merc.
Blackhorns Face A great helm to help with those nasty LE and MSLEs it has a great 20% lightning absorb, 15% lightning resist, slows monster speed down, large attacker takes damage mod all at lvl 41, makes also a perfect helper for your merc.
There are so many I will just mention a few of the better, useful ones.
Highlords Wraith Amulet This imo, is the best ammy a Pally can get, 20% IAS, lighting resist, lightning damage, +1 all skills, hard to beat this one, you do have to wait quite awhile to use it, lvl 65.
Raven Frost ring The best mod for many on this is the "can't be frozen" it also gives a huge AR and Dex boost, absorbs cold and gives a nice mana boost as well. lvl 45.
Mandald Heal A great lower level ring which is the only one that still gives mana steal, which that alone makes it worth it, add in the + life and life regeneration all at lvl 16 and this is a very good one.
The Eye Of Etlich A great lower level ammy, with +1 to all skills, cold damage, and life steal this one can take you a long way through the game, use it at lvl 15.
Thats about it for equipment, one thing about a Paladin is he is so versatile that he can use so much equipment the game has to offer and do very well with most any of it.
These are just some basic tips when playing a Pally that will help you out.
Cold damage very important, as with other classes, to a melee fighter even a very small amount is all that is needed to freeze/slow/shatter monsters, almost a must have.
Holy Freeze there are some other good uses for this skill,mainly it can be used as a "early warning" have it on in dark creepy areas like the Durance Of Hate since it makes a sound when monsters come within its radius many times it will warn you of trouble ahead. It also cuts down on the speed of ranged attacks and magical spell attacks as well as lightning bolts, a very usefull skill to have.
Redempton When you have anywhere from 3-5 points in this skill and are in say act 2 where alot of Skellys are fight with this aura on, as you wade through the Skellys you will reclaim life and mana, a great way to "steal" life and mana back, very handy when Unravellers are casting hundreds of Skellys at you and you are running low on both life and mana. Also since most Skellys are fairly easy to kill you need not worry about having enough damage.
Salvation Will also steal life from the undead, mainly Skeletons are the main issue here, since you can't leech life usually from them, but with this skill you can.
Bows more useful than many think, a Pally is in fact very good with a bow and has two very good skills that compliment it- Fananticism and Conviction, with a high enough AR rating and Dex a bow on your weapons switch can be both very handy and very effective at killing. In Hell mode a socketed bow with elemental damage gems, jewels, or runes can take out PIs from afar keeping your Pally out of the fray and at a safe distance. Try to make sure to have some poison damage when using a bow it is very effective on all monsters other than those immune to it.
Some very good bows are Skystrike, Witchwild and Goldstrike Arch, my favorite and a very good bow.
Bows are also very useful in the Chaos Santuary, since the main worry is the IM curse the OB Knights cast, it won't affect ranged attacks, I use a bow most all the time in this area and have yet to die from IM.
Make sure to have some form of knockback if you use the bow alot, the last thing you want is to have monsters in your face when you have only a bow in your hands.
Either a Nef rune or some crafted KB gloves work well. I prefer the Nef since that way it frees up my glove spot for those other than KB, which is not good for a melee fighter.
I mentioned it in the armor section but it bears repeating here, Iceblink, imo some of the best melee armor you can use in normal and part of NM, it is really hard to beat its "freezes target" mod, hit any monster and they are frozen in place, waiting for you to kill them, also can be very funny to see say a Leaper caught in mid-leap.
Only downside is it loses its effectiveness by around clvl 55 or so, otherwise it would truly be a "Godly" set of armor.
Hit Recovery The Pally has the fastest HR of any class, but the optimal is around 30-35%, early game it is not so important, but as you get into NM and Hell many monsters are very hard hitting and having a high level of HR can save you if you get surrounded.
Increased Attack Speed Very important, even though the Pally has Fananticism and Zeal you can never have too much ias, try to get equipment that will give you a boost in this area, such as gloves, amulets such as Highlords Wraith, the most you can get from items is 20%.
Other than parts of Sigons and the Deaths set items which can give you 30%. As they say speed kills and the more the better.
With a very fast speed you mods such as Deadly Strike and Crushing blow will go of alot more than without it.
Thanks for reading. Hopefully you will find this helpful.