Oath of the Ancients 5E Guide | Ancient Paladin 5E

The Oath of the Ancients is a natural flavor of paladin; this subclass focuses on art forms and beauty, and brings the wonder of nature to all who live. The Player’s Handbook offers this oath as the first one, and so this is what most players see when they get to level 3. Paladins with this oath likely ally themselves to gods of nature, focusing on fighting darkness to preserve life-giving things. They seek growth above all else… So how well are you equipped to dedicate yourself to beauty? Let’s take a look at the Oath of the Ancients, and see why your character might benefit.

Find Your Light: Oath of the Ancients 5E

The Oath of the Ancients is the druidic flavor of the paladin. The Tenets of the Ancients focus on kindling the world’s beauty. Your Paladin will likely be using their Charisma on Performance, and uses their time to flourish life-giving things. And, of course, you’ll be a beacon of hope – That might as well be standard for any Oath, besides Oathbreaker Paladin. 

In gameplay and fighting, the Oath of Ancients focuses primarily on resisting magic and keeping enemies in one place; Useful for a melee-based member of the 5E paladin class, and extremely good as a support. The spell list suffers slightly from only really pulling from Druid options, and a few of your abilities are weaker than one would like… But that’s far from enough to make this archetype anything but exceptional.

Oath Spells

As noted above, you’ll probably not be too happy with your spell list. You have a few good options here, but nothing intensely powerful. 

This is a massive pile of random spells, that do a wide range of effects. Ensnaring Strike is great for a melee combatant, only allowing for 1 actual save. Then they’re stuck making generic Strength checks, which a lot of creatures are going to struggle with. Speak with Animals… Well, that might come in handy once or twice per campaign. Not really the most impressive spells to start.

Moonbeam requires a bit of planning (or an Ensnaring Strike) to make it extremely useful. Misty Step, however, is one of the better mobility spells in the game. Your Heavy-Armored butt will be able to cross massive gaps and get to important enemies easily.

Plant Growth might come up in some random situations, but most classes get slightly better defensive options with Wall spells. Protection from Energy is so much more useful, allowing you to very easily defend yourself against breath attacks or… any elemental effect. One of your abilities later will make this spell slightly less useful, but it’s still an incredibly important spell.

Ice Storm is a solid area of effect option and, unfortunately, the only one you’ll get. While Paladins are not in charge of swarm fights, you’ll at least feel a little more useful. Stoneskin is the important one here; 100 gp is pocket change at this point, and you’ll be so much tankier against any beasts or creatures that use natural weapons. Depending on the campaign, you might want to use this all the time.

17th level has two rather situational abilities. Commune with Nature gives you a valid information spell – super rare amongst paladins – though the range isn’t great. Tree Stride is only useful in natural environments. In those environments, the spell becomes a very viable teleport… But otherwise, you won’t be too happy that this is permanently prepared for you.

Overall, not bad! You have utility, damage, crowd control, information, defense… A wide spread of things 5E Paladins either don’t get or need help with. You’ll likely be just fine with this list.

Channel Divinity

At level 3, most subclasses gain 2 options for their short-rest-based Channel Divinity. The Ancient Oath isn’t any different, providing you Nature’s Wrath and Turn the Faithless.

Nature’s Wrath. You can use your Channel Divinity to invoke primeval forces to ensnare a foe. As an action, you can cause spectral vines to spring up and reach for a creature within 10 feet of you that you can see. The creature must succeed on a Strength or Dexterity saving throw (its choice) or be restrained. While restrained by the vines, the creature repeats the saving throw at the end of each of its turns. On a success, it frees itself and the vines vanish.

Oh, uh… Why?

This is strictly worse than Ensnaring Strike, since the creature gets to decide what save it gets, and it gets to roll that saving throw every round. And this uses your action, meaning you don’t even get the benefit of dealing a burst of damage beforehand. And they get to make the follow-up saves for free, unlike Ensnaring Strike, which requires them to make a Check as an action. In most cases, you’d prefer to use Ensnaring Strike.

What this is a tiny bit more useful for is larger creatures. Since Ensnaring Strike gives larger creatures Advantage, this becomes better against creatures whose size dwarfs yours. Restrained is an absolutely brutal status, so making a Huge target an Advantage magnet will be useful. And in some cases, you simply don’t get to make your attack action, either because of range or you yourself being restrained. In those cases… Yeah, this might be better.

It’s a shame you get Ensnaring Strike and this, since this tends to be just worse. The other option is a Turn effect (an Area of Effect fear effect that forces the targets to run until they take damage), targeting Fiends and Fey. The only thing that makes it better than a standard Turn effect is this;

If the creature’s true form is concealed by an illusion, shapeshifting, or other effect, that form is revealed while it is turned.

That’s a neat little addition!

Like any other Turn effect, in combats against Fiends and Fey, forcing them to flee from you is an efficient way to negate at least one turn of combat against multiple creatures. That’s great, especially since most combats with fiends or fey typically have multiple fiends, multiple fey, or one strong member of those types.

The extra effect is super good against any fiends or fey in range. Invisibility is an Illusion, so you can use this as a potent anti-invisibility and combat negation. And in social events, your Paladin can channel to find any fiends or fey disguised as a human. Against most fey, this will be a great counter ability. Against most fiends… This will do just fine. Nothing spectacular.

Aura of Warding

This ability, by itself, is the sole reason to take this class. It’s that good.

Beginning at 7th level, ancient magic lies so heavily upon you that it forms an eldritch ward. You and friendly creatures within 10 feet of you have resistance to damage from spells.

At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.

See what I mean?

If this ability just gave the Paladin resistance to magic, then it’d be an absolutely crucial damage reduction. If it gave resistance to magic to everything in 10 feet, it’d be worth the risk. Instead, you give it to all friendly allies… And then they take half damage from all spells.

What.

At this level, fireball does 9d6. That means normally your melee frontliners would take about 32 damage or so on a failed save. On a successful save, they’d still take 16 damage, thanks to the fact that most spells still hurt you on a success. Now, instead? 16 damage on a complete failure, 8 damage on a success. To yourself, and all allies near you. That’s a crazy amount of damage reduction. 

Later on, this can prevent deaths from spells like Disintegrate and Finger of Death against anyone nearby. Considering how magic-focused 5e can be, you’ll even easily avoid damage from Cantrips – which tend to do good damage, but not enough to panic over. Because this aura doesn’t have any resource, it’s just going to consistently save yourself, and your team.

Undying Sentinel

At level 15, you tend to want to see something that keeps you alive in a fight. May I present… Something like that.

Starting at 15th level, when you are reduced to 0 hit points and are not killed outright, you can choose to drop to 1 hit point instead. Once you use this ability, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Additionally, you suffer none of the drawbacks of old age, and you can’t be aged magically.

Hmm. That’s… Certainly there. The obvious upside is twofold; you stay in combat – able to deal damage and heal – and you don’t risk making death saves. Two very great, very important things! But, you don’t do them very well with this ability.

To explain why, I want to compare this to Mastery of Death, the Long Death monk’s Ki ability. This ability is (thankfully) resourceless; you just have the once per day restriction, which will keep you from your dying saves perfectly well. But, the “killed outright” clause is unfortunately somewhat important – spells like Disintegrate and Touch of Death suddenly become much more dangerous. You do take half damage from them, but… Watch your health against necromancers or Evocation masters.

The other effect, the anti-aging effects, are… Fine. They’re there. You might laugh in your GM’s face if they forget and cast Time Ravage on you. But realistically, you don’t really get much benefit out of this.

Elder Champion

The Paladin’s level 20 capstone is actually pretty fun, flavorwise and mechanically. The first effect is strictly cosmetic, making you look more natural, typically like a tree or like a forest creature.

However, when you spend an action, you get a few really potent abilities.

• At the start of each of your turns, you regain 10 hit points.
• Whenever you cast a paladin spell that has a casting time of 1 action, you can cast it using a bonus action instead.
• Enemy creatures within 10 feet of you have disadvantage on saving throws against your paladin spells and Channel Divinity options.

Really good! Super limited, but really good!

Healing 10 health per round is a godsend; a total of 100 HP over the course of a minute is significant. More importantly, however, healing 10 HP per round means you can’t miss your round because of unconsciousness; you heal on the start of your turn, so you immediately get up, ready to go. Otherwise, the health regen gives your healers a bit of leeway on spending spell slots on you.

Having all of your Paladin spells be Quickened is obviously significant. The Paladin actually has so few effects that take a bonus action that you’re always looking for ways to spend them. This gives you an incredibly powerful method for using them, as your spells only taking a Bonus action gives you more chances to use Extra Attack.

The disadvantage effect is obviously insanely potent. Even something as simple as Ensnaring Strike (which you probably shouldn’t use now that all of your spells are bonus actions) get much better when your target has 2 chances to whiff. And now your enemies have 2 chances to fail your Turn effect. That’s really good!

It’s a shame this only lasts 1 minute. Save this for what you think is going to be the hardest fight of the day. Your action economy becomes so much better, so you’ll be a huge threat to your opponents.

Best Race for Ancient Oath Paladins

Ancient Oath paladins have pretty few abilities that rely on Charisma. Obviously, you’ll want enough Charisma to be a potent spellcaster for Ensnaring Strike, but you’ll likely want Strength/Dexterity and Constitution a bit more. You’ll want to be a melee build so you can give your frontline allies a boost to their durability against spellcasters.

Tabaxi

The Tabaxi race from Volo’s Guide to Monsters is an incredibly strong option here. High Dexterity is good for Finesse builds. Feline Agility is very important for getting you into range of your enemies, and is a great addition to Misty Step. Darkvision is also pretty important, since holding a torch can make stealth strategies next to useless. You’ll get a few more skills as well, just to be more useful in social situations. For certain parties, becoming the King of the Jungle might be a valid option.

Tritons

Tritons are also from Volo’s Guide, but they take a slightly different approach to being Paladins. They get a +1 to the three things Paladins need; Strength, Constitution, and Charisma. Your four other racial abilities tend to be a bit focused around water, but you can get a lot of utility with your Control Air and Water feature. The ancients normally talk about the forests, but I see no reason why spirits of water can’t be counted as beautiful, as well!

Ancients Oath Gods

As expected from the oath that is most connected to nature, Paladins who follow the Oath of the Ancients will often worship gods that protect nature. That being said, the Paladin’s specific tenets are more concerned with being a good, hopeful beacon for others. So, most Good gods will apply!

Ehlonna (Greyhawk)

A unicorn trots up to a lake for a small drink. Around it, several other animals stop and drink as well, knowing that the unicorn will protect them. As a wanderer walks around the corner, lost and confused, an elven woman approaches. She offers guidance and, in return, the wanderer gives her an offering. A human ranger guides a horse back to the stable and helps its recovery from a wound. This is Ehlonna, and her forests are protected by her and hers.

Ehlonna is the Neutral Good god of the forest in the Greyhawk campaign setting. She is depicted in many ways, but primarily as a ranger or druid. She has an intense rivalry with those who believe nature to be a dangerous place, and strives to show the beauty and goodness of it. As such, she strives to protect those who wander into nature, and teaches that animals are gifts.

Her worshipers include many who believe nature is a vibrant, wonderful thing and worth protecting. Hunters and trappers worship her and ensure that they will use all of the animal. Rangers and Druids pray to her to enhance their spells in defense of the wild. Her clergy are each given a small plant to care for and spread their seeds to regions, if the plant would not harm the ecosystem of their journey’s destination.

As an Ancients Oath Paladin of Ehlonna, you are responsible for being the front guard of her clergy. While Rangers often serve that role, you embody the same principles while being an excellent diplomat. Talking down those who would spoil nature… And then smiting them if they do not listen.

Eldath (Faerûn)

In Faerûn, not much is known about the Mother Guardian of Groves. As a lesser deity, she often spends her time defending small streams and small copses from the tyranny of the civilized world. She cannot be everywhere at once, right? However, every soul has felt her presence. In times of peace, she gently whispers to generals. In times of strife, she directs hunters away from babbling brooks.

Eldath is the Neutral Good goddess of peace and calm waters. Whenever she appeared, her gorgeous avatar soothed those around her. Her presence brings with her calm and tranquility. She despises hostile action, and would prefer retreating rather than violence. Her resolve is unbreakable, and she brings comfort and healing to those who treat her – and her natural groves – well.

Worshipers of Eldath report to a local high priest when necessary. Most followers spend their days in quiet communities with a focus on peace and subtlety, preferring illusion to direct conflict. They often migrate from holy site to holy site, visiting druidic circles and local landmarks on their brief pilgrimages. 

As a Paladin of Eldath, you might assume that pacifism is required. You’d be partially right. You should be expected to consider non-violent alternatives to each combat scenario. And, in some cases, you will be expected to not fight directly at all, using your debuffs and grappling to prevent direct harm. However, Eldath is not a foolish goddess: If combat is unavoidable and it is your life or theirs, then their souls are not peaceful. While you are expected to not start fights, and try to be nonlethal… There’s only so much one can do.

Raei (Wildemount)

This goddess of Wildemount is seen everywhere there is light. The Sun, beating down on every living thing, carries her message to the ears of friend and foe alike. The Everlight watches her children with a smile and optimism, hopeful that everyone will meet their fullest potential. She believes in redemption and purity… And a stern fist against evil.

Raei is the Neutral Good goddess of redemption and the Sun in the Wildemount location. She is the primary goddess of redemption, and trusts many to redeem themselves over time. Her trust can lead to terrible things, such as her betrayal by the Lord of the Nine Hells, which caused her name to be lost for generations. Now that she is back, she promises to bring her warmth back into the world.

Her worshipers include healers and elders who wish to be beacons of hope to a scary world. As Raei has only been recently discovered again, her followers are somewhat scattered and squabbling, having difficulties identifying a solid “holy day.” Even so, there is noone more trusting of a stranger than a cleric of Raei.

Ancients Oath Paladins of Raei represent her rather… Aggressive, side. While Raei believes heavily in the idea of redemption, you will be responsible in ensuring that the redemption sticks. When something truly evil is afoot – an unredeemable evil – then it shall be your blade going to work. Still, you should be a trusting individual and empathetic naturally.

Example Feats for Ancients Oath Paladins

Ancient Oaths paladins are some of the more bland ones in terms of feat options. You want to improve your Charisma and offensive physical stat the best you can. When possible, you also want to consider improving your damage, since your archetype already gives passable defensive abilities. Your utility is situational, so feats can shore that up as well.

Alert

Alert is one of the most simple feats in DnD 5e… But, it goes a huge way! You get three benefits: A +5 to Initiative, immunity to the Surprised condition, and you don’t give advantage when attacked from unseen foes.

Let’s start with the less powerful traits. The Surprised condition very rarely comes up, but… Missing a turn of combat is really, really bad. Being able to get that extra turn back will be game-determinative at times! And ignoring unseen opponents’ advantage on attacks? That is actually more apt, and makes you a very valid anti-invisibility expert.

+5 to initiative is frankly absurd. There are so few things that modify Initiative in 5E. So, getting a +5 to it is like getting +10 to your Dexterity. As you are a Paladin, this means you can buff early in the fight, Banish an enemy before they can act, or just go for a huge Divine Smite play! This feat provides an amazing advantage to a class that is focused on debuffing.

Chef

From Tasha’s Cauldron, Chef is a fun feat that gives a few small benefits. The first is a +1 to Con or Charisma. Both of these are good stats for a Paladin, so use this feat to get even on one of them. The other three benefits are hilarious, though!

Cook’s Utensils are not the strongest tools in the game. Not by a long shot. But, they are flavorful, and make you into the party’s primary cook. That’s pretty fun! Then, you can make short rests significantly stronger by adding a d8 to healing done during them. For parties that include Short-Rest reliant classes, like Warlock or Monk, this is far from meaningless healing. Finally, after long rests, you can make delicious treats that give temporary hitpoints. It’s not many hitpoints, but it might be enough to keep a party member from going down in the midgame.

Really fun support feat!

Shadow Touched

Another Tasha’s Cauldron feat, Shadow Touched offers some utility for the Paladin. +1 Charisma is nice, but you get to learn a few things on top! 

You always can prepare Invisibility and another 1st level spell, and get to cast them both for free once per day. Invisibility is a solid spell that makes you okay at sneaking around. Alternatively, you can touch an ally and make them invisible instead. That’s not too bad, though it does spend a lot of turns. Your 1st level spell selection is, admittedly, a bit weaker. Cause Fear, Color Spray, False Life, Ray of Sickness, or Silent Image are all fine options.

If you don’t mind wasting some benefits, Fey Touched conveys similar bonuses, replacing Invisibility with Misty Step and the 1st level spell options with options from a different school. While you learn Misty Step by default, it is arguably stronger than Invisibility, so having it for free is reasonable. In addition, the bonus 1st level spell is much better than the options for Necromancy or Illusion. Both of these feats are viable, Fey Touched only tainted by our Oath spell list.

Tough

Tough is a very simple feat: +40 HP. This level 20 potential can be met by taking this feat early, but you’ll only see the benefit in +2s per level. Still, every point of health is one more point from death. As you are often in the front of fights, being able to supplement your debuffs and concentration spells with a high HP pool is good. +2 Constitution lets you get some Constitution saving throws, however. The choice between Tough and Constitution is always a hard one.

War Caster

War Caster is a very good feat for the Sword and Shield Paladin. It lets you cast without putting away your weapon or your shield, which will often be annoying in the early game. Sometimes, DMs will just hand-wave that restriction, in which case this feat is a little weaker…

But the other two benefits remain incredible. Advantage on Concentration Saves is really, really good for you. Many Paladin spells, like Shield of Faith, require Concentration. You will not be remiss for that reason alone. But, you can also opportunity attack with single target spells! This hilarious benefit means that an enemy who thought they could run away from you becomes Banished instead, or stuck in a Compelled Duel. A really strong feat for a class as debuff-heavy as an Ancients Paladin.

Multiclassing for Ancients Paladins

Like your Feats, your Multiclassing options are very typical of other Paladin options. Your multiclasses should either supplement your middling offensive power, or allow you to ignore your physical offensive stat.

Fighter

One of the easiest 2 level dips for a Martial character, the Fighter offers two great things for us. Fighting Styles lets us gain additional AC or damage, and Action Surge lets us nuke a planet every Short Rest. That’s usually enough to be straight-up better than 2 levels in Paladin! 

Warlock

Warlock’s Hexblade archetype is really, really nice for a Paladin. Since you’re already going to invest into Charisma, having to only rely on Charisma is very good. Hexblades replace Strength or Dexterity for attack and damage, and only need 1 of your levels to do so. In addition, another level gives you an insanely powerful cantrip, that fires 4 times for a d10+Charisma. That’s… Absurd. A really good option to keep Fighter on its toes! Though, not necessarily straight-up better. That’s how good Action Surge is!

Suggested Ancients Paladin Backgrounds

Paladins can come from all walks of life. Which is good, because we want some really strong Skills! Skills are what we look for the most for backgrounds, though some other proficiencies and features can catch our eye.

Criminal/Spy

The Spy (or Criminal, for a spicy backstory) offers a ton of strong options and proficiencies for us. Deception is not available for most Paladins, and lets us complete the trifecta of Talking skills. Stealth won’t be useful if we wear heavier armor, but might be good for a Dexterity paladin. While Gaming Sets aren’t really great, Thieves’ Tools are stellar, and getting proficiency in them is extremely good.

Your equipment isn’t amazing, but your Contact is super good! A recurring NPC who likes you is an excellent resource. Remember that often, and you might get new information and direction for your character!

Investigator

If your DM allows you to use Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, you will rarely have a better background than this. The Investigator lets you choose two options between Insight, Investigation, or Perception for skill proficiency. You also get proficiency in Disguise Kits and Thieves’ Tools. That’s… Ridiculous. Insanely common skill checks and the best tool in the game. The Disguise Kit isn’t even that bad! Your equipment is very fun, and your feature is really good! 

This is arguably the strongest background in the system. Make good use of it!

Outlander

The Outlander, from the Player’s Handbook, is an innocent looking background hiding a big secret. Athletics isn’t a must-grab skill from a background, and Survival is only as good as the campaign you are in. Musical instrument proficiency isn’t amazing, and neither is a single language. Your equipment isn’t that great, either… So, why do we recommend this?

Well, it comes from the feature. Wanderer guarantees food for yourself and five other party members every day, as long as the land can provide. You also have a good memory for maps. These qualities basically do Survival’s main gimmicks without survival. That’s pretty good. And, since your oath is connected with nature, it’s very in-theme!

How to Play Ancients Paladins

Out of Combat

• Use your skills creatively. Skills are the best way to interact with the game outside of fights. As a Paladin, most of what you are best at is talking. You can use Persuasion to convince people that you are good, intimidate those who are cruel and unjust, or deceive when you need to. Having Athletics or Acrobatics is great for movement.
• Consider using spells for outside of combat situations. Since Paladins can convert spells to damage whenever needed, don’t be afraid to prepare spells like Find Steed. Sometimes, those situational and non-combative spells can be really handy. Worst case scenario, you’ll dome people for 2d8 with them!
• Turn the Faithless reveals concealed Fey and Fiends. Usually not an actual upside of the ability, this can be very handy if you need to reveal a pesky Fey.

In Combat

• You are a melee fighter. Paladins prefer melee combat. So, wade into the front lines and start swinging! You want to be annoying enough to be a threat while protecting your squishier, higher-damage party members from damage. Intercept things, but don’t put yourself into too much danger! You aren’t invincible, especially early on.
• Use Smite aggressively. Spells are there to be spent. Smiting targets you think you might be able to kill is a reasonable use of a spell slot. Since it’s guaranteed damage, just taking names off of the Initiative tracker is great.
• Channel Divinity. It refreshes on short rest, and Nature’s Wrath is legitimately not terrible. Especially if you can’t quite reach your target, ensnaring them in vines isn’t a bad idea. And Turn the Faithless, in combat where it matters, can be nice.
• Position yourself for Auras. Keeping melee allies within your 10 ft auras is critical for keeping them alive longer. And, once the auras become 30 ft, try to keep even ranged allies within them. You’d be surprised at how much a +4 or +5 to all saving throws matters!
• Undying Sentinel in Emergencies. While Undying Sentinel is fine to use the first time you might go to dying… Patience is a virtue. If your cleric is alive and, even better, can revive you without you missing a turn, you can wait on using Undying Sentinel. Instead, use it for emergencies; if your cleric is down or out of healing spells, that’s an excellent time to be annoying for 1 more hit!
• Elder Champion is strong. Use it! By popping Elder Champion, you become much tankier, more efficient, and much more annoying. For endgame boss fights, this is a legitimately strong ability. Just a shame you can’t spend high-level slots to refresh it.

Ancients Paladin FAQ

What 5E Book is the Oath of the Ancients in?

It is in the Player’s Handbook, on page 86. You’ll find it just after Devotion.

Are Ancients Paladins Immortal in 5E?

Once they reach level 15, Paladins with the Oath of the Ancients cannot age or die of magical aging. This does not mean they can’t die. But, it does mean they cannot die of old age and, with Divine Health, they cannot die naturally.

How Do You Break the Oath of the Ancients?

The tenets of the Oath of the Ancients focus on good acts, preserving beauty and life, delighting in laughter, and being a glorious and hopeful beacon. Acts of pure evil and malice are a quick way to break this oath, if they cannot be realistically proven as good or having been done under the effects of evil magic.

Ancients Paladin Example Build

Now, to make a Paladin of our own! Our DM has asked us to make a Paladin from any core book, but we must use Standard Array, pre-Tasha’s Cauldron race rules, and standard starting equipment. That’s fine by us!

While I value Perception quite highly, we’ll make our Paladin an Outlander for that really cool flavor and excellent background feature. And we can get perception by taking a race with it. Specifically, we’ll grab the Half-Elf, for that awesome +2 to Charisma and +1 to two other stats. Our Skill Versatility will go into Perception (so we can see things) and Deception (to cover our bases if we need to talk things out). The extra language is campaign-oriented, and you should talk to your DM before selecting it. The same thing goes for your Background language.

You should also talk to your Party before writing down your Ability Scores. A Party should probably only have a single person who relies on Strength, since there will only be so many Giant Belts to pass around. In our case, another player has chosen to be a Barbarian. To avoid stepping on their toes, we’ll go for a Dexterity Paladin.

If you make a Dexterity-based Paladin, you will want to ask your DM if you can swap out your Chain Mail for something else. Scale Mail is often given to classes like Clerics and Rangers, and thus should be a fair swap. Our DM agrees… Thankfully! Though we can’t get away with getting a Bow as a ranged option. Find a bow as quickly as possible!

5E Ancients Paladin Build

Race: Half-ElfAbility Scores: STR 10, DEX 16 (15 + 1), CON 14 (13 + 1), INT 8, WIS 12, CHA 16 (14 + 2)Proficiencies: Intimidation, Persuasion, Athletics, Survival, Intimidation, Perception, HarpStarting Equipment: Rapier, Shield, five Javelins, a Priest’s Pack, Scale Mail, Holy SymbolLanguages: Common, Elven, Draconic, Dwarven

Levels	New Features	Choices To Make
1	-Divine Sense-Lay on Hands	You’ve already made most of the choices that you need to make. If you can, try to convince your DM that a Shortbow and 20 arrows is a good trade for five Javelins. Paladins absolutely despise ranged combat, but you really should be able to switch when you have to.Otherwise, get a good feel for walking into melee safely and taking out low health opponents. Things are going to get complicated very quickly!
2	-Divine Smite-Fighting Style-1st Level Spells	Here, we have one big choice to make right away, and then a bunch of little choices over time!Fighting Style is weird. Since we’ve decided to go with a Dexterity Paladin, we will have to use a Shield for our entire career. That means that we can go Defense for +1 to our AC, Protection to defend a fellow Melee party member, or Dueling to deal more damage. We’ll take Defense, as we are going to be the party’s frontline, and we want to reduce damage taken as much as possible.The Paladin gets to change their Spells after every short rest, and knows all spells. That means you are going to have to get a little bit familiar with your Spell List. For now, stick to options like Bless, Shield of Faith, or Compelled Duel: Strong buff and debuff options that can turn a fight in your favor. Damaging options, like Wrathful Smite, are good… But, you can always turn spells into damage with Divine Smite!
3	-Divine Health-Oath Spells-Channel Divinity: Nature’s Wrath-Channel Divinity: Turn the Faithless	You’ve already chosen to be an Ancient Paladin, so… Let’s get into what that means.Your Channel Divinity options aren’t amazing, but they’re what you have. Spending an action to Restrain a target is actually really good. Especially if they ended their turn just out of reach! Your other option requires there to be fey or fiends around. You don’t need as many spell slots dedicated to Protection from Evil and Good now!Oath Spells should influence how you select spells in the future. These spells are always prepared, so you don’t need to prepare similar spells. At 1st level, Ensnaring Strike is a good debuff for chasing people down, and Speak With Animals is very unique on the Paladin List. You don’t need Compelled Duel nearly as much now.
4	-Ability Score Improvement	A big one, here! Feats and Ability Score adjustments are big steps in a character’s life. We can get +2 Dexterity to be more accurate, or +2 Charisma to improve our spells… Heck, even +2 Constitution isn’t out of the question!However, we’re probably getting a bit tired of using only Divine Smite while wielding our Rapier and Shield. So, let’s take War Caster. This buffs us around the board and makes spellcasting very easy. If your DM is a bit cooler about casting with a Shield, then you can take +2 Charisma instead.
5	-Extra Attack-2nd Level Spells	Extra Attack means that Rapier is hitting hard every turn! It also means we can smite twice a turn. That’s burst!2nd Level spells are here! We get Moonbeam, a damaging radius, and Misty Step, a shockingly strong mobility tool. So, we don’t need more damage or mobility… Which leaves most of Level 2. Spells like Lesser Restoration can get rid of ignoring debuffs.
6	-Aura of Protection	This, right here, is the reason why Charisma is so important to us! Our saving throws just went from mediocre at best to insanely strong! And we’ve just gotten started.Meanwhile, keep scanning through spells. Locate Object and Zone of Truth are amazing outside of combat scenarios.
7	-Aura of Warding	Aura of Warding is solid, in that magic encounters are not as scary to you anymore. In terms of decisions, we’re still just looking at magic. Prayer of Healing can be okay for out-of-combat recovery. Magic Weapon might be necessary if a fight becomes very far-range and you’re stuck with a bow.
8	-Ability Score Improvement	Sadly, it’s chosen for us: +2 Charisma. Yeah, boring, but what can you do? It improves everything we need to be impactful as an Ancients Paladin.Side Note: At this point, Belts of Giant Strength may begin to drop in loot pools. In our example, the Barbarian would get these belts first… But, who says you can’t get a Hand-me-Down? This guide will assume that you are able to get your hands on at least a Belt of Hill Giant Strength, improving your Strength to 21. This lets you wear Plate Armor without penalty, and your Dexterity will no longer matter much. You can still use Finesse Weapons and, honestly, there isn’t much difference between a Rapier and Longsword.
9	-3rd Level Spells	3rd level spells are exciting. Plant Growth is one of the most situational spells imaginable. But, Protection From Energy can be very helpful going up against future dragons! Thankfully, the Paladin spell list has almost no overlap here. Options like Dispel Magic help with magical threats, and Revivify is insanely strong in an emergency.
10	-Aura of Courage	Your allies can’t be Frightened anymore. Wonderful! Try to walk over to anyone who is scared to alleviate them.In the meanwhile, check out spells like Elemental Weapon for a handy-dandy damage boost, or Crusader’s Mantle for the same.
11	-Improved Divine Smite	Your weapon hits harder. Great! Hit using melee weapons whenever possible. Using Misty Step to get into melee range might seem like a waste, but it never really is.Keep looking at spells! Hidden gems like Remove Curse and Magic Circle might come up more often than you think.
12	-Ability Score Improvement	+2 Charisma. Sorry if that sounds boring, but getting to 20 Charisma is just so important.If your DM is nice about spellcasting and you were already at 20 Charisma, I’d still consider getting War Caster here. Being more successful at Concentration Checks is really nice, since this class is laden with Concentration magic already.
13	-4th Level Spells	Give it up for level 4! Ice Storm is an alright area of effect spell that provides some area control. Stoneskin is hard to place, since it is very campaign-specific, but is often not worth the diamond unless the encounter is full of animals or peasants.This is a great level for Paladin, since it gives them access to Banishment and other strong utility tools. Check out spells like Aura of Purity and Death Ward on the defensive side.
14	-Cleansing Touch	Well, Dispel Magic is significantly less important now. You’re a lot better at removing magic, so spells like Remove Curse are also not very significant. Don’t prioritize them.You can continue looking at spells! While we don’t recommend many Smite spells, Staggering Smite deals a good amount of damage and controls the opponent’s turn. That’s good!
15	-Undying Sentinel	You automatically have a Death Ward on yourself now, but… Why not stack the Death Ward? That’s pretty fun.Alternatively, you can dedicate spell slots to things like Find Greater Steed or Locate Creature, and other utility spells.
16	-Ability Score Improvement	If you did not get a Belt of Giant’s Strength of some kind, you’re probably getting a +2 to Dexterity here.If you did, then we can consider getting some powerful utility feats! Let’s grab Tough and buff up our HP, letting us live a lot longer on the battlefield.
17	-5th Level Spells	Our final spell level! And… It’s fine. Commune with Nature and Tree Stride are two strictly out-of-combat spells. So, you’re free to take hyper-aggressive spells like Destructive Wave, Banishing Smite, or Raise Celestial.
18	-Aura Improvements	Your auras should hopefully cover enough of the battlefield to be significant now.And your spells should be significant too! Remember to prepare magic like Geas for out-of-combat scenarios. That stuff can be impactful!Multiclassing: We’re going to finish the last two levels as a Paladin. It is very much reasonable to consider multiclassing to Fighter at this point, or multiclassing to Hexblade Warlock much earlier in the process. The last two levels of this class are not great.
19	-Ability Score Improvement	+2 Constitution is rather enticing, as are great melee feats like Sentinel. We’re going to go with the latter, being more aggressive in melee combat and locking down most of the ways an enemy can escape us. However, we’ll actually be taking Alert here. These combats are scary, so sprinting in and using either Divine Smite or Banishment to get rid of big threats early is potent.
20	-Elder Champion	And now, whenever we pop this ability, our spells are even stronger! Consider saving your strongest magic for when this ability is online.Magic like Dispel Evil and Good or even earlier magic like Spirit Shroud can devastate enemies while you are in your Elder Champion form.

Conclusion – Our Take on the Oath of the Ancients

The Ancient Oath Paladin has a lot of good things, but they tend to be restricted to once per day or to only some enemies unlike other paladin oaths. The only significant ability you get is Aura of Warding, and… That alone is a really, really good reason to take this archetype. If you want to be a really potent anti-mage, and are willing to take a hit on your damage potential, then this Subclass is for you.