Last Epoch: Paladin Leveling Build Guide (2024)

The Paladin is the holy, magic-focused protector Mastery class for the Sentinel in Last Epoch. With its Mastery Skill Holy Aura, the Paladin protects and buffs himself and his allies, boosting their damage and defense, among other important stats.

Leveling as a Paladin can be tricky without the right build, as the defensive-focused playstyle can be hard to transition into an offensive one, especially for solo play. However, there are some very strong builds out there, like the one we'll take a look at below that focuses on the Healing Hands skill.

Build Overview

This Paladin build is centered around the Healing Hands skill. The core of this skill heals nearby allies and applies a heal-over-time effect. However, specializing in Healing Hands lets you upgrade it with the Searing Light node, which adds a damaging component to the skill.

From there, you can go two ways with Healing Hands - melee or ranged. For this build, we'll be using the melee version, but the ranged one is perfectly viable, it just requires a different skill setup.

The two core nodes to make Healing Hands function as your main damaging skill are Cleric's Hammer and Seraph Blade. At four points, Cleric's Hammer gives you a 100 percent chance to use Healing Hands when you use a melee attack, while Seraph Blade turns Healing Hands into a melee attack, allowing it to scale based on melee damage instead of spell damage.

With that in mind, the general gameplay of this build is tanky and melee-oriented, using Void Cleave to dash between groups of enemies and mow them down with Rive and Healing Hands. Overall, this build is very easy to play, requiring only one button for attacking, and one for traversal.

Skills And Passives

As mentioned above, the core skill of this build is Healing Hands. When upgrading this skill, first max out Cleric's Hammer so that Healing Hands has a 100 percent chance to trigger on a melee attack, then make your way to the Seraph Blade node. From there, grab Divine Barrier, Synthesis of Light, and Guardian's Heart for generating Ward on the left side of the tree.

Rive should be your next focus, as this skill is used to trigger Healing Hands while also dealing a bit of damage. In this skill tree, unlock the Foe Cleaver node as soon as possible, then focus on the right side of the tree and pick up Challenge, then make your way toward the Double Slash node.

For mobility, we are using Void Cleave. While you could replace this with Lunge, Void Cleave lets you move without needing a target, and it is also used to trigger Abyssal Echoes for added damage.

In Void Cleave's skill node, unlock Gravity's Edge as soon as possible to allow Void Cleave to function as an actual Traversal skill, then get the Hellish Chasm node to turn it into fire damage. Then you'll want to prioritize unlocking Resonating Cleave so that Void Cleave triggers Abyssal Echoes.

Abyssal Echoes is only used for added damage when using Void Cleave, and isn't actually cast on its own. Go for the Void Purifier node first to change Abyssal Echoes into fire damage, then scale up this damage from the Vorpal Reverberation and Embrace the Darkness nodes on the left side of the skill tree.

Finally, we have Holy Aura. Upgrade the Shelter from the Storm node all the way for some nice Elemental Resistance, then boost the skill's damage buffs through the Flame Burst, Fanaticism, and True Strike nodes.

Rive VS Vengeance

We are focusing on Rive for this build, but Vengeance is another option that can provide different effects. Rive has higher attack speed, allowing you to trigger Healing Hands more often, while Vengeance is preferred if you need more defense.

Passive Trees

For this build, we'll be putting passive points into the Sentinel, Void Knight, and Paladin passive trees. Before you unlock your Mastery, focus on putting points into the Juggernaut, Armour Clad, Valiant Charge, and Time and Faith nodes. Blademaster is also a great passive to put some points into.

In the Paladin tree, focus on upgrading Defiance, Valor, Conviction, and Holy Icon to start. These nodes will provide a mix of defensive and offensive stats. Later on, upgrade the Blinding Light, Divine Essence, Reverence of Duality, and Light of Rahyeh nodes for additional damage.

Finally, in the Void Knight tree, pick up the Abyssal Endurance node for some extra Void Resistance, World Eater for life steal, and Void Corruption for a decent boost to critical damage.

Important Stats And Uniques

The most important stat for the Healing Hands Paladin build is Healing Effectiveness. The Bane of Evil node in the Healing Hands skill tree allows this skill to scale its damage based on Healing Effectiveness, which doubles with its original intended purpose of increasing your healing. This means every percent of Healing Effectiveness greatly increases your survivability and damage.

With that in mind, here are some of the main stats to look out for while upgrading your gear as you level.

• Healing Effectiveness
• Levels of Healing Hands
• Fire Damage
• Attunement
• Elemental Resistances of any type

Be sure to utilize crafting as you level up and get new pieces of gear. Shards with any of these stats, plus more general defensive or utility stats like health, mana, and armor, can be used to upgrade your gear for a bit of added power.

Uniques To Look Out For

Luckily, this build isn't overly reliant on any particular Unique items, making it fairly easy to gear for. That said, there are a few Uniques that provide a decent increase to power, and should definitely be used if you get lucky enough to find one while leveling.

• Volcanus: This two-handed sword is the best-in-slot weapon for this build, providing tons of additional Fire Damage.
• Valeroot: Although Spriggan Form doesn't apply here, this Chest Armor has decent defensive stats and the important Healing Effectiveness stat.
• Calamity: This helmet adds some extra fire damage, further increasing the power of Healing Hands.
• Advent of the Erased: A generally good pair of boots that makes leveling a bit faster thanks to its increased Movement Speed and Haste on enemy death.