The Paladin in Last Epoch is a Mastery class of the Sentinel base class, celebrated for its tankiness, strong defensive capabilities, and powerful holy-themed offensive and supportive skills Last Epoch Gold. It excels at empowering allies through auras and healing while dealing significant damage with holy fire and melee or ranged attacks.

Playstyle and Strengths
The Paladin is a righteous warrior who balances offense and defense effectively. It uses holy auras and healing sigils to boost survivability and support teammates, while also delivering high damage output against enemies. This class is well-suited for players who enjoy a durable frontline fighter with utility and healing capabilities. Paladins can clear packs of monsters efficiently and excel in endgame content due to their elite innate defenses and versatile skillset.

Popular Builds
1. Hammer Throw Paladin (Hammerdin): This build uses the Hammer Throw skill to create orbiting hammers that deal damage across wide areas. It offers excellent clear speed and single-target DPS but requires careful positioning and buff management. The build invests heavily in Paladin and Sentinel passives to maximize survivability and damage.

2. Javelin Paladin: A fast, long-range DPS build focusing on the Javelin skill, which performs well in endgame scenarios. It combines mobility with strong damage output, making it a popular choice for players who prefer ranged combat.

3. Healing Hands Melee Crit Paladin: This melee build emphasizes high critical strike chance and healing, allowing the Paladin to sustain through tough fights and push high corruption levels in endgame content. It uses melee weapons like Nodachi combined with fire damage and crit-focused gear.

Skill Progression and Gameplay
Paladins start with skills like Vengeance and Hammer Throw for early damage, then transition to more advanced skills such as Rive, Healing Hands, Javelin, and finally Judgement for powerful area damage and healing. Mobility skills like Lunge help traverse the campaign quickly. Holy Aura provides buffs and cleanses ailments, enhancing both offense and defense. The build typically uses a shield and scepter or wand, later switching to more specialized weapons like the Nagasa Scimitar.

Passive Trees and Customization
The Paladin benefits from investing in multiple passive trees: Sentinel, Paladin, Void Knight, and Forge Guard, allowing for a flexible and powerful character. Key passives include Juggernaut and Relentless for defense and offense, Conviction and Honour for elemental damage and block chance, and Prayer and Faith Armor for survivability. Players can also borrow skills from other Masteries, such as Volatile Reversal from Void Knight, to enhance their build buy Last Epoch Gold.