Every MOBA that involves an item building system gives you the tools to counter the enemy team. Counter-building can work for or against you very easily. Being on the wrong end of counter-building is when you see your gameplan fall apart. Out of the four types of items in Paladins, Attack and Defense are the types used to counter your opponents. Since the whole game can be whittled down to either attacking or defending, you can see how important counter-building is. I’m going to go over what every item does and tell you when you should purchase each one. The big thing to note is that going the same item build every single game WON’T help you. You have to be knowledgeable and know how to adapt to all possible champion combinations your enemies could throw at you.

ATTACK

Icon Name Effect Counters Bulldozer Weapon shots deal more damage to deployables. (50/100/150%) Costs 300 credits per level. Barik, Grohk, Ying.



Cauterize Weapon shots reduce the effect of healing on your target for 2s. (30/60/90%) Costs 300 credits per level. Grohk, Grover, Pip, Ying, and Buck. Wrecker Weapon shots deal more damage to Shields. (50/100/150%) Costs 300 credits per level. Barik, Fernando, Makoa, and Ruckus. Aggression Weapon shots deal more damage. (5/10/15%) Costs 400 credits per level. Skye, Evie, Kinessa, Androxus, and Ying. Deft Hands Reload speed increased. (20/40/60%) Costs 400 credits per level. Barik, Fernando, Makoa, and Ruckus.

Although it gets a lot of hate from the community, Aggression in some situations on some champions against compositions that have very little frontline. Deft Hands is good against tanks because you may need to reload to have enough ammo to get the kill. You should also shoot for relics that can counter multiple champs. Wrecker, for example, is an even better item if there are multiple shields on the enemy side. As a final note, make sure to see what your teammates are building as well. Having 4 Cauterizes isn’t as effective as having 2 Cauterizes and 2 Wreckers.

DEFENSE

Icon Name Effect Counters Illuminate Increases the range at which you see nearby stealthed targets. (50/100/150%) Costs 200 credits per level. Skye. Resilience Reduces the duration of Crowd Control. (30/60/90%) Costs 200 credits per level. Bomb King, Pip, Evie, and Grover. Blast Shields Reduces damage taken from AoE attacks. (10/20/30%) Costs 300 credits per level. Bomb King, Evie, Drogoz, and Pip. Haven Reduces the Damage you take from Direct attacks. (10/20/30%) Costs 300 credits per level. All champions not in “Blast Shields”.

It could be hard to choose a defensive item if the enemy composition has many different types of damage. Sometimes, your best bet is to wait to buy your defense item until you know which champions are going to give you the most trouble. You should also know what your card loadout is, as a different defense item could be better suited for it. Lastly, realize that you’re defending yourself against more than just weapon attacks. For example, Viktor’s auto attacks are direct, but his first ability and ultimate are AoE. Checking the loadouts of your opponents to see what ability they’re maximizing most gives you the whole picture as to what damage you’re taking.



There are cases in which how you build is more important than the champion you pick. Beyond what is seen on the champion selection screen, there is another game inside of the game. Winning the game of builds can win you the objectives.