I knew nothing about the game, showed up at a friends house and was invited to join a D&D campaign that was starting that day. Everyone already had classes and there are 7 of us with 1 DM. No one choose Paladin, there is 2 druids, 1 sorcerer, a Fighter, a wizard, a thief/rogue i believe, and myself so as last person to choose a class, I was deciding between Cleric and paladin and went a Tiefling Paladin. I have Chain mail armor, a shield and some 2 handed weapons, and a long sword to start the game.
I just hit level 2 last night after 3 sessions (Over the last month) and about 4 battles.
Since I hit level 2 last night and we ended the session right after that battle, I have 1 week to finish speccing out my paladin and wanted to know whats best. I don't want my build to be too complicated as this is my first time playing, and since the rest of my party are all Damage dealers, I was trying to think either tankish type character or Healing style... undecided at the moment, but trying to find out what will be better. I would also like to be able to deal some good damage if that is possible to mix. Anyway, remember I am new and might have to ask more questions based off some of the answers I receive, but would like to thank anyone in advance for trying to help a complete D&D noob out.
For level 2, you need to choose which spells to have prepared. Bless is an excellent choice and should serve your party well. If you feel you need more healing, you can prepare Cure Wounds.
You also need to decide on a fighting style. Do you see your character as: Focusing on dealing damage with a two-handed weapon? Great Weapon Fighting. Focusing on dealing damage while using a shield? Dueling. Focusing on protecting yourself? Defense. Focusing on protecting others? Protection.
You should also start thinking about which sacred oath your character most closely aligns with, as you'll need to pick one at level 3.
You can change your paladin spells every long rest, so no need to devote yourself to something on that front. And the 2 druids in your party can heal just as well or better than you can. Paladins are best known for their smites and auras.
I'm not much of a paladin player. My favorite build for them is to multiclass into sorcerer after 2 levels. Get better attack spells and more slots for smiting.
Paladin was my first custom character as well, they are pretty sturdy so it's hard to go wrong! one thing I would say though, in D&D unless you and your group are min-maxing it's pretty hard to play a character incorrectly. It's all about making them your own =)
First suggestion, I skimmed your character, and they don't appear to have any ranged options past a single spear throw. I'd advise putting some of that rather considerable funding into some Javelins or handaxes (Maybe more spears, but they are slightly heavier and more costly than Javelins for similar results as a thrown weapon) Bows of any type would also be an option, but thrown weapons use strength and the bow would use your slightly weaker dex. This is entirely optional of course, your party will have no problem with ranged that I can see, but I personally found it very frustrating when the DM put things out of my reach and I just had to hang around and waste turns. Alternatively, if shopping is an option that money might be well used to buy splint mail for (Approximately!) 200 gold to round that AC up to a 20
Second suggestion, you won't have that many Slots as a secondary caster, and cure wounds will compete with Smite, one of the Paladins main strengths, for those spell slots. A Paladin can do insane damage through the use of the Smite ability, and as you don't have to declare it before the attack roll you never need to waste a spell slot on a miss.
Now, important question for character building, what books do you have? Each oath can change the play style quite a lot, but it might be a little confusing to list them all if you only have access to a handful!
For the standard three
Devotion could fill the role of healer, but as DxJxC already said, the Druids can probably do healing a lot more consistently. I've been playing a Pally healer for a 4 man group, and often feel my resources stretched a little thin, so I can imagine 7 will be tough if no one else picks up the slack. Beacon of hope at 9th level can make healing a lot better, but it's a long term investment! In general terms though, it's sturdy, its spells lean well to support/healing, and its Channel Divinity options are a solid Melee buff, or a good counter to undead/fiends if you think they will come up
Ancient lends itself VERY well to tanking. At 7th you give yourself, and any nearby friends, resistance to all spell damage. The spells of the oath also give you the option to lock an enemy down with Snaring Strike, move around with Misty Step, and some actual ranged options! Its Channel Divinity options are a little more situational though
Vengeance is more leaned towards offence, but that is the best defense! (A dead enemy can't hurt the team after all) Not much to say in regards to tanking/healing, but it's a solid option nonetheless
You can prepare 4 spells (1/2 lev + Chr mod) and cast a spell 2x per long rest. Prepare 4 spells, including these 3 Bless (3 players get +D4 to saves and hit for a while), Protection from Good & Evil (makes if hard for some common monsters to hit you), Shield of Faith (+2AC but requires concentration).
Going forward i really like Oath of Ancients. Oath of Vengence has better spells but Ancients has far better abilities and better team support.
For Skills, consider Persuasion rather than intimidation - it's more thematic and can be used more often.
Suggest crossbow for ranged weapon rather than spear.
Wisdom seems very high for a Paladin, it would be better to swap the dex and wisdom scores. High Dex adds to initiative and a lot of saves use Dexterity.
You HP looks too high. You only get the full 10HP at first level - after that it is roll a D10 or take 6 +con bonus.
You could also consider half elf for race as it would add 2 more proficiencies and another stat +1
Good luck, you have the best class in the game. I wouldn't worry about multi classing, its the full package
I knew nothing about the game, showed up at a friends house and was invited to join a D&D campaign that was starting that day.
Everyone already had classes and there are 7 of us with 1 DM. No one choose Paladin, there is 2 druids, 1 sorcerer, a Fighter, a wizard, a thief/rogue i believe, and myself so as last person to choose a class, I was deciding between Cleric and paladin and went a Tiefling Paladin.
I have Chain mail armor, a shield and some 2 handed weapons, and a long sword to start the game.
I just hit level 2 last night after 3 sessions (Over the last month) and about 4 battles.
So far this is what I have going (https://www.dndbeyond.com/profile/Attaraxia/characters/12287154)
STR 16, Dex 13, Cons 16, Int 9, Wis 16, Char 16
Since I hit level 2 last night and we ended the session right after that battle, I have 1 week to finish speccing out my paladin and wanted to know whats best. I don't want my build to be too complicated as this is my first time playing, and since the rest of my party are all Damage dealers, I was trying to think either tankish type character or Healing style... undecided at the moment, but trying to find out what will be better. I would also like to be able to deal some good damage if that is possible to mix.
Anyway, remember I am new and might have to ask more questions based off some of the answers I receive, but would like to thank anyone in advance for trying to help a complete D&D noob out.
Thanks everyone,
~AttA~
For level 2, you need to choose which spells to have prepared. Bless is an excellent choice and should serve your party well. If you feel you need more healing, you can prepare Cure Wounds.
You also need to decide on a fighting style. Do you see your character as:
Focusing on dealing damage with a two-handed weapon? Great Weapon Fighting.
Focusing on dealing damage while using a shield? Dueling.
Focusing on protecting yourself? Defense.
Focusing on protecting others? Protection.
You should also start thinking about which sacred oath your character most closely aligns with, as you'll need to pick one at level 3.
You can change your paladin spells every long rest, so no need to devote yourself to something on that front. And the 2 druids in your party can heal just as well or better than you can. Paladins are best known for their smites and auras.
I'm not much of a paladin player. My favorite build for them is to multiclass into sorcerer after 2 levels. Get better attack spells and more slots for smiting.
Paladin was my first custom character as well, they are pretty sturdy so it's hard to go wrong! one thing I would say though, in D&D unless you and your group are min-maxing it's pretty hard to play a character incorrectly. It's all about making them your own =)
First suggestion, I skimmed your character, and they don't appear to have any ranged options past a single spear throw. I'd advise putting some of that rather considerable funding into some Javelins or handaxes (Maybe more spears, but they are slightly heavier and more costly than Javelins for similar results as a thrown weapon) Bows of any type would also be an option, but thrown weapons use strength and the bow would use your slightly weaker dex. This is entirely optional of course, your party will have no problem with ranged that I can see, but I personally found it very frustrating when the DM put things out of my reach and I just had to hang around and waste turns. Alternatively, if shopping is an option that money might be well used to buy splint mail for (Approximately!) 200 gold to round that AC up to a 20
Second suggestion, you won't have that many Slots as a secondary caster, and cure wounds will compete with Smite, one of the Paladins main strengths, for those spell slots. A Paladin can do insane damage through the use of the Smite ability, and as you don't have to declare it before the attack roll you never need to waste a spell slot on a miss.
Now, important question for character building, what books do you have? Each oath can change the play style quite a lot, but it might be a little confusing to list them all if you only have access to a handful!
For the standard three
Devotion could fill the role of healer, but as DxJxC already said, the Druids can probably do healing a lot more consistently. I've been playing a Pally healer for a 4 man group, and often feel my resources stretched a little thin, so I can imagine 7 will be tough if no one else picks up the slack. Beacon of hope at 9th level can make healing a lot better, but it's a long term investment! In general terms though, it's sturdy, its spells lean well to support/healing, and its Channel Divinity options are a solid Melee buff, or a good counter to undead/fiends if you think they will come up
Ancient lends itself VERY well to tanking. At 7th you give yourself, and any nearby friends, resistance to all spell damage. The spells of the oath also give you the option to lock an enemy down with Snaring Strike, move around with Misty Step, and some actual ranged options! Its Channel Divinity options are a little more situational though
Vengeance is more leaned towards offence, but that is the best defense! (A dead enemy can't hurt the team after all) Not much to say in regards to tanking/healing, but it's a solid option nonetheless
https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/292-paladin-101-a-beginners-guide-to-divine-justice
This guide by James Haeck also breaks down your early game options much more eloquently than I can if you have the time to skim it =)
You can prepare 4 spells (1/2 lev + Chr mod) and cast a spell 2x per long rest. Prepare 4 spells, including these 3 Bless (3 players get +D4 to saves and hit for a while), Protection from Good & Evil (makes if hard for some common monsters to hit you), Shield of Faith (+2AC but requires concentration).
Going forward i really like Oath of Ancients. Oath of Vengence has better spells but Ancients has far better abilities and better team support.
For Skills, consider Persuasion rather than intimidation - it's more thematic and can be used more often.
Suggest crossbow for ranged weapon rather than spear.
Wisdom seems very high for a Paladin, it would be better to swap the dex and wisdom scores. High Dex adds to initiative and a lot of saves use Dexterity.
You HP looks too high. You only get the full 10HP at first level - after that it is roll a D10 or take 6 +con bonus.
You could also consider half elf for race as it would add 2 more proficiencies and another stat +1
Good luck, you have the best class in the game. I wouldn't worry about multi classing, its the full package
Whats with these enormous stats