I'm building a paladin for the first time, ever. I'm not too much a fan of LG, but I'm willing to help make sure that our party doesn't get TPK'ed again. I don't have the stats for TWF, but I still want to make use of a shield, just for defense, basically.
1) Is the Weapon of the Chosen feat tree as good as I think it is with the Vital Strike tree? Considering the fact that our GM *loves* set-piece encounters with lots of room for everyone to move, it seems a reasonable thing to me.
2) Is the loss of one point of AC (quick-draw light shield vs heavy) as worthy of the trade-off for two-handing with a longsword and the use of LoH? Our GM is a rules stickler such as I have never seen -- I've got to have clear and plain Paizo language to cover what I'm doing, and house rulings are nonexistent.
3) We're starting at 7th level, 23500 gp. I have 20 Str, 13 Dex, 14 Con, 10 Int, 14 Wis, 16 Cha. My tentative gear suite is: +1 full plate, +1 heavy steel shield, +1 keen longsword, +1 cloak of resistance, Str belt +2, Cha band +2, and then odds and ends. I'm planning for Weapon Focus, Vital Strike, and the full Weapon of the Chosen tree to fill my feat slots (yup, playing a human).
4) Is shield other viable? I've got 76 hp -- great die rolls throughout on this build.
Thanks, people!
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Weapon of the Chosen makes your weapon magical for overcoming DR and incorporeal resistance for one attack. Imp. Weapon of the Chosen makes it last for one round, and also gives it an aligment of lawful or good for you. Pretty snazzy, but you will have a magical weapon soonish, and the spell bless weapon fixes aligment damage reduction. I'd get a wand of BW. Also, and this is important, it takes your swift action. Paladins use their swift actions -all- of the time. It's not a free resource like many classes.
When playing a paladin with lay on hands, always use a light shield instead of heavy.
Shield other can be useful, as healing yourself with LoH is so much better than healing others. But, you are front-lining, and so you will be taking substantial damage yourself. As an alternative, look for the 2nd-level spell paladin's sacrifice. This can stop the emergency falling of a comrade. (note the immediate action. Paladins use them all the time.)
Another spell you really need is Hero's Defiance. Another immediate action...