D&D 5E Devotion Paladin Optimized

[Tyler Dunn]

Is it possible for a devotion paladin to be considered "optimized" as a tank?

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

They can wear heavy armour, use shields, have access to buff spells and can pick up feats almost as well as anyone else.

You're probably going to have to clarify what sort of "optimisation" you mean: its not as if a high level of minmaxing is required, or even encouraged for 5th ed.

What sort of thing do you need a "tank" to do, and where do you think that Devotion paladins might have an issue doing it?

 

[5ekyu]

One thing I would look at is how well does the role fit the oath?

Mechanically one can optimize for any role but if you then get pulled out of role by demands of your oath, that becomes a counter-productive pairing.

 

[PsyzhranV2]

If by "tank", you mean soaking damage that would otherwise go to the party squishies and by forcing attention on yourself, no. The Oath spells are mostly utility and party buffs, and their Channel Divinity is for boosting DPR. They're not quite as Smite-happy as Vengeance, but still can pump out respectable damage and should focus on doing so.

Crown and Redemption make better dedicated tanks, as both get better spells to debuff enemies, and can make themselves in the enemy sights by interfering with their ability to attack other people in the party - both can divert damage done to other party members to themselves, and Crown's Champion Challenge is effectively a multi-target Compelled Duel while Redemption's Rebuke the Violent can finish off audacious enemies but at the cost of a reaction. However, they may need healer support or they'll rack up a lot of damage taken pretty quickly.

 

[Tyler Dunn]

If by "tank", you mean soaking damage that would otherwise go to the party squishies and by forcing attention on yourself, no. The Oath spells are mostly utility and party buffs, and their Channel Divinity is for boosting DPR. They're not quite as Smite-happy as Vengeance, but still can pump out respectable damage and should focus on doing so.

Crown and Redemption make better dedicated tanks, as both get better spells to debuff enemies, and can make themselves in the enemy sights by interfering with their ability to attack other people in the party - both can divert damage done to other party members to themselves, and Crown's Champion Challenge is effectively a multi-target Compelled Duel while Redemption's Rebuke the Violent can finish off audacious enemies but at the cost of a reaction. However, they may need healer support or they'll rack up a lot of damage taken pretty quickly.

What role would the Devotion Paladin be suited for then?

 

[PsyzhranV2]

What role would the Devotion Paladin be suited for then?

Primary damage dealer + secondary healer/support. Channel Divinity: Sacred Weapon increases your weapon accuracy, meaning you'll hit more often and get a higher average DPR. You still have support abilities like all Paladins, and the Oath Spells that you'd typically use in combat are geared towards keeping your allies alive, but you don't get as much features to hinder or distract enemies like other Paladin subclasses do, so your best crowd control is just killing them as fast as possible.

 

[FrogReaver]

Is it possible for a devotion paladin to be considered "optimized" as a tank?

Yes. Paladin's make some of the best tanks. Most oath's in general add very little to tanking. Oath of devotion does okay there. The channel divinity is great for Paladin tanking when prebuffed. The immune to charm aura is also very good. Access to the sanctuary spell also greatly helps with tanking.

Oath of devotion is one Paladin type that I would build charisma primary as opposed to str primary.

Here's how it works in a perfect world. You have 21 AC due to plate, shield and defensive style. You prebuff with sacred weapon. You Cast Wrathful Smite and attack and hit. The enemy fails it's saving throw and is now frightened. The enemy has disadvantage on attacks to everyone and the only way to end that condition is to attack the paladin, thus providing an incentive for the enemy to attack your paladin. If that wasn't enough you can also bonus action out sanctuary to further deter an enemy from attacking a specific ally. In addition you also can save divine smite solely for OA's and make very high damage OA's be an additional deterent. You are immune to some of the more annoying status effects (charm and fear) and you have super high saving throws across the board for everything else due to going charisma.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

All paladins have high survivability. Some paladin oaths have access to abilities that use game mechanics to make enemies attack them. The Oath of Devotion doesn't, but it does have a very high damage output, so ignoring it may not be good enemy strategy anyway. Depending on playstyle it may be sufficient to simply stand in the front.

On the whole it's not really necessary to "optimise" a character in 5e anyway. It's not competitive to the degree that an online game is, and the DM will often adjust the difficulty to suit the players and party.