Holy Champion - Optional? [plus another paladin question]

[Extra Anchovies]

At 20th level, a paladin becomes a conduit for the power of her god. Her DR increases to 10/evil. Whenever she uses smite evil and successfully strikes an evil outsider, the outsider is also subject to a banishment, using her paladin level as the caster level (her weapon and holy symbol automatically count as objects that the subject hates). After the banishment effect and the damage from the attack is resolved, the smite immediately ends. In addition, whenever she channels positive energy or uses lay on hands to heal a creature, she heals the maximum possible amount.

Does this ability auto-trigger, or can I keep bringing the beatdown to an evil outsider while I have Smite Evil up and running? Is there any particular reason why it should be one way of the other?

ETA: As an aside, how does Weapon Bond compare to Special Mount? I like Weapon Bond's flavor more, but the Mount is one of the more powerful aspects of 3.5 Paladin so I'm not sure if it's worth giving up...

[BWR]

Does this ability auto-trigger, or can I keep bringing the beatdown to an evil outsider while I have Smite Evil up and running? Is there any particular reason why it should be one way of the other?

ETA: As an aside, how does Weapon Bond compare to Special Mount? I like Weapon Bond's flavor more, but the Mount is one of the more powerful aspects of 3.5 Paladin so I'm not sure if it's worth giving up...

I'm pretty sure it auto-triggers. The text says 'whenever', which basically means 'any time [x occurs]'. It would be nice if you could choose which effect to use because if you fail you've used a smite for a single blow, and sometimes you want to play it safe, especially if you only have that one smite left.

Mount is better if you want to play a mounted paladin and will have lots of opportunity to use it. Weapon is better in all other respects.

[Novawurmson]

Unless you're playing a small (i.e. halfling, gnome) paladin or your GM loves wide open spaces (and you enjoy mounted combat), I'd shy away from the mount. The weapon is useful all the time; the mount is useful some of the time.

[Extra Anchovies]

Unless you're playing a small (i.e. halfling, gnome) paladin or your GM loves wide open spaces (and you enjoy mounted combat), I'd shy away from the mount. The weapon is useful all the time; the mount is useful some of the time.

The issue with weapon bond is that it has a uses/day cap; it lasts one minute/level, and is usable 1/day at 5th, 2/day at 9th, 3/day at 13th, and 4/day at 17th. Because of this time limitation, I may often find myself without a divine bond of any sort. Is it still worthwhile, or are there some archetypes that replace it with something better? For example, if I take the Sacred Servant archetype I could theoretically Lay On Hands an extra 24 times/day at 20th level.

[Novawurmson]

Sacred Servant is pretty amazing for its Call Celestial Ally on its own. Nothing like your own planetar (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/angel/planetar) to spice things up.

[Extra Anchovies]

Sacred Servant is pretty amazing for its Call Celestial Ally on its own. Nothing like your own planetar (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/angel/planetar) to spice things up.

That does indeed seem like a really good archetype. Putting up some buffs for the day? Activate Divine Bond to boost your CL. Need some party healing? Activate divine bond for more Lay on Hands uses. Sure, I'd only get smite evil 4/day, but I get a domain. Since it says that I count as a cleric of a level equal to my paladin level -3, I assume that includes the domain granted power?

Also, how does the Warrior of the Holy Light archetype stack up, when factoring in the potential absurd number of extra LoH uses from Sacred Servant? The two are compatible, and spellcasting = bookwork = finnicky.

[T.G. Oskar]

I'm on the line that, regarding Sacred Servant's Call Celestial Ally ability, the Empyreal Knight is better in that regard, particularly if you get the right feat (Summon Good Monsters) to expand your choices. Call Celestial Ally allows you to call a Planetar, which is incredibly good, but its power depends on how well you make the negotiation, since the Planetar's benefit could last only for a day, and you'd have to wait a week for the ability to recover. Celestial Ally, the Empyreal Knight counterpart, is based on a number of uses per day and it auto-scales; angels and archons may seem like a little bit, but when you tack on Summon Good Monsters, you get a huge and flexible list to play with, including some Agathions.

That doesn't mean Sacred Servant isn't bad; it's just that IMO Call Celestial Ally requires a keen mind to use properly. The combination of the domain and the holy symbol divine bond that boosts your spellcasting is also nice. The right domain can add a lot of power to you, after all. As for the loss of the Paladin's mark (I refuse to call it by its name, as I don't consider it a proper smite, even if the ability is mechanically better), if your GM allows, you could combine it with Oath of Vengeance for more spells and the ability to turn your uses of Lay on Hands into uses of your mark, which combined with your divine bond's extra uses of Lay on Hands, it means you'll rarely be out of either. No Channel Positive Energy, but that doesn't really matter much. Some GMs may frown because both the archetype and the oath modify spells, but they modify it in different ways (the Sacred Servant archetype adds the spells of a single domain [up to 4th level] to the Paladin's list, the Oath of Vengeance adds spells to the Paladin's list, but neither restrict or eliminate spellcasting), so they should be compatible. If you're on the brighter side of the gray area, make sure to use both.

As for Holy Champion: that was something I was sadly noted about, but that depends on how your GM adjudicates Banishment. If your GM grants XP and loot as if the creature was killed, then Banishment is actually good for you. If not, then it can be a big problem. That said, it does auto-trigger, meaning that your mark ends once the Banishment effect triggers, whether it works or not. Since it apparently works as intended...you might figure that it can be a tad disappointing.

[grarrrg]

if I take the Sacred Servant archetype I could theoretically Lay On Hands an extra 24 times/day at 20th level.

Nope.
You get at most 6 extra uses of Lay on Hands per day.
This is both by the text of Sacred Servant:
"If the sacred servant increases her number of uses of lay on hands per day in this way, that choice is set for the rest of the day, and once used, these additional uses are not restored (even if the spirit is called again that day)."

And the more general FAQ (http://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1fm#v5748eaic9s4x) ruling:
"Once used, they are consumed for the day, even if you gain the ability again."


Sacred Servant is still one of the better archetypes though.
You get FULL access to the Domain (but you are treated as 3 levels lower, mostly applies to the Domain Powers).
The temp-bonuses can be handy, and the Planar Ally is solid for what is given up.

[Extra Anchovies]

Nope.
You get at most 6 extra uses of Lay on Hands per day.
This is both by the text of Sacred Servant:
"If the sacred servant increases her number of uses of lay on hands per day in this way, that choice is set for the rest of the day, and once used, these additional uses are not restored (even if the spirit is called again that day)."

And the more general FAQ (http://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1fm#v5748eaic9s4x) ruling:
"Once used, they are consumed for the day, even if you gain the ability again."

Sacred Servant is still one of the better archetypes though.
You get FULL access to the Domain (but you are treated as 3 levels lower, mostly applies to the Domain Powers).
The temp-bonuses can be handy, and the Planar Ally is solid for what is given up.

Thanks for pointing that out, it did seem a little too powerful. Still, six free LoH uses! That's three more smites, to make up for the ones that I trade away.

Anyways, what do you think are the best available domains? Granted power is probably the biggest factor here; maybe Animal? If I pick up Boon Companion as my level 7 feat (the level at which I gain the AC), then it's only at level-1 instead of level-6. Could be useful, especially if I decide to go ranged.