The paladin character in Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition has a set number of spell slots determined by their Charisma modifier and half their Paladin level, which is rounded down. A minimum of one spell slot is required to use, and all spells and oath spells must be prepared beforehand. To calculate these spell slots, players must consider their class levels and the multiclassing rules found in the Player’s Handbook.
The paladin’s Spellcasting feature allows players to prepare a list of available spells, which must be of a level for which they have spell slots. To cast any of these spells, they need to expend a spell slot of the relevant level. The paladin’s spells must be of a level for which they have spell slots.
To determine the available spell slots, players must add together all their levels in the bard, cleric, druid, sorcerer, and wizard classes. The number of spells prepared and ready for use is equal to their Charisma modifier plus half their Paladin level, which in this case is equal to their Charisma modifier + half their Paladin level, rounded down (minimum of one spell).
Beginning at 4th level, a paladin gains the ability to cast a small number of divine spells, which are drawn from the paladin spell list. Players must choose a number of paladin spells equal to their Charisma modifier + half their Paladin level, rounded down (minimum of one spell).
In summary, the paladin character in Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition is a divine warrior with a set number of spell slots determined by their Charisma modifier and half their Paladin level. Players must prepare a list of available spells and oath spells before using them.
📹 The Best Paladin Spells D&D 5e
My favorite spells for Paladins listed here. This list isn’t exhaustive, but these are my spells that make the short list. Questions?
How many spells can a paladin prepare?
As a 5th-level paladin, you have four 1st-level and two 2nd-level spell slots. With a Charisma of 14, you can prepare a list of prepared spells, including any combination of 1st or 2nd-level spells. Casting a spell doesn’t remove it from your list. You can change your list after a long rest, but it requires at least 1 minute of prayer and meditation per spell level for each spell. Charisma is your spellcasting ability, derived from your convictions. It’s used when a spell refers to your spellcasting ability and when setting the saving throw DC for a spell you cast.
How do paladin spell slots work?
The Paladin table displays the number of spell slots available for casting spells. To cast a spell of 1st level or higher, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. All expended spell slots are regained after a long rest. To prepare a list of available spells, choose a number equal to your Charisma modifier + half your paladin level, rounded down. The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots. For example, a 5th-level paladin with a 14 Charisma can have four 1st or 2nd-level spell slots. Casting a 1st-level spell doesn’t remove it from your list of prepared spells.
How many spells does a paladin know?
In order to gain ten spells as a Paladin, it is necessary to possess a total of ten spell slots at the desired level.
How do I choose paladin spells?
To prepare a list of paladin spells, choose from the spell list and choose a number equal to your Charisma modifier and half your paladin level, rounded down. The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots. For example, a 5th-level paladin with a Charisma of 14 can include four 1st or 2nd-level spells in any combination. Casting a spell doesn’t remove it from the list. You can change your list of prepared spells after a long rest, but it requires time spent in prayer and meditation, at least 1 minute per spell level for each spell on your list.
How to calculate prepared spells?
The number of spells that can be prepared is contingent upon the level of the caster and the spellcasting modifier, such as intelligence. A wizard at level 7, for instance, has the capacity to prepare 11 spells.
How do spells work for paladins?
The Paladin table displays the number of spell slots available for casting spells. To cast a spell of 1st level or higher, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. All expended spell slots are regained after a long rest. To prepare a list of available spells, choose a number equal to your Charisma modifier + half your paladin level, rounded down. The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots. For example, a 5th-level paladin with a Charisma of 14 can have four 1st or 2nd-level spell slots.
Casting a 1st-level spell doesn’t remove it from the list. To change the list of prepared spells, you must spend at least 1 minute in prayer and meditation per spell level for each spell on your list.
What stat does paladin use for spells?
Paladins are character classes that start with abilities like Lay on Hands and Channel Oath, which can be used to heal allies or cure diseases and poisons. Strength, Charisma, and Constitution are the main starting stats for Paladins, which are crucial for melee damage and spellcasting. Half-Elf race builds are popular for their unique passive abilities, but the Paladin class works best with less popular races. Half-Orcs are highly recommended due to their synergy with the Paladin class, as they gain Savage Attacks and Proficiency in the Intimidation Skill, which uses a character’s Charisma stat for rolls.
This high Charisma stat allows Paladins to use their high Charisma stat to their advantage in dialogue checks. Most races and subraces can make a great Paladin, with Half-Orcs being highly recommended due to their synergy with the Paladin class.
How many spells does a paladin get at level 1?
The Paladin table indicates the number of spell slots available for casting spells. To cast a spell of 1st level or higher, one must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. After a long rest, all expended spell slots are regained. To prepare a list of available spells, choose a number equal to your Charisma modifier + half your paladin level, rounded down. The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots.
For example, a 5th-level paladin has four 1st-level and two 2nd-level spell slots. With a Charisma of 14, your list of prepared spells can include four spells of 1st or 2nd level, in any combination. Casting a spell doesn’t remove it from your list.
Your Charisma is your spellcasting ability, as its power derives from the strength of your convictions. You use your Charisma modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.
How do you calculate paladin hit points?
The paladin character’s hit points are determined by the hit dice, which are 1d10 per paladin level. At the first level, they earn 10 points with their Constitution modifier. At higher levels, they earn 1d10 or 6 points with their Constitution modifier. The character’s skills include choosing from Athletics, Insight, Intimidation, Medicine, Persuasion, and Religion. They start with the following items and any additional items provided by their background.
How do you calculate how many spells you have?
The text discusses the implementation of a system that calculates the number of spells that can be prepared for a single-classed character based on the spellcasting modifier. This is done by selecting the desired class and performing the calculation based on the spellcasting modifier. The full casters, such as Crystal, Druid, and Wizard, prepare spells, while Paladin is the only half caster that prepares spells. All other classes are “known” casters and do not change their spells during a long rest.
However, calculating the number of spells that can be prepared for a multi-classed character is a bit more challenging. The sheet must check for the number of levels in each class and then perform the calculation and sum. This adds a wrinkle to the system, as it may not always check if the correct number of spells have been prepared for each class. Additionally, there will need to be a way to exclude spells that are known from non-spellcasting class features, such as Racial Traits.
The text suggests adding a calculation for spellcastingability instead of wisdommod, as it will work for any base class. A better macro that shows how many spells are prepared per level with a total at the bottom can be used:
/w gm and amp;(template:npcaction) and amp;(noerror) ((rname=@(selectedcharactername)) ((name=Prepared Spells)) ((0@(selectedrepeatingspell-1$0spellprepared) + 0@(selectedrepeatingspell-1$1spellprepared) + 0@(selectedrepeatingspell-2$2spellprepared) + 0@(selectedrepeatingspell-3$2spellprepared) + 0@(selectedrepeatingspell-3$4spellprepared) + 0@(selectedrepeatingspell-4$0spellprepared) + 0@(selectedrepeatingspell-4$3spellprepared) + 0@(selectedrepeatingspell-4$6spellprepared) + 0@(selectedrepeatingspell-4$7spellprepared) + 0@(selectedrepeatingspell-4$8spellprepared) + 0@(selectedrepeatingspell-4$9spellprepared)))
In summary, the implementation of this system has several challenges, including the need to calculate the number of spells prepared for each class and the need to exclude spells from non-spellcasting class features.
The macro Mule is a fantastic tool that has been used to enhance the macros I propose to my players. However, when creating a macro with the same syntax, whether generic or as a new attribute of the character sheet of DnD5e, I systematically get the error on missing and nbsp;repeating_spell-xx (where they do not exist). This occurs when called from a macro (and not copied/pasted in chat), the and nbsp; and amp;(noerror) statement seems to be ignored.
The macro Mule is used to create a button using syntax looking like Guarda Prepariti/Preparabili and amp;(noerror). The purpose of this macro is to propose this to my casters with a button using syntax looking like (Guarda Prepariti/Preparabili)(~@(selectedIncantesimi_Prep for instance).
I am trying to find an explanation for why this occurs and how to avoid errors when calling this from macro. I have used the macro Mule to structure things differently, such as accessing Spell information in handouts when clicking the infobutton in spells and proposing Italian language to my players.
I would like to thank you for your help in improving the macros I propose to my players and for sharing your work on this issue. Your Macro Mule is truly fantastic and I appreciate your efforts in improving the macros I propose to my players.
How to calculate paladin spells in 5E?
The maximum number of prepared spells is determined by the character’s Charisma modifier plus half the character’s Paladin level. In this case, the character’s Charisma modifier plus one equals the maximum number of prepared spells, which is two 1st-level spell slots.
📹 D&D Spellcasting Explained | Part 1
This is spellcasting explained for D&D 5e! Here in part 1, we’ll go over go over spell levels, casting at higher levels, spell slots, …
Honestly, I can’t argue with a single spell choice you made here. These are all the same spells that I would use myself. The only one that I am not all that likely to cast is Shield of Faith. While the extra AC is nice, I think Bless is just a bit more powerful. Boosting saves, and attacks for 3 players is a really big deal, and the mantra of 5e seems to be “the best form of defense is making sure your enemies are all dead”
Gotta chime in on something. Paladins and Barbarians make an amazing pair. Casting Heroism on a Raging Barb effectively doubles the Temp HP. Having a main-Tank and an off-Tank allows the Paladin flexibility of staying near the rest of the party to give them your Aura, while you chuck Javelins and concentrate on a spell.
Ah, paladins, my favorite class in 5e. You get to do some of everything, you wear armor, wield weapons, cast spells. You can dps, tank, heal, buff, or even, subclass depending, debuff & cc. You have great ac, great saves, & great damage for combat, and a strong secondary, if not outright primary, charisma, one of the most important stats for skills in non-combat scenes. The only thing you don’t do innately is stealth, and if you really wanted to do that, too, then a dex primary build is perfectly viable so long as you aren’t planning to multiclass. Anyway, good list, and i definitely agree that paladins are often better off using their slots for spells rather than smites. You can make a perfectly functional paladin smiting all your slots away, but being able to recognize and leverage the utility and versatility of your spells is the difference between a paladin who is merely good and one who is truly great.
Having a Paladin on your party is basically immediately having a big advantage on any battle. Depending on the party composition, he can be an off-tank that gives amazing buffs, a main-tank that is a wall between you and your allies, an amazing DPS if you play something like Oath of Vengeance + GWM + Two-Handed combat and etc. That’s what I love about Paladins, they are so flexible that you could fit them into almost any role and they would do their job extremely well. Always a great addition to your party
There are so many attempts to squeeze magic into fighters or squeeze martial skills into a wizard to make a Gish, but Paladin has been there this whole time! It’s such a great, flexible class held back only be the preponderance of players that are stuck in the “my character is a paladin, therefore my character is an insufferable bore” trope. Have fun with the fact that pallies aren’t required to be lawful good anymore. Also, spell slots aren’t just for smite, so feel free to cast. Great job, Chris. Thx for the review.
Destructive Wave, while only /pretty good/ for most paladins, improves to actually rather decent for a conquest paladin, due to the interaction with your aura of conquest. AoC is an aura affecting all enemies frightened of you within range, reducing their speed to zero, and a creature with zero speed cannot stand from prone. So as a conqueror, the ability to roll up, frighten a bunch of mooks with Fear (much harder to escape) or their website divinity (better & friendlier aoe), and then in the next round knock some or all of those targets prone with a single follow up attack is pretty nice. This same interaction makes other forms of tripping attacks more effective for conquerors, from the shield master feat to battlemaster fighter multiclass to the plain old generic shove. Of those, the shove is by far my favorite, as it is the least resource intensive (no feat, no multiclass, no spell slot, not even a full action, just one attack out of your normal attack action), and the fact that shoving is so good for conquerors is why I slightly prefer strength builds to dex builds for the subclass, even if you aren’t multiclassing, despite dex otherwise being the more desirable stat, and initiative being pretty important for lockdown strats.
Great work as usual! I 100% agree with you on the “position on a steed” issue. I feel like I really appreciate how much 5e has been streamlined and simplified compared to previous editions, and how it can make onboarding new players and teaching people how to play much easier. That said, ever since its release I’ve been increasingly frustrated by how non-specific and some times entirely unclear the rules are, which then often necessitates these semi-official rules clarifications that seem pretty ad-hoc or unsatisfying. I don’t think being simple or easy to understand is mutually exclusive with having rules that are specific, detailed or holistic. In fact, I think rules that are clear and specific are a lot easier to understand, and after the initial introduction to the game, promote longer term learning. I wish the design team would put a little more emphasis on combining simplicity with specificity and clarity, if only to make my experience as a DM a little cleaner and easier.
I really like the list, thanks for compiling the useful Paladin spells and reminding them that those spell slots are useful for things other than Divine Smite. Here’s a quick overview of some of the best Oath exclusive spells: Level 1: -Hunter’s Mark (vengeance) Better than a level 1 smite after just three hits, this is a great use of a level 1 slot and your bonus action once you get Extra Attack. However, it uses your concentration. Level 2: -Misty Step (Ancients, Vengeance) Use a bonus action, teleport yourself (and your mount if you have one) 30 feet. An excellent mobility tool, and doesn’t require Charisma -Spiritual Weapon (Conquest) Essentially a free bonus action attack every round for a minute, and doesn’t require concentration. Level 3: -Animate Dead (Oathbreaker) Synergizes well with your Aura of Hate, create a semi-permanent skeleton army that each deal a respectable 1d6+2+your Cha damage -Counterspell (Redemption) An effect unlike most of what the paladin has access to, and very effective. If you only ever counter spells cast at 3rd level or lower, this even doesn’t require Cha, and it uses your reaction. -Fear (Conquest) Very important for the oath of conquest because it supports their aura of conquest feature. Because your aura prevents them from moving, they’ll never be able to move to a spot where they don’t see you, so they never get another save. -Hypnotic Pattern (Redemption) an strong AOE disable, which is something Paladins normally lack. -Spirit Guardians (Crown) A contender for the best oath exclusive spell, and drags the oath of the crown up from being the worst oath.
Another good thing about Holy Weapon is that you can cast it on an ally’s weapon instead of yours, so if your ally is a Fighter who will have more attacks than you, cast it on their weapon instead for even more damage from this spell. EDIT: A Fighter’s Action Surge at this level will have 6 attacks, so Holy Weapon on the Fighter’s weapon = up to 12d8 additional damage (14d8 if Polearm Master) on his AS turn ALONE. And it lasts a full hour besides that. That’s some degenerate levels of damage this spell can add.
So basically the very essentials: 1) bless – maybe the best and something you should always use your concentration in the beginning of the fight. Give those missile weapon users that sweet add to their hit dice and continue until concentration breaks (usually that or the end of the battle happens within the 1 minute). 2) divine smite – not a spell but let’s list it here as it’s something that you’ll use your spell slots in a lot. 3) spell smite on top of divine smite – mostly thunderous, branding, dreadful, banishing. if the battle is at a phase where your concentration a switch of concentration is suitable, for example there are no disadvantaged ranges anymore etc. 4) Find (greater) steed – very important and obvious 5) Every oath has at least one very useful spell and a website divinity skill. For example Oath of vengeance you’ll use vow of enmity every time between rests and probably hunter’s mark and misty step in suitable situations. 6) Zone of truth for those non-battle story / rp moments.
Another important thing to remember about Wrathful Smite is that the followup attempts to shake it off are actually checks and not saves. This means a creature that has proficiency in wisdom saves won’t be able to use it for the attempts. It also combos well with a party member with Hex because of the disadvantage on checks it imposes.
i have to say that aura of vitality is now effectively the best heal in the game. For a third level slot it way outperforms heal which is a fifth level slot. for me aura of vitality is an out of combat heal when you cant take a long rest, you take a minute to heal 20d6 to your party, saving your cleric or druid spending a slot and using it for something much better.
I was just rereading the verbage of the 2 steed spells. It doesn’t dictate the size of the steed. That means that if you can present an even larger mount type to your DM and he oks it, you could be on a Huge or larger creature. Now, that does raise positioning questions. But it also make you a really effective wall.
Command definitely deserved a mention at 1st level. Nearly all its possible effects rob an enemy of an action plus leaves them in a bad situation (prone, disarmed). And the Flee option is especially great if you and a couple of melee allies are surrounding the target, in which case you all get a barrage of Opportunity Attacks against them.
The additional effect of Wrathful Smite does require your concentration though. Even though you’re a Paladin with probably a quite high AC and good CON, it’s still concentration. So an enemy doesn’t have to use their action to make that saving throw, it can also use an ability or spell that requires you to make a saving throw, take damage and make a concentration check.
Nice guide, thanks a lot. The reddit homebrew magical girl class has a subclass that uses the pal’s spell list, so now I know what to prioritize 🙂 On a similar topic what are your thoughts on a Fighter/Paladin multiclass? Action surge can really help with opportunity cost spells, plus you get a Fighting Style and 2nd Wind.
I hate to drag the conversation back to my favorite subclass yet again, but the high speed flying mounts of improved find steed are of particular interest to, you guessed it, oath of conquest paladins. Aura of Conquest, the defining feature of conquest paladins, affects all enemies that are frightened of the paladin within range, reducing their speed to zero. Unless it has the ‘hover’ ability, or is flying due to a magical effect, a flying creature whose speed is reduced to zero falls The interactions here become a bit weird and complicated, so don’t necessarily take my word for it, but as best I understand it the creature’s fall will interrupt your turn, and after the fall your turn can continue as normal. Further, as soon as the creature falls out of your aura range its speed is no longer zero and it stops falling, but since it’s still your turn as long as you – or rather your mount – has movement left you can then follow the creature, bringing it back into your aura, reducing its speed back to zero, and interrupting your turn with an entirely new fall that again ends as soon as the creature has fallen back out of your aura. In this way you can continue to pursue the target all the way to the ground. It’s worth noting that, barring favorable DM intervention, the target won’t take any falling damage or be knocked prone – after all it’s last fall was technically only 5 feet, or 1 feet, or whatever is the smallest increment of distance your DM uses. You can’t crash monsters into the ground with aura of conquest, but what you can do is ‘escort’ them to the ground in a controlled manner, as though you were a traffic officer pulling over a speeding motorist.
I feel like compelled duel is just extremely circumstantial. Use it when you dash? Command:”approach” is better (leaving missiles with disad against anyone, including you.) Use it against a melee combatant? Command:”flee” is better, wasting two turns and giving you (and allies!) an OA that makes up for the action vs BA cost, at least at levels where CD might be considered a reasonable use of your conc. And command has greater versatility, doesn’t require conc, and doesn’t limit your own behavior. The action cost is not important for most imaginable use cases. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a 100% black and white situation, but I would almost always prefer command.
Crusader’s Mantle is my favorite Paladin spell currently, due to my party having two casters with Animate Objects. Not only does it add tons of damage, it shores up in my opinion the only weakness to Animate Objects, which is resistance to damage from non-magical sources. I also like Beacon of Hope and an upcasted Healing Spirit as a combo, though this is more situational and requires some positional coordination to really maximize in combat.
On the mounts and character positioning, I disagree that the character should effectively be considered Large, or one with the mount. There’s no facing in Dungeons and Dragons, so I always interpreted the character movement on the mount to represent the character positioning the mount to make the most effective attacks. A Paladin with a sword and shield would be unable to hit an enemy at the horse’s haunches, whereas a glaive would more effectively cover the area around the mount and provide reach to the front. This seems like good design, and correctly privileges the role of longer weapons on horse(or whatever)back
When I read through find steed 1) I have a telepathically linked intelligent mount 2) and rider and steed act as a ‘seamless unit’ 3) rider shares spells with mount. I interpret that as meaning I have a controlled mount that can attack and shares my initiative. Do you interpret seamless unit as flavor text or game mechanics?
Just to clarify, the find steed mount can attack/do other actions while you’re mounted right? normally when mounted, the mount is either controlled or independent. If i pick mounted, the DM decides the actions. But since find steed gives me an intelligent/loyal mount that follows my commands, i can declare it independent but still dictate its commands right?
Just one note about Find Steed: Area of effect spells become incredibly dangerous for you. Even if your warhorse mount takes the dodge action, it only has 19 hitpoints which is pretty quick to die, and you are likely to fall prone once the mount dies from under you. Happened several times when running my paladin because AoE effects and lair actions were much more common.
Re: Steed sharing spells, I don’t think it’s very vague at all. It’s spells that target only you and as part of the spell don’t have you targeting another creature with it. The smites are self casts but to actually do anything they must target an enemy creature. Shield of Faith doesn’t have any target other than you. Same with Haste.
Contrary to those guys giving you pushback for banishing smite if you prepare one prior to engagement burn two smites and your bonus action with another banishing smite it’s a potential max of 424 on a double crit without modifiers so its definitely worth it potentially one shotting most things if you’re extremely lucky
Chris, I appreciate your hard work in putting these articles together. Do you think these half casters are tenable up to 20? I know that you prefer full spell casters (wizards). Would you mix paladin with other classes? I do recall your cockroach build and I enjoy thinking about unusual class combinations or the under appreciated classes that you examine.
Great article Chris! One thing I never hear mentioned but that really should be brought up is that the Aid spell actually has another decent usage. Since it only takes one action to use and has a range of 30 feet, this is effectively the Paladin’s version of healing word. It may take an action instead of a bonus action, and sure it is a second level slot instead of a first, but it also lets you stand up three unconscious PC’s in a single turn, provided they are all within 30 feet of a single point. Depending on the turn order, this can be the equivalent of a net +2 turns this round alone for your party, which is situational but powerful when it comes up. Using it this way also gets around the low level restriction of Aid; a hit that jumps a player straight from 6 or more health to 0 effectively made your Aid do nothing for that player. This can happen at any level, but up-casting at least makes it less likely. Meanwhile using Aid on teammates who already went down ensures that those points matter… as long as they don’t get hit before their turn comes up.
When you gave the example of a Druid summoning creatures around you and then casting Crusaders Mantle in order to boost their damage: many creatures that are summoned by druids are animals and do not use weapons, and Crusaders Mantle boosts weapon damage. With this being the case I’m not sure that Crusaders Mantle would work as you described it.