¶ Summary
Typical of Amarr ships, the Paladin receives a 50% bonus to the capacitor usage of its energy turrets, but due to the bastion module's double rate of fire, the Paladin still suffers from a capacitor shortage. It is also the only marauder to have its damage bonus tied to the Marauders skill, rather than the faction's battleship skill, which makes the Paladin's performance much more reliant on the Marauders skill than the other ships in this class. The faction battleship skill also provides a bonus to optimal range, making the Paladin excellent for sniping. When used in conjunction with a Bastion module and Micro Jump Drive, the Paladin's sniping capabilities can render it virtually untouchable while still outputting enormous amounts of damage.
Like other ships of its size, Paladins can sometimes struggle to neutralize frigates. In particular, the Paladin is only able to field a full flight of light drones, so without tracking computers, even cruisers can be difficult for a Paladin to dispatch quickly. As stated above, however, a correctly equipped Paladin is able to utilize a Micro Jump Drive to outrange and snipe any frigates that get too close.
¶ Skills
¶ Tactics
As a derivative of the Apocalypse, the Paladin excels at sniping, receiving a default 25% bonus to large energy turret optimal range due to it requiring . This capability can initially seem to be at odds with the marauder's focus on remaining immobile in Bastion Mode, but strategic use of a Micro Jump Drive allows the Paladin to both kite and snipe with full effectiveness. When modified by the Paladin's reduction to MJD cooldown time, an equipped MJD can be activated approximately every 50-60 seconds, which lines up almost perfectly with the 60-second cycle of the Bastion Module. A pilot wishing to "kite" enemies with a Paladin can warp into combat range, establish aggro, then jump away with the MJD and immediately activate the Bastion Module for a single cycle. When the Bastion Module's cycle ends, the pilot can immediately jump away again and repeat this cycle.
A Paladin is best equipped with pulse lasers and Scorch crystals, but the use of Scorch crystals can also cause issues with turret tracking speed. In extreme cases, it may be difficult even to hit a cruiser orbiting at 40km. Thankfully, the Paladin's bonus to weapon cap usage allows it to equip fewer capacitor modules, which in turn allows it to equip one or more Tracking Computers to offset the Scorch crystals' tracking penalty.
The Paladin is the most popular marauder for bloc warfare in nullsec. When fit for it, the Paladin can output 2000 DPS to 100km while mounting a tank of more than a quarter million ehp. The alliance Pandemic Horde pioneered this doctrine while intending for the Paladin mostly to fight out of bastion, but the fit does have a bastion module fitted. The fit used can be found by searching for Pandemic Horde Paladin lossmails on zKillboard.