Paladin's Weapons Guide [Part 1/2]

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Paladin's Weapons Guide [Part 1/2]

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Lionheart Society Library
Paladin's Weapons Guide
Book 02 - Chapter I

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My arrows reveal the strength of my spirit. [Lejohnjartat]

Introduction

The right gear in the hands of a skilled paladin is capable of dealing incredibly high damage and changing the course of a fight. In addition to the offensive ability, a paladin who chooses his armor well gets defensive levels comparable to knights, managing to be in the front lines of a combat, surrounded by enemies. Added to the possibility of using powerful rings and amulets, the paladin can enter almost anywhere in Tibian lands.

However I have seen that in the midst of so many different equipment options it is possible to get confused and end up spending precious crystal coins without having so many benefits. So I decided to share the fruits of my research and experience about equipment in these upcoming writings.

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Ranged Attack Weapons

A paladin has at his disposal three types of ranged weapons: Bows, Crossbows and Throwing. Crossbows are the weapons with the highest single-target damage, but have low hit rate. Bows are more balanced, with less damage, but with a higher hit rate. Throwables usually have lower damage and hit rates, but in return allow the use of shields, being a more defensive option.

Bows and crossbows need to be accompanied by quivers with their respective ammunition, with each shot consuming one ammo. The strength of this type of weapon depends on the composition of: Ammo Atk, Weapon Atk bonus and quiver bonus. Also, some ammo has special features, such as Diamond Arrows that hit in area and never miss.

Throwables, on the other hand, have a chance of breaking when fired. For example, when equipping 1 Spear, the paladin might fire 10 shots without it breaking, just as it might break on the first shot.

See the description of a ranged weapon and the explanation of the stats we found:

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You see a soulpiercer (Range:6, Atk+9, Hit%+6, distance fighting +4, critical hit chance 10%, critical extra damage +10%, protection death +7%).
Imbuements: (Powerful Strike 15:44h, Powerful Vampirism 15:44h, Powerful Void 15:44h).
It can only be wielded properly by paladins of level 400 or higher.
It weighs 40.00 oz.
  • Range: Maximum distance in SQM the paladin must be from the target to fire.
  • Atk: Attack bonus applied to ammo
  • Hit%: Hit Chance Bonus
  • Skills Bonus: Distance and Magic Level bonuses present on some weapons
  • Critical hit chance: Critical hit chance if weapon has no strike imbue (weapon does NOT add critical hit chance to strike imbue).
  • Critical extra damage: Increased damage on critical hit
  • Elemental Defense: Defense bonus against a certain element
  • Imbuiment Slots: Number of Imbuiments available

How does the attack bonus work?

Before explaining the attack bonus, I need to differentiate two similar terms that you will find in Tibia:
  • Weapon Attack: Base ammo attack value plus weapon attack bonus. This value is one of the variables used to calculate the Attack Value. You check this value by “looking” on ammo and weapon.
  • Attack Value: This is the average damage inflicted on a creature that has no defense or protection. You check this value in Cyclopedia > Character > Combat Stats. See how the game describes:
This is your character's basic attack power whenever you enter a fight with a weapon or your fists. It does not apply to any spells you cast. The attack value is calculated from the weapon's attack value, the corresponding weapon skill, combat tactics and the player's level. The value represents the average damage you would inflict on a creature which had no kind of defense or protection.

The attack bonus granted by a bow or crossbow will simply add to the attack of an ammo. See the comparison below:

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Table 01

An important question about Attack Value I was always asked myself were: How much Distance Skills equals 1 point increase in Weapon Attack? People usually answer 3 or 4, but the answer is not that simple. In general the weapon's attack percentage increase can be replicated in distance. See the 3 examples below:

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Tables 02, 03 and 04

We can assume that the higher the Attack, the less distance skill is needed to compensate for the 1 increase in attack. The exact formula for you to calculate how much applies to your case is:

D2 = (ATK2 x D1 +4) / ATK1
  • D1 = Current Distance (ideal to put the value with equips)
  • D2 = Distance Required to compensate the attack difference
  • ATK1 = Current weapon attack
  • ATK2 = New weapon attack
To make it easier, I'll provide a SPREADSHEET for you do your own analyses.


How does Hit chance work?

Hit chance depends on weapon type, the distance the paladin is from the enemy, Hit% bonus and ammo used.

Regarding the type of weapon, throwables (such as spears and assassin stars) reach a maximum 75% chance of success. This chance is normally achieved when the Distance skill reaches 74 and the paladin is within 5SQM of the target.

Bows and crossbows reach their maximum hit chance, 90% + Weapon Hit Bonus%, starting at the Distance 90 skill. However, this only applies to single target ammo, because Burst and Diamond Arrows have 100% hit. Another exception are Sniper Arrows, which have a hit chance bonus, and are the only single target ammo that can reach a 100% hit chance.

In summary, what you must not forget: for Burst and Diamond Arrows the Hit Chance bonus is completely useless.


Should I use Imbuements on weapons?

Imbuements are one of the biggest ”game changers” for hunting. Using the correct imbuements can make a hunt that was previously impossible, fully viable. In the ranged attack weapons it is possible to place the following:
  • Strike: Critical Damage
  • Vampirism: Life Leech
  • Void: Mana Leech
  • Precision: Increased Distance Skill
  • Electrify: Converts part of the damage to Energy
  • Frost: Converts some damage to Frost
  • Reap: Converts some damage to Death
  • Scorch: Converts some damage to Fire
  • Venom: Converts some damage to Earth
You might ask me: what level worth start using imbuements? I would say asap. The use of Mana and Life leech imbuements make hunting more profitable, as the cost of recovering mana and life is lower compared to using potions. We can delve into these calculations in other manuscripts in the future.

The Critical imbue makes the paladin deal more damage, kill faster and consequently eliminate more enemies in a hunt. This translates to more profit and experience. Also, the increased damage makes life and mana leech more efficient.

Still talking about the critical imbuing, it is common to have the doubt if it is more worthwhile to use it or the increase of 4 Distance skills (Precision Powerful). Unless the level and Distance skill are very low, the critical boost is more advantageous. It's worth noting that the critical imbuement also affects spell damage, while the Distance boost doesn't.

As for elemental damage imbuements, they are useless for the overwhelming majority of hunts because their effect doesn't work with Diamond Arrows. An example where they can be useful is to activate charm runes on creatures that have 100% physical resistance, in this case using with Burst Arrows to take advantage of area damage. Another situation where it is useful is to train skill on Modifieds Gnarlhounds.

Let's evaluate the 3 different hunting situations:
  • Single Target Hunts: In these hunts the paladin usually doesn't take so much damage, so he may end up wasting part of Life Leech's health recovery. In this case it might be more interesting to just use Void and Strike. If you want to spend a little bit to increase the damage more, you can use Precision too.
  • Bosses Hunts: Similar situation to single-target hunts, however I believe that in this case it's worth using Vampirism to save on rotation costs and be more relaxed using Sharpshooter (utito tempo san).
  • Area Hunts: For hunts where the paladin hunts surrounded by enemies is essential the use of Strike, Void and Vampirism. This set of imbuements greatly increases survivability.

What ammunition to use?

The decision on which ammo to use is basically defined by 3 criteria: Attack, Special Properties and Weight. Obviously the bigger the attack, the better the ammo. Remember that you need to combine the weapons' attack bonuses to decide which is the best.

The weight of ammunition can be a decisive criterion for lower level paladins given the low capacity to carry supplies. Bolts are usually heavier than arrows, making the time a paladin can hunt before returning to pick up more supplies shorter. The travel time between the Depots and the caves is unproductive, reducing the amount of experience and loot and making your hunt more inefficient.

Finally, in some cases the decisive criterion for deciding which ammunition to use is based on special characteristics of the ammunition. I want to point out the two main features:
  • Elemental Arrows - The paladin has at his disposal arrows from the Fire, Ice, Electric and Earth elements from level 20. These ammo are useful for hunting monsters with significant weakness to any of these elements and mainly monsters with high resistance to physical damage. At level 70 the paladin will have new earth ammo with higher attack. I also want to point out that so far, there are no elemental bolts.
  • Area damage - There are 2 ammo in the paladin's arsenal that hits in an area: Burst Arrows and Diamond Arrows. This feature is a huge advantage that no other class has: the ability to have your basic attack in area. This has an all-important consequence: Paladins have a chance to activate Charm Runes twice per turn - once with basic attack, once with spells. Another advantage is that when attacking groups of monsters, the paladin can kill several simultaneously. Furthermore, both ammunition have the characteristic of never missing the target. See below the area for each of them.
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Diamond Arrow (Atk:37).
It can only be wielded properly by players of level 150 or higher.



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Burst Arrow (Atk: 27).

How do Quiver work?

The quivers are the storage container for the ammo in use and are equipped in the same slot as the shields. Without it it is not possible to use bows and crossbows. It is not possible to put any other types of items in these containers, just ammunition.

It was a change that made paladin's life easier, that can equip at least 600 arrows at once. Another facility is the possibility of leaving arrows and bolts inside the same quiver, making it easier to switch between the use of bows and crossbows. In addition, the quivers released the accessory slot, increasing the range of defensive equipment available to paladins.

Currently the list of available quivers is very short, so I will comment on all that are available.
  • “Common” Quivers: Ability to store up to 600 ammo, which represents 20 minutes of uninterrupted shoots to zero. Made in 3 different colors to make it possible to switch different ammo easily (eg Blue Quiver with Diamond Arrows and Red Quiver with Crystaline Arrows).
  • Jungle Quiver: Ability to store up to 800 rounds, which represents 26 minutes and 40 seconds of uninterrupted shoots to zero.
  • Eldritch Quiver: Ability to store up to 800 ammo, just like the Jungle Quiver. It has a Perfect Shot +20 at Range 4 attribute, which means that all shots that hit ONE enemy within 4 SQM of the paladin will have an additional 20 damage. This damage is fixed, so it doesn't suffer reductions/additions. This bonus does not influence spells, runes, charm activation. In the case of ammunition that attack in an area, only for the target is the distance calculated and the damage applied. Not influenced by imbuiment Strike (Critical), but it does influence mana and life leech.
To have a reference to how much this represents, let's look at this cases:

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Attack Value without Sharpshooter (Utito Tempo San) = 661
Perfect Shoot Effect = 20 (3.02% increase)

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Attack Value with Sharpshooter (Utito Tempo San) = 843
Perfect Shoot Effect = 20 (2.37%) increase

In practice, as this damage is not reduced, the percentage increase is even greater than that calculated in theory. It's an interesting addition, but the condition of being exactly 4SQM from the target and not hitting the other Diamond Arrow creatures greatly limits this bonus. In my opinion, the benefits do not justify the high cost of this quiver at the moment.


And what about using shields for paladins?

Paladins can use shields just like knights. However, their usefulness is very limited due to the impossibility of equipping them together with bows or crossbows. They can be useful in situations where the paladin needs to block creatures in the absence of the knight or when the paladin is going to run to make the bosses for example.

Remember that shields only block a maximum of 2 creatures, so if the paladin is surrounded by 8 enemies, only 2 of them can be blocked.

For a fully defensive position it is better to use the shield in conjunction with a sword (because of its defense bonus) such as the Magic Sword (Atk: 48, Def: 35 +3). This certainly limits the offensive power of the paladin, and is something to think of as an exception. To preserve some offensive power is best used in conjunction with throwables like spears and assassin stars.

The best shields paladins can use are the Gnome Shield at level 200 (Def:38, shielding +2, protection physical +6%, energy +8%, ice -2%) and the Falcon Escutcheon at level 300 (Def: 40, protection physical +7%, fire +15%) due to physical damage protection. However, the high cost x low benefit make these choices unfeasible. Other options with better cost-benefit ratio would be Nightmare Shield and Mastermind Shield, both with Def: 37.


How to choose the right weapons?

In the links below you can check the complete list of weapons and ammunition, but in our progression I will only point out those that are worth it or that need some note. The analysis of which weapon to use needs to consider at least five variables: 1) Required Level for Weapon and Ammo, 2) Weapon Attack (Ammo + Weapon Bonus), 3) the amount of Imbuements available, 4) the hunts in the level range the paladin is in and 5) the price (In this guide I pointed out the average price of the cyclopedia in Venebra) on September 16, 2021.

To make it easier to understand the progression, I created the two tables below, one for area hunts and the other for boss and single target hunts.

Hunts in Area

For area hunts there are only 2 possible ammunition, Burst Arrows and Diamond Arrows, so only bows can be used. Remember that these ammo has a 100% hit chance, so the Hit Chance bonus can be completely disregarded.

A prerequisite for this type of hunt is the use of Strike (Critical), Void (Mana Leech) and Vampirism (Life Leech) imbuements, so all weapons need 3 slots. This already rules out several options, like the Jungle Bow which only has 2 slots.

Despite having posted a list from level “0”, I don't recommend this type of hunt before level 50 because of the limited equipment, the low amount of life and mana and for not having some important spells yet. Some examples of viable hunts to start are Nightmare Scion Ruins (Level 70+), Scarab Lair (Level 90+) and The Hive (level 120+). From level 150, this type of hunt will be the daily life of the paladin.

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Table 5

Single Target Hunts and Bosses

For single target hunts and bosses, normally the paladin will take less damage compared to area hunts. Therefore, he can give up some imbuements in exchange for 1) increasing damage with a Precision imbue (+4 Distance) or even 2) to use a weapon with a higher attack bonus.

An example is the weapons available at level 70 to accompany Drill Bolts. If the paladin is going to use Strike or Precision imbuements, it pays more to use the Modified Crossbow, even though he has no attack bonus. If not using imbuements, then the most likely choice is Ornate Crossbow, which has Attack +1 but no imbuement slots.

I put some weapons marked with *. This means that they are rarer items, which are not always affordable and therefore have a higher cost, being targeted more by collectors. Following the same example of weapons available at level 70, the ideal would be to use the Chain Bolter or Triple Bolt Crossbow, however these two weapons are boss drops, being targeted more by collectors given their rarity.

Unlike Diamond Arrows, all single target ammo is liable to miss the target, so in this case the hit rate bonus should be considered. Likewise, a higher Range is interesting, as in general the paladin should keep as far away from the target as possible.

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Table 6

In the next chapter I will compare in depth the main bows and crossbows used by paladins after level 150, pointing out how much each upgrade represents in increased damage to have a better cost-benefit reference. I will provide a spreadsheet for you to do various simulations with your own stats.

I will also talk in detail about Soulbleeder and Soulpiercer. Are they worth what they cost?

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English is not my native language, so I apologize for any grammatical errors.
If you have more information to contribute, suggestions or questions, please leave your comment. Stay with God, Cya!

Lejonhjartat
Royal Paladin [Venebra]
Um peregrino em busca da sabedoria que vem do Alto.
A pilgrim in search of the wisdom that comes from Above.

Shujin4thewin
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Re: Paladin's Weapons Guide [Part 1/2]

Post by Shujin4thewin »

Great information, i'll be waiting forward for second part.

Greatings!!

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caducbn
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Re: Paladin's Weapons Guide [Part 1/2]

Post by caducbn »

Shujin4thewin wrote:
3 Nov 2021, 22:00
Great information, i'll be waiting forward for second part.

Greatings!!
Thanks! :D

See you next week in part 2 ;)
Royal Paladin [Venebra]
Um peregrino em busca da sabedoria que vem do Alto.
A pilgrim in search of the wisdom that comes from Above.

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