So I rather like the battle herald as a PrC and preferred the Cavalier+Cleric way of getting into it both mechanical and thematically. But now with the oath mentioned in the title (from Divine Anthology), paladin can now gets bardic performance and can be used instead.
So while the small amount of casting you could get with 1-4 levels of Cleric may allow for better buffing over all, I think paladin makes the build into a solid tank without having to spend feats or self buff (or not as much at least). So you can buff mostly passively with class abilities, buff actively with aid another and when the enemy tries to put you down for it all you will be much harder to do so.
As a quick aside I have been looking at this guide for inspiration.
The main question for the build is the same as it normally is for this PrC, how many levels of each requirement class to take & what class options & archetypes could be useful for the build. I think even if your not getting casting, more levels of paladin are probably more useful unless you go 5 levels of cavalier to get both banner & mount and go into BH a level late.
Cavalier Order - Lion and Dragon are obviously solid. Order of the Star is perhaps a little better than it would be as your not loosing out on cleric spells if you put more levels in cavalier, but It's still probably inferior even though I prefer it fluff wise.
Cavalier Archetypes:
Standard Bearer - if taking only one or two levels this is almost a must
Esquire - good either way but I'd kind of like to keep getting banner early, so if I take it ill want to take the first 5 levels of cavalier. Also it's unclear if the aide holding your banner includes purchased magical banners and therefore if the flag bearer feat still applies.
Paladin Archetypes:
Oath of the People’s Council - Can't do this build without it
Divine Defender - trade a single mercy for a +1 sacred to AC, CMD & saves for you & allies. Does lock you into divine bond(armour) though.
Warrior of the Holy Light - trade a single 1st level spell for +1 morale to AC,attack, damage and saves vs fear(though the save bonus won't stack with inspire courage)
While it doesn't really fit with the build focus on buffing the idea of taking paladin5/cavalier1(no archetype) to combine mount powers and (with GM approval as it's a bit iffy)then use horse master to keep the paladin mount progression.
whether going Str or Dex, melee or range will be affected by the above choices though thematically I'd prefer melee and probably Str, also the banner of AK requires being attacked to a longspear so if i'm the on holding it I need to be good at using it.
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Combining mount powers doesn't really conflict with buffing. It's not as the additional buffs you could get by eschewing the cavalier mount are terribly consequential. (Banner doesn't stack with morale bonuses from bless or banner of the ancient kings).
In fact, in some ways it goes nicely with buffing. A level appropriate mount is a great vehicle for turning buffs into crushed enemies.
It's not as the additional buffs you could get by eschewing the cavalier mount are terribly consequential. (Banner doesn't stack with morale bonuses from bless or banner of the ancient kings).
Thanks for the advice but I'm not too worried about Bless as it's out done by banner and I'm probably trading out spell-casting anyway. Banner's bonuses are moral which does stack with BoAK's circumstance and resistance bonuses. Banner doesn't stack with the Flagbearer feat whose bonuses are doubled by BoAK. I may not take Flagbearer but as later I get almost full banner progression I think it's worth having that class feature. However I will look into how many levels of cavalier get what bonuses together with BH by the end as It might be worth the extra levels. Also while not massive bonuses it begins to add up when you introduce some of the others and also effects that boost moral typed bonuses.
And as far as Inspire courage goes, it's attack and damage bonuses are typed as competence so they stack fine. The saves are moral so they don't however BH uses the IC bonus for a bunch of other abilities. And on the off chance something happens to the banner there's a back up bonus for saves.
In fact, in some ways it goes nicely with buffing. A level appropriate mount is a great vehicle for turning buffs into crushed enemies.
It is true a full level animal companion would make great use of the buffs I'm putting out on top of the npc's gained through leadership. Unfortunately I made a rookie error and I would in fact need paladin5/cavalier4 to take Horse master and get full mount with the paladin powers (assuming it's GM allowed) and that puts off BH far longer than I'd like.