Hey all I just reach lvl 4 paladin in our chaos inbound campaign
I have STR 15(+3) DEX 10 CON 16(+3) INT 8(-1) WIS 9 (-1) CHA 16 (+3)
AC 18 but soon 20
I am so lost and unsure on what would be best for my character right now as im stuck between two feats; heavy armour master or great weapon master
I am leaning towards heavy armour master because of the +1 to strength but most the time I get hit for bigger damage so idk if the 3 damage reduction would be worth it
Great weapon master seems good for damage but I don't trust my luck with rolling high enough for hitting to do any damage.
So I was wondering if any of these would benifit me or would it be better to improve my ability scores.
HAM isn’t terrible at 4th, but it’s not good forever. The 3 points is per hit, so it can really add up as far as the damage it reduces. Three hits in a fight and you’ve saved the cleric a cure wounds, or yourself a hit die. The big problem with it is that by level 9-10, most every hit you take is either magical or a spell or otherwise bypasses the DR altogether. So depending on how high the campaign is going to go, it may not be as useful over time. GWM you can always hold off until level 8 when your to hit bonus will be higher and you’ll get better use from it.
Part of the decision should be your role in the party. If you’re the main tank, better to stay away from GWM altogether and get a shield. Then also HAM is more attractive, but still has the long term drawbacks.
There’s also the less sexy but solid option of +1 to str and wis. Str so you hit things wis for saves, skills and passive perception.
What fighting style did you take at 2nd level? Defense? What is your paladin oath and role in the party? The answers there, will likely give you your answer.
I would take that 15 str (+2), to a 16 str (+3), one way or another. I wouldn't have had a 9 wis, to start, but since you did, as Xalthu says, it will remove the -1 penalty, to put your other point there.
As others have noted, just logically, HAM will be of less and less importance, the higher your level is. Both for the reasons that Xalthu states, about the damage being magical or spell oriented, but also, when you are level 2 and a hit of 5 is being reduced to 2 damage, that's pretty nice. When you are being hit for 35 and the damage is being reduce (if it is being reduced) to 32...it isn't quite as impressive. But 3 hp saved, is still 3 hp saved. If you are hit 6 times, that's 18 damage, that doesn't have to be healed. I just think HAM will be best at your present level and give diminishing overall returns, since it will stay static, but the damage you take will scale upwards.
GWM would likely be a big increase in your dps, particularly at lower levels. But remember, the modifier doesn't double on a crit, just the weapon damage. You aren't going to want to use GWM on any foe that's hard to hit. If you have a cleric to cast Bless on you, or you will keep it up on yourself, then GWM is likely a large damage increase.
HAM still isn't a terrible choice even in the mid- to high-levels. The number of enemies doing non-magical B/P/S damage gets lower, but they're more and more likely to be making multiple attacks, so the 3/hit reduction will add up. Every spell slot's worth of Cure Wounds your healers have to cast is a spell slot they can use for something else. Plus, 3 points of damage reduced could potentially mean a reduction of 1 or 2 to the DC of a Concentration save, which is nothing to sneeze at if you've got a smite spell waiting to proc or you're holding Bless on some of your party members. As for Great Weapon Master, that's obviously going to depend on how often you go up against high-AC enemies as opposed to ones that are more offense than defense, as well as how often you can reliably buff your attacks with things like Bless, or gain Advantage through flanking or other tricks. But I'd be focused on boosting your attack stat right now. Maybe go with HAM, maybe boost your Str and Wis by 1 each(that negative Wis mod is worrisome), or maybe boost Str and Con if you intend to take Resilient(Con) at some point. I don't think you said what race you are, so maybe there's a racial feat in XGtE that buffs your Str.
"Maybe go with HAM, maybe boost your Str and Wis by 1 each(that negative Wis mod is worrisome)..."
Outside of passive perception, it's not really that worrisome for a paladin. Since paladins have proficiency in Wis saves and at level 6, will get to put their Cha modifier into their saves, by their aura. Paladins should be ok with an 8 Wis imo. Obviously, all saves are better with higher stats, but paladins can survive having a lower wisdom, better than many other classes. It's like the devs knew what they were doing? They gave paladins a lot of stat columns we need, so heavily ASI dependent, but then gave them a way to NOT be hurt, by having a lower wisdom, thus making that an easier dump stat.
Hey all I just reach lvl 4 paladin in our chaos inbound campaign
I have STR 15(+3) DEX 10 CON 16(+3) INT 8(-1) WIS 9 (-1) CHA 16 (+3)
AC 18 but soon 20
I am so lost and unsure on what would be best for my character right now as im stuck between two feats; heavy armour master or great weapon master
I am leaning towards heavy armour master because of the +1 to strength but most the time I get hit for bigger damage so idk if the 3 damage reduction would be worth it
Great weapon master seems good for damage but I don't trust my luck with rolling high enough for hitting to do any damage.
So I was wondering if any of these would benifit me or would it be better to improve my ability scores.
Thanks.
HAM isn’t terrible at 4th, but it’s not good forever. The 3 points is per hit, so it can really add up as far as the damage it reduces. Three hits in a fight and you’ve saved the cleric a cure wounds, or yourself a hit die. The big problem with it is that by level 9-10, most every hit you take is either magical or a spell or otherwise bypasses the DR altogether. So depending on how high the campaign is going to go, it may not be as useful over time.
GWM you can always hold off until level 8 when your to hit bonus will be higher and you’ll get better use from it.
Part of the decision should be your role in the party. If you’re the main tank, better to stay away from GWM altogether and get a shield. Then also HAM is more attractive, but still has the long term drawbacks.
There’s also the less sexy but solid option of +1 to str and wis. Str so you hit things wis for saves, skills and passive perception.
What fighting style did you take at 2nd level? Defense?
What is your paladin oath and role in the party? The answers there, will likely give you your answer.
I would take that 15 str (+2), to a 16 str (+3), one way or another. I wouldn't have had a 9 wis, to start, but since you did, as Xalthu says, it will remove the -1 penalty, to put your other point there.
As others have noted, just logically, HAM will be of less and less importance, the higher your level is. Both for the reasons that Xalthu states, about the damage being magical or spell oriented, but also, when you are level 2 and a hit of 5 is being reduced to 2 damage, that's pretty nice. When you are being hit for 35 and the damage is being reduce (if it is being reduced) to 32...it isn't quite as impressive. But 3 hp saved, is still 3 hp saved. If you are hit 6 times, that's 18 damage, that doesn't have to be healed. I just think HAM will be best at your present level and give diminishing overall returns, since it will stay static, but the damage you take will scale upwards.
GWM would likely be a big increase in your dps, particularly at lower levels. But remember, the modifier doesn't double on a crit, just the weapon damage. You aren't going to want to use GWM on any foe that's hard to hit. If you have a cleric to cast Bless on you, or you will keep it up on yourself, then GWM is likely a large damage increase.
HAM still isn't a terrible choice even in the mid- to high-levels. The number of enemies doing non-magical B/P/S damage gets lower, but they're more and more likely to be making multiple attacks, so the 3/hit reduction will add up. Every spell slot's worth of Cure Wounds your healers have to cast is a spell slot they can use for something else. Plus, 3 points of damage reduced could potentially mean a reduction of 1 or 2 to the DC of a Concentration save, which is nothing to sneeze at if you've got a smite spell waiting to proc or you're holding Bless on some of your party members. As for Great Weapon Master, that's obviously going to depend on how often you go up against high-AC enemies as opposed to ones that are more offense than defense, as well as how often you can reliably buff your attacks with things like Bless, or gain Advantage through flanking or other tricks. But I'd be focused on boosting your attack stat right now. Maybe go with HAM, maybe boost your Str and Wis by 1 each(that negative Wis mod is worrisome), or maybe boost Str and Con if you intend to take Resilient(Con) at some point. I don't think you said what race you are, so maybe there's a racial feat in XGtE that buffs your Str.
Outside of passive perception, it's not really that worrisome for a paladin. Since paladins have proficiency in Wis saves and at level 6, will get to put their Cha modifier into their saves, by their aura. Paladins should be ok with an 8 Wis imo. Obviously, all saves are better with higher stats, but paladins can survive having a lower wisdom, better than many other classes. It's like the devs knew what they were doing? They gave paladins a lot of stat columns we need, so heavily ASI dependent, but then gave them a way to NOT be hurt, by having a lower wisdom, thus making that an easier dump stat.