D&D 5E Best Fighting Style+Weapon+Feats for Paladin (Oath of Vengeance)

[Vitor Bastos]

Sup guys!


Im having a hard time deciding which Fighting Style+Weapon+Feats I should go for.


My character will be a Half-Elf Paladin or Variant Human Paladin, that will take Oath of Vengeance. He will have a Soldier background. The main attribute will be STR. We are gonna use Standard Array ( 15-14-13-12-10-8.). I wanna build a Paladin that will be able to do a lot of single target damage but at the same time be able to tank the foes, survive and be useful in combat. The campaign will end around level 10, with the possibility of extending it.


*One important detail is that the DM will ignore Sage Advice, he will only use the basic books like PHB. Sticking to the book RAW. So the GWF damage reroll will apply to Divine Smite, Improved Divine Smite, etc.


Fighting Styles: Great Weapon Fighting, Dueling, Defense, Protection?
Weapons: Great Weapon, Polearm, Sword and Shield, etc..?
Feats: Great Weapon Master, Polearm Master, Shield Master, Sentinel, Resilient, etc..?


So what do you guys think is the best setup for Fighting Style, Weapon and Feats for my character? Go Half-elf or Variant Human for extra Feat?


VHuman Feat: Feat?
Level 4: Feat or ASI?
Level 8: Feat or ASI?

 

[Gavin O.]

If you're just looking for DPR, I'd recommend Variant Human

At level 1, take Polearm Master. (Use a Glaive or Halberd)

At level 4, take Great Weapon Master if your party can boost your chance of hitting, or +2 Strength if not.

At level 8, take +2 Strength

If you hit level 12, take Great Weapon Master if you haven't already, or +2 strength if you have and don't have 20 strength yet.

Polearm Master gives you an extra bonus action attack every round, which not only adds to your DPR but is another opportunity to use Divine Smite. It also adds to your defensive capabilities: The second ability it gives you is a free attack of opportunity whenever an enemy enters your (10-foot) reach. This combines very well with your level 7 feature Relentless Avenger, which allow you to move your speed after an attack of opportunity. When an enemy approaches you, hit them with your polearm, then use the free movement to get out of the reach of the rest of their movement.

Great Weapon Master allows you to take -5 to hit for +10 to damage, which works extremely well with the advantage granted by oath of enmity, but it's outperformed by +2 Strength in the case that you're not attacking at advantage (so, every time except the once/day when you've used your vow). If you have some other way of getting advantage (Variant Flanking rules, a Wolf Totem Barbarian, etc.), or other ways of boosting your chance to hit (A cleric who's always casting bless on you), then Great Weapon Master is better.

Great Weapon Fighting is the best fighting style you can use if the DM is ignoring sage advice and letting you apply it to Divine Smite.

The main advantage of Half-elf is access to the phenomenal Elven Accuracy feat, which gives you +1 to Dex or Cha and a third D20 roll when attacking with advantage, but it doesn't work when attacking with Strength. You could use a Cha-focused build and use the Hexblade feature to have Cha as your attacking stat, but setting you back 3 levels is too high a cost if you're only going to level 10. Otherwise, Variant human is better in a feat-centric build like this, having an extra feat puts your ASI progression ahead four levels on a build that needs every ASI it can get.

 

[Vitor Bastos]

If you're just looking for DPR, I'd recommend Variant Human

At level 1, take Polearm Master. (Use a Glaive or Halberd)

At level 4, take Great Weapon Master if your party can boost your chance of hitting, or +2 Strength if not.

At level 8, take +2 Strength

If you hit level 12, take Great Weapon Master if you haven't already, or +2 strength if you have and don't have 20 strength yet.

Polearm Master gives you an extra bonus action attack every round, which not only adds to your DPR but is another opportunity to use Divine Smite. It also adds to your defensive capabilities: The second ability it gives you is a free attack of opportunity whenever an enemy enters your (10-foot) reach. This combines very well with your level 7 feature Relentless Avenger, which allow you to move your speed after an attack of opportunity. When an enemy approaches you, hit them with your polearm, then use the free movement to get out of the reach of the rest of their movement.

Great Weapon Master allows you to take -5 to hit for +10 to damage, which works extremely well with the advantage granted by oath of enmity, but it's outperformed by +2 Strength in the case that you're not attacking at advantage (so, every time except the once/day when you've used your vow). If you have some other way of getting advantage (Variant Flanking rules, a Wolf Totem Barbarian, etc.), or other ways of boosting your chance to hit (A cleric who's always casting bless on you), then Great Weapon Master is better.

Great Weapon Fighting is the best fighting style you can use if the DM is ignoring sage advice and letting you apply it to Divine Smite.

The main advantage of Half-elf is access to the phenomenal Elven Accuracy feat, which gives you +1 to Dex or Cha and a third D20 roll when attacking with advantage, but it doesn't work when attacking with Strength. You could use a Cha-focused build and use the Hexblade feature to have Cha as your attacking stat, but setting you back 3 levels is too high a cost if you're only going to level 10. Otherwise, Variant human is better in a feat-centric build like this, having an extra feat puts your ASI progression ahead four levels on a build that needs every ASI it can get.

Amazing info! Thanks a lot!

What about Sentinel? You dont think is good for this kind of build?
Would you take Sentinel instead of GWM or +2 Strenght at level 4 or level 8?

Oh, and lets assume I will definetly take GWF as my fighting style too.

 

[Gladius Legis]

Sentinel has great synergy with Polearm Master, yes. But that synergy is only really worthwhile against melee-only enemies who have to approach you to do any damage. It's sharply less valuable if you're facing enemies with ranged capabilities, or enemies who also have reach greater than 5 feet.

GWM is a better all-purpose feat to combine with PAM because it will just work, and against all enemies you face.

(If I'm making a PAM Fighter, I'm taking PAM + Sentinel + GWM without a second thought, but that's because Fighters can afford to do that. Paladins are a lot more starved for feats/ASIs, so they have to make a hard choice, which I would suggest is to skip Sentinel.)

 

[Vitor Bastos]

Sentinel has great synergy with Polearm Master, yes. But that synergy is only really worthwhile against melee-only enemies who have to approach you to do any damage. It's sharply less valuable if you're facing enemies with ranged capabilities, or enemies who also have reach greater than 5 feet.

GWM is a better all-purpose feat to combine with PAM because it will just work, and against all enemies you face.

(If I'm making a PAM Fighter, I'm taking PAM + Sentinel + GWM without a second thought, but that's because Fighters can afford to do that. Paladins are a lot more starved for feats/ASIs, so they have to make a hard choice, which I would suggest is to skip Sentinel.)

Oh thats a really nice point you got there!

 

[Vitor Bastos]

(If I'm making a PAM Fighter, I'm taking PAM + Sentinel + GWM without a second thought, but that's because Fighters can afford to do that. Paladins are a lot more starved for feats/ASIs, so they have to make a hard choice, which I would suggest is to skip Sentinel.)

Would you take PAM first or GWM?
And would you roll as a Variant Human or Half-elf?

EDIT: Oh and by the way, awesome Paladin Guide you wrote!!!

 

[Gladius Legis]

Also, you might want to consider fitting in Resilient (CON). Between Bless and Vengeance's Oath spells like Hunter's Mark and Haste, that CON save proficiency is pretty vital if you want to maintain concentration on your best offensive buffing spells.

 

[Gladius Legis]

Would you take PAM first or GWM?
And would you roll as a Variant Human or Half-elf?

EDIT: Oh and by the way, awesome Paladin Guide you wrote!!!

Definitely PAM, and definitely Variant Human. For this particular build you want all the feats/ASIs you can get.

And thanks!

 

[Vitor Bastos]

Also, you might want to consider fitting in Resilient (CON). Between Bless and Vengeance's Oath spells like Hunter's Mark and Haste, that CON save proficiency is pretty vital if you want to maintain concentration on your best offensive buffing spells.

hmm.. got it. But that would be a higher level feat right? level 12 and beyond?

 

[Gladius Legis]

hmm.. got it. But that would be a higher level feat right? level 12 and beyond?

I'd actually shoot for Lv. 8 with Resilient (CON). That's one level before you'd get Haste, and you REALLY want to keep concentration on that one.

So, with the Variant Human, I'd recommend:
Lv. 1: PAM
Lv. 4: GWM or +2 STR (depending on your party makeup)
Lv. 8: Resilient (CON)
Lv. 12: +2 STR (or GWM if you didn't take it earlier)