Elf Paladin Build Guide

Levels 1-4

Choose the High Elf subrace to pick up the Booming Blade cantrip; this gives you a much-needed damage boost before Extra Attack, especially if you cast Wrathful Smite to lock an enemy in place. Start with a Longsword, a Shield, and the Dueling Fighting Style. At level 3, take Oath of the Ancients to lean into your fey heritage. At level 4, you must fix your 15 Strength. Take the Heavy Armor Master feat to bump Strength to 16 while shaving 3 points of damage off every non-magical slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning attack.

Levels 5-10

Level 5 brings Extra Attack and 2nd-level spells like Find Steed. At level 6, Aura of Protection comes online, adding your +2 Charisma modifier to all saves. Level 7 grants Aura of Warding, giving you and adjacent allies resistance to all damage from spells. At level 8, use your ASI to boost Charisma to 16. This improves your Aura of Protection, your spell save DCs, and your number of prepared spells.

Levels 11-16

Level 11 gives you Improved Divine Smite, adding a passive 1d8 radiant damage to every melee swing. This helps compensate for your lower Strength. At level 12, take a +2 Strength ASI to reach 18 Strength. Level 15 gives you Undying Sentinel, letting you drop to 1 HP instead of 0 once per long rest. At level 16, max your Strength to 20 to ensure your melee attacks consistently land.

Levels 17-20

At level 18, your auras expand to 30 feet, which drastically changes party positioning—your squishy casters can now benefit from Aura of Warding without standing directly in melee. For your level 19 ASI, take Inspiring Leader to weaponize your 16 Charisma into a massive pool of temporary hit points after every short or long rest. At level 20, Elder Champion turns you into an unstoppable fey force, allowing you to cast spells as a bonus action while regenerating 10 HP per turn.

Cantrips

Paladins don't naturally get cantrips, but as a High Elf, you do. Take Booming Blade. It scales with character level and creates a brutal catch-22 when you cast Wrathful Smite: the frightened enemy either stands still and does nothing, or moves away and takes the secondary thunder damage.

Level 1-2 Spells

Bless is your staple concentration spell at level 1, mathematically outperforming low-level Divine Smites over an encounter. Wrathful Smite is your best crowd control, requiring an action to break the fear. At level 2, grab Find Steed to summon a fey spirit (like an Elk) to increase your mobility.

Level 3-5 Spells

Aura of Vitality (Level 3) is a phenomenal out-of-combat healing tool, restoring 20d6 HP over a minute. Find Greater Steed (Level 4) upgrades your mount to a Pegasus or Griffon, solving your lack of ranged options by granting you flight. Banishment (Level 4) is a great save-or-suck spell, though your 16 Charisma means it's best saved for low-Charisma brutes.

High-Level Spells

Destructive Wave (Level 5) is an incredible AoE that knocks enemies prone while ignoring your allies, setting up advantage for your melee attacks. Banishing Smite deals a massive 5d10 force damage and can instantly remove an enemy with fewer than 50 hit points without a saving throw.

Heavy Armor Master

Take this at level 4. Since you start with an awkward 15 Strength, you desperately need a half-feat to reach 16. Heavy Armor Master provides that +1 Strength while offering incredible flat damage reduction against early-game multi-attackers like goblins and wolves.

Inspiring Leader

Take this in Tier 3 or 4. Your Charisma won't be maxed, but even with a 16 Charisma, granting 20+ temporary hit points to six creatures after every rest is a massive buffer for your party's overall HP pool.

Sentinel

A fantastic control feat for a Defender. If an enemy tries to walk past you to hit your Wizard, Sentinel drops their speed to 0. It perfectly complements your Aura of Protection, forcing enemies to stay near you where your allies are safely clustered.

Elven Accuracy

Warning: Only take this if you dip into Hexblade Warlock. Elven Accuracy requires you to attack with Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma. As a Strength-based Paladin, you cannot use it unless you take a level of Hexblade to swing your sword with Charisma.

Tier 1 (Levels 1-4)

Start with a Longsword, a Shield, and upgrade from Chain Mail to Splint Armor as soon as you have 200 gold. Your AC should sit comfortably at 19 with the Defense fighting style.

Tier 2 (Levels 5-10)

Secure Plate Armor for 20 AC. Look for a Cloak of Protection to stack with your Aura of Protection, making your saving throws nearly unbeatable. A basic +1 Longsword is essential here to keep your hit rate competitive with your 16 Strength.

Tier 3 (Levels 11-16)

Your primary goal is a Belt of Hill Giant Strength. Since you started with a low 15 Strength, setting your Strength instantly to 21 completely negates your racial stat disadvantage. A Sun Blade is also highly thematic for an Elf Paladin and deals radiant damage.

Tier 4 (Levels 17-20)

The Holy Avenger is the pinnacle weapon for any Paladin. As an Elf Oath of the Ancients Paladin holding a Holy Avenger, you project a 30-foot aura that grants advantage on saving throws against spells, resistance to spell damage, and massive bonuses to the saves themselves.

As a Defender, your job is to anchor the frontline and project your protective auras over vulnerable allies. You want a tight formation to maximize the benefits of your Aura of Protection and Aura of Warding.

A Divination or Chronurgy Wizard pairs exceptionally well with you. They provide essential battlefield control like Hypnotic Pattern or Wall of Force, while you stand next to them, ensuring they never fail a concentration check thanks to your Aura.

A Swashbuckler Rogue or Battle Master Fighter makes a great melee partner. They can stand inside your 10-foot aura, benefit from your defensive buffs, and help you focus down single targets with Sneak Attack and Divine Smite burst damage.

Hexblade Warlock 1 or 2 Dip

This is the ultimate fix for the Elf Paladin. Taking one level of Hexblade Warlock lets you attack using your Charisma modifier. This immediately solves your MAD (Multiple Ability Score Dependent) issues, lets you leave Strength at 15 for heavy armor, max Charisma for your Auras, and finally enables the use of the Elven Accuracy feat on your melee swings.

Divine Soul Sorcerer Dip

Taking 1 to 4 levels of Divine Soul Sorcerer gives you the Shield spell and Absorb Elements, pushing your AC into the mid-20s on demand. You also get Favored by the Gods for an emergency 2d4 to a failed saving throw, making you virtually indestructible.

• Taking Elven Accuracy with a Strength build: Elven Accuracy explicitly states it only works on attacks using DEX, INT, WIS, or CHA. If you swing your Longsword with Strength, the feat does absolutely nothing.
• Ignoring your Aura positioning: Paladins are team players. If you charge 40 feet ahead of your party to Smite a goblin, your Cleric and Wizard lose the +2 to all saves from your Aura of Protection.
• Blowing all slots on Divine Smite: Siting is fun, but casting Bless on yourself and two allies at the start of a tough fight yields significantly more damage and survivability over a 4-round combat than a single 2d8 Smite.
• Forgetting Trance during rests: Elves finish long rests in 4 hours. You can spend the remaining 4 hours keeping watch, ensuring your party is never ambushed, or scribing low-level spell scrolls if you have proficiency in Arcana.