Everybody likes the good guy, the knight in shining armor. And that’s why our first rider preview for Dragons of Elanthia is the Paladin. Just like our other previews, let’s talk a little about riders in Dragons of Elanthia before we get into the specifics of this guy.
All riders in Dragons of Elanthia have a few key features. Just like the dragons, they all have two active abilities and one passive. They also have their own hit points, which are added to the dragon’s health to determine the final HP total of any combination you pick.
Now, for the breakdown. Most riders have an attack as their primary ability, something that can be fired on short notice. This is to contrast the dragon abilities, which tend to be more sweeping and/or powerful, but end up with longer cooldowns. The Paladin’s primary ability is the embodiment of a basic rider attack: a rapid-fire magic crossbow loaded with Magic Arrows. He fires short, clustered bursts of arrows that have a respectable range, even though they don’t do a ton of damage.
"the Paladin’s Light of Life is one of the most often utilized utilities on any utilitarian team"
But let’s get to the really good stuff. Most riders have a more utility-focused secondary ability, and the Paladin’s Light of Life is one of the most often utilized utilities on any utilitarian team. Light of Life sends out a burst of healing energy that restores health to you and any nearby allies. Just like the Fire Drake’s ability Primal Surge, this healing is split into an initial burst and some healing over time. And also like Primal Surge, you’ll know when you’re healing allies from the giant tendrils of energy arcing away from you. Though really, you’ll know it’s working when your teammates start thanking you in chat.
Last, we have the Paladin’s passive. Now, being a good guy isn’t easy... paladinhood carries drawbacks, like the classic code of conduct that paladins are saddled with in tabletop roleplaying games. And this guy is no exception, bound as he is to a code of Honorable Combat. Because of this code, the Paladin tends to focus on one target at a time, represented as a boost to damage against that enemy. However, the downside is that the targeted enemy gets the same boost to damage against you. This boost applies to both rider and dragon attacks, so make sure you know what you’re up against before you start trying to burst them down with arrows!
That about does it for the Paladin, but stay tuned for more riders and dragons previews, where we’ll be getting into some of the more complex mechanics and characters.
