Hexen II/Paladin

Paladin lived in Septimus (something between Greece and Rome) in a big city, being a warchief. He protected common folk and lead to battle everyone who wished and was capable of defending the land against Eidolon and his army. But when the invasion began, Paladin’s city was the first one to fall. Paladin and a few survivors hid themselves in a temple of Kravnos, the god of War, preparing to strike back, but there was a traitor among them, who compromised their secret to Eidolon. That night an army of golems and gargoyles assaulted the temple and killed everyone there but Paladin, who was overlooked. Seeking revenge, Paladin grabbed his sword and left for Eidolon’s stronghold to avenge his brothers’ death.

Paladin is just like Fighter from Hexen: both start with their bare fists, both characters’ second weapons are melee ones, they both use exploding artifact just by throwing it to enemies, and they both can survive longer when receiving damage from enemies. Here are a few interesting facts about Paladin:
 * It’s said that Paladin devoted his life to Kravnos – the god of War. In the game you won’t find his temple, but you will find references to gods of Greece and Rome like Athena, Zeus, Demetrius and the god of War called Mars (not Kravos).
 * It’s told that Paladin grabbed his sword and marched for Eidolon’s stronghold, but he doesn’t possess the sword in the beginning of the game.
 * Paladin’s hideout was raided by gargoyles and golems – these enemies are the first ones the player will encounter in Heretic. Looks like D’Sparil and Eidolon use the same tactics raiding lands.

Abilities

 * Free Action (level 3) gives you ability to move faster underwater and even stay there for unlimited time without the risk of drowning.
 * Divine Intervention (level 6) protects you from certain death. At level 6, it has a 12% chance of activating, increasing to the maximum of 20% at level 10. If you fall in battle, there is a chance that you will be instantly revived with full health, with effects of Tome of Power and Icon of the Defender applied to you. You will also teleport back to where you entered the level (as if you used a Chaos Device). Otherwise, your death will be just a game over. This only triggers by random chance, thus it is possible to exploit save and reloading to regain full health.

Weapons

 * Gauntlets don’t look too menacing, but compared to Paladin’s strength and their speed they are really useful. And with the Tome of Power they become more dangerous.


 * Vorpal Sword is a blade which deals a nice amount of damage, but can deal even more with blue mana. If you hit a monster or a smashable object, the sword will deal increased damage to it and to nearby targets because of a swing, using some amount of blue mana. You won’t lose mana on a miss. In case you don’t have blue mana, you will deal decreased damage. When the Tome of Power is active, each strike will create a shockwave, giving Paladin so much-needed ranged weapon.


 * Axe is not a melee weapon despite it looks so. It fires a spinning axe head which can bounce off walls. When powered up, Axe produces 3 projectiles instead of a single one. Each thrown axe may hit up to four targets, including walls that it bounces against.


 * Purifier consists of 2 parts. When you combine (pick up) both parts, you receive a staff which creates lightning bolts at a rapid rate. It’s the worst of Paladin’s weapons if you compare its efficiency of mana use to other weapons, but it has the highest value of damage per second. When powered up, it will fire exploding balls. Direct hit with a fireball deals more damage than explosion, so aim carefully.

Glyph of the Ancients
Paladin throws this artifact like a hand grenade, which then sticks to any monster or surface it strikes. This makes it useful against a group of monsters, but is also powerful against some single targets.

This creates a fireball, which causes about 180 total damage for something caught in its full explosion (5-10 damage on each of 24 frames).

The glyph also causes 3 damage on a direct hit.

Armor
Paladin gets the best protection from Breastplate, absorbing 25%. The helmet absorbs 15%, and bracers absorb 10%. Not very familiar with magic, he only gets 5% from the Amulet of Protection.