It will depend on what sort of character you want to play. Are you planning for the Paladin to be front-line melee damage, front-line melee protector, second-line healer?
My recommendation would be the Hexadin, half-elf, pick Elven Accuracy as your racial feat. Medium armor, so get your Dex to a 14 and max Cha and get a decent Con (14+).
From warlock, get your Hexblade stuff, go Darkness/Devil's Sight until you can get Shadow of Moil to replace Darkness.
Paladin: Vengeance subclass, I'd go at least until level 6 so you can get your Aura of Protection. Use Vow of Enmity to turn on Elven Accuracy against enemies that don't rely on sight (dragons, for example).
Pick the shield spell from the Hexblade subclass for a little extra survivability. For the rest of your levels, you could go bard or sorcerer to get more smite slots, go full paladin to get more auras and Improved Smite, or (for extra fun, but at the cost of all your spell progression) go 3 levels in fighter and pick up the Improved Critical feature from the Champion, along with a fighting style and action surge for when you really need to kill stuff.
Currently I play a life cleric. But I need a replacement character if the cleric should be dying.
Point buy with one free racial feat if applicable. Available Books: PHB, DMG, MM, XGE, VTM, MToF. (I own a TCE too but not the rest of the group.)
I considered picking a paladin.
Any race with a +2 cha and access to a feat that'll give you another +1. That'll get your cha to 18 at L1. Using the optional racial modifiers that let you pick where they go opens up options here. Elves + elven accuracy works good, great even. Metallic Dragonborn + Dragon Fear would be my go to option but you'd have plenty.
Regardless of race, the key is getting the 18 Cha. Because of this, we'd be going hexadin. Reason being: We're using our Cha for attack and damage and then if we go Devotion paladin subclass we can do it again. That's right, no magic weapons and at L1/L3 Hexadin we'd be attacking at +10 to hit and a d8+10 damage. (or even 1d8+12 +1d6 against hex-curse'd targets)
Then at 5th level (Hex1/Devo4) you can cap your Cha. Now you're attacking at +13 to hit and a d8+15+1d6.
Every level keeps making you more useful in leaps from here: L6 gets you to extra attack so you're unloading insane consistent damage now. And L7 gets you your aura, for +5 to all your saves (and close allies too). L8 and now you got AOE charm immunity.
Your accuracy will be through the roof, so spells like hex and spirit shroud work great for you, and you can basically smite-on-demand since you nearly always hit anyway. It is possible you'd even wanna consider slipping into Sorc at that point, after getting Hex1/Devo6/SorcX. it would expand on your spellcasting prowess significantly.
Now 4 builds look interesting:
a) Hexadin to make the class SAD and give decent ranged attack possibilities too.
Good, however you slice it, will work out: good to super awesome.
b) Grabbing 2 to 4 levels of fighter to beef the paladin a bit up.
Not great, honestly. Fighter isn't inherently any beefier than paladin and in many ways less beefy.
c) Sorcadin. Grabbing up to 12 level paladin and rest Divine Soul Sorcerer.
This is the move if you want a more caster-y vibe or just a TON of smite staying power. You can even reduce that paladin all the way down to just like 2 levels and the rest sorc, or 6; also another good swapping point.
d) Forge Cleric to make the build tankier.
Eh, you want a tankier cleric; go Twilight. It even has a built in aggro generator. I've never seen a class aggro all the monsters like a twilight cleric can. It is super fun and has one of the best spell lists out there. Wear heavy armor, fight with martial weapons. Be both a pre-healer plus a battlefield controller or dps at the same time.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Odd when I look into my PHB there is written at the Holy Weapon that it just adds the CHA-bonus to the attack rolls but not to the damage. How do you get to the +10 to +15 damage?
Odd when I look into my PHB there is written at the Holy Weapon that it just adds the CHA-bonus to the attack rolls but not to the damage. How do you get to the +10 to +15 damage?
Presumably he meant Oathbreaker, not Devotion. Oathbreakers get CHA on damage that stacks with other damage.
Currently I play a life cleric. But I need a replacement character if the cleric should be dying.
A couple of questions.
As this is a back up character presumably you will start at the level your cleric dies, what level are they currently (a lot of multiclass builds are weak early on)
Does the party use flanking? If so then elven accuracy becomes much more powerful, Without it you need somewhere way to get advantage frequently for it to be a good feat.
To your questions: all are level 1 or 2. We have a wood elf monk, a halfling rogue, a high elf wizard and my high elf life cleric. The paladin is planned as a replacement character if my cleric should passing away. We are playing currently Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. I assume that we will use flanking.
A paladin wouldbe a good addition to that group. Monks are skirmishers rogues are either skirmishers as well or ranged and unless a badesinger wizards are ranged so being a bit ofa tank will help. A paladin can also heal which will missing if you cleric dies. A paladin can also be the parties face and you appear to be lacking someone good at charisma.
Check with your dm about flanking, it is an optional rule and is farrow universally used. I do not allow it as it reduces the value of other features that grant advantage and most of the dms I know are the same (somehome brew a fixed +2 to your attack but that won't help elvan accuracy).
Also check your DM allows multiclassing and whether there are any restrictions or consequences of doing so. Multiclassing is also an optional rule though one used much more than flanking
Of the suggested MC options I would go hexblade. Just take a single level initially, then take at least 6 levels of paladin, you want extra attack and your aura as fast as possible. At that stage you might consider another level or two of warlock but continuing with paladin is also a very good option.
Your DM might just treat your warlock level as extra features but might also have your patron expect you to fill your side of the pact. The DM might want you to also explore any clashes between your pact and your oath. If you reject the offer of greater pact magic when you hit level 2 and 3 the offer might not be there at level 7, or your patron might regard you as a pact breaker and send minions to kill you. Some DMs could even take away your warlock features (though I do nottnink it is right to do this permanently). This is the sort of thing I meant when referring to the consequences of multiclassing.
As much as anything it is for theme but I prefer paladin to wear heavy armor, which means you want 15 strength rather than 14 dex. You could however leave the 15 strength until level 4 as you are 7nlikely to get plate before then or even just live with the lower movement speed. As you are not using Tashas I would go half elf the ability increases are just too good to ignore. (And given you would be throwing away a feat by taking a non PHB race that has no racial feats available). Choose str and con as your +1 ability scores.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I was able to join a new group.
Currently I play a life cleric. But I need a replacement character if the cleric should be dying.
Point buy with one free racial feat if applicable. Available Books: PHB, DMG, MM, XGE, VTM, MToF. (I own a TCE too but not the rest of the group.)
I considered picking a paladin.
Now 4 builds look interesting:
a) Hexadin to make the class SAD and give decent ranged attack possibilities too.
b) Grabbing 2 to 4 levels of fighter to beef the paladin a bit up.
c) Sorcadin. Grabbing up to 12 level paladin and rest Divine Soul Sorcerer.
d) Forge Cleric to make the build tankier.
Other ideas are welcome.
Thank you for your assistance.
It will depend on what sort of character you want to play. Are you planning for the Paladin to be front-line melee damage, front-line melee protector, second-line healer?
My recommendation would be the Hexadin, half-elf, pick Elven Accuracy as your racial feat. Medium armor, so get your Dex to a 14 and max Cha and get a decent Con (14+).
From warlock, get your Hexblade stuff, go Darkness/Devil's Sight until you can get Shadow of Moil to replace Darkness.
Paladin: Vengeance subclass, I'd go at least until level 6 so you can get your Aura of Protection. Use Vow of Enmity to turn on Elven Accuracy against enemies that don't rely on sight (dragons, for example).
Pick the shield spell from the Hexblade subclass for a little extra survivability. For the rest of your levels, you could go bard or sorcerer to get more smite slots, go full paladin to get more auras and Improved Smite, or (for extra fun, but at the cost of all your spell progression) go 3 levels in fighter and pick up the Improved Critical feature from the Champion, along with a fighting style and action surge for when you really need to kill stuff.
Partway through the quest for absolute truth.
Eladrin with Cha 17 / Con 16 / Str 15 and Elven Accuracy (Charisma) out the gate:
Any race with a +2 cha and access to a feat that'll give you another +1. That'll get your cha to 18 at L1. Using the optional racial modifiers that let you pick where they go opens up options here. Elves + elven accuracy works good, great even. Metallic Dragonborn + Dragon Fear would be my go to option but you'd have plenty.
Regardless of race, the key is getting the 18 Cha. Because of this, we'd be going hexadin. Reason being: We're using our Cha for attack and damage and then if we go Devotion paladin subclass we can do it again. That's right, no magic weapons and at L1/L3 Hexadin we'd be attacking at +10 to hit and a d8+10 damage. (or even 1d8+12 +1d6 against hex-curse'd targets)
Then at 5th level (Hex1/Devo4) you can cap your Cha. Now you're attacking at +13 to hit and a d8+15+1d6.
Every level keeps making you more useful in leaps from here: L6 gets you to extra attack so you're unloading insane consistent damage now. And L7 gets you your aura, for +5 to all your saves (and close allies too). L8 and now you got AOE charm immunity.
Your accuracy will be through the roof, so spells like hex and spirit shroud work great for you, and you can basically smite-on-demand since you nearly always hit anyway. It is possible you'd even wanna consider slipping into Sorc at that point, after getting Hex1/Devo6/SorcX. it would expand on your spellcasting prowess significantly.
Good, however you slice it, will work out: good to super awesome.
Not great, honestly. Fighter isn't inherently any beefier than paladin and in many ways less beefy.
This is the move if you want a more caster-y vibe or just a TON of smite staying power. You can even reduce that paladin all the way down to just like 2 levels and the rest sorc, or 6; also another good swapping point.
Eh, you want a tankier cleric; go Twilight. It even has a built in aggro generator. I've never seen a class aggro all the monsters like a twilight cleric can. It is super fun and has one of the best spell lists out there. Wear heavy armor, fight with martial weapons. Be both a pre-healer plus a battlefield controller or dps at the same time.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Odd when I look into my PHB there is written at the Holy Weapon that it just adds the CHA-bonus to the attack rolls but not to the damage. How do you get to the +10 to +15 damage?
Presumably he meant Oathbreaker, not Devotion. Oathbreakers get CHA on damage that stacks with other damage.
But that would still not working as described because the Oathbreaker get his damage aura at class level 7. I guess he read the holy weapon wrong.
A couple of questions.
As this is a back up character presumably you will start at the level your cleric dies, what level are they currently (a lot of multiclass builds are weak early on)
Does the party use flanking? If so then elven accuracy becomes much more powerful, Without it you need somewhere way to get advantage frequently for it to be a good feat.
What is the rest of the party made up of?
What level do you expect the campaign to end?
To your questions: all are level 1 or 2. We have a wood elf monk, a halfling rogue, a high elf wizard and my high elf life cleric. The paladin is planned as a replacement character if my cleric should passing away. We are playing currently Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. I assume that we will use flanking.
A paladin wouldbe a good addition to that group. Monks are skirmishers rogues are either skirmishers as well or ranged and unless a badesinger wizards are ranged so being a bit ofa tank will help. A paladin can also heal which will missing if you cleric dies. A paladin can also be the parties face and you appear to be lacking someone good at charisma.
Check with your dm about flanking, it is an optional rule and is farrow universally used. I do not allow it as it reduces the value of other features that grant advantage and most of the dms I know are the same (somehome brew a fixed +2 to your attack but that won't help elvan accuracy).
Also check your DM allows multiclassing and whether there are any restrictions or consequences of doing so. Multiclassing is also an optional rule though one used much more than flanking
Of the suggested MC options I would go hexblade. Just take a single level initially, then take at least 6 levels of paladin, you want extra attack and your aura as fast as possible. At that stage you might consider another level or two of warlock but continuing with paladin is also a very good option.
Your DM might just treat your warlock level as extra features but might also have your patron expect you to fill your side of the pact. The DM might want you to also explore any clashes between your pact and your oath. If you reject the offer of greater pact magic when you hit level 2 and 3 the offer might not be there at level 7, or your patron might regard you as a pact breaker and send minions to kill you. Some DMs could even take away your warlock features (though I do nottnink it is right to do this permanently). This is the sort of thing I meant when referring to the consequences of multiclassing.
As much as anything it is for theme but I prefer paladin to wear heavy armor, which means you want 15 strength rather than 14 dex. You could however leave the 15 strength until level 4 as you are 7nlikely to get plate before then or even just live with the lower movement speed. As you are not using Tashas I would go half elf the ability increases are just too good to ignore. (And given you would be throwing away a feat by taking a non PHB race that has no racial feats available). Choose str and con as your +1 ability scores.