Paladin for first play through

[BrannFox]

I am going to start my first play-through as a Paladin. Before I start digging I obviously want to go Paladin two handed sword. Are they viable? Are they damage dealers or mainly tank/healers? In most CRPG's, the best defense is to slaughter the enemies before they can do much damage. So will a Two handed strength/Charisma Paladin be viable?

[Stormsong]

Two handed swords are a rather limited offering, unfortunately.

[Vali]

No its nice to play if you focus on the story on a lower difficult, easy or normal.

But probably not a good choice on core or harder.

[Brian]

https://pathfinderwrathoftherighteous.wiki.fextralife.com/Greatswords

There's your list to pick from (some may be missing because DLC has come out and Fextralife hasn't been updated since vanilla launch).

[Triple G]

The first companion You meet is a paladin though.

Else paladin are pretty viable, as they get a mount, which means they´re good tanks. And they have good buffs and abilities. 2 paladins can be pretty strong.

Greatsword also works.

It would also work on core of course.


But there are perhaps better options - even more so when there is already a paladin in the game, and when You want variety.

If it´s about companions, there is no bard, and there´s only one mage, else anything is covered by companions. You have damage dealers, healers, and people who can do buffs.

You probably want a somewhat tanky character though, due to game mechanics.

Here the game is more about buffs, control spells, and synergies with teamwork feats - and reloads...

[Brian]

Originally posted by Triple G:

The first companion You meet is a paladin though.

The main reason to BE a paladin is so you can ditch Seelah as quickly as possible.

[Triple G]

Originally posted by Brian:

The main reason to BE a paladin is so you can ditch Seelah as quickly as possible.

But why? You get her at lvl 1. And here the question was if a paladin is good for a first playthrough.

Topic:
A Paladin isn´t necessarily a damage dealer. It´s more of a defensive character, with some utility. Main features for attack are smite evil, and Mark of Justice. I´m actually unsure if both still stack or if they have fixed it. But as damage dealer You´d choose other classes...

[IlluminaZero]

Paladin has full BAB, a mount at Lv 5 with full scaling, and Mark of Justice is busted.

The only real negative against Paladins is the fact that you're likely redundant with Seelah (who has suboptimal stat spread but does Paladin stuff well enough) and that if you REALLY min-max you MIGHT make something superior.

However mounted martials are so busted in this game; especially in Turn Based, that most builds people present are likely going to be inferior to stock Paladin with Mount barring bias, specific mythic combos (IE Divine-Angel, Arcane-Lich, etc), and near game exploits.

[GunStarX]

Originally posted by Brian:

Originally posted by Triple G:

The first companion You meet is a paladin though.

The main reason to BE a paladin is so you can ditch Seelah as quickly as possible.

My favorite reason isn't to ditch her, but to turn her into a skald

[Brian]

Because she has an annoying-as-hell personality? I thought that was obvious.

[Chronocide]

Originally posted by BrannFox:

I am going to start my first play-through as a Paladin. Before I start digging I obviously want to go Paladin two handed sword. Are they viable? Are they damage dealers or mainly tank/healers? In most CRPG's, the best defense is to slaughter the enemies before they can do much damage. So will a Two handed strength/Charisma Paladin be viable?

If you take weapon focus in a given weapon type, at first level, the game will automatically give you a Cold Iron version of that weapon in the early start chest.

So if you want to run a 2-handed sword paladin, make sure you take Weapon Focus (that type of 2 handed sword) for your first level feat. Very useful to have a cold iron weapon early on.

As for weapons, there are several 2-handed swords, and you'll need to pick one for that feat. Some require "exotic weapon proficiency" which means a second feat at 1st level, which in turn often limits you to playing a human (since they get a bonus 1st level feat).

[Chronocide]

You might also like the warpriest, if you intend to specialize in a particular weapon type.

The paladin is more general focused and should probably not lock itself into a particular weapon type.

[Brian]

Originally posted by Chronocide:

You might also like the warpriest, if you intend to specialize in a particular weapon type.

The paladin is more general focused and should probably not lock itself into a particular weapon type.

Unless you're going for an intimidation build.

[IlluminaZero]

Mounted means Paladin can let mount handle defense + mobility and go all-in in offense (which is great for two-handed - no shield). Out-flank is generally amazing with Flachion/Fauchard/Great-axe(unique) giving good reason to specialize for increased crit range.

Not getting why a full BAB class with a full scaling mount is being called a sub-par martial. Mounted martial is generally going to outperform non-mounted due to 2 full attacks >>> Move+Attack -> Full attack.

Only way you’re going to get comparable results is with a Skald giving party wide pounce and that is actually still not as good as “simply” having a mount.

There are more offensive martial classes (hello Sohei) but Paladin is by no means deficient offensively. This isn’t even considering smites, mark of justice, and self buffs. Paladin is above average offensively and only really out-competed by hyper competent offensive classes/builds.

[Chronocide]

Originally posted by IlluminaZero:

Not getting why a full BAB class with a full scaling mount is being called a sub-par martial. Mounted martial is generally going to outperform non-mounted due to 2 full attacks >>> Move+Attack -> Full attack.

The fighter, in a general capacity, will always be the superior.

But the paladin is a good secondary, and will excel against certain opponents. It's like comparing a fighter to a ranger. Or a bloodrager.

You pay for those extra abilities. The fighter is very focused on just stabbing and hacking, which it excels at.

The fighter, though, is found lacking in terms of unarmed strike and natural weapons, and, of course, in spells. And the fighter can't ignore feat requirements, like a ranger can. And the fighter is very limited by weapon/armor availability. And no mount and low skills...and so forth, but for hacking and slashing (or shooting bows) when you actually meet the feat requirements...it's amazing.

[IlluminaZero]

Only way Fighter is out-competing Paladin is with some kind of very peculiar multi-class (fighter dips can be amazing) or Legend for 20 levels in some other mounted class with full BAB. Mounted is THAT good.

This is doubly so since smites and mark of justice are amazing when you’re almost always fighting evil enemies.

Although with some meta knowledge- One could also get freebie mounts via Azata and figurine. Both have negatives over simply having it integrated in your build.