Optimized Devotion Paladin

[StormBaron]

Hey folks,

I am trying to carve out a niche of being the tanky burst damage character (we already have a moon druid tank and there is no competing with that directly). I went with Variant Human and picked up Shield Master. Aside from, maxing out my charisma and strength is there anything else I should be aware of? Good magic item picks, future feats, maybe a good class to dip into without losing much?

Thanks for your help!

[Oramac]

Sentinel is a fantastic feat for Devotion tanks. I'd pick that up if you have room for it.

Holy Avenger is basically tailor made for Paladins, if your campaign gets that far.

[StormBaron]

Sentinel is a fantastic feat for Devotion tanks. I'd pick that up if you have room for it.

Holy Avenger is basically tailor made for Paladins, if your campaign gets that far.

Is sentinel still good even though there is a druid in the party with the same feat?

[Oramac]

Is sentinel still good even though there is a druid in the party with the same feat?

It's less good, but it's still not bad. You won't get the third feature of the Feat nearly as often, but the other two features still work.

I didn't realize the druid already had Sentinel. Can i ask, why build an optimized tank if your druid is already building a tank?

[Sir cryosin]

He didn't say he wants the tank role we looking for a tanky nova DPR. With that I say pick up some lvs of sorcerer then grab quicken spell use your spell slots to smite and turn in to sorc point to quicken green flame blade and switch out SM feat for lucky you can get more dpr using a greatsword but ok fighting style is up to you and how your going to play him/her.

[StormBaron]

He didn't say he wants the tank role we looking for a tanky nova DPR. With that I say pick up some lvs of sorcerer then grab quicken spell use your spell slots to smite and turn in to sorc point to quicken green flame blade and switch out SM feat for lucky you can get more dpr using a greatsword but ok fighting style is up to you and how your going to play him/her.
I understand about the DPR from greatsword but I just love the aesthetic from sword and shield. Have to have some rp decisions in there sometimes :)
How many levels of sorc at a minimum can I use to pump up my dpr?

[StormBaron]

It's less good, but it's still not bad. You won't get the third feature of the Feat nearly as often, but the other two features still work.

I didn't realize the druid already had Sentinel. Can i ask, why build an optimized tank if your druid is already building a tank?

Sorry I should have clarified. I want to be "tanky" as in highly defensive but with sick burst. I feel like a character with great defense and burst damage would be the perfect character to duel the Big Bad Evil Guy

[Sir cryosin]

Your going to want more sorcerer lvs then paladin your going to want 6 palay, 14 sorc. Unless you want the higher paladin abilitys also keep in mined what lv is the campaign going to.

[Oramac]

Your going to want more sorcerer lvs then paladin your going to want 6 palay, 14 sorc. Unless you want the higher paladin abilitys also keep in mined what lv is the campaign going to.

This. The big kicker here is what level are you starting at, and what level are you ending at?

If you're starting/ending at high levels, go Pally 2 (or 6) / Sorc X. You can still go sword and board, and you use all your spell slots for Smites. Pick up the Shield spell for added AC on a reaction to help the tanky feel.

[StormBaron]

This. The big kicker here is what level are you starting at, and what level are you ending at?

If you're starting/ending at high levels, go Pally 2 (or 6) / Sorc X. You can still go sword and board, and you use all your spell slots for Smites. Pick up the Shield spell for added AC on a reaction to help the tanky feel.
Right now I am a level 5 Paladin. So the 6 route seems the best. We usually go to about 16 but on occasion a bit higher 18-19...
Favored Soul Sorcerer to keep with the paladin theme?

[Corran]

Right now I am a level 5 Paladin. So the 6 route seems the best. We usually go to about 16 but on occasion a bit higher 18-19...
Favored Soul Sorcerer to keep with the paladin theme?
Thematic-wise favored soul is nice. In reality though, almost everything that it offers (origin features) is completely redundant. 3 levels of sorcerer will add to your defenses and to your burst damage, though since you are S&B you need warcaster, else it doesnt work well. My suggestion, if you want to do this multiclass ofc, is to replace the shield master feat with warcaster. Shield master, contrary to popular belief, is not a great feat for most paladins IMO (unless your party is geared towards melee and in specific ways -GWM or rogues-). If you decide to multiclass with sorcerer, and since you play S&B, you will probably want to use GFB (or BB) instead of your attack action, that is until you get access to IDS (paladin 11), if ever. Shoving an enemy with a bonus action, as per shield master feat, only works when you take the attack action. So that is another reason to drop this feat, that is if you decide to go with multiclassing.

If you werent to multiclass, PM and sentinel generally work great for most paladins, and your whole fighting style upgrades when you hit paladin 11 (as you get to apply extra d8's on all of those attack -2 from action, 1 from bonus action, and 1 from reaction which triggers either by PM or by sentinel). Since your druid has sentinel, and since you seem to be commited to S&B figthing style, maybe taking some sorcerer levels is a good option indeed. But as I said above, you really need warcaster, and you need it now, not in 4 levels from now. With warcaster and BB you will be the soft tank, and you will complement nicely the druid's battlefield control via his sentinel feat.

Feel free to give us some additional info about your stats and the rest of your group.

[Sir cryosin]

Go dragsorc for the more hp per lv and resistance and added charisma to damage of element type.

[StormBaron]

Thematic-wise favored soul is nice. In reality though, almost everything that it offers (origin features) is completely redundant. 3 levels of sorcerer will add to your defenses and to your burst damage, though since you are S&B you need warcaster, else it doesnt work well. My suggestion, if you want to do this multiclass ofc, is to replace the shield master feat with warcaster. Shield master, contrary to popular belief, is not a great feat for most paladins IMO (unless your party is geared towards melee and in specific ways -GWM or rogues-). If you decide to multiclass with sorcerer, and since you play S&B, you will probably want to use GFB (or BB) instead of your attack action, that is until you get access to IDS (paladin 11), if ever. Shoving an enemy with a bonus action, as per shield master feat, only works when you take the attack action. So that is another reason to drop this feat, that is if you decide to go with multiclassing.

If you werent to multiclass, PM and sentinel generally work great for most paladins, and your whole fighting style upgrades when you hit paladin 11 (as you get to apply extra d8's on all of those attack -2 from action, 1 from bonus action, and 1 from reaction which triggers either by PM or by sentinel). Since your druid has sentinel, and since you seem to be commited to S&B figthing style, maybe taking some sorcerer levels is a good option indeed. But as I said above, you really need warcaster, and you need it now, not in 4 levels from now. With warcaster and BB you will be the soft tank, and you will complement nicely the druid's battlefield control via his sentinel feat.

Feel free to give us some additional info about your stats and the rest of your group.Thank you for the great post. Here is some additional info about my character and the party:
Stats as of level 5:
18 Str
10 Dex
16 Con
12 Int (We are old school 2nd ed/3rd Dnd players. My dm doesn't like low mental stats since it impacts rp)
12 Wis
18 Cha
No significant magic items to speak of (sword +1, ring of protection +1)

In the party we have:
Players: Dragon Sorc, Fiend Lock, Moon Druid, 5 elements Monk
NPCs: Bard, Cleric

We don't usually have every single player at the table on any given night so sometimes I need to be able to tank a bit or act as the disrupter in place of the monk...

I am interested in your assessment specifically with the 11 Paladin levels. Is there a feasible build to dip into sorc with 11 paladin levels or do I really need to stick to the 6? Thematically I am concerned about being mostly Sorcerer especially if I don't go with Favored Soul. My character is a religious zealot.

[Sir cryosin]

What is your god then because if it Bahamath I know I spelled it wrong but it the dragon god of war and protect I think sorry I don't know a lot of lore.

[StormBaron]

What is your god then because if it Bahamath I know I spelled it wrong but it the dragon god of war and protect I think sorry I don't know a lot of lore.
He is a Paladin of Torm. He does have a dragon sorc companion so there is some room there thematically to be "awakened"

[Dimolyth]

He is a Paladin of Torm. He does have a dragon sorc companion so there is some room there thematically to be "awakened"

Bahamut (god of metallic dragons) is Torm`s servant. So, by faerunian lore, draconic sorcerers can be found among Torm zealots.

[MaxWilson]

Hey folks,

I am trying to carve out a niche of being the tanky burst damage character (we already have a moon druid tank and there is no competing with that directly). I went with Variant Human and picked up Shield Master. Aside from, maxing out my charisma and strength is there anything else I should be aware of? Good magic item picks, future feats, maybe a good class to dip into without losing much?

Thanks for your help!

You need to read up on the first level spell Wrathful Smite and the effects of fear. It's the next best thing to a one-hit kill on any creature which fails its initial save.

I say "next-best" because it does not actually kill the creature you frighten--you still need to kill it eventually--but it removes as an important factor from the combat because it can't move closer to you until the fear ends, and it's almost impossible for it to remove the fear because that requires an action and a Wisdom check, but it makes ability checks including Wisdom checks at disadvantage since it's frightened of you.

So if you and three other PCs are ambushed by four werewolves at fourth level, and you spend a spell slot to Wrathful Smite one of them and it takes, you can now back off that werewolf (taking one attack of opportunity, at disadvantage, from the werewolf) and probably just ignore him for the rest of the combat even if he doesn't run away. That's a triple-Deadly encounter reduced to a double-Deadly encounter at the cost of one spell slot and your concentration.

[StormBaron]

Bahamut (god of metallic dragons) is Torm`s servant. So, by faerunian lore, draconic sorcerers can be found among Torm zealots.
Interesting. Are there any viable options for taking 11 paladin levels or does that ruin the effect?

[Mors]

Some "tricks".

With a three lvl dip in pact of the tome warlock you can take Shillelagh and have your Cha to att and dmg. Couple it with sacred waepon (2x cha to attk) and now you only need to raise charisma for maximmum effectiveness.

Another trick is to take mounted compatant and using your find steed spell to have an above average mount. Mounted combatant gives you permanent advantage against most usual enemies and lets you protect your mount. It is a great way to grant yourself easy advantage. With dissonant whispers form goo warlock you can AoO both you and your mount, alternatively fiend warlock gives temp hp every time you kill an enemy.

[Foxhound438]

I understand about the DPR from greatsword but I just love the aesthetic from sword and shield. Have to have some rp decisions in there sometimes :)
How many levels of sorc at a minimum can I use to pump up my dpr?

the difference in dpr from s&b to GWM is massive. If you want s&b still, fine, but the devotion paladin's channel divinity completely negates the drop to hit chance from GWM, so there's a lot of synergy there that you lose. I don't know if you really need to be super tanky if you already have one tank, so losing the 2 ac that a shield would give isn't horrible.

[Biggstick]

Interesting. Are there any viable options for taking 11 paladin levels or does that ruin the effect?

Absolutely. The Sorcerer dip on a Paladin does require the Warcaster feat to be effective though. Make sure you'll have it before you pick up the Sorc levels. Someone mentioned taking Warcaster at level 1; you can't take Warcaster on a Paladin level 1 as you don't have any spell casting features yet, making you ineligible for the feat. You have to take it (at the earliest) at level 4 once you have access to spells. As for options, here are the good break points for a Paladorc.


Paladin break point levels:
Level 2: (Armor, Smites, Fighting Style)
Level 6: (Second attack, Find Steed, Aura of Protection)
Level 11: (Oath based Aura, Aura of Vitality, Aura of Courage, Improved Divine Smite)


Sorcerer break point levels (Must have Warcaster and/or Sorcery points for these):
Level 3: (Shield, Blur, Quickened spell nova's)
Level 6: (Level 3 spells, Elemental affinity for specific damage type based spells)


Personally, I'd say push for Paladin level 6 at the very least. After that, it's up to you. Paladin level 11 would be your next big break point, and along the way you'd pick up two auras (both of which will be extremely helpful for your team), another ASI, and an extra 1d8 of radiant damage to all weapon attacks. I would also suggest picking up that Paladin level 12 for that ASI as well as to be that 6th level spell caster (important for determining your spell caster level in this multi class).

Picking up Sorcerer levels post Pal 6 is going to be based on what you have available and what you're trying to achieve. If you're convinced you're tanky enough for the group at Paladin 6, start down that Sorcerer path. Once you start Sorc (all the Sorc levels should be taken right after the other, because Sorc levels 1 and 2 don't do very much for you) and make it to level 3, you're at a nice level of power. You have the ability to nova, and can still come back to Paladin without it taking forever to level. You'll have to play a little more sparingly with your Sorcery points, but you have them available.

[Firechanter]

Interesting. Are there any viable options for taking 11 paladin levels or does that ruin the effect?

Well, technically you can go Pally 20 and be fine. Pretty much every level has something nice to offer.
The cool thing about Pal6/Sor14 is that you have 14 Sorcery points that you can use to reclaim slots, and then use these slots to Smite the living daylight out of anything you meet. So that definitely is a viable build strategy.

If you go Pal11 (for IDS), you might as well go Pal12 and graby that ASI/Feat. A Pal12/Sor8 counts as a level 16 Full Caster in terms of slots, and you have 8 Sorcery points, worth 4 1st-level slots.
So yeah, if you just want to keep smiting (and/or casting Shield), that mix is definitely as viable as any.
However, bear in mind that with 2 Short Rests per day/LR, even 2 levels of Warlock will _also_ give you 4 extra level 1 smites.

I currently play a Paladin of Vengeance and have also considered multiclassing with a Cha caster. We're currently level 8. However, I be like:
Hmmm... at level 9 I get 3rd-level spells. Better than having to wait til level 13. Haste is awesome.
Level 10 gives Fear immunity... for me and everyone nearby. Too good to pass up on.
Oh yeah, Level 11 is a great prize, +1d8 to every attack, ever! Awesome!
As we're about it, I'm gonna stick around for the level 12 ASI.
Level 13 opens up 4th-level spells... go figure.
Level 14 isn't awesome so this would be a good breakpoint... but now the endgame content is really near, so it's now or never! Because levels 15-20 are all awesome again: improved Oath feature, ASI, 5th level spells, expanded aura, another ASI, and finally the Oath capstone...

Long story short, I decided to stay single-class with this character. ^^

--

Now back to you: being a Shield Master, you might want to consider picking up a few levels of Bard instead of Sorc. For the very simple reason that while it will also advance your spellcasting, it also gives you Expertise. With Expertise(Athletics) you'll be knocking over foes like bowling pins.

[StormBaron]

Well, technically you can go Pally 20 and be fine. Pretty much every level has something nice to offer.
The cool thing about Pal6/Sor14 is that you have 14 Sorcery points that you can use to reclaim slots, and then use these slots to Smite the living daylight out of anything you meet. So that definitely is a viable build strategy.

If you go Pal11 (for IDS), you might as well go Pal12 and graby that ASI/Feat. A Pal12/Sor8 counts as a level 16 Full Caster in terms of slots, and you have 8 Sorcery points, worth 4 1st-level slots.
So yeah, if you just want to keep smiting (and/or casting Shield), that mix is definitely as viable as any.
However, bear in mind that with 2 Short Rests per day/LR, even 2 levels of Warlock will _also_ give you 4 extra level 1 smites.

I currently play a Paladin of Vengeance and have also considered multiclassing with a Cha caster. We're currently level 8. However, I be like:
Hmmm... at level 9 I get 3rd-level spells. Better than having to wait til level 13. Haste is awesome.
Level 10 gives Fear immunity... for me and everyone nearby. Too good to pass up on.
Oh yeah, Level 11 is a great prize, +1d8 to every attack, ever! Awesome!
As we're about it, I'm gonna stick around for the level 12 ASI.
Level 13 opens up 4th-level spells... go figure.
Level 14 isn't awesome so this would be a good breakpoint... but now the endgame content is really near, so it's now or never! Because levels 15-20 are all awesome again: improved Oath feature, ASI, 5th level spells, expanded aura, another ASI, and finally the Oath capstone...

Long story short, I decided to stay single-class with this character. ^^

--

Now back to you: being a Shield Master, you might want to consider picking up a few levels of Bard instead of Sorc. For the very simple reason that while it will also advance your spellcasting, it also gives you Expertise. With Expertise(Athletics) you'll be knocking over foes like bowling pins.
Thank both of you for your amazing replies to the thread. I think I am settling in on going for the 12 Paladin levels with eight sorcerer. I have to admit that I am pretty intrigued by the Bard idea too with skill expertise athletics. Would also save me from needing War caster. Hypothetically, do the same break points apply to Bard ?

Since this campaign is only level 5 at the moment and we have long ways to go I am going to use this thread for any further questions I have. As I explore the class more and take on some of the advice here I will update the OP with details on what decisions I've made and post my build and progress for any others with similar questions!

[Dolittle]

I've been playing a Devotion Paladin for about 18months now; its a great class, but the main issue I've found is lack of spell slots; its normally around 1:1 with your level, and you have to make them last all day - you have to really use restraint, its so easy to burn them all early in the day!
It depends on your party make-up, but in mine, I'm the only Bless caster (which everyone loves), and we also have a party who gets lots back from short rests,(so we have them often) - make sure you use your Channel Divinty features, they are the only Paladin things that recharge on a short rest; Turn the Unholy is great when you can use it, but your bread and butter should be Sacred Weapon, its better than bless...

One magic item that's helped me enormously; My sympathetic GM allowed me to get a ring of spell storing, which holds 5 levels worth of spells; I usually just keep 5 1st level spells in it (2x Bless, Command, Cure Wounds & Wrathful Smite) its often been the only thing thats kept me going at the end of a long days adventuring!
(Totally agree with MaxWilson above; Wrathful Smite is awesome, particularly if you know an enemy is not strong in Wisdom. The other 2 1st level smite spells are far less useful, and I dont bother with them.)
Other magic items that really help are stat enhancing ones - a belt of giant strength, or an amulet of health can ease stat pressure, maybe freeing up an ASI for a feat.

The obvious way to get more spell slots is multi-classing with a Cha based caster class, and I've looked long and hard at it several times, but like Firechanter above, I've so far stayed straight Paladin, there is always something next level that seems too good to miss, plus I hate missing out on ASI's! - There are so many things I want to use them on...

I also 'sword and board' and took Shield Master as my first feat; for our melee heavy party it works great, everyone loves me when i prone an enemy, except the Warlock :)
But if you are going to be in a ranged and caster heavy party, prone actually works against them... I've not regreted Shield Master, sure I'm envious of the damage our GWM fighter can pump out sometimes, but in our group Prone'ing an enemy is almost always worth more.

[ZenBear]

Devotion Pally makes excellent use of Great Weapon Master/Polearm Master/Sentinel. Getting a Channel Divinity +5 to hit, thus negating the -5 from GWM, and +10 damage on not just the normal 2 attacks but also your bonus action d4 and rerolling 1s and 2s on every attack is fantastic. Add Bless/Divine Favor and Smite, now you're pumping out insane DPR and burst.

[MeeposFire]

Well, technically you can go Pally 20 and be fine. Pretty much every level has something nice to offer.
The cool thing about Pal6/Sor14 is that you have 14 Sorcery points that you can use to reclaim slots, and then use these slots to Smite the living daylight out of anything you meet. So that definitely is a viable build strategy.

If you go Pal11 (for IDS), you might as well go Pal12 and graby that ASI/Feat. A Pal12/Sor8 counts as a level 16 Full Caster in terms of slots, and you have 8 Sorcery points, worth 4 1st-level slots.
So yeah, if you just want to keep smiting (and/or casting Shield), that mix is definitely as viable as any.
However, bear in mind that with 2 Short Rests per day/LR, even 2 levels of Warlock will _also_ give you 4 extra level 1 smites.

I currently play a Paladin of Vengeance and have also considered multiclassing with a Cha caster. We're currently level 8. However, I be like:
Hmmm... at level 9 I get 3rd-level spells. Better than having to wait til level 13. Haste is awesome.
Level 10 gives Fear immunity... for me and everyone nearby. Too good to pass up on.
Oh yeah, Level 11 is a great prize, +1d8 to every attack, ever! Awesome!
As we're about it, I'm gonna stick around for the level 12 ASI.
Level 13 opens up 4th-level spells... go figure.
Level 14 isn't awesome so this would be a good breakpoint... but now the endgame content is really near, so it's now or never! Because levels 15-20 are all awesome again: improved Oath feature, ASI, 5th level spells, expanded aura, another ASI, and finally the Oath capstone...

Long story short, I decided to stay single-class with this character. ^^

--

Now back to you: being a Shield Master, you might want to consider picking up a few levels of Bard instead of Sorc. For the very simple reason that while it will also advance your spellcasting, it also gives you Expertise. With Expertise(Athletics) you'll be knocking over foes like bowling pins.

Considering the relative inefficiency of converting sorc points to spell slots I would think it would be better to spend those points on using a quickened spell such as booming blade. Booming blade gives an attack that eventually deals weapon+str+3d8+1d8(imp smite)+possible 4d8 as a bonus action in this case. That is probably better than an extra use of smite for 2d8 extra damage.

[djreynolds]

Hey folks,

I am trying to carve out a niche of being the tanky burst damage character (we already have a moon druid tank and there is no competing with that directly). I went with Variant Human and picked up Shield Master. Aside from, maxing out my charisma and strength is there anything else I should be aware of? Good magic item picks, future feats, maybe a good class to dip into without losing much?

Thanks for your help!

He's my opinion. Dump Shield Master and get GWM. Sacred weapon will mitigate the cost of GWM, -5 to hit. This in turn will allow you to cast shield of faith on yourself to make up for the shield loss and could add +10 damage to every hit. Channel divinity recharges on a short rest, means you have sacred weapon when you need it.

It does a few things, one since you are putting out good damage with GWM now you can save those smites when they are truly needed.

Second, since devotion's sacred weapon is based on charisma you can hold off putting ASI into strength and just max out charisma first, as this will increase your to hit.

I look at sacred weapon as a holy rage, 1 minute long every short rest. So take short rests.

S&B paladins are great, no doubt, but you have moon druid soaking up damage but really his DPR is no where near your level in regards to smiting or using sacred weapon in conjunction with GWM.

And I would dip sorcerer for a few levels, why not 4, and grab the shield spell and mirror image. You can also smite with those spell slots.

[Lollerabe]

I played a s&b (well with a warhammer) oath of devotion paladin with shieldmaster (I was allowed to change to oath of the crown after SCAG came out, which I quickly regretted doing) and it was awesome. It's true that GWM is great on OOD palas, but don't fret - as a sb you'll still have insane burst and the constant prone attempts really ramps up your DPR.

Keep in mind that gaining advantage from whacking on prone targets, not only increases your and other melee party members hit chance, it also increases crit chance.

More crits = more divine smite crits = awesome.

So yeah stick to what you believe is a cool concept, and don't worry about multi classing for now :)

[djreynolds]

If you are sure about S&B, I would grab some bard if possible and get expertise in athletics, you could do rogue but I would think you do not have the dex for it. This way you can really milk shield master.

You have a good damage sponge next to you, so advantage will help him out. You know if you are not grabbing sentinel, and are sure about it, take protection style it is very good, keep that sponge upright.

[Lollerabe]

Agreed with everything Reynolds wrote except the fightstyle, duelist is like a +4 str damage wise, it really adds up and keeps you relevant early. Sb Paladins with duelist are pretty damn decent at dpr, protection is way to all in for my taste and the opportunity cost just isn't worth it. I'd strongly advice against it.

[djreynolds]

Do you think that the druid will be drawing enough agro to make protection style worth it, or even sentinel?

And if he gets an AoO or reaction attack, he can smite on those because it isn't his "turn", but the enemy's

[Lollerabe]

It's hard to say what role the npcs will play and for how long BUT if you wanna beef up the Druid I'd recommend the cleric casts bless (targeting at least pala and Druid) Druid uses barkskin and pala casts shield of faith on the Druid. That's an ac 18 moondruid having a +d4 to con saves and attack rolls, and more often than not having advantage.

I personally would absolutely go for sentinel with those stats (if the Druid doesn't have it, can't recall) if not inspiring leader and if that's also taken, just stat bumps.

His ability scores are crazy high.

[nolas85]

Agreed with everything Reynolds wrote except the fightstyle, duelist is like a +4 str damage wise, it really adds up and keeps you relevant early. Sb Paladins with duelist are pretty damn decent at dpr, protection is way to all in for my taste and the opportunity cost just isn't worth it. I'd strongly advice against it.

I disagree that protection isn't worth it. I think everybody underestimates the ability to give an enemy disadvantage or take away their advantage. Disadvantage means greater chance of crit fails significantly reducing enemy damage which is extremely important in 5E. Furthermore, having two characters that entice enemies to attack them works significantly in the parties favor. If they attack the druid then it triggers the paladin's reaction. If they attack the paladin then it triggers the druid's reaction. Either way they are drawing extra effects against them which just gives the party more of an advantage.

[Gtdead]

I'm a big fan of paladin 11 before going Sorceror if you want to play a smiteknight.
A level 19 caster (Paladin 2/Sorceror 18), assuming that uses all his spellslots to smite, will add 84d8 smite damage in a day.
Paladin 20, adds an extra 2d8 when he smites (1d8 from the weapon attack, 1d8 added to smite damage). Which is exactly the same, 84d8.
In fact I'm a fan of Paladin 11/Lore bard 6/x. This way you can add 2 lvl 5 paladin levels to your list while having better spell slot progression and bard goodies.

However, if you go Paladin/Sorc MC, imo, forget about smiting as the main playstyle.
The best playstyle is twinning and quickening GFB everytime there are 2 adjacent enemies in range.
If you can do this every round you will outdamage everything in the long run.

For a Paladin 2/Sorc 18 (which is the most efficient since it doesn't give you things you don't care about like second attack)

It can potentially do (1d8+7+7d8+5)*3=144 dpr, and you can add smite to that (3 lvl 1 slots pumps this up to 171, but I'd only do this on natural 20s).
You can also haste yourself for an additional 11.5 dpr although keeping bless up will probably be more beneficial. You don't want to miss when you expend sorcery points to do your damage.

When you reach caster lvl 10~ you actually have enough spell slots to keep this going for a whole day and you can keep your higher level slots for whatever you feel like. Just don't go too heavy on
smite.

For single target nova, you can either haste yourself, and do 3 attacks (2 gfb, 1 hasted attack) using high level smites. It can do 150~ damage. If you can get advantage even better.But be careful cause it will burn through your spell slots like hell.

Or just do what a sorceror does. Quicken disintegrates+firebolt? Fireballs/Delayed Blast? Meteor Swarm? Scorching Rays?

The other variations are Paladin 6/Sorc x, which I personally don't like and
my favorite is Paladin 11/Sorceror x. It takes a while for the combo to come online but it feels like playing a paladin.

For feats, get warcaster. Sentinel is fine too but you can take Resilient CON instead. Less damage but concentration is important.
For stats if you decide on Paladin/Sorc, consider planning your character as a caster. Dex>Cha>Con>Wis

[Firechanter]

Twinning GFB? I think you misread the spell. It targets you, not any opponents.

[Gtdead]

GFB

Evocation cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 5 feet
Components: V, M (a weapon)
Duration: Instantaneous

As part of the action used to cast this spell, you must make a melee attack with a weapon against one creature within the spell’s range, otherwise the spell fails.

It doesn't say anything about self. In fact it clearly says that you must attack a target in the spell's range so it can't have a "target: self".
The only objection about twinning GFB is that it is capable of attacking another target as per errata. But it's an involuntary effect so I bet that most DMs wouldn't object to it.

Also about Paladorc.
If you convert higher level slots to lvl 1 you will potentially do more damage in a day even if the dpr is less.

[Firechanter]

Okay, maybe I mixed in some of the interpretation we've agreed on in our group (You cast the spell on your own weapon and then must make an attack with the "charged" weapon before it dissipates). Pardon for that.

Be that as it may, I still don't think you can Twin it just like that. As it says there, you must make an attack against one creature. Twinned Spells are cast simultaneously, but you can't simultaneously make two attacks with your weapon.
It might be possible to apply it to TWF, twinning it and attacking simultaneously with _two_ weapons. Of course you need War Caster to pull that off, and suffer the other drawbacks of TWF.

[Lollerabe]

Firechanter you are mistaken, you can easily twin booming blade by raw fx. The only reason you can't twin GFB by raw is because it isn't a single target spell - it leaps to another target. Though I imagine most DMs would handwave that ruling as it seems silly to some.

[Firechanter]

That doesn't make any sense. You can't attack two targets at the same time with one weapon. Particularly not if you can't _make_ a second melee attack because you don't have the Extra Attack feature.

[PeteNutButter]

Taking at least 3/4 levels of sorcerer can greatly help your build at any point, as soon as after paladin 2, as late as any game that shouldn't reach 20.

As for helping the druid. It sounds like you are in for a possible for a nasty combo. Pick up Mounted Combatant feat and ride him. He's a swinging bear, your the smiting paladin on his back.

You gain: Advantage on all attacks against foes smaller than your druid, which is likely medium and smaller for the duration of the game.

He gains: Can literally never be attacked unless you want him to be, completely negating his weak AC by replacing it with your 20 (shield+plate) +5 for shield spell when you dip sorcerer. Effectively improved evasion against for dex save spells. AND when you redirect the foe's attack against you, he triggers his sentinel feat... So pretty much every round. Additionally he will always be in range to benefit from your saving throw boost and other auras.

/winning :smallcool:

EDIT: Also the Booming Blade thing as been discussed at length. Rather than repeat posts, I can redirect you to maybe here http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?475147-Twin-Spell-booming-Blade&highlight=booming+blade