So the Paladin in mod 22 isn't that different than the paladin in mod 21 really. It just takes some juggling and readjusting of stats based on the new enchantment system, new gear etc. But class play and priority stats stay the same as in the previous mod. Below I will show you guys how I managed to juggle my Paladin with the new enchants and you will see what has changed and what has stayed the same. Since it is still quite early in the mod, this build will be updated periodically when there is changes in gear that are of big significance, but right now it is how you see it below and heals all content including the new trial (The Crown of Keldegonn) without any issues. Item Level is much higher than before because of new artefacts and the changes in the enchant system therefore we have much more HP, which is very nice for higher healers survivability and the shields can get really juicy :)
The paladin healer is actually a shielder. As such you will rely on giving shields to your teammates rather than healing them. In essence, providing them with temp HP to take the big hits. That being said in a 10 man content such as CoK, ZCM and Tomm when you have a second healer being dc or sw do not expect to heal as much as them, because once again your role is to shield rather than heal.
Race and Ability Scores:
Race: For the healers, I love the Aasimar race and in mod 22 I continue to stick with my Aasimars. All my healers are Aasimar I just like that little extra 2% on power, OH, IH, Defense and HP. With race, bonus reworks there are other races that are good choices as well: such as Human (+1 to all ratings); Wood elf (+5% crit strike – a good choice for DC, which do not have crit strike in forte like OP and SW); Sun elf (more action point gain – which for healers is always so sweet), Dragonborn.
Ability Scores – WIS and CHA for all healers in the current mod (Mod 22, same as in Mod 21) – WIS because you do want that OH and CHA because you do want that forte – forte for all healers has their resource pool (divinity for OP and DC and soulweave for SW). On top of that another stat in forte that is really nice is crit severity for DC and crit strike for OP and SW. Third stat in forte is a defensive one – deflect severity for OP, deflect for DC and awareness for SW and as we already mentioned healers want higher survivability so investment in defensive stats is important.
Priority Stats, Gear, Buffs
Priority stats to focus on :
Offense: Power and OH > crit strike and crit severity
Defense: Defense and Awareness – preferably above 50%, as much HP as you can get from wherever u can get.
Healer roles get an extra 10% HP after combat rework and that is super sweet.
Stats shown are out of combat and with no buffs. Boots buff is proced but Arms and Rings not.
Buffs – flask of potency, rank 3 +1, Wild storm elixir, Squash soup or grand summer feast, or watermelon sorbet, Invocation blessing crit severity, Sambocade, Forger’s box.
Gear & Enchants:
Gear Options: Head : Rain catcher (VoS hc), goristo horns ( T1 avernus hunt) or if none of those you can always use something that gives equip on power like the Divine head gear piece or the Lionsguard obtainable from TIC, Redcap's Cap (VoS hc)
Chest : Ribcage; Forest Guardians restoration (VOS chest gives u more awareness, and tankiness); Raindrop Rainment (VoS hc miniboss drop – gives u more OH) or the Infernal Forged (more defense), Order's mercenary breastplate (comes form new seals) if u have issues capping power in rating is also a good option
Arms : Arms of the last resistance (T3 avernus hunt - +Power and Defense), Lionsguard (TIC - +power) or the divine ones that come from the blessed citadel forge, Crag Scaler Gauntlets or Wristguards of Precipitation (VoS hc)
Weapons : Lionhearts (come from TOMM), Celestials (ZCM), MasterWork. (Haven't tested the new weapons yet so can't say if I am recommending them or not for healers, there will be an update when I do)
Feet : Fairy Steps (VoS hc), Greaves of the Lightguard (T3 avernus hunt – if u miss power in rating), Boots of the Harald (T2 avernus hunt – makes u and party tankier giving u defense), Midnight Wispers (VoS hc – more defense and crit severity), Slips of the Rain (VoS hc)
Artifact set – Currently I am using the Undying Brooch set (+3% more power) - because from the newer IL set is the only one that has a kind of useful bonus for healers in Trials. For Dungeons especially in hc VoS I run Jewel of the North because there the reduced threat generation actually helps especially in the maze phase.
Other Options: Vistani set (if you are used to dealing damage with your at will to proc it great debuff for party), apocalypse dagger set, Tiamat's orb set, sparkling fey emblem set.
Secondary artefacts – Journals if available, dragon heart set great option too since paladins have 2 encounters on cooldown so you get faster recharge speed. Or just go for debuffs like Halaster’s blast sceptre, charm of the serpent, wyvern coated venom knives etc. Or the new artefacts Repurposed Phylactery, Mythallar Fragment, Demogorgon's Reach, Newerwinter standard and jewel of the north (great for IL Boost and more HP). However as a healer, you should have a variety of buff/debuff mitigation artis to help your party!!! You are support!!!
Rings: The new VoS rings are great – Red eyes glare (+Power equip and critical severity in stat) and Grove’s crystal tears (+OH in rating stat and +5% crit strike on equip bonus as a paladin u can still keep that ring proced all the time!!!), and the Queen’s golden skyring (+power/crit sev vs single enemy – awesome for tomm/zcm). Other good options are the Golden rings of the herald, striking ring of the master or veteran (tomm/AH).
Shirt -Tainted Shirt of the Dragon Cult (Dragonborn Vale) - +5% OH, Many good options the new shirts from the seals of the wild, T3 avernus shirts, BHE sharandar shirts, VoS hc shirts and if none of those possible Haralds and Infernal forged still good options and decent IL.
Pants – Same as the shirt.
Echants:
Currently I am using 2 Cobalts and 2 Garnets in offence, 2 Amethyst, 1 Garnet and 1 Cobalt in defence, Jade in Utility for OH, Action Bonus as a bonus enchant because more dailies are always good and Flash Freeze As Armor Enchant - u get the -10% less damage and it helps with debuff for the party.
However, it all depends on how your stats look so just choose enchants in a way to keep them balanced. This combination currently works for me.
Companions and Companion Equip:
Sooo With the changes in enchants we only have 1 type of companion runestone which allows us to use both augments and strikers if we wanted to since it gives summoned strikers +150% more damage and summoned augments 7.5k in the rations of their 3 augmentation stats. Sooo back to an olden goldie for the healers as summoned companion - the Polar bear cub - with the new enhancement it will give u 7.5k in ratings for power, crit strike and awareness all such useful stats for healers. :)
I'm not running the golden bulette pup anymore because it will give 22.5k OH in rating and that overcaps me with over 15k in OH rating so no point to waste stats.
Spined Devil, Succubus, Drizzt if available still great to run for debuffs and buffs, if you can cap your stats without an augment :)
Active Companion Bonuses : (ACB) : Golden Bulette pup’s presence (that juicy expensive OH paid with blood and tears), Quicklings wisdom – OH and crit chance, polar bear cub (OH, Defense), Alpha compy and Deep crow hatchling – for power. Other combinations are possible also such as the neverember guard (OH, awareness) instead of the golden bulette or the black dragon Ioun stone, Fawn of Shalia,
Companion Gear:
Currently running the Companion gear from sharandar with the 1350 IL.
1x crit severity & awareness, 1x crit strike & defense, 1x crit strike & awareness
Boons:
Mounts, Insignia bonuses, Collars :
Active Mount Power : Remifire Salamander, Swarm, King of Spines, Armored Griffon, Eclipse Lion, Armored Bulette – basically anything that gives damage mitigation or debuffs the bosses.
Passives : You can go with whatever stat you are missing in rating, I am currently using Runic Aura (+power &def for party), Quick Action for faster AP gain is also a good option, Stalwart, Ferocious predator etc.
Collars and insignia bonuses : On OP I use OH collar (obvious choice for all healers), crit severity (because OP doesn’t have crit sev in forte and I do not have ribcage on my OP) can be substituted with AP gain, movement speed, encounter powers and gold gain ( this one mainly for the IL doesn’t matter much either way)
Insignias: I use almost all fortitude on OP because I like my OP tanky only 2 are dominance, but if you are missing stats in ratings insignias are a great place to tweak those in by using a mix of different ones.
You can substitute Artificier’s persuasion and Cavalry’s warning for magistrate's patience insignia bonus and protector's camaraderie, but since those are the insignias I have right now I use those two bonuses.
Powers and Feats :
For most content u are gonna use circle of divinity (encounter) and sacred weapon (encounter) in order to regenerate divinity that will allow you to cast divine shelter (encounter) a lot keeping shields on the party up all the time.
At wills are cure wounds (not amazing but u can use it for quick heal on dps when in range) and valorous strike. The tab mark is your biggest solo shield and heal so normaly it is good to be on the tank ( later on when u are skilled u can easy and fast swap it from person to person depending on when it is needed.)
Dailies – Shield of Faith/Sanctuary or in 5 man content u can use lay on hands instead of Sanctuary to burst heal a member with low HP.
Class features : Composure and Aura of restoration
Feats –
Critical touch;
Prayer of opportunity (amazing making your marks free to cast), but Battle focus is also good to restore divinity if you are used to doing damage with your at will; (I have builds with both and I swap them around depending on the party/situation/content)
Enduring Spirit;
Divine Intervention; - However for specific contents and specific groups Convalescence can be very useful but that is in very specific situations and groups.
Emissary of warding;
Basic Rotation The basic rotation I do normally is divine shelter to cast shields on all party, followed by tab shield on marked member then rotating of sacred weapon and circle of divinity to regenerate divinity so u can keep casting divine shelter and the tab shield. Knowing the ranges of both divine shelter and mark tab is important so u can watch your moments and also do not waste them if your party members are not in range. Dailies normally are saved for some heavy-hitting mechanics like the cocoon in Lomm, the hypos/Superstorm/Heatwave (tomm), White noises (ZCM etc.) so they require strategical use.
If there are any questions about this or any of my other healer’s builds feel free to ask in-game @sunshinedawn#4492 or on discord @Sunshinedawn#8895
GLHF,
All the best,
Kali
