How would you finish off this defensive build? Pal 6 or 11 / War Wiz 2 / Hexblade 1

[Greywander]

I was thinking about defensive character builds, and I think the strongest way to start off is with paladin 6 and War wizard 2. Paladin 6 gives you heavy armor, shields, the Defense fighting style, the Shield of Faith spell, and Aura of Protection. War wizard 2 gives you Arcane Deflection, as well as the Shield and Absorb Elements spells. Even without magic items, I can hit 25 AC with Shield of Faith, boosted to 27 with Arcane Deflection or 30 with Shield. Aura of Protection gives me +5 to all saves (eventually), and combined with Arcane Deflection will give +9 to a single save. 2 levels in War wizard is really good.

The next obvious step is to dip 1 level into Hexblade so that I can focus exclusively on CHA (still need STR 15 for plate armor), which goes well with Aura of Protection. I also figure I might as well take paladin all the way to 11. If I go Ancients then I get half damage from spells, which is nice. Might go to 12 for the ASI (need at least 3 to get CHA 20 and STR 15).

I'm not really sure where else to take this, though. I could go 3 levels into warlock for the invocations and pact boon. I'm not sure if blade pact makes more sense than getting chain pact for Gift of the Everliving Ones. Fighter 2 also gets me some nice stuff. 1 level in either Shadow or Divine Soul sorcerer also gets me a nice feature to boost survival. I'm just not really sure where to go from here.

While yuan-ti would be a strong contender, what with their magic resistance, I'm leaning more toward warforged for their +1 to AC and not needing to eat/drink/sleep/breathe. It's not defensive in a combat sense, but not having to worry about biological needs closes a lot of the more creative ways you could meet your end.

If I can squeeze out some more feats, PAM, Resilient (CON), and Shield Master would all be good choices, though there's no way to get them all.

[Quoz]

While it looks good on paper, you're going to get stretched thin trying to reach diminishing returns on improved defenses. I would drop the wizard and stay Cha focused.

Yuan-Ti Paladin with high charisma is a very solid build. I played one at high levels and your ability to waltz through enemy magic effects is unparalleled. Plate armor, a good shield, defensive fighting style and the Shield spell will defend you from just about everything that your high saves dont. So we want at least 6 levels, probably 7 to get your oath effect.

Yes, a hexblade dip is cheesy, but it's also very effective. One level for stat fixing and the shield spell. Armor of Agathys is also very solid to upcast when you get prep time before a fight. A 2nd level for some invocations like agonizing blast and devil's sight would not be a bad idea, but probably dont need to invest much past that.

The good news is if you dont need to invest in anything other than Cha, you get more feats. Shield master and resilient (Con) will be great, as they boost your most common saves even further while giving other good benefits as well. War caster will also be high on your list.

So Paladin 7/warlock 2 is a very solid starting point. Continuing past this, there are several great options.

Sorcerer or Bard, if you want to be great at both casting and smiting. You will never get the offensive power of a pure caster, but your staying power and ability to self buff and smite all day will be unmatched.

Continuing with paladin or warlock is also amazing. Paladin really has very few dead levels, so there us something nice every time. If your campaign goes high enough to reach 18 levels in Paladin, the increase in the size of your aura will be great capstone.

[Teaguethebean]

I would personally recommend swords bard after a level of Hexblade. Defensive flourish can lead to you being near unhittable with armor+shield+defense+SoF+sheild spell+defensive flourish you can reach an average of 32.5 ac while still attacking each turn.

[Greywander]

While it looks good on paper, you're going to get stretched thin trying to reach diminishing returns on improved defenses.
On the contrary, the math of D&D makes each +1 to anything give increasing returns, rather than diminishing returns. Each +1 to AC offers more damage reduction than the one before it. You can easily see this by comparing an enemy that hits on a 10 (where +1 AC reduces the number of hits taken by 10%) with an enemy that hits on a 19 (where +1 AC reduces the number of hits taken by 50%). Likewise for saving throws. Higher numbers make each +1 worth more, not less.

If you're pointing out that I'll have little to offer beyond strong defenses, then that's fair. Though I think we can still have decent damage output.


I would drop the wizard and stay Cha focused.
It's not so much about wizard, per se, but Arcane Deflection. This is an at-will reaction that gives +2 AC against one attack or +4 to one saving throw. The "at-will" part being the important bit, I can literally do it all day. If my AC is so high that I only get hit once per round, or less, then there's a decent chance I can use Arcane Deflection to not get hit at all. Perhaps the more valuable use is against saving throws, which will typically have nastier effects if failed than taking damage. +4 is nothing to sneeze at. And remember, you can do this every round, all day long.

Where Arcane Deflection really shines is against tough bosses that have really nasty save or suck effects. Due to the action economy, they generally won't be able to hit you with more than one save or suck effect per round (though see Legendary Actions), essentially giving you a +2 to AC and/or +4 to saves for the whole fight. It also really shines during long adventuring days where you face a lot of fights without the opportunity to rest.

Maybe it isn't worth a 2 level dip. Maybe it is. Wizard, itself, gives us some fun toys to play with, so that's also worth considering. Even with INT 13, there's plenty we can do with wizard spells. I suppose it depends on what else we could be getting from 2 levels.

I don't really have any comments on the rest of your post except that it seems like solid advice.


I would personally recommend swords bard after a level of Hexblade. Defensive flourish can lead to you being near unhittable with armor+shield+defense+SoF+sheild spell+defensive flourish you can reach an average of 32.5 ac while still attacking each turn.
Good call, I'd forgotten about bard. With 5 levels, I can get my Bardic Inspiration dice back on a short rest, letting me spam Defensive Flourish more often.

Sorcerer would let me get Fireball, which would help in dealing with hordes of enemies. Something like Thunderclap or Shatter can get the job done, but will be less effective. Thunderclap would be a good cantrip to pick up anyway, just so I have something to deal with hordes without using spell slots.

I'm also not sure whether to dip early or late. Dipping into Hexblade earlier rather than later seems to make more sense, but getting the Auras of Protection and Warding earlier also seems like a good idea. Booming Blade can help boost damage if getting Extra Attack late, and pairs well with Warcaster and Sentinel for Booming Blade OAs. Useful if you're trying to tank.

[Mork]

I think just stacking up defences will result in the enemies targeting your allies before you, so you need some good offence as well to make sure they still want to waste their attacks on you.
Maybe an extra level of hexblade for cha on eldricht blast and then some levels of sorcerer for more spell slots to smite with and to quicken eldricht blast.

paladin 6/war wizard2/hexblade2/sorcererX
2 attacks then bonus action 3 eldricht blasts.

If that STR15 requirement for heavy armour is a big problem maybe consider dwarf? Or just take the -10ft movement speed. Maybe taxabi which gives +1 CHA (so you can start with 16) and enables you to double move to get in combat easier. From the top of my head can't think of any movement enabling races that also give CHA.
Dragonborn or asimar, for +CHA and +STR could also help.
That way you might be less starved for ASI, making the multiclassing easier.