Baldur's Gate 3 Guide | Paladin Build

The Paladin is a very versatile yet highly powerful class in Baldur's Gate 3, combining the ideas of front-line fighting with divine spells. With the ability to deal high levels of damage, tank hits, and even heal teammates, Paladin is a great choice for any player who really wants to marry martial and spellcasting skills together effectively. 

Whether your mind sets the character as a noble protector of justice, a determined vengeance, or a fallen knight who has embraced darker powers, this surely helps in making the perfect Paladin. We are going to run through race selection, ability scores, subclass options, feats, and even some multiclassing opportunities to get the most out of your Paladin.

Best Races for Paladins

While any race will work for a Paladin in Baldur's Gate 3, some offer special abilities that complement a Paladin's playstyle. Gold Dwarf really fits the build based on a tank. Increased health points make you organically resistant to kills, while dwarven resilience gives you resistance to poison. If you prefer to play aggressively, then Half-Orc is what you should be aiming for. Savage Attacks allow increasing critical hit damage, while Relentless Endurance keeps you in the fight by restoring one hit point upon sinking to zero.

Another powerful option is the Zariel Tiefling. The tiefling gives you two free smite spells: Searing Smite and Branding Smite. It won't take up any of your limited spell slots, providing more uses of Divine Smite in combat.

For players into themed builds, Dragonborn is a great Paladin. Their elemental breath weapon adds some versatility and multiple resistances, helping to peel off some of the incoming damage. Take a metallic dragon lineage for better roleplay and thematic continuity with your Paladin's divine nature. Lastly, the Githyanki has better mobility with an early Astral Knowledge that gives competence in skills of your choice.

Optimal Ability Scores

Your Paladin will be highly determined by which ability scores are focused on, and your focus will shift dramatically as you decide between Strength and Dexterity. For Strength-based Paladin, the core stat would be Strength-16 or 18 with racial perks, Charisma up to 14-16 due to the spell-casting capability, saving throw bonus, and for talking purposes. 

Constitution would go up to at least +14 for more hit points and concentration checks, and Dexterity at 12 for good initiative. Wisdom should be set at 10 so there is no penalty on perception and insight tests, which are very useful if not essential for any exploration and discussion.

Flip the Dexterity and Strength score if you prefer a Dexterity-based Paladin. This is going to be more finesse-based in wielding weapons with medium armor in order to increase AC and make the initiative faster. Charisma and Constitution would be somewhat equal, while one can keep Wisdom at 10.

Choosing a Subclass

Your Paladin's subclass determines their position on the battlefield, influencing their fighting abilities, usefulness, and spell list.

Oath of Devotion is the Paladin's classical pledge, embodying justice, honor, and protection. Its powers include SacredWeapon, adding your Charisma modifier to attack rolls, and Aura of Devotion, stopping enemies from charming your close allies. It is the best for people who like a balanced system that attacks and also defends.

The Oath of Vengeance emphasizes mobility and explosive damage. Skills like Vow of Enmity, which provides an advantage on attack rolls against an enemy of choice, and Misty Step, which lets them change positions really fast, cement this subclass as a godsend for players who have to take out priority targets really fast. Hunter'sMark and Haste amplify Paladin's capability on offense under the Oath of Vengeance.

Ancient Oath is really defensive toward enemy strikes, supportive of allies, in fact. The main features include the following: Healing Radiance-heals hit points for all allies in some kind of area of effect. Aura of Warding-all the spell damage from enemies is reduced. Other abilities are nature-themed: Misty Step and Moonbeam add a lot of utility and crowd control, making this subclass exceptional in longer fights.

Well, breaking your Paladin's sacred Oath finally gives access to the dark and sinister path of the Oathbreaker subclass, unlocking such necrotic abilities as Spiteful Suffering-a damage-over-time effect, and Aura of Hate, which increases melee weapon damage to and for you and your undead allies. Spells like Hellish Rebuke and Crown of Madness add a lot to the dark mood, making the Oathbreaker ideal for players willing to play either gray or evil Paladin.

Fighting Styles and Divine Smite

The second level brings fighting style to the Paladin, enhancing how they fight. For a person using a two-handed weapon, Great Weapon Fighting lets them reroll low-damage dice. One-handed with a shield, Dueling adds +2 to attack damage, and the Defence fighting style increases Armour Class by 1 while armored to further boost survivability. 

Divine Smite is, of course, the Paladin's distinguishing feature: you spend spell slots for extra radiant damage against melee strikes. You can use Divine Smite on a hit or use it when scoring a critical hit; it's great for just shoveling absolutely absurd amounts of burst damage onto someone. Unless you actually need to cast an important spell, use spell slots on Smite.

Best Paladin Feats

Paladins get feats at levels 4, 8, and 12, which is crucial to enhance your build. It is required for a Strength-based paladin with heavy weapons. More attacks on kills, +10 damage to attacks- all of that at the price of accuracy, which could be compensated with some abilities such as Vow of Enmity. 

Shield Master is great for sword-and-board Paladins because you get to push foes around and reduce spell damage in the same turn. Sentinel is great for both, as it stops enemies from moving when you hit them with an opportunity attack and punishes enemies who attack your allies. Lucky is a very strong feat in the world, providing you rerolls on the attack, saving throws, and ability checks that give you these crucial moments when the dice decide to turn against you. 

Paladin's Multiclassing Options

Overall, if multiclassing is your thing, Paladin-Warlock must be among the strongest overall combinations in Baldur's Gate 3. They both use Charisma, which makes it one of the best combinations. You take two levels of Paladin for heavy armor, weapon proficiency, and Divine Smite, and then you just simply start taking levels in Warlock, with most of your effort going into the Pact of the Blade subclass.

This will let you start using Charisma in place of Strength or Dexterity for weapon attacks, saving more ability points for investing in Charisma. Moving up higher in Warlock to level 5, the synergy gets ridiculously stronger because that gives you an extra attack with your Pact weapon. 

With that extra attack, plus the one the Paladin gets at level 5, you can make three attacks a turn. Utility and resilience, such as from spells like Hex and abilities constituting Dark One's Blessing, make the Lockadin almost unyielding on the battlefield. 

Closing Thoughts

The Baldur's Gate 3 Paladin is hardy and resilient, taking the front lines, shielding his allies, and smiting from above. Whether through the noble Oath of Devotion, the vengeful Oath of Vengeance or the evil path-the Oathbreaker-your Paladin shines in combat and is a great support in a party. This is an unstoppable force, one of justice or vengeance, to be brought upon the Forgotten Realms.

Also, check our Baldur's Gate 3 Review and other guides below:

• Baldur’s Gate 3 Beginner Guide | Tips & Tricks
• Baldur's Gate 3 Guide | How To Rescue Shadowheart
• Baldur's Gate 3 Guide | All 10 Companion Locations