Ultimate Oathbreaker Paladin: Battlefield Control Build

Paladin: Oathbreaker

Polearm Battlefield Control & Necromancy Build

 

The Character:

No Mercy for the Wicked. Ordinary foes might win my mercy, but my sworn enemies do not. That is the oath he'd sworn.

So much for that. Vledjas stood towering over his trembling foe, halberd raised for a final strike. Just one good thrust through the chest and the misdeeds were punished, his people avenged. He could've ended it right there, but as he watched that shivering shell of a man, Vledjas' only thoughts were of his daughter, and how she must have felt that exact same terror moments before her death. He just ... couldn't do it. The man was but a boy, really, a teenager, thrust onto a throne, unlearned in the ways of ruling. He was selfish, spoiled and ignorant, true, the cause of many innocent deaths, but only because he'd been taught no better. Who was Vledjas to dole out such decisive judgement?

It didn't matter. The boy was run through by a lance from another paladin as Vledjas hesitated, his pleading and weeping, trembling in terror, snot running down his face, all silenced when his rib-cage collapsed under the crunch of that sickening iron stab. No Mercy for the Wicked. 

The Concept: Build, Story, Backgrounds

The Oathbreaker Paladin falls under the same camp as the Undying Patron Warlock in that it is not hated so much as it is forgotten. It exists in the DMG, a source material players don't often navigate, and most people playing a paladin want to be that hero in shining armor, the champion of a god, not some shunned warrior hated by the members of their former clergy as the DMG makes them out to be (requiring an Evil alignment, which I will be ignoring for this build). They might also believe that the only true path to redemption for an Oathbreaker is for them to renew their oaths and then the player would have to switch all their class abilities around. I reject both of these notions, and have set out to build a Lawful Good Oathbreaker. The gods are not always right, and sometimes men swear oaths that they cannot keep. Regarding the build, the Oathbreaker Paladin's features lean heavily toward high damage battlefield control - holding ground, locking down enemies, dispatching them, and advancing forward, which is why I've gone for a polearm using, minion summoning strategy.

Helm battles a marilith demon

The character was a paladin of Helm, The Vigilant One, a Lawful Neutral deity thought to be a cold and focused force impartially taking the role of defender and enforcer. He is worshiped by city guards, and his following of Helmites go by the title of the Everwatch Knights. Some variety of terrible tragedy happened to Vledjas, so he swore an Oath of Vengeance, and the Everwatch Knights quietly planned to remove the problem and restore justice, but when the time came to dispatch the foe, his weapon faltered. He could not bring himself to be merciless. His decision branded him an Oathbreaker, corrupting the magic he had gained from his vow, tainting his very person and rendering him an outcast of both the religious order and society. Now, without a family or country, Vledjas wanders the land, damned to villainy for daring to show mercy.

As a follower of Helm, Vledjas had been a Lawful Neutral man, but as an Oathbreaker he is Lawful Good. If the DM is unwilling to break the DMG's alignment restriction for the Oathbreaker, this story will not mesh with a Lawful Evil character, so the player might consider making a new story for their Oathbreaker, or alternatively, getting a new DM. Some backgrounds that are appropriate for this build include City Watch and Solider. Both prioritize Strength based skills and fit the backstory, but as always, backgrounds are more up to player choice than optimization. 

The Race: Human (Variant)

With this build, we'd like to first maximize Strength, then Charisma. To do so, we cannot spend many Ability Score Increases on feats. So, we need to start with a feat - enter the Human (Variant). The variant human's two +1 stat boosts go toward Strength and Constitution in order to round up to an even number, but Strength and Charisma will ultimately be the two stats we focus on boosting. The starting feat will be Polearm Master. The free bonus action strike dealing 1d4 bludgeoning damage is nice, especially with Aura of Hate's bonus to every attack's damage, but what we're really eyeing are the provoked opportunity attacks at 10 feet rather than 5. With this, nothing gets past our Oathbreaker, and he is far more effective at holding ground.

The Stat Spread (Standard Array): 

STR 16 (+3), CHA 14 (+2), CON 14 (+2), WIS 12 (+1), INT 10 (+0), DEX 8 (-1)

Prioritizing Strength is necessary so that as many of the Oathbreaker's opportunity attacks land as possible, and do decent damage. Charisma is a close second in terms of priority, as the Spell Save DC for the Channel Divinity option Dreadful Aspect and the damage boost from Aura of Hate are also very important for the build. 

The Class: Notable Features

Fighting Style (Tunnel Fighter): This is Unearthed Arcana material. If the DM is unwilling to allow UA, then the stand in will be Great Weapon Fighting, which needs no strategizing, as it just allows for damage rerolls. The Tunnel Fighter fighting style screams Oathbreaker, and is the beginning of our undead phalanx, ground-holding play style. Since it is UA material, I will post the exact wording here for clarity: 

"[The Oathbreaker excels] at defending narrow passages, doorways, and other tight spaces. As a bonus action, [they] can enter a defensive stance that lasts until the start of [their] next turn. While in [their] defensive stance, [they] can make opportunity attacks without using [their] reaction, and [they] can use [their] reaction to make a melee attack against a creature that moves more than 5 feet while within [their] reach."

This style offers complete control of the Oathbreaker's immediate area on the battlefield, and with the range of these opportunity attacks extended to 10 feet with Polearm Master, the Oathbreaker can stop as many people as they want. Paired with Dreadful Aspect, we can force a lot of opportunity attacks. Plus, with Aura of Hate, we'll want to be making as many attacks as possible per round.

Oathbreaker Spells: The Oathbreaker gains access to a myriad of spells but none more useful than Animate Dead. 

-Animate Dead minionmancy is vital for successful Oathbreaking. Make sure to have two skeleton friends with bows peck at the enemies from range. Two others should be 10 feet at maximum from the Oathbreaker, ideally forming a phalanx line, to block advancing and receive the damage bonus from Aura of Hate and the other bonuses from Aura of Protection and Aura of Courage. 

Channel Divinity (Dreadful Aspect): Forcing foes to flee in fear is excellent for provoking opportunity attacks from them, especially if the Tunnel Fighter style's bonus action was taken before using Channel Divinity. This means, as many foes that run away from the Oathbreaker in 10 feet will likely take an opportunity attack with Aura of Hate boosted damage. That's a potential of four attacks in one turn of combat. This feature becomes even more devastating with the Sentinel feat we discuss later in the build.

Aura of Hate: We've brought the name up several times now, but Aura of Hate is an excellent ability that allows the Oathbreaker and his undead minions to deal an extra Charisma modifier of damage with every single attack as long as they are within 10 feet of the Paladin (30 feet at 18th level). This paired with Tunnel Fighter is excellent - more attacks equals more damage!

Feats: Where Do You Think You're Going?

This feat should be taken ASAP at 4th level, and all other Ability Score Increases should be used to maximize Strength and then Charisma in that order.

Sentinel: Picture it -- the Oathbreaker used their bonus action to fall into defense stance with Tunnel Fighter, and then uses their action to activate Dreadful Aspect. Foes are affected with the Fear condition and can only move away from the Oathbreaker. The Oathbreaker strikes them all with Polearm reach opportunity attacks - now with Sentinel, they get stopped at 10 feet away. For melee fighters with no good ranged options, this is devastating. They can only move away, but if they do, they provoke an opportunity attack, and are stopped. They are effectively trapped and each time they take the only move they're allowed they take damage. 

Other feats that can be useful but not as much as boosting Strength and Charisma are Great Weapon Master (this will add even more damage to those opportunity attacks, but its more likely that they'll miss, so probably not worth it unless the Oathbreaker has a magical item that boosts accuracy), Heavy Armor Master (paired with the Oathbreaker's Supernatural Resistance feature which halves non-magical bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage, the -3 to those damage types reduces damage even more, but with heavy armor and hard hitting power, it's not likely to be relevant), and Inspiring Leader (more HP for allies and the undead minions). 

Play Style: Won't Back Down

Pre-Battle: The Oathbreaker should ensure that the undead minions are in phalanx position with back-up archers in place before advancing. Identify any tight corridors, passages and doorways and try to strategize a way for the party to funnel foes through it straight to the Oathbreaker. 

Early Battle: What type of foes are the party fighting? If melee, go with the tried-and-true Tunnel Fighter stance-using, Polearm Master reach-inducing, Aura of Hate boosted, Sentinel activating opportunity attacks by using Dreadful Aspect. Not to mention, Improved Divine Smite (free +1d8 radiant damage to each attack) at 11th level from the Paladin features adds even more hitting power to these strikes. Gods forbid the Oathbreaker uses a spell slot to add a Divine Smite on top of all this. Hold as much ground as possible and do not back down. The Oathbreaker's job is to maintain control of the battlefield, and to hold ground by providing a wall for the party's ranged members to hide behind and attack from. If the foes use ranged attacks, rush them down and get within 5 feet so as to nullify their ranged potential by forcing disadvantage on their attacks.

Mid-Late Battle: Late game means maintaining. All of the set up is done in the early rounds of the fight. If the wall has not yet broken, maintain it until it is no longer tactically feasible. If the enemies are mostly down or fleeing, start cleanup. Chase down errant enemies and finish them. The wall is useless if enemies are out of its opportunity attack reach.

Roleplay: “For so sworn good or evil an oath may not be broken and it shall pursue oathkeeper and oathbreaker to the world's end.”  - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion 

Vledjas is a cursed man. By what he can only believe to be out of spite, the god he once served has corrupted the blessings of his oath, and rendered him a societal outcast. The dead rise up at his feet and will not leave him be and an aura of hatred hangs heavy around him, adding to the weight of his armor. He might try and help others, try to be useful again, would the villagers not shoo him and his rotting minions away for fear of villainy. Was mercy really so bad? Bad enough to permanently brand a man the enemy of a god? If that is the case, Vledjas was no longer feeling merciful. Others, most others, are deserving of mercy, even for all their mistakes and wickedness, that much he could not deny, no matter the weight of an oath; however, what mercy is a god that would ruin a man for sparing the life of a child deserving of? None.

Vledjas swore an Oath of Vengeance, and that is an oath he would keep. The words he swore haunt his dreams, taunting him, begging him. They do not leave. For so sworn good or evil an oath may not be broken and it shall pursue oathkeeper and oathbreaker to the world's end. Vledjas would see his oath through. A mortal foe was no subject of divine vengeance - a cold, wrathful god was.

Conclusion:

I set out to make a Lawful Good Oathbreaker Paladin (despite what the DMG demands in terms of alignment) and I think I've succeeded in a very interesting way. Some of the oaths in the PHB are . . . kind of impossible to keep. And if the Paladin truly does not believe in them any longer, nor seeks attonement and grows as a person, it brands him Oathbreaker. It never seemed like a fair system to me, and so I sought to accentuate that with the build. It will be up to the player where Vledjas goes from here. Does the weight of the hatred brought forth from the corrupted oath magic eat away at him until he loses all mercy, becoming the villain everyone thought he was? Does he get all the way to Helm's plane in the afterlife  only to challenge him but spare him as well, finding it just not in his nature to be vengeful? Maybe the oath magic's corruption isn't Helm's fault, but just the nature of oaths. That's up to the player and the DM to decide.

As always, I wish those future Oathbreaker Paladins luck in their adventuring and that they have as much fun playing Vledjas as I had building him, 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