Are you new to Paladins and you want to get good at one of the free tanks?

Is your aim garbage and you need a character that you can be good at anyways?

Do you want to get better at Fernando than that fetus that keeps picking Aegis?

Still salty about the Scorch nerfs and haven't figured out a good replacement build?

Just want to play him cuz he's fun?

Come one and all and learn the secrets of Fernando!Firstly, a quick overview:

Fernando is a Frontline Champion with 4600 base hp and movement speed of 350. To put this into perspective, the average Tank has 4000 health and 350 movement speed. He has the 3rd highest base health in the game, beaten only by Inara and Torvald (if you count his 1800 shield). Fernando is very versatile as a Frontline: he is extremely beefy, but he also has large amounts of dive potential. As such, he can be used as a point tank or a dive tank, but he works best when he is allowed to do a bit of both, striking out from the point at the enemy backline before retreating to hold the objective. He is great as a second pick tank, as he can fill any gaps in his partner Tank's kit.

Fernando's abilities:

Flame Lance:

This is Fernando's primary fire. It fires projectiles every 0.1 seconds that deal 35 damage upon initial impact, and apply a damage over time that ticks 5 times over 2 seconds, dealing 40 damage per tick, or 200 in total. The burn effect does not stack, sadly but the 2 second timer is refreshed each time the target is hit. This means that it is most effective to spread your damage around on several targets, instead of just soaking all your damage into the enemy Tank. Another thing to note, Flame Lance relies on a resource bar instead of an ammo count, though it does have the equivalent of 50 ammo (5 seconds of uninterrupted shooting). Instead of reloading when you hit "R," Flame Lance will automatically begin to recharge after not being fired for 0.5 seconds, it will then take up to a second to fully replenish itself. If you empty the resource bar completely, it will automatically reload, taking a full 2 seconds to recharge. As such, it is often better to stop firing just before you use up your resource, and allow it to recharge a bit before you continue firing. Only use up your resource completely when it is necessary to finish killing an enemy. Finally, Flame Lance has 2 major drawbacks. First is its short range. While it actually shoots farther than it appears in first person, its 50 unit range is still not very far, so be sure to close the distance or get out of the way of an enemy champion who is shooting at you or you will take needless damage without giving any back. Secondly, firing flame lance slows you by 50%. This is important to keep in mind when diving, and makes it doubly important to not shoot when the enemy isn't in range.

Shield:

Fernando's RMB ability. When it's activated, you whip out a massive, 8000 health shield for up to 10 seconds. It can be used to protect you and your team, and is useful in keeping Cauterize off long enough to get healed. Its biggest weakness is the fact that its name sucks. Its second biggest weakness is that you have to channel it. This means that if you get CC'd, your shield drops and you will likely die. It also means that you can't shoot while it is active. As such, you should not keep it active longer than you need to. Especially after the enemy team starts to pick up Wrecker. Generally, hold up your shield until:

1. Your gun has reloaded. Flame Lance will reload while Shield is raised, so don't drop it until the reload is done.

2. You've been healed. When your shield is up you hopefully won't be getting shot at so you should eventually be free of Cauterize, after which your support can top you off.

3. Large amounts of damage or any blockable CC is headed your way. Just because you generally shouldn't hold up your shield for the full 10 seconds doesn't mean holding it up for a little is bad. Make sure you won't instantly die before you drop it.

4. Skye Ults. It pierces shields. Run.

Also, raising your shield slows you, just like shooting does.

Fireball:

Fernando's "Q" and his only long range/poke damage option. It fires in a straight line, moves with moderate speed, does 450 damage, pierces enemies, and has a hitbox bigger than the broadside of a barn. Fire it off whenever it's off cooldown. It does interrupt your normal firing, but it does increase your dps. It's useful for hitting the clumps of squishies in the backline, or pumping more damage into the tanks. Take your pick, or even hit both when possible! Make sure to avoid the annoying mistake of trying to hit two targets and accidentally splitting the difference by shooting right between them. Honestly, this is the most straightforward part of Fernando's kit.

Charge:

Nando go zoom. Dash forward, passing through enemies and dealing 200 damage. You move about as fast as Ash can dash, and go about as far as you can shoot, and you can dash while Shield is active. Charge has 2 main uses. Firstly, it can be used to pressure enemy Frontlines when they use barriers of any sort, but especially personal barriers. Charge through them and then make them them deal with you, exposing them to your team. Secondly, you can dive supports in the backline. Similar to the previous method, go through the Frontline and continue on to attack the support behind them. Fernando no longer has the mobility to effectively pursue kills, so if the support retreats, it is generally best to return your attention to the (now support-less) Frontline and let the actual flanks clean up the kills. Charge also has a tertiary use as a retreat tool. While it is good to dash away instead of dying, it is better, when possible, to use your shield and remain on the objective. Shield and back away and then dash to cover is the best method of retreat in my experience. "Moonwalking" (jumping quickly turning and dashing in midair before then turning back around so you land and are dashing backwards with your shield up) is cool, but is often too risky as turning, even briefly, with your shield opens you to be CC'd out of it. If the enemy team lacks CC or if you are very good at keeping track of what abilities have been used, Moonwalking can be useful.

Immortal:

This is Fernando's ultimate. While it is active, you are slowed and locked out of all abilities except Flame Lance, but you and your surrounding teammates cannot fall below 1500 health and are immune to damage over times. You are also CC immune. Fernando's ultimate is best used to counter enemy ultimates, or any other large amount of damage if your team is at low health. It is best to have your shield available to use immediately after ulting, because you will likely be emerging from it with low health into all of the burst that the enemy team saved up while you were immortal.