Instead of arguing over Paladin vs DK, let the numbers do the talking.
Assumes r1 all transformation skills.
Health:
Paladin gets 650 HP.
Dark Knight gets 650-1300 HP.
Beast gets 800 HP.
Falcon gets 500 HP.
Mana:
Paladin gets 300 MP.
Dark Knight gets 300-600 MP.
Beast gets 200 MP.
Falcon gets 700 MP.
Stamina:
Paladin gets 1200 STA.
Dark Knight gets 250-725 STA.
Beast gets 600 STA.
Falcon gets 400 STA.
Strength:
Paladin gets 250 STR.
Dark Knight gets 120/200/360 STR.
Beast gets 200 STR.
Falcon gets 200 STR.
Dexterity:
Paladin gets 250 DEX.
Dark Knight gets 120/200/360 DEX.
Beast gets 200 DEX.
Falcon gets 200 DEX.
Intelligence:
Paladin gets 0 INT.
Dark Knight gets 120/200/360 INT.
Beast gets 200 INT.
Falcon gets 200 INT.
Will:
Paladin gets 50 WIL.
Dark Knight gets 0 WIL.
Beast gets 200 WIL.
Falcon gets 200 WIL.
Luck:
Transformations do not provide luck.
Melee Damage: 2.5 STR adds 1 max, 3 STR adds 1 min.
Paladin gets 34 min/max + 250 STR, so 117 min/134 max.
Dark Knight gets no bonus damage. 40/66/120 min and 48/80/144 max.
Beast gets 12 min/18 max + 200 STR. 78 min and 98 max.
Falcon gets 15 min/30 max +200 STR. 81 min and 110 max.
Ranged Damage: 2.5 DEX adds 1 max, 3 DEX adds 1 min.
Paladin gets 34 min/max + 250 DEX, so 117 min/134 max.
Dark Knight gets no bonus damage. 40/66/120 min and 48/80/144 max.
Beasts cannot use archery.
Falcon gets 15 min/30 max +200 DEX. 81 min and 110 max.
Magic Damage: 20 INT adds 1 magic damage.
Paladin gets no magic damage.
Dark Knight gets 6/10/18 magic damage.
Beast gets 10 magic damage.
Falcon gets 10 magic damage.
Critical: 10 WIL adds 1% critical rate.
Paladin gets 5 critical from 50 WIL.
Dark Knight gets 12/20/36 critical.
Beast gets 32 critical.
Falcon gets 38 critical.
Injury rate: 10 DEX adds 1% max wound and 0.5% min wound. 10 WIL adds 2% max wound and 0.5% min wound.
Paladin gets 68 min/max injury, along with stats totals 83 min/103 max injury.
Dark Knight gets 48 min and 68 max injury. Depending on DEX roll you can get 54/58/66 min and 60/88/104 max injury.
Beast gets no bonus injury. 10 min and 20 max injury.
Falcon gets no bonus injury. 10 min and 20 max injury.
Balance: 4 DEX adds 1 balance.
Paladin gets 72 total balance.
Dark Knight gets 40/60/100 balance.
Beast gets 80 balance.
Falcon gets 68 balance.
Defence/Protection:
Paladins get 15 defense and 6 protection.
Dark Knights get no defensive bonuses.
Beasts and Falcons each get 18 protection.
Passive Defense Activation Rate:
Paladins and Falcons activate passive defenses at an 80% rate.
Dark Knights and Beasts always active all three passive defenses.
Melee Auto Defend Rate: The rate that your character resists normal melee attacks.
Paladins, Beasts, and Falcons defend against melee 30% of the time.
Dark Knights defend against melee 20% of the time.
Non-Melee Delay Reduction: How much stun time that is removed upon being struck by light archery fire, basic alchemy or bolt magic (excluding Magnum Shot/Firebolt/point blank Water Cannons)
Paladins, Beasts and Falcons reduce stun delay by 30%.
Dark Knights reduce stun delay by 60%.
Passive Damage Reduction: Amount of damage reduced while the correct passive defense is activated.
All transformations reduce incoming damage by 20%.