Bard is much better in content that is already excelled at than paladin. Bard main (1492. If you allow the light to die in your own heart, you can't preserve it in the world. Paladin / Bard (Image Credit: Nowis-337). Lore Bard fits well with the personality concept because of Cutting Words. I'd go College of Glamour over College of Swords though. If you are going for paladin bard multi class you probably want to go for 2 - 10 or 7 - 5. It would be a real shame if you kept both the Paladin and the college of swords bard under 5 given that you then lack extra attack, because extra attacks mean way more smiting crit opportunities (since you only. I'd just like to chime in that with your stats, you could also make a good Paladin 2/Swords Bard X. Hit Points: 45. Bard provides a plethora of bonus actions and. Title is pretty much self explanatory, I'm bored so help me pick a feat for my Bardadin when he reaches Bard 4. 91. Regarding A-Game Paladin: while I mentioned the build a bit, there's a few problems with establishing the full Paladin 20 build, namely the need for high Int and Wis. Paladins are generally better at surviving damage. A Halfling Bard is not just a musician, mind you. But it's kind of important to get to paladin 6 to aura and maybe even paladin 9 as fast as possible to revive. Pick up Duelist fighting style from the College of Swords at Bard Level 3 (CL 5) so our hits land harder. The class. However, you gain a lot for picking Paladin 2 first including the early shield and medium armor, which gets you to 19 AC in the first hour and a half of the game. The other option is to get up to paladin 7 for the amazing auras. At 6 you’ll still have +4 in each, but at 3-5 you’ll have +3 str +4 cha instead on +3 to both. You'll get more lay on hands and spell levels for smites or healing words along the way to help with the healing issues. I kindof like the idea of adding 1-4 levels of hexblade warlock in there because I've got this spirit in my weapon, it's not an intelligent item but it's goes. Nets you 2 invocations, and some spells and cantrips that expand your options from bards control focus pretty heavily and run off your strong stat. (Otherwise go to Bard 2 if you don't want to delay your extra attack. Silverblade1234 • 2 yr. ago. Barbarians are generally better at dealing damage. Runic Tunic Jul 18 @ 11:06am. Paladins are champions of holy power, heralds of their faith and smiters of the unrighteous through divine favor and martial prowess. Okay, I would break it down like this: 6 paladin, get cha to saves 5 bard, get SR inspiration (probably whispers bard, as you already have xtra attack and no need for extra spells either) 1-2 warlock hexblade. Hero. Multiclassing in 5E requires a massive sacrifice in ability, and its compounded for spellcasters. With lore bard, you can even get access to some interesting spells like Spirit Guardians as a Paladin. I would like to play a elf-related melee focused bard with a 2H (if that is possible). If it's hard to down you most enemies are just gonna walk past you and try to kill your squishies. Paladin is more braindead, I mean, everything but 1 skill buff/shield is press and effect, no matter where your alies are. That said, a single level of cleric is really nice for. I could take it all the way till 9th level spells with bard still at this point. Like 4 units distance. From paladin you get heavy armor, divine smite, extra attack, aura of protection, decent fighting style. 20 feet or so? Bard songs are usually heard over big distance 40+feet and at lvl 12. Raise CHA as high as possible, get a Rapier and Weapon Finesse, then use Greater Heroism and Inspire Courage to do some damage. Requires a better understanding of boss patterns, class positioning, and are way more squishy than Pally, almost every bard wants Heavy armor 3. However the bard that isn't healing outputs better damage buffs. They can wear heavy armor and shields, have excellent save bonuses, and can heal themselves. He can diplomacy, he can fight, he can tank, he can heal, and he can buff. Right now, you're a quite powerful Paladin with a solid 6 skill proficiencies. maybe get agonizing blast, maybe go 3 for coffeelock shenanigans. Like hold person, viscous mockery ect. If you're only doing a 3 level dip in Bard, Swords. The Paladin/Bard is a jack of all trades of the highest caliber. I’m playing a golem (reskinned warforged) Paladin-Bard, who serves as the valet to another PC. Not to mention each class makes up for weaknesses of the other. Feline Agility is the Tabaxi’s signature skill. The paladin gets better early nonscaling abilities. Annoyingly. However, you gain a lot for picking Paladin 2 first including the early shield and medium armor, which gets you to 19 AC in the first hour and a half of the game. ). I had the first level in Paladin for. Paladin + Bard portmanteaus to Balladin, so that's my suggestion. I’m going to second u/Rhythm2392’s Paladin 2 / Swords Bard X. I'm not too concerned with viability as I am for my RP. Daeths • 2 yr. Which is more damage without question. A dwarf crouches behind an outcrop. Additionally, if you take a valor or swords bard and want to be able to do more In melee, paladins are fantastic. Warlock 2. Johnson and Ra's Al Ghul. I have all 3 and have no issues finding. Level 2: Paladin 1 -> I like to grab Paladin early, so we can get Healing Radiance, and more importantly, for the Paladin [and Ancients] dialogue options. I am currently playing one, and have been using this guide, which does a great job of discussing all the intricacies and variations of potential builds (and coins the term sorcadin). Aside from their loyalist tendencies, druids also have a number of cool subclasses, like the. And because the former "15%" doesn't stack and only the latter "6%" stacks, if you have a normal support in you're team, you're only offensive synergy will either by "+ added 6% of DPS paladin's attack" or "20% increase. Sorc, Wizard, Druid, Cleric levels work the same as. The bard is an artisan of magic, knowledgeable and witty musicians and warriors capable of lethal arts. Metallicus Aug 29 @ 9:42am. Beginner Box ; Rulebooks . Proficiency in Perception and having Darkvision is useful. If shadow sorcerous origin is in, i'll go with that. Bards get their magic by echoing ‘the music of creation’. Pick up Warcaster with your first ASI or your Vuman Feat if you take your first level in Bard so you can start carrying a shield. Business, Economics, and Finance. A Tier: Artillerist, Deathblade, Glaivier, Sorceress, Striker. In this case level 8. For example, Paladin 6/Bard 6 would gain access to a 5th level spell slot and get up to 3rd level bard spells and 2nd level paladin spells; paladin 12 only gets up to 3rd level spell slots and spells. Oath of Ancients Paladin 11/Divine Soul Sorcerer 9: The Tank. I’m going to suggest another with Paladin 6 / Lore Bard X. Lots of flashy moves, high mobility, and a cool-looking character model guarantee the Deathblade a top spot. The bard dialogue and the ability to perform music in the bleakest of environments is just spot on for that paladin!Scouter. That's most of the best bard features right there. Paladin/Bard into Hexblade is so popular because it’s just a 1 level dip. I suggest Paladin 2 - Bard 10 if you really want to play a swords bard that can crush things. Redemption Paladin and Eloquence Bard would give a pretty killer persuasion check so I am down for it. That said, a single level of cleric is really nice for bards, and can help with the "divine" aspect of your character. The Alert feat is one of the best ways to push your initiative up, especially since it eliminates any chances of you being surprised. They have the upper body of a human but the goats and the lower body of their animal counterpart. Tieflings would suit an Outlander, Hermit, Urchin, or. I'd pick paladin for frontline and bard for support, those two would work amazingly with anything the player chooses to play. As for race, i am torn. Extra Attack means you have two chances to hit an enemy and two chances to crit against them. You end up with the same amount of skills, just fewer choices for the fist two. Paladin/Bard Multiclass Hello, I'm playing currently ,in the campaign that I'm in, a Level 7 Devotion Paladin. Ranger. However, you gain a lot for picking Paladin 2 first including the early shield and medium armor, which gets you to 19 AC in the first hour and a half of the game. The problem there is you wouldn't get spirit guardians and fireball until level 11. #1 I've been toying around with a Paladin/Bard mutliclass character in a campaign and found him to be shockingly effective. If you're struggling, there's always an option to stick to Paladin and respec on 8. Target receives +2 bonus to armour class. I suggest Paladin 2 - Bard 10 if you really want to play a swords bard that can crush things. And bard has BOOBA. If you're dead set on a bard multiclass there's not much to say. Think C-3PO if C-3PO was built like a brick shithouse and infused with the divine energies of the goddess of tyranny. Bard is more "engaging". Level one Paladin is certainly not what BG3 made it. One of the Paladin's defining features is Smite, and more spell-slots means more Smites. Tanky Bard. Imagine being in front of the King (or some important NPC) and suggesting they take a certain course of action because it is the most sensible. Paladins are champions of holy power, heralds of thei. Str: 15+1 Dex: 10 Con: 13+1 Int: 8 Wis: 12 Cha: 14+2 . The Bard also has a smaller hit die than the Paladin, so you don’t have the staying power to tank as many hits as a typical paladin. Both would be melee focused with the Bard being a melee/utility/support, with the Warlock primarily for Pact of Blade and Eldritch Blast for range purposes. The character is a Paladin 8 Lock 3. I suggest Paladin 2 - Bard 10 if you really want to play a swords bard that can crush things. The fighter and paladin had succeeded in boarding the ship at this time, and they're faced with 6 goblin crew members. 1. From lore bard you get cutting words which is excellent for reactions, magical secrets at bard 6 lets you pick up amazing stuff like haste, and counterspell. . This comment answers your question well. Its best features come at 5-10 rather than 1-5. Suddenly, an enlarged Dwarven Paladin comes out of nowhere swinging a hammer and smiting enemies, using misty step to close the gap. Paladin should cover your saves while hitting hard. You misunderstand class/class means multiclassing so a bard/paladin is a bard multiclassing paladin. Seems like the best way to get the two weapon fighting style is 2 levels of fighter or 3 of sword bard, and given the slots can be used for smiting & all the other ancillary benefits of bard that a paladin/bard makes the most sense. After a lot of research and going through old reddit posts, I think I’ve found the best way to do it. STR with great-weapon fighting style and great-weapon master does a lot more damage than DEX. Zariel Tiefling: Paladin, Bard, Warlock, Rogue; More Baldur's Gate 3 guides. A better alternative is Paladin 2/Warlock 1/Bard 7, going Hexblade. This is why a lot of people 'water' down bard with stuff like Sharpshooter. TheGaijin1987 • 2 yr. Fighter/Barbarian. Bardic inspiration isn't as bombastic as some of the support spells. Fill sorcerer, probably Divine Sorcerer for the spell list. I tend to create characters because I like them, not for power (e. 3. Lvl 3: Back for our last level of Paladin for smites and a fighting style. It's a relatively simple concept: pair Paladin with a Charisma caster like Bard, Sorcerer, or Warlock to take advantage of their combat. Its best features come at 5-10 rather than 1-5. ago So as fate would have it, a member of my party really wants to play Bard now. However, you gain a lot for picking Paladin 2 first including the early shield and medium armor, which gets you to 19 AC in the first hour and a half of the game. Shadow Touched - Invisibility is great, but I am not sure what other spell I would. For instance an Ancients Paladin 7 / Lore Bard X (but could probably be any Bard) can Channel Divinity, provide two great auras to allies, Bardic Inspiration, throw out spellcasting and if necessary make some. At the moment he is the First Officer, and will probably have the chance to become the Captain himself. Baldur’s Gate 3 College of Swords Bard. Say 12+ minimum. Bard should focus on sonic/fire damage and effects while giving you amazing skills. Looked around the table one game and every spell caster had a spell DC of 11 or less. Supposedly the universe was sung into being, and bards are able to replicate that song to produce magic. Because bards get full spell progression, I'd likely lean towards full bard after L6. I'm considering going Sword Bard til 6 then respecing into this at level 7. And it makes multiclassing with something like Paladin easy. Going Sorcerer will give you metamagic, and Subtle is your top pick to cast Subtle Suggestion in the open. The Oath of Redemption Paladin is an undeniably novel take on the class to begin with, focusing on extreme pacifism and social skills in order to de-escalate conflicts before they begin. Lore bard is really good, because you get those magical secrets earlier, and cutting words is a nice debuff. Bard/paladin multiclasses function much in the same way as rogue/ranger ones. Possibly the most well-known of the cosmetic item bunch, the cloak of billowing is perfect for any player character with a propensity for the dramatic. There are a few things to consider, actually getting these features that you want to use and being able to use them. 10 Cloak Of Billowing. I always suggest something like paladin or barbarian to relatively new players because they are not complicated character to play. All you want paladin for is divine smite and that's it which you get at level 2. Down in the hold, the ranger is facing the bard, the captain (who is a cleric), 4 more goblins, and a hob. Full spell progression plus psychic damage on a good number of hits is solid. The Paladin and Bard Multiclass [Screenshot Captured by eXputer] From the impression of BG3, it seems that Bard is a very dedicated class. You need to get to your extra attack as soon as possible. And you don't have Extra Attack by default, so you almost certainly have to take a Bard subclass with Extra Attack like Swords or Valor. However, you gain a lot for picking Paladin 2 first including the early shield and medium armor, which gets you to 19 AC in the first hour and a half of the game. Bard is more caster oriented and HK is more big man with big sword oriented with some glowy angel shit. not going Paladin at all in tier 1) if you don't want heavy armor. Subclass is at 3 but like I said there is nothing you get from a paladin subclass that's better than magical secrets. Gabriel is 200% vengeance paladin. Paladin 2 / Swords Bard X / additional Paladin 1 sometime (Redemption) - This guy gets Paladin 2 first to get heavy armor and shield proficiencies, smite, and a fighting style (Defense). And unfortunately, Bard is a little bit underwhelming at low levels just like Paladin. More levels of monk are not worthwhile: bard music and magic offer far better growth potential than anything left in the monk class. 1. Paladin/Bard: Inspiring Battlefield Commander. r/Pathfinder_RPG A chip A close button Get app Get the Reddit app Log In Log in to Reddit Get the Reddit app Log In Log in to RedditBard Mini stood behind the Paladin mini with heart eyes in the Intro to "Crap Guide to Ranger". 1 Paladin > 6 Sword Bard > 1 Paladin > 4 Bard I know this alters so progression weirdly and is to my disadvantage early on, but it gives me Wisdom Saves Proficiency and Heavy Armor Prof (and early Shield Prof). You basically play like a Paladin with better casting. Conquest Paladin and you are quite a scary dude. Bard/Paladin has some commonalities with it (namely shared Charisma dependence and full caster progression allowing for massive smiting potential) which seems like a good start, though obviously bards lack some tools like metamagic and some spells that really makes the sorcerer multiclass sing. Race: Hobgoblin or V Human. Yes, delaying extra attack might hurt a bit, but since those dont stack (I believe) grabbing them from both Paladin and Bard seems a bit wastefull. You can lvl 5 smite by level 10 or 12, which is a lot quicker than full paladin does. Your party can benefit a lot from the "battlefield control. [Bard levels] + [ (Paladin levels)/2, rounded down] = total spellcaster level. 2 levels gives heavy armor, a fighting style and smites, enough to be a paladin in itself. However, you gain a lot for picking Paladin 2 first including the early shield and medium armor, which gets you to 19 AC in the first hour and a half of the game. Bardadin - Paladin Bard Build. Picture, if you will, a pint-sized troubadour with a lute in hand and a grin on their face. r/BaldursGate3. I made a character that’s pretty similar. Str has better melee weapons, Dex does better at range. Level 3: oath of devotion paladin, arcane trickster rogue, and eldritch knight fighter. Without Bard 5, you'll run out of Bardic Inspiration far too quick so your Flourishes are a bit pointless and you don't. I went conquest paladin/lore bard. in KR usually with new raids bards are prefered to learn it and after that paladins are preferred because of the slighy faster clear times. But hey, they seem pretty happy with it, ignorance is bliss I guess. Bard also suffers from arcane spell casting failure in armor Alchemy is only the source of magic for alchemist artificers. Seems like the best way to get the two weapon fighting style is 2 levels of fighter or 3 of sword bard, and given the slots can be used for smiting & all the other ancillary benefits of bard that a paladin/bard makes the most sense. Bard. The Ever-Seeing Eye. Paladin Bard Warlock Sorcerer Multiclass. Roleplay like a madperson, stab some things, cast some. Zariel Tiefling: Paladin, Bard, Warlock That covers all the Baldur’s Gate 3 races and subraces, along with our S-tier picks. Then take bard (sword college) for 5 levels getting you third level spells and inspiration back on short rests. I am not yet settled on cantrips yet When I hit 3rd level I'll take Paladin and pick up interception fighting style I'll be able to swing a hammer and provide support through spells, minimal bard dice, and reactions to reduce damage on my allies. Also consider: Monk/Paladin/Bard. A good guy (maybe Paladin or Monk) struggling to resist temptation, fighting against their base instincts. Str 16 + 2, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 17 + 1. Level Paladin for Heavy Armor and HP; Level Paladin for Divine Smite and Dueling; Level Bard for Dissonant Whispers, Faerie Fire and Bardic Inspiration ; Paladin for Oath; Paladin for Shield Master; Paladin for Extra Attack; Paladin. Normally I'd think it'd be 2/18 or 6/14 Bard/Paladin, for either smites or aura of protection. Levels: Bard Swords 6 then 2 levels in Paladin Ancients then finish in Bard gets you some amazing smites - max Dex/Cha. ago. Paladin is more like : You are tanky, you press buttons and give buffs, no need to put much of thinking. While. In terms of being a caster, support and controller, the bard is going to be stronger. They both do the same thing with slightly different focus. What a coincidence, I've been cooking up a Bard/Paladin Smite Build for patch 3. The combination yields 24d8 extra total smite damage per day. Obviously the Gold Dwarf is great for tank builds like the paladin, whereas the Shield. Paladin on the other hand gives the most awesome attack - Divine Smite. Most likely sorcerer. GameStop Moderna Pfizer Johnson & Johnson AstraZeneca Walgreens Best Buy Novavax SpaceX Tesla. I'll waste a spell slot just so I can have a certain eye and hair color). A writer, musician, or performer at heart with a deep and abiding love of nature. Choose Shield, Wrathful Smite, Armor of Agathys, and Mirror Image as your Warlock spells. As a Lore Bard, I’ve been a Commander, an Assassin, a Healer, a Mage, a Pickpocket, a Scholar, and a Clergyman - the possibilities are endless. I think going Bard will feel a bit meh by then 😅 I'd usually aim to get to Extra Attack before multiclassing. And much like their WoW counter-parts, Lost Ark’s Paladins are a tanky, melee support with higher damage output. The personality of the character evolved in such a way that bard fluff fits him well, and thus far he has been the "tank" of the party (ac 18) and I assume the party would like me to continue to absorb the punishment. There are a few nice builds for Bards: Classic vanilla bard. A stealthy sneaky bard that uses magic or skill to get around the battlefield. For the half casters (Ranger, Paladin, Bard, Artificer and some subclasses), it's better to not think of the magic as actual magic. Paladin is probably the more forgiving of the two choices as it is more independently capable and as long as you have a smite evil left you have a solution that ranger between alright and good. Take Charm Person, Phantasmal Force, and Suggestion. I suggest Paladin 2 - Bard 10 if you really want to play a swords bard that can crush things. Just lovely. But after seeing the party make-up, I think we need more front-line and healing capabilities. I suggest Paladin 2 - Bard 10 if you really want to play a swords bard that can crush things. Means we can just let Dex sit at 14. See more posts like this in r/BG3Builds6 Paladin / X Bard. Greetings r/3d6 - I, a multiclass neophyte, come before the distinguished council of elders to request aid in the crafting of my PC. I was thinking about doing a…brokenURL • 2 yr. ago. Aereni High: +2 DEX isn't bad as it can help with AC and stealth. Clerics have access to spells like beacon of hope that can trivialize entire encounters, while paladins have crusader's mantle that causes a grotesque increase in party damage, plus of course their aura of protection feature. Means we can just let Dex sit at 14. A person cannot look at one splash and ignore other splash options in comparison. I suggest Paladin 2 - Bard 10 if you really want to play a swords bard that can crush things. i kind of went off kilter with him and gave him low charisma, but he thought he was very persuasive. The two handed greatsword can't utilize either of those fighting styles, so changing it out for a sword and board or dual wielding (not to sure about this one being very effective) might feel better. Bard Cantrips: Light, Minor Illusion. The problem there is you wouldn't get spirit guardians and fireball until level 11. This build is still primarily a caster, but with the ability to occasionally dive into melee and stab things. So even though Artificer is the most popular choice, I fall pretty cleanly into the “don’t” camp. Multiclassing in 5E requires a massive sacrifice in ability, and its compounded for spellcasters. I suggest Paladin 2 - Bard 10 if you really want to play a swords bard that can crush things. If the Paladin is out-damaging the entire rest of the party combined, either the rest of the party is hot garbage or the Paladin is burning all of their spell slots for divine smites. If you do #2, any of those options are good. You end up with the same amount of skills, just fewer choices for the fist two. Paladin with bard like tendenciesPaladin/Bard multiclass. Like all hexadins we're getting Booming Blade, Eldritch Blast, Hex and Armor of Agathys. You can play a bard however you want to play a bard (not all at the same time though). Paladin / Bard (Image Credit: Nowis-337) Paladin’s have a reputation for their high charisma, and that means that bard actually is a class that mixes well with. So a 'Sorcadin' is a better caster and more effective in combat while a 'Palabard' is a bit tougher and has more allround skills. So with a DEX based paladin could be. Unsurprisingly perhaps, this style of play builds into a bard multiclass very well. Elf: Elves get a DEX bonus which can somewhat help the AC of a Bard, and can give melee Bards a boost with attacking. Bard gives lots of utility, spell slots, and unique attacks. Take the Devil's Sight Invocation (for the advantage combo) and Eldritch Mind (makes your concentration safe with Resilient: Con). The base idea does feel like it would fit nicely for an rallying/motivation focused Paladin - Boosting party moral, while still being a frontliner with the added bonus of (limited) Bard casting and. Go 10 levels sword bard next polearm master at lvl 4, +2str or Cha at lvl 8 while saving up for plate armor along the way. #1. The Cleric is less common, usually it is Sorcerer or Bard, but it is the same philosophy, you just take a hit to your Charisma score to put some points in Wisdom this way. Overall feels more baddass to play with skills. Sounds like you know what you're doing. All 3 supports are accepted and the preferred one depends on whoever is creating the party. But it's best if you stick with pure Dirge bard (or maybe a small splash) in order to max out those benefits. Bard 2 Paladin 8 is not much better than Paladin 8 and probably weaker than Paladin 9. My mind went to Sword Bard 10. Until then, you're a standard S/V Bard. However, you gain a lot for picking Paladin 2 first including the early shield and medium armor, which gets you to 19 AC in the first hour and a half of the game. If they're wielding sword and shield then they definitely aren't using a musical instrument as an arcane focus, and they can't use their holy symbol on a shield for their bard spells. I’m looking to make either a Bard/Warlock, or a Paladin/Warlock. As a mid to high level concept tho, I love the Paladin 2/Sword Bard 18. And Bard/Sorcerer fuels smites while also building your out of combat kit. Lore bard is really good, because you get those magical secrets earlier, and cutting words is a nice debuff. 3 (2 Paladin/1 Bard) with rolled stats (17 10 17 12 14 16). The rogue bard seems like an oxymoron if you only refer to the usual stereotypes. The Druid surprised me with their spell selection and the natural recovery ability is fire. But hey, they seem pretty happy with it, ignorance is bliss I guess. You’ll retain Divine Smite, Spell Slots, and your Fighting Style, which in this case is going to be Defense. I'm in a campaign that will go all the way to 15 or 20 and even in that one, I'm lukewarm about doing the. I found that, i really struggled for level 2 spell slots. ago. Sign In; Cart . Sentinel for the lvl 4 feat. You're getting Aura of Protection and Extra Attack from Paladin, as well as an actual Oath and Channel Divinity. Bards and Sorcerers for that reason, are one of the best multiclass combos. so basally got killed this way. Recommended Ratios. Both of these colleges benefit greatly from the extra utility offered by these. According to the Dungeon Dudes, they rank as Tier A or Tier S for Investigator, Explorer, Utility, Negotiator, and Support. A Strength-based Bardadin or Sorcadin can equally work, but for that I'd want to start as Paladin (or MC into War Domain Cleric or Ranger Knight or something like that), so that I could use Heavy Armour, otherwise AC will be poor. From Bard, you've got Magical Secrets, which are also. Bards have a shield they can give every 18s for 25% hp but only 1m around them. and Soldier background. Paladin’s Aura is just that good that it’s worth delaying spells for it. My advice would be to take it to 1 warlock/8 paladin, getting your second ASI and ancients aura. Pick up Defensive FS from Paladin at 2. Bard is, in my opinion, the most "jack of all trades" class amongst the lot. ago. #3. This will make you SAD on Charisma and only needing to boost Dex for medium armor and Str for multiclass prerequisites. Her current spell list is action/advantage denial heavy with a few utility spells; I'd like to enhance her supporter role with better healing abilities and an improved ability to tank,. just play both and decide what you like more. Your party can benefit a lot from the "battlefield control. Both are mainly Swiftness, except Bard has a Spec build which is used for specific/niche scenarios. There’s like 0 bard in Gabriel and you don’t have to be a bard to have a charisma stat. But really too is the defensive fighting style for that +2 AC. Sitting opposite to the Bard, the Paladin’s healing is much more effective in small, consistent doses. If there was a way to more bard than paladin yet remain able to defend the party that would be great. Barb 5 -> paladin 4 -> barb x. The ability to use your spell slots to be the highest dps in the party or fill the support roll, in addition to being charisma specced and likely the party face means that you are. Paladin 2 / Hexblade 1 / Swords Bard X is also pretty good. In my opinion; Bard is better at doing either just healing or just damage buffing, while the paladin is better at providing a bit of both. Either one of those gets you the ability to attack with Intelligence, but that’s at the cost of 3 levels. Especially since bards are 2/3 casters so their spell progression is slower than full casters. You run into a lot of things like Wood Elf Monks with 12 Dex, 10 Con, 12 Wis and 15 Intelligence. If you go SK or Paladin, pick up. -A Frontliner like a Barbarian or an artificer, or a tank focused Fighter or Paladin -A Skill monkey like a Rogue or a Bard -Someone that can cast revivify like an Artificer, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, or Ranger. With Paladin, it’s mostly buffing yourself up and hitting things. I would probably go 2 paladin and then the rest bard. I’m going to suggest another with Paladin 6 / Lore Bard X. As for Heavy Armor: Bard has to be on top of the boss so her skills reach both the boss and the melee dps. I’m going to second u/Rhythm2392’s Paladin 2 / Swords Bard X. I'm considering going Sword Bard til 6 then respecing into this at level 7. Building a Paladin/Bard and I have a free 1st lvl feat and am tossing up what is the best option for me. As a bard you can still get the high level paladin spells with magical secrets. With the Duergar Dwarf, they get Enlarge and Invisibility. Fairly new to the game and did some research as to what classes go well with paladin since im aiming to recruit Minthara. For context, my character is a Leonin Lv. From there you could go full bard the rest of the way or pick up the L7 aura buff for paladin if you like it. I would go for fallen aasimar, if they are in, and if not, then, either half-orc, dragonborn, or even a drow/half drow.