Paladin skills
wadsworth
Member Posts: 2
I'm new to d&d and baldur's gate. I'm running a paladin and I don't know what skills to take. Any help would be greatly appreciated
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However, there are no hard and fast rules about this. You could equally use a long sword or bastard sword and shield, or dual-wield with a long sword and a mace or any other combination of weapons. For that matter, so long as you are not a cavalier (they cannot use missile weapons except throwing axes and daggers) you could use a composite longbow.
There is also a bastard sword, but comes very late and is less powerful.
- Fighting skills: Paladins, fighters and rangers have the best fighting skills in the game because they can apply two or more proficiency points in a weapon, have many hit points, their thac0 (chance to hit modifier) gets improved by level and they can use heavy armor and shields .
-Lay on hands : the lay on hands ability allows a paladin to heal 2 hps per level by touching himself or an ally. It can be used 1x a day.
-Turn undead : at level 3 a paladin can turn undead just like a cleric , this ability scares off undead creatures that are less powerful than you. It's not very powerful at the begining bit it really helps when you're being cornered by undead. You can use it whenever you want but while using it yoi cannot perform any other action except moving around.
-Protection from evil: paladins can protect themselves and others from evil. It gives you a slight ac protection from evil creatures is cumulative with other protections, not to mention that 99% of the enemies in the game are evil so it comes in handy.
-detect evil: it detects evil creatures next to you. It is a more situational skill but it becomes more relevant in BG2.
-Improved saving throws: paladins gain a permanent +2 bonus to saving throws.
-Divine spells: at level 9 they can cast divine spells like a level 1 cleric.
That said, a paladin is an excellent tank amd damage dealer with some extra protections and a good choice for beginners. Remember that you cannot commit evil actions or you lose paladin status.
If you are new to the game, though, you might consider restarting as a half-elven ranger/cleric which would give you the same general flavor as a paladin without worrying about the paladin's code of conduct. You can cast cleric spells while wearing armor and rangers receive two pips in two-weapon fighting for free, which is a nice benefit in BG1. For that build you'd generally want to put two pips in mace and two in flail or hammer.
You should play the class that appeals to you, and Paladins are both very powerful, and easy + fun to play (obviously OP knows that when you roll a lawful good epitome of goodness, you should act like one)
The one handed sword is technically a bit weaker, but you can also pair it with a shield or another weapon. For this reason, I think the bastard sword is actually better than the two handed one.
Of course two-weapon fighting and two-handed swords do more damage but I do not care for the least bit of damage, both BG games are not too hard and it is fun to develop the character in the way you want him to be... well to rp the game .
Nonetheless I agree with everything stated here!
Many good reasons have been given for two handed sword and it is the obvious choice for a paladin in BG2. There are also a couple of great options in BG1, although you lose the option to use a shield.
I like mace because there are good mace options in BG1, in BG2 you will tend to want to go two handed sword with your paladin most of the time but there is a very nice mace that is good against undead that you can swap to when needed and also some enemies are resistant to slashing damage.
Axes are also a nice choice as there are powerful options in BG2 and there are returning throwing axes in both games, they give you a ranged option, even if you went cavalier.
Since you can't go beyond specialization (two dots) in a weapon as a paladin, you'll have enough to become good at using multiple types of weapons eventually. Try things out and keep an eye on any interesting magic weapons you pick up. Then that information can inform your future characters.
I don't like the exposed, vulnerable fighting style with a two-handed sword. I go with longsword and shield in BG1 and dual-wielding in BG2.
For BG1, it makes sense to put points into a blunt weapon like morningstar or mace in the future. There will eventually be enemies with high resistance to slashing damage, especially if you decide to continue into SoD.
It's true that the best weapon in BG2 can only be used by paladins and is a two-handed sword, but I've never used it. To me, it simply belongs to Keldorn.