Baldur's Gate 3 Paladin Guide - All Subclasses (Oathbreaker, Devotion, Ancients & Vengeance)

in this Baldur's Gate 3 Paladin beginner guide I'm going to be covering the Paladin class including all four subclasses and providing you with some useful information and tips I'll be doing more advanced build guides for Paladin later but for now let's look at how the Paladin functions and the basics of being a paladin in bg3 paladins and Baldur's Gate 3 play the melee DPS role the tank roll and they also provide some support thanks to their Buffs and heels focused spell list as well as their lay on hands class feature on top of that they can also handle dialogue extremely well due to a relatively High Charisma score so they can serve many functions within the party at the same time paladins and bg3 swear enough which determines their subclass on unlike other classes in bg3 paladins have to abide by the tenets of that oath where they will become an oath breaker freeing them from their obligation but also changing their class features drastically you will not typically find a ranged Paladin simply because their primary damaging feature Divine Smite is only usable with a melee attack as are the majority of their Smite spells additionally they don't have access to the archery fighting style or two weapon fighting style like Fighters and Rangers which means they will typically focus on using one melee weapon when trying to be optimized for combat either two-handed or one-handed with a shield dexterity does not apply to two-handed weapon attacks in Baldur's Gate 3 and the only finesse weapon that does as much damage a lot of other martial weapons that aren't finesse is the Rapier which means that most faladins will use strength for their melee attacks in this section we'll take a look at how to set up your Paladin during character creation for the best results we'll begin with abilities first since this is arguably the most important part aside from choosing your subclass your primary abilities as a paladin are strengthened Charisma but you will also want some Constitution since you will be a front-liner strength is going to increase the effectiveness of your attack rules and damage roles with melee weapons as well as improve your strength saving throws and Athletics checks Charisma will increase the number of spells you can prepare how difficult it is for enemies to save against your spells and it will improve dialogue checks and will also increase the effectiveness of your aura protection bonus Constitution is there in order to increase your health pool so that you don't die as easily and also to help you maintain concentration on spells like searing Smite Shield of Faith or bless should you get hit while concentrating on them for this reason I strongly recommend that you invest 16 in strength and 16 in Charisma during character creation you can leave Constitution at 14 since you'll have pretty good armor class especially if you use a shield you could also go 14 Charisma and 16 Constitution if you prefer which might be a better choice if you go two-handed as you'll have less Armor class since you won't be using a shield note that I've changed this from the recommendations in the game itself as it's more optimized for your character during the early goings of the game the first race I recommend taking is the zaryl t-flame the reason is that when you reach level 3 you'll acquire Legacy of avernus series Smite and at level 5 you'll gain Legacy of avernus branding Spike Paladin's learned searing Smite and branding Smite through the natural progression of the game but these race features can be used once per long rest each without consuming a spell slot that's essentially two free spells in between long rests for selecting this race as Azario tiefling you also gain dark vision together with hellish resistance and the theometers you can trip hellish resistance makes you resistant to taking fire damage thereby cutting the damage by half whereas thamaturgy grants advantage on intimidation and performance checks almost ensuring that you Ace these another decent choice is wood elf for dark vision Fey ancestry and increased movement speed paladins lack the mobility of Barbarians and monks and even this little extra can help them catch up and half work is also not bad for dark vision Relentless endurance a higher critical damage than other races and intimidation proficiency for skills you minimally want proficiency and intimidation and persuasion since you should be handling the dialogue in your group if applying a paladin unless you bring will along you can use your background to take Soldier which will give you Athletics and intimidation and then use one point to select persuasion and the other to select inside origin whichever you want next let's go through what all paladins gain at each level to help you better understand the Paladin class in general before we get into the subclasses at level 1 paladins have a few really handy class features firstly they gain Divine sense which gives them Advantage they get to roll their attack die twice and take the highest number rolled on Attack rules against devils celestials and Undead you'll be facing these enemy types in the game so this can really help you land your attacks in those instances they also gain Leon hands which allows them to heal party members or themselves several times before a long rest as an action this is really great for topping off between fights but is rarely used in combat except in emergencies since it's both an action which prevents you from attacking and using it on the same turn and it has very short range Leon hands gets stronger as the game progresses and you gain more uses of this as well in bg3 paladins also gain their Channel oath class future at level 1 which can only be used once the rest this feature varies with a subclass chosen for each Paladin but they can do things like give you Advantage versus the target you're attacking or heal your entire party in an AOE these can be extremely strong in the right situation which is why they are severely limited at level 2 paladins gained level 1 spells and level 1 spell slots in bg3 general Paladin spells are mostly buffing or healing in nature and these include spells like bless cure wounds and shield of Faith however paladins do also have a few offensive Smite spells most of which buff their melee attacks in a similar nature to Divine Smite these do different things than Divine Smite as well as provide different damage types but they also consume your action bonus action and a spell slot so they're a bit more challenging to use than Divine smite nearly all other offensive Paladin spells in Baldur's Gate 3 come from their subclasses and these are called oath spells and these are very different from Paladin subclass to subclass looking through what these spells are ahead of time can help you determine which subclass to choose and we'll be diving into these more in the Paladin subclass section but for now let's continue on with Divine smite besides being able to cast spells at level 2 paladins can also use their Divine Smite class feature to further boost their melee damage by expending a spell slot with higher level spell slots yielding even more damage if they are used for this purpose and one really great thing about this is that they don't consume a spell slot if they miss the attack while using it and they can attack normally and choose to use it if their attack critically hits ensuring they do even more damage Divine Smite provides Paladin some of the highest single Target damage in bg3 and players Manning a paladin would be wise to lean into this feature and to try to optimize its use gaining more spell slots means that you can use it more times in a single combat encounter before needing to Long rest which increases your chances of Victory paladins also gained their choice of fighting style at this level however they cannot choose archery or two weapon fighting I highly recommend dueling for increased damage if you want to play one-handed in Shield defense for plus one Armor class or take great weapon fighting if you plan to use a two-handed weapon at level 3 paladins gain Divine Health which makes them immune to disease this is just nice to have though you won't use it all that often at level 4 paladins will get to choose a feat and I highly recommend ability score Improvement here for further boost your strength or Constitution depending on what your modifiers are from character creation you can also increase Charisma here as well but it is more beneficial to do so if you have an offensive oath spell that you use often at level 5 paladins gain extra attack which lets them perform a second attack in a turn they use the attack action this means that you cannot cast a general paladin spell or an oath spell and then attack but must attack either with a default attack action weapon action Divine spite or a Smite spell in order to be able to attack a second time in a given turn if you find yourself casting healing or buffing spells or oath spells in combat often and not using extra attack as much I would suggest respecting into a cleric instead for better spell casting at this level paladins also gain access to level 2 spells and level 2 spell slots this is a big upgrade for the Paladin as level 2 spell slots can also be used for divine smites or Smite spells and these deal more damage when used with level 2 spell slots at level 6 the Paladin is blessed with the aura of protection this class feature is a smallish AOE that grants the Charisma modifier of the Paladin to all saving throws made by any character standing inside it including the Paladin this makes you much more likely to resist spells and negative effects and is one of the reasons Charisma is still important to paladinson bg3 despite their smallish list of offensive Spells at level 7 paladins gain an additional level 2 spell slot but they Gain No Other General class features but instead will gain a subclass feature and we will cover these in the subclass section at level 8 paladins will once again get to choose a feat and I still recommend ability score Improvement here to further boost your strength you can max out your strength at this level but Constitution is still a solid Choice as well depending on what you took earlier especially if you're the main tank character of your group another good choice of feet for Paladin at this level is Savage attacker Savage attacker allows you to roll your damage roll twice and take the higher of the two values when making an attack this would normally be slightly worse in general than taking ability score Improvement in tabletop however in bg3 this also applies to your Divine Smite damage roles making it more potent at level 9 paladins gain access to level 3 spells and level 3 spell slots and this is the highest level they will learn in Baldur's Gate 3. this means more damage from Divine Smite and smite spells using your spell slots and access to revivify which can be nice if someone has a bad mishap which happens and they die at level 10 the Paladin is bestowed the aura of Courage which prevents them and nearby allies from being frightened which is situational but is still very nice to have since you can have all of your auras active at the same time at level 11 paladins gain the improved Divine Smite feature which further increases the damage of their attacks and does so passively this extra damage is also applied on top of divine Smite or Smite spells as extra damage when used in combat the paladins will have even higher burst damage at this level when you reach the maximum level of your Paladin the bg3 at level 12 you'll be able to choose a final feat you can either go for Ability score Improvement to further increase strength if it's not 20 yet Constitution for more HP or for Charisma for all the reasons we've already talked about and Savage attacker is still on the table as well if you still haven't selected it equipment wise I like heavy armor for paladins as it allows them to focus on strength Constitution and Charisma instead of needing some dexterity which will be largely wasted besides the armor class since paladins typically don't disarm traps or pick locks and rarely use stealth this also allows them to dump decks if they want and not face an armor-class penalty while wearing heavy armor weapon wise you'll want a one-handed weapon and a shield or a two-handed weapon and this will likely depend on what fighting style you choose Shields give you plus two Armor class so I really like them and dueling can offset some of the damage difference between two-handed and one-handed weapons so I recommend taking that if you're going to play one-handed however defense is also not a bad option because the bulk of your damage comes from Divine Smite or Smite spells anyway so the extra damage from two-handing or from dueling is not as useful as it would be on a barbarian or fighter accessory wise you should be on the lookout for anything that boosts melee damage or Triggers on melee like a debuff on enemies or anything that can provide more spell slots your choice of Paladin subclass comes down to a few factors what tenants must you follow what are the channel oath features of the subclass what oath spells do you gain and what other class features do you pick up if any let's have a look at these things before we wrap up this guide with some multi-classic tips generally speaking most paladins are good characters if there was alignment in Baldur's cave 3. the biggest differences are that the oath of Vengeance has a little bit more wiggle room than the oath of ancients or Ortho devotion since they can punish the wicked without breaking their oath while the other two may have to show Mercy or risk oath breaking both breakers on the other hand can only be obtained after breaking an oath and afterwards are completely free from following one they can be as evil as they want from this point forward but their class features will change to that of an oath breaker however they can reverse this process retaking their oath for a large sum of gold in their camp all paladins gain their initial Channel oath feature at level 1 and gain two additional ones at level 3 regardless of subclass these are completely different from each subclass though as you can see additionally all paladins will gain their oath spells in Baldur's Gate 3 at levels 3 5 and 9 gaining two at each of these levels for a total of six oath spells per Paladin with some overlap between you'll notice oath of the Ancients inventions both gave Misty Step at level 5 and both gain protection from energy at level 9. and lastly at level 7 all subclasses will gain a unique class feature which is a third Aura for three of the paladins and a passive-class feature for the Vengeance Paladin that boosts their movement if they make an attack of opportunity but putting all these together in one easy to see place it makes it much easier to determine what these strengths and weaknesses of each subclass are from a mechanic's perspective and you can see from looking over them that oath of the Ancients has an AOE heal that's a bonus action which is quite useful they can also crowd control a single Target and make nearby fade and fiends flee and forfeit their actions for their Channel oath class features both of the Ancients paladins can speak with animals which might be important if no one else in your group can otherwise it's not and snaring strike is much better at range than melee so it's not particularly great on a paladin compared to let's say a ranger Moonbeam is a great early game spell that deals damage in a small AOE and can be moved as long as you maintain concentration without consuming additional spell slots Misty step is excellent for Paladin since they generally lack Mobility compared to barbarians monks and Rangers protection from energy is very situational and plant growth is as well typically you want enemies to get to your Paladin so you can melee so this would only be useful in very specific situations or avoiding is an extremely strong Aura and can often save you or a party member especially later in the game when spells get really deadly both of devotion paladins could use a spell slot to make their action deal very good damage to enemies to hit them they can also make their weapon add their Charisma modifier to their attack roll bypass resistances in emit light which is useful in dark places for 10 turns which can help them deal more damage turn on holy makes nearby Fey and fiends flee and forfeit their action just like turn the faithless protection from Good and Evil is situational and can be learned by any palette and though you don't need to prepare it on devotion paladins Sanctuary is actually an incredibly strong spell because it's a bonus action which allows you to use it on yourself or a friendly and still attack in the same turn lesser restoration is situational and is known to all paladins as well and silence allows you to create an area where spells cannot be cast and this is effective against spell casters Beacon of Hope can help a ton in tough fight since it maximizes the role of all healing anyone in your party does and remove curses also situational depending on the enemy's faced war of devotion makes it so you and your bi allies cannot be Charmed which is also useful against enemies that use this status against you both a Vengeance paladins can increase the damage they or an ally does and also make their attacks day's enemies as a bonus action dazed enemies have disadvantage on wisdom saving throws can't take reactions and lose their armor-class bonus from dexterity they can also frighten an enemy making them easier to hit and making it so they cannot move or they can gain advantage against any enemy for 10 turns as a bonus action these are all extremely strong and Vengeance paladins might have the strongest Channel oath class features of all subclasses Bane is a decent spell but there are better for the Paladin to cast and if you have a cleric or Bard in your party you won't likely need it Hunter's Mark is great at improving your damage can be used as a bonus action and can be reapplied to subsequent enemies without consuming further spell slots as long as you maintain concentration on it old person is a very strong spell and it not only prevents a humanoid enemy from doing anything as long as they fail their saving throw but attacks made from within 3 meters are guaranteed Critical Hits which adds an extra damage die for each damage dive role this is amazing when combined with Divine Smite or other Smite spells that add extra damage dice these will also be doubled and also works with Hunter's Mark and Misty step as mentioned before is just great for paladins in general haste is also exceptional as it provides movement speed Armor class and more importantly an extra action to the Target which could be yourself each turn you maintain concentration this is particularly deadly on characters that have extra attacks and still get to attack four times in a turn when hastened however if your concentration is broken or the effect ends the target will be unable to move or take any action bonus action or reaction for one turn protection from energy is very situational when you really need resistance to something specific like tough enemies leader in the game Vengeance paladins don't gain a third Aura like the rest but instead gain a passive subclass feature that increases their movement speed on their next turn if they make an attack of opportunity as I've mentioned paladins can really use extra movement speed and this is a great way to get it as it's not uncommon to make a tax of opportunity as a Frontline Warrior both Breakers deal damage over time and gain advantage against the target with their first channel oath but this is cast as an action unlike the Avengers Paladin's bonus action Channel oath that does something similar making it a bit less useful because you cannot attack in the seam turn after using it control and debt is phenomenal however as it allows you to gain control of an undead character and tell you long rest or it is killed this gives you an extra body on the battlefield and sometimes it's a very strong one both Breakers can also frighten nearby enemies which is great when surrounded they can use hellish rebuke which is a great way to dish out damage on the enemy turn and even though it does use a spell slot it consumes no action or bonus action which means you can still attack Etc on your turn as well inflict wounds is just a phenomenal close range damage spell that can quite often deal more damage than Divine Smite the Crux of it is though that you need High Charisma in order to land it regularly crown of Madness is a cc spell and damaging spell in one since the target can attack another enemy when inflicted with it again you will need High Charisma in order to land a spell though darkness is a good control spell that sways enemies from entering an area and doesn't require High Charisma to use effectively bestow curse Works similarly to old person but doesn't provide guaranteed Critical Hits and instead just increases the damage you deal against the target but anime dead is really where it's at as an oath breaker allowing them to raise skeletons or zombies that specialize in ranged or melee combat and their Aura synergizes with this nicely as well since Aura of hate boosts the damage of their zombies melee attacks by three as well as their own attacks Undead Army for the win in this section we'll take a look at multi-classing a paladin and bg3 and what other classes you might multi-class with keep in mind this is not a complete list but rather helpful suggestions to make good pairings sorcerer's warlocks and bards all use Charisma to cast their spells as well so they make great pairings for a paladin level 2 is not a bad time to multi-class for a paladin that plans to take many levels in sorcerer warlock or Bard because they still gain their fighting style one channel oath and their Divine Smite full spell casters bring more spell sloths to the table than paladins higher level ones as well allowing paladins to use Divine Smite more and with greater effect when multiclassed you could go two levels of Paladin and six levels of college of Valor or College of Swords barred in order to still pick up extra attack at character level 8. this is a very strong pairing because you have way more spell slots extra attacks still and all the proficiencies of Paladin that bars do not typically have you could also take two levels of Paladin in the ghost sorcerer or warlock sorcerer would allow you more offensive spells and provide sorcery points that can be used to make more spell slots or buff your spells that you do use but you'd miss out on extra attack so you might consider taking five levels of Paladin and seven levels of sorcerer if you prefer to have that warlock provides Eldritch blast which gives you a nice ranged option and something paladins could really use when they can't get into melee range although Misty step resolves this issue for both of the Ancients inventions paladins warlocks gives less spell slots but they can also Grant an extra attack at warlock level 5 if packed of the blade is chosen at warlock level 3. Additionally you can regain those warlock slots on short rest which is nice if you don't multi-class Paladin at level 2 the next best place in my opinion is after Paladin level 5 so they have extra attack but you could also make the case for after level six as well because Aura protection is incredibly good class feature multi-classing with these three classes provides more variety of spells to use in combat including offensive ones so Paladin bards Paladin warlocks and Paladin sourcers will need higher Charisma than the average Paladin particularly Paladin warlocks that use pack to the blade since they use Charisma for their attack roles when it comes to multi-classing with martial classes extra attacks from different classes don't stack so taking many levels of another martial class is not as useful as it might seem if you want to mix with one of these classes I suggest only taking a couple levels in them and going mostly Paladin for instance you could dip two levels into fighter after a paladin level 5 or 6 and you could pick up a second fighting style and you could get action surge which would allow you to use Divine Smite four times in one turn once per short rest or you could pick up a few levels in Rogue to gain disengage in Dash as bonus actions allowing you to move further in combat and maybe taking the thief to gain another bonus action Barbarian Level 2 is also not bad in order to gain Reckless attack note that Divine Smite is still usable while raging in Baldur's Gate 3 and can be used with Reckless attack if you set up your reactions correctly so this wraps up our beginner Paladin guide I hope you guys found something useful in it if you're new players to Baldur's Gate 3 and maybe if you're kind of amateur d d players you learned a few things about the Paladin class if you have other tips that I forgot make sure you leave them in the comments below and if you have questions I will try and answer them as best as I can [Music] [Music]

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Keywords: baldurs gate 3, baldurs gate 3 classes, baldurs gate 3 paladin guide, baldurs gate 3 class guide, baldurs gate 3 subclasses, bg3 oathbreaker paladin, bg3 ancients paladin, bg3 vengeance paladin, bg3 oath of vengeance, baldurs gate 3 paladin build guide, paladin guide, baldurs gate 3 paladin smite, baldurs gate 3 paladin armor, baldurs gate 3 paladin multiclass, paladin multiclass, bg3 class guide, oathbreaker paladin guide, vengeance paladin guide, bg3 oathbreaker

Id: 2WLRigj-si4

Length: 20min 54sec (1254 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 08 2023