[Pathfinder] Is Warrior of the Holy Light good in P6?

[Estuaire]

Hey there, I am starting a E6/P6 game soon and want to play a Paladin. While I know that Archer Paladin is the best type for damage output, I am choosing to play a Two-Hander and optimize that build the best that I can. I plan to go oath of Vengeance for the extra Smites, but am wondering if Warrior of the Holy Light is another archetype that I should pick up. It's 20 point Buy, and since we will get extra feats I'm thinking about trying the alternative Racial Human feat to take an additional +2 to stats (CRB races only)

19 STR, 13 Dex, 12 Con, 7 Int, 7 Wisdom, 18 CHA.

I plan to take power attack at level 1, but don't know where to go from there.

So If I take Warrior of the Holy Light, I lose just level 1 spells for the morale bonus but gain an additional Lay on Hand. The other trade off is the epic feat list will contain taking a level 2 Paladin spell once per day, so I could theoretically amass level 2 spells over time. Alternatively, my GM is allowing me to spend an epic feat for the level 8 lesser restoration part of the holy Light. Also, how is extra Lay on hands with an OoV build? Extra Smite seems awesome! Clearly I'm not sure which road to go down.

Thoughts and comments would be very much appreciated!

[watchwood]

Lesser Restoration is a level 1 spell for paladins. Since you'll get extra feats, you can pick up more smite/channel/etc through the extra X series of feats, so I'd consider the Holy Light archetype to be something of a waste.

[NightbringerGGZ]

I would avoid Warrior of the Holy Light. With an E6 game even limited spell casting is going to be pretty powerful to have. As for the Versatile Human alternate trait, I don't really think it is worthwhile. Losing your bonus feat and your bonus skill rank each level is pretty harsh for just a simple +2. If you're looking for both a Str & a Cha bonus I would probably go with a variant Aasimar character.

[Person_Man]

Pathfinder Paladin is a decent tank class with some good status condition removal. In an E6 context, my feedback is this:

1) Don't bother with Power Attack. It provides a fairly minimal damage bonus when your BAB is limited. Instead, consider playing a small race riding a medium Special Mount, use a lance two handed, and take Spirited Charge (which multiplies the damage on a Charge).

2) Even if you don't go with mounted combat, take the Special Mount/Animal Companion with your Divine Bond. Having a Velociraptor or Bear gives you more attacks and a flanking partner and something else to absorb damage, which is a lot more valuable then some minor bonuses. Also, the Shining Knight Archetype gives you a Ride bonus and lets you share Divine Blessing with your Mount, which is a lot more useful then the rarely used Divine Health.

3) Remember that having a spell on your spell list allows you to use Wands and other spell trigger items for that spell without a Use Magic Device check. Even though they have very limited spells per day, Paladins have some very handy spells on their list. Also remember that you can Share Spells with your Special Mount. So if you intend to use Wands or Staves at all, don't trade away your spellcasting.

[Estuaire]

Thanks for all the quick responses!

I was actually going to ask about Divine Bond. Unfortunately, due to setting I am limited to Human, Half-Elf, or Base Aasimar [no Angelkin :(], so I can't play a small race. What would you recommend I ask to take as a mount? I doubt velociraptor will apply, is bear the best other option?

The reason I considered Holy Light was that the best level 1 Pally spell is Lesser Restoration, and I would acquire that through the level 8 advancement of that ability in the form of an epic feat, but I suppose you are correct that the spells are better; I also forgot about the wand aspect so I won't be taking that archetype. The reason I went for the alt Human racial was because a bonus 2 stat points requires two feats at level 6, and I'm basically trading in one for it at level 1, which seemed like a good deal to me. Without it how should I assign point buy? What feats to take? I figured I would have a crazy amount of smites per day, and we are playing a campaign with mainly humans with a necromancer as the Big Baddie.

Assuming I can take a decent mount that other archetype definitely seems like an upgrade!

[Blyte]

since you will be facing a necromancer, I'd recommend bolstering your channels

1 fey foundling
1 noble scion of war
3 extra lay hands
5 selective channel
6-1 swift quick channel
6-2 improved channel
6-3 extra channel
6-4 extra channel
....

this way you can smack something and heal the party, or smack something and destroy the undead..

also I am personally no fan of mounts (altho probably the better option), and I like the bonded weapon (albeit a +1 at 6th)... allowing you to add keen to your +1 vicious great sword... unfortunately ghost touch isnt on the list :(