Dragonborn Paladin Build Guide

Levels 1-4

Start with a Halberd and Chain Mail. At level 2, take the Defense Fighting Style to boost your AC, as you'll be using a two-handed weapon. At level 3, swear the Oath of Conquest to gain Armor of Agathys—which stacks incredibly well with your innate draconic Damage Resistance to keep the temporary HP up longer. At level 4, completely ignore generic ability score increases and take the Dragon Fear feat. Bump your Charisma from 14 to 15. This allows you to expend a Breath Weapon use to frighten enemies in a 30-foot radius, setting up your mid-tier combo.

Levels 5-10

Level 5 brings Extra Attack, meaning you can swing your Halberd, Divine Smite, and roar a Dragon Fear in the exact same action. Level 6 grants Aura of Protection, bolstering your saves. The real magic happens at level 7 with Aura of Conquest. Any creature frightened of you has its speed reduced to 0 while within 10 feet of you. Because you have a reach weapon, you can lock melee enemies at 10 feet; they can't move to reach you, and you poke them with impunity. At level 8, take the Polearm Master feat for a bonus action attack and reaction attacks when enemies enter your reach.

Levels 11-16

Level 11 grants Improved Divine Smite, adding 1d8 radiant damage to all three of your Polearm Master attacks. Level 12 is your time to bump Charisma to 17 or Strength to 17 using a half-feat like Resilient (Constitution) to fix your odd 13 CON score and protect your concentration on Fear or Bless. At level 13, summon a Griffon with Find Greater Steed. Level 15 grants Scornful Rebuke, punishing anyone foolish enough to actually hit you. Level 16 is an ASI where you should cap your Strength at 18.

Levels 17-20

Level 17 unlocks 5th-level spell slots, perfect for casting Destructive Wave or landing a 5d8 Divine Smite on a critical hit. At level 18, your Aura of Protection and Aura of Conquest expand to 30 feet, meaning your Dragon Fear hits instantly lock down the entire battlefield. Level 19 lets you max out your Charisma to 20. At level 20, Invincible Conqueror gives you an extra attack and resistance to all damage, making you an unkillable avatar of Bahamut.

Cantrips

Paladins do not get cantrips by default. If you desperately want them, you must take the Blessed Warrior fighting style at level 2 instead of Defense. If you do, take Guidance for out-of-combat utility and Toll the Dead to give yourself a ranged option when your Draconic Flight is on cooldown.

Level 1-2 Spells

Armor of Agathys is your bread and butter as a Conquest Paladin; upcast it combined with your draconic Damage Resistance to deal massive retaliation damage. Wrathful Smite is a phenomenal single-target lockdown tool that requires an action (not a save) to break. Keep Bless prepared to buff your party's saving throws alongside your Aura of Protection.

Level 3-5 Spells

Fear is your backup for when you run out of Dragon Fear charges, instantly proccing your Aura of Conquest. Find Greater Steed at level 13 gives you a flying mount, letting you save your Gem Dragonborn flight for emergencies. Revivify is a mandatory tax. Destructive Wave at level 17 knocks enemies prone without hitting allies.

High-Level Spells

Banishing Smite deals a massive 5d10 force damage and can instantly remove a target under 50 HP with no saving throw. Circle of Power grants advantage on magical saving throws, which, combined with your Aura of Protection and innate elemental resistance, makes your party virtually immune to enemy spellcasters.

Dragon Fear

Take this at level 4. This is the entire reason to play a Dragonborn Conquest Paladin. It turns your Breath Weapon from a moderate damage tool into a non-friendly-fire AoE disable that strips legendary resistances and locks down crowds. It replaces only one attack, preserving your action economy.

Polearm Master

Take this at level 8. Because you rely on Aura of Conquest to trap enemies 10 feet away, you need a Halberd or Glaive. Polearm Master gives you a reliable bonus action attack to fish for critical Divine Smites, and a reaction attack to punish anyone entering your 10-foot kill zone.

Resilient (Constitution)

Take this at level 12. Your starting Constitution is an odd 13. This bumps it to 14, increasing your HP while giving you proficiency in Constitution saving throws. When holding concentration on Aura of Vitality or Fear in the frontline, this feat is mathematically superior to War Caster at higher levels.

Tier 1 (Levels 1-4)

Purchase Chain Mail and a Halberd immediately. Carry Javelins to deal with distant threats before you get access to Draconic Flight or your steed. Save your gold for Splint Armor.

Tier 2 (Levels 5-10)

Upgrade to Plate Armor as soon as possible. Seek out a +1 Halberd to offset your slightly lower Strength (since you prioritized Charisma feats early). A Cloak of Displacement is incredible here, making you incredibly hard to hit while you lock enemies down with Dragon Fear.

Tier 3 (Levels 11-16)

Look for an Amulet of Health to instantly boost your Constitution to 19, patching your relatively low 13/14 CON score. A Belt of Fire Giant Strength allows you to focus all your ASIs into Charisma for your Aura of Conquest while swinging with a 25 Strength.

Tier 4 (Levels 17-20)

A Holy Avenger (Halberd) is the ultimate Paladin weapon, granting a 10-foot aura of spell resistance that stacks with your Aura of Protection. Pair this with a Belt of Storm Giant Strength to maximize your melee DPR alongside your 5th-level spell slots.

As a Defender, your primary job is to control the frontline so your squishy casters don't get swarmed. The Dragonborn Conquest Paladin excels at creating a 10-to-30-foot "no-go zone" using Dragon Fear and Aura of Conquest. You want party members who can capitalize on stationary, frightened enemies.

A Fiend Warlock or Evocation Wizard makes a perfect partner. Because your enemies are clustered and unable to move, they are sitting ducks for a perfectly placed Fireball or Wall of Fire. Your innate Damage Resistance means you can even survive friendly fire if the Wizard miscalculates.

A Phantom Rogue or Gloom Stalker Ranger will also love you. By locking enemies in place and eating their actions, you provide a stable, predictable battlefield for your strikers to focus down high-value targets without taking opportunity attacks.

Hexblade Warlock 1-2

Taking a single level of Hexblade lets you attack with Charisma instead of Strength, making your Halberd strikes and your Dragon Fear DC rely on the exact same stat. It also grants Shield to fix your two-handed weapon AC deficit. A second level grabs Agonizing Blast to give you a reliable ranged attack when Breath Weapon is empty.

Undead Warlock 1

The Form of Dread feature forces a fear saving throw once per turn when you hit an enemy. As a Conquest Paladin, this is a free, slotless way to lock an enemy into your Aura of Conquest without burning a Dragon Fear charge. It completely changes your action economy.

Divine Soul Sorcerer 3

Three levels gets you Absorb Elements (covering resistances your ancestry missed), Shield, and Silvery Barbs to force enemies to reroll successful saves against your Dragon Fear. You also get Quickened Spell to cast Hold Person as a bonus action and auto-crit with a Divine Smite on the same turn.

• Using the 2014 PHB Dragonborn: The old version requires a full action for the Breath Weapon, which ruins your ability to Extra Attack and Smite. Always use the Fizban's Treasury of Dragons version.
• Dumping Charisma: Because your Dragon Fear DC and Aura of Protection scale off Charisma, leaving it at 14 for too long will result in enemies easily passing their saves and walking right past you.
• Forgetting Darkvision: Dragonborn lack Darkvision. If you don't secure a Goggles of Night or have a caster cast Light on your Halberd, you will suffer disadvantage in underground encounters.
• Over-Smiting: Burning all your spell slots on Divine Smite leaves you without Armor of Agathys or Wrathful Smite. As a Conquest Paladin, your spells are often better spent on control than raw damage.