General Paladin

What makes Paladin's weak? I haven't played this game in a really long time and lots of things changed like my dark knight. I don't really like his hyper skills or skill sets that much anymore and was thinking of converting to a paladin. However, it seems paladins are extremely weak. The last time I played them they kept up quite well and just had a hard time increasing range. If anyone can enlighten me to what paladin's entail it would be greatly appreciated. I also noticed that charges no longer buff and are an attack skill which is some what weird.