10 Great Feats For Paladins In Baldur’s Gate 3

Of all the classes on offer in Baldur’s Gate 3 none has been more popular than the paladin. Since the game’s opening weekend, paladins have consistently been the most played in BG3, with them offering that great mix of strength, healing and magic. While there is a lot of versatility when leveling up any character, there are some feats that natural pair better than other, and paladins are no exception.

Feats are a mechanic brought over from Dungeons & Dragons, providing boosts and abilities at certain level milestones. Choosing the right feat is important as paladins will only get three during the course of BG3, but many are left feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of them on offer. While it very much depends on the style of playthrough for each paladin, these feats are a great starting point for those looking for the best feats to get the most out of building and playing a paladin.

10 Dual Wielder

Great Passives For Damage And AC

Dual Wielder is a great feat for really maximizing damage output and makes an interesting change from the typical paladin build. This feat allows weapons to be wielded in both hands, even if they aren’t light weapons. Dual Wielder also has a brilliant passive that gives a plus one to AC when the paladin has two melee weapons equipped in both hands.

With a paladin’s already impressive damage and AC from heavy armor, Dual Wielder can open up a lot of fun possibilities.

Heavy weapons such a greatswords, pikes, greataxes or heavy crossbows cannot be dual wielded even with the Dual Wielder feat.

9 War Caster

War Caster is an incredibly useful feat for any class that uses spells, especially concentration spells. War Caster gives the paladin advantage on savings throws to maintain concentration on spells in a fight.

This can really come in handy with spells such as bless, compelled duel or silence, and several of the key paladin smite spells require concentration. War Caster also gives the paladin the ability to use shocking grasp as a reaction, providing that they already have the cantrip.

8 Polearm Master

Another feat to add a bit of variety from the usual paladin builds is Polearm Master and is really fun to pair with Sentinel. Polearm Master lets the paladin use a bonus action for an extra attack with the butt of their polearm weapon, dealing 1d4 plus the weapon ability modifier.

The paladin can also make opportunity attacks when an enemy comes within range, and that is where polearms become really fun. Polearms have extra reach, meaning the paladin won’t have to be right next to them to attack, opening up the battlefield considerably and giving the paladin more options.

Polearm weapons include glaives, halberds, quarterstaffs, spears and pikes. Although pikes are not listed under the Polearm Master they are tagged in game as extra reach which qualifies them for the feat.

7 Great Weapon Master

Just like Polearm Master, Great Weapon Master enhances the damage and abilities of a particular weapon group. Great Weapon Master adds two abilities, the first of which allows the paladin to make an extra bonus action attack whenever they land a critical hit on an enemy.

The second, called All In, is a toggleable passive ability that acts similarly to a barbarian’s reckless attack. When the paladin is using a two-handed or versatile melee weapon, they can choose to take minus five to their attack roll for an extra 10 points of damage.

6 Durable

Short Rests Become Much More Useful

Durable is a great all-round feat for any class in Baldur’s Gate 3 but is especially effective with frontline and tanking characters. Durable lets the paladin increase their Constitution score by one and allows full hit points to be regained on short rests. This is a handy feat to take if the paladin is the party’s primary tank and is really helpful in areas where taking a long rest is not possible.

5 Tough

Tough is another great all-round BG3 feat, as is one of the best early-game options. Tough is simple enough, as it increases the paladin’s hit point maximum by two for each level. This soon adds up and can quickly turn a paladin into a very effective tank right through to the end of Baldur’s Gate 3.

4 Alert

Never Miss A Turn Again From Being Surprised

Alert is a fantastic feat for characters who act as the primary damage dealers or tanks of the party, and since paladins can fulfil both of those roles, this feat makes perfect sense. Alert has two features, the first of which is a very helpful plus five to initiative.

This should easily be enough to put the paladin close to or at the top of the initiative order, letting them take charge early on. The second feature of Alert is that the paladin can no longer be surprised, which is very handy when enemies get the drop on the party.

3 Heavy Armour Master

Make The Most Out Of All That Plate Mail

The classic image of a paladin is one clad in shiny heavy armor and as one of the classes in BG3 that have heavy armor proficiency, Heavy Armour Master will help make the most of this. This feat increases the paladin’s Strength score by one, which works really well with other feats focus on strength-based weapons, like Great Weapon Master.

Even better, Heavy Armour Master also
decreases all damage from non-magical attacks by three
while the paladin is wearing heavy armor, really helping them in their role as tank.

2 Shield Master

While many paladins might choose to use two-handed weapons or polearms, many might opt for the classic sword and board build, and that’s where Shield Master really helps. This feat adds a plus two bonus to all Dexterity saving throws while using a shield but also gives the paladin a new reaction ability.

With Shield Master, if a spell forces the paladin to make a Dexterity saving throw they can use their reaction to block it. With this, the paladin will only take half damage on a failed save and no damage with a success.

1 Sentinel

The Ultimate Protector Feat

Finally, Sentinel is a great feat for paladins to really excel in their role as the party protector in Baldur’s Gate 3. This feat has three main features that help control the battlefield and protect other party members. With Sentinel, the paladin can use their reaction to make a weapon attack on an enemy in melee range when that target has attacked an ally.

Targets hit with this attack cannot move for the rest of their turn and best of all, Sentinel gives advantage to all opportunity attacks, increasing the odds of landing that hit.