The Best Feats for Paladins in Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) Fifth Edition (5E)

Paladins act as powerful warriors, secondary healers, and the party’s first line against Undead and Fiends. In addition, the Paladin’s greatest strength lies in its powerful Aura. Beyond that, the Paladin serves as a frontline warrior and needs a solid ability to hit as well as the hit points to protect the weaker classes. In addition to choosing your equipment and your spells, Feats are where you get to truly customize your character. Below is a list of some of the best choices for your Paladin.

Sentinel:

There truly isn’t a better feat for the Paladin as a frontline character that acts as a protector of the weak. Sentinel is a feat that is designed to stop enemies from getting past you to your party members, and also preventing enemies from running away when it is time to finish them off. When a character with Sentinel hits with an opportunity attack, the creature's speed is reduced to 0. This means they are unable to move closer to your allies, or to move away. Even when an enemy disengages from you, a Character with the Sentinel Feat still gets an Attack of Opportunity. In addition, when a creature in melee makes an attack against another target that isn’t you, you can use your reaction to automatically attack them yourself. In most cases, saving your reaction to stop an enemy is more useful though.

Shield Master:

Most Paladins use shields to boost their AC, as their damage usually comes from their spells and Divine Smite rather than using a larger weapon. A Paladin with Shield Master, can use their shield as a weapon, allowing them to use a bonus action to shove an enemy that they have just attacked, potentially knocking them prone, allowing their allies to attack with advantage. In addition, the Paladin can add their Shield’s AC bonus to saves made against spell attacks and negates damage entirely from spells like Fireball if they succeed on their Dexterity save. This gives them an ability akin to the Rogue’s ability Evasion as long as they have their shield equipped.

Great Weapon Master:

If you are a Paladin that doesn’t use a shield, and instead rely on a large two handed weapon to do large amounts of damage. Great Weapon Master allows you to subtract 5 from your attack roll in exchange for +10 to damage. This, along with Divine Smite can lead the Paladin to hammering enemies with powerful swings. In addition, when the Paladin crits or knocks an enemy to 0, they can attack again, giving the Paladin the ability to deal even more damage.

Alert:

Alert gives a paladin +5 to their initiative and prevents them from being surprised. This guarantees that the Paladin will go first or very early in a given combat, which might allow them to deal large amounts of damage, eliminating smaller minions or setting themselves in between their enemies and their allies, allowing them to act better as a Tank.

Polearm Master:

Polearm Master allows the character to make additional attacks as a bonus action, and gives additional reach, allowing the Paladin to hit more opponents without having to move as far. A very powerful build pairs the Polearm Master Feat with the Sentinel Feat in order to cover the battlefield and prevent as much enemy movement as possible.

Heavy Armor Master:

Lastly, Heavy Armor Master grants +1 to Strength and reduces the damage that the Paladin takes over time, which makes the Paladin a good tank as they will last longer before needing to be healed. While not the best feat on the list, it can be a worthwhile feat to consider if you are your party’s only frontliner.

If you like this article or any others I have written, consider liking, subscribing, tipping or pledging here on Vocal as it really helps me continue writing! If you are looking for other Paladin Articles check out the links below!

• Backstory Ideas for Paladins
• Magic Items for Paladins

If you're looking for the best feat choices for any other class, simply follow the links below!

• Artificer
• Barbarian
• Bard
• Cleric
• Druid
• Fighter
• Monk
• Paladin
• Ranger
• Rogue
• Sorcerer
• Warlock
• Wizard