Winkin, the slightly insane halfling moon druid, Nieven, our elf? (I think) ranger who made me disregard all opinions of the ranger class being bad, Gunter, our dwarf eldritch knight fighter, Azaleia, our slightly stuck up but loveable elf bladesinger, and Nalan (that's me), the aasimar vengeance paladin who wields Ash, a magic greatsword possessed by a fallen angel. Our party is currently level 3, and since we play with milestone our DM is going to level us up straight from 3 to 5 next time. When I reach 5, I will be making those 5 levels of paladin, and my DM has agreed at some point to let me take 3 levels of warlock (probably after paladin 5. So I will be paladin 5/warlock 3). This is mainly for story reasons, since Nalan's bond with Ash would be tied to his hexblade pact. I was wondering if anyone had tips on how to best build a hexblade paladin, specifically at 5/3. Any recommendations on feats, spells, or building in general would be greatly appreciated.
(Btw, I know roleplaying this could sound very convoluted, but that part has basically been hashed out. Mainly seeking advice on the build. Thx)
Did you start with a 17 in CHA? Take fey touched when you take your feat. Did you start with a 16? Increase CHA.
When you get hexblade unlocked, get the spells shield. If your DM is allowing you only three levels of hexblade, then the other spell you want is hex. If your DM is allowing more levels, take armor of agathys. for 2nd lvl, take blur and mirror image, or invis for more utility. w/e.
invocations, agonizing blast for sure. your second one is up to you, some good choices are eldritch mind, improved pact weapon, mask of many faces. If your CON's not that great, take eldritch mind, or if you already have a +1 weapon. otherwise, take improved pact weapon, as the whole "being your focus" thing is handy too.
I'm assuming for now that your build is 17 paladin/ 3 hexblade, in which case you play just like aregular paladin, except EB for enemies out of reach, and shield as necessary.
Did you start with a 17 in CHA? Take fey touched when you take your feat. Did you start with a 16? Increase CHA.
When you get hexblade unlocked, get the spells shield. If your DM is allowing you only three levels of hexblade, then the other spell you want is hex. If your DM is allowing more levels, take armor of agathys. for 2nd lvl, take blur and mirror image, or invis for more utility. w/e.
invocations, agonizing blast for sure. your second one is up to you, some good choices are eldritch mind, improved pact weapon, mask of many faces. If your CON's not that great, take eldritch mind, or if you already have a +1 weapon. otherwise, take improved pact weapon, as the whole "being your focus" thing is handy too.
I'm assuming for now that your build is 17 paladin/ 3 hexblade, in which case you play just like aregular paladin, except EB for enemies out of reach, and shield as necessary.
Cha is 19 at the moment, DM has allowed a bit more ASI's than normal for this party. Spells sound good because my AC is 18 (chain mail + cloak of protection) and combined with Shield of Faith (grants +2 AC, bonus action, and the Shield spell (+2, reaction) it would be 22. thanks for the input
The shield spell is actually +5, unless your DM homebrewed nerfed it lol.
But if your CHA is 19, this actually opens up the option of taking GWM feat. You could still take fey touched if you'd like, but with your main stat having a +4 modifier, GWM becomes less risky to use especially when paired with vow of enmity. I'd also consider your party's goals, say, is the eldritch knight wanting to take GWM? Would he feel like you're stepping on his toes by taking it too? If he wants to be the main melee striker, taking fey touched may be a better choice. If he doesn't mind two people being the strikers, I'd 100% recommend GWM.
Now, if you do decide to take fey touched and cap out CHA, I'd strongly consider going 6 paladin/2 warlock. The aura of protection is a really big deal, and with a +5 aura right off the bat? It's practically game breaking! Just keep in mind that it does mean you won't be able to attack with your greatsword using CHA until hexblade 3. Still, it's an option, and you'd only be delaying the goods for one more level. It depends if you value party support and defense, or offense more.
In general, the way I like to play paladin is by starting combat off with a buff with something like heroism, shield of faith, protection from E&G, etc. I only ever smite on crits, though an exception is when a combat's kinda hard and I'm just a inch shy of finishing off the monster, in which case i'll smite just for the sake of improving action economy. In my case, I would strongly favor eldritch mind for combat's sake because it suits my style. Maybe you find that since most of the spells I listed don't list a material component, an arcane focus isn't necessary, making improved pact weapon unnecessary. My hexadin, for example, is mostly warlock, so a lot of spells need material components and it helps to make my weapon my arcane focus as well for simplicity's sake.
The shield spell is actually +5, unless your DM homebrewed nerfed it lol.
But if your CHA is 19, this actually opens up the option of taking GWM feat. You could still take fey touched if you'd like, but with your main stat having a +4 modifier, GWM becomes less risky to use especially when paired with vow of enmity. I'd also consider your party's goals, say, is the eldritch knight wanting to take GWM? Would he feel like you're stepping on his toes by taking it too? If he wants to be the main melee striker, taking fey touched may be a better choice. If he doesn't mind two people being the strikers, I'd 100% recommend GWM.
Now, if you do decide to take fey touched and cap out CHA, I'd strongly consider going 6 paladin/2 warlock. The aura of protection is a really big deal, and with a +5 aura right off the bat? It's practically game breaking! Just keep in mind that it does mean you won't be able to attack with your greatsword using CHA until hexblade 3. Still, it's an option, and you'd only be delaying the goods for one more level. It depends if you value party support and defense, or offense more.
In general, the way I like to play paladin is by starting combat off with a buff with something like heroism, shield of faith, protection from E&G, etc. I only ever smite on crits, though an exception is when a combat's kinda hard and I'm just a inch shy of finishing off the monster, in which case i'll smite just for the sake of improving action economy. In my case, I would strongly favor eldritch mind for combat's sake because it suits my style. Maybe you find that since most of the spells I listed don't list a material component, an arcane focus isn't necessary, making improved pact weapon unnecessary. My hexadin, for example, is mostly warlock, so a lot of spells need material components and it helps to make my weapon my arcane focus as well for simplicity's sake.
Actually already have GWM. DM grants us extra feats for doing cool stuff. And he did not nerf shield i just forgot, so that's awesome. Yeah, my paladin is a tank but our dm is sneaky and frequently attacks our ranger and druid. I have taken some sever hits before, but I'm not the best at the whole "healing/protect" thing at the moment. The ranger actually has better spells in terms of that. I might just go ahead and do paladin 6/warlock 2. Sounds like a cool strategy. thanks for the input
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Updog
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First, a little bit about the party
Winkin, the slightly insane halfling moon druid, Nieven, our elf? (I think) ranger who made me disregard all opinions of the ranger class being bad, Gunter, our dwarf eldritch knight fighter, Azaleia, our slightly stuck up but loveable elf bladesinger, and Nalan (that's me), the aasimar vengeance paladin who wields Ash, a magic greatsword possessed by a fallen angel. Our party is currently level 3, and since we play with milestone our DM is going to level us up straight from 3 to 5 next time. When I reach 5, I will be making those 5 levels of paladin, and my DM has agreed at some point to let me take 3 levels of warlock (probably after paladin 5. So I will be paladin 5/warlock 3). This is mainly for story reasons, since Nalan's bond with Ash would be tied to his hexblade pact. I was wondering if anyone had tips on how to best build a hexblade paladin, specifically at 5/3. Any recommendations on feats, spells, or building in general would be greatly appreciated.
(Btw, I know roleplaying this could sound very convoluted, but that part has basically been hashed out. Mainly seeking advice on the build. Thx)
Updog
Or if anyone has tips on playing paladin and warlock in general :)
Updog
Did you start with a 17 in CHA? Take fey touched when you take your feat. Did you start with a 16? Increase CHA.
When you get hexblade unlocked, get the spells shield. If your DM is allowing you only three levels of hexblade, then the other spell you want is hex. If your DM is allowing more levels, take armor of agathys. for 2nd lvl, take blur and mirror image, or invis for more utility. w/e.
invocations, agonizing blast for sure. your second one is up to you, some good choices are eldritch mind, improved pact weapon, mask of many faces. If your CON's not that great, take eldritch mind, or if you already have a +1 weapon. otherwise, take improved pact weapon, as the whole "being your focus" thing is handy too.
I'm assuming for now that your build is 17 paladin/ 3 hexblade, in which case you play just like aregular paladin, except EB for enemies out of reach, and shield as necessary.
Cha is 19 at the moment, DM has allowed a bit more ASI's than normal for this party. Spells sound good because my AC is 18 (chain mail + cloak of protection) and combined with Shield of Faith (grants +2 AC, bonus action, and the Shield spell (+2, reaction) it would be 22. thanks for the input
Updog
The shield spell is actually +5, unless your DM homebrewed nerfed it lol.
But if your CHA is 19, this actually opens up the option of taking GWM feat. You could still take fey touched if you'd like, but with your main stat having a +4 modifier, GWM becomes less risky to use especially when paired with vow of enmity. I'd also consider your party's goals, say, is the eldritch knight wanting to take GWM? Would he feel like you're stepping on his toes by taking it too? If he wants to be the main melee striker, taking fey touched may be a better choice. If he doesn't mind two people being the strikers, I'd 100% recommend GWM.
Now, if you do decide to take fey touched and cap out CHA, I'd strongly consider going 6 paladin/2 warlock. The aura of protection is a really big deal, and with a +5 aura right off the bat? It's practically game breaking! Just keep in mind that it does mean you won't be able to attack with your greatsword using CHA until hexblade 3. Still, it's an option, and you'd only be delaying the goods for one more level. It depends if you value party support and defense, or offense more.
In general, the way I like to play paladin is by starting combat off with a buff with something like heroism, shield of faith, protection from E&G, etc. I only ever smite on crits, though an exception is when a combat's kinda hard and I'm just a inch shy of finishing off the monster, in which case i'll smite just for the sake of improving action economy. In my case, I would strongly favor eldritch mind for combat's sake because it suits my style. Maybe you find that since most of the spells I listed don't list a material component, an arcane focus isn't necessary, making improved pact weapon unnecessary. My hexadin, for example, is mostly warlock, so a lot of spells need material components and it helps to make my weapon my arcane focus as well for simplicity's sake.
Actually already have GWM. DM grants us extra feats for doing cool stuff. And he did not nerf shield i just forgot, so that's awesome. Yeah, my paladin is a tank but our dm is sneaky and frequently attacks our ranger and druid. I have taken some sever hits before, but I'm not the best at the whole "healing/protect" thing at the moment. The ranger actually has better spells in terms of that. I might just go ahead and do paladin 6/warlock 2. Sounds like a cool strategy. thanks for the input
Updog