This guide focuses on the best Paladin build in Baldur’s Gate 3, the Oath of Ancients subclass, and includes all components to build a powerful character.
This build page has been updated for thePatch 8 versionof Baldur’s Gate 3.
Everything About the Oath of the Ancients Paladin in Baldur’s Gate 3
In Baldur’s Gate 3, The Oath of Ancients is a Paladin subclass that draws its power and inspiration from the ancient forces of nature, light, and goodness. Paladins who swear this oath become guardians of the natural world and defenders against darkness and corruption. The Oath of the Ancients is often chosen by players who want to play Paladins with a strong connection to nature, focused on promoting beauty, joy, and the balance of the world.
This Paladin build with Oath of the Ancient subclass is one that players should pick for extra utility in the group. you’re able to provide some decent healing, get access to crowd-control abilities, and still retain the identity of the Paladin. We will be using heavy armor, and two-handed weapons playing in melee aggressively. This build will provide tons of damage and get better over time, though it can be complex at first to understand. The leveling progression will walk you through each stage of the build and what you should be focusing on.
Oath of the Ancients Paladin Changes in Patch 8
The biggest changes to the Oath of the Ancients Paladin build come from the addition of new subclasses, spells, and cantrips. While three enemies have been buffed in Tactician and Honour modes, including Balthazar, the overall flow of combat remains largely the same.
Significantly, Booming Blade now offers a notable advantage by adding thunder damage to each attack, making it a strong option. Especially when multiclassing into Hexblade Warlock, Sorcerer, or Wizard, or by selecting it with the High Elf’s bonus cantrip. In our alternative build progression, we’ll have you multiclass into Warlock, just to pick up this powerful cantrip.
Oath of the Ancients Paladin Class Features & Mechanics
The following list presents all the essential Paladin Class Mechanics and Features in Baldur’s Gate 3:
Paladin Spell Mechanics
Paladin spell casting in general, is limited compared to other classes and builds. But the Divine Smite additional damage mechanic consuming spell slots is the real reason you’re able to do an insane amount of damage. In general, save the spell slots for this usage unless needing a buff, heal, or crowd control.
Paladin Class and Best Subclasses
TheOath ofAncients subclass is the great Paladin subclass in Baldur’s Gate 3 because it offers powerful damage abilities, great healing, and emphasis on controlling the undead.
Here are all the Baldur’s Gate 3 Paladin subclasses:
Oath of the Ancients makes a great Paladin choice because of the versatility and healing it can provide. The subclass also makes great use of its bonus action and still feels like a heavily armored warrior with spell casting. The differences in subclass give slight variations to spells and subclass abilities. But the core Paladin with Divine Smite and spell casting remains regardless of your selection. In the rest of this build guide, we will assume you are playing Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Paladin Oath of Ancients Build Guide.
Here’s what the Oath of the Ancients Subclass will unlock for you at various levels in Baldur’s Gate 3:
Paladin Divine Smite Explained
Divine Smite is a signature ability of the Paladin class in Baldur’s Gate 3. It allows a Paladin to expend a spell slot to deal additional radiant damage to a creature they have hit with a melee weapon attack. The amount of extra damage is equal to 2d8 for a 1st-level spell slot, plus 1d8 for each spell level higher than 1st. The damage increases by 1d8 if the target is an undead or a fiend.
Divine Smite can be toggled on or off in the reactions menu under the user interface. This allows you to make a decision if you want to use it or not. This is very important because the Paladin can run out of Spell Slots quickly, limiting damage. The last thing you want is to expend a spell slot needlessly on a weak creature.
Here are some tips for using the Best Paladin Build to use Divine Smite effectively in Baldur’s Gate 3:
Character Creation
Recommended Backgrounds for Oath of the Ancients Paladin
Soldier is the best background for the Paladin Oath of Ancients Build in Baldur’s Gate 3 because you gain proficiency inAthletics and Intimidation. This choice mostly influences roleplaying and dialogue options aspects and allows you to create unique characters. Athletics scales with Strength while Intimidation scales with Charisma ability score thus they will help you both in combat situations and while exploring. This is not a critical performance-based selection for the Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Paladin Oath of Ancients Build Guide.
Here’s a list of the bestbackgroundsfor a Paladin:
Best Race Choice for Oath of the Ancients Paladin Build
TheZariel Tieflingis the bestracechoice for Oath of the Ancients Paladin in Baldur’s Gate 3 because you get two Smite spells Searing and Branding, Fire Resistance, and Darkvision. With a class and subclass that is spell slot starved, the extra smites give you a massive advantage when playing offensive. A secondary choice would be theDragonbornrace. They get Breath Weapon and resistance of your choice. The downside is they do not have Darkvision or much else to offer.
Here’s the best Race choice for a Paladin Build:
The Paladin’s racial choice will not influence ability score, but everyone should get a +2 and +1 to spend regardless. This frees your race choice up to not completely hinder yourself based on ability score, but race features. Each of these races offers unique advantages that can enhance your combat prowess, survivability, or utility. Additionally, consider the roleplaying opportunities and character concepts that resonate with you when playing the Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Paladin Oath of Ancients Build Guide.
Recommended Skills for Oath of the Ancients Paladin
PersuasionandInsightare the best skills for the Paladin Oath of Vengeance in Baldur’s Gate 3 because they complement your class abilities and enhance your effectiveness in various situations. In Baldur’s Gate 3, skills represent the abilities and proficiencies of your character that allow them to perform various actions and interact with the game world. Skills are associated with specific attributes and are used to determine the success or effectiveness of certain actions or abilities. They can be edited during character creation or with companions, during respec or reroll screen.
Here are the bestskillsfor Paladin Oath of Ancients in Baldur’s Gate 3:
While these skills are well-suited for the build, it’s important to consider your character concept and the specific challenges you may face in Baldur’s Gate 3. The selection of skills should align with your intended playstyle, complement your party composition, and reflect the narrative and roleplaying aspects of your character with the Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Paladin Oath of Ancients Build Guide.
Best Oath of the Ancients Paladin Ability Score
Below is the bestability scoreto unlock the full potential of a Paladin in Baldur’s Gate 3:
The Best Ability Score for the Paladin is 16 Strength and 16 Charisma that way your melee abilities will do a lot of damage in combination with spells specifically Divine Smite. The next priority is Constitution to 14 so you have a larger enough health pool to survive. Hitting Strength and Charisma at 16 is critical for the optimal damage setup for the Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Paladin Oath of Ancients Build Guide.
After you choose the class, subclass, race, and background, the game will automatically distribute your abilities in the character creation abilities tab. You will need to reprioritize the stats for the chart for an optimal Paladin build. Simply use the plus-minus in the character creator and ensure you have the suggested race, or the numbers will be off. If you don’t reach these numbers due to racial choice, drop your Wisdom lower.
you’re able to increase your ability score via a quest in Act 1, Act 2, and Act 3. Make sure to check out ourPermanent bonus guideon how you can boost your ability score through quests.
Best Companions for Oath of the Ancients Paladin in Baldur’s Gate 3
Companionsfor the Best Oath of Ancients Paladin Build, we recommend range and support characters. The idea is, that your character charges in melee range with support, range damage, or even stealth attacks. If you have multiple melee characters, 2-3, it can be troublesome in close-quarters combat.
It’s important to note that party composition and synergy play a significant role in determining the effectiveness of your companions. Consider the strengths and weaknesses of each companion and how they align with your main character’s abilities and playstyle. You can go more range withWyllor a double melee setup withLae’zel. Also, feel free to swap out and explore different options as you play the Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Paladin Oath of Ancients Build Guide.
Paladin Spell Slots
Below is a list and chart that shows the levels and spell slots unlocked for the Paladin class in Baldur’s Gate 3:
Paladin Illithid Powers
Illithid Powersare unlocked later in the game when you learn more about the Mind Flayers and tadpoles. you’re able to gain jars of Mind Flayer Parasite Specimens, and consume them to gain one point. This is essentially another skill tree advancement with some very strong powers. If you decide to advance this skill line, these are the choices we suggest.
Here are the best Illithid Powers for the Paladin Build:
Keep in mind, that you make an important decision in Act 3 of the game to advance these powers or not. For the sake of not spoiling things, realize there will be consequences when taking these powers with the Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Paladin Oath of Ancients Build Guide.
Paladin Level Progression
Alternative Oath of the Ancients Paladin Build
For a stronger start in Act 1, consider a Warlock/Paladin multiclass build. Just two levels in Hexblade Warlock provide a powerful early-game foundation with strong melee scaling and spellcasting. After reaching level 3, switch to Paladin and choose the Oath of Vengeance subclass for increased mobility and burst damage. By level 5, this combo significantly boosts your melee potential and versatility. To round out the build, take levels inFighterwith theEldritch Knightsubclass, adding even more spellcasting utility and consistent weapon damage.
At Level one follow our character creator to pick all correct background, race, skills, and ability distribution focusing on Strength and Charisma. You also can pick your subclass, and for this build, we want to select Oath of the Ancients. Level two will give you the bulk of your spells, in the early game just rely on weapon damage. Your goal is to find some heavy armor and a two-handed weapon. You can grab medium armor from Lae’zel in the introduction if you don’t plan on using her. Simply attack and at level two things get interesting with the Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Paladin Oath of Ancients Build Guide.
Here’s a breakdown of what you get as a level 1 Paladin:
Gameplay: at this level move along quickly to level 2 for spell unlocks. Use Lay on Hands and Healing Radiance for healing and damage comes from the main weapon attack.
Oath of Ancients Paladin Gameplay & Priorities
At the beginning of BG3, the Ancient Paladin will have dreadful mobility. Thus, you need to find and locate a back-bar ranged weapon like a Heavy Crossbow from Lae’zel or merchants. This gives you some type of upfront damage before you can close the distance. However, at level 5, you will unlock Misty Step and dramatically improve your power and mobility. Moreover, look to acquire Elixir of Hill Giant Strength, Potion of Speed, and Oil of Accuracy consumables. These three consumables “stack” allowing for massive damage.
Your overall priority with this build is the following:
Following these steps ensures a strong foundation, especially if you plan on playingsoloor onHonour Modedifficulty.
At level two the Paladin gains access to five prepared spells, choose a fighting style, and Divine Smite. Here is a list of what to do as a level two Oath of the Ancient Paladin:
Divine Smite: uses spell slot and hits in conjunction with weapon strike. Can be automatically applied, only during critical hits or have a popup box via the reactions menu. Be cautious at first about using this too often. You will burn through your spell slots quickly at this low level, and either have to rest or just use melee attacks only.
Gain access to five prepared spells. Suggested Prepared Spells:
Oath of Ancients Paladin Level 2 Gameplay
Great Weapon Fighting: passive feature when you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack with a Two-Handed melee weapon, that die is rerolled once. This minimizes low-damage rolls and keeps your damage high especially using a Two-Handed weapon like a Greatsword.
Gameplay: with all of these spells, it’s important to not use them liberally. Divine Smite can proc (consuming an extra spell slot) and deliver extra damage in COMBINATION with Searing Smite. So if you Critical Strike with Searing Smite, you can use the reaction Divine Smite for additional damage. This will consume two spell slots, but deal a lot of damage. Early in the game, this is an issue due to the lack of spell slots. So be careful, don’t waste these spell slots on a target with 8 health, just melee attack them.
Additionally, the Paladin makes great use of their bonus action early in the game. Using Shield of Faith or Divine Favor prior to a fight can be helpful. Shield of Faith can be helpful to allies as well. Use healing sparingly, you should be focused on damage and bring a support class along for healing and buffs.
Paladin level 2 Prepared Spells: Searing Smite, Thunderous Smite, Shield of Faith, Divine Favour, Cure Wounds.
Level three the Oath of the Ancient Paladin will unlock another level 1 spell slot, Divine Health, and subclass features. Here’s a list of what happens as a level 3 Paladin:
Spell Selection and Gameplay
You now have a lot of versatility in spells, skills, and actions. The premise here is to use bonus actions and actions effectively per turn. At this level, I rarely use Thunderous or Searing Smite. It consumes both action and bonus action which is very costly. The first turn, I usually buff with Divine Favour or Shield of Faith, then attack in melee. The following turn, I decide on priority. If we need a stun, Command is a great option. Or if I just have to kill a target, I’ll use my spell slots for Searing Smite. Moreover, if we need high damage and a single target stun, Thunderous Smite. Don’t be afraid to use your turn to chain both Healing Radiance in Cure Wounds. One is action, one bonus action so you’re able to put them together for a big burst heal when in need.
Even at level 3, the Paladin can be complex. Buff turn one, and use burst damage turn two. Turn three and evaluate what your group needs: crowd control, burst, healing, etc. Rinse and repeat that model until later in the game. It will get easier and more effective as you unlock spell slots. Also, check if you have a bonus action spent before ending your turn. If not, Hunter’s Mark, Divine Favour, or Shield of Faith can be vital if you have spell slots.
Paladin level 3 Prepared Spells: Searing Smite, Thunderous Smite, Shield of Faith, Divine Favour, Cure Wounds, Command.
Level four gives you a very important decision between increasing your ability score like Strength or taking a feat.Featsgive you a big benefit but doing so will have you miss out on Ability Improvements. Simply increasing your main stat Strength to 18 is the simplest and easiest way to advance your character. You can do this by selecting Ability Improvement rather than +2 to strength.
At level 8 we will take Great Weapon Master feat. This will keep our build simple at the moment, and hitting hard with a better percentage chance with a melee weapon.
You get one additional spell to slot and I recommend Protection from Evil and Good.
Gameplay: remains unchanged at this level. Expect more damage and better chances to land an attack. Keep leveling to get more spells and more spell slots.
Level 4 Paladin Prepared Spells: Searing Smite, Thunderous Smite, Shield of Faith, Divine Favour, Cure Wounds, Command, Protection from Evil and Good.
At level 5, the Paladin and Oath of Vengeance subclass unlocks a lot. Extra attack, more spell slots, and two subclass spells. Here’s a list of what to expect as a level 5 Paladin in Baldur’s Gate 3:
Spell Selection
Oath of Ancients Paladin Level 5 Gameplay
Level 5 unlocks a lot of offensive and defensive potential for the Paladin. Extra Attack gives you two attacks in one with a chance to proc Divine Smite on each. You can also combo this with a Potion of Speed or the Haste spell for two actions per turn. Your bonus action can be used for debuffs, and at level 8, another attack. You have two free spells courtesy of the Oath of the Ancient subclass. The best is Misty Step. The strength is this spell gives you great mobility and only uses bonus action. Now you can close the gap, charge in, and have crazy mobility alongside huge single-target damage.
At this level and beyond, you should feel very powerful. You can buff and debuff with a bonus action, mobility with Misty Step, and huge damage for the scenario or enemy using Smite. The issue with the build at this point is spell slots and using your big damage Divine Smite reaction appropriately. You will also need to rest constantly. Do not go off wandering into the unknown without your spell slots full. You should be much more powerful at this level with the Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Paladin Oath of Ancients Build Guide.
Level 5 Paladin Prepared Spells: Searing Smite, Thunderous Smite, Shield of Faith, Divine Favour, Cure Wounds, Command, Protection from Evil and Good, Branding Smite.
At level 6 the Paladin unlocks 1 more prepared spell bringing the total to 9. You also get Aura of Protection.
Once you unlock Aura of Protection you need to activate it for its effect. Gameplay not much changes at this level.
Ending Act 1 with Oath of Ancients Paladin
At this level, you should be close to transitioning out of Act 1. Make sure to visit merchants and stock up on camp and alchemy supplies. Moreover, look over thebest Act 1 items. There are alsopermanent bonusesyou can acquire in Act 1. Lastly,Grymforgehas powerful armor and weapons (Adamantine) that can aid you well into Act 3. Consider taking the time to collect the crafting items before transitioning to Act 2, where you won’t be able to return (Moonrise Tower).
Paladin Level 6 Prepared Spells: Searing Smite, Thunderous Smite, Shield of Faith, Divine Favour, Cure Wounds, Command, Protection from Evil and Good, Branding Smite, Magic Weapon.
Upon reaching Level 7 the Oath of Ancients Paladin Unlocks:
Gameplay: not much changes and we are about to level 8 for a BIG boost in power with one of my favorite feats in the game.
Level 7 Paladin Prepared Spells: Searing Smite, Thunderous Smite, Shield of Faith, Divine Favour, Cure Wounds, Command, Protection from Evil and Good, Branding Smite, Magic Weapon, Lessor Restoration.
At level 8 the Paladin gets to pick a Feat or Ability Improvement, we suggest taking Great Weapon Master.
GreatWeapon Masterfeat which does the following: When a melee attack scores a critical hit or kills a creature, you’re able to make another melee attack as a bonus action. When attacking with Heavy Weapons you are proficient with, attack rolls take a -5 penalty, but their damage increases by 10.
The Great Weapon Master feat does two things for you. One, it has a high-risk high reward ability to add 10 damage BUT -5 attack roll penalty. As shown in the picture above, this simply reduces your percentage chance to hit significantly. You can turn this off in the Passive section on your toolbar, which will give you the normal percentage.
Secondly, this feat gives you another chance to hit on a kill or critical hit using a bonus action. This is the real reason the feat is so strong, multiple attacks in a turn, and with this build, you will be getting a lot of critical hits and kills. Combat should therefore be initiated using your action first, saving your bonus action for a Great Weapons Master attack.
Oath of Ancients Paladin Level 8 Gameplay
At level 8 you now have the god-tier Great Weapon Master and enough Strength to take advantage of it. Here’s how you want your turn to go after you are buffed:
That is a lot of attacks without using a specific Smite because the bonus action can proc Great Weapon Master. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use Branding, Thunderous, or Searing Smite, it’s just now you have options considering your bonus action is so valuable.
You can take this a step further by using a Potion of Speed or have someone cast Haste on you. This will give you an additional action, two more attacks and possibly two more divine strikes. In one turn, if things go well, the Paladin is an absolute force with this setup. Buff with bonus action on the first turn, and use primary melee attacks on the second with the goal of proc Great Weapon Master. Use your Smites and spell slots when you need a big damage attack. Heal rarely, and Misty Step for mobility.
Level 8 Paladin Prepared Spells: Searing Smite, Thunderous Smite, Shield of Faith, Divine Favour, Cure Wounds, Command, Protection from Evil and Good, Branding Smite, Magic Weapon, Compelled Duel, Lessor Restoration.
The level 9 Oath of the Ancient Paladin unlocks the following in Baldur’s Gate 3:
Oath of Ancients Paladin Level 9 Gameplay
At this level, you have even more in your arsenal. Most of the added spells will be used in niche situations. Your bread and butter remains the same, Smite damage. With Blinding Smite you have a hard counter against fellow martial weapon users. Giving the Blind debuff alongside 3d8 radiant damage is massive. Keep things simple and use your off-healing, crowd control, and utility only when needed.
Note on prepared spells, make sure to drop Compelled Duel so you can pick up two level 3 spells.
Level 9 Paladin Prepared Spells: Searing Smite, Thunderous Smite, Shield of Faith, Divine Favour, Cure Wounds, Command, Protection from Evil and Good, Branding Smite, Magic Weapon, Lessor Restoration, Blinding Smite, Elemental Weapon.
The level 10 Oath of the Ancient Paladin unlocks the following in Baldur’s Gate 3:
Gameplay remains unchanged at this level with more utility.
The Level 10 Paladin Prepared Spells: Searing Smite, Thunderous Smite, Shield of Faith, Divine Favour, Cure Wounds, Command, Protection from Evil and Good, Branding Smite, Magic Weapon, Lessor Restoration, Blinding Smite, Elemental Weapon, Revive.
At level 11 the Paladin doesn’t get much beyond an extra spell and another level 3 spell slot. I recommend spending the last two levels multi-classing this class. Investing two levels into Fighter will give you a passive +1 Armour Class (AC) for using armor and a god-tier skill, action surge. If you want to stick with Paladin, you’re able to choose another spell at this level, and at level 12 pick +2 Strength feat. However, I suggest taking two levels into Fighter to increase your action potential, which increases your damage significantly.
Having 20 Strength with another Ability Improvement is great. However, you get even more with potions of Hill Giant, 21 and 27 depending on the usage. I typically do not recommend multi-classing, but the Paladin can really benefit from another action once per fight.
If you multi-class, this level will feel uneventful, but trust me it’ll be worth it. Prepared Spells remain unchanged from here on out.
With two levels into Fighter, you get access to the awe-inspiring Action Surge. You get an extra action, but the biggest strength is, that it doesn’t require any resources to use it. Action Surge is a once-per-fight usage, but it allows you to cast another spell, attack, dash, etc. It gives you that extra oomph that no other class has.
You take your Paladin with Extra Attack and give it Action Surge for 2x more attacks. You can take this a step further by using either a Potion of Haste or casting Haste on yourself. Then you get another action! If you did the math on that:
The Paladin at level 12 with this setup has so much firepower it’s remarkable. Again, if you wanted a traditional Paladin for all 12 levels, take Ability Improvement +2 Strength or the Alert feat which helps with going early in combat. We hope you enjoyed this build check out the gear section for more and continue with Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Paladin Oath of Ancients Build Guide.
Best Gear for Baldur’s Gate 3 Paladin Oath of the Ancients Build
Beginner: Starting the Game
Here’s the best beginner gear for Paladin Oath of the Ancients Build in Baldur’s Gate 3:
List of best Oath of the Ancients Paladin Equipment in Act 1:
Advanced: End-Game
The following table presents the best advanced and end-game gear for Paladin Oath of the Ancients Build in Baldur’s Gate 3:
Below is a list of the best Act 3 Equipment for the Oath of the Ancients Paladin Build:
Best Oath of the Ancients Paladin Consumables, Potions, and Items
The following list represents the best individual useconsumableitems that will aid in our Paladin Build:
Permanent Bonuses
Throughout Baldur’s Gate 3, you will have the ability to gain permanent bonuses to your character. These can grant additional spells, ability scores, and other bonuses. Permanent Bonuses are not displayed throughout the campaign but are vital to increase overall combat performance. We have all permanent bonuses here in a guide, but the most important ones for you to collect are listed below.
Best Permanent Bonuses for Oath of Ancients in Baldur’s Gate 3
Oath of the Ancients Paladin Combat, Gameplay, and Tips
The Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Paladin Oath of Ancients Build Guide uses the best combination of melee, single target damage, healing, and crowd control to survive and fight. Here are 10 gameplay tips specifically for playing an Oath of the Ancient Paladin in Baldur’s Gate 3:
Oath of the Ancients Paladin Changes in Patch 7 for BG3
The Oath of the Ancients Paladin class didn’t receive any balance changes in Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 7. Consequently, nothing major has changed if you’re already familiar with how the class works.
The big focus of this patch is on mods. Larian Studios has introduced a modding toolkit and an in-game mod manager, so players can now create and install mods directly within the game. This update lets the community take creative control, allowing players to make their content and expand the game’s story in new ways. As a result, this Oath of the Ancients build guide stays the same in Patch 7.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Paladin Oath of Ancients Build Summary Guide
Looking For More About Baldur’s Gate 3?
Thank you for reading Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Paladin Oath of Ancients Build Guide guide. We provide the latest news and create guides for Baldur’s Gate 3. Also, watch me play games onTwitchor visit myYouTubechannel!
