Now I have done absolutely no research into this, but hear me out. Instead of dumping into strength and constitution let's buff up that Dex. Let's use a Conquest oath. Get some hide armor or stud/spike leather armor. Then instead of going big beefy two handed or sword and board, get duel finesse and light weapons. I'd say forgo the first two ability score increase for two feats. Tough and duel weapons fighter. after that focus on your Dex for the next. Then charisma and con for the rest. So long as you get some half decent rolls for the creation. Perfect for those Pallys who prefer not to conform or maybe have an odd god (as far as paladins goes) as their deity.
I'd skip both of those feats. Paladins already have a big extra HP pool from Lay on Hands, Dual Wielder is a trap feat, and paladins don't get extra ASIs to burn. War Caster and Sentinel are the two most useful feats for most paladins.
I would pass on duel wielder until your dex is maxed. +2 dex offers all of the benefits plus more. War caster is great for all of those con saves + somatic spells.
I also like revenant blade as a feat for finesse weapons. It offers a similar damage increase as duel wielder but it only a half feat allowing you to get another half feat later like resilient dex.
Medium armour master is something you might want to consider, I am picturing a conquistador type character, breastplate, rapier, a ruff around the neck, that sort of thing. This dex build opens up for crossbow/firearms as well. So... crossbow expert becomes a conversation, especially the hand crossbow which is synergistic with rapier.
I think dual wielder is a big commitment, and for a dex build it seems like it is not really worth it. Especially considering Paladin does not get the two-weapon fighting style as an option.
You could go Oath of Vengeance at 3 and take elvish advantage at 4. When you use your vow of Enmity, Approximately 1 out of every 7 attacks will critically hit (as opposed to 1 out of 20). This is a decent boss killer. Use the Vow on the boss and blow your smites. You'll be critically hitting fairly often and you get to roll the smite damage twice when you do so works out well. You could snag a level in Warlock to take hexblade if you wanted. Then you'd be critically hitting on 19 when you use that. Then you'll be critically hitting roughly 1 out of 4. Not sure if it's worth it necessarily but it's an option.
I'd personally say res (con) is better than war caster if your playing by general rules.
If you're playing where a 1 is a failure on skills than yes warcaster is better. By general standard rules a 1 on a skill is not a failure. Using 1s as skill fails is a DM optional rule.
At lvl 20 if bult right it's a potential +15 to your con save vs advantage ( which is on average a +5)
As far as a dex paladin goes I remember reading somewhere that they never really worked as well. It was something about the designers when making paladins for 5e they didnt take into account people would make dex paladins.
I am running a Dexterity Conquest Paladin, and it is working quite well.
They are a Winter Eladrin, and their racial Misty Step adds a chance to "Fear" the enemy. With "Dueling", you add a decent damage buff, and have the option for the ever-useful "Shield Master", which I fashion as a smaller round shield.
Obviously, duel-wielding gives more chances to hit, which means more smites...but I've found that relying on the Conquest Paladin's potent "Fear" effects to really be what really defines them...which means a maxed Charisma stat. More "Fears" means more enemies trapped in place...leaving you free to stab them with finesse weapons at your leisure. Later on, with the psychic damage you pile on (and your shield still allowing you to avoid most damage), your still doing respectable damage and leaving the battlefield stricken around you.
But I've enjoyed playing this nimble paladin quite a lot...going toe-to-toe with a roguish enemy in our last session was very enjoyable.
Rogue speed doesn't amount to much when you're too afraid to run away.
I'd personally say res (con) is better than war caster if your playing by general rules.
War Caster is slightly more useful for sword-and-shield or two-weapon-fighting paladins than Resilient because it gets around the problem of needing a free hand to cast some spells, and also lets you cast spells like Command or Compelled Duel as an opportunity attack. Aura of Protection is going to give you a bonus to your CON saves starting at 6th level anyways.
As far as spells go with a paladin they can use emblems as a spell caster focus. This can be a shield so needing a free hand isnt really realivant to Paladins unless I'm missing certain spells. Yes you get a Plus to con at Lvl 6 but having a con save being a +15 because of profiecentcy, con mod and charisma is far better than anything else you could have.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Now I have done absolutely no research into this, but hear me out. Instead of dumping into strength and constitution let's buff up that Dex. Let's use a Conquest oath. Get some hide armor or stud/spike leather armor. Then instead of going big beefy two handed or sword and board, get duel finesse and light weapons. I'd say forgo the first two ability score increase for two feats. Tough and duel weapons fighter. after that focus on your Dex for the next. Then charisma and con for the rest. So long as you get some half decent rolls for the creation. Perfect for those Pallys who prefer not to conform or maybe have an odd god (as far as paladins goes) as their deity.
I'd skip both of those feats. Paladins already have a big extra HP pool from Lay on Hands, Dual Wielder is a trap feat, and paladins don't get extra ASIs to burn. War Caster and Sentinel are the two most useful feats for most paladins.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
I would pass on duel wielder until your dex is maxed. +2 dex offers all of the benefits plus more. War caster is great for all of those con saves + somatic spells.
I also like revenant blade as a feat for finesse weapons. It offers a similar damage increase as duel wielder but it only a half feat allowing you to get another half feat later like resilient dex.
Medium armour master is something you might want to consider, I am picturing a conquistador type character, breastplate, rapier, a ruff around the neck, that sort of thing. This dex build opens up for crossbow/firearms as well. So... crossbow expert becomes a conversation, especially the hand crossbow which is synergistic with rapier.
I think dual wielder is a big commitment, and for a dex build it seems like it is not really worth it. Especially considering Paladin does not get the two-weapon fighting style as an option.
Jesus Saves!... Everyone else takes damage.
You could go Oath of Vengeance at 3 and take elvish advantage at 4. When you use your vow of Enmity, Approximately 1 out of every 7 attacks will critically hit (as opposed to 1 out of 20). This is a decent boss killer. Use the Vow on the boss and blow your smites. You'll be critically hitting fairly often and you get to roll the smite damage twice when you do so works out well. You could snag a level in Warlock to take hexblade if you wanted. Then you'd be critically hitting on 19 when you use that. Then you'll be critically hitting roughly 1 out of 4. Not sure if it's worth it necessarily but it's an option.
I'd personally say res (con) is better than war caster if your playing by general rules.
If you're playing where a 1 is a failure on skills than yes warcaster is better. By general standard rules a 1 on a skill is not a failure. Using 1s as skill fails is a DM optional rule.
At lvl 20 if bult right it's a potential +15 to your con save vs advantage ( which is on average a +5)
As far as a dex paladin goes I remember reading somewhere that they never really worked as well. It was something about the designers when making paladins for 5e they didnt take into account people would make dex paladins.
I am running a Dexterity Conquest Paladin, and it is working quite well.
They are a Winter Eladrin, and their racial Misty Step adds a chance to "Fear" the enemy. With "Dueling", you add a decent damage buff, and have the option for the ever-useful "Shield Master", which I fashion as a smaller round shield.
Obviously, duel-wielding gives more chances to hit, which means more smites...but I've found that relying on the Conquest Paladin's potent "Fear" effects to really be what really defines them...which means a maxed Charisma stat. More "Fears" means more enemies trapped in place...leaving you free to stab them with finesse weapons at your leisure. Later on, with the psychic damage you pile on (and your shield still allowing you to avoid most damage), your still doing respectable damage and leaving the battlefield stricken around you.
But I've enjoyed playing this nimble paladin quite a lot...going toe-to-toe with a roguish enemy in our last session was very enjoyable.
Rogue speed doesn't amount to much when you're too afraid to run away.
War Caster is slightly more useful for sword-and-shield or two-weapon-fighting paladins than Resilient because it gets around the problem of needing a free hand to cast some spells, and also lets you cast spells like Command or Compelled Duel as an opportunity attack. Aura of Protection is going to give you a bonus to your CON saves starting at 6th level anyways.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
As far as spells go with a paladin they can use emblems as a spell caster focus. This can be a shield so needing a free hand isnt really realivant to Paladins unless I'm missing certain spells. Yes you get a Plus to con at Lvl 6 but having a con save being a +15 because of profiecentcy, con mod and charisma is far better than anything else you could have.