Dex-Based Paladin?

[Palanan]

Using official Paizo sources, how feasible is a Dex-based paladin in Pathfinder?

Virtuous Bravo seems like a good place to start, but I’m not sure if there’s anything else that lends itself to the concept.

[Psyren]

Archery is Dex-based, so the answer is "very" :smallsmile: The most likely deity for those paladins would be Erastil, who has a paladin order and whose favored weapon is the longbow.

Assuming you meant melee though - Sarenrae has paladins, so scimitar-wielding paladins should be fairly common, which means Dervish Dance is reasonable too.

You could strengthen both approaches with archetypes, but they should work fine with the standard one too.

[Calthropstu]

Paladin + gunslinger.

[Drelua]

Paladins also work really well with TWF, the smite evil bonus can add up to a lot of damage, and helps mitigate the attack penalties. Halflings would be great for this, they have the perfect stats for it. I've thought about playing a TWF Paladin with a Sunblade as an off-hand weapon. Big as a bastard sword, as easy to use as a short sword, and double damage against undead. You could switch to two-handing it when you want that multiplier.

You could also dip Swashbuckler, dependent on the same stats and you get some nice bonuses in the first 1-3 levels.

[gijoemike]

The real question is what are you envisioning?

2 weapon fighting?
Sword and board style fighter?
Rapier swashbuckler style?
Dex based monk of the righteous?
Archery?
Drunkard who throws ale and potions? I kick arse for the L'rd type?

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by gijoemike
The real question is what are you envisioning?

...Rapier swashbuckler style?

...Archery?

Some combination of these two, though I'm not sure if both can fit into a single build.

[Rynjin]

The short answer, as you may have guessed is "very".

All of a Paladin's damage output comes from Smite. Smite doesn't care about your attributes, or your weapon choice, it only cares "is the enemy evil". Divine Bond also means you don't really care whether you're even using a real weapon most of the time. There's a reason it's a common joke that if you try to kill a Paladin taking a bath he's going to beat you to death with a +3 Holy towel rack.

The real question is what are you envisioning?

...Rapier swashbuckler style?

...Archery?


Some combination of these two, though I'm not sure if both can fit into a single build.

If the former, grab Weapon Focus and Weapon Finesse at first level, and Fencing Grace (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/fencing-grace-combat/) at 3rd; sub Fencing Grace with Dervish Dance and drop Weapon Focus if you want to buckle swashes with a scimitar/cutlass instead.

If the latter, snag all the usual archery Feats.

You don't get very many Feats, so yes doing both will be hard. A Champion of the Faith (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/hybrid-classes/warpriest/archetypes/paizo-warpriest-archetypes/champion-of-the-faith) Warpriest is an alternative if you want a few Bonus Feats.

[Drelua]

Some combination of these two, though I'm not sure if both can fit into a single build.

You could definitely do sort of a switch hitter, just taking Weapon Finesse and getting an agile rapier when you can. Maybe take the Divine Hunter archetype, it trades away heavy armor which you probably won't want anyway with a high dexterity. Although I might not want to give up the auras for that.

[Kaouse]

I'd highly suggest a DEX-based Enlightened Paladin (https://aonprd.com/ArchetypeDisplay.aspx?FixedName=Paladin%20Iroran%2 0Paladin). If you focus primarily on DEX and CHA, you'll have insane defenses. Just make sure to rush an Agile Amulet of Mighty Fists, and you're golden. For further kicks, play a Div-spawned Tiefling. Perfect stat array, and Tieflings have an amazing Paladin FCB, where they can greatly increase the amount of hp their Lay on Hands provides, but only to themselves. Sit up in front and tank all of the damage.

If your GM allows Elephant in the Room feat taxes, then you don't need to take Weapon Finesse, and can instead just take Fey Foundling at first level to booost your healing. Then you can take Barbarian VMC and grab Lesser Celestial Totem for even MORE ludicrous insane self-healing. Though that's a bit much, given VMC necessitates a 5 feat investment. Granted, between your class abilities and your spells, once you get an Agile Amulet of Mighty Fists, you don't really need much more, I think. Just hyper-focus in DEX and CHA and laugh at your GM's attempts to kill you without TPK-ing the rest of the party.

[Eldonauran]

I'd highly suggest a DEX-based Enlightened Paladin (https://aonprd.com/ArchetypeDisplay.aspx?FixedName=Paladin%20Iroran%2 0Paladin). If you focus primarily on DEX and CHA, you'll have insane defenses. Just make sure to rush an Agile Amulet of Mighty Fists, and you're golden. For further kicks, play a Div-spawned Tiefling. Perfect stat array, and Tieflings have an amazing Paladin FCB, where they can greatly increase the amount of hp their Lay on Hands provides, but only to themselves. Sit up in front and tank all of the damage.
I played a Gnome Iroran Paladin/Sacred Fist Warpriest in Wrath of the Righteous that was Dex and Cha focused. It worked out VERY well.

[Elkad]

I have a stub-sheet for an Ifrit Paladin - game never actually started, was going dex-based.
I was going to start with a level in Swashbucker rather than going Virtuous Bravo, to keep spellcasting later.

Dex/Cha bonus, swap resistances for another +4 init, swap burning hands for Enlarge/Reduce person 1/day.

And NOT a tiefling, massive bonus there.

[Calthropstu]

The short answer, as you may have guessed is "very".

All of a Paladin's damage output comes from Smite. Smite doesn't care about your attributes, or your weapon choice, it only cares "is the enemy evil". Divine Bond also means you don't really care whether you're even using a real weapon most of the time. There's a reason it's a common joke that if you try to kill a Paladin taking a bath he's going to beat you to death with a +3 Holy towel rack.




If the former, grab Weapon Focus and Weapon Finesse at first level, and Fencing Grace (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/fencing-grace-combat/) at 3rd; sub Fencing Grace with Dervish Dance and drop Weapon Focus if you want to buckle swashes with a scimitar/cutlass instead.

If the latter, snag all the usual archery Feats.

You don't get very many Feats, so yes doing both will be hard. A Champion of the Faith (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/hybrid-classes/warpriest/archetypes/paizo-warpriest-archetypes/champion-of-the-faith) Warpriest is an alternative if you want a few Bonus Feats.

Now that I think of it, the gunslinger/paladin build is mostly gunslinger with a 2 level paladin dip to get smite and the ac bonus. So if the primary desire is for paladin levels, it's better for the archery route. Guns require massive feat investment.

So I will second this advice.