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Pillars of Faith (and Facestabs): The Paladin's Handbook (By Litigation)
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<blockquote data-quote="Veep" data-source="post: 6707957" data-attributes="member: 6793297"><p><span style="font-size: 22px"><p style="text-align: center"><strong><u>Knight's Prayers: Paragon Tier Powers</u></strong></p><p></span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px"><strong><u>Lv. 13 Encounter</u></strong></span></p><p></p><p>Straladins who felt left out at Lv. 1, rejoice, because you can take Castigating Strike. Of course, so can every other Paladin out there. That power pretty much rules this level, although some Straladins might make the case for Zealous Smite, and some Chaladins for Compel Obedience or Entangling Smite.</p><p></p><p><strong>Strength OR Charisma, Weapon</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ccff">Castigating Strike</span> (DP)</strong>: With the update, this is now officially Valorous Smite, Mark II. And now a Straladin can join in on the mass-Sanction fun. Of course, a Chaladin who keeps Valorous Smite and trades in a Lv. 3 or Lv. 7 power for this instead gets to have even more of that fun.</p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong>Strength, Weapon</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: #800080">Fervent Strike</span> (DP)</strong>: More accurate attack, to be sure, but pretty underwhelming.</p><p></p><p><strong>Radiant Charge (PHB)</strong>: You can fly up to your WIS mod in squares as part of this charge-only power. Decent damage on the Radiant attack, and useful for getting to flying enemies or enemies protected by their minions in the way.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000">Whirlwind Smite</span> (PHB)</strong>: If you need another AoE, take another Lv. 3 power (Strength from Valor, Winter's Edge), since those are better. This one is completely outclassed, now.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: Blue">Zealous Smite</span> (DP)</strong>: Good damage potential on this one, and it also slaps Divine Sanction on hit.</p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong>Charisma, Weapon</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: Blue">Compel Obediance</span> (DP)</strong>: Attacks Will and can either set up easy flanks or isolate the enemy. A solid power.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: Blue">Entangling Smite</span> (PHB)</strong>: Attacks Will and immobilizes. Good.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: Purple">Renewing Smite</span> (PHB)</strong>: Not very impressive, especially comparing it to Lv. 3 healing attack powers. While this heals more single-ally damage than the likes of Invigorating Smite and especially Righteous Smite, those Lv. 3 powers are just more useful all around.</p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong>Charisma, Implement</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: #800080">Eye for an Eye</span> (DP)</strong>: Overall, inferior to the Lv. 7 Price of Cowardice, doing less damage and being a reaction rather than an interrupt, which means it doesn't help make the triggering attack miss. In addition, because the blinding still lasts until the end of your next turn, rather than the enemy's next turn, you don't even get to make the enemy waste a turn. So the benefit of the blinding is very limited. You might look at this one if you're an off-defender, since unlike Price of Cowardice it does work on unmarked foes, but that's about it.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff">Letherna's Hounds</span> (D 381): Solid sticky power that knocks prone anyone whose Fortitude it hits within two squares of you and pulls them toward you. Necrotic keeps it from true greatness.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px"><strong><u>Lv. 15 Daily</u></strong></span></p><p></p><p>Chaladins veer toward either <strong>Knight's Defiance</strong> for crowd control or <strong>True Nemesis</strong> for solo control. Straladins tend toward <strong>Divine Vengeance</strong> or <strong>Avatar of Undaunted Bravery</strong>.</p><p></p><p><strong>Stance</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: Blue">Divine Vengeance</span> (DP)</strong>: With a good Wisdom, you can create some very nice lose-lose situations in melee. The enemy takes automatic, no-action damage for attacking you or an ally next to you. And if the enemy is divinely marked, the stance damage stacks with the mark's punishment, pushing the damage figures to dangerous levels.</p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong>Strength, Weapon</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000">Avatar of Righteous Nobility</span> (E:HFK)</strong>: Useless to you. Cavaliers love it, though.</p><p></p><p><strong>Avatar of Slaughter (HoS)</strong>: Hit or miss, gain a nice power bonus to damage and the ability to splash necrotic damage on a second enemy next to you. Decent enough.</p><p></p><p><strong>Avatar of Subjugation (HoS)</strong>: Hot or miss, gain a bonus to attack rolls, THPs at the start of all your turns and even let an ally take some damage in exchange for twice the THPs in return. Not bad.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff">Avatar of Undaunted Bravery</span> (E:HFK)</strong>: Regardless of hit or the half-damage miss, you get to pull one enemy at the start of every single one of your turns a couple squares as a free action. This one's pretty good. Definitely makes your DC easier to maintain on elusive enemies.</p><p></p><p><strong>Bloodied Retribution (PHB)</strong>: Hit hard when bloodied and use a healing surge. Basic enough.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: Purple">Flames of Devotion</span> (DP)</strong>: Hit or miss, your attacks deal 2d6 extra fire damage for as long as you sustain the effect with minor actions. A little too costly for the effect, especially compared to something like Bless Weapon. Lack of miss damage hurts, too.</p><p></p><p><strong>Pyre of Judgment (DP)</strong>: Reliable attack that causes ongoing 10 fire damage and damages surrounding enemies by a fair amount until a save. Decent.</p><p></p><p><strong>Wayfinder's Charge (D 375)</strong>: Get enemies in the way out of the way and make them pay for taking OAs, then hit the marked target for decent damage, halved on miss. Not bad.</p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong>Charisma, Weapon</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ccff">Knight's Defiance</span> (DP)</strong>: Pull all enemies within 5 squares to you, save-end Sanction all of them, then attack one of them in melee. A terrific crowd-control power and combat opener.</p><p></p><p><strong>Tower of Faith (DP)</strong>: Attack deals half on a miss, and hit or miss you get some pretty good bonuses to saves. Fair.</p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong>Charisma, Implement</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>Break the Wall (PHB)</strong>: Debuff all of an enemy's defenses, -2 if you hit, -1 if you miss. Decent.</p><p></p><p>Darkness Unleashed (D 381): This Necrotic close burst 1 power is actually not bad for Dwarves and anyone else whose second winds are minor-action or better. In their employ it can amount to an AoE attack above and beyond their standard action. If your second wind is a standard action you're better off <span style="color: #800080">looking elsewhere</span>.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: DeepSkyBlue">True Nemesis</span> (PHB)</strong>: Whether you hit or miss with the initial attack, this power lets you make all the punishment-stacking immediate-reaction attacks against the target you could possibly want for the rest of the encounter. These happen if the enemy attacks you, as well, so it creates a rather vicious Catch-22 situation. Solo control at its finest.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px"><strong><u>Lv. 16 Utility</u></strong></span></p><p></p><p>Among your class powers, Divine Aegis wins this level quite handily. If you're trained in Insight, a class skill for you, this level isn't a bad time to take a skill power, namely Insightful Riposte.</p><p></p><p><strong>Class Powers</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: Red">Angelic Intercession</span> (PHB)</strong>: This daily is a fancier Martyr's Blessing. And it still sucks.</p><p></p><p><strong>Call from the Brink (E:HFK)</strong>: Immediate reaction healing surge trigger to an ally getting KO-ed, with a +2 power bonus to his attack rolls for the round after. This daily's a pretty decent recovery spell.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #800080">Death Ward</span> (PHB)</strong>: The healing is actually a better deal than Call from the Brink: Use one healing surge to heal your dying ally by two healing surges + CHA mod. However, the fact that this daily is a standard action and melee 1 range make it less useful than Call from the Brink, overall.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: Purple">Devotion</span> (DP)</strong>: Boost the whole party's Fortitude and Will by +4 power bonus, but only until the end of your next turn. At this point, you should expect more from a daily utility.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: DeepSkyBlue">Divine Aegis</span> (DP)</strong>: Daily stance giving a +2 untyped bonus to all defenses for you and anyone up to 2 squares away. Straightforward, but very effective, since it stacks with every other defense bonus out there. And in Eberron, this gets even better with Mark of Warding.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff">Higher Cause</span> (DP)</strong>: This daily stance gives untyped save bonuses and regeneration when bloodied. Pretty good, especially with Hero's Poise.</p><p></p><p><strong>Liberation (DP)</strong>: Per-encounter move action that lets you pull an ally away from a tough spot and trigger their healing surge. Decent one for Chaladins.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #800080">Pragmatic Sacrifice</span> (HoS)</strong>: Certainly interesting and flavorful (if against type for most Paladins), but in practice this self-death rescue daily just isn't really worth the slot.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: Purple">Prayer for the Valiant</span> (DP)</strong>: This one is just in a bad place. It's only worth using at all if multiple allies are under save-ends effects. And in a few more levels, you might get Divine Mettle, as an encounter power, to do what this daily does and better.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff">Shadow Healing</span> (HoS)</strong>: This pure Shadow daily is definitely best used immediately after combat is over. Your bloodied value's worth of surgeless self-healing is very nice, no doubt, but the prohibition on spending your healing surges until after your next short rest makes this unwise to use in the heat of a battle.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #800080">Stave off Winter</span> (D 386): Sort of an immediate-interrupt, ranged Lay on Hands, followed by some situational benefits at the cost of additional healing surges. Not really worth it.</p><p></p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong>Class Skill Powers</strong></p><p> </p><p><u>Insight</u></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #00ccff">Insightful Riposte</span> (PHB3): If ever there was a reason for you to train Insight, this encounter utility is it. A +3 untyped bonus as a free action to correct a failed attack roll. Incredible. This power is a great investment of the Skill Power feat to nab as an extra.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px"><strong><u>Lv. 17 Encounter</u></strong></span></p><p></p><p>Straladins head straight for Mark of Terror. Chaladins have some leeway; Hand of the Gods is the best if you have a really high WIS, and others will take Enervating Smite or Wrathful Smite.</p><p></p><p><strong>Strength OR Charisma, Weapon</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>Reassuring Strike (DP)</strong>: You trigger your healing surge with Wisdom modifier to heal. Decent.</p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong>Strength OR Charisma, Implement</strong></p><p> </p><p>Frozen Shackles (D 380): Has its uses, like if you want to keep an enemy standing still in a hazardous zone until your party is ready to deal with him. In that case, if the enemy forces want him back in action, they'll have to go over to him and attack him, wasting their turn and possibly suffer damage themselves.</p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong>Strength, Weapon</strong></p><p> </p><p>Icy Clutches (D 381): Decent, and certainly fun, if nothing else, with its special Divine Sanction versus standing up from the prone condition this one inflicts.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: DeepSkyBlue">Mark of Terror</span> (DP)</strong>: It stuns a marked enemy. Awesome. Its only possible weakness is the Fear keyword, but in a few levels even that might not matter.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: Purple">Shattering Smite</span> (DP)</strong>: This one's just a little too situational. Not many enemies have resist all, nor are any members of your party likely to be completely shut down by resistances.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: Purple">Terrifying Smite</span> (PHB)</strong>: It'll render a melee opponent worthless for a round, but this does nothing against ranged attackers. Stick with Mark of Terror, which works on a much wider range of enemies.</p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong>Charisma, Weapon</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: Blue">Enervating Smite</span> (PHB)</strong>: Attacks Will and weakens outright. Nice.</p><p></p><p><strong>Fortifying Smite (PHB)</strong>: WIS-power bonus to your AC if this hits. Decent if you've been the object of your enemies' scorn.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: Blue">Wrathful Smite</span> (DP)</strong>: Close burst 1 vs. Reflex, so this thing will hit often. Best done on a crowd of marked enemies, as the debuff on their attack rolls stacks with your mark penalty, and the power also does more damage in that case. Solid power that basically works like an AoE version of Enfeebling Strike.</p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong>Charisma, Implement</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: DeepSkyBlue">Hand of the Gods</span> (PHB)</strong>: Hit or miss, this gives allies in the burst a huge power bonus to attack rolls if your Wisdom is good. If it hits, it marks the enemies. They're generic marks, but you can't have everything. Great power, overall.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: Red">Sanctified Light</span> (DP)</strong>: Weaksauce, plain and simple.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px"><strong><u>Lv. 19 Daily</u></strong></span></p><p></p><p>Corona of Blinding Radiance is the clear winner for Chaladins here. Baladins may take that power as well, or they may opt for Deathguide's Sanction. Straladins, not to be outdone, will welcome the excellent Wheel of Fate, with <strong>Smite of Winter's Grip</strong> and Smite the Soul also being solid options.</p><p></p><p><strong>Special</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>Plundering Smite (HoS)</strong>: Tacked on to an at-will attack, this adds necrotic damage on the spot and additional ongoing necrotic, and gives you a little self-healing each time the target takes the ongoing damage. Fair enough. You'll probably appreciate it a little more than Blackguards do.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff">Ruinous Smite</span> (HoS)</strong>: Tacked on to an at-will attack, this adds some nice extra damage and makes the enemy yell, "I'm fallen and I can't get up!" when you're standing over him until he saves. This one's pretty nice for locking down one foe. You give up CA, but that's a pretty small price to pay.</p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong>Strength OR Charisma, Implement</strong></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #800080">Visage of Sorrow</span> (D 380): Close burst 2 mass sanction for a turn and hit or miss a debuff to attacks against yourself. Not that impressive, and unless you have a more lasting mass-Sanction power to follow up with, it's counterintuitive.</p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong>Strength, Weapon</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: Red">Crusader's Boon</span> (PHB)</strong>: Simply inadequate.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #00ccff">Deathguide's Sanction</span> (D 381): Geared toward Baladins, this one does solid damage, it's Reliable, it's Radiant, and when it hits, it save-ends Sanctions the target while also turning it into a fencing dummy of free healing (5 + CHA mod) every round for all your allies who hit it while the Sanction lasts. Awesome stuff.</p><p></p><p><strong>Overwhelming Fervor (DP)</strong>: Solid damage on hit, halved on miss. You want to hit with it so you can impose Divine Sanction on the target for the rest of the encounter.</p><p></p><p><strong>Smite of the Flame Cage (E:HFK)</strong>: The 15 automatic fire damage for escaping or attacking an ally outside the zone is no joke, at least, particularly when it stacks with Challenge/Sanction damage. You kind of wish this lasted more than one round, though.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff">Smite of Winter's Grip</span> (E:HFK)</strong>: A good status effect -- restraining -- hit or miss with this cold-based attack (save-ends if you hit) and also some ongoing cold damage on hit. Pretty solid.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: Blue">Smite the Soul</span> (DP)</strong>: Save-end stuns on hit, with a dazing aftereffect. A little low on the damage for a daily of this level, but a worthy pick nonetheless, especially if you can put a penalty on the save.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: DeepSkyBlue">Wheel of Fate</span> (DP)</strong>: A solidly-damaging close burst 1 attack with a free surge's worth of healing if you hit at least two enemies. Regardless of any hitting or missing, WIS-mod worth of regeneration when bloodied for the rest of the encounter. Very good.</p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong>Charisma, Weapon</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: DeepSkyBlue">Corona of Blinding Radiance</span> (PHB)</strong>: Close burst 1 vs. Reflex, Radiant, and is just plain devastating even if it misses (which it won't too often). Save-end blinds on hit, and even on miss, half damage and blinds until the end of your next turn. Second to none for melee control.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: Red">Righteous Resolve</span> (DP)</strong>: The Honored Foe feat in Paragon Tier renders this mostly unnecessary in respect to you, and if you're the one getting THPs when your ally gets damaged, that's not really going to help persuade the enemy to go after you instead. Stay away from this one.</p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong>Charisma, Implement</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: Blue">Name of Potency</span> (DP)</strong>: Close burst 2, mass save-ends immobilization if it hits, save-ends slow if it misses. Solid sticky power.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: Red">Righteous Inferno</span> (PHB)</strong>: The CA-granting effect is simply not impressive for this level, and the zone it creates is way too small to balance out said weak effect.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Veep, post: 6707957, member: 6793297"] [SIZE=6][CENTER][b][u]Knight's Prayers: Paragon Tier Powers[/u][/b][/CENTER] [/SIZE] [Size=5][b][u]Lv. 13 Encounter[/u][/b][/size] Straladins who felt left out at Lv. 1, rejoice, because you can take Castigating Strike. Of course, so can every other Paladin out there. That power pretty much rules this level, although some Straladins might make the case for Zealous Smite, and some Chaladins for Compel Obedience or Entangling Smite. [b]Strength OR Charisma, Weapon[/b] [b][COLOR=#00ccff]Castigating Strike[/COLOR] (DP)[/b]: With the update, this is now officially Valorous Smite, Mark II. And now a Straladin can join in on the mass-Sanction fun. Of course, a Chaladin who keeps Valorous Smite and trades in a Lv. 3 or Lv. 7 power for this instead gets to have even more of that fun. [b]Strength, Weapon[/b] [b][COLOR=#800080]Fervent Strike[/COLOR] (DP)[/b]: More accurate attack, to be sure, but pretty underwhelming. [b]Radiant Charge (PHB)[/b]: You can fly up to your WIS mod in squares as part of this charge-only power. Decent damage on the Radiant attack, and useful for getting to flying enemies or enemies protected by their minions in the way. [b][COLOR=#ff0000]Whirlwind Smite[/COLOR] (PHB)[/b]: If you need another AoE, take another Lv. 3 power (Strength from Valor, Winter's Edge), since those are better. This one is completely outclassed, now. [b][COLOR=Blue]Zealous Smite[/COLOR] (DP)[/b]: Good damage potential on this one, and it also slaps Divine Sanction on hit. [b]Charisma, Weapon[/b] [b][COLOR=Blue]Compel Obediance[/COLOR] (DP)[/b]: Attacks Will and can either set up easy flanks or isolate the enemy. A solid power. [b][COLOR=Blue]Entangling Smite[/COLOR] (PHB)[/b]: Attacks Will and immobilizes. Good. [b][COLOR=Purple]Renewing Smite[/COLOR] (PHB)[/b]: Not very impressive, especially comparing it to Lv. 3 healing attack powers. While this heals more single-ally damage than the likes of Invigorating Smite and especially Righteous Smite, those Lv. 3 powers are just more useful all around. [b]Charisma, Implement[/b] [b][COLOR=#800080]Eye for an Eye[/COLOR] (DP)[/b]: Overall, inferior to the Lv. 7 Price of Cowardice, doing less damage and being a reaction rather than an interrupt, which means it doesn't help make the triggering attack miss. In addition, because the blinding still lasts until the end of your next turn, rather than the enemy's next turn, you don't even get to make the enemy waste a turn. So the benefit of the blinding is very limited. You might look at this one if you're an off-defender, since unlike Price of Cowardice it does work on unmarked foes, but that's about it. [COLOR=#0000ff]Letherna's Hounds[/COLOR] (D 381): Solid sticky power that knocks prone anyone whose Fortitude it hits within two squares of you and pulls them toward you. Necrotic keeps it from true greatness. [Size=5][b][u]Lv. 15 Daily[/u][/b][/size] Chaladins veer toward either [b]Knight's Defiance[/b] for crowd control or [b]True Nemesis[/b] for solo control. Straladins tend toward [b]Divine Vengeance[/b] or [b]Avatar of Undaunted Bravery[/b]. [b]Stance[/b] [b][COLOR=Blue]Divine Vengeance[/COLOR] (DP)[/b]: With a good Wisdom, you can create some very nice lose-lose situations in melee. The enemy takes automatic, no-action damage for attacking you or an ally next to you. And if the enemy is divinely marked, the stance damage stacks with the mark's punishment, pushing the damage figures to dangerous levels. [b]Strength, Weapon[/b] [b][COLOR=#ff0000]Avatar of Righteous Nobility[/COLOR] (E:HFK)[/b]: Useless to you. Cavaliers love it, though. [b]Avatar of Slaughter (HoS)[/b]: Hit or miss, gain a nice power bonus to damage and the ability to splash necrotic damage on a second enemy next to you. Decent enough. [b]Avatar of Subjugation (HoS)[/b]: Hot or miss, gain a bonus to attack rolls, THPs at the start of all your turns and even let an ally take some damage in exchange for twice the THPs in return. Not bad. [b][COLOR=#0000ff]Avatar of Undaunted Bravery[/COLOR] (E:HFK)[/b]: Regardless of hit or the half-damage miss, you get to pull one enemy at the start of every single one of your turns a couple squares as a free action. This one's pretty good. Definitely makes your DC easier to maintain on elusive enemies. [b]Bloodied Retribution (PHB)[/b]: Hit hard when bloodied and use a healing surge. Basic enough. [b][COLOR=Purple]Flames of Devotion[/COLOR] (DP)[/b]: Hit or miss, your attacks deal 2d6 extra fire damage for as long as you sustain the effect with minor actions. A little too costly for the effect, especially compared to something like Bless Weapon. Lack of miss damage hurts, too. [b]Pyre of Judgment (DP)[/b]: Reliable attack that causes ongoing 10 fire damage and damages surrounding enemies by a fair amount until a save. Decent. [b]Wayfinder's Charge (D 375)[/b]: Get enemies in the way out of the way and make them pay for taking OAs, then hit the marked target for decent damage, halved on miss. Not bad. [b]Charisma, Weapon[/b] [b][COLOR=#00ccff]Knight's Defiance[/COLOR] (DP)[/b]: Pull all enemies within 5 squares to you, save-end Sanction all of them, then attack one of them in melee. A terrific crowd-control power and combat opener. [b]Tower of Faith (DP)[/b]: Attack deals half on a miss, and hit or miss you get some pretty good bonuses to saves. Fair. [b]Charisma, Implement[/b] [b]Break the Wall (PHB)[/b]: Debuff all of an enemy's defenses, -2 if you hit, -1 if you miss. Decent. Darkness Unleashed (D 381): This Necrotic close burst 1 power is actually not bad for Dwarves and anyone else whose second winds are minor-action or better. In their employ it can amount to an AoE attack above and beyond their standard action. If your second wind is a standard action you're better off [COLOR=#800080]looking elsewhere[/COLOR]. [b][COLOR=DeepSkyBlue]True Nemesis[/COLOR] (PHB)[/b]: Whether you hit or miss with the initial attack, this power lets you make all the punishment-stacking immediate-reaction attacks against the target you could possibly want for the rest of the encounter. These happen if the enemy attacks you, as well, so it creates a rather vicious Catch-22 situation. Solo control at its finest. [Size=5][b][u]Lv. 16 Utility[/u][/b][/size] Among your class powers, Divine Aegis wins this level quite handily. If you're trained in Insight, a class skill for you, this level isn't a bad time to take a skill power, namely Insightful Riposte. [b]Class Powers[/b] [b][COLOR=Red]Angelic Intercession[/COLOR] (PHB)[/b]: This daily is a fancier Martyr's Blessing. And it still sucks. [b]Call from the Brink (E:HFK)[/b]: Immediate reaction healing surge trigger to an ally getting KO-ed, with a +2 power bonus to his attack rolls for the round after. This daily's a pretty decent recovery spell. [b][COLOR=#800080]Death Ward[/COLOR] (PHB)[/b]: The healing is actually a better deal than Call from the Brink: Use one healing surge to heal your dying ally by two healing surges + CHA mod. However, the fact that this daily is a standard action and melee 1 range make it less useful than Call from the Brink, overall. [b][COLOR=Purple]Devotion[/COLOR] (DP)[/b]: Boost the whole party's Fortitude and Will by +4 power bonus, but only until the end of your next turn. At this point, you should expect more from a daily utility. [b][COLOR=DeepSkyBlue]Divine Aegis[/COLOR] (DP)[/b]: Daily stance giving a +2 untyped bonus to all defenses for you and anyone up to 2 squares away. Straightforward, but very effective, since it stacks with every other defense bonus out there. And in Eberron, this gets even better with Mark of Warding. [b][COLOR=#0000ff]Higher Cause[/COLOR] (DP)[/b]: This daily stance gives untyped save bonuses and regeneration when bloodied. Pretty good, especially with Hero's Poise. [b]Liberation (DP)[/b]: Per-encounter move action that lets you pull an ally away from a tough spot and trigger their healing surge. Decent one for Chaladins. [b][COLOR=#800080]Pragmatic Sacrifice[/COLOR] (HoS)[/b]: Certainly interesting and flavorful (if against type for most Paladins), but in practice this self-death rescue daily just isn't really worth the slot. [b][COLOR=Purple]Prayer for the Valiant[/COLOR] (DP)[/b]: This one is just in a bad place. It's only worth using at all if multiple allies are under save-ends effects. And in a few more levels, you might get Divine Mettle, as an encounter power, to do what this daily does and better. [b][COLOR=#0000ff]Shadow Healing[/COLOR] (HoS)[/b]: This pure Shadow daily is definitely best used immediately after combat is over. Your bloodied value's worth of surgeless self-healing is very nice, no doubt, but the prohibition on spending your healing surges until after your next short rest makes this unwise to use in the heat of a battle. [COLOR=#800080]Stave off Winter[/COLOR] (D 386): Sort of an immediate-interrupt, ranged Lay on Hands, followed by some situational benefits at the cost of additional healing surges. Not really worth it. [b]Class Skill Powers[/b] [u]Insight[/u] [COLOR=#00ccff]Insightful Riposte[/COLOR] (PHB3): If ever there was a reason for you to train Insight, this encounter utility is it. A +3 untyped bonus as a free action to correct a failed attack roll. Incredible. This power is a great investment of the Skill Power feat to nab as an extra. [Size=5][b][u]Lv. 17 Encounter[/u][/b][/size] Straladins head straight for Mark of Terror. Chaladins have some leeway; Hand of the Gods is the best if you have a really high WIS, and others will take Enervating Smite or Wrathful Smite. [b]Strength OR Charisma, Weapon[/b] [b]Reassuring Strike (DP)[/b]: You trigger your healing surge with Wisdom modifier to heal. Decent. [b]Strength OR Charisma, Implement[/b] Frozen Shackles (D 380): Has its uses, like if you want to keep an enemy standing still in a hazardous zone until your party is ready to deal with him. In that case, if the enemy forces want him back in action, they'll have to go over to him and attack him, wasting their turn and possibly suffer damage themselves. [b]Strength, Weapon[/b] Icy Clutches (D 381): Decent, and certainly fun, if nothing else, with its special Divine Sanction versus standing up from the prone condition this one inflicts. [b][COLOR=DeepSkyBlue]Mark of Terror[/COLOR] (DP)[/b]: It stuns a marked enemy. Awesome. Its only possible weakness is the Fear keyword, but in a few levels even that might not matter. [b][COLOR=Purple]Shattering Smite[/COLOR] (DP)[/b]: This one's just a little too situational. Not many enemies have resist all, nor are any members of your party likely to be completely shut down by resistances. [b][COLOR=Purple]Terrifying Smite[/COLOR] (PHB)[/b]: It'll render a melee opponent worthless for a round, but this does nothing against ranged attackers. Stick with Mark of Terror, which works on a much wider range of enemies. [b]Charisma, Weapon[/b] [b][COLOR=Blue]Enervating Smite[/COLOR] (PHB)[/b]: Attacks Will and weakens outright. Nice. [b]Fortifying Smite (PHB)[/b]: WIS-power bonus to your AC if this hits. Decent if you've been the object of your enemies' scorn. [b][COLOR=Blue]Wrathful Smite[/COLOR] (DP)[/b]: Close burst 1 vs. Reflex, so this thing will hit often. Best done on a crowd of marked enemies, as the debuff on their attack rolls stacks with your mark penalty, and the power also does more damage in that case. Solid power that basically works like an AoE version of Enfeebling Strike. [b]Charisma, Implement[/b] [b][COLOR=DeepSkyBlue]Hand of the Gods[/COLOR] (PHB)[/b]: Hit or miss, this gives allies in the burst a huge power bonus to attack rolls if your Wisdom is good. If it hits, it marks the enemies. They're generic marks, but you can't have everything. Great power, overall. [b][COLOR=Red]Sanctified Light[/COLOR] (DP)[/b]: Weaksauce, plain and simple. [Size=5][b][u]Lv. 19 Daily[/u][/b][/size] Corona of Blinding Radiance is the clear winner for Chaladins here. Baladins may take that power as well, or they may opt for Deathguide's Sanction. Straladins, not to be outdone, will welcome the excellent Wheel of Fate, with [b]Smite of Winter's Grip[/b] and Smite the Soul also being solid options. [b]Special[/b] [b]Plundering Smite (HoS)[/b]: Tacked on to an at-will attack, this adds necrotic damage on the spot and additional ongoing necrotic, and gives you a little self-healing each time the target takes the ongoing damage. Fair enough. You'll probably appreciate it a little more than Blackguards do. [b][COLOR=#0000ff]Ruinous Smite[/COLOR] (HoS)[/b]: Tacked on to an at-will attack, this adds some nice extra damage and makes the enemy yell, "I'm fallen and I can't get up!" when you're standing over him until he saves. This one's pretty nice for locking down one foe. You give up CA, but that's a pretty small price to pay. [b]Strength OR Charisma, Implement[/b] [COLOR=#800080]Visage of Sorrow[/COLOR] (D 380): Close burst 2 mass sanction for a turn and hit or miss a debuff to attacks against yourself. Not that impressive, and unless you have a more lasting mass-Sanction power to follow up with, it's counterintuitive. [b]Strength, Weapon[/b] [b][COLOR=Red]Crusader's Boon[/COLOR] (PHB)[/b]: Simply inadequate. [COLOR=#00ccff]Deathguide's Sanction[/COLOR] (D 381): Geared toward Baladins, this one does solid damage, it's Reliable, it's Radiant, and when it hits, it save-ends Sanctions the target while also turning it into a fencing dummy of free healing (5 + CHA mod) every round for all your allies who hit it while the Sanction lasts. Awesome stuff. [b]Overwhelming Fervor (DP)[/b]: Solid damage on hit, halved on miss. You want to hit with it so you can impose Divine Sanction on the target for the rest of the encounter. [b]Smite of the Flame Cage (E:HFK)[/b]: The 15 automatic fire damage for escaping or attacking an ally outside the zone is no joke, at least, particularly when it stacks with Challenge/Sanction damage. You kind of wish this lasted more than one round, though. [b][COLOR=#0000ff]Smite of Winter's Grip[/COLOR] (E:HFK)[/b]: A good status effect -- restraining -- hit or miss with this cold-based attack (save-ends if you hit) and also some ongoing cold damage on hit. Pretty solid. [b][COLOR=Blue]Smite the Soul[/COLOR] (DP)[/b]: Save-end stuns on hit, with a dazing aftereffect. A little low on the damage for a daily of this level, but a worthy pick nonetheless, especially if you can put a penalty on the save. [b][COLOR=DeepSkyBlue]Wheel of Fate[/COLOR] (DP)[/b]: A solidly-damaging close burst 1 attack with a free surge's worth of healing if you hit at least two enemies. Regardless of any hitting or missing, WIS-mod worth of regeneration when bloodied for the rest of the encounter. Very good. [b]Charisma, Weapon[/b] [b][COLOR=DeepSkyBlue]Corona of Blinding Radiance[/COLOR] (PHB)[/b]: Close burst 1 vs. Reflex, Radiant, and is just plain devastating even if it misses (which it won't too often). Save-end blinds on hit, and even on miss, half damage and blinds until the end of your next turn. Second to none for melee control. [b][COLOR=Red]Righteous Resolve[/COLOR] (DP)[/b]: The Honored Foe feat in Paragon Tier renders this mostly unnecessary in respect to you, and if you're the one getting THPs when your ally gets damaged, that's not really going to help persuade the enemy to go after you instead. Stay away from this one. [b]Charisma, Implement[/b] [b][COLOR=Blue]Name of Potency[/COLOR] (DP)[/b]: Close burst 2, mass save-ends immobilization if it hits, save-ends slow if it misses. Solid sticky power. [b][COLOR=Red]Righteous Inferno[/COLOR] (PHB)[/b]: The CA-granting effect is simply not impressive for this level, and the zone it creates is way too small to balance out said weak effect. [/QUOTE]
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