What do you think on my Warlock/Paladin build for AL

[BloodSnake'sCha]

Hello guys :)

I will like to get you opinion on my new build plan for a new AL game character.


Race
Half-Elf

The build will be:
1 paladin
1 haxblade warlock.
1 paladin.
17 haxblade warlock(unless you will have something better).

Weapon longsword for GWF with haxblade weapon.
.
I am planning to take Great Sword at level 3 hexblade.

Abilities
15 str, 8 dex, 16 con, 8 int, 10 wis and 17 cha(Half-Elf +1 str +1 con).
I can make changes to it.

Feats
Lv6 Elven Accuracy(+1 Cha).
Lv10 +2 Cha.
Lv14 War Caster or Resilient (Con).

[KorvinStarmast]

Are you expecting to find or buy Full Plate? Season 8 has made getting Full Plate rather difficult.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

Are you expecting to find or buy Full Plate? Season 8 has made getting Full Plate rather difficult.

I am going Split(with selling the starting equipment I was able to buy it at level 1, the DM said it is legal in AL) and plan to buy full Plate.

[Haydensan]

I am going Split(with selling the starting equipment I was able to buy it at level 1, the DM said it is legal in AL) and plan to buy full Plate.

I might be wrong as I'm not 100% clued up on AL, but iirc you can only sell starting equipment for half it's listed value in the phb. Might want confirm with your dm

[BloodSnake'sCha]

I might be wrong as I'm not 100% clued up on AL, but iirc you can only sell starting equipment for half it's listed value in the phb. Might want confirm with your dm

Yes.
It was at half price.

I was surprised It was possible, I rechecked it 3 times.

[Haydensan]

I would probably go with war caster vs resilient con in this case because you'll benefit from everything war caster has to offer. Plus the con bump will leave you with an odd score

[BloodSnake'sCha]

I would probably go with war caster vs resilient con in this case because you'll benefit from everything war caster has to offer. Plus the con bump will leave you with an odd score

The thing is:
Don't I get better chance with resilient?
It is flat +5 at level 14.

I can never get myself to choose between the two.
I think that I will take your advice as it the only thing the off the balance in my head.

[Haydensan]

Typically just for concentration checks war caster is better earlier then res con due your profil bonus being lower. At the 14 they're roughly equal, res con being more widely applicable for other effects.
Depends on how much importance you place on the other bullet points of war caster vs things that aren't concentration checks from res con.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

Typically just for concentration checks war caster is better earlier then res con due your profil bonus being lower. At the 14 they're roughly equal, res con being more widely applicable for other effects.
Depends on how much importance you place on the other bullet points of war caster vs things that aren't concentration checks from res con.

Thank you, I think I will take the resilient feat after reading this comment.
After all I am planning to use most of my spells for dual smite.

[Snowbluff]

Thank you, I think I will take the resilient feat after reading this comment.
After all I am planning to use most of my spells for dual smite.

Powering paladin smite with so few slots is going to be hard. I think Hexblade5/Paladin2/(Bard or Sorcerer)13 would be better.

[Keravath]

I am going Split(with selling the starting equipment I was able to buy it at level 1, the DM said it is legal in AL) and plan to buy full Plate.

Selling back starting equipment at 1/2 price to buy what you need is fine. You can even select backgrounds that will give you a bit more starting gold or items to sell to maximize this. It isn't enough to buy anything expensive but you can probably push it as far as splint mail (75gp).

However, I would warn you that buying full plate in season 8 is likely not an option for a LONG time. Full plate is 1500gp. You can sell a treasure point for 50gp so full plate costs 30 treasure points which is far more than most magic items. As you level up, you only receive 75gp for levels 2-5 and 150gp for levels 6-11. This means tier 1 yields 300gp and tier 2 750gp for a total of 1050gp. You will earn 16 tier 1 treasure points and 48 tier 2 treasure points. Typical magic items cost 16 to 20 treasure points in tier 1,2. You will not have earned enough gold by level 11 to purchase full plate. At this point it becomes more cost effective to purchase magical plate armor from the evergreen list at tier 3 using tier 3 treasure points.

As a result, I would plan on being in splint armor for a long time.

[Keravath]

Thank you, I think I will take the resilient feat after reading this comment.
After all I am planning to use most of my spells for dual smite.

Unfortunately, your planned build does not have sufficient spell slots to use dual smiting effectively.

A level 2 paladin will only ever have 2 first level spell slots. A hexblade up until level 12 also ONLY has 2 spell slots (though they recharge on a short rest). This means that you will never be able to smite very effectively because you just don't have enough spell slots. I would also add, that in my opinion - others may disagree, eldritch smite is a bit of a trap for a low level warlock since they only have two spell slots. There are some good spells a warlock can use to make their attacks more effective. Ones that over the course of a combat may well do more damage or allow greater defenses than using the two spell slots to add 2d8 or 3d8 damage (at lower levels) to one attack.

If I was building something like this then I would take a minimum of 6 levels in paladin for the aura. I might also mix in levels of sorcerer for the improved spell slot progression as well as some warlock levels. The final build could be any combination of

6 paladin/14 warlock
8 paladin/12 warlock (ASI maximization)
11 paladin/9 warlock

You need 3 warlock for pact of the blade in order to use charisma with 2 handed heavy weapons. Also if you are using 2 handed weapons you don't need warcaster to cast spells in combat (like you would if you were sword and board or TWF with weapons/shield in 2 hands)

6 paladin/3 warlock/ 11 sorcerer (14th level caster slots for smiting and spells + 2 level 2 short rest -probably shadow sorcerer though you could also go divine soul for additional healing - however, only two invocations really limits your choices - probably not worth taking eldritch smite at all)
6 paladin/5 warlock/ 9 sorcerer (12th level caster slots for smiting and spells + 2 level 3 short rest)
6 paladin/7 warlock/ 7 sorcerer (10th level caster slots for smiting and spells + 2 level 4 short rest)
6 paladin/9 warlock/ 5 sorcerer (this build gives you 2 level 5 warlock slots for eldritch smite plus regular spell slots of an 8th level caster for normal smites)

The advantage of shadow sorcerer is that you can start as a variant human paladin, take resilient con at level 1 and then pick up the first level of sorcerer relatively early for the 120' darkvision and some extra spell slots.

However, you won't be able to use charisma to hit with 2 handed weapons until you are at least warlock 3.

P.S. If all you are interested in are the smites (and not the aura) then paladin 2 is sufficient as mentioned above and you could look at builds like

2 paladin/9 warlock/9 sorcerer (This gives you maxed eldritch and regular smite capabilities)
2 paladin/5 warlock/13 sorcerer (this allows you to take thirsting blade to get an additional attack)

[sithlordnergal]

Hmmm, it is certainly a good build. You won't be a Smite machine like a Paladin/Sorcerer, but you get a ton of goodies in exchange. I'd actually suggest going Paladin 6 / Hexblade 14 though. Reasons being:

- Warlock can only get Extra Attack through an Invocation. Paladin 5 gets Extra Attack for free. This frees up an Invocation to be used somewhere else.

- You gain three 5th level spell slots that return on a short rest, and six Paladin slots that recharge on a Long Rest. Giving you more Smite potential in a single battle. Especially when you remember you can get the Hexblade Smite and stack it with the Paladin Smite. The more spell slots the better.

- Aura of Protection is EXTREMELY valuable and powerful. Not only for you, but for your allies. Especially when you remember that a Death Save is technically a Saving Throw, meaning allies will get your Charisma bonus to their roll.

- Grants you 30 hp you can use to heal with. May not be much, but a small healing boost can help the party healer out a lot.


As for feats, here's what I suggest:

Only take Elven Accuracy if you go Vengeance Paladin, that way you have a consistent Advantage. Which, funnily enough, is another reason to go Paladin 6. If you lack consistent Advantage, Elven Accuracy is a waste.

Warcaster is excellent, as always. See if you can find a melee cantrip, that way you can make use of the Opportunity Attack thing. Shocking Grasp is a good choice. Denying reactions is very powerful. Almost as good as Chill Touch.


Finally, a word about Plate. If you save EVERY Treasure Checkpoint, you can buy Plate around level 5 to 6. You gain 75gp for levels 2 through 4, and 150 for level 5. If you save absolutely everything, by level 5 you can have about 1,375 or so gold. Going two handed will cause your AC to be a bit low, but it shouldn't be too big of an issue.

Also, make sure you take Shield as a Hexblade spell. I cannot express how insanely good shield is as a paladin.

[Zuras]

For AL I highly recommend Resilient-Constitution over War Caster.

Module designers hand out monsters with nasty CON save effects and mages packing Cone of Cold like candy in AL.

I would also suggest taking Paladin to 6 (7 if going Ancients) for the Auras. Missed saving throws are by far your likeliest downfall in AL, especially at higher tiers. Getting extra attack from your Paladin levels also saves you an invocation.

Without at least 5 levels in Paladin, as others have noted, you don’t have enough low level spell slots to burn them regularly on smites. Normally you should be able to do something better than a 4d8 smite with a 3rd level spell.

[Haydensan]

Selling back starting equipment at 1/2 price to buy what you need is fine. You can even select backgrounds that will give you a bit more starting gold or items to sell to maximize this. It isn't enough to buy anything expensive but you can probably push it as far as splint mail (75gp).


I would emphasise the 75gp for splint but I can't remember how and I'm on my phone.

Iirc splint is 200g. And if what the previous poster said is true about AL and con saves I'd definitely look at resilient con