The best Paladin Oath

[JDanton]

I'm rolling a paladin soon and I can't decide which oath I want to take, the oaths that could potentially fit the character are Devotion, vengeance, crown or redemption although I can't pick between them. I don't care too much about optimization, I just want to know which are the most fun to play in both a gameplay and RP aspect. My ability scores are 18, 13, 15, 9, 11, 18 before racial and I intend to play a half elf, with the sea elf's child of the sea feature and I'm not sure what kind of role I want to fill, any inputs, suggestions or ideas?!

[TerakasTaranath]

My favorite character was a half elf oath of vengeance paladin, I played him in Storm Kings Thunder. Mechanically it's a blast and RPing you can totally roll with the personality of whatever you want, I was more of a tired of the petty BS lets get down to the brass tax kind of approach.

As for rolls you can do sweeeeeeeet damage. Kill all the things!

And since you're going sea elf background you can say maybe you're like the vengeance of the storm on the waves or something sea-y.

[JDanton]

That does sound pretty cool!

[stoutstien]

Lots of spell caster or magic effects? Tree pally!
Want to play a fear tank of old? Conquest !
Want to be master if the universe? I have the power...of devotion!
Honestly other than redemption all the oaths play really well with others and are always welcomed in a party.
Redemption is like playing with 3.5 monks with oath of non violence 😐

[McSkrag]

I'm rolling a paladin soon and I can't decide which oath I want to take, the oaths that could potentially fit the character are Devotion, vengeance, crown or redemption although I can't pick between them. I don't care too much about optimization, I just want to know which are the most fun to play in both a gameplay and RP aspect. My ability scores are 18, 13, 15, 9, 11, 18 before racial and I intend to play a half elf, with the sea elf's child of the sea feature and I'm not sure what kind of role I want to fill, any inputs, suggestions or ideas?!

I think of Devotion as the classic Knight Templar. They are great all around with a bit of cleric like support.

Vengeance is all about damage, especially against a single enemy.

Crown and Redemption Oaths are a bit weaker mechanically. But Crown could work as military commander type.

Personally, I don't think you can go wrong with Devotion or Vengeance.

For versatility, take some of the CHA based social skills like persuasion, intimidation, and deception. They give good character flavor and and allow for fun RP.

[CTurbo]

Why not Ancients? That's probably be my pick.

Out of the ones you named, Vengeance had the best spells, but arguably the worst level 7 feature.

I'd probably go with Devotion. Charm immunity is one of those things where you won't use it at all 95% of the time, but that 5% will completely wreck the DMs plans.

[TerakasTaranath]

Ancients is a great spec as well, I misty stepped behind a big bad and got advantage on a flanking attack and smited the heck out of him, making the DM very salty :P it's a great feeling!

But in all honesty I'd pick whatever you find best to RP. I find that when I put mechanics first I don't RP as much. When I say I pick something for RP and deal with the mechanics I have presented to me I have more fun. That being said you can still optimize your RP choices too. Great weapon mastery with a smite stack is just.....amazing.

[Angelalex242]

I highly recommend Oath of Ancients. If Charm immunity makes GMs sad 5 percent of the time, Ancient Ward makes GMs sad every time a spellcaster hits the floor.

[Arkhios]

Honestly, the question which oath is best is like asking which flavor of ice cream is best.

That said, since I'm a bit of an advocate for nature preservation, and a huge fan of celtic and norse mythology, I find myself always leaning towards Oath of the Ancients when it comes to playing (or merely building) a paladin. I'm overly fond of the idea that The Old Faith is a perfect match for it as well, especially because paladins aren't required to worship anything, so the choice is mostly fluff.

[T.G. Oskar]

Lots of spell caster or magic effects? Tree pally!
Want to play a fear tank of old? Conquest !
Want to be master if the universe? I have the power...of devotion!
Honestly other than redemption all the oaths play really well with others and are always welcomed in a party.
Redemption is like playing with 3.5 monks with oath of non violence 😐

I notice you didn't mention Oath of the Crown...

Anyways, asking "which is the best Paladin Oath" is mostly opinion, but it really depends on what you want from the character in question.

You choose Devotion if you want to be a "classic" Paladin, AKA the Paladin from previous editions. They do well with a two-handed weapon because of their Sacred Weapon CD option, they grant immunity to Charm as well as Fright, their spells are a decent grab-bag that includes an AoE spell and a great anti-mental control buff. Play Devotion if you feel like being the knight in shining armor, with abilities that protect your integrity.
You choose Ancients if you want to attune with nature. Nearly everyone claims it's the "best" Oath because of its Aura, which halves damage from spells, because you're pretty much unkillable, and because the capstone is just insanely good. Choose ancients if you want to deny spellcasters their tricks while being a solid spellcaster yourself.
Choose Vengeance if you want to be a knight in "sour" armor. Their Vow of Enmity CD makes them hit pretty decently, their spells are focused mostly on disabling spells (Bane, Hold Person, Hold Monster) and pursuit (Misty Step, Haste, Dimension Door), and pursuing their target is a big part of their schtick. Plus you get to fly. How cool is that?
You choose the Crown if you want to be a tank. Their Channel Divinity options let you pull aggro or do some minor healing, they get the best tanking spell ever (Warding Bond), they get to use their reaction to block some damage, probably one of the best Crowd Control spells (Spirit Guardians) and your capstone makes you hard to kill (not at the degree as Ancients, but if you're not facing magicians, pretty much so). My personal fave, but people consider it weaker because of...reasons (namely, Ancients has a great capstone, Vengeance has Hunter's Mark, and people love to think of Paladins as damage dealers for some reason...)
You choose Conquest if you wanna play an evil bossy Paladin. Kinda. Lots of mental status effects and debuffs, including curses, Fright and eventually dominate. The capstone is ugly, and I mean it in the "it's broken" kind of way, since it makes you resistant to all damage and makes you really dangerous when attacking. A fun Oath, but pretty dark.
You choose Redemption if you want Damage Redirection; AKA, to take damage from allies and return it to enemies. While not so efficiently, and lacking a spell that would have made this Oath my absolute favorite (Warding Bond), it has some cool class features. Spells are bland (other than Stoneskin and probably Hold Monster), CD options are either fluffy (yay, better Persuasion!) or brutal (how about I make you take damage because you hurt an ally/?); you get a better version of the Crown's reaction option, and their capstone is permanent provided you don't make an attack, and the capstone is wicked (you're pretty much immune to everything, and you return the damage to them). The idea is that you're a practical pacifist, not dealing the first strike, but responding swiftly if you deem necessary. Also a favorite, though people don't like it that much.
Of course, there's also the Oathbreaker, which reflects when you break your Oath and go bad. It's meant to be the EEEEEEEEvil Paladin, but it's more of a Goth Paladin, what with their penchant for Necrotic damage, bolstering and controlling Undead, and just doing damage to their enemies by being there. Their capstone is meant to stack up the damage real quick.

From your choices, you probably want to be a Tank, because all four lead to it. Of all 4, Devotion probably isn't your best choice for Tanking OR surviving, though it's pretty solid against Fiends and Undead. Everyone has said Ancients, but they shine best against spellcasters; IMO, their Channel Divinity options are poor, with Nature's Wrath only affecting one target and allowing two ways to negate the condition, their spells aren't overwhelmingly good (Misty Step is nice, Stoneskin is always awesome, and you get an AoE spell with Ice Storm), so I don't really recommend them if you're looking to support your allies as a tank. If you really want to be a Tank, go Crown or Redemption - Crown if you want Warding Bond and Spirit Guardians and three solid ways to pull Aggro, Redemption if you want to return damage to the enemy, and focus on classic Lockdown (Polearm Master + Sentinel).

"Fun" is relative. My best advice is to define first what you want to do within the party (tanking, doing damage, support) and then choose the Oath, rather than choose the Oath and then choose what to do within the party. Knowing what the party has helps too - if you have a Barbarian, a Fighter (even if a Champion, because they rack up damage pretty fast if built correctly) or Warlock, an Oath of Vengeance Paladin will feel superfluous. In the same vein, if the Barbarian happens to be a Spirit Guardian and/or the Fighter has built himself with Polearm Master and Sentinel (and Tunnel Fighter) in mind, Crown and Redemption may be a bit superfluous. However, if you feel you don't mind doubling down, then sure, go for it. The Oath's tenets are ways to help you play your character, but as long as you don't intentionally and constantly break them, you should be fine.

[ATHATH]

Lots of spell caster or magic effects? Tree pally!
Want to play a fear tank of old? Conquest !
Want to be master if the universe? I have the power...of devotion!
Honestly other than redemption all the oaths play really well with others and are always welcomed in a party.
Redemption is like playing with 3.5 monks with oath of non violence 😐
The Vow of Nonviolence and Vow of Peace feats weren't exclusive to Monks back in 3.5- just to Exalted characters.

Furthermore, nonlethal damage/knocking enemies unconscious instead of killing them is easier to do in 5e than in 3.5e- although I'd still recommend not trying a Vow of Nonviolence gimmick in 5e unless EVERYONE at the table is on-board with it.

[Corran]

Honestly, the question which oath is best is like asking which flavor of ice cream is best.

Agreed.

@OP: Strawberry! Er… I mean vengeance.
Be dex-based and stealthy (so either breastplate or halfplate with the MAM feat, depending on your style). Darkvision needed too.

You are sort of a bounty hunter, a very competent one, hunting down the wicked and the lawbreakers, efficiently and with extreme prejudice (sort of a Judge Dread-ish type of character). You are not doing it for the money though. You are not even doing it out of a lawful ideology either. You are doing it out of revenge and despair (enter sad backstory of family being killed by bandits). It is vengeance, anger and pain that drive you. Edgy....:smalltongue:

''Good'' feats: Observant (passive bonuses to both insight and investigation, as well as the ability to read lips!)
''Good'' MC: Rogue 1 (for 1d6 sneak attack, expertise x 2 and thieves' cant!); extra skill: investigation/ survival.
Good skills (for a halfelf): Stealth, perception, insight, intimidation, athletics, deception (/persuasion).

[Nidgit]

Reminder that Ancients Paladin might have some nature-themed spells but it doesn't go nearly as far as Nature Cleric or Druid in terms of its priorities. Ancients is more of an unbound cosmic good-type knight; it channels the natural world for all the beauty and inspiration that can be found, but an Ancients Paladin can find the man-made joys of life just as important. In a way, the Oath of the Ancients is the most all-purpose because the Good it adheres to isn't tied to a particular ethos.

Also, Redemption Paladin has some really excellent spells that haven't been mentioned yet. Counterspell and Hypnotic Pattern are both incredibly useful and many of the other spells, like Resilient Sphere, have excellent thematic uses.