I know that Goliath gives a paladin a mount for 24 hours, but does it do anything else? I guess I am wondering if it is in any way better than a purchased mount? It seems annoying to recast Goliath every 24 hours when I can just spend 1k and get a mount for 144 hrs.
So with that in mind, does Goliath offer any benefits besides just being a mount?
It increases your charge damage,Also while on goliath you charge just like a minotaur but you will lag your opponent once an hour.Also you cannot be tripped,you can be laglocked really hard and it makes you fight better.
Strictly speaking, that's not entirely correct. Much of what you mentioned may or may not be specific to the mounted combat ability and not the Goliath horse itself. There may or may not be (other) things that the Goliath does that a regular mount doesn't.
How's that for cryptic?
Just watch out for David with a thunderstick when you're mounted on Goliath.
"So with that in mind, does Goliath offer any benefits besides just being a mount?"
Yes, Goliath's has the unique ability of getting you killed.
You can trust him to leave you when you are fighting a fire giant, just the moment before he bashes you.
They are also secret alies to evil monks, having a sacred pact to disapear into the hills as such one appears.
Give you a decent mount and buy an elephant. And why an Elephant and not a White Charger/Stallion/Quarterhorse ?
So that next time the friendly Battlemage casts enlarge you wont have to return home walking.
With that i would love to know why the hell a Monk can Airtrash a mounted Paladin when they are not even flying.
A mounted paladin should never ever be laged by trip.
Monks already have enuff bonus with chakeras and vs Mages/Clerics.
"So with that in mind, does Goliath offer any benefits besides just being a mount?"
Yes, Goliath's has the unique ability of getting you killed.
You can trust him to leave you when you are fighting a fire giant, just the moment before he bashes you.
They are also secret alies to evil monks, having a sacred pact to disapear into the hills as such one appears.
Keep track of your affects list. Being mounted as a Paladin is very important - if you want to use Goliath, then treat it like you would sanctuary. Don't fight bash-happy giants and trip-happy monks with 0 hours to go with your mount and you'll be fine.
You're right - Goliath sucks, don't use it, it offers you no benefits and will only get you killed.
The above may or may not be advise based on my experiences fighting paladins who greatly benenfit and ,in many cases, only live due to the use of that stupid mount whose name begins with G....
L-A
The benefit of the Goliath is that it's ****ing huge, it's free, and can be summoned anywhere under the sky. There is no charge damage bonus, nor a charge lag bonus.
Trust me, though, ditch the 144 hour mounts. Goliath is tops.
Definitely ditch the purchased mount. Goliath rocks...I never used anything else while playing Cormin, and never once did I regret it.
If you're worried about having it drop in the middle of combat, don't get in fights. If you're worried about fleeing, keep a flight scroll with you or use your handy dandy heroism.
It's a good spell to have, even if the lag is kinda killer. I suppose just learn how to run quick to put it back up.
K. Goliath it is. Not that I am playing a Paladin, but curiosity satisfied. Thanks. 
Moves should very rarely be an issue for a Paladin (excluding abilities that increase how many moves you use per room, caltraps for example). Never fight without heroism as a paladin IMO, it offers many benefits (increased offensive output, increased luck, moving costs 1 mv per room regardless of room type or whether you're mounted or not) at the cost of losing some AC which shouldn't really be an issue - you're a Paladin - you have AC buffering prayers and have access to items that can grant you AC - any extra damage you DO take as a result of this lowered AC, well, you just run forever and ever until you get far enough away to cure and come back. 
So with moves not being a problem (meaning the short length of time issue for Goliath shouldn't impact your running capabilities) the only downside of taking Goliath over a store-bought mount is that Goliath lasting 24 hours could mean losing it and getting lagged if you're not careful - easily mitigated by treating it as an important spell and running to summon another when there's only a few hours left on it. So with that said and done, why should you use Goliath when you can save yourself the trouble and get a store-bought mount? For reasons X & Y (secret reasons, if you haven't already guessed ).
Looking at things practically, for the most part the difference between Goliath and a store-bought mount is actually not going to make much difference at all a lot of the time. But I still recommend getting into the habit of using Goliath. 
heh, goliath gives you the "fly level immunity" to tripping?
pfft, that in itself is worth ~40k gold every 26 casts...or constantly having to get those nice floating wands. 
Trip immunity comes with the mounted combat skill and works on any steed, not just Goliath.
man, need to make a palidan one day...
actually my first character ever I think was one, I died...a lot. 
Paladins are highly underrated IMO. Very strong.
I concur.
Paladins are tanks. But they are very equipment dependent.
They are excellent newbie characters, and can take quite a beating. But to kill someone experienced with them at Pinnacle take skill.
The reverse also applies. And a great skill is needed to kill a experienced Paladin.
It is the class of Stalemates.
yep it's damn hard to kill a paladin.
My one paladin character that stayed a paladin barely took any deaths until life-or-death situations were an absolute daily requirement (meaning I joined a cabal). If I hadn't joined Knight with him and had kept playing the character, hell, he might even still be alive today.
