Favorite Paladin Aura?

[SociopathFriend]

I was asked my favorite class of 5e and ultimately could not come up with an answer.

However I did eventually arrive at the conclusion that Paladin was in the running for several reasons- one of which was their Auras and how I liked them mechanically as well as fluff/lore implications.

As such- a thread for Auras! Out of the Auras available to Paladins, the unique ones for Subclasses or the main one all Paladins share, which is the one you like the most? And why?

[strangebloke]

My fav is the basic Devo pally. Immunity to fear may seem like it doesn't come up much, but when it does you feel like a god. I also love that it counters the conquest paladin aura, which is my second favorite.

Ancients, depending on campaign, is stronger than either, but its just not as compelling to me.

[JNAProductions]

I'm a fan of the basic Aura Of Protection. Big bonuses to saves? Yes please!

[TyGuy]

For mechanical strength, I like Ancient's
For flavor, I actually quite like the vibe of Oath Breaker's

[OldTrees1]

Aura of Protection is my favorite of the 5E auras.

I also like Ancient's Aura of Warding because then the party can start casting Fireball on itself (fun times).

[Greywander]

My fav is the basic Devo pally. Immunity to fear may seem like it doesn't come up much, but when it does you feel like a god. I also love that it counters the conquest paladin aura, which is my second favorite.
Aura of Courage is available to all paladins at 10th level. You might be thinking of Aura of Devotion, which is charm immunity.

Aura of Protection is the easy answer, simply because it's so strong and universally applicable. A lot of the subclass auras depend specifically how how you're playing that character, e.g. a Conquest paladin relies on using fear effects that other paladins might forgo entirely. So it's not always easy to compare them. I do think some are nicer than others. I do want to try a Conquest paladin at some point, as Aura of Conquest seems like it would be fun to use. Play a Fizban dragonborn and take the Dragon Fear feat, and you get a nice AoE fear effect you can use 2 to 6 times a day and it only replaces one of your attacks, instead of using an entire action. For big boss monsters, you have Wrathful Smite. For fear-immune enemies, you're still a paladin and you have your breath weapon.

[ProsecutorGodot]

Aura of Protection, without question. My personal favorite for second would be aura of the guardian because it enables a play style that I enjoy.

[RogueJK]

Definitely the basic AoP.

[icedraikon]

Aura of Sentinel from Oath of Watchers. Initiative is a godsend, especially since most Paladins dump Dex

[KorvinStarmast]

Core? Ancients level 7 aura is a close second to level 6 aura.


Now? Watchers

You emit an aura of alertness while you aren't Incapacitated. When you and any Creatures of your choice within 10 feet of you roll Initiative, you all gain a bonus to Initiative equal to your Proficiency Bonus. I love giving the party an edge in combat. It's not about me, it's about we. :smallsmile:

[SociopathFriend]

For the record- I am also more than willing to allow Paladin Aura Spells to the conversation. I've never used one but AFAIK they do exist.

[ProsecutorGodot]

For the record- I am also more than willing to allow Paladin Aura Spells to the conversation. I've never used one but AFAIK they do exist.

In that case Aura of Vitality is a strong contender for my second place. Circle of Power being another one of my personal favorites, though it comes online very late for a Paladin.

[Yakmala]

Not counting Protection, which is core to all Paladins, my favorite is the Watcher’s Sentinel aura.

Bonuses to initiative are never not useful. If you can help the entire party act before the bad guys, it’s almost like granting them a surprise round every fight.

And if you are really obsessed with going first, make your Watchers Paladin a Harengon and give them the Alert feat.

[Sception]

While it's not the strongest aura (that's protection, while the strongest subclass aura is watchers), my ~favorite~ by far is Aura of Conquest because it enables basically an entire unique play style. Other paladin auras are good, they make your character and their party more effective, but none of the others changes what your paladin does round by round, how they allocate their limited resources, what they bring to the party tactically and how the rest of the party plays around that strategically like Aura of Conquest does*. It certainly helps that the unique mechanical identity created by the Aura of Conquests fits so perfectly with the thematic identity implied by the subclass's fluff and tenets. Where other paladins strike down their enemies, Conquerors play like cats toying with their food, drawing out combats so they can enjoy bullying those who would dare stand against them. This again doesn't make them the strongest or most optimal paladins - an enemy struck down by an Avenger or Oathbreaker is more effectively and efficiently 'controlled' than one that is merely trapped by a conqueror's aura, and while a Conqueror's tool set is more effective at handling large groups of weaker enemies which can potentially bog down and overwhelm other paladins - it's typically more 'optimized' in a cooperative group context to double down on strengths rather than shoring up weaknesses. But while I wouldn't call them the strongest paladins (I'd lean towards watchers or oathbreakers here, or maybe vengeance if you mean to multiclass out after 6 levels), I do think Conquerors the most interesting, unique, and flavorful, and while their other features certainly contribute, Aura of Conquest really is the lynch pin of the subclass.

*with the arguable exception of the Redeemer's Aura of the Guardian. However, the inability to reduce the transferred damage makes Aura of the Guardian much harder to capitalize on & form effective strategies around, while the introduction of Peace Domain in Tasha's completely obsoletes Aura of the Guardian with a dramatically superior version of the damage redirection concept, while at least for the moment the Conqueror's frighten-based lockdown tank concept remains largely unique. The closest equivalent ime is PAM+Sentinel builds, which are effective but the 1/round reaction limit means they really aren't displacing a Conqueror for effective cc. In they're defense, though, the PAM+Sentinel build is probably dealing substantially more damage on average, so Conquest doesn't obsolete them either, they sort of just exist in parallel to each other.

[ProsecutorGodot]

*with the arguable exception of the Redeemer's Aura of the Guardian. However, the inability to reduce the transferred damage makes Aura of the Guardian much harder to capitalize on & form effective strategies around, while the introduction of Peace Domain in Tasha's completely obsoletes Aura of the Guardian with a dramatically superior version of the damage redirection concept,

Superior while it lasts, it's fairly limited in it's uses when you first get it. By 17th level though, absolutely, you're covering the entire party and have double the Paladins range, with 6 uses per long rest you're probably covering all combats too.

[LudicSavant]

I thought about this for a while, indecisive. And I think it may just be the case that I don't have a single favorite. I have some I know are definitely not my favorites (Glory, Vengeance, Crown).

Ancients, Devotion, Conquest, Redemption, and Watchers are all fun for me.

If you asked me which the most powerful was, I'd probably say Watchers. But that's not necessarily the same thing as favorite.

[KorvinStarmast]

And if you are really obsessed with going first, make your Watchers Paladin a Harengon and give them the Alert feat. And get them two levels in Bard for Jack of all trades. :smallbiggrin:

[ZRN]

I was asked my favorite class of 5e and ultimately could not come up with an answer.

However I did eventually arrive at the conclusion that Paladin was in the running for several reasons- one of which was their Auras and how I liked them mechanically as well as fluff/lore implications.

As such- a thread for Auras! Out of the Auras available to Paladins, the unique ones for Subclasses or the main one all Paladins share, which is the one you like the most? And why?

Conquest because I like the fact that it's a negative aura. One of the things I like about paladins is that (at least in my reading) you can essentially switch them "on" and "off" per target just be mentally redefining who you count as a friend; having an aura that affects enemies lets you add another layer in RP scenarios.

For example, I had a conquest paladin where being in his Aura of Protection felt like you'd just drank two Red Bulls, but being in his Aura of Conquest felt like you'd just dove into an ice-cold river. On a couple occasions he toggled through those auras in the course of negotiations/conversation with various NPCs.

[RedMage125]

And get them two levels in Bard for Jack of all trades. :smallbiggrin:

Wouldn't stack. Jack of all Trades adds half Prof. Bonus for checks that don't already add Prof. Bonus. And Harengon add Prof. Bonus to Initiative.

[KorvinStarmast]

Wouldn't stack. Jack of all Trades adds half Prof. Bonus for checks that don't already add Prof. Bonus. And Harengon add Prof. Bonus to Initiative. Oh. Given that I barely looked at that piece of bloat when I read through the adventure, I'd forgotten that.
Thanks. :smallsmile:

[Chronos]

My personal favorite is Aura of Devotion, because, first, there are a heck of a lot of spells and effects that consist of some nasty rider on the charm condition, and you (and your allies) are immune to all of that. And second, because it fits so well thematically: You're so devoted to your god/cause/whatever, that you simply can't be forced to act otherwise.

That said, the basic Aura of Protection is good against almost everything.

[ender241]

Oh. Given that I barely looked at that piece of bloat when I read through the adventure, I'd forgotten that.
Thanks. :smallsmile:

What you could do though is take Fey Touched to pick up Gift of Alacrity for +1d8 to initiative and then a 1 level dip in Twilight Cleric for advantage on initiative. Never not go first again!

[Sception]

I barely looked at that piece of bloat

Oh, be nice. Criticize the dozen different tieflings or elves if you must, but the furries are if anything underrepresented on 5e's race lineup by modern fantasy standards. We can break out accusations of bloat when they get to the stoatfolk. :p

[animorte]

A lot of people have already mentioned Aura of Protection. The bonus to saves is exceptionally good. Unfortunately, allies must be within 10 feet of you for this benefit. In my experience, battles rarely take place in this fashion in which your group is clumped up, but if the enemy throws a Fireball then you have the save bonus!

My favorite technically isn't an aura but certainly acts like it for a brief time: Crown Paladin's Champion Challenge can be such good control.