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The Paladin is the holy, magic-focused protector Mastery class for the Sentinel inLast Epoch. With its Mastery Skill Holy Aura, the Paladin protects and buffs himself and his allies, boosting their damage and defense, among other important stats.
Leveling as a Paladin can be tricky without the right build, as the defensive-focused playstyle can be hard to transition into an offensive one, especially for solo play. However, there are some very strong builds out there, like the one we’ll take a look at below that focuses on the Healing Hands skill.
This Paladin build is centered around theHealing Handsskill. The core of this skillheals nearby alliesand applies aheal-over-timeeffect. However, specializing in Healing Hands lets you upgrade it with theSearing Lightnode, which adds adamaging componentto the skill.
From there, you can go two ways with Healing Hands - melee or ranged. For this build, we’ll be using themelee version, but the ranged one is perfectly viable, it just requires a different skill setup.
The two core nodes to make Healing Hands function as your main damaging skill areCleric’s HammerandSeraph Blade. At four points, Cleric’s Hammer gives you a100 percent chance to use Healing Hands when you use a melee attack, while Seraph Bladeturns Healing Hands into a melee attack, allowing it toscale based on melee damageinstead of spell damage.
With that in mind, the general gameplay of this build istanky and melee-oriented, using Void Cleave to dash between groups of enemies and mow them down with Rive and Healing Hands. Overall, this build is very easy to play, requiring only one button for attacking, and one for traversal.
Skills And Passives
As mentioned above, the core skill of this build isHealing Hands. When upgrading this skill, first max out Cleric’s Hammer so that Healing Hands has a 100 percent chance to trigger on a melee attack, then make your way to the Seraph Blade node. From there, grabDivine Barrier, Synthesis of Light, and Guardian’s Heartfor generating Ward on the left side of the tree.
Riveshould be your next focus, as this skill is used totrigger Healing Handswhile also dealing a bit of damage. In this skill tree, unlock theFoe Cleavernode as soon as possible, then focus on the right side of the tree and pick upChallenge, then make your way toward theDouble Slashnode.
TheScrap Metalnode turns the summoned Forged Weapons from Bound Weapon into a nice buff to Rive’s damage and armor.
For mobility, we are usingVoid Cleave. While you could replace this withLunge, Void Cleave lets youmove without needing a target, and it is also used totrigger Abyssal Echoesfor added damage.
In Void Cleave’s skill node, unlockGravity’s Edgeas soon as possible to allow Void Cleave to function as an actual Traversal skill, then get theHellish Chasmnode to turn it into fire damage. Then you’ll want to prioritize unlockingResonating Cleaveso that Void Cleave triggersAbyssal Echoes.
If you choose to use Lunge instead of Void Cleave,swap out Abyssal Echoes for Sigils of Hopefor a stacking fire damage buff.
Abyssal Echoesis only used for added damage when using Void Cleave, andisn’t actually cast on its own. Go for theVoid Purifiernode first to change Abyssal Echoes into fire damage, then scale up this damage from theVorpal ReverberationandEmbrace the Darknessnodes on the left side of the skill tree.
Finally, we haveHoly Aura. Upgrade theShelter from the Stormnode all the way for some nice Elemental Resistance, then boost the skill’s damage buffs through theFlame Burst, Fanaticism, and True Strikenodes.
Rive VS Vengeance
We are focusing on Rive for this build, but Vengeance is another option that can provide different effects.Rive has higher attack speed, allowing you to trigger Healing Hands more often, while Vengeance is preferred if youneed more defense.
If you’re playing Hardcore, you’ll probably have better results in terms of survivability with Vengeance.
Passive Trees
For this build, we’ll be putting passive points into theSentinel, Void Knight, and Paladin passive trees. Before you unlock your Mastery, focus on putting points into theJuggernaut, Armour Clad, Valiant Charge, and Time and Faithnodes. Blademaster is also a great passive to put some points into.
Time and Faith is essential for maintaining constant Healing Hands uptime, so be sure to put five points into this node as soon as possible.
In the Paladin tree, focus on upgradingDefiance, Valor, Conviction, and Holy Iconto start. These nodes will provide a mix of defensive and offensive stats. Later on, upgrade theBlinding Light, Divine Essence, Reverence of Duality, and Light of Rahyehnodes for additional damage.
Finally, in the Void Knight tree, pick up theAbyssal Endurancenode for some extra Void Resistance,World Eaterfor life steal, andVoid Corruptionfor a decent boost to critical damage.
Important Stats And Uniques
The mostimportant statfor the Healing Hands Paladin build isHealing Effectiveness. TheBane of Evilnode in the Healing Hands skill tree allows this skill toscale its damage based on Healing Effectiveness, which doubles with its original intended purpose of increasing your healing. This means every percent of Healing Effectiveness greatly increases yoursurvivability and damage.
With that in mind, here are some of the main stats to look out for while upgrading your gear as you level.
Be sure to utilize crafting as you level up and get new pieces of gear. Shards with any of these stats, plus more general defensive or utility stats like health, mana, and armor, can be used to upgrade your gear for a bit of added power.
Uniques To Look Out For
Luckily, this build isn’t overly reliant on any particular Unique items, making it fairly easy to gear for. That said, there are a few Uniques that provide a decent increase to power, and should definitely be used if you get lucky enough to find one while leveling.
If you find anyRunes of Ascendence, be sure to use them onTwo-Handed Swordsfor a chance at rolling a Volcanus.
