D&D 5E Suggestions on this Paladin/Warlock build

[Brakkis]

I could use some advice on where exactly to take this character in terms of class levels. It's an Oath of the Ancients Paladin, Celestial Warlock (Homebrew).

Okay so to start off we rolled for stats, 4d6 drop the lowest and I rolled 17,17,16,15,14,11 (Hurray for good rolls...it'll come back to bite me in the ass in game. I'll roll 1's like Wheaton throughout combat. Go Karma!). Going Half-Elf I ended up with

Str - 18
Dex - 12
Con - 17
Int - 14
Wis - 15
Cha - 18

Thus far my plan is to go Paladin 7/Warlock 3 for Aura of Warding and Pact of the Chain. Beyond that, I haven't really been able to decide. I'll probably go Paladin 8/Warlock 4 and get 2 Ability Score Improvements/Feats, leaving me 8 levels to do something.

• Paladin 8/Warlock 12 doesn't really jump at me without Pact of the Blade which I didn't take.
• Paladin 16/Warlock 4 would give me Aura of Courage, Improved Divine Smite, Cleansing Touch, and Undying Sentinel along with most of the Oath spells.
• I could go Oath of Vengeance for better Oath spells, and go Paladin 6/Warlock 14 to get the final Patron ability but I'm not sure of that. I lose an ASI/Feat to get this build, along with Aura of Warding.
• The other option I'm mulling over is Paladin 12/Warlock 4/Fighter 4 and pick up Second Wind, Action Surge, a 2nd Fighting Style (picked Dueling with Paladin) and either Champion/Improved Critical or Battlemaster/Combat Superiority
• Lastly, a slight variation on the above is Paladin 12/Warlock 5/Fighter 3 for essentially the same thing, minus an ASI/Feat, to gain 3rd level spell slots with the Warlock. Not sure that's worth it.

Essentially I want 5 ASI's/Feats with my build, or at least 4. I'm looking at Alert, Sentinel, and Shield Master (wielding a Longsword and Shield, with a Greatsword backup) for Feats, while boosting Str and/or Cha to 20.

So, thoughts?

 

[crashtestdummy]

A lot depends on how you see the character. One suggestion I could make to improve your Shield Master bashing and give you more flexibility in and out of combat is to take Lore Bard for 4 or 8 levels. This not only gives you expertise (Athletics plus one other skill) but also additional skill proficiencies, cutting words, bardic inspiration, more spell slots for smites, and (if you take 8 levels) a couple of magical secret spells to round out your spell selection. Basically, instead of building up your strengths (by taking fighter or paladin levels), you're becoming bigger than life and putting down your opponent with cutting words as you knock them to the ground with your expertised Athletics. I'd recommend 8 levels so your bardic inspiration dice rest on a short rest along with your warlock slots.

 

[RulesJD]

Paladin 6/Sorc 5/Warlock 3 (Shield, etc from Sorc)

I recommend going Paladin 6 straight to get that sweet sweet aura. Then 2-3 levels of Warlock for invocations + rechargable slots. Then Sorcerer 1 for Shield, then another of Warlock if you only went 2, then the rest in Sorc.

If that's too complicated for you, just go Paladin 6, Warlock 3, Sorc 1, Paladin 11. That's up to level 15 (more than most campaigns go) and pretty simple.

 

[zaratan]

Why warlock?

I would prefer bard like crashtestdummy said. Or sorcerer to quick spells. Both are fullcasters and will give you more spellslots.
Get elemental weapon using lvl 7th spellslot, quick booming blade or twin haste.

 

[bid]

Paladin 11 / warlock 7 if you only care about smiting. You get 3rd slots from pally and 4th from lock.

As ancient, paladin 7 for aura of warding is the stopping point. Unless there's another invocation you want, I would stop with chainlock 3. That leaves 10 levels of a pure caster, bard or sorcerer depending on your needs.
- Bard 10 is nice, but 3 ASI
- Bard 9 for 5th spells and 4 ASI
- Bard 8 for 5 ASI (with pally 8 / lock 4)
- Sorcerer 5 / rogue 4 for 4 ASI (sorcerer has better 3rd spells)

Note that since you are too tight for warcaster, you cannot cast shield or other non-paladin S/M spells.

 

[bid]

Why warlock?

I'm guessing short rest smites and advanced familiar. RP reason, maybe?

 

[zaratan]

I'm guessing short rest smites and advanced familiar. RP reason, maybe?

for short rest slots, if he goes to lvl 8 warlock, is getting 2 lvl 4 slots per short rest.
if he goes lvl 8 sorc is getting 3 lvl 4 slots, 2 lvl 5, 1 lvl 6 and 1 lvl 7 per long rest.
depending of how many short rests he get for long rest, doesn't worth it.

 

[Brakkis]

I'm guessing short rest smites and advanced familiar. RP reason, maybe?

All 3.

Bard is right out. It doesn't fit the character's personality in the slightest. Sorcerer is focusing too heavily on being a full caster. Warlock is more of a "well...s***" and has to deal with this power after making the pact.

To be honest I was really wondering what the most efficient of the ones I mentioned would be. Too many people spam bard/sorcerer to try and power game caster. I don't want that. I just want to be versatile and hold my own as a front-line combatant.

 

[bid]

All 3.

Bard is right out. It doesn't fit the character's personality in the slightest. Sorcerer is focusing too heavily on being a full caster. Warlock is more of a "well...s***" and has to deal with this power after making the pact.

To be honest I was really wondering what the most efficient of the ones I mentioned would be. Too many people spam bard/sorcerer to try and power game caster. I don't want that. I just want to be versatile and hold my own as a front-line combatant.

I had 2 reasons for the pally 7 / lock 3 / bard 9:
- pally 8-12 is a deadland (IMO), you might as well grab a caster for more smite slots
- bard 3 has 2 expertise and an extra proficiency

If you don't want bard, rogue 1 and 6 offer expertise also.
- pally 7 / lock 3 / rogue AT 10 has 4 ASI and is caster 6
- pally 8 / lock 4 / rogue AT 8 has 5 ASI and is caster 6
- pally 12 / lock 4 / rogue AT 4 has 5 ASI and is caster 7

Of course, if rogue is also out for RP reason and you don't want to refluff...

 

[zaratan]

from your options I would go for Paladin 12/Warlock 5/Fighter 3.

4 d8 per short rest from combat superiority + extra fighting style + action surge is better than the 4th lvl spell slots.