Oathbreaker Paladin Build and Guide
Are you tired of having to follow your pesky Oaths? Do you want a little more freedom in your playthrough?
Well, I have the Paladin subclass for you! Introducing the hidden subclass, the Oathbreaker.
The Oathbreaker brings just more than a simple change in title, it offer’s a brand-new gameplay experience.
Although you cannot start as this subclass, you can gain it anytime after the prologue.
Find out where the Paladin ranks in our Baldur’s Gate 3 class tier list.
How to become an Oathbreaker Paladin (WARNING: Minor Spoilers!)
So, how do you become an Oathbreaker? Simply break your by killing the Tieflings guarding Lae’Zel.
There are many other ways but this would be the fastest if you want to harness the power of the Oathbreaker as fast as possible.
After the deeds are done, you will get a short cutscene. Rest, and you’ll be greeted by one of the best-hidden NPCs in the game, the Oathbreaker. Then, agree to become an Oathbreaker.
As an Oathbreaker, you lose all your class original subclass features which are replaced with Spiteful Suffering and Dreadful Aspect (you can pay a large fee of 2000 gold to get your original class features back.)
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Access to Necrotic damage
- High burst damage
- Can wear heavy armor and use most weapons
Cons
- Short range
- When out of spells does lackluster damage
- Losses ability to turn undead
The biggest advantage in playing the Oathbreaker is access to the necrotic damage spell, Spiteful Suffering. It replaces a defensive spell with a very good damage-over-time ability that works on CHA saves that most monsters will not pass.
Compare this to either of the Paladins sub-classes and you receive an enormous upgrade in damage. The downside being that you lose your very powerful Area of Effect (AoE) ability, Turn the Unholy. There are quite a few areas in chapter one where Turn Undead is useful.
At level three, Paladin Oath of the Ancients obtains Speak with Animals, unfortunately Oathbreaker Paladins do not. This means that Oathbreaker Paladins are missing possibly one of the best non-combat abilities in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Beginning at level three, the Oathbreaker Paladin learns a seriously powerful ability, Control Undead. This ability makes some encounters trivial, making a friend out of an enemy.
One last con is that the Oathbreaker Paladin does not offer many ranged options, so you may have to compensate by doing middling damage with thrown items such as Caustic grenades.
So, overall, Oathbreaker Paladin plays very similar to a standard Paladin but you are more frightening!
Character Creation
For your starting class, you can pick either Oath of Devotion or Oath of the Ancients. This does not really matter since we will be breaking the Oath as soon as possible. I recommend Oath of Devotion for Holy Rebuke which is a great early game ability.
Races, Background, and Skills
Now that we know how to obtain the Oathbreaker class let us start off with Character creation. Beginning with race, we want something that either gives movement speed or improved damage. I highly recommend the Wooded Elfs or Wooded Half-Elf as it gives a Fleet of Foot which increases your movement speed from 9m to 10.5 per round.
Alternatively, you can also go for the Half-Orc which gives the very coveted savage attack leading to incredible damage on critical hits.
Your Background should lean into your primary stats CHA and STR. The recommended starts being a Soldier or Outlander as they both have Athletics Proficiency.
Persuasion or Intimidation are a must, leaving you with one more of your choosing. Medicine or Insight are solid choices.
Stats are the most important decision you make in character creation, as they can make or break a build. Poor stat application can make any playthrough more difficult, or entirely unplayable.
As noted before, we want a high STR and CHA with Constitution (CON) and Wisdom (WIS) being your secondaries. Dexterity (DEX) and Intelligence (INT) are not so important since wearing heavy armor limits DEX’s bonus to AC and INT is not one of our damage or saving throw modifiers. Your stats should look something like this:
Equipment
Note that this guide goes up until Level 5 of Act 1 but we will have higher levels added very soon!
At the prologue, you can obtain the best two-handed sword in Act 1. Simply kill the demon that is fighting the mind flayer. Don’t worry, the demon will never attack since you can activate your Paladin Divine Sense and rush him down.
Another great weapon we can obtain relatively early is the Spellthief. Even though our DEX modifier is somewhat low it gives a great range of options as on a critical hit we can regain a level 1 spell slot. This can be obtained from Aunty Ethel in the Grove.
Boots of Speed can be found while exploring in the Underdark.
They are very powerful and can change the tide of battle almost immediately, allowing you to Smite several times in a row with a potion or cast of haste.
So how does Oathbreaker Paladin feel to play?
Amazing! At level 5, you should be able to rush down most villains within 2 turns. Even with upwards of 100 hit points, with a single critical strike you can deal massive damage. Your short range might be a problem for you finding your way into combat, which is why I advise having the Boots of Speed, giving you Dash as bonus action, rather than a full action.
Do not be afraid to enter combat a little wounded either. As a Paladin, you have one of the highest hit points in the game. Just make sure you keep updating your armor as you find it and you will be more than fine.
So overall a fifth level Oathbreaker Paladin should look to AoE as many foes as possible. In addition the Oathbearker Paladin should try to do as much damage as possible. In general, that means utilizing devastating Smites to push, knock back, and fear enemies all over the battlefield.
Take advantage of your athletics skill to jump, and your increased movement speed to stay on top of your foes. If you still have your level two spell slots take advantage of Crown of Madness to ruin their ranks.
Lastly, if you ever find yourself in a bad position take advantage of the Darkness spell to reorient your team to victory.
