Introduction


The Dragon King Paladin is a hybrid paladin combining the best aspects of the smiter and the auradin, sometimes called firesmiter or aurasmiter. To my knowledge a working fire aura smiter hasn't been previously viable. The name comes from my own nerdiness. I've been playing auradins for a very long time and I know all the ins and outs of this style of playing. At first the auradin build was a very fun build for me and would absolutely demolish casters but there was a huge flaw in dealing with many close range characters like smiters, barbarians and telestomping hammerdins. I have tried many of the different possiblities of this build and have come up with an extremely effective hybrid I like to call the Dragon King paladin. The meaning behind this name comes from the use of the Crown of Ages in combination with the Dragon runewords that spawn hydras on striking giving the illusion of commanding an army of muti headed dragons. This build combines the pros of the smiter paladin and the auradin and attempts to limit the cons of both. With a simple switch of gear you can achieve max smite damage and with another switch you can have a very effective holy fire aura, and with a combination of this gear you can have an all purpose hybrid build achieving a happy medium between these useful assets. The best piece of advice I can give is to play both a smiter and an auradin before you try this hybrid, because it will give you a much easier time learning the style.




The Stats

Stats are usually pretty obvious when building almost any build. Max block is always useful in my opinion, although you can choose to go without max block but I wouldn't advise it. Strength is pretty much useless if you can equip all your gear and you're not making a glass cannon charger. Mana is useless unless you're an es sorc. The stats should look something like this.

Strength: None. If you can't afford good enough +stat gear to equip everything I would say don't go for hybrid builds at the moment. With the gear I outline, you should have enough strength to equip the Crown of Ages without compromising any life.

Dexterity: Put the bare minimum to achieve max block.

Vitality: After you got max block put the rest in here.

Energy: None. Mana potions should be enough.




The Skills

This is one of the most unique parts of this build. It is subject to a bit of personal preference however, I think I've got the most useful skill allocation for this build. First we should look at it from the perspective of the smiter and then the perspective of an auradin.


Smiter Skills:

Smite: Max
Holy Sheild: Max
Fanaticism: Max

These are the only skills that benefit your main attack, smite. I would recommend to max these three. With these skills maxed you should be able to stand up to any other smiter depending on whatever gear you're using. Some people might say that only a fanaticism level of 27 is necessary but I say the more damage the better, so max these skills.


Auradin Skills:

Resist Fire: Max
Conviction: Everything after prerequisites and other maxed skills. Level 20 is realistic.

Many auradin players don't realize the flaw in their build at this point. A good average damage can be achieved without even maxing all the synergies. Considering that, maxing these synergies and building a whole character around it is almost suicidal. Max resist fire, put 1 point in salvation and all of the other resistance auras and then put the rest into conviction. At level 25 conviction reaches it's highest potential but it's only achievable at level 97-99 so I think level 20 is okay to shoot for, which can be reached around 90-92.


Other secondary skills:

Resist Lightning: 1 point
Resist Cold: 1 point
Salvation: 1 point
Charge: 1 point
Prerequisites: 1 point obviously

Resist Lightning and Cold are very useful when you need the extra resistance. Salvation only needs one point because the damage boost that it gives to your aura isn't enough to be necessary. Charge is one of the best and overpowered skills that a paladin has so it's an obvious 1 pointer. After considering all this there isn't really alot of room for extra stuff because it's a hybrid build.




Gear:


This is also a very unique part of the build. There are three main builds each with different functions.

Here's a list of all the gear you'll probably need for all three of these main functions and a possible fourth tele smite build. This is enough gear for atleast 2 or 3 whole seperate characters so it costs a pretty penny. There's three main setups.

Helms: CoA, Ber'd Shako, Kiras, 20 FCR Pally skill hat
Armors: Dragon, Enigma. Type doesn't really matter as long as you can wear it
Weapons: Grief pb or ba, Hand of Justice pb or ba
Sheilds: Dragon Sacred Targe, Ber'd Herald of Zakarum, Spirit Sacred Targe.
Belts: Dungos, Arach
Gloves: 20 Ias Gloves with Stats and res
Boots: Waterwalks, res/str/dex/frw/fhr boots
Rings: One Raven, one Bul Kathos
Amulet: Either Maras or some godly rare ammy like Armageddon Slippers.
Inventory: Torch, anni and either Pcomb lifers or 20 lifers. I prefer a mix of both.


The "Dragon King" or Hybrid build:



This is going to be an all purpose setup that you can use in most pubs and and is the most effective against hammerdins, druids, and barbarians in my opinion. This is the build I prefer to use most of the time. The aura damage is very minimal but does instigate mistakes and hydras on striking helps alot against druids and barbarians but I'll get into that later.

Helm: "Ber, Ber" Crown of Ages. This gives good Damage reduction which helps alot in pubs

Armor: Dragon armor. This gives holy fire aura which is important to this build. Type doesn't matter too much, just make a logical choice.

Sheild: Dragon Sacred Targe. Preferably with 45 all resistances.

Weapon: Grief Berserker Axe or Phase Blade. This gives a massive smite bonus and there isn't really another choice. I chose the Berserker Axe because of the range against Barbarians. (the pic is different because pb is sexier)

Belt: Dungos. This belt helps alot with life and damage reduction. With Coa you'll have about 45 damage reduction which is almost at the 50 DR cap.

Gloves: I chose 20 Ias gloves with Strength Dexterity and resistance on them. This helps you to hit the increased attack speed breakpoint with the Berserker Axe.

Boots: This is probably the most variable part of the build. I've used everything from Waterwalks to Sandstorm Treks to Soul Spurs and they all work fine. Tri res dual stat boots probably work the best.

Rings: One Bul Kathos and one Raven are probably the best combination for this build.

Amulet: Maras is good, or if you can get something like Armageddon Slippers then go for those.


Auradin build:



The only thing you change for this build from the Dragon King build is switching Grief to a Hand of Justice phase blade or berserker axe. Also if you want to add Kira's and go a little more traditional that's fine too. This build gets really good aura damage even though you're not maxing all the synergies.


Smiter build and optional Telesmiter build:



This is a good build for smite vs. smite and anything else you might consider a smiter to be useful for. Mainly just a normal smiter setup.

Helm: Shako. This is pretty obvious. Skills life and mana and damage reduction. One of the best helms in the game.

Armor: Enigma. Also obvious, gives tele skills dr life. Best smite armor.

Sheild: Hoz. Best average damage and great bonuses. Consider using exile if you absolutely need to use tap as a crutch and suck at life and have a tiny tiny penis and care about winning way too much.

Boots: Waterwalks. These give a big life boost and in svs life is important.

Everything else is the same as the Dragon King build.


Also a fourth tele smiter build with tele smiter gear can be possible if you substitute a couple things in the smiter build. Switch the shako for a 20 fcr 2 pally hat, the Hoz for a spirit Sacred Targe and the Dungos for an arach. I actually really like this build against Bone Prisoning necromancers.


Strategy in Style:

This is the most unique area of the build. The style that you use to play requires switching auras and between charge and smite quite often. I'll show you what keys I use for this character but it's best to find something that works for you.

My keys:

Charge: "D"
Conviction: "F"

Smite: "C"
Fanaticism: "V"

Holy Freeze: "G"
Res Fire: "H"
Res Light: "X"
Res Cold: "B"

You might notice the resistance auras surrounding the rest of the more active keys. This is because I don't use the resistance auras nearly as much as the others but they're still easy to reach. I also try not to use them excessively because they might seem unfair and people accuse you of sorbing and whatnot. The main focus will be the use of the Charge, Smite, Conviction, Fanaticism and Holy Freeze keys.

Whenever you're charging around it would be beneficial to have Conviction on so your aura does a little more damage to opponents near you. Once you get in close try to switch to Smite and Fanaticism simultaneously. You have a high smite damage and hit the last ias breakpoint with fanaticism so the idea is to make use of that. Flash freezing opponents is a really useful technique to learn as well. Now I'll get into more specifics:



Strategies in dueling:


Paladins

Hammerdin
This is one of the most common and most annoying pvp characters of all time. I will never make a hammerdin because I think the blessed hammer attack is the lamest attack in the game even though it's very powerful. The Dragon King build is one of the most effective builds against the hammerdin in my opinion. The minimal damage aura pulse is EXTREMELY useful. The pulse usually doesn't make them switch to sorb or stack gear. Also the best part about the aura is that they can't desynch you very easily. The pulse goes off about once every two seconds so every two seconds you'll know where they are. The ONLY way they can kill you is if you make a mistake, which probably will happen alot at first. If they try to telestomp you, which many will try once they see that you can read their desynch, then all you have to do is charge south only an increment right before they land on you. This will put you in their blindspot and you can then smite them from your position. Usually you'll get one or two smites off before they realize what's happening and then they'll either tele or walk away and try to get you to follow them into their hammerfields, which you should not do. Just charge out. If they keep just trying to desynch you then just keep a good eye out for them and look at the best angles you can to maybe get a charge or smite in. One of the most fun characters to duel.

Smiter
I usually use my smite vs smite gear. The best way to go about beating a smiter is just playing like one. Use holy freeze and charge and the rest is based on your skill because your gear will be just like theirs.

FoHer
FoHers are a very cheap kind of build. I always use my Dragon King build on fohers and sometimes use kiras if I have to. The best way is to start out with resist lightning on to kind of absorb the first hit of foh. The next thing you do is freeze and charge/smite them down. This duel is usually over very quickly and whoever is left standing doesn't have alot of life left. Mostly a lucky duel for whoever wins.

V/T
This is always going to be a tough duel for any character as the V/T is one of the most flexible characters in the game. It mostly depends on skill against this. Vtpking (basically just charge smite with foh and freeze) with other V/ts is not as hard as it might seem however. It takes skill but I have taken on some of the top v/ts on east and gone head to head with them (I don't remember their names considering the fact that I haven't played in a while and they're probably different now). This doesn't have any real working strategy, but it's mostly skill and it's possible with well timed charges freezes and smites to beat alot of v/ts.

Fire Auradin
This is the most fun duel because this build is inherently superior to the cookie cutter fire auradin. I have gone undefeated against every auradin I've encountered. All you have to do is put your resist fire aura on, freeze and charge. If they try to contest you just smite them. Even your auradin build should be able to rape them if you turn on your resist fire aura. Day dreamers are tough if they're good but just treat them as a foher and you should be okay.

Light auradin
Most of these auradins use smite as well. Treat this like a V/T but with less damage reduction. It's good to keep resist lightning on. You can use any of your builds against them but Dragon King is the most useful.


Barbarians

Whirlwind
This is the only type of barbarian I'm going to cover because the other types are just self explanatory. Barbs are the main reason that I went on to make this build. The Dragon King build is most effective in my experience but you can use the auradin or smiter build too. The best thing to do is to try and get him to chase you. Once they try to tele on you or near you just smite as they pass through you. If they don't take the bait then what you can do is something I call the "sling shot" technique. Start out shift smiting with the barb namelocked. Then switch to charge/convict to get close and quickly switch back to shift smite/fanat before you reach him. The idea is to catch the barb while he's switching directions and get the most smites in. Also a well placed charge can catch him off guard as well. Something that is really benefitial in this duel is the ability to cast hydras on striking. The more smites you get in, the more the hydras spawn and they can sometimes catch the barb in a fhr lock and also twiddle his life down bit by bit. You can also always go with the tele smite strategy if you want.


Druid

Tornado Elemental Druids
This is one of the most fun duels. Usually it depends on how defensive the druid is, which many of them are very defensive. The technique I use is to charge around until the oak dies. Then I charge in and smite. This does not work 100% of the time especially against the better druids around. Wolves die pretty quick so if they're smart they'll use a bear. If they try to tele stomp you just smite them and usually you'll come out on top. The hydras help here alot since druid fhr frames suck. This can be a very long duel sometimes but don't get impatient unless you want to lose. If they're not max block usually you can charge them down pretty easily. I use the Dragon King build for this too.

Melee Druids
Just charge and smite. If you want to spend an extra point in zeal to have melee duels, be my guest. You shouldn't lost to these Druids in a regular duel.


Sorceress

Lightning
I usually keep res light on and just charge down and maybe smite if they look like they're gonna stay still. The Auradin build is probably best for all sorcs but you can use any build you think is best.

Fire
I usually keep res fire on for a little bit until I can get close. Again Auradin build is probably best but do what you want.

Cold
Charging up is usually the best way to avoid getting blizzed. Keep res cold on if you can. The Auradin build is best for this kind of sorc as well but use what works for you.


Amazon

Javazon
Just charge in and smite. Many fc zons don't even know it but you can't get hit by their farcast if you're in the middle of charging. Just charge on top of them and smite. It's the easiest way to own the annoying hacking fc zons. Sometimes you can just charge around with the auradin build and not even have to get close to win. Very easy duel.

Bowazon
Just charge and smite if you can. The auradin build makes things almost unfair against bowas.


Assasins

Trappers
I always use the auradin build to keep them on the offensive. Charging in usually does the trick against normal trappers.

WW and Hybrid Sins
Some Hybrid sins are the best and hardest to beat in the game. Most of them are not so tough. I always use the auradin build against hybrid sins. Your smite still does damage with this build so wait for them to try and chase you and when they're laying traps you can charge in and shift smite. It's a complicated duel but rely on your skill and find out what works best for you.


Necromancers

Bone
Bone necs are hard if they think that bone prison is gm against chars that don't tele. The best thing to do in my experience is tele smite and chain lock with the telesmite build. Chainlocking is a tough technique to get down but once you do it's really effective. If you want to use the auradin or Dragon King build that's fine too but it's mostly about skill and dodging spirits when it comes to that.

Poison
Nova necs are easy. Just use your auradin build and charge them down. If they run, your aura will hurt them too much. You won't die very much especially if you use Sandstorm Treks.


There you go, now you're ready to start raping. Yes, be a rapist. Yes you can glitch with this build and yes other glitchadins are extremely easy to sorb with this char. Just put on res fire, rising sun, dwarf and they heal you 100%.

What is your strategies vs Avengers?

Vengeance/Conviction Build (i know they are slow, but, mass dmg?
Using Charge/smite (CtC items)

I've never dueled an avenger... I would probably just smite them down.

I just went through the whole guide, and i appreciated it, pretty original one, and convincing.
But what about the inv ?

There's a second point, i currently have a Daydreamer ( with some itemlame stuff ^^ ) on eu, and i prefer it to your build.
I can also use a smite setup ( though i didn't put any point in fana, but that's still easy to put 1 ) with grief and so on, that works well vs barbs and some other chars.
The real weakness of my build ( imo ) is mostly the hammer with high stacked res ( because that's easy to stack res on a hdin ) and smites an vt's that use salva along with stacked res, which makes very hard for me to make some damage, and using my "smite setup" against them is stupid, i only got 1 smite 1 hs ( even though i use pcombs, and it helps ).
There are also ele druids, but your build is just a bit more effective than mine, as i can also charge them with grief and so on if needed.

The fact is that your build is, compared to mine, disadvantaged vs hammers, hybsins and bone necs. ( that's my opinion ^^ , vs these i'd rather use my daydreamer than your build )
but it's superior vs smite, vt's, and maybe barbs ( but not even sure, since i can use smite setup vs those aswell, and works very nice )
Vs the rest it's quite much the same. ( i mean, both builds stands equal chances in duel, as they're close )

So i'd say that the kind of aura you chose ( fire smiter -you- , or daydreamer -me- ) depends on the opponent you meet the more often, and on their ability to stack / abs.
But i really enjoyed your guide, and might try one day
i wish you were on eu so that i could have a look at your pally, or could you send me some screenies of stats, and the gear you use ?

e/ sticky worth if you add a part about inv

This post was edited by Dawn Of Victory on Jun 30 2008 02:29am

do u have base str ? seems impossible when u are using coa berber + dragon arm

but sounds like a good guide ^^

This post was edited by Deeben on Jun 30 2008 03:41am

Pala base str = 25
+5 mara ( or more if you use stats amu, but let's say mara is base )
+20 anni
+20 torch
+15 gloves ( may it be ias str dex, or draks )
+5 dragon rw (+0,375 per lvl, that is ~33 @ lvl 90 ) armor ( dusk / mp )
+5 dragon rw (+0,375 per lvl, that is ~33 @ lvl 90 ) shield ( st )
+15 sandstorm ( or any rare / old dupe boot with 1x str )
= 176 str
and coa needs 174 str when "ber ber"

so it's ok.
and in case you replace dragon by eni, it's the same, as eni gives many str points aswell when 90+

Not Bad

hehe just me thats noob I didnt knew that dragon gives str

One problem with this build is dragon has CTC hydra on strikin...so if u get into a situation where u can land multiple smites (like a hammerdin that tried to stomp u, hydra will interupt u and u would have lost that potential victory of laying 4-5 smites on him which would have killed him. :S ofc for fire auradins usually people dont asorb them unless u aura-stack with it so thats a good thing.
Lightning/smiter auradins = more effective smite wise cause no CTC will interupt u, but most people u fight will wear a tgod just for the somewat 10% stack and small integer absorb which negates any aura shock dam so ... well its up to the dueler.

When casted from attack , hydras don't interrupt smite...
and light aura are a very easy prey due to their extremly low dr.

This post was edited by Dawn Of Victory on Jun 30 2008 05:42am