So, I'm currently playing an Oath of Vengeance Paladin in a Curse of Strahd game, we're level three, and our party consists of the following:
Wood Elf - Life Cleric
Half Elf - Comedy Bard
Human - Wizard, I forgot the type.
Naturally, I'm our main front liner. I'm currently wielding a *particular sword* with a shield. I picked dueling for my fighting style. Here are my stats:
STR: 18
DEX: 11
CON: 14
INT: 12
WIS: 13
CHA: 16
I also went with the Haunted One background, which the DM has been implementing quite nicely, so, without writing paragraphs of explanation, multiclassing into Warlock or something would most definitely make sense. With level four around the corner, I find myself torn between what to take. Do I go for twenty strength? higher con? what about a feat? I'm just looking for some opinions here, and what I can expect with particular options. So far though I've cemented myself as like, our main source of damage, and staying power in combat, basically the backbone of the party.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
Particular sword below, beware spoilers.
The sword I am wielding is the Sun Blade, and my oh my, I'm melting face with it.
Heavy Armor Mastery: the +1 Str isn't as useful as it won't tip you over an edge, but DR:3 against none magical attack can be nice. Not great against bosses, but keeps the minions from nickle and diming you.
Shield Master is often a great choice as it makes you resistant to AoEs and Dex attacks, but since you have a +0 Dex and no Proficiency... that's less awesome.
Inspiring Leader is actually a really great feat. It gives Temp HP (lvl + Cha Mod) To up to 6 people every Short or Long rest! Temp HP only goes away every Long Rest, so that's quite the buffer of HP!
Lucky is always great for keeping yourself alive or not mind controlled... if you get wammied your party is probably toast.
Warcaster. Since both hands are taken up it means a spell does need to be either solely Verbal or have Material to cast with your hands full. Possibly limited use, but it's an option. My Paladin never has his sword out until combat is ready, so he has a hand free to cast 1st turn. The more important aspect is Adv on Concentration checks as you *really* don't want to lose your Protection from Good and Evil in the middle of combat.
In my experience, paladins tend to get away with the "your hands are full" technicality when it comes to casting, because some DM's count the holy symbol on your shield as your catalyst, or casting focus. It really depends on how your DM views paladin casting and whether they hold you to making sure you don't touch those somatic powered spells without putting something away.
Aside from that, I really can't think of a better assortment of feats to pick from; FMB gave great suggestions there.
The only other thing is if you're still considering some multi classing, maybe wait until after hitting level 5 to gain that extra attack. You really don't have to, but a lot of the juice behind warrior archetypes come from getting a second shot; more chances to hit, crit, and just overall hurt things to keep up with the more sweeping power spells of casters and what have you. Plus, it'd be an extra chance to throw some divine smite down on whatever current problem you have. Which, if you do end up going warlock, you could throw down way more aggressively since warlock spell slots come back on short rest.
I would agree with you on waiting to Multiclass until after lvl 5 because of Extra Attack.
Paladin I would wait to Multiclass until after level 6, because you and your party WANT Aura of Protection.
I will say IF I could rebuild my Paladin, I would have taken 1st level in Rogue. I'd lose 2 HP and Heavy Armor, but I'd gain 2 extra skills, Expertise in Athletics, Proficiency in Dex, and Sneak Attack... Since I took Shield Master, I spend every Bonus Action knocking the enemy to the ground and attacking them with "Ms. Pointe" my shortsword. Since I use Shield, I can't use ranged weapons well (shield uses a hand), so I keep 2 handaxes he calls "The sisters of stabbing"
But, I made Str my dump stat and made a Dex Paladin.... I bought Gauntlets of Ogre Strength as soon as I had the gold. I wear light armor and use Stealth to sneak up on enemies.
I'm personally not a big fan of the allocation of abilities that Vengance gives you nor the spell selection... EXCEPT. Misty Step is *amazing* on a Paladin. I used it last session to cross a rive and just wreaked havoc on the half dozen people with bows. Because I knock people over, I don't usually use the Vow of Enmity.
I would agree with you on waiting to Multiclass until after lvl 5 because of Extra Attack.
Paladin I would wait to Multiclass until after level 6, because you and your party WANT Aura of Protection.
Also it would be a tiny bump to your spell slots, as well as one extra paladin spell you can prepare per day. Since paladins count as half casters, every level in it contributes half to your overall casting level, and the number of spells you prepare is half your level + casting modifier; everything rounds down in 5e unless stated otherwise. Six halves a lot nicer than five.
All good reasons to take at least that one extra level in paladin.
RE: Misty step, though, yes it's fantastic. With a little creativity, it can do spectacular things. Wording states you move to a point you can see, so once I used it to blip throw an arrow slit to get to a pesky sniper. Both vengeance and ancient oaths get it, and for good reason.
a 5th lvl Paladin get 4 first lvl spells and 2 second lvl spells.
a 6th lvl Paladin gets 4 first lvl spells and 2 second lvl spells.
A multiclassed 5th lvl Paladin gets half lvl round down (2) plus a level primary caster (1). Which means she counts as a 3rd lvl caster for: 4 first lvl spells and 2 second lvl spells.
So, she'll have a bump in spells know, but not slots per day.
So, she'll have a bump in spells know, but not slots per day.
Right, but going by the spell slot chart for multi classing casters, a character who's 6 levels into a half caster, and 1 level into a full caster would count as a 4th level caster overall. That's one extra 3rd level spell slot.
Multi classing into warlock doesn't interfere with your Paladin spell slots as Pact Magic doesn't work under the same rules as multi-classing with other caster classes.
I play a Vengeance/Fiend Pally/Lock myself and it's a ton of fun, I use longsword and shield. Other feats I'd recommend would be Sentinel, especially since you are the party tank. Shield master is also fantastic. I did my warlock dip at character level 3 which did delay my extra attack but also got me a viable ranged attack with eldritch blast plus green flame blade is fantastic especially once you hit character level 5. I took sentinel myself at paladin 4 but it was a real toss up between that and shield master. Once you get warlock 2 you also get your invocations which is a another nice power boost. Devil's sight + Darkness is delicious with this build.
I tend to go for feats with my first ASI as it can be a substantial boost and then get my stats maxed with the next few, I know that tends to go against what the more common thought it but I really like having those unique cool abilities early on where they can make a huge difference. I'm now pally 4/lock1 and green flaming the crap out of everything with really great sustain due to dark one's blessing.
anyhow just my 2 cents on my favorite multiclass build, good luck!
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So, I'm currently playing an Oath of Vengeance Paladin in a Curse of Strahd game, we're level three, and our party consists of the following:
Naturally, I'm our main front liner. I'm currently wielding a *particular sword* with a shield. I picked dueling for my fighting style. Here are my stats:
I also went with the Haunted One background, which the DM has been implementing quite nicely, so, without writing paragraphs of explanation, multiclassing into Warlock or something would most definitely make sense. With level four around the corner, I find myself torn between what to take. Do I go for twenty strength? higher con? what about a feat? I'm just looking for some opinions here, and what I can expect with particular options. So far though I've cemented myself as like, our main source of damage, and staying power in combat, basically the backbone of the party.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
Particular sword below, beware spoilers.
The sword I am wielding is the Sun Blade, and my oh my, I'm melting face with it.
I have a Vengeance Paladin in a game...
Heavy Armor Mastery: the +1 Str isn't as useful as it won't tip you over an edge, but DR:3 against none magical attack can be nice. Not great against bosses, but keeps the minions from nickle and diming you.
Shield Master is often a great choice as it makes you resistant to AoEs and Dex attacks, but since you have a +0 Dex and no Proficiency... that's less awesome.
Inspiring Leader is actually a really great feat. It gives Temp HP (lvl + Cha Mod) To up to 6 people every Short or Long rest! Temp HP only goes away every Long Rest, so that's quite the buffer of HP!
Lucky is always great for keeping yourself alive or not mind controlled... if you get wammied your party is probably toast.
Warcaster. Since both hands are taken up it means a spell does need to be either solely Verbal or have Material to cast with your hands full. Possibly limited use, but it's an option. My Paladin never has his sword out until combat is ready, so he has a hand free to cast 1st turn. The more important aspect is Adv on Concentration checks as you *really* don't want to lose your Protection from Good and Evil in the middle of combat.
Other then that... +2 Strength is a great bet.
In my experience, paladins tend to get away with the "your hands are full" technicality when it comes to casting, because some DM's count the holy symbol on your shield as your catalyst, or casting focus. It really depends on how your DM views paladin casting and whether they hold you to making sure you don't touch those somatic powered spells without putting something away.
Aside from that, I really can't think of a better assortment of feats to pick from; FMB gave great suggestions there.
The only other thing is if you're still considering some multi classing, maybe wait until after hitting level 5 to gain that extra attack. You really don't have to, but a lot of the juice behind warrior archetypes come from getting a second shot; more chances to hit, crit, and just overall hurt things to keep up with the more sweeping power spells of casters and what have you. Plus, it'd be an extra chance to throw some divine smite down on whatever current problem you have. Which, if you do end up going warlock, you could throw down way more aggressively since warlock spell slots come back on short rest.
I would agree with you on waiting to Multiclass until after lvl 5 because of Extra Attack.
Paladin I would wait to Multiclass until after level 6, because you and your party WANT Aura of Protection.
I will say IF I could rebuild my Paladin, I would have taken 1st level in Rogue. I'd lose 2 HP and Heavy Armor, but I'd gain 2 extra skills, Expertise in Athletics, Proficiency in Dex, and Sneak Attack... Since I took Shield Master, I spend every Bonus Action knocking the enemy to the ground and attacking them with "Ms. Pointe" my shortsword. Since I use Shield, I can't use ranged weapons well (shield uses a hand), so I keep 2 handaxes he calls "The sisters of stabbing"
But, I made Str my dump stat and made a Dex Paladin.... I bought Gauntlets of Ogre Strength as soon as I had the gold. I wear light armor and use Stealth to sneak up on enemies.
I'm personally not a big fan of the allocation of abilities that Vengance gives you nor the spell selection... EXCEPT. Misty Step is *amazing* on a Paladin. I used it last session to cross a rive and just wreaked havoc on the half dozen people with bows.
Because I knock people over, I don't usually use the Vow of Enmity.
I was doing the math.
a 5th lvl Paladin get 4 first lvl spells and 2 second lvl spells.
a 6th lvl Paladin gets 4 first lvl spells and 2 second lvl spells.
A multiclassed 5th lvl Paladin gets half lvl round down (2) plus a level primary caster (1). Which means she counts as a 3rd lvl caster for: 4 first lvl spells and 2 second lvl spells.
So, she'll have a bump in spells know, but not slots per day.
Multi classing into warlock doesn't interfere with your Paladin spell slots as Pact Magic doesn't work under the same rules as multi-classing with other caster classes.
I play a Vengeance/Fiend Pally/Lock myself and it's a ton of fun, I use longsword and shield. Other feats I'd recommend would be Sentinel, especially since you are the party tank. Shield master is also fantastic. I did my warlock dip at character level 3 which did delay my extra attack but also got me a viable ranged attack with eldritch blast plus green flame blade is fantastic especially once you hit character level 5. I took sentinel myself at paladin 4 but it was a real toss up between that and shield master. Once you get warlock 2 you also get your invocations which is a another nice power boost. Devil's sight + Darkness is delicious with this build.
I tend to go for feats with my first ASI as it can be a substantial boost and then get my stats maxed with the next few, I know that tends to go against what the more common thought it but I really like having those unique cool abilities early on where they can make a huge difference. I'm now pally 4/lock1 and green flaming the crap out of everything with really great sustain due to dark one's blessing.
anyhow just my 2 cents on my favorite multiclass build, good luck!