So I am starting a new campaign and I want to play a Bugbear Assasin/Paladin. S14,D16,C10,I12,W8,Ch15
I am going 4 levels as an Assassin and then multiclass to dueling Paladin until probably 12th. Get Alert at level 4 and Fey touched at level 8, dex ASI at level 12. Expertise in Athletics and Stealth.
In combat the Character will be more of a striker than a front liner and go sword and board using a Rapier or a whip from 10 feet and 15 feet away respectively. Assassinate with the Bugbear 2d6, smite, dueling, extra attack and the 2d6 sneak attack would outrun a regular assassins assassinate ability by a lot. When you consider dueling, surpsise attack and multiattack, I think assassinate would outrun a straight assassin at all levels below 17 even without using spell slots.
I am debating between Conquest, Vengence and Watcher Paladin subclasses.
Watcher has the initiative bonus, this is probably the best feature to combine with Assassin but it is not until 7th level (which is 11th level on this character) and the spells and CDs are not as good as the others.
Vengence - the CD advantage is great, the other stuff is not so good. Hunters Mark is a nice spell addition, although I could get that on Fey touched anyway.
Conquest - This has the best control options. Frightened as a bonus action and reach on sneak attacks can be awesome and then at 7th level they can't move so I could just wail on them using steady aim from 10 feet away.
I have never played a Paladin before, so what do you think?
I personally like the vengeance paladin to get relentless avenger when playing a pole arm master because sentinel can be so good with that. Because you aren’t going that route I might go conquest because the fear is really fun. I’m playing a sorcerer hexadin and because I have find familiar and mounted combatant I chose to go conquest and I think that’s fun. Also you already have the alert feat so you might not need the oath of the watchers initiative. I would probably go conquest with that build
Oath of the Watcher is the best if you have good party synergy. Is there a Rogue, Ranger, or Monk in the party (besides your levels in Rogue)? Do you think the campaign might go up to Tier 3?
Oath of Conquest might be stronger than Oath of Vengeance on paper, but its abilities depend more on your CHA score than Oath of Vengeance. If you started with less than 16 in CHA and never bumped it up, the fear aura isn't very reliable.
Honestly, I'd re-assess this build at its concept. 10 CON is a serious drawback for a character that's going to be within melee range of its opponents. 14 STR on a character that uses DEX as its main stat is worthless when you only need 13 to multiclass in or out of paladin. Likewise, that 15 CHA isn't going to do you much favors until later on, and the campaign might end before then. So, is it worth having at 15? I would say no.
Now, I'd say go vengeance paladin. Assassinate grants you advantage on your first turn on whatever you beat in initiative, so maybe you're thinking you won't need the CD, but the real draw is it gives you an opportunity for another d6 when you use Vengeance's hunter's mark without the bonus action bloat. Second, it would allow you to get misty step as well like fey touched would grant, and best of all, none of its features really depend on CHA all that much so you can dump it to its minimum for multiclass requirements.
So, how would I do it? I would start with 13 STR, 17 DEX, 14 CON, 8 INT, 10 WIS, & 13 CHA. With the bug bear's reach, I'd use a whip. I agree alert is the right choice at 4th level, but instead of fey touched I'd pick up Slasher and round up DEX to 18. Increasing DEX is important in your build, as you gotta land those attacks to be effective, and especially more so when you've got more riders attached to your hits. Increasing your DEX will also make your stealth checks better, as an assassin you really want to ensure surprise as much as possible and it'll help with increasing your AC to the point where you can stick to studded leather and achieve comparable AC to wearing half-plate, without the stealth penalty.
In combat, you can run up to 15 ft of a target, hit it with your whip and drop the damage, then you can either use your remaining movement to walk away or cunning action dash away. In either case, the target you hit just lost 10 ft of movement and has a greater chance of using their action to dash and deny their action economy, thanks to the Slasher feat.
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So I am starting a new campaign and I want to play a Bugbear Assasin/Paladin. S14,D16,C10,I12,W8,Ch15
I am going 4 levels as an Assassin and then multiclass to dueling Paladin until probably 12th. Get Alert at level 4 and Fey touched at level 8, dex ASI at level 12. Expertise in Athletics and Stealth.
In combat the Character will be more of a striker than a front liner and go sword and board using a Rapier or a whip from 10 feet and 15 feet away respectively. Assassinate with the Bugbear 2d6, smite, dueling, extra attack and the 2d6 sneak attack would outrun a regular assassins assassinate ability by a lot. When you consider dueling, surpsise attack and multiattack, I think assassinate would outrun a straight assassin at all levels below 17 even without using spell slots.
I am debating between Conquest, Vengence and Watcher Paladin subclasses.
Watcher has the initiative bonus, this is probably the best feature to combine with Assassin but it is not until 7th level (which is 11th level on this character) and the spells and CDs are not as good as the others.
Vengence - the CD advantage is great, the other stuff is not so good. Hunters Mark is a nice spell addition, although I could get that on Fey touched anyway.
Conquest - This has the best control options. Frightened as a bonus action and reach on sneak attacks can be awesome and then at 7th level they can't move so I could just wail on them using steady aim from 10 feet away.
I have never played a Paladin before, so what do you think?
I personally like the vengeance paladin to get relentless avenger when playing a pole arm master because sentinel can be so good with that. Because you aren’t going that route I might go conquest because the fear is really fun. I’m playing a sorcerer hexadin and because I have find familiar and mounted combatant I chose to go conquest and I think that’s fun. Also you already have the alert feat so you might not need the oath of the watchers initiative. I would probably go conquest with that build
Oath of the Watcher is the best if you have good party synergy. Is there a Rogue, Ranger, or Monk in the party (besides your levels in Rogue)? Do you think the campaign might go up to Tier 3?
Oath of Conquest might be stronger than Oath of Vengeance on paper, but its abilities depend more on your CHA score than Oath of Vengeance. If you started with less than 16 in CHA and never bumped it up, the fear aura isn't very reliable.
Honestly, I'd re-assess this build at its concept. 10 CON is a serious drawback for a character that's going to be within melee range of its opponents. 14 STR on a character that uses DEX as its main stat is worthless when you only need 13 to multiclass in or out of paladin. Likewise, that 15 CHA isn't going to do you much favors until later on, and the campaign might end before then. So, is it worth having at 15? I would say no.
Now, I'd say go vengeance paladin. Assassinate grants you advantage on your first turn on whatever you beat in initiative, so maybe you're thinking you won't need the CD, but the real draw is it gives you an opportunity for another d6 when you use Vengeance's hunter's mark without the bonus action bloat. Second, it would allow you to get misty step as well like fey touched would grant, and best of all, none of its features really depend on CHA all that much so you can dump it to its minimum for multiclass requirements.
So, how would I do it? I would start with 13 STR, 17 DEX, 14 CON, 8 INT, 10 WIS, & 13 CHA. With the bug bear's reach, I'd use a whip. I agree alert is the right choice at 4th level, but instead of fey touched I'd pick up Slasher and round up DEX to 18. Increasing DEX is important in your build, as you gotta land those attacks to be effective, and especially more so when you've got more riders attached to your hits. Increasing your DEX will also make your stealth checks better, as an assassin you really want to ensure surprise as much as possible and it'll help with increasing your AC to the point where you can stick to studded leather and achieve comparable AC to wearing half-plate, without the stealth penalty.
In combat, you can run up to 15 ft of a target, hit it with your whip and drop the damage, then you can either use your remaining movement to walk away or cunning action dash away. In either case, the target you hit just lost 10 ft of movement and has a greater chance of using their action to dash and deny their action economy, thanks to the Slasher feat.