Hey, starting a new campaign tomorrow WotBS I believe. The party has no defender so I was thinking of making a Charisma based Paladin. Anyone out there to (highly) recommend them, or divert me from any obvious pitfalls? Do they defend well, I've never actually played a defender anyway but if I'm holding down the battle line, can I do it well with a reasonably made Chaladin?
New game new character, bit o' help?
- Thread starter illwizard
- Start date
UngeheuerLich
Legend
yes
Prism
Explorer
They are excellent at multimarking through divine sanction powers and punishing from range with their high CHA. On the down side you have less choices than a STR paladin as they get to pick from paladin, cavalier and blackguard powers. Still, there are plenty enough powerful options available from the original PHB and Divine Power. Oh, and remember to grab a basic melee attack power or feat. Virtuous Strike works well enough
@Prism - Cheers cobber, I've got Divine Power on hand so I should be cool by the sounds. Hadn't seen Divine Sanction before but it seems quite punishing actually- How good is Valorous Smite!! Any advice on another at will? I'm thinking enfeebling strike, If I can hit often enough I should have a bit of an edge, 1 on 1 anyway. Then again, If I take Virtuous strike, which is kind of defensive, maybe I should have a more offensive 2nd at will like Holy or Valiant?
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You don't want Holy and Valiant -- those are Strength powers! While you can make a Str/Chr paladin reasonably well now (particularly using the Essentials Paladin powers, which usually use Str for attack and Chr for riders), the classic Chr paladin is Chr/Wis, and ignores Str.
What you want are a set of powers that are good in a variety of situations. Valiant Strike (or at least Melee Training) is key, as you'll always want the threat of a good OA to back up your mark and make you more sticky. Plus you can use it on a charge, for that sweet free movement and +1 to hit (and the ability to access the game's broken charge optimization). But its rider is very situational. That said, it's pretty hard to pick just one other power. Of the set:
Ardent Strike is fantastic as a source of at will multimarking (find a position that is adjacent to two foes, Challenge one, then Ardent Strike the other). Plus you can also use it on a charge.
Bolstering Strike provides temps -- which while they don't stack, is a great source of durability. Very worthwhile whenever you don't have temps otherwise.
And, of course, Enfeebling Strike is a great at will debuff. Not just in terms of keeping you alive, either; an Enfeebled opponent has a -4 to hit anyone other than you and you'll deal automatic damage on top of that.
So...as a human, I'd choose Enfeebling Strike, Ardent Strike, and Valiant Strike. Use Valiant Strike early in a fight to lock down multiple foes and swich to Enfeebling Strike once Valiant Strike isn't useful any more -- with Ardent Strike used on OAs and some charges, or when you've got a condition you want to shed.
As a non-human, I'd either go with Ardent Strike and choose between Enfeebling Strike and Valiant Strike (depending on whether you want at will multimarking or at will lockdown; my guess is that in play you're better off with multimarking at first level, but that at higher levels you can get enough multimarking from powers that you're better off retraining to Enfeebling Strike), or go with Melee Training, Enfeebling Strike and Valiant Strike--you do less damage on an OA but still have an acceptable OA, and can both multimark and do single target lockdown.
What you want are a set of powers that are good in a variety of situations. Valiant Strike (or at least Melee Training) is key, as you'll always want the threat of a good OA to back up your mark and make you more sticky. Plus you can use it on a charge, for that sweet free movement and +1 to hit (and the ability to access the game's broken charge optimization). But its rider is very situational. That said, it's pretty hard to pick just one other power. Of the set:
Ardent Strike is fantastic as a source of at will multimarking (find a position that is adjacent to two foes, Challenge one, then Ardent Strike the other). Plus you can also use it on a charge.
Bolstering Strike provides temps -- which while they don't stack, is a great source of durability. Very worthwhile whenever you don't have temps otherwise.
And, of course, Enfeebling Strike is a great at will debuff. Not just in terms of keeping you alive, either; an Enfeebled opponent has a -4 to hit anyone other than you and you'll deal automatic damage on top of that.
So...as a human, I'd choose Enfeebling Strike, Ardent Strike, and Valiant Strike. Use Valiant Strike early in a fight to lock down multiple foes and swich to Enfeebling Strike once Valiant Strike isn't useful any more -- with Ardent Strike used on OAs and some charges, or when you've got a condition you want to shed.
As a non-human, I'd either go with Ardent Strike and choose between Enfeebling Strike and Valiant Strike (depending on whether you want at will multimarking or at will lockdown; my guess is that in play you're better off with multimarking at first level, but that at higher levels you can get enough multimarking from powers that you're better off retraining to Enfeebling Strike), or go with Melee Training, Enfeebling Strike and Valiant Strike--you do less damage on an OA but still have an acceptable OA, and can both multimark and do single target lockdown.
