1. Gloomstalker 3, taking Druidic Warrior for Shallilaegh, and Guidance.
2. X levels of Oath of Vengeance Paladin.
3. 15 str for Plate Armor, Wis = important.
4. Most likely Vhuman to get Shadow Touched ft, which adds +3 total ASI options, just behind Half-Elf, and Mountain Dwarf with +4 each. But gives Invisibility and another spell from 1st level Illusion or Necromancy school.
5. Club and Board build. Club is 1d8+x after Shallileagh.
Speculatively should start with 14, or 16 Wis, and scale up pretty nicely with Shallileagh. Combined with a variety of combat options - Bless, Hunters Mark, Vow of Enmity, Shield of Faith and eventually Haste.
Plus Dread Ambusher and Umbral Sight. Divine Health, Lay on Hands, Divine Smite, etc...
You're a little MAD, since you'll need 15 Str (plate), 13 dex (ranger MC), 17 wis (main attack stat, ranger MC), 13 cha (paladin MC). Meaning, you've probably got an 8 or 10 in Constitution, not ideal... but doable. Your HP and/or Paladin Charisma bonuses/spell saves will suffer from this, but many paladins are built for pure offense anyway. You'll need to use a bonus action to cast Shillelagh in the first round of combat as well, which also can get dicey since Shillelagh requires you to hold a weapon and access spell components, if the weapon itself isn't a spell focus (a lot of DMs would probably accept a wooden quarterstaff and wooden staff as being interchangeable, but may not all of them...), so wearing a shield in the other hand could be a problem.
If you're interested in playing a Paladin who attacks with Wisdom, this is certainly doable. I feel like if you're already sinking 15 into Strength for plate on a Paladin, investing in an attack stat swap to Charisma using Hexblade can sometimes help you streamline stats a little... but swapping into Wisdom while taking at least three levels of Ranger? That feels like it makes you more MAD, not less.
Bonus Action economy competition of Shillelagh, Hunter's Mark, Vow of Enmity, PAM, Shield of Faith.... I'm just not sure you're gaining as much with those Gloomstalker levels and attack stat swap as you think you are. Staying a pure Paladin and picking up Hunter's Mark through Fey Touched is probably better in every way?
You're a little MAD, since you'll need 15 Str (plate), 13 dex (ranger MC), 17 wis (main attack stat, ranger MC), 13 cha (paladin MC). Meaning, you've probably got an 8 or 10 in Constitution, not ideal... but doable. Your HP and/or Paladin Charisma bonuses/spell saves will suffer from this, but many paladins are built for pure offense anyway. You'll need to use a bonus action to cast Shillelagh in the first round of combat as well, which also can get dicey since Shillelagh requires you to hold a weapon and access spell components, if the weapon itself isn't a spell focus (a lot of DMs would probably accept a wooden quarterstaff and wooden staff as being interchangeable, but may not all of them...), so wearing a shield in the other hand could be a problem.
If you're interested in playing a Paladin who attacks with Wisdom, this is certainly doable. I feel like if you're already sinking 15 into Strength for plate on a Paladin, investing in an attack stat swap to Charisma using Hexblade can sometimes help you streamline stats a little... but swapping into Wisdom while taking at least three levels of Ranger? That feels like it makes you more MAD, not less.
Bonus Action economy competition of Shillelagh, Hunter's Mark, Vow of Enmity, PAM, Shield of Faith.... I'm just not sure you're gaining as much with those Gloomstalker levels and attack stat swap as you think you are. Staying a pure Paladin and picking up Hunter's Mark through Fey Touched is probably better in every way?
Oath of Vengeance gets Hunter's Mark as one of their Oath Spells anyway.
Do you just want to smite? Or are you after certain vengeance features?
if you went dwarf you could wear your heavy armor without needing to meet those strength requirements. You’d save 2 points, meaning you could multiclass with 13 strength into paladin and still be able to wear plate without penalty.
there may be defensive value in this as wisdom is probably more useful as an all around stat than strength is, especially since you’re trying to focus on shillelagh. your wisdom checks would help with exploration while mitigating surprise. Your boosted wisdom saves would be more reliable, and failing a wisdom save is usually pretty horrible.
I actually like parts and of this, I just don’t like the vengeance paladin part I suppose. Only 2 of the first 6 oath spells actually key off of charisma which is cool, but I think there’s too much competition for bonus actions and concentration for me. Vow of enmity Is nice, but it’s another bonus action, and you get one channel divinity use per short rest.
the level 7 feature for vengeance paladin pretty much begs for the polearm master feat, even if it’s with a quarterstaff or spear. Seems like a lot of feats with few stat modifier increases for a long time.
Look - you want Dex anyway... why not skip the Strength requirement for Plate Armor, and go Lizardfolk (13+Dex AC)? It fits thematically, that's for sure...
So I had an idea, a bit of a odd idea....
Effective Shallilaegh + Oath of Vengeance...
Give me your comments.
Considerations;
1. Ignoring pre-req attribute requirements.
2. Theorycrafting with Standard Aray.
3. With, or without Tasha's racial ASI rules.
Basics:
1. Gloomstalker 3, taking Druidic Warrior for Shallilaegh, and Guidance.
2. X levels of Oath of Vengeance Paladin.
3. 15 str for Plate Armor, Wis = important.
4. Most likely Vhuman to get Shadow Touched ft, which adds +3 total ASI options, just behind Half-Elf, and Mountain Dwarf with +4 each. But gives Invisibility and another spell from 1st level Illusion or Necromancy school.
5. Club and Board build. Club is 1d8+x after Shallileagh.
Speculatively should start with 14, or 16 Wis, and scale up pretty nicely with Shallileagh. Combined with a variety of combat options - Bless, Hunters Mark, Vow of Enmity, Shield of Faith and eventually Haste.
Plus Dread Ambusher and Umbral Sight. Divine Health, Lay on Hands, Divine Smite, etc...
2014 5E mostly
3.5 maybe.
You're a little MAD, since you'll need 15 Str (plate), 13 dex (ranger MC), 17 wis (main attack stat, ranger MC), 13 cha (paladin MC). Meaning, you've probably got an 8 or 10 in Constitution, not ideal... but doable. Your HP and/or Paladin Charisma bonuses/spell saves will suffer from this, but many paladins are built for pure offense anyway. You'll need to use a bonus action to cast Shillelagh in the first round of combat as well, which also can get dicey since Shillelagh requires you to hold a weapon and access spell components, if the weapon itself isn't a spell focus (a lot of DMs would probably accept a wooden quarterstaff and wooden staff as being interchangeable, but may not all of them...), so wearing a shield in the other hand could be a problem.
If you're interested in playing a Paladin who attacks with Wisdom, this is certainly doable. I feel like if you're already sinking 15 into Strength for plate on a Paladin, investing in an attack stat swap to Charisma using Hexblade can sometimes help you streamline stats a little... but swapping into Wisdom while taking at least three levels of Ranger? That feels like it makes you more MAD, not less.
Bonus Action economy competition of Shillelagh, Hunter's Mark, Vow of Enmity, PAM, Shield of Faith.... I'm just not sure you're gaining as much with those Gloomstalker levels and attack stat swap as you think you are. Staying a pure Paladin and picking up Hunter's Mark through Fey Touched is probably better in every way?
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Oath of Vengeance gets Hunter's Mark as one of their Oath Spells anyway.
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile.
Do you just want to smite? Or are you after certain vengeance features?
if you went dwarf you could wear your heavy armor without needing to meet those strength requirements. You’d save 2 points, meaning you could multiclass with 13 strength into paladin and still be able to wear plate without penalty.
there may be defensive value in this as wisdom is probably more useful as an all around stat than strength is, especially since you’re trying to focus on shillelagh. your wisdom checks would help with exploration while mitigating surprise. Your boosted wisdom saves would be more reliable, and failing a wisdom save is usually pretty horrible.
I actually like parts and of this, I just don’t like the vengeance paladin part I suppose. Only 2 of the first 6 oath spells actually key off of charisma which is cool, but I think there’s too much competition for bonus actions and concentration for me. Vow of enmity Is nice, but it’s another bonus action, and you get one channel divinity use per short rest.
the level 7 feature for vengeance paladin pretty much begs for the polearm master feat, even if it’s with a quarterstaff or spear. Seems like a lot of feats with few stat modifier increases for a long time.
Look - you want Dex anyway... why not skip the Strength requirement for Plate Armor, and go Lizardfolk (13+Dex AC)? It fits thematically, that's for sure...
Food for thoughts:
Dwarfs can ignore the str requirements for armor.
As a Hill Dwarf, that allows you to settle for 13 str (paladin), 13 dex(ranger) , 13+1 wisdom, 8 int, 14 cha, 13+2 con