Paladin

Paladin Heavy Tank - is the main battle tank of the Asgard in Red Alert 3: Entropy

Background
The Paladin tank is in many ways opposed to the rest of the Asgard forces, which mainly possess high speed and damage, but low armor.

The Paladin tanks are smaller copies of the famous Apocalypse tanks. Despite the fact that they are not very fast, and their speed is inferior to most main battle tanks, the main advantage of Paladins is heavy armor. Paladins are incredibly good at absorbing damage, deflecting fire from less armored targets, or for intense close combat.

The Paladin's advantage is not limited to its high survivability of direct hits. Asgard borrowed Soviet armor technology to create these tanks, which means that these are the only MBTs capable of self-restoring a certain amount of armor while out of combat.

To improve the damage absorption abilities of Paladins, all tanks were equipped with a new generation of portable deflectors. When the ability is activated, the Paladin transfers to himself all the damage inflicted on a nearby allied unit, and, at the same time, quickly restores part of his armor. By default, this effect lasts 5 seconds, during which the Paladin cannot attack, but can still move. In the future, this time can be extended by purchasing dedicated upgrades.

For the crews of the Paladin tanks, pilots with special qualities were selected. In particular, they are brave military veterans, able to maintain composure even in the most stressful situation. Many Asgard crews serving high-tech vehicles view Paladin crews with some prejudice, considering them to be "dumb grunts". Though, they never escape their help, when such hard-asses are required on the battlefield.

Abilities
Deflector - for 5 seconds, absorbs all damage dealt to nearby allies and heals itself. Cannot attack during the ability duration.

Tactics
Paladins are damage sponges designed to support close combat. Paladins are essential since most Asgardian units do not have good armor. In turn, Paladins are not able to deal a large amount of damage, so they rarely act on their own.

They are big enough not to be crushed by Apocalypse tanks, unlike other MBTs.

Assessment
Pros: Cons:
 * Best survivability of all main battle tanks
 * Wins in toe-to-toe fight against all main battle tanks
 * Special ability protects friendly units nearby from enemy fire by focusing it on Paladin
 * Tier 2
 * Slowest of all main battle tanks
 * Highest price and longest production time of all main battle tanks
 * Slowest of all main battle tanks
 * The main cannon is not very effective for its price (almost the same damage output as Guardian tank)
 * Without proper micro, squads of Paladin tanks will always lose to squads of Hammer tanks of the same price (e.g. 4 Paladins will lose to 5 Hammer Tanks)
 * Weak against infantry (unless ordered to move over them)
 * Cannot attack aircraft
 * Cannot move on water.