Epics

Paladin Epic 1.0 — Fiery Defender

Quellious-aligned chain that cleanses three Tainted Darksteel items (Breastplate, Sword, Shield), then upgrades Fiery Avenger into Fiery Defender via Irak Altil in the Plane of Fear.

The Paladin Epic 1.0 quest chain rewards Fiery Defender — a 2-handed slashing sword with the Holy Shock proc that defines Paladin DPS in undead and demonic zones. The chain is structured around Reklon Gnallen in the Temple of Quellious in Erudin, who shepherds the candidate through three parallel sub-chains to cleanse three Tainted Darksteel items: a Breastplate (from Thought Destroyer in Plane of Hate), a Sword (from Keeper of the Tombs in The Hole), and a Shield (from Kirak Vil in Nektulos Forest). The three Gleaming Crested cleansed pieces combine into the Mark of Atonement, which is then turned in alongside an existing Fiery Avenger to Irak Altil in the Plane of Fear.

The lore frame is Quellious (not Mithaniel Marr) — the temple of origin is the Quellious temple in Erudin, and the chain's "atonement" framing comes from Quellious's harmony tenets. The Paladin chain on every server uses this same Reklon Gnallen / Quellious framing regardless of the candidate's home deity.

Fiery Avenger is a prerequisite, not a chain step. The Paladin Epic 1.0 assumes you have already completed the Fiery Avenger quest before turning in to Irak Altil. Plan that chain in parallel — the Avenger turn-in is the upgrade trigger.

At a glance

Field	Value
Reward	Fiery Defender (upgraded from Fiery Avenger)
Class restriction	Paladin-only
Recommended level	55-60
Zones visited	Erudin (Temple of Quellious), Plane of Hate, Kaladim, The Hole, West Freeport, Nektulos Forest, Felwithe, Plane of Fear
Raid steps	2 (Thought Destroyer in Plane of Hate, Irak Altil hand-in in Plane of Fear)
Group steps	3 (Keeper of the Tombs in The Hole, Kirak Vil in Nektulos Forest, the Plane of Hate scorn-banshee spawn cycle)
Solo steps	4 (Reklon hails, Kaladim dinner run, West Freeport bucket-of-water run, Felwithe shield turn-in)
Est. time	2-3 weeks of guild coordination plus a parallel Fiery Avenger chain
Prereqs	Fiery Avenger already completed; access to Plane of Hate and Plane of Fear; Amiable Quellious / Erudin Palace faction

Reward

Fiery Defender — 35 DMG / 40 Delay 2H slashing, Paladin-only. +20 STR, +10 STA, +15 WIS, +15 AC, +70 HP, +30 Mana, +10 to all five resists. Proc: Holy Shock (Combat, Instant, L50). Magic / Lore / No Drop. Primary slot — bashable despite being two-handed.

Holy Shock procs on undead-heavy raids (Plane of Hate undead, Charasis, Sebilis upper guard) define Paladin sustained DPS through the PoP era.

Chain walkthrough

The chain has three parallel cleansing sub-chains under Reklon Gnallen, then a final combine and an upgrade turn-in to Irak Altil.

Part 1 — Initial atonement

Reklon Gnallen in the Temple of Quellious in Erudin — hail and say "I seek atonement" → receive chain information.

Part 2 — Breastplate sub-chain

Thought Destroyer in Plane of Hate (spawns from "a scorn banshee" event) — kill → loot Tainted Darksteel Breastplate.
Jark in the Kaladim mines — say "I will get your dinner".
Nella Stonebraids in Kaladim temple area — say "Do you have Jark's dinner?" → receive Cold Plate of Beef and Bread.
Jark (Kaladim mines) — give Cold Plate of Beef and Bread → receive Pure Crystal.
Reklon Gnallen (Erudin, Temple of Quellious) — give Tainted Darksteel Breastplate + Pure Crystal → receive Gleaming Crested Breastplate.

Part 3 — Sword sub-chain

Keeper of the Tombs in The Hole (Ruins of Old Paineel) — kill → loot Tainted Darksteel Sword.
A peasant woman in West Freeport (near the monk guild) — say "I will take it to him" → receive Bucket of Water.
Joshua in West Freeport (near the bakery / sewers entrance) — give Bucket of Water → receive Bucket of Pure Water.
Reklon Gnallen (Erudin, Temple of Quellious) — give Tainted Darksteel Sword + Bucket of Pure Water → receive Gleaming Crested Sword.

Part 4 — Shield sub-chain

Kirak Vil in Nektulos Forest (level 56 named) — kill → loot Tainted Darksteel Shield.
Elia the Pure in Felwithe — give Tainted Darksteel Shield → receive Gleaming Crested Shield.

Part 5 — Mark of Atonement and final upgrade

Reklon Gnallen (Erudin, Temple of Quellious) — give all three Gleaming Crested items (Breastplate + Sword + Shield) → receive Mark of Atonement.
Irak Altil (a wandering skeleton) in Plane of Fear — give Mark of Atonement + Fiery Avenger → receive Fiery Defender.

Custom race-class adjustments

Paladin is canonically restricted to Human / Half Elf / High Elf / Dwarf / Erudite / Gnome / Halfling / Froglok. The Last Camp allows any race. Considerations:

Dark Elf, Troll, Ogre Paladins: all four canonical NPCs in the chain (Reklon in Erudin, Jark / Nella in Kaladim, the peasant / Joshua in West Freeport, Elia in Felwithe) are seated in good-aligned cities. Expect long Coalition of Tradefolk / Knights of Truth / Erudin Palace / Kaladim Miners grinds before the chain is even hailable. West Freeport is the most workable opening.
Iksar Paladins: Cabilis is SK-aligned. The same four good-city faction grinds apply, plus an Erudin Palace grind that often starts at -2000 and below. Plan months, not weeks.
Erudite Paladins are the smoothest fit — Reklon in Erudin is essentially a hometown trainer.
See Faction for Custom Combos for the standard grind paths.

Group composition

Solo / duo steps (4): Reklon hails, Kaladim dinner run, West Freeport bucket-of-water run, Felwithe shield turn-in. All trivial at 60 for an Amiable-faction Paladin.
Group steps (3): Keeper of the Tombs in The Hole (6-man at 60 with shielding), Kirak Vil in Nektulos Forest (6-man at 56+), Plane of Hate scorn-banshee farming for Thought Destroyer.
Raid steps (2): Plane of Hate for Thought Destroyer (12-18 with full throne clear), Plane of Fear for the Irak Altil hand-in (12-18 to safely reach the wandering skeleton — Irak Altil itself is the turn-in, but the zone is the hostile part).

Tips

Run Fiery Avenger in parallel. The Defender upgrade requires Avenger in inventory at the Irak Altil hand-in. Don't reach Step 14 without it.
Kaladim faction must be Amiable for the Jark / Nella sub-chain. Iksar / Dark Elf / Troll Paladins face the longest grind here — start before the chain.
The Hole is a punishing zone for KOS races. The Keeper of the Tombs sub-step often costs more time in CR than in actual fighting. Bring a Necro friend for summon-corpse insurance.
Plane of Hate scorn-banshee event has rotating spawn dependencies. The Thought Destroyer is not always up — coordinate with a guild Hate clear and confirm spawn before raid commit.
Irak Altil wanders. Confirm location with Track before bringing the raid in. The hand-in is trivial once the skeleton is found, but Plane of Fear pulls aggressively.
Holy Shock proc stacks with cleric Symbol of the Stoic Marr-line buffs on undead. Pair the Defender with high-haste off-hand if you're going off-hand DPS mode in 1H stance (though Defender is 2H — for raid DPS, run Defender solo as primary).
Save the receipt items — three Tainted pieces, three Gleaming Crested pieces, plus the Pure Crystal and Bucket of Pure Water. Bank discipline matters.