Beguiling Defenses v. Aura of Courage

[tieren]

I am working on a mage slayer. Hes going to be a gnome OotA paladin and fey patron warlock multiclass.

The idea is to leverage gnome racial for advantage on Int Wis and Cha saves (gnome cunning) with the +Cha to saves from Aura of protection and the magic resistance from aura of warding from OotA, to be fairly tough little guy for casters to deal with.

I am a bit torn on whether to build paladin 8/ warlock 12 or warlock 12/ paladin 8. Going to 12 in paladin gets me to improved divine smite, going to 12 in warlock gets me to 3 spell slots per short rest, extra invocations, and the 6th level mystic arcanum.

When trying to decide I am looking at the level 10 features as well. Paladin gets aura of courage, which gives immunity to fear, and Warlock(fey) gives me beguiling defenses which gives immunity (and chance to reverse) charm.

Considering I won't get this feature until very late in the characters career, like level 18 late, which immunity is more likely to be helpful dealing with enemy casters, are they more likely to try to fear me or charm me? My gut says the protection from fear would be more useful (and party friendly as its an aura) but what has your experience been?

I suspect fear will come from several sources (such as monster abilities) whereas the charm may be more specific to casters, so from an RP perspective (being the best mage slayer) would that be a point in favor of going the charm route?

[PeteNutButter]

With advantage plus proficiency plus cha it seems unlikely you'll fall to either effect. I'd make my decisions based on other factors mechanical or RP. Would you rather have a mind that cannot be charmed, or a heart that cannot feel fear?

It's worth noting that fear affects are more common, but aren't really that crippling even if you do fail.

[tieren]

With advantage plus proficiency plus cha it seems unlikely you'll fall to either effect. I'd make my decisions based on other factors mechanical or RP. Would you rather have a mind that cannot be charmed, or a heart that cannot feel fear?

It's worth noting that fear affects are more common, but aren't really that crippling even if you do fail.

The crux of his backstory is he is devotedly in love with his fey-lady patron. I suppose making him immune to anyone else's charms would be fitting.

Theres always the option of going 10/10 for both but the level 11 power boosts are nice and I don't want to sacrifice an ASI.

[lebefrei]

Thematically someone that hunts wizards would likely want to be immune to charm, as that is a more common and disabling tool of theirs.

[RulesJD]

Powergamey/Mechanical standpoint:

Most charms (spell or otherwise like Vampire/Succubus) target Wisdom or Charisma. You will make those all day, every day as a Paladin. Plus, 5e heavily nerfed charms so they aren't nearly as bad.

What you really want, especially against casters, is to hit as hard as you can with each swing to make it more like to break 21 hp of damage, thus increasing the Concentration save they have to make for their spell. Thus, 12 Paladin is your answer. The added d8 to each hit (presumably 2-4 depending on your weapon and whether you're using Haste by that point), is huge.

As for progression, you want to get Paladin 7 ASAP. After that, some levels of Warlock, then back into Paladin.

Truthfully, in OotA, I would stop at 3 Warlock before going back to Paladin. You will top out around level 15 anyways. That gives you 12 Paladin, 3 Warlock.