‘Welcome back travellers, I’m glad to see you made it’ is such a nice intro. It makes me think of sitting down in front of a tavern fire after a long day in the wilderness.
For Oathbreakers that don’t know if they want to be good or bad, there’s a book in the Blighted Village just outside the house with the 3 Ogres that has an interview talking about a good knight that broke her oath. It isn’t long, but it is depressing; she broke her oath due to the church becoming corrupt and is now being hunted by that church and other Paladins due to her being an Oathbreaker. Stating that she wonders if it would have been better to have just died due to her no longer being able to hear her god anymore.
I just found and read that book a few days ago. That kinda follows the Oathbreaker Knight's bavkstory a bit too, if what he told us is true. Oath is an Oath. Even if it's super immoral and messed up.
true, coz usually in life when you're in a tough situation and supposed to make an important choice, you think about it pretty hard and totally in doubts
At least make it a meter thing, like how much you're respecting your oath. I've played with someone and they broke their oath by defending themselves from the tieflings that captured laezel, I never knew it was that easy to break it
Yeah, I played a githyanki paladin and failed an intimidation against the two tieflings that caught Leazel and after fighting then I broke my oath. Like, mf I defended my kin against some rasists and I'm at fault?
The oath mechanics need worked on. My first oath was broken by another player because they saved sazza while I was in a totally different part of the map.
I agree. While I generally like it when games keep certain things hidden, breaking an oath is a conscious decision, and should be a hugely significant moment for your character. It's not something that happens by accident.
Excellent video!! I am playing my absolute favorite RP right now which is a young officer in the military who hung up his arms after the war. In search of new beginnings in light and love he begins his pilgrimage to the great monastery of Lathander. When suddenly, he was kidnapped by mindflayers and injected with an evil parasite forcing him to team up with questionable strangers to escape. As he grows in his faith and seeks a way to remove the parasite, he follows the callings of his God to the lost altar of Lathander. Here he is anointed with a most holy weapon and given charge to stand in defense of all that is good and beautiful in humankind. He swears an oath to the ancients and takes up arms once more as a paladin. As they journey, strangers become friends, and he helps find the light in his companions, encouraging them to grow to become their best selves.
You manage to make these both concise enough to make these easy to listen to and follow while also adding enough humor to make them interesting and entertaining all at the same time. You’re my go to for these guides. Thanks for making them.
Panic Rolling: "The odds of getting two terrible dice rolls at the same time is very, very slim." Me, attacking with advantage: *rolls two critical failures* 😭
Another thing about Sanctuary, you can heal and buff while it's up. So you can smack this on Shadowheart round one, and have potentially 10 turns of her running around healing everyone, without taking any damage. An invulnerable heal bot is how I've overcome countless fights in this game. I also like to throw it on someone who's just been revivified, so they don't just instantly die again, you can more effectively heal them up and get them back into the fight.
It's actually way more powerful than in 5e. In 5e they make a save before the effect happens if they make the save they can ignore the effect and its still good. In baldurs you nearly guarantee safety on someone besides AOE damage.
Thorough. Such a thorough guide. Right as I respecced astarion, impeccable timing. Use cases for the abilities. If you want a Paladin guide, this is it
I recently finished my first complete playthrough of this game, did it as an Oath of Devotion Paladin. I never ran into the issue of accidentally breaking my oath, I was annoyingly upstanding and honest. The issue I did have was not using any spells. Because smiting is so good, and the number of spell slots so limited, I found myself preparing just a couple of spells out of the spellbook, far fewer than I was capable of preparing. And I didn't even regularly use those. I would cast Shield of Faith at the start of each day for the extra AC and to activate certain item effects, and that was mostly the extent of my spellcasting. Used sanctuary on occasion, when I really couldn't wait for Shadowheart's turn. There was one fight where remove curse was used. I kept Command prepared because it didn't require concentration, but never once used it with my Paladin. I don't know if that's a problem with the design of the class or a problem with me. I still enjoyed my playthrough a lot, mind you. Also, something that I was pleasantly surprised to find out after finishing my first playthrough is how ability score improvement weren't as Important I I expected. Bonuses from gear and weapon proficiency is just so much more impactful. I was running with 16/16 str/cha for nearly all of the game, and didn't even think to use Sacred Weapon a lot of the time because hit chances were pretty good anyway. I had already taken Alert and Resilience: Constitution, so for my last feat I think I went with either Savage Attacker or ASI Charisma.
I've been waiting for this one , Cleric , Paladin and Monk are my bread and butter every playthrough I have a different type of Pally and Monk. Also love your videos keep up the great work good sir and thank you for the valuable information.
Telling a player that they've broken their oath without warning them that's what may happen is considered a dick move if a human DM does it. So it does annoy me that the game won't show what potentially drastic consequences of dialog options could be (same thing with "no I didn't realize this perfectly innocent dialog option counted as "flirting"). Video games have a reload system for a reason. Trying talk to an NPC and accidentally "stealing" the fork on the table next to them because your mouse was a pixel off isn't "going along with the unpredictable roleplay experience as it naturally unfolds!" like some people on the internet seem to like to imagine, and neither is "Ha ha you broke your oath get rekt nerd!" Which is why I've literally never played a paladin in D&D.
This 100%. Misclicking and stealing stuff is so infuriating, lol. It's also one of the main reasons that Honour Mode shines a spotlight on the game's flaws. Things like that become much more annoying when you cannot reload your save. I do recommend trying out Pally though. It is so friggin strong lol.
Protection fighting style is a more usable than it first appears, bc you want your team huddled around your pally to gain the buffs from his auras. Also, a Rouge that stays in step with a pally will always be able to sneak attack. I made a surprisingly effective "True Tank" build that used this, goading strike, compelled duel, and similar effects. The main idea was that he would just tank all the aggro and damage, keeping the rest of the team from ever being attacked at all. With a stupid high AC, resistances and potions, and temp hp he could virtually endlessly stand in a mob of enemies and just never die. His auras helped mitigate CC effects, but if one got through things got real ugly. Optimal playstyle? No. Fun? Hell yes, enjoyed that run. Just thought I'd share, in case someone wanted to try this
26:45 fun fact about this action. I had made my way into the matriarch layer and had shadow heart cast fire bolt on the web, and she fell down onto the ground below it was prone. My paladin had advantaged because he was stealth and did a staring strike on the matriarch. This lasted the entire fight, I was definitely not supposed to be there yet.
These overviews are so great, man. I am going to send them to anyone I know who is wondering about any class and what they do. I even learn something each time too. I only wish all 12 were out!
Just got into BG3 and my first playthrough is an Oath of Devotion Paladin. Loving the smites the best. And breaking your oath does need some kind of "do you really want to do this?' warning. I've broken it twice so far (I just got to the Shadow Cursed lands.) Having to re-up the oath is a pain but at least gold is easy to come by, even if I feel it cheapens the oath a bit by just paying the Oathbreaker off.
Yeh that's the part that bothers me about it. If someone is trying to maintain a class fantasy throughout the whole game...it's difficult to do when your Oath gets broken accidentally multiple times. The gold is annoying to spend, but you're right. It's not the biggest deal.
Great guide! I'm pretty sure you can still get Fireball'd with Sanctuary on though, as they can just cast Fireball on the floor. It's not a targeted spell.
Dex paladin is a vibe. Some of those smite spells can be used at range/going dex over strength turns your paladin into a multi tool where they can set up a ranged ambush with the rest of the party, and still be the front line when they close distance. 20 dex, 17 ac med armor that unlocks full dex mod to ac. Duel wield feat for the +1 ac buff. Defensive fighting style for another +1. You can make off hand attacks both in melee and at range without sacrificng a scrap of AC. Plus you get a good dex save which is always a bonus.
I like it. I've been messing around with builds that use non-traditional stat allocations recently. There are quite a few items in the game that can balance the stats too, which can lead to some pretty nutty combos
@PanicRolling it's a bit cheese. But in act 2, the build is in awkward spot with its spell save dc/attack. But I got around it by using my own summons as arcane acuity batteries for a hat, that gives you charges when you apply fire damage. Zombies buffed by aid plus about 2 free casts of scorching ray from items, meant I went into any tough battle with a +10+10 buff. Made procking crowd control effects/spells much much easier.
Things like turn fae are very interesting. In tabletop, the story is not set in stone. The DM can add a fae encounter if the oath of ancients Paladin isn’t feeling useful (a Paladin not feeling useful imagine) I know they put a lot of thought into translating the game design, but I wonder how many small class features get the shaft like that Like which subclass has the least use in this game lol
Yeh there are a few abilities I've run into that are of questionable usefulness in bg3's story, but I could see them being incredible in other situations.
You have me a new perspective on protection. Thinking back though, act 3 has alot of fights that surprise you're party. So they'll be close together and you'll shut down the ambush. Albeit it was my first blind playthrough.
Really enjoying the content, very deep dive indeed. I've personally really enjoyed a college of swords bard, vengeance paladin multiclass with savage attacker feat. Using a ring that gives additional psychic dmg while concentrating, the acid dmg on hit ring too, the additional d10s on blade flourishes and smites, concentrating on compelled duel or shield of faith using bonus action all with high ac from dex medium armor, shield and defensive flourish, one of my faves.
Looking forward to barbarian. Already playing a berserker that is focused on throwing and it’s insane. Would love to see what you have to say about all the subclasses though.
My first playthrough was a Zerker Barb. I didn't know enough about the game at the time to specialize him in throwing, but it is insanely strong as a build.
@@PanicRolling I didn’t realize reckless attack seemed to effect throws. I only specialized in throwing because of the pike and ring in act 1. Since then I’ve found complimentary gloves and the caustic band. Pure joy. Wondering if I should multi class into fighter or thief first because I think more actions would be dope.
I went with the Thief for mine, for the extra Bonus Action. It worked out really well. Barb/Fighter is very strong also. My current run has one of those in the group.
Vow of eneminity still is not working as intended. Instead of casting it on a enemy, just cast it on yourself. It will give u advantage on all your enemies that you attack for 10 turns. Way stronger than only casting it on 1 target.
Regarding your comment about ssving in dialogue, I am planning a Vengeance Paladin run in the near future, and there is a certain someone you can help, and after you do, they tell you how some other people betrayed him and he wants vengeance. Generally, most people don't take his offer as those other people are often considered to be "good guys" however, as a Vengeance Paladin, I think my Oath should compell me to take his quest. But I fear the game will not see it that way. So I know I will be dropping a save when I speak with him. A seemingly inconsequential character in one of the greatest tv shows ever, during one of the greatest story archs once said, "It is vengance we serve, not justice." Vengeance and justice are not the same thing, and a Veangence Paladin should understand this. And the game should too, I hope.
Sanctuary + Spirit Guardians = great fun! Lol. Then just use your action to disengage or dash, and literally run circles around your enemies til you liberate their souls from their bodies. This works wonders on masses of weaker mobs, but is still good in any other case too
Silence is good if you need to bash your way through a door or wall near sleeping bad guys. Or if you want to attack someone guarding a treasure in a room you are not supposed to be in, and they could shout to allert and bring in guards outaide the room.
New to your videos. But I’ve seen a few now and I enjoy them. Your thumbnail game could use some help though, just trying to get more people to click on you. The font and color of your large letters should POP more and be brighter colors. I’m just some random internet guy, not trying to tell you how to be creative, but some of your thumbnails I skipped your videos a couple months ago and I regret it now. Glad to see any “smaller” BG3 guy making great content for us to enjoy!
I will be that guy that shills for the protection fighting style. It can be quite good but you really have to plan around it. If you are going to team up with another melee character often it can be good to deny things that would hit your ally. So if you expect to have an ally right next to you often it's good. As for the int paladin don't do that charisma is the only mental stat the paladin cares about. Dex can work if you just really don't want the heavy armor.
Protection definitely has uses, but man it is so much harder to make use of than the other options. I do like and support the idea of the fighting style though. I just wish the range was increased a bit.
@PanicRolling yeah it is harder to use. You have to purposefully put characters by your paladin or your paladin by other characters. I get the appeal of the others of just having right equipment and ignoring it but protection is the only one allowing you to help other party members. Like I said the best use is the melee buddy you are going to stick to like glue.
I broke my oath by pushing an acolyte of the absolute into the sea. That seemed like it Was a perfectly reasonable thing to do. But I paid to have it restored. Then I pushed an assassin of Bhaal of a ledge for 10 damage and lost my oath again. 3rd time was because I chose attack from dialogue when apparently I shouldn't, even though it was Sarevok. I couldn't afford it a 3rd time.
If you already mentioned that Withers doesn't care about being pickpocketed, he also doesn't care about being attacked, but he doesn't take any damage, no matter what, I'm still low level and tried the most powerful things available to me, so I suspect he wouldn't take damage even if I were a super powerful level 12 with max gear, but the weird thing is I pressed T to see has stats and immunities and it all looks pretty normal for a basic simple skeleton, nothing there to explain why he's not losing hit points (I imagined I would see extremely high AC or immunity to a lot of types of damage or maybe even immunity to everything). Though if there is an explanation that includes a spoiler please don't share it yet, I'm still in act 1 in my first playthrough, and it's obvious he has a motive he isn't telling, most likely regarding the tadpoles or whoever is behind them, I suspect he's some sort of god or he's directly working for one and was sent by that god. The fact that he'll do anything to stay in the camp and ignore anything hostile you do to him or tell him and also that he pretends to care about gold, but clearly doesn't, also points to this.
The answers to your questions are in the game, but some of them are pretty well hidden. But yeh, there is basically nothing you can do that Withers cares about, so don't be worried about accidentally losing him. Also enjoy your first run! 😀 it's a great game.
Worried about your Oath? Just take 2 levels of Paladin and multiclass in something else, and then it doesn't matter what your Oath is. Let's be honest; you just wanna hit dudes with Divine Smite.
@@PanicRolling I'm playing 2lvl Paladin xlvl CoS Bard right now. I can't wait to get Banishing Smite with Magical Secrets. Is it the best option? Hell no. Is it awesome? Hell yeah.
Rogue also synergizes with Paladin for multiclass. The Sneak Attack damage stacks with Smite damage, and the Vengeance Paladins ability to proc advantage for 10 turns means you get to sneak attack every attack against that opponent. You could sword and board get +2 to every dmg roll, or you coild take the 2 weapon fighting feat and take the Thief subclass to get 2 extra offhand attacks so a 5/3 Veangence Thief could get 2 sneak attacks [edit, only 1 attack is a sneak attack, but you still get the second attack, it's just a regular attack] and 2 off-hand attacks and smite on all four of them each round. This would be a dex build with finesse weapons. Assassin can also work with Vengeance paladin. Auto criting on an opponent you also get to smite can be very powerful.
You really can't ever have enough Smites can you? Lol they're so awesome... I love the sound effects they used for them too. Feels like you're dropping nukes on your enemies.
Re the haste discussion: any idea if enemies will accept a casting of haste from you without saving? Because wiping out 3 or 4 enemies for a turn by casting haste on your enemies and then immediately ending it sounds like a perfectly valid use of someone’s action to me, particularly if you’re up against a fairly dangerous boss.
Unfortunately you can only cast it on yourself or an ally. There may be shenanigans you can pull to make a target an ally and then do this...but most of the time you'd probably be better off just slapping them with something instead of doing all that setup. Would be hilarious though, if you pulled it off.
When I start a new game as paladin, I usually go 14 dex. Start the game with 18 ac. At lvl 2 with a shield you pick up shield of faith and defence fighting style for 21 ac from the start
For unbreaking a broken oath, can't you cheese that by paying Withers to reapec you right back to the paladin of [insert oath] for way cheaper than the Oath Breaker Paladins witness price? I've never tried this, but I think it should work. It's cheese, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.
Eh, I have a problem with Paladins. Unless I have a rule book to refer to, most of the games I play one in I end up being an Oath Breaker, on accident. I've had Lae'zel break her oath twice, because what I would do is the opposite of what a Paladin would do. Considering I chose the Oath of Vengeance for one and Oath of Ancient's for the other, I'm not sure I know how to follow rules.
The whole Oath system is what scared me away from playing a Paladin in my first run...I do think that there are too many variables in a videogame setting that can cause you to unintentionally break your Oath. The problem is that we're not Paladins in real life, and it's hard to imagine the scope of a "lifesworn oath" that you didn't actually create the terms for. Also the extra 1000g to respec sucks.
I broke my oath the other night as an Oath of the Ancients Paladin. By attacking the undead crazy surgeon in the house of healing...That makes no sense.
I'm new to the game. I just got off the nautiloid ship and freed Laezel from the trap net and it broke my oath for killing the the people that trapped her. Wtf ? No way could i have known that. I feel like it's impossible to keep the oath..
I really do feel like the dialog options should tell you if they're going to break it, at least. But certain actions outside of dialog will also break it...so it can definitely be tough to maintain.
Yeh I agree. I think it should allow the respec, but force you to remain an Oathbreaker if you're planning on staying Paladin. Because if you're planning on changing your class completely, the extra 1000g sucks.
Yeeeah, I became an Othbreaker (Oth...middle english) Apparently I should have asked Anders if he was a bad guy as opposed to trusting the undead to tell the truth and tossing out a few fire bombs to ambush the poser (I was a Paladin of Tyr.... Go figure...) After that Devotion just became a lie....😜😜😜
So I save scum mainly if the dialogue option doesn’t really reflect what I wanted for the most part, I understand and comprehend what my options are, but there are, sometimes where I misread something usually is romantic lol yes, Gale I’d like to learn magic no Gale I’m not into you lol
Yeh I did forget to cover it. It's basically this game's version of a tank character using Taunt to gain threat or aggro. It's not a bad tool to have, especially if you're building your Paladin to be really tanky. Good catch on the missed skill, thanks!
So there’s an evil character who had an advantage in a fight he’s in a throne room with a bunch of steal watch and a bunch of hostages I am a off of devotion paladin I fully intended on bringing this man down however I wanted to remove the biggest threats in the room ideally saving everyone I ended up saving one in the end but for me no attacking this guy I broke my oath
It is not my intention to just throw hate. Have you considered doing a deep dive as in what you think people should play around with certain classes? Like "the offensive/defensive aspects of a Paladin" and stuff like that.
Yeh absolutely. I'm planning to get into specialized build guides and whole party builds that synergize well together. I just want to finish up the Class Deepdives first.
