Okay, back to reviewing this guide! If I did this right, the link should appear at the top of the page.
Paladin Archetypes: Shining Knight: I don't have anything to add to your rating, but wanted to say that I think trading out Aura of Justice actually makes sense because if you are charging a lot (and have to back up enough to charge a lot), you will very often be out of range of your allies for Aura of Justice to work on them, and even if they are also charging, most of you will have to be spaced far enough apart (to avoid having a wreck) that Aura of Justice would only get one or two of them. If you had Aura of Justice, you could partly remedy that with Widen Auras and/or the Half-Elf Favored Class Bonus, but now you're having to put extra work into it.
Paladin Archetypes: Scion of Peace -- actually supposed to be Scion of Talmandor. Crusader's Gift is actually Talmandor's Gift, which gives it some background, and yes, No Limit on uses per day starts out busted good but then starts to lose effectiveness as you and your enemies level up but it doesn't. For Andoran! Although strangely, it restricts your chioce of deity to Lawful Good, which is even more restrictive than the usual for Paladins, while Andoran is Neutral Good.
Paladin Archetypes: Sacred Shield: Note that (strangely) this archetype DOESN'T get Tower Shield proficiency, so if you REALLY want to make it good, you're going to have to pay a feat tax. How good this archetype is will depend upon how heavy your heavy hitters are -- if you've got a Kineticist or AM Barbarian in your party, you're good to go, but if you've got archers, Monks, or Two Weapon Fighters that depend upon making a lot of little hits rapidly, this isn't going to cut it -- you won't be a heavy hitter yourself, and you really need Aura of Justice to make them into heavy hitters. Also note that Perfect Bastion is DR 10/{not_the_target_of_Bastion_of_Good}, so if the boss is a heavy hitter (likely long before you hit level 20) or has minions, Perfect Bastion gets really cut down in effectiveness. Also, "Pick up Shield Trick" -- did you mean Weapon Trick (Weapon and Shield) (which is pretty good if you have the right support for it), or Shield Mastery feats (some good stuff, but hard to afford on a Paladin's feat budget)?
Paladin Archetypes: Sacred Servant: If your campaign is going to get to 13th level and you are not a Half-Elf, this is an excellent choice if you can worship a deity that offers the Self-Realization Subdomain, for the ability to cast Paragon Surge no matter what you are.
Paladin Archetypes: Iroran Paladin: Unarmed Strike progresses at half Monk speed, which really hurts it (this trade should be marked Orange (2/5) at best. Apart from that, this archetype is really situatoinal. Personal Trial is not very good for the Paladin's traditional role, but if you frequently need to Smite things that a traditional Paladin can't Smite, this is good. Aura of Excellence usually doesn't cut it compared to Aura of Courage, but if you are up against a lot of Misfortune-using enemies, then it is quite good. Likewise, Aura of Perfection highly depends upon luck-based abilities of the rest of your party -- oddly, this archetype (which is tied to a Lawful Neutral deity) would shine best in a party of characters getting their powers from some deity like Desna.
Paladin Archetypes: Divine Hunter: Distant Mercy isn't so great when you have to spend 2 uses to get 1 use at range, and it replaces one of the Mercies that you would want to use on somebody at range, and you can't even use it to nuke Undead.
Paladin Archetypes: Oath Spells and Oath Slots: Although the wording of Paladin Oaths starts out fuzzy, it does say "If an oathbound paladin has more than one oath, she may prepare any one of her oath's spells in that slot (similar to a cleric choosing one of her two domain spells to prepare in a domain spell slot)." In order for that to make sense, it has to mean that Oathbound Paladin does get Domain Spell slots (in all but name). This means that you wouldn't be able to combine Oathbound Paladin with anything that modifies spellcasting, although it would be a reasonable house rule (by way of analogy with most Clerics having 2 Domains) to allow combination of these with Sacred Servant, as long as they didn't both replace some other feature. Another thing to note earlier in the Oathbound Paladin description is "When a paladin completes the sacred promise, the oath is fulfilled, and she may abandon the oath if she so chooses; she may then select another oath or become a standard paladin or a different paladin archetype." This strongly implies that Oathbound Paladin is a temporary archetype -- you can undertake an Oath for a mission, and you're not stuck with it forever. For this purpose, it would be a reasonable house rule to let an Oath simply override any archetype feature it is incompatible with, and then have the overridden feature revert once the Oath has been fulfilled. (Now I've got this vision of a Paladin receiving a Mission Impossible tape . . . .)
Paladin Archetypes: Optionally move Variant Divine Bonds here (these are all effectively archetypes that replace Divine Bond, and are explicitly incompatible with other archetypes that modify or replace Divine Bond). The ideas on these are nice, but the very limited uses per day really hurt these -- I would bump the ratings down 1 or 2 steps even if you don't move them here.
Paladin Archetypes: Add Banishing Warden -- your Smite Evil doesn't get its initial damage bonus against things other than Evil Outsiders (but they don't have to have the Evil Subtype to qualify for the initial damage bonus); trade the 3rd level Mercy for a very limited number of Dismissals upon Critical Hits (you need to Crit Fish to make this usable), and eventually hand this ability out to allies with Aura of Justice (but successes still count against your daily uses). Also, having Knowledge (Planes) in class is better than having Knowledge (Nobility) in class. Green (3/5) in a campaign with a lot of Evil Outsiders; Orange (2/5) otherwise.
Paladin Archetypes: Add Chaos Knight (Ganzi-specific) -- losing Lay On Hands really hurts, but in a campaign with an especially high frequency of things trying to control your mind, Entropic Touch may be a worthwhile trade; Losing Lay On Hands implies losing Mercy, and the replacement is random, but you do get to roll twice if you use Entropic Touch on yourself (although many Mind-Affecting abilities will prevent you from doing that in the first place). Another oddity is that even though you are still required to be Lawful Good, you get Aura of Chaos to let you and nearby allies overcome DR/Chaos. Maybe this archetype would be worthwhile in a campaign in which you are up against a lot of Lawful Evil creatures that try to control your mind.
Paladin Archetypes: Add Divine Defender -- an alternative to Sacred Shield that doesn't give up so much. Losing Mercy hurts, but at least it is in exchange for being able to hand out a Sacred Bonus to AC, CMD, and Saving Throws to your allies; the bonus slowly improves in both quantity and radius and eventually adds auto-Stabilization, Bleed Immunity, and Light Fortification. (Caution: You need a high Charisma to make this last for a decent amount of time.) You trade out the normal Divine Bond options in favor of a Divine Bond to your armor. Unlike Sacred Shield, you keep Smite Evil. Rating similar to Sacred Shield, but holds up MUCH BETTER when YOU need to be the heavy hitter, although you will need to make extra effort to get an enchanted weapon. Works better if you have a Pei Zin Practitioner Oracle in your party to handle the Mercies (in all but name).
Paladin Archetypes: Add Dusk Knight -- getting Concealment against your Smite Evil target is good (and you don't trade out anything for that); being able to hand out Darkvision for 2 uses of Lay On Hands is expensive, but might be necessary in some cases, and trading out Channel Positive Energy for it is decent; trading out Divine Bond for Shadow's Embrace hurts, but Shadow's Embrace could occasionally save your life; trading out Aura of Resolve hurts, but getting the ability to ignore Armor Check Penalty when in shadow or darkness is nice (although not as nice as Aura of Resolve), and you do get Stealth in class (instead of Sense Motive, which you probably won't be very good at anyway); trading out Aura of Justice for being able to hose Smited enemies' Darkvision (including See In Darkness if they fail their Fortitude Save) is nice, although I would have rather kept Aura of Justice.
Paladin Archetypes: Add Faithful Wanderer -- replace Smite Evil with essentially Favored Enemy (Evil Outsiders) that works 24/7 and eventually also includes Undead and then Evil Dragons; get 4 + IntMod skill points per level; get Knowledge (Nature), Knowledge (Planes), Perception, Stealth, and Survival in class instead of Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Knowledge (Nobility), and Ride; your Auras only affect you (and no Aura of Good or Aura of Justice), and you are camouflaged against Detect Evil (but you don't get Detect Evil either); you must choose Divine Weapon Bond, and you get to Banish Evil Outsiders if you confirm a Critical on a Natural 20 (a wide Critical weapon does not help); and you get Maximized Lay On Hands on yourself (while retaining normal Lay On Hands on others). Blue (4/5) if you are working in the Worldwound and/or the Abyss.
Paladin Archetypes: Add Holy Tactician. NOBODY BEATS THIS for sharing out Teamwork Feats. You lose Divine Health and Aura of Courage for this, which would normally be bad, but being able to do this with no limitation on uses per day (and Swift Action change which Teamwork feat you hand out) is just busted good (and you get Bonus Teamwork Feats to back this up). If you need to share out more than one Teamwork Feat at a time, you have a spell for that. Being able to 5' step your allies without them having to expend an action (including 5' Step) with only a Move Action from you is really good even though this replaces Aura of Resolve, especially once it eventually ignores Difficult Terrain. You get a weakened Smite Evil substitute, but it benefits allies on each round you successfully hit your target, and the Aura of Justice substitute eventually makes this last until you or your enemies are slain/KO'd. Purple (5/5).
Paladin Archetypes: Add Hunting Paladin. Get some Ranger skills in exchange for some Paladin skills (unfortunately not Ranger skill ranks per level); get Hunt Evil to track down evildoers in place of your 1st Smite Evil (later you get a slightly impaired Smite Evil); get a slower Detect Evil but in exchange be able to use it successfully tracking a creature (no matter how far away it is); get the option to cast a few Ranger spells. Tireless Aura is a downgrade relative to Aura of Resolve, but the other stuff is good. (And yes, you get to keep Aura of Justice.) Blue (4/5).
Paladin Archetypes: Add Invigorator. Another defensive archetype. The Smite Evil replacement provides a slowly scaling Damage Reduction for you and your allies (caution: you need a high Charisma to get this to work on your whole party); it isn't as good as Smite Evil, except that it doesn't depend upon you fighting something that is of evil alignment, just that your allies not be evil. This gets much better when you get the Aura of Justice replacement, when you grant Fast Healing 10 to your allies by using 2 uses of your Smite Evil replacement, although note that the radius is still small. The Holy Champion substitute, Breath of Life 3 times per day, isn't bad, but if you need to use Breath of Life 3 times per day, you might want to rethink your strategy. Orange (2/5) at levels 1 - 10; then Green (3/5) at levels 11 - 20.
Paladin Archetypes: Add Redeemer (Half-Orc-specific). Get the option for non-lethal Smite Evil (and Aura of Mercy is non-lethal Aura of Justice); trade out Detect Evil in exchange for improving your chance to influence monstrous creatures; trade out Aura of Resolve in exchange for being able to (sort of) Lesser Geas defeated enemies. Be able to associate with Evil creatures that you have reason to believe are redeemable. Green (3/5).
Paladin Archetypes: Add Soul Sentinel. At 6th level get the normally unavailable Confused Mercy (in all but name). At 12th level get the normally unavailable Corrupted Mercy (in all but name). Trade out Aura of Justice for what is effectively an Aura of Resolve alternative against Hexes and Curses (but keep actual Aura of Resolve). Green (3/5) if you are in a Horror Adventure.
Paladin Archetypes: Add Stonelord (Dwarf-specific). Replace most Charisma-dependent abilities (including Spellcasting, but not Lay On Hands/Channel Energy) with Charisma-independent abilities (however, Elemental Channel (Earth) replaces Channel Positive Energy). Get Stalwart Defender abilities instead of spells (and Stonelord levels stack with Stalwart Defender levels). Get an Earth Elemental Companion Divine Bond. Losing Aura of Justice in exchange for Bane (Earth creatures) is not a good trade. Replace most Mercies with Fortification (eventually also Bleed Immunity) and eventually Stalwart Defender's Mobile Defense. Stone Body is strictly superior to Holy Champion. Green (3/5), but you actually don't HAVE to be a Stonelord to be a pretty good Dwarven Paladin.
Paladin Archetypes: Add Tortured Crusader. This is the Wisdom-based archetype, and also gets 4 + IntMod skill ranks/level and more skills. Losing Divine Grace and Detect Evil really hurts, and your Lay On Hands doesn't work on others, but at 4th level you get the ability to expend Lay On Hands to get more Smite Evil, and you get contingent Lay On Hands and Mercies for yourself. The Aura of Justice replacement is a double-strength Smite Evil. Green (3/5), or Blue (4/5) for those who get an innate Wisdom bonus (like Dwarves).
Paladin Archetypes: Add Tranquil Guardian (Aasimar-specific). Another take 'em alive archetype. Get Touch of Serenity (but with slowly scaling duration) instead of Smite Evil -- overall a downgrade, but could still save your life, so it isn't all bad. The Aura of Justice substitute makes Touch of Serenity work against all opponents within 5 feet without requiring you to touch them (hint: find a way to increase your size to improve the area of effect, although Enlarge Person itself won't work for Aasimars that don't have the Scion of Humanity alternate racial rtait). Aura of Calm is a respectable side-grade to Aura of Resolve. Apostle of Peace is strictly superior to Holy Champion. Orange (2/5) at levels 1 - 10; then Blue (4/5) at levels 11 - 20.
Paladin Archetypes: Add Undead Scourge. Pretty self-explanatory -- you will be a bit impaired against non-Undead, but you will absolutely wreck Undead (but watch out for non-Undead abilities of their Necromancer masters) once you get Aura of Life (replaces Aura of Resolve) and especially Undead Annihilation (replaces Aura of Justice). Blue (4/5) if you are Knee-Deep in the Dead; Orange (2/5) if you aren't.
Paladin Archetypes: Add Vindictive Bastard. The Ex-Paladin archetype. Compared to the standard Paladin, thus is only okay, but compared to the Gray Paladin, this is pretty good. You get impaired Smite Evil, but it works on anybody who hit you or one of your allies. Most of the other things that this archetype downgrades are things that Gray Paladin would downgrade anyway. Note that the Lay On Hands and Mercy replacements are bonus Teamwork Feats and Solo Tactics (like an Inquisitor gets), and that the Divine Bond replacement is actually a cheapo Aura of Justice replacement (and the Aura of Justice replacement is an action economy boost for this). The Holy Champion substitute is largely superior to Holy Champion. Despite being fallen, you DON'T lose spellcasting. Green (3/5).
Paladin Archetypes: Add Virtuous Bravo. The Not-Swashbuckler archetype. Sadly, you lose spellcasting, Mercies, and Aura of Justice, but you get Swashbuckler abilities (although you get these in sudden bursts rather than spread out), while retaining an impaired Smite Evil (doesn't give you the Deflection Bonus) and getting a slowly scaling Dodge Bonus that eventually makes up for the loss of the Smite Evil Deflection Bonus. The Holy Champion substitute is largely superior to Holy Champion. Green (3/5), but Blue (4/5) compared to a Swashbuckler.
Paladin Archetypes: Add Warrior of the Holy Light. Replaces spellcasting and Aura of Faith with the ability to buff and restore your allies and damage and debuff your enemies in a pretty decent-sized area. Has an uncertainty whether the additional uses of Lay On Hands (which power the first type of buff) are in addition to or instead of the normal progression of uses per day of Lay On Hand. If they are in addition, this archetype is Green (3/5); if they are instead, it is Red (1/5).
Antipaladin archetypes: Tyrant: They forgot to replace Chaotic spells (like Protection from Law) with Lawful spells. This is an easy fix, but it's sure odd if the GM doesn't do it.
Antipaladin archetypes: Add Knight of the Sepulcher and Seal-Breaker (specific to followers of Tar Baphon). These are the Undead-oriented archetypes of Antipaladin. Unfortunately neither one adds the spell Command Undead to the Antipaladin spell list, so you'll have to make do with the feat of the same name.
Antipaladin doesn't have as many standout archetypes as Paladin, even after accounting for having fewer archetypes total.
Multiclassing: The delay of Paladin progression hurts less on Paladin/Antipaladin archetypes that trade out spellcasting (like Warrior of the Holy Light Paladin, Virtuous Bravo Paladin, and Insinuator Antipaladin).
Variant Multiclassing: Depending upon what you're doing as a Paladin or Antipaladin, it is real easy to get starved for feats and not be able to afford VMC. That said, if you are a Castigator/Devastator (your main fighting style is to swing the biggest weapon you can), or an Aegis Paladin/Antipaladin (weapon and shield) and you aren't doing anything fancy with it, or a basic Holy/Unholy Lancer, you might be able to afford VMC after all.
Variant Multiclassing: Bard: Competing with the quasi-Bardic Paladin archetypes, but if you can afford the feats and need skills, this is definitely a good option; however, do note that you have to wait until 11th level for Versatile Performance.
Variant Multiclassing: Cavalier: If you can afford the feats, Order of the Star makes Hospitaler a LOT better by quickly making up for the -3 level penalty of Hospitaler's Channel Positive Energy. Now on the other hand, if you want VMC Cavalier for Tactician, just be a Holy Tactician (see previous post), and if you need to share out more than 1 Teamwork Feat at a time, cast Shared Training.
Variant Multiclassing: Fighter: VMC Fighter I = Bravery doesn't help most Paladins unless up against an Antipaladins (or something with a similar ability to override Fear Immunity). VMC Fighter II and IV = Armor Training is nice to have on a heavily-armored Paladin, but VMC Fighter II and V = Weapon Training, while good for unlocking Advanced Weapon Training, keep you waiting for a LONG time -- you get the first of these at 11th level. So while this eventually gets good, it just takes too long for a relatively short campaign like Council of Thieves, which ends not much later.
Variant Multiclassing: Add Magus: VMC Magus I = Arcane Pool is very nice to have if you chose a Divine Bond other than Divine Weapon Bond (or if you have an archetype that doesn't let you choose that). VMC Magus II, IV, and V = Magus Arcana gives you choices of abilities that are often better than feats (although read each one as carefully as you would read an Infernal Contract, because some of them just technically won't work if you don't have actual Magus levels). VMC Magus III = Spellstrike lets you conduct spells through your weapon provided that they are also on the Magus spell list (the Paladin and Antipaladin spell lists have noticeable overlap with the Magus spell list); this restriction is removed if you spend a Magus Arcana on Broad Study, but it probably isn't worth spending a Magus Arcana on this. Green (3/5).
Variant Multiclassing: Add Oracle: This is one way to make an Oradin. But you need to choose Revelations very carefully to get something that isn't hurt by the horrific -6 penalty to effective Oracle, and you get a limited selection; also, VMC Oracle III is blown on progressing your Oracle's Curse the way it should have been progressed in the first place, while VMC Oracle II is a Cantrip -- at least you can set that to Stabilize and call it half-decent. Orange (2/5).
Variant Multiclassing: Add Sorcerer: Normally Eldritch Heritage + Improved Eldritch Heritage is almost strictly superior to this, but a couple of archetypes of Paladin don't have much use for Charisma (Tortured Martyr, I'm especially looking at you), which makes this more attractive for them (rating depends upon Bloodline and in particular on how much the severe delay in getting each Bloodline Power hurts).
General Feats: Unsanctioned Knowledge -- Rules As Written, this works for Paladins but not for Antipaladins. Probably an oversight.
General Feats: Fearless Aura -- you know what I just realized? If you have Aura of Courage but not the Fear Immunity part of Aura of Courage, this gives it back to you! It still won't make you immune to an Antipaladin's Aura of Cowardice, but this makes Paladin archetypes that trade out the Fear Immunity part of Aura of Courage noticeably better.
General Feats: the Eldritch Heritage feat chain: Special mention goes to Improved Eldritch Heritage (Shapechanger) -- you want the 3rd level Bloodline Power, which once per day greatly extends the duration of a Transmutation spell having a base duration of 1 minute per level that you cast on yourself. This gets busted good if you can get Paragon Surge on your spell list (whether by being a Half-Elf, or by taking an archetype that gives you Domain Spells and getting the Seal-Realization Subdomain). Too bad Skill Focus (Disguise) is usually a lousy feat tax on a Paladin.
General Feats: the Eldritch Heritage feat chain again: Add Exotic Heritage, in case you really want a Wildblooded Sorcerer Bloodline; for some weird reason, Exotic Heritage is only 2/3 of a Skill Focus, making it effectively a worse feat tax.
Combat Feats: Divine Fighting Technique: Desna's Shooting Star: This only works for Neutral Good Gray Paladins and for Vindictive Bastard Ex-Paladins. That said, you could make some pretty cheesy builds with either of those archetypes (well, only semi-cheesy for Gray Paladin, since it's a bad archetype to start with).
Combat Feats: Divine Fighting Technique: Add Torag's Patient Strikes for Wisdom-based Paladins (Tortured Martyr or some builds of Stonelord).
Counts as Combat Reflexes for feat and prestige class prerequisites, and gets you off the hook for Dexterity, although you have to use a Warhammer for it to work; it even works when you are flat-footed. In most cases, don't bother trying to get the advanced benefit (requires and uses Vital Strike, which is not good on most Paladins). Blue (4/5) for Wisdom-based Paladins. The evil counterpart would be Urgathoa's Hunger (already in the guide), but Antipaladin does not have any Wisdom-based archetypes, nor any that dilute their Charisma focus enough to be able to afford to invest in Wisdom (the way Stonelord Paladin does).
Combat Feats: Weapon Finesse: Or . . . be a Virtuous Bravo Paladin, which gives it to you for free (or dip Swashbuckler, which does the same thing, but delays your Paladin progression by at least 1 level).
Combat Feats: Add Dirty Fighting -- not only does this allow you to qualify for Improved Combat Maneuver feats without needing Intelligence 13 (for Combat Expertise), and not only does it make those feats better, but it is also not too shabby in its own right, basically giving you a cheapo version of those feats that requires you to be Flanking to avoid the Attack of Opportunity.
Combat Feats: Add Bodyguard. If you've already got Combat Reflexes (the prerequisite) or Torag's Patient Strikes (an alternate prerequisite), and you can afford the feat, spread some of the defense to your adjacent allies. If you can afford yet another feat, get In Harm's Way -- you can repair yourself better than you can repair the ally you defended, and very likely have better Saves than they do against any rider effects.
Lay On Hands Feats: Ultimate Mercy: If you really go nuts on a Combat Medic Paladin build (example currently residing here, although this link isn't guaranteed to be valid far into the future), you can Raise Dead before a Cleric can.
Lay On Hands Feats: Improved Lay On Hands and Ranged Lay On Hands: Note that these are Paizo, but Niobe (also the setting of the Omdura), not Pathfinder Campaign Setting. That said, it would be perfectly reasonable to house rule them into the Pathfinder Campaign Setting.
Lay On Hands Feats: Sunblade: Seems like this needs an Evil counterpart . . . .
Channel Feats: Channel Ray: This is competing with Word of Healing (and Ranged Lay On Hands if applicable), and unlike Word of Healing (or Ranged Lay On Hands), it doesn't apply your Mercies.
Channel Feats: Channel Hate: This is specific to worshippers of Gyronna, and thus is for a subset of Antipaladins.
Channel Feats: Channeled Revival -- although this overlaps some with Ultimate Mercy, the main problem is that it is competing with the spell Inspiring Recovery, which has even more range. That said, you can get Channeled Revival earlier if you really go nuts on a Combat Medic Paladin Build (example currently residing here, although this link isn't guaranteed to be valid far into the future).
Channel Feats: Divine Barrier -- specific to worshippers of Apsu.
Channel Feats: Channel Smite -- technically also works for Paladins, but it's still bad.
Channel Feats: Hellish Shackles -- Your targets get 2 Saves against this, so it's not so good (even with the -4 penalty on the 2nd Save) unless you have some way of really cranking your Save Dc.
Channel Feats: Liberation Channel -- this is specific to worshippers of Cayden Cailean, and while Neutral Good Gray Paladins and Vindictive Bastard Ex-Paladins could be valid worshippers of Cayden Calean, they don't get Channel Positive Energy.
Channel Feats: Protective Channel -- this is specific to worshippers of Iomedae, so it will work for all archetypes of Paladin that have Channel Positive Energy at all. It is actually better than both Magic Circle Against Evil and Protection From Evil Communal Edition (although it comes online 3 levels later than the former and 6 levels later than the latter, or 3 levels more in each case if you are a Hospitaler), because your targets only need to be within range while you are doing the Channel, and don't lose the effect if they move out of range afterwards, and don't get the duration divided up among them. You probably won't be able to afford the feat, but if you can, take it.
Channel Feats: Trailblazing Channel -- this is specific to worshippers of Desna, and while Neutral Good Gray Paladins and Vindictive Bastard Ex-Paladins could be valid worshippers of Desna, they don't get Channel Positive Energy.
Paladin Animal Companion Feats: The following feats that belong to Antipaladins who somehow managed to get an Animal Companion got into this section by mistake: Corpse Companion, Skaveling Companion, and Vampiric Companion.
Paladin Animal Companion Feats: Boon Companion: Also works for Familiar of Chosen One Paladin.
Paladin Animal Companion Feats: Evolved Companion -- for Chosen One Paladins, instead use Evolved Familiar. Either way, this goes some distance towards compensating for your paltry skill ranks per level, because both pre-Unchained and Unchained Eidolons have the Skilled Evolution in their list of 1 point (and thus qualifying) Evolutions. Skilled gives to a skill -- even at high levels, that is better than Skill Focus.
Paladin Animal Companion Feats: Nature Soul + Animal Ally -- and here's how Antipaladins can get Animal Companions. Technically, you just need these 2 feats, but in practice, you also need Boon Companion to bring the Animal Companion up to full hit dice.
Antipaladin Intimidation Feats: Most of these will actually work for a Paladin who goes into Intimidation, although Paladin doesn't get this as a class skill out of the box, so it requires more investment.
Antipaladin Intimidation Feats: Dazzling Display + Shatter Defenses: Then cast Sense Vitals (available starting at 7th level).
Equipment: Metamagic Rods: In the case of Extend Spell, if you use very short duration spells (such as the Litany series) often AND you have an extra feat, it might actually be worth getting the feat Extend Spell. This lets you use the Metamagic feat while both of your hands are occupied (with weapon and shield or a two-handed weapon). But I would be remiss not to acknowledge that an archetype exists to help with that -- this makes Metamagic Rods MUCH better.
Equipment: Rod of the Deadlord and Mask of the Grinning Skull: This pointed me to a whole humongous list of scaling magic items (www.d20pfsrd.com link and Archives of Nethys link).
Builds: Here's the Combat Medic Paladin build I was referencing above (that goes totally nuts with getting Raise Dead and then Breath of Life online as early as possible):
Paladin (no archetype or Holy Tactician), Human with Powerful Presence alternate racial trait (scroll about 2/5 of the way down to find it) -- lets us rush Ultimate Mercy while keeping Charisma investment from needing to be outrageous.
15 Point Buy version: Str 14 / Dex 11 / Con 12 / Int 12 / Wis 10 / Cha (14 + 2 =) 16; increase Charisma at levels 4 and 8, and Strength at all other 4n levels.
20 Point Buy version: Str 15 / Dex 12 / Con 12 / Int 12 / Wis 10 / Cha (15 + 2 =) 17; increase Charisma at level 4 and Strength at all other 4n levels.
Traits: Dangerously Curious (we need Use Magic Device in class), Chip on the Shoulder or Keleshite Princess (we need Intimidate in class) -- if Campaign Trait also needed, add a Drawback to get another Trait slot.
Favored Class Bonus: All goes to Skills.
Skill Ranks per level: Total 6: 2 for Paladin, 1 for being Human, 1 for Favored Class Bonus (all of this goes here), 1 for INT 12, 1 for Cunning feat.
Skills to max (hence the Cunning feat below, and hence the INT 12): Diplomacy, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge (Religion), Use Magic Device.
Other Skills (low investment but need to be non-0): Climb (1 point), Knowledge (Planes) (can leave for later, but eventually needs to be significantly more than 1 point), Perception (1 point), Sense Motive (eventually needs to be significantly more than 1 point), Spellcraft (1 point), Swim (1 point).
01: Level 1 character feat = Cunning (we need more skill ranks -- see above); bonus feat from Human Powerful Presence alternate racial trait = Persuasive (bonuses to Diplomacy and Intimidate)
02: (Lay on Hands comes on line, and we get 4 uses)
03: Level 3 character feat = Extra Lay On Hands (gets us up to 6 uses) (if choosing the Holy Tactician archetype, Tactical Acumen, the first Bonus Teamwork Feat, and Battlefield Presence come online; otherwise, Divine Health, Divine Bond, and Aura of Courage come online; either way, Mercy comes online)
04: (Ability score increase goes to Charisma, giving us 7 uses of Lay On Hands on 15 point buy or 8 uses on 20 point buy, and either way we qualify for Ultimate Mercy, because Powerful Presence deducted 2 from the normal Charisma requirement of 19)
05: Level 5 character feat = Greater Mercy (prerequisite for Ultimate Mercy, but the extra healing is nice to have, especially since we can't fit Fey Foundling into the build)
06: (Uses of Lay on Hands is up to 7 on 15 point buy or 8 on 20 point buy)
07: Level 7 character feat = Ultimate Mercy (we can't yet use it, but need to level it up in preparation for level 8; GM allowing spending of a Hero Point to squeeze out 2 extra uses for this would probably be a reasonable call)
08: (Ability score increase goes to Charisma if on 15 point buy or to Strength if on 20 point buy, getting uses of Lay On Hands up to 10 either way, now making Ultimate Mercy come online -- we now have Raise Dead 1 level before a Cleric can get it; also, if choosing the Holy Tactician archetype, Guide the Battle comes online; otherwise, Aura of Resolve comes online)
09: Level 9 character feat = Extra Mercy or Power Attack (I thought about Selective Channel, but Channel Energy is probably going to be out of combat or applied against Undead, and used sparingly anyway, so probably better to invest in removing yet another bad condition, since the D Team's limited spells won't be very good for this, or otherwise investing in improving combat effectiveness)
10: -
11: Level 11 character feat = Channeled Revival (Breath of Life at range) (if choosing the Holy Tactician archetype, Weal's Wrath now comes online; otherwise, Aura of Justice now comes online)
12: (Ability score increases hereon go to Strength)
Build variant 1 of 1: Half-Elf instead of Human:
15 point buy version: Str (14 + 2 =) 16 / Dex 07 / Con 12 / Int 12 / Wis 10 / Cha (16 + 2 =) 18; increase Charisma at levels 4 and 8 and Strength at all other 4n levels (except optionally increase Dexterity at 12 to get Reflex Save part way out of the dumpster).
20 point buy version: Str (14 + 2 =) 16 / Dex 08 / Con 12 / Int 14 / Wis 10 / Cha (16 + 2 =) 18; increase Charisma at level 4 and Strength at all other 4n levels.
Favored Class Bonus: Improve Aura size (don't use any archetype that trades out Auras, except to replace with other Auras).
Traits: Campaign Trait, Dangerously Curious (we need Use Magic Device in class).
Skill Ranks per level: 4 or 5 total: 2 for Paladin, 1 or 2 for Intelligence 12 or Intelligence 14 (15 Point Buy or 20 Point Buy, respectively), 1 for Cunning feat.
Skills to max (hence the Cunning feat below, and hence the INT 12): Diplomacy, Heal, Use Magic Device; if 20 Point Buy version add Knowledge (Religion).
Other Skills (low investment but need to be non-0): Climb (1 point), Knowledge (Planes) (can leave for later, but eventually needs to be significantly more than 1 point), Perception (1 point), Sense Motive (eventually needs to be significantly more than 1 point), Spellcraft (1 point), Swim (1 point); if 15 Point Buy Version add Knowledge (Religion) (eventually needs to be significantly more than 1 point).
Skills abandoned relative to Human version: Intimidate.
Feats abandoned relative to Human version: Persuasive (because we don't get Powerful Presence, which is Human-specific).
And here's a build that goes nuts in the other direction:
Paladin (Warrior of the Holy Light), Orc with Dayrunner alternate racial trait replacing Light Sensitivity but giving a penalty with ranged attacks (which are going to be terrible anyway).
15 Point Buy version: Str (15 + 4 =) / Dex 7 / Con 14 / Int (12 - 2 =) 10 / Wis (12 - 2 =) 10 / Cha (13 - 2 =) 11; increase Charisma at level 4 (you want a positive modifier for Divine Grace but don't have to keep increasing it for spells); increase Strength at all 4n levels thereafter.
20 Point Buy version: Str (15 + 4 =) / Dex 10 / Con 14 / Int (12 - 2 =) 10 / Wis (12 - 2 =) 10 / Cha (13 - 2 =) 11; increase Charisma at level 4 (you want a positive modifier for Divine Grace but don't have to keep increasing it for spells); increase Strength at all 4n levels thereafter.
Traits: Campaign Trait, Chip on the Shoulder (we need Intimidate in class).
Favored Class Bonus: All goes to Skills.
Skill Ranks per level: Total 3: 2 for Paladin, 1 for Favored Class Bonus (all of this goes here), 0 for INT 10.
Skills to max: Intimidate, Knowledge (Religion).
Other Skills (low investment but need to be non-0): Climb (1 point), Knowledge (Planes) (can leave for later, but eventually needs to be significantly more than 1 point), Perception (1 point), Sense Motive (eventually needs to be significantly more than 1 point), Spellcraft (1 point), Swim (1 point).
01: Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Butchering Axe) -- 3d6 base damage to go with Vital Strike.
02: -
03: Intimidating Prowess -- make others fear your awesome muscle.
04: Level 4 ability score increase goes to Charisma.
05: Power Attack.
06: -
07: Vital Strike -- double your base damage.
08: Level 8 ability score increase goes to Strength.
09: Furious Focus -- no more Power Attack penalties most of the time.
10: -
11: Improved Vital Strike -- triple your base damage.
12: Level 12 ability score increase goes to Strength.
13: Weapon Trick (Two-Handed Weapon) -- gets you One-Handed Lunge and Two-Handed Menace out of the box, and later gets you Cleaving Smash.
14: -
15: Cleave -- hit an additional foe on your backswing, and thanks to Weapon Trick (Two-handed Weapon) giving you Cleaving Smash, you can use Vital Strike at the same time.
16: Level 16 ability score increase goes to Strength.
17: Greater Vital Strike -- quadruple your base damage, or use Improved Vital Strike with Cleave.
18: -
19: Great Cleave -- hit multiple additional foes on your backswing, and thanks to (Two-handed Weapon) giving you Cleaving Smash, you can use Improved Vital Strike at the same time.
20: Level 20 ability score increase goes to Strength.
Bloodrager definitly has cool level 1 spells.
My 3 favorite ones are Shield (obviously) Longarm (+5 reach on top of autoenlarge from abyssal or +5 reach from black blood or aberrant), cheetah spint (10X movement charge or run).Cheetah is also a swift action.
Well. Spellcasting doesnt start until lvl4 so its not all that impressive in the end - and useless for the 1lvl-dip that was discussed here.