Shield & +1 Lance for mounted combat. Mounted Combatant earned as extra feat in downtime. +1 Splint Armor. (AC 21)
Attunement items: +1 Amulet of Devout; Shield that increases Auras to 20 ft; Ring that reduces cold dmg by 2d8 (reaction). Soon to purchase a helm that has Sentinel Shield properties, helping shore up weaknesses in Initiative & Perception. Considering Guardian Emblem to replace cold ring. Beyond that, not sure what items I'll have access to.
Have found great value to party just staying up for Auras & Bless coverage, hence the slightly more defensive approach. We have Barb/Monk that is pretty hardy & hard-hitting. Mounted Combatant is a decent source of Advantage for medium creatures and smaller, but I know I should count on that less moving forward and seek to buff my hit rate. I lean hard on Bless. I am also very curious to find a good use my Bonus Action.
For future ASI/feats, I'm considering: War Caster (to protect Bless), Telekinetic (for regular use of BA for friend or foe and +1 to CHA), Fey Touched (for spell, extra Misty Step and +1 to CHA), or just ASIs to STR or CHA. The latter seem so plainly useful on a MAD Paladin, but the half feats seem pretty tempting. It's just 4 levels between getting to round off the stat.
What are you using for a weapon when you’re not mounted? Or are you just not using a shield then? (Lances have that thing where you can only use them with one hand while mounted.) I ask because if you are using that weapon a lot, slasher or crusher might be something to look at.
The easiest way to boost your hit rate is to put asi into str — or find a magic weapon, of course. Another common option in ‘14 is to dip 1 level into hexblade warlock so you can use cha as your attack stat. (And get eldritch blast to give you a good ranged option.) Then you could do something like telekinetic and fey touched to get cha to 20 and give you lots of utility.
’14 paladins don’t get a lot of use from BA, except for smite spells. Most of those, of course, range from crappy to situationally very good, but usually you’re better off just using the base divine smite with no action economy issues for the higher damage. But misty step is a great BA, especially since if you’re mounted on your find steed, you can bring your mount with you.
Yeah I have not been wowed by Paladin spell options that can are BA, other than Misty Step, which is solid. Most of the rest are concentration but only one-time spells (Smite spells), which all compete with Bless or Spirit Shroud, which provide ongoing benefits.
Multi-classing into Warlock I know is popular. Just not the path for my Pally tho. :)
The other question is what level you’re going to. You don’t really have room to get two scores up another 2 each unless you just asi. But an 18 cha is fantastic, I’d not bother raising it. So just go with the str asi. Or find gauntlets of ogre power, or some other str boosting item. If you can get that kind of thing, then I’d focus on cha.
Would love an item like Gauntlets of Ogre Power. Our DM seems keen to limit items that they think would unbalance things. Not sure if/when that may come. So I may want to just raise STR at level 12. Always attacking, so it’s always useful.
I raised CHA to 18 at level 8 because it seemed our party ended up on the ropes when saves were failed. And raising CHA helps all 6 saves for all allies within 20 feet, including my concentration saves. Tough call.
As for using my Bonus Action, I’ve tried to look up some items that could help, but haven’t seen anything too special.
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Curious for input on general directions for my Ancients Paladin (2014 rules) - feats, items, and other ways to improve:
Level 9: 16, 12, 16, 10, 14, 18 -- Species: Cervan -- Defense Fighting Style
Shield & +1 Lance for mounted combat. Mounted Combatant earned as extra feat in downtime. +1 Splint Armor. (AC 21)
Attunement items: +1 Amulet of Devout; Shield that increases Auras to 20 ft; Ring that reduces cold dmg by 2d8 (reaction). Soon to purchase a helm that has Sentinel Shield properties, helping shore up weaknesses in Initiative & Perception. Considering Guardian Emblem to replace cold ring. Beyond that, not sure what items I'll have access to.
Have found great value to party just staying up for Auras & Bless coverage, hence the slightly more defensive approach. We have Barb/Monk that is pretty hardy & hard-hitting. Mounted Combatant is a decent source of Advantage for medium creatures and smaller, but I know I should count on that less moving forward and seek to buff my hit rate. I lean hard on Bless. I am also very curious to find a good use my Bonus Action.
For future ASI/feats, I'm considering: War Caster (to protect Bless), Telekinetic (for regular use of BA for friend or foe and +1 to CHA), Fey Touched (for spell, extra Misty Step and +1 to CHA), or just ASIs to STR or CHA. The latter seem so plainly useful on a MAD Paladin, but the half feats seem pretty tempting. It's just 4 levels between getting to round off the stat.
Anyhow, thoughts?
What are you using for a weapon when you’re not mounted? Or are you just not using a shield then? (Lances have that thing where you can only use them with one hand while mounted.) I ask because if you are using that weapon a lot, slasher or crusher might be something to look at.
The easiest way to boost your hit rate is to put asi into str — or find a magic weapon, of course. Another common option in ‘14 is to dip 1 level into hexblade warlock so you can use cha as your attack stat. (And get eldritch blast to give you a good ranged option.) Then you could do something like telekinetic and fey touched to get cha to 20 and give you lots of utility.
’14 paladins don’t get a lot of use from BA, except for smite spells. Most of those, of course, range from crappy to situationally very good, but usually you’re better off just using the base divine smite with no action economy issues for the higher damage. But misty step is a great BA, especially since if you’re mounted on your find steed, you can bring your mount with you.
Good input, thx.
+1 Warhammer & Shield when not mounted.
Yeah I have not been wowed by Paladin spell options that can are BA, other than Misty Step, which is solid. Most of the rest are concentration but only one-time spells (Smite spells), which all compete with Bless or Spirit Shroud, which provide ongoing benefits.
Multi-classing into Warlock I know is popular. Just not the path for my Pally tho. :)
The other question is what level you’re going to. You don’t really have room to get two scores up another 2 each unless you just asi. But an 18 cha is fantastic, I’d not bother raising it. So just go with the str asi.
Or find gauntlets of ogre power, or some other str boosting item. If you can get that kind of thing, then I’d focus on cha.
Okay cool. Yeah we aim to play to 20.
Would love an item like Gauntlets of Ogre Power. Our DM seems keen to limit items that they think would unbalance things. Not sure if/when that may come. So I may want to just raise STR at level 12. Always attacking, so it’s always useful.
I raised CHA to 18 at level 8 because it seemed our party ended up on the ropes when saves were failed. And raising CHA helps all 6 saves for all allies within 20 feet, including my concentration saves. Tough call.
As for using my Bonus Action, I’ve tried to look up some items that could help, but haven’t seen anything too special.