Fernando Guide: The Shield That Outgrew Its Talent
Fernando, The Self-Appointed Knight — no noble and no trained soldier: when the knight he served fell, Fernando took up his Pyre-infused weapon, and his identity with it. One of the eight champions Paladins opened its Closed Beta with in November 2015, he answered the Magistrate’s call against the Resistance and stayed on under House Aico. In a match he is the anchor tank: a 50-unit Flame Lance, the Chivalry shield, a piercing Fireball, a Charge through enemies and Immortal — four seconds in which nobody near him drops below 1500 health.
His shield is the story of his last years. From 2021 the regenerating shield — no cooldown, just a bar — belonged to his default talent, Aegis, and four Fernandos in five took it. Patch 7.2 (March 2024) gave it to every Fernando, renamed the ability Chivalry and admitted that a 12-second shield cooldown had left Scorch and Formidable “rarely seeing play”. A hotfix three weeks later cut it from 4500 to 3500 health, and the final balance patch, 8.1 (January 2025), raised it to 4000. Guides from before spring 2024 describe a different shield.
The archived PaladinsGuru stats show what that did. Before 7.2, Aegis was picked 78–87% of the time — yet by late 2023 all three talents won within a fifth of a point of each other. After it, Scorch’s pick rate doubled to two in five and Aegis was never again his best-winning talent; after 8.1 the three sit within a point, 55.5–56.3%, and Fernando wins 55.8% of his matches overall. As with Makoa and Imani, his most-played loadout is the game’s own preset — Scorch’s, below his average in all eight snapshots. His collection includes God of War Fernando, the oldest skin on our rarest skins list.
A lance that breathes fire: 35 damage every 0.1 seconds — about 350 per second — plus a burn of 200 over 2 seconds that refreshes rather than stacks. It is fully effective only to 50 units and slows you by 35% while you fire. Instead of a magazine it has a 100-point bar, about 5 seconds of fire: let go and it refills in under a second, empty it and you overheat for 2.2 seconds.
Raise a 4000-health shield in front of you. Since patch 7.2 (March 2024) it has no real cooldown: it runs on a bar that starts regenerating after 1.35 seconds without taking damage and can go back up from 20% of the bar — 25% after it breaks. You cannot shoot behind it and you move 50% slower, but your allies shoot through it, and Charge works without lowering it. An April 2024 hotfix cut it from 4500 to 3500; the final 8.1 patch raised it to 4000.
Hurl a fireball that passes through every enemy in its path, dealing 450 damage to each. With a 400-unit reach it is the only thing Fernando can hit beyond his flames — but it flies slowly, 180 units per second, so lead your target or throw it where they have to walk.
Dash 45 units forward through enemies, dealing 400 damage to each and ignoring knockback. You can steer it in the air and cancel it after half a second, and it works with Chivalry raised — the way in that never drops your shield. Patch 3.3 doubled its damage from 200.
For 4 seconds, you and every ally within 70 units cannot drop below 1500 health and are immune to damage over time — no line of sight needed. You are immune to crowd control and can keep burning with Flame Lance, at half speed. It is a floor, not a heal, and executes go straight through it: Lex’s The Law, Vora’s Harbinger’s Wrath, Drogoz’s Dragon Punch — and so do the map’s own hazards.
Fireball deals 35% more damage — 608 — and its cooldown drops from 7 to 6 seconds; each enemy after the first that it passes through takes more again, up to 1094 on the fifth. Before patch 7.2 about one Fernando in six picked it; once the regenerating shield came with every Fernando, two in five did. After the final 8.1 patch it was his best-winning talent, 56.3% over 16,658 matches — by less than a point.
PaladinsGuru does not tie loadouts to talents, but this is the only player-made build in Fernando’s top five in all three snapshots after the 7.2 rework: 55.9% over 1,577 matches in October 2024 and 55.8% across 2,021. Ten points on Fireball make it a 608-damage throw every 3.75 seconds. The game’s own Scorch preset is his most-played loadout in seven snapshots of eight — and below his average winrate in all eight, 49.8% over 24,229 matches.
- Throw Fireball down the line, not at one target: it pierces, and with Scorch every enemy after the first takes more — three enemies stacked on the point take 608, 729 and 851.
- Fireball is your range. It reaches 400 units against Flame Lance’s 50, but at 180 units per second it is slow — lead the target, or throw it where they have to walk.
- Land the Fireball, then Charge: each hit takes 1.8 seconds off Charge and Hot Pursuit adds 40% speed, so the fireball opens the gap you dash through.
- Drop the shield to throw, raise it right after. Chivalry has no cooldown, only a bar; Fireball, Flame Lance and Immortal lower it, Charge does not.
Chivalry gets 5500 health, and its bar regenerates 25% sooner and 25% faster; after it breaks, it goes back up from 20% instead of 25%. From 2021 until patch 7.2 this talent was what made his shield regenerate at all, and 78–87% of Fernandos picked it. In March 2024 that shield became part of his base kit, and Aegis has not been his best-winning talent in any snapshot since — though half of all Fernandos still take it, at 55.5% after 8.1.
His best shield build in the archive, in the top five of all five snapshots before patch 7.2, when four Fernandos in five ran Aegis: 57.2% over 2,048 matches. Those numbers predate the rework that moved the regenerating shield into the base kit, and no Aegis build has reached his top five since — the closest, Last Stand 5 with Heat Transfer 4, won 52.9% on 104 matches in May 2025. The game’s Aegis preset, built on Towering Barrier 5, never made the top five at all.
- Treat the bar like ammo: with Aegis it starts regenerating 25% sooner, so lower the shield the moment the pressure stops and let it refill before the next push.
- Walk with your team, not ahead of it — Dire Need wins back part of the 50% slow, and your allies shoot through Chivalry while you hold it.
- Hold the shield when you are low: with Last Stand you heal 450 a second behind it at 35% health or less.
- Save Immortal for the burst, not before it: it lasts 4 seconds, and the 1500-health floor stops everything except executes.
Charge gets two charges of 500 damage each and makes you immune to crowd control while you dash — but its cooldown rises from 10 to 13 seconds, and the charges come back one at a time. The rarest pick, 3% of Fernandos before patch 7.2 and 8% after 8.1, yet the best-winning of his three talents in four of eight snapshots — 55.6% after 8.1, level with Aegis.
The only build in his top five spent on Charge, and the best of all five in May 2025: 59.7% — on 134 matches in a single snapshot, so treat it as a lead rather than a verdict. With Formidable, Heat Transfer and Looks That Kill shorten one charge at a time. Skip the game’s Formidable preset: Cavalier 5, Immovable Object 4 and not one Charge card — it was built for the healing Formidable that was replaced in 2021, and it wins below his average in all eight snapshots, 52.7% over 17,022 matches.
- Keep the second charge for the exit: spend both going in and the next one is up to 13 seconds away.
- Dash through the crowd control meant to stop you — you are immune to it while charging, so a stun or a grab aimed at your engage hits nothing.
- Charge with the shield up: dash into position behind Chivalry, then drop it and burn.
- Unstoppable Force knocks back everyone you dash through — shove a diver off your backline, or an enemy off the point.
Fernando fights at 50 units; anything beyond that is Fireball’s job, and it is a slow projectile. Shield-breakers — Salvo, Accelerant, Wrecker, Time Bomb, The Law — and anything that goes through or around Chivalry, from grabs to lobbed grenades to a flank at his back, decide his matchups. Immortal stops damage at 1500 health and blocks damage over time, but not executes. See where Fernando sits in our tier list →
// COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Is Fernando good in 2026?
S-tier, score 0.88 in our community-consensus tier list — level with Makoa and behind only Azaan, and every source grades him S or higher (a 0.22 spread, the second-tightest among the top tanks). He is also the most forgiving of the strong frontliners — no aim-heavy weapon and a shield you can raise whenever you want — which is why our tier list marks him as a beginner pick. He misses the top 20 of our pick-rate proxy, but the archive suggests that undercounts him: in 2025 he played about as many matches as Furia.
The talent race is close, and it no longer favours the default. After 8.1, Scorch wins 56.3% over 16,658 matches, Formidable 55.6% and Aegis 55.5% — too small a gap to call, so pick for the job: Scorch to burst groups on the point, Aegis to hold a wall, Formidable to dive. What separates winning Fernandos from losing ones is the cards: his best player-made loadout beats the in-game Scorch preset by six points, and twelve of the thirteen player builds in his top fives carry Heat Transfer.
How do you counter Fernando?
Stay outside 50 units and break the shield. Flame Lance and Charge both stop at 50 units; beyond that he has only a slow Fireball. That is why his two hardest counters by community vote fight from range: Drogoz (+166, the most votes on his page) stays in the air, where Salvo deals double damage to shields, and Bomb King (+151, 85% of 215 voters) throws Sticky Bombs 500 units that detonate on contact with Chivalry. Third is Khan (+81), whose grab goes straight through it.
Then go around the shield, and through Immortal only with an execute. Chivalry covers his front alone: flank him, lob grenades over it, grab him through it — and since 8.1, Wrecker deals up to 150% weapon damage to shields. Immortal keeps everyone within 70 units above 1500 health for 4 seconds and blocks damage over time, so do not pour cooldowns into it. Lex’s The Law, Vora’s Harbinger’s Wrath and Drogoz’s Dragon Punch kill straight through it.
FAQ
What is the best Fernando talent?
Scorch, by a narrow margin. After the final 8.1 patch it won 56.3% of 16,658 archived PaladinsGuru matches, with Formidable at 55.6% and Aegis at 55.5% — close enough that the job matters more than the pick. Aegis, his default, was the obvious choice until patch 7.2 moved its regenerating shield into his base kit in March 2024; it has not been his best-winning talent since.
What is the best Fernando loadout?
For Scorch: Incinerate 5, Hot Pursuit 5, Looks That Kill 3, Heat Transfer 1 and Unstoppable Force 1 — the only player-made build in his top five in all three snapshots after the 2024 shield rework, 55.8% over 2,021 matches. The in-game Scorch preset is his most-played loadout and wins below his average in every snapshot: 49.8% over 24,229 matches.
Does Fernando’s Immortal stop executes?
No. Immortal keeps Fernando and every ally within 70 units above 1500 health for 4 seconds and makes them immune to damage over time, but executes go straight through it: Lex’s The Law, Vora’s Harbinger’s Wrath, Drogoz’s Dragon Punch, Moji’s Bon Appetit and Yagorath’s Devour. Map hazards and falling off the map kill through it too.
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