OVERVIEW

The Paladins are the Knights of Sikkar, the Harbinger of Light (HELP
SIKKAR).  In return for their service, Paladins are given a mighty
shield (SHIELD HELP), through which they channel the power of Sikkar.
The shield grows in power as the Paladin gains honor.  The Paladin Guild
offers a wide variety of skills and spells that will be useful for many
different playing styles.  This document is designed to provide newbie
Paladins with some suggestions on how to get started, a brief overview
of the shield, and information on skills and spells. 

GETTING STARTED

Before you join:  Before joining the guild, you will want to make sure
your race has suitable attributes.  Paladins rely heavily on skills, so
a high skill max is very important.  Paladins also use spiritual magic,
so a high spiritual max is also recommended.  The Paladin shield, all
their spells, and some of their skills require them to be good aligned,
so a race that is penalized for being good is usually not a good choice.
It should be noted that ANY race CAN join Paladins, but unless you are
very familiar with RetroMud, it would be wise to begin with a race that
has the above characteristics.

Level 4-7:  During these levels, your best method to gain experience is
to explore (HELP EXPLORE, HELP EXPLORATION).  Since your ability to kill
things is very limited at first, exploration will give the experience
points you need to train skills, study spells, and advance in levels
(HELP TRAINING, HELP STUDYING, HELP ADVANCE).  Becoming an apprentice
and being taught by the masters in the guild can help you become a
better Paladin (HELP APPRENTICESHIP, HELP TEACH). Also, doing the level
quests can be very beneficial to someone who is just getting started
(HELP LEVEL QUEST).  

Level 8-10:  At this point, you will begin to be able to kill things
in some of the newbie areas.  There are several newbie areas close to
the guild where a Paladin can find evil creatures to kill, such as the
Fallen Fort, the Village of Chaplin, and the southern part of the Tool
Park.  Upon reaching level 9, you will be able to select a charge for
your shield (see the shield section of this document).  Once you go
past level 10, you will lose the ability to use the newbie transports
to go from planet to planet (HELP NEWBIE ADVANTAGES), so before you
advance, make sure you are familiar with each planet's method (HELP
INTERPLANETARY TRANSPORT).

Level 11-15:  Now you should be able to kill a variety of evil beings.
You should continue to explore, because it is safer to explore as a
newbie than it is at higher levels, but you can no longer get by on
exploration alone.  Gaining honor is even more important now, because
levels beyond 15 will require you to have built a suitable shield (HELP
GUILD DUES).  Before you advance to level 16, you should probably re-
read HELP NEWBIE ADVANTAGES, and make sure you are prepared for the
major differences between level 15 and 16.

Level 16-20:  At this point, you should have a pretty good idea of what
is going on.  Training is important, but it is up to you to decide how
well trained you want to be.  It is important to note, however, that no
one has ever been hurt from being too well trained, but many people can
attest to the dangers of not being trained enough.  During these levels,
you also need to make decisions about the secondary and tertiary guilds
that you wish to join (HELP SECONDARY GUILD, HELP TERTIARY GUILD, HELP
CHOICES, HELP PATHS).

Level 20+:  Once you have reached level 20 in the Paladin guild, you are
eligible to attempt to become champion, or run for leader or mentor.  As
you gain further adventurer levels, you will want to join secondary and
tertiary guilds.  As a Paladin, you can take levels in the following
guilds:  Confessor, Dragonslayer, Shih, Squire, Fighter, Sentinel, or
Templar.  It IS possible to join other guilds, but it will require the
use of a wish (HELP WISHES, HELP FULL WISHES).  It is important to note,
that the only way for a Paladin to gain access to a tertiary guild path
is to take a full 14 levels of a true secondary guild (such as Squire).
There are many tertiary paths, but one popular choice for Paladins is the
Hoplite path, which grants skills that improve your combat abilities with
the Shield of Faith.

THE SHIELD

Your shield is the only thing you can wield in your left hand, so you
should strive to make the shield as powerful as possible.  Remember,
when you kill evil creatures, you must 'lay corpse to rest' in order
to gain honor (NOTE: while laying a corpse to rest, you are paralyzed,
so be careful).  Corpseless evil creatures will add honor automatically,
as long as you are wielding your shield when they die.

At level 9, you will be able to choose the charge for your shield.  YOU
CAN ONLY DO THIS ONCE, so be sure to think carefully before deciding.
There are 29 different charges to choose from (HELP SHIELD CHARGES).
When it comes to selecting a charge, please remember that there is no
'best' charge.  The 'best' charge for you will depend greatly on your
race, playing style, and even the other guilds you plan on joining.  For
example, someone who is interested in role playing might choose a charge
just because the animal fits their character's profile.  Other players
might select a shield to make up for a disadvantage of their race, like
a Titan selecting the Pegasus charge to grant Disintegration resistance.

When it comes to sanctifying your shield (HELP SANCTIFY), there is no
'best' system for what to raise first.  You should work on the aspect of
your shield that would most benefit your character, based on your race
and playing style.  Most Paladins (but not all) choose to either focus on
weapon class (to make the shield a more effective weapon) or protection
(since protection is vital to survival, and at early levels, you don't
get many attacks with the shield).  One thing you probably do not want to
raise too fast is the special %, since the specials take honor each time
they go off.  A newbie who immediately tries to max out the special will
find it very difficult to make enough honor to power the shield.  Also,
an item's effective power is limited by your level (HELP LEVEL LIMITS).


SKILLS

This list shares some information about the guild's skills.  This is
just a quick reference guide, so to get the details about a particular
skill, see the help file on that ability.  No attempt has been made to
'rank' the skills in importance, since a skill's usefulness depends
greatly on your playing style.  It is up to you to decide what skills
are useful for you and which ones aren't.  Notations have been made for
skills that are affected by bulk (HELP BULK).  For details about the
skills, use: help skill .  The skills are broken down by
category, and are in the format: skill name (level) - description.

Passive skills are used automatically, and typically do not cost sp or
ep.  They do not need to be activated, although some of them will only
be used under certain conditions (riposte for example).

 Passive offense:
  Attack (1) - Helps you hit in combat.
  Broad Blade (1) - Extra damage with Broad Blades.
  Bludgeon (1) - Extra damage with Bludgeons.  
  Thin Blade (2) - Extra damage with Thin Blades.
  Polearm (3) - Extra damage with Polearms.  While using a polearm, you
    can not use your shield.
  Bashing (4) - Extra damage with shield. 
  Ancient (5) - Extra damage with Ancients.
  Double hit (8) - Chance to score a second hit with main weapon.
  Shield Ram (9) - Helps you hit with a shield.
  Ambidexterity (10) - Checks for hits with a weapon in your left hand,
    which in a Paladin's case, will be the Shield of Faith.
  Stun (15) - Potential to stun opponents in combat.
  Riposte (17) - Potential extra attack when using parry defense.
  Enhance Criticals (19) - Extra damage on critical hits. 
  Combat Riding (20) - Helps fighting while mounted.  
  Whirlwind Attack (20) - Potential third hit with main weapon. 

 Passive defense:
  Strong Grip (16) - This helps prevent you from dropping your weapon
    in combat.
  Stunned Maneuvers (18) - Helps you break out of stuns.
  Steady footing (19) - Resist being knocked down when using parry.
  Determination (20) - Resist being interrupted while casting spells or
    using skills. 
  Formation Square (20) - Party Formation.  *NOT CURRENTLY FUNCTIONAL*

 Passive miscellaneous:
  Swim (4) - Helps prevent drowning.  Warning:  This skill is HIGHLY
    affected by bulk.  It is very difficult to swim in bulky armor. 
  Spirit Eye (4) - Shows the number of rounds until the casting of a
    spiritual spell is complete.
  Mana Blessing (6) - Reduces sp cost of failed spells.
  Psalms (9) - Reduces casting time of spells.
  Celestial Tongue (9) - This lets you understand the celestial tongue.
  Heraldry (14) - Lowers odds of mob attacking when you are wielded.
  Piety (14) - Reduce casting time of spells.  

Active skills require you to use (HELP USE) them.  They often cost ep
or sp, and occasionally may take hp.

 Active offense:
  Holy Strike (9) - Damage skill.  Target must be evil.
  Bash (13) - Damage skill.  If it knocks the target down, it can
    interrupt spellcasting.
  Charge (19) - Mounted attack.

 Active defense:
  Parry (17) - Defensive style.  You must be using your shield to use.  
  Fearlessness (12) - Prevents panic and fleeing. 

 Active healing:
  First Aid (2) - Revive unconscious players and heals some hp.  It is
    affected by bulk.  
  Lay on Hands (14) - Target can not be evil.

 Active miscellaneous:
  Consider Undead (1) - Tells you the relative power of undead.
  Last Rites (2) - Remove corpses, including some corpses that can't be
    laid to rest.  It does not paralyze like 'lay corpse to rest' does.
    THIS DOES NOT GIVE YOU HONOR, but if you are also a Templar, it will
    give you Templar dues. 
  Ceremony (5) - Increases chance to cast next spell.
  Compare (5) - Compares two weapons.  Affected by bulk.
  Equestrianism (6) - Mount appraisal and control.
  Assist (7) - Drag an unconscious player to safety. 
  Smash (10) - Break doors and boxes.  Need a bludgeon or a polearm.
  Sharpen Blade (11) - Improves a blade's condition.  Affected by bulk.
  Consecration (11) - Trade evil item for honor.  
  Prayer (14) - Trades ep for sp.  Must be resting to use.
SPELLS

All Paladin spells are spiritual spells (HELP SPIRITUAL MAGIC), so they
must be invoked (HELP INVOKE).  Once again, this list is designed as a
quick reference guide, and does not attempt to rank the spells in order
of importance.  For details about the spells, use: help spell .
The spells are broken down by category, and are listed in the format:
spell name (level) - description.

 Offense:
  Minor Dispel Evil (9) - Target must be evil.
  Dispel Evil (14) - Target must be evil.
  Fist of Sikkar (15) - No target restriction.
  Holy Vengeance (16) - Increases attacks at expense of hit points.
  Heraldic Strike (18) - Damage type based on shield charge.
  Divine Retribution (20) - Area attack spell.  This is the only area
    affect attack spell that Paladins receive.

 Defense:
  Sikkars Gaze (7) - Resist illusion.
  Sikkars Will (8) - Resist psionics.
  Heraldic Aura (15) - Protection type based on shield charge.
  Shepherd (17) - Allows a paladin to take damage intended for another.

 Healing:
  Canticle (1) - Target must be good.
  Bestow (14) - Target caster only.

 Miscellaneous:
  Detect Evil (3) - Alignment detecting. 
  Halo (3) - Light spell.  Can be 'flipped' to be a dark spell.  
  Sword of Faith (6) - Weapon summoning.  With a little training, the
    summoned sword will be better than the weapon supplied with the
    newbie eq.  
  Glow (7) - Makes an item glow. 
  Holy Weapon (8) - Gives a weapon an attack bonus.
  Glorious Light (10) - Creates a field that prevents evil from entering.
  Redemption (11) - Removes all undead corpses without paralyzing.  It
    does give honor, but not as much as laying each corpse to rest
    individually would. 
  Heraldic Might (12) - Duplicates spell listed for shield charge.
  Consecrate Weapon (13) - Gives a weapon a damage bonus.
  Bless Armor (16) - Makes armor damage resistant and gives random resist.
  Dispel Evil Magic (18) - Removes protective auras of evil beings.

PARTIES

There are many other spells and skills that are very useful, but that
are not granted by the Paladin guild.  The best way to gain access to
these abilities is to form a party, and invite people with the needed
abilities to join.  This list will give the category, a description of
what the category means, and a few of the guilds that get abilities in
this category.  The list is NOT inclusive, and you should not limit
yourself to partying with just people on this list.  For example, the
list does not included Fallen or Cultists, but you are free to party
with them if you choose.

 Tanks - If you are not a tank (HELP TANK) you will need one.  If you are
   one, you might like to dtank (HELP DTANK). [Fighter, Hand, Jomsviking,
   Monk, Ranger, Sentinel]
 Unpain - Abilities that increase your maximum hp.  [Bard, Biomancer,
   Psionicist, Templar]
 Ironwill - Abilities that protect you from stuns.  [Abjurer, Bard,
    Biomancer, Templar]
 AC Prots - Abilities that help your armor class.  [Abjurer, Druid]
 Resistances - Abilities that grant resistances to particular damage
   types.  [Abjurer, Druid] 
 Healing - Although Paladins can heal, its often good to have someone
   else healing you during combat.  [Biomancer, Templar]
 Blasts - Damage dealing spells that can be used by party members who
   are not in the front row. [Alchemist, Bard, Mage, Psionicist, Templar]
 Equipment work - Improve or repair equipment. [Alchemist, Merchant]