Ultimate Crown Paladin: Mounted Lockdown Build

Paladin: Oath of the Crown

Enemy Lockdown & Mounted Frontline Defender Build

The Character:

Rosnolir floated far above an expanse of flat, desolate earth that stretched to the horizon: a corona of light burning like a wall of fire. Networks of gorges and canyons scarred the realm, strung together by marble bridges. Hulking pit fiends guarded those crossings in shining silver armor. This wasn't like one of her normal visions. What fresh torment could they want to show her now, ruin her dreams with? 

"Oh, kindred spirit," a silken voice called from the wind, directionless, encompassing, fatherly, "what lies have they been whispering in your ear?"

The vision shifted and Rosnolir stood in the grandest palace she had ever seen: a fey court of darksome beauty, with halls of gold-veined marble. Standing before her was a beautiful man with flowing white hair and perfect features, draped in robes of gold, a simple circlet adorning his head. Rosnolir's legs went weak and she could no longer hold her weight. She found herself kneeling, awestruck, before this resplendent figure.

Nessus, the Ninth Hell

"Who are you?" Rosnolir called to the king.

The figure smiled so warmly, so patiently, Rosnolir payed no mind to the smoke curling up from around where her legs rested on the stone. "I am you, child. Or, I was once much like you ... until they ruined me. They will ruin you, too. That is why I have called you here."

The man spread his arms wide in a gesture of welcome. "I am Asmodeus, Lord of the Hells. This broken land is a remnant of my fall, and I wish to save you from a similar fate."

The Concept: Build, Character, Backgrounds

Unlike the Oathbreaker, the Oath of the Crown Paladin is not ignored, but actively avoided/disliked. I have seen countless posts about how it remains vastly underpowered and how it's 20th level ability falls short of expectation and is inferior to the other paladins'. These posts come from people who do not know how to effectively utilize the tools given to them. I can also infer that people shy away from the Oath of the Crown as they feel it is too "on the nose" for a paladin. The subclass lends itself to being a knight of the round table, sure, but with the right story and race combination, suddenly the Oath of the Crown bears one of the most interesting flavors (Avenged Sevenfold's "Hail to the King" plays somewhere in the background). The Oath of the Crown paladin is not strong because of it's 20th level ability, it is strong because of it's Channel Divinity options paired with its Oath Spells and Paladin Spells. These features combined allow us to make a supreme enemy lockdown build with the added bonus of mounted combat.

The character is a human touched by celestials, marked for greatness, an aasimar, that has fallen from grace after becoming a paladin of Asmodeus, Lord of the Hells. The aasimar, often thought to be gifts to the mortal races by the inhabitants of Mount Celestia, a heavenly plane of the afterlife, are blessed with divine abilities and a link to a celestial guardian. These entities provide guidance to aasimar not through direct command or simple spoken word, but through dreams -- visions, prophecies and feelings. Her dreams were ones of great violence and horror, made to warn her of what was to come.  To a child, being plagued with such visions was more of a curse than a blessing. So, growing into young adulthood, she grew to loathe her gift, and her dreams. She lay awake at night, terrified to close her eyes in fear of what she might see. This provided an opening. A sliver of doubt is enough for the honey-tongued serpent to plant his gilded words upon the ears of a godling.

Asmodeus in his true form with a hellhound

Rosnolir received a vision from Asmodeus, once the bravest, toughest, fiercest and most beautiful of angels. He and the other angels of his ilk were created to fight the demons of the abyss while the gods concerned themselves with forging worlds and sentient races. After eons of fighting the demons of the Abyss, Asmodeus and some of his fellows began to change. They grew similar in appearance and methods to the demons they fought. Afraid of his power and the changes he had undergone, the gods put Asmodeus on trial and cast him from Mount Celestia, banishing him to the realm of Baator, what is now known as the Nine Hells, the land which he had spent his entire life clearing of demons. He fell to the deepest level where he sustained serious injuries that have yet to heal all these years later, and from his blood which boiled in rage he birthed forth the first devils. Since then, Asmodeus has waged war with Celestials, murdering them whenever and wherever he could. Though, one thing Asmodeus enjoys more than killing Celestials is corrupting them and bringing them to his side. With a dream that for once did not plague her with maddening scenes of violence and torture, Asmodeus made contact with Rosnolir, planting that fatal seed of doubt, ultimately replacing her internal light with shadow, and causing her celestial guard to abandon her.

As a paladin of The Lord of the Hells, a being of supreme law and tyranny, and a former celestial, Rosnolir's alignment is Lawful Evil. Her character arc may plan on her growing to Lawful Neutral, or even Lawful Good, renewing her celestial status, thought that is up to the player, and not the design of this particular story. Some backgrounds that are appropriate include Faction Agent (with a Charisma skill choice), Mercenary Veteran and Soldier. All of these prioritize Charisma or Strength based abilities, but as always, backgrounds are more up to player preference than optimization. I always like to leave a little bit of the character unwritten so the player can personalize them enough to feel like they are their own.

The Race: Aasimar (Fallen)

As always, I determine story after I've chosen a race, so of course this choice fits the backstory quite well. Let's dive in to why I chose the Aasimar for this build specifically. We like the Aasimar here for several reasons, so let's lay them out. 1) +2 Charisma and +1 Strength. 2) Good healing and damage resistance abilities. 3) Necrotic Shroud (we'll talk more about this later in the post). The stat boosts perfectly suit the build, which will prioritize Charisma over Strength, the self-healing potential is fantastic for a defender and the racial fear effect is a crucial part of our enemy lockdown strategy.

The Stat Spread (Standard Array):

CHA 16 (+3), STR 16 (+3), CON 13 (+1), DEX 12 (+1), WIS 10 (+0), INT 8 (-1)

Charisma takes top priority in terms of stats but this build is going to be wonky with feat taking. Strength will take last priority after feats, and will not even receive a bump from its starting place. The reasoning for this is that melee strikes will not be our main form of damage, but a particular Oath Spell (Spirit Guardians) will be, which will be discussed later in the build.

The Class: Notable Features

Fighting Style (Defense): The goal of this build is to survive when locked in close combat with the enemy, which we will force upon them with our Champion Challenge Channel Divinity feature. Attacks should be drawn toward the tank and with a high AC, they'll receive little punishment for it. This is also why we're going sword and board, using the shield to boost AC even higher.

Channel Divinity (Champion Challenge): This feature right here is the center piece of the build, the decorated turkey in the middle of the thanksgiving dinner. This is the ultimate save-or-suck spell effect. Every creature of the Crown Paladin's choice within 30 feet must make a Wisdom saving throw, and on a failure, are trapped within 30 feet for the duration - which is as long as the paladin remains conscious. That's it. No saves made at the end of every turn to contest the effect, nothing. Either they succeed and the Channel Divinity does nothing, or they fail and are trapped in an invisible cage with the paladin forever. The reader might see how this ability is a great starting point to forge a build around, and it is this ability that has made us prioritize Charisma over Strength. The higher the Spell Save DC for this effect, the better off this build will be.

Oath of the Crown Spells: The Crown Paladin gets some great always-prepared spell options, such as Warding Bond, Aura of Vitality and Banishment. These are all great means for the Paladin to keep their party healthy, whether by sharing the load of damage, regenerating HP or banishing a dangerous monster from the battle entirely. However, what's really going to kick things into second gear is the spell not regularly offered to the paladin - Spirit Guardians. Let me explain:

-Spirit Guardians, to begin, is a concentration spell with a duration of 10 minutes, which translates to roughly 100 rounds of combat . . . considering Champion Challenge does not end, this seems like a perfectly reasonable length of time. The spell conjures spirits that burst forth from their realm of origin to protect the caster and their allies. They fill a space out to 15 feet around the caster, and since our Paladin is of an evil alignment, they will take on a fiendish appearance. All creatures that enter the aura or start their turn there must make a Wisdom saving throw, and on a failed save they take 3d8 necrotic damage (radiant if neutral or good alignment), or half as much on a success. So far, the process goes as such: we cast Champion Challenge and lock enemies within 30 feet of the Paladin. Then, we cast Spirit Guardians and fill half of that circle with an extremely potent damaging spell. What about the last 15 feet of the circle, the reader may ask? Well, that's where our mount comes into play.

Spells: The typical Paladin smites are great for extra damage outside of our Champion Challenge strategy, as we wouldn't want to remove concentration on Spirit Guardians, but the real star of the show is the Find Steed and Find Greater Steed spells. 

-Find Steed/Find Greater Steed not only look cool (a knight of hell riding into battle upon a flaming nightmare) but assist in fully encompassing our Champion Challenge radius with Spirit Guardians. As is the nature of the spell, "while mounted on the [Paladin's] steed, [the Paladin] can make any spell that targets [themselves] also target [their] steed." So, a detail that has been left out up to this point to avoid confusion is that the Crown Paladin is a mounted combatant almost exclusively because of this feature.

So, our Paladin rides in on horseback, casts Channel Divinity's Champion Challenge feature binding the foe in place, casts Spirit Guardians (which now affects both them and their mount), dismounts, and then sends their mount to close in on the enemy with a Spirit Guardian aura of its own, effectively filling the rest of any area the foe can flee to in their 30 foot circle with a cloud of fiend spirits that rip and rend at their flesh. At earlier levels, the mount might go down from attacks, but once the Paladin can cast Find Greater Steed and their flaming horse grows wings (pegasus form), they can now fly 15 feet above the ground so that the aura still reaches the foes beneath them, while simultaneously staying out of reach of their melee strikes.

Alternatively, should the Paladin wish to remain mounted during the combat, such as during instances where the foes do not attempt to run from her Champion Challenge but rather face her head on, the double cast Spirit Guardians will force any foes within 15 feet to make two Wisdom saving throws, and on two failures, effectively take 6d8 necrotic damage, which only increases if the spell is cast at a higher level. 

Feats: Mounted Officer

The suggested order of things is thus: at 4th level, take Resilient (CON) for the +1 to Constitution, and the bolstering of concentration checks; at 8th level take War Caster for advantage on saves for maintaining Spirit Guardians; at 12th and 16th level boost the Charisma stat to maximum, and at 19th level take the Mounted Combatant feat. 

Resilient (Constitution Variant): the proficiency in concentration checks will be very useful for maintaining the Spirit Guardians spell, but the +1 to Constitution also brings the stat score up to 14, changing the modifier to +2, which will boost HP every level up from this point forward -- very useful.

War Caster: The other features of this feat are nice but the real treasure is advantage on those proficient concentration checks for maintaining Spirit Guardians. This will become ever more potent once Charisma is maximized.

Mounted Combatant: As outside of our Champion Challenge strategy the Paladin should be a mounted combatant, even as late in the game as 19th level is, the boosts this feat provide are quite nice. Being able to force an attack to target the Paladin rather than the mount is a great ability that paired with a high AC might just waste an opponent's attack entirely. Advantage on strikes against creatures smaller than the mount (Medium sized and smaller) is excellent, as many foes are Medium sized. Boosted Dexterity saves for the mount can't hurt either.

As always, these are the optimized feats but there are some other less ideal options that the reader might consider: Sentinel (paired with the Necrotic Shroud fear affect of the Fallen Aasimar, we can pull an Oathbreaker Dreadful Aspect strategy (see my post on the Oathbreaker) and trap enemies between needing to run and not being allowed to while simultaneously becoming stuck in the Spirit Guardians aura) and Tough (extra HP when the Paladin is locked in a long lasting fight cage with a foe can certainly be helpful).

Play Style: I'm Not Locked in Here with You ...

Pre-Battle: There is not much to be done pre-battle save for ensuring that our steed is summoned, at full health, and saddled up for combat. Helm visors down, shields up, swords drawn.

Early Battle: Take out the little guys. Clear as much clutter off the battlefield as possible, and stay as close to the Paladin's allies as is necessary to take blows for them via the Crown Oath's Divine Allegiance ability, which allows strikes to hit the Paladin rather than allies. Ensure that allies are in the most defensible, advantageous position as possible. Once that's done, it's time for our main strategy.

Mid-Late Battle: Time to lockdown the greatest number of enemies or those that present the most danger. Issue that Champion Challenge in the most effective place possible and ensure that the squishies have ample room to maneuver outside of it or to take cover. This strategy allows for any primarily ranged characters to attack at will without ever having to receive a melee attack from an enemy, though they should still take cover from trapped archers/mages. The next step in the process is activating the Necrotic Shroud ability of the Fallen Aasimar. This gives the Paladin time to set up their Spirit Guardian spells without having to take a full round of attacks from all enemies trapped within the AOE. Then, as discussed previously, its time for double Spirit Guardians. Stand firm at the center of the area and send the mount out to shepherd foes into the fiend clouds or toward the Paladin at the center. Now it's time to rely on that high AC to avoid attacks, as well as support from the rest of the party, while whittling away at the BBEG with sword attacks.

Roleplay: Fallen Daughter, Royal Aegis to the King of the Hell

Rosnolir was tainted at a young age by abhorrent images of violence displayed to her via a divine connection to a guardian spirit. It might have even driven her insane, psychopathic. It is for this reason that she grew up to take work in the industry of violence. Whether as a mercenary, soldier or faction agent, she excelled at violence. It was her waking world, and waited for her in her dreams every night she fell asleep. That is, until she was visited by that man, that resplendent king who offered her merciful, restful sleep. The king who exposed to her the true nature of the Celestials. All was not as it seemed, and her life of violence was the fault of the guardian angel that sought to guide her, not the demons and devils everyone was told to fear. Perhaps the angel was showing her her inevitable fate as a champion of the King of Hell, a life filled with violence in the ninth ring Nessus. Perhaps it truly was a cataclysmic event slowly closing in on humanity that only she could stop. Perhaps it was both. Either way, Rosnolir now shares in her patron's hatred of their kind, and would seek out the death of Celestials whenever possible. She chose to join his armies, to join him in his war on the heavens, and swore the following oaths which she must uphold in all of her actions:

Law. The Lord's law is paramount. It is the mortar that holds the stones of the afterlife together. Without his punishing law, there would be no balance, and so it must be respected.

Loyalty. The Paladin's words are her bond. Without loyalty to her sovereign, oaths and laws are meaningless. The Paladin must never question her king, nor challenge his decrees.

Courage. The Paladin must be willing to do what must be done for the sake of order, even in the face of overwhelming odds or distasteful acts. If the Paladin doesn't act, then who will?

Responsibility. The populace must deal with the consequences of their actions, and the Paladin is responsible for fulfilling her duties and obligations as the punishing hand of the King.

Conclusion:

I could not believe that the Oath of the Crown was disliked, or found to be underwhelming. The Champion Challenge is the only taunt feature in the game other than Compel Duel, which allows for saving throws at the end of the affected enemies' turns (not a good taunt). Not only that, but a free mass heal as a Channel Divinity option via Turn the Tide can potentially put several unconscious party members back in the fight. The 20th level feature of this subclass is no reason to disparage it, as Exalted Champion is still good plus it has all of these other effective features to go along with it. As always, I wish those future Crown Paladins luck in their adventuring and that they have as much fun playing Rosnolir as I had building her, or whatever character they choose to make with the race, stats and abilities of the build!

Character Sheets:

LVL 1 Character Sheet

LVL 20 Character Sheet