D&D 5E Paladin: Why Are They Often Considered Highly Powerful?

[GameOgre]

I like Paladin as it is in 5E,
I find it just as overpowered as every other class(every class has moments of OMG) and I love the fluff behind it.
Not a lot of my players decide to give Paladin a shot however,I wish more did.

 

[CleverNickName]

Why is the Paladin considered to be so darn good (as in the "effective" sense) by so many people?

I'm gonna buck the trend here. Truthfully, I have no idea. The paladin is indeed powerful, but it is not more powerful than a barbarian, a fighter, a warlock, any other class that is carefully built by an experienced player bent on optimization. I imagine with the careful application of multiclassing, feats, and other optional rules (optional, I repeat), any class could be an overpowered nightmare.

Tempest, tea pot, all that.

 

[CapnZapp]

I'm gonna buck the trend here. Truthfully, I have no idea. The paladin is indeed powerful, but it is not more powerful than a barbarian, a fighter, a warlock, any other class that is carefully built by an experienced player bent on optimization. I imagine with the careful application of multiclassing, feats, and other optional rules (optional, I repeat), any class could be an overpowered nightmare.

Tempest, tea pot, all that.

Yes, but I think the answer is simply that you don't need to make nearly that much an effort with a Paladin.

You get everything you need for very impressive devastation already from the start.

It's easy to come across as OP with a Paladin: good offense and great defense, best saves, a bit of healing and divination, and even a little general magic.

Then on top of that you add incredibly good novaing with smites, and it's easy to see why the Paladin gets so many faves.

Other classes can shine too, but seldom with so little work... ☺

 

[Imaculata]

Paladins can wear heavy armor, wield pretty good weapons, deal pretty good damage (especially with smites), and are self sufficient thanks to having pretty potent healing. Add a couple of minor spells into the mix, and their immunity to disease at higher levels, and you have a pretty strong class that can solo a lot of opponents. Oh, and then there are the auras that boost your party.

 

[werecorpse]

I'm gonna buck the trend here. Truthfully, I have no idea. The paladin is indeed powerful, but it is not more powerful than a barbarian, a fighter, a warlock, any other class that is carefully built by an experienced player bent on optimization. I imagine with the careful application of multiclassing, feats, and other optional rules (optional, I repeat), any class could be an overpowered nightmare.

Tempest, tea pot, all that.

The last comment about multiclassing could be true, but I'm talking about the Paladin class v the other melee classes that fit in the same broad niche. Barbarian fighter, ranger. I think it's pointless to compare spellcasting and non spellcasting classes so I'm not.

My point is that until about 4th level the classes are pretty equal but that after 4th level the benefits gained by the paladin class significantly exceed those gained by other similar role classes

 

[Ancalagon]

The aura really is powerful. And while it's true that it helps the party as a whole, not everyone is covered by it (they tend to sprawl a bit). The paladin always benefits from it though , so it helps him the most.

In my game we do have a paladin ( and 2 monks, a warlock and a cleric), and they just reached level 7.

Around level 5, I started feeling that the paladin was dominating so I started having more encounters - I never quite reached 6-8 a day, but just forcing the paladin to hold back a bit made a big difference. It also allowed the monk and warlock to do better.

And then he got the aura... there is no doubt in my mind that a paladin in a low encounter per day type of game would dominate.

 

[Mistwell]

Aura of protection is only powerful if the Paladin has a high Charisma...but they need a high Strength (or Dex, though more often strength) and a high Constitution. If they are going first they won't want their Wisdom to stink (perception), and even if they don't need Dex most of the time they will need it somewhat for the ranged attack situations (and Initiative would help of course). Where are you guys finding room for a high Charisma?

Unless you guys are saying everyone takes Oath of the Ancients, which really only starts to come online (aura-wise) at level 7?

 

[TwoSix]

Aura of protection is only powerful if the Paladin has a high Charisma...but they need a high Strength (or Dex, though more often strength) and a high Constitution. If they are going first they won't want their Wisdom to stink (perception), and even if they don't need Dex most of the time they will need it somewhat for the ranged attack situations (and Initiative would help of course). Where are you guys finding room for a high Charisma?

Unless you guys are saying everyone takes Oath of the Ancients, which really only starts to come online (aura-wise) at level 7?

Half-elf can have 16 Str, 16 Cha, and 14 Con with standard array. 12 Wisdom, 10 Dex, 8 Int. Assuming you're trained, that's a +3 to Perception, which is fine for 1st level, no one is going to have higher than +5.

If you're going to make ranged attacks, take some throwing axes. If you're in a situation where you need to make some long range attacks, you take some shots with your bow and hope your party can pick up the slack. Your awesome saving throw bonus has to have SOME trade-offs, after all. Or maybe you were a <shudder> Dex paladin, and you're fine.

If boosting Cha really high is super important to you, you either take a Warlock dip (probably Hexblade), or you suck it up and decide a 16 Str/Dex is good enough for your attacks. Personally, I think having a 14 in Cha is fine for a paladin, even a +2 to all saves is a hell of a class feature. The fact that they can boost along with their spellcasting is just icing.

Fundamentally, paladins aren't any more MAD challenged than most classes; they need an attack/defense stat (either Str or Dex), a spellcasting stat (Cha), and Con. Outside of fighters, barbarians, and rogues, this is true of every class.

 

[werecorpse]

14 or 16 isn't hard to get and +2 or +3 to all saves makes a big difference. +4 is harder to get but worth it if you can swing it.

You don't need massive con because you've got good defences and lay on hands if your hit points falter.

A regulation human 27 point buy can get Str 16 Cha 16 con 14 easily enough. When you are 8th level and with the stat increase you have to decide whether to get +1 to hit and damage or +1 to all saves it's a nice problem to have

But the point about the auras is not that they by themselves are so good. If a monk had the save bonuses it would be less of a problem. It's the combination of so many solid or powerful abilities that makes the class so powerful.

edit: and unlike much of the Paladins powers the auras don't run out and require a long rest. They change the paladin from being reliant on long rests to having some great abilities that are always on

 

[MonkeezOnFire]

I play a paladin in a group with a cleric, monk, and rogue/warlock where we are currently level 6. I find that the paladin is a strong class as in the combat pillar they fill a lot of roles. Tank, damage and support/healing. This is somewhat offset by how short ranged everything I do is. Smites have to be melee, aura range is small, lay on hand and cure wounds are both touch range. Because of this I feel that compared to the fighter the paladin is strong in what they do but less versatile.

In a lot of my combat encounters I feel like I either dominate or am useless. In prolonged melee fights I thrive as I'm the only PC built to withstand a lot of damage. But against fast skirmisher enemies or enemies that start at long range I'm not contributing much.