The Best Paladin Build in Baldur’s Gate 3

Best Paladin Subclass

Oath of Vengeance is the best Paladin subclass for most players who want high damage. It gives you strong offensive tools and works well with Divine Smite.

This build is great for players who want to run into melee, hit hard, and burst down dangerous enemies quickly.

If you want a safer build with more healing and defense, Oath of the Ancients is also a strong choice.

Best Ability Scores

Strength should be your main stat because it increases your melee weapon damage and accuracy.

Charisma is also important because it helps your Paladin spells, dialogue checks, and later aura abilities. Constitution is useful for more health and better concentration.

A simple stat focus is Strength first, then Charisma and Constitution.

Best Fighting Style

Defence is one of the safest Fighting Styles because it gives extra Armour Class while wearing armor. This makes your Paladin harder to hit.

Great Weapon Fighting is better if you want more damage with two-handed weapons. Pick this if you plan to use greatswords, greataxes, or other heavy weapons.

For beginners, Defence is usually the easiest and safest choice.

Best Feats

Ability Improvement is one of the best choices because it lets you increase Strength or Charisma. More Strength means better melee damage and hit chance.

Great Weapon Master is strong if you are using a two-handed weapon. It can deal huge damage, especially when combined with Divine Smite, but it works best when your hit chance is already good.

Savage Attacker is also very good for Paladins because it helps improve melee damage rolls, including smite damage.

Best Weapons and Armour

Use heavy armour, a strong melee weapon, and a shield or two-handed weapon depending on your playstyle.

A sword and shield setup is safer and gives better defense. A two-handed weapon setup deals more damage and works better with Great Weapon Master.

Look for gear that improves Strength, Charisma, saving throws, Armour Class, or melee damage.

How to Play the Build

Your main job is to stay on the front line and delete important enemies with Divine Smite. Use normal attacks on weaker enemies and save your spell slots for big targets, bosses, or critical hits.

Do not waste all your smites too early. Paladin damage is very strong, but your spell slots are limited.

Use Lay on Hands when you or an ally needs emergency healing. You can also use support spells when needed, but most of your power comes from weapon attacks and smites.

Best Party Members

Paladin works well with party members who can control enemies, buff your attacks, or deal ranged damage.

Shadowheart is useful for healing and support. Gale can control groups with spells. Astarion can deal ranged or sneak attack damage. Lae’zel or Karlach can help you pressure enemies on the front line.

A good party lets your Paladin focus on what they do best: getting close and hitting hard.

Common Paladin Mistakes

Do not use Divine Smite on every small enemy. Save it for enemies that actually matter.

Do not ignore Charisma. Paladins are not just Strength characters, and Charisma helps a lot as you level up.

Also, be careful with your Oath choices. If you make decisions that break your Oath, you may become an Oathbreaker unless you pay to restore it.