What do 5E D&D Paladin Spells Say About the Class and Yes, There’s More than Just Divine Smite!

Over on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted discussed five essential spells for tier 1 paladins in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. This cover 1st level spells only. Since there’s only 16 of them total (Unearthed Arcana — Class Feature Variants doesn’t add any either) and I help plan the videos, what else do I have to say about it? In the video comments there’s several “what about <spell>?” My thoughts on these are same as any other time: what about them? We looked at the list and made our choices. My curiosity about tier one 5E D&D paladin spells isn’t so much determining the best or essential ones. Instead I’m wondering what do 1st level paladin spells tell us about the character class, particularly from 1st-4th level?

Tier 1 5E D&D paladins

Yeah, yeah, I know. The best paladin best spell is Divine Smite. Fun fact: my first 5E D&D character was a tiefling paladin with a criminal background and I didn’t realize Divine Smite was a thing until after several game sessions. Another player asked why I never smite and I was like, what are you talking about? I cast wrathful smite all the time!

Divine Smite

Starting at 2nd level, when you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can expend one spell slot to deal radiant damage to the target, in addition to the weapon’s damage. The extra damage is 2d8 for a 1st-level spell slot, plus 1d8 for each spell level higher than 1st, to a maximum of 5d8. The damage increases by 1d8 if the target is an undead or a fiend, to a maximum of 6d8.

In 5E D&D, 1st level paladin spells offer a nice mix of effects. There’s the smite spells for dealing more damage, plus some solid buff, defense and control spells. Along with thunderous smite there’s only one other paladin-only spell with compelled duel. And out of the 16 1st level paladin spells there’s only four that don’t require concentration: ceremony, command, cure wounds and purify food and drink. 

Clearly, 5E D&D paladins aim to strike hard in combat against individual foes. Tier 1 spellcasting begins with two spell slots and ends with three. Every time you finish a long rest you can prepare a new list of spells equal to your Charisma modifier + half your paladin level, rounded down (minimum of one spell).

With all this in mind it’s not hard to see what makes Divine Smite so appealing. Spell slots for a tier 1 paladin are in short supply, and since Divine Smite kicks in when you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack it means the spell slot will never go to waste. This creates an unfortunate circumstance of leaving the paladin’s pretty nifty spell list kind of flat. Quite a few terrific spells are on the list, but at the end of the day using a spell slot even for something like bless that technically could result in significantly more damage than a Divine Smite feels can feel like a wasted opportunity.

Unearthed Arcana — Class Feature Variants presents a solution to spellcasting-inclined paladins that I really hope makes it into an official product in the future. Channel Divinity — Harness Divine Power might not have the same snazzy appeal as many of the other enhancements and replacements in the playtest document, but after mulling it over for a bit it may be my favorite class feature enhancement in the bunch.

Channel Divinity: Harness Divine Power

3rd-level paladin feature (enhances Channel Divinity)

You can expend a use of your Channel Divinity to fuel your spells. As a bonus action, you touch your holy symbol, utter a prayer, and regain one expended 1st-level spell slot.

Because paladins ever only get one use of Channel Divinity, using it comes at a premium. The options available for each of the Sacred Oaths offer powerful effects, and paladins regain their Channel Divinity feature after a short or long rest. Now we’re talking! With Harness Divine Power, a tier 1 paladin squeezes a bit more juice at 3rd-4th level. Regaining just a single spell slot means you can use Divine Smite again, cast cure wounds and keep some gas in the tank for the next battle or buff yourself or an ally without taking too big of a hit to your resources.

Using Harness Divine Power does have a big drawback though — paladin Channel Divinity features are really strong. It’s worth noting that except for a single Channel Divinity feature — Oath of the Crown’s Turn the Tide option — all the effects from all the other Sacred Oaths do one of two things: buff the individual paladin or debuff an enemy. This speaks again to the 5E D&D paladin design as a heavy hitter.

What I like the most about Harness Divine Power is how it gives paladin characters more flexibility to explore life beyond buffing yourself and hammering enemies with divine power. I love rolling a natural 20 and dumping spell slots into Divine Smite as much as the next player, but maybe your group dynamics and adventures leave the door open for playing a paladin a little differently. Instead of being the star of the combat show, your paladin might inspire their allies with heroism or shield of faith so they can fight side by side on the front line.

My favorite way to play 5E D&D no matter what character I’m playing is finding ways to support the party. It’s not only a great way to engage with the other players (and buffs never fail to work, just like Divine Smite!) but also might actually be more effective than landing that one incredible strike. At the high end of tier 1, your 4th level paladin could cast thunderous smite as a bonus action, hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, roll a natural 20 for a critical hit wielding a greatsword and deal an average of 46 damage. Awesome! According to the 5E Dungeon Master’s Guide a CR 4 creature has 116–130 average hit points. And you’ve got one spell slot left, too. Unless you’re fighting a single creature, you’re probably going to need it too. Maybe cast bless on the rest of the party? Or give your squishy friend a buff with shield of faith? And with Harness Divine Power, command another foe and guess what, you’ve still got one spell slot left in the tank for a Divine Smite because yeah, it’s that good.