The Oath of the Eldritch Hunt is for Paladins who think, ‘To hunt the eldritch monsters, you have to become an eldritch monster.’ A little bit.
The Oath of the Eldritch Hunt Paladin out of Steinhardt’s Guide to the Eldritch Hunt Players Pack, newly available on D&D Beyond, is probably the most Bloodborne-inspired subclass out of the bunch. I mean, it even talks about the Hunt right there in the name. And not only that, but these Paladins swear an Oath to fight the eldritch abominations even though it means risking their own lives and/or becoming the very thing they swore to hunt.
A classic wheeze, as they say. It is also one of the ones that clearly has had more attention given to it, though if you play one, you needn’t worry about any sort of corruption mechanic or the like, because that’s not a part of the class; it’s up to you to decide how edgy your Paladin gets. But what you will find is a Paladin that feels a more than a little Ranger-y.
Oath of the Eldritch Hunt Paladins – Are You Sure This Isn’t A Ranger Subclass?
The Oath of the Eldritch Hunt is sworn by Paladins who want to protect the innocent by hunting big gribbly evil things. In the world of Steinhardt’s Guide, they are all lofty ideals and secret corruption. But the mechanics of the subclass feel a lot like someone wanted to play a Ranger but without having to worry about casting Hunter’s Mark.
Case in point, the very first feature you’ll get in this subclass, Hunt the Prey, is basically just using your Channel Divinity to mark your prey. Only you don’t cast the spell Hunter’s Mark; instead you pick a creature and mark them. Afterwards, you can use a Bonus Action to teleport up to 60 feet to appear next to them. And if your target dies? You can transfer the mark to another creature within 60 feet, no action needed.
Already that’s like an encounter-length free Misty Step. Potent. But on top of that, you get a selection of Oath of the Eldritch Hunt Spells. This suite of bonus spells gives you extra magical might always prepared. It’s a mix of attack spells and debuffs, especially ones that feel a little more eldrtich horror-y. You’ll get spells like Faerie Fire and Hold Person along with Evard’s Black Tentacles and a few of the new spells from Steinhardt’s Guide to the Eldritch Hunt, like Spectral Slash and Spectral Fury.
Though I will say, one of the weaknesses of this class is you have so many different spells and other things competing for your Bonus Action in a given moment. It’s nice in that you’ll always have a choice for things to do, but I think there will definitely be fights where you spend more of your time setting up than doing cool stuff.
The final level 3 feature for Oath of the Eldritch Hunt Paladins is Stolen Eldritch Gift, which is technically where you become a little bit of an aberration. “Your body is enhanced beyond mortal limits” which, in this case, means you get to add your Charisma modifier to Athletics, Perception, and Survival checks, making you extremely good at being a Ranger and hunting down your prey.
I will say, this is the rare subclass that doesn’t have a single central core mechanic that all the other subclass features are built around. And that’s actually kind of nice. I like it when a subclass feels varied and flavorful and that it keeps giving you more expansive options or adding new dimension to your core class features as you go.
Higher Level Hunters
At higher levels, the Oath of the Eldritch Hunt does just that. First, it enhances your Aura of Protection at level 7, with Sharpened Senses. It turns your aura into a sort of hunter’s appraisal, allowing you to detect any special resistances or vulnerabilities when a creature is in your aura, as well as giving you blindsight out to the limits of your Aura of Protection.
At level 15, Relentless Pursuit is an improvement to your Hunt the Prey feature, and it feels a little weird to me to wait so long to get it, especially considering how much of a quality of life upgrade it is. With this feature, when you teleport next to and then hit your marked Prey with a melee weapon, you can cast Divine Smite without needing a Bonus Action. You still need a spell slot, and can only do it once per turn, so it doesn’t break the Paladin limits, but it does let you teleport and still smite. Personally I think this could have been an upgrade baked into the level 3 feature, but it’s nice to see it.
Finally, the Oath of the Eldritch Hunt caps off at level 20 with Perfect Hunter. This is a powerful battle transformation, which you can activate as (you guessed it) a Bonus Action. When you do, you get 10 minutes worth of being an unstoppable hunter of all things Eldritch.
This comes with three benefits. First, you deal an extra 1d8 Necrotic damage with any weapon attacks, ignoring resistance and immunities. Second, you are immune to being grappled, paralyzed, or restrained. And third, you are just invisible for 10 minutes. Kinda like a Greater Invisibility. You can use this feature once for free, and then it costs a level 5 spell slot to do again before a Long Rest.
All in all, a good subclass, though it is the most Ranger-y Paladin I’ve seen in quite some time!
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Source: Bell of Lost Souls
