Halfling Dual wielding paladin Advice

Hey everyone,

I have been looking at lots of threads regarding Dex dual wielding paladins and I was hoping for some targeted advice.

I play a lightfoot halfling fighter 1/Pally of the ancients 3. Background: Urban Bounty hunter.
Str 13
Dex 16
Con 12
Int 10
Wis 10
Cha 16
Fighting styles: Two-weapon (Fighter), Defense (Pally)
Saves: Str and Con
Skills: Acrobatics, Perception, Persuasion, and Stealth
Party is: Me (fighter 1 dip/pally of ancients 3+), Pally vengeance 3 dip/warlock 1+, Druid 4 Circle of moon, Rogue 4 Assassin, Bard 4 .

I started out with a short sword and a scimitar, and have a shield for when I need to be defensive. I had it all planned out to skip the subpar dual-wielder feat at Pally 4 and go with something else, but then the GM dropped the intelligent item Wave on us. Since I was only one of two martials in the party with the proficiency to use it, I am now using it and not dual-wielding. :/ But it's soooo cool! Should I take the dual-wielder feat at lvl 4 so I can wield Wave AND something else (like a future magical weapon) OR should I take the +2 dex bump OR bump my STR up to 14 and put the other +1 elsewhere OR take another feat? Since Wave does a crazy insane hit on a crit (half total hp necrotic), perhaps I should work towards something to improve the crit range.

Also, I am going to get to lvl 5 pally asap to get the extra attack, but then I'm considering another lvl in fighter, or a dipinto something else (rogue, warlock, sorcerer, bard?). Pally will be my primary, but I don't mind a dip or two. I tend to favor utility over straight up murder-hobo, but I do want to be as effective as I can and not a hindrance to the party. I work well with the rogue assassin in the group.

I'm not looking to change anything I have already picked. Any suggestions moving forward, or cool ideas?

Thanks in advance!

It's a little nuts to have that weapon at level 4. I hope you get to keep it. If your DM likes to shower you with magic items, maybe you'll find gauntlets of Ogre power or even a giant strength belt.

Normally I'd head straight to paladin 7 but with that weapon, maybe start pumping champion Fighter. 12/8 fighter/ paladin would give you lots of asis and lots of attacks. I would indeed hold off on dual wielder. Unless those gauntlets drop.

Edit.. There's always a Hexblade dip to use charisma for attacks but I have a feeling a strength pumping item may be in your future.

Level 11 is improved divine smite, coupled with divine favor.... plenty of damage out put here.

Since you will get 2 attacks at 5th level paladin, and I'm assuming WAVE is a long sword, you're gonna have to bump strength, other wise you're always gonna need the bless spell up to hit. And honestly there are other spells worth concentrating on for a paladin

The dual wielder feat is best, IMO, for a strength based dual wielder so you can use all these weapons, long swords, spears, hand axes, war hammers, battle axes, maces, morningstars, and short swords, scimitars, and rapiers

But for dex based its just allowing you to basically dual wield rapiers.... not worth it, IMO

So, bump strength up at 4th level paladin (15), 8th level paladin(17), and since you want improved divine smite maybe at 12 level grab dual wielder or max strength (19)

You could also grab HAM or Athlete or just stick with the strength bumps

Until then just use a long sword and shield, or just long sword and do 1d10 on a hit

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wolflord_ian

Should I take the dual-wielder feat at lvl 4 so I can wield Wave AND something else (like a future magical weapon) OR should I take the +2 dex bump OR bump my STR up to 14 and put the other +1 elsewhere OR take another feat?

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If you use light armor, +2 Dex seems best.
If you want the coolness factor of a whip and ranged smite, DW is nice.
Bump Str only if you wear heavy armor, and then to Str15.


Overall, I'd tend to Dex18 at paladin 4 and DW at paladin 8. You will want 3 attacks once you get paladin 11.

You know you can have different weapon layouts for different times.

Some fights you dual wield short swords, and sometimes you go out with wave.

Sometimes you need a bow.

But for me 11th level improved divine smite is as good as a standard fighter's 3rd attack

From an optimization standpoint, going sword + board is going to be better. But Paladins can do fine with dual wielding even if it's not optimal, if your heart is set on it, go for it.

Some awesome suggestions on here! So I'm not going to dip warlock hexblade (it WAS tempting to get 19-20 crit), but I'm still considering a rogue or bard dip for 1 lvl. Rogue gets me sneak attack dice (Ave +3 damage per attack) and expertise, while bard gets me more spell versatility and bardic inspiration. Or maybe, I should just stick with the original plan of Paladin 5, Fighter 2 (Action Surge), Paladin the rest. Thematically, He's mostly a paladin with some versatility. Thoughts?

As for the feat or stat bump, I'm still torn. It seems somewhat comparable to go with +2 Dex and dual wield light/finesse weapons OR take the Dual-Wielder Feat and dual wield Wave (a versatile trident btw) and whatever other weapon I want (long-sword) or magical weapon I find. Going for the +2 Str bump doesn't seem worth it, unless I'm missing something. I do like him being sneaky and wearing light armor, but I'm not opposed to medium if it were worth it.

Halflings are improvised weapons, so any Paladin wanting to dual wield them should take Tavern Brawler feat as well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Malifice

Halflings are improvised weapons, so any Paladin wanting to dual wield them should take Tavern Brawler feat as well.

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The character should be cautious about how often he does it, though; it's hobbit forming.

Get a mount. Get Dual Wielder feat. Use lances, plural. (They're not heavy.) :smallcool: (Yes, it's silly. So?)