Help with an ASI

[Zanthy1]

Hello Playground!

I am currently in a campaign and have an available ASI for my dragonborn paladin of vengeance. (level 13, DM has us delay the ASI for a while due to plot). We used rolled stats (all done in in front of the DM, and he also has some homebrew rules for moving some of the points around, allowing for higher than normal stats). Right now I have a 20 Str and Cha with an 18 Con.

My question: Would it be worth it to bump that to 20 Con, getting me more HP and better concentration saves (though I rarely cast spells, smiter) or should I get a feat. I play this character mostly as a frontline bruiser, going in swinging hard, have the great weapon fighting style and currently use a +1 greataxe.

TLDR: Get 20 Con or grab a feat, and if so which feat (I currently have none)

Feats that I have considered: Tough, GWM, Heavy Armor Master, Mounted Combatant

[Alatar]

Heavy Armor Master shines in the first few levels, then fades.

Mounted Combat is situational to a degree entirely dependent upon the specifics of the campaign, so it's hard to evaluate.

GWM is a very good feat, or so I am informed. More of a sword and board guy myself.

I'd take Tough over +2 to Con if concentration checks are not much of a thing. Twice the HP, no waiting.

edit: typo

[Twizzly513]

Constitution is never a bad thing to have, but as a martial, feats are very important, so I'd definitely go with one of those. Pass on heavy armor master. It's not gonna be great at this late of levels, and it'll only be less and less helpful. Mounted combatant isn't bad on its own, but riding a horse is awkward for out of combat situations; I'd pass on them both.

For me it would come down to Tough or GWM. Sounds like you are probably playing more offense, so I'd suggest GWM to further increase damage. However, I'm fairly confident in saying you take plenty of damage, and HP is a great way to keep doing that.

Ask yourself: Build more on my biggest strength? or make myself more well-rounded?
If you really don't want to decide, consult your party comp. If you have another decent tank or front liner, or if you don't have a great striker (especially both), go with GWM; you'll do more there. If it is the opposite of either (especially both), go with Tough.

Both of them are good feats, and you should be much more well off than before with either. As a martial with this concept, you'll probably end up getting the other later on anyways, so don't sweat the long term too awful much.

[Nidgit]

GWM. You're already tanky and your rare CON saves are already bolstered by your aura. GWM not only lets you hit harder, it adds some opportunities for extra attacks and thus extra smites.

Also worth consideration: Magic Initiate or Spell Sniper for a ranged cantrip.

[Zanthy1]

Constitution is never a bad thing to have, but as a martial, feats are very important, so I'd definitely go with one of those. Pass on heavy armor master. It's not gonna be great at this late of levels, and it'll only be less and less helpful. Mounted combatant isn't bad on its own, but riding a horse is awkward for out of combat situations; I'd pass on them both.

For me it would come down to Tough or GWM. Sounds like you are probably playing more offense, so I'd suggest GWM to further increase damage. However, I'm fairly confident in saying you take plenty of damage, and HP is a great way to keep doing that.

Ask yourself: Build more on my biggest strength? or make myself more well-rounded?
If you really don't want to decide, consult your party comp. If you have another decent tank or front liner, or if you don't have a great striker (especially both), go with GWM; you'll do more there. If it is the opposite of either (especially both), go with Tough.

Both of them are good feats, and you should be much more well off than before with either. As a martial with this concept, you'll probably end up getting the other later on anyways, so don't sweat the long term too awful much.

Party consists of an evocation wizard, a kensei monk, a lore bard wth a cleric dip (not sure ho much) and a fighter who I believe is a battlemaster but has a dip in something? but not sure. I am definitly the highest HP and hardest hitting, but the spells can out do me in terms of overall damage.

[SirGraystone]

If you already have the most hp, you dont really need ASI or tough. GWM is good, but I would look into Mage slayer or Sentinel.

[Finger6842]

Spell Sniper would be my favorite alternative, addressing the Paladin range issues. I've seen battles that took place over a gorge with no melee at all. A nice eldrich blast could be key. Damaging a mob for up to 8 turns while it closes distance with you can be brutal. (Eldrich Blast 120', spell sniper doubles range to 240', avg mob moves 30' so 240'/30'=8 turns, so 3d10 currently per round means potentially 24d10 of damage). This, of course, assumes you see them coming from that far away. You get to ignore most cover so that isn't likely to be an issue either. One other thought is that smite burns a lot of spell slots so this can leave you with a cantrip based casting option that never fades. At range use cantrip, in melee use that monster weapon of yours to avoid disadvantage.

Alert would be my second favorite alternative here.
+5 to initiative, going first is the best defense you can have since your mighty smite is likely to take out something.
Other creatures not only can't surprise you but they can't get advantage against you either, potentially countering a lot of incoming damage (more than Tough would provide IMO).

Lucky can really save you as well, preventing a doomsday save failure or a massive hit from big bad and ugly.

Tough is nice, netting you 26 HP now and 40 over the long haul, nothing to sneeze at and of course nothing will prevent incoming damage all the time so a larger pool is wise.

In the long run, I would choose between Alert and Spell Sniper based on how your DM plays. If he never bothers to surprise you or maneuver the NPC's for advantage then Spell Sniper is best option hands down. If he likes tactical play, Alert would likely provide more survivability.