quick links
- Oath of the Crown
- Oath of the Overseers
- Oath of loyalty
- Oath of Redemption
- Oath of Vengeance
- sworn
- Oath of the Ancients
- Oath of Conquest
- Pledge of Allegiance
Paladins insidethey have always been a strong class for both their durability and their usefulness in a party. It's a great combo class that gives players options for damage, healing and defense. There are many useful options for Oaths, the Paladin archetypes that fit nicely with your character and the type of Paladin you want to be.
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If you are stuck on which onePaladins edfor you to choose, we provide the strengths of each subcategory. We also cover how useful each Oath makes your Paladin to themselves and their party, including options for the best lore, roleplay, and customization options.
Updated on January 16, 2023 by Jerel Levy:With so much Paladin Subclasses There are many ways to create a Paladin that fits your unique playstyle. With options in the Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Xanathatr's Guide to Everything, Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, Tashha's Cauldron of Everything, and even more sourcebooks, Paladins proves to be your one-stop shop for versatile gaming options. Although known as Pillars of Justice, some Paladin options like Oathbreaker allow you to take a more subtle route. We've updated this list to include all official D&D Paladin subclasses published.
Oath of the Crown
Krone Ed | |
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Source | Sword Coast Adventure Guide |
Ideal fighting styles | Blind fight, eavesdropping |
The role of the party | Defense, Healing |
The crown oath is forPaladins who believe in the ideals of civilization above all else. This oath believes that being just and moral in society is of the utmost importance, and its practitioners work to protect their civilizations from encroaching and barbaric tribes.
If you want that kind of character development, the crown is a good oath to consider, but it comes at a costbe mechanically inferior to virtually all other options.
This oath feels inferior because it thinksPaladins are often expected to be able to heal in one stab, as well as keeping opponents busy and tied up.
The Crown Oath can do both, but in largely ineffective ways compared to other oaths.
If you don't mind being relatively inefficient, there's nothing wrong with this option. It's also a decent subcategory for RPG potential.
Oath of the Overseers
Oath of the Guards | |
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Source | Tasha's cauldron of everything |
Main advantage | Extra bonus when fighting off-plane creatures. |
Ideal fighting styles | Blessed warrior, defense |
Partiroller | Damage or defense |
This sub is mostly great at what it doesseek out, fight and destroy different creatures from different planes of existence. This is effective on units that have off-plane monsters as opponents, such asGo down to Avernus.
This subcategory focuses onvigilance and faith. While they specialize in off-plane situations, they can be useful as spies orto locate urans, fey, demons,and the like,causing further damageto these enemies of the other world.
These monsters sometimes appear in other adventures, but there is also the possibility that you will not fight them at all. This specialization is useful if you're ready to use it, but it's too occasional otherwise to recommend.
Oath of loyalty
Oath of loyalty | |
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Source | Tasha's cauldron of everything |
Main advantage | Focuses on athleticism and has some bonuses to Charisma checks at later levels. |
Ideal fighting styles | Defend, blessed warrior |
The role of the party | Defense, Healing |
The goal here seems to be to create a Paladin with more of an ancient Greek aesthetic in the spirit of ancient heroes like Achilles that functions at a certain level. However, only more experienced players can pick up this subclass and play it as an effective defender or healer.
This subcategory is aboutthe embodiment of heroism. Grow your body and mind, be an exemplary hero who enthusiastically embraces every challenge and inspires those around you. it's great for role playing aThe paladin who will become a living legend.
With advantages in attack, some crowd control and team support, it is a good choice as a subclass. If the party needs a character who canthey act as a support class while also being the public face of the group, Oath of Glory could fill that gap perfectly.
Oath of Redemption
Oats of Redemption | |
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Source | Xanathar's Guide to Everything |
Main advantage | Focus on preventing damage and de-escalating conflicts. |
Ideal fighting styles | Defense, Interception |
The role of the party | Defense, Healing |
Redemption Paladins are clean and more traditional in their role designpeace, innocence, patience and wisdom highly valued. It is more common to see them in a defensive position, but they can do that too isadapted to be effective healers.
If an ally takes damage within its aura, willRedemption Paladin redirects this damage to himself, which is selfless, but also dangerous if used carelessly.
At high levels, this is something negatedachieve resistance to damagewhich can help keep playstyle consistent even against stronger opponents. This is a generally decent option for keeping allies safe. Oath of Redemption can be one of the more interesting options for those who want a challenge rather than just hitting an opponent as hard as possible.
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Oath of Vengeance
Oath of Vengeance | |
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Source | D&D Player's Handbook |
Main advantage | The ability to focus on an opponent and punish them severely by limiting their movement and getting an attack of chance against them. |
Ideal fighting styles | Great Weapon Proficiency |
The role of the party | Damage |
Taking the Oath of Vengeance sets the Paladin on a path to punish anyone who would commit a grave sin. If one has been wronged, whether by little goblins or a fearsome dragon,Vengeance Paladins try to make things right through physical confrontation.
While Vengeance Paladins are great to play, they aren't nearly as focused on keeping their team safe, at least not in the same direct way. You could argue that focusing on a single problematic opponent protects allies from damage, but that's less true when you're facing enemies in greater numbers.
Don't expect any crowd control, but one-on-one combat can be exciting, with ways to force an advantage against your enemy, among other tricks.
sworn
sworn | |
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Source | Dungeon Master's Guide |
Main advantage | Bonuses for fighting the undead and a wider range of possible morale adjustments. |
Ideal fighting styles | Great weapon skills, blind fights |
The role of the party | Damage |
The Fallen Paladin archetype is one you can enjoy if you don't want to be limited by other Paladin spells. These Paladins aren't that versatile in terms of their role in the party, almost exclusively taking a melee damage role, but the damage they can do is extensive.
A category previously limited to NPCs or homebrewers, the Oathbreaker in the Dungeon Master's Guide is fun, but centered around a specific gimmick.
Still, it's an exciting concept with a lot of interesting role-playing opportunities.
They have some AoE skills and can deal with undead, practical abilities that Paladins don't normally have. They are so high on the list because their specialty ultimately allows themgain resistance to some of the more common damage types,control the undead, use AoE and crowd control, andeventually return through the Atonementif they wish, a fun aspect of the role-playing game once their mission is complete.
Oath of the Ancients
Oath of the Ancients | |
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Source | D&D Player's Handbook |
Main advantage | A close connection to the natural world, with abilities similar to Druids and Rangers. |
Ideal fighting styles | Protection, duel |
Partirolle | Defense, Damage |
The Oath of the Ancients is for those who wish to protect all that is good everywhere. Adorned with insignia and decoration that look more Druid than anything else,Ancient Paladins gain abilities befitting their commitment to preserving nature.
Aura of Warding is one of the best abilities any Paladin Oath has to offer, provides usefulresistance to spell damage.
This might fall into the realm of occasionally useful, but in a large magical campaign, Oath of the Ancients is a great choice to keep the party in good shape against magical threats. This is still a solid choice for an oath at higher levels,provides even greater benefit and quick healing.
Oath of Conquest
Oath of Conquest | |
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Source | Xanathar's Guide to Everything |
Main advantage | It lowers targets and has powerful crowd control abilities. |
Ideal fighting styles | Defense, Interception |
The role of the party | Defense |
Conquest Paladins isexperts in one-on-one combat and keeping their enemies in one place, makes themgreat for crowd control.They also open themselves up to being targeted if they are the only party member in range.
Aura of Conquest makes this dominant playstyle,resetting the speed of affected opponents through fear.
In terms of RPGs, Conquest Paladins could be another take on the Fallen Paladin concept with the ability to go bad in all but name. They want to crush their enemies in any way they can.
This may includein consultation with the forces of the Nine Kolads,with many supporting the archdevil Bel, warlord of Avernus. This Oath is anything but boring, but it does require players to have a good understanding of who their character is and what motivates them in order for this Oath choice to make sense.
Pledge of Allegiance
Pledge of Allegiance | |
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Source | D&D Player's Handbook |
Main advantage | The classic build with a combination of defense, damage and healing abilities. |
Ideal fighting styles | Great weapon skills, defense |
The role of the party | Damage, Healing, Defense |
The number one spot goes to Devotion Paladins. Despite being the vanilla class choice, they embody every stereotype of the strong-willed person who only wants the most ideal version of justice, virtue and order. These are also known as Cavaliers, White Knights and Holy Warriors.
Those who take the Pledge of Allegiance can expect a strong class, medstrong properties in Light damage, an improved undead turn compared to a Cleric, and ward off charm through their aura. Any party will always have room for a capable Devotion Paladin, and it's hard to go wrong with such a choice.
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