Baldur’s Gate 3 is jam-packed with meaningful player choices and copious amounts of decision-making. One of the earliest things players are asked to do is to pick a class for their hero to embody. While this isn’t a permanent choice, it is one that will impact your gameplay quite drastically. The Paladin is one such class.
Paladins are one of the most popular classes in Baldur’s Gate 3 and for good reason. These are the righteous paragons, staunch defenders, and oath-bearing leaders of any party. Failing that, they are disgraced Oathbreakers who have their own funky quirks. This guide is going to walk you through how to play the Paladin so you can smite your foes with reckless abandon.
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Class Overview
Paladins are holy warriors capable of incredible feats of strength, endurance, and faith. They are incredibly powerful melee threats with access to some brutal abilities that elevate them high above their Fighter cousins.
They have mastered the art of combat and come clad in the best weapons and armour. Not only that but while they are experts at slaying the unnatural, they are just as good at clobbering your regular Joe should they step out of line (and in your way).
Outside of combat, they are keen negotiators, making them charismatic leaders worthy of the coveted ‘first slot’. Paladins are also one of the most roleplay-intensive characters, as their Oath system forces them to go out of their way to maintain not only their religious standing but all of their powers.
Oaths In Baldur’s Gate 3
One of the most unique mechanics in Baldur’s Gate 3 is the Oath mechanic for Paladins. Unlike almost every other system in the game, Oaths are almost entirely based on roleplaying. Sure, they provide powerful benefits, but maintaining those benefits requires constant adherence to your Oath. If you ever fail to uphold your Oath, you will be labelled an Oathbreaker, a somewhat secret fourth subclass.
Note: For this guide, we are just sticking to the base Oaths. We will have a separate guide covering Oathbreakers.
Oath Of Ancients
Oath Of Ancients is heavily focused on supporting your team. This is mostly through the use of healing magics that are permanently slotted to your character. This Paladin is closer to a Cleric or Druid than other Paladins, whilst maintaining the raw melee prowess their class provides.
Oath Of Devotion
Oath Of Devotion is the middle ground between Ancients and Vengeance. This Oath balances healing, support, and damage, making it the most versatile. It’s also the most wishy-washy since you want to try and keep your party focused on their strengths, and not dilute them too much.
Oath Of Vengeance
Oath Of Vengeance is all about damage with a smidge of damage-based support. This Paladin is monstrously powerful and has mighty “Smite” attacks of every element ready to go. Their damage is higher than almost any other class in the game, but this is offset by a short range. They want to get stuck in, and they want to delete threats before they can get to your squishy backline.
Level Progression
As you level up as a Paladin you will unlock new class-specific abilities. Whilst many of these vary based on what Oath you have sworn, some are unlocked regardless of your choices.
Lay On Hands
This ability is an incredibly powerful (and scaling) healing spell that allows your Paladin to act as a healer from time to time. This heal is far more powerful than most heals from other classes, and more importantly, it uses its own resource. This means you can use Lay On Hands and not have your other spells drained, which is always nice.
Not only that but Lay On Hands can also be used to cure various status ailments, giving it far more utility than just a powerful healing spell.
Aura Of Protection
Aura Of Protection locks Paladins into the best tank in the game, and not only that, but they also become one of the best force multipliers. Aura Of Protection grants a powerful defensive buff to all allies near the Paladin (the Paladin included). It has no resource assigned to it, you just cast it once per Long Rest and everyone is better. It really is that simple. This ability unlocks at Level 6.
Best Spells For Paladins In Baldur’s Gate 3
Outside of your Paladin-specific unlocks that you gain over time, you will also be granted a variety of powerful, unique spells. These act exactly like any other spell in Baldur’s Gate, meaning you can’t just spam them. However, Paladin spells can be incredibly powerful and to help balance that, they are also very short-ranged (usually). Here are some powerful spells to consider when you are levelling up.
Do note that Paladins have a ludicrous number of concentration-based spells. You can only have one of these spells active at once, so consider which you need before you start wasting spell slots.
Smite (Any)
Smite will be your go-to attack when you have spare spell slots. There are a myriad of Smites to choose from, but due to the nature of Spell Books, you can change these on the fly if you are willing to have a Long Rest. Each Smite comes with a different element and secondary effect, but in general, all of them do a nice chunk of damage making them great at single-target elimination – especially when combined with other sources of damage.
Bless
Bless is a simple yet reliable buff. It makes everyone’s attacks more accurate in addition to buffing their saving throws. It works in the background to keep everything running smoothly, and it’s rather brilliant at doing just that.
Shield Of Faith
Another simple buff, Shield Of Faith raises your (or an ally’s) AC by +2. This is a substantial increase in survivability and is especially good when applied to a Paladin or Fighter as their AC is already very high. A fully buffed and armoured Paladin is very hard to shift.
Magic Weapon
Magic Weapon changes things up a bit by enchanting your weapon to gain +1 to hit and +1 damage. This might not seem like a huge buff, but the fact it can be stacked with the likes of Bless if you have a Cleric in your party means your Paladin can reach incredible levels of reliability. The damage boost is just a nice extra.
Compel Duel
Paladins are all about being on the frontline and keeping your squishy allies safe. Compel Duel forces an enemy of your choice to only attack your Paladin. Incredibly powerful, especially if you keep your Paladin buffed with supportive magic.
That’s all we have for Baldur’s Gate 3 for now. Be sure to check out our other guides and lists for more Baldur’s Gate content.
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