D&D 5E Guide: D&D (5e) How to Build a Paladin for Combat

[SomthinClever]

[h=1][FONT=&quot]Hey,guys. I have humbly published a D&D build guide. This guide is well suitedfor anyone that enjoys min-maxing their characters and getting the most out ofevery round of combat. I hope you all enjoy.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
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[Blue]

I'm sorry, but I strongly disagree with a lot you have. I wish you followed the traditional standard of rating different options rather than just putting out "the one true way".

At the very least, not using a single ASI for a MAD class like a paladin, especially when mis-matching a +2 STR race and a DEX weapon build is ... painful. +2 to hit/damage at 20th is easily demonstrated mathematically as not the way to build a "paladin for combat". +1 CON mod and +2 CHR mod at 20th also ignore the staple of paladin's survivability.

And for all those feats, you miss out on some of the ones that can amp up a paladin's damage output (if that's what you mean by "for combat") significantly.

Let's start with your race/class combo and build from there. Half Orc paladin. Okay, have +2 STR, let's go heavy armor and a two handed weapon. Half orc crit bonus also favors larger weapon dice, which plays into the two handed weapon. Say a d12 great axe. Take protection fighting style to make up for part of the loss of a shield. Since you're looking at crits doing well, go for Oath of Vengeance - increase from 5% to 9% chance to crit with advantage. Right now at 3rd level you're looking at +5 to hit (vs. +4 from your build), doing d12+3 damage (3d12+3 on a crit thanks to half-orc's Savage Attacks feature, which happens about 1 blow out of 11.) 4th level you can increase your STR to get up to +4, or if you have a party that buffs you look at Great Weapon Mastery. Suddenly those crits also grant another attack. And with party buffing (bless, etc.) and your oath for advantage you coyuld be trading -5 to hit for +10 damage very easily.

And this all doubles when you hit 5th for extra attack.

There are some great guides for Paladin and other classes here, I invite you to look over them.

 

[Gladius Legis]

Oath of Treachery doesn't even officially exist. It was presented as playtest material in UA but got such negative feedback that it hasn't made its way into an official book.

Also, Savage Attacker???

 

[Dessert Nomad]

It looks like you have multiple of these guides and they're not in the 'satire' category, so I think you're serious. This is an awful guide, with numerous major flaws. You use an oath that's not in the official rules, create a character with a bunch of odd stats and never boost them, and make weird declarations that don't make sense. For example, you say that war caster is good for maintaining concentration on mirror images... a spell that doesn't require concentration. You say that banishing smite will account for the majority of your melee damage, when it's only a total of 10d10 of damage per day at 20th level, and you can't even cast it before 17th level. What's better for pushing damage on mages and surviving is not toughness, mage slayer, and savage attacker (really?) but getting +5 to all saves for you and your party instead of the +2 this build gives.

This guide produces a build that isn't legal under the official rules and even if it was would be far from optimized. Your other guides have similar problems - at a glance, none of them take ASIs, and the warlock one seems to be taking the invocations to be an eldritch blaster but other things to be a melee fighter.

 

[SomthinClever]

I'm sorry, but I strongly disagree with a lot you have. I wish you followed the traditional standard of rating different options rather than just putting out "the one true way".

At the very least, not using a single ASI for a MAD class like a paladin, especially when mis-matching a +2 STR race and a DEX weapon build is ... painful. +2 to hit/damage at 20th is easily demonstrated mathematically as not the way to build a "paladin for combat". +1 CON mod and +2 CHR mod at 20th also ignore the staple of paladin's survivability.

And for all those feats, you miss out on some of the ones that can amp up a paladin's damage output (if that's what you mean by "for combat") significantly.

Let's start with your race/class combo and build from there. Half Orc paladin. Okay, have +2 STR, let's go heavy armor and a two handed weapon. Half orc crit bonus also favors larger weapon dice, which plays into the two handed weapon. Say a d12 great axe. Take protection fighting style to make up for part of the loss of a shield. Since you're looking at crits doing well, go for Oath of Vengeance - increase from 5% to 9% chance to crit with advantage. Right now at 3rd level you're looking at +5 to hit (vs. +4 from your build), doing d12+3 damage (3d12+3 on a crit thanks to half-orc's Savage Attacks feature, which happens about 1 blow out of 11.) 4th level you can increase your STR to get up to +4, or if you have a party that buffs you look at Great Weapon Mastery. Suddenly those crits also grant another attack. And with party buffing (bless, etc.) and your oath for advantage you coyuld be trading -5 to hit for +10 damage very easily.

And this all doubles when you hit 5th for extra attack.

There are some great guides for Paladin and other classes here, I invite you to look over them.

Hey, BLue! Sorry for the late reply. Anywho, your feedback has not gone unnoticed. Many readers have asked that I spend more time in each guide breaking down my decision making process. You are certainly not alone in thinking that.

I hope to improve upon my work through the thoughtful feedback you each provide. Thank you again for your time and I wish you a great day.