What am I doing wrong? Vengeance Paladin Tiefling Lvl 4

[Dericof Diname]

Hello, I'm relative new in D&D 5e and my first character died in battle; but because of the limited options of the campaign at that particular moment I ended up doing a Tiefling pirate Paladin of Vengeance.
The stats:
str: 20
dex: 10
con: 10
int: 10+1: 11
wis: 10
cha: 18+2: 20
I got lousy rolls, I got a 20 because of a house rule of trowing a d20 to replace a single stat. The only reason I don't have anything lower than 10 was because of the good grace of the DM.

It has the feat of Polearm Master and armed with a Halberd of Vengeance.

Anyway. My first session with my new character went mediocre (I nearly got killed by the first encounter against a banshee); the my second session went well against a pirate captain; but then, at this last session, I nearly got killed again against another pirate captain, I really got some horrible dice trows that day (I had melee advantage against him I wasn't able to roll anything higher than 5 WITH 2 d20 DICES).

So I need to ask: What am I doing wrong? Am I playing my character wrong? I don't want to become a burden to my team, that they have to stop whatever they're doing and risk their own characters to save mine on every encounter.

I need some tips.

[Jeebs]

I'd just make sure to put future Ability Score Increases into CON and the feat Resilient (CON). That'll help with taking hits and maintaining Concentration spells.

Your CON is low, but in a game with Point Buy arrays, you wouldn't really be able to get it much beyond 14 as a Paladin. That, plus the fact that you already have two 20s in your primary and secondary stats means you're already ahead of the curve otherwise. It sounds like the rest of your party may just have pretty inflated stats.

Polearm Master is good for a Paladin, especially after level 11, but Great Weapon Master is better for Oath of Vengeance, especially with the Bless spell and the bonus action Advantage mechanic (both of which you should be using a lot, unless someone else is casting Bless). You might want to ask your DM if you can switch feats. Or just take GWM on top of Polearm Master.

You'll be okay in the long run. You should see a nice bump in power when you get to levels 5 and 6 with Extra Attack and the Aura that adds your (awesome) CHA to your saves.

[Belac93]

These are actually pretty awesome stats. 2 20s is awesome, and everything else is average.
You don't need intelligence or dexterity (assuming you have heavy armor), and wisdom isn't important unless no one else in your group has good perception. Your charisma and strength are maxed, so all you need to boost is your constitution.

[Temperjoke]

First off, you and your party need to remember that you're a team. You're new to the team, so you're learning to integrate with a group that is already used to working together, so it's going to take a little while to get used to what you need to be doing. It also sounds as if you're having difficult dice, but there isn't a lot that can be done about that.

On to the more practical stuff. How is your armor? Enough armor can help mitigate the physical damage you're taking. Are you getting isolated from the others in your group? Are the others in your group focusing on one at a time while multiple ones attack you? Have you been making sure to use your magic?

[CyberThread]

First off, you and your party need to remember that you're a team. You're new to the team, so you're learning to integrate with a group that is already used to working together, so it's going to take a little while to get used to what you need to be doing. It also sounds as if you're having difficult dice, but there isn't a lot that can be done about that.

On to the more practical stuff. How is your armor? Enough armor can help mitigate the physical damage you're taking. Are you getting isolated from the others in your group? Are the others in your group focusing on one at a time while multiple ones attack you? Have you been making sure to use your magic?



Also, have you been by chance over extending? I would swap your stratagy for RP reasons. This is the second time you have almost died. Act shaken up? Instead of being a frontliner, choose some of the more squishy targets to fight, ala monk.

[JakOfAllTirades]

Lots of good advice above.

I'd say you should make sure you're dealing out as much damage as possible, as fast as possible. Kill your enemies before they can kill you.

Cast Hunter's Mark for extra damage; it'll apply to all your attacks including the bonus attack from Polearm Master.

Use Channel Divinity for Vow of Enmity to get Advantage on your attacks.

Burn spell slots to Smite "boss" monsters and put them down!

Just don't throw away your spell slots too fast; you can get in real trouble if you're out of spell slots and still grinding through multiple encounters without them.

Once you get to 5th level you'll have a lot more spell slots to work with, and an extra attack. You'll also have the Misty Escape spell prepared at all times so you can get out of trouble if things go badly. Hang in there!

I forgot to add: always use Hellish Rebuke on hard-hitting enemies. Nobody hits Tieflings without regretting it!

[Ninja_Prawn]

It's hard to know what you're "doing wrong"... a Strength-based paladin ought to be pretty tanky even with mediocre Constitution. It seems most likely that you're either taking on too many / too difficult encounters, or that your group's strategy isn't working.

Or perhaps it's just the dice. I mean, PCs are supposed to be in mortal danger at least once a day, right?

The other thing that might be giving you a problem is the curse on your weapon. It may be forcing you into suboptimal tactical decisions. So sit tight until you hit level 5 and your cleric gets Remove Curse. You do have a cleric, don't you?

[KorvinStarmast]

What am I doing wrong?
You are playing a Tiefling. :smallbiggrin: (Just kidding)

If you look at the tiers of play, you are still in the "beginning adventurer" phase at level 4. It isn't uncommon to have big swings of fortune at low levels.
If you have a bad run of luck with the dice, as you describe, you aren't doing anything wrong. Dice can be swingy.

[Dericof Diname]

Thank you people for all the suggestions.

You are all right, I'm with a team. In fact, this character was build with that in mind, the plan was to work with the Tank (Dwarf War Cleric with a Full Plate) to kill the big threats, reason why I choose the Polearm Master instead of Great Weapon Master; unfortunately because of the holidays, we had a lot of no role time and some of the players traveled on game days, so I forgot my original strategy. Also the dice haven't being on my side lately (two misses with advantage while the DM got two crits against me).

I hope next time, I manage to work well with the rest of the party since we are planning to kill a horde of undeads.

So, I was planning to take the Sentinel feat at level 8, but maybe I should consider the Great Weapon Master instead.
Any suggestions of how to properly build my Paladin? I think that I should focus more on wearing better armors (I'm using a chain mail so I'm AC 16) rather than spending 2 feat slots in more Con points. The feats that I'm considering to get are Sentinel, Two Weapon Master, Inspire Leader and Lucky, but I'm not sure in which order.

Also, any suggestions of what equipment and items should I look for would be appreciated. So far, I'm looking for a Mariner's full plate for the theme of my character and because I don't want to die drowned by my own armor.

Thank you for your help.

[JakOfAllTirades]

Thank you people for all the suggestions.

You are all right, I'm with a team. In fact, this character was build with that in mind, the plan was to work with the Tank (Dwarf War Cleric with a Full Plate) to kill the big threats, reason why I choose the Polearm Master instead of Two Weapon Master; unfortunately because of the holidays, we had a lot of no role time and some of the players traveled on game days, so I forgot my original strategy. Also the dice haven't being on my side lately (two misses with advantage while the DM got two crits against me).

I hope next time, I manage to work well with the rest of the party since we are planning to kill a horde of undeads.

So, I was planning to take the Sentinel feat at level 8, but maybe I should consider the Two Weapon Master instead.
Any suggestions of how to properly build my Paladin? I think that I should focus more on wearing better armors (I'm using a chain mail so I'm AC 16) rather than spending 2 feat slots in more Con points. The feats that I'm considering to get are Sentinel, Two Weapon Master, Inspire Leader and Lucky, but I'm not sure in which order.

Also, any suggestions of what equipment and items should I look for would be appreciated. So far, I'm looking for a Mariner's full plate for the theme of my character and because I don't want to die drowned by my own armor.

Thank you for your help.

If you've got the Polearm Master feat, I would not recommend Two Weapon Master; there's really no good way to use them both. Sentinel + Polearm Master is an excellent combination, however.

Lucky is always useful, but not necessarily more useful than a +2 CON score. (You get to use Luck 3 times a day, you use your CON score all day, every day.)

Inspire Leader is an excellent "teamwork" feat, especially with a 20 CHA going for you. It'll give your allies more incentive to keep you alive, too.

Upgrading your armor should be a priority; by 4th level you really should have something better than chain mail.

The #1 feat I would add to your shopping list is Great Weapon Master. That +10 damage is too good to pass up.

[JakOfAllTirades]

What am I doing wrong?
You are playing a Tiefling. :smallbiggrin: (Just kidding)

Hellish Rebuke! 18pts fire damage, Dex save (DC15) for half damage. :smalltongue:

[Ninja_Prawn]

Hellish Rebuke! 18pts fire damage, Dex save (DC15) for half damage. :smalltongue:

*nerd voice*

Ermmmm, you can't use Hellish Rebuke over the forum. You need line of sight to the target, you noob.

:smalltongue:

[Temperjoke]

*nerd voice*

Ermmmm, you can't use Hellish Rebuke over the forum. You need line of sight to the target, you noob.

:smalltongue:

What makes you think he can't see you?

dun dun duuuuunnnnn

:o

[Dericof Diname]

If you've got the Polearm Master feat, I would not recommend Two Weapon Master; there's really no good way to use them both. Sentinel + Polearm Master is an excellent combination, however.

Lucky is always useful, but not necessarily more useful than a +2 CON score. (You get to use Luck 3 times a day, you use your CON score all day, every day.)

Inspire Leader is an excellent "teamwork" feat, especially with a 20 CHA going for you. It'll give your allies more incentive to keep you alive, too.

Upgrading your armor should be a priority; by 4th level you really should have something better than chain mail.

The #1 feat I would add to your shopping list is Great Weapon Master. That +10 damage is too good to pass up.

Yes, sorry I didn't meant two weapon but Great weapon master. My brain got those 2 feats mixed-up.

[MaxWilson]

Next time you go up against a pirate boss, cast Wrathful Smite with your bonus action before hitting him. It is almost impossible for him to crit you as long as he stays frightened, and with disadvantage on his wisdom checks (not saves though) he will remain frightened for a long, long time, since he has to spend his action and make a Wisdom check in order to stop being frightened, unless you lose concentration.

Shield of Faith is decent too, against mobs.

[JakOfAllTirades]

What makes you think he can't see you?

dun dun duuuuunnnnn

:o

ROFL @ work now....