Theorycrafting a crazy concept

[Fluffykeith]

I "think" I'm nearing the end of my first full playthrough, and I'm vaguely theorycrafting a character idea for a second (yes, I know, there's something wrong with me).

I'm thinking of going back to the Pala-barian idea that I messed about with a while back...essentially using the Paladin's spell slots etc to fish for Divine Smites with Reckless Attack, and so on....so not planning on using the spell slots in combat apart from that, and out of combat for utility.

But what Race? I've already done Tiefling...
Probably Wildheart subclass with either Bear or Tiger
Oath of Vengeance, or Oathbreaker?
And how far should I focus on each class?

[Яeplicant]

I've been theory-crafting myself ever since I finished my run back in early October.

I still have not decided, if I should main a Dark Urge Drow Gloomstalker/Assassin for Honor Mode or Monk. Neither of which I've played in an D&D game so far. Honestly, all I've played since BG1 to now is either Fighter or Paladin.

I've decided early on to wait for the obligatory 2.0 patch to somewhat get an idea what kind of party setup I'd want to use.

[Kellar]

Why not multiclass a paladin with a full spell caster like a bard or sorcerer instead?

More smites.

[KingOfFriedChicken]

Theory crafting lead me to surmise I could get over 38 AC lol turns out the limit is 52 as gnome I do believe but I got karlach to 50 AC

I also have about 3 or 4 more theory crafted builds for the future lol

[Chroniver]

Theoretically for melee half-orc is nearly always best due to their savage attacker trait.

Otherwise wood elf or half-wood elf due to moving extra meters.

Oath of vengeance is ridiculously good if you cast vow of enmity on yourself. It might be a bugged mechanic but it gives you advantage vs everything for 10 turns.

I'd go at least 6 levels in paladin for the aura.

[Fluffykeith]

Originally posted by Chroniver:

Theoretically for melee half-orc is nearly always best due to their savage attacker trait.

Otherwise wood elf or half-wood elf due to moving extra meters.

Oath of vengeance is ridiculously good if you cast vow of enmity on yourself. It might be a bugged mechanic but it gives you advantage vs everything for 10 turns.

I'd go at least 6 levels in paladin for the aura.

How does that work? Vow of Emnity gives advantage against the target?

[Detective Costeau]

Yeah. There's a bug where if you target yourself instead of an enemy with VoE, something goes wrong and it gives advantage against all targets.
It is absolutely exploiting a bug if you care about such things, but I'm not here to police how you have fun. Just be aware it could get patched out at some point.

[Fluffykeith]

Originally posted by Detective Costeau:

Yeah. There's a bug where if you target yourself instead of an enemy with VoE, something goes wrong and it gives advantage against all targets.
It is absolutely exploiting a bug if you care about such things, but I'm not here to police how you have fun. Just be aware it could get patched out at some point.

Chances are they'd patch it two days after I started using it. That's how my luck goes.

[Chroniver]

It's been in the game for a long time.

Even without that Oath of Vengeance is very strong.

But I'd say go with the subclass that feels appropriate roleplay wise for your character.

[Notright]

As a Barb, you cannot cast spells when raging, so you might want to think about that.

[Fluffykeith]

Originally posted by Notright:

As a Barb, you cannot cast spells when raging, so you might want to think about that.

I already stated in my op that my plan is to use the spell slots for divine smites while raging. Which doesn’t count as casting spells

[Fluffykeith]

Can't decide how to stat this, Taking into account that I don't like having stats lower than 10...how should I stat this?

[KingOfFriedChicken]

Originally posted by Fluffykeith:

Can't decide how to stat this, Taking into account that I don't like having stats lower than 10...how should I stat this?

It's gonna be rough, but paladin barbarian both should have good str if you goal is to hit hard normally I'd say drop str some for paladin cuz casting modifier. Unless your using hill giant elixir cheese then drop str lol
I'd suggest pumping str and con cuz barbarian can't cast while raging and utilize the left over points to casting without dex you'll need armor which cancels out unarmored defense.

In suggestions I'd say orc solid choice, points if your not raging go with paladins, as your a paladin just using reckless. Bear for healing tiger if you wanna play with another type of build. But if ur fishing for smites your only raging after you use all spell slots lol

[Fluffykeith]

Originally posted by KingOfFriedChicken:

Originally posted by Fluffykeith:

Can't decide how to stat this, Taking into account that I don't like having stats lower than 10...how should I stat this?

It's gonna be rough, but paladin barbarian both should have good str if you goal is to hit hard normally I'd say drop str some for paladin cuz casting modifier. Unless your using hill giant elixir cheese then drop str lol
I'd suggest pumping str and con cuz barbarian can't cast while raging and utilize the left over points to casting without dex you'll need armor which cancels out unarmored defense.

In suggestions I'd say orc solid choice, points if your not raging go with paladins, as your a paladin just using reckless. Bear for healing tiger if you wanna play with another type of build. But if ur fishing for smites your only raging after you use all spell slots lol

Divine Smite triggering from a crit doesn't count as casting a spell, that's the point of the concept. You use Reckless Attack for Advantage, aiming to trigger crits that cause divine smite, so it still needs the spell slots.

[AokiYakumo]

1) One of the classes probably shouldn't go past 4th. Extra Attack doesn't stack unless it's WLK Pact weapon with Extra Attack (and even then only on Balanced & below. I've seen some state they were able to pull that combo off on Tactician but I've never tested it myself so I can't say for certain). I'd probably say PLD 8 / BRB 4 because BRB 6+ has less value than Aura of Protection and the other PLD goodies.

2) For Races, some good ones for this particular playstyle are Hill Dwarf and Half-Orc. Hill Dwarves get bonus HP per level which is great while Half-Orcs get bonus CRIT DMG (an extra die per instance of crits) and a once per LR death resist.

3) For stats, if you're just crit-fishing Smites and not really doing a lot of spells, you won't really need a lot of CHA (even a +2 is fine for the Aura). I'd go something like 17 STR 12 DEX 15 CON 8 INT 10 WIS 13 CHA if you plan on Ethel's Hair, or 16 STR 12 DEX 16 CON 8 INT 10 WIS 13 CHA if you don't plan on it. Remember that BRB gets medium armor prof. and doesn't lose Rage when wearing medium armor, so nabbing +1 Scale Mail for 16/18 AC early on (dependent upon shield usage) is gonna end up being so much better than Unarmored Defense. The usual melee DPS rules apply from this point.

[Fluffykeith]

Originally posted by AokiYakumo:

1) One of the classes probably shouldn't go past 4th. Extra Attack doesn't stack unless it's WLK Pact weapon with Extra Attack (and even then only on Balanced & below. I've seen some state they were able to pull that combo off on Tactician but I've never tested it myself so I can't say for certain). I'd probably say PLD 8 / BRB 4 because BRB 6+ has less value than Aura of Protection and the other PLD goodies.

2) For Races, some good ones for this particular playstyle are Hill Dwarf and Half-Orc. Hill Dwarves get bonus HP per level which is great while Half-Orcs get bonus CRIT DMG (an extra die per instance of crits) and a once per LR death resist.

3) For stats, if you're just crit-fishing Smites and not really doing a lot of spells, you won't really need a lot of CHA (even a +2 is fine for the Aura). I'd go something like 17 STR 12 DEX 15 CON 8 INT 10 WIS 13 CHA if you plan on Ethel's Hair, or 16 STR 12 DEX 16 CON 8 INT 10 WIS 13 CHA if you don't plan on it. Remember that BRB gets medium armor prof. and doesn't lose Rage when wearing medium armor, so nabbing +1 Scale Mail for 16/18 AC early on (dependent upon shield usage) is gonna end up being so much better than Unarmored Defense. The usual melee DPS rules apply from this point.

Thank you, that's really helpful