N7 Paladin Sentinel: Master Level

Greetings, esteemed readers. This is an updated guide to the N7 Paladin Sentinel. I have noticed that the Paladin is seeing something of a rebirth as what some BSN-ites might call a "hipster" character (I have seen posts where people claim that they liked the Paladin before it was cool, whatever that means). The reason that I have decided to remake this guide is because a) several critical details about the Paladin have recently come to my attention, b) I have been using the Earth characters as of late, and c) the Paladin is still one of my most-viewed guides, and I assume that this is because he remains an enigmatic character in the mainstream.

N7 Paladin
Energy Drain: 4-damage, 5-drain, 6-armor boost
Incinerate: 4-damage, 5-burning damage, 6-freeze combo
Snap Freeze: 4-reach, 5-cryo explosion, 6-damage & weakness
N7 Paladin: 4-damage & capacity*
Shield Mastery: 4-durability*

*N7 Paladin training can be skipped and replaced with shield recharge and fire shield, as explained later in the guide.

I recommend using elemental ammo for more tech explosions. Just about any lightweight weapon will do. I would aim for a 150%+ recharge speed.

Despite having some of the most advanced omni-tool technology -- the omni-shield -- the Paladin isn't a durable character. He's much more similar to an Engineer than his tankier Sentinel counterparts. For this reason, I recommend taking Energy Drain to give your durability a boost. I take damage to make it somewhat useful against heavily-shielded enemies. Next I take drain to fully restore my shields. I don't know why you would take recharge speed anyway. Finally, I take the controversial armor boost evolution. Supposedly, the damage reduction does work off-host, even though the visual effect doesn't. I have heard both sides saying that it does or doesn't work. If you have doubts, you can always just host when you want to use this build.

For Incinerate, I would have liked radius if it could trigger multiple tech explosions, but it cannot, so I go with damage. For evolution 5, I can actually justify both evolutions. Burning damage will give you better damage against hard targets, which is good on higher difficulties. But if you prime a group of enemies with Snap Freeze, having recharge speed will allow you to trigger each cryo explosion faster (since you have to trigger each individually). Seeing that recharge speed evolution has a rather insignificant effect on the total recharge speed, I would generally go with burning damage. Finally, I take freeze combo since the Snap Freeze-Incinerate combo is this build's signature move.

Speaking of that combo, let's move on to Snap Freeze. I take reach to give it some extra range, and the 15m range is actually greater than the animation would have you think. I take cryo explosion because the debuff is useful against all enemies, and because I make liberal use of Snap Freeze with this build so duration is unnecessary. Finally, I take damage & weakness, but there's a catch. Tech combo is what you're really looking for with this build because Snap Freeze primes shielded, armored, and unprotected targets for Cryo Explosions (unlike Cryo Blast which only primes unprotected targets). You'll be chaining Cryo Explosions like crazy, and so the extra 100% damage seems like the natural choice. However, this extra 100% damage is inherent to Snap Freeze, likely the result of a glitch. Basically, you get both evolution 6 perks with this build, allowing you to debuff armor and create powerful tech explosions.

This build works extremely well with a Novaguard or a Slayer. Have the host play as one of these Vanguards while one or more players use the Paladin and spam Snap Freeze. The Vanguard can use Biotic Charge, Nova, and/or Phase Disruptor to trigger Cryo explosions. If done correctly, you'll unleash an endless chain of Cryo explosions on your enemies.

The main purpose of your passive abilities is capacity, since a good cooldown is key to this build. However, you can choose to mix and match a little if you prefer. For Shield Mastery, I take durability as the obvious choice. If you think you need the extra shield recharge speed, swap out rank 4 of your passive. If you want to take Fire Shield for melee tech combos, which is actually quite viable, then you can completely forgo N7 Paladin training.

The great thing about having fire shield is that your shield bash will prime the target for a fire explosion that can be immediately triggered with one of your powers (preferably Incinerate or Energy Drain, as Snap Freeze will cause the Fire Explosion to detonate on your character). Think of this combo like the Fury's Annihilation Field-Throw combo. Fire shield has no priming cooldown, so if you have a teammate triggering your fire explosions, just keep bashing the target and watch the fireworks.

I have heard about a lot of bugs surrounding this character, and so Tech combos may not always work as intended. For example, any tech combo triggered by Snap Freeze will detonate on your character because of the game mechanics (the explosion detonates on you because Snap Freeze is centered from your character). For the record, cryo shield does not weaken enemy armor as intended. However, it can freeze Phantoms solid. That could potentially be fun. Pro-tip: your heavy and light melee can block damage. Try timing your light melee against a Banshee warp if you want to feel like a total badass.


Completely outdated, unnecessary, and tasteless quote from the old guide:
"With the Snap Freeze/cryo shield combo, even the toughest of armored enemies are stripped of their protection and left naked and whimpering in the harsh cold. The Paladin is so cold that he makes Miranda (a.k.a. Ice Queen Bitch) look hotter than a swimsuit model in the tropics... Although she is known for wearing swimwear into battle. Hm... it made sense when I first came up with it. All of a sudden this paragraph looks somewhat risqué."

That's about it for the build. Try it out and if you like it, consider leaving a 'like' in the box below. If you really like it, think about subscribing to your favorite site for ME3 multiplayer guides (shameless self-flattery). Thank for reading and have fun with the build.

Platinum gameplay brought to you by INVADERONE.



Gameplay by Stentron.