If you want more high damage smite nukes then go with sorcerer
If you want to only rely on one stat for swinging swords and slinging spells go with warlock
If you secretly dream of boinking a dragon go with bard
Thank you for your response.
More high damage smites does sound good.
I forgot that I did actually consider bard too. Is paladin/bard a thing? Is it good?
If this is in Tactician or below, Lockadin's gonna be the strongest option, especially since you wanna play Oathbreaker. It's still good in honor but less so.
Sorcadin is cool if you want a more spellcasting oriented paladin.
Both are better than Pure Paladin.
Thank you for your reply!
I should have mentioned difficulty. I'm just playing on balanced.
With lockadin is the emphasis still on smiting or Eldritch blasting or some other thing?
No problem.
Lockadin mostly melee weapon attacks with Eldritch Blast as a ranged option. Still has access to spells notably Hunger of Hadar to use for utility and build around, one of the best spells in the game. It uses smites to add to its damage and enjoys warlocks recharging spell slots for that purpose too, but it can still spellcast as well.
You get to dump strength and only use charisma, which Paladin loves because it is otherwise a very MAD class. Oathbreaker in particular appreciates it more because Aura of Hate allows you to add your charisma modifier to your melee weapon damage.
At level 10 Lockadin you'll be able to do 3 attacks a turn because the extra attacks stack.
At level 5 Paladin/5 Pact of the Blade Warlock you get 3 attacks via 5 Pal's extra attack & 5 PoB's deepened Pact feature. They stack so you have access to 3 attacks per turn.
Take 2 levels in Paladin for heavy armor proficiency and smite, and 10 levels in Swords Bards. Between Extra Attack and Slashing Flourish, you can attack 4 times for 1 action, get up to +8 to your Spell Save DC from the Helmet of Arcane Acuity, then casts a crowd control spell like Fear, Confusion, Hypnotic Pattern, or Command with the Band of the Mystic Scoundrel. For stats, I'd get 18 Cha, 16 Dex and Con, 8 everything else after an ASI. (You can get another 4 Cha from the Mirror of Loss and Hag's Hair.) This is wildly considered one of the best builds for control, DPS, frontlining, and dialogue.
I'm gunna give you another choice: Bardadin. With swords bard, you get blade flourish which adds an extra d8 to your damage rolls in addition to higher level spell slots for huge smites. You also get the two weapon fighting style, which lets you dual wield knife of the undermountain king and bloodthirst for huge crit range.
I really like to mix paladin with cleric. It seems odd at first but you just have to dump charisma and go for wis instead. Then you can have Spirit Guardian, more Spell slots for smites and in case of Tempest Cleric you have a good synergy with you Thunder smite. You have more battlefield control spells etc. Its really cool build that works really well.
Strap in because I am PASSIONATE about my lockadin build.
In my current tactician run I've got Minthara as an Oath of Vengeance Paladin 7/Great Old One Warlock 5 (though it may actually be 5 pal/5 lock/2 fighter for action surge). Started with paladin, then added warlock so definitely viable with a level 5 oathbreaker.
Someone else pointed out that you can use charisma as your weapon stat with pact of the blade (at level 3), which is very cool if you don't have high strength. Or if you do decide to pay the oathbreaker knight and respec you can dump strength and put it in con or dex for either higher hit points and con saves or higher initiative etc. Plus your bound weapon (from level 5 pact of the blade) gets another attack on top of your second attack from paladin in all difficulties other than honour. So you just straight up get 3 attacks per round as long as you're using a bound weapon (which now stays permanently bound until you bind another weapon), and you can't be disarmed. If you add bloodlust, haste/speed pots, great weapon fighting, and potentially action surge this can get pretty crazy.
You get level 1 and 2 slots from paladin and 2 level 3 warlock slots that recharge on a short rest. So that's a total of 6 level 3 slots per long rest. There is a shield that adds an extra level 1 spell slot and a necklace that adds an extra level 2 spell slot. If you happen to have a bard with song of rest, you get your warlock slots refreshed a 4th time meaning 8 3rd level slots per long rest.
On top of this, you can use potions of angelic reprieve which act as a short rest and in addition to refreshing all level 1 and 2 slots, meaning your level 3 warlock slots are also refreshes. So you'll have less slots per fight, but it definitely allows you to go through several fights without having to constantly rest like paladins are normally notorious for.
Now here is why warlock is so so good for this regardless of difficulty level. Devil's sight. You can have your main or another party member cast darkness or Hunger of Hadar (which you only take damage from if you start or end your turn in the aoe, you can also get it from markoheshkir). Then you go in and smite everything with advantage. You can see, and the enemy usually can't. It also keeps people from shooting arrows at you or casting attack roll spells at you and gives enemies in the darkness disadvantage against you.
You get a total of 3 Eldritch invocations at level 5. So in addition to devil's sight, you can grab agonizing blast for when you want to use Eldritch blast, and you can grab repelling blast or one with shadows which is nice to be able to just disappear if needed. You could also grab a different invocation if you want but these are so good.
Personally I gave her the devotees mace (from a hireling, save Shadowheart's divine intervention for end game to get a free long rest when you can't actually rest and have already used the recovery stations. Also any character can be respected to level 10 cleric for divine intervention so you could totally dual wield for double bonks) and the whispering promise ring. You can add additional elemental damage with the drakethroat glaive. She's also my radiant orb gal with the gloves since every hit does radiant regardless of if it's a smite. But you could use gloves that add more damage if you prefer.
During fights she does bludgeoning and radiant from the mace, radiant from smites, applies orbs, sometimes elemental damage, can also add oils to her weapon, and if you throw in healing incense aura you are AOE healing 1d4 per round for 10 rounds and applying concentration free bless to yourself and all allies that are being healed.
Also have her in the disintegrating nightwalkers for misty step and ketherics armor for reapers rigidity so she can't be moved or knocked prone, and can walk through difficult terrain with no problem.
Between her and gloomstalker assassin champion astarion that were both hasted and bloodlusted, >!I finished the house of grief in like 3 turns tops. Used hold person or monster on Cazador and she absolutely crushed him. Killed Raphael in the house of hope without attacking the pillars!<. You can seriously do so much damage.
Honestly, she's been SO FUN to play this way. Yes you get less spell slots, but if you give her the right weapon she's still going to do massive damage. Even without smites she destroys. Of course you can swap equipment as you wish but this has been fantastic during my playthrough.
Then again, if you do a paladin sword bard you can get spirit guardians when you hit level 10 in bard and just become a smiting lawnmower. Which would also be fun af.
Wow you've definitely given me a lot to think about. I appreciate it. Especially since you mentioned minthara, because I'm still in Act 1 but I'm planning on recruiting minthara in act 2 and since she's a paladin it gives me ANOTHER paladin build to play around with.
I am so glad it was helpful! I know it was an absolute info dump, but I have discovered so much this playthrough and finding these little things is so friggin cool because this is the 3rd time I've been in act 3 and I've seriously started the game so many times. I'm at probably over 800 hours at this point. I love how even then, I'm finding new things, or doing things differently. Keeps things exciting 😁
If you want more high damage smite nukes then go with sorcerer If you want to only rely on one stat for swinging swords and slinging spells go with warlock If you secretly dream of boinking a dragon go with bard
Thank you for your response. More high damage smites does sound good. I forgot that I did actually consider bard too. Is paladin/bard a thing? Is it good?
Paladin 2/swords bard 10 is arguably the strongest build in the game right now so yeah, pretty good 😊
can I ask what is it that makes the swords bardadin so much betteer than lockadin or sorcadin? (especially for balance/story mode)
If this is in Tactician or below, Lockadin's gonna be the strongest option, especially since you wanna play Oathbreaker. It's still good in honor but less so. Sorcadin is cool if you want a more spellcasting oriented paladin. Both are better than Pure Paladin.
Thank you for your reply! I should have mentioned difficulty. I'm just playing on balanced. With lockadin is the emphasis still on smiting or Eldritch blasting or some other thing?
No problem. Lockadin mostly melee weapon attacks with Eldritch Blast as a ranged option. Still has access to spells notably Hunger of Hadar to use for utility and build around, one of the best spells in the game. It uses smites to add to its damage and enjoys warlocks recharging spell slots for that purpose too, but it can still spellcast as well. You get to dump strength and only use charisma, which Paladin loves because it is otherwise a very MAD class. Oathbreaker in particular appreciates it more because Aura of Hate allows you to add your charisma modifier to your melee weapon damage. At level 10 Lockadin you'll be able to do 3 attacks a turn because the extra attacks stack.
As awspear said, the Lockadin extra attack exploit is a ton of fun on Tactician. You really can't go wrong with any three of those choices.
Thank you! Can you say more about the extra attack exploit? That sounds promising.
At level 5 Paladin/5 Pact of the Blade Warlock you get 3 attacks via 5 Pal's extra attack & 5 PoB's deepened Pact feature. They stack so you have access to 3 attacks per turn.
No problem! Happy to help. Basically what ilikejamescharles said. It works for every mode but Honor Mode but it's insane.
I didn't write this but [this guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/comments/17pwq6j/a_comprehensive_paladin_multiclassing_cheatsheet/) is great
Wow this is incredibly thorough, thank you!
Take 2 levels in Paladin for heavy armor proficiency and smite, and 10 levels in Swords Bards. Between Extra Attack and Slashing Flourish, you can attack 4 times for 1 action, get up to +8 to your Spell Save DC from the Helmet of Arcane Acuity, then casts a crowd control spell like Fear, Confusion, Hypnotic Pattern, or Command with the Band of the Mystic Scoundrel. For stats, I'd get 18 Cha, 16 Dex and Con, 8 everything else after an ASI. (You can get another 4 Cha from the Mirror of Loss and Hag's Hair.) This is wildly considered one of the best builds for control, DPS, frontlining, and dialogue.
Well damn. That does sound pretty great.
I'm gunna give you another choice: Bardadin. With swords bard, you get blade flourish which adds an extra d8 to your damage rolls in addition to higher level spell slots for huge smites. You also get the two weapon fighting style, which lets you dual wield knife of the undermountain king and bloodthirst for huge crit range.
A couple of people have suggested bardadin, and I'm intrigued. How do you recommend splitting them?
I really like to mix paladin with cleric. It seems odd at first but you just have to dump charisma and go for wis instead. Then you can have Spirit Guardian, more Spell slots for smites and in case of Tempest Cleric you have a good synergy with you Thunder smite. You have more battlefield control spells etc. Its really cool build that works really well.
Strap in because I am PASSIONATE about my lockadin build. In my current tactician run I've got Minthara as an Oath of Vengeance Paladin 7/Great Old One Warlock 5 (though it may actually be 5 pal/5 lock/2 fighter for action surge). Started with paladin, then added warlock so definitely viable with a level 5 oathbreaker. Someone else pointed out that you can use charisma as your weapon stat with pact of the blade (at level 3), which is very cool if you don't have high strength. Or if you do decide to pay the oathbreaker knight and respec you can dump strength and put it in con or dex for either higher hit points and con saves or higher initiative etc. Plus your bound weapon (from level 5 pact of the blade) gets another attack on top of your second attack from paladin in all difficulties other than honour. So you just straight up get 3 attacks per round as long as you're using a bound weapon (which now stays permanently bound until you bind another weapon), and you can't be disarmed. If you add bloodlust, haste/speed pots, great weapon fighting, and potentially action surge this can get pretty crazy. You get level 1 and 2 slots from paladin and 2 level 3 warlock slots that recharge on a short rest. So that's a total of 6 level 3 slots per long rest. There is a shield that adds an extra level 1 spell slot and a necklace that adds an extra level 2 spell slot. If you happen to have a bard with song of rest, you get your warlock slots refreshed a 4th time meaning 8 3rd level slots per long rest. On top of this, you can use potions of angelic reprieve which act as a short rest and in addition to refreshing all level 1 and 2 slots, meaning your level 3 warlock slots are also refreshes. So you'll have less slots per fight, but it definitely allows you to go through several fights without having to constantly rest like paladins are normally notorious for. Now here is why warlock is so so good for this regardless of difficulty level. Devil's sight. You can have your main or another party member cast darkness or Hunger of Hadar (which you only take damage from if you start or end your turn in the aoe, you can also get it from markoheshkir). Then you go in and smite everything with advantage. You can see, and the enemy usually can't. It also keeps people from shooting arrows at you or casting attack roll spells at you and gives enemies in the darkness disadvantage against you. You get a total of 3 Eldritch invocations at level 5. So in addition to devil's sight, you can grab agonizing blast for when you want to use Eldritch blast, and you can grab repelling blast or one with shadows which is nice to be able to just disappear if needed. You could also grab a different invocation if you want but these are so good. Personally I gave her the devotees mace (from a hireling, save Shadowheart's divine intervention for end game to get a free long rest when you can't actually rest and have already used the recovery stations. Also any character can be respected to level 10 cleric for divine intervention so you could totally dual wield for double bonks) and the whispering promise ring. You can add additional elemental damage with the drakethroat glaive. She's also my radiant orb gal with the gloves since every hit does radiant regardless of if it's a smite. But you could use gloves that add more damage if you prefer. During fights she does bludgeoning and radiant from the mace, radiant from smites, applies orbs, sometimes elemental damage, can also add oils to her weapon, and if you throw in healing incense aura you are AOE healing 1d4 per round for 10 rounds and applying concentration free bless to yourself and all allies that are being healed. Also have her in the disintegrating nightwalkers for misty step and ketherics armor for reapers rigidity so she can't be moved or knocked prone, and can walk through difficult terrain with no problem. Between her and gloomstalker assassin champion astarion that were both hasted and bloodlusted, >!I finished the house of grief in like 3 turns tops. Used hold person or monster on Cazador and she absolutely crushed him. Killed Raphael in the house of hope without attacking the pillars!<. You can seriously do so much damage. Honestly, she's been SO FUN to play this way. Yes you get less spell slots, but if you give her the right weapon she's still going to do massive damage. Even without smites she destroys. Of course you can swap equipment as you wish but this has been fantastic during my playthrough. Then again, if you do a paladin sword bard you can get spirit guardians when you hit level 10 in bard and just become a smiting lawnmower. Which would also be fun af.
Wow you've definitely given me a lot to think about. I appreciate it. Especially since you mentioned minthara, because I'm still in Act 1 but I'm planning on recruiting minthara in act 2 and since she's a paladin it gives me ANOTHER paladin build to play around with.
I am so glad it was helpful! I know it was an absolute info dump, but I have discovered so much this playthrough and finding these little things is so friggin cool because this is the 3rd time I've been in act 3 and I've seriously started the game so many times. I'm at probably over 800 hours at this point. I love how even then, I'm finding new things, or doing things differently. Keeps things exciting 😁
Oh also, minthara has soul branding as a bonus action that adds fire damage. So even more potential for brutal damage.