Welcome to our second level up analysis here at the Omen Archive! A lot has happened since we first posted one of these, and Bell's Hells have become stronger as they prepare to face what lies ahead. Here are our thoughts on what level 14 holds in store. (Be mindful of some very minor spells-and-mechanics spoilers for C3E105.)
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Ashton
Barbarian 14
HP: +5, total: 137
ASI: None
Kicking us off is Ashton’s 14th level in Barbarian, which grants him a brand new path feature. And when we say brand new, we mean it, since of course due to his subclass’s homebrew status, we don’t yet know the breadth of what Ashton’s Path of Fundamental Chaos has to offer at this level up.
We do know that it is likely a set of Fundamental Force Enhancements. Ashton received their first set of these enhancements at level 6, with each of their four rage types (Time, Space, Gravity, and Probability) getting its own boost through the features Hyper Rage, Worm Hole Strike, Density Well, and Dreadful Misfortune respectively.
So far, we’ve seen new enhancements to two of Ashton’s Fundamental Forces: “Mark of the Messy End,” which was their contribution to the Delilah sealing ritual in Episode 103, and “Acceleration Wave,” which they used for a display of power in the council chamber in Episode 104. Mark of the Messy End appears to be the Force Enhancement for Ashton’s Probability rage. It expands the number of rolls that count as a crit against a particular target. Rather than only critting on a 20, anyone who rolls an 18 or higher scores a critical hit. We’re not yet certain which Fundamental Force Acceleration Wave is associated with, but given the thematic and mechanical consistency of Ashton’s rages, it is most likely the second Force Enhancement for their Time rage. Up to ten allies of Ashton’s are given the benefit. Taliesin refers to it as “that speed rush,” which may mean Ashton is applying the base level effect of a Time rage to other creatures. In that case, they have doubled speed that doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks, and those allies also can use their bonus action to make an attack.
While we don’t yet know what the other two new Enhancements are, we can make some broad-stroke guesses. We can likely expect that the Force Enhancement for Ashton’s Space Rage will be teleportation-based, and if we follow the idea that these enhancements are geared towards applying effects to foes or allies, perhaps now Ashton might be able to teleport creatures they attack. Gravity is more challenging to guess at, but we will speculate that it could have a similar effect as the dunamatic spell Gravity Fissure, and might pull an enemy into a damaging dealing area. These are of course pure speculation—we’re tremendously excited to see what other Fundamental Force Enhancements Ashton has now!
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Braius
Bard 3/Paladin 11
HP: no change, 114
ASI: None
As Braius entered the scene already at level 14, he does not join the rest of the party in leveling up. Luckily, we do have some new information since our last analysis of Braius. During the Critical Role Cooldown for episode 105, Sam read the stats and abilities of Braius’ new platemail, Truthbearer. In addition to its protective properties, the armor adds 30 points to Braius’ Lay on Hands pool, which Sam states brings him to 85 points in the pool. As the Lay on Hands pool is calculated as 5 times a character’s paladin level, we can now confirm that Braius is a level 11 paladin, level 3 bard. What we still don’t know is Braius’ paladin oath. In our analysis, we narrowed it down to two: Oath of the Ancients and Oath of the Watchers. We’ve only seen Braius use two new spells since then, one being a Paladin cantrip (Sacred Flame) and the other being Zone of Truth. Since the latter is a level two Bard spell it does not do anything to clarify his build or his Paladin Oath. There haven’t yet been any other opportunities to glean details on his build, so we’ll simply have to continue to wait and see. You can check out our Braius Doomseed analysis if you would like to see our reasoning for the two possible oaths listed above!
With his 13th level in Blood hunter, Chetney received a new toy: Brand of Tethering.
This is functionally an improvement to Brand of Castigation, and serves to keep enemies from escaping a battlefield. In order to teleport or otherwise leave its current plane, the branded creature takes 4d6 psychic damage and has to succeed on a Wisdom saving throw. The creature also can’t Dash, limiting its non-magical movement options. This should be eminently useful with enemies who prefer to Teleport away rather than continue a fight or conversation. Maybe next time Chet runs into Ludinus, he can force to stick around and listen to more questions about Molaesmyr.
Additionally, Brand of Tethering doubles the damage done by Chet’s Brand of Castigation (which deals psychic damage to a branded creature when it hurts Chet or any directly adjacent, non-invisible party). That damage number is now twice his Hemocraft casting modifier, bringing it to 6.
Chetney also gets a Blood Maledict improvement, increasing the number of times he can use his Blood curses to three times per rest.
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Dorian
Bard 14
HP: +11, total:123
ASI: None
Oh blue bard, when did you get so hard? Dorian’s level up is a difficult one to analyze, since we barely know more about the state of his current build than we know about Braius’s, and because of the broad nature of what is available to him at level 14.
Let’s get the easy part out of the way: as a College of Swords bard, Dorian had gained Master’s Flourish. Previously, when Dorian used a Blade Flourish option (up to once per turn), he needed to expend a Bardic Inspiration die, which he would then roll to determine the buff or additional damage the Flourish provided. With Master’s Flourish, he can choose to not expend a Bardic Inspiration die, essentially getting the Flourish for free. The buff or additional damage would, in this case, be determined with a d6 roll. While a d6 provides less power to Flourishes than an inspiration die, since Dorian’s Bardic Inspiration die is currently a d10, it does allow Dorian to save that finite resource for buffing the party; he only has three to use per long rest. He can now flourish to his heart’s content without worrying about whether he should have given one of his friends Inspiration instead.
The second, very excellent but very difficult to analyze part of Dorian’s level up is Magical Secrets. Dorian can choose two spells from any class, up to 7th level, and they will be counted as Bard spells for him. This is the second time he’s gotten to plumb the depths of the arcane this way; Bards get their first Magical Secrets picks at level 10, with spells up to level 5. This is how he got his hands on Lightning Bolt, which is typically a Sorcerer or Wizard spell. As of C3E105, we also know that he has Find Greater Steed (typically a Paladin spell), although we don’t know if this was his other Level 10 pick or a new one for Level 14. Either way, there are quite literally hundreds of spells Dorian could choose, and there’s really no way to guess what he might take, or what would synergize with his build, given how much of it is still a mystery. We would love, at least, for him to take Counterspell if he hasn’t already, as the Hells gear up to face a formidable mage in Ludinus.
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Fearne
Druid 10/Rogue 4
HP+9, total: 92
ASI: None
Fearne’s lean into Rogue continues! This has been an unexpected turn but one that Ashley has been making very good use of, taking advantage of her access to Mage Hand, Shield, Identify, and Disguise Person with some frequency. In taking a fourth level in Rogue, Fearne has given herself either an ASI or a Feat. As none of her Ability Scores have changed, it seems she has taken a feat, an excellent choice since her spellcasting ability of Wisdom is already maxed at 20.
There are three feats in particular we think might suit Fearne: War Caster, Elemental Adept (Fire), and Spelldriver.
War Caster is an old standby for mages of all kinds, providing as it does a very key ability: advantage on Constitution saves for maintaining spell concentration. There are two concentration spells in Fearne’s go-to kit which would make particularly good use of this: Daylight and Aura of Life. Aura of Life in particular has proven to be clutch in keeping the party on its feet, plus since it’s one of Fearne’s Circle of Wildfire spells it is always prepared—and may also be top of mind after losing concentration on it to an attack from Craven Edge in Episode 102 (02:52:33). Protecting it and other concentration spells might entice Fearne to take on War Caster. The feat’s additional ability to use spells as opportunity attacks could also be pretty big for Fearne, who does not have a lot at her disposal for acting outside her turn—though that has been changing recently with the addition of Shield and Cauterizing Flame (which she got during her last level up).
However, as the Hells get into the higher levels, they are coming across more and more enemies with damage resistances. As so many of Fearne’s damage dealing spells are fire based, running into a foe with fire damage resistance (like Delilah possessing Laudna in Episode 102) severely hinders her effectiveness. Taking Elemental Adept (Fire) would allow her to ignore fire damage resistance and turn any ones in her damage dice rolls into twos, keeping her in the game as an offensive force.
The last possibility we like for Fearne is Spelldriver, a feat from Tal’Dorei Reborn that allows one to cast leveled spells as both an action and as a bonus action in the same turn, so long as only one of them is third level or higher. We saw this feat in action recently in Downfall, as Nick Marini’s Ayden made use of it. We could picture Ashley giving it a go after that, though we are more inclined to expect her to take War Caster or Elemental Adept, push come to shove.
Level 14 grants Imogen an Aberrant Mind class feature we’ve very much been looking forward to: something that is usually called Revelation in Flesh, which seems to have been reskinned in part or in whole as Form of Havoc. We do not know yet whether Form of Havoc refers to the feature in its entirety or just one of its four features (specifically flight), nor do we yet know what mechanical changes may have been made to it to align it more with Imogen’s Ruidian flavor of Aberrant Mind sorcery. As such, we’ll be looking at the feature as written in this analysis, and so will continue to refer to it as Revelation in Flesh for the time being.
Revelation in Flesh allows Imogen to spend sorcery points to alter her body for 10 minutes at a time. As written, there are four possible benefits she can activate, each costing a single sorcery point. We’ve seen the first already, which grants her a flying speed equal to her walking speed. Following the feature as written, her other three options would be to 1) choose to see invisibility, 2) be able to move through spaces as small as an inch and spend movement to escape non-magical restraints or being grappled, and finally, 3) to gain a swim speed equal to double her walking speed, as well as the ability to breathe underwater.
The last of these is the one that seems most likely to be altered or replaced entirely, as despite the shark-like appearance of the Reilora, there is no indication whatsoever that they or Exaltants have any special affinity for water. We can only speculate as to what a homebrew alteration might look like; perhaps instead of a swimming bump, Imogen’s long range psychic communication might be improved, with the doubled swim movement instead being assigned to flight. Or, perhaps, she might gain an ambient psychic static ability similar to that of the very first Reilora she summoned, causing psychic damage to anyone who gets to close. We will have to wait and see!
What’s particularly nice about Revelation in Flesh is that it is based on sorcery points expended, rather than only available a certain number of times per long rest. It only takes a bonus action to activate, and Imogen can activate up to all four aspects at once, with an action still to spare. She can, of course, also activate just one, two, or three at a time, which lets her customize the feature (and minimize her point spend) to match the details of a given situation. Given that the Bloodwell Vial allows Imogen to regain Sorcery Points on a short rest, and that on Ruidus Fearne can donate spells to give Imogen Sorcery Points, Imogen is well positioned to use Revelation in Flesh frequently in the upcoming battles on the red moon.
While Imogen does already have access to flight via the Fly spell, and with a greater speed (60 feet to Revelation in Flesh’s 30), it’s noteworthy—and handy—that the aspects of Revelation in Flesh are not tied to concentration. That means her Revelation flight does not leave Imogen vulnerable in the air if she gets walloped for damage, and she can still use one of her other concentration spells, like Seething Storm and Investiture of Lightning, while aloft.
This is a huge mechanical boost for Imogen, and we’re looking forward to seeing it in action on the battlefield and to hearing Laura’s description of how Imogen’s body changes, since the original spell, like the original Aberrant Mind subclass, is very eldritch horror.
Marisha held off on deciding which class to take a level in until the ritual to bind Delilah was complete, but thanks to a tweet from Dani Carr—thanks Dani!—we know that success in that ritual has resulted in another Sorcerer level for Laudna! This means Laudna gets an additional sorcery point for her pool, as well as her first and only 6th level spell.
There are a few 6th level spells that would be very useful or on brand for Laudna. While Circle of Death sounds thematic, it’s essentially a necrotic Fireball with a bigger blast radius but the same amount of damage rolled and at a much higher spell slot cost. The larger radius does mean it could hit more enemies, but we are inclined to think Marisha is more likely to diversify her tactics. Eyebite likewise is thematic and feels like a slightly better bet—although Laudna already has her own means of making creatures frightened, being able to hit them with the sleep or especially the sickened condition could be very useful. The spell is, however, doubly vulnerable to being taken down before its duration can run out: not only is it a concentration spell, but the various conditions can be ended other ways. Sleep ends when the target takes damage or is shaken awake, the frightened condition ends when line of sight is interrupted or in this case, if the target moves out of the 60-foot range, and a sickened creature makes an additional Wisdom save against the condition at the end of their turn. That makes Eyebite less appealing to us for Laudna.
Arcane Gate is another spell that could afford Laudna some much needed mobility on the battlefield, much like Far Step for level 5 spells, as discussed in our Level 13 Analysis. Arcane Gate, which creates linked teleportation portals, has the added benefits over Far Step of being usable by allies and for a duration of up to 10 minutes. Plus, it could be used to dump an enemy into an environmental hazard if used in conjunction with shove attacks from the martial crew. We don’t know yet what new spell Laudna took last level, however, so if she took Far Step, Arcane Gate might hold less appeal. Laudna taking teleportation spells two levels in a row seems unlikely.
Disintegrate is a nasty damage dealer, and if Laudna is looking for pure power, it’s the most obvious choice. However, a lot of the terror Disintegrate invokes is that it takes Revivify, Resurrection, and the like off the table, which makes it feel much scarier when aimed at Player Characters than NPCs. Regardless, it’s still incredibly wicked, doing 10d6+40 force damage. If Laudna is looking to hit hard, this is a very, very nice choice, especially since she has Empowered Spell as one of her Metamagic options and could choose to reroll half of those damage dice for better results.
The spell we like best for Laudna’s first 6th level, however, is Globe of Invulnerability, for one reason: protecting Laudna from a Counterspell chain. This concentration spell lasts for a minute and creates a sphere with a 10-foot diameter around the caster. Any spell of level 5 or lower cast from outside of the Globe, even when upcast, can’t affect creatures or objects within it. That includes Area of Effect damage, so an enemy can’t be clever and cast a Fireball just outside it and still hit the caster—the damage won’t penetrate. Most importantly for our reasoning, even if an enemy upcasts their Counterspell to level 9, it can’t get through the Globe of Invulnerability, as the third-level Counterspell is under that level 5 threshold. That means that if Laudna successfully Counterspells from within the Globe, that Counterspell gets to stick. This markedly improves the battlefield for the Hells–especially given that as far as we know, none of the other Hells have that spell in their kit. It also means that anyone, not just Laudna, who wants to sling a big spell on their turn can do so from inside the Globe without fearing their spell slot will go to waste upon falling prey to an enemy Counterspell. And of course, protection from 5th level and under spells in general is very nice. Its biggest downside is that the Globe is immobile and does not move with the caster, so if the positioning becomes unfavorable, there’s not much that can be done. Still, the ability to definitively stop enemy spells from working is just too big to pass up just for that reason. This is the spell we hope Laudna chooses.
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Orym
Fighter 14
HP: +9, total: 155
ASI: None
Unsurprisingly, as a Fighter, Orym’s level up is straightforward, with either an ASI or a Feat on offer. As Orym’s ability scores show no change, we know he took another feat, and one that does not have an ASI as one of its boons.
There are two feats that seem like the clear choices for Orym, and they will both be very familiar to fans who have watched previous campaigns and ExU Calamity: Sentinel and Mage Slayer. Both are reaction-based feats that operate on similar principles. Sentinel would give Orym the ability to reduce enemy speed to 0 if he hits that enemy with an opportunity attack. It also would allow Orym to take an opportunity attack even if a creature Disengages before moving. Finally, in keeping with Orym’s protective approach to fighting, if a creature within five feet of him attacked anyone other than him, he’d be allowed to make a melee attack on them.
Similarly, Mage Slayer would allow Orym to wallop any spellcaster who casts a spell within 5 feet of him with a melee attack. It would also improve Orym’s effectiveness in breaking casters’ concentration, as he would impose disadvantage on their concentration saving throws when damaging them. He would also have advantage on any saving throws associated with spells cast within 5 feet of him.
Both would mesh very well with Orym’s approach to fighting and with the circumstances, but we favor Mage Slayer by just an Orym-sized bit more, because with so many powerful casters to deal with in Ludinus and the Reilora, the ability to more effectively disrupt concentration spells is absolutely clutch.
Thanks for reading our analysis on the recent level up! We'll see in the coming episodes how our speculation panned out, but until then, is it Thursday yet?
It is very likely that after the three-episode special that is Downfall, we are going to see the Hells level up to 14 (considering that Sam is joining with a level 14 character.)
Because of that, I figured that I would post this update now as a taste for what lies ahead.
All in all, Level 14 is a kind of a mixed bag in terms of what people get. To start with our non-multiclassers, 3 out 4 of them get subclass-based features, two of which we are completely aware of.
Imogen, as a level 14 Aberrant Mind Sorcerer, gets the Revelation in Flesh feature. Basically, as a bonus action, she can spend a sorcery point to receive one of the following features.
Can see any invisible creature within 60 feet of her, provided it isn't behind total cover.
Gain a flying speed equal to her walking speed (30 ft)
Gain a swim speed equal to twice her walking speed (60ft), and she can breathe underwater
Move through any space as narrow as 1 inch without squeezing, and is able to spend 5 feet of movement to escape from nonmagical restraints or being grappled.
Each feature lasts for 10 minutes, but there is no limit to how many times she can do this or how many features she can have active at once. So long as she has the available sorcery points, Imogen can do this.
Dorian also gets a new College of Swords feature, Master's Flourish. Now, whenever he uses one of his Blade Flourishes, he can roll a d6 and use it instead of expending a Bardic Inspiration die (currently a d10). The overall roll might be lower, but he can use bardic inspiration without having to worry about his flourishes.
Finally, Ashton receives his 14th-level subclass feature, but because it is a homebrew we don’t know exactly what it is. What we do know from CR cooldown, is that 14th level is “Where everything goes crazy.” So that’s fun. In all seriousness, if I had to guess, the feature could be similar to the Wild Magic’s Barb 14th level feature, where instead of simply rolling for a specific build, Tal could instead roll two d4 and choose which one he wants. But knowing Tal, its probably something far more complicated.
Orym, as our final non-multiclasser, gets another ASI with this level up. There are a lot of roads for him to choose from. Choosing to boast his Con is a likely option, but they are also a number of feats that are very much on the table. Sentinel, Mage Slayer, Bountiful Luck, Martial Adept are all feats I could see Orym going for. Hell, I could even see him mutliclassing depending on what Downfall shows us.
Speaking of multiclassers, let's look at the final three Hells. Two of the remaining folks, I am pretty certain I know their direction.
To start, Fearne has a very simple level-up. She will likely be grabbing another druid level, bringing her to level 11, and granting her access to 6th level spells. To note, because of her Arcane Trickster multiclass, Fearne spell slots are kinda weird. Before she already had access to her 6th level spell slot, but could not prepare 6th level spells until now. This doesn’t affect this level up, but in the future it will be something to be aware of. Some notable druid spells Fearne can now prepare are: Heal, Heroes’ Feast, Sunbeam, Transport via Plants, and Wind Walk.
Chetney is another very easy one. Likely grabbing another level in Blood Hunter, Chetney will get his Brand of Tethering feature. When using his Brand of Castigation, branded creatures are now unable to take the Dash action, and if they attempt to teleport or to leave their current plane, the creature will take 4d6 psychic damage and must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the attempt to teleport or leave the plane fails. Additionally, with this level up, Chetney can use his Blood Maledict three times between rests and he learns another Blood Curse.
And finally, on the biggest variable, Laudna. Before the sword incident, I was very certain that Laudna would be sticking with Sorcerer throughout level-ups. Mechanically, choosing Sorcerer would be the better option, as it would grant her 6th-level spells and a 6th-level spell slot (notable spells include: Arcane Gate, Circle of Death, Disintegrate, Globe of Invulnerability, Mass Suggestion, and Scatter.) But storywise, I could very much see Marisha leaning back into Warlock for narrative reasons. If she chooses this, Laudna would gain her 4th level in Warlock, granting her an ASI or New Feat. Based on her stats, Launda would likely choose a Feat. In that, I could see her grabbing War Caster, Mystic Conflux, Metamagic Adept, or even Skill Expert. Personally, I want to see her take another level in Sorcerer, but either way, I’m excited.
Anyway, thanks for listening to me ramble, and see yall soon!
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let’s go down the list except Fjord last because there are two paths he can go by but in the long run there’s still time to change the road you’re on
Jester and Caduceus: no additional spell slots, although they can prep an additional spell as they always can upon leveling up (both are now able to prep 19 spells). Eighth level spells show up at L15 and honestly it’s a short list (for those wondering: control weather is very handy but they might not get that in time to battle the takers, antimagic field will be good when they take on Trent at some point in the future but probably not yet, earthquake could be pretty nasty against enemies in the distance, and holy aura grants some great benefits but does require an extremely expensive relic and mostly I just want to know what a 1000 GP relic of The Traveler will be). They do however get improved Destroy Undead (up to CR 3 now), and a slightly better chance at divine intervention (not relevant for 7 days for Caduceus, but maybe Jester will be able to drag Artagan from the bar?)
Caleb: like the other full casters, no additional spell slots. He does get two new spells for free and personally speaking after looking into how antimagic fields interact with concentration I would love to see delayed blast fireball. I’m saving 8th level spell speculation for when they level up to 15 because the wizard list is huge, and more importantly, Caleb gets a subclass feature this level! He is now a master transmuter and can use his stone in four ways: he can transmute a nonmagical object no larger than a five foot cube into a different nonmagical object of similar size and no greater value; he can remove all curses, diseases, and poisons from one creature and bring them up to full HP; he can cast raise dead without a spell slot (diamond still required)(unless it’s Yasha); or he can restore youth, reducing a creature’s apparent age by a minimum of 13 years (3d10 or 13, whichever is higher), but with no lifespan extension. Any of these options will destroy the stone, and he’d need to create a new one, which takes 8 hours, after a long rest.
Veth: She learns a new spell, which can be up to 3rd level, and can be anything on the wizard spell list (as opposed to her usual limitation to the enchantment and illusion list). Also she hasn’t use mage hand to distract people, I don’t think, unless I missed it in last week’s battles, which is a L13 ability that Sam might review upon leveling up. As mentioned, she could take Leomund’s Tiny Hut, but also counterspell, blink, nondetection, remove curse, sending...it’s a good list. I would advise personally against major image just because that’s illusion, so she could take it at any level she gets to learn new spells or swap out an older spell for it.
Yasha: in addition to a zillion HP, she gets the most metal ability of all, Rage Beyond Death. If she is raging and is taken to 0 HP, she does not go unconscious. She still makes death saves as normal - and presumably, if she is hit she still takes a death saving fail (although not an auto-crit since she’s not unconscious) but she will remain conscious until her rage ends, and also she can, as far as I can tell from the wording, be healed despite failing 3 death saves and remain alive as long as her rage has been continuous. L14 is a fun in-between state because at L15 she gets persistent rage, which makes her very, very hard to kill as a result - it pretty much needs to be an insta-kill, like disintegrate or finger of death or being taken to -154 HP, since otherwise she just rages until healed. But at L14 she does have to maintain rage through attacks or damage.
Beau: Beau is now proficient in all saving throws, which means +9 to WIS and INT, +6 to CHA, and +8 to CON which will help a lot against Lucien next time (as she was rolling with just a +3 to CON last week). Her strength and dex saves are unchanged since monks have proficiency in those to start. She also can spend a ki point to reroll a failed save. And finally, her unarmored movement speed is now 55 feet per round, which means with step of the wind she can do 165 ft/round, which is 18.75 mph or about 30 km/h. (note: technically this is not superhuman; Usain Bolt’s record 100 m dash comes out to 37 km/h. However, that was for under 10 seconds. A rested Beau can do this for 14 rounds which is 84 seconds, covering about 700 meters. Using the 800m dash world record, the top speed is about 29 km/h; since it’s not a perfect comparison, Beau is at the very least matched with the (male) world record holder for that distance and possibly a bit faster).
Fjord: Fjord is currently at L10 Warlock/L3 Paladin.
Another level in Warlock gives him two major benefits: a third 5th level spell slot which like his other warlock spells refreshes on a short rest, and a mystic arcanum, which is essentially a once-per-day 6th level spell. The arcanum options are interesting and a few don’t seem very in line with his patron (somehow, create undead, mental prison, or soul cage don’t really seem like great choices) but arcane gate is highly on-brand - it’s basically Now You’re Thinking With Portals (and means that he could essentially allow the whole party to dimension door, with the restriction that it must be somewhere he can see). Conjure fey is sort of the same idea as conjure greater demon except fey, so I don’t really see the benefit; Eyebite is a solid debuffing option; Flesh to Stone lets him petrify people if he can maintain concentration and they fail their saves; Mass Suggestion is exactly what it sounds like (and lasts 24 hours without concentration, although there’s a save and it breaks if you attack the creatures affected); the various elemental investiture spells which could be handy in combat although would make it hard for the other melee fighters in the Nein; scatter, which is also very on brand in that it lets him teleport other people around; and we know True Seeing from the clerics and it’s probably not worth it since he’s got the sword and said clerics can do the same thing.
L4 in Paladin’s main benefits are: gets him closer to higher paladin levels, gets him an extra prepared L1 spell, and he finally gets the ASI/feat the rest of the party got two levels ago. For ASIs, bumping up strength and dex wouldn’t hurt - a higher AC and saves are always nice even if his attacks are with his maxed-out charisma - but the feats look better, honestly. Some that stand out to me are are inspiring leader (he’d have to do it twice to cover everyone, but it would give everyone +19 temp HP); mage slayer which is a feat I really like but also makes sense for Fjord, who is often in melee against spellcasters; spell sniper (which would give him a 240 range with Eldritch Blast, and a bonus cantrip, which he could take from any list although charisma casters are the smartest option); or prodigy, which Beau has and which would give him some extra skills and expertise.
