BG3 Paladin Build: Vengeance, Levels 1-12, and Equipment

This BG3 Paladin build uses twelve levels of Oath of Vengeance, a one-handed weapon, and a Shield. Start with Strength 16, Constitution 14, and Charisma 16. Choose Defence at 2, increase Strength at 4 and 8, then raise Charisma at 12. You get a capable frontline speaker with accurate attacks, useful support, and Divine Smite when a hit deserves the extra resources.

The route works from level 1 without a respec, magic-item requirement, permanent story bonus, or Strength-elixir supply. Its tradeoffs are low initiative, limited ranged damage, and a daily spell budget that disappears quickly if you smite indiscriminately.

Game context: Patch 8, checked on 10 October 2026 against Larian's 29 September 2026 hotfix announcement, version 4.1.1.7631656. This guide uses BG3 mechanics. Official Patch 8, checked hotfix.

The starting character

Pure Paladin also avoids Explorer's restriction on adding multiclass levels. No mods, camp-hireling preparation, or special consumable cycle is assumed. Use a normal party and rest as the adventure permits. This is an editorial recommendation for dependable play, not a claim of maximum possible damage. Difficulty and multiclass settings.

Buy these abilities

Strength supports the chosen melee weapons. Constitution improves HP. Charisma supports dialogue, spells, and the later saving-throw aura. You are not raising every attractive ability: Dexterity stays modest, so acting late is a real weakness to plan around.

Take Insight and Persuasion as class skills and Perception as Human's additional skill. Soldier supplies Athletics and Intimidation. This avoids duplicated proficiencies and gives the character a useful conversation role alongside physical capability. BG3 backgrounds do not grant the revised tabletop game's Origin feats. Creation, Human, backgrounds.

Do not confuse having Persuasion proficiency with controlling every conversation. Read the choices, consider the person you are speaking to, and let another party member handle a task better suited to their strengths. The ability array is a foundation for the character, not a reason to ignore the scene.

What you actually start wearing and carrying

The starting Warhammer, Wooden Shield, two Javelins, and oath armor already support the route. With Dexterity 10, Scale Mail of Vengeance provides AC 14; the Shield raises it to 16. Defence at level 2 adds one while wearing armor, reaching 17. You do not begin with Plate or a legendary sword. Starting class equipment, oath armor, Defence.

A one-handed Warhammer normally deals 1d8 plus Strength. Your starting attack bonus is +5 before temporary effects: proficiency +2 and Strength +3. Carry a practical ranged fallback, but accept that the character's main contribution usually happens closer to the enemy.

As armor improves, compare the actual character-sheet AC and item effects. A Shield occupies the off hand, so do not assume a two-handed weapon configuration keeps its protection. Likewise, choosing Defence means you did not also choose Dueling or Great Weapon Fighting.

Before a difficult fight, inspect what is equipped rather than trusting the icon on the hotbar. A recent item swap can change the attack you intended to use or the defensive total you were relying on. This small habit prevents more mistakes than memorizing a theoretical endgame equipment list.

Complete progression through level 12

Stay Paladin at every level. Maximum HP below uses Constitution 14 without difficulty modifiers, equipment, or other bonuses. Slot entries show available first-, second-, and third-level slots respectively.

The attack numbers assume a proficient mundane Strength weapon. Add an acquired weapon's actual enchantment separately. The HP pattern is 12 at level 1 and eight more per later level, so level 12 is 12 + 11 × 8 = 100. Class progression.

Your final abilities are 20/10/14/8/10/18. Raising Strength first makes ordinary weapon turns more reliable. Raising Charisma at the end improves support and casting. If acting early matters more to your party, Alert is a reasonable level-12 alternative, keeping Charisma 16. That is a different final priority, not an extra free feat.

This guide does not take Great Weapon Master because its main weapon configuration uses a Shield. If you want a two-handed route, reconsider the feat and equipment plan together rather than switching one item and assuming every number stays valid. Feat choices.

Spells for the BG3 Paladin build

BG3 currently documents ordinary Paladin preparation as Paladin level + Charisma modifier, with oath spells separate. Do not substitute tabletop's half-level formula. You can change prepared selections outside combat. A larger preparation allowance gives options, not more slots to spend. Paladin preparation.

For this route, capacity is five at level 2, eight at 5, twelve at 9, and sixteen at 12. The final increase includes Charisma 18. The following core lists leave room for encounter-specific choices at most levels:

These are legal preparations as the relevant spell levels arrive, not spells permanently learned one at a time. Use remaining places for options suited to the current region or problem, then reconsider outside combat. Paladin spell list.

Oath spells are additional

Vengeance grants Bane and Hunter's Mark at 3, Misty Step and Hold Person at 5, and Haste and Protection from Energy at 9. These remain available without using ordinary preparation places. They are not all available at level 1. Oath progression.

Misty Step is particularly useful when the problem is access: a dangerous enemy or ally may be unreachable by ordinary movement. Haste is powerful, but accepting responsibility for maintaining it is a real decision. Hold Person has a target restriction; inspect the enemy rather than assuming every human-shaped creature qualifies.

Choose one Concentration plan

Concentration means maintaining one applicable spell at a time. Bless, Shield of Faith, Hunter's Mark, Hold Person, and Haste compete, so you cannot build a turn around all their benefits together. Choose the effect that serves this encounter and protect it. Concentration.

For an early fight involving several allied attack rolls, Bless can be more useful than immediately spending the slot on your own damage. If a dangerous target is already close to defeat, a finishing hit may be better. These decisions depend on the whole party's turn order, not just the size of your personal damage roll.

Spell save DC is 13 at levels 2-4, 14 at 5-8, 15 at 9-11, and 16 at 12 before equipment. A control spell therefore can fail. Have a follow-up plan that does not require the enemy to lose its save.

Divine Smite: spend after a useful hit

Divine Smite adds Radiant damage to a qualifying melee weapon hit. A first-level slot adds 2d8, a second-level slot 3d8, and a third-level slot 4d8, with an additional die against Fiends and Undead. A critical hit can make those damage dice especially valuable. Divine Smite.

Open the Reactions settings and set the relevant normal-hit and critical-hit Smite prompts to Ask, checking the separate slot-level entries. This lets you see when a hit has occurred before deciding whether its value justifies spending a slot. The Smite prompt does not use the Reaction resource, despite appearing in that interface. It also does not use the revised tabletop game's Bonus Action Smite rule. Smite implementation.

Use three questions:

1. Does the extra damage meaningfully change this enemy's remaining threat?
2. Is this the damage type and target for which spending the slot makes sense?
3. What support or emergency spell would become unavailable if this is my last slot?

A critical on a nearly defeated minor enemy can still be a poor place to spend your best slot. Conversely, a normal hit that removes a dangerous opponent before it acts may justify the cost. There is no universal rule to spend only on criticals or always on the first hit.

At level 11, Improved Divine Smite adds a passive 1d8 Radiant to melee weapon hits. It is separate from the extra slot-powered burst. Inspect enemy defenses and effects before assuming Radiant damage is always desirable. Improved Divine Smite.

A worked combat turn

At level 5, use the mundane Warhammer and Shield, Strength 18, and no damage buffs. Assume a durable enemy without relevant resistance, within reach, and your Channel Oath and spell slots available.

Use Vow of Enmity on that enemy as your Bonus Action. It spends Channel Oath and provides Advantage against the selected target for up to ten turns. Its targeting range is 3 metres. This route targets an enemy and does not depend on self-targeting behavior. Vow of Enmity.

Then take your normal two weapon attacks. Each has +7 to hit before Advantage, and each ordinary hit deals 1d8 + 4 Bludgeoning. If the first useful hit warrants a first-level Smite, add 2d8 Radiant.

Conditional on both attacks hitting normally, with only one Smite, the total is:

2d8 + 8 Bludgeoning, plus 2d8 Radiant.

The mean of those dice is 9 + 8 + 9 = 26. One smiting hit alone averages 4.5 + 4 + 9 = 17.5. These are all-hit calculations, not expected damage per round. Misses, criticals, resistances, enemy survival, and other effects change the result.

Vow has used your Bonus Action. You cannot also use Misty Step, Hunter's Mark, Inquisitor's Might, or a potion with the same ordinary Bonus Action. If reaching safety is more important, save Vow and use the movement or recovery option instead.

Before the level-5 milestone

At level 1, ordinary weapon attacks and Lay on Hands already make you useful. There is no Divine Smite yet. At 2, you gain a choice between attacking, supporting with a spell, or conserving slots. At 3, use your oath tools when they fit; the second weapon attack still waits until 5.

Inquisitor's Might is your early offensive oath option. Spend a Bonus Action and Channel Oath to empower yourself or an ally within 9 metres for two turns. Weapon hits add your Charisma modifier as Radiant damage, so +3 at level 1, and can Daze the enemy for one turn. This can support an ally already in a useful position. It competes with Vow for Channel Oath later. Inquisitor's Might.

From 3, Abjure Enemy instead uses an action and Channel Oath against a target within 18 metres. Its Wisdom save determines the result: failure imposes its three-turn Frightened effect; success halves movement for up to three turns, ending when the target takes damage. Consider it when hindering a distant threat is more useful than chasing it. Abjure Enemy.

If you use your action to cast Bless or another action spell, do not also count normal weapon attacks from that same action. Shield of Faith instead uses a Bonus Action. A strong opening can be one that lets several allies succeed, even if the Paladin's damage total is zero that turn.

When the strongest attack is the wrong decision

Imagine two enemies remain: a wounded melee fighter beside you and a caster preparing trouble across the room. An ally can probably finish the wounded fighter, while your Paladin has enough movement to pressure the caster. Spending your best slot on the nearest target may waste both damage and an opportunity to disrupt the more important threat.

Now change one fact: moving away would abandon a vulnerable companion with no safe escape. Holding your position may become the better choice. The same character sheet can support opposite decisions because the party's situation changed.

Use this small decision aid when a turn feels crowded:

This BG3 Paladin build supplies options for those situations. Choosing among them is more useful than applying the same opening sequence to every encounter.

Auras, healing, and party position

When Aura of Protection arrives at 6, activate it and confirm its status. It adds your Charisma modifier to saves for you and nearby allies within 3 metres, and disappears while you are unconscious. The bonus is +3 here until Charisma increases at 12, then +4. Aura of Protection.

That short range makes positioning meaningful. Stand close enough to help allies facing dangerous saves, but avoid forcing the whole party into one small area simply to keep every character inside the aura. Sometimes the best protective choice is letting a ranged ally remain farther away.

Lay on Hands is a separate resource. Its lesser heal spends one charge for twice your Paladin level in HP; the greater version spends two for four times your level. Curing disease or poison spends two. These uses take an action at touch range, and its healing does not apply to Undead or Constructs. You have three charges at levels 1-3, four at 4-9, and five at 10-12, recovering on Long Rest. Lay on Hands, charge progression.

At level 5, one charge can heal 10 HP and two can heal 20, limited by the target's missing HP. Choosing this action means giving up that turn's normal attack sequence. Use it when recovery has more value than another attempt to remove the threat.

Relentless Avenger at 7 grants extra movement on your next turn after a successful opportunity attack. It is not the tabletop version's immediate repositioning. Aura of Courage at 10 adds protection against fear in its area; check its active status as well. Relentless Avenger, Aura of Courage.

Equipment by act, with substitutes

Location and quest spoilers begin here. The following optional routes identify item locations and merchant dependencies. You can skip this section and keep the best suitable armor, Shield, and one-handed weapon you find. No listed item is required for the level progression.

Act 1: improve the foundation

Phalar Aluve is a +1 Longsword found in a stone in the Underdark. Its Melody ability offers another party decision, but takes an action and has a Short Rest recharge. Do not count activating it as free setup alongside two normal attacks. A regular +1 one-handed weapon, or the starting Warhammer until an upgrade appears, remains functional. Phalar Aluve.

Adamantine Splint Armour provides AC 18, damage reduction, and protection against critical hits. With a normal Shield and Defence, its AC becomes 21. Crafting it requires the Splint Mould and Mithral Ore at the Adamantine Forge. The limited ore competes with other party crafting choices, so decide who benefits most before spending it. If you use the materials elsewhere or skip the area, keep improving ordinary suitable armor. Adamantine Splint, Mithral Ore.

The Blood of Lathander is a +3 one-handed Mace tied to the monastery/crèche quest route. It offers useful light-related features and a granted Sunbeam use. That item-granted cast does not allow repeated Sunbeam casts on later turns like the ordinary spell's continued use. The acquisition route has hazards; obtaining the Dawnmaster's Crest avoids the extraction trap. Do not rush an unprepared party there just because a guide lists the weapon. The mace, associated quest.

Act 2: keep useful equipment useful

Phalar Aluve, an ordinary improved one-handed weapon, or the Mace can continue doing their job. Adamantine armor does not become obsolete simply because the act changes. Evaluate a replacement by its actual defensive and tactical benefit, not the excitement of finding something new.

This is also a good time to distribute support responsibilities. If another character benefits more from a utility weapon, let them carry it while you use a strong straightforward weapon. The build's attack, Smite, and aura progression continues regardless of which character owns a particular optional item.

Act 3: a defensive upgrade if the merchant is available

Armour of Persistence is sold by Dammon at the Forge of the Nine, conditional on his survival and availability. It supplies AC 20 and additional defensive effects, including ongoing Blade Ward and Resistance benefits. With a normal Shield and Defence, AC is 23. Do not use its base item value as a promised shop price. Armour of Persistence.

If that route is unavailable, previous Adamantine Splint or your best acquired heavy armor remains a valid substitute. The Paladin does not lose its class features because a merchant is absent. Spend party resources where the improvement matters most rather than treating a shopping list as a completion requirement.

The location-spoiler section ends here.

Oaths, respecs, and alternative playstyles

Vengeance is the main choice because its target-focused tools fit a character who identifies an immediate threat and pursues it. Other oaths change both roleplay obligations and available abilities:

These are alternatives, not features added to the same character. Crown is a released Patch 8 option, not a required mod. Devotion, Ancients, Crown.

Oathbreaking depends on actual scripted decisions. Vengeance does not make every cruel or aggressive act acceptable. Read the story context and your oath rather than assuming a broad label guarantees a choice is safe. This guide avoids a quest-by-quest violation list to preserve discovery.

An Oathbreaker must restore the oath before respeccing. Restoration costs 1,000 gold, then 2,000, then 10,000 on subsequent occasions. Oath restoration.

If multiclassing is the appeal, decide which Paladin feature you are willing to delay or lose before choosing another class. This route keeps its level-11 passive damage and final feat. A different split should have a purpose beyond borrowing a celebrated endgame combination.

DnDDen's 2014 tabletop Sorcadin route in the build comparison explores a related character fantasy under separate rules. Its spell and class mechanics should not be transferred directly into this game.

For other BG3 roles, compare the party-building hub, the Gold Draconic caster route and the Hexblade weapon-and-magic route.

Honour Mode and resource planning

This route does not depend on extra-attack stacking, repeated damage-rider interactions, or special consumable supply. That makes its basic decisions easier to transfer to Honour, but encounter mechanics still matter. Inspect enemies and leave yourself a response to a bad opening.

Haste's extra action does not trigger Extra Attack in Honour. At level 5 or higher, that ordinarily means two attacks from your normal action and one from Haste's action. Do not plan four weapon attacks from those two actions. Losing Haste also imposes Lethargic: you cannot move, take actions or Bonus Actions, or use reactions for one turn. Concentrating on it yourself while drawing attacks therefore carries a meaningful risk. Hastened, Haste.

Your main route has Dexterity 10. BG3 initiative uses a d4 plus the applicable modifiers, which makes initiative bonuses influential. Position carefully before an encounter when possible, and consider the level-12 Alert alternative if acting earlier matters more than increasing Charisma. Neither choice guarantees the party avoids every surprise or special enemy action. Initiative.

Short Rests recover Channel Oath, while slots and Lay on Hands need a Long Rest. Plan around the normal two Short Rests rather than assuming every fight begins fully supplied. A full HP bar does not tell you whether the Paladin still has the right resources for the next difficult encounter. Resting.

Quick answers and a session checklist

Can I use the route without the recommended race?

Yes, another preferred race can retain the class progression and point-buy priorities. Recheck racial skills and other traits rather than keeping Human's extra proficiency. The build does not require a race-specific damage trick.

Is a Shield weaker than a two-handed weapon?

It offers a different tradeoff. This route favors defense, uncomplicated accuracy, and leaving more attention for support choices. A two-handed setup can pursue more damage, but should be planned with the actual feat and equipment costs. Compare the whole character, not one weapon die.

Can I learn Banishing Smite by staying Paladin?

Not through the pure level-12 class progression. Do not add a spell to the prepared list merely because its name sounds appropriate to a Paladin. Use the game's actual available spell list and class limits. Paladin spells.

Before a demanding encounter:

1. Check your weapon, Shield, armor, and displayed attack bonus.
2. Confirm auras are active and useful allies are appropriately placed.
3. Review prepared spells and choose the intended Concentration effect.
4. Check Smite prompts, spell slots, Channel Oath, and healing charges.
5. Keep a movement or recovery plan for an ally who becomes isolated.

If this character inspires a tabletop campaign, DnDDen's character creation guide is a separate starting point. For the current adventure, keep the game rules and equipment shown in BG3 as your reference.

A reliable BG3 Paladin build makes ordinary turns useful and leaves room for exceptional ones. Reach the right enemy, support the allies who need you, and spend the powerful resource when it changes what happens next.