Paladin 5e: The Complete Class Guide

If you asked a D&D designer "what if we took a Fighter, added healing, added a little Cleric spellcasting, and gave it the ability to detonate every spell slot into extra weapon damage," you would get the 5e Paladin. And then you'd ask "is that not overpowered?" and the designer would say "yes, but we've made it okay."

The Paladin is, by most accounts, one of the two or three strongest classes in the game. In solo play, the Paladin is arguably the single best class you can pick. This guide covers why.

The Pitch

A Paladin is a Charisma-based martial-caster hybrid with the following core features:

• Divine Sense. Detect celestials, fiends, undead within 60 feet. Limited uses per day.
• Lay on Hands. A healing pool equal to 5 x Paladin level. Spend points from the pool to heal creatures (including yourself). Can also cure disease or neutralize poison at cost.
• Fighting Style at level 2. Same options as Fighter (mostly).
• Spellcasting at level 2. Half-caster progression. Charisma-based. Prepared.
• Divine Smite at level 2. When you hit with a melee weapon, expend a spell slot for bonus radiant damage. 2d8 for 1st level, +1d8 per slot level beyond. +1d8 if the target is a fiend or undead.
• Sacred Oath at level 3. Subclass. Adds features, extra spells, and Channel Divinity.
• Aura of Protection at level 6. You and allies within 10 feet get a bonus to saving throws equal to your Charisma modifier. This is arguably the strongest class feature in the entire game.
• Extra Attack at level 5.
• Aura of Courage at level 10. You and allies in the aura can't be frightened.

The combination of heavy armor, Divine Smite nova damage, Lay on Hands healing, spellcasting, and the game's best defensive aura makes Paladins strong everywhere.

Stat Priorities

1. Strength (primary). Your weapon attacks.
2. Charisma (co-primary). Your spells, Aura of Protection, Channel Divinity DCs.
3. Constitution. HP and concentration.
4. Dexterity can be low (14 max).
5. Wisdom and Intelligence can be 10 or lower.

A typical Paladin: STR 16, DEX 10, CON 14, INT 8, WIS 10, CHA 16. Heavy armor means Dex barely matters.

Divine Smite: The Card Trick

Divine Smite is when a Paladin goes from "steady damage" to "this fight is over."

On hit with a melee weapon, expend a spell slot. Deal bonus damage:

• 1st level slot: +2d8 radiant
• 2nd level slot: +3d8 radiant
• 3rd level slot: +4d8 radiant
• 4th level slot: +5d8 radiant
• 5th level slot: +5d8 radiant (cap)
• +1d8 against fiends and undead

A level 5 Paladin on a turn with Extra Attack: swing, hit, Divine Smite for 3d8 (2nd level slot). Swing, hit, Divine Smite for 2d8 (1st level slot). That's 5d8 extra damage on top of weapon damage. Critical hits double the smite dice, which is why Paladins pray for natural 20s.

When to Smite

• On crits. Doubled dice on the smite. Always.
• On a fight-ending blow. If smiting kills the enemy, the slot is "worth it" because you saved future rounds.
• When you might not hit again. If you're low HP and the next round might not happen, spend what you have.

When Not to Smite

• On minions that die to normal attacks anyway. Don't 3d8 a goblin with 5 HP remaining.
• When your party (or solo you) is far from a long rest and spell slots are precious.

Aura of Protection

At level 6, you and every ally within 10 feet of you adds your Charisma modifier to all saving throws.

If your Charisma is 20 (achievable at level 8 with ASIs), every save anyone in the aura makes gets +5. Every. Save.

This is game-changing. Fireball Dex save? +5. Hold Person Wis save? +5. Dominate Person Wis save? +5. Poison Con save? +5. You become the reason your party doesn't die to save-or-lose spells.

Solo Paladins benefit directly because the aura applies to you. You become phenomenally save-resistant.

Lay on Hands

At level 1, you get a pool of healing equal to 5 x Paladin level. You can spend any number of points from the pool as an action to heal a creature, restore HP in any increments.

At level 5, the pool is 25 HP. At level 10, 50. At level 20, 100.

You can also spend 5 points to cure a disease or neutralize a poison.

In solo play, Lay on Hands is fantastic emergency healing without consuming a spell slot. You can heal yourself for exactly the HP you need and save the rest for later.

Sacred Oath (Subclass)

Your Oath is chosen at level 3 and determines your Paladin's personality, powers, and spells.

The SRD Oath is Oath of Devotion.

Oath of Devotion

The "classic paladin." Virtuous. Lawful good leaning. Oath spells include Protection from Evil and Good, Sanctuary, Bless, and others.

Channel Divinity:

• Sacred Weapon. Add your Charisma modifier to attack rolls with a chosen weapon for 1 minute, and the weapon emits bright light. Big boost to hit chance.
• Turn the Unholy. Turn Undead equivalent that also affects fiends.

At level 7, Aura of Devotion adds charm immunity to you and allies in your aura. At level 15, Purity of Spirit grants you Protection from Evil and Good permanently. At level 20, Holy Nimbus: 10 rounds of bright light that damages nearby fiends and undead and gives you advantage on saves against their spells.

Devotion is the "I want to play a paladin" paladin. Strong in all situations.

Outside the SRD

Vengeance (damage focus), Ancients (resistance aura), Conquest (fear and tyranny), Redemption (pacifist), Glory (buffs), Watchers (anti-extraplanar). Each has flavor.

Devotion is solid. It won't let you down.

Paladin Spellcasting

Half-caster progression means you get your 1st-level slots at level 2 (slower spell access than full casters) but you have them all the way to 5th-level slots at high level. Spells prepared equals Charisma modifier + half your Paladin level.

The Paladin list is short but packed with goodies:

1st Level: Bless (every party's best buff), Shield of Faith, Compelled Duel, Cure Wounds, Heroism, Protection from Evil and Good, Searing Smite, Thunderous Smite.

2nd Level: Branding Smite, Find Steed (summon a horse), Lesser Restoration, Zone of Truth, Aid (great HP buff).

3rd Level: Aura of Vitality (heal 2d6 per bonus action for 10 rounds), Dispel Magic, Crusader's Mantle, Revivify.

4th Level: Aura of Life, Aura of Purity.

5th Level: Destructive Wave, Circle of Power.

Smite Spells

Searing Smite, Thunderous Smite, Wrathful Smite, Branding Smite, and the higher-level smite spells are bonus-action cast. Then, when you hit with a weapon attack, they trigger. They're concentration, so you only use one at a time. They stack with Divine Smite.

Wrathful Smite and Branding Smite in particular are great "open with this" tools. Wrathful Smite frightens the target on hit. Branding Smite prevents invisibility and grants damage.

Paladin in Solo Play

Paladin is S+ for solo play. The reasons:

1. Best-in-class defense. Heavy armor, shield, d10 HP, Aura of Protection save bonus.
2. Best-in-class self-healing. Lay on Hands + healing spells + Aura of Vitality at higher levels.
3. Burst damage. Divine Smite delivers ludicrous single-turn damage when needed.
4. Social capability. Charisma-based, so your Persuasion and Intimidation are excellent.
5. Utility. Cure disease, neutralize poison, resurrect allies. Most classes need to hoard consumable items for these. Paladins have them built in.

Weakness: lower spell slot count than full casters. You can't cast a new 3rd-level spell every round.

For more, see our classes ranked for solo play.

Leveling Path

• Level 1: Divine Sense, Lay on Hands.
• Level 2: Fighting Style, Spellcasting, Divine Smite.
• Level 3: Sacred Oath, Channel Divinity.
• Level 5: Extra Attack.
• Level 6: Aura of Protection.
• Level 10: Aura of Courage.
• Level 11: Improved Divine Smite (+1d8 radiant on every melee weapon hit, no slot spent).
• Level 14: Cleansing Touch (end spells on yourself or allies, Charisma uses per long rest).
• Level 18: Auras extend to 30 feet.
• Level 20: Oath capstone.

Common Paladin Mistakes

Dumping Charisma. Your save DCs, your aura, your social skills. Keep Charisma at 14+ minimum.

Holding onto smite slots. Don't hoard. Spend them. You recover on long rest. Damage done is damage done.

Forgetting Lay on Hands. It's a pool, not per-use. Budget it across the day. Even 5 points can revive an ally from 0 HP.

Not casting Bless. Bless is the single strongest level 1 spell in the game. +1d4 to attack rolls and saves for everyone in range for up to a minute. Use it.

Ignoring mount options. Find Steed summons a warhorse. You can fight mounted, move faster, and use the warhorse in combat. At level 10-ish, look into mount-based builds.

The Endlessness and the Paladin

Our AI Dungeon Master handles Paladin bookkeeping: Lay on Hands pool tracking, Divine Smite slot expenditure, Aura of Protection application to saves, Improved Divine Smite extra damage on every hit, Channel Divinity uses, spellcasting. When you say "I smite with a 3rd-level slot," the system rolls +4d8, applies radiant damage, and deducts the slot.

For more, see our combat rules guide, concentration rules, and action economy.

Final Verdict

Paladin is the best class in D&D if you want to be effective at everything. Melee damage, healing, spellcasting, social, defense. The Paladin delivers on every axis.

Start a Paladin on The Endlessness, pick Oath of Devotion, and smite the first fiend you meet. Keep smiting. It never stops being satisfying.