Paladins: Complete Guide

A guide to Paladins, Hi-Rez's free-to-play fantasy hero shooter. It covers the game's current status, the four classes, cards and loadouts, talents, the in-match item shop, modes, beginner champions, and how to climb.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the Wekono's Wake update (January 29, 2025) and its February 3, 2025 hotfix, the most recent patch notes Hi-Rez has posted for Paladins. Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Status in 2026: Read This First

• Paladins is still online and free to play on Steam, and its store page still advertises 50+ champions.
• Updates have stopped for now. Wekono's Wake (January 29, 2025) kicked off "Year 8" with a focus on customization (Items, Talents, Cards) and an Experimental Queue testing Subclasses, a pre-match role pick that powers up one aspect of your kit. Hi-Rez hasn't posted new Paladins update notes on Steam since its February 3, 2025 hotfix. Treat the current balance as frozen and don't count on new champions or event passes.
• Hi-Rez's active development is centered on SMITE 2. If Paladins' status changes, it will show up first on its Steam news page.

Quick Start

• Play Training and a few bot matches first to learn the objective flow and your champion's cooldowns.
• Pick a class your team is missing. A standard Siege composition is 1 Front Line, 1–2 Support, 1–2 Damage, and 1 Flank.
• Use the default loadout until you understand the champion, then build your own. Loadouts are the biggest power lever in the game.
• Buy items every time you respawn. Credits carry over. Cauterize (anti-heal) is almost always the first buy for at least one player.
• Stand on the point. In Siege, the objective and payload decide rounds, not your kill count.
• Save your ultimate for fights that matter. It charges from damage, healing, and time. Wasting it on a lone target often loses the next team fight.
• Use your mount. You automatically ride from spawn, and a mount-speed item or card gets you back to fights faster.
• Supports should heal, not duel. A Support who stays alive wins more fights than one chasing kills.

Classes

Class | Job | Example champions

Front Line | Hold the point, block damage with shields, start fights | Barik, Fernando, Ruckus, Makoa, Ash, Torvald, Inara, Terminus, Khan, Raum, Atlas, Yagorath, Azaan

Damage | Consistent damage from range, burst, or area control | Viktor, Cassie, Kinessa, Drogoz, Bomb King, Tyra, Sha Lin, Strix, Lian, Imani, Dredge, Octavia, Tiberius, Willo, Saati, Betty La Bomba, Omen

Flank | Pick off Supports and backliners, pressure from off-angles | Androxus, Buck, Evie, Koga, Lex, Maeve, Skye, Talus, Vatu, Zhin, Moji, Vora, Caspian

Support | Heal and utility, keep the team alive | Grohk, Grover, Mal'Damba, Pip, Seris, Ying, Jenos, Furia, Io, Rei, Corvus, Lillith

The roster has more than 50 champions. New accounts start with a free starter set. Other champions unlock with in-game Gold or Crystals (premium), or all at once through the paid Champions Pack.

Beginner-friendly picks

Class | Pick | Why

Front Line | Barik | Deployable shield and turrets. Simple, strong point control

Front Line | Fernando | Big frontal shield and a fire flamethrower. Teaches shielding for the team

Damage | Viktor | Hitscan rifle with an iron-sights mode. Plays like a traditional shooter

Damage | Cassie | Mobile, forgiving bow with a clean kit

Flank | Buck | Tanky, self-healing shotgun Flank with a leap. Forgiving for new players

Support | Grohk / Pip | Area healing (Grohk's totem, Pip's potion) that's easy to use

Controls (Default PC)

Action | Key

Primary fire | Left mouse

Abilities | Right mouse, E, F, Space (depending on champion)

Ultimate | Q

Reload | R

Scoreboard | Tab

Each champion's kit spreads across these keys differently, so check the champion tooltip in the loadout screen. You can rebind everything in Settings.

Cards and Loadouts

Loadouts are Paladins' build system. You make them outside matches and pick one when you spawn in.

• A loadout has 5 cards, each tied to that champion's abilities or stats.
• You spend 15 points across the 5 cards. Each card is ranked 1–5, and a higher rank gives a stronger effect.
• Cards tune a champion toward a playstyle: cooldown reduction on a mobility skill, bonus healing, shield health, lifesteal on hits, and so on.

How to build a good loadout:

• Put points into what you use most, like your escape or your main damage ability.
• Take survival cards on squishy champions (cooldown on escape, self-heal).
• Don't split points evenly. Two or three 4–5 cards usually beat five 3s.
• Study community loadouts for your champion, then adjust to your playstyle.

Talents

Each champion has several talents. These are major passive or ability modifiers that change how a kit plays, often turning a Flank into a more aggressive or more defensive variant. You pick one talent per match. More talents unlock as you level up that champion. When you're learning a champion, read all its talents; the best one often depends on the map and your team.

The Item Shop (In Match)

You earn Credits during the match from damage, healing, objective time, and passive income. Spend them at spawn on items, upgradable in tiers, that cover:

Item | What it does | When to buy

Cauterize | Reduces healing on enemies you damage | Almost every game, especially against strong Supports or self-healers

Resilience | Reduces crowd-control duration | Against heavy CC (stuns, roots, knockbacks)

Illuminate | Reveals stealthed enemies you damage | Against Evie, Skye, Strix, or other stealth champions

Wrecker | Bonus damage to shields and deployables | Against shield-heavy Front Lines or turret/deployable champions

Chronos | Cooldown reduction | Ability-heavy champions

Kill to Heal / Life Rip | Healing on elimination / lifesteal | Self-sustain for Damage and Flank

Master Riding | Faster mount speed | Getting back to the point faster

Morale Boost | Ultimate charge rate | Champions whose ultimate wins fights

Haven / Blast Shields / Nimble | Defensive and mobility options | When you keep dying to burst or area damage

Rules of thumb:

• One or two players buy Cauterize early. Upgrade it to high tiers against healing-heavy teams.
• Front Lines buy Wrecker less often than Damage champions, who get more value from breaking shields.
• Adapt every respawn. The shop exists so you can counter the enemy team as the match unfolds.

Modes

Mode | What it is

Siege | The main mode. Capture the point for 1 point, then push or stop the payload for another. First team to 4 points wins

Onslaught | Hold the capture zone and get kills for score. First to the target wins

Team Deathmatch | Kill-based, fast, great for learning champions

Competitive (Ranked) | Siege with a pick/ban draft and visible rank

Training / Bot matches | Learn champions without pressure

Common Siege maps include Frog Isle, Jaguar Falls, Serpent Beach, Frozen Guard, Ice Mines, Fish Market, Timber Mill, Stone Keep, Brightmarsh, Splitstone Quarry, Ascension Peak, Warder's Gate, Shattered Desert, and Bazaar. Learn each map's high ground and flank routes.

Positioning and Team Play

• Front Line: hold the point, block damage for your Damage and Supports, and play off your shield's health. Back off to reset it before it breaks.
• Damage: stay behind your Front Line and hit whatever the enemy Front Line is shielding. Break shields when your team is ready to commit.
• Flank: go for Supports and isolated Damage champions, then disengage. A Flank who dies on every dive is a free kill for the enemy.
• Support: stay out of line of sight. Heal the Front Line first, and track when your escape or your ultimate is ready.
• Group up after a wipe. Don't trickle into the point one at a time. Wait at spawn for your team or hit the point together.

Currencies and F2P Tips

Currency | Source | Spend on

Gold | Playing, daily login rewards, quests | Champions, some cosmetics, chests

Crystals | Real money | Skins, event passes, the Champions Pack

Credits (in match) | Match performance | Items during that match only

• Do your daily quests and login rewards for steady Gold.
• Use Gold on champions before cosmetics. Having more champions means more options in draft.
• With no new passes announced since early 2025, only buy cosmetics you want now rather than saving for future content.

Ranked Tips

• Ranked requires an account level and a minimum number of owned champions. Check the requirements in the queue menu.
• Master at least two champions in two different classes so draft bans don't leave you stranded.
• Have a couple of loadouts ready per champion (one aggressive, one defensive), so you can adapt to the enemy draft.
• Coordinate ultimates. Stacking two ultimates in one fight (for example, a stun or area-denial ultimate plus a burst ultimate) wins rounds.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Forgetting to buy items at spawn.
• Skipping Cauterize against strong Supports and self-healers.
• Chasing kills off the point while the enemy captures.
• Picking a fifth Damage champion instead of filling Support or Front Line.
• Spreading loadout points evenly instead of focusing on key cards.
• Using your ultimate on one target when a better team fight is coming.

Advanced Tips

• Shield-baiting: on Front Lines, let the enemy commit ultimates into your shield, then drop it and move forward.
• Cooldown tracking: watch the enemy Support's escape. Once it's down, your Flank has a free window.
• Deployables (turrets, walls, totems): kill them first in fights. Wrecker helps.
• Credit timing: save toward an item upgrade that immediately counters a threat, like Illuminate against a fed stealth Flank.
• Map knowledge: learn payload checkpoints and which high ground counters a push.

FAQ

Is Paladins dead or shutting down? No shutdown has been announced, and the servers are up. But no new update notes have been posted since early 2025, so it's in a no-new-content state.

Is Paladins free? Yes. The Champions Pack is an optional purchase that unlocks all champions.

Who is the best champion for beginners? Barik (Front Line), Viktor or Cassie (Damage), Buck (Flank), and Grohk or Pip (Support).

How do cards and loadouts work? Each loadout has 5 cards and 15 points to distribute. Each card goes up to rank 5 and upgrades a specific ability or stat.

What's the difference between talents and cards? Talents are big, kit-changing modifiers (one per match). Cards are smaller numeric tweaks you tune in your loadout.

Is there cross-play? Paladins has supported cross-play and cross-progression across platforms. Check the in-game settings for your current options.

Sources

• Paladins on Steam
• Paladins Steam announcements (Wekono's Wake update notes and hotfix, Year 8)
• Hi-Rez Studios