Holy Melee Paladin [FULL PHYS] STR/DEX

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Glamdring26
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Introduction to Guide:

Hello and welcome to my Holy Melee Paladin Guide.

This guide tries to give you the "default" holy melee paladin build, which is either two handed str or one handed dex full physical damage based build. I will talk about STR two handed version for the rest of the guide, and i made a seperate section for DEX version since it can only be made in endgame gear.

Introduction to Build

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Pros & Cons

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Stat Distribution
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Skills

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Breakpoints

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Gear Section

Early Game

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Mid Game

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End Game

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Dex Version

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Mercenary Guide

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Challenges and Sigs

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Dungeons

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Rifts

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Final Words

Thanks for reading my guide, all critisizm or feedback is welcomed. You can message me about the guide on discord or on forums. My discord username in Median XL discord is Ertu#4801.
Edited by Glamdring26 2 years.
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Glamdring26
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Edited by Glamdring26 2 years.
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Crash
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Glamdring26 wrote:Plague: SMAX. Even though this skill gets kinda redundent later into game, we still max it for free damage and to be able to put more points into Dragonknight morph.


I think you mean more points into Dragonheart base levels, not Dragon knight morph.

Also, I would suggest:

TU War Sword
Lachdanan's Avenger
Lachdanan's Avenger
War Sword (4)

One-Hand Damage: (14 - 16) to (16 - 18)
Required Level: 12
Required Strength: 85
Item Level: 19
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Strength)%
4% Chance to cast level 3 Spike Nova on Melee Attack
+1 to Paladin Skill Levels
+(61 to 75)% Damage to Demons
+(61 to 75)% Damage to Undead
+(61 to 80)% Enhanced Damage
(1 to 2)% Chance of Crushing Blow
+(16 to 25) to Strength
+(16 to 25) to Dexterity
Elemental Resists +(11 to 15)%
Socketed (1)
One-Hand Damage: (34 - 37) to (40 - 44)
Required Level: 30
Required Strength: 125
Item Level: 40
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Strength)%
5% Chance to cast level 11 Spike Nova on Melee Attack
+(1 to 2) to Paladin Skill Levels
+(106 to 120)% Damage to Demons
+(106 to 120)% Damage to Undead
+(101 to 120)% Enhanced Damage
(3 to 4)% Chance of Crushing Blow
+(36 to 45) to Strength
+(36 to 45) to Dexterity
Elemental Resists +(21 to 25)%
Socketed (2)
One-Hand Damage: (72 - 78) to (84 - 91)
Required Level: 49
Required Strength: 244
Item Level: 59
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Strength)%
6% Chance to cast level 19 Spike Nova on Melee Attack
+(2 to 3) to Paladin Skill Levels
+(136 to 150)% Damage to Demons
+(136 to 150)% Damage to Undead
+(141 to 160)% Enhanced Damage
(5 to 6)% Chance of Crushing Blow
+(56 to 65) to Strength
+(56 to 65) to Dexterity
Elemental Resists +(31 to 35)%
Socketed (3)
One-Hand Damage: (98 - 105) to (118 - 126)
Required Level: 57
Required Strength: 481
Item Level: 85
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Strength)%
7% Chance to cast level 23 Spike Nova on Melee Attack
+3 to Paladin Skill Levels
+(166 to 180)% Damage to Demons
+(166 to 180)% Damage to Undead
+(181 to 200)% Enhanced Damage
(7 to 8)% Chance of Crushing Blow
+(66 to 75) to Strength
+(66 to 75) to Dexterity
Elemental Resists +(36 to 40)%
Socketed (3)
- all around good stats + proc, most importantly early game resists (especially HC)

TU Balanced Axe
Rockshatter
Rockshatter
Balanced Axe (4)

Throw Damage: (14 - 16) to (27 - 39)
One-Hand Damage: (3 - 4) to (19 - 29)
Required Level: 6
Required Strength: 77
Item Level: 19
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Strength)%
1% Chance to cast level 7 Blast Wave on Kill
+(11 to 20) to Maximum Damage
3% Life stolen per Hit
+(18 to 40)% Enhanced Damage
(2 to 3)% Chance of Crushing Blow
Weapon Physical Damage +(19 to 30)%
+(16 to 25) to Strength
Socketed (2)
Throw Damage: (34 - 39) to (66 - 82)
One-Hand Damage: (11 - 13) to (47 - 59)
Required Level: 24
Required Strength: 115
Item Level: 36
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Strength)%
2% Chance to cast level 19 Blast Wave on Kill
+(21 to 30) to Maximum Damage
6% Life stolen per Hit
+(64 to 86)% Enhanced Damage
(4 to 6)% Chance of Crushing Blow
Weapon Physical Damage +(43 to 54)%
+(36 to 45) to Strength
Socketed (4)
Throw Damage: (100 - 111) to (156 - 179)
One-Hand Damage: (29 - 32) to (97 - 114)
Required Level: 43
Required Strength: 225
Item Level: 59
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Strength)%
2% Chance to cast level 31 Blast Wave on Kill
+(31 to 40) to Maximum Damage
9% Life stolen per Hit
+(109 to 132)% Enhanced Damage
(7 to 9)% Chance of Crushing Blow
Weapon Physical Damage +(67 to 78)%
+(56 to 65) to Strength
Socketed (5)
Throw Damage: (150 - 165) to (208 - 232)
One-Hand Damage: (37 - 40) to (126 - 143)
Required Level: 53
Required Strength: 445
Item Level: 85
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Strength)%
3% Chance to cast level 37 Blast Wave on Kill
+(41 to 50) to Maximum Damage
12% Life stolen per Hit
+(132 to 154)% Enhanced Damage
(10 to 12)% Chance of Crushing Blow
Weapon Physical Damage +(79 to 90)%
+(66 to 75) to Strength
Socketed (6)
- good speed, big early game damage, nice stats, and easy crowd control proc.

If you want the 2-handed route, don't overlook
The Crucifier
The Crucifier
Holy Lance (4)

Two-Hand Damage: (6 - 7) to (26 - 38)
(Paladin Only)
Required Level: 3
Required Strength: 34
Item Level: 10
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.16 per Strength)%
Amazing Grace
5% Chance to cast level 1 Arrow on Striking
+1 to Paladin Skill Levels
-5% Attack Speed
+(16 to 25) to Maximum Damage
+(21 to 50)% Enhanced Damage
(5 to 7)% Chance of Crushing Blow
(11 to 15)% to Strength
Socketed (2)
Two-Hand Damage: (18 - 22) to (65 - 81)
(Paladin Only)
Required Level: 23
Required Strength: 64
Item Level: 31
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.16 per Strength)%
Amazing Grace
8% Chance to cast level 3 Arrow on Striking
+2 to Paladin Skill Levels
-10% Attack Speed
+(26 to 35) to Maximum Damage
+(71 to 100)% Enhanced Damage
(8 to 10)% Chance of Crushing Blow
(21 to 25)% to Strength
Socketed (4)
Two-Hand Damage: (39 - 45) to (133 - 155)
(Paladin Only)
Required Level: 44
Required Strength: 137
Item Level: 51
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.16 per Strength)%
Amazing Grace
11% Chance to cast level 5 Arrow on Striking
+3 to Paladin Skill Levels
-15% Attack Speed
+(36 to 45) to Maximum Damage
+(121 to 151)% Enhanced Damage
(11 to 13)% Chance of Crushing Blow
(31 to 35)% to Strength
Socketed (5)
Two-Hand Damage: (59 - 66) to (194 - 219)
(Paladin Only)
Required Level: 53
Required Strength: 276
Item Level: 77
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.16 per Strength)%
Amazing Grace
14% Chance to cast level 6 Arrow on Striking
+4 to Paladin Skill Levels
-15% Attack Speed
+(51 to 60) to Maximum Damage
+(171 to 200)% Enhanced Damage
(14 to 16)% Chance of Crushing Blow
(36 to 40)% to Strength
Socketed (6)
either. Underrated item and faster than Faithshaker for early-mid stuff.
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Anonymous:
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Don't see much difference from Bojac guide.

Also points into incarnation skill tree always made me question this choice. Why not get a gear with enough leach and AR and save those points for something better like more damage. Plus this constant need to cast solar flare is just annoying and interupts farming tempo.

What about
Venom Sting
Venom Sting
Holy Lance (Sacred)

Two-Hand Damage: (132 - 147) to (480 - 505)
(Paladin Only)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 514
Item Level: 120
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.16 per Strength)%
Amazing Grace
10% Chance to cast level 50 Punishers on Striking
+(2 to 3) to Paladin Skill Levels
60% Attack Speed
+250 to Maximum Damage
150% Bonus to Attack Rating
(30 to 35)% Life stolen per Hit
+(171 to 200)% Enhanced Damage
-35% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(50 to 100) to all Attributes
Socketed (6)
as a weapon choice for holy ? Got nice damage, good proc, skills, leach, AR, stats and pierce...
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Glamdring26
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Deathbringer wrote:You probably were thinking about wind runners for endgame boots section, not wildhunt HELMET :D


Yeah thanks, fixed :mrgreen:

Crash wrote:I think you mean more points into Dragonheart base levels, not Dragon knight morph.

Also, I would suggest:

TU War Sword Lachdanan's Avenger - all around good stats + proc, most importantly early game resists (especially HC)

TU Balanced Axe Rockshatter - good speed, big early game damage, nice stats, and easy crowd control proc.

If you want the 2-handed route, don't overlook The Crucifier either. Underrated item and faster than Faithshaker for early-mid stuff.


Yeah a lot of typo's i guess :D Yeah i especially remember war sword to get a smooth transition between grim fang and faithshaker. Good suggestions.

Anonymous wrote: Don't see much difference from Bojac guide.

Also points into incarnation skill tree always made me question this choice. Why not get a gear with enough leach and AR and save those points for something better like more damage. Plus this constant need to cast solar flare is just annoying and interupts farming tempo.

What about Venom Sting as a weapon choice for holy ? Got nice damage, good proc, skills, leach, AR, stats and pierce...


Yeah its not much different, its just that he doesn't update it anymore, so i figured i can take over.

When you dont put points into Incarnation, you sacrifice the potential damage you can get from your gear instead of AR. Maybe you can craft all your jewels with AR, and skip that tree all together but i dont mind putting a few points since there is not much else we can put points on. Solar flare kinda gets automated after some time, so i dont mind, but might seem too much of an hassle to newcomers. But then again i dont want those newcomers to spend shit ton of arcane crystals, trying to craft their every jewel with AR, and other needed stats.

I tried venom sting a lot, Its a nice weapon but damage is just not there. Punisher proc is too slow moving to be relevant because you kill packs before punisher reaches them and you dont have enough poison damage to benefit from pierce. SMAX'ed Plague gives like 7k poison damage per second which is pretty much nothing in late game.
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I am farily convinced, that wind runners is much, much better than Nephilim rw. You say that damage-wise its the same as wind runners, but wind runners has lot of %ar, that scales extremely well with the flat ar from incarnation, and it has life steal, which is always good. Those 2 stats on it allow you to put less points in incarnation, and spend them somewhere else. Sure, you lose a little bit of hp compared to nephilim, but i think that is not a big deal.
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Glamdring26
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Istaryu wrote:I am farily convinced, that wind runners is much, much better than Nephilim rw. You say that damage-wise its the same as wind runners, but wind runners has lot of %ar, that scales extremely well with the flat ar from incarnation, and it has life steal, which is always good. Those 2 stats on it allow you to put less points in incarnation, and spend them somewhere else. Sure, you lose a little bit of hp compared to nephilim, but i think that is not a big deal.


First of all, wind runners doesnt have the 3 jewel socket nephilim has, which means less jewels to cap our max frames and the stat bonus + life + possible AR from those jewels. %AR kinda gets useless in late game because you will always have %95 chance to hit, and even if you say "allow you to put less points in incarnation", where are you gonna put those points? Most valuable thing you can put points into would be Dragonknight morph which gives %1.5 all stat per point so it becomes the same thing as nephilim. And since 1 nih rune is much cheaper/easier to find than 4 EA runes, i would definitely recommend nephilim over wind runner.
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Glamdring26 wrote:I tried venom sting a lot, Its a nice weapon but damage is just not there. Punisher proc is too slow moving to be relevant because you kill packs before punisher reaches them and you dont have enough poison damage to benefit from pierce. SMAX'ed Plague gives like 7k poison damage per second which is pretty much nothing in late game.


The idea is to have an atack that multihits alot to spam punishers with venom stinger. Like wyrd from rings or disco inferno from armor, or even gorefest.

Glamdring26 wrote:When you dont put points into Incarnation, you sacrifice the potential damage you can get from your gear instead of AR. Maybe you can craft all your jewels with AR, and skip that tree all together but i dont mind putting a few points since there is not much else we can put points on.

Really ? Smax dragonknight, plague and dragonheart. With 3-4 max skill level charms you will not have enough points to max anything else in reality. In the end it will be those 3 skills and leftovers in rapture.
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Anonymous: wrote:
Glamdring26 wrote:I tried venom sting a lot, Its a nice weapon but damage is just not there. Punisher proc is too slow moving to be relevant because you kill packs before punisher reaches them and you dont have enough poison damage to benefit from pierce. SMAX'ed Plague gives like 7k poison damage per second which is pretty much nothing in late game.


The idea is to have an atack that multihits alot to spam punishers with venom stinger. Like wyrd from rings or disco inferno from armor, or even gorefest.

Glamdring26 wrote:When you dont put points into Incarnation, you sacrifice the potential damage you can get from your gear instead of AR. Maybe you can craft all your jewels with AR, and skip that tree all together but i dont mind putting a few points since there is not much else we can put points on.

Really ? Smax dragonknight, plague and dragonheart. With 3-4 max skill level charms you will not have enough points to max anything else in reality. In the end it will be those 3 skills and leftovers in rapture.


I tried some other oskill attacks that i can use but couldnt get anything return. I even tried playing pouncedin with eth venom sting but damage just seemed abysmal. Maybe if you stack all -ele poison res with SOTS and such you can make a build around it but not my cup of tea.

Why would you smax dragonknight though. It has no hard point synergy it only gives %1.5 all stats per points. You normally only SMAX dragonheart and plague, 15 points into colosseum, few points into blessed life, rapture and incarnation. IMO, more points put into dragon morph just feels like a waste and doesnt feel rewarding as much.
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I would put leftover points in blessed life still because of the flat bonuses + if you're able to reach 100% phys, you can do labyrinth more comfortably since it negates crushing blow.

Idk if the 100% phys is obtainable without very specific stuff and bear stance i.e. removing a good weapon for a 1h slot, but flat phys res is still really nice and I'd imagine a better investment than a few stat points or attack rating