1. How often would you say you use your bonus action?
2. What types of things do you use your bonus action on?
I'm playing around with builds and I was looking at a build using GWM with a great sword vs a revenant Double bladed scimitar. I think I like the double bladed option but I'm a little new to pali's and don't really know how often that bonus action is going to be used for something else. Please Help!
If I went GWM I'd likely go Vanquisher for the on demand Advantage on attacks probably dwarf because they're cool. If I went DBS I'd likely go elf and ancient because I like the flavor. Both sound great but only if Bonus Actions are frequently available!
Paladins in general don't use the bonus action as much as some of the other classes do, so it is usually available. The main thing it would be used for is bonus action spells. A few oaths have channel divinity as bonus actions (like the vow of enmity for vengeance), and some capstones are bonus heavy (oath of ancients has all standard spells turn to bonus action spells at 20th). You should see plenty of availability for the bonus action attacks you plan on adding.
I tend to use my bonus action to cast misty step for battlefield maneuverability while avoiding opportunity attacks. All smite spells are also BA. I dont use them that often since I usually have Haste or Shield of Faith taking up my concentration.
Depends on the paladin. Played a half elf ancients paladin who fought with paired scimitars, obviously he used his bonus action nearly all the time.
Another time, I made a Vuman Oathbreaker with PAM. Again, obviously, that character used his bonus action almost every round.
Paladins who multiclass into sorcerer (a mechanically favorable pair that only got better with the final version of divine soul sorcerer) also tend to have good uses for bonus actions, between great bonus action spells and regular action spells cast via the quicken spell metamagic.
These days I mostly play sword & board conquerors, who don't use the bonus action as frequently. They still do sometimes - Wrathful Smite is a key spell for conquerors (honestly, it's a good spell regardless, one that often goes overlooked due to most of the smite spells being rather bad compared to divine smite), and they get spiritual weapon for when they need some extra damage in a big fight. But in most fights they'll use one or two bonus actions total.
Because I did not have many uses planned for my paladin bonus actions, I started out as a level 1 War Domain Cleric before transitioning to paladin. That 1 level dip allowed me to use the Attack action as my bonus action, effectively giving me 1 extra attack per round. I also dipped into Warlock to get Charisma synergy when doing ranged attacks with Eldritch Blast. As a Strength-based paladin, I had to acquire a ranged attack that did not rely on my low Dexterity stat. Hexblade Warlock allowed me this option along with additional Charisma-based damage to my melee attacks.
using Spells that are bonus actions are limited as spell slots needed for Smites, however...
Misty step used to get me into or out of situations. Hunter's Mark or Divine Favor is very useful in battle if you can get it in early. And the bonus action smite spells can be used if you really want to pile on the damage for that particular round
Oath of Vengeance Paladin's Vow of Enmity is a bonus action and VERY worth it!
Plus, my Paladin is a Poll Arm Master so I often use my Bonus attack with the Glaive.
@Tschorde Why do you make it sound like War Cleric lets you just do attack actions as bonus? That is not at all the rule. You only get a bonus attack when doing a normal attack action first, and this is limited by your proficiency bonus, so only 2-3 times per long rest. You have been cheating out of your mind the way you make it sound like you played your cleric/paladin.
For me it's mostly bonus action spells. And how often that happens will depend largely on how you want to use your spell slots.
My oath of the ancients paladin sometimes can use misty step to great effect. I'm also a big fan of the 'smite' spells. Generally divine smite is more damage, both in terms of straightforward damage and being able to wait for a crit to blow a higher level slot. But I find the bonus action smite spells more...fun generally than just dealing radiant damage so I make regular use of them.
There are also other bonus action spells like shield of faith etc. But you probably won't end up using your bonus action super regularly unless you go TWF for the flavor or are multiclassed. You don't have anything like a rogue's cunning action etc that would have you using a bonus action more or less every turn, again unless you dual wield for the flavor.
I think all of my paladins use their bonus action quite often. I often, almost always actually, take the feat fey touched on my paladins so I'm often using my bonus action for misty step and sometimes the hex spell that I get to choose as part of the feat. Aside from that, I'll use it frequently on their bonus action spells like shield of faith or wrathful smite. they're handy dandy!
I gonna use a Paladin Oath of Devotion using the shield as a secondary weapon ( with Shield master feat. ), and also acting in combat on a counter-attack style = becoming the main target, attacking those who were focused on me, and leting the rest of party enough time to prepare castings / rituals / etc.
It gonna be hard to stay on 1st line while I left the wizard uncovered, but I think sometimes could be pretty worthed.
I like to use my bonus action with Polearm Master's other end.
That is the main use of the bonus action in most paladins. It's not a class-specific feature, of course, but most paladins I see in game use the PAM feat. And there are reasons for that, as that feat works very well on paladins (improves action economy and offers more chances to get a crit for the smite).
I find myself using the Telekinetic feat everywhere I can in classes that need bonus action help, especially since it comes w/ a plus 1. IMO, it is the best or close to the best feat in DnD. Battlefield manipulation is so useful and invisible, no-requirement mage hand is just gravy. I plan on using it in my upcoming Paladin build. I used it before in a WIS-based revised Beastmaster build w/ my primal companion that had charge while also using druidic warrior w/ Shillelagh and the crusher feat at further levels. It was probably the most fun I've had w/ a build.
Hi Paladins!
Few questions for you veteran paladins!
1. How often would you say you use your bonus action?
2. What types of things do you use your bonus action on?
I'm playing around with builds and I was looking at a build using GWM with a great sword vs a revenant Double bladed scimitar. I think I like the double bladed option but I'm a little new to pali's and don't really know how often that bonus action is going to be used for something else. Please Help!
If I went GWM I'd likely go Vanquisher for the on demand Advantage on attacks probably dwarf because they're cool. If I went DBS I'd likely go elf and ancient because I like the flavor. Both sound great but only if Bonus Actions are frequently available!
Thanks!
Paladins in general don't use the bonus action as much as some of the other classes do, so it is usually available. The main thing it would be used for is bonus action spells. A few oaths have channel divinity as bonus actions (like the vow of enmity for vengeance), and some capstones are bonus heavy (oath of ancients has all standard spells turn to bonus action spells at 20th). You should see plenty of availability for the bonus action attacks you plan on adding.
Cool, Thanks!
I tend to use my bonus action to cast misty step for battlefield maneuverability while avoiding opportunity attacks. All smite spells are also BA. I dont use them that often since I usually have Haste or Shield of Faith taking up my concentration.
Depends on the paladin. Played a half elf ancients paladin who fought with paired scimitars, obviously he used his bonus action nearly all the time.
Another time, I made a Vuman Oathbreaker with PAM. Again, obviously, that character used his bonus action almost every round.
Paladins who multiclass into sorcerer (a mechanically favorable pair that only got better with the final version of divine soul sorcerer) also tend to have good uses for bonus actions, between great bonus action spells and regular action spells cast via the quicken spell metamagic.
These days I mostly play sword & board conquerors, who don't use the bonus action as frequently. They still do sometimes - Wrathful Smite is a key spell for conquerors (honestly, it's a good spell regardless, one that often goes overlooked due to most of the smite spells being rather bad compared to divine smite), and they get spiritual weapon for when they need some extra damage in a big fight. But in most fights they'll use one or two bonus actions total.
Because I did not have many uses planned for my paladin bonus actions, I started out as a level 1 War Domain Cleric before transitioning to paladin. That 1 level dip allowed me to use the Attack action as my bonus action, effectively giving me 1 extra attack per round. I also dipped into Warlock to get Charisma synergy when doing ranged attacks with Eldritch Blast. As a Strength-based paladin, I had to acquire a ranged attack that did not rely on my low Dexterity stat. Hexblade Warlock allowed me this option along with additional Charisma-based damage to my melee attacks.
That's a lot of multiclassing
Alea iacta est
using Spells that are bonus actions are limited as spell slots needed for Smites, however...
Misty step used to get me into or out of situations. Hunter's Mark or Divine Favor is very useful in battle if you can get it in early. And the bonus action smite spells can be used if you really want to pile on the damage for that particular round
Oath of Vengeance Paladin's Vow of Enmity is a bonus action and VERY worth it!
Plus, my Paladin is a Poll Arm Master so I often use my Bonus attack with the Glaive.
@Tschorde
Why do you make it sound like War Cleric lets you just do attack actions as bonus? That is not at all the rule. You only get a bonus attack when doing a normal attack action first, and this is limited by your proficiency bonus, so only 2-3 times per long rest. You have been cheating out of your mind the way you make it sound like you played your cleric/paladin.
For me it's mostly bonus action spells. And how often that happens will depend largely on how you want to use your spell slots.
My oath of the ancients paladin sometimes can use misty step to great effect. I'm also a big fan of the 'smite' spells. Generally divine smite is more damage, both in terms of straightforward damage and being able to wait for a crit to blow a higher level slot. But I find the bonus action smite spells more...fun generally than just dealing radiant damage so I make regular use of them.
There are also other bonus action spells like shield of faith etc. But you probably won't end up using your bonus action super regularly unless you go TWF for the flavor or are multiclassed. You don't have anything like a rogue's cunning action etc that would have you using a bonus action more or less every turn, again unless you dual wield for the flavor.
I think all of my paladins use their bonus action quite often. I often, almost always actually, take the feat fey touched on my paladins so I'm often using my bonus action for misty step and sometimes the hex spell that I get to choose as part of the feat. Aside from that, I'll use it frequently on their bonus action spells like shield of faith or wrathful smite. they're handy dandy!
Alea Jacta Est = the Luck is thrown / rolled.
My Ready-to-rock&roll chars:
Dertinus Tristany // Amilcar Barca // Vicenç Sacrarius // Oriol Deulofeu // Grovtuk
I generally homebrew paladin subclasses that get a bonus action aura
Check out my Oath of Fellowship for example!!
Oath of Fellowship - The Homebrewery (naturalcrit.com)
I took polearm master so I use my BA for that.
I gonna use a Paladin Oath of Devotion using the shield as a secondary weapon ( with Shield master feat. ), and also acting in combat on a counter-attack style = becoming the main target, attacking those who were focused on me, and leting the rest of party enough time to prepare castings / rituals / etc.
It gonna be hard to stay on 1st line while I left the wizard uncovered, but I think sometimes could be pretty worthed.
My Ready-to-rock&roll chars:
Dertinus Tristany // Amilcar Barca // Vicenç Sacrarius // Oriol Deulofeu // Grovtuk
I like to use my bonus action with Polearm Master's other end.
That is the main use of the bonus action in most paladins. It's not a class-specific feature, of course, but most paladins I see in game use the PAM feat. And there are reasons for that, as that feat works very well on paladins (improves action economy and offers more chances to get a crit for the smite).
I find myself using the Telekinetic feat everywhere I can in classes that need bonus action help, especially since it comes w/ a plus 1. IMO, it is the best or close to the best feat in DnD. Battlefield manipulation is so useful and invisible, no-requirement mage hand is just gravy. I plan on using it in my upcoming Paladin build. I used it before in a WIS-based revised Beastmaster build w/ my primal companion that had charge while also using druidic warrior w/ Shillelagh and the crusher feat at further levels. It was probably the most fun I've had w/ a build.
i know its an old topic, but my paladin has a dancing sword so i use my bonus action for that