Paladin vs. Fighter

[Lord Delarue]

Hi everybody,

I was just wondering, does a paladin have any bad things except ++ in a weapon, i mean the advantages hugely outweigh the disadvantages (IMO that is), do they have a THACO that's badder then that of a fighter, i mean they have turn undead(it's not that good, but still) love level priest spells and can use all weapons and items

[masteraleph]

It's basically just the specialization. Which isn't big, normally, unless you go to Baldurdash and install the Grand Mastery patch (basically, BG1, Icewind Dale and AD&D use one set of rules, BG2 uses another one that "nerfs" grand mastery...so if you install that patch a fighter becomes more useful)

[Avatar]

a Paladin also levels up less which means at extreme high levels it makes quite a difference. But if u have another fighting machine, use Paladins!!! [img]smile.gif[/img] BG is spell heavy so Paladins and no proper fighters will serve u fine.

[Lanthir]

Spolier

Let us not forget the "Holy Avenger" a rather nice toy for palays only

[Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs]

paladins are better and funner. they get +2 to saving throws, and are generally just tougher. they also are really nice, and get high rep and charisma. the only drawbacks are the lesser levels, the proficiencies every 4 levels not every 3, and that evil clerics can turn them in ToB. However, they can cast spells, turn undead, and even summon Devas!

The non-weapon specialization cancels itself out. the lack of specialization makes the paladin a tad weaker in general combat, but is much more versatile and makes a nastier dual-wielder. in ToB, there is one +5 weapon for each proficiency type (except darts (+3) and katanas (+4, but H's D and the CF are fine, especially since a 1h weapon does 2hsword damage), meaning a longsword++ and axe++ dualwielder gets Angurvadal and A of the UY, while a pure axer gets more attacks, but inferior weapons. Variety wins out every time. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Dundee Slaytern]

Correction, Paladins get one weapon proficiency for every three levels, not four. They belong to the Warrior class, not the Cleric/Thief class.

[Jim]

Paladins are generally just tougher

How so? All warriors (except the barbarian) roll D10 for HP, and the max CON of a paladin is 18 (unless you imported the char from BG1) which gives the paladin no toughness advantage over any other warrior.

So, looking at the pro's for paladins that have been mentioned so far, they get +2 to all saves upon creation can cast up to 4th level priest spells, have the ability to turn undead as well as possessing innate abilities such as lay on hands and minor ones such as detect evil, protection from evil. They can of course wield a special 2H sword and bastard sword (ToB) too.

Fighters level up faster, can gain an addition +1 to hit, +1 to damage and -1 to weapon speed using any weapon over a paladin, but most importantly, like Avatar stated, at the highest levels, a paladin will max out at level 34, whereas a fighter can advance upto level 40. This means that fighters will have 18 HP more, 6 more HLA's and 2 more weapon proficiencies than a paladin.