In thisSolasta Crown of the Magister Paladin GuideI’m going to discuss myOath of the Motherland Paladin Build, and show you what works in terms of choosing the best Ancestry orRace,Background,Abilitiesand a lot more. If you’ve been looking for a way to play as a Paladin who can inflict great Fire and Melee Damage while staying highly resilient, then this Guide is for you.
Solasta Crown of the Magister Paladin Build Guide: Oath of the Motherland
Paladinsare champions of justice and virtue who intend to defeat the forces of evil regardless of the difficulties they may face along the way. They uphold their sacred oaths above all else because this is where they draw strength and power. Due to the Paladin’s tanky nature andProficiencywithSimpleandMartial Weapons, as well as allArmorand Shields, they make for excellent guardians.
As anOath of the Motherland Paladin, you’ll focus onCharisma,StrengthandConstitutionto increase the chances of hitting enemies withSpellsandMelee Weapons, and to maintain your commendable durability. You’ll also focus on protecting allies and dealing massive Fire Damage. In fact, you can even set strong enemies on fire to efficiently kill them.
Paladin Character Creation
In this section, we’ll discuss the best Paladin’s Ancestry, Background, Abilities,Skills, andLanguageto choose inCharacter Creation.
When it comes to Ancestry or Race,Humansmake for excellent Paladins because they receive a bonus of +1 to all of their Ability Scores. Because of this, Charisma, Strength, Constitution andWisdomcan all be raised decently.
Compared to theHalf-Elf, which provides +2 Charisma as well as +1 bonus to two other Abilities, Humans provide an even better and well-balanced Ability Score spread at earlier levels.
Unlike the Clerics, choosing aDeityhas no impact on yourBuildso you can select anything that you want.
Background
For the Background, I recommend choosingAristocrat. As an Aristocrat, your proficiency inPersuasionandIntimidationare both elevated so you gain additional points when you make their corresponding Ability Checks. You also gain proficiency inHistory, although this isn’t as useful since you won’t be raisingIntelligenceto a decent amount.
In this guide, I’ll make use of the Point Buy Ability Generation System instead of Dice Rolls so I can control the points I allot for each Ability. The Paladin’s Spellcasting Ability is Charisma, which determines whether or not the Spells they cast will successfully land on enemies. Additionally, this measures how well Paladin’s interact with others, that is, if they can intimidate them to yield or persuade them to prevent fights from happening. I highly suggest raising Charisma to 16 to immediately reap the benefits at lower levels. You’ll then gain +3 Spellcasting Ability Modifier to improve your hit chances.
The next important Ability is Strength. A high Strength increases your success rate to hit and to damage enemies with your Melee Weapons. It also raises your carry capacity so you can keep more items as you travel. You’ll want to raise this to 16. Later on, you’ll be equipping theBelt of Giant Strength (Fire)to further boost Strength to 25, providing you with a massive +7 Strength Modifier.
The third Ability to invest in is Constitution, which you ought to raise to 14 so you can start with 12 HP. You can then distribute the rest of your points to Wisdom,Dexterityand Intelligence.
With Point Buy, your Ability Score spread should look like this:
For Skills, I recommend choosingAthleticsandInsight. Athletics increases your jump range so you can leap across longer distances. You can also climb hazardous terrain with ease. Meanwhile, Insight determines whether theNPCyou’re talking to is sincere or not, enabling you to detect their truth or lies.
You can choose any language you want.
Paladin Level 1 Features
As a Paladin at Level 1, you immediately have access to a number ofFeaturesthat aim to help your party survive.
Divine Sense
Divine Senseenhances your senses to detect creatures like the Undead, Fiends and Celestials who are nearby. This helps you prepare by identifying their weaknesses prior to initiatingCombat.
Lay on Hands, Neutralize Poison, and Cure Disease
Lay on Handsallows you to heal the HP of anyone in the party by spending points from yourHealing Pool, which is replenished after every Long Rest. The amount of HP you can restore is equivalent to your current level times 5 so if your level is 2, you’ll be able to give a total of 10 HP.
You also have the option to literally“Neutralize Poison'‘or to“Cure Disease'‘by expending points from the same Healing Pool. Note that you can remove multiple poisons and diseases by consuming more HP.
Paladin Level 2 Divine Smite, Fighting Styles, and Spells
Divine Smite
Divine Smiteis a Feature that allows you to deal extra Radiant Damage when you hit enemies with your Melee Weapon. The higher the Spell Slot level, the bigger the damage so you may quickly kill enemies with it. You also get to inflict more harm if the enemy you’re up against is a Fiend or Undead, which is valid for the majority of early game encounters.
Fighting Styles
Of the fourFighting Stylesthat are available to the Paladin, I prefer selectingProtection. With Protection, get to impose a Disadvantage on the enemy’s Attack Roll as long as you’re within 5 feet of the targeted party member and you’re wielding a Shield. Disadvantage is a mechanic, which makes you roll a D20 or 20-sided die twice for an Attack Roll, Ability Check, or Saving Throw. Having Disadvantage means you’ll be using the lower value. In this instance, the enemy’s attack will most likely miss.
At Level 2, you’ll be asked to prepare four Spells from the Paladin Spell List. Note that Spells need to be “Prepared”, otherwise, you won’t be able to use them in combat. InSolasta, you can only perform this activity once after every Long Rest.
For Prepared Spells, I advise selecting the following:
Blessis an enchantment that increases your party members’ Attack Rolls and Saving Throws for 1 minute. This raises the likelihood of hitting enemies and saving allies from attacks, respectively. It’s a good all around buff that can make combat go your way.
Cure Woundsheals the HP of a target who is beside you for 1-8 healing +3 HP from your Charisma modifier, and +5 once you hit Level 8. It’s a good early game heal that will hold you in good stead.
Divine Favoris a Bonus Action that grants you additional Radiant Damage for 1 minute. you may cast this first prior to attacking with your Main Action to kill your target more easily if you need extra damage.
Shield of Faithis a Bonus Action used to increase your party member’s AC by 2. 2 Armor is not a huge amount, but it’s also not a little bit either. This can sometimes protect your weakest party members from being hit.
Note that even if Divine Favor and Shield of Faith are Bonus Actions, you’ll expend Spell Slots when you use either of them. Spell Slots are limited resources, which diminish every time you cast a Spell. Furthermore, these also require Concentration. Concentration is broken if you cast anotherCantripor Spell that also requires Concentration. For example, if Divine Favor is active and you decide to cast Shield of Faith to protect an ally, then the latter will be the active Spell. Moreover, when you take damage while a Cantrip or Spell that requires Concentration is active, you’ll need to make a Constitution Saving Throw and succeed to maintain its effect, otherwise you’ll have to recast it. This is where a high Constitution comes in handy in order to increase your Saving Throw’s success rate.
Additionally, you’ll also notice that all of these Spells require the Somatic Component. As a result, you’ll have to switch to your Secondary Equipment Set so you have a free hand to be able to cast them.
Paladin Level 3 Sacred Oaths, Channel Divinity, and Spells
Sacred Oaths
Level 3 is the most essential level because you’ll finally choose yourSacred OathorSubclass. Among theOath of Devotion, Oath of the Motherland, andOath of Tirmar, Oath of the Motherland provides you with the most balanced set of offensive and defensive Features. Oath of Devotion is your stereotypical Paladin who values justice and order above all else. At higher levels, they haveDevotion Spellsthat can heal wounded party members, revive fallen comrades, and bless Weapons to enhance its accuracy. I’m honestly not a fan of theirChannel Divinity: Turn the Unholy Featurebecause it pushes the Undead to flee if they fail theirWisdom Saving Throw. This forces your Paladin to run after them.
On the other hand, the Oath of Tirmar has a set of Spells that protects the party while debuffing and disabling enemies by blinding or holding them in place. They also gain Advantage on Persuasion and Intimidation Checks with theirChannel Divinity: Golden Speech Featureas well as extra Radiant Damage against enemies like Soraks, withDarkvision.
This brings us to our chosen Sacred Oath, which is the Oath of the Motherland. Unlike the other two, Oath of the Motherland is the most aggressive Subclass because it focuses on inflicting heavy Fire Damage to compensate for their fewer list of defensive Spells. However, this is not to say that they are unable to properly protect the party. They can set enemies on fire and even blind them as well as impose a Disadvantage on creatures with Darkvision. Because of theirMotherland Spells, they’re able to cast Fire Spells from a distance in combination with effectively hitting enemies up close thanks to their Melee Weapon.
Channel Divinity: Fiery Wrath and Fiery Presence
Fiery Wrathallows you to set the enemy on fire while dealing burst Fire Damage. If the target fails their Dexterity Check Roll, they’ll be susceptible to additional damage over time.
Fiery Presenceis an AoE Feature that blinds creatures within 12 cells from where you’re standing. Moreover, those with Darkvision also take Disadvantage on their Attack Rolls.
At Level 4, you continue to have four Prepared Spells but now, you gain two Domain Spells, which are automatically available so it doesn’t count towards your total number of Prepared Spells:
Baneis aimed at enemies in order to decrease their chances of hitting you as well as failing to save themselves from your attacks. It’s a great spell in harder fights where you can’t kill your opponents quickly.
Burning Handsis an AoE Spell that deals 3-18 conal Fire Damage. With this, you’ll have to position the party away from your targets, otherwise, they can get damaged by this Spell. Moreover, for this Spell to hit, targets will have to fail their Dexterity Saving Throws.
Paladin Level 4 Ability Score Choice
At Level 4, you’re given two options to further enhance your character. First is with theAbility Score Choice, which allows you to allocate two points on an Ability or one point each to two Abilities. Second is with the Bonus Feat, which is part of a set of special Abilities available to almost all of theClasses. You’ll need to fulfill certain requirements before selecting a specificFeat. Some have a caution symbol beside them to warn you that that Feat is not recommended as you are already reaping some, if not all, of its benefits.
Between the Ability Score Choice and the Bonus Feat, I strongly advise picking the former. With this, you can boost your Charisma by 2 to raise its corresponding modifier to +4. As a result, you’ll be able to hit and to inflict damage with your Spells most of the time. You’ll again be given the option to choose between the Ability Score Choice and Bonus Feat when you reach Level 8.
Paladin Level 5 Extra Attack and Spells
Extra Attack
At Level 5, you unlockExtra Attack, which allows you to use two Attack Actions per turn. The second attack is triggered after you make your first attack. Note that this is only applicable to Melee andRanged Weapons. For instance, if you use aLongswordas your first Attack Action, you gain a second Attack Action with the same Weapon. Extra Attack is also triggered when you use Shove.
Using your Spell will not trigger Extra Attack because this is considered a “Cast Spell” Action rather than an Attack Action.
Prepared Spells
Additionally, you’ll have the option to prepare a total of six Spells. I recommend retaining Bless, Cure Wounds, Divine Favor, and Shield of Faith. You can then addAid, which lets you heal three of your party members from a distance of 6 cells. For the next Spell, you can choose any that fits your playstyle.
Domain Spells
Because of your Oath of the Motherland Subclass, you’ll gain access to the following Domain Spells:
Branding Smiteis a Bonus Action that allows you to deal extra Radiant Damage while illuminating your target. This is especially useful against enemies who thrive and heal themselves in the dark because the light will diminish their HP over time.
Scorching Raydeals 2-12 Fire Damage to multiple enemies, or 3x 2-12 damage to the same target. This is a lot of damage, making it very versatile. Remember that you gain Advantage when casting it from higher elevation than your target.
Paladin Level 6 Aura of Protection
At Level 6, you gainAura of Protection, which grants allies within 10 feet of you a bonus to their Saving Throw Rolls equal to the Paladin’s Charisma Modifier, which in our case is +4. This is a strong Feature considering that all Saving Throws are included.
Paladin Level 7 Volcanic Aura
At Level 7, you unlock Volcanic Aura, which provides your party a bonus of +1 AC as well as Fire Resistance.
Paladin Level 8 Ability Score Choice
At Level 8, I recommend choosing Ability Score Choice over Bonus Feat. With this, you’ll be able to max out your Charisma in order to further increase the chances of landing your Spells. Additionally, you’ll also improve your Aura of Protection since you’ll be adding +5 Charisma Modifier to everyone’s Saving Throw Rolls.
Your improved Ability Score spread should look like this:
Paladin Level 9 Spells
At Level 9, your total number of Prepared Spells has increased to nine. Since you’ve unlocked the Level 3 Paladin Spell List, you gain access toRevivify, which is a must-have Spell. Revivify gives you the power to bring back a fallen ally.
You can then prepare any Spell you wish.
At this level, you’ll also unlock two more Domain Spells specific to the Oath of the Motherland Subclass. These areDispel MagicandFireball. Dispel Magic is an effective and powerful Abjuration Spell that lets you remove any debuff imposed on any of your allies such as being Frightened or Charmed, as well as taking off buffs from enemies like having extra AC. What’s important to remember is this support Spell is meant for magical effects that last for more than one round rather than instantaneous ones. As such, Dispel Magic is not effective on an incomingMagic Missile Spell.
Meanwhile, Fireball is another strong Spell that deals massive 8-48 AoE Fire Damage against multiple targets. If they successfully roll a Dexterity Saving Throw, they’ll still receive at least half the damage.
Paladin Level 10 Aura of Courage and Spell
At Level 10, you gain theAura of Courage Feature, which prevents the party from getting Frightened, provided that they’re within 10 feet of you and you’re conscious. Additionally, you also get to prepare one more Spell to your liking.
For your One-Handed Weapon, I highly recommend purchasingMorningstar +2. This Melee Weapon lets you deal massive Piercing Damage with bonuses to both of your Melee Attack and Damage. As such, you’ll most likely hit and damage enemies up close with just one swing.
For your Offhand,Shield +2provides you with additional +4 AC, which in combination with yourHeavy Armor, will significantly increase the chances of enemies missing their attacks against you.
In terms of Armor, you can buy theDwarven Plate Heavy ArmorfromJoriel Foxeyeof theCircle of Danantar Faction. The Dwarven Plate sets your base AC to 20. With your Shield +2, your total AC becomes 24, making you extremely tanky, and difficult to kill.
When it comes to Accessories, I highly recommend wearing the Belt of Giant Strength (Fire), Sigil Ring of Necromancy, andAmulet of Health. All of these require Attunement, which is limited to a total of three pieces ofEquipmentper character. You can only attune one piece of gear per Short or Long Rest. The Belt of Giant Strength (Fire) can be purchased fromHalman Summerof theAntiquarian Faction. In order to unlock and to buy this, you’ll have to attain the Living Legend Reputation by giving them the majority of artifacts you collect. Because this Belt considerably boosts your Strength to 25, thereby having +7 Strength Modifier, you’ll be able to hit enemies 100% of the time, while inflicting the most amount of damage with your Melee Weapon.
The Sigil Ring of Necromancy provides you with +1 bonus to both your Saving Throws and AC. Because of this, your total AC becomes 25. It also grants you theVampiric Touch Spell, which lets you inflict 3-18 Necrotic Damage at every turn for 1 minute.
Lastly, the Amulet of Health, which you can also purchase from Halman Summer, boosts your Constitution to 19 to raise your max HP and to increase the rate of successfully rolling Constitution Saving Throws in order to maintain Concentration for your Spells.
Final Tips
As an Oath of the Motherland Paladin, you can only trigger Fiery Wrath or Fiery Presence once after every Short or Long Rest so remember to use these against stronger enemies to kill them quickly. Note that you can activate these even if you don’t have a free hand available.
If you have two Paladins with Charisma Scores of say 18 and 16, together with their Aura of Protection Feature, their corresponding Charisma Modifiers won’t stack. This means that your party will only add +4 Ability Modifier, which is the higher value between the two, to their Saving Throws. For this reason I don’t advise taking two of this Archetype.
Lastly, you’ll want to at least equipShield +1in your Secondary Equipment Set so you can continue protecting your allies even when casting Spells with the Somatic Component, which requires a free hand to execute.
Stay tuned for moreSolasta Crown of the Magistercontent as we take a look atClassesandBuilds, and be sure to drop by ourTwitch Channelif you have questions about the game. If you need something specific, check out ourSolasta Wiki.
