Introduction to Paladin Lore Paladins in Dungeons & Dragons are more than just warriors; they are holy knights bound by a divine oath to uphold the forces of good. They blend martial prowess with powerful clerical magic, enforcing justice and radiance in a world beset by darkness. This post explores the rich lore surrounding Paladins, tracing their origins back to historical and mythological figures such as the Knights Templar and Arthurian legends.
Paladin Background and Archetypes Paladins pledge themselves to various oaths, each shaping their divine powers and role-playing dynamics. For instance, the Oath of Devotion binds a Paladin to the loftiest ideals of justice and mercy, while the Oath of Vengeance focuses on punishing the wicked. Each oath offers unique abilities and spells reflecting the Paladin’s focus and divine allegiance, allowing players to tailor their characters to their preferred style of gameplay.
In Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, Paladins stand as paragons of righteousness, combining formidable martial capabilities with powerful divine magic. This guide delves deep into the Paladin class, providing nuanced strategies, gear recommendations, and multiclassing advice to help you maximize your Paladin’s role within your adventuring party.
1. Understanding Paladin Fundamentals
Paladins are bound by sacred oaths that grant them divine powers, including the ability to heal the wounded, smite the wicked, and protect the innocent. Before diving into tactics and equipment, it’s crucial to understand the core features that define the Paladin class:
- Divine Smite: Allows Paladins to expend a spell slot to deal extra radiant damage.
- Lay on Hands: A pool of healing power that can restore hit points or cure diseases and poison.
- Aura of Protection: Adds a Charisma modifier to all saving throws for the Paladin and nearby allies.
- Sacred Oaths: These are special vows that provide unique powers and determine a Paladin’s path.
2. Advanced Combat Tactics
Role Flexibility: Paladins can adapt to many roles, including tank, damage dealer, or support. Knowing when to switch roles in combat is key to utilizing the Paladin’s full capabilities.
Optimized Smite Strategy: Divine Smite is one of the Paladin’s most powerful abilities. Use it strategically—against bosses or particularly tough enemies to maximize your damage output. Consider saving some spell slots for critical hits to make the most of your smite.
Aura Management: Your aura abilities can significantly impact the battlefield. Position yourself strategically to cover as many party members as possible, enhancing their defenses and bolstering their resolve.
3. Equipment and Gear Selection
Armor Choices: Full plate armor offers the best base AC, crucial for a frontline fighter. Enhance this with magical armors when available, such as Armor of Invulnerability for resistance to nonmagical attacks.
Weapon Selection: While many Paladins favor the classic sword and shield, choosing a weapon should reflect your campaign’s challenges and your Paladin’s style. The Holy Avenger, for example, is particularly potent in a Paladin’s hands, providing bonus damage against fiends and undead.
Recommended Magic Items:
- Shield of Faith: Provides a bonus to AC.
- Cloak of Protection: Adds to both AC and saving throws.
- Ring of Spell Storing: Useful for storing extra smites or healing spells.
4. Multiclassing Insights
Fighter Multiclass: This is ideal for Paladins seeking enhanced combat prowess. Gaining a Fighting Style, Second Wind, and Action Surge from the Fighter class can significantly boost a Paladin’s battlefield sustainability and damage output.
Cleric Multiclass: For those who wish to amplify their healing and support capabilities, adding a few levels of Cleric can provide additional spell slots and access to a broader range of divine spells.
Rogue Multiclass: While unconventional, a Rogue multiclass can offer a Paladin stealth capabilities, increased damage output through Sneak Attack, and proficiency in key skills like Stealth and Acrobatics, which can be useful in certain campaign scenarios.
5. Paladin Subclasses and Their Strategic Uses
Oath of Devotion: Ideal for those who want a classic knight in shining armor. Focus on protective spells and abilities that shield your allies from harm.
Oath of Vengeance: Best for players who aim to deal high damage and pursue foes relentlessly. Tailor your gear and spell choices towards maximizing damage output and mobility.
Oath of the Ancients: Perfect for Paladins who value nature and magic resistance. This path offers unique abilities that protect against spells and harm.
6. Role-Playing a Paladin
Beyond combat, Paladins are driven by their oaths and morals. Role-playing these aspects can add depth to gameplay:
- Adhere to Your Oath: Let your Paladin’s oath guide their decisions and interactions. This commitment shapes your character’s personality and decisions.
- Moral Compass: Paladins often serve as the ethical center of their adventuring parties. Embrace this role by leading through example and making decisions that reflect your divine mandate.
When building a Paladin in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, choosing the right race, background, and feats can significantly impact how your character performs and interacts with the world. Here are tailored suggestions for races, backgrounds, and feats that synergize well with the Paladin class.
Top 5 Races for Paladins
- Human (Variant) – The versatility of the Variant Human, with its bonus feat at 1st level and ability score improvements, makes it an excellent choice for any Paladin build, allowing customization from the very start of the game.
- Dragonborn – With their inherent strength and charisma bonuses, Dragonborn are naturally suited to the Paladin class. Their breath weapon and damage resistance also provide additional combat options and durability.
- Half-Elf – The charisma boost is ideal for a Paladin’s spellcasting and Aura of Protection, while the additional skill proficiencies and other ability score increases make Half-Elves adaptable and effective in various social and combat situations.
- Aasimar – As celestial beings, Aasimar have innate abilities that align well with the Paladin’s theme of divine justice. Their healing hands, resistance to necrotic and radiant damage, and the ability to manifest wings or deal extra damage make them powerful Paladins.
- Tiefling (Bloodline Variants) – Certain Tiefling variants, such as those from the “Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes” that alter the base racial traits, can be particularly effective. Variants that increase charisma and add useful spells like “Hellish Rebuke” or “Thaumaturgy” enhance a Paladin’s combat and role-playing potential.
Top 5 Backgrounds for Paladins
- Noble – Ideal for Paladins who are envisioned as knights or lordly warriors, providing proficiency in History and Persuasion, and the useful social feature of retaining the respect of other nobles.
- Soldier – Perfect for those with a martial past, giving skill proficiencies in Athletics and Intimidation, and the military rank feature, which can be handy in campaigns with significant military elements.
- Acolyte – Fits Paladins who have spent their lives in service of a temple to a specific god, enhancing their religious knowledge and providing shelter and assistance from those who share their faith.
- Knight of the Order – From “Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide,” this background ties a Paladin to a specific knightly order within the Forgotten Realms, offering role-play enriching elements and additional reasons for adventuring.
- Folk Hero – Represents a Paladin rising from humble beginnings to stand against tyranny. It includes proficiency with artisan’s tools and vehicles, useful in more rural or wilderness-based campaigns.
Top 10 Feats for Paladins
- Sentinel – Excellent for Paladins who want to protect allies; stops enemies in their tracks and counters disengagement.
- Shield Master – Boosts a Paladin’s shield usage, allowing them to shove enemies as a bonus action and adding bonuses to certain saving throws.
- War Caster – Essential for maintaining concentration on spells amidst combat, also grants the ability to perform spells as opportunity attacks.
- Polearm Master – Increases combat effectiveness with polearm weapons, adding an additional attack as a bonus action.
- Inspiring Leader – Capitalizes on high Charisma, allowing a Paladin to give a significant temporary HP boost to themselves and allies after a stirring speech.
- Heavy Armor Master – Reduces incoming damage from nonmagical attacks, reinforcing a Paladin’s frontline durability.
- Magic Initiate – Adds versatility by providing access to spells from another class, which can be strategically selected to complement a Paladin’s abilities.
- Great Weapon Master – Offers the potential for massive damage at the expense of accuracy and can be a game-changer in the right circumstances.
- Lucky – Provides a way to reroll attacks, saving throws, or skill checks, which can be crucial in critical moments.
- Resilient (Constitution) – Ideal for boosting Constitution, particularly for improving concentration saves, essential for maintaining spells like “Bless” or “Shield of Faith” in battle.
Each of these choices offers ways to define your Paladin’s identity and effectiveness, whether through enhancing combat capabilities, bolstering divine powers, or deepening role-playing interactions. Choose combinations that best fit your campaign’s setting and your character’s narrative to create a memorable and powerful Paladin.
When it comes to playing a Paladin in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, certain spells, weapons, and magical items can significantly enhance your character’s effectiveness. Below, you’ll find detailed lists of the top 10 spells for Paladins, as well as additional top 10 lists for weapons and magical items that are particularly useful for this class.
Top 10 Spells for Paladins
- Divine Smite – While technically not a spell, it’s a core Paladin ability to use spell slots to deal extra radiant damage, crucial for dealing with powerful foes.
- Lay on Hands – Another non-spell ability, this feature allows Paladins to heal wounds or cure diseases, making it indispensable in and out of combat.
- Bless – A fantastic buff that can add to attack rolls and saving throws, increasing the party’s overall effectiveness.
- Shield of Faith – Boosts an ally’s AC by +2, making this a valuable spell for protecting yourself or frontline fighters.
- Cure Wounds – A direct healing spell that restores a significant amount of hit points, vital for maintaining stamina in battle.
- Aura of Protection – Provides a bonus to all saving throws for anyone within 10 feet of the Paladin, enhancing group resilience.
- Find Steed – Summons a spirit in the form of a steed, providing not only a mount but also a combat ally.
- Revivify – Allows Paladins to bring allies back from the brink of death, an essential spell in critical moments.
- Protection from Evil and Good – Offers protection against certain types of creatures, making it crucial in campaigns featuring fiends, undead, or other evil entities.
- Crusader’s Mantle – Radiates holy power, enhancing weapon attacks by allies within range, perfect for group combat situations.
Top 10 Weapons for Paladins
- Sun Blade – Ideal for a Paladin, this weapon deals extra damage to undead and emits sunlight.
- Holy Avenger – The quintessential Paladin weapon, enhancing spell resistance and dealing extra radiant damage.
- Flame Tongue – A sword that deals extra fire damage, useful for its versatility and raw power.
- Mace of Disruption – Perfect against undead and fiends, providing extra radiant damage and a chance to destroy such creatures.
- Longsword of Sharpness – Maximizes damage potential, particularly effective when combined with Divine Smite.
- Warhammer of Thunderbolts – Offers additional damage and control with its thunderous properties.
- Greatsword – A strong choice for a two-handed build, allowing for high damage output.
- Lance – Ideal for mounted combat, giving Paladins an advantage in reach during battles.
- Morningstar – Effective against heavily armored foes, providing consistent piercing damage.
- Defender – A weapon that boosts the Paladin’s AC, enhancing both offense and defense.
Top 10 Magical Items for Paladins
- Armor of Invulnerability – Grants resistance to nonmagical damage, highly useful in heavy combat.
- Cape of the Mountebank – Offers not only a stylish appearance but the crucial ability to teleport, enhancing mobility.
- Ring of Spell Storing – Allows a Paladin to store spells or smites for when they’re most needed.
- Boots of Speed – Doubles movement speed and grants additional agility in combat.
- Gauntlets of Ogre Power – Sets the wearer’s Strength score, empowering those not naturally strong.
- Belt of Giant Strength – Similar to the Gauntlets, but offers even greater Strength enhancement.
- Amulet of Health – Sets the wearer’s Constitution score, increasing both health and resilience.
- Winged Boots – Provides the ability to fly, giving tactical advantages in positioning or retreat.
- Cloak of Protection – Increases AC and saving throws, providing an all-around defensive boost.
- Bracers of Defense – Offers additional AC when not wearing armor or using a shield, ideal for a more versatile Paladin build.
Mastering the Paladin class in D&D 5e involves more than understanding mechanics—it’s about making choices that align with your character’s divine mission and tactical role within the party. Whether you’re smiting foes, shielding allies, or guiding the group through moral quandaries, the Paladin is a complex and rewarding class to play, offering numerous opportunities for heroism and adventure. By following this guide, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a legendary Paladin, revered not just for your combat prowess but for your unwavering dedication to your sacred oath.
Most Famous Paladins in D&D Throughout the editions of Dungeons & Dragons, several Paladins have risen to fame. Characters like Sir Galahad, whose unwavering faith and purity exemplify the Oath of Devotion, or Alain from Dragonlance, whose journey from knight to divine champion captivates many fans. These characters often serve as templates or inspirations for players creating their Paladin heroes.
Most Famous NPC Paladins NPC Paladins enrich the narrative of D&D campaigns, serving as allies, patrons, or adversaries. From the noble Knight Commander Justicar to the troubled Sir Tristan, these characters bring depth and complexity to the story, presenting moral quandaries and challenges to the players.
Most Famous Heroes and Villains Paladins in D&D are not confined to heroism; some tread the path of darkness, becoming memorable villains. This section explores both, from the legendary hero Turalyon, whose deeds are sung by bards across realms, to the infamous Arthas Menethil, whose descent into darkness is a cautionary tale for all Paladins about the dangers of fanaticism and the corrupting power of absolute power.
