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i've watched a whole lot of youtube over the years.. and these have to be 2 of the nerdiest nerds that have ever nerded. nothing makes me smile more than seeing people who love their hobby so much that you can see it all over their home :) keep it up, guys, you are an inspiration. and very entertaining to watch as well

for those who haved watch critical role (possible spoilers for those who haven't caught up to the current campaign) : Vaxil'dan was an assassin rogue/ vengeance paladin using two daggers..sneak attack plus divine smite made him a damage monster 0_0 and he was a dexadin

I’m playing a kobold paladin in my next campaign, so this video was a big help for building her character sheet. Now I’m feeling a lot better about not getting her killed in the first session 😄

I once rolled godlike stats in my early days of 5E, and created a Halfling Dex-based Paladin with it (I rolled so well that I still had a 14 in Strength, 20 in dex, 16 in Cha and Con). He was an absolute beast in combat, and also REALLY fun to roleplay - he was a really young Halfling (I think 17 which is far from an adult for Halflings), so he had to deal with lots of people seriously mistaking him for a child. Originally I was going to make him take the Oath of Ancients, as he was a rather happy and friendly guy. THEN, completely horrifying shit happened in the session that actually let him get to level 3 (he got melted into a sentient puddle of water for a good while...), which mentally scarred him and he became a Vengeance Paladin instead. He became an all-black wearing sneaky Paladin asshole that once landed a nat 20 uppercut into the balls of a new party member that accidentally insulted him (we rolled it just for fun and all had a blast laughing imagining a character just drop to the ground clutching their crown jewels and wimpering). Sadly the whole thing ended before he could make an alliance with the local demonic witch to become a Fiend Warlock/Vengeance Paladin mix.

A dexadin is one of the reasons why I was so hype for Redemption Paladin, as the old armour ability they had encouraged to put some thought into using dex.

Extra benefit of goblin Dex-adin with rapier, shield, shield master, and dueling. Knock em prone, crit smite with fury of the small added on. 2d8+(2xsmite damage)+any enchantment damage (and any doubling needed there for like a flame tongue or something) +Dex+Level+2.

Rapier is the most common weapon for this build but I'd think the whip would have got an honorable mention since dueling style while smiting at reach while still getting the benefit of a shield also helps overcomes the poor damage dice of that weapon.

... I actually talked with a friend about the Dex Paladin build a few months back. I considered Whip as a weapon alongside the Rapier, because a Divine Smite from 10 feet away with a Finesse weapon is quite nice. He took a look at the build's gear and asked why I built Simon Belmont.

I heard a story about a Paladin (presumably unarmored) who pretended to be a very friendly, upbeat Barbarian. His encouraging claps on the back were a stealth Lay on Hands. The way I heard the story, his group were none the wiser.

I play as a dexadin, a drow who is into protection and is torn between the duty of family and pulled between Lolth and Helm. It’s great fun.

My current character is the dex goblin paladin, dual wielding a rapier and a whip. 10/10, good times

Here’s an idea: Tabaxi Paladin/Rogue (Swashbuckler).

A paladin must be Bold. KoBold.

I'm playing a Dex-Paladin in my current campaign. Here's what I got: Level 4 Half-Elf - 18 Dex, 14 Con, 15 CHA - Defense Fighting Style - Studded Leather, and a shield. 19 AC but that's NOT including Shield of Faith. That combo when I use finesse or ranged weapons, and I am FINE.

I played a half-elf ancients dexadin with the lucky feat at lvl8 in Curse of Strahd and after lvl7 when the aura of warding came online he was pretty much untouchable (more so after taking lucky). Went with the dueling style to have higher damage output. After that I played him through Tomb of Horrors and again, so useful to have those high dex saves. Now I'll play him in a lvl16-20 homebrew, so looking forward to it

My wife's first character and her favorite so far is a dex based Paladin. Forrest gnome Paladin of the Ancients. Rapier and a short bow is her choice of weapons and leather armor. She does have some magic items that help her armor class as well. Pretty kick butt fire red-haired gnome.

When nothing else will do, Dexadin!

For all who plan on playing a DEX based Paladin and want to multiclass: that is unfortunately a Very hard thing to do. Since you would have to meet the prerequisites of BOTH classes when multiclassing. That is.. min 13 CHA and min 13 STR for Paladin. -- Just as a heads-up for others, before they'd start a campaign and maybe notice that too late. // Still though, even taking the muliclass option out, Dexadin is an awsome character!

That would be just perfect for a "3 Musketeers and D'Artagnan" style of concept, either for a character or a whole campaign

Nerdarchists, you have overlooked Protection coupled with the Defensive duelist feat. A Dexadin could make for a good bodyguard style character. I have been tooling with a protect-adin lately and then this vid popped into my feed. And your Dexadin just might solve some of my issues. Thank you both very much.

I'm playing a Kobold Conquest Dexadin Hellknight of Asmodeus for my playthrough of Descent into Avernus and it's been fun as all heck. Pack tactics ftw!

I've played an ancients dexadin up to lvl15 (first in curse of strahd and then in a homebrew from 11-15, soon to continue that homebrew campaign at lvl16) and man is he good. 20dex, 18cha, lucky feat... Good luck touching him, even with fireballs the damage he takes is usually quite low. I use dueling style to hit harder. My favorite PC in this edition, hands down

If anyone has ever played Dissidia, Warrior of Light’s Shield of Light attack is basically the shield bash with a smite.

Since finess is now a weapon quality, you could enchant a heavy weapon "to be light in the hands of the one attuned to it" while remaing heavy to everyone else who inteacts with it. So you have a magoc weapon that has the heavy property and the finess property. Excellent for Dexadins.

I had built a similar character just a couple weeks ago for a fill in spot at 11th level. Went with medium armor master, and was very hard to hit. Great build!

One of the builds I wanna try and do is a Oath of Vengeance Paladin and take 3 levels of Rogue to be a Swashbuckler. You get the bonus to Initiative equal to your CHA, and get the benefits of the Mobile feat minus the additional 10ft. Adding in Sneak Attack boosts your overall damage up, works with or without your allies around you and being a Rogue gives you extra things to do with your Cunning Action if need be. So not only does your Cha now give you additions to your Saving Throws, you also get it for initiative. 20 DEX and 20 CHA means you'll likely pass every Dex save, but now you have +10 Initiative to hopefully set up your turn. Hunter's Mark an enemy, then get in there and just start whacking. Vow of Enmity lets you fish for crits for your smites and Relentless Avenger lets you stick to them like glue. Starting as a Rogue, you also get more proficiencies and tools in your arsenal. I also considered going with a whip for ranged smites/sneak attack, and this helps you with your Relentless Avenger, letting you chase down enemies who aren't close enough to you. As well, it breaks away from the usual "Sword and board and you go Whip and Board instead In case anyone wanted a short story on the PC idea, the idea is that the character was a Swashbuckler, and was then backstabbed by his allies. As he is bleeding out on the ground, his strong desire for vengeance on those who wronged him gives him the power to live and to now seek out vengeance for himself.

Thank you for this guide. Planning a Dexadin for a homebrew because the setting doesn't allow for Strength-focused builds as much.

Some very good ideas! I could see a Wood Elf Oath of the Ancients Pal rock high Dex and hit with a Rapier. One other build I heard of is some weird Paladin/Hexblade Warlock multiclass where your cqc "hitting" stat is your Charisma.

Id love to see you guys have a discussion about a monk/paladin build

I'm currently playing a Half Elf Vengeance Paladin that uses Dex It's really nice to still get my smotes and not screw up the party's stealth. I also took the Elven Accuracy feat, which lets me re-roll a d20 when I have advantage on the attack. When used with my Vow of Enmity, things get really nasty. BBEGs don't last very long against this

Got an aasimar dex based paladin, but started as a rogue. He is now 12 rogue and 8 paladin for that wonderful mix of sneak attack and smiting. It’s glorious

I really want to play a Halfling or Gnome Paladin so this was really helpful! Thanks!!!

My main I tried to make a ranged dx paladin. It didn't work as well as I thought, but when I removed him as equal parts bard he started working real well.

My DM has set the latest campaign island hopping some haunted isles making my lightfoot-halfling dex/protection/ paladin a very fun tank to play. I dipped one level of rogue to start so I used fancy maneuvering to slip through opponents spaces to establish a flank, then slip back to reposition next to my melee dmg dealers so I can assert disadvantage should they be targeted. I wear light armor so don't risk sinking during the many swim scenarios, but still rock a high ac with shield on. I can't 2H weapon for big smites but he's been a fun little departure from tradition and he fits well in the landing party incursions. I love the dex stat.

Rapier, shield and defensive dueler. I love that combination in paladin

I'm working on a Satyr Dex based paladin now. I'm thinking Oath of Glory's peerless athlete would pair well with Satyr's mirthful leaps and shield mastery to make an interesting combo move.

3 years later, I am playing a Dex Paladin very soon in a campaign that I think is probably the best way to play it. My DM gave us all a free feat at level 1 and let me take Elf restricted feats on a Half-Elf tbf, but he's a Half Elf Vengeance Paladin wielding a double bladed scimitar, with the Revenant Blade and Elven Accuray feats. The build works on an Eldarin or a Drow too, but I like it best on a Half-Elf. At level 4 I have 18 Dex, 16 Con, 16 Cha, and in Half Plate I have AC of 19 with the Defense fighting style. Also, Great Weapon fighting works with Dex builds, as it doesn't require a heavy weapon, just a two handed or versatile weapon. Defense is still better though

An option I'm not seeing discussed for the dex paladin here are the ranged/semi ranged options of either using a bow or hand crossbow. If you take crossbow expert that can give you an extra little boost to your damage in melee (also can allow for a more inquisitor style paladin to dish out poisons or potentially tranquillisers) Versus the ranged dex paladin allows you to do some nice things if you have a few more martials in the party, of hanging back with the casters and using your aura on them, for example, giving them advantage of spell saves from enemy casters if you go oath of the ancients. I can't remember entirely if you can smite on ranged weapon attacks, but I believe you can regardless if you fancy taking few level dip into hexblade warlock that will give you Eldritch Smite(which can be applied on the same attack as a normal smite), improved pact of the blade and something nice like Beguiling Influence or Devil Sight. It also would give you at least a couple of slots of smite that you'd get back on a short rest (Plus you can have some more variation in smite if you pick up one or two via warlock)

Dueling is super helpful, defence also helpful. Half elf is best race for your Dex paladin. If you rolled like a god then go Aasimar whichever subrace you want I prefer protection or scourge Aasimar

I'm playing a dexadin atm, halfelf of course, hadn't thought about shield master feat! Thought about maybe multiclassing into celestial lock

Just started a 1st level campaign as a dex based Shadar Kai Paladin. Our DM let us all take a feat to start since 3 players insisted on playing variant human against his desire for this campaign, lol. I took magic initiate and snagged Warlock cantrips/spell: Eldritch blast, booming blade, and expeditious retreat. 16 dex and 16 charisma with bonuses included. Throw on a shield and I’m 17AC since I just sold my chain mail for a longbow and stocked quiver. Picked up studded leather with my +3 dex I’m gonna rain eldritch blasts and smited arrow like a rain of necrotic acid. Gonna take dueling for those moments of cqb, and dash off with exp retreat. I’m one of two melee fighters and the other is a monk, so my attack needs to be everything to support my party, but I had already decided on a Shadar Kai Dexadin before we all arrived. If I wanted a balanced paladin, there are PLENTY of better races. But my charisma and dex only getting higher as we go, I’ll be maxed out on Charisma and Dex before ever needing to be. Can’t wait to rp this character and flip around blasting things for my beloved Raven Queen…

I’m making a dex paladin oath of watchers. Can’t wait to see how it works.

Played a Dexadin with the spy/criminal background (we also homebrewed that I had the acolyte ability to be housed in churches) And I played as a sort of Inquisitor/witch hunter character. I eventually dipped rogue and went assassin, I duel wielded shortswords and nabbed magic initiate which my GM let me burn the spell slot from that to smite. It played well, I dumped smites in on any surprise round and one shot our first real BBEG as well as knocked out a lot of mini-boss/big monsters in his day. Felt good to have control over getting crit-smites in, and really hurt with sneak attack thrown in.

Playing a teifling paladin. Maxed out dex, picked defense, half plate, medium armor master, rapier, and defensive duelist for an AC of 21 plus 4 on reaction. Planning on picking up a +1 or 2 shield or armor asap because dex tank. Having an AC of 27 on reaction is just the best. Also took the shield master feat for a plus 2 to Dex saves for a total of plus 14. And half damage on fail and no damage on a success. Trying to see how far I can push that Dex save.

1:29 you can go elf and use a double bladed scimitar with the revanant blade feat to use great weapon fighting...

Me and some friends are playing a new dnd campaign . I'm dm and one of the players is a tortle who rolled high Dex and being a paladin. He chose a rapier, and is weildimg a sheild. So he can't wear armor as a tortle but naturally gets 17 ac + 2 from his shield so he's a pretty tanking defensive guy off the bat at lvl one. We also have an aarackra bard, and a dragomborne rogue with massive strength and okay Dec (I tried to convince him to take a more warrior based class but he thinks rogue just sounds so badass)

I personally think that one reason to go for dex paladin is dualwielding as it gives one more weapon attack to smite things with. I also just happened to make something similar to dex paladin, that is bladesinger paladin multiclass, ac is around 19 without any magic items, add to that shield spell and buff like haste and things get funny. And not only can you shine in burst damage like small supernova, you still have the utility of wizard and all the nice spells (and spellslots) of full caster. So MAD it is fun, also about con and wis being important both ended up at -1 mod

Isn't Deffenssive Dualist a great feat to take for a Dexedin? +AC against male attacks. Charger is also nice as you can rush mages.

I actually rolled a halfling Paladin / Monk who wears only a loose flowing shirt and looks like a miniaturized version of the generic guy from any aftershave ad. Oh and his paladin steed is an Auroch

I have a Tabaxi Paladin in a game I'm playing recently, never heard of the Dex based Paladin or even thought about it since I always went heavy armor. I don't go sword and board though and just wield dual scimitars. Went Defensive Fighting Style and picked up Dual Wielder to be able to draw both scimitars at once by RAW even if a lot of homebrew game DMs don't care and get another +1 to AC. And then I just go nuclear on the biggest target and empty Divine Smite after Smite with each hit. Since you can do so per attack. More chances to crit, more chances for Smite to do big damage, even if the bonus off-hand attack doesn't do my full damage. First Paladin I'm playing that isn't doing the double smite combo of some sort of spell Smite and then Divine Smite. But also drains resources a lot faster too. But I'm liking him.

I'm planning to make a paladin who fights with his fists, so a Tavern Brawler paladin with a history of alcohol, so he protects the drunk and the downthrodden. I dunno if it's going to be a dex or a str paladin.

I’ve never had a dedicated dex paladin but I did have Kyra the drow paladin, 14 dex 14 str she carried a heavy bow and a great sword. In hind sight I probably should have made her a fighter but she was fun nonetheless.

Not sure if this is the right place to pitch this idea but if you guys are looking for new and fun things to try: Take the Centaur race and Rogue class, at 3rd level go Thief subclass... doesn't the Second Story feature negate any penalties you incur for climbing as a Centaur? Can't wait to see what kind of cool thing you do with this. lol

Always enjoy your videos, guys! Nerdarchist Ted, I was a bit confused by your comment at 1:22 that as a Paladin you can add your CHA modifier to all saving throws? I can't figure out where that comes from. Can you (or someone else) clarify? I know this video is a few years old so perhaps something has changed, but I think it's more likely that I'm just missing something. (Unless -- heaven forbid! -- your statement was inaccurate! :-O )

i tought of rolling some kind of slim but hardy overbearing lawful character for possibly my first game and i was actually thinking if dexadin was a possibility. initially my thought process was that i wanted something probably elfy, probably some decent armor, maybe some spells. either wielding a shield and flail or dual wielding either 2 scimitars or 2 flails or 2 morningstars not totally sure. but dexadin seems to line up pretty well i guess. not sure on plated armor vs studded armor or going all in on dex though. suggestions?

Next is the Strouge (Pronounced Stroke)... Sneak attack with a Greatsword or Greataxe or both if we only had the Monkey Grip feat... any takers?

the way to make a dexadin is to multi class as a sorcerer of the draconic bloodline; you would get a +3 armor bonus(the same as studded leather) while not wearing armor and would be able to cast mage armor. with a +3 dexterity modifier and a shield, such a character would have an armor class of 18.

i play a resurrected tiefling rogue who was brought back by Bahamut to help place the rightful heir to his throne. The DM allowed me to keep my stats as is which fell right into a Dexadin.

Even though it doesn't give you additional dex lizard folk would be a good dexadin especially with its natural armor if you have a 16 in dex that's 16+shield so 18 more depending on your dex mod

I went halfling paladin, whip for Dex based smite at reach, then sentinel to keep my party safe, and protection as my fighting style to keep them safe when monsters advance to me and who I'm protecting.

I always wanted an eleven paladins who could smite with their bow.

One of my current Characters is a HalfElf Dex based Paladin with the Criminal background. I took Dueling style, wear studded leather and use a Rapier and a Whip as my weapons plus shield. Im also good with a bow of course. I went Oath of Treachery from UA and am having a blast playing it.

I did for a one shot, i went left field and grabbed the sharpshooter feat and 1 level fighter for archer fighting stle. He was deadly at any range. He either smited with his short sword or took the -5 accuracy, +10 damage with his long bow. Nothing escaped

I called mine a PalaDex. He wore Medium Armor and Shield and used a Rapier. He Charisma was his highest and was a powerful spellcaster. Criminal background.

I think you missed an obvious one in lizardman. Con increase and comparative ac of plate armour eventually

Dex-Paladin is easymode, try making an archer paladin work without any homebrew. (Hint, it doesn't, really, unless you change Improved Divine Strike at 11th to also work at range.)

Multiclass with Rogue, but don't tell anybody. "I sneak attack. Oh, and smite."

I'd like to see how to make a Achilles's like character lighter armor short and shield and high ac

My half-elven paladin is dex based and the only surviving member of the original party in COS. He has evolved to more of a spellcaster (20 cha, 16 dex) as the rest of the party has gone martial.

IK this is formatted toward 5th Ed...but can the be moved to older editions like 2.0/3.5?

I made a Half-Elf Paladin who has 18 in Dex, Con and Cha, paired with a shield and multiclass dipping one level into Barbarian for Unarmoured Defence; she has 20 AC and 67 HP at 5th level She had enough Str to multi-class dip so I thought why the heck not She has Protection which works well for protecting nearby allies I wonder what I should spend her 4 remaining ASI levels on (I already spent one on Magic Initiate Warlock)

been playing hyrarko the wood elf paladin of the ancients for over a year, he got super lucky and has ended up with 20 CHA, scimitar of speed, wand of fireballs and a rod of resurrection... to be fair the 20 was a tome after rolling a 18, the scimitar of speed was swapped with a +2 scimitar and a pile of cash of equivalent value to the speed, the fireball wand was given to me by the cleric and the rod ended up on my character because the cleric left the group the session we found it. to be fair he only has 16 dex but he's taken lucky and Magical initiate (warlock) for booming blade, Eldritch blast and hellish rebuke. overall the build works well and to be fair he doesn't need the magic items... just don't tell the DM that ;-)

I made a Dexadin based on simon belmont using Dueling fighting style and a whip with the human variant and mage slayer feat and mobile by fifth level

duel wielding paladin with 1 or 2 levels in fighter for duel wielding fighting style possibly, and focus on dex and not on charisma and using spell slots for just smites and buffs. 3 attacks with smites.....

I made a Goblin Dexadin, She’s fun to roleplay.

I figure that a Dexadin could forgo heavy armor until they get the Find Steed spell where, if they are always on a mount, then their movement penalty doesn’t matter anymore.

Soooooo, did we ever find out if one can use a shield bash with Holy Smite ?

it also give better options for ranged weapons for fighting enemies that are hard to get to

So going to be running something special for an upcoming one shot. The idea is a Half Elf Paladin 9 / Rogue 6, with the Variant Noble background. So the idea is he is a paladin of justice that operates as an undercover agent, rather than the typical knight in shining armor. The idea and philosophy of the character is he blends into crowds, and chases leads of plots, cults, etc. The whole thing of not being a clanking tin suit simply helps him do so, because everyone is on their best behavior with the standard knight on watch. Going more towards the odd end, I'm going Oath of Redemption and the Inquisitive (both in Xanathar's) which lends him to do his best to bring the criminals in alive, and going so far as to put his life on the line to ensure that the law is carried out to its fullest extent. Being inquisitive, he has trained his senses to best catch details others might miss, allowing him to pick up leads and clues to fit the story into place.

Working on a halfling paladin right now, thus me watching this video haha. I will be polite as a canadian, even as I'm bringing a smitey death, thrust by tiny thrust

Can there be a ranged base paladin with a bow?

I've played a DEX based paladin as a drow who dual wielding scimitars and wore half-plate.

Gobladin=OP

great vid

A dex based paladin, that is, being able to move around the field to draw attention and take hits and in exchange not being able to deal a lot of damage yourself, sounds like more of the proper tank role than a strength based one.

I ended up playing Egon, elven paladin of nature, but about halfway through the campaign one of us had to swear fealty to Puck in exchange for his help, so I ended up multuclassing into Warlock (happens a lot for me) and had a blast, eventually Oberon freed me from my bond with Puck (who turned out to be playing both sides as a grab for power) and I ended up serving Oberon. Canonically in the setting Egon is now the guardian of the Fey Kingdoms... And has his own legendary and lair actions now haha. It was not planned, I was just going to go full pally... But it was too good to pass for development

Im playing a dexadin right now. He's an arakocra... so flying dexadin for the win.

dexpaladin. multiclass rouge and paladin. sneak attack plus smite. definsive duelst adds your proficency to your ac. if you roll well theres a few great abilities to push health ac and constant damage with burst damage potential the normal paladin cant match even if it isnt always but the first attack could be the difference that wins the fight fight too

I checked the book and I'm a little confused how you're getting shield master knocks someone prone? The Feat says 5 feet, is there some other text that allows you to shove them five feet down?

I am trying to make a gobin mounted archer Rogue 1 Paladin 8 of Vengence Oath for the great synergy of spells and plot. Then Rogue Scout to 4. The idea was to make a mounted 3D mobile archer and the goblin was the idea you gave me. WOLF SPIDER MOUNT. Taking Mounted Combatant with Dex Point, Sharpshooter at level 8, Deep Gnome magic at Rogue 4. Super mobility and extra hide with Goblin and scout combo. Taking battlefield control spells, besides Find Steed. In love with the idea. Dying to test Goblin Rogue Paladin Cavalier. Backstory- escaped enslavement as rogue and now seeks vengence on all slave holders.

How about dual wielding dexadin?

Is a ranged-focus dexadin a smart choice?

Dexadin becomes more viable if you take levels in Hexblade, suddenly you don't need dex to hit, you can get that 16 in dex for MAM and then you've got the capped AC as well as Cha based attacks

I made a paladin that used Dex with scimitars it was fun

I want to see a dex based barbarian

The only annoying thing about a Dexadin is that you either take a compromised build that takes 13 strength, or you can't multiclass out of Paladin. However, if you take the Urchin background you are suddenly a Paladin who can sneak like a thief.

Meh I'm playing a Firbolg OotA Dex paladin. Is it optimal no. But I have pretty decent point spread. And I use whips tho because my character tries to not kill anyone. Just knock them out. But I don't think anyone would say my paladin is not serving that paladin role for the party.

Playing an Owlin Paladin/Rouge. Keeping light armour retain flying.

So Grung Dexadin (9lvl conquest) multiclassed with Runeknight (11lvl) would work nicely poison all your weapons so they'll have disadvantage on all their saving throws. MAKE WAY HERE COME"S KAIJU FROG!!!