Mercies vs Divine Bond

[Sphynx]

I have a guy making a Paladin that can't decide which Bond he wants to have at 5th level. He's wanting to have both, and says he thinks sacrificing his Mercy's would be a fair trade. I'm inclined to agree, but thought I should ask what more experienced DMs have to say on the matter since this'll be the first time I run/play Pathfinder in years...

[Selgard]

I have no idea.

I'd say:

Let him do it with the proviso that if it becomes troublesome (to you, I mean. aka OP) then you'll have him undo it and he'll have to decide on one and then deal with the Mercies.

-S

[deuxhero]

You could make EH: Slyvan a legal choice and let him grab a mount through 3 feats (it wouldn't be as smart as a Paladin mount though).

[Torger Miltenberger]

Before you agree consider that mount and weapon bond are both serious offensive combat advantages.

Mercies on the other hand are a nice kicker on your lay on hands but to my experience are significantly less likely to come into play during a fight and when they do it's in a defensive capacity.

Conventional pathfinder wisdom says offense > defense

On those grounds I'd probably say no.

If he wanted to use his number of smites per day as currency to get both then I'd be much more inclined to consider it.

- Torger

[ShadowcatX]

I agree with Torger. And not just because offense > defense but because the primary purpose of LoH is healing, not mercies. If he wanted to give up the full LoH, including channel energy and mercies, then I'd say that would balance out the bond because it is a strong ability for a strong ability, but mercies alone I don't think would cut it for me.

[mplindustries]

I'd say that the horse is terrible and the weapon buff takes too long to turn on (a standard action is more than I want to spend in combat on a buff, and it doesn't last long enough to pre-buff in most circumstances), but I have found Mercies to be extremely useful, and would happily trade Divine Bond altogether for twice as many Mercies.

In other words, yes, I'd allow that trade, but I would definitely warn the guy not to do it.

[Kiinyan]

I disagree, the mercies are far more powerful than the other abilities. I have a 12ty level paladin and another mostly mapped out. My first took the divine bond: weapon. I used three or four times. It's a small buff tht costs an action a limited number of times per day. Yes it can be useful to get keen or penetrate DR, but considering that it's still minimal. The mount is just unimpressive. The five level delay plus limited use means the paladin can't specialize in mounted combat, and mounts are generally weak in Pathfinder due to difficulty finding open spaces.

On the other hand, swift action condition removal is amazing. Some can be rare, but dangerous. My paladin has been cursed, blinded, sickened, and I've removed them all before attacking on my next turn. On top of the greater mercy is an additional d6 heal (very handy, especially with fey foundling) thus making the paladin tankier.

[Jack Rift]

I would say no. For majority of the same reasons above!