BG3: BEST Oaths For Paladin With Expert’s Experience

When you opt for the Paladin class, you can choose from several subclasses or Oaths. However, it is hard to decide which Oath to opt for because all of them offer buffs in different ways. As such, it may be vital to view a BG3 Best Oath guide that covers all of Paladin Oaths while discussing which is best suited for certain builds and playstyles.

All Oaths For Paladins

Among the most popular subclasses that people go for are the Oath of Ancients or the Oath of Vengeance. However, the Oath of Ancients seems to be a more popular choice for most players.

Here is an overview of all the Paladin Subclass Oaths you can opt for, along with all of their pros and cons and ranked by best to worst:

What Are Paladin Oaths?

Like all the classes in Baldurs Gate 3, the Paladin class also has subclasses that you will have to choose from. These subclasses are called Oaths and grant you bonuses in different ways. Currently, there are only three Oaths (excluding Oathbreaker) from which you can choose. You can find out all of their perks and progression in the following section.

Stats Distribution

Being a Paladin and a duelist, your ideal stats are focused on Charisma and Strength. You will also want a decent chunk of your points in Constitution. You should not be concerned with Wisdom, Dexterity, or Intelligence for the textbook build, but you can build them if you feel like experimenting.

All of these important stats with their distribution are given in the following list in order of importance:

• Strength: 16(+3)
• Charisma: 16(+3)
• Constitution: 14(-1)
• Dexterity: 10

1. Oath Of Ancients

First up is the Oath of Ancients. It is an Oath based on defending Life and Nature, somewhat like a Druid. The Oath of Ancients is also one of the more popular Oaths and, so far, the best BG3 Best Oath. It starts out by giving you stable AoE healing through Healing Radiance. You can level it up and gain many more skills listed in the table below.

• You get two extremely useful spells that can either heal you (Healing Radiance) or CC a target enemy (Nature’s Wrath.)
• As you level up, you gain teleportation (Misty Step) and resistance spells (Protection from Energy, Aura of Warding) that create the perfect environment for dueling.
• One of the most popular scaling builds with this oath has the following creation steps.

2. Oath Of Vengeance

The Oath of Vengeance is a self-sufficient oath that makes the use of solo skills and spells. Unlike the other Oaths, this Oath doesn’t rely on helping allies too much. Rather, it gives you the power to become an unstoppable foe for all your enemies. To see what this Oath has to offer, refer to the table below.

• The Oath of Vengeance provides a similar but more aggressive dueling like the Oath of Ancients.
• At level 1, you gain Inquistor’s Might, which allows you to deal bonus damage.
• Later on, you learn Misty Step(teleport) along with Hold Person, which completely freezes the target.
• Finally, at level 9, you’ll get Haste (additional actions) and Protection from Energy, making you resistant to one elemental damage type.

3. Oath Of Devotion

The next Oath for the Paladin class is the Oath of Devotion. This Oath is your usual textbook Knight in Shining Armor. Full of honor and might, users are dedicated to fighting for the greater good and defending the weak. It’s the farthest possible thing from the BG3 Best Oath.

All the skills and spells you will learn under this Oath are listed below:

• The path of Devotion is the support role for your allies.
• All your abilities, like Lesser Restoration and Divine Rebuke, boost your allies’ health and combat power.
• Silence is a key spell in your kit at level 5, which creates an area where every entity is silenced.
• With level 9, you gain Beacon of Hope, which increases your healing, and Remove Curse, which removes all curses from your allies.

4. Oathbreaker

Oathbreaker isn’t necessarily an Oath, but it is a Paladin subclass; therefore, it is a viable candidate for one of the best Oaths in BG3. It is also a Paladin Subclass, but the only way to get it is not to pick any Oath at all. You can get your Oaths back by paying 2000 gold to the Knight.

The skills you can obtain as an Oathbreaker are listed as follows:

• The Oathbreaker skills and spells are quite destructive and grim, owing to the evil nature of the subclass.
• Your Level 1 spells include Control Undead, which gives you control of an undead being, and Spiteful Suffering, which allows you to deal necrotic damage to enemies.

Additional spells and skills that are unique to this path are listed as follows:

• Crown of Madness will make enemies aggressive towards their allies.
• Animate Undead will give you the ability to revive a fallen unit and use it as an ally.
• Aura of Hate will add a Charisma modifier to your attacks.

What I Think

As a dedicated player of Baldurs Gate 3, I have tested all of these builds, and my personal best seems to resonate with the majority. The Oath of Ancients is simply too helpful as a paladin because of the easily available misty step very early on and the insane healing. No more hunting for the perfect equipment 3 acts later.

Early Pros

The Oath of Ancients is particularly helpful against goblins and spiders in Act 1 because of the very early misty step. Additionally, the AoE healing is exceptionally helpful for your allies, especially if you saved Karlach, Wyll, or Gale.

It allows for great combat escapes in Act 2 regardless of whether you take the Mountains or traverse the Underdark. Either way, you will have a much easier time against many Minotaurs and the undead.

Early Cons

However, the utility you have as an Oath of Ancients Paladin is very similar to Shadowheart, so if you want to pursue her as an ally, it may be best to go Oath of Vengeance and siphon allies from the Wither to sacrifice for your full damage output. Secondly, your first few fights will be extra tough until you get Gale, Karlach, or Asterion for some DPS.

Finally, this concludes the BG3 Best Oath guide, covering the pros and cons of all Paladin Oaths and determining the one best suited for you. Since you’re here, consider checking out a similar guide, such as the Best Bard Subclasses. If that doesn’t sound fun, you can always check out how to unlock Withers in BG3. Lastly, if there is something you wish to let the readers know, feel free to leave it in the comments below.

Up Next:

• Baldur’s Gate 3: Gandrel Choices
• Baldur’s Gate 3: Ranger Gloom Stalker Build
• Baldur’s Gate 3: Cleric Class Guide