Im having a hard time deciding which Fighting Style+Weapon+Feats I should go for.
My character will be a Half-Elf Paladin or Variant Human Paladin, that will take Oath of Vengeance. He will have a Soldier background. The main attribute will be STR. We are gonna use Standard Array ( 15-14-13-12-10-8.). I wanna build a Paladin that will be able to do a lot of single target damage but at the same time be able to tank the foes, survive and be useful in combat. The campaign will end around level 10, with the possibility of extending it.
*One important detail is that the DM will ignore Sage Advice, he will only use the basic books like PHB. Sticking to the book RAW. So the GWF damage reroll will apply to Divine Smite, Improved Divine Smite, etc.
Fighting Styles: Great Weapon Fighting, Dueling, Defense, Protection? Weapons: Great Weapon, Polearm, Sword and Shield, etc..? Feats: Great Weapon Master, Polearm Master, Shield Master, Sentinel, Resilient, etc..?
So what do you guys think is the best setup for Fighting Style, Weapon and Feats for my character? Go Half-elf or Variant Human for extra Feat?
VHuman Feat: Feat? Level 4: Feat or ASI? Level 8: Feat or ASI?
If you want to balance both damage and defense then a shield is practically a given. Pick Dueling FS if you want to prioritize damage, or Protection if you have another party member that's always in melee range and you want to lean a bit more towards tanking.
Focus on maxing out your STR and CHA. The only feats I'd consider are War Caster (for maintaining concentration on Hunter's Mark and casting S spells with no M component) and Sentinel (if you have friends in melee range that can trigger the reaction attack, and didn't take Protection FS.)
Oath of Vengeance pairs well with Polearm Master and Sentinel Feats. You don't get Relentless Avenger till level-7, but with the combination you can take Opportunity against opponents that move into your range, stop them on a hit, and move half your move, using only your reaction. This can work with a Glaive, Halbard, or Quarterstaff.
Variant Human with Polearm Master. use a quarterstaff one-handed and a shield. Dueling fighting style. Armor and shield will give you high AC with double the chance of finding a magic item that boosts AC.
Polearm master gives you a bonus action attack every round, plus a good chance at getting an OA every round.
On your turn you'll do 1d6 + 5 and 1d4 + 5. Even if you rolled ones for damage on both die, you'd do 12 damage which is huge at low levels. the bonus action attack gives you an extra chance to crit for your divine smite.
My Paladin is a Variant Human with Shield Master and Resilient (Con), and Dueling fighting style. Shield Master allows you to shove someone prone when you take the Attack action, and you can shove them before the attack to give yourself near-permanent advantage on all your attacks. I make good use of Wrathful Smite and Hunter's Mark, depending on the situation (Wrathful Smite is great against hard-hitting enemies). Dueling fighting style basically makes your Longsword do as much damage on average as a Greatsword, and given that Divine Smite and other spells don't care about the weapon, a sword-and-board setup does solid damage with solid defense. Great Weapon Master allows the two-handed builds to pull ahead by a considerable margin, but you need a reliable way to overcome the -5 to hit (so Bless or some form of advantage).
You don't want War Caster as a Paladin, all our important spells are already Verbal only and Resilient (Con) is better for maintaining concentration. If you want an optimized Polearm build, then take a look at Gladius Legius' guide here:
Sup guys!
Im having a hard time deciding which Fighting Style+Weapon+Feats I should go for.
My character will be a Half-Elf Paladin or Variant Human Paladin, that will take Oath of Vengeance. He will have a Soldier background. The main attribute will be STR. We are gonna use Standard Array ( 15-14-13-12-10-8.). I wanna build a Paladin that will be able to do a lot of single target damage but at the same time be able to tank the foes, survive and be useful in combat. The campaign will end around level 10, with the possibility of extending it.
*One important detail is that the DM will ignore Sage Advice, he will only use the basic books like PHB. Sticking to the book RAW. So the GWF damage reroll will apply to Divine Smite, Improved Divine Smite, etc.
Fighting Styles: Great Weapon Fighting, Dueling, Defense, Protection?
Weapons: Great Weapon, Polearm, Sword and Shield, etc..?
Feats: Great Weapon Master, Polearm Master, Shield Master, Sentinel, Resilient, etc..?
So what do you guys think is the best setup for Fighting Style, Weapon and Feats for my character? Go Half-elf or Variant Human for extra Feat?
VHuman Feat: Feat?
Level 4: Feat or ASI?
Level 8: Feat or ASI?
If you want to balance both damage and defense then a shield is practically a given. Pick Dueling FS if you want to prioritize damage, or Protection if you have another party member that's always in melee range and you want to lean a bit more towards tanking.
Focus on maxing out your STR and CHA. The only feats I'd consider are War Caster (for maintaining concentration on Hunter's Mark and casting S spells with no M component) and Sentinel (if you have friends in melee range that can trigger the reaction attack, and didn't take Protection FS.)
The Forum Infestation (TM)
Oath of Vengeance pairs well with Polearm Master and Sentinel Feats. You don't get Relentless Avenger till level-7, but with the combination you can take Opportunity against opponents that move into your range, stop them on a hit, and move half your move, using only your reaction. This can work with a Glaive, Halbard, or Quarterstaff.
Extended Signature
Variant Human with Polearm Master. use a quarterstaff one-handed and a shield. Dueling fighting style. Armor and shield will give you high AC with double the chance of finding a magic item that boosts AC.
Polearm master gives you a bonus action attack every round, plus a good chance at getting an OA every round.
On your turn you'll do 1d6 + 5 and 1d4 + 5. Even if you rolled ones for damage on both die, you'd do 12 damage which is huge at low levels. the bonus action attack gives you an extra chance to crit for your divine smite.
My Paladin is a Variant Human with Shield Master and Resilient (Con), and Dueling fighting style. Shield Master allows you to shove someone prone when you take the Attack action, and you can shove them before the attack to give yourself near-permanent advantage on all your attacks. I make good use of Wrathful Smite and Hunter's Mark, depending on the situation (Wrathful Smite is great against hard-hitting enemies). Dueling fighting style basically makes your Longsword do as much damage on average as a Greatsword, and given that Divine Smite and other spells don't care about the weapon, a sword-and-board setup does solid damage with solid defense. Great Weapon Master allows the two-handed builds to pull ahead by a considerable margin, but you need a reliable way to overcome the -5 to hit (so Bless or some form of advantage).
You don't want War Caster as a Paladin, all our important spells are already Verbal only and Resilient (Con) is better for maintaining concentration. If you want an optimized Polearm build, then take a look at Gladius Legius' guide here:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?474035-GUIDE-My-Word-Is-My-Sword-The-Paladin-Guide
It is very feat intensive, basically requires Variant Human, and takes a long time to come online.
I didn't think Hunter's Mark required Concentration.
It does, it's a concentration spell per the PHB description.
I do kind think an elf paledan would be kinda cool I am a half orc paledan