The skill of Chivalry.
Otherwise known as the Profession of a Paladin.

Preface: So, you want to become a Paladin do you? Well, there are two skills to it, one of which is the obvious primary focus of this guide, and the secondary skill that is too important not to consider as part of a Paladin-endowned template, the skill of Focus.
I will start this guide off with the basics, about the skills themselves as a whole, the benefits therein, as well as an accurate posting of how I personally gained, things I noticed, and all such quirks following. I will also give some advice and suggestions as to possible templates with the Paladin profession.

I: Getting Started
The biggest set of questions I've noticed coming from people is the most obvious one. How do I get started? How do I get the spells for becoming a Paladin? How do I tithe, for that matter? I shall answer that here, as well as give impartial advice towards this as well. This applies for the veteran player as well as the new player. The first thing, is obvious. You will need an upgraded Age of Shadows account in order to not only see the Chivalry skill in your skill list, not to mention being able to visit Malas and purchase the Book of Chivalry, which, on average, costs about 140 gold. The first thing needed, will be a visit to a 'Chivalry Keeper'. This is an NPC that has their name prefacing 'Keeper of Chivalry' and the like. From him, you can train up your Chivalry to a reasonable level, around 30-31, for about 300-310 gold as well. The second step is also, from the same person, purchasing a Book of Chivalry.
The Book of Chivalry comes with it 10 spell abilities with it, and there is no need to obtain any more. The Book of Chivalry also within it keeps track of your Tithing points.

Ia. Tithing

Ah, tithing. The one thing that I have seen vex more and more people every day. Tithing is an integral part of being a paladin, and in this case, it is the livelihood of how much you can use your abilities. You can have a maximum of 100,000 tithing points at any one time. You can tithe as much gold as you yourself can hold on your person, and for every gold piece you tithe, you also gain a tithing point. So 10,000 gold equals 10,000 tithing points, or TP, as I will sometimes refer it to as in the duration of this guide. In the City of Luna, the Shrine of Wisdom is available in the 2nd floor of the main city complex. When you reach the ankh, or any ankh, not just Wisdom, single-click to open up a context menu. You will have the option to 'Tithe Gold'. From here, the rest is easy. You can either donate all you have, or in multiples of 100. Karma nor skill does not effect how many Tithing Points you may have at any one time; It is a universal base of 100,000.

II. Abilties and Explanation

Within this section I will go into a detailed brief over each ability and the benefits, and the disadvantages, and the conditions that must be met for each. Also I will list personal results and experiences I've had that have come out of testing and colaborating with other testers. All skills benefits are dependent on Karma level. Chance of succeeding on a cast is dependent on Chivalry skill. All spells also can be interrupted by damage taken, ex. Poison.

Close Wounds, 'Obsu Vulni' - This skill can be used to heal anywhere from 7-37 points of damage, although in the AoS Playguide it is listed as 4-24. I have tested this personally and at a level of Glorious Karma, it has healed from 35-36 on average. I have recieved confirmation of it healing 37 with Karma maxed. Cannot be cast while moving.

Min. Skill: 0
Tithing Cost: 10
Mana Cost: 10


Cleanse by Fire, 'Expor Flamus' - This skill can be used to cure poison from the target, but at dealing fire damage to the caster. Can be used on other targets, removing the poison from them, then infusing the poison back into oneself to cure. Fire damage dealt is lessened if user has high Karma. Glorious and higher can expect to only take 2-4 points of fire damage. Can be cast while moving.

Min. Skill: 5
Tithing Cost: 10
Mana Cost: 10


Remove Curse, 'Extermo Vomica' - This ability is used to remove Curses, which include Necromancer curses, Clumsy, Weaken, Feeblemind, Paralyze, and the Curse spell used by mages. This is a fairly effective spell against counteracting mages and even monsters who use similar spells. Chance of removing curses is affected by the user's Karma. At Glorious, I've seen success everytime in removing every curse laid on from monster and player. Can be cast while moving.

Min. Skill: 5
Tithing Cost: 10
Mana Cost: 20


Consecrate Weapon, 'Consecrus Arma' - This ability is used to endow your weapon, for a short period of time, to target the lowest resistance of the target it hits. It's duration is Karma-based, and lasts anywhere between a 3-11 seconds. Testing revealed to be an average of 10 seconds with Glorious Karma.

Min. Skill: 15
Tithing Cost: 10
Mana Cost: 10


Sacred Journey, 'Sanctum Viatas' - For lesser or worse, this ability allows the Paladin to recall off of any rune towards any facet. It is instantaneous, and slightly quicker than the Recall spell. For that matter, it does not have any 'sound' that accompanies the Magery equivalent. The downsides is that it is not available in runebook yet, so you must have the runebook, if you use them, set to a 'Default Location' if you wish to use it in the same. Also be aware at this time, crossing over from facets to a moongate, and attempting to use a moongate after using Sacred Journey will require you to double-click a gate to use it. It will display a message of 'You are too busy to do that at the moment' message in the lower left hand side of your screen.

Min. Skill: 15
Tithing Cost: 20
Mana Cost: 20


Divine Fury, 'Divinum Furis' - Temporarily Increases a Paladin's swing speed, chance to hit, and damage dealt, while lowering their defenses. Duration is based on karma, and can last anywhere between 7-24 seconds. Average tested duration on 'Glorious' was 20 second duration, which leads me to believe you can have a 'max' karma as well.

Min. Skill: 25
Tithing Cost: 10
Mana Cost: 15


Dispel Evil, 'Dispiro Malas' - This ability attempts to dispel evil summoned creatures and also attempts to cause other evil creatures to flee from active combat. Transformed Necromancers may take also take stamina and mana damage if forced from their transformed states. Caster's Karma and Chivalry, and Target's Fame and Necromancy, also affect Dispel chance.

Min. Skill: 35
Tithing Cost: 10
Mana Cost: 15


Enemy of One, 'Forul Solum' - The next enemy hit by the Paladin after activating this ability becomes the Paladin's Mortal Enemy. All damage done to that exact creature type is enhanced, but damage from other creature types is increased as a tradeoff. Mortal Enemy creatures will highlight orange to the Paladin. Duration of the spell is affected by the caster's Karma. Average duration from a Glorious-level Paladin: 3 minutes, 30 seconds.

Min. Skill: 45
Tithing Cost: 10
Mana Cost: 20


Holy Light, 'Augus Luminos' - Deals energy damage in a radius around the caster to all valid targets. Amount of damage done is affected by the caster's Karma. Average damage done anywhere between 8-24, Glorious; 20-22, which suggests more karma can be had for better results. Can be cast on the move.

Min. Skill: 55
Tithing Cost: 10
Mana Cost: 15


Noble Sacrifice, 'Dium Prostra' - Attempts to Resurrect, Cure, and Heal all targets in a radius around the caster. If successful, the caster is drained of all but 1-2 Hit, Mana, and Stamina Points. The recipients of the resurrection are also healed by an amount dependent on the caster, anywhere between 4-24. Glorious and higher can expect to heal between 20-24. There is no forseeable limit of how many people are resurrected, so long as they are within range.

Min. Skill: 65
Tithing Cost: 30
Mana Cost: 20


III. Gaining Skill, Reports

The general theory I had from the start while practicing Chivalry is that gains are success-based, not failure. Over the period of working this skill, -NO- gain ever came from failures. By this pretext, I found skill gain was possible by working any skill that had a minimum requirement of 10-40 from my current skill level.
From the point of first learning Chivalry and gaining about 30-31 skill points in Chivalry, you will want to begin by casting Consecrate Weapon, with a weapon equipped in your hand until about 40 in skill. From then, Divine Fury works for skill gain up until 50-55. From that point, Dispel Evil worked for me personally up until 69-70. Some people I've talked to reported using Enemy of one between 60-70 for their skill gain. However, it can be said either tactic can be used. My own personal experience was that my gains slowed down by 69.3 when I changed to Holy Light from Dispel Evil. Holy Light is the recommended spell to be used until about 88-90, and then change to Noble Sacrifice from there on in to GM. I've discussed skill gain with various people, some kept track, others didn't, but generally, Noble Sacrifice will be the last spell to carry you on into GM Chivalry.

IV. Notes on Focus

This is going to be a generally wide-open section about what I've done with Focus during this time, is that it's gain does not depend solely on how much mana one has. I had full mana and I stil gained, but all the while it is 8x8 dependent, and in fact, Chivalry is best-worked after 50-55 on a boat as well. Template ideas I'm going to leave on the wide-open, but it is easily possible to drop Healing for Chivalry and Magery for Focus as well. I've heard some people go to one single weapon skill as well, but again, this is a -wide- open possibility set here. Another consideration for people who were Med-warriors is to also consider obtaining armor with 'Mage Armor' attributes and keep Meditation and then gain Focus for some really fantastic Mana recovery. The big focal point of Chivalry and Age of Shadows, all the while, will be how well you can hold onto your Mana and such. The effective use therein will be a big factor in PvP, and PvM, Solo, and Group Fights. Thanks to the posters of UOPG for their patience, Mordain of ToM, Nick Seafort at the Herald, and Slade of BC for offering their input and contributing to this. My thanks go to people who were willing to share their results with me, so I could corroborate with them