Dwarf Paladin Build Guide

Levels 1-4

Start with your optimal stats: STR 15, DEX 10, CON 13, INT 8, WIS 12, and CHA 14. Take the Defense Fighting Style at level 2 to bump your AC to 19 (with Chain Mail and a Shield). For your Sacred Oath at level 3, Oath of the Crown is the premier Defender choice, giving you Champion Challenge to lock enemies within 30 feet of your dwarven bulk. At level 4, take the Heavy Armor Master feat. This bumps your 15 Strength to 16 and reduces all non-magical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage by 3. Combined with your high HP, early-game goblin arrows will feel like mosquito bites.

Levels 5-10

Level 5 brings Extra Attack and 2nd-level spells; immediately prepare Find Steed to summon a Warhorse, completely negating your 25-foot dwarven walking speed. At level 6, Aura of Protection comes online, adding your +2 Charisma modifier to all saving throws. At level 8, you need to shore up your Constitution. Take the Resilient (Constitution) feat. This bumps your 13 CON to a 14 and grants proficiency in CON saves, ensuring you never drop concentration on Bless or Spirit Guardians (if you took Crown) when taking heavy hits.

Levels 11-16

Level 11 grants Improved Divine Smite, adding a free 1d8 radiant damage to every warhammer swing. At level 12, take the Sentinel feat. You are a Defender, and Sentinel ensures that if an enemy tries to walk past you to hit your Wizard, their speed drops to 0. Level 15 brings your Oath feature; Crown Paladins get Unyielding Spirit, granting advantage on saves against being paralyzed or stunned, stacking beautifully with your dwarven poison resilience.

Levels 17-20

At level 16, use your ASI to bump Charisma to 16, enhancing your Aura and spell save DC. Level 17 unlocks 5th-level spells like Destructive Wave. At level 19, take the Tough feat. Combining Tough (+2 HP per level) with Dwarven Toughness (+1 HP per level) means you are gaining an astronomical +3 HP every single level on top of your d10 hit die and CON modifier. By level 20, you will eclipse 200 HP easily, making you an unkillable avatar of divine wrath.

Cantrips

Paladins do not inherently get cantrips. However, if you swap the Defense Fighting Style for Blessed Warrior, take Guidance for out-of-combat utility and Toll the Dead to give yourself a ranged damage option when your 25-foot dwarven legs can't reach the enemy.

Level 1-2 Spells

Bless: The best 1st-level spell in the game. Adding 1d4 to attacks and saves for you and two allies is mathematically superior to burning a slot on a 2d8 Divine Smite. Wrathful Smite: Frightened enemies cannot move closer to you. Find Steed: Absolutely mandatory to fix the Dwarf's 25-foot movement speed.

Level 3-5 Spells

Aura of Vitality: Heals 20d6 out of combat, turning your leftover 3rd-level slots into massive party sustain. Find Greater Steed: Upgrade your warhorse to a Griffon at level 13. A flying dwarf paladin is a terrifying battlefield controller. Banishment: Use this to instantly remove a low-Charisma fiend from the board.

High-Level Spells

Destructive Wave: 10d6 damage in a 30-foot radius that knocks enemies prone and explicitly leaves your allies unharmed. Holy Weapon: Adds 2d8 radiant damage to every weapon attack. Cast this on your warhammer before a boss fight to double your Improved Divine Smite output.

Heavy Armor Master

Take this at level 4. It provides a +1 to Strength, perfectly rounding out your starting 15 STR to a 16. The damage reduction of 3 against non-magical physical attacks is incredibly potent in Tiers 1 and 2, acting as a force multiplier for your already massive Dwarven Toughness HP pool.

Resilient (Constitution)

Take this at level 8. Bumping your 13 CON to 14 yields an immediate retroactive HP boost. More importantly, gaining proficiency in Constitution saving throws means that, when stacked with your Aura of Protection, your concentration on crucial spells like Bless becomes virtually unbreakable.

Sentinel

Take this at level 12. As a Defender, your job is to keep enemies away from your backline. Sentinel reduces enemy speed to 0 when you hit them with an opportunity attack, forcing them to deal with your heavy armor and massive health pool instead of chasing down your Rogue or Wizard.

Tough

Take this at level 19 for the ultimate capstone to your durability. Tough adds 2 HP per level. When stacked with Dwarven Toughness, you are gaining +3 HP per level above the standard Paladin baseline. It transforms you into a raid boss.

Tier 1 (Levels 1-4)

Start with a standard Warhammer and a Shield. Buy Splint Armor as soon as you have 200 gold. Your goal is to hit 19 AC quickly. Carry a few javelins to compensate for your 25-foot movement speed before you unlock your steed.

Tier 2 (Levels 5-10)

Acquire Plate Armor. Look for an Amulet of Health to instantly bump your Constitution to 19, which synergizes incredibly well with your Dwarven Toughness. Alternatively, Gauntlets of Ogre Power will fix your Strength at 19, allowing you to focus your ASIs strictly on Charisma and feats.

Tier 3 (Levels 11-16)

This is where your species choice pays off: beg your DM for a Dwarven Thrower. This +3 warhammer can only be attuned by a Dwarf, deals an extra 1d8 damage, and can be thrown with a 20/60 range before instantly returning to your hand. It completely solves the Paladin's lack of ranged options.

Tier 4 (Levels 17-20)

You want a Holy Avenger (specifically shaped as a Warhammer or Battleaxe for flavor). This grants advantage on saving throws against spells for you and anyone in your Aura, stacking with your Dwarven Resilience to make you entirely immune to enemy spellcasters. Pair it with +3 Plate Armor.

This Dwarf Paladin build thrives as the primary Defender (the "Anvil") in a party composition that features high-damage, squishy characters (the "Hammers"). Because you are utilizing Sentinel and Champion Challenge to lock enemies in place, you want allies who can capitalize on stationary targets.

An Evocation Wizard is your best friend. They can drop Fireball or Sickening Radiance directly on top of you; you will automatically succeed on the saves via Aura of Protection, while the Wizard uses Sculpt Spells to keep you perfectly safe. A Swashbuckler Rogue is another excellent pairing, as they can easily dart in to apply Sneak Attack on the enemies you have locked down, then retreat without taking opportunity attacks.

Hexblade Warlock 1 Dip

Taking a single level of Hexblade Warlock is notoriously broken on Paladins, but it has a unique synergy for Dwarves. Dwarves ignore the 10-foot movement speed penalty for wearing heavy armor without meeting the Strength requirement. This means you can leave your Strength at 13 (the multiclass minimum), pump Charisma to 20, attack with Charisma using your Hex weapon, and still wear full Plate Armor without being slowed down.

Divine Soul Sorcerer 3 Dip

Taking three levels of Divine Soul Sorcerer gives you access to the Shield spell (+5 AC on reaction) and Absorb Elements. This dramatically increases your survivability. You also gain Silvery Barbs to force enemies to reroll critical hits against you, ensuring your massive dwarven HP pool isn't depleted by lucky monster rolls.

• Ignoring your mobility deficit: A 25-foot walking speed means melee enemies can kite you. Always prepare Find Steed at level 5, or you will spend half of every combat using the Dash action instead of Smiting.
• Forgetting Dwarven Resilience: Players often forget they have advantage on saving throws against poison and resistance to poison damage. Remind your DM every time a Green Dragon breathes or a Giant Spider bites.
• Hoarding spell slots only for Divine Smite: While rolling 3d8 on a critical hit is fun, casting Bless on turn one will mathematically generate more damage for your party over a 4-round combat than a single 1st-level smite.
• Using a two-handed weapon: With your massive HP pool, you want to mitigate incoming hits, not trade blows. Keep the Shield equipped. A dead Paladin deals 0 DPR.