D&D 5E The power of smite

[Laurefindel]

Smites are good, but nothing compares to the power of love!

 

[FitzTheRuke]

the power of smite is efficiency, from an action economy point of view. How many spells can be cast with no action?

Yeah, Smites are fine, "Power"-wise. They're just a little too easy to use. By that, I mean, nearly all other powers have a chance that they'll be "wasted". One never wastes a Smite. In fact, one can make a Smite "perfect" (with a Crit) for maximum funsies.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

I think smite would be OK if you declared you were going to use it before you rolled (only spend if you hit) but being able to sit on it until you roll a 20 and then deciding whether or not you want to cash it seems out of line with other abilities classes have.

 

[Oofta]

I think smite would be OK if you declared you were going to use it before you rolled (only spend if you hit) but being able to sit on it until you roll a 20 and then deciding whether or not you want to cash it seems out of line with other abilities classes have.

A paladin has pretty limited spell slots, and many of their spells can be quite useful in their own right. I don't really see that big of a deal.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

A paladin has pretty limited spell slots, and many of their spells can be quite useful in their own right. I don't really see that big of a deal.

It’s an opportunity cost…

Some of those spells are nice/useful.

I think my pals were overly focused on my penchant for 20s…hehe

Last session we were up against a dragon and a fire giant and I said here is a 20! Right here! Rolled in the open

But my question was serious—I don’t think smite is “too good.” Fun yes, but not overpowered…I don’t think?

 

[Stormonu]

I like watching the smile drop from the Rogue's face when he gets to only sneak attack once a round, whereas my 5th+ level paladin is dropping smites 2-3 times a round (if using an off-hand weapon or shield bash ).

<Edit> Oooh. Paladin/Rogue (Arcane Trickster) ....hmm.

 

[Staffan]

I think there are two main issues with Divine Smite. One is the auto-hit, as per above. It also allows you to save your smites for crits when you'll get the most bang for your buck (although this doesn't seem to be an issue in D1D as crits only multiply weapon dice, not extra damage dice, assuming they stick to that bad idea).

The other is that it overshadows the smite spells (e.g. wrathful smite or thundering smite). Generally speaking, these take a bonus action to cast, last for a minute with concentration, and let your first attack that hits deal extra damage and do something cool. Thing is, this extra damage is generally much less than what an equal-level slot spent on Divine Smite would do, and I don't think giving up a bonus action, your concentration, and the damage differential (particularly given that you might miss, though if you do it keeps going for a minute unless you lose concentration), plus the opportunity cost of preparing the spell, is generally worth it for the "do something cool" part. For example, look at what a paladin can do with a level 1 slot:

1. 2d8 radiant damage, no questions asked (or 4d8 if you use it on a crit). Or 3d8 (6d8) vs an undead or fiend.
2. 2d6 thunder damage + Str save or knock target 10 ft back and prone.
3. 1d6 psychic damage + Wis save or make target frightened for the rest of the duration (requiring concentration) or until they spend an action and make a new save to gather courage.
4. 1d6 fire damage + set target on fire, which makes the target make a Con save or take another 1d6 fire damage at the start of each of its turns, breaking the effect on a successful save.

I think that if I wanted to nerf Divine Smite, I'd make it a spell along the lines of the other smite spells. If that turned out to be too heavy, I'd give paladins that as a prepared bonus spell. Or maybe give them them all for free. Or maybe tie that to their Oath?

 

[Bill Zebub]

There's nothing quite as satisfying as a smite crit on a Shadow or Shadow Demon.

 

[jgsugden]

Smite can be insanely powerful if you focus on getting the most out of it. I had a Paladin player in one game: Longtooth Shifter Vengeance Paladin 9, Fighter 2, Gloom Stalker 3, Favored Soul 6 (at retirement).

They started out as a vengeance paladin and at 2nd level could smite twice on a round of combat. At 5th level that was 3 times. After advancing to 9, it was 4 times when hasted. Then they took 2 levels of Fighter for Action Surge to raise it to 6. Then 3 levels of Gloom Stalker to make it 8 in the first round. Then they added sorcerer levels to allow them to gain more smiting and some good combat spells. They were very strong throughout on the alpha strike round in big combats. They took down some pretty big enemies with high damage in the first round due primarily to this guy getting in there.

 

[Oofta]

It’s an opportunity cost…

Some of those spells are nice/useful.

I think my pals were overly focused on my penchant for 20s…hehe

Last session we were up against a dragon and a fire giant and I said here is a 20! Right here! Rolled in the open

But my question was serious—I don’t think smite is “too good.” Fun yes, but not overpowered…I don’t think?

I don't think it is, people notice it because the spikes stand out but it seems to average out in the long run.

For numbers, I can only relay my experience from the Solasta video game which tracks damage per PC. In the game, the two weapon fighter generally does the most damage, paladins are second.