Paladins are essential combatants in Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), with classic spells like Protection from Evil and Good, Bless, and Shield of Faith providing buffs to enhance combat prowess and protect allies. The Fighting Style (Blessed Warrior) introduces the possibility of cantrips, which must be chosen in the context of the rest of the build to justify the opportunity cost and answer the question “why not just play a Blessed Warrior?” Paladins must prepare a list of spells to cast, using their Charisma modifier plus half their paladin level.
The Paladin Table highlights the number of spell slots available at each level, with a paladin having the ability to prepare up to their charisma modifier plus half their paladin level. Paladins can also use spells to boost their own abilities, such as Warding Bond, Wrathful Smite, Holy Weapon, Destructive Wave, Divine Favor And Crusader’s, and Banishing Smite.
Paradise spells are primarily buffs, healing, and support options, many borrowed from the Cleric’s spell list. The best Paladin spells, ranked 20 in Dungeons and Dragons, include Warding Bond, Wrathful Smite, Holy Weapon, Divine Favor And Crusader’s, and Divine Favor And Crusader’s. Once an oath spell is gained, it is always prepared, and the number of spells prepared is equal to their Charisma modifier plus half their Paladin level.
Preparing a new list of paladin spells requires time spent in prayer and meditation, with at least 1 minute per spell level for each spell on the list. Paladins don’t have spellbooks, but they choose prepared spells from the Paladin spell list.
📹 Davvy’s D&D 5e Paladin Spell Guide
What spells should a paladin build with oath of vengeance?
Paladins are a highly versatile class in Dungeons and Dragons, known for their spellcasting, tanking ability, and built-in healing. They have various subclasses called Oaths, representing their ideals and dedications. One powerful option is the Oath of Vengeance, which dictates that the paladin doles out punishment to evil, particularly to a sworn enemy. However, without a solid foundation from race, feats, and other options, any character can fall flat.
The right build can make an Oath of Vengeance paladin in D and D 5e almost unstoppable. This feature guide has been updated with new information on species, multiclassing, magic items, and more, providing players with a more thorough understanding of how to create and use such characters.
What should be my highest stat as a paladin?
Paladins utilize both melee and magic to achieve their goals, drawing power from divinity. To be effective frontline fighters and casters, they need to boost two crucial stats: Strength and Charisma. Strength enhances melee attacks and damage rolls, while Charisma empowers spell attacks and damage rolls. CHA is crucial for communication, providing an edge in skills like Persuasion, Performance, Deception, and Intimidation.
Constitution, while not as vital as STR and CHA, helps build a strong hit point pool for frontline attacks. The other three stats are dump stats, meaning their effects are aesthetic and should only be boosted when others have reached their maximum.
What is the most powerful Oath in paladin?
The Vigence Paladins are a relentless group with special abilities that allow them to track and hold onto enemies using spells like Hunter’s Mark and Hold Person. They can also become avenging angels with wings, evoking fear and a terrifying aura. The Oath of Vengeance is the best Paladin Oath, as it allows them to grow wings and use them to fly. The Oath of Vengeance is the best paladin subclass, using features like Vow of Enmity to decimate enemies. Dungeons and Dragons, a fantasy roleplaying tabletop game, was created by Gary Gygax in 1974 and has been expanded in various editions.
How many spells should a level 5 paladin know?
A fifth-level paladin has four first-level and two second-level spell slots, with a base Charisma of 14. It is possible for a paladin to prepare spells of both levels. The number of hit points at the first level is 10 plus the character’s Constitution modifier. At higher levels, the number of hit points is 1d10 or 6 plus the character’s Constitution modifier. The weapon proficiencies include both simple and martial weapons.
Do Paladins need to prepare 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.
What does a level 6 paladin get?
At the sixth level of advancement, a friendly creature situated within a ten-foot radius of the player gains a bonus equal to the character’s Charisma modifier to their saving throw, with a minimum bonus of +1. It is important to note that this bonus must be granted consciously. At the 18th level, the range of the aura is increased to 30 feet. It should be noted that this functionality may be disabled or blocked by extensions or browsers that do not support cookies.
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.
Do spell mastery spells need to be prepared?
At 18th level, you can cast spells at will by choosing a 1st-level wizard spell and a 2nd-level wizard spell in your spellbook. These spells can be cast at their lowest level without expending a spell slot, but if you want to cast them at a higher level, you must expend a spell slot. By spending 8 hours in study, you can exchange one or both spells for different spells of the same level. At 20th level, you gain mastery over two powerful spells and can cast them with little effort. Choose two 3rd-level wizard spells in your spellbook as signature spells, which can be cast once at 3rd level without expending a spell slot.
What should paladins focus on?
Despite their diverse focus on righteousness, Paladins are bound by oaths that grant them the power to perform their sacred work. While many are devoted to deities of benevolence, their authority is derived from their dedication to the principle of justice itself. This information is derived from a text that appears to have been disabled or blocked by an extension or browser.
What are the best spells for the Oath of redemption paladin?
The Oath of Redemption Paladin is a spell in Dungeons and Dragons that aims to atone for the past and bring those who border the edge back into the light. This spell is a level one, with spell names such as Bless Ceremony, Cure Wounds, Find Steed Lesser Restoration, Prayer of Healing, Aura of Vitality, Remove Curse, Revivify, Aura of Life, Aura of Purity, and Banishment. The oath of redemption paladin is peaceful and patient, using violence as a last resort. They have access to certain abilities and features that set them apart from other paladins, offering more versatility and a more control-oriented approach to combat and encounters.
What are the best spells for the oath of devotion paladin?
The Oath of Vengeance Paladin is a spell that can be used to smite evil and maintain the party alive. It is a powerful spell that can be used at various levels, such as Bless Compelled Duel, Shield of Faith, Thunderous Smite, Branding Smite, Blinding Smite, Crusader’s Mantle Revivify Spirit Shroud, and Death Ward. These paladins are known for their dedication to truth, justice, duty, honor, and compassion, making them a goody-goodie in the Dungeons and Dragons world. At level three, players can gain two Channel Divinity options: Sacred Weapon and Turn the Unholy.
📹 The Best Paladin Spells in Dungeons and Dragons 5e
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I played a solo campaign as a Paladin and managed to take three random guards into a crypt with Aid and Bless cast on us to fight some scary lizards. – One of them even survived the adventure. The others, brave men, their descendants shall remember their sacrifices and know they are of a heroic bloodline.
Oath of Conquest is my favorite Oath, so Wrathful Smite I feel deserves a mention. Perhaps the most impressive thing about it is that if the target fails the initial saving throw, breaking the fear effect requires an ability check (meaning no saving throw bonuses), which the target will be making with disadvantage because they’re afraid.
Joining my first ever D&D session this weekend and I’m playing a Paladin. Was having a few issues with spell selection, this article definitely gave me more to consider Edit: Coincidentally, a bunch of storm or lightning-themed spells were used in the combat encounter. Yea, I did throw down a thunderous smite.
Find steed had been absolutely amazing for my sorcadin. The mobility is incredible, misty step and other spells combo to rediculous effect, mounted combatant feat allows easy crit fishing, and the crazy cool role play you can do by being telepathically linked for up to a mile. It also doesn’t need to be cast every day, the Mount just hangs around till it’s dead or you dismiss. My favorite paladin spell
Even with the great Oath Spells my Conquest paladin had, there was one spell that every paladin has access to that shuts down a lot of enemies: Protection from Good and Evil. Imposes a ton of penalties on enemies trying to do make a dent in my character. Also glad it was mentioned about spells cast on themselves affect their summoned mounts. I had a DM that didn’t realize that when I allowed an attack against my mount after using a level 3 Armor of Agathis spell (mounted combatant is great btw,) not only absorbing the damage, but countering with ice damage. Also a really good idea while mounted is casting a higher level Aid spell to boost a mount’s HP.
I think I agree about 2nd level spells and smites for the most part but I think people value smites too high. Generally, you should only use your standard smite when you crit hit or pretty much know you’ll finish off a threat. To see why, just compare whether you would use a 3rd level slot as a full caster to do 4d8 damage once. Spell slots are usually(!) more valuable than that.
I do like how versatile the paladin options are without stepping on another classes role, usually acting as a secondary supplement or taking a role to allow other divine casters a chance to do more. A note on find greater stead flying options…beware of being dismounted without a way to ensure you can land safly.
Love my Paladin: Thunderous Smite: “You want me to put the hammer down??!!” (Thor-nderous Smite) Bless/Aid: awkward for a party of six… (good for frontliners) Best Feats for Paladins>>> LOVE Find Steed! (My steed and I are one…didn’t know you could misty step with steed) Divine Smite takes a spell slot up to a player level. Crusader’s Mantle good for my crew! Revivify for my Ancients/Devotion Pallies! Auras I always take! Find Greater Steed Pegasus thematically! Love the Destructive Wave: like The Dark World Thor!! (Friendly fire??) Will consider the Banishing Smite then… Circle of Power would be perfect for my Devotion Paladin thematically … Love my Protection Paladin and my alternate duelist Paladin. This has revivified my fire for DnD in general! Thank you!!
I’ve made Thunderous Smite sort of the signature spell for my Vengeance Paladin, as part of a focus on controlling movement (Sentinel, Misty Step, the soon-to-be-attained 7th-level Vengeance feature, and Dwarven Plate that makes it harder for others to move me). It’s not always the most optimal choice, but I love the flavor of it. Current favorite combo is knocking someone into our Ranger’s often-cast Spike Growth.
Nice list! For some other spells not mentioned here that I think paladins should also consider picking up: 1st-level – Heroism: While a paladin eventually gains immunity to the frightened condition and can provide this benefit to those within their aura, heroism can be very effective in T1 and T2 play if you’re facing against creatures that can inflict the frightened condition often. I think this is a very nice spell to have handy in low level play. 2nd-level – Magic Weapon: Again, for low level play, this spell can potentially be a godsend in low level play if you or someone in your party hasn’t gotten a magic weapon. This is a niche option, but if your party situation at the table is that you don’t yet have magical weapons, this can be a good option to help mitigate fighting against creatures with resistance or immunity to nonmagical attacks. 4th-level – Aura of Life: If you’re in an adventure that deals with a lot of necrotic damage or monsters that reduce HP maximum, I would definitely have this prepared as a paladin. I’ve found this to be very effective when facing creatures like vampires, liches, etc and it can be a godsend in high level play for when it comes up. – Death Ward: This wasn’t mentioned on the article, but death ward (gained at 13th level as a paladin) is pretty much essential for most high level play. This can be used effectively with another party member to cover the party and if need be, can be cast before the end of a long rest to help maintain the spell slot during the adventure itself.
First campaign I finished ended at level 15. I was an 11th level bard (college of whispers) with 4 levels of rogue (swashbuckler). Took banishing smite with my magical secrets and hit a paralyzed dragon with a banishing smite (5d10) plus psychic blades (5d6) plus sneak attack (2d6) with a flametongue rapier (1d8+2d6). Most satisfying crit I’ve ever had. 10/10 would recommend.
Bless is hands down the best use of your concentration slot. It is low level, remains relevant at all levels, and makes the party better. Passing your saving throws is worth an entire round of actions from the party. Every time I run a Cleric or Paladin I always ask myself “Why shouldn’t I cast Bless on round 1?”
With the Oath of Glory Paladin you have incredible mobility! Aura of Alacrity + Haste + Find Greater Steed (Pegasus) = 600ft of flying movement per round! (Without any magic items). Pegasus flying speed is 90. Aura of alacrity gives a plus 10, haste caste on yourself applies to your steed doubling its flying speed from 100 to 200. Then using its action and hasted action to dash gives the total of 600!
i really think you have overlooked the value of Divine Favour. 1d4 radiant for every attack the paladin makes is almost always going to net more damage then spending that same 1st level slot for a divine smite, and like the spell smites can stack with divine smite. especially since you mentioned the 3rd level upgrades Crusader’s Mantle and Spirit Shroud
Since Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything came out and the Feytouched feat, I’ve been messin’ around with a Feytouched Eldritch Knight Fighter that chooses Command as the 1st level spell with the feat. I just imagine my fighter shouting “Get Over Here!” like Scorpion from Mortal Combat with the “approach” option to bring ranged enemies into melee range. lol
Paladins are great. Currently playing one (lvl 9) and it’s been great fun. Also, my DM allowed me to have a young Wyvern as my Find Steed choice, using a heavily modified statblock that is pretty comparable to the Warhorse, except with flight speed and being too small to ride for my character. Edit: Kelly talking about Shadows: did you forget that you were taking a break from that for a bit due to Jill and her partner having a new character sheet they need to start filling out?
I was playing an 11th level Paladin and our crew wandered into some mean streets (mostly on purpose) and met with a Skull Lord traveling alongside his two Death Knight pals. I cast Circle of Power from a scroll I had and basically won the encounter by just screaming at everyone to stay next to me. I imagine the visual of 6 panicked adventures standing in a 10 foot radius around a Gnome dressed in full plate screaming their heads off while getting bombarded with countless spells was quite the sight.
Aura of Vitality is a great use after a fight when you know you are not in a situation where you will be able to rest at all. Combined with another level 3 spell from a cleric, beacon of hope, means just 2 level 3 spells and you heal for 10 sets of 12 or a total of 120 in a minute. Not to mention if any other heals are used in that time those will also heal for max rolls due to the beacon. Super efficient spell based heal up session in one minute.
Im doing the booming blade divine soul sorcerer x/vengeance paladin 3 (waiting for the right story hook) right now at 11/2. Human variant (warcaster), 16/21ac(shield spell), Eldritch Adept(Devil’s sight), and Great Weapon Master. I usually start with a quickened darkness or upcast spirit guardians. I have a belt of strength (+5), and booming blade 1d12 reroll once on 2 or less +2d8(boom) +5 (or 15 when using GWM) +smite. I love the options I have and doing stuff like distance metamagic for some pretty amazing scenarios.
Thunderous Smite bonus, if you have a battlefield controller, pushing enemies back into battlefield control after they just spent a turn standing up and walking through difficult terrain to get out of the ice storm or web or some other such controlling effect is probably a way more common application of this spell than “off a bridge”
I would like to add that find greater steed allows you to transfer a spell that only targets you to your mount while you are mounted on it. And it says when mounted not that you have to cast the spell. Your other casters can cast spells on you and affect your mount as well. Find greater steed is a banger of a spell.
If you’re leaning more towards the support/healing/tanking side of paladin, then it’s worth taking a look at Warding Bond, a second level cleric spell added to the paladin spell list via tasha’s additional class features. It’s long lasting, no concentration, buffs the ac and saves of ypur most vulnerable party member, and splits any damage they take with you. propping up your weakest member this way makes your entire party much more durable, especially when combined with aoe healing & temp hp effects like mass cure wounds, inspiring leader, or a bard’s song of rest.
I’m getting a DM’s Guild Tome Pact Eldritch Invocation that will allow me to take 3 leveled spells up to 5th level from any class list. I’m a Celestial, so i’m the primary healer of the group. I was planning on taking Prayer of Healing, but you may have just changed my mind to Aura of Vitality because it heals A LOT more HP!
the various smite spells are target: self. so if you have a steed from Find Steed, when you case a smite spell your steed will also get the effect. So suddenly you might be able to double smite (triple if you sink a spell slot for a Divine Smite on your *bonk*). Hmm, make it Thunderous smite and you can possibly knock the opponent prone, allowing your steed’s attack to hit much easier.
I love smite & Smite spells . I love Stacking Divine smite and smite spells . I’ve never took Bless as a paladin . Only as a Cleric . For me a paladin is a tank that holds up enemies in combat . An bards & clerics are way better at helping boost party members with their spells . The exception is when their is no bards, clerics, druids & Artifincers in the party .
Hey guys love your content and these list/ ranking articles! I was wondering if you guys have ever heard of the combination of Thunderous Smite and Booming Blade. Since you apply Thunderous Smite as a Bonus Action, you use your action to cast Booming Blade doubling down on the Thunder Damage and knocking your target prone on the failed save. They then spend half their movement to get back up and that triggers the secondary damage from Booming Blade. I’m playing a Hexblade Paladin Multiclass that has this and I was wondering how you guys would rule this combo at the table?
I agree with Bless, Command, Aid (which can be used to heal up multiple unconscious people, and prevent TPK!!)\\ Aurea of vitality, Revivify. Missings in my opinion: Wrathful Smite, Shield of faith, (nice BA spell) Protection from Evil Lesser Restoration, Zone of thruth (this spell really makes the difference) Dispel Magic Death Ward (useful to protect weak NPC). Anyway if u play vengeance Paladin have Hunters Mark, Misty step and Haste……
Only trouble with banishing a devil/demon back to their home plane without killing them is that they very well might be able to come back somewhat easy. If you kill them, even though they won’t actually die, but just go back to their plane, they are then not able to come back to the prime for 100 years. This of course isn’t the same for creatures of other planes, but something to keep in mind with creatures of the “lower” planes.
As someone who generally play arcane or divine spellcasters instead of the old slashy slashy classes I didn’t really know anything about paladins in 5e and thought they were just like in 3.5e. After quickly checking the Player’s Handbook it turns out they are basically Knights Radiant now, which immediately makes me want to roll a gnome paladin.
You missed one of the better things with Find Steed and Greater Find Steed, you don’t need to keep it prepared to benefit from it. You only need to prepare it when you need/expect to summon your mount. I’ve largely played as a Crown Paladin, and Zone of Truth is another spell that is extremely useful on the RP side of things…even more so with a Protector Aasimaar…and if you’re tanking, Shield of Faith is awesome at lower levels if you’re going to wall things out, the +2 AC while dodging and standing in the door is basically enemies aiming to hit a 20 at first level with disadvantage, and for a Crown Paladin, that swiftly becomes the enemies also being unable to run away or go elsewhere because of your website divinity. The DM was not as amused with Lost Mines with the necromancer in the ruined tower when I pretty much called down the undead horde while the rest of the party went head on after the Necromancer, and at that point, I’d gotten an armor upgrade so 21 AC, and with the positioning, only three of them could attack me in a round and the rest just pressed in, and the Necromancer had a Conquest Paladin and Moon Druid bear in his face. And the smite spells can be really fun, especially when mounted, same Paladin went into Storm Kings Thunder, first giant encounter with a diviner portent given 20, one shotted a fire giant.
The Paladins best spell… Divine Smite. But I agree the others are good except maybe Thunderous Smite but that is because I personally really like Divine Favour as it is a bonus action once and then can get a d4 radiant damage on each attack which is super good against Zombies, but is also generally very useful in most combat encounters, and you don’t need to use a bonus action to re activate it like Hunters Mark or Hex so you can get use out of two weapon fighting or polearm master more easily (Which I was expecting you to bring up tbh).
Death Ward, guys… Death Ward Every spell that lasts 8 hours is a must have and a spell that prevents death even for one time is godlike Cast death ward in the morning on the weak wizard or on the cleric to keep the healer up When I play paladin al almost always pick bot aid and death ward and cast them every morning like it is my usual morning ritual praying to my God for protection for me and my allies
Wrathful smite on a Conquest paladin is GOLDEN. Single target fear on demand. The best thing is that subsequent attempts to break it uses a WIS check, not a save. This means that your target won’t get the benefit of any bonus to WIS saves. Secondly, being frightened imposes disadvantage on ability checks, like this one. So to quote a fellow player: This is the spell you use to make ancient dragons afraid of you.
Feel like Find Steed was looked over too much. Once you cast it its always there until it dies, it has its own 60 ft movement so it doubles your speed and it can use the dash action so effectively giving you 120 ft of movement. It can also take the disengage action so you can attack and back off (great for polearm master who want enemy to walk into their range again for opportunity attack). That is some pretty amazing stuff for basically a free spell (cast it before a long rest and never think about it again).
Find Greater Steed…I will never use this on my Paladin for a couple of very particular reasons. 1. I have no idea how to use mounts in 5e and though I’ve read the rules, I just got confused. 2. I forget that it exists most of the time. 3. I got the Sword of Zariel while in the first level of hell and, so now I’m a level 18 Paladin with a flying speed of 90. Why do I need a Pegasus at that point? That doesn’t make the spell bad of course. I just don’t know how to use it properly in my situation.
I’m kind of surprised that Holy Weapon wasn’t talked about. You’re basically exchanging your concentration and a 5th level spell slot to get a 1st level smite on every single attack for an entire dungeon (or an hour whichever comes first). It’s easily the highest damaging spell a paladin can cast during a dungeon crawl. Definitely not worth it for a single short encounter, obviously, but for those long dungeon crawls a paladin using holy weapon is going to easily out damage a paladin that’s trying to use any of the smite spells and that makes it top tier in my book.
There was a story. Our party been to stone’s giants community, who were friends… sort of. And there were a problem with drow, who kept giants leader in custody. We and his only child had to go with tribe to the silverymoon, but poor chef’s child been anxious about getting his father rescued. And wasn’t listen nobody, but my paladin, when I commanded him “listen” It was great to use command spell in social activity, not in combat. Darion. Raven queen paladin/fighter
You can’t use animate objects and crusaders mantle together. Unless you’re animating dolls that can hold weapons. Animate objects does turn them into creatures but those creatures still have to be using a melee weapon. Crusaders mantle specifically asks for them to make a weapon attack not just a melee attack.
I’ve never played DnD sadly but love the ideas behind it. I’ve read a great many books based on Drizzt and I wanted to base my character around a similar backstory. Like, my initial idea was for the groups first “quest” to take them to a cave and as they go deeper they find me, a year and a half after I ran away from menzoberranzan because my “friend” tried to stab me in the back because I was too soft to do what the Fighting master asked. Would that be a hassle for the DM or would that be something that they’d love? Or should I just not go with that Idea till I’m more accustomed to DnD? I’d appreciate thoughts please
What about Holy Weapon? A 10 step guide to consistent damage paladin 🙂 Step 1: Take Resillient (CON) Step 2: Take Warcaster feet for advantage to keep concentration Step 3: Max charisma Step 4 : Multiclass to hexblade to use that beefy stat for maximum smacking Step 6: 15 str for heavy armor Step 7: Put the rest of your points in Con Step 8: Smack enemies with both nova AND consistent damage Step 9: ??? Step 10: profit.
I find smite spells definitely not worth at level 1. If you want to use concentration and spell slot for extra damage, Divine favour might get you better mileage for that ingle spell slot. Sure it depends on length of the encounter, but from my experience, combat can last quite some time (not 2-3 rounds like Dudes see them). Btw, another good option for 2nd level spell is protection from poison. Sure it’s situational, but Poison can be devastating if you aren’t prepared for it. Protection from poison is great spell to have on your list just in case.
No heroism? upcast on your allies in the right situations constantly getting those temp hp and being immune to fear. also at 5th level Holy weapon cast on your ranged fighters bow, and with action surge and even sharpshooter, they can dish out serious damage.(comment coming from an archer recipient of this from our cleric) and it last up to an hour. 2d8 for every shot quickly stacks up especially once a fighter gets their 3rd attack. that means one round with action surge and perhaps crossbow expert 14d8 “extra” damage one round and 8d8 each round afterwards with hits. so your 1st 2 rounds your fighter buddy could do an extra 22d8 and keep blasting from then on.
Quick query regarding the spellcasting for paladin class. In terms of somatic component, couldnt their instrument of doom and destruction be considered a spellcasting focus, as a wand or other objects can be considered as a focus? In my time with dnd, the only times a DM would make sure we had components were times where it was an extremely potent spell, I’ve followed suit in my own campaigns. I’ve really only ever played fighters and rangers in past editions, I’m wanting to do a pally but I’m having a sort of “block” grasping why a pally would need material components or a somatic component aside from their instrument of doom to perform spellcasting seeing as how they’ve been granted their power directly from the gods essentially.
So, let’s say the wizard successfully polymorphs an enemy, you hit said enemy with banishing smite, does the enemy then get banished if the creature they turned into doesn’t get ganked? Alternatively if a cart is rolling down a hill and about to hit a child could you hit the cart with banishing smite to make it disappear for a minute while you grab something to stop the wheels from spinning?
I’m sorry but Wrathful Smite is the best Paladin smite spell at 1st level. It’s extremely hard to break once it lands because it’s a charisma CHECK at disadvantage due to the target being frightened. And if you shove the frightened target or back away, your whole team can just range attack the target and it cant approach.
a d4 to attack rolls is almost always as good or better than a d4 to damage rolls depending on the targets AC. Just bless the bonus will also protect your con save to maintain concentration unless you have more than 6 allies who all use weapons and a desperate need to use a third level spell slot on a spell for some reason and aren’t facing enemies that force you to make attacks, bless will almost always be better due to the bonus to both attacks and saves, and the bonus to attacks that aren’t made with weapons. Unless you’re fighting something radiant damage averse like a vampire or a zombie, but you are a PALADIN! You have better ways of dealing with that! Crusader’s mantle might be a good spell for a magic item or an NPC in an encounter where they have minions. But as a paladin in an adventuring party spending their spell slot you’d usually rather bless.
Did you know that command is buffed in other languages? For example, my main language is spanish and many of our words have adjectives embedded in the meaning (something like he, she, it), so our commands are more specific. Example: if an enemy is holding a she hostage we say “suéltala” where “suelta” means release and “la” means her, so it’s like saying two words for one. Maybe in german this spell should be banned from the table.
Can you cast Find (Greater) Steed on a living steed you already have to save its soul to the spell and basically make it immortal? Any time it dies just re-summon it when you have the chance? Also, the duration on both is till it dies but you can change spells every day. If you swap out Find (Greater) Steed after its been summoned, does it disappear?
After playing a Paladin for a number of months possibly a year now (fortnightly) I AB-so-LUTE-ly believe, that using spell slots that are higher than second level for divine smite, is MASSIVELY overrated, unless it’s on a critical hit (fiends/undead possibly excepted, tbf there hasn’t been much representation of those creature types in the run). The higher it goes, the less worth it it gets. Spells 3rd and 4th are really good and tbh I only say that its worth doing for lvl 2 because the spells you get at lvl 2 aren’t that great unless your subclass gives you good extra spells. Otherwise I’d say the same but from spell slots of levels 2+. The amount of times you have used a 3rd level spell slot and rolled a 3, 3, 2, and 5. Oh yeah, ohhh yeahhh, baby, yes, MMMMM my 3rd level spell slot used for 13 damage on a single target and no additional effect. I haven’t looked and I don’t actually care what the math says, (though I suspect it would support my argument) there is absolutely nothing more disappointing than getting excited to roll a bunch of dice and SLAM an enemy, only to feel like the absolute biggest joke on earth when the dice actually land. The thema of smite is I get to whack big and that sounds super fun on paper. SOOO often, in application, it is just super underwhelming. Even when the dmg ends up being ok.
Isn’t “command” like, the best spell in the game? Strip (removes armor), vomit (remove full face helmets), Poo, drink (then hand them a vial but don’t tell them what it is), kneel (you must scream like Zod), betray (hurting others doesn’t count), spin (then backstab), flee. None of these directly hurt them. And outside of combat: donate (free stuff doesn’t physically hurt them), confess (if they resist because it would hurt them then you know they are guilty… basically a lie detector), unlock, answer (then state a question), heal (or any quick casting spell that helps you). And you can use it on party members. And a summoned steel can be used for suicide bombing runs (strap it with bombs), detecting traps, and a literal meat shield.
Question Find steed means i can affect myself and my steed with spells that have a range of self Can it be possible to say cast aura of vitality to myself then it works on the steed too? Essentially double casting such? Like i get aura of vitality and so does my steed, so there are now 2 auras of vitality
Hey Dungeon Dudes, can you help me understand why Smite is good? I’m playing my first D&D 5e campaign ever as a paladin and the ~10 damage it deals never seems to be worth my precious spell slot. Honestly, all of my powers feel pretty weak compared to the monsters we fight. These bugbears hit me for like 22 damage just normally; I can MAYBE hit that much if I crit and spend a spellslot. Is this what I should expect from D&D? Do you just feel weak and outclassed until higher levels? 2-3 spells only per day feels like you have to be very conservative with casting anything, so how can you ever safely feel like throwing one of them away for ~10 damage? I got to 4th level and took shield master and It’s been by far the most useful tool in my kit, along with Lay on Hands. Nearly all other options on a turn seem worse than “attack w sword” and I wonder why there isn’t more creative combat options?
Honestly the problem with Paladins is that Divine Smite is too good. D8s instead of D6s that most of the smite spells deal, and it has an extra die above the spell slot used (only thunderous smite has more dice than the level used, and it is 2d6 instead of 2d8). Aside from a Bless if you can pop it before initiative is rolled, most paladin spells just pale in comparison to this raw damage. Multiclassing into sorcerer or bard just makes this absurd with higher level smites as well. My group has a homebrew rule that fixes this, makes paladins more interesting, and makes them fun at the same time: “When a paladin hits with a weapon, instead of Divine Smite, a paladin can cast any one of the smite spells for which they could prepare as a paladin, without requiring concentration. If the target is a fiend or undead, the attack deals an additional 1d8 radiant damage.” This slightly nerfs the damage output of paladins, but gives them a lot more flexibility with damage type choice. Also, every hit feels cool when you can make people afraid of you, knock them back, or light them on fire, rather than just a dumb pile of d8s. It also balances the broken multiclass builds, as precious few of the paladin smite spells are upcastable (only searing and branding smite, which are the weaker smite spells), and you don’t get access to the level 3-5 paladin smites unless you actually put a lot of levels into paladin.
Hey Dungeon Dudes and experienced 5E DM, I need your help. As a new DM to 5E, I’m currently learning. I just started learning about action economy. When doing so, I found I made a terrible mistake, I just assumed our Paladin had cantrip slots. The player took the Magic Initiate FEAT and now casts Fire Bolt every turn while Smiting and has 2 attack actions since he is 5th level. This is KILLING my action economy. My thinking is Magic Initiate grants cantrips from other classes, but doesn’t provide Cantrip Slots. So I’m making him change the character. Am I right here?
Your spell bolsters your allies with toughness and resolve. Choose up to three creatures within range. Each target’s hit point maximum and “”current hit points”” increase by 5 for the duration. I disagree with how they portrait Aid. Aid is great for getting down party members back up in a pinch, when you need them all up now. 3 party members just went down because they failed a massive aoe spell save, use AID. Three party members within 30ft of you are now back into the fight with 5 temp hit points for 8 hours. Now they best heal up after the fight is done because those 5 points go bye-bye in about 7 hours and 58 min.
I strongly disagree with destructive wave, especially if you have a party member that can cast a better spell for minion clearing. 10d6 damage and constitution save at minimum 17th level on a paladin that likely doesn’t have the highest save DC sounds rather unimpressive. I can see it working in a very niche situation, but I can’t consider that a candidate for the best. I’d personally choose holy weapon as a more generally useful and persistent offensive option to increase your damage on all attacks.
That’s always something I find very weird about people saying the 1-minute Smite spells only last for one attack…you do realize how astoundingly wrong that sounds, right? Once the paladin gets a second attack, that would mean within 1 minute he could make 20 attacks. Are you seriously telling me that the Smite spells are designed to last long enough to allow the Paladin to completely whiff up to 19 attacks in a row before landing the supposedly single-shot Smite blast on a target? Which gets even more nuts if the Paladin (or another subclass who gets access to Smite spells) is able to get even more attacks per round? No DnD game, anywhere, is designed for anyone who is that much of a bumblecunt in weapon combat, and nobody anywhere builds a character who sucks that hard on purpose. No. If the rule authors wanted those Smites to be single-attack spells, it would have been effortless to write them as such. There are a couple that explicitly state they last just 1 round: bingo, you have a single or at most double-attack Smite burst. Or, they could have explicitly written “This effect only works on a single attack within the duration”…which they didn’t. One-minute Smite spells work on every single attack you make within that minute. End of story. That is one of the greatest strengths of the Paladin.
Played a Paladin not too long ago. Was probably the most boring class I have ever played. We didn’t have another front line melee character, so I basically doled out Smites over and over, depending on the encounter. I really wanted to cast other spells, but with only one frontliner, it’s easy to get trapped into being a smite-slinger. The character WAS effective and powerful… but dull to play for months and months.
why would i banish foes that i could just kill and get there magical items. banishing a 50 or less HP creature is so disappointing if they would be banished with there awesome equipment… i get it if u want to banish a demon lord or something like that but maybe if u could just kill him you will get there artifacts or legendary magical items…risking these are a grave mistake
Really? No love for Haste for the Paladin? I was actually looking forward to it with my Vengeance Pally, taking Great Weapon Master on every hit, Vow of Enmity-ing a foe, and then hitting ’em 3 times for ungodly damage. Is there something about Haste I’m not seeing that makes it less attractive for Paladins than the 2 lvl-3’s you mention? (because to me, 1 extra attack and +2 DC seems at least on part with at least the Crusader’s Mantle)
Smite spells mostly bad. They require concentration and bonus actions, they have to be usedpre-emptively rather than after already hitting like divine smite. They do less damage, usually much worse, and often of worse damage types, than divine smite. Any extra effects can typically be resisted or escaped with saving throws. These do not make for good spells. There are one or two exceptions, but thunderous smite is not one of them. Yeah, it can knock an enemy off a cliff, but so can a plain old shove, which doesn’t cost a spell slot, let alone concentration or a bonus action. Try instead Wrathful Smite. Yeah, it’s even less damage, but if you wanted to deal damage you should be using divine smite instead. What wrathful smite offers instead is an effective and very hard to shake control effect. Yes, the opponent gets a save against the effect, but if they fail that save it becomes nearly impossible to shake the effect. To do so, the target first gives up an entire action and then must pass a wisdom check – not save! – against your spell dc. wisdom checks are often lower than wisdom save bonuses, and the frighten condition itself imposes disadvantage on ability checks. At low levels there are several powerful brute type enemies like ogres, trolls, skeletal minotaurs, or the like with poor wisdom saves where a first level divine smite isn’t going to drop the enemy, but a wrathful smite has a good chance of effectively removing the enemy from combat altogether. Yeah it’s still a concentration effect and enemies can attack you in the hope of forcing a failed concentration save, but if you’re aiming your paladin at more of a supporting/tanky role, then attracting more aggro is just helping you do your job.
Having played a lot of different Paladins, I really have to disagree when it comes to offensive paladins. You are seemingly ignoring the factors of action economy and concentration, two big problems with Paladin spells. First, casting a spell with an action means not being able to attack, which means losing out on potentially more than 100 damage and thus allowing a dangerous enemy to last for one more turn. And second, as a Paladin you can’t hold concentration for long unless you really invest into that, which is kinda difficult considering you want to buff strength and charisma and also take feats like Polearm Master, Great Weapon Master and maybe Mounted Combatant or Sentinel, because you are going to be at the frontline and taking all those hits. And considering you probably only can hold your Bless or Crusader’s Mantle for a round or two, it would be a waste of an action and a spell slot to cast it. On a defensive paladin on the other hand, both Crusader’s Mantle and Bless and other concentration spells are quite good, as these can have a much higher AC by using a shield instead of a two-handed weapon and can invest into their defense with their ASIs and feats, buffing their con and taking feats like Warcaster and Resilient: Con.
Anyone else ever notice how kelly is a way better cohost than monty. Monty seems more comfortable taking lead in the camera, but he is bad at engaging while kelly has the floor. Meanwhile, kelly is great at engaging with monty and does great monologing (with no support) I know monty is more natural as a speaker, but I think we all like kelly more.
“Paladins have a lot of things competing for their bonus action with the smite spells” No they don’t. And you gave a perfect example of why they don’t immediately afterwards. “Vengance paladins have their vow of enmity and misty step” Vow of enmity is a one time thing that isn’t always available and isn’t worth using on anything that isn’t a massive sack of hitpoints. Misty step is only useful for escape, at which point you aren’t attacking, or to get into combat when the enemy is too far away, so you won’t be using a smite spell anyway since you can’t attack without the extra move and once you’re there you don’t need it so you use smite spells. Smite spells literally fall into the gap where all other paladin bonus actions aren’t useful. They don’t compete with anything except each other. Edit: “Always take Bless, I’ve never seen it wasted.” Actually it gets wasted all the time. Especially on Paladins who are on the front lines taking lots of hits. They don’t have proficiency in Con saves and are already heavy stat investments needing both Charisma and Strength/Dexterity, so more often then not they’ll very quickly lose concentration when being repetitively hit even with the aura bonus and d4 bonus.