Full:Paladin
Class Features
- Holy Hands: Begins with the HALPMEH glyph
- Holy Shield: Starts with 25% physical resistance
- Monotheism: Cannot switch religions; loses 1 HP rather than piety when suffering piety loss
Strategy
The Paladin's Monotheism is one of the most double-edged class features in the game, and in most situations it's more harmful than beneficial. For many deities, the piety loss is far less damaging than a permanent reduction in maximum hit points, and Monotheism is a massive penalty. For other deities it's a trade-off that will take some skill to manage. The Paladin is a defensively-minded melee brawler, and as such he cannot afford to sacrifice a large number of hit points. If your deity of choice does not offer a boon to improve your maximum health, you could find yourself completely crippled in the long-term.
Dracul and Taurog are completely suicidal deity choices for the Paladin since you will permanently lose 1 HP every time you cast HALPMEH. Unless the dungeon you're playing in has very few spellcaster monsters, Mystera is also a very poor deity selection. Binlor and Earthmother can work, but the inability to convert into or out of their religion hampers their best strategies and monotheism will not bring you any meaningful benefit. Jehora Jeheyu's "boredom" punishments technically do not qualify as piety loss, so the Paladin will not lose hit points under him, but he also doesn't gain anything since Jehora Jeheyu never punishes you by removing piety.
Tikki Tooki and Glowing Guardian are the only deities that get any meaningful benefit out of monotheism. Tikki Tooki can hammer you with repeated piety loss if you aren't careful as you take damage. You must pay very close attention to how much HP you are losing with this deity. In longer endurance-oriented dungeons, a Paladin will be completely crippled, but in shorter dungeons this combo can work. The Glowing Guardian is somewhat less difficult to manage, and the absolution boon can be used to supplement your lost HP.
In general, Jehora Jeheyu and the Earthmother are the safest choices for a Paladin, since he can completely avoid piety losses with these deities. Glowing Guardian and Binlor are also reasonable choices that can be well worth the hit point trade off. The other deities are generally not worth worshipping, and if none of these four are available it's advised you do not worship any deities at all.
The paladin is best played as a defensive-oriented brawler. Because of his reliance on HALPMEH, he benefits enormously from the soul orb item to grant him immunity to mana burn. Balancing bonuses to his resistances, max health, max mana, and damage is key to playing the Paladin effectively. Non-human Paladins will likely need the HP->Attack booster swap to help increase their attack damage. The Dragon Shield is the best preparation for the paladin, boosting his resistances substantially.
