Feats for my Paladin

My face character is a female human paladin. Her abilities are:

STR = 14 (+6 Giant's Belt of Str)
DEX = 11 (+2 Gloves of Dex)
CON = 12
INT = 8
WIS = 12
CHA = 18

She's level 5, her feats are Persuasive, Powerful Charge. Her equipment is a +1 holy longsword, +2 steel shield and +1 Full plate.

She's supposed to be the frontliner of my party, with 26 AC and the ability to pop fighting defensively when I really need her tankiness. However, I have no idea what feats to take with her. She doesn't need Power Attack > Cleave > Great Cleave because I already have my barbarian for that and she doesn't use 2-h weapons. Both her int and dex are too low for feats like combat expertise or reflexes. I thought about using her high CHA to make her the Feint bot of the group, but her int is too low for Improved Feint. I already have crafting taken care of.

The only two paths I can see her take are:
- make her a dedicated charger with Greater Powerful Charge and Reckless Charge to fix her movement problems due to equipment overburden (even though she doesn't see to be encumbered anymore after equipping the giant's belt), always have her Enlarged
- the Divine category of feats like Vigor, Shield, Armor (unfortunately Might requires Power Attack, which I don't have, meaning it would another six levels to get it so it doesn't seem really worth it), along with Extra Turning for even more uses

Any suggestions? Feel free to suggest builds I didn't think of, I'm still new to the 3.5 ruleset. Also, what level can I expect her to end the game at? I'm playing New Content, and intend doing all the post-game stuff. I have a full party of 8.

 

Improved Initiative and Weapon focus(Longsword) are always good, Dodge and mobility are possibilities. if anyone in the party has Craft Wondrous Items you can boost stats that way. you need 2 slots open for one of the quests in new Content and depending on random encounters and x.p. harvesting(by just hunting for random encounters) you can reach lvl 20 particularly if you have 6 which i usually use. I use either Weapon Focus(Dwarven waraxe for a Dwarf) or Improved initiative as starting feats with powerful Charge and Improved Powerful Charge as follow ons.

 

Note that in Temple+ you can temporarily leave party members at the hommlet inn, so having available slots shouldn't be a strict consideration.

 

At level 6 I usually choose the "Extra Smite" feat, which gives the Paladin two extra smite attacks per day (i.e. between rest periods). Your high CHA gives +4 bonus to hit (more if you buff your CHA with spells or magic items, and you might be able to use it during a charge attack for an additional +2 attack bonus), and +1 damage per Paladin level. With the high STR your Paladin has, at level 6 you would have four smites per combat, with a +4 (or more) bonus to hit, giving you at minimum +16 to hit (includes your +1 Holy Sword), and +6 damage for PAL lvl, +5 for STR, and 2d6+1 for the Holy Long Sword.

Having 4 or more smite attacks in one combat encounter can be pretty effective, and it builds on one of the few strengths a Paladin has in melee. The "Extra Smite" feat can be taken several times, and each one adds two more smites per day.

Other than that, I agree with other posts that suggest various feats to use in combat. Weapon focus, Improved Initiative, etc. I wouldn't write off power attack/cleave all because another PC has it. Of course, a Paladin doesn't get any bonus feats, so you will need to choose carefully.

 

Improved Initiative and Combat Reflexes (+ reach weapon like guisarme) are standard feats in ToEE for any melee character. Imp Init is standard for any character.

 

But what Paladin can resist the lure of the +1 Holy Sword?

 

The one who wields the radiant ranseur, of course

 

Even a Paladin wouldn't have the willpower to delay gaining a holy weapon! Think of all the evil that could have been destroyed in the meantime.

 

Just how much willpower do you need to refuse to marry a non-good heathen priestess? This assumes you are a male rather than a female paladin.

 

The Paladin doesn't have to do the marrying. Let the charming Bard do that. And anyway, don't Paladins take a vow of celibacy?

 

You're confusing fluff with crunch here.

 

If you want crunch, I would hesitate to use a Paladin as the face, when a Bard or Rogue are much better suited to that role. That also saves the Paladin from taking a feat such as "persuasive". That gives the Paladin an extra feat that helps the Paladin in melee situations. The low INT of this particular Paladin also means very few skill points per level, another reason not use her as the face. Better to use as a melee fighter, healer, and provider of aura of courage.

If you do want a Paladin as the face, I would make the Paladin a Half-Elf.

 

You do not have to actually marry the girl, just agree to it and you get the sword. do not forget the holy spiked chains of love on level 3

 

That could be the wedding gift for Meleny, if she's into that sort of thing......

 

Where does a level 5 Paladin get a +6 belt of strength from?
Personally, I like Cleave and Great Cleave on any melee character because of the extra attacks they afford.