D&D 5E Need help with the last levels of a paladin

[Nameless Hero]

Hello all. I have been playing adventurer’s league since season one with this character, and he has finally reached level 16. As happy as I am to tear through encounters with him, I am somewhat torn as to what to do with him from here on out. So I thought i’d come to the pros on how to better optimize this character. Where do you guys think I should go from here?


Gilgamesh, King of Heroes
Total levels: 16
Paladin (9) / Warlock (4) / Fighter (3)
Variant Human, Noble, Lawful Evil

Str- 16 (+3)
Dex- 10 (+0)
Con- 13 (+1)
Int- 8 (-1)
Wis- 10 (+0)
Cha- 16 (+3)


Items Attuned: Belt of Hill Giant Strength, Ring of Protection, Hazirawn

Level 1- Paladin→ Feat: Great Weapon Master

Level 2- Warlock→ Fiend patron for Dark one’s Blessing

Level 3- Warlock→ Invocations: Devil’s Sight, Agonizing Blast

Level 4- Paladin→ Protection fighting style

Level 5- Warlock→ rechargeable second level spell slots, Pact of the Tome. (replace Agonizing blast invocation for Book of Ancient Secrets to get owl familiar)

The owl familiar might seem weird but it is actually very useful to gain advantage in combat. Basically, every round have the owl flies in and grants the help action to you or an ally, then it flies out. Since owls have flyby, it doesn’t provoke when it leaves the enemies reach.

Level 6- Paladin→ Oath of vengeance
Vow of enmity is also a great way to gain advantage. On the other hand, I don’t think i've ever used abjure enemy.

Level 7- Paladin→ Feat: Warcaster
The reason I took warcaster here was because I often ended up being the one in the party to cast Bless. I didn’t want it to go down in the middle of a tough fight. I also reasoned that when I pick up Haste, I’ll be better off at not losing concentration. In hindsight i kinda wish I took mounted combat.

Level 8- Paladin→ Extra attack

Level 9- Paladin→ Aura of protection

Level 10- Paladin→ Relentless Avenger
I really never found this feature useful, since most of the time I was on my mount. As i'm reading it, only lets you move yourself, not your mount.

Level 11- Paladin→ ASI +2 CHA
Here I decided not to bump Str since I knew I was gonna get the Belt of Hill Giant Strength.

Level 12- Paladin→ Picked up 3rd level spell slots (hehe better smites) and the domain spell haste. Here I went in a different direction with the character. I wanted more attacks per round; so I decided to multiclass into fighter, intending to go battlemaster for riposte.

Level 13 - Fighter→ Great Weapon Fighting Fighting style, Second wind.

Why choose between fighting styles when you can simply have both? Second wind is subpar in this build.

Level 14- Fighter → ACTION SURGE. So awesome because it even triggers another extra attack!

Level 15- Fighter→ Battlemaster
Maneuvers: Menacing attack, Precision attack, Riposte.
Precision attack to offset great weapon mastery. Riposte to get another attack (and more smites) per round, and Menacing attack to throw on top of those crits!

Level 16- Warlock→ Here I took the ASI +2 to CHA again. With aura of protection this gives a +5 to all of my saves and any ally that is within 10ft. That is simply nuts.

Spells: This is the collection of spells I know/and or usually keep prepared.

Cantrips: Eldritch Blast, Guidance, Mending, Prestidigitation, Vicious Mockery
1st level (4): Bless, Cure wounds, Bane, Hunter’s Mark, Hex
2nd level (3 paladin) Find steed, Aid, Zone of truth, Hold person, Misty step
(2 warlock): Scorching Ray, Darkness, Suggestion
3rd level (2): Haste, Protection from Energy, Revivify, Aura of Vitality, Dispel Magic

Pact of the tome ritual book: Identify, Detect Magic, Alarm, Find familiar, Comprehend Languages

Final stat array:
Str- 21 (+5)
Dex-10 (+0)
Con- 13 (+1)
Int- 8 (-1)
Wis- 10 (+0)
Cha- 20 (+5)


And this is where I’m stuck. There are several directions to take the character for the last few levels. I know I want to go paladin 11 for improved divine smite; But I am uncertain if I want to go paladin 12. Mainly because I’m flirting with the idea of taking a 5th level in warlock. This would give me rechargeable 3rd level spell slots, for more castings of haste per day. Not to mention stronger and more consistent smites. But is that better than an ASI or feat? I’d really like to take mounted combat, as I’ve come to believe it is a must for paladins.

I also feel as though my character is a little fragile. I have a 20 AC and a mount that disengages, but sometimes that breath weapon really kills. In my party we have an inspiring leader and I regularly cast Aid so that helps offset the damage; but a few more hitpoints couldn’t hurt.
I’d like to squeeze the lucky feat in there somewhere, but i’m not sure if there is room.

Anyway, What do you guys think? Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.

 

[Ainulindalion]

Personally, I'd take 2 more paladin levels, 1 more warlock level, and 1 fighter level.

Paladin 12 grants you absolutely nothing that Fighter 4 doesn't, but Fighter 4 improves your second wind a little bit.

When I took the next level in Warlock, I'd lose hex and replace it with another 3rd level Warlock spell. And grab Counterspell. Hex is redundant, since you have Hunter's Mark and you want to use your weapon most of the time. You should also have another cantrip.

 

[Nameless Hero]

I was thinking the same thing about counterspell. But im not trained in arcana, so would that still be good?

Paladin 12 grants you absolutely nothing that Fighter 4 doesn't, but Fighter 4 improves your second wind a little bit.
.

To be fair however, Paladin 12 does grant 5 more HP for lay on hands.

 

[Ainulindalion]

Arcana training matters not at all for Counterspell. It either works or you roll (d20+spellcasting modifier vs 10+spell level you are countering). Fifth level also gives you that 3rd invocation.

And I forgot about the lay on hands, but honestly, 5 more points daily party healing (accessible via action) vs 1 point per short rest self-healing (via bonus action). That's a toss up, I'd think.

From your description, it feels like you take care of the party a lot anyway.

 

[Bardbarian]

Paladin 12, warlock 4, fighter 4 would grant you full ABI. If you dont need all the ABI as your stats are a bit high ( I may have missed something ) you can go 12/5/3 and get the most of all classes.

Pal 12 also nets you an additional spell slot.

 

[994125010]

I would go with Paladin 11/Warlock 6/Fighter 4

That nets you Aura of Courage, Improved Divine Smite, 3rd level spells, an Invocation, Dark One's Own Luck, and 1 ASI.

At this point, your character is pretty damn optimized already. But here are the reasons I like this build

1. You can get Resilient (CON) and gain a massive +13 to CON saves total helping you on those CON-breath attack saves
2. Resilient (CON) boosts your CON mod to +2 granting you 20 more HP at max level
3. You get 3rd level spell slots on a short rest. Very useful for Haste and Aura of Vitality (which you will never lose concentration on)
4. Your hits deal 1d8 more damage. Attacking three times a turn with Haste means 3d8 more DPR, 4d8 if you get a bonus action attack.
5. Your smites deal (3+lvl)d8. That's a amazing damage to blow your lower level slots on, saving the higher ones for better casting.
6. An Invocation like Devil's Sight will mean never having disadvantage due to blindness. Mask of Many Faces will complement your CHA.
7. Did you fail a saving throw despite your massive bonuses? Here, try adding 1d10 and seeing if it still failed. Probably not.

As others have pointed out, Fighter 4/Paladin 12 aren't really different. So that's variable. But here are some reasons why I didn't progress further in each class.

Fighter 5+

1. Fighter 5 is a dead level, are the rest worth it?
2. Fighter 6 means another ASI, you already have Channel Divinity granting advantage, I don't think Mounted Combatant will help much.
3. Fighter 7 more manoeuvres known and one more die? I could've gotten better spell slots instead.

Warlock 7+

0. You get d8 HD instead of d10 HD for every level you take here instead of Paladin or Fighter.
1. Warlock 7. 4th level spell slots let you max out your smites or cast a better spell. Makes it hard to decide. Less use of Haste.
2. Warlock 8. You can get an ASI much easier from another class.
3. Warlock 9. 5th level spell slots aren't helping your Smite more than 4th level ones. Also 5th level Warlock spells aren't enticing to me.

Paladin 13+

1. Paladin 13. 4th level paladin only spells aren't amazing enough at only 1 use per long rest.

 

[Nameless Hero]

I would go with Paladin 11/Warlock 6/Fighter 4

I would love to take 21 levels, but for some reason I don't think that would quite work.

 

[Leugren]

Level 7- Paladin→ Feat: Warcaster
The reason I took warcaster here was because I often ended up being the one in the party to cast Bless. I didn’t want it to go down in the middle of a tough fight. I also reasoned that when I pick up Haste, I’ll be better off at not losing concentration. In hindsight i kinda wish I took mounted combat.

Out of curiosity, I'd like to know how often you are actually able to use a mount in combat. Are most of your adventures set in the outdoors, or are you also participating in traditional dungeon delves. If the latter, then are you actually riding around every dungeon on a horse? Just curious.