Paladin Feat help

[Wik]

I could use some help from you D&D gurus.

My 2nd level paladin over on the PbP forums, Galwynn, is about to hit 3rd level. I already have power attack and weapon focus (greatsword). I have a low dex, but I'm not too concerned about my correspondingly low AC and initiative.

Really, I'm interested in what feat to take.

It has to be from the SRD, though divine feats (and psionic feats, I suppose) from the SRD are allowed as well. The character is a gruff warrior, and rather reckless in a fight.

What's a good feat for me to take?

 

[Lopke_Quasath]

Cleave.

Sounds perfect for your gruff, take'em down paladin.


There are divine feats in the SRD?

 

[Wik]

There are divine feats in the SRD?

Yup.

Anyways, I'm not entirely sure about Cleave - personal experience shows it's only useful if you have a reach weapon. And you only use it against smaller foes - and do you really need to use a feat to take down enemies that are already fairly weaker than you?

 

[Legildur]

Cleave is clearly a sound choice at these early levels - even without a reach weapon.

Other options thatI would consider are:

- Blind Fight
- Divine Might
- Endurance
- Mounted Combat

A shame that Extra Smiting is not in the SRD...

 

[Thurbane]

Reckless Offense from the SRD sounds right up you Pally's alley, so to speak.

...but as others have noted, Cleave is almost a must have for any melee based character, especially if they already have Power Attack.

 

[Wik]

Reckless Offense from the SRD sounds right up you Pally's alley, so to speak.

...but as others have noted, Cleave is almost a must have for any melee based character, especially if they already have Power Attack.

Hm. Completely overlooked Reckless Offence. That might work.

Re: Cleave - I just don't see how useful it is. The only time I get that extra attack is when I'm fighting weak creatures that have surrounded me. Which may happen once in an adventure. In my home games, the Paladin with a Glaive and Cleave got to use it maybe once every other session. I just don't see it as useful.

 

[Kvantum]

Divine Might is almost a must-have for any paladin, especially one in a party with a cleric. What else are you going to do with all those (essentially) worthless Turn Undead attempts?

The problem, of course, being that Paladins can't turn undead until 4th level. For now, though, Cleave is probably your best bet. But definitely get Divine Might at 6th level. (Then Great Cleave or Improved Critical (greatsword) at 9th level.

 

[nittanytbone]

At level 6, you definitely want to take a Divine Feat so you can use your turn attempts on something useful. So, you can't start a new feat chain unless you plan on dipping into Fighter or something at level 5. If you plan on doing that, then the Mounted Combat chain might be an option to start.

So, use your level 3 feat to get any pre-reqs for Prestige Classes out of the way, if that's an issue.

Otherwise, some suggestions:

- Mounted Combat. Help keep your special mount alive once you get him, but Spirited Charge won't show up until level 12. Yuck.

- Iron Will. Paladins have decent saves but shoring up this one isn't ever a bad idea.

- Blind Fight. A handy feat, especially at low levels when you don't have ways to mitigate darkness/mist/invisibility. Also nice because its not part of a feat chain.

- Improved Initiative. Always a good idea. Always.

- Cleave. As mentioned, most useful at low levels. You may find its utility decreasing significantly at the mid-to-high levels because its harder to drop foes and because your wizard has enough ammo to lob AoE against easy-to-hit mobs all day long.

- Improved Bullrush/Overrun/Sunder. Gives you tactical options, which is always good, and you're already invested in the feat chain.

- Quick Draw. Free actions = good.

 

[Wik]

Well, at 6th level, I need Extra Turning for a PrC. And then I'm taking Improved Critical at 9th.

Iron Will might be a smart one, I guess.

 

[Geoff Watson]

Cleave isn't that bad. You don't need to take them out with one hit for it to be useful; you'll get extra attacks often enough, unless you regularly fight single opponents rather than groups.
You might be thinking of Great Cleave which is pretty crappy (any opponents it's useful against are no threat anyway).

Geoff.