I have long found the elf paladin to be the bane of my CF existence. I can never hit them, they avoid at least half of what I throw at them (so I basically am just lagging myself), and seem to throw out these massive damage bursts that I don't really understand in terms of whether they are lagging themselves whatsoever, how long they last, or when they can repeat it again.

There is literally always one or two of these builds, almost always in a leader position in Fort at hero ranks, being a constant frustration for me. I have had no interest in playing one to figure it all out which is probably why they annoy the crap out of me, just not a build I find to be interesting (even though clearly very effective).

Can someone please explain to me how I am supposed to beat these dexy paladins or at least help me understand their skills/strategy and weaknesses against warriors? Thanks.

First, pick a paladin type. Then look up some PBFs of elf paladins of that type, then look at what builds killed them solo. That should give you an idea. Will typically require some amount of prepping.

The fact that you prefer to play evils is what makes them a problem for you. Play a goodie or a neutral and you completely avoid dealing with all the paladins, at least don't have to ever fight them.

That aside, you probably have a problem with the monks since that would be the Avoiders with Intensify. They also have Anticipate.

Double-thrusting one with two iron swords produces highly satisfying results usually if they lagged themselves.

They also die to bash if they don't Anticipate it.

The way Intensify works is that they have to be in combat and lag-free to initiate it, they enter the intensify command and appear to strike with a lot of burst. Now, were you to flee and come back and bash/trip them, that would negate their intensify (since it only works for the current combat, not for any future ones) and prevent them entering new intensify for the duration of the lag. This works in a similar vein for cranial, lash and all others.

Monk paladins run out of mana. If you do a bit of hit-and-run, they're forced to rest and they don't recover mana that easily, so they usually pop a slow, so they're out of commission completely for ~4-5 ticks. Use that knowledge and window to continue your raid/retrieval.

Eyejab works wonders if you just want to retrieve your item.

A couple of key takeaways:

1) Figure out what they're Anticipating (based on fail rate) against you and use another lagging move
2) When you see the round of burst dam of lightning strikes, flee and come back with a lagging move
3) Control the flow of battle yourself. For example, open with a bash/trip/lash, stay there for two rounds, flee regardless of what happened and come back with another lagging move. That way, they don't have an intensify window.
4) If they lag themselves (with a wrath perhaps) - burst yourself with a double-thrust or similar.
5) If they don't look like they're being lagged by your lag move, make them chase you, some may have Champions Stand, but it only works if they stand there.

>The way Intensify works is that they have to be in combat and
>lag-free to initiate it, they enter the intensify command and
>appear to strike with a lot of burst. Now, were you to flee
>and come back and bash/trip them, that would negate their
>intensify (since it only works for the current combat, not for
>any future ones) and prevent them entering new intensify for
>the duration of the lag. This works in a similar vein for
>cranial, lash and all others.

This is misinfo. Intensify lasts for 6 rounds or whatever regardless of the "current combat" or whatever.

>1) Figure out what they're Anticipating (based on fail rate)
>against you and use another lagging move
>2) When you see the round of burst dam of lightning strikes,
>flee and come back with a lagging move

See above. You have to wait out intensify for this to work.

>3) Control the flow of battle yourself. For example, open with
>a bash/trip/lash, stay there for two rounds, flee regardless
>of what happened and come back with another lagging move. That
>way, they don't have an intensify window.

This is a particularly annoying way to fight a monk. Only effective to a point though.

>4) If they lag themselves (with a wrath perhaps) - burst
>yourself with a double-thrust or similar.

No one casts wrath anymore.

>5) If they don't look like they're being lagged by your lag
>move, make them chase you, some may have Champions Stand, but
>it only works if they stand there.

This is good info.