Man, picking feats... Paladin edition

[craig234]

Picking first feat for Ancients Paladin. Yeesh, not easy. There's the defense, the offense, the utility, the synergy across feats... not easy.

I'm not even sure what weapons I'll want at level 4, using 1h/shield by default for now.

Do I want the benefit of alert more, or the tank feat of heavy armor master more, or sentinel, or others...

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by craig234:

Man, picking feats... Paladin edition
Picking first feat for Ancients Paladin. Yeesh, not easy. There's the defense, the offense, the utility, the synergy across feats... not easy.

I'm not even sure what weapons I'll want at level 4, using 1h/shield by default for now.

Do I want the benefit of alert more, or the tank feat of heavy armor master more, or sentinel, or others...

How about you share your character sheets first so we can see your ability scores and other relevant stuff like race dependant features?

That put aside, considering you are using consider

ability improvement
resilient
alert

heavy armour master is not as good as you might think and sentinel makes most sense with an offensive character.

[craig234]

It's a Human Paladin, default stats like 17 STR. Shield Master is also tempting.

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by craig234:

It's a Human Paladin, default stats like 17 STR. Shield Master is also tempting.

Shield Master gives you a +2 bonus to Dexterity Saving throws when wielding a Shield. And a bonus deflect when a spell hits you with dexterity saves.

That means any other saves like in melee combat etc. you are not protected from.

Resilient gives you constitution and proficiency in an ability score of your choice. If you pick it for constitution your concentration support spells like Haste are harder to interrupt.

That kind of balance scoring you need to do when comparing feats.

Make sure to have this at your ready so you can look it up easily: https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Feats

[craig234]

Does Magic initiate cleric if you can take 'Bless' spell make any sense? Mage Slayer looks good also...

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by craig234:

Does Magic initiate cleric if you can take 'Bless' spell make any sense?

No. Using the Feat to learn those three spells gives you those three spells - but those would use Wisdom as spellcasting modifier. Not the actual Paladin native spellcasting modifier.

It would turn out similar like Shadowheart's race's Firebolt (INT): weak to hit because of the lower modifier.

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by craig234:

Does Magic initiate cleric if you can take 'Bless' spell make any sense? Mage Slayer looks good also...

Mage Slayer is not bad, but I recommend you think about the practical use. It needs your Paladin to close into a Mage before it makes sense. And most mages would not attack in close combat with spells, unless they have to.

Depending on your playstyle and character sheets the Feats mentioned above plus warcaster, great weapon master are best choices.

If you go with extra reach weapon the combination of polearm mastery and sentinel can turn out quite effective.

[craig234]

Ya, it's just he's defense style and the tank, so committing to 2h weapons seems to hurt that, as nice as the damage is. Hm. Is concentration that important to take War Caster?

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by craig234:

Ya, it's just he's defense style and the tank, so committing to 2h weapons seems to hurt that, as nice as the damage is. Hm. Is concentration that important to take War Caster?

It really depends on your playstyle. Check your spelllist and tell how many spells are you using which needs concentration? Using e.g. Haste and then having concentration broken can be fatal, while Bless and other things are still essential. What is more interesting why it makes it an acceptable Feat is the Shocking Grasp opprtunity attack which can be situational good. But Resilient I consider better choice when it comes for protecting concentration.

[craig234]

I don't use concentration spells on him now by level 3, but expect there might be spells coming, not sure. Like haste.

[northernwater]

Originally posted by craig234:

Picking first feat for Ancients Paladin. Yeesh, not easy. There's the defense, the offense, the utility, the synergy across feats... not easy.

I'm not even sure what weapons I'll want at level 4, using 1h/shield by default for now.

Do I want the benefit of alert more, or the tank feat of heavy armor master more, or sentinel, or others...

I think it depends on how you plan to use him - caster or melee. I prefer melee since there are better casters. With melee I use all my spell slots for smites.

I

[craig234]

His CON would go up to 15 with resilience, so I think there's no benefit from that part, resilience CON and war caster don't stack on concentration saving throw do they?

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by craig234:

I don't use concentration spells on him now by level 3, but expect there might be spells coming, not sure. Like haste.

Bless is already a concentration spell.

I get your worries about "what if without shield" ?

Most shields give +2 to armour class and only later on you get +3 ones. Such as Haste gives also +2 to armour class.

By the end of the day the choice is yours. It is just a recommendation with Great Weapon Mastery as it is quite a powerful Feat when used right.

Keep in mind that many two handed weapons come also with powerful effects which you might want later on.

[Hobocop]

Originally posted by craig234:

His CON would go up to 15 with resilience, so I think there's no benefit from that part, resilience CON and war caster don't stack on concentration saving throw do they?

They should. Resilient gives you proficiency for ALL Constitution saves, and War Caster gives advantage on Concentration saves specifically.

[northernwater]

Originally posted by craig234:

It's a Human Paladin, default stats like 17 STR. Shield Master is also tempting.

I would respec him to have no odd ability scores. Waste of points unless you plan on using Resilient.

As a melee I would go with
Maxing dexterity or savage attacker or alert.

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by craig234:

His CON would go up to 15 with resilience, so I think there's no benefit from that part, resilience CON and war caster don't stack on concentration saving throw do they?

They do stack.