I just recently started Out of the Abyss and I'm playing a Drow Dex-Based Paladin. We currently at level 2 and the campaign is meant to go to level 15. My current stats from point buy, after racial bonuses, are 10/16/14/8/10/16. I do not have much in the ways of good equipment so I opted to go with the Defense Fight Style to bolster my Tanking Abilities, and bring my AC to an even 18 with a chain shirt and shield. Please no spoilers as i have not played through this Campaign.
My original (and current plan I suppose) was to build this character as a Redemption Paladin. I figured that my character would be able to talk her way through certain situations and just function as a face character for the party. Also Redemption seemed the most thematic for my character's backstory, because she was a Drow Noble who defected from the teachings of Lolth to follow the goddess Elistraee. However after the first session was rather combat heavy, I feel that Redemption may be more of a hindrance than a help. I would like to know if Redemption is any good for this particular campaign or should I opt for a more combat focused Paladin. As for other oaths I can realistically see this character in a couple of others, namely:
Vengeance (PHB): Thematic for the backstory and getting back at the followers of Lolth.
Ancients (PHB): Thematic for Elistraee, because she is often associated with nature, the preservation of life, and bring the Drow back to the light.
Watchers (UA): Thematic for the Campaign as there seem to be a heavy presence of Demon (who are extra planar) and since my character is fed up with Lolth (who is a demon) for her Tyranny over the Drow.
Besides subclass, I am curious how I should go about my ASI, and when I should grab stat boost and whether i should grab feats or not. My current plan was to maybe take a feat at 4 level and then grab a +2 in Dex and Charisma (which ever seemed more pressing) for the other 2, so a little leveling advice would be appreciated. I had a few ideas for potential feats, but I don't have one set in stone yet. here are some I was considering:
Diplomat (UA): This is good if i stick with Redemption allowing me to get expertise in Persuasion as well as a charm ability.
Drow High Magic (XGtE): Detect Magic at will sounds pretty nice, a 1/day casting of Levitate and Dispel Magic could be handy, However I'm not sure how useful this is on Paladin.
Eldritch Adept (UA): I can use this to grab Armor of Shadows, which would be a solid bump to my AC being better than studded leather, and if I find better armor I can change this to another warlock invocation later.
Elven Accuracy (XGtE): This is more useful if I go for more combat orientated paladin, although it is always decent as back up, but this is mostly for Crit-Fishing.
Sentinel (PHB): This also for a more combat orientated paladin, but can also be useful to defend my allies if forced into combat as a Redemption Paladin.
Tough (PHB): To give me an HP buff to increase my tanking ability.
War Caster (PHB): This is probably more likely to be for if I decide to go Vengeance so I can have advantage on concentrating on Hunter's Mark and Haste
Redemption is a subclass that was interesting in concept but problematic in execution. It's very RP dependent and most of the published modules aren't really geared to handle it. I'd probably recommend going Ancients as a means of having similar flavor of trying to redeem other drow without risking falling into lawful stupid behavior while trying to fulfill your oath. Or you could take one of the other oaths you listed.
As far as abilities go, I generally focus on bumping core abilities up to 18 (Dex and Cha, in this case), then looking for feats. War Caster is a highly recommended feat for Paladins but really it's the advantage on concentration rolls that's the big bonus for it, and once your Aura of Protection kicks in your Con saves should be high enough that it doesn't matter much.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Redemption isn't pacifist. You offer humanoid enemies the opportunity to turn towards a righteous path, but you also punish them for failing to do so. Even a redemption paladin isn't expected to waste time trying to sway elemental evils like fiends, undead, & most aberrations, nor unintelligent enemies that are essentially environmental dangers rather than people, like most slimes & constructs. Not unless you have some particular expectation that they could be moved. And their class features work more or less as well regardless. Plus, paladin's base class features are strong enough that even when your subclass isn't really doing much, you can still be a strong and effective character. And that's speaking from experience as someone who's run Conquest Paladins in Ravenloft and Avernus.
So if you really want to play Redemption for role play reasons, go ahead. That said, my understanding of the campaign you're playing in is that enemies are particularly hostile through most of it, so I'm just not sure how many opportunities for Diplomacy you're going to find. Again, redemption paladin class features should work fine and the character should be effective regardless, but from a role play angle I'm not sure how many opportunities for actually redeeming anyone will come up if your DM isn't willing and able to go out of their way to engineer such for you.
Can’t speak to the subclass in this adventure, but I’d agree with the idea of a dex bump for your ASIs. Bonuses to hit, damage, ac, initiative, dex saves, and a bunch of skills make it way too good an option to do something else. I’d take that at 4 and 8, but at least at 4. Don’t worry about cha, a 16 is plenty high enough for a pally. I know people say warcaster, but I don’t see it really. Yes, you have a lot of concentration spells, but the vast majority of your spell slots will go to smites. And most of the concentration spells are your spell smites, which are a bonus action, so you cast them before you attack, and hopefully they’ll go off on that same turn. If you are worried about concentration saves, I’d boost con, instead. More hp, better con saves, if you’re the party tank, you’ll make good use of those.
Your best concentration spell at level one is bless, and war caster definitely helps both with casting and maintaining it if you're fighting sword and board.
Dex or Cha is a very tough cal for a dexadin. Hit, damage, init, and dex saves vs all saves for you and all your nearby party members, plus saves for various spells and CDs is not an easy call. Some oaths make it easier - conquest needs that cha, vengeance would probably rather have the dex. Not really sure where the priority would be for a redemptive dexadin. If the Dex boost will boost your AC, I'd say that tips it towards dex, but with medium armor as an option that may or may not be the case depending on what gear is currently available to you. Either choice is justifiable, imo, and ideally you'll plan to max both by level 20, which will only leave a single ASI somewhere in your progression for a feat.
Magic Initiate (Sorcerer) would allow you to take Firebolt (or Chill Touch) and Mage Hand along with a once per day spell, which could be Mage Armor. It'd only be a once per day casting, but it's an eight hour duration and you can just cast it at the start of your first combat of the day and it'll probably last for the rest.
Oath of the Ancients tends to be my preference due to the magic resistance aura, but any of the others are fine. Paladin is such a strong class that you really can't go wrong whatever you choose. Vengeance does have Haste on its spell list, which is nice.
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I just recently started Out of the Abyss and I'm playing a Drow Dex-Based Paladin. We currently at level 2 and the campaign is meant to go to level 15. My current stats from point buy, after racial bonuses, are 10/16/14/8/10/16. I do not have much in the ways of good equipment so I opted to go with the Defense Fight Style to bolster my Tanking Abilities, and bring my AC to an even 18 with a chain shirt and shield. Please no spoilers as i have not played through this Campaign.
My original (and current plan I suppose) was to build this character as a Redemption Paladin. I figured that my character would be able to talk her way through certain situations and just function as a face character for the party. Also Redemption seemed the most thematic for my character's backstory, because she was a Drow Noble who defected from the teachings of Lolth to follow the goddess Elistraee. However after the first session was rather combat heavy, I feel that Redemption may be more of a hindrance than a help. I would like to know if Redemption is any good for this particular campaign or should I opt for a more combat focused Paladin. As for other oaths I can realistically see this character in a couple of others, namely:
Besides subclass, I am curious how I should go about my ASI, and when I should grab stat boost and whether i should grab feats or not. My current plan was to maybe take a feat at 4 level and then grab a +2 in Dex and Charisma (which ever seemed more pressing) for the other 2, so a little leveling advice would be appreciated. I had a few ideas for potential feats, but I don't have one set in stone yet. here are some I was considering:
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Redemption is a subclass that was interesting in concept but problematic in execution. It's very RP dependent and most of the published modules aren't really geared to handle it. I'd probably recommend going Ancients as a means of having similar flavor of trying to redeem other drow without risking falling into lawful stupid behavior while trying to fulfill your oath. Or you could take one of the other oaths you listed.
As far as abilities go, I generally focus on bumping core abilities up to 18 (Dex and Cha, in this case), then looking for feats. War Caster is a highly recommended feat for Paladins but really it's the advantage on concentration rolls that's the big bonus for it, and once your Aura of Protection kicks in your Con saves should be high enough that it doesn't matter much.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Redemption isn't pacifist. You offer humanoid enemies the opportunity to turn towards a righteous path, but you also punish them for failing to do so. Even a redemption paladin isn't expected to waste time trying to sway elemental evils like fiends, undead, & most aberrations, nor unintelligent enemies that are essentially environmental dangers rather than people, like most slimes & constructs. Not unless you have some particular expectation that they could be moved. And their class features work more or less as well regardless. Plus, paladin's base class features are strong enough that even when your subclass isn't really doing much, you can still be a strong and effective character. And that's speaking from experience as someone who's run Conquest Paladins in Ravenloft and Avernus.
So if you really want to play Redemption for role play reasons, go ahead. That said, my understanding of the campaign you're playing in is that enemies are particularly hostile through most of it, so I'm just not sure how many opportunities for Diplomacy you're going to find. Again, redemption paladin class features should work fine and the character should be effective regardless, but from a role play angle I'm not sure how many opportunities for actually redeeming anyone will come up if your DM isn't willing and able to go out of their way to engineer such for you.
Can’t speak to the subclass in this adventure, but I’d agree with the idea of a dex bump for your ASIs. Bonuses to hit, damage, ac, initiative, dex saves, and a bunch of skills make it way too good an option to do something else. I’d take that at 4 and 8, but at least at 4.
Don’t worry about cha, a 16 is plenty high enough for a pally.
I know people say warcaster, but I don’t see it really. Yes, you have a lot of concentration spells, but the vast majority of your spell slots will go to smites. And most of the concentration spells are your spell smites, which are a bonus action, so you cast them before you attack, and hopefully they’ll go off on that same turn. If you are worried about concentration saves, I’d boost con, instead. More hp, better con saves, if you’re the party tank, you’ll make good use of those.
Your best concentration spell at level one is bless, and war caster definitely helps both with casting and maintaining it if you're fighting sword and board.
Dex or Cha is a very tough cal for a dexadin. Hit, damage, init, and dex saves vs all saves for you and all your nearby party members, plus saves for various spells and CDs is not an easy call. Some oaths make it easier - conquest needs that cha, vengeance would probably rather have the dex. Not really sure where the priority would be for a redemptive dexadin. If the Dex boost will boost your AC, I'd say that tips it towards dex, but with medium armor as an option that may or may not be the case depending on what gear is currently available to you. Either choice is justifiable, imo, and ideally you'll plan to max both by level 20, which will only leave a single ASI somewhere in your progression for a feat.
Magic Initiate (Sorcerer) would allow you to take Firebolt (or Chill Touch) and Mage Hand along with a once per day spell, which could be Mage Armor. It'd only be a once per day casting, but it's an eight hour duration and you can just cast it at the start of your first combat of the day and it'll probably last for the rest.
Oath of the Ancients tends to be my preference due to the magic resistance aura, but any of the others are fine. Paladin is such a strong class that you really can't go wrong whatever you choose. Vengeance does have Haste on its spell list, which is nice.