Simple but Effective Feats for a 1st-level Paladin

[Ridley's Cohort]

Bah, the only mandatory feat for my paladins is extra smiting

I do not think you are eligible at 1st level IIRC. But it is a good choice at any level.

Thanee's advice is solid, as usual. At very low levels Cleaves are likely, even for a Paladin who lacks the offensive ooph of a Fighter or Barbarian.

 

[Nac_Mac_Feegle]

Iron Will
Lightning Reflexes
Great Fortitude

A paladin is a warrior who can heal, and he already gets good saves, by increasing his saves even more, you give him a lot fo survivability, he is unlikely to take a lot of damage form spells or get completely neutralized by them either. I have had a pally with those extra saving throw boosts, he became a real powerhouse taking less damage, not gettign held, nice AC form armour, nice hit points, healing. Its all good.

Theres also a few feats that allow you to burn turning attempts to boost combat effectiveness, so your tunring attempts become useful even when your not fighting undead.

Feegle Out

 

[Pickaxe]

If the paladin can take Combat Expertise, why not take Improved Trip as well? Get Power Attack at 3rd level, and you have a nice combination. Tripping is very powerful, IMHO, and getting a free attack on a prone opponent makes for a nice smite opportunity. I also like Improved Disarm, but I imagine the character may be more interested in Cleave or mounted feats, and paladins don't get many feats.

--Axe

 

[Rashak Mani]

Sincerely I'm surprised no one is thinking about Divine Vigor once the Paladin has Turn Undead.

Divine Vigor gives you temporary HPs... and +10' speed. Good for attacking or running away if necessary. The Divine Vigor means you get to last longer.

Do people really like Divine Might ? It requires way too much Charisma to be effective.

 

[moritheil]

Ya know, I'd never seriously thought about that for a paladin (no armor, no martial weapons) but it could be really really cool to play.

It's worked very well for a paladin in my campaign; her damage output was the highest of the party for a while (she wound up multiclassing as a caster, and thereafter no longer held the melee damage record.) The extra feats really help; the only problem is that going VoP generally leaves one with horrible AC.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Sincerely I'm surprised no one is thinking about Divine Vigor once the Paladin has Turn Undead.

Divine Vigor gives you temporary HPs... and +10' speed. Good for attacking or running away if necessary. The Divine Vigor means you get to last longer.

Do people really like Divine Might ? It requires way too much Charisma to be effective.

IIRC, Divine Vigor, Divine Might, and Extra Smiting all have Turning as a prereq. So there is some serious feat competition and you cannot take these to start.

Divine Vigor is solid. Nothing wrong with it except you might prefer to burn those Turning attempts on Divine Might.

Divine Might directly addresses the primary weakness of the Paladin: a melee focused class that is underequipped to do significant damage except under narrow circumstances (Smite Evil or charging on a warhorse with a lance).

If you are considering a relatively defensive feat like Divine Vigor, one can hardly argue with keeping the Cha very high, yes?

A Paladin is likely to have at least a 16, 18, and 20 Charisma at 1st, 4th, and 8th levels respectively. +4 or +5 damage is nothing to sneeze at, and boosts the Paladin up to a level that is pretty competitive with most Fighters, albeit for merely 7 or 8 rounds per day. But that is plenty in most campaigns to have your time in the spotlight.

My 9th level Paladin has Divine Might and Extra Smiting. I like to cast Eagle's Splendor to boost the Cha to 22. Stacked together I am getting +6 to hit +15 damage, 4 times per day versus evil. That will leave all but the most hyperoptimized Fighter/Barbarian in the dust for a few glorious rounds. And I am none too shabby for 4 more round per day, although I do pale in comparison with party Half-orc.