Class record

Shield Paladin

Defender / Support

Tier: 2
Difficulty: 2 / 5
Main role: Defender
Secondary role: Support

Rules reference

Class mechanics

Entry requirements and the complete level-by-level advancement path.

Entry

Requirements

Human, proficient with shields and medium or heavy armor.

Advancement

Progression

UnlockKey ability
Divine Weapon
Level 2Ability 1
Holy Shield
Level 3Skills
You gain +5 skill points to spend on any non crafting or gathering skill. You can exchange any skill point for 2 expertise points, but must spend them in these skills.
Level 4Ability 2
Aura of Protection
Level 5Heart
You gain +1 to Fitness, Awareness or Presence.
Level 6Ability 3
Divine Smite II
Level 7Soul
You gain +1 to Focus, Power or Toughness.
Level 8Ultimate ability
Lay on Hands

Identity & lore

Class overview

Paladins are powerful warriors who receive their powers from their god. Shield paladins are frontline defenders and healers who can keep their weaker allies safe.

Tactical guidance

Playing Shield Paladin

The shield paladin is a tank that focuses on blocking and temporary HP.

Through their Aura of Protection, they allow their allies to block against attacks even if their Block is normally too low to be usable. This does cost mana and it requires your ally to block, so communication with your allies is key.

With Holy Shield, you can convert AP into defense, gaining both a high Block potentially allowing you to block even heavy attacks and a decent check of temporary HP. You do give up damage by using too much AP on this, so it is not always the best option to dump all your AP into it.

Divine Smite is a more offensive way to gain temporary hit points. It does require landing the heavy attack, but it can be used both on yourself or an ally.

Shield paladins can also heal themselves or ally through their Lay on Hands ability. It's efficient both mana and AP wise, with the only drawback being that it only has a touch range. It does not provoke attacks of opportunity however, so you don't need to worry about disengaging from the fight before healing.

Class features

Abilities unlocked

Complete rules for every ability granted by Shield Paladin.

Key ability

Divine Weapon

Class feature

Benefit 1

When attacking with a weapon, you may choose to have the weapon deal the damage of your chosen Divine instead. You must declare your chosen damage type before making the accuracy roll.

Benefit 2

You may choose to have your weapon emit light as if it was a lantern. You can enable or disable this effect for 1 AP.

Ability

Holy Shield

1 AP

Range: Self
Keywords: Overcharge

Your gain Holy Shield, which gives your next Block action gains a +2 guard bonus (not doubled again). If you reduce the damage you take with your next Block action to 0, you gain 3 temporary HP.

Overcharge: You may spend up to 3 additional AP on this ability. Each extra AP spent increases the Guard bonus and temporary HP gained by 3.

Requirements

Must be using a shield.

Ability

Aura of Protection

1 AP

Range: Self
Keywords: Aura

You create a 30ft radius Aura of Protection around yourself. While this aura is active, when an ally within 30ft of you takes the Block action you may spend 1 Mana to replace their Block Value with your own. In addition, any abilities with the Aid keyword have their range increased by 20ft while inside the Aura.

Requirements

Ability

Divine Smite II

2 AP1 MP

Range: Melee Weapon Range
Keywords: Divine

You may make a Heavy Attack that deals Holy Damage against the target. On damage, you may give yourself or an ally within 30ft temporary HP equal your 5+Power until the end of the encounter.

Requirements

Ability

Lay on Hands

1 AP1 MP

Range: Touch
Keywords: Healing,Overcharge

You Heal the target for 4 + Power. Overcharge: You may spend an additional mana to remove a negative effect from the target. Injuries and Mortal Wounds cannot be removed with this.