[PFS] Retrain my Paladin (What else works with these stats?)

[RainyDayNinja]

So I have a Paladin that I haven't played in a couple of years, because I kind of got bored with him. He was intended to be a tank, but that playstyle wore out quickly for me, and right now he's sitting at level 3.0. I'm looking for ways to breathe new life into him with retraining. Here's what I have right now:

Human Paladin of Shelyn
17/13/12/7/12/16
1: Dodge, Toughness
3: ???
Traits: Deft Dodger, Observant(?)
Gear: Mwk. Full Plate, Mwk. Scimitar, Heavy Wooden Shield

I'm not sure whether I want to build from those 2 levels of Paladin and then go into something else, or just retrain entirely. My two ideas so far are:

1) Go into Bloodrager at 3 (Steelblooded to keep the full plate, Destined bloodline for extra AC and saves) and be a tank but with more tricks.

2) Continue into Swashbuckler at 3 (Mysterious Avenger to trade out Nimble, leaving me with only one deed unusable in full plate, and giving me something to do with my Charmed Life besides a non-stacking Cha to saves)

Any other ideas or suggestions?

[Gwen Smith]

What direction are you wanting to go? Or are you just looking for ideas overall?

[Imbicatus]

Oracle for more spells and revelations, Oradin is a classic build.

Skald would work well with the stats, but you'll be limited to medium armor instead of heavy if you want to cast.

[RainyDayNinja]

@Gwen Smith: Just brainstorming right now. I'd kind of like to avoid selling back that full plate he just bought, but it's not a huge deal.

Imbicatus wrote:

Oracle for more spells and revelations, Oradin is a classic build.

Skald would work well with the stats, but you'll be limited to medium armor instead of heavy if you want to cast.

I've already got a Str-based melee Oracle, so I'd rather not retread that path.

Skald could be interesting, especially with enough skills to offset my Int-dumping, but I haven't seen any Skald builds that wow'd me. Any suggestions?

[Dafydd]

Dragon Paladin, 1 level into bard, another level of Paladin, then DD forever.

Of you could retrain to pure Skald and go into DD at 6th.

[BretI]

Play with some of the stuff from ISGs, give the guy some dancing and have him use Glaive.

ISG 216, Spear Dancer.
You incorporate your two-handed reach weapon into a dizzying martial dance.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus (any two-handed reach weapon), Perform (dance) 4 ranks.
Benefit: Each time you hit a creature with a two- handed reach weapon that you have Weapon Focus in, the creature is dazzled for 1 round.

ISG 254 even has a glaive that would work with this, plus the Dancing gives you a day job.

[RainyDayNinja]

Yeah, I don't have the skill points to spare for that, and Dazzled isn't worth the investment.

[CampinCarl9127]

Paladin is a good class to just stick with unless you have a very specific high-level endgame for him.

I once read a very excellent paladin guide that argued against the typical sword and board. The point was that you're already one of the most unkillable classes (if not the most) between a d10 HD, excellent saves, high AC (usually), and self healing. So he said screw the sword and board, grab a greatsword and kill something. Drop dodge and take power attack instead. As your level 3 feat take furious focus. It's an effective build that looks damn awesome to boot. It's one thing about a shining paladin with a longsword and shield walking towards you. It's something else entirely when that paladin is hefting a massive greatsword.

[RainyDayNinja]

I've already got a couple of Two-Handed Weapon characters (level 9 mounted Oracle, level 2 Bloodrager), so I'm not looking for another one.

The more I think about it, the more I'm kind of digging a Str-based Swashbuckler in full plate. Especially the Mysterious Avenger archetype, which replaces a couple of things I lose for being in heavy armor. But what should his secret identity be? Probably another Paladin, to avoid falling...

[BretI]

Str based swashbuckler sounds fun.

Sounds like you haven't done a gunslinger, how about Holy Gun from Ultimate Combat? Dex may be a little low for that, I really haven't looked at them closely. It would be different than the other characters you've described so far.

[Imbicatus]

Going with swashbuckler, You could go flying blade and get a belt of mighty hurling to be a str-based thrown weapon specialist.

[Avatar-1]

Holy Gun isn't PFS legal; Gunslinger doesn't really make any sense either with those stats (you want dex/wis high; you're str/cha high).

[LoneKnave]

Too bad you are not half-orc. You could go with a skald/bloodrager/Divine Strategist(paladin) and grab Amplified Rage. Your (martial) allies would love you for it. As long as you've got a tuned bowstring you could even keep raging forever.

[Erick Wilson]

You have so many options. Two levels of Paladin is a great dip for so many things, especially since your other big stat is Strength, which is of course very easy to work with. Incidentally, with only two levels and two feats set, you can retrain soon enough into just about anything (24 prestige changes all of your levels and feats), but even assuming you want to stick with what you've got to some degree, some good options might be:

1. Paladin(Oath of Vengeance) 4/Bard 5/Anything 2 (this build solves all problems)
2. Paladin 2/Medium 8/Anything 1
3. Paladin 2/Sorcerer 6/Dragon Disciple 3
4. Paladin 2/Barbarian(Armored Hulk) 2 or 5/Swashbuckler 4 or 7
5. Paladin(Oath Against the Wyrm) 5/Ranger 6

Thankfully, you're in one of the least difficult spots to retrain out of.