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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zardnaar" data-source="post: 6704003" data-attributes="member: 6716779">II. Proficiencies, Attributes, Backgrounds and Class Features ProficienciesArmor: All armor and shields is as good as it gets.Weapons: All simple and martial weapons is as good as it gets.Tools: None. If you get any proficiencies here, they'll likely be from your background. Also, at least you can actually spend money and downtime to pick up proficiencies in this category. Saving Throws: Every class gets one "common" save (DEX, CON, WIS) and one "uncommon" save (STR, INT, CHA). Yours are Wisdom and Charisma. Wisdom is the target for some of the nastiest mind-effecting conditions in the game, so to have proficiency here is both thematic and very good in practice. And while Charisma saves are very rare, they mostly deal with banishment effects, so it’s sure nice to have around when something’s trying to send you to another plane. Skills: Pick two from the following. (Your background will give you more skill proficiencies, which are not restricted to this list. Your race may also give you more chances to pick skill proficiencies, again not limited to this list.)Athletics (STR): Helps you climb, jump, and swim. More importantly, it can help you break out of grapples and resist shoves. And, if you’re STR-based, grappling and shoving become viable combat options for you. In any case, a great pick. If the Shield Master feat is in your plans, this is mandatory because it governs how effective your shove is.Insight (WIS): Good for countering against lies and attempts to deceive you, so it’s a fairly important skill. Taking proficiency in this helps make up for a likely average WIS.Intimidation (CHA): One of the social skills you're bound to be good at with a high CHA. Whether you pick proficiency in this or Persuasion will largely depend on personality; if you want to be a mean Paladin, take this.Medicine (WIS): Bleh. Your WIS will probably be average, and besides that, you throw around enough healing magic in various forms to where the need to mundanely stabilize someone or diagnose a disease are rare.Persuasion (CHA): Another social skill, and while YMMV, probably comes up in more crucial gatherings, if not more often than Intimidation in a lot of cases. In any case, a prime pick.Religion (INT): Uses the attribute that is very likely to be your dump stat, and even if it didn’t, it’s not exactly a useful skill to begin with. Do not waste your proficiency on this.Non-class skills: You can’t get these with your class options, but you might get these from your background or race:Perception (WIS): If you can get proficiency in this all-important skill somehow, do so. Group Perception checks are common when spotting enemies trying to ambush you, and you don’t want to be a liability.Stealth (DEX): If you choose to attack using DEX instead of STR (a viable option for a Paladin this time around), you just might want proficiency here. Assassin allies will thank you for it.Acrobatics (DEX): For DEX-based Paladins, this is often a substitute for Athletics. It’s the DEX option for escaping from grapples and resisting shoves (but NOT for grappling or shoving yourself), and it can also do things like help you stay on your feet or on a tightrope.Survival (WIS): An all-around useful skill in the exploration tier when stuck in the wilderness.Deception (CHA): You’ll certainly be good at it, and it can be useful if you need to work undercover, stay in disguise, and so forth. Out of character for Oath of Devotion, but others can appreciate it.Animal Handling (WIS): You might consider this one if you plan on being mounted a lot.Sleight of Hand (DEX): Shouldn’t be a priority, but not really a waste either if you get it from a background. Can come in handy.Performance (CHA): Can be a solid source of income during downtime, if nothing else. Definitely not a priority, though.Investigation (INT): The only remotely useful INT skill, but not good enough to want to invest in that attribute.Arcana/History/Nature (INT): Like Religion, pretty much useless for you and not very useful skills regardless. AttributesIn general, if you play a game that uses point buy, you'll definitely want to buy an array that starts with two 15s to put in your attack stat and Charisma. (e.g. 15, 15, 13, 10, 10, 8). Depending on your race and the attribute bonuses you get from your race, you might make a fine adjustment to 15, 14, 14, etc., or whatever. The attributes in order of how you'll want to prioritize them: Strength OR Dexterity: Your attack attribute. You are a weapon-based combatant, first and foremost, so you want this as your highest to start, and you want to get it to the maximum 20 as soon as possible. (And yes, indeed, Paladins who attack with DEX using a finesse weapon are completely viable in this edition; they lose nothing out of their class features from doing so and carry with them their own advantages such as a higher Initiative, cheaper armor, a saving throw that is tested far moreso than Strength is, the ability to go stealthy, and better ranged weapon options.)Charisma: Every Paladin needs this. CHA does many things for this class. Arguably the most significant is the bonus to all of your saves (and nearby allies' saves) that gets applied starting at 6th level with Aura of Protection. Also of importance, your spell and Channel Divinity DC are based on CHA. And finally, it determines the amount of times per day you can use Divine Sense and, later, Cleansing Touch. This should be your second-highest attribute to start, and you'll eventually want to get this up to 20 as well (but not before your attack stat). If you really want some feats I could see topping this at an 18, but definitely no lower.Constitution: Should definitely be your third-highest stat. More hit points is always good, for one. Constitution is also an attribute that, like Wisdom, gets targeted often and by some of the nastiest effects in the game. And finally, if you plan on casting Concentration spells in the middle of combat, you want a decent score here to maintain them when taking damage. You'll want this around 14-16 for most of your career; if you're playing in a game where feats aren't an option, definitely put any ability score increases after maxing out your attack stat and Charisma here.Wisdom: A stat you can be content to leave in the 10-12 range. It helps that the Paladin is proficient in Wisdom saves. Boost Charisma instead and let Aura of Protection take care of the rest. You do NOT want a penalty here, though; aside from it being a major save attribute, some very good skills are attached to this attribute.Dexterity OR Strength: Basically, whichever of the two you didn't take as your attack stat. You do NOT want a penalty in Dexterity if you’re attacking with Strength, however, since you don't want a penalty to initiative and to its oft-tested saving throw. Put a 10 there and be done with it. On the other hand, if you’re attacking with Dexterity, Strength is actually a viable dump stat IF you don’t plan to multiclass. (If you DO plan to multiclass, you’ll need STR 13 to qualify.)Intelligence: The "Paladunce" is alive and well. And for good reason, as INT is the least-tested saving throw, even less so than STR and CHA, is attached to skills you will likely never use, and helps none of your class features. Dump it. Hard. BackgroundsYou can customize your background with help from your DM, but here are the "official" backgrounds. Also keep in mind that if a background gives you a skill you already had from your class or race, you get to pick any other skill to replace it (including a non-class skill). This is a good way to pick up something like Perception, Acrobatics or Stealth. Acolyte: Thematically appropriate, for sure, but mechanically it leaves a lot to be desired. Insight is good; Religion, not so much. No tools proficiency, either; tools are generally a better proficiency to begin with than languages (although you can learn both anyway through downtime and money). At least the free healing and care from temples of your religion is nice?Charlatan: Interesting dissonance in theme versus the typical Paladin, to say the least, but actually pretty solid for a DEX-Paladin. Deception’s good, Sleight of Hand is OK. Also nice tool proficiencies in disguise kit and forgery kit, and False Identity is a feature that can come in handy.Criminal/Spy: Another dissonant theme (maybe less so if you say you're a Spy), but damn, it's a great pick for DEX-Paladins, especially if you want to go Stealth. You'll make great use of Deception as well, and proficiency in thieves' tools is icing on the cake. Having contacts is pretty nifty, too.Entertainer/Gladiator: You'll certainly put Performance to good use, and if you're a DEX-Paladin, Acrobatics as well. Other than that, pretty average.Folk Hero: Pretty average as well. Animal Handling is OK and Survival is solid, though.Guild Artisan/Guild Merchant: Good skill proficiencies in Insight and Persuasion, with a set of artisan's tools (or navigator's if Merchant) as a proficiency. And guild membership's benefits are pretty nice.Hermit: Nope. One marginal at best skill and another that's completely worthless to you.Noble/Knight: Very thematically appropriate, but a mixed bag mechanically. Persuasion is awesome, but History is worthless. Position of Privilege or (if a Knight) Retainers are both nice features, though.Outlander: Athletics is great, Survival is good, and the Wanderer feature's exploration benefits and free food and fresh water make for a solid background.Sage: Worthless skills, and the feature isn't something a Paladin is likely to use either. Avoid.Sailor/Pirate: Two winning skills in Athletics and Perception. Good tools proficiencies in navigator's tools and water vehicles, and both Ship's Passage and the Pirate's Bad Reputation certainly have their uses. A top background choice, for sure. (Pirate’s got some interesting dissonance, though.)Soldier: Two skills right up a Paladin's alley in Athletics and Intimidation, land vehicles profieicncy and the potentially wonderful campaign benefits of Military Rank. Can't ask for much better than that. Thematically perfect for a classic Paladin, too.Urchin: Much like Criminal/Spy, great for DEX-Paladins who want to go Stealth. You get Sleight of Hand, too, and also thieves' tools and disguise kit proficiencies. And City Secrets is great for navigation in urban areas. Class FeaturesLv. 1 Divine Sense: No longer the always-on evil radar that it was in editions past, you now have to be judicious about when to use this with its limited uses per day. The range is very limited on it, too (just 60 feet). It's probably most likely to be used in situations when you might suspect something is a fiend in disguise. Lay on Hands: The classical Paladin healing ability, and this time around its versatility is greatly increased. Its raw healing numbers, which scale well with level, are solid for a power supplemental to your (or the Cleric's or Bard's) healing spells, but better still is the ability to neutralize poison and cure diseases with your touch (costing 5 HPs from the pool). Lv. 2 Fighting Style: Choose one among the following.Defense: Nothing wrong with it, per se, but an offensive style should be a higher priority. That said, this does make a fine second style if you get one from, say, a Fighter multiclass.Dueling: The best choice if you plan to primarily use a one-handed weapon, thanks to the flat damage bonus on each hit.Great Weapon Fighting: Rerolling 1s and 2s on damage dice for an attack with a two-hander makes for a neat damage bonus. And since it applies to all dice rolled on an attack, this benefits stuff like Divine Smite, Improved Divine Smite, Divine Favor, Elemental Weapon, smite spells and what have you. A must for two-handed weapon users.Protection: Again, I prefer offense, but this shield-exclusive style is good at what it does. With this, you’ll want to finish your movement for the round next to someone under duress when you need to protect them. Does lose its value if you plan to get other defender-style reactions like from the Sentinel feat.Mariner (UA: Waterborne): You gain a swimming and climbing speed in light or medium armor and no shield, along with +1 AC. For DEX-Paladins who dual-wield, this is strictly better than Defense. Spellcasting: Despite being only a half-caster, the Paladin’s spellcasting ability — which comes online earlier than ever before — is quite potent and is where much of the class’ power lies. And as far as spellcasting mechanics go, Paladins have it pretty damn good. They get immediate access to their class’ entire spell list as they hit the levels for new spells, and they prepare their spells (rather than learn a limited repertoire), giving them amazing day-to-day versatility. They use a holy symbol as their standard material component/focus, which is about the best type there is since it can either be worn as an amulet or embossed on their shield. Their spell list is pretty solid, too, full of some of the most staple combat buffs, quality healing spells and bonus-action smite spells that make them do a burst of extra damage and often a harsh status effect on a following weapon hit. Divine Smite: The cornerstone of your burst damage ability. This one can especially become devastating on a critical hit, in which case the damage dice from this are doubled. (Incredible especially if you're attacking something under, say, a Hold Person/Monster spell!) Another key thing to remember about this is that it uses no action whatsoever, which means you can use it multiple times per round if you have additional attacks, can use it on the same turn you cast a bonus action spell (including stacking this on top of a smite spell!), and can use it on reaction attacks (making your Opportunity Attacks or attacks from the Sentinel feat especially threatening!). NOTE: The 5d8 cap means the maximum damage from this uses a 4th-level spell slot, so you get no benefit from blowing a 5th-level slot. This may need to be errata-ed to a 6d8 cap. Lv. 3 Oaths will be described under their own section. Divine Health: Immunity to diseases, straight up. Fantastic ability to get at Lv. 3, especially. Lv. 4 (8, 12, 16, 19) Ability Score Improvements: You get the standard 5 that everyone else who isn't the Fighter or Rogue gets. Because you want both a high physical attack stat (STR or DEX) and a high CHA, you're only going to have room for one or two feats if your game includes them. Lv. 5 Extra Attack: Obviously great; at this level it literally doubles the power of your Attack action. Like every other major weapon-using class that isn't the Fighter, this caps at two attacks. Lv. 6 Aura of Protection: Arguably the signature of the Paladin class, where you add your CHA modifier to all of your saving throws. And if allies are within 10 feet, they get that benefit, too. For you, this typically means a strong WIS save between proficiency there and letting CHA do the rest. Also, with a CON around a +2 or +3 modifier, add this on top of it and your CON saves will be at least passable for a few levels despite lack of proficiency; very important if you want to maintain Concentration spells. If you do somehow get CON save proficiency (such as from taking the Resilient feat), this feature can help push your Concentration checks into auto-save territory, which is a godsend. Lv. 10 Aura of Courage: Flat immunity to the frightened condition, also with the 10 feet range to extend to allies. A very good thing considering how many boss-type creatures look to have a fear power of some sort; as a melee combatant you'll need to get close, and avoiding disadvantage on attack rolls is also important. Lv. 11 Improved Divine Smite: Your second-half source of extra damage; where Fighters get a third attack on their Attack action, you get a flat 1d8 extra radiant damage to add to all melee attacks you make (but not ranged). While this doesn't quite match the potential of a third attack, and the damage bonuses from certain feats and magical weapons that accrue with more attacks, it is significant. And it does give you one key advantage: It makes any bonus action, reaction, or other such extra attacks you might get to make more threatening than the Fighter's (e.g. Polearm Master, dual-wielding, opportunity attacks, Sentinel, Haste, Commander’s Strike, etc.). This feature also makes you particularly effective against powerful undead creatures, many of whom have strong features that get disrupted by radiant damage. Lv. 14 Cleansing Touch: Negate a hostile spell on yourself or an ally with your action, with CHA-mod uses per day. Pretty neat ability, if not quite a flat-out gamechanger. Lv. 18 Aura Improvements: All those lovely Auras you get (Protection, Courage, anything from your Oath) expand from 10 feet to 30 feet. Whereas before it was pretty situational that your allies got your Auras' benefits, now it's practically a sure thing. Report Comment5e Player Help work</blockquote>

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