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What are the roles of paladin spells?
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<blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 6587210" data-attributes="member: 20323"><p>Hah! My comment was tongue-in-cheek, but it also had a kernel of truth: I used to play fighters in 1e / BD&D, and for that class the ROLEPLAYING element was always one of the things that stood out because the actual abilities were fairly narrow or "not interesting."</p><p></p><p>Anyhow, back to the character optimizing and paladin mechanical analysis...</p><p></p><p></p><p>What is your fighter (fighting style)? Is a guardian shield the kind that floats hands free?</p><p></p><p>I would take different feats. Not that those aren't very flavorful, but it sounds like you want a more prominent role in combat, and Inspiring Leader might be duplicated by some cleric spells & Resilience is a passive ability. Now, if your cleric doesn't grant lots of temporary hit points, then by all means keep Inspiring Leader. If you're not having fun role-playing Inspiring Leader with speeches and whatnot, then something is wrong.</p><p></p><p>Instead of Resilience I would take a different feat. Charger, Sentinel, or Tough all look good to me given what you've said.</p><p></p><p></p><p>This also answers [MENTION=22574]The Human Target[/MENTION]'s question. That's why the paladin has a built in Divine Smite feature at 2nd level which lets you burn spell slots for d8's of damage. The spell smites are intended to be used as battle openers, after you lose concentration on your aura (due to failing a Constitution/concentration check or getting KOed), and/or as dramatic kill shots when you know the monster is on its last legs and you deliberately drop your aura.</p><p></p><p>If you're encountering lots of situations where you have an aura (or other concentration) spell active and you want to smite, your should be using Divine Smite more. Without a doubt your character should be one of the group's heavy single-target hitters.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Some DMs are sticklers like that. No worries, work with what you have.</p><p></p><p></p><p>In light of my spell suggestions (and what you just said about compelled duel not working giving your frequent boss monster battles), I'd say your spell list needs tweaking if you want to optimize. Up to you how important that is. </p><p></p><p>OTOH, if you'd like to keep your current spell list and kvetch about how terrible paladin spells all, then I recommend burning your spell slots for even more Divine Smiting! Which is good for Age of Worms because I'm pretty sure there are lots of fiends and undead for that extra +1d8 damage bonus.</p><p></p><p>I agree with [MENTION=12183]sithramir[/MENTION], you should be a damage machine.</p><p></p><p>For example, open with an attack using blinding smite & burned 3rd level spell slot for divine smite, followed by an attack using a burned 4th level spell slot ...assuming your <em>+3 vorpal moon blade</em> is a rapier...and that's 44 (8d8+8) + 35 (6d8+8) = 79 damage! Facing an adult blue dragon (CR 16), thats over 1/3 of its HP!! And that's *not* accounting for any other hidden damage bonuses you might have (e.g. Duelist fighting style, a magical item, a boost from another PC, or fighting a fiend/undead).</p><p></p><p>There is no way you should feel like you're not dealing damage on par or surpassing other PCs!</p><p></p><p>...</p><p></p><p>Let's take this to the extreme. Say you swap Resilience for Charger. Let's say you have a round to prepare before combat (you pre-game <em>blinding smite</em>). And let's say you're facing an Adult Blue Dragon Dracolich (CR 17) just because <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> </p><p></p><p>You open with your bonus action charge attack (with +5 damage) using Blinding Smite and burn a 3rd level slot for Divine Smite, you follow that up with two attacks each burning a 4th level spell slot for Divine Smite. Your damage is 53 (9d8+13) + 39 (7d8+8) + 39 (7d8+8) = 131! Congratulations, you've just cut down the Dracolich by well over 50% of its HP! And put the fear of (insert paladin deity) into your DM!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Quickleaf, post: 6587210, member: 20323"] Hah! My comment was tongue-in-cheek, but it also had a kernel of truth: I used to play fighters in 1e / BD&D, and for that class the ROLEPLAYING element was always one of the things that stood out because the actual abilities were fairly narrow or "not interesting." Anyhow, back to the character optimizing and paladin mechanical analysis... What is your fighter (fighting style)? Is a guardian shield the kind that floats hands free? I would take different feats. Not that those aren't very flavorful, but it sounds like you want a more prominent role in combat, and Inspiring Leader might be duplicated by some cleric spells & Resilience is a passive ability. Now, if your cleric doesn't grant lots of temporary hit points, then by all means keep Inspiring Leader. If you're not having fun role-playing Inspiring Leader with speeches and whatnot, then something is wrong. Instead of Resilience I would take a different feat. Charger, Sentinel, or Tough all look good to me given what you've said. This also answers [MENTION=22574]The Human Target[/MENTION]'s question. That's why the paladin has a built in Divine Smite feature at 2nd level which lets you burn spell slots for d8's of damage. The spell smites are intended to be used as battle openers, after you lose concentration on your aura (due to failing a Constitution/concentration check or getting KOed), and/or as dramatic kill shots when you know the monster is on its last legs and you deliberately drop your aura. If you're encountering lots of situations where you have an aura (or other concentration) spell active and you want to smite, your should be using Divine Smite more. Without a doubt your character should be one of the group's heavy single-target hitters. Some DMs are sticklers like that. No worries, work with what you have. In light of my spell suggestions (and what you just said about compelled duel not working giving your frequent boss monster battles), I'd say your spell list needs tweaking if you want to optimize. Up to you how important that is. OTOH, if you'd like to keep your current spell list and kvetch about how terrible paladin spells all, then I recommend burning your spell slots for even more Divine Smiting! Which is good for Age of Worms because I'm pretty sure there are lots of fiends and undead for that extra +1d8 damage bonus. I agree with [MENTION=12183]sithramir[/MENTION], you should be a damage machine. For example, open with an attack using blinding smite & burned 3rd level spell slot for divine smite, followed by an attack using a burned 4th level spell slot ...assuming your [i]+3 vorpal moon blade[/i] is a rapier...and that's 44 (8d8+8) + 35 (6d8+8) = 79 damage! Facing an adult blue dragon (CR 16), thats over 1/3 of its HP!! And that's *not* accounting for any other hidden damage bonuses you might have (e.g. Duelist fighting style, a magical item, a boost from another PC, or fighting a fiend/undead). There is no way you should feel like you're not dealing damage on par or surpassing other PCs! ... Let's take this to the extreme. Say you swap Resilience for Charger. Let's say you have a round to prepare before combat (you pre-game [i]blinding smite[/i]). And let's say you're facing an Adult Blue Dragon Dracolich (CR 17) just because ;) You open with your bonus action charge attack (with +5 damage) using Blinding Smite and burn a 3rd level slot for Divine Smite, you follow that up with two attacks each burning a 4th level spell slot for Divine Smite. Your damage is 53 (9d8+13) + 39 (7d8+8) + 39 (7d8+8) = 131! Congratulations, you've just cut down the Dracolich by well over 50% of its HP! And put the fear of (insert paladin deity) into your DM! [/QUOTE]
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