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Message: <blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 8777464" data-attributes="member: 6790260">Defense is, ironically, implicitly the less defensive option here, unless you choose to go absolutely full-bore.Defense gives you +1 AC essentially all the time, and has no limit on what weapons you use. It preserves versatility--so you would be best served taking advantage of that and going for a big two-handed weapon, like a greataxe or greatsword. Then you'd have +1 AC and 2d6+mod (average 7+mod) damage. If you go with Duelling, you're basically locked into longsword+shield (since...what else are you gonna put in that off hand?), which gives +2 AC and 1d8+2+mod (average 6.5+mod) damage. Notably, the 2d6 will be much more consistent than the 1d8+2, which is generally a good trade.However, you could instead go Defense + sword-and-board, which would give you a total +3 AC and 1d8+mod (average 4.5+mod) damage. This is a pretty clear sacrifice of damage output, and nets you 1 AC over what you'd get otherwise. That said, this would let you push your AC up into the highest reaches it can achieve; with shield of faith, Defense, a shield, and your starting chain mail, you'd have 16+2 (shield)+2 (shield of faith)+1 (Defense) = 21 AC. Monsters typically have less than +6 attack bonus in the level range relevant for you (it would be weird for the DM to throw anything higher than CR6 at your party), meaning they would miss you 70% or more of the time. (Without the spell buff, that drops to 60%, still decent.)So, the question becomes: do you want to be versatile (capable of using whatever stuff you like), or do you want to focus specifically on sword-and-board? If the former, take Defensive, and switch between a big 2H weapon and sword-and-board, depending on whether you want to dish out hits or take them. If the latter, definitely go Duelist, as it is the highest-efficiency option, missing only 0.5 average points of damage compared to Defensive+2H and only 1 point of AC compared to Defensive+sword-and-board.I, personally, would recommend the versatility. Being able to swap between "modes" is a useful thing, and this situation lets you tailor yourself to the best choice for any given situation. This pairs up very well with the natural versatility of the Paladin: you can spend spells on utility effects, shield of faith, or Divine Smite/smite-type spells, letting you adapt to whatever situations you think are most relevant, while relying on Lay on Hands for healing. You do give up the ~1.33 average points of damage you could get from Great Weapon Fighting style, but honestly that's not THAT big a deal when contrasted against the ability to switch to sword-and-board without losing anything.</blockquote>

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