Help me break the game with your advanced/OP/broken Paladin strategies & secrets :-) What tricks do you keep up your sleeve for cheesing every battle and boss?
The one that I think will require some sort of ruling is using Conquest's aura along with other party spellcasters who Disguise Self (or similar) to look like the Paladin and using their own fear-causing spells/features to buff the extent of the aura. It would also be massively-creepy -- like a bad guy's worst nightmare.
Something also scares me about a Yuan-ti Pureblood Pal with an Ancient's aura. In a heavy-spellcasting campaign this just seems broken.
I really like the Channel Divinities of Crown and Redemption, but their 7th-level features are poor. I would change their class at either Level 5 or 7 (keeping 4 levels of Paladin for the ASI or 6 levels of Paladin for the standard Aura of Protection). Curious which classes the Paladin would be good to multiclass to. I have considered Cleric and many others have suggested Bard, Sorcerer, and Warlock -- but how, in what order, what combinatorials work best, etc?
Any Level 2 Pal can do just monstrous things in battle. The Pal, when outnumbering opponents, can select Thunderous Smite and combine with with Divine Smite on the first Bonus/Attack action in the first round of combat. When outnumbered, the Pal can balance Shield of Faith with Divine Smite (depending on the length of combat). The Pal can also utilize Bless on at least some of the party before rushing into combat against monsters with a nasty effect that requires a saving throw, e.g., poison, disease, stun, charm, petrification, paralyzation, spells, fear, et al. Compelled Duel is great against adversaries that tend to surrender, run, or fly off --including dragons, wizards, and many other bosses and minibosses.
You'll probably find that other spellcasters, especially the Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, and Wizard, can do quite a bit more -- especially at higher levels. The strength of the Paladin lies in using magical weapons and armor along with Athletics, good saves against magic/charm, ability to easily cure poison/disease a few times per day, and cute-little Persuasion or other Charisma-based checks.
The Cavalier and Samurai made the Pal somewhat less-relevant in the context of many of those things, but they don't kick in until Level 3. If a Cavalier or Samurai selects Resilient:Wisdom as an early (Level 4 or 8) ASI, then it worsens the Paladin's uniqueness. Barbarians will typically also outclass a Paladin, but they rarely care about magical armor (well, only shields) so it's not a head-to head competition like it is with the Fighter. The Ranger may occasionally clash, but only higher-level (i.e., 11+) Horizon Walkers (maybe also Gloom Stalkers) can make a Pal blush with jealousy. A Long Death Monk at Level 11 will make the Paladin seem under-powered in combat, but it won't be as annoying as having a Kensei (or Hexblade) going after the magical weapons that would otherwise be gifted to the party's Paladin.
Use of a Paladin in a party is often heavily dependent on the campaign setting, unlike many of the other classes (except maybe Bard which is even more-so dependent on aligning with the campaign setting). For example, in the 5E modules so far, the Paladin fits well in all of them except the most-recent Tomb of Annihilation (ToA). The surrogate Paladin in ToA is pretty-neat though and speaks to the versatility not only in game mechanics for the Pal, but also role-playing. However, the question is quickly becoming: who is a better fit? A Cavalier, a Samurai, or a Forge/War/Tempest/Nature/Life Cleric might clash too-often with the Paladin's magical item needs.
If it isn't enough to be the first party member to save up for Splint and the first/only to trade in their Splint for Plate when that becomes affordable, the Pal is on the constant lookout for magical heavy armor, magical shields, and magical one-handed, non-finesse martial weapons (e.g., +1 Battleaxe, Longsword, Warhammer). The more party members that happen to be Dwarves, Elves, Hobgoblins, Barbarians, Strength-based Valor Bards, Clerics, Fighters, Kensei, other Paladins, Rangers, or Hexblades is really going to throw a wrench in the Pal's plans.
The Paladin is seriously the Iron Man of the D&D universe and he does not play well with Captain America, Batman, and The Punisher. The Paladin''s secret is upkeep of campaign-available physical power ups. In some ways, you are giving control of your character's mid-term and long-term upgrades to both the party and your DM.
Andreg has done a great strategic write-up above so I will veer into basic tactics. I run a 6th level Paladin who is very close to 7th level.
creative use of lay on hands - I was simply healing party members or myself as much as I could but based on reading i have done that may not be the best move. We are getting hammered in our last few combats with at least one char getting knocked out (zero hp). given that magical healing means immediately return to combat, I have come to the conclusion that there are plnety of scenarios where simply giving a player ONE HP is the right move. typically against "mooks" or rabble this makes sense since they cannot land a immediately death moment and my party members mostly have a better AC then I do. not a one size fits all strategy but imagine being able to have people rejoin fights 30 times with your 6th level Pal's help.
Build path - probably most know this path but for those new - the path I took was var human - alert feat (often going first), Great Weapon Fighting (rerolling) Great Weapon Master Feat, and then the Vow of Enmity (VoE). Combining that with Divine Smite means that I can often step up first to the villain at hand - hit them with the VoE, Get advantage, take the -5 / +10 from great weapon master feat, and then optionally lay on Divine Smite if I hit. this leads to a nice damage range 20-ish to 50 depending on rolls with one and twos rerolled once. At 5th we pick up the second attack which means a potential for a lot of damage here. its a bit all or nothing which makes for high drama in the game.
SPELLS. Bless - still finding this to be one of the best lower level spells. Misty Step is damn fun and awesome creativity moment as noted else where in threads. We were fighting in a swamp when our Aarakocra monk went down in deeper water. drowning was a big worry and no one could see how to save him. My Paladin had a ring of swimming and so he dived in and move 40' while swimming around the crocs so as to not get an opportunity attack. I then misty stepped the final distance to him and pulled him to the surface. I used my action to lay on hands and he flew up and went back to work. Very cool moment for me as a player to use all that together and save a fellow char.
I agree with what GWP said above about using Misty Step (good use of spell slots that would normally be reserved for Smites), as well as healing allies for just 1 HP to get them back into the fight. If the enemy hits them for 5,10, or 20 damage, it doesn't matter, your ally only takes 1 damage and goes down. Very cost effective healing strategy.
What I haven't seen mentioned yet is the feat Shield Master. You can use your Bonus Action to Shove an enemy to the ground with your shield, and then make melee weapon attacks against them with advantage - every turn. Vow of Enmity is great, but it's a once per short rest ability that you may end up saving for a big baddy that doesn't show up. You can use Shield Master on any enemy you wish.
Also, Sentinel is a great feat to use for a Paladin. You get right up on the target and start dumping damage on them, and when they decide to retreat, you hit them with an Opportunity Attack and reduce their speed to 0, stopping them from escaping. Great synergy with Shield Master (and also Polearm Master) for locking down your enemies.
If you're looking for the super OP cheese strat, then you skip on Shield Master and go Polearm Master + Sentinel. This requires a Glaive, Halberd, or Quarterstaff used with both hands, so you give up using a shield, BUT you gain significant offensive advantages. Polearm Master causes enemies that enter your reach to provoke Opportunity Attacks (normally only occurs when they leave your reach). Since your reach with a Glaive or Halberd is 10 feet, and since you have the Sentinel feat, you reduce their speed to 0 before they reach you. Plus it provides many more opportunities to use your Reaction to make additional attacks per round. It also allows you to use a Bonus Action to make a weapon attack with the other end of the weapon (1d4 Bludgeoning), so now you're using your Bonus Actions in combat every round. And you can Smite with these Bonus Action and Reaction attacks. When you gain Extra Attack at 5th level you could Smite 4 times in one turn.
Question about lay on hands, I think I know the answer to it, but I want to confirm all the same: so I'm currently a 2nd level Paladin almost to 3rd (10 uses total) - when I use it to heal, is it 10 hit points per use or simply 1 hit point per use therefore totaling 10?
Question about lay on hands, I think I know the answer to it, but I want to confirm all the same: so I'm currently a 2nd level Paladin almost to 3rd (10 uses total) - when I use it to heal, is it 10 hit points per use or simply 1 hit point per use therefore totaling 10?
1 hit point per use, for a total of 10 hit points.
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
One thing that hasn't been mentioned: anytime you crit and don't think it'll kill the enemy, burn a spell slot to smite. Crit means doubling all the damage dice, and since you can choose to smite after rolling to hit, you can retroactively nab a minimum total of 4d8 radiant damage for a single spell slot. Don't forget to add the extra and double it against undead, too!
Also, don't forget that your saving throw bonus aura works for ALL saving throws, including death saving throws - as long as you are conscious, sticking close to downed allies is helpful even if you don't have any healing left.
Question about lay on hands, I think I know the answer to it, but I want to confirm all the same: so I'm currently a 2nd level Paladin almost to 3rd (10 uses total) - when I use it to heal, is it 10 hit points per use or simply 1 hit point per use therefore totaling 10?
1 hit point per use, for a total of 10 hit points.
No, it's as many hitpoints as you want to spend, up to the maximum you have (10 for lvl 2). It says so quite clearly in the PHB.
I played a paladin in Storm Kings Thunder until I realized that A) I wasnt getting a plate armor any time soon and B) High AC counts for diddley when a giant smashes you.
That being said, I like the combo of a level 11 paladin that mc's into monk. Improved smite and flurry of blows. Heh.
Question about lay on hands, I think I know the answer to it, but I want to confirm all the same: so I'm currently a 2nd level Paladin almost to 3rd (10 uses total) - when I use it to heal, is it 10 hit points per use or simply 1 hit point per use therefore totaling 10?
1 hit point per use, for a total of 10 hit points.
No, it's as many hitpoints as you want to spend, up to the maximum you have (10 for lvl 2). It says so quite clearly in the PHB.
I played a paladin in Storm Kings Thunder until I realized that A) I wasnt getting a plate armor any time soon and B) High AC counts for diddley when a giant smashes you.
That being said, I like the combo of a level 11 paladin that mc's into monk. Improved smite and flurry of blows. Heh.
I know. He was calling each point of Lay on Hands one use, so I did the same.
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
What I haven't seen mentioned yet is the feat Shield Master. You can use your Bonus Action to Shove an enemy to the ground with your shield, and then make melee weapon attacks against them with advantage - every turn. Vow of Enmity is great, but it's a once per short rest ability that you may end up saving for a big baddy that doesn't show up. You can use Shield Master on any enemy you wish.
Yeah I find that Shield Master is very underrated. The only restriction is one size larger than yourself, so typically up to Large creatures (but not Huge/Gargantuan). At level 6, my Variant Human Paladin has Shield Master and Resilient (CON). I basically have permanent advantage from the shove which means I very rarely miss, and when fighting a BBEG I'll use Vow of Enmity in combination with either Hunter's Mark for more damage or Wrathful Smite if they hit really hard. It's not quite as much damage as a PAM/GWM build, but I find that we just melt through opponents with ease anyway and I like the extra utility of the Shield Master + Dueling style.
What I haven't seen mentioned yet is the feat Shield Master. You can use your Bonus Action to Shove an enemy to the ground with your shield, and then make melee weapon attacks against them with advantage - every turn. Vow of Enmity is great, but it's a once per short rest ability that you may end up saving for a big baddy that doesn't show up. You can use Shield Master on any enemy you wish.
Yeah I find that Shield Master is very underrated. The only restriction is one size larger than yourself, so typically up to Large creatures (but not Huge/Gargantuan). At level 6, my Variant Human Paladin has Shield Master and Resilient (CON). I basically have permanent advantage from the shove which means I very rarely miss, and when fighting a BBEG I'll use Vow of Enmity in combination with either Hunter's Mark for more damage or Wrathful Smite if they hit really hard. It's not quite as much damage as a PAM/GWM build, but I find that we just melt through opponents with ease anyway and I like the extra utility of the Shield Master + Dueling style.
Shield master is great for Oath of Conquest paladins with their Aura of Conquest, simply because enemies that are frightened by the aura have their speed reduced to 0 while in the aura. Because of this, if you knock them prone with the Shield master feat, they literally cannot get up since they cannot get up from prone when their speed is zero, which means you have constant advantage on them while they have constant disadvantage on you.
They could, but then there's always the likelihood that he'll get knocked back down again on the paladin's turn after being unable to attack or move away anyway...
Paladins shine at burning down single target with smites. I recommend trying to find ways to get advantage to make more crits. Dump a smite into every crit.
2h Weapon wielding paladin with Great Weapon Mastery and Oath of Devotion - Channel Divinity Sacred Weapon plus Divine Smite. (Basically a super Ret Pally from WoW)
Great Weapon Mastery You've learned to put the weight of a weapon to your advantage, letting its momentum empower your strikes. You gain the following benefits:
- On your turn, when you score a critical hit with a melee weapon or reduce a creature to 0 hit points with one, you can make one melee weapon attack as a bonus action. - Before you make a melee attack with a heavy weapon that you are proficient with, you can choose to take a -5 penalty to the attack roll. If the attack hits, you add +10 to the attack's damage
Oath of Devotion - Channel Divinity Sacred Weapon As an action, you can imbue one weapon that you are holding with positive energy, using your Channel Divinity. For 1 minute, you add your Charisma modifier to attack rolls made with that weapon (with a minimum bonus of +1). The weapon also emits bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light 20 feet beyond that. If the weapon is not already magical, it becomes magical for the duration.
You can end this effect on your turn as part of any other action. If you are no longer holding or carrying this weapon, or if you fall unconscious, this effect ends.
Divine Smite Starting at 2nd level, when you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can expend one spell slot to deal radiant damage to the target, in addition to the weapon’s damage. The extra damage is 2d8 for a 1st-level spell slot, plus 1d8 for each spell level higher than 1st, to a maximum of 5d8. The damage increases by 1d8 if the target is an undead or a fiend.
Basically, you have a very high chance of dealing a killing blow to the monsters you encounter. and with great weapon mastery you will get a bonus attack if your hit kills the monster. with Sacred Weapon active (+CHA modifier) you can opt for the -5 to hit to get the extra 10 damage... again increasing the chance for a killing blow.
This build works really well when you're up against multiple enemies that tend to have lower Hit Points (kobolds, goblins, skeletons... etc.)
Shield master + ring of evasion= The greatest RP moments in the game. I recently stood in front of an acient red dragons breath in a hardcover and it ran off, scared shitless after my Paladin took 0 damage AND rolled a 1 on the Dex save.
Shield master + ring of evasion= The greatest RP moments in the game. I recently stood in front of an acient red dragons breath in a hardcover and it ran off, scared shitless after my Paladin took 0 damage AND rolled a 1 on the Dex save.
Sadly you played it out wrong... because you can only use your reaction 1 time. Ring of Evasion uses your reaction to pass the save...so does Shield Master. You can choose to pass the save, but you can't get your shield up in time because you used your reaction already.
What I haven't seen mentioned yet is the feat Shield Master. You can use your Bonus Action to Shove an enemy to the ground with your shield, and then make melee weapon attacks against them with advantage - every turn. Vow of Enmity is great, but it's a once per short rest ability that you may end up saving for a big baddy that doesn't show up. You can use Shield Master on any enemy you wish.
...accept for the fact that the Shield Master feat is worded as follows:
"You use shields not just for protection but also for offense. You gain the following benefits while you are wielding a shield:
If you take the Attack action on your turn, you can use a bonus action to try to shove a creature within 5 feet of you with your shield.
If you aren't incapacitated, you can add your shield's AC bonus to any Dexterity saving throw you make against a spell or other harmful effect that targets only you.
If you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, you can use your reaction to take no damage if you succeed on the saving throw, interposing your shield between yourself and the source of the effect." <emphasis is mine>
Jeremy Crawford has confirmed via Sage Advice that RAW you can't use the bonus action shove before your attack action. You must attack first and then shove the target. His original tweet is quoted below:
"Clarification about bonus actions: if a feature says you can do X as a bonus action if you do Y, you must do Y before you can do X. For Shield Master, that means the bonus action must come after the Attack action. You decide when it happens afterward that turn"
That being said, I've seen DMs houserule that the bonus action can come before the attack, but it is a houserule and not officially RAW. So before taking this feat and employing this strategy, talk to your DM first.
There's also a second misinterpretation of the rules that you have mentioned in your post:
If you're looking for the super OP cheese strat, then you skip on Shield Master and go Polearm Master + Sentinel. This requires a Glaive, Halberd, or Quarterstaff used with both hands, so you give up using a shield, BUT you gain significant offensive advantages. Polearm Master causes enemies that enter your reach to provoke Opportunity Attacks (normally only occurs when they leave your reach). Since your reach with a Glaive or Halberd is 10 feet, and since you have the Sentinel feat, you reduce their speed to 0 before they reach you. Plus it provides many more opportunities to use your Reaction to make additional attacks per round. It also allows you to use a Bonus Action to make a weapon attack with the other end of the weapon (1d4 Bludgeoning), so now you're using your Bonus Actions in combat every round. And you can Smite with these Bonus Action and Reaction attacks. When you gain Extra Attack at 5th level you could Smite 4 times in one turn.
Again, the bolded text in the above quote isn't quite right. While at 5th level you would have Extra Attack, that does not grant you a second bonus action. The order of operations would be (Action) Attack --> (Bonus Action) PAM Bonus attack --> Extra Attack for a total of 3 possible hits. However, you are correct that you could use Divine Smite on all three hits.
Hi Everyone,
Help me break the game with your advanced/OP/broken Paladin strategies & secrets :-) What tricks do you keep up your sleeve for cheesing every battle and boss?
The one that I think will require some sort of ruling is using Conquest's aura along with other party spellcasters who Disguise Self (or similar) to look like the Paladin and using their own fear-causing spells/features to buff the extent of the aura. It would also be massively-creepy -- like a bad guy's worst nightmare.
Something also scares me about a Yuan-ti Pureblood Pal with an Ancient's aura. In a heavy-spellcasting campaign this just seems broken.
I really like the Channel Divinities of Crown and Redemption, but their 7th-level features are poor. I would change their class at either Level 5 or 7 (keeping 4 levels of Paladin for the ASI or 6 levels of Paladin for the standard Aura of Protection). Curious which classes the Paladin would be good to multiclass to. I have considered Cleric and many others have suggested Bard, Sorcerer, and Warlock -- but how, in what order, what combinatorials work best, etc?
Any Level 2 Pal can do just monstrous things in battle. The Pal, when outnumbering opponents, can select Thunderous Smite and combine with with Divine Smite on the first Bonus/Attack action in the first round of combat. When outnumbered, the Pal can balance Shield of Faith with Divine Smite (depending on the length of combat). The Pal can also utilize Bless on at least some of the party before rushing into combat against monsters with a nasty effect that requires a saving throw, e.g., poison, disease, stun, charm, petrification, paralyzation, spells, fear, et al. Compelled Duel is great against adversaries that tend to surrender, run, or fly off --including dragons, wizards, and many other bosses and minibosses.
You'll probably find that other spellcasters, especially the Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, and Wizard, can do quite a bit more -- especially at higher levels. The strength of the Paladin lies in using magical weapons and armor along with Athletics, good saves against magic/charm, ability to easily cure poison/disease a few times per day, and cute-little Persuasion or other Charisma-based checks.
The Cavalier and Samurai made the Pal somewhat less-relevant in the context of many of those things, but they don't kick in until Level 3. If a Cavalier or Samurai selects Resilient:Wisdom as an early (Level 4 or 8) ASI, then it worsens the Paladin's uniqueness. Barbarians will typically also outclass a Paladin, but they rarely care about magical armor (well, only shields) so it's not a head-to head competition like it is with the Fighter. The Ranger may occasionally clash, but only higher-level (i.e., 11+) Horizon Walkers (maybe also Gloom Stalkers) can make a Pal blush with jealousy. A Long Death Monk at Level 11 will make the Paladin seem under-powered in combat, but it won't be as annoying as having a Kensei (or Hexblade) going after the magical weapons that would otherwise be gifted to the party's Paladin.
Use of a Paladin in a party is often heavily dependent on the campaign setting, unlike many of the other classes (except maybe Bard which is even more-so dependent on aligning with the campaign setting). For example, in the 5E modules so far, the Paladin fits well in all of them except the most-recent Tomb of Annihilation (ToA). The surrogate Paladin in ToA is pretty-neat though and speaks to the versatility not only in game mechanics for the Pal, but also role-playing. However, the question is quickly becoming: who is a better fit? A Cavalier, a Samurai, or a Forge/War/Tempest/Nature/Life Cleric might clash too-often with the Paladin's magical item needs.
If it isn't enough to be the first party member to save up for Splint and the first/only to trade in their Splint for Plate when that becomes affordable, the Pal is on the constant lookout for magical heavy armor, magical shields, and magical one-handed, non-finesse martial weapons (e.g., +1 Battleaxe, Longsword, Warhammer). The more party members that happen to be Dwarves, Elves, Hobgoblins, Barbarians, Strength-based Valor Bards, Clerics, Fighters, Kensei, other Paladins, Rangers, or Hexblades is really going to throw a wrench in the Pal's plans.
The Paladin is seriously the Iron Man of the D&D universe and he does not play well with Captain America, Batman, and The Punisher. The Paladin''s secret is upkeep of campaign-available physical power ups. In some ways, you are giving control of your character's mid-term and long-term upgrades to both the party and your DM.
Andreg has done a great strategic write-up above so I will veer into basic tactics. I run a 6th level Paladin who is very close to 7th level.
creative use of lay on hands - I was simply healing party members or myself as much as I could but based on reading i have done that may not be the best move. We are getting hammered in our last few combats with at least one char getting knocked out (zero hp). given that magical healing means immediately return to combat, I have come to the conclusion that there are plnety of scenarios where simply giving a player ONE HP is the right move. typically against "mooks" or rabble this makes sense since they cannot land a immediately death moment and my party members mostly have a better AC then I do. not a one size fits all strategy but imagine being able to have people rejoin fights 30 times with your 6th level Pal's help.
Build path - probably most know this path but for those new - the path I took was var human - alert feat (often going first), Great Weapon Fighting (rerolling) Great Weapon Master Feat, and then the Vow of Enmity (VoE). Combining that with Divine Smite means that I can often step up first to the villain at hand - hit them with the VoE, Get advantage, take the -5 / +10 from great weapon master feat, and then optionally lay on Divine Smite if I hit. this leads to a nice damage range 20-ish to 50 depending on rolls with one and twos rerolled once. At 5th we pick up the second attack which means a potential for a lot of damage here. its a bit all or nothing which makes for high drama in the game.
SPELLS. Bless - still finding this to be one of the best lower level spells. Misty Step is damn fun and awesome creativity moment as noted else where in threads. We were fighting in a swamp when our Aarakocra monk went down in deeper water. drowning was a big worry and no one could see how to save him. My Paladin had a ring of swimming and so he dived in and move 40' while swimming around the crocs so as to not get an opportunity attack. I then misty stepped the final distance to him and pulled him to the surface. I used my action to lay on hands and he flew up and went back to work. Very cool moment for me as a player to use all that together and save a fellow char.
I agree with what GWP said above about using Misty Step (good use of spell slots that would normally be reserved for Smites), as well as healing allies for just 1 HP to get them back into the fight. If the enemy hits them for 5,10, or 20 damage, it doesn't matter, your ally only takes 1 damage and goes down. Very cost effective healing strategy.
What I haven't seen mentioned yet is the feat Shield Master. You can use your Bonus Action to Shove an enemy to the ground with your shield, and then make melee weapon attacks against them with advantage - every turn. Vow of Enmity is great, but it's a once per short rest ability that you may end up saving for a big baddy that doesn't show up. You can use Shield Master on any enemy you wish.
Also, Sentinel is a great feat to use for a Paladin. You get right up on the target and start dumping damage on them, and when they decide to retreat, you hit them with an Opportunity Attack and reduce their speed to 0, stopping them from escaping. Great synergy with Shield Master (and also Polearm Master) for locking down your enemies.
If you're looking for the super OP cheese strat, then you skip on Shield Master and go Polearm Master + Sentinel. This requires a Glaive, Halberd, or Quarterstaff used with both hands, so you give up using a shield, BUT you gain significant offensive advantages. Polearm Master causes enemies that enter your reach to provoke Opportunity Attacks (normally only occurs when they leave your reach). Since your reach with a Glaive or Halberd is 10 feet, and since you have the Sentinel feat, you reduce their speed to 0 before they reach you. Plus it provides many more opportunities to use your Reaction to make additional attacks per round. It also allows you to use a Bonus Action to make a weapon attack with the other end of the weapon (1d4 Bludgeoning), so now you're using your Bonus Actions in combat every round. And you can Smite with these Bonus Action and Reaction attacks. When you gain Extra Attack at 5th level you could Smite 4 times in one turn.
Question about lay on hands, I think I know the answer to it, but I want to confirm all the same: so I'm currently a 2nd level Paladin almost to 3rd (10 uses total) - when I use it to heal, is it 10 hit points per use or simply 1 hit point per use therefore totaling 10?
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
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Awesome. That was our debate during our last game. Which that makes more sense.
One thing that hasn't been mentioned: anytime you crit and don't think it'll kill the enemy, burn a spell slot to smite. Crit means doubling all the damage dice, and since you can choose to smite after rolling to hit, you can retroactively nab a minimum total of 4d8 radiant damage for a single spell slot. Don't forget to add the extra and double it against undead, too!
Also, don't forget that your saving throw bonus aura works for ALL saving throws, including death saving throws - as long as you are conscious, sticking close to downed allies is helpful even if you don't have any healing left.
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
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wow, I never thought of that! Nicely done. Would anyone be tempted as a GM to allow enemies to burn an action to get to their feet?
They could, but then there's always the likelihood that he'll get knocked back down again on the paladin's turn after being unable to attack or move away anyway...
Paladins shine at burning down single target with smites. I recommend trying to find ways to get advantage to make more crits. Dump a smite into every crit.
2h Weapon wielding paladin with Great Weapon Mastery and Oath of Devotion - Channel Divinity Sacred Weapon plus Divine Smite. (Basically a super Ret Pally from WoW)
Great Weapon Mastery
You've learned to put the weight of a weapon to your advantage, letting its momentum empower your strikes. You gain the following benefits:
- On your turn, when you score a critical hit with a melee weapon or reduce a creature to 0 hit points with one, you can make one melee weapon attack as a bonus action.
- Before you make a melee attack with a heavy weapon that you are proficient with, you can choose to take a -5 penalty to the attack roll. If the attack hits, you add +10 to the attack's damage
Oath of Devotion - Channel Divinity Sacred Weapon
As an action, you can imbue one weapon that you are holding with positive energy, using your Channel Divinity. For 1 minute, you add your Charisma modifier to attack rolls made with that weapon (with a minimum bonus of +1). The weapon also emits bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light 20 feet beyond that. If the weapon is not already magical, it becomes magical for the duration.
You can end this effect on your turn as part of any other action. If you are no longer holding or carrying this weapon, or if you fall unconscious, this effect ends.
Divine Smite
Starting at 2nd level, when you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can expend one spell slot to deal radiant damage to the target, in addition to the weapon’s damage. The extra damage is 2d8 for a 1st-level spell slot, plus 1d8 for each spell level higher than 1st, to a maximum of 5d8. The damage increases by 1d8 if the target is an undead or a fiend.
Basically, you have a very high chance of dealing a killing blow to the monsters you encounter. and with great weapon mastery you will get a bonus attack if your hit kills the monster. with Sacred Weapon active (+CHA modifier) you can opt for the -5 to hit to get the extra 10 damage... again increasing the chance for a killing blow.
This build works really well when you're up against multiple enemies that tend to have lower Hit Points (kobolds, goblins, skeletons... etc.)
"Lawful Good does not always mean Lawful Nice."
Shield master + ring of evasion= The greatest RP moments in the game. I recently stood in front of an acient red dragons breath in a hardcover and it ran off, scared shitless after my Paladin took 0 damage AND rolled a 1 on the Dex save.
Sadly you played it out wrong... because you can only use your reaction 1 time. Ring of Evasion uses your reaction to pass the save...so does Shield Master. You can choose to pass the save, but you can't get your shield up in time because you used your reaction already.
...accept for the fact that the Shield Master feat is worded as follows:
"You use shields not just for protection but also for offense. You gain the following benefits while you are wielding a shield:
Jeremy Crawford has confirmed via Sage Advice that RAW you can't use the bonus action shove before your attack action. You must attack first and then shove the target. His original tweet is quoted below:
"Clarification about bonus actions: if a feature says you can do X as a bonus action if you do Y, you must do Y before you can do X. For Shield Master, that means the bonus action must come after the Attack action. You decide when it happens afterward that turn"
That being said, I've seen DMs houserule that the bonus action can come before the attack, but it is a houserule and not officially RAW. So before taking this feat and employing this strategy, talk to your DM first.
There's also a second misinterpretation of the rules that you have mentioned in your post:
Again, the bolded text in the above quote isn't quite right. While at 5th level you would have Extra Attack, that does not grant you a second bonus action. The order of operations would be (Action) Attack --> (Bonus Action) PAM Bonus attack --> Extra Attack for a total of 3 possible hits. However, you are correct that you could use Divine Smite on all three hits.
RAW is what's in the book. Jeremy Crawford is saying how he intended it. RAW never says which one has to come first.
Just pointing out the distinction.
"Not all those who wander are lost"