D&D General Paladin build for 5e24

[Doami]

Corrected English Version​

Hello guys,


I'm finishing my first short campaign as a fighter (let's say it was just a trial version of DnD to understand whether I like it or not and I did like it).


For the next campaign, we are going to have a long one up to level 12–13, so we need to create brand-new characters.


I’ve been reading a lot of guides and other information, but due to my lack of knowledge it’s pretty hard to make a decent character from scratch. That’s why I’m coming to you guys maybe you can help me out somehow?


Our party will consist of an Archer or a Barbarian, a Bard, a Paladin (me), and most likely a Sorcerer. I imagine I will mainly play the tank role, but I still want to have some damage output.


Preferred race: Human
Class: Paladin
Oath: Vengeance / Devotion
Weapons: Longsword and shield
Dice for stats not rolled yet.


I believe the simpler the build, the better it will be for me, since, as I mentioned, I don't have much knowledge of the game. I really hope someone can help me figure out this build.


Thank you in advance, with love from Latvia.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Corrected English Version​

Hello guys,


I'm finishing my first short campaign as a fighter (let's say it was just a trial version of DnD to understand whether I like it or not and I did like it).


For the next campaign, we are going to have a long one up to level 12–13, so we need to create brand-new characters.


I’ve been reading a lot of guides and other information, but due to my lack of knowledge it’s pretty hard to make a decent character from scratch. That’s why I’m coming to you guys maybe you can help me out somehow?


Our party will consist of an Archer or a Barbarian, a Bard, a Paladin (me), and most likely a Sorcerer. I imagine I will mainly play the tank role, but I still want to have some damage output.


Preferred race: Human
Class: Paladin
Oath: Vengeance / Devotion
Weapons: Longsword and shield
Dice for stats not rolled yet.


I believe the simpler the build, the better it will be for me, since, as I mentioned, I don't have much knowledge of the game. I really hope someone can help me figure out this build.


Thank you in advance, with love from Latvia.

Sword and board, you will be tanky as hell, but your damage output will suffer a lot.
Origin feat, I would suggest "Alert" as one of them, being able to act early in the fight is a big boon.
With sword and board, I would recommend "Sentinel", "Mage Slayer" and "Heavy Armour Master", perhaps "Duelling" as a fighting style, Do not forget that some of the Smite spells are good now.
Best of luck.

 

[FrogReaver]

Corrected English Version​

Hello guys,


I'm finishing my first short campaign as a fighter (let's say it was just a trial version of DnD to understand whether I like it or not and I did like it).


For the next campaign, we are going to have a long one up to level 12–13, so we need to create brand-new characters.


I’ve been reading a lot of guides and other information, but due to my lack of knowledge it’s pretty hard to make a decent character from scratch. That’s why I’m coming to you guys maybe you can help me out somehow?


Our party will consist of an Archer or a Barbarian, a Bard, a Paladin (me), and most likely a Sorcerer. I imagine I will mainly play the tank role, but I still want to have some damage output.


Preferred race: Human
Class: Paladin
Oath: Vengeance / Devotion
Weapons: Longsword and shield
Dice for stats not rolled yet.


I believe the simpler the build, the better it will be for me, since, as I mentioned, I don't have much knowledge of the game. I really hope someone can help me figure out this build.


Thank you in advance, with love from Latvia.

IMO. Truly Effective melee characters are mostly about finding a solid combination of damage, durability, stickiness and mobility. Add in a backup ranged option as well.

IMO Vengance as your subclass really shines here. That would be my recommendation.

Vengance grants the option of hunters mark for damage, misty step and haste for mobility. Channel divinity gives you advantage for super high accuracy and eventually your OA’s make you much stickier because of the level 7 relentless avenger feature.

The next consideration is that Paladin spellslots are very flexible for offense/defense/mobility. This means you aren’t necessarily locked into using sword and shield. Spells can be used to buff your defense instead of your offense. Meaning you can dual wield or use a greatsword and still be defensively fine if you wish. I’ll post some ideas later.

And finally we get race and background. Ideally you want to stack as much magic initiate as you can, get darkvision and mobility while maintaining high str 17 or higher is ideal and 16 cha or higher. You probably cannot get all so you’ll need to prioritize. This gets a little trickier depending on if your dm doesn’t allow custom backgrounds.

 

[Doami]

Dears,

Thank you for you replies, so I believe I shouldn't bother with multiclassing ? Just straight levels towards paladin? I believe I will miss out good opportunities for dmg/defense boost without multiclassing?

 

[FrogReaver]

A relatively simple Vengeance Paladin.

• Level 1 - Pike (Push Mastery) and Greatsword (Graze Mastery). Halbred/Greataxe (Cleave Mastery is also a good option).
• Level 2 - Defensive Fighting Style.
• Level 3 - Vengance Subclass. Retrain Greatsword (Graze Mastery).
• Level 4 - Great Weapon Master Feat

Basic Concepts

• Push Mastery - Great for stickiness. Push enemies away from allies, move up to them, thus forcing them to take an OA or disengage to get back to your allies.
• Graze Mastery - Great for early game as it helps ensure you do something on your turn, potentially even killing enemies on a miss. Not important once we get high accuracy from the Vengeance Subclass Vow of Enmity feature.
• Defensive Fighting Style as the Great Weapon Fighting Style isn't that great and this puts us only 1 AC away from what we would have gotten with a shield!
• Great Weapon Master Feat - we want a damage feat at level 4. This one is very good and doesn't often interfere with our bonus action (which we use for many spells). It also leaves open a variety of weapons, meaning we are more likely to find a magic one than if we specialize into one of the other damage feats.

Advanced Concepts

• Javelin (Throw) + Wrathful Smite - fear prevents enemies from moving forward so you can use this to keep enemies out of melee range of you or your party. Can also be used with reach weapons or push mastery to similar effect.
• Divine Smite - In most situations for offense divine smite is going to be your go to early game spell. It's generally going to be more effective than Hunter's Mark just because it can front load the damage and isn't concentration.
• Shield of Faith - Another great bonus action spell that improves your defense. Also can last 10 minutes so you may get 2 combats out of it. I typically will forgo this, but if you end up as the only melee and enemies often focus on you then this will be invaluable.
• Protection from evil and good - amazing defensive spell if you know you are facing one of the relevant creature types. Especially good if you can cast it before battle starts.
• Magic Initiate - Best options generally are going to be Jump, Shield, Tasha's Laughter or Entangle
• Misty Step - It's tempting to save the slot for a divine smite, but it's often better to just close the gap with it and get the attack action off (especially with your high accuracy).

 

[FrogReaver]

Dears,

Thank you for you replies, so I believe I shouldn't bother with multiclassing ? Just straight levels towards paladin? I believe I will miss out good opportunities for dmg/defense boost without multiclassing?

Typically do not multiclass. It's rarely clear that for a level range like 1-12 that it's going to be worth it (especially for martials). Some levels may be better, some will almost certainly be worse. But more importantly, it’s really easy to end up with a really ineffective character at some levels if you multiclass. As an example, delaying extra attack at level 5 is really rough.

 

[FrogReaver]

@Doami

What Paladin multiclass do you have in mind? Sorcerer? Warlock? Because we can do a deeper dive.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Dears,

Thank you for you replies, so I believe I shouldn't bother with multiclassing ? Just straight levels towards paladin? I believe I will miss out good opportunities for dmg/defense boost without multiclassing?

Multiclassing can work but it is harder to make work than a straight class.