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[GUIDE] My Word Is My Sword: The Paladin Guide
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<blockquote data-quote="Gladius Legis" data-source="post: 6779086" data-attributes="member: 68748"><p><span style="font-size: 18px"><strong>VI. Spells</strong></span></p><p></p><p></p><p>You are a class that prepares spells and has access to the whole list when you do prepare them, same as the Cleric, which gives you some degree of versatility and flexibility day to day. But with that said, it helps to know the best options so you can keep the mornings you prepare a new slate of spells to a minimum.</p><p></p><p>The number of spells you can prepare equals half your paladin level + CHA, which most of the time roughly works out between two and three spells per spell level, assuming you're equal between spell levels (that part may vary).</p><p></p><p>For your convenience, spells will have their components listed, along with their action type (action, reaction, bonus action) and if they require Concentration. An "M" with an asterisk (*) means that the material component has a cost and/or is consumed by the spell, which means you can't use your holy symbol to cast it.</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Lv. 1 Spells (Paladin Lv. 2)</strong></p><p></p><p><span style="color: goldenrod"><strong>Bless</strong></span>: <em>1 action; V,S,M; Concentration</em>. Keep prepared at all times. The +1d4 (average +2.5 bonus) to all attack rolls and saving throws makes this THE top-priority party-wide buffing spell for perhaps your entire career. Especially important if you’re the only divine caster in the party, but even if there is a Cleric around, keeping this prepared frees up the Cleric’s Concentration options (and vice versa; a Cleric with Bless opens up your options). Also interesting to note that if you Bless yourself, this spell is easier than others to make Concentration checks for, thanks to the saves buff. For the most efficient use of your actions, cast in a round before you anticipate combat, or in a round when you couldn’t make a melee attack, anyway.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: deepskyblue"><strong>Command</strong></span>: <em>1 action; V</em>. A WIS-save spell that can result in a lovely barrage of OAs if you and your melee allies surround it on casting and you command it to flee. Otherwise, you can make the enemy waste its turn, amounting to a soft stun of sorts. Has some targeting limitations (ineffective vs. undead, those who don’t understand your language), but this will work in more than enough battles that you will want it prepared the vast majority of the time. If you’re <span style="color: red"><strong>Oath of the Crown</strong></span>, this is an Oath spell, so prepare something else.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: deepskyblue"><strong>Wrathful Smite</strong></span>: <em>1 bonus action; V; Concentration</em>. 1d6 extra psychic damage, and the far more vital detail of making the enemy frightened of you if it fails a WIS save. Frightened means disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks, which is very potent. But the best part comes when it tries to end the spell early; you make the enemy waste an action to do so, and they have to make a WIS CHECK (NOT a save) to end it. Why is that a huge distinction? Because (a) even if they’re proficient in WIS saves, they can’t add their proficiency bonus, and (b) being frightened, they have disadvantage on the check to end it! This smite spell really takes a huge bite out of any physical attacker that isn’t immune to fear. The only knock against this spell is that the damage can’t scale with upcasting, but compared to how strong the effect is, who cares? For <span style="color: goldenrod"><strong>Oath of Conquest at Lv. 7+</strong></span>, this becomes mandatory, and your bread-and-butter when putting your Aura of Conquest to use on a single enemy.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: blue"><strong>Heroism</strong></span>: <em>1 action; V,S; Concentration</em>. Free temporary hit points every round and immunity to fear! Bless is still higher priority, but if a Cleric has that taken care of this one’s quite nice for the first nine levels of play, in particular (it tapers off <span style="color: darkviolet"><strong>Lv. 10 and beyond</strong></span> once you get Aura of Courage and 3rd-level spells). Other than you, only the Bard has this one on its list.</p><p></p><p><strong>Compelled Duel</strong>: <em>1 bonus action; V; Concentration</em>. If you're familiar with the 4e Paladin, this is pretty much the analog to that Paladin's Divine Challenge, except without the radiant zap. This one requires a WIS save, but also makes the enemy attack everyone except you at disadvantage, typically a stronger penalty than the 4e mark was. It also keeps the enemy from escaping you unless it makes a WIS save. Decent one to keep on reserve against a boss. If you’re <span style="color: red"><strong>Crown</strong></span>, this is an Oath spell, so prepare something else.</p><p></p><p><strong>Cure Wounds</strong>: <em>1 action; V,S</em>. Your classic D&D healing spell, scalable with higher spell slots. It’s not a bad idea to keep this prepared <span style="color: blue"><strong>early</strong></span>, but it’s quickly outclassed by the time you get <span style="color: darkviolet"><strong>3rd-level spells</strong></span>.</p><p></p><p><strong>Divine Favor</strong>: <em>1 bonus action; V,S; Concentration</em>. This damage buff of 1d4 extra radiant damage on all weapon hits varies wildly in its utility. Ranged weapons benefit, making it worthwhile if you’re <span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>forced into a ranged battle</strong></span>. And <span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>against hordes of CR 1/4 and 1/2 creatures</strong></span>, the extra damage from this can mean the difference between a living and a dead mook. However, <span style="color: darkviolet"><strong>against stronger enemies in melee, especially at earlier levels</strong></span>, using this can be a trap. Keep in mind that a 1st-level Divine Smite adds hit-confirmable 2d8 damage (average 9). You would need to hit with this spell active <em>4 times</em> before you surpass the damage of a 1st-level Smite. If you’re hitting at a bog-standard 65% rate, it could be <em>6 rounds</em> before you hit 4 times, and by that point the battle could either be over or you lose your concentration. <strong>tl;dr version</strong>: This is a decent spell to keep prepared, but knowing when it’s an optimal or efficient spell to cast is important.</p><p></p><p><strong>Protection from Evil and Good</strong>: <em>1 action; V,S,M*; Concentration</em>. This spell is on most full spellcasters' class lists, so while it is indeed good when anticipating fights against the listed enemies, it's probably best to leave this one to the full casters, so you can save your preparations for more offensive output. <span style="color: red"><strong>Devotion Paladins</strong></span> don't need to prepare this one at all, since it's on their Oath list.</p><p></p><p><strong>Purify Food and Drink</strong>: <em>1 action; V,S</em>. A good utility spell to prepare for social and exploration settings.</p><p></p><p><strong>Shield of Faith</strong>: <em>1 bonus action; V,S,M; Concentration</em>. +2 to AC is pretty decent, and it greatly helps that this is cast as a bonus action. Note you can cast this on yourself instead of an ally if you need to. A fair defensive pick if you're not the one needing to concentrate on Bless.</p><p></p><p><strong>Thunderous Smite</strong>: <em>1 bonus action; V; Concentration</em>. Quite good from <span style="color: blue"><strong>Lv. 1-4</strong></span>. 2d6 extra thunder damage (nearly as strong as a Divine Smite for the same level) with push and prone as a nice little bonus. Stack a Divine Smite on top of this for a strong nova at early levels. Unfortunately, this spell does not do any more damage when upcast and quickly loses its luster from <span style="color: red"><strong>Lv. 5 onwards</strong></span>.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: darkviolet"><strong>Ceremony</strong></span> <strong>(XGTE)</strong>: <em>1 hour; V,S,M*</em>. NPC-ish, corner-case utility spell you'll only prepare when the occasion arises. Even then, the Cleric does it better since they can cast it as a ritual.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: darkviolet"><strong>Detect Magic</strong></span>: <em>1 action; V,S; Concentration</em>. At least this one isn't redundant with Divine Sense, but still, there's better use of your preparations.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: darkviolet"><strong>Detect Poison and Disease</strong></span>: <em>1 action; V,S,M; Concentration</em>. Meh. Might be used in uncharted wilderness or swamplands, or something, but again, your use of this is sporadic at best.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: red"><strong>Detect Evil and Good</strong></span>: <em>1 action; V,S; Concentration</em>. No reason to ever prepare this one when you have Divine Sense.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: red"><strong>Searing Smite</strong></span>: <em>1 bonus action; V; Concentration</em>. This smite spell should never see the light of day in your arsenal. The effect is nothing else other than damage, it’s strictly worse at that than Thunderous Smite with a 1st-level slot, and even if you upcast it, the damage doesn’t even come close to matching a same-level Divine Smite even if the enemy fails the first save for the ongoing damage.</p><p></p><p></p><p><em>Devotion Oath Spells</em></p><p></p><p><span style="color: deepskyblue"><strong>Sanctuary</strong></span>: <em>1 bonus action; V,S,M</em>. A terrific protection spell to always have on tap; indeed one of the best. Especially since it’s a bonus action with no concentration required. Break this out if you need to protect an ally in danger and buy them a round to heal up, or even to cast an important spell (there’s plenty that don’t involve directly affecting an enemy). Also useful if you need to shield a non-combatant from harm.</p><p></p><p><strong>Protection from Evil and Good</strong> is already on the Paladin list. You always have it prepared, being an Oath spell, so you might be expected to pitch in on castings of this.</p><p></p><p></p><p><em>Ancients Oath Spells</em></p><p></p><p><span style="color: blue"><strong>Ensnaring Strike</strong></span>: <em>1 bonus action; V; Concentration</em>. A solid "smite" spell when used against anything smaller than Large (and can be used at range as well!). Restraining means halted movement and, perhaps even more important, advantage on attacks against the target. Only allows a Strength save, so feel free to use this on a Roguish-type. They also take more damage round-to-round automatically while restrained and must blow their action to make a Strength check (NOT a save, so no proficiency bonus!) to escape.</p><p></p><p><strong>Speak with Animals</strong>: <em>1 action; V,S</em>. Allows you to do what its name says. When you need it, it's there.</p><p></p><p></p><p><em>Vengeance Oath Spells</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Bane</strong>: <em>1 action; V,S,M; Concentration</em>. Pretty much the flip-side of Bless, letting you penalize enemy attack rolls and saves by an average of 2.5. Affects up to three enemies with a first-level slot, more if you upcast. Unlike Bless, this requires the enemy failing a save to work, so you’d only really want to cast this if you’re allied with a Cleric who already cast Bless. But cast alongside an ally’s Bless, this can flip the balance of a fight pretty strongly.</p><p></p><p><strong>Hunter's Mark</strong>: <em>1 bonus action; V; Concentration</em>. Congratulations, you get to steal the Ranger’s staple DPR-boosting spell. Its 1d6 extra damage on all weapon hits is an upgrade over <em>Divine Favor</em> at first glance. But before you brag too loudly about this, there’s a few things you need to consider:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">You have to use a bonus action to designate a new target every time after your current one dies. <span style="color: darkviolet"><strong>Do you already use your bonus actions plenty</strong></span> for things that have a direct impact on your DPR? (Shield Master shove, off-hand attack, Polearm Master attack, Great Weapon Master killing blows, etc.). Then <em>Divine Favor</em> is better for you, particularly in <span style="color: darkviolet"><strong>horde battles</strong></span>.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">You have to hit 3 times with this spell active to exceed what a 1st-level Divine Smite will contribute. Which can take 4 or even 5 rounds to do at earlier levels. That’s somewhat better than <em>Divine Favor</em>, sure, but still pretty inefficient <span style="color: darkviolet"><strong>vs. stronger targets, especially at Lv. 1-4</strong></span>.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Perhaps the greatest selling point is the 1 hour duration (and much longer if upcast), versus the 10-round duration of <em>Divine Favor</em>. But unless you can get your CON saves for Concentration into auto-save territory vs. DC 10, at least, you can’t count on maintaining it nearly that long, especially since you’re a melee-focused class. And that's not going to happen <span style="color: darkviolet"><strong>before Lv. 6</strong></span>. <span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>From Lv. 6 on with Resilient (CON)</strong></span>, and with Aura of Protection in play, this spell has a much better chance of being the long-term DPR boost it can be in theory.</li> </ul><p></p><p></p><p><em>Crown Oath Spells</em></p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: deepskyblue">Command</span></strong> and <strong>Compelled Duel</strong> are both already on the Paladin list.</p><p></p><p></p><p><em>Conquest Oath Spells</em></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Armor of Agathys</strong></span>: <em>1 action; V,S,M</em>. Some temp HPs and automatic cold damage against an enemy who hits you in melee. Scales nicely with higher slots, too.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: deepskyblue"><strong>Command</strong></span> is already on the Paladin list.</p><p></p><p></p><p><em>Redemption Oath Spells</em></p><p></p><p><span style="color: deepskyblue"><strong>Sanctuary</strong></span>: <em>1 bonus action; V,S,M</em>. Just as with Devotion, a quality defensive spell.</p><p></p><p><strong>Sleep</strong>: <em>1 action; V,S,M</em>. You’ll get a couple levels of good use out of this one. Mostly useless <span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>past</strong></span> <span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Lv. 5</strong></span> or so, but it’ll always be great against <span style="color: deepskyblue"><strong>low-level hordes</strong></span>.</p><p></p><p></p><p><em>Oathbreaker Spells</em></p><p></p><p><span style="color: darkviolet"><strong>Hellish Rebuke</strong></span>: <em>1 reaction; V,S</em>. A little bit of fire damage in retaliation to getting hurt out to 60 feet. Overall, typically not worth the spell slot, and depending on your DM there may be logistical concerns casting this fully armed and shielded.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: red"><strong>Inflict Wounds</strong></span>: <em>1 action; V,S</em>. A waste for you. A normal attack plus just a 1st-level Divine Smite is going to do more damage every time.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Gladius Legis, post: 6779086, member: 68748"] [SIZE=5][B]VI. Spells[/B][/SIZE] You are a class that prepares spells and has access to the whole list when you do prepare them, same as the Cleric, which gives you some degree of versatility and flexibility day to day. But with that said, it helps to know the best options so you can keep the mornings you prepare a new slate of spells to a minimum. The number of spells you can prepare equals half your paladin level + CHA, which most of the time roughly works out between two and three spells per spell level, assuming you're equal between spell levels (that part may vary). For your convenience, spells will have their components listed, along with their action type (action, reaction, bonus action) and if they require Concentration. An "M" with an asterisk (*) means that the material component has a cost and/or is consumed by the spell, which means you can't use your holy symbol to cast it. [B]Lv. 1 Spells (Paladin Lv. 2)[/B] [COLOR=goldenrod][B]Bless[/B][/COLOR]: [I]1 action; V,S,M; Concentration[/I]. Keep prepared at all times. The +1d4 (average +2.5 bonus) to all attack rolls and saving throws makes this THE top-priority party-wide buffing spell for perhaps your entire career. Especially important if you’re the only divine caster in the party, but even if there is a Cleric around, keeping this prepared frees up the Cleric’s Concentration options (and vice versa; a Cleric with Bless opens up your options). Also interesting to note that if you Bless yourself, this spell is easier than others to make Concentration checks for, thanks to the saves buff. For the most efficient use of your actions, cast in a round before you anticipate combat, or in a round when you couldn’t make a melee attack, anyway. [COLOR=deepskyblue][B]Command[/B][/COLOR]: [I]1 action; V[/I]. A WIS-save spell that can result in a lovely barrage of OAs if you and your melee allies surround it on casting and you command it to flee. Otherwise, you can make the enemy waste its turn, amounting to a soft stun of sorts. Has some targeting limitations (ineffective vs. undead, those who don’t understand your language), but this will work in more than enough battles that you will want it prepared the vast majority of the time. If you’re [COLOR=red][B]Oath of the Crown[/B][/COLOR], this is an Oath spell, so prepare something else. [COLOR=deepskyblue][B]Wrathful Smite[/B][/COLOR]: [I]1 bonus action; V; Concentration[/I]. 1d6 extra psychic damage, and the far more vital detail of making the enemy frightened of you if it fails a WIS save. Frightened means disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks, which is very potent. But the best part comes when it tries to end the spell early; you make the enemy waste an action to do so, and they have to make a WIS CHECK (NOT a save) to end it. Why is that a huge distinction? Because (a) even if they’re proficient in WIS saves, they can’t add their proficiency bonus, and (b) being frightened, they have disadvantage on the check to end it! This smite spell really takes a huge bite out of any physical attacker that isn’t immune to fear. The only knock against this spell is that the damage can’t scale with upcasting, but compared to how strong the effect is, who cares? For [COLOR=goldenrod][B]Oath of Conquest at Lv. 7+[/B][/COLOR], this becomes mandatory, and your bread-and-butter when putting your Aura of Conquest to use on a single enemy. [COLOR=blue][B]Heroism[/B][/COLOR]: [I]1 action; V,S; Concentration[/I]. Free temporary hit points every round and immunity to fear! Bless is still higher priority, but if a Cleric has that taken care of this one’s quite nice for the first nine levels of play, in particular (it tapers off [COLOR=darkviolet][B]Lv. 10 and beyond[/B][/COLOR] once you get Aura of Courage and 3rd-level spells). Other than you, only the Bard has this one on its list. [B]Compelled Duel[/B]: [I]1 bonus action; V; Concentration[/I]. If you're familiar with the 4e Paladin, this is pretty much the analog to that Paladin's Divine Challenge, except without the radiant zap. This one requires a WIS save, but also makes the enemy attack everyone except you at disadvantage, typically a stronger penalty than the 4e mark was. It also keeps the enemy from escaping you unless it makes a WIS save. Decent one to keep on reserve against a boss. If you’re [COLOR=red][B]Crown[/B][/COLOR], this is an Oath spell, so prepare something else. [B]Cure Wounds[/B]: [I]1 action; V,S[/I]. Your classic D&D healing spell, scalable with higher spell slots. It’s not a bad idea to keep this prepared [COLOR=blue][B]early[/B][/COLOR], but it’s quickly outclassed by the time you get [COLOR=darkviolet][B]3rd-level spells[/B][/COLOR]. [B]Divine Favor[/B]: [I]1 bonus action; V,S; Concentration[/I]. This damage buff of 1d4 extra radiant damage on all weapon hits varies wildly in its utility. Ranged weapons benefit, making it worthwhile if you’re [COLOR=#0000ff][B]forced into a ranged battle[/B][/COLOR]. And [COLOR=#0000ff][B]against hordes of CR 1/4 and 1/2 creatures[/B][/COLOR], the extra damage from this can mean the difference between a living and a dead mook. However, [COLOR=darkviolet][B]against stronger enemies in melee, especially at earlier levels[/B][/COLOR], using this can be a trap. Keep in mind that a 1st-level Divine Smite adds hit-confirmable 2d8 damage (average 9). You would need to hit with this spell active [I]4 times[/I] before you surpass the damage of a 1st-level Smite. If you’re hitting at a bog-standard 65% rate, it could be [I]6 rounds[/I] before you hit 4 times, and by that point the battle could either be over or you lose your concentration. [B]tl;dr version[/B]: This is a decent spell to keep prepared, but knowing when it’s an optimal or efficient spell to cast is important. [B]Protection from Evil and Good[/B]: [I]1 action; V,S,M*; Concentration[/I]. This spell is on most full spellcasters' class lists, so while it is indeed good when anticipating fights against the listed enemies, it's probably best to leave this one to the full casters, so you can save your preparations for more offensive output. [COLOR=red][B]Devotion Paladins[/B][/COLOR] don't need to prepare this one at all, since it's on their Oath list. [B]Purify Food and Drink[/B]: [I]1 action; V,S[/I]. A good utility spell to prepare for social and exploration settings. [B]Shield of Faith[/B]: [I]1 bonus action; V,S,M; Concentration[/I]. +2 to AC is pretty decent, and it greatly helps that this is cast as a bonus action. Note you can cast this on yourself instead of an ally if you need to. A fair defensive pick if you're not the one needing to concentrate on Bless. [B]Thunderous Smite[/B]: [I]1 bonus action; V; Concentration[/I]. Quite good from [COLOR=blue][B]Lv. 1-4[/B][/COLOR]. 2d6 extra thunder damage (nearly as strong as a Divine Smite for the same level) with push and prone as a nice little bonus. Stack a Divine Smite on top of this for a strong nova at early levels. Unfortunately, this spell does not do any more damage when upcast and quickly loses its luster from [COLOR=red][B]Lv. 5 onwards[/B][/COLOR]. [COLOR=darkviolet][B]Ceremony[/B][/COLOR] [B](XGTE)[/B]: [I]1 hour; V,S,M*[/I]. NPC-ish, corner-case utility spell you'll only prepare when the occasion arises. Even then, the Cleric does it better since they can cast it as a ritual. [COLOR=darkviolet][B]Detect Magic[/B][/COLOR]: [I]1 action; V,S; Concentration[/I]. At least this one isn't redundant with Divine Sense, but still, there's better use of your preparations. [COLOR=darkviolet][B]Detect Poison and Disease[/B][/COLOR]: [I]1 action; V,S,M; Concentration[/I]. Meh. Might be used in uncharted wilderness or swamplands, or something, but again, your use of this is sporadic at best. [COLOR=red][B]Detect Evil and Good[/B][/COLOR]: [I]1 action; V,S; Concentration[/I]. No reason to ever prepare this one when you have Divine Sense. [COLOR=red][B]Searing Smite[/B][/COLOR]: [I]1 bonus action; V; Concentration[/I]. This smite spell should never see the light of day in your arsenal. The effect is nothing else other than damage, it’s strictly worse at that than Thunderous Smite with a 1st-level slot, and even if you upcast it, the damage doesn’t even come close to matching a same-level Divine Smite even if the enemy fails the first save for the ongoing damage. [I]Devotion Oath Spells[/I] [COLOR=deepskyblue][B]Sanctuary[/B][/COLOR]: [I]1 bonus action; V,S,M[/I]. A terrific protection spell to always have on tap; indeed one of the best. Especially since it’s a bonus action with no concentration required. Break this out if you need to protect an ally in danger and buy them a round to heal up, or even to cast an important spell (there’s plenty that don’t involve directly affecting an enemy). Also useful if you need to shield a non-combatant from harm. [B]Protection from Evil and Good[/B] is already on the Paladin list. You always have it prepared, being an Oath spell, so you might be expected to pitch in on castings of this. [I]Ancients Oath Spells[/I] [COLOR=blue][B]Ensnaring Strike[/B][/COLOR]: [I]1 bonus action; V; Concentration[/I]. A solid "smite" spell when used against anything smaller than Large (and can be used at range as well!). Restraining means halted movement and, perhaps even more important, advantage on attacks against the target. Only allows a Strength save, so feel free to use this on a Roguish-type. They also take more damage round-to-round automatically while restrained and must blow their action to make a Strength check (NOT a save, so no proficiency bonus!) to escape. [B]Speak with Animals[/B]: [I]1 action; V,S[/I]. Allows you to do what its name says. When you need it, it's there. [I]Vengeance Oath Spells[/I] [B]Bane[/B]: [I]1 action; V,S,M; Concentration[/I]. Pretty much the flip-side of Bless, letting you penalize enemy attack rolls and saves by an average of 2.5. Affects up to three enemies with a first-level slot, more if you upcast. Unlike Bless, this requires the enemy failing a save to work, so you’d only really want to cast this if you’re allied with a Cleric who already cast Bless. But cast alongside an ally’s Bless, this can flip the balance of a fight pretty strongly. [B]Hunter's Mark[/B]: [I]1 bonus action; V; Concentration[/I]. Congratulations, you get to steal the Ranger’s staple DPR-boosting spell. Its 1d6 extra damage on all weapon hits is an upgrade over [I]Divine Favor[/I] at first glance. But before you brag too loudly about this, there’s a few things you need to consider: [LIST] [*]You have to use a bonus action to designate a new target every time after your current one dies. [COLOR=darkviolet][B]Do you already use your bonus actions plenty[/B][/COLOR] for things that have a direct impact on your DPR? (Shield Master shove, off-hand attack, Polearm Master attack, Great Weapon Master killing blows, etc.). Then [I]Divine Favor[/I] is better for you, particularly in [COLOR=darkviolet][B]horde battles[/B][/COLOR]. [*]You have to hit 3 times with this spell active to exceed what a 1st-level Divine Smite will contribute. Which can take 4 or even 5 rounds to do at earlier levels. That’s somewhat better than [I]Divine Favor[/I], sure, but still pretty inefficient [COLOR=darkviolet][B]vs. stronger targets, especially at Lv. 1-4[/B][/COLOR]. [*]Perhaps the greatest selling point is the 1 hour duration (and much longer if upcast), versus the 10-round duration of [I]Divine Favor[/I]. But unless you can get your CON saves for Concentration into auto-save territory vs. DC 10, at least, you can’t count on maintaining it nearly that long, especially since you’re a melee-focused class. And that's not going to happen [COLOR=darkviolet][B]before Lv. 6[/B][/COLOR]. [COLOR=#0000ff][B]From Lv. 6 on with Resilient (CON)[/B][/COLOR], and with Aura of Protection in play, this spell has a much better chance of being the long-term DPR boost it can be in theory. [/LIST] [I]Crown Oath Spells[/I] [B][COLOR=deepskyblue]Command[/COLOR][/B] and [B]Compelled Duel[/B] are both already on the Paladin list. [I]Conquest Oath Spells[/I] [COLOR=#0000ff][B]Armor of Agathys[/B][/COLOR]: [I]1 action; V,S,M[/I]. Some temp HPs and automatic cold damage against an enemy who hits you in melee. Scales nicely with higher slots, too. [COLOR=deepskyblue][B]Command[/B][/COLOR] is already on the Paladin list. [I]Redemption Oath Spells[/I] [COLOR=deepskyblue][B]Sanctuary[/B][/COLOR]: [I]1 bonus action; V,S,M[/I]. Just as with Devotion, a quality defensive spell. [B]Sleep[/B]: [I]1 action; V,S,M[/I]. You’ll get a couple levels of good use out of this one. Mostly useless [COLOR=#ff0000][B]past[/B][/COLOR] [COLOR=#ff0000][B]Lv. 5[/B][/COLOR] or so, but it’ll always be great against [COLOR=deepskyblue][B]low-level hordes[/B][/COLOR]. [I]Oathbreaker Spells[/I] [COLOR=darkviolet][B]Hellish Rebuke[/B][/COLOR]: [I]1 reaction; V,S[/I]. A little bit of fire damage in retaliation to getting hurt out to 60 feet. Overall, typically not worth the spell slot, and depending on your DM there may be logistical concerns casting this fully armed and shielded. [COLOR=red][B]Inflict Wounds[/B][/COLOR]: [I]1 action; V,S[/I]. A waste for you. A normal attack plus just a 1st-level Divine Smite is going to do more damage every time. [/QUOTE]
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[GUIDE] My Word Is My Sword: The Paladin Guide
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