D&D 5E Divine smite paladin, infinite times pr round? And divine smite on ranged attacks?

[maraxion]

So the paladin have its limited usages of smite. But say the pally has 2 attacks and halberd feat so 3 attacks. And if lucky get the reaction attack aswel thats 4 attacks that round. Can he add smites to all those 4 attacks? So using 4 spell slots and have a huge attack total?

Wondering since casters has some issues wiht spell uage and cannot seem to cast both a action spell and a bonus action spell in the same round? Pg 202 PH:
"BONUS ACTIONAspell cast with a bonus action is especially swift. You
must use a bonus action on your turn to cast the spell,
provided that you haven't already taken a bonus action
this turno Vou can't cast another spell during the same
turn, except for a cantrip with a casting time of I action."

Now I understand divine smite issent a spell and a whery finite resource, but it feels a bit off in damage potensiell.

 

[Plaguescarred]

Divine Smite has no usage limit other than spell slots and while it use one, it's not a spell.

 

[Waterbizkit]

The Paladin can smite as many times as he/she can land a hit and has the spell slots to fuel it. Yes, it can be a potentially massive amount of damage, but it's also being powered by a fairly finite resource. Working as intended.

 

[maraxion]

Thanks for good answers. This also confirms it, doh indirecly by Jeremy Crawford:

 

[maraxion]

But I found another interesting bit. As you can see here Jeremy says that thrown or ranged weapons works with improven divine smite! Thats great. But wil that also mean that the divine smite(or even hunters mark spell) itself wil work on ranged attaks? Because if thats the case then paladins should quicky get their hands on a few javelins(should anyway)

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

But I found another interesting bit. As you can see here Jeremy says that thrown or ranged weapons works with improven divine smite!

No. Ranged weapons are not melee weapons, they are ranged weapons.

It would work with thrown weapons, but not a longbow.

It's important to realize that smiting is usually a bad idea compared to using the same slots to actually cast spells. Divine Smite is basically "break glass in case of emergency" nova capability; it's not something you should rely on normally. A 10th level Paladin has a maximum 112 HP.5 worth of Divine Smites per day even if he casts zero other spells, but he's going to have to inflict 300 to 400 points of damage on a normal, full adventuring day. He definitely doesn't have enough slots to just power through the whole day smiting everything.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

It would work with thrown weapons, but not a longbow.

Not all thrown weapons. Darts, nets, and any other weapon that exists in some rules supplement and is classified as a ranged weapon (game term) are not eligible because they aren't melee weapons.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Not all thrown weapons. Darts, nets, and any other weapon that exists in some rules supplement and is classified as a ranged weapon (game term) are not eligible because they aren't melee weapons.

Yes, sorry, I meant "thrown melee weapons." You're right that there exist thrown ranged weapons, and those weapons would not benefit from Improved Divine Smite, under the rules as written.

(One of the great deficiencies of 5E is that it doesn't explain WHY distinctions like this exist, which leaves the DM in the position of ignoring the rule or making up some bogus rationalization to support the opaque rule. "Why does Improved Divine Smite work with a thrown dagger, but Divine Smite does not?" "Because one works with melee-weapons attacks, and the other works with melee weapon attacks, and those aren't the same thing" is not a satisfying answer. Any time you have to revert to game jargon to explain how the world works, you're metagaming, not roleplaying, and it is disruptive.)

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

(One of the great deficiencies of 5E is that it doesn't explain WHY distinctions like this exist, which leaves the DM in the position of ignoring the rule or making up some bogus rationalization to support the opaque rule. "Why does Improved Divine Smite work with a thrown dagger, but Divine Smite does not?" "Because one works with melee-weapons attacks, and the other works with melee weapon attacks, and those aren't the same thing" is not a satisfying answer. Any time you have to revert to game jargon to explain how the world works, you're metagaming, not roleplaying, and it is disruptive.)

I don't think of that as a deficiency... but then I also don't think of the game rules as being the same thing as how the world works, nor do I think of acknowledging the game rules as inherently being meta-gaming (its just gaming, unless you find a way to make acknowledging the game rules result in some outcome that wouldn't have been possible according to the character's capabilities within their world), nor do I find role-playing and gaming to be in any way exclusive of each other such that doing one is disruptive to the other.

 

[maraxion]

No. Ranged weapons are not melee weapons, they are ranged weapons.

It would work with thrown weapons, but not a longbow.
.

Sorry I should have stated thrown melee weapons, not ranged!
What I was thinking about as I wrote was javelins(or spears). But also dagger, light hammer and handaxe should apply!
So As far as I can tell these weapons should be able to to inflict divine smite and improved divine smite when thrown at an enemy?

As for smiting not to be the best idea always I agree. But on pure damage its great slot for slot compared to spells, because the paladins spells just arent that powerfull!Also if you use the slot for spells or smite, you still use it, so its more about the situation then the need for saving slots.
As for better roleplaying on the other hand, im all for spells over smite!