Any suggestions? Full Bard Class Guide for 5e [With 4 Example Builds], Paladin Roles: How They Fit in Your Party, Paladin Class Defining Abilities and Strengths, full breakdown of different Paladin Oaths, D&D 5e as published by Wizards of the Coast, article ranking all the Paladin oaths in D&D 5e, Legendary and Lair Actions for DnD 5e Most Powerful & Useful, Paladin Oaths Ranked for DnD 5e Most Powerful and Useful, (a) a martial weapon and a shield or (b) two martial weapons, (a) five javelins or (b) any simple melee weapon, (a) a priests pack or (b) an explorers pack. Also, Dexterity saving throws to dodge incoming spells, falling debris, or other environmental hazards are probably the most common type of save youll make. These two core pillars of the Paladin class might initially suggest that youre basically a hybrid between a Fighter and a Cleric jack of two trades, not quite as good as either, or so the saying kind of goes. In this guide, well be giving you an overview of the Paladin, arguably the best martial class in the game. When you pick up this Feat, you learn two maneuvers of your choice from the Battle Master archetype, and you gain a d6 superiority die which resets on a short rest. Not only do Paladins get to help themselves to the Fighters smorgasbord of martial capabilities, but they also get to wander over to the Clerics plate and pinch a big handful of artisanal cheese before moving onto the Bards mini cheesecake selection. Hasta la vista, baby. *Smite*, Best: SoldierAlso Good: Noble (Knight), Far Traveler. I would recommend pairing a melee-focused Paladin with an Evocation Wizard, however. They naturally lean towards lawful alignments, get a +2 bonus to Constitution, and their jack-of-all-trades ability to boost another stat by 1 lets you take the race in any direction you choose. Divine Sense Reveals celestials, fiends, and undead. While that can be helpful, its the ability to dispense a single hit point at a time that really makes this ability top tier. It contains a backpack, a bedroll, a mess kit, a tinderbox, 10 torches, 10 days of rations, and a waterskin. So I am playing as an Oath of the Crown, Gnome Paladin, I am trying to get this character leveled up to level 5 right now. So, if your stats feel lacking, or you have any ability scores hovering one point away from the next modifier increase, youre probably better off just grabbing stats. I definitely missed the effects of the heavy property, thank you for pointing that out. While Clerics do wear heavy armor usually twinned with a big hammer for effective heathen-smiting, their defensive abilities in combat dont necessarily translate into high single-target damage; Clerics are better at applying damage to large swarms of foes with area of effect spells (somewhere the Paladin falls short). Its worth noting that many newer players end up (understandably) misusing Lay On Hands by burning their entire pool on one big heal. The Soldier background is the only one in the Players Handbook that gives you access to Charisma (Intimidation) and Strength (Athletics) based skills, which is great.

Paladins who swear the Oath of the Motherland dedicate their lives to restoring the pre-Cataclysm world, undoing the land's decay, and bringing life back, despite its violent and volcanic nature. Both are heavily armored healers that excel at keeping their allies alive while dishing out serious amounts of radiant damage. I would go defense. From buffing saving throws and allowing allies to ignore conditions, to some immensely powerful effects granted by different Sacred Oaths, a Paladins auras can turn their immediate vicinity into the safest place on the battlefield for squishy allies. That fact makes a Paladin with a bow feel decidedly underpowered by comparison. In fact, if you get to grips with a Paladin, youll have a better understanding of some of the games lesser-known rule systems than most veteran players. I will take a look at the oaths all of you have mentioned, including Oath of the Crown, which I've not seen before. This vow, a solemn commitment to uphold a set of ideals, is what grants them their magical powers. While you do get access to some powerful area of effect spells at higher levels, the core competency of this class is walking right up to the biggest, baddest thing on the battlefield and removing it from the game with the time-honored combination of a fistful of eight-sided dice and a comically big sword. All three of these abilities, however, are stats the Paladin can function without. Lay on Hands: You gain a pool of healing energy equal to your Paladin level times 5 that replenishes when you take a long rest. Dueling with a One-Handed Longsword uses a d8. Relentless in their pursuit of justice, those who decide to stand in their way better be prepared. The 1d4 + 2 piercing damage inflicted by a Kobolds dagger means that, if your Wizard didnt put any serious points into Constitution (and why would they?) Paladins who swear the Oath of the Crown focus on martial combat, dueling, and generally being the naively privileged agents of authoritarian power. These Paladin subclasses are granted at level 3. For the party as a whole? Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, when you roll a critical hit on a melee attack, you get to roll all your damage dice twice, including your Smite dice. For a subclass thats all about imposing disadvantage, it can never hurt to have more ways to make your enemies miss an attack. At 2nds level, you can pick up the dueling fighting style and boost that d8 of damage by an extra two on each attack, which means you end up doing more damage over time than if you were wielding most weapons with a higher single damage die two-handed. You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background: Paladins are one of the few classes (Clerics and Fighters being the only others) to get heavy armor from first level. You'll have a +5 +6 to Con saves at this point, so you can still lose concentration easily and you really won't want to lose concentration on spirit guardians when you get so few 3rd level spell slots the following level. Religion: A good narrative choice, as a lot of Paladins tend to fall under some sort of quasi-religious association, but not that mechanically good.

The Oath of Devotion: The most Paladin Paladin that ever did Paladin. 2022 Wizards. This means that, at higher levels, you could be rolling as many as 16d8 worth of radiant damage from a single deadly hit. The Sacred Oath that you swear forms the heart of your Paladin, both from a mechanical and roleplaying perspective. Before we go into greater detail about the different races, backgrounds, feats, skills, and other factors to consider when playing a Paladin, weve thrown together a quickstart build that you can use if you want to get the class up and running quickly from 1st Level. I'm not completely new to D&D, but in the midst of our regular campaign, our DM sent us into an alternate reality where we have made new characters who are still aware of their original characters. Before adding in GWFS, a d10 does on average 5.5 damage. The more ability scores you need to get to 16 and above, the lower your average score will be. Theyre wanderers from unimaginably distant lands, friends of the elves, or born into ancient and powerful city-states ruled by conclaves of archmages. Complexity: On the face of it, the Paladin can seem like a pretty straightforward class. Dungeons and Dragons is a Trademark of Wizards of the Coast, LLC. Paladins are elite warriors who have sworn unbreakable holy oaths to fight evil. Having a higher AC is always a great option, I plan to try to get Plate armor with varying amounts of AC bonuses on them as we get stronger in the game. Lastly, every party needs someone whos just as confident charming their way past a surly palace guard as they are filing down goblin teeth for their gold fillings. Small races can two-hand wield a versatile weapon to use the fighting style with a d10 damage die without disadvantage. A Paladin who swears an Oath of Devotion is bound to the loftiest ideals of justice, virtue, and order, offering their service to a benevolent god, wise king, or their own understanding of right and wrong; the Paladin who takes an Oath of Vengeance has made a solemn vow to make someone (or something) pay for their crimes, and would set the world on fire if those who committed the sin got caught up in the blaze (seriously, even the official rules make a nod to Vengeance Paladins being called dark knights theyre Batman, basically). If you want to play a slightly alien curiosity, a stranger in a strange land, then this is a great background for you. Thanks to their spell list and Divine Smite ability, Paladins can dish out huge amounts of damage against a single target each round. Because thrown weapons use Strength instead of Dexterity, this is basically your only shot at getting any sort of ranged attack and five sharp things that you can throw are better than one. You can touch yourself or another creature and restore a number of hit points from the pool, or spend 5 points to cure a creature of disease. They were twelve mythic knight who embodied the highest ideals of chivalric honor, adventuring through a mythical para-historical France in search of damsels to rescue, foes to slay, and debts to dutifully observe. First, however, lets talk about the origins of the Paladin in history, folklore, and myth, as well as how it became one of the enduring archetypes of modern pop culture. OP is a gnome, a small race. For now, however, lets take a look at level one. Weve chosen three possible races that make for a good basis when building a Paladin. If you're aiming to be the tank, then Defense is your best bet. Rogues thrive on their enemies looking the other way while they creep up behind them for a clean, merciless strike. There are eight Paladin subclasses to choose from. The rules explain this away as the fact that a 1st and 2nd level Paladin is still in training, or still weighing their decision over which Oath to swear like theyre a freshman pledge trying to pick a frat house. Divine Health: The magic flowing through you makes you immune to disease. Those features include oath spells and the Channel Divinity feature. I would go defense. Oath of the Watchers: Easily the most hyper-focused Paladin oath, the Oath of the Watchers is all about countering extraplanar threats. D&D (and, by extension, the people who play it) has to do some mental gymnastics with a lot of character classes when it comes to the slightly grey area between 1st level and 3rd, when your character selects their subclass and really cements their identity. This gives you great AC and great damage. In terms of both utility and raw damage output, nothing in the game beats a high-level wizard. No sin should be overlooked, no matter how small - although punishment must also fit the crime. It reads a bit like Mark Twains A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court but is way, way stranger and somehow more pompous. Paladins are proud, powerful warriors whose talents for combat are matched only by the power of their sacred oath. These mighty bonds define the ideals the Paladin is sworn to uphold, and can radically alter what the class is like to play from both a mechanical and roleplaying perspective. GWFS with a Two-Handed Longsword is less damage on average than Dueling Fighting Style with a One-Handed Longsword. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 2nd Level:Fighting Style: Choose from a number of features that buff your combat abilities. 11th Level:Improved Divine Smite: All your melee attacks deal an extra d8 of radiant damage as you become suffused with holy power and wrath. In addition to their weapons and armor, they wield divine powers and clerical spells. Its just as likely that a Paladin is a sworn protector of the natural world, and channels the otherworldly powers of the fey folk in their defense; or is devoted to the subjugation of their enemies; or just wants revenge so bad that they, uh, get magic powers. fighting styles. This doesnt mean the Paladin is a bad class for beginners. Charisma: As a Paladin, your spellcasting modifier is your Charisma, which is also impactful in social situations and should be one of your main priorities when assigning ability scores. Lay On Hands: This is, I think, the only healing ability in the game that lets you dispense guaranteed healing instead of using the roll of a die. Healing Pool A pool of healing power 5 points per paladin level. If you do a lot of non combat encouters it becomes better. Spellcasting: You gain the ability to cast spells from the Paladin spell list using your Charisma modifier, giving you access to additional offensive, defensive, and utility capabilities. While there are plenty of Paladins that do bind themselves in service to a god, and plenty that are members of quasi-holy paramilitary orders of questing knights, this is by no means essential. This means that there arent many parties where the addition of a Paladin isnt a welcome one. Whether or not your slightly pompous knightly demeanor and strict moral code will be welcome as well is another matter entirely. You also get some of the Clerics flair for healing magics, as well as a unique mechanic called Lay On Hands, which gives you a pool of hit points you can give to yourself or your allies by touching them. I'm not sure how often it would come up (We are playing Out of the Abyss, if it changes things). Because Paladins get a whole bunch of extra proficiencies (of the martial and heavy armor variety) out of the gate, dipping into Paladin for access to platemail is more common than a Paladin dipping into Sorcerer for a firebolt. When an enemy you can see moves within 5ft of you, you can use your reaction to expend one superiority die and make one weapon attack against that creature. Its as if some kind of cosmic pinkie swears gave you the ability to cure diseases by touching them and wreathe your sword in holy fire. The Paladin is easily one of the best, most narratively interesting classes that you can play in Dungeons & Dragons 5e. OP could only benefit from the bonus action attack from a critical hit/kill. My paladin is a sword and shield kind of girl, and I do plan on having her tank in this side campaign. The Paladins starting skill list isnt actually all that amazing, as many of them rely on Intelligence or Wisdom stats you have little use for otherwise. Also, the shield means youll be starting out with an AC of 18, which is more than most low-challenge monsters and mooks will be able to get through. That way you hit more often and at level 6, your aura will give a +4 to saving throws (as well as boost your spell save DC to 14 at level 4, 15 at level 5). Paladin spell list enumerates all the spells the character can cast. Defense style helps your ac and could turn a hit into a miss - but decide for yourself if your going to 'kill first kill often' your way to low damage or be a 'wall of steel'. At level 8: Resilient Con or Warcaster. Persuasion: Another great pickup that synergizes with your high Charisma. Please enable JavaScript to get the best experience from this site. And youd sort of be right. One of the easiest roles to fill as a Paladin is the defensive tank. Paladins who swear the Oath of Tirmar belong to an old order descended from the Tirmarian Inquisition. Dont be fooled. The book is, honestly, kinda weird. Theres a common misconception that a Paladins oath needs to be sworn to a deity of some sort, and that they are exclusively holy warriors. The Far Traveler is a great thematic and mechanical fit for a Paladin if you want to play them as a wandering knight in the vein of the mighty heroes from Arthurian myth. If wall of steel - ancients (7th) lowers spell damage taken by the party - thats it, its great - but isnt anything else so if enemy spellcasters are uncommon or rare then ancient is not significantly more tanky than another type. If you do want to two-hand a versatile weapon just for the flavor, that's entirely viable, even if not optimal. The Paladins (a name which means twelve peers although it also relates to the Roman title palatinus, meaning one of the Emperors most trusted officials) were legendary figures in the court of the mythical French King Charlamagne. Building on Paladins two major roles within a party, the single target damage striker and the defensive tank, lets look at some of the class key abilities that support those styles of play. Martial Adept: Since the launch of Tashas Cauldron of Everything dramatically expanded the list of Maneuvers, the Martial Adept Feat has become a fantastic pickup for a bit of extra damage and battlefield control. You get to add the extra +2 damage from Dueling Fighting Style onto both your attacks + your bonus action attack (PAM) + your reaction attack (PAM). Also, because Paladins can bring a real mixture of damage, control, defense, healing, and support utility to any party, there arent many adventuring groups where a Paladin isnt a welcome addition. The Priests pack is just straight-up-worse and contains a backpack, a blanket, 10 candles, a tinderbox, an alms box, 2 blocks of incense, a censer, vestments, 2 days of rations, and a waterskin. Auras (in general): One of the things that make Paladins excel at not only keeping themselves alive but their allies as well is the class suite of aura abilities. Basically, Paladins get to cast spells and use the Channel Divinity ability just like a cleric. The Paladin also gets either five javelins or any simple melee weapon. As a beefy tank, youll stand at the front, smiting enemies, laughing as their feeble Kobold blades bounce off your high AC, and generally creating the time and space for your Wizard to thumb through their spellbook and pick out something that can dish out some real damage to everyone in the room. Now, before we move on, it is worth mentioning that, while Paladins didnt officially enter the game as a playable class in their own right until the games ill-fated 3rd Edition in 2000, earlier renditions of the Fighter were, in many respects, Paladins in their own right. one good stab is all it takes to persuade them to take an indefinite nap. If a killer - vengeance oath offers enough temptation to corrupt the pure, ironically. Some spells are only available to a specific sub-class (as stated in brackets in the list below). This website is not produced, endorsed, supported, or affiliated with Wizards of the Coast. You also are going to get to choose between two martial weapons (this is kind of useless, as Paladins cant choose the dual-wielding fighting style although I guess you could pick up the dual wielder Feat, which would sort of get you there and youre going to be hot trash with ranged martial weapons like the longbow) and one martial weapon and a shield. what weapons does he use? The Oath of Conquest: might definitely makes right for this powerful battlefield controller and tank that excels at instilling fear en masse in its enemies before cutting them to ribbons with tyrannical glee. If you want a full comparative breakdown of the different oaths available to you (as well as information on the Paladins infamous cousin, the Oathbreaker) then you can check out our article ranking all the Paladin oaths in D&D 5e. There are a number of combinations you can pull off between a Paladin and Sorcerer that turn you into a force to be reckoned with in combat. Regardless, the main character who goes on a quest to find a magic sword, after which he finds out he is actually a legendary hero of law, vanquishes the forces of chaos, gets transported back to his own world, kills a bunch of nazis, and goes on to play an important role in the Manhattan Project! Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Divine Smite: When you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can expend one spell slot to deal 2d8 radiant damage to the target, plus another d8 for every spell slot level above 1st. Combine this with the dazzling array of defensive auras that you begin to emit at higher levels and you become one of the best classes in the game at keeping yourself (and your party) alive. Easily the most popular Paladin multiclass pairing. You can also take 3-4 levels of Sword Bard to get dueling, some inspiration, a few more spells and a much higher caster level. aid other tabletop gamers in creating memorable characters, Press J to jump to the feed. Defense style appeals to me, but I haven't been certain if choosing defense would be less helpful for the party as a whole, especially considering that there's no other tanky person (or healer for that matter). Because of some of the class inherent drawbacks, like a lack of ways to damage multiple enemies or a limited pool of spells slots, the Paladin can end up being reliant on allies to make up for its shortcomings. To the casual observer, Clerics and Paladins might appear to be quite similar. Constitution: More hit points are never, ever going to be a bad thing. Also, because youre probably going to be spending all your time clad in heavy armor, swinging a massive sword in intimate proximity to the biggest, baddest thing in sight, youre also going to want to prioritize your Constitution score, which comes pretty close to making you a three ability class.