Baldur’s Gate 3 Oathbreaker Paladin Build Guide
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Baldur’s Gate 3 Oathbreaker Paladin Build Guide

Baldur’s Gate 3 Oathbreaker Paladin Build Guide – In this Baldur’s Gate 3 Oathbreaker Paladin Build Guide, I’m going to be covering my Paladin Build for Early Access, and showing you what I’ve found to work best. I’ll be doing more Build Guides at the launch of Baldur’s Gate 3, but for now, let’s look at how you can use an Oathbreaker Paladin effectively in the first Act of the game.

Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Paladin Builds Features

  • Abilities: Strength & Charisma
  • Subclasses: Oath of Devotion, Oath of the Ancients, Oathbreaker
  • Unique Feature: Channel Oath & Lay on Hands Charge
  • Spells: Attack (Smite) & Support Spells
  • Hit Die: +10 HP + CON Modifier per level

Baldur’s Gate 3 Oathbreaker Paladin Build Guide

The Oathbreaker Paladin is aggressive when it comes to dealing massive damage at point-blank range and Frightening targets. They’re highly skilled when placed in situations that’ll put them at risk, often retaliating by dishing out considerable Fire Damage thanks to Hellish Rebuke. The Oathbreaker is the Subclass to pick if you’re keen on inflicting the most destruction possible compared to the others.

Inflict Wounds Spell in Combat

If you suddenly want to break your oath to try it, you can do so at any level. Progression will be retained, which means that if you’re a Level 2 Oath of Devotion Paladin, you’ll become a Level 2 Oathbreaker.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Oathbreaker Paladin Character Creation

In this section, we’ll take a look at how to set up your Paladin during Character Creation for the best results. You don’t have to follow this to the letter, and this will likely change at the full launch of the game. However, this will hold you in good stead during Early Access.

Background

For Background, I recommend taking any that provides Strength and Charisma Skills since these are your primary Abilities. So you can choose the Guild Artisan, Outlander, and Soldier as they grant Athletics together with Intimidation or Persuasion.

Race

For Race, you’ll want to take a look at those that grant Strength, Charisma, and Constitution with Charisma as the Paladin’s Spellcasting Ability. As such, the first Race I highly recommend taking is the Zariel Tiefling, which provides you with +1 Strength and +2 Charisma even if you’ll only get +10 Wisdom. The reason is that when you reach Level 3, you’ll acquire the Legacy of Avernus: Searing Smite, which is stronger than the Paladin’s Searing Smite Spell. Instead of dealing an additional 1-6 Fire Damage, you’ll inflict +2-12 Fire Damage. Moreover, it doesn’t use a Spell Slot so you can keep casting this to your heart’s content.

Zariel Tiefling Race

As a Zariel Tiefling, you also gain Darkvision together with Hellish Resistance and the Thaumaturgy Cantrip. Hellish Resistance makes you resistant to taking Fire Damage, thereby cutting the damage by half, whereas Thaumaturgy grants an Advantage on Intimidation and Performance Checks.

The second Race to consider is the Drow Half-Elf due to their Ability Improvements Feature, allowing players to allocate +1 each to two Abilities while granting +2 Charisma. This is significant as it will give you the best starting Ability Point spread with +12 Wisdom even if you invest in Strength and Constitution. Additionally, you gain access to Darkvision to see and hit targets better in low-lit conditions as well as the Dancing Light Cantrip, which is beneficial for allies who can’t see well in the dark. And finally, there’s Fey Ancestry that grants a Saving Throw Advantage to reduce the chances of being Charmed and to avoid Sleeping entirely when cast with a Spell.

Lastly, if you’re leaning towards a more tanky Paladin with a higher Constitution, then you may want to pick the Shield Dwarf with +2 Strength and +2 Constitution. You still get Darkvision and then Dwarven Resistance, which reduces Poison Damage by half. However, with this Race, you’ll only reach a maximum of +14 Charisma, meaning you’ll only be able to prepare 4 Spells or 1 less Spell compared to the Drow Half-Elf and Zariel Tiefling upon reaching Level 2. Your Charisma Modifier will therefore be lower so you won’t be able to land Spells as effectively but at the same time, you can opt to increase this Ability by +2 when you reach Level 4 with the Ability Improvement Feat.

Subclass

The Subclass you choose here won’t matter if you intend to become an Oathbreaker later on so feel free to pick Oath of Devotion or Oath of the Ancients. Regardless of what you choose, you gain access to Divine Sense and Lay on Hands. Divine Sense is a Bonus Action that grants an Advantage on Attack Rolls against specific enemies such as the Undead and Fiends. Lay on Hands is more versatile than Cure Wounds since it gives the option to heal allies or cure them from conditions like poison.

Lay on Hands

Skills

For Skills, you can select the other Charisma Skills not present in the Background you’ve chosen such as Intimidation or Persuasion.

Abilities

Your primary Abilities as a Paladin are Strength and Charisma, with the latter determining the effectiveness of your Spells. For this reason, you’ll want to invest 16 points into both of them unless you’ve taken the Shield Dwarf Race. Other than that, Constitution is the Ability to gain higher HP and to maintain Concentration for Spells that require it. You can then add points into Wisdom as your Saving Throw. Additionally, keeping Dexterity at 10 is fine since you’ll be wearing Heavy Armor, which doesn’t account for Dexterity Modifier bonuses but your AC will continue to be high. In the meantime, you can borrow Lae’zel’s Githyanki Half Plate Medium Armor to boost your AC to 15.  In conclusion, your Ability Spread should look something like this:

Paladin Ability Score Spread

Baldur’s Gate 3 Oathbreaker Paladin Level 2

By the time you reach Level 2, you’ll have the option to change your Paladin’s Subclass to Oathbreaker. If you want to give this a try, you need to break your promise but spoilers ahead for those who want to figure it out on their own. The fastest way is to agree with the Tieflings to free Lae’zel and then join her in attacking them. The Oathbreaker Knight will then appear in your Camp and talking to him will officially let you switch Subclasses!

Baldur’s Gate 3 Oathbreaker Paladin Build Guide - Talking with the Oathbreaker Knight

At Level 1, you won’t get anything new but at Level 2, Holy Rebuke or Healing Radiance from the other Paladin Subclasses will be replaced by Spiteful Suffering, which also consumes 1 Channel Oath Charge. It’s a decent Action at lower levels because, in addition to the 4-7 Necrotic Damage, you gain an Advantage on Attack Rolls against the target.

Divine Smite and Spells

Choosing to become a Paladin comes with certain strengths and among them include the Smite Spells. Starting off with Divine Smite, you’ll be able to deal an additional 2-16 Radiant Damage on top of your Melee Weapon Damage together with an extra 1-8 Damage against Fiends and the Undead! For instance, with the Sword of Justice Two-Handed Weapon, you can deal as much as 32 Damage in total!

In terms of Spells, you can generally cast 4-5 of them based on the Race you’ve chosen in Character Creation. Similar to Wizards, Paladins need to Prepare Spells before using them. The two must-have Spells are Compelled Duel and Divine Favour. You’ll notice that they both require Concentration for their respective effects to persist.

Divine Favour Spell

Concentration can be broken if you cast another Spell that requires Concentration. So for example, if you cast Compelled Duel on an enemy, but then cast Divine Favour, you would stop “Concentrating” on Compelled Duel and begin Concentrating on Divine Favour. But, that is not the only way Concentration can be broken. If you take damage while Concentrating on a Spell, you must make a Constitution Saving Throw, and if you fail, the effect of that Spell ends. Should you succeed in your Saving Throw, however, then you maintain your Concentration and the Spell continues. This is why it is important for Paladins to have high Constitution, because they have Spells that require Concentration and they are wasted if it’s constantly broken.

Since you gain the same set of Spells as the Oath of Devotion and Oath of the Ancients Paladin, the strategy will remain the same. You can choose between casting Compelled Duel or Divine Favour depending on your focus. Either of them is compatible with Spiteful Suffering since they’re both Bonus Actions. Compelled Duel is a classic taunt move that will let you command a target to attack you so if there’s a pesky enemy on the horizon, it’s best to cast this to protect your allies.

Baldur's Gate 3 Oathbreaker Paladin Build Guide - Spiteful Suffering in Combat

Comparatively, Divine Favour imbues Melee and Ranged Weapon Attacks with 1-4 extra Radiant Damage so if your primary goal is to deal the greatest amount of damage possible, then you should certainly prioritize this one. Divine Favour shines when combined with Divine Smite against a target with high HP but remember that you’ll end up using all 2 Level 1 Spell Slots in a single turn. In total, you’ll be able to stack the damage from your Melee Weapon, Divine Favour, and Divine Smite.

You can then choose Thunderous Smite and Bless. Thunderous Smite lets you push back an enemy to make them Prone while dealing additional 2-12 Thunder Damage. But remember that casting Thunderous Smite as well as Searing and Wrathful Smite consume a Bonus Action and Action so you need to avoid performing other Bonus Actions to be able to use them in a single turn. Meanwhile, Bless grants an additional 1-4 Attack Roll bonus on several party members at this level.

Fighting Style

Next is the Fighting Style. For this Paladin Build, you’re better off picking Great Weapon Fighting as it lets you perform another Damage Roll if the initial result was 1 or 2, provided that you’re wielding a Two-Handed Melee Weapon. Alternatively, you can go for Defense to get the extra +1 AC, making it harder for enemies to hit you.

Great Weapon Fighting

Baldur’s Gate 3 Paladin Level 3

At Level 3, you gain access to Divine Health, which prevents you from taking any disease. As an Oathbreaker, you also receive certain Features and Spells like Control Undead, which is self-explanatory, Dreadful Aspect, Hellish Rebuke, and Inflict Wounds.

Dreadful Aspect in Combat

Dreadful Aspect is another great way to control enemies because its AoE is not only huge but also renders them Frightened. As such, they incur a Disadvantage when making Attack Rolls and they’re unable to move for up to 10 turns unless they successfully roll a Wisdom Saving Throw. As such, Wizards and Rangers can easily destroy them from afar.

The next two Spells are equally powerful. Hellish Rebuke is very useful in the melee range since you’re constantly exposed to taking loads of damage, especially after casting Compelled Duel. Because of this, there’s a high chance to trigger it. As a Reaction, meaning you can’t initiate Hellish Rebuke yourself, you end up dealing 2-20 Fire Damage when you receive damage, potentially killing enemies with low to average HP. However, remember that it can’t be triggered more than once in a single turn and when you run out of Level 1 Spell Slots, otherwise, you’ll continue reaping the benefits.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Oathbreaker Paladin Build Guide - Hellish Rebuke in Combat

Meanwhile, you’re given another way to handle targets up close and personal. With Inflict Wounds, you’re able to deal at least 3-30 Necrotic Damage. Upon reaching Level 5, it can be upcast, thereby letting you inflict an additional 1-10 Damage amounting to 4-40! This can be combined with another Bonus Action such as Tyr’s Protection if you’re wielding the Sword of Justice.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Paladin Level 4

At Level 4, you can opt to go with the Ability Improvement Feat to place 2 points into Charisma, given the volume of Spells you’ll cast. Doing so will improve your chances of hitting enemies with them and dealing greater damage.

Great Weapon Master Feat

Alternatively, you can pick the Great Weapon Master Feat since you’re going for the Two-Handed Weapon setup. What this does is it allows you to execute Great Weapon Master: Bonus Attack afterward provided that you either kill your previous target or critically hit them with your Heavy Weapon. Additionally, you gain a +10 damage bonus, which is massive! The only drawback is your Attack Roll will have a -5 penalty when performing Melee Attacks but this can be offset by Bless where you only take a few of them or none at all when upcast.

You’ll gain another Spell Slot here but you can opt to wait for Level 5 when Level 2 Spells become available.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Paladin Level 5

At Level 5, you gain Extra Attack, which as the name implies, lets you perform another Weapon Attack in a single turn without cost. This is a super fun feature for Martial Classes because it can kill targets effectively.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Oathbreaker Paladin Build Guide - Extra Attack in Combat

You also get 2 more Spell Slots on top of Level 2 Spells for your Subclass, specifically Crown of Madness and Darkness. Crown of Madness lets you charm a target into attacking one of their own. When it works, it’s good but most of the time, enemies in Baldur’s Gate 3 will be able to successfully roll a Wisdom Saving Throw, making the Spell ineffective.

Conversely, Darkness allows you to conjure a dark sphere to Blind affected creatures. Doing so will impose a Disadvantage on their Attack Rolls whereas your party gains an Advantage instead. But note that if you or a teammate happens to step inside the sphere, you’ll also get blinded. Additionally, no ranged attacks will be able to penetrate the darkness so you’ll be forced to execute melee hits against them.

Darkness Spell

Remember that you won’t need to prepare Branding Smite if you’re a Zariel Tiefling because you’ll be given the Legacy of Avernus: Branding Smite. Similar to Legacy of Avernus: Searing Smite, you won’t be spending your Level 2 Spell Slot upon cast. You’ll want to use this over Divine Smite to prevent your target from going Invisible like in fights against duergars in the Underdark.

Equipment

When it comes to the Oathbreaker’s Paladin’s Equipment, you’ll want to wield a Two-Handed Melee Weapon such as the Sword of Justice from Anders. Aside from Cleave and Lacerate, you gain Tyr’s Protection, allowing you to bestow +2 AC on an ally or yourself. Be sure to activate Lacerate instead of Main Hand Attack when facing a dangerous target to also have the chance to inflict Bleeding.

Baldur's Gate 3 Paladin Equipment - Sword of Justice

In terms of Heavy Armor, your choices in Early Access are limited but they let you allocate points to other Abilities that are not Dexterity. You can get your hands on the Chain Mail Armor by defeating Lurgan in the Underdark. With Tyr’s Protection, your AC goes up to 18. You’ll be able to increase AC to 20 if you also take the Defense Fighting Style and wear the Adamantine Splint Armor from Grymforge.

For Accessories, you’ll want to take Absolute’s Talisman and Haste Helm. Since you’ll be absorbing damage, there’s a higher chance of hitting less than 25% HP. If this happens, you automatically regain 1-8 HP the moment you deal damage. Meanwhile, Haste Helm increases your Movement Speed by 3m for 3 turns at the start of every encounter. This is important considering that you’ll often be positioned in the melee range.

Absolute's Talisman

Final Tips

If you decide to become an Oath of Devotion or Oath of the Ancients Paladin even at Level 5, you’ll still be able to reclaim your Oath. Simply go back to the Camp to speak with the Oathbreaker Knight and pay him 2,000 gold. Doing so will let you go back to the Subclass you’ve chosen in Character Creation. Your progress will also be retained so you’ll gain all the available Features accordingly.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Oathbreaker Paladin Build Guide - Reclaiming Oath

When choosing the Great Weapon Master Feat, you’re more likely to cast Bless yourself unless you have a spellcaster who can in order to reduce the Attack Roll penalty as much as possible. The Feat also works well with Divine Smite due to the Melee Weapon Attacks using your Two-Handed Weapon. Additionally, taking Great Weapon Master is ideal if you’ve chosen the Zariel Tiefling or Drow Half-Elf since you’ll have reached 16 Strength and 16 Charisma at Character Creation. As such, your Spells are not only effective from the get-go, but your Melee Weapon Attacks are equally impressive, making you a dangerous opponent to face.

Great Weapon Master Bonus Attack in Combat

An alternative to Sword of Justice is the Exterminator’s Axe, which grants a whopping 5-21 Weapon Damage with the potential to deal extra 1-6 Fire Damage against specific enemies like plants and insects. On top of Cleave and Lacerate, you can perform the Prepare Weapon Action to sacrifice a portion of your Movement Speed for extra Slashing Damage in the same turn. Now in terms of Ranged Weapons, you can equip a Bow but note that you won’t be effective from afar due to your low Dexterity. So it’s ideal to pair up with Ranged Damage Dealers like Wizards and Warlocks to inflict the most carnage.

Speaking of carnage, being able to cast an Entrapment Spell such as Ensnaring Strike to pin enemies in the dark would be beneficial. This will prevent them from stepping out of the sphere to keep them blind for a long period of time.


Stay tuned for more Baldur’s Gate 3 content as we update the other Builds, and be sure to drop by our Twitch Channel if you have questions about the game. If you need something specific, check out our Baldur’s Gate 3 Wiki which is being worked on night and day!

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