I made the post below for the Paladin Handbook on the wizards charop forums. Since there aren't that too many people posting there, I decided to share it here as well. Enjoy
Joe Paladin, the average, standard paladin Human paladin 20
Feats:
H mounted combat, 1 ride by attack, 3 spirited charge, 6 power attack, 9 battle blessing, 12 divine might, 15 animal devotion, 18 awesome smite
Very basic, knight in shining armour idea, focus is on one of the paladin's signature abilities: the horsy. Animal flavour is enforced with the devotion feat and spell selection (one mind)
Equipment: gloryborn valorous lance, pearls of power, sudden stunning weapon, rod of extend, riding boots
spells: rhino rush, one mind (lesser, greater), find the gap, righteous aura
At level 3, already triple damage on mounted charges. At level twelve, with find the gap and rhino rush, and quintuple damage (valorous weapon and rhino rush), smite and divine might, attacks should be able to get easily over 200 damage. Riding boots (MiC) make it a damage x6 multiplier, don't have clue how it's called anymore at this point.
Persistor, an ability enhancer paladinHuman cloistered cleric 1 / paladin 19
Feats:
H spell focus (transmutation), B knowledge devotion, D extend spell, 1 persist spell, 3 DMM persist, 6 ability enhancer, 9 extra turning, 12 battle blessing , 15 power attack, 18 sword of the arcane order
Domains: charm, planning
Definitely not the best way to optimize, but really straightforward. Won't mature till mid-level, since the feats chosen will do little until level 6. Will get really high strength and charisma scores, reasonable con modifier. This will save a lot of cash (for 3 +6 stat items and an amulet of natural armor) that can be spent on other stuff.
Spells: righteous aura, righteous fury, draconic might, strength of stone (situational)
Equipment: rod of extend, stunning weapon, nightsticks, reliquary holy symbol
righteous aura has a long enough duration, draconic might and rigtheous fury can be persisted for +12 str, +6 con, + 10 cha (maybe one higher, text of draconic might contradicts both table and previous edition on wether bonus is +4 or +5). Charm domain gives another +4 cha once/day
Half-fey of the green ladyLesser aasimar half-fey binder 1 / paladin 19 (with LA buy-back)
Feats:
1) magic in the blood
3) improved binding
6) divine vigor
9) sacred healing
12) battle blessing
15) divine shield
18) law devotion
Note: bound will be mostly the green lady
http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/olderProducts/dungeon/ageOfWorms/archives/theGreenLady&page=1#12 vestige, it's from pathfinder.
The first half-fey build. Focus is the very high charisma score (+6 racial, +2 from the green lady, +4 from righteous aura), turn undead abuse and magic in the blood abuse. In short:
- all half-fey spell-like abilities 3/day (up to level 8 spells)
- a recurring turn attempt every 5 rounds, usable to unlimited heal the party out of combat (sacred healing), get +2 temporary hp/level and +10 feet speed, contineously (divine vigor), unlimited divine shields.
- charisma synergy, with divine shield, the saves against the sla's, divine grace, smite, etc.
- any 1st level arcane spell, once every 5 rounds: continuous expidition retreat, maybe? Power word pain? Or nerveskitter? also very nice.
The build can be a great tank. Between law devotion, divine shield, a high cha score, and items for natural armor, deflection, a shield and a mithril breastplate, AC can get into the 60's, easily. Add to that defensive capabilities of racial resistances and damage reduction, immunity to enchantment charm, great saves, and you have a character that's difficult to take down. Add to that a great mobility, standard 70 feet fly speed!
And for social interaction: the higher charisma helps a lot, as do unlimited charm persons.
Half-fey no.2Lesser aasimar half-fey paladin 20 (with LA buy-back)
Feats: 1) magic in the blood 3) fly-by attack, 6) power attack 9) leadership 12) battle blessing 15) sword of the arcane order 18) martial study (shadow stride)
Alternative class feature: charging smite, substitution levels from the mystic fire knight.
This build basicly shopped in the most powerful feats for both half-fey (fly-by attack, magic in the blood) and paladin (battle blessing, leadership, Sword of the Arcane Order). Power attack adds more martial prowess (remember find the gap, or wraithstrike with SotAO), shadow stride gives the opportunity to get out of a difficult spot (RAW it's an extraordinary ability, and should even function in a anti-magic field, but it should be usable in a grapple in any case). This build will probably do less damage then a focussed charge build, but has much more options: the spell-like abilities from half-fey, more paladin spells, wizard spells as paladin spells, all paladin spells quickened, great mobility and, if neccisary, quite decent damage in melee. Additionally, the build can be a good face for the party, has lots of defensive options.
Paladin UberchargerHuman lion spirit totem barbarian 1 / paladin of freedom 19
feats: H) power attack 1) improved bull rush 3) leap attack 6) shock trooper 9) divine might 12) battle blessing 15) travel devotion 18) sword of the arcane order
acf: lion spirit totem, smiting charge
Your basic ubercharger, Pally style. The good part is (again) that charging multipliers work for smite, divine might and power attack. With sword of the arcane order and a bludgeoning weapon (greatclub?), say hello to greater mighty wallop. The build still uses the shock trooper feat tree, and not wraithstrike or find the gap, because you need the swift action for rhino rush and find the gap only works for 1 attack.
On damage: at level 20, a charge attack would do about +60 damage with power/leap attack, +57 for charging smite, +5 (weapon), +10 (divine might), +15 (str), 18 (4d8) weapon damage; with a valorous vaulting halberd and rhino rush (x4 damage), and four attacks (3 without the extra smiting damage), that could go easily over 2000 damage, if all attacks hit.
A non-basic version of this build could include a 1 level cloistered cleric dip (for strength devotion and animal devotion for 2 extra attacks) and 1 level binder, for 1 extra attack with Amon, but then again, more damage adds little to this build, tweaking it should focus on compensating weaknesses imho.
RavenknightHuman Paladin 5 Knight of the Raven 10 church inquisitor 5
ACF: charging smite, mystic fire knight substitution levels 4 and 5 (bonus spells), lightbringer detect undead instead detect evil (return with church inquisitor)
H dreadful wrath
1 power attack
3 animal devotion
6 awesome smite
8 (B) sun devotion
9 battle blessing
10 (B) enduring life
12 sword of the arcane order
13 (B) lasting life
15 divine might
16 (B) knowledge devotion
18 extra turning
Frightens the living and destroys the undead. It works well in an undead centered campaign, with detect undead, smite undead, sun devotion and feats that protect the pally from drains. The abilities given up for alternative class features (detect evil, turn undead) are regained with prestige classes, so detect undead and the extra spells are freebees. Church inquisitor adds some immunities to charms and illusions. Extra damage from animal devotion, knowledge devotion and divine might. Spells from the wizard list, animal devotion and awesome smite add versitality.
Saint Crusader The mountless rider
Some additional possibilitiesPaladin 10 / master of many forms 10Paladin 19 / warblade 1trap