Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Input on Pally build

Will this build work well? What should I prioritize?

I plan to play a Half-Orc Paladin using Halberds and/or Glaives (or Pike if they change the rules for that bonus action attack) for my first run.

My idea is to take the feat Polearm Master and later pair it with Sentinel.

My first choice of kit would be the Oath of Vengeance in order to get the feat Relentless Avenger. Second choice is probably Oath of the Ancients.

As for stats, I would prioritize Str, Con and Cha [updated original post]. Then Wis, Dex and last Int. He'll wear the heaviest armor I can find.

What's you thoughts? 🙂

Sounds solid to me.

Except I would probably change your stat priority to STR and CHA.

Back in 4E you had Wis paladins or Cha paladins, but now they all use Cha.

That said... If you just want to smite, you can dump Cha. Cha only affects spells prepared and spell power, but if you're spending all your slots on smiting, those don't matter.

Also the level 6 Aura of devotion gives a minimum +1 bonus even if your Cha is 11 or less. Dunno if BG3 implements this though.

Stat priority for a 2h paladin should be STR, CON, then CHA, since you'll be hit more often without a shield. And supposedly there's an item that bumps your CHA to 17 no matter what your original score is, though you won't get it until around the beginning of Act 2. So don't feel bad keeping CHA low-ish for awhile.

Also, bear in mind that by the time you hit 8th level and take Sentinel, you'll be 2/3 done with the game. Your build should be fine until then, but with no way to get a feat on character creation you're going to have to wait awhile before the polearm/sentinel combo can shine if you take polearm mastery first.

Also, unless Larian changes pike mechanics a lot, they don't work with the polearm mastery feat.

While this is definitely a viable option, there is absolutely a strong case that CHA should be your 2nd priority. Firstly a lot of the oath abilities directly benefit from a higher CHA (sacred sword, healing radiance, oathbreaker's 7th level ability). Furthermore the level 6 aura is a passive aura which helps allies in a certain radius, so it's doubly good. Technically your con save will be the same at 6 with a 16 CHA and a 14 CON, the only difference is one less hit point and better all round saves for you and your nearby teammates.

Finally there is an item which is easily obtainable which will add 1 point of CHA at the expense of 1 point of INT, which is a pretty good trade off for a paladin. Under the new stat rules anyone can get 15 CHA at start, so that's a +3 to a very useful ability with a lot of benefit.

Just depends on how you want to play them

There is a Help, Tips and tricks area where you can get help with stuff like this.

Thanks guys!

Sorry, I miswrote the stats (copied an older text). I totally agree that Charisma should come before Wisdom. Given your feedback, I will for sure put it as my second stat priority.

The point of the halberd is reach which means you can stand behind a shield user and still fight the same enemy they do

Assuming you play that way you don't need con as much... Personally Gleave is the better choice and there are some nice ones early on

Good point. I think I might go with Karlach, Gale and Shadowheart as party members. If the tiefling would be so kind to soak up my damage as well as her own, I'll promise to heal her plenty in return.