Guide to Paladin Feats

By Nuitaran

Paladins, like barbarians and rangers, are a melee class severely lacking in slots for Feats. Human paladins will have the opportunity to select six Feats over a 12 level career; other races only get five. Choosing Feats for a paladin can take some careful thought and planning to avoid having numerous re-rolls or spending oodles of platinum buying feat re-specs. While my family slaved over a hot stove, I spent my Thanksgiving slaving over a hot video card to get the best experience I could get out of the Risia Server with paladin Feats. We have rated the Feats below based on our experience as to which are going to be most helpful and useful. Feats are rated on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being the worst and 5 being the best.

A rating of 1 or 2 means the Feat is pretty much useless to a paladin and one that you probably want to avoid.  A rating of 3 indicates that the Feat can be used with some careful planning, or with certain class combinations. We reserve a rating of 4 only for those Feats that are almost necessary picks for certain types of builds, or class combinations. A rating of 5 designates the best of the paladin Feats and ones players should seriously consider for any DDO Build for paladins.

To help you navigate the many Feats, just click on the range of Feats below to move to that spot in the guide:

Paladin Feats 1-10 Acrobatic Alertness Athletic Bullheaded Cleave Combast Casting Combat Expertise Discipline Dodge Empowered Healing

Paladin Feats 11-20 Eschew Materials Exotic Weapon Proficiency Extend Spell Extra Turning Great Cleave Great Fortitude Greater Two Handed Fighting Greater Two Weapon Fighting Greater Weapon Focus Improved Critical

Paladin Feats 21-30 Improved Feint Improved Mental Toughness Improved Precise Shot Improved Shield Bash Improved Shield Mastery Improved Sunder Improved Trip Improved Two Handed Fighting Improved Two Weapon Fighting Iron Will

Paladin Feats 31-40 Lightning Reflexes Luck of the Heroes Many Shot Mental Toughness Mobile Spellcasting Mobility Negotiator Nimble Fingers Point Blank Shot Power Attack

Paladin Feats 41-50 Precise Shot Precision Quick Draw Quicken Spell Rapid Reload Rapid Shot Resilience Resist Poison Sap Self Sufficient Shot on the Run

Paladin Feats 51-60 Shield Mastery Skill Focus Slicing Blow Snake Blood Spring Attack Stealthy Stunning Blow Toughness Tower Shield Proficiency Two Handed Fighting

Paladin Feats 61-67 Two Weapon Blocking Two Weapon Block Two Weapon Defense Two Weapon Fighting Weapon Finesse Weapon Focus Whirlwind Attack

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1. Acrobatic Official Text: "You have excellent body awareness and coordination. You receive a +2 bonus on Jump checks and Tumble checks." Comments: This can easily be made up for with skill points. With limited Feat selection, there are better options out there. Rating: 1

2. Alertness Official Text: "You have finely tuned senses. You receive a +2 bonus on Listen checks and Spot checks." Comments: Leave the Listening and Spotting to the rangers and the rogues. Rating: 1

3. Athletic Official Text: "You have a knack for athletic endeavors. You receive a +2 bonus on Balance checks and Swim checks." Comments: Balance is becoming increasingly important in DDO thanks to the overuse of Trip by enemies, but doesn't warrant a Feat slot. A good Swim Skill is good for anybody, but items of Water Breathing are far too common to make this boost to the Swim Skill worthwhile. Rating: 1

4. Bullheaded Official Text: "You are exceptionally headstrong and difficult to sway. You receive a +1 on all Will saves and +2 bonus on Intimidate checks." Comments: With a Paladins already high saving throws and high Charisma, this one is not at all necessary. Rating: 1

5. Cleave Official Text: "Activate this ability to attack one or more enemies in an arc in front of you." Prerequisite: Power Attack Comments: This should be left to the fighters. Rating: 1

6. Combat Casting Official Text: “You gain a +4 bonus on Concentration checks when damaged in combat.” Prerequisite: Able to cast spells Comments: A paladin's spells are not essential enough to warrant spending a Feat ensuring they are not interrupted in combat. Most paladins will find it rare to even cast spells during combat as they should be on the front line taking as much aggro as they can. Rating: 1

7. Combat Expertise Official Text: "While using Combat Expertise mode, you trade your attack bonus for extra AC. Casting a spell ends this mode." Prerequisite: Intelligence 13 Comments: If Improved Trip isn’t in your plan, this Feat shouldn’t be either. A Paladin already has a high Armor Class, and with less of a chance to increase your attack bonus than a fighter, sacrificing more of it isn’t a great idea. Rating: 3

8. Discipline Official Text: "You are difficult to distract with spell or blow. You receive a +1 on all Will saves and +2 bonus on Concentration checks." Comments: As with Bullheaded, a paladin's saves don’t need boosting with Feats, and Concentration is not a useful Skill for them. Rating: 1

9. Dodge Official Text: "Grants you a +1 dodge bonus to your Armor Class." Prerequisite: Dexterity 13 Comments: There's never anything wrong with Dodge as getting hit less means staying alive longer. It also leads to Spring Attack, a Feat that I personally swear by. If this one fits into your plan it’s a must-have. Rating: 4

10. Empower Healing Spell    Official Text: “While this metamagic feat is active, healing spells are more effective, but they consume additional spell points.” Prerequisite: Able to cast healing spells Comments: You won’t be casting enough healing spells to justify this, nor will you have enough spell points to support it. There are much better choices out there. Leave it to the clerics and maybe the bards. Rating: 1