D&D 5E [GUIDE] My Word Is My Sword: The Paladin Guide

[smbakeresq]

Credit to [MENTION=6795602]FrogReaver[/MENTION], Shield Master's shove to prone for advantage could be nice when crit-fishing in order to maximize Divine Smite damage.

My own thoughts is that half-elf is a great Paladin fit already, and if you use UA the Elven Accuracy feat can take that up to the next level as well. But that's two feats, so that's a serious investment. Plus crit-fishers really need 3 levels of fighter (Champion). So if used that's a late-game addendum.

I have been saying same thing, Shield Master is underrated for most Paladin builds as your weapon Die size is less relevant with Dueling. The chance to get a doubled Smite in is worth it, plus it works with other things. If prone someone in a Spirit Guardians aura they just melt, making Oath of the Crown very worth it. Other PCs will run in to attack with advantage, especially if you remind them at the table.

Getting more AC from Shield shaves off some damage you will take, and getting DEX save bonuses are just gravy. If you get enlarged the prone will work on Huge creatures.

I let my son with his Goliath Paladin count as large for the purposes of this feat. Seems reasonable.


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[Gladius Legis]

I'll update with Xanathar's material here pretty soon, but initial impressions and ratings:

Subclasses:
Conquest (???) - Conquering Presence is a nice mass fear CD. Wrathful Smite becomes even nastier when you get Aura of Conquest. And I'm quite frankly shocked they kept Scornful Rebuke working on every single enemy hit against you; that'll add up damage numbers fast (though that's at Lv. 15). Also some great Oath Spells (armor of Agathys, Spiritual Weapon, Fear).
Redemption - The problematic AC and weapon macguffins were removed, and the rest of it is pretty much unchanged from UA, which is ... meh, for the most part. At least it gets a couple nice Oath Spells (Hypnotic Pattern, Wall of Force).

Spells:
Ceremony - NPC-ish, corner-case utility spell you'll only prepare when the occasion arises. Even then, the Cleric does it better since they can cast it as a ritual.
Find Greater Steed - Yeaaaaaaaaaah pegasus. You can retire Find Steed now and keep this spell prepared, instead, once you get to Paladin level 13.
Holy Weapon (???) - Damage buff per hit is actually pretty cost-efficient vs. using a 5th-level slot to Smite. Assuming 65% hit rate, 22.5/(.65*9) = 3.85, so as long as you attack 4 times with the buffed weapon, you'll make it worth the slot vs. a Smite. Which takes 2 rounds for you, so again, cost-efficient. Plus it can last a full hour, so good for multi-part battles or some other scenario where you could run into a succession of battles. And it works with ranged weapons. Also, here's the sexy part: You can buff someone else's weapon, instead. So if one of your allies just so happens to be a Fighter with those 3 attacks/round, and said Fighter plans on Action Surging, cast this on the Fighter's weapon instead and watch the damage numbers explode in short order. Good times.

 

[gyor]

When you dismiss holy weapon it does radiant damage in burst.

 

[ppaladin123]

I am thinking the iconic conquest paladin will be a dragonborn with the dragon fear feat.

 

[Mooseberg0620]

Hey folks! Instead of making a new "How is my build?" figured Id drop it here.

Lvl 1 Variant Human paladin (Aiming for oath of vengeance).

Rolled 18,16,16,14,11,8. Allocated them str- 18. Dex-12, Con 16, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 16. Human variant bumped Str and Wis.

Im looking at the heavy armor feat (because who doesn't want a +7 attack and +5 damage at level 1.) The Pole-arm Feat (Because its amazing), and magic initiate.
Skill wise Perception and athletics from sailor, Persuasion and Insight, annnnnd I'm thinking intimidation (or maybe medicine.... yeah yeah lay on hands and all AND we have a cleric. But it feels thematically right.)

Playing the character as sort of a Valkyrie so Avenging looks like the way to go. DM is letting me flavor a glaive as more of a great spear.

Any thoughts or recomendations? We are in a vague beta stage, Dm had us RP a bit in our 0 sesh that kinda turned into a session 1, it's also where the medicine skill seems smart because I rolled well to identify a poison.

 

[smbakeresq]

Polearm is great, just make sure you keep your bonus action clear.

I am a big fan of Shield Master on Paladins so you get more chances to land critical hits because you will be attack with advantage more.

Heavy armor feat will save you a lot of damage over the levels. It’s one of those feats that plays a lot better than it seems.


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[Mooseberg0620]

I do like the looks of sword and board- specially for the character who is supposed to be a Viking type character.

But my Dm has also let me move a polearm to one hand, draw a javelin and chuck it. hrrrrrrrrrrm.

 

[Kevin Duffy]

Hey folks! Instead of making a new "How is my build?" figured Id drop it here.

Lvl 1 Variant Human paladin (Aiming for oath of vengeance).

Rolled 18,16,16,14,11,8. Allocated them str- 18. Dex-12, Con 16, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 16. Human variant bumped Str and Wis.

Im looking at the heavy armor feat (because who doesn't want a +7 attack and +5 damage at level 1.) The Pole-arm Feat (Because its amazing), and magic initiate.
Skill wise Perception and athletics from sailor, Persuasion and Insight, annnnnd I'm thinking intimidation (or maybe medicine.... yeah yeah lay on hands and all AND we have a cleric. But it feels thematically right.)

Playing the character as sort of a Valkyrie so Avenging looks like the way to go. DM is letting me flavor a glaive as more of a great spear.

Any thoughts or recomendations? We are in a vague beta stage, Dm had us RP a bit in our 0 sesh that kinda turned into a session 1, it's also where the medicine skill seems smart because I rolled well to identify a poison.

How does a 18 str turn into +7 attk and +5 dmg? I can only see where'd you'd get +6 attk and +4 dmg.

 

[Mooseberg0620]

How does a 18 str turn into +7 attk and +5 dmg? I can only see where'd you'd get +6 attk and +4 dmg.

Sorry. 18 on the roll, +1 from variant human and right now +1 from heavy armor master. That's 20. 5+proff bonus is 7, and 5 damage from my str mod.

I'm still pretty sold on heavy armor master even if I went shield, I'd just grab the shield at level 4 and consider going oath of the ancients.

 

[Kevin Duffy]

Sorry. 18 on the roll, +1 from variant human and right now +1 from heavy armor master. That's 20. 5+proff bonus is 7, and 5 damage from my str mod.

Sure beats my 16str at Level 5 / +6 attack for +3 dmg. Point buy sucks