Excellent ranged dmg (Eldritch blast, also eligible for Elven accuracy hits)
extra smite/heal slots that reset on short rest
Immune to fear
Immune to charm
easy 21 AC at level 1 with good rolls
+~15 on concentration/constitution saves
+5 on death saves
At any point in this build, you can swap in one level of Paladin for Warlock 3 and grab the Pact of the blade if you want to go 2h. The only thing you will lose will be basically the 30ft improvement to your auras and nothing else really worth mentioning.
Let me know what you think.
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It doesn't matter how smart you think are you. No one will want to work with you if you're an *******.
My questions are: why would you get eldritch blast and then improve it? Paladins are primarily melee, and you can’t divine smite with EB. Seems like a waste of a cantrip and invocations. We don’t want excellent ranged damage, we want to hit things and hit them hard with our smites.
Where is that plus 5 coming from for death saves? You don’t add any modifiers from ability scores, and your aura of protection is useless when making death saving throws because you’re unconscious.
Excellent ranged dmg (Eldritch blast, also eligible for Elven accuracy hits)
extra smite/heal slots that reset on short rest
Immune to fear
Immune to charm
easy 21 AC at level 1 with good rolls
+~15 on concentration/constitution saves
+5 on death saves
At any point in this build, you can swap in one level of Paladin for Warlock 3 and grab the Pact of the blade if you want to go 2h. The only thing you will lose will be basically the 30ft improvement to your auras and nothing else really worth mentioning.
My questions are: why would you get eldritch blast and then improve it? Paladins are primarily melee, and you can’t divine smite with EB. Seems like a waste of a cantrip and invocations. We don’t want excellent ranged damage, we want to hit things and hit them hard with our smites.
Where is that plus 5 coming from for death saves? You don’t add any modifiers from ability scores, and your aura of protection is useless when making death saving throws because you’re unconscious.
additionally... how are you handling the sunlight sensitivity from being Drow? I see no mention of having a “Knaves eye patch” to cancel it out.
While in sunlight, the drow has disadvantage on Attack rolls, as well as on Wisdom(Perception) checks that rely on sight.
your elven accuracy will never kick in when in sunlight. So this depends heavily on the campaign never having sunlight, or casters with the daylight spell.
edit: or does the half elf drow not have the sunlight sensitivity?
Excellent ranged dmg (Eldritch blast, also eligible for Elven accuracy hits)
extra smite/heal slots that reset on short rest
Immune to fear
Immune to charm
easy 21 AC at level 1 with good rolls
+~15 on concentration/constitution saves
+5 on death saves
At any point in this build, you can swap in one level of Paladin for Warlock 3 and grab the Pact of the blade if you want to go 2h. The only thing you will lose will be basically the 30ft improvement to your auras and nothing else really worth mentioning.
My questions are: why would you get eldritch blast and then improve it? Paladins are primarily melee, and you can’t divine smite with EB. Seems like a waste of a cantrip and invocations. We don’t want excellent ranged damage, we want to hit things and hit them hard with our smites.
Where is that plus 5 coming from for death saves? You don’t add any modifiers from ability scores, and your aura of protection is useless when making death saving throws because you’re unconscious.
additionally... how are you handling the sunlight sensitivity from being Drow? I see no mention of having a “Knaves eye patch” to cancel it out.
While in sunlight, the drow has disadvantage on Attack rolls, as well as on Wisdom(Perception) checks that rely on sight.
your elven accuracy will never kick in when in sunlight. So this depends heavily on the campaign never having sunlight, or casters with the daylight spell.
edit: or does the half elf drow not have the sunlight sensitivity?
Last I checked half elf drow don't have sunlight sensitivity
Sometimes being in melee will get you killed. That's why I have improved EB.
Seems like a serious waste of resources. Sometimes being in combat will get you killed. There's a saying that goes, "jack of all trades, master of none." Specialize. Don't try to cover all bases. If you want to play paladin, you're gonna wanna be in close. If you want to be an eldritch blaster go warlock. You have a party for a reason, someone else can and will be a better ranged fighter than you, and they'll need the paladin to cover for them while they shoot.
Sometimes being in melee will get you killed. That's why I have improved EB.
Seems like a serious waste of resources. Sometimes being in combat will get you killed. There's a saying that goes, "jack of all trades, master of none." Specialize. Don't try to cover all bases. If you want to play paladin, you're gonna wanna be in close. If you want to be an eldritch blaster go warlock. You have a party for a reason, someone else can and will be a better ranged fighter than you, and they'll need the paladin to cover for them while they shoot.
What eldritch invocation would you recommend instead of agonizing blast? i'm trying to understand how having EB and AB makes the character weaker instead of stronger and I literally can't think of a scenario. I can however easily think of scenarios where EB is incredibly useful and not having a ranged attack could be extremely painful. So please explain what you would do differently and why.
Sometimes being in melee will get you killed. That's why I have improved EB.
Seems like a serious waste of resources. Sometimes being in combat will get you killed. There's a saying that goes, "jack of all trades, master of none." Specialize. Don't try to cover all bases. If you want to play paladin, you're gonna wanna be in close. If you want to be an eldritch blaster go warlock. You have a party for a reason, someone else can and will be a better ranged fighter than you, and they'll need the paladin to cover for them while they shoot.
What eldritch invocation would you recommend instead of agonizing blast? i'm trying to understand how having EB and AB makes the character weaker instead of stronger and I literally can't think of a scenario. I can however easily think of scenarios where EB is incredibly useful and not having a ranged attack could be extremely painful. So please explain what you would do differently and why.
Personally I like the fiendish vigor. Free temp hp just cause, anytime you want. Increase your survivability anytime you want for free essentially. This way you can tank even more as a paladin. I find that trying to give a paladin ranged alternatives isn’t a great idea. Sure it’s great you can do ranged damage, but now you’re missing out on smites, and now the guy in heavy armor who can tank is in the back line sniping, making it so much easier for the squishier allies to get hit. Really feels like you’re stepping on the toes of other party members, if this is a solo build I’d say it’s perfect, but in a party trying to make yourself specialized as possible so that you can fill a role very well and your allies can cover the others works better.
There are some interesting assumptions that you've engineered into your critique that I fundamentally disagree with:
there will be other party members that are ranged and lower AC(squishy)
there will be spell slots for smites always(paladins have horrible spell slots, even with warlock short rest pact slots)
melee attacking will be possible.
melee attacking will not incur any other effects (standing in auras, close radius effects)
this PC will be the 'tank'
NPC enemies will be 'dumb' enough to attack the PC with the highest AC and high HP.
Using a spell cast necessitates that this paladin will be 'behind' and not in front lines of combat
Considering that for example war caster allows for a spell cast cantrip (xd10+CHA) > 1d12 || 2d6 +STR. I think it's safe to say that EB > melee for reactions until at the very least 13th level when the paladin is 11 and IDS is part of the picture. EB > Melee on opportunity attack. Later on, this damage turns into 20dmg per attack (assumed all hits) per round. I would take this over an 8 temp hp buff.
I find these assumptions unsound. That being said, thanks for the contribution.
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It doesn't matter how smart you think are you. No one will want to work with you if you're an *******.
The Half-Elf variant Drow gets the Drow racial spells without any of the Drow penalties so in practical terms it's a better Drow. You're going to be abused by sunlight sensitivity far more than you'll benefit from 120 foot darkvision.
It looks like a good build to me. I tend to take Magic Initiate (Warlock) for EB, but you do get more with a one or two level dip including AB which is what makes EB so much better than any other cantrip.
There are some interesting assumptions that you've engineered into your critique that I fundamentally disagree with:
there will be other party members that are ranged and lower AC(squishy)
there will be spell slots for smites always(paladins have horrible spell slots, even with warlock short rest pact slots)
melee attacking will be possible.
melee attacking will not incur any other effects (standing in auras, close radius effects)
this PC will be the 'tank'
NPC enemies will be 'dumb' enough to attack the PC with the highest AC and high HP.
Using a spell cast necessitates that this paladin will be 'behind' and not in front lines of combat
.........
I find these assumptions unsound. That being said, thanks for the contribution.
These aren’t that interesting or abnormal scenarios if you are playing in a party with 4 (even 3) or more.
If you don’t have at least one ranged party member than your party synergy is questionable.
Your spell slots are regained on a short rest with pact slots as you said, but your spell slots increase a fair amount. Even with out your smites you still have other tools in your bag, (Channel Divinity, Sacred Weapon for Devotion at level 3, warlock spell buffs depending upon your patron).
Melee attacking will be possible in most scenarios, again if not there should be at least 1-2 party members who can take advantage of this with ranged attacks.
As a Paladin, you make a great tank. They are one of the most power half casters in 5E due to your ability heal, buff and nova damage you can due in melee combat. Your armor proficiencies and abilities will make you the better tank than most characters. True you don’t have to be (Dex Paladins for example) but the class lends itself to this.
Unless you have a total troll of a DM that goes out of his way to give you only highly intelligent monsters/enemies for the sole purpose of attacking the squishiest PC, than MOST times they will attack you first. That is the strategic idea behind being a front liner. You are in the front line of combat taking the initial (maybe not total) focus of the enemy. Good DMs will recognize this focus and will play combat scenarios accordingly. Maybe not everytime, but certainly more than half of the time.
Using a spell cast definitely does not necessitate that the Paladin will be in the back line of combat, but if you start focusing on ranged spells over attack buffs or even defensive buffs than you are placing yourself in an awkward place mainly due to what your character’s abilities lend itself too. For example, if all you have are smites and the rest are ranged spells than you would probably feel more inclined to be at mid to long range for most of combat.
Again if it’s just a solo or even duo adventure than this is a great build ( I have made and played similar). But for a party this seems less optimal. The only way this would make sense in a party is if you all made gish builds or went for all around builds which were fairly equal in terms of combat and utility. Even then it’s debatable. But at the end of the day it’s up to you and you definitely don’t a weak character if you stick with your build, just less optimal than what it could be which is what Fishapod was doing in his critique which is what you asked for in your thread title.
Spending one cantrip and one invocation to go from useless to great at ranged combat is a no brainer.
my question is why you want to go so much paladin instead of sorcerer if power is what you seek.
paladin6/hexblade2/sorcerer12 is totally bonkers due to bonus action casting and tons of spells to burn on smites. Your list of benefits basically remains, with additions.
you lose some hp, but can reliably cast defensive spells like improved invisibility and blink to compensate.
There are some interesting assumptions that you've engineered into your critique that I fundamentally disagree with:
there will be other party members that are ranged and lower AC(squishy)
there will be spell slots for smites always(paladins have horrible spell slots, even with warlock short rest pact slots)
melee attacking will be possible.
melee attacking will not incur any other effects (standing in auras, close radius effects)
this PC will be the 'tank'
NPC enemies will be 'dumb' enough to attack the PC with the highest AC and high HP.
Using a spell cast necessitates that this paladin will be 'behind' and not in front lines of combat
.........
I find these assumptions unsound. That being said, thanks for the contribution.
These aren’t that interesting or abnormal scenarios if you are playing in a party with 4 (even 3) or more.
If you don’t have at least one ranged party member than your party synergy is questionable.
Your spell slots are regained on a short rest with pact slots as you said, but your spell slots increase a fair amount. Even with out your smites you still have other tools in your bag, (Channel Divinity, Sacred Weapon for Devotion at level 3, warlock spell buffs depending upon your patron).
Melee attacking will be possible in most scenarios, again if not there should be at least 1-2 party members who can take advantage of this with ranged attacks.
As a Paladin, you make a great tank. They are one of the most power half casters in 5E due to your ability heal, buff and nova damage you can due in melee combat. Your armor proficiencies and abilities will make you the better tank than most characters. True you don’t have to be (Dex Paladins for example) but the class lends itself to this.
Unless you have a total troll of a DM that goes out of his way to give you only highly intelligent monsters/enemies for the sole purpose of attacking the squishiest PC, than MOST times they will attack you first. That is the strategic idea behind being a front liner. You are in the front line of combat taking the initial (maybe not total) focus of the enemy. Good DMs will recognize this focus and will play combat scenarios accordingly. Maybe not everytime, but certainly more than half of the time.
Using a spell cast definitely does not necessitate that the Paladin will be in the back line of combat, but if you start focusing on ranged spells over attack buffs or even defensive buffs than you are placing yourself in an awkward place mainly due to what your character’s abilities lend itself too. For example, if all you have are smites and the rest are ranged spells than you would probably feel more inclined to be at mid to long range for most of combat.
Again if it’s just a solo or even duo adventure than this is a great build ( I have made and played similar). But for a party this seems less optimal. The only way this would make sense in a party is if you all made gish builds or went for all around builds which were fairly equal in terms of combat and utility. Even then it’s debatable. But at the end of the day it’s up to you and you definitely don’t a weak character if you stick with your build, just less optimal than what it could be which is what Fishapod was doing in his critique which is what you asked for in your thread title.
Thanks for defending me there. It feels like there's a lot less wanting constructive critiques and more wanting to debate. Personally I just find this need to be good at ranged when you're a clear tank and melee combatant less than optimal in an average party. At least in parties I play in, I would feel like I'm trying to hard to be an everyman and good at everything and stepping on other party member's toes if I was going for the eldritch blast + EB route. In a solo campaign, this makes sense as you need all your bases covered. However, I find it ridiculous to say that the assumptions I've made that UltraViolence points are out of place.
There are some interesting assumptions that you've engineered into your critique that I fundamentally disagree with:
there will be other party members that are ranged and lower AC(squishy)
there will be spell slots for smites always(paladins have horrible spell slots, even with warlock short rest pact slots)
melee attacking will be possible.
melee attacking will not incur any other effects (standing in auras, close radius effects)
this PC will be the 'tank'
NPC enemies will be 'dumb' enough to attack the PC with the highest AC and high HP.
Using a spell cast necessitates that this paladin will be 'behind' and not in front lines of combat
Considering that for example war caster allows for a spell cast cantrip (xd10+CHA) > 1d12 || 2d6 +STR. I think it's safe to say that EB > melee for reactions until at the very least 13th level when the paladin is 11 and IDS is part of the picture. EB > Melee on opportunity attack. Later on, this damage turns into 20dmg per attack (assumed all hits) per round. I would take this over an 8 temp hp buff.
I find these assumptions unsound. That being said, thanks for the contribution
I find your assessment of these assumptions unsound, thanks for your feedback. I'll answer your bullets below
1. This is why I stated that for a solo build this works, but a party build it's not quite optimal if you want to work with the team. Let's assume that there are party members, since I've already stated my thoughts on this as a solo build. Let's pretend we have one extra party member of a random class (excluding paladin). Of all the classes they can be, 70%~ could be ranged (Artificer, Bard, Cleric, Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, Wizard, Warlock, and Sorcerer are all classes that either are best at range or have potential ranged builds.) Imagine if it's a warlock and they see you taking EB + AB to essentially just take their job.
2. There won't always be smite slots, true. And there won't always be spell slots for any class with spell slots. Paladins are good at melee and you don't always need smites to be powerful. However, the spell slots recharging on a short rest and being higher level (even above paladin level 5) will give plenty of smite power.
3. Melee attacking isn't always possible? My question is, why are you getting yourself into a situation where you can't melee? What situations won't melee be possible? Give me an example. If you're assuming the enemies are intelligent enough to understand how tanking works, I think the players are smart enough to understand where their class excels and to avoid situations where it won't.
4. Can't argue with that, sometimes they do have auras. How often do they though? Is it worth optimizing for a situation this specific?
5. Considering the paladins nice hit dice, healing ability, aura that boosts saves, and generally high AC compared to other classes, yes I think it's fair to assume a paladin will play a tank or at least be able to fill that role when necessary.
6. Depends what enemies you're fighting. I don't think beasts are going to be intelligent enough to understand tanks. I'd also say an intelligent enemy seeing the squishy warlock in the back and a menacing paladin standing in between them and the caster, do you think a smart enemy will walk around a heavily armored and dangerous melee combatant (the intent of the build was stated to be a solid melee build) and have their back turned to it so they can attack the caster?
7. I'm not assuming casting will put them in the back. Having played many paladins I cast my spells in the frontline. However, casting eldritch blast in the front line when you could instead go for a melee hit to try to nova smite (the 19/20 on the conclusion section is a feature of the vengeance paladin meant for crit fishing) doesn't make much sense to me.
Overall, I don't think my assumptions for an average party are out of bounds. I'd also say that the 'intent' stated at the beginning of the post says it's to deal solid melee damage. Trying to make a class better at range when your goal is melee sounds extremely backwards, but thanks for your contributions.
None would argue melee isnt the bread and butter of the Paladin, but what is with the big spectacle over Eldritch Blast? What do you lose by picking up Eldritch Blast? You lose Prestidigitation or something else unimportant (and maybe the ability to see in the dark if you also go for +cha to damage). What you get in return is relevance in a lot of situations, and a reason for enemies to engage you in melee instead of trying to avoid you.
And at least in our games, you suddenly meet a flying dragon, which given its intelligence wont just land down to be smited anytime soon. The same goes for mages with fly/dimensiondoor etc.
Eldritch Blast is great, and without much doubt the best combat-cantrip in the game. Any character who can get it should, and a paladin who has little other ranged options have double reason to take it imo :)
And to the threadowner, I would start like this:
Paladin 1 (to get heavy armor proficiency) Hexblade 1 (to get charisma to hit) Paladin 2 Paladin 3 Paladin 4 Paladin 5 Paladin 6 (for cha to saves) Hexblade 2 (for cha to ranged damage) Sorcerer 1-12
I think the issue is more the invocation than the cantrip. I like to use the grasp of hadar to get enemies closer to me with eb, rather than a couple more points of damage. I think the opportunity cost is what you're not seeing. It isn't that what you took is "bad" just that there are so much better options aimed specifically at what you say you want to be good at
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Here's a build I think is very strong, Let me know what you think.
Intent: be solid melee dmg, offer high utility and be extremely resilient and highly versatile.
Race: Half Elf - Drow +2 CHA +1 CON +1 STR
Background: doesn't matter
Ability score allocation in order greatest to least
CHA > CON > STR > WIS > DEX > INT
Level progression
Assumed pointbuy(add racial) 17CHA, 16CON, 16STR, 8, 8, 8 => 20CHA, 17 CON, 16 STR - 8 8 8
In conclusion:
At any point in this build, you can swap in one level of Paladin for Warlock 3 and grab the Pact of the blade if you want to go 2h. The only thing you will lose will be basically the 30ft improvement to your auras and nothing else really worth mentioning.
Let me know what you think.
It doesn't matter how smart you think are you. No one will want to work with you if you're an *******.
My questions are: why would you get eldritch blast and then improve it? Paladins are primarily melee, and you can’t divine smite with EB. Seems like a waste of a cantrip and invocations. We don’t want excellent ranged damage, we want to hit things and hit them hard with our smites.
Where is that plus 5 coming from for death saves? You don’t add any modifiers from ability scores, and your aura of protection is useless when making death saving throws because you’re unconscious.
additionally... how are you handling the sunlight sensitivity from being Drow? I see no mention of having a “Knaves eye patch” to cancel it out.
While in sunlight, the drow has disadvantage on Attack rolls, as well as on Wisdom(Perception) checks that rely on sight.
your elven accuracy will never kick in when in sunlight. So this depends heavily on the campaign never having sunlight, or casters with the daylight spell.
edit: or does the half elf drow not have the sunlight sensitivity?
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Last I checked half elf drow don't have sunlight sensitivity
Sometimes being in melee will get you killed. That's why I have improved EB.
It doesn't matter how smart you think are you. No one will want to work with you if you're an *******.
Seems like a serious waste of resources. Sometimes being in combat will get you killed. There's a saying that goes, "jack of all trades, master of none." Specialize. Don't try to cover all bases. If you want to play paladin, you're gonna wanna be in close. If you want to be an eldritch blaster go warlock. You have a party for a reason, someone else can and will be a better ranged fighter than you, and they'll need the paladin to cover for them while they shoot.
What eldritch invocation would you recommend instead of agonizing blast? i'm trying to understand how having EB and AB makes the character weaker instead of stronger and I literally can't think of a scenario. I can however easily think of scenarios where EB is incredibly useful and not having a ranged attack could be extremely painful. So please explain what you would do differently and why.
It doesn't matter how smart you think are you. No one will want to work with you if you're an *******.
Personally I like the fiendish vigor. Free temp hp just cause, anytime you want. Increase your survivability anytime you want for free essentially. This way you can tank even more as a paladin. I find that trying to give a paladin ranged alternatives isn’t a great idea. Sure it’s great you can do ranged damage, but now you’re missing out on smites, and now the guy in heavy armor who can tank is in the back line sniping, making it so much easier for the squishier allies to get hit. Really feels like you’re stepping on the toes of other party members, if this is a solo build I’d say it’s perfect, but in a party trying to make yourself specialized as possible so that you can fill a role very well and your allies can cover the others works better.
There are some interesting assumptions that you've engineered into your critique that I fundamentally disagree with:
Considering that for example war caster allows for a spell cast cantrip (xd10+CHA) > 1d12 || 2d6 +STR. I think it's safe to say that EB > melee for reactions until at the very least 13th level when the paladin is 11 and IDS is part of the picture. EB > Melee on opportunity attack. Later on, this damage turns into 20dmg per attack (assumed all hits) per round. I would take this over an 8 temp hp buff.
I find these assumptions unsound. That being said, thanks for the contribution.
It doesn't matter how smart you think are you. No one will want to work with you if you're an *******.
The Half-Elf variant Drow gets the Drow racial spells without any of the Drow penalties so in practical terms it's a better Drow. You're going to be abused by sunlight sensitivity far more than you'll benefit from 120 foot darkvision.
It looks like a good build to me. I tend to take Magic Initiate (Warlock) for EB, but you do get more with a one or two level dip including AB which is what makes EB so much better than any other cantrip.
These aren’t that interesting or abnormal scenarios if you are playing in a party with 4 (even 3) or more.
If you don’t have at least one ranged party member than your party synergy is questionable.
Your spell slots are regained on a short rest with pact slots as you said, but your spell slots increase a fair amount. Even with out your smites you still have other tools in your bag, (Channel Divinity, Sacred Weapon for Devotion at level 3, warlock spell buffs depending upon your patron).
Melee attacking will be possible in most scenarios, again if not there should be at least 1-2 party members who can take advantage of this with ranged attacks.
As a Paladin, you make a great tank. They are one of the most power half casters in 5E due to your ability heal, buff and nova damage you can due in melee combat. Your armor proficiencies and abilities will make you the better tank than most characters. True you don’t have to be (Dex Paladins for example) but the class lends itself to this.
Unless you have a total troll of a DM that goes out of his way to give you only highly intelligent monsters/enemies for the sole purpose of attacking the squishiest PC, than MOST times they will attack you first. That is the strategic idea behind being a front liner. You are in the front line of combat taking the initial (maybe not total) focus of the enemy. Good DMs will recognize this focus and will play combat scenarios accordingly. Maybe not everytime, but certainly more than half of the time.
Using a spell cast definitely does not necessitate that the Paladin will be in the back line of combat, but if you start focusing on ranged spells over attack buffs or even defensive buffs than you are placing yourself in an awkward place mainly due to what your character’s abilities lend itself too. For example, if all you have are smites and the rest are ranged spells than you would probably feel more inclined to be at mid to long range for most of combat.
Again if it’s just a solo or even duo adventure than this is a great build ( I have made and played similar). But for a party this seems less optimal. The only way this would make sense in a party is if you all made gish builds or went for all around builds which were fairly equal in terms of combat and utility. Even then it’s debatable. But at the end of the day it’s up to you and you definitely don’t a weak character if you stick with your build, just less optimal than what it could be which is what Fishapod was doing in his critique which is what you asked for in your thread title.
Spending one cantrip and one invocation to go from useless to great at ranged combat is a no brainer.
my question is why you want to go so much paladin instead of sorcerer if power is what you seek.
paladin6/hexblade2/sorcerer12 is totally bonkers due to bonus action casting and tons of spells to burn on smites. Your list of benefits basically remains, with additions.
you lose some hp, but can reliably cast defensive spells like improved invisibility and blink to compensate.
Thanks for defending me there. It feels like there's a lot less wanting constructive critiques and more wanting to debate. Personally I just find this need to be good at ranged when you're a clear tank and melee combatant less than optimal in an average party. At least in parties I play in, I would feel like I'm trying to hard to be an everyman and good at everything and stepping on other party member's toes if I was going for the eldritch blast + EB route. In a solo campaign, this makes sense as you need all your bases covered. However, I find it ridiculous to say that the assumptions I've made that UltraViolence points are out of place.
I find your assessment of these assumptions unsound, thanks for your feedback. I'll answer your bullets below
1. This is why I stated that for a solo build this works, but a party build it's not quite optimal if you want to work with the team. Let's assume that there are party members, since I've already stated my thoughts on this as a solo build. Let's pretend we have one extra party member of a random class (excluding paladin). Of all the classes they can be, 70%~ could be ranged (Artificer, Bard, Cleric, Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, Wizard, Warlock, and Sorcerer are all classes that either are best at range or have potential ranged builds.) Imagine if it's a warlock and they see you taking EB + AB to essentially just take their job.
2. There won't always be smite slots, true. And there won't always be spell slots for any class with spell slots. Paladins are good at melee and you don't always need smites to be powerful. However, the spell slots recharging on a short rest and being higher level (even above paladin level 5) will give plenty of smite power.
3. Melee attacking isn't always possible? My question is, why are you getting yourself into a situation where you can't melee? What situations won't melee be possible? Give me an example. If you're assuming the enemies are intelligent enough to understand how tanking works, I think the players are smart enough to understand where their class excels and to avoid situations where it won't.
4. Can't argue with that, sometimes they do have auras. How often do they though? Is it worth optimizing for a situation this specific?
5. Considering the paladins nice hit dice, healing ability, aura that boosts saves, and generally high AC compared to other classes, yes I think it's fair to assume a paladin will play a tank or at least be able to fill that role when necessary.
6. Depends what enemies you're fighting. I don't think beasts are going to be intelligent enough to understand tanks. I'd also say an intelligent enemy seeing the squishy warlock in the back and a menacing paladin standing in between them and the caster, do you think a smart enemy will walk around a heavily armored and dangerous melee combatant (the intent of the build was stated to be a solid melee build) and have their back turned to it so they can attack the caster?
7. I'm not assuming casting will put them in the back. Having played many paladins I cast my spells in the frontline. However, casting eldritch blast in the front line when you could instead go for a melee hit to try to nova smite (the 19/20 on the conclusion section is a feature of the vengeance paladin meant for crit fishing) doesn't make much sense to me.
Overall, I don't think my assumptions for an average party are out of bounds. I'd also say that the 'intent' stated at the beginning of the post says it's to deal solid melee damage. Trying to make a class better at range when your goal is melee sounds extremely backwards, but thanks for your contributions.
None would argue melee isnt the bread and butter of the Paladin, but what is with the big spectacle over Eldritch Blast? What do you lose by picking up Eldritch Blast? You lose Prestidigitation or something else unimportant (and maybe the ability to see in the dark if you also go for +cha to damage). What you get in return is relevance in a lot of situations, and a reason for enemies to engage you in melee instead of trying to avoid you.
And at least in our games, you suddenly meet a flying dragon, which given its intelligence wont just land down to be smited anytime soon. The same goes for mages with fly/dimensiondoor etc.
Eldritch Blast is great, and without much doubt the best combat-cantrip in the game. Any character who can get it should, and a paladin who has little other ranged options have double reason to take it imo :)
And to the threadowner, I would start like this:
Paladin 1 (to get heavy armor proficiency)
Hexblade 1 (to get charisma to hit)
Paladin 2
Paladin 3
Paladin 4
Paladin 5
Paladin 6 (for cha to saves)
Hexblade 2 (for cha to ranged damage)
Sorcerer 1-12
I think the issue is more the invocation than the cantrip. I like to use the grasp of hadar to get enemies closer to me with eb, rather than a couple more points of damage. I think the opportunity cost is what you're not seeing. It isn't that what you took is "bad" just that there are so much better options aimed specifically at what you say you want to be good at