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A Paladin can become a D&D party’s core member, tanking, healing and creating a bulwark against darkness. The right feats can make them essential.
Creating a strong Dungeons & Dragons builds relies on a number of powerful components. From racial features and subclasses to equipment and feats, there are a number of ways a player can begin the process of building an almost unstoppable force. Nowhere is this truer than with the Paladin, who can easily become one of the adventuring party’s most essential members.
As steadfast warriors, Paladins rely on the power of their faith in the oath they’ve sworn to guide them on the right path. Their mastery with weapons, strong armor, access to healing and limited magic is just the leaping off point. With a few powerful feats under their belt, the party’s Paladin can become the person everyone turns to when in need of protection, comfort, healing and vengeance.
Sentinel Protects the Paladin’s Allies
Whether the Paladin is the party’s core tank or simply just a beneficent protector, the Sentinel feat is a surefire way to guarantee the safety of allies in need of a force between them and their enemies. Sentinel is designed to find weakness in enemy defenses and exploit them to the party’s advantage, especially when those enemies are trying to break free from combat or rush past the Paladin to reach a vulnerable party member.
When the Sentinel hits with an opportunity attack, it reduces the creature’s movement to zero, meaning they aren’t going anywhere for the rest of the turn. Even if an enemy attempts to disengage from combat to make a quick getaway, the Sentinel still gets an attack of opportunity against them when the attempt to flee. To make this feat even sweeter, when a creature within five feet of the Sentinel makes an attack against another target, the Paladin gains a melee weapon attack as a reaction, meaning they could potentially take out an enemy.
Shield Master Turns Defense Into Offense
Shields are one of the Paladin’s most useful defenses, and with the Shield Master feat, that shield also becomes an offensive tool worth its weight in metal. Not only does the Paladin get to add their shield’s AC bonus to harmful spell attacks and area of effects, they can also throw it up to negate damage in situations where a successful dexterity saving throw would reduce the damage to zero. Add to that the ability to use their shield to shove an enemy back five feet as a bonus action following an attack action, and the shield becomes as much a part of the Paladin as their weapon and their faith.
Great Weapon Master Makes It Easier to Hit
When it comes to tanking through combat, nothing says business like a +10 damage bonus on a successful attack. The only downside to the Great Weapon Master feat is that it subtracts -5 from the damage roll, which could mean the difference between a super powerful smash or a mere scrape.
Another great feature of Great Weapon Master is that the character gains a melee bonus attack when they either crit on a melee attack or knock an enemy down to zero hit points. That extra bonus attack could very well deplete two death saving throws from an unconscious enemy, meaning they are that much closer to being wiped out thanks to the Paladin.
Additional Options for Paladins
When the Paladin is the one standing between enemies and their party, having an opportunity to go first means they can quickly get into a protective position. The Alert feat all but guarantees going first (or at least early in a round), providing an additional +5 to their initiative roll. Coupled with a high Dex modifier, a Paladin can have up to +10 to their Initiative.
Polearm Master is another powerful feat, as it allows the Paladin to use their polearm to make an additional attack with the other end of the weapon as a bonus action. It also grants additional reach, meaning even those cowering enemies struggle to avoid the Paladin’s wrath. Heavy Armor Master grants +1 to Strength and reduces nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage by three points. With so many options to choose from, Paladins can easily become a powerful tank the whole party relies on for protection.
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