9 Kings Paladin Guide: Frontline, Farm and Support

Paladin is a durable melee troop from King of Nothing. It can supply a frontline role while another attacker develops. Whether it survives a particular enemy depends on its actual upgrades, support and difficulty; this guide makes no measured tanking or clear claim.

What Paladin contributes

The official reference identifies Paladin as a defensive melee troop. Patch #20 later increased its movement speed without publishing a complete new stat table. Old HP, attack and movement figures should not be treated as a current Patch #31 benchmark.

Paladin occupies a troop plot. It can receive eligible troop enchantments, unlike a Scout Tower. A defensive choice still needs useful damage elsewhere in the army: keeping the enemy occupied and clearing it are different jobs.

Farm and Blacksmith solve different problems

Farm adds units to one adjacent troop each year. Blacksmith adds damage to eligible adjacent plots. The former develops numbers; the latter develops attack damage. Neither creates the missing recipient merely by being placed on the board.

For an illustrative connection, put Paladin at B2, Farm at B1 and Blacksmith at B3. Both supports touch the intended troop. Farm's other troop neighbors can affect where its one-recipient benefit goes, so inspect the actual yearly result rather than assuming every nearby troop receives units.

Steel Coat is a Nothing enchantment that cancels an incoming hit through its described effect. Read the current stack count rather than inventing a universal number that makes Paladin invulnerable.

Decide what failed before upgrading

If Paladin disappears first, inspect its survival, unit count and the threats reaching it. If it remains alive while enemies are not cleared, improve the functioning damage source. Another Farm is not a substitute for a missing attacker, and a defensive troop is not a guaranteed answer to every ranged or backline threat.

The Nothing frontline route starts from these support relationships. The protected Scout Tower route keeps Paladin as an optional screen while the tower supplies damage. Neither diagram fixes the enemy approach direction or promises a specific opening hand.

Evidence and version

Mechanics checked on 15 October 2026 for 0.9.8 / Patch #31. The official cards establish the role; Patch #20 records the movement change. Layout advice is editorial, with no fresh-run benchmark supplied.