Safetake's page

More stuff I'm noticing now that others probably noticed a long time ago. The feat Paladin's Sacrifice has a somatic component and is a reactive spell. Meaning that the Paladin must stand around with a hand free waiting for an ally to be hit in order to use this ability. That has to be the rarest use case of all time.

As to Retributive Strike, I've definitely found that playing in higher level scenarios I rarely am able to use the reaction because all large creatures have reach. In the Mirrored Moon I used Retributive Strike twice through the 6-7 hours, I took AoOp feat and used it 8 - 10 times.

At lower levels I was using Retributive Strike left and right. This may also be a result of GMs learning and playing around the ability.

Speaking of GMs affecting my perception of the class I now believe Detect Evil feat is quite strong but that my GM was being too liberal in using Deception against the ability when he shouldn't have. (The creature should be actively attempting to disguise themselves before the Paladin detects them, they don't reactively deceive.)

Still I think the class lacks options when comparing it to other classes. I'd like to be able to take a non-mountable Animal Companion, have greater offensive options at lower levels (like using ranged, or benefits for using two-handed weapons), and have better immunities and defensive auras a lower levels.

Yet more feedback.

In completing Mirrored Moon and getting ready to create a level 12 Paladin I'm feeling more and more that the Paladin class is a support class, meant to guard and tank for other PCs and not a class that goes forth and battles evil.

I understand that the Paladin can give creatures weakness to evil and then attack that weakness but that doesn't exist till level 14. That's very late in the game.

For my level 12 character I'm considering going the Mercy route and embracing my babysitting nature, but then I'm spending 3-4 feats to have the complete Mercy set which would be powerful and probably handy but feels like a lot to invest.

There's something psychologically unfun about picking a bunch of feats that buff another feat and give you no offensive power or options. It gives the sensation of just treading water, merely updating the Mercy ability for the current CR lvl and never getting ahead or actually growing in power.

This is probably a result of offloading much of what every class used to get as a natural part of leveling up and making them optional feats.

Even after the updates I think Blade of Justice seems incredibly weak until much later levels.

I’ve played the Paladin class in every available senario of the playtest up to the second half of “The Mirrored Moon.” So my experience extends up to level 9.

That being said, I’ve enjoyed playing the Paladin class a lot in the playtest. I am also a habitual Paladin player in Pathfinder 1. While initially disappointed with the class upon reading the playtest rules (loss of innate immunities, smite evil) I found in actual play I got a lot of gratification from playing the (essentially complete new) class.

Retributive Strike is a fun addition and it is extremely satisfying when you crit an enemy and stop them from striking down the Wizard besides you. Also shouting ‘Retributive Strike!’ when an enemy lands hit is kind of awesome. I do however think Retributive Strike should proc with ranged weapons because there are many cases where the reaction becomes a complete non-factor.

I’ve tested all three Righteous Ally variations. In my opinion the mount is the most useful, while the blade ally is the low-key MVP, being able to hit ghosts when needed or using a returning weapon when you know you’ll be fighting a flying creature is very useful and fun.
Shield Ally is underwhelming because while I always raise my shield I never use my reaction to block when I’d rather Retributive Strike or Attack of Opportunity. Because Lay on Hands is extremely good in the playtest Paladins rarely need to deflect damage and can afford to eat a critical or two and remain safe.

On to the complaining:

For “The Mirrored Moon” I built a level 9 Paladin with the hopes of smiting evil. I took Vengeful Oath, Hospice Knight, and Sense Evil with the idea of detecting evil creatures and giving them the hand. I even to took the Alertness feat to increase my chances of detecting evil successfully.

Long story short, Sense Evil is useless and was never successful against any creature (and even my own party member who was evil! Thank goodness?) There are several reasons for this.

Firstly, the scenario has the PCs fighting higher level creatures and so the Deception vs Perception check is great weighted toward the enemy. And as a Paladin it’s hard to increase the Perception stat to be more reliable. This ability is literally the only reason to add points to Wisdom as a Paladin.

Second, the “sensed” creature is bolstered to the effect after one try. RP wise it seems ridiculous to be facing a large, obviously evil, enemy and fail to sense it’s powerful evil aura after even a long confrontation.

Thirdly, the player cannot gain the bonuses of Vengeful Oath without being sure the enemy creature is evil. This level 2 feat cannot reasonably be used until level 8.

In my opinion Sense Evil should automatically sense strong evil auras. It is a level 8 feat and should be powerful and reliable and worth taking. In its current form it should be a level 1 or 2 feat taken BEFORE Vengeful Oath.

Other issues:
I’ve been staring at a few Paladin feats for a while and continually failed to understand them. First among them “Loyal Warhorse.”

LOYAL WARHORSE

FEAT 6

Prerequisites retributive strike, righteous ally (steed)

You and your mount have grown closer, and your loyalty to each other is unbreakable. The mount you gained through the righteous ally class feature is now treated as a full-grown animal companion (see page 284). In addition, your mount never attacks you, even if it is magically compelled to do so. Finally, you can make a Retributive Strike against anyone who hits your mount with a Strike, even if the attack was not a critical hit.

What in the world does that last sentence mean?

First let’s discuss the first half of the sentence:

“Finally, you can make a Retributive Strike against anyone who hits your mount with a Strike”

What? Can I make a Retributive Strike against ranged attackers? Probably not because that’s absurd. But how is it not already to true that you can Retributive Strike when your Steed is attacked? The trigger for Retributive Strike is: “Trigger: A creature within your reach hits an ally or friendly creature.” Your mount is obviously already a friendly creature, what is the world does sentence mean?

Now the second half of the sentence!

“even if the attack was not a critical hit.”

What? Critical hits arn’t mentioned in the text regarding Retributive Strike. Does this mean Retributive Strike doesn’t normally proc on Critical hits? If that’s true that sucks! But why would anyone read the description of Retributive Strike and think that? A hit is a hit, a critical hit is a hit.

I’ve got a call it here, thank you reading this post. Shout out to “Blade of Justice” for being the weakest most trash feat I’ve ever seen.

P.S. I love the Playtest and I love the Paladin.