Best Baldur's Gate 3 Paladin class build

The best Baldur’s Gate 3 paladin build is an absolute powerhouse. Boasting magical abilities, as well as martial ones, they are capable of smashing through enemies in countless ways while also helping their allies stay on their feet, making it one the best Baldur's Gate 3 classes. You don’t have to be a hero either – consider Minthara, one of the game’s paladins, and you’ll see what we mean. In this guide, we’ll show you everything you need to know about the best paladin build for BG3.

Best Paladin class build in Baldur's Gate 3

The best Paladin build in Baldur's Gate 3 focuses on the following elements, at least in my eyes:

High hit points/Armor Class
Melee Combat emphasis
Charisma and dialogue skills

Healing and support spells are definitely useful, but the Paladin isn't as good at these things as the Cleric - and with Shadowheart in the party, healing is amply covered. Lay On Hands is there if you need it, but you're more of a backup healer in Baldur's Gate 3, with your primary focus being to draw aggro and take down foes with powerful smites. With that in mind, here's how to start making your Paladin for the optimum build:

Race: Half-Orc
Highest attributes: Strength, Charisma, Constitution
Subclass: Oath of Vengeance
Background: Charlatan
Class Skills: Persuasion and Athletics
Equipment: Heavy Armor, shield, one-handed versatile weapon of player's choice (a longsword, for example), throwing weapons

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The logic here is that the Half-Orc is the best race for melee fighting and being a tank, so that's an easy pick, and for this specific build, the Oath of Vengeance is the best option, though you'll have to level up a couple of times for it to come into its own and get the powers that make it effective - namely, drawing enemy attention and bashing them with powerful melee strikes.

The Charlatan background and class skills are meant to emphasise the other leg of this build - being a smooth charmer, invaluable out of combat. You can swap Athletics for Insight if you want to really lean into this, but considering you're a burly bruiser with a high strength score, having that Athletics bonus for the Shove action is going to be very helpful.

Later level Paladin builds: As you level up, you want to find magic gear that keeps you protected in close quarters-combat, as well as makes your weapon strikes more deadly. Enchanted armor and shields are a must, but if you want to double down on support and control, consider multiclassing a few levels into the Baldur's Gate 3 Bard class, so you can better manage your foes and be even more charming.

Alternatively, find ways to up your mobility - because you have very few ranged options, you need to be able to run into the fray at any moment, getting between your allies and those who want to hurt them. The Rogue's ability to dash as a bonus action at second level could be very helpful, not to mention adding Sneak Attack to those deadly smites.

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and Very Tired Man with a BA from Brunel University, a Masters from Sussex University and a decade working in games journalism, often focused on guides coverage but also in reviews, features and news. His love of games is strongest when it comes to groundbreaking narratives like Disco Elysium, UnderTale and Baldur's Gate 3, as well as innovative or refined gameplay experiences like XCOM, Sifu, Arkham Asylum or Slay the Spire. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at Eurogamer, Gfinity, USgamer, SFX Magazine, RPS, Dicebreaker, VG247, and more.