Goliath Oath of Glory Paladin Build Guide
With their towering physical presence and mythical strength, Goliaths are the ultimate vessels for the Oath of Glory's legendary athletic deeds.
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Why Oath of Glory?
The Oath of Glory Paladin is all about achieving heroic feats of athleticism and inspiring allies on the front lines. As a Striker, your goal is to get into the thick of combat and hit hard. The Goliath’s Powerful Build trait beautifully mirrors this theme of physical perfection, doubling your carrying capacity and making you a natural powerhouse. When you activate your Peerless Athlete feature, your jump distance doubles and you gain advantage on physical checks, turning you into an unstoppable force of nature.
Your combat survivability is heavily bolstered by your Goliath heritage. Thanks to your Giant Ancestry, you can use a reaction to shrug off incoming damage. This is crucial since your optimal starting stats prioritize a high Strength of 15 and Charisma of 14, leaving your Constitution slightly lower at 13. Staying on your feet longer allows you to safely trigger Inspiring Smite, converting your divine strikes into temporary hit points to shield your allies.
As you level up, the combination of your subclass's speed-boosting features and your species' Large Form trait will allow you to dominate the battlefield. You will easily control space, protect your squishier party members, and deliver glorious, heavy-hitting strikes to your foes.
Oath of Glory Features
Inspiring Smite
Level 3Immediately after you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack using Divine Smite, you can spend 1 sorcery point to grant yourself or a creature within 30 feet of you that you can see temporary hit points equal to 1d6 + your Paladin level. The temporary hit points increase to 1d8 when you reach 6th level, 1d10 at 14th level, and 1d12 at 18th level.
Oath of Glory Spells
Level 3You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed in the Oath of Glory Spells table. [Oath of Glory Spells: 1st - Guiding Bolt, Heroism; 2nd - Enhance Ability, Magic Weapon; 3rd - Haste, Spirit Shroud; 4th - Dominate Beast, Stoneskin; 5th - Cone of Cold, Hold Monster]
Peerless Athlete
Level 3As a Bonus Action, you can gain temporary hit points equal to your Paladin level. Additionally, your Speed increases by 10 feet, and your Armor Class is increased by 1 until the start of your next turn.
Aura of Alacrity
Level 7You emanate an aura of quick action while you aren't Incapacitated. When an ally within 10 feet of you that you can see rolls initiative, that creature gains a bonus to its roll equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of +1).
Glorious Defense
Level 15When a creature within 10 feet of you takes damage while you're conscious, you can use your Reaction to grant that creature temporary hit points equal to 1d6 + your Charisma modifier.
Living Legend
Level 20As an action, you can take the Dodge action and gain temporary hit points equal to your Paladin level + your Charisma modifier. Until the end of your next turn, whenever a creature within 10 feet of you takes damage, you can use your Reaction to reduce that damage by half (round down) using your Lay on Hands. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.
Recommended Ability Scores
Goliath Traits That Benefit Oath of Glory Paladin
Giant Ancestry
Giant Ancestry grants a supernatural ability that enhances the Paladin's combat or utility.
Powerful Build
Enhanced size and carrying capacity complement the Paladin's physical combat style.
Large Form
Enhanced size and carrying capacity complement the Paladin's physical combat style.
Combat Effectiveness
| Level | HP | Melee DPR | Spell DPR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 5 | 39 | 7.8 | 0 |
| Level 11 | 81 | 7.15 | 0 |
| Level 17 | 123 | 7.15 | 0 |
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Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
- ♦ Oath of Glory grants Inspiring Smite at level 3
- ♦ High hit points for frontline durability
- ♦ Strong species-class synergy enhances core abilities
- ♦ Strong melee damage output
- ♦ Divine Smite provides burst damage
Weaknesses
- ♦ No Darkvision — may need light sources in dungeons
- ♦ May require careful feat selection to optimize
Pro Tips
Combine Peerless Athlete with your Powerful Build to easily grapple and drag massive enemies across the battlefield without breaking a sweat.
Use Giant Ancestry to mitigate damage early in a fight, saving your spell slots for devastating divine smites rather than self-healing.
Pair your high Strength of 15 with Aura of Alacrity to rapidly close the gap and lock down distant enemy spellcasters.
Activate Inspiring Smite right after a heavy strike to bolster your party's temporary hit points while dealing massive Striker damage.
Other Paladin Subclasses for Goliath
Other Races for Oath of Glory Paladin
Frequently Asked Questions
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What makes Oath of Glory different from other Paladin subclasses?
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