ShiKage's Big Bang Paladin Build

I posted this in the Maple Guides section, but it apparently was never accepted. T_T So, I'm reposting it here for discussion.


I'm not well-versed in the ways of Paladins. I've never actually played one far into third job in the official servers, but I have played the class in JMST and have discussed this build over with a certain player who has made her own Paladin in KMS and this is what I have come up with. This build may not be for everyone, so take it as you will.



First Job

Level 10 : +1 Power Strike
Level 11 : +3 Slash Blast
Level 12 : +3 Slash Blast
Level 13 : +3 Slash Blast
Level 14 : +3 Slash Blast
Level 15 : +3 Slash Blast
Level 16 : +3 Slash Blast
Level 17 : +2 Slash Blast (Max), +1 Power Strike
Level 18 : +3 Power Strike
Level 19 : +3 Power Strike
Level 20 : +3 Power Strike
Level 21 : +3 Power Strike
Level 22 : +3 Power Strike
Level 23 : +3 Power Strike (Max)
Level 24 : +3 HP Increase
Level 25 : +3 HP Increase
Level 26 : +3 HP Increase
Level 27 : +1 HP Increase (Max), +2 Iron Body
Level 28 : +3 Iron Body
Level 29 : +3 Iron Body
Level 30 : +3 Iron Body (11)


Result :
10 HP Increase (MAX)
20 Power Strike (MAX)
20 Slash Blast (MAX)
11 Iron Body

Reason :
In the Big Bang changes, MAX HP Increase was changed completely. Instead of increasing base HP when you level up, it now increases your HP by total percent based on the skill's level. For instance, if you have 1,000 HP and you put 10 points into HP Increase, you will get plus 200 HP at that exact moment. Therefore, instead of going for HP Increase immediately, it's wise to go for Slash Blast. Put one point into Power Strike as a prerequisite to Slash Blast and then proceed to max Slash Blast. After that, finish up Power Strike. For the rest of the time, finish up HP Increase and then dump the rest of your points in Iron Body. Those points in Iron Body will prove to be of some use now. After Big Bang, defense actually helps, so the more defense, the more survivability you will have.

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Second Job

Level 30 : +1 Ground Smash
Level 31 : +3 Mastery
Level 32 : +2 Mastery, +1 Booster
Level 33 : +3 Booster
Level 34 : +1 Booster (5), +2 Mastery
Level 35 : +3 Mastery
Level 36 : +3 Mastery
Level 37 : +3 Mastery
Level 38 : +3 Mastery
Level 39 : +1 Mastery (Max), +2 Improved Basics
Level 40 : +3 Improved Basics
Level 41 : +3 Improved Basics
Level 42 : +2 Improved Basics (Max), +1 Final Attack
Level 43 : +3 Final Attack
Level 44 : +3 Final Attack
Level 45 : +3 Final Attack
Level 46 : +3 Final Attack
Level 47 : +3 Final Attack
Level 48 : +3 Final Attack
Level 49 : +1 Final Attack (Max), +2 Threaten
Level 50 : +1 Threaten (3), +2 Power Guard
Level 51 : +3 Power Guard
Level 52 : +3 Power Guard
Level 53 : +3 Power Guard
Level 54 : +3 Power Guard
Level 55 : +3 Power Guard
Level 56 : +3 Power Guard (Max)
Level 57 : +3 Threaten
Level 58 : +3 Threaten
Level 59 : +3 Threaten
Level 60 : +3 Threaten
Level 61 : +3 Threaten
Level 62 : +2 Threaten (Max), +1 Booster
Level 63 : +3 Booster
Level 64 : +3 Booster
Level 65 : +3 Booster
Level 66 : +3 Booster
Level 67 : +2 Booster (Max), +1 Ground Smash
Level 68 : +3 Ground Smash
Level 69 : +3 Ground Smash
Level 70 : +3 Ground Smash (11)

Result :
11 Ground Smash
20 Mastery (MAX)
20 Booster (MAX)
20 Final Attack (MAX)
20 Threaten (MAX)
20 Power Guard (MAX)
10 Improved Basics (MAX)

Reason :
You may be thinking, "Only eleven points in Ground Smash!? What are you thinking!?" However, Ground Smash is replaced in third job pretty quickly. Level one Ground Smash is more than efficient enough to get you through second job and into the part of third job where it's completely replaced. Slash Blast with Improved Basics on bigger mobs will be better than Ground Smash, especially in places like Monster Carnival. So, to start out, get one Ground Smash to help a bit with training, then get 5 Mastery for the sake of getting 5 booster, which will help your training a lot, then proceed to max out Mastery. After Mastery, max out Improved Basics so that you deal a lot more damage, which will in turn help you train a bit faster. After that, max out Final Attack. Final Attack, after the Big Bang, is very good. It has absolutely no delay, so it's practically extra damage added to whatever skill you use. This will help out your training by quite a bit. After Final Attack is maxed, you should get 3 Threaten so that you can work on Power Guard. Power Guard, after the Big Bang, has a fifty percent reflection rate, meaning you only take half of the damage you normally would from a monster. This will save a lot in potions, and in turn, money. After that, proceed to max out Threaten and then Booster. After that, you will have ten extra points. Either dump some in Iron Body for an extra bit of defense or dump the rest in Ground Smash.

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Third Job

Level 70 : +1 Fire Charge
Level 71 : +3 Fire Charge
Level 72 : +2 Fire Charge (6), +1 Lightning Charge
Level 73 : +3 Lightning Charge
Level 74 : +2 Lightning Charge (6), +1 Ice Charge
Level 75 : +3 Ice Charge
Level 76 : +2 Ice Charge (6), +1 Restoration
Level 77 : +3 Charge Blow
Level 78 : +3 Charge Blow
Level 79 : +3 Charge Blow
Level 80 : +3 Charge Blow
Level 81 : +3 Charge Blow
Level 82 : +3 Charge Blow
Level 83 : +3 Charge Blow
Level 84 : +3 Charge Blow
Level 85 : +3 Charge Blow
Level 86 : +3 Charge Blow (Max)
Level 87 : +3 Fire Charge
Level 88 : +3 Fire Charge
Level 89 : +3 Fire Charge
Level 90 : +3 Fire Charge
Level 91 : +2 Fire Charge (Max), +1 Lightning Charge
Level 92 : +3 Lightning Charge
Level 93 : +3 Lightning Charge
Level 94 : +3 Lightning Charge
Level 95 : +3 Lightning Charge
Level 96 : +1 Lightning Charge (Max), +2 Ice Charge
Level 97 : +3 Ice Charge
Level 98 : +3 Ice Charge
Level 99 : +3 Ice Charge
Level 100 : +3 Ice Charge (Max)
Level 101 : +3 Restoration
Level 102 : +3 Restoration
Level 103 : +3 Restoration (Max)
Level 104 : +3 Combat Orders
Level 105 : +3 Combat Orders
Level 106 : +3 Combat Orders
Level 107 : +3 Combat Orders
Level 108 : +3 Combat Orders
Level 109 : +3 Combat Orders
Level 110 : +2 Combat Orders (Max), +1 Shield Mastery
Level 111 : +3 Shield Mastery
Level 112 : +3 Shield Mastery
Level 113 : +3 Shield Mastery
Level 114 : +3 Shield Mastery
Level 115 : +3 Shield Mastery
Level 116 : +3 Shield Mastery
Level 117 : +1 Shield Mastery (Max), +2 Magic Crash/Iron Body/Ground Smash
Level 118 : +3 Magic Crash/Iron Body/Ground Smash
Level 119 : +3 Magic Crash/Iron Body/Ground Smash
Level 120 : +3 Magic Crash/Iron Body/Ground Smash

Result :
20 Shield Mastery (MAX)
30 Charge Blow (MAX)
20 Fire Charge (MAX)
20 Ice Charge (MAX)
20 Lightning Charge (MAX)
20 Combat Orders (MAX)
10 Restoration (MAX)
11 Magic Crash (Recommended)/Iron Body/Ground Smash

Reason :
Okay, this one is a bit different than pre-Big Bang. Pre-Big Bang, everything was focused around maxing your charges first. However, now, I would suggest work on getting 6 points in all charges for the time. Of course you should get all three charges for versatility and for the stack effect, the added power, and the elemental weaknesses some monsters may have. Once you have those 6 points allocated to all charges, at least one point in Restoration would be really nice. It saves on potions if used right. However, that is purely optional. You don't necessarily need it so early, but it's nice to have. After that, proceed to max Charge Blow. Charge Blow is different than pre-Big Bang in the fact that it no longer cancels your charges. Your charges remain intact 100% of the time you use Charge Bow. This, of course, is the skill that replaces Ground Smash. It does a lot more damage and hits more mobs. So, Charge Blow as soon as possible in third job is a must. After that, you will want to max out Fire Charge, as it's the strongest charge in third job. Not only that, but most monsters you will find will be weak to fire, or at least, at that level they will be. After Fire Charge is maxed, proceed to max Lightning Charge because of the stack effect. It will help with damage and maybe you will find a few lightning-weak monsters to train on around those levels. Ice Charge will be last. It's not too needed at these levels, due to the damage reductions from monsters, the high defense Paladins have, and the Restoration skill that heals you so easily. After all three charges are maxed, you will want to max Restoration. Restoration is very good. It has a very short cool down time and it recovers most of your HP in a single instant. It's almost a replacement for HP potions. Of course, it won't be in all situations. After Restoration is maxed, work on Combat Orders. I didn't tell you to get Combat Orders soon because it's not really too useful in third job. The points you would have used on it could have done the same thing for any other skill. It doesn't go over the max level of skills for any skill except the ones in fourth job, so there was no real point in maxing Combat Orders so soon. After you have Combat Orders maxed, work on Shield Mastery. Shield Mastery will be very helpful if you're a one-handed weapon user, as it adds more defense to your shield, which will help reduce the damage you take. Afer that's maxed, dump the final eleven extra SP into Magic Crash, Iron Body, or Ground Smash. Any of them are fine. I would suggest going with Magic Crash over the other two, since the effect it causes to bosses will be really desired. If you don't want to go that path, however, go with Iron Body, since the defense it gives will be beneficial in the end.


Alternate Third Job Build (Combat Orders to max everything) :

Level 70 : +1 Fire Charge
Level 71 : +3 Fire Charge
Level 72 : +2 Fire Charge (6), +1 Lightning Charge
Level 73 : +3 Lightning Charge
Level 74 : +2 Lightning Charge (6), +1 Ice Charge
Level 75 : +3 Ice Charge
Level 76 : +2 Ice Charge (6), +1 Restoration
Level 77 : +3 Charge Blow
Level 78 : +3 Charge Blow
Level 79 : +3 Charge Blow
Level 80 : +3 Charge Blow
Level 81 : +3 Charge Blow
Level 82 : +3 Charge Blow
Level 83 : +3 Charge Blow
Level 84 : +3 Charge Blow
Level 85 : +3 Charge Blow
Level 86 : +3 Charge Blow (Max)
Level 87 : +3 Fire Charge
Level 88 : +3 Fire Charge
Level 89 : +3 Fire Charge
Level 90 : +3 Fire Charge
Level 91 : +1 Fire Charge (19), +2 Lightning Charge
Level 92 : +3 Lightning Charge
Level 93 : +3 Lightning Charge
Level 94 : +3 Lightning Charge
Level 95 : +2 Lightning Charge (19), +1 Ice Charge
Level 96 : +3 Ice Charge
Level 97 : +3 Ice Charge
Level 98 : +3 Ice Charge
Level 99 : +3 Ice Charge (19)
Level 100 : +3 Restoration
Level 101 : +3 Restoration
Level 102 : +1 Restoration (8), +2 Combat Orders
Level 103 : +3 Combat Orders
Level 104 : +3 Combat Orders
Level 105 : +3 Combat Orders
Level 106 : +3 Combat Orders
Level 107 : +3 Combat Orders
Level 108 : +3 Combat Orders (MAX)
Level 109 : +3 Shield Mastery
Level 110 : +3 Shield Mastery
Level 111 : +3 Shield Mastery
Level 112 : +3 Shield Mastery
Level 113 : +3 Shield Mastery
Level 114 : +3 Shield Mastery (18)
Level 115 : +3 Magic Crash
Level 116 : +3 Magic Crash
Level 117 : +3 Magic Crash
Level 118 : +3 Magic Crash
Level 119 : +3 Magic Crash
Level 120 : +3 Magic Crash (18)

Result :
18 Shield Mastery
30 Charge Blow (MAX)
19 Fire Charge
19 Ice Charge
19 Lightning Charge
20 Combat Orders (MAX)
8 Restoration
18 Magic Crash

Reason :
Self explanatory; you get skills to 19 or 18 for the fact that Combat Orders adds +2 to all skills EXCEPT itself. Also, you will need 30 points in Charge Blow due to the fact that Combat Orders does NOT affect prerequisites for later skills (Advanced Charge Blow). The rest of the build is the same as before.


Fourth job will not be a part of this guide. The fourth job builds always vary on what skill books you're able to get your hands on and some things are controversial, so I'll leave it to you to figure out.

Advanced Charge Blow has changed after the Big Bang. Instead of being an enhancement to Charge Blow and getting rid of the charge killing effect, it now not only increases the damage dealt with the skill, but it also adds mastery as long as you have a charge active.


Thank you for reading my guide.

Credits go to myself and Polantaris. Thank you, Polantaris, for your helpful insight in helping me with this build.




I guess I didn't make this clear enough, so I'll highlight this :

Disclaimer about the 3rd job build : The level six charge option is completely optional. I would [b]strongly recommend getting fire charge first for the power. There's really no reason for you to have a specific charge at that level, but the damage from the fire charge is higher than what you'll get with the other two. Also, some people recommend going for max Magic Crash rather than Shield Mastery or sacrificing another skill for it. It's extremely useful for bossing, so I recommend going for what you think is the best for you.[/b]

Why not keep many skills at (MaxLevel - 2) because of combat orders? That would help a lot in getting enough points for skills.

HP Increase takes the n% tot he levl of HP Increase of your current HP Max and adds it to the Max.

Basically if you have 2000 HP it adds 400 HP on the next Level up and keeps adding up by the calculation of:

Max HP + n% (lvl of skill) to Max HP = Gained HP upon Level.

Combat orders let's 4th Job skills surpass Level 30 so in effect it's good to build 4th Job skills to max. Shame it only effects 4th job skills.

Why not keep many skills at (MaxLevel - 2) because of combat orders? That would help a lot in getting enough points for skills.

That's his second alternate build though. The first one is just for people that don't like the idea of having to use CO to max their skills or whatever reason they might want to use.

No, with maxed HP increase, you gain 64-68 (normal HP increase) * 1.2 = 76-82 hp per level.


It doesn't matter when you max HP Increase, if you do it at level 10 or at level 200, it gives you the same boost, 20% of your base hp.

Why not keep many skills at (MaxLevel - 2) because of combat orders? That would help a lot in getting enough points for skills.

I added a build for that. Check again.

HP Increase takes the n% tot he levl of HP Increase of your current HP Max and adds it to the Max.

Basically if you have 2000 HP it adds 200 HP on the next Level up and keeps adding up by the calculation of:

Max HP + n% (lvl of skill) to Max HP = Gained HP upon Level.

Hmm. No, that's not true. Going by experiencing both KMST and JMST, I can safely say that Max HP Increase works on total HP, not level-HP like the old version did. It doesn't increase your base at all. Let's say you're level 100. If you have 7,000 HP with Max HP Increase and you take those 10 points out, you will lose 20% HP because you lost those points. If you add those points back, you'll be back up to 7,000 HP.


Edit : Double ninja'd.

True but as everything goes Nexon could have adjusted or changed this and as always, not told us...

True but as everything goes Nexon could have adjusted or changed this and as always, not told us...

I'm pretty sure if Nexon changed or adjusted it, we'd have noticed in GMST.

Bergamot	113
Black Crow	115
Spirit Viking	119
Gigantic Spirit Viking	122
Rexton	131
Nibelung	130
Qualm Monk	151
Qualm Monk Trainee	153
Qualm Guardian	155
Chief Qualm Guardian	157
Lilynouch	159
Oblivion Monk	160
Oblivion Monk Trainee	162
Oblivion Guardian	164
Chief Oblivion Guardian	166

First trainable Lightning Weak monster after 3rd job is Spirit Viking at 119.

From what I understand, 6 Fire Charge + 6 Lightning Charge = 121% damage. 12 Fire Charge is 122% damage. It's not very significant, and I would recommend to only put into Fire or Ice. 6 Fire first, then Charge Blow is fine, and following up with some Ice to get those Ice-Weaks in 8x and 9x wouldn't be so bad, but the neutral training spots are better, and after 7x I don't believe fire-weak hits again until 10x.
Improved Basics is pretty useless outside of CPQ in my opinion. It's just too difficult to hit 3+ monsters with Slash Blast unless you purposely lure, and most of the time just killing pomegranate with Ground Smash is faster.

6 fire + 6 lightning should be 121.5% damage, which is even closer.

It's easier to look at it in terms of what percent gains each SP gets.

Skill	SP	Percent
Fire	1	11%
Fire	2-20	1%
Lightning	1	3%
Lightning	2-20	0.5%
Ice	1-20	1%

With an elemental advantage, the first point is more valuable:

Skill	SP	Percent
Fire	1	66.5%
Fire	2-20	1.5%
Lightning	1	4.5%
Lightning	2-20	0.75%
Ice	1	51.5%
Ice	2-20	1.5%

Note this is Fire(with fire weak), dual charging (with lit weak), and Ice(with ice weak).

So practically speaking only the first point in Lighting is a good idea before you've maxed your other charge. But then it only lasts 10 seconds... if you need 6 points to be "worth it" then you're getting 5.5% for 6 SP, instead of 6% from your primary charge.

Lightning is only a "good idea" if you can stand to use level 1~4 (10-40 seconds) and you're exclusively training on neutral mobs. It's only worth it at level 1-2 on elemental (Fire/Ice targets).

whoaoaa you mean White Knight build since this doesn't cover Paladins

Good point Ace. Yeah to claim Paladin you have to show some Paladin skills for the build and not say it's too controversial. There are key skills for a Paladin such as Advanced Charge, Holy Charge, Blast, and Heaven's Hammer. Not saying when or how to build those is rather controversial in itself.

1st: Pretty basic stuff. But I really liked what Stero was pushing in another thread where he had shaved some points off of Slash Blast to pump a little more Iron Body. Iron Body is a pretty useful skill post-bb. You'll be casting it forever. With Shield Mastery having an effect on ALL of your defense, it becomes an even bigger help. Getting it to 18 and leaving Slash Blast at 13 will be fine enough. Besides, the time spent using Slash Blast is pretty short if you jump on Ground Strike. If not, keep it your way. Consider that a route B, though.

2nd: It looks solid for people who prefer Slash Blast. I could not stand Slash Blast for 2nd job training. I can think of a few places where Slash Blast would've completely outpaced Ground Smash like Drakes and such, but I still hate the skill. Ground Strike feels much better. Personal preference. Add a build B for maxed Ground Strike and 1 Improved Fundamentals.

3rd: It looks good. Big thing I did differently was add 5 into restoration and 2 into Combat Orders pretty early. Combat Orders was not at all necessary, but pays off when you have multiple skills sitting at 19.
I really don't agree with is waiting until level 103 to have max Restoration. Investing into Restoration earlier will help you with pot costs tremendously. And I just plain didn't like having to carry HP pots on me. Keeps you out and training for longer. I don't see any big use for Level 6 Ice Charge @ level 76. Not taking touch damage is a negligible pro if you have Restoration and can make up the lost HP while keeping your best charge active. And the random +6 Lightning Charge isn't doing much for your damage. Scrap it and hit Charged Blow earlier.

While you don't want to discuss 4th here, you may as well have the solid start up.
1 Rush/1 Blast/1 ACB or Save.
Max ACB. If you don't have the book, have 10 AP on reserve to instantly max it when you do get it.
Max Bossing Armor.

You might want to consider throwing a point into Guardian after Bossing Armor is all done. 13% activation rate at level 3 is pretty solid for a 1SP investment.

My idea, if I ever made one.

1st job: Leave Power Strike, max Iron Body + MaxHP. The rest doesn't matter.

2nd job: Depends on the exp on the Rombots in CPQ to max Fundamentals + Slash Blast or Ground Smash. +5 Mastery, +5 Booster takes priority.
Be warned though, you don't CPQ all the way to 70.

3rd job: No idea, I have no experience with charges lol. Since Combat Order is a must-cast every rebuff, I'd leave the non-requisite skills at 18 and put as many points as I can spare into not-as-useful skills (see: Crash).
Probably Fire charge to a decent lvl + Thunder charge for dualing -> 3~5 Combat Orders, max Charge Blow, Shield Mastery, finish the rest.

4th job: +1 Rush, +1 ACB, +1 Divine Shield.
- +1 MW? (free 2 points, why not), +1 Blast
- Max ACB
- Max Divine Shield
- Max Divine Charge, Power Stance, Blast, MW, Guardian, Achilles.

Be warned though, you don't CPQ all the way to 70.

Since when? CPQ and CPQ2 are GREAT experience.

CPQ2 is completely abused by scammers and nobody actually plays the PQ the way it was designed.

Slash Blast is weak compared to Ground Smash but the difference is in mob number of hits plus the added effects of Final Attack and Improved Fundamentals give it a nice boost. Ground Smash is powerful, but when you have a lot of monsters around you like in high spawn areas, it's lack of targeting will start to show up more and more making it less and less reliable. Attacking 3 monsters at once rather than 6 at once is a big difference, especially when you have a few hordes around you.

I gotta be honest, the difference I saw between Ground Smash and Slash Blast on my Tespia Page (which maxed both Improved Fundamentals and Ground Smash) was that Slash Blast generally cannot hit anything.

Ground Smash has a much, much, much larger range of attack, meaning you can actually target mobs with it. Both horizontally and vertically it is greatly superior.

In general, the difference between SB and GS is:
SB: hit 1 target, half the time (the other half you swing and miss, even though it's right in your face) - splash range brings it onto a second target if you're lucky.
GS: hit 3 targets, all the time


Once I got used to Ground Smash's range, I stopped using PS + SB - they're just not very good at killing mobs. Hell, I even used Ground Smash on bosses, cause they kept KBing me too far away for PS to hit them.


I traveled across most of Victoria Island, and I never saw a mob of 6 monsters. Four was the absolute max, and usually if I was attacking, that was quickly reduced to 1. Moving fast and being able to jump-attack (again which SB failed at because of its puny range) is much more important.

I guess the only spot I've seen Slash Blast actually hit 6 targets is in the Pyramid/Subway PQs, where massive mobs just keep respawning. There are no training maps like that.

Note: FA + SB is like in GMS - it splits damage (90 30 10 3 1 etc.). FA+GS just gives 1 target a 150% hit. I can't really judge which is better.

^I'll also testify that Ground Smash is a hell of a lot better than Slash Blast. Also the reason I did 1 SB -> max Power Strike -> max Slash Blast in 1st job. You'll be hard-pressed just to find 2 mobs in Slash Blast range without doing any luring. It's no longer possible to train on mobs that take you a lot of hits to kill because you need to be training on mobs that are your level, so mobbing is significantly worse than it was pre-BB (mob skills were buffed to offset this but it's not enough for 1st job, imo).

^I'll also testify that Ground Smash is a hell of a lot better than Slash Blast. Also the reason I did 1 SB -> max Power Strike -> max Slash Blast in 1st job. You'll be hard-pressed just to find 2 mobs in Slash Blast range without doing any luring. It's no longer possible to train on mobs that take you a lot of hits to kill because you need to be training on mobs that are your level, so mobbing is significantly worse than it was pre-BB (mob skills were buffed to offset this but it's not enough for 1st job, imo).

I thought mob counts were plenty fine to use Slash Blast, but I do agree that the amount of effort required to use it is rarely worth the time or grief.

I thought mob counts were plenty fine to use Slash Blast, but I do agree that the amount of effort required to use it is rarely worth the time or grief.

Slash Blast is fine to use, and I did put my first point into it, but I just didn't think it was worth maxing first. In the rare occasion that a mob of 3+ perfectly lined itself up for a Slash Blast, I wiped it out in about 3-4 hits even with level 1 Slash Blast and I had absolutely no funding and only level 2 Blessing on my Spearman. It was much more worthwhile getting my Power Strikes to 1-2hko than improving my Slash Blast damage, simply because I used Power Strike about 5x as much. I just don't understand why anyone would bother luring monsters across a map when the entire 20 second effort of luring only results in a mob that you can take out in about 2 seconds.