In this guide to Baldur’s Gate 3, we’ll tell you how you can create a powerful paladin. Image source: Screenshot GIGA The Paladin is one of the most popular classes in Baldur’s Gate 3, which is hardly surprising. Hardly any other class combines such diverse abilities as the Paladin. He is able to keep the group alive with healing spells, strengthen them with buffs, deal a lot of damage himself and keep the upper hand in dialogues. Below you will find out how to create the best Paladin build. Paladin build for the Oath of the Ancestors With this Paladin build we are trying to build on the strengths that the Paladin already has and prepare him for as many circumstances as possible. Of course, it is impossible to train a class for every conceivable situation, i.e. to transform them into an all-knowing slayer of gods. Certain skills must be ignored – especially if one of the (standard) companions already has this talent. It would be a waste to invest in a skill that a companion has already mastered to perfection. Of course, it also plays a big role which circumstances you encounter more often in Baldur’s Gate 3 than others. With this paladin build we want to make your character a powerful battle wizard who is agile, keeps his group alive with brilliant healing spells and can still deal powerful damage. Race and racial subtype The question is which race is best for your paladin build is no longer as important as it was in the early “Early Access” stage of Baldur’s Gate 3. At that time, for example, the people still decided on the attribute bonuses, which restricted the selection more severely. In the meantime, you can choose the bonuses yourself as you wish, no matter which race you choose. However, there are still some races that have a greater range of movement and are more proficient with multiple weapon types. With that in mind, races like wood elves and wood half-elves wouldn’t be a bad choice. But there are also races that have useful racial traits, such as the half-orc (stamina and fierce attacks) or the gold dwarf (hit point maximum increases with each level increase). Subclass With the Paladin you can choose the subclass when creating the character. When choosing the subclass, we chose the oath of the ancestors. Make sure that you always follow the oath you have sworn, otherwise you will become an oath-breaker. The spells that you can unlock as you level up change and spells you have already learned are replaced. The oath of the ancestors commits you to kindness and love as well as to light and against darkness. If you do break the oath (which can happen), not everything is lost. In your camp you have the opportunity to atone and take your oath again. The Oath of the Ancestors grants you the “Healing Glare” action, which heals you and your allies in the area for 6 hit points and restores another 6 hit points to your character on the next turn. The special feature: Since it is an action, you can heal your group members in just one turn and still carry out an attack. Background The background you choose grants you two different skills. Since each skill represents an attribute, you should choose skills that match the paladin’s main attributes. The Paladin’s primary attribute is Strength. Other important attributes are charisma and constitution. These backgrounds match the attributes of a paladin: Soldier: Athletic (Strength), Intimidation (Charisma) Oddball: Athletic (Strength), Survival (Wisdom) Entertainer: Acrobatics (Dexterity), Performance (Charisma) You can safely ignore the attributes Intelligence and Wisdom . As already mentioned, high values in Strength (efficiency with melee weapons), Charisma (spell power and dialogues) and Constitution (hit points and saving throws) are advantageous for the paladin. However, you can safely neglect intelligence and wisdom. So reduce the values as much as possible. We recommend allocating the points in the attributes as follows: Strength: 17 (+2) Dexterity: 10 Constitution: 14 Intelligence: 8 Wisdom: 8 Charisma: 16 (+1) The best skills up to the max level At level 2 you can have one Choose fighting style. For a heavily armored paladin looking to protect his party, dueling is the right choice. In Duel, you deal an additional 2 damage when wielding a one-handed weapon. Make sure that you are not allowed to use a second one-handed weapon or two-handed weapon for this bonus damage. Luckily, a shield is not a weapon, so you can still equip it. You also get to choose a few spells that you want to prepare. These are our spell recommendations: Forced Duel: Forces an opponent to attack you. He has disadvantage on attack rolls against everyone but you. Divine Favor: Weapon attacks deal an additional 1 to 4 Dazzling damage. Thundering Smite: +2d6 sonic damage, chance to knock target over. Furious Smite: +1d6 Psychic, chance to frighten target. Heal Wounds (Alternative): Heals a creature you can touch. At level 3, you gain the Divine Health class feature, which makes you immune to diseases. Nature’s Wrath gives you a useful action that can trap an opponent. This means he is unable to move, rarely hits his target and is easier to hit himself. At level 4 you can choose a talent. Choose Attribute Enhancement and increase your Charisma to 18 to strengthen your spells. You also receive a lay on hands charge, which now allows you to perform the action four times. At level 5, the paladin receives his first major increase in power. On the one hand, you can now perform an extra attack, and on the other hand, you get two 2nd level spell slots. “Assist” heals your party and increases their hit point maximum by 5. “Scorching Smite” deals 2d6 damage and prevents your target from becoming invisible – particularly useful in the second act. The chosen subclass also grants you Mist Step. This is a powerful spell that can teleport you to a visible destination of your choice. At level 7, you are granted the permanent class action “Aura of Warding,” which causes you and nearby allies to take half spell damage. You will also be equipped with a third 2nd level spell slot. At level 8 you can choose another talent. We recommend using the attribute improvement again and increasing charisma to 20 points. Alternatively, you can also invest in strength. Level 9 grants your Paladin another power boost as you gain powerful 3rd level spells and gain two new spells for your subclass that do not require preparation. “Plant Growth” is worth a look. It reduces the movement speed of creatures in the selected area by 75 percent. These 3rd level spells are particularly powerful: Revive: Brings an ally back to life with 1 hit point. Blinding Smite: +3d8 Blinding damage, chance of blinding the target. Warden of Vitality: You can cast Restore Health as a bonus action (10 turns). At level 10, you gain a new lay on hands charge and the permanent class action Aura of Valor, making you and your allies immune to Frightened. Level 11 upgrades Divine Smite, giving you +1d8 and +2d8 Blazing damage. If the spell fails, no spell slot is lost. You are also granted an additional 3rd level spell slot. At level 12 you have reached the maximum level. You can choose another talent. We recommend the Wild Attacker talent, which allows you to take two damage dice in one attack, always choosing the higher value. If you as a people have chosen the half-orc, you can instead choose a further attribute improvement to increase your strength.
Creating a Paladin Build for Oath of the Ancestors in Baldur’s Gate 3
