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Baldur’s Gate 3received several new subclasses in the long-awaited Patch 8. Every main class got one new subclass to select, with many of these offering new and unique playstyles. For example, the Arcane Archer offers a ranged elemental damage setup to the Fighter Class, while the Drunken Master Monk is a specialist in defensive fighting and inflicting drunkenness on their foes.
The Paladin inBaldur’s Gate 3has gained theOath of the CrownSubclass. By swearing an oath to the Law and Order associated with Civilization, they gain abilities that make them exceptionally good at defending and protecting their allies and any innocents caught in the crossfire of a battle. This guide will offer a solid Oath of the Crown Paladin Build without using multiclassing, though it’s worth noting that the Oath of the Crown Paladin and Hexblade Warlock have a lot of synergy and make for an excellent alternative build.
Best Oath of the Crown Paladin Build in Baldur’s Gate 3
Race, Stats, Background, and Skills
We’ve gone with a Half-Orc for this build, due to their ability to shrug off a lethal blow once per long rest and deal extra damage when they land critical hits. Other solid options would be Githyanki for their innate spellcasting and Astral Knowledge, or a Human for the extra skill proficiency and carrying weight. We’ll be prioritising Strength, Charisma, and Constitution as our main stats, as the chart below shows:
16
20
10
14
8
We don’t need Intelligence for anything on this build, and we don’t want to drop Dexterity because we’ll be wearing medium armor early on in the game. Wisdom is useful for certain skill checks, including perception, and Wisdom Saving Throws come up too often for us to risk dumping Wisdom. If you want better AC in the early game, it may be worth reducing Charisma and raising Dexterity to at least 14, andthen respeccing at Withersonce you have access to some heavy armor.
For our background, we’ve gone with Outlander for proficiency in survival and athletics. Other good options would be Noble, Guild Artisan, and Acolyte, though honestly, any background can work well, and I’d recommend picking one based on character background and roleplay potential.
Leveling Guide
At second level,you’ll be able to choose a fighting style. We recommend protection so you may impose disadvantage on anything attacking your allies when you’re nearby, but defence is also a good choice if you prefer higher AC.At Third Level,you’ll get Champion Challenge, allowing you to use an Oath Charge to compel enemies to attack you and impose disadvantage on attacks against your allies, in a 9m/30ft radius. You’ll also gain Turn the Tide, which spends an Oath Charge to heal all non-enemy creatures within 9m/30ft for 1d6+Paladin Level+Charisma Modifier, letting you easily patch up your allies mid-fight.
At fourth level,you should grab an Ability Score Improvement to raise your Strength to 18.Fifth Levelis where you’ll get Warding Bond and Spiritual Weapon as permanently prepared Oath Spells, which is helpful for bolstering your allies defense or dealing extra damage to enemies.Seventh LevelOath of the Crown Paladins gain Divine Allegiance, which lets them spend a Reaction when an ally within 1.5m/5ft takes damage to heal them for 2xPaladin level. When doing this, the Paladin will immediately take 2xPaladin Level Radiant damage, effectively trading their own health for their ally’s.
At eighth level,you should grab another Ability Score Improvement to get your Strength to 20.At Ninth level,you’ll get Spirit Guardians and Crusader’s Mantle as Oath Spells, allowing you to shroud yourself in spirits that deal Radiant or Necrotic damage, or imbue the weapons of your allies, and your own weapons, with additional Radiant damage.At level twelveyou’ll get one more feat,which you should use to grab Shield Master.This gives you a +2 bonus to Dexterity Saving Throws when using a shield, and lets you spend a reaction when making a Dexterity Saving Throw against a spell to reduce any damage you would take to zero on a successful Dexterity Saving Throw.
While the Shield Master Feat is also supposed to reduce spell damage by half if you fail the Dexterity Saving Throw, there is a bug in the game, at the time of writing, that prevents this part of the Feat from functioning correctly.
Equipment
During Act 1,you’ll want to pick up the Helmet of Smiting,Luminous Armor, and Gloves of Heroism. Then fight Minthara and steal the Boots of Striding from her once you get the chance. You should also pick up the Safeguard Shield in the Druid Grove, or the Glowing Shield in the Goblin Camp. To get a good early weapon, head into the Underdark to retrieve Phalar Aluve. Help out Mol with the Druids and their Idol of Sylvanus to get the Ring of Protection, and retrieve Crusher’s Ring from Crusher in the Goblin Camp.
You should make an effort to switch the Gloves of Heroism for the Gloves of the Growling Underdog once you’re in the Goblin Camp. After resolving the issues with the Goblins, the Tieflings, and the Druids, your next stop should be the Underdark to grab the Boots of Stormy Clamour from Omeluum, and then head to Grymforge. You’ll want to make Adamantine Splintmail and an Adamantine Shield at the Forge, replacing the Luminous Armor and your current shield, and you can swap out the Helmet of Smiting for the Grymskull Helm.
The next step to filling out your equipment is heading to the Mountain Pass to retrieve the Holy Lance Helm and buy the Periapt of Wound Closure from Lady Esther. Inside the Monastery you can purchase Corellon’s Wrath, a very good longsword, if you need a boost before heading to the Inquisitor’s Chamber. After reaching the Inquisitor’s Chamber and dealing with the encounter there, you can head into the secret passage and retrieve the Blood of Lathander as your final weapon.
After entering Act 2,you’ll want to head for the Ruined Battlefield to get the Luminous Gloves, and the Last Light Inn to get the Cloak of Protection and (optionally) the Shield of Scorching Reprisal. Once you make it to Moonrise Towers, you’ll want to purchase the Dwarven Splintmail and the Thunderskin Cloak. The best shield to swap the Adamantine Shield for, the Sentinel Shield, can also be purchased at Moonrise.
The Adamantine Shield offers immunity to Critical hits and sends attackers reeling when they miss you with a melee attack, making it a really solid shield option. Since you already have Critical Hit Immunity from the Grymskull Helm, though, it may be worth swapping it out.
One excellent option for this is the Shield of Scorching Reprisal, which lets you spend a bonus action to raise your AC by 1 and deal fire damage to anyone who misses you with a melee attack for one turn and grants resistance to fire damage (though the Grymskull Helm also offers resistance to fire damage, so this second point is less important here.)
Another great choice would be the Sentinel Shield, which grants a +3 Initiative Bonus and advantage on Perception Checks, helping to ensure you can act faster and spot threats more easily. Of the three, I think the Sentinel Shield is the best option once you can get it.
After entering the Gauntlet of Shar,you should swap Crusher’s Ring for the Callous Glow Ring, adding 2 Radiant Damage to all of your attacks when an enemy is illuminated and thus helping to trigger the Luminous Gloves and Boots of Stormy Clamour more consistently. (Enemies in melee range will always be illuminated thanks to the Blood of Lathander)
Entering Act 3,there are a few new pieces of equipment we should be aiming for. We got the Reaper’s Embrace Armor from Ketheric Thorm, which we could swap our Dwarven Splintmail for if desired (I find the Dwarven Splintmail remains the best choice until we enter the city proper), and once we get into the city,we can pick up the Armor of Persistenceas a fantastic piece of end game armor that works perfectly with this build. The Boots of Persistence pair perfectly with this build, too, so pick those up at the same time, and swap your Thunderskin Cloak back to the Cloak of Protection until you can get hold of the Cloak of Displacement. The Cloak of Displacement imposes disadvantage on incoming enemy attacks until you first get hit each turn.
Next, it’s time to get a new helmet and a new shield.You can swap out the Grymskull Helm for either Sarevok’s Horned Helmet(which will give you a better chance of landing critical hits, and immunity to the Frightened status effect) or the Helldusk Helmet, which retains the immunity to critical hits while providing you with a gaze attack and a +2 bonus to saving throws against spells. For a shield,you should go and grab Viconia’s Walking Fortress, allowing you to reflect incoming projectiles, imposing disadvantage on spell attacks targeting you, and giving you advantage on saving throws against spells.
If you gave the Githyanki Egg to Esther, you can also acquire the Unflinching Protector Amulet here, which will allow you to force an attack targeting an ally to miss once per long rest. Alternatively, the Periapt of Wound Closure remains very useful in Act 3, and the Amulet of Greater Health is also a fantastic choice.
Playstyle
This build is the epitome of “Tank”, relying on high AC, Oath Abilities, and Radiating Orbs to ensure enemies won’t be able to hit them. Acting as a defensive wall, this Paladin heals and protects their allies with abilities like Turn the Tide and spells like Warding Bond, while drawing enemy attention with Champion Challenge and Compelled Duel.
