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

[Wildarm]

I'm missing something. Why wouldn't a half-elf be allowed to take the Lucky feat? It's a PHB option, not a racial feat.

For some reason I had in my head it was Human/HalfElf/HalfOrc only but that is Prodigy.

[Andrwrwn]

6 short rest slots for shield, wrathful smite, divine smite, or bless, plus devils sight to make your racial darkness more usable, plus mind sliver for save debuffs, plus either eldritch blast & agonizing blast for a strong fallback ranged option or else something more utility oriented - maybe Friends and Mask of Many Faces for social shenanigans? Or Mage Hand and Misty Visions for general utility? - are more then enough to justify a couple level warlock buff, even if none of the patrons particularly appeal to you.

That said, Archfey can fit with your elven ancestry and comes with a weak but still usable extra frighten effect on short rests. Celestial patron can fit with the divine aspect of the paladin class, and two levels will get you more or less three healing words per day, something your party could probably use. Or you can burn them all to heal yourself 3d6 as a bonus action mid combat, which sounds like it might be helpful. Fathomless could represent a connection you or an ancestor made while crossing the sea from Xen'Drik, and comes with a bonus action tentacle ability that reduces movement. Not the strongest bonus action option, but potentially useful, and you'd gain water breathing & a swim speed, which is either a ribbon or extremely useful depending on your campaign.

Not that I necessarily think you should multiclass into warlock, just that it's an option worth considering.

It's only just occurred to me that two levels of warlock can get me the Eldritch Mind invocation as well. This gives advantage on Concentration saves without the additional warcaster bonuses that I don't require and without needing a feat, so warlock actually gives all the benefits you mention, as well as solving the concentration saves issue into the bargain. Sold.

[Vulryn]

I am creating an Oath of Conquest Paladin for an upcoming campaign. Now, I am not a big fan of multiclass (even though they can be undeniably potent), but TCE has the "blessed warrior" fighting style, which allows paladins to pick two cleric cantrips. That would allow me to pick "Toll the Dead" and "Word of Radiance", which are alright for offensive. That paladin would make use of cantrips, until he (eventually and hopefully!) receives Gauntlets of Ogre Power or something like that. I would focus on Charisma, followed by Constitution and Dex (16/15/14), with 10's in wisdom and int and 8 in strength. The Dex is useful in so far that I can wear medium armor and swing a rapier (in case I do need a weapon), and even when I found an item to pump my strength, it still raises my save and initiative. I'll pick Warcaster as my VHuman feat, so I have an alright OA.

What do you think of that approach? Or is the neglection of a physical stat too severe and will weaken the character too much?

[Guy Lombard-O]

I am creating an Oath of Conquest Paladin for an upcoming campaign. Now, I am not a big fan of multiclass (even though they can be undeniably potent), but TCE has the "blessed warrior" fighting style, which allows paladins to pick two cleric cantrips. That would allow me to pick "Toll the Dead" and "Word of Radiance", which are alright for offensive. That paladin would make use of cantrips, until he (eventually and hopefully!) receives Gauntlets of Ogre Power or something like that. I would focus on Charisma, followed by Constitution and Dex (16/15/14), with 10's in wisdom and int and 8 in strength. The Dex is useful in so far that I can wear medium armor and swing a rapier (in case I do need a weapon), and even when I found an item to pump my strength, it still raises my save and initiative. I'll pick Warcaster as my VHuman feat, so I have an alright OA.

What do you think of that approach? Or is the neglection of a physical stat too severe and will weaken the character too much?

That'll work fine, with a couple of possible issues.

1. You're obviously ruling out multiclassing, but say you don't care for it anyway.

2. I would ask if you're positive that a Str-boosting item is going to be available? You say it like it's a given that you'll end up with one. But in years of home games, I've never seen one. I guess it's a sure thing in AL? Or maybe you know your DM will play ball? But otherwise, I wouldn't leave a gaping hole in my character build like that.

3. Even if a Str-boost item is definitely in the cards, I think you'll be unhappy with Word of Radiance as your melee attack stand in until that actually happens. Weapon attacks are kind of a paladin's thing; you can't use Divine Smite without them. And while I do think Divine Smite is overrated if you treat it as the end-all, be-all of the paladin, it's still a great tool that you shouldn't be tossing aside for whole levels of play. I'd suggest that, instead of taking War Caster feat, take Resilient Con instead and end up with 16/14/16 in Cha/Con/Dex. It'll probably be more fun to play overall.

[Vulryn]

That'll work fine, with a couple of possible issues.

1. You're obviously ruling out multiclassing, but say you don't care for it anyway.

3. Even if a Str-boost item is definitely in the cards, I think you'll be unhappy with Word of Radiance as your melee attack stand in until that actually happens. Weapon attacks are kind of a paladin's thing; you can't use Divine Smite without them. And while I do think Divine Smite is overrated if you treat it as the end-all, be-all of the paladin, it's still a great tool that you shouldn't be tossing aside for whole levels of play. I'd suggest that, instead of taking War Caster feat, take Resilient Con instead and end up with 16/14/16 in Cha/Con/Dex. It'll probably be more fun to play overall.

1. Is a misunderstanding I guess. All I'm saying is, that I acknowledge the potency of multiclass builds, while I myself tend to play single class. Just an odd habit of mine.

2. I just speculate on it. If not, well...

3. Toll the Dead would be my go-to attack, being an 1d8 necrotic (1d12 if the enemy is already hurt) against a wis-save. Surely not the best, but better than 1d6 against con-save for sure. You are definately right about the smiting, though. Having a rapier with a measly +2 dex might feel a little on the weak side. Concerning the feat, I am not too familiar with the paladin spells, so I am not sure how often I will be concentrating and if con-proficiency will beat advantage at low levels. I Plan on taking Resilient:Con on 12 after I maxed out my Charisma. The campaign starts at lvl 3.

[Guy Lombard-O]

Toll the Dead would be my go-to attack, being an 1d8 necrotic (1d12 if the enemy is already hurt) against a wis-save. Surely not the best, but better than 1d6 against con-save for sure.

Toll the Dead is a good spell, something acceptable to do at range. Word of Radiance is a small AoE for 5' around you. They're for different situations. WoR is basically something which a true melee class like paladin, one that gets Extra Attack, should really have better options than to use.

You are definately right about the smiting, though. Having a rapier with a measly +2 dex might feel a little on the weak side. Concerning the feat, I am not too familiar with the paladin spells, so I am not sure how often I will be concentrating and if con-proficiency will beat advantage at low levels. I Plan on taking Resilient:Con on 12 after I maxed out my Charisma. The campaign starts at lvl 3.

The paladin spell list isn't the best list, but it's got some real winners. Bless, Protection from Evil & Good (situational), Shield of Faith (less good, but also less situational), Wrathful Smite, (in the right party and situation) Thunderous Smite. These are spells that are worth blowing a smite slot on.

The problem with Resilient Con feat is that, quite frankly, it's boring. It's really solid. But utterly passive and boring. So, when you're leveling up to 12th level and it's been soooo long since you had an ASI (forget about having taken an actual feat), it's really hard to want to take it. So I like getting it out of the way at char-gen, if at all possible. I want it, for sure. But I don't want to spend one of my precious ASIs on it. Others might feel differently.

[ATHATH]

The problem with Resilient Con feat is that, quite frankly, it's boring. It's really solid. But utterly passive and boring. So, when you're leveling up to 12th level and it's been soooo long since you had an ASI (forget about having taken an actual feat), it's really hard to want to take it. So I like getting it out of the way at char-gen, if at all possible. I want it, for sure. But I don't want to spend one of my precious ASIs on it. Others might feel differently.

It's more interesting once you realize that it can let you succeed on DC 10 concentration saves on a natural 1 if your CON is high enough.

[Guy Lombard-O]

It's more interesting once you realize that it can let you succeed on DC 10 concentration saves on a natural 1 if your CON is high enough.

Yeah, no. I get it. I love that feat, and take it on almost every character I play. And I definitely shoot for that magic +9 Con save.

But even having the +9? It makes it so you don't have to do something - roll concentration checks (unless you get really hammered). Which is the very definition of "passive". It doesn't give you new abilities or options in combat like Sentinel, PAM, GWM or Fey Touched. It doesn't expand your skill set to include whole new out of combat abilities either, like Inspiring Leader or Actor. It's...just there. Doing its thing. Passively protecting you through better HP & Con saves.

Like I said, it's not exciting. It's boring, even. But it is absolutely good!

[CheddarChampion]

It's more interesting once you realize that it can let you succeed on DC 10 concentration saves on a natural 1 if your CON is high enough.

Adding to this:
With Aura of Protection, auto-success is more achievable.

[Nihilistic Owl]

I plan on playing as a Half-Elf Conquest Paladin going all the way to Level 20. We rolled for stats, and we are starting at level 1. I'm unsure how to proceed with my feat progression.

• 18 - str
• 12 - dex
• 13 - con
• 10 - int
• 11 - wis
• 16 - cha

I'm planning to add my racial scores to str, con, and cha—making them 19, 13, and 18 respectively. I've read that it's best to max out charisma first and that's what I'll do. Do I leave strength at 19 and go for polearm and sentinel or is it best to max it out as well? Thanks in advance for answering.

[CheddarChampion]

I plan on playing as a Half-Elf Conquest Paladin going all the way to Level 20. We rolled for stats, and we are starting at level 1. I'm unsure how to proceed with my feat progression.

• 18 - str
• 12 - dex
• 13 - con
• 10 - int
• 11 - wis
• 16 - cha

I'm planning to add my racial scores to str, con, and cha—making them 19, 13, and 18 respectively. I've read that it's best to max out charisma first and that's what I'll do. Do I leave strength at 19 and go for polearm and sentinel or is it best to max it out as well? Thanks in advance for answering.

Will your constitution become a 13 or a 14?

Your high strength puts you in a good position to use Athletics for shoving opponents prone after you frighten them.
For feat progression, I suggest Cha+2, Skill Expert (+1 Str, expertise in athletics, proficiency in whichever skill you like), Resilient (Constitution), Shield Master, and then something fun like Lucky, Inspiring Leader, Sentinel, or Mage Slayer.

[Nihilistic Owl]

Will your constitution become a 13 or a 14?

Your high strength puts you in a good position to use Athletics for shoving opponents prone after you frighten them.
For feat progression, I suggest Cha+2, Skill Expert (+1 Str, expertise in athletics, proficiency in whichever skill you like), Resilient (Constitution), Shield Master, and then something fun like Lucky, Inspiring Leader, Sentinel, or Mage Slayer.

My bad, that will be a 14 on constitution. I've thought about going sword and shield, but I've decided to go use a polearm with reach instead. Would a sword and shield be better for what I have in mind?

[kaervaak]

One of the biggest advantages of a sword and shield build is shield master and the ability to knock someone prone in your fear aura. Once they're prone and their speed is 0, they simply can't get up.

[Nihilistic Owl]

I'll be grabbing sentinel either way, but which would be better of the two? Sword and Shield with Shield Master or Glaive/Halberd with PAM.
The former would also require Warcaster to cast certain spells. I want to double down on the crowd control abilities of the conquest.

[Samayu]

I'd say it's your call.

I'm playing S&B with both Sentinel and Protection fighting style because I like the versatility, protection and control (and I also just picked up Shield Master). But our group allows casting with our shield hand.

The halberd gives you reach, so that's pretty awesome, and if you'd need Warcaster, that might be the better option.

[BelryDantantu]

I'll be grabbing sentinel either way, but which would be better of the two? Sword and Shield with Shield Master or Glaive/Halberd with PAM.
The former would also require Warcaster to cast certain spells. I want to double down on the crowd control abilities of the conquest.

Sword and board wouldn't require Warcaster for the material components, because you can emboss your holy symbol onto the shield and use it as your arcane focus. It would still be needed if you wanted the cantrips as opportunity attacks or the advantage on con saves, but you are already a martial class and if you are looking for con saves I'd suggest taking resilient (con).

[Tes]

Felt like sharing about a couple personal experiences with the Conquerer.
Mostly related to combat performence, the RP side of things relies to much on the players and DM to make comment on anything specific.

One thing I noticed is that Polearms and Conquerer have a little bit of anti synergy going on next to the obvious benefits. I really wanted to try the build and ended up not doing that, because it seemed less effective than other options.
You essentially end up asking your DM to find a way to deal with it and (YMMV) he will at some point. And there's a lot of ways to do that.
The most important one is to just to make two things happen to you that require your Reaction.
The second thing might just be the next minion walking straight past you unhindered but might also be a Dex Save targeting damage Spell/Save or Suck Ability that requires a Reaction to try to avoid.

Most DMs (YMMV) should be fine with you locking down a Frightened target by shoving it Prone. It already had Disadvantage and now it can't get away from you, which it probably wasn't going to try the first couple rounds of combat anyway. Include a Polearm and they can't hit you without Reach.
Which means whatever it has available to do with the now freed up Action that likely would have evaporated into your AC now is not going to do just that.
You gave the target every excuse to look for the best target in your group with potential Ranged Attacks, Special Abilities or Spells.
I'd pretty much always prefer to be within 5ft and have them swing at my Paladin with Disadvantage instead of throwing their weapon at the Wizard behind me, casting a Spell or giving the DM an opportunity to get creative with Abilities.

Our Action is often busy doing other things than attacking, we don't get to use the PAM Bonus Action attack when we use CD, Cast Bless, Fear, Command, Racial Abilities etc with our focus on maxing CHA first. Same for turns using Wrathful Smite to stick it to a high value target.

For those reasons I'd recommend not go for a PAM build on a Conqueror.
Has the added advantage that you can pick up whatever magical weapon/shield choices your party ends up with too.


Supporting from the frontlines while being a fully effective combatant if need be is what the Conquerer shines at.
Tough encounters are significantly more manageable if your party plays well together. Sure both you and your Cleric/Bard/Wizard can pick up Warcaster/Resilience Con by level 8. Or you don't, everyone maxes out their casting stats and you keep supporting with Bless and a +5 Aura to make sure Spirit Guardians, Haste or whatever Save or Suck Concentration Spell they have available lands and stays up.
For anyone who never played a supporting Character, you'll notice those D4s helping to get hits in and make those Dex and Wis saves happen, it's quite rewarding.
It drops off, but never stops being relevant in the right Encounter where you can't be the Fear Machine, are running low on ressources or with lots of enemies that don't target AC much. Bless also just works right away without having to chew through Legendary Saves or having to deal with Advantage on Saves.
Beholders, Dragons... it's ridiculous how effective stacking Aura and Bless on a Paladin is to keep a party memberor two active who can sticking close to you.

Wasting enemy Actions by succeeding at saving throws through the potentially total +9 (7.5 on average) to Saves is what makes the real impact and stays relevant even in T4.
"But why should I be the one to do that?"
Well quite frankly because the Paladin does it better than the Cleric.
As a Full Caster they outgrow Bless significantly faster. We also turn straight up immune to a bunch of states that cancel Concentration, especially if you're a Half-/Elf, and can never be out of range of your Aura.
In a fight were we have our CD available our Concentration is a floating ressource that's not needed for Crowd Control or damage.


That said my DM (and myself) sometimes forgot that I'm a full fledged Paladin with easy ways to take advantage of opportunities in a fight.
You're still in the thick of it and can walk up to a target stuck in Hold Person/Monster and Smite it to Oblivion.

For a frontliner you end up with a lot of agenda over your Movement. Feared targets can't engage you on their own and you can just walk past them and risk the opportunity attack to get in range for a Spell or walk over to the Fighter and LOH him back into combat shape. Guaranteed non Counterspellable healing that does more than simple Jojo-healing to stop Death saves is invalueable.


All that said, you're still a Gish and you smack things a lot with an implement of violence.
Not a lot to talk about here other than weapon choice and Fighting Style. I went with Sword and Board + Dueling and never regretted it. The extra 2 damage and 2+ extra AC from your shield stay relevant forever and let you keep up damage wise despite not maxing STR. +1 AC wouldn't have been that impactful in my party Magical Shields also appear one of the easiest things to come by, including some of the cursed variants that are oddly beneficial.
With AoE Disadvantage for enemies baked into your kit and less face aggro and attention on yourself than i.e. a self Hasted Vengeance Paladin would have, you can also be more paranoid about your positioning since you can easily spend 2 turns Fearing and Buffing, while other Martials will have to engage to contribute.


Overall I love this Subclass.
You get loads of options to make Combat fun and have nice "by the numbers" relevance outside of a fight thanks to being a versatile Half Caster and a Charisma Class.
10/10 would recommend for anyone who doesn't want to play every fight the same.

[Xoronis]

Now that Van Richten's guide is out, I feel like the new Undead Warlock might be a better multiclass than Hexblade, since at first level you can activate Form of Dread to attempt to frighten (Wis save) on each attack. You'll want your aura first though I'd imagine.

[WhiskyTantrum]

Spoiler

Show

Felt like sharing about a couple personal experiences with the Conquerer.
Mostly related to combat performence, the RP side of things relies to much on the players and DM to make comment on anything specific.

One thing I noticed is that Polearms and Conquerer have a little bit of anti synergy going on next to the obvious benefits. I really wanted to try the build and ended up not doing that, because it seemed less effective than other options.
You essentially end up asking your DM to find a way to deal with it and (YMMV) he will at some point. And there's a lot of ways to do that.
The most important one is to just to make two things happen to you that require your Reaction.
The second thing might just be the next minion walking straight past you unhindered but might also be a Dex Save targeting damage Spell/Save or Suck Ability that requires a Reaction to try to avoid.

Most DMs (YMMV) should be fine with you locking down a Frightened target by shoving it Prone. It already had Disadvantage and now it can't get away from you, which it probably wasn't going to try the first couple rounds of combat anyway. Include a Polearm and they can't hit you without Reach.
Which means whatever it has available to do with the now freed up Action that likely would have evaporated into your AC now is not going to do just that.
You gave the target every excuse to look for the best target in your group with potential Ranged Attacks, Special Abilities or Spells.
I'd pretty much always prefer to be within 5ft and have them swing at my Paladin with Disadvantage instead of throwing their weapon at the Wizard behind me, casting a Spell or giving the DM an opportunity to get creative with Abilities.

Our Action is often busy doing other things than attacking, we don't get to use the PAM Bonus Action attack when we use CD, Cast Bless, Fear, Command, Racial Abilities etc with our focus on maxing CHA first. Same for turns using Wrathful Smite to stick it to a high value target.

For those reasons I'd recommend not go for a PAM build on a Conqueror.
Has the added advantage that you can pick up whatever magical weapon/shield choices your party ends up with too.


Supporting from the frontlines while being a fully effective combatant if need be is what the Conquerer shines at.
Tough encounters are significantly more manageable if your party plays well together. Sure both you and your Cleric/Bard/Wizard can pick up Warcaster/Resilience Con by level 8. Or you don't, everyone maxes out their casting stats and you keep supporting with Bless and a +5 Aura to make sure Spirit Guardians, Haste or whatever Save or Suck Concentration Spell they have available lands and stays up.
For anyone who never played a supporting Character, you'll notice those D4s helping to get hits in and make those Dex and Wis saves happen, it's quite rewarding.
It drops off, but never stops being relevant in the right Encounter where you can't be the Fear Machine, are running low on ressources or with lots of enemies that don't target AC much. Bless also just works right away without having to chew through Legendary Saves or having to deal with Advantage on Saves.
Beholders, Dragons... it's ridiculous how effective stacking Aura and Bless on a Paladin is to keep a party memberor two active who can sticking close to you.

Wasting enemy Actions by succeeding at saving throws through the potentially total +9 (7.5 on average) to Saves is what makes the real impact and stays relevant even in T4.
"But why should I be the one to do that?"
Well quite frankly because the Paladin does it better than the Cleric.
As a Full Caster they outgrow Bless significantly faster. We also turn straight up immune to a bunch of states that cancel Concentration, especially if you're a Half-/Elf, and can never be out of range of your Aura.
In a fight were we have our CD available our Concentration is a floating ressource that's not needed for Crowd Control or damage.


That said my DM (and myself) sometimes forgot that I'm a full fledged Paladin with easy ways to take advantage of opportunities in a fight.
You're still in the thick of it and can walk up to a target stuck in Hold Person/Monster and Smite it to Oblivion.

For a frontliner you end up with a lot of agenda over your Movement. Feared targets can't engage you on their own and you can just walk past them and risk the opportunity attack to get in range for a Spell or walk over to the Fighter and LOH him back into combat shape. Guaranteed non Counterspellable healing that does more than simple Jojo-healing to stop Death saves is invalueable.


All that said, you're still a Gish and you smack things a lot with an implement of violence.
Not a lot to talk about here other than weapon choice and Fighting Style. I went with Sword and Board + Dueling and never regretted it. The extra 2 damage and 2+ extra AC from your shield stay relevant forever and let you keep up damage wise despite not maxing STR. +1 AC wouldn't have been that impactful in my party Magical Shields also appear one of the easiest things to come by, including some of the cursed variants that are oddly beneficial.
With AoE Disadvantage for enemies baked into your kit and less face aggro and attention on yourself than i.e. a self Hasted Vengeance Paladin would have, you can also be more paranoid about your positioning since you can easily spend 2 turns Fearing and Buffing, while other Martials will have to engage to contribute.


Overall I love this Subclass.
You get loads of options to make Combat fun and have nice "by the numbers" relevance outside of a fight thanks to being a versatile Half Caster and a Charisma Class.
10/10 would recommend for anyone who doesn't want to play every fight the same.

Thanks for this insightful post. This whole thread has been a really great resource for me and helped me decide to use this subclass!

I'm looking for some advice on my build situation. We are just about to wrap up Dragon Heist and will be going straight into Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Our team is made up of conquest pally 2/divine soul sorc 2 (me, and my level 5 is negotiable to either paladin or sorc until our next session), a hunter ranger, mercy monk, assassin rogue, and a divination wizard. We're a consistent group and plan (hope!) to go all the way to level 20.

Stats after racial bonuses (Fallen Aasimar): 16/9/15/13/14/16

I am building my character as a field controller with some occasional nova to even the playing field. Primarily focused on the conquest aura + Spirit Guardians synergy with this build, also picking up Web/Hypnotic Pattern/Vitriolic Sphere for frightened-immune enemies. I would like to squeeze PAM into this build with a glaive as well, but given Tes' points above, I'm flexible on that.

As you can see, however, our team comp is pretty squishy with no healers. Our DM has made his bard available as a primary healer to join us as a DMPC in the next book, but I don't want to lean on that too much. I also believe there's a chance we can make requests of certain magic items, but that's not guaranteed and obviously at his discretion (he's been noncommittal in that regard, so it could go either way). That said, I was thinking of building my sorcadin in one of two ways:

1. 8 conquest/12 DSS
-or-
2. 9 conquest/11 DSS

Feats/ASIs I am considering:

• CHA +2 (x2) - spell save DCs and +5 aura bonus
• Inspiring Leader - for extended adventuring staying power + overall survivability of the group
• War Caster - booming blade OA and concentration
• Polearm Master - more opportunities to crit smite
• Fey Touched - helps free up some of my limited spell choices (I would instead go CHA +1/DEX +1 in one of my ASIs to round it all out)
• Crusher (CON) - combine opportunity attacks and/or PAM with booming blade to keep enemies at bay

Planned metamagic choices (in order): quickened, careful, extended, subtle

Option 1: 8 conquest/12 DSS
Pros:

• Retain all 5 of my ASIs
• 12 sorcery points

Cons:

• No Aura of Vitality for out-of-combat healing
• Need to use a sorcerer spell pick for Fear
• Get revivify one level later (lvl 12)
• Slightly less HP than Option 2

Option 2: 9 conquest/11 DSS
Pros:

• 3rd level paladin and oath spells (Revivify, Fear, Bestow Curse, Remove Curse, Dispel Magic, Blinding Smite, Crusader's Mantle), including Aura of Vitality for out of combat healing on long adventuring days
• 2 more HP from paladin vs. sorcerer
• One free sorcerer spell from Fear being on the pally spell list
• Get revivify one level earlier (level 11)

Cons:

• Only 4 ASIs, 3 of which would be Inspiring Leader and CHA+2 x2
• One less sorcery point

In either case, I get the same number of spell slots and known sorcerer spells, thankfully. I've considered going 7/13, as the Ultimate Blade Works guide has pointed out as a great breakpoint, but I figured I would shoot for the ASI at pally 8.

It seems like a no-brainer trade-off to pick the 9/11 build over the 8/12 build, but that lost ASI hurts. I feel like I need to retain that ASI... but I also want my team to actually survive to higher levels. :( Given the party comp and the goals of my build, which is the right choice here? Also, any thoughts on spell + metamagic recommendations (aside from Quicken and Careful)? Would appreciate any thoughts, input, or guidance to help me on the right path with this one.

Thanks in advance!

[Lavaeolus]

Now that Van Richten's guide is out, I feel like the new Undead Warlock might be a better multiclass than Hexblade, since at first level you can activate Form of Dread to attempt to frighten (Wis save) on each attack. You'll want your aura first though I'd imagine.

It is a nice combo. Now, Hexblade is still quite nice itself because a one-level dip to make yourself SAD is hard to compete with, but Conquest Undead could certainly be a fun alternative.

A nicety is that your Form of Dread uses are, as is becoming more common, tied to your proficiency bonus. It won't get you as much temp HP if you leave Warlock at one level, but if you're going to high-levels you'll still be able to shift into your Form fairly regularly per long rest.

[Sception]

re: shoving and polearms, it's worth noting that the advantage for attacking prone enemies isn't for melee attacks - it's for any attacks, melee or ranged, made within five feet. Likewise the disadvantage for attacking prone enemies isn't for ranged attacks, it's for any attacks, melee or ranged, made from more than five feet away. So if you're bopping a prone enemy with a halberd from 10 feet away, you have disadvantage on that attack.

...

re: Undead Warlock. I'm excited to give it a try. Thematically it's pretty boss.

There's honestly a fair few solid multiclass options these days.

For sorcerers, Clockwork Soul's "Restore Balance" feature is a rare answer to the difficult problem of enemies with spell resistance.

For warlock, hexblade has been an overwhelmingly dominant multiclass choice that I didn't think anything would ever compete with, but now undead, with it's full minute of free frighten effects every round, proficiency times per day, absolutely does compete with it. It's like having a solid minute of the old play test menacing feat, only not restricted to humanoids, it's amazing.

Even for bards, we recently gained access to the college of eloquence for general use, and its ability to debuff saving throws is, of course, amazing for Conquerors.


And those are just subclasses with specific mechanical synergies with Conquest. Sorcerer, Warlock, and Bard make good multiclass options for Paladins of all sorts just from the parent class features, so if you're not concerned with specific mechanical subclass synergies and just want strong thematic fits, there's also Draconic, Shadow, Aberrant Mind, and Divine Soul Sorcerers; Fiend and Great Old One Warlock;, and Sword, Spirit, or Whisper bards. Any of these could all make for mechanically sound and narratively compelling characters when multiclassed with Conquest Paladin.

[Bundin]

My level 4 Oath of Conquest paladin was designed for a campaign that never started. She grew up in the poor part of Campaign-fitting-city, under the thumb of the local Thieves' Guild. She tried joining them out of self-preservation, but after witnessing members burning down a little shop because the owner wasn't able to pay the "protection fee" and the fire spreading to other buildings, burning her childhood home, she decided enough was enough. While still an initiate in the guild, she started picking off isolated members, always blaming unknown assailants. At some point, that story didn't fly anymore and she fled underground. She took an oath to utterly destroy the guild and decided that being in command herself is the only way to ensure that evil does not grow back. Apparently, some god appreciated that oath, and power was granted. So that's Molly Freeman, a former thief-tryout with a bone to pick with the rich and powerful.

As for personality, think Judge Dredd's "I AM THE LAW". Quiet, reserved, thoughtful, with an iron core. But when a line is crossed, she explodes. That'll rarely happen though, she'd need a clear trigger that matches the backstory.

As a former Thieves' Guild initiate, she starts out as a wannabe rogue, albeit with a shield, as she knows she'll need the protection as she has a bullseye painted on her back. So she's a dex based rapier + shield carrying dex paladin (+shortbow backup ranged weapon) with the defensive fighting style. Her class gives her proficiency in intimidation and insight, her background as urban bounty hunter adds stealth, deception, and thieves' tools. Including racial bonuses and the lvl4 ASI, she sits at 16 dex, 14 con and 18 cha. Scale mail + Medium Armor Master as her lvl1 feat means she's at AC 20 with no penalties on Stealth checks to keep the rogueish vibe going.

Not having acrobatics means she can be grappled pretty much at will with her 8 str (yes that shield is heavy!), but I just couldn't find a way to add that without losing the urban bounty hunter background. The 'ear to the ground' background feature fits so nicely that I don't want to give it up for combat advantage.

As for spells.. that's the tough part. Options are limited and they rarely mesh well with the wannabe rogue vibe. Bless, Shield of Faith and Wrathful Smite are just mechanically good choices, only Purify Food and Drink is a flavour choice. That leaves some more options, that are kinda meh for this specific character. Thunderous Smite is too noisy for her, for instance. I am considering Searing Smite to use when she loses her cool and forgets about stealth and planning ahead.

Suggestions are welcome, both for spell choices and for possible improvements that match this backstory :)

[RogueJK]

Not having acrobatics means she can be grappled pretty much at will with her 8 str (yes that shield is heavy!), but I just couldn't find a way to add that without losing the urban bounty hunter background. The 'ear to the ground' background feature fits so nicely that I don't want to give it up for combat advantage.

See "Customizing A Background" on Page 125 of the PHB.

You can be an Urban Bounty Hunter with any two skills proficiencies you prefer. You're not strictly locked into the handful of suggested proficiency options listed for the Urban Bounty Hunter background.

[Hairfish]

Also, you'd still have +3 to your ability checks to resist grapple/shove attempts, not -1. You don't need Acrobatics to use Dex instead of Str for that, it just adds your proficiency if you do.

[Iron Frog]

I'm considering a Conqueror X/Hexblade Y, under one of the following scenarios:

• Y = 1. Cantrip choices: Mind Sliver (ranged option with good party support potential) and either Lightning Lure or Booming Blade (for field control);

• Y = 2. Cantrip choices: same as above, adding Eldritch Blast as an alternative for Mind Sliver. For Invocations: Eldritch Mind and either Fiendish Vigor (if the ranged cantrip choice is Mind Sliver) or Grasp of Hadar (Eldritch Blast).

1st-level spell choices would be Shield, Hex and Wrathful Smite (to free a paladin prepared spell, and because I can't see a better option from the warlock 1st-level spell choices).


What are you guys opinions on those? Thanks!

[MachineWraith]

I'm considering a Conqueror X/Hexblade Y, under one of the following scenarios:

• Y = 1. Cantrip choices: Mind Sliver (ranged option with good party support potential) and either Lightning Lure or Booming Blade (for field control);

• Y = 2. Cantrip choices: same as above, adding Eldritch Blast as an alternative for Mind Sliver. For Invocations: Eldritch Mind and either Fiendish Vigor (if the ranged cantrip choice is Mind Sliver) or Grasp of Hadar (Eldritch Blast).

1st-level spell choices would be Shield, Hex and Wrathful Smite (to free a paladin prepared spell, and because I can't see a better option from the warlock 1st-level spell choices).


What are you guys opinions on those? Thanks!

I'd go Conq X/Hexblade 2, and for cantrips I'd take Mind Sliver and Booming Blade, with the invocations Eldritch Mind and Fiendish Vigor. Eldritch Mind will render Warcaster/Resilient (Con) unnecessary, which is excellent. Without Agonizing Blast, your EB damage will never keep up with the party, so I lean away from taking it at all.

For spells, I'd also consider using your pact magic slots to cast Armor of Agathys, which you get prepared automatically from your levels in paladin. Since you cast it at the highest possible level for your character, it can scale quite nicely in both temp HP and damage returned. This won't stack with Fiendish Vigor, but it can be nice to have a larger source of temp HP on demand.

[Sception]

Depending on your equipment choice, the other benefits of war caster - hands-free casting for sword & board users and spell based opportunity attacks - are still incredibly relevant for a hexadin. Particularly if you take booming blade. Personally, I'd suggest picking up war caster anyway, and freeing up that invocation slot for something else. There aren't a lot of great combat options at 2nd level if you aren't taking eldritch blast, but the utility options are amazing:

- Beguiling influence to pick up a couple cha proficiencies you might not otherwise be able to fit
- Devil's Sight if you don't already have darkvision from your race
- Mask of Many Faces - at will disguise self is amazing utility on a high cha character
- Mist Visions - at will silent image is again amazing utility with some combat applications DM depending
- Eldritch Sight - at will detect magic is great for finding treasure & avoiding magical traps & ambushes
- Beast Speech - you can get tons of great intel from this if your DM is at all willing to play along

By all means take eldritch mind if your using a two handed weapon like a halberd or great sword, but if you're doing the classic sword and board thing imo you still want war caster instead of eldritch mind, and any of these will serve you well in its place. Honestly, I'd probably take these over fiendish vigor, too. It's great early on, but it doesn't scale and there are a lot of other sources of temp hp these days.


For spells, shield, hex, and wrathful smite are good options. expeditious retreat is another spell worth considering - it eats concentration, but is a big mobility buff so it might be worth it even if you plan to drop it next round to cast a different concentration spell. It really comes into its own once you can cast find steed with paladin spells, as it is one of the spells that you can share with your steed. You could take it instead of Wrathful Smite and just use paladin memorization for that. Or you could take it instead of hex and just use Bless as your go to first level concentration buff spell.


Armor of Agathys is a good spell for up-casting, but since your pact spells will never scale, it's not a good spell to cast with them past the lowest levels. For conqueror X / hexblade 2 builds, pact magic slots are for Shield, Wrathful Smite, or Bless, and pretty much those spells only.

[arnin77]

Hello All,

I'm just getting my Conquest Paladin to level 11 and am starting to think about the 2nd half of my progression - mainly, what feat should I take at level 12?

My character is a Level 10 VHuman with the resilient Con feat at level 1, +2 cha at level 4 and +2 cha at level 8. Stats are:

strength: 19 (gauntlets of ogre power) or 15 +10 saving throw
dex: 10 +6
constitution: 19 (amulet of heatlh) or 14 +14
int: 10 +6
wis: 10 +10
charisma: 20 +15

Spell save dc is 17, I have 104 hps, AC is 25 (plate +1, shield +2, cloak of protection +1 and defense fighting style), and I switch between sword and board or polearm depending on the situation.

For feats at level 12 I'm trying to decide between Sentinel (rated gold in this guide), Tough (more hps for me), Inspiring Leader (more hps for everyone), Magic Initiate (Warlock for EB and to strengthen my ranged attacks) or Skilled/Prodigy (strengthen skills..)

We play West Marches style with varying DMs and Players so it's not guaranteed to have a wizard/rogue in the party and sometimes I'm not the main tank.

My initial thoughts are to take Inspiring Leader at 12; Tough at 16 and then Magic Initiate: Warlock at 19 (I'm not interested in multiclassing, mechanically or thematically)

Is Sentinel that good? Should I be taking that at 12 instead? I'm not a fan of Tanking and getting hit... some things we are going up against deal massive AOE damage - even with a successful saving throw...

I would appreciate any input! Regards

[Guy Lombard-O]

Hello All,

I'm just getting my Conquest Paladin to level 11 and am starting to think about the 2nd half of my progression - mainly, what feat should I take at level 12?

For feats at level 12 I'm trying to decide between Sentinel (rated gold in this guide), Tough (more hps for me), Inspiring Leader (more hps for everyone), Magic Initiate (Warlock for EB and to strengthen my ranged attacks) or Skilled/Prodigy (strengthen skills..)

We play West Marches style with varying DMs and Players so it's not guaranteed to have a wizard/rogue in the party and sometimes I'm not the main tank.

My initial thoughts are to take Inspiring Leader at 12; Tough at 16 and then Magic Initiate: Warlock at 19 (I'm not interested in multiclassing, mechanically or thematically)

Is Sentinel that good? Should I be taking that at 12 instead? I'm not a fan of Tanking and getting hit... some things we are going up against deal massive AOE damage - even with a successful saving throw...

I would appreciate any input! Regards

It's pretty much acknowledged that Sentinel is gold. The value of feats is dependent upon the type of campaign you're in and the composition of your party. Since your party changes around from time to time, that makes it tough to suggest anything that isn't of solid value in every situation.

However, that said, I'd point out that at 13th level you'll get the Find Greater Steed spell. And while Mounted Combatant feat is definitely situational in terms of when you can use it, it's got a really strong synergy with flying around on a somewhat-perishable griffon at dangerous heights (not to mention auto-advantage on medium sized foes). So, if your game has so far been such that you think many of your future combats will be outside or in large spaces, you might consider adding that feat to your list?

[Sception]

Sentinel is a big feat because it lets you tank in situations where you don't - or can't - have your target frightened. Its value is very high at levels 1-7 before you have aura of conquest, drops much lower at level 8 once you get your subclass aura, and then steadily increases as more and more enemies start to have resistance or immunity to frighten, or just unassailable wisdom saves, as you move into higher levels. Of course, even when you're dealing with frightened enemies, there will usually be some enemies who aren't frightened - either they couldn't fit in the effect or they passed their save or what have you, and sentinel helps with them, so it's always good, even in the levels when it's not /as/ good. It's very strong overall, but imo there are other feats strong enough to contend with it.

Alert: this feat is very often undervalued in tanking and paladin discussions in general, and in conquest discussion in particular. There is a mighty difference between setting off Fear or Conquering Presence or even Wrathful Smite before enemies get to move and after. It also completely negates surprise, which is a big deal. Conquerors, like most characters, often go out of their way to pick up perception proficiency, but even then the pressure on your strength, con, and charisma scores means you wisdom and dexterity will often be quite low, and the combination of surprise plus a low initiative roll can see every enemy in an encounter going /twice/ before you have the chance to even start to disrupt them, where as the same character in the same encounter but with the alert feat might be moving before some or even all of those same enemies. Alert is a big, big deal, that will pay dividends over and over throughout your career, and I absolutely consider it to be a real competitor with sentinel.

Lucky: it's boring, it's generic, it's good, and it makes your character better at nearly everything. Flub an attack roll? There's lucky. Flub an important constitution save? lucky. Enemy scores a crit on you? lucky. As with Alert, this feat will pay dividends over and over throughout your campaign, and it's absolutely a competitor for Sentinel for conquest feat slots.

Warcaster: You already have resilient con to shore up your con saves, so you don't need warcaster... unless you intend to multiclass. If you don't, then ignore this. But if you do multiclass into something with access to booming blade and shield or endure elements, and you spend any time at all fighting with sword and board, then you absolutely will want warcaster. And there's good reasons to multiclass - particularly into sorcerer. At this point you've maxed out your ability to frighten enemies from paladin levels. More levels of paladin aren't at all wasted, but they'll be broadening your ability set, not strengthening your core focus. A single level of clockwork sorcerer lets you bypass enemy advantage on frighten saves (such as from spell resistance, an increasingly common annoyance as you level) prof. number times per day. Three levels adds in access to the heighten spell metamagic with enough sorcery points to use it once per long rest, letting you impose disadvantage on a single key frighten save per day, with the option to burn spell slots to do it again. And just one save can go a long way, given how difficult Wrathful Smite or Fear is to escape for enemies trapped in your aura. And if you opt to dip into sorcerer for these benefits, then you'll also have access to Booming Blade, Shield, and Endure Elements, which together make Warcaster nearly a must have if you're using sword and board with any frequency. Again, by no means do you have to multiclass, and if you aren't multiclassing - or if you switch to polearm fighting full time - then Warcaster is pointless for you. But it is worth mentioning none the less.

Inspiring Leader - you already mentioned it, but yeah, this one's strongly worth considering. Temp HPs don't stack, and there are a lot of sources of them these days, so party depending it can be redundant. But if nobody else is handing them out, then this does become a big boost to overall party hp reserves and is absolutely in contention with sentinel in that case.