Paladin's Toolbox: Paladin Enhancements

By Save-vs-DM

For those of us who have been playing Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) since you had to ink your own numbers on the dice, Enhancements can be confusing or even daunting. Even for players who have never looked at the pages of the Player's Handbook, Enhancements offer another level of complexity in an already complex system. This guide is intended to dispel some of the confusion surrounding paladin enhancements.

Enhancement Basics

Enhancements are extra abilities you can choose between your levels. You can choose or replace four Enhancements per level from a list compiled from your race and class (or classes, if you've multiclassed). Unlike Feats, you can replace an Enhancement you don't like each time you earn an action point. You can only choose four Enhancements at a time, though you can swap one Enhancement for another each time you earn a new action point.

Generally, Enhancements enhance (funny how that works) a feature or role of your class. Paladins get dramatically different Enhancements from a sorcerer, for example. In general, paladin Enhancements boost your armor class, saving throws, or allow you to use your special abilities more often (or more effectively).

The fun thing with Enhancements is that you can try out different ones without being locked into them for too long. If you're unsure if you'll find a particular Enhancement useful, try it out!  You can always swap it out for something different if you don't like it.

Enhancements and Play Style

The beautiful thing about Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach (DDO) is the wide variety between characters of the same class. Enhancements add to this diversity by allowing you to focus on a narrow niche of your class even further. However, what works for one player won't always work for another.

Your play style and group construction will often determine what enhancements are most useful to you. An offensive paladin will have different enhancements than a defensive paladin, as they will be focusing on different aspects of the paladin class. In general, the best way to determine what enhancements work best for you is by trying out a variety of enhancements and finding which ones work for you. Adhere less to restrictive build guilds and more what feels and works best for you.

Enhancement Specifics

Paladins can choose from the following Enhancements. I have omitted the specifics of what each enhancement does and at what level they can be taken, as you can find that information from the DDO Compendium.

Bulwark of Good I-III
Bulwark of Good is one of the most universally useful paladin Enhancements. It grants an additional armor class bonus equal to the value of the Enhancement to you and your allies. This bonus stacks with every magic item in the game. Since a higher armor class means that you'll be hit less often and therefore take less damage, Bulwark of Good is one of the strongest Enhancements for all build and play styles. I strongly encourage all paladins to at least try out Bulwark of Good.

Courage of Good I-II
Courage of Good provides you and  your allies with an additional bonus on saves versus fear. Because paladins are immune to fear after Level 3 and already grant their allies an additional +4 to saves versus fear, this Enhancement is rarely taken. However, it can be useful at the very low levels when you're fighting hordes of kobold shamans who like to spam cause fear. If you find that you and your allies are being hit with fear effects a bit too often, you might consider taking Courage of Good.

Devotion I
This Enhancement provides a bonus to the amount of damage healed with your first level healing spells. This Enhancement is rarely taken, mostly because most paladins have fewer spell points than clerics and often don't use Cure Light Wounds often enough to make Devotion worth the limited slots available. However, it can be worth it if you find yourself working as a backup healer.

Energy of the Templar I-VII
This Enhancement provides a small bonus to your spell points. Few paladins find the amount of bonus spell points worth the slot, but it's a good way to accomplish the task if you want to cast more spells. Energy of the Templar does have a place as a stopgap measure at some levels. Some paladins find that the bonus spell points are a nice boon at Level 4, when you don't yet have spell points from your class. This Enhancement can often be replaced with Power or Wizardry items.

Extra Lay on Hands I-II
Extra Lay on Hands is a very potent Enhancement that can really add a healing punch to your paladin build. It allows you to use your Lay on Hands ability one or two additional times per rest. While this Enhancement is not for everyone, if you like having extra uninterruptible and potent healing on hand, it is definitely worth a look. This is a good Enhancement for paladins who are in smaller groups or who do a lot of soloing, as the healing allows you to work as a backup or secondary healer in some instances.

Extra Smite Evil I-IV
If you find that you really like Smiting Evil left and right, this Enhancement is definitely for you. Smite Evil can deal truly large amounts of damage to evil creatures at higher levels, and for some players having additional uses of this ability is a huge benefit. This Enhancement often finds a place in a few offensive paladin builds who want to deal large amounts of damage.

Extra Turning I-II
Given that paladins are generally only mediocre at turning undead due to their lower turning level, this Enhancement isn't all that useful. However, if you find you're fighting in a lot of dungeons with multiple lower level undead, you might pick up this Enhancement temporarily to give you additional uses of turn undead. For the most part, though, you'll want to leave this one to the clerics.

Focus of Good I-III
Focus of Good provides everyone within your aura a bonus to Concentration checks. While this sounds nice in practice, the fact is that the majority of paladins are in the thick of combat and the spellcasters are often on the fringe. So the characters who would most benefit from this Enhancement are often actually out of its range. Focus of Good might find a place in builds that prefer static Enhancements or in some archer builds, as archers are likely to be in the back with the spellcasters. For the most part, you'll want to avoid this Enhancement as well.

Greater Devotion I
As Improved Devotion, only it provides a larger bonus to the amount of damage healed.

Improved Devotion I
As Devotion, only it provides a larger bonus to the amount of damage healed.

Paladin's Action Boost I-IV
For many players, this is one of the bread and butter Enhancements of the paladin class. This action boost can increase your armor class, attack bonus, or saving throws for 20 seconds. This is actually probably the best action boost Enhancement in the game, given that you can boost three of the most important abilities of your character. With this Enhancement you can more accurately hit enemies with a high armor class, avoid being hit by enemies with a high attack bonus, or avoid taking damage from spells with your increased saves. Paladin's Action Boost is a very solid Enhancement, and very few players regret having it. At the very least, it can help you get through the low levels. Try it out at the low levels, see if you like it (or use it enough), and then evaluate whether or not you want to keep it as a permanent tool in your toolbox.

Paladin's Charisma I-III
Wow, an Enhancement that increases the paladin's most important ability score!  This Enhancement finds a place in many paladin builds, and for good reason. Charisma is so vitally important to paladins that this Enhancement is a huge boon. If you think your Charisma score is too low, take Paladin's Charisma. There is one caveat: it will only provide you with a benefit if it will increase your Charisma to an even number or higher (14 to 16/17, 16 to 18/19, etc.). Do not take this Enhancement if it won't increase your Charisma enough to grant you an additional +1 ability modifier. This caveat becomes moot when you gain access to Paladin's Charisma II or III, as those will always provide you with a benefit.

Paladin's Grace I-II
This Enhancement provides you with a bonus to your saving throws. Unlike Resistance of Good, this Enhancement only works for you. If you find yourself regularly falling victim to enemy spells and effects, you might consider picking up this Enhancement to further increase your saving throws. Paladin's Grace sometimes finds its way into mage slayer builds, as they focus on obtaining very high saving throws to avoid enemy spells. In general, you will find that Resistance of Good is a better option than Paladin's Grace (though the two taken together can result in very, very high saving throws).

Paladin's Rally
This Enhancement allows you to remove fear from one target once per rest. It is very rarely taken, and if it is, it is generally taken at Level 1 or 2, when fear is a big problem due to the kobold shamans. This Enhancement rarely sticks around for long, though, as saving throws increase and avoiding fear effects becomes more common. Try it out at early if you find allies fall to fear too often for your tastes, but get rid of it before Level 3 when Bulwark of Good and Resistance of Good become available.

Resistance of Good I-III
Everything that is good about Bulwark of Good is also good about Resistance of Good. Instead of improving  you and your allies' armor class, Resistance of Good improves your saving throws. I strongly encourage all paladins to at least try this Enhancement.

Skill Interaction I-V
This Enhancement provides a bonus to your Diplomacy and Intimidate skills. While Diplomacy isn't all the useful to the paladin, Intimidate is often a cornerstone of a lot of paladin builds. If you're playing a tank, or defensive style build, this Skill Interaction can often be of great benefit. If you find that your Intimidate skill isn't landing as often as you'd like, try out this Enhancement.

Skill Recovery I-V
This Enhancement provides a bonus to your Heal and Repair skills. Given that these skills are generally only used at rest shrines or when reviving characters, this Enhancement usually isn't worth the slot it occupies. Try it if--for some reason--you find yourself reviving characters with the Heal or Repair skill often; otherwise avoid this Enhancement.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, paladins have a large selection of nice Enhancements that can aid you in your battle against evil. My guide will allow you to choose the Enhancements best suited to your character and play style. And remember: you can change Enhancements fairly often, so experimenting is par for the course!

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