You don’t need any virtues to hero. -1 level shops aren’t going to make as big amid a difference on mobs. Paladins are set up well even with no virtues, and I don’t see any one virtue as essential to ranking. Paths and virtues are nice, but both of those classes can manage fine without.

I don’t mean to seem condescending, but I have to ask how you know it would be sadistic if you haven’t had a paladin past rank 19? Paladins are so easy to rank with that I, as a 1.2 on the Thaedan Scale, can likely get one to 25 in within 3 hours. There are players here that could be there much faster. I have to sit on my hands ranking-wise with a pally, otherwise I would outpace all of my lowbie RP goals.