The Wall of Fear: A Complete Guide to the Oath of Conquest

[GoodGulfGas]

Any thoughts or suggestions?

The one thing I would not do now is Sorcerer 1. If you really want to ever get those Paladin 5th level spells you'll need to stop at Warlock 3. If you're okay with giving that up, go to Warlock 5/Paladin 15 and make Scornful Rebuke your capstone.

If the other players are good about sticking next to you, then take Sentinel. But you already have a feat. I'm not sure whether to take Paladin or Warlock next. I need better odds than 50/50. I'd press the DM more.


I'm playing DtA right now as well. We are in Elturel. I'm Paladin 5/Warlock 1. So glad I took Warlock early. I've been thinking about taking Inspiring Leader with my feat at Paladin 12. It falls in well with my character and I also can't count on my fellow PC's to strategize (Adventure's League), so I want to help them by boosting their HP.

[R2Dmitry]

Hello, please look at my build:
Race: Half-Elf
Start with 16 8 15 8 10 17
Finish with 16 8 16 8 10 20
Multiclass to Hexblade for one level after 7 levels in Paladin. Spells: Hex, Shield.
Whip and Board

Feats:
Elven Accuracy: CHA
Sentinel
CHA+2
Resilient: CON
Shield Master

Is it a good build?
I will start with a sword and switch to whip after taking Sentinel
Should I pick variant human and start with Sentinel?

[Rand0mDefault]

I saw that tieflings were low on the list for conq pally's but the infernal variants weren't included and was wondering about thoughts on the Zariel variant. +1 Str and +2 Cha with both branding and searing smites on once a day spell slots. How do people think this stacks up?

[Iron Frog]

I saw that tieflings were low on the list for conq pally's but the infernal variants weren't included and was wondering about thoughts on the Zariel variant. +1 Str and +2 Cha with both branding and searing smites on once a day spell slots. How do people think this stacks up?

Although the stats bonus are nice, I find the bonus spells are mostly inconsequential to a Conquest Paladin, action economy considered.

[Nagog]

How is this thread not dead? It's two years old. That's like 100x the expected lifespan of any natural-born thread. I suspect Necromancy is at work.

[Corran]

How is this thread not dead? It's two years old. That's like 100x the expected lifespan of any natural-born thread. I suspect Necromancy is at work.

Guides dont get locked. Or at least they shouldn't.

[Sception]

Hello, please look at my build:
Race: Half-Elf
Start with 16 8 15 8 10 17
Finish with 16 8 16 8 10 20
Multiclass to Hexblade for one level after 7 levels in Paladin. Spells: Hex, Shield.
Whip and Board

Feats:
Elven Accuracy: CHA
Sentinel
CHA+2
Resilient: CON
Shield Master

Is it a good build?
I will start with a sword and switch to whip after taking Sentinel

Is solid, though I would probably opt for Warcaster instead of Sentinel, to enable the Shield spell while wearing a shield, and booming blade as an opportunity attack which while not as good as sentinel is usually good enough, and the advantage on concentration is good enough to delay resilient con. Then sentinel instead of resilient con, then resilient con instead of shield master. Or maybe swap strength & con, take the hex dip at level 2, and then lucky or alert instead of resilient con or shield master.

I don't really recommend shield master. The boost to dexterity saves is good enough that it's not outright bad, but you can already shove enemies prone, doing so as a bonus action instead of replacing an attack isn't a feat-worthy upgrade, imo. Not when there are alternatives like Lucky, Alert, or Inspiring Leader.

Should I pick variant human and start with Sentinel?

If you want to focus on tanking early it's not a bad call, but you shouldn't feel obligated to. Variant Human and half elf are about even as racial choices for conquerors, imo, both only very slightly behind Fallen Aasimar, but still noticeably above anything else with the right stat mods. Winter Eladrin are arguably close, but only for conquest dexadins, which are rare. The other Aasimar subraces are also close, but only for hex-dip-at-level-2 builds.

Regardless, the main point is that half elf is among the best options, and you don't need to reconsider it unless you really want sentinel earlier than ASI 3 or 4.

[Sception]

I saw that tieflings were low on the list for conq pally's but the infernal variants weren't included and was wondering about thoughts on the Zariel variant. +1 Str and +2 Cha with both branding and searing smites on once a day spell slots. How do people think this stacks up?

It's good. Slightly better than Dragonborn, which are also good.

Conquest paladin suffers from madness pretty bad, with two attack stats and a heavy reliance on constitution since you're a tank who uses a lot of concentration spells. And being a tank you'd really prefer not to dump dexterity or wisdom if you can help it, though aura of protection helps there.

As such, stat boosts are arguably the most important thing when selecting a race, breaking up into tiers more or less as follows:

A tier: bonuses to Str and Cha, or Dex and Cha for dexadins
B tier: bonuses to Con and Cha. For hex dip at level 2 builds, Tier A and B are the same
C tier: bonuses to Str and Con, or Dex and Con for dexadins
D tier: bonuses to just one of Str, Dex, or Con
E tier: Vedalken

As for additional abilities - pretty much every race has some racial features that will be relevant and useful to a Conqueror, so for the most part these aren't quite good enough push a race outside of these stat based tiers. For instance, Zariel legacy tieflings are better than dragonborn, but not /enough/ better than dragonborn that it makes a noticeable mechanical difference. But there are a few exceptional races with A tier stat bonuses whose additional benefits push them up above the rest into an S tier all their own, including:

Fallen Aasimar: extra healing, two resistances, and a damage buff that also triggers an aoe frighten effect on an ultra rare charisma save. Even if the frighten effect only lasts a single round, the overall package is still so amazing for conquerors that Fallen Aasimar really does stand above the rest. The lore is a great fit for conquerors, too.

Variant Human: MADness tends to come with 'feat starved' in 5e, and conquerors are no exception. Choose-your-own stat mods plus a bonus feat at level 1 is absolutely huge. Sentinel, Resilient Con, Alert, Lucky, Inspiring Leader, there are tons of feats that Conquerors would love to have that most don't get to pick up until the very last levels of their build. Vumans can have one of these from level one. The bonus skill proficiency is nice, too.

Half Elf: There's having the right stat mods, and then their's half elf. +2 cha, and +1 to two of your choice is ridiculous, and for a build as MAD as conqueror, that alone is enough to consider half elf and S tier race. Two extra skill proficiencies won't go to waste either, or if your DM allows the SCAG variants you can trade them for Booming Blade, which might be worth doing if you don't plan on taking the hex dip.

Triton: +1 to each of Str, Con, and Cha is already puts Tritons in high A tier for heavy armor builds, and they aren't lacking in decent racial traits otherwise. But in Maritime games specifically, their swim speed and water breathing is what pushes them into the S tier. No more worries about drowning in your heavy armor if you happen to fall off the boat, if anything you're /more/ dangerous in the water.

Eladrin: the right stat mods for a Conquest Dexadin plus the usual suite of decent elven features is a nice start. Add to that a short-rest teleport to mitigate the problems Conquerors sometimes have with positioning and they're already pushing from good to great. Tack on a free frighten effect onto that teleport via the winter aspect and you've got yourself an S tier option - though again only for dex builds.

Changelings: Changelings have a bizarre quirk in that they get +2 charisma and +1 to a stat of choice, but unlike other races with a mix of fixed and optional stat boosts, the changeling specifically can put their optional boost in charisma, stacking them for a +3 bonus. Which, in a point buy game, lets Changelings start with an 18 charisma, something no other race can do, and IMO, for hex-dip-at-level-2 builds specifically, this option puts changelings just barely into the S tier, especially in a game with significant social elements, where their face-shifting ability can be put to good use

....

All that said, perfectly optimizing your racial choice is hardly necessary for conquerors. Paladin is a strong class, and Conquest is a strong subclass. Pretty much anything apart from Vedalkin can make for a good character. And all of this stat business is really aimed at point buy or standard array games. If you're rolling stats, and roll at least 2 or 3 good scores, then even Vedalkans can work well. Again, pretty much every race has at least a few potentially relevant features.

One thing I would say is don't discount dex builds, and the many dexy races that favor them. Dex saves are more common than strength saves, and poor dex saves can lead to a tank leaking hp, which is never good. you won't be great at shoving, but the nice thing about the interaction between shoving and aura of conquest is that you don't need to be the one who shoves. And dex builds boast a decent initiative, which is is huge on any build with decent control. There's a huge difference between locking down enemies before or after they've had the chance to swarm your squishier allies. Dexadin does make multiclassing harder, but that hex dip really isn't obligatory. And half elves in particular are so blessed in stats that they can build a functional dexadin array and have enough points left over to put into strength to let them hex dip anyway.

[Yunru]

Guides dont get locked. Or at least they shouldn't.

An EK one was just the other day, much to my disgust.

[MeeposFire]

Guides dont get locked. Or at least they shouldn't.

Guides get locked here all the time. Since 5e does not do a monthly release schedule of major class oriented content many guides go long enough that a new post becomes thread necromancy by the rules and the thread gets shut down. Also the need for guides is significantly less than it was in say 3e or 4e so you do not get the same number of questions either.

This site is not a great place for keeping a guide going at least not in the same way that it was on the old WotC forums.

Please note that I am not saying there is anything nefarious going on the mods are following their own rules on this the site has no special rule that says that guides are exempt from the thread necromancy rules though I suppose somebody could try to get such a rule made.

[Darthnazrael]

I was looking at the new Theros book, and I think Leonin could be a really good fit for Conquest Paladin. It's a shame they don't get a Cha buff, but +2 Con +1 Str is about as good as they might otherwise hope for, and it comes alongside a skill proficiency (probably Perception), 35 ft speed, and Darkvision. But the main reason I'm interested is their Daunting Roar, a bonus action selective aoe (10 ft radius around you) one-turn frighten, 1/short rest. It's a Wis save, based on your Con mod (which, again, is not amazing, but with a racial +2, should be decent). Thoughts?

[GlenSmash!]

I was looking at the new Theros book, and I think Leonin could be a really good fit for Conquest Paladin. It's a shame they don't get a Cha buff, but +2 Con +1 Str is about as good as they might otherwise hope for, and it comes alongside a skill proficiency (probably Perception), 35 ft speed, and Darkvision. But the main reason I'm interested is their Daunting Roar, a bonus action selective aoe (10 ft radius around you) one-turn frighten, 1/short rest. It's a Wis save, based on your Con mod (which, again, is not amazing, but with a racial +2, should be decent). Thoughts?

I think Leonin is a great option. The AOE fear from Daunting roar pairs so well with Aura of Conquest. Even with point buy you can start with 17 Con and 15 Cha and then boost both at level 4 to 18/16 which is not bad at all, but you would have to start with 14 Str or dump Dex, Int, Wis. Or more easily start with 16 Str, 16, Con and 14 Cha and rely on Daunting Roar at low levels until you get charisma higher. Half Elf is still top tier but I think this is the best of the racial options that don't get a Cha boost.

[Xoronis]

How good is a two level dip into Barbarian simply for Reckless Attack? I know Rage doesn't synergize very well since Fear is a concentration spell, but since frightened enemies have disadvantage on attack, using Reckless Attack bumps it back up to neutral while you get advantage. I could see it being useful for crit fishing builds, but I'm not sure if the dead level of the first level of Barbarian would be worth it.

[GoodGulfGas]

How good is a two level dip into Barbarian simply for Reckless Attack? I know Rage doesn't synergize very well since Fear is a concentration spell, but since frightened enemies have disadvantage on attack, using Reckless Attack bumps it back up to neutral while you get advantage. I could see it being useful for crit fishing builds, but I'm not sure if the dead level of the first level of Barbarian would be worth it.

You'd have to dip Barbarian at least after you've hit level 9 Conquest. You want to get the Charisma maxed out at 20 so enemies fail their saving throws. That's the premise of the Conquest. And you want the Fear spell at level 9. At that point enemies are stuck between a rock and a hard place. As it been noted before, every level of Conquest gives you something good. Level 10 gives you Aura of Courage, 11 gives you improved divine smite, 12 is another ASI, 13 is 4th level spells, etc. It's up to you, but a 2 level dip is a big investment with the Conquest.

But the Conquering Presence is not a concentration thing, so the Barbarian rage would work with that.

[Darthnazrael]

I would sooner encourage one of my fellow players to play a Reckless Attacking Barbarian build alongside my Conquest Paladin. That's some good party synergy.

[Keylas]

My DM doesn't allow going Hexblade (too OP) nor any spells outside of the PHB (SCAG too strong).

A pure Conquest Paladin with a Whip & Shield should work, right? What else do I need to adjust?

I am sorry but there is NO such thing as too strong or to op. That is just a lame excuse of someone who is a puss.
DM's have endless ways to counter whatever players may throw at them. And no less ways to turn that into amazing roleplay moment which is memorable.

This build without Warcaster will be completely unplayable. I'll have to drop my weapon and use my 'interaction' to pick it back up for each time I plan to cast a spell. Not only is it extremely annoying, I can already predict that the DM will come up with a mechanic/reason why this won't work (or just make me lose my weapon that one time when I drop it in a bad place).

I must add that our campaign has some House Rules, like disallowing some things that seem too strong, but specifically this 3 horrendous changes:

• Spellcasting in Melee range triggers an AoO
• Can't heal during a short rest
• Heal 1 Hit Dice during a long rest (+1 more Hit Dice if the rest was comfortable)

VHuman isn't allowed either. It's just a Human but better, so what's the point of having regular Humans? Originally I chose Half-Elf but I'm looking at Half-Orc and with our harsh house rules, being able to survive going to 0 health once is a huge bonus. His stats fit decently well too.

My suggestion is. Run from this ''dm''. Just run. Nothing good will come out of it. Most likely it is kind of DM which thinks D&D is about winning and conclusively by proverbially cutting your hamstrings he is giving himself bigger chances of ''winning'' seen too much of such bs.
I understand that some may want to make more 'realistic'' gritty game but 1 it can be done without kicking players down, and 2 For such kind of games there are much better game systems. D&D in general and 5e in particular are made with purpose of being epic. So it is obvious powertrip on the account of DM.
I am dm myself and the only options I limit, and even then partially is that content has to be from official source. If it is not, it can possibly be allowed after discussion and checking.
Besides that all official options are absolutely available. And I counter player shenanigans by playing smart.

[Divgo]

Thank you for the well-written guide! I used this to guide my decision-making when making a new character but had a few questions.

I'm in a campaign where we started out as level zero characters and are about to have our characters make character sheets at level one.
Dragonborn(Red) Paladin, with a freebie Inspiring Leader feat and Breath Attack able to be used as a bonus action as long as I don't use my move that turn. I was planning to play as a Dragonborn Oath of Conquest Paladin, using Fear to lock down opponents and stand in for our defense and lack of healing outside of potions. The other players are a Halfling Monk, Human Fighter, Half-Elf Rogue, and a Tiefling Wild-Magic Sorcerer.

I'm struggling to figure out my starting stats (Point Buy, 27 points). I'd like to focus on CHA, STR, and then CON to maximize the benefit from Inspiring Leader feat and class features, but don't know if I should plan around future possible feats (Sentinel? Heavy Armor Master? Shield Master?) given that I'll be starved for ASI's and Dragonborn race doesn't offer as many racial bonuses as some others.
Does anyone have any suggestions for playing a Paladin or whether I should select a different Oath? Thank you!

[Iron Frog]

Thank you for the well-written guide! I used this to guide my decision-making when making a new character but had a few questions.

I'm in a campaign where we started out as level zero characters and are about to have our characters make character sheets at level one.
Dragonborn(Red) Paladin, with a freebie Inspiring Leader feat and Breath Attack able to be used as a bonus action as long as I don't use my move that turn. I was planning to play as a Dragonborn Oath of Conquest Paladin, using Fear to lock down opponents and stand in for our defense and lack of healing outside of potions. The other players are a Halfling Monk, Human Fighter, Half-Elf Rogue, and a Tiefling Wild-Magic Sorcerer.

I'm struggling to figure out my starting stats (Point Buy, 27 points). I'd like to focus on CHA, STR, and then CON to maximize the benefit from Inspiring Leader feat and class features, but don't know if I should plan around future possible feats (Sentinel? Heavy Armor Master? Shield Master?) given that I'll be starved for ASI's and Dragonborn race doesn't offer as many racial bonuses as some others.
Does anyone have any suggestions for playing a Paladin or whether I should select a different Oath? Thank you!

Optimization is an important aspect of character creation, but if you wanna play a Conqueror, I say go for it! What matters in the end is having fun, and you will never know if it would be fun unless you try it.

As for your questions:
- If your DM has no qualms about multiclassing, I'd stongly recommend you dipping Hexblade Warlock, a level or two. That way you can completely focus on maxing out CHA, prioritizing it, then setting STR to 15 so you can wear plate armor. A single level of Hexblade Warlock deals with your MADness, gives you the amazing Hexblade Curse, a few extra spells and short rest spell slots. Should you pick two levels, I'd recommend picking the Lance of Lethargy and Grasp of Hadar eldritch invocations, for a great and costless battlefield control tool.

- About feats, you'll want to fit Sentinel somewhere along the way. Shield Master got somehow underwhelming after the errata, and I honestly can't say much about HAM. I'd, however, recommend a talent to improve your spell concentration saves (Warcaster if you dip Hexblade, Resislient[CON] otherwise).

You'll really need to plan ahead your feat/abilites progression, and given my suggestions, there are a lot of branches the path can take. But as a rule of thumb, you'll want to max out CHA whichever choice you make.

Hope it helps.

[GoodGulfGas]

Thank you for the well-written guide! I used this to guide my decision-making when making a new character but had a few questions.

I'm in a campaign where we started out as level zero characters and are about to have our characters make character sheets at level one.
Dragonborn(Red) Paladin, with a freebie Inspiring Leader feat and Breath Attack able to be used as a bonus action as long as I don't use my move that turn. I was planning to play as a Dragonborn Oath of Conquest Paladin, using Fear to lock down opponents and stand in for our defense and lack of healing outside of potions. The other players are a Halfling Monk, Human Fighter, Half-Elf Rogue, and a Tiefling Wild-Magic Sorcerer.

I'm struggling to figure out my starting stats (Point Buy, 27 points). I'd like to focus on CHA, STR, and then CON to maximize the benefit from Inspiring Leader feat and class features, but don't know if I should plan around future possible feats (Sentinel? Heavy Armor Master? Shield Master?) given that I'll be starved for ASI's and Dragonborn race doesn't offer as many racial bonuses as some others.
Does anyone have any suggestions for playing a Paladin or whether I should select a different Oath? Thank you!

If you are not multiclassing, for the purpose of the Conquest Paladin, a good point buy starting out is STR 14, CON 15, and CHA 14 ( DEX 8, WIS 10, INT 8), you'll end up with STR and CHA at 16. At 4th level you can take the Dragon Fear feat and you'll increase CON by 1 with it. Then focus on increasing your CHA.

But really, you should take Dragon Fear starting off instead of Inspiring Leader, which is better at higher levels. Then you could start off with STR 16, DEX 8, CON 16, INT 8, WIS 10, CHA 16 and use the ASI's at 4 and 8 to get CHA to 20. With CHA at 20 you will add +5 to all your saving throws, so it makes up for having lower DEX, INT, and WIS scores.

[Sception]

I'm always skeptical of dragon fear on dragonborn conquerors, at least in standard point buy. It always slows your charisma progression (max charisma at level 1 dragonborn is 16), and it suffers some bad anti-synergy with aura of conquest in that the aura's start of turn damage gives enemies a free extra chance to escape the effect before the aura has a chance to prevent their movement. Also there's less incentive to swap out your breath weapon if your DM is letting you use it as a bonus action.

IMO, better to skip it and just take +2 charisma instead.


my recommendation for a single classed dragonborn conqueror is:

pre-racial array: s14, d10, c15, i8, w8, h15
post racial stats: s16, d10, c15, i8, w8, h16

feel free to swap dex and wis if you like. either penalty hurts, there isn't a less worse option. Alternatively lower con to 14, raise both dex and wis to 10, or raise either to 12 and leave the other at 8, and take war caster instead of resilient below.

Ancestry: red. fire resistance is good, red dragons fit a Conqueror's disposition, red is pretty.

Background: far traveler (from scag). or anything else really, but try to get proficiency in perception and a woodwind instrument. Far traveler does both, and fits with an exotic warrior from distant lands.

weapon & shield, defense style, oath of conquest

class skills: athletics & intimidation
background skills: insight & perception. trade insight for persuasion if your DM lets you customize backgrounds, but if not then insight is still fine.
background tool: pick a woodwind instrument

ASIs
free - inspiring leader (ask if you can swap to sentinel, if not fine)
4 - +2 charisma (or resilient constitution)
8 - +2 charisma (or resilient constitution)
12 - resiliant constitution (or +2 charisma)
16 - sentinel (or lucky, or alert, or +2 strength)
19 - lucky (or inspiring leader, or alert, or +2 strength)

Good spells to cast: wrathful smite and Fear are build defining spells once you have aura of conquest. Before that your best spells are Bless and Spiritual weapon. Even after you have the aura, spiritual weapon remains a spell slot efficient damage option when you need to turn up the heat a bit, and bless is likewise a strong, slot-efficient concentration spell to bring out when you don't think you'll be able to land a frighten effect, or when your party just really needs that extra bonus to hit and saves. Find steed and later improved find steed are great.

Items -
try hard to get your hands on a strength fixing item - gauntlets of ogre strength or belt of giant strength, as they shore up your weapon attack stat. If you haven't found one by your early teens, you're going to need to bite the bullet and take a hexblade dip or put at least one of your later asis into strength. the gauntlets in particular are pretty common in published WotC adventures, so look to that.

Otherwise, use the best magic armor, shield, and one handed weapon you can get your hands on at any given time, and look for additional items that shore up your AC and saves. Finally, follow any rumors of items with frighten effects, including mace of terror, wand of fear, and pipes of haunting (the reason you went out of your way to take a background with an instrument proficiency).

[Bardon]

I'm always skeptical of dragon fear on dragonborn conquerors, at least in standard point buy. It always slows your charisma progression (max charisma at level 1 dragonborn is 16), and it suffers some bad anti-synergy with aura of conquest in that the aura's start of turn damage gives enemies a free extra chance to escape the effect before the aura has a chance to prevent their movement. Also there's less incentive to swap out your breath weapon if your DM is letting you use it as a bonus action.

IMO, better to skip it and just take +2 charisma instead.

Very valid point I hadn't thought of in regards to the order of the auras interaction!

Good spells to cast: wrathful smite and Fear are build defining spells once you have aura of conquest. Before that your best spells are Bless and Spiritual weapon. Even after you have the aura, spiritual weapon remains a spell slot efficient damage option when you need to turn up the heat a bit, and bless is likewise a strong, slot-efficient concentration spell to bring out when you don't think you'll be able to land a frighten effect, or when your party just really needs that extra bonus to hit and saves. Find steed and later improved find steed are great.

Just a comment, Wrathful Smite is fantastic even at 1st level. The fact that if affected, they have to take their action to even *attempt* the Wisdom check as opposed to the usual "at the end of your turn roll ..." is a huge bonus as worst-case scenario they have wasted an action on the check rather than attacking/casting a spell/using a special ability. Adding to the goodness, since they're Frightened and the roll is an ability check not a saving throw they have disadvantage on the check is just the icing on the cake! I agree that Bless is fantastic and retains that benefit from level 1-20, for hard-hitting enemies (either martial or magical) Wrathful Smite can be a real turning point in the battle.


Frankly, I always thought Wrathful Smite should be a second-level Paladin spell.

Please note, I'm not arguing with any of those spell suggestions (they match my own playing history!) just singing the praises of Wrathful Smite.

[bendking]

- About feats, you'll want to fit Sentinel somewhere along the way. Shield Master got somehow underwhelming after the errata, and I honestly can't say much about HAM. I'd, however, recommend a talent to improve your spell concentration saves (Warcaster if you dip Hexblade, Resislient[CON] otherwise).

Did you actually get some good use out of Sentinel? I figured that because you're going to be frightening enemies out of moving anyway, Sentinel doesn't have much to offer.

[Hellpyre]

Did you actually get some good use out of Sentinel? I figured that because you're going to be frightening enemies out of moving anyway, Sentinel doesn't have much to offer.

Sentinel is important primarily because it extends your ability to control movement to enemies with an immunity to fear. It makes you more reliable at your core tanking stradegy by patching up the biggest hole. And increased ability to attack from your reactions never hurts, but mostly the first point.

[Iron Frog]

Did you actually get some good use out of Sentinel? I figured that because you're going to be frightening enemies out of moving anyway, Sentinel doesn't have much to offer.

Yes, in my short experience, I actually did! I chose Sentinel as my 1st level V-human feat, so it served me very well until I could actually and effectivelly frighten enemies. And it also served me when the enemies were more resilient to the condition or even outright immune to it (a few elementals on the road).

[bendking]

Yes, in my short experience, I actually did! I chose Sentinel as my 1st level V-human feat, so it served me very well until I could actually and effectivelly frighten enemies. And it also served me when the enemies were more resilient to the condition or even outright immune to it (a few elementals on the road).

That's good to hear. I'm somewhat worried about 7th level and beyond, though. How often did you find that you had trouble with frightening enemies?

Sentinel is important primarily because it extends your ability to control movement to enemies with an immunity to fear. It makes you more reliable at your core tanking stradegy by patching up the biggest hole. And increased ability to attack from your reactions never hurts, but mostly the first point.

I know, but I'm kind of skeptical as to how often you actually run into enemies with immunity to fear.

[Hellpyre]

I know, but I'm kind of skeptical as to how often you actually run into enemies with immunity to fear.

In most campaigns, I've found them to be uncommon but not unheard-of. Generally, I would expect only a few fights a level involving them - but if you are the only PC built for tanking, it is very rough for the rest of the party when your consistent stickiness turns off completely. If you have a second PC who can help you establish zones of control, Sentinel isn't as useful. If your party tactics involve you alone being the tank, having that consistancy is huge. It also makes you somewhat better at normal Conquest lockdown, since you can hold enemies close for a turn to re-establish fear when they save against ongoing effects.

My advice boils down to this: if you have another PC built to tank or offtank with you, let them take Sentinel if someone is going to. If you are the only tank in the party, it is quite valuable.

[Iron Frog]

That's good to hear. I'm somewhat worried about 7th level and beyond, though. How often did you find that you had trouble with frightening enemies?

It's been quite a while since I last played a Conqueror, but I can safely say that about 2/3 of the times I kept common and minion-types enemies (orcs, gnolls, brigands, even a few giants) frightened.

Once our DM accidentally set us up against an aboleth (CR 10 monster; the average level of the group was 4) and, luckily (our DM's poor rolls also helped), I was able to keep it at bay while covering our retreat.

One thing I regret is that I missed my chance to max out CHA before the campaign ended, and I'd say that's an absolute priority, even over any feat choices.

[atomjack]

I wonder what everyone thinks about the possibility of Booming Blade getting nerfed in the upcoming Tasha's Cauldron of Everything expansion, when trying to use it with Warcaster.

Tasha's Cauldron of Everything version of the spell changes the range to "self," which specifically negates booming blade's ability to sync with other abilities.

And reading Warcaster:

When a hostile creature's movement provokes an opportunity attack from you, you can use your reaction to cast a spell at the creature, rather than making an opportunity attack. The spell must have a casting time of 1 action and must target only that creature.

My Hexblade dipped Conquadin just hit level 11 so I'm still two levels away from getting Warcaster, but it would really suck not being able to use Booming Blade with it once I get it (although I imagine my DM would work with me).

[sithlordnergal]

I know, but I'm kind of skeptical as to how often you actually run into enemies with immunity to fear.

It gets more and more common the higher level you go. Fear Immunity isn't as common as Poison Immunity, but its still the 4th most commonly resisted condition in the MM alone, with 45 creatures being immune to it. You'll generally find that the creatures you want to frighten the most are the ones that are immune to it.

[Sception]

Fear immunity is a hassle, but not even the biggest one. A lot of really powerful, potentially encounter ending effects are resisted with wisdom saves, and as such the higher level you reach the more resistant enemies are to wisdom saves in general. Maybe they have spell redistance for advantage. Maybe they have legendary saves. Maybe they just have sky high wisdom save bonuses. Often they have combinations of the three. Even if an enemy isn't immune to frighten, if your save dc is 16 and their wisdom save bonus is +8 with advantage, they might as well be.

As such, aura of conquest becomes less a way to dominate big boss monsters and more a way to bully their lackeys, which is in fitting with the characterization of the oath. You might toss out a wrathful smite and hope you get lucky, but mostly you use Fear and Conquering Presence to target groups of weaker enemies, since at least one or two targets should fail their saves even if their bonus is good.

Sentinel gives you a tool to actually try to tank those boss enemies that are either immune to fear or have such great wisdom saves that they might as well be. But even when battleing the small guys, as much as targetting multiple foes means at least some should fail their saves, it also means at least some should pass, so you can pop, say, conquering presence, then move into aura range of whoever fails while also trying to get within melee range of whoever passes. It's basically +1 target lockdown most of the time.

That said, it isn't strictly necessary, as conquerors do have other tricks to rely on when enemies don't play along with your primary gimmick.