ZENONIA 1 Paladin Build: Stats, Skills and Healing

What the Paladin is for

The Paladin is the magic-flavoured melee class: medium armor, the lowest but most consistent weapon damage, and Restore, the only self-heal skill in ZENONIA 1. Its passives lower enemy attack, raise skill effectiveness and make CON more efficient. Steam reviewers who chose it describe it as the class for people who “don’t want to die right away”, and that is accurate.

Stat priority

PriorityStatWhy
1STRDamage; the Paladin’s low weapon numbers need it.
2CONRestore heals a percentage, so a bigger bar heals more per cast.
3SPIHigher than other classes: Restore, Holy Bless and Holy Shout all cost SP and costs rise with skill level.
4AGIOptional. Criticals knock back, which helps a slower class, but STR/CON/SPI come first.

Reference spread from the 2010 walkthrough, level 20 “pure attack” Paladin: STR 45 / AGI 42 / CON 36 / SPI 50. The high SPI is deliberate.

Skill priority

Active

SkillTargetNotes
Compact Slash6/10 earlyAura damage around you; the level-1 skill (100 SP, +30% damage at rank 1).
Soul Impact4/10 early, more laterKnockdown; keeps groups off you.
RestoreAs high as SP allowsPercentage heal. Replaces most potion spend.
Holy BlessMidBuff before boss fights.
Blast Boom / Holy ShoutLateYour screen-clearing options for Virulent and Ladon.
Rising Slash, Blade Spirit1/10Prerequisites.

Passive

SkillNotes
Howl of the LionMax first (8/10 at level 20 in the community build).
Strength of the BullSTR boost.
Life of the Wolf, Leather of the BearHP and armor efficiency; both make CON go further.
Grace of the CrowShared crit passive; a few points later.
Illusion of the Swan, Tear of Orion, Eye of the LynxFill after the above.

Playing it

  • Fight in bursts: attack, back off, Restore, repeat. Enemies in ZENONIA 1 are slow, and the Paladin’s one-handed sword still out-ranges most of them.
  • Keep Drink of Stamina or a few SP-restoring items for boss fights; running dry on SP is the Paladin’s real failure state.
  • The Letter Carrier still kills a low-CON Paladin in two or three swings. Do not treat Restore as a substitute for CON before Hades.

Gear

Medium armor and one-handed swords. Buy the newest weapon in every town, and prefer armor pieces with Holy element if you find them (Holy on-hit stuns). The Feather of Oblivion is worth an early purchase because the Paladin’s STR grows slower than a Warrior’s.

See also the Warrior build, the Assassin build and the class comparison.

Was this guide helpful?