So I have had a character in the works for a little while now. Plan to run him with a group of old friends once our current campaign ends (end right around the corner, few weeks now maybe). So the basic idea is a fear tank. Leonin oath of conquest plate spear and shield and whatever fear options I can get my hands on. My main question is what should my progression be if I wanna take a 1 level dip into hexblade. I want that charisma damage, I feel like since it’ll be the main source for all my fear stuff (besides Leonin roar) then why not use it for damage as well? Still get a solid strength for plate good con and then pour charisma. Also for feats I think I’m gunna forgo sentinel and PAM? Everywhere I read say conquest paladin is the one that doesn’t need it cuz of the fear aura? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
I think a good question for you to consider is "when?"
If you take it as early as lvl 2, then i'd recommend taking a blade cantrip and more specifically greenflame blade. why? because at lvl 5, when everyone has that jump in damage thanks to extra attack or access to third level spells, you'll be the very notable one lagging behind. GFB helps with that discrepancy in the mean time. However, if you're going to wait until after lvl 5, blade cantrips just aren't necessary as extra attack is almost always as effective if not more. in which case, other utility cantrips are a better choice instead.
Also, consider your campaign. Conquest doesn't really work if there's a lot of undead.
I'm currently playing an Oath of Conquest Paladin, although mine is a Dragonborn (Amethyst). I did a pretty good study on using fear as the driving factor in most combats, and I found that I ended up ranking them as such:
Conquering Presence
Wrathful Smite
Dragon Fear
Fear (spell)
This has mostly to do with how each type of fear inducer works for both when they save, and if I need concentration. In my case the save DC is tied to WIS, and is the same score regardless of method or level (they all go up at the same times).
I guess the question I was going to ask is, why do you feel the need to dip another class? If you follow the proper formula in battle:
Cause fear
Attack
Divine Smite
Spiritual Weapon
You are already doing a pretty serious amount of damage. In theory I can output more damage per turn than our barbarian, and hexblade with polearm mastery. If everything lands right I can almost catch up to the wizard casting a maxed out fireball or lightning bolt.
All I'm saying is to multi for the right reasons, since you probably don't need to just for 1 more stat. cgarciao is also right, being a lvl behind when everyone else gets multi-attack is just that many fewer smites you can use. Fear is also a spell that requires lvl9 Paladin, so it also depends on how quickly you tend to lvl.
Whatever you do, I hope you enjoy it and bring something to the table that everyone playing enjoys. Cheers!
You don't need the Warlock for the frightened and TBH I don't think Hexblade brings a lot to this because you are delaying Aura of Conquest and the Fear spell itself.
Undead is better than Hexblade, but I still think this works best as a single class maximizing Charisma. Aura of Conquest is the key here and that is one more level if you dip Warlock early.
Wrathful Smite works really, really well in general on any Paladin and it is even better on a Conquest Paladin level 7+. Once it fear locks someone you can usually forget about that guy until you lose concentration. He needs to pass a Wisdom check with disadvantage to break it, he needs to use an action to do it and until he breaks it he has no movement.
At 9th level you get the Fear spell itself and Fear+Aura of Conquest is one of the most OP combos in the game. The enemy can't move...... they take damage every round while frightened ,.... with the Fear spell they cant save unless they break line of sight .. they can't break line of sight because they can't move.
Cast Fear on several enemies and if they fail their save walk up to them and sit down and make yourself a drink and just wait until all their hit points drain away. You can even do this from standing right next to them, because the only action they can take is Dash .... and their move is 0.
If I was going to dip anything I would wait until level 9 Paladin and then dip Sorcerer for more spell slots and eventually quicken spell (to quicken Fear). If you really want the Warlock dip I would do Undead and I would wait until Paladin 12.
So I have had a character in the works for a little while now. Plan to run him with a group of old friends once our current campaign ends (end right around the corner, few weeks now maybe). So the basic idea is a fear tank. Leonin oath of conquest plate spear and shield and whatever fear options I can get my hands on. My main question is what should my progression be if I wanna take a 1 level dip into hexblade. I want that charisma damage, I feel like since it’ll be the main source for all my fear stuff (besides Leonin roar) then why not use it for damage as well? Still get a solid strength for plate good con and then pour charisma. Also for feats I think I’m gunna forgo sentinel and PAM? Everywhere I read say conquest paladin is the one that doesn’t need it cuz of the fear aura? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
I think a good question for you to consider is "when?"
If you take it as early as lvl 2, then i'd recommend taking a blade cantrip and more specifically greenflame blade. why? because at lvl 5, when everyone has that jump in damage thanks to extra attack or access to third level spells, you'll be the very notable one lagging behind. GFB helps with that discrepancy in the mean time. However, if you're going to wait until after lvl 5, blade cantrips just aren't necessary as extra attack is almost always as effective if not more. in which case, other utility cantrips are a better choice instead.
Also, consider your campaign. Conquest doesn't really work if there's a lot of undead.
I'm currently playing an Oath of Conquest Paladin, although mine is a Dragonborn (Amethyst). I did a pretty good study on using fear as the driving factor in most combats, and I found that I ended up ranking them as such:
This has mostly to do with how each type of fear inducer works for both when they save, and if I need concentration. In my case the save DC is tied to WIS, and is the same score regardless of method or level (they all go up at the same times).
I guess the question I was going to ask is, why do you feel the need to dip another class? If you follow the proper formula in battle:
You are already doing a pretty serious amount of damage. In theory I can output more damage per turn than our barbarian, and hexblade with polearm mastery. If everything lands right I can almost catch up to the wizard casting a maxed out fireball or lightning bolt.
All I'm saying is to multi for the right reasons, since you probably don't need to just for 1 more stat. cgarciao is also right, being a lvl behind when everyone else gets multi-attack is just that many fewer smites you can use. Fear is also a spell that requires lvl9 Paladin, so it also depends on how quickly you tend to lvl.
Whatever you do, I hope you enjoy it and bring something to the table that everyone playing enjoys. Cheers!
Don't forget Undead Warlock... Form of Dread is consistent way to keep Fear on the table.
You don't need the Warlock for the frightened and TBH I don't think Hexblade brings a lot to this because you are delaying Aura of Conquest and the Fear spell itself.
Undead is better than Hexblade, but I still think this works best as a single class maximizing Charisma. Aura of Conquest is the key here and that is one more level if you dip Warlock early.
Wrathful Smite works really, really well in general on any Paladin and it is even better on a Conquest Paladin level 7+. Once it fear locks someone you can usually forget about that guy until you lose concentration. He needs to pass a Wisdom check with disadvantage to break it, he needs to use an action to do it and until he breaks it he has no movement.
At 9th level you get the Fear spell itself and Fear+Aura of Conquest is one of the most OP combos in the game. The enemy can't move...... they take damage every round while frightened ,.... with the Fear spell they cant save unless they break line of sight .. they can't break line of sight because they can't move.
Cast Fear on several enemies and if they fail their save walk up to them and sit down and make yourself a drink and just wait until all their hit points drain away. You can even do this from standing right next to them, because the only action they can take is Dash .... and their move is 0.
If I was going to dip anything I would wait until level 9 Paladin and then dip Sorcerer for more spell slots and eventually quicken spell (to quicken Fear). If you really want the Warlock dip I would do Undead and I would wait until Paladin 12.