Optimize Special Mount (without being awful)

[ClothedInVelvet]

Title says it all. A paladin build focused on boosting special mount without making a terrible paladin (worse than usual). Dictum Mortuum has some references to a build like this in his handbook on Paladins, but it's not laid out clearly.

Let's see what we can do?

[Coidzor]

With Dragon Magazine material on the table, the Ranger-Knight of Furyondy PrC from Dragon 317 can be used to snag Special Mount as a 5th level Paladin.

A Mystic Ranger (Dragon 336) 5 using his 1st and 3rd level feats to qualify for Ranger Knight of Furyondy could then take Holy Mount (dragon 325) as his 6th level feat, making one's divine casting classes all contribute to mount progression. So as a 6th level character, he'd have the mount of a 10th level Paladin. Mystic Ranger is mostly just 10 levels long in general, so Mystic Ranger 10/Ranger Knight 1 leaves 9 levels free for dipping something like Beastmaster and Paladin 1 grabbing natural bond and devoted tracker for about 14 levels of animal companion progression in addition to 15-16 levels of mount progression. And you've got 1-5 ranger and wizard spells. With flaws, one could even be a wildshape mystic ranger and do this comfortably.

Racial - X Say, Trample
Mystic Ranger1 - Track
1 - Mounted Combat
Mystic Ranger3 - TWF
3 - Free, Power Attack, perhaps? If non-human/strongheart halfling, then trample
6 - Holy Mount
9 - Sword of the Arcane Order (champion of valor, IIRC)
12 - natural bond(complete adventurer) or free
15 - devoted tracker (complete adventurer) or free
18 - free (Could take Dragon Steed[Draconomicon], I guess, especially if one is a strongheart halfling... Or Perhaps Dragon Cohort[also Draconomicon])

Holy Mount as a feat is kind of "easy button" for optimizing special mount without being awful, as, combined with PrC Paladin and a Cleric base, a character can dip 2-3 levels of Paladin, lose a level of casting, gain a bunch of benefits, and then progress the mount with any other PrCs they might take.

As is Theurgic mount, but getting a special mount as a gish is slightly more problematic due to either 5 levels of Paladin, several feats for Ranger Knight of Furyondy, and needing Turn Undead, the mounted combat feat, and divine casting for PrC Paladin (Although dipping Cleric 1 (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=2773.0) comes to the rescue there at least) and generally taking 3 levels there... Still, you're going to have enough spellcasting, generally, to carry the day even if low on feats or out of them.


Just straight Paladin basically means play a Paladin and take Dragon Steed when you get a free feat, maybe throw a feat like Celestial Mount (BoED) or Winter's Mount(Frostburn) on when feats become available, depending upon whether one was actually fighting as a mounted combatant or using the "mount" as a support melee, possibly flanking.

[Jheska]

When stacking multipliers base weapon damage is largely irrelevant. Play a strongheart halfling paladin to 5, take the track feat. At 6th level go into the beastmaster prestige class (CW) and take the Devoted tracker feat to combine your new animal companion with your special mount.

Then spend 10 levels in halfling outrider to advance both animal companion and special mount, making a grim powered pet.

Dont forget natural bond at 9th for another +3 animal companion levels.

1: Track
Halfling: Mounted Combat
3: Ride By Attack
6: Devoted Tracker
9: Spirited charge

From there go wherever the hell you want, you have a grim mount and can just ubercharge, I reccommend a flying mount to facilitate this. For added bonus since you are small sized you can choose to have a medium mount and fit it anywhere the party goes.

That's without having to gain approval for dragon magazine shenanigans.