Introduction
A Paladin's spell slots aren't just spell slots. They're also Divine Smite fuel, and every slot a Paladin prepares a spell into is a slot that can't turn a confirmed hit into 2d8 to 5d8 of extra radiant damage. That single fact separates a "best Paladin spells" guide from a school-wide ranking like evocation or abjuration. A wizard with a full spell list is asking "what's the strongest option available." A Paladin is asking "is this spell worth more than the smite I'd give up to hold it."
The Paladin is a half-caster: spellcasting doesn't start until 2nd level, and slots cap at 5th level even at character level 20. There's no 6th-, 7th-, 8th-, or 9th-level Paladin spell, full stop. That ceiling shapes the whole list toward direct, immediate combat value: buffs that pay off this fight, control spells that stop one specific problem, and a family of "smite" spells that layer a rider effect on top of the weapon attack you were making anyway. Utility spells exist on the list, but they compete against the same slot pool as everything else, so the bar for a Paladin utility pick is higher than it is for a Wizard or Cleric who has slots to spare.
Paladins also prepare from the entire class list rather than knowing a fixed handful of spells, the same way Clerics and Druids do. You choose your prepared spells after each long rest, equal to your Charisma modifier plus half your Paladin level (rounded down, minimum one). On top of that prepared list, your Sacred Oath grants Oath spells at 3rd level and every odd level after, and those are always prepared for free. They don't touch your prepared-spell total, and you never have to think about swapping them out. Practically, that means your Oath does a meaningful share of your spell-selection work before you've picked a single spell yourself.
This guide ranks every spell on the 2014 Player's Handbook Paladin list, organized by level, with a separate section on what the Oath spells add and how to build a shortlist around your specific archetype. For feat choices that pair with this spell list, see Best Feats for Paladin; War Caster in particular exists to keep the concentration spells on this list (Bless above all) alive through a hit.
Hot Take: Crusader's Mantle is the most underrated spell on the Paladin list. It adds zero smite damage and most optimization guides skip past it for that reason, but a 3rd-level slot that gives every melee ally in your party +1d4 radiant on every hit, for the whole fight, routinely outdamages spending that same slot on a single 4d8 smite. In a four-person party swinging two or three attacks each per round, the math isn't close.

Rating Legend
- ● Red: Bad. Skip it in almost every build.
- ● Orange: Situational. Correct for a specific campaign, party composition, or build.
- ● Green: Good. Reliably worth a prepared slot.
- ● Blue: Fantastic. Prepare it in almost every build that has room.
How Paladin Spell Preparation Actually Works
Paladin spellcasting starts at 2nd level with two 1st-level slots and doesn't add a second spell level until 5th level. From there, slots grow slowly: two more 1st-level slots by 9th level, a first 2nd-level slot at 5th, a first 3rd-level slot at 9th, a first 4th-level slot at 13th, and a first 5th-level slot at 17th. By 20th level, the total is 4 slots of 1st, 3 of 2nd, 3 of 3rd, 3 of 4th, and 2 of 5th. That's noticeably fewer slots, at a noticeably lower level cap, than a full caster gets at the same character level. A 20th-level Wizard is casting 9th-level spells with a much deeper slot pool; a 20th-level Paladin is still working with a 5th-level ceiling.
That slow, low ceiling is the entire reason a class-specific spell guide exists separately from a school-wide one. A "best evocation spells" list can afford to rank Meteor Swarm at the top because a Wizard eventually has the slots to cast it without sacrificing anything else. A Paladin never gets there, and every slot below 5th level is doing double duty as smite fuel. The practical result: this list skews hard toward 1st- and 2nd-level spells, because those are the slots you're using constantly, and away from marginal utility picks that only pay off once per adventuring day.
Two more mechanical points matter before the level-by-level breakdown:
Preparation, not knowing. A Paladin prepares spells from the entire class list rather than learning a fixed handful the way a Sorcerer or Warlock does. You choose your prepared spells after a long rest, and you can swap the list entirely between long rests if your situation changes (heavy fiend campaign this week, need Protection from Evil and Good; nobody's casting spells at you this week, skip it). This flexibility is a meaningful advantage over a known-spells caster, but it also means you're making the same tradeoff every single day: how many of your limited prepared slots go to situational tools versus always-useful combat spells.
Oath spells are free. Starting at 3rd level, your Sacred Oath grants two spells that are always prepared and don't count against your prepared total. You get two more at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th level, for ten Oath spells total by max level. Because these are free, they're the single biggest lever on what your effective spell list looks like. An Oath of the Ancients Paladin gets Misty Step at no preparation cost, while an Oath of Devotion Paladin doesn't. See the Oath spells section below for the full breakdown by Oath.
Best 1st-Level Paladin Spells
The 1st-level slot pool is where you'll spend the most time, especially before level 5. It's also where the tension between "cast a spell" and "smite instead" is sharpest, because a 1st-level Divine Smite (2d8, average 9) is decent but not overwhelming damage, and that's exactly why Bless usually wins that argument.
Bless — ●
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Level | 1st |
| Casting Time | 1 action |
| Range | 30 feet |
| Duration | Concentration, up to 1 minute |
| Concentration | Yes |
| Components | V, S, M |
Bless adds 1d4 to attack rolls and saving throws for up to three creatures of your choice within range, for the duration. Cast it before the fight starts, or on your first turn, and it keeps paying off every round it's up. Across a five-round combat with three affected creatures each attacking twice, Bless adds far more expected damage than a single smite ever could from the same 1st-level slot, and it also raises save odds against every control effect the enemy throws out. The only cost is concentration, which is why War Caster is such a natural pairing for a Paladin who wants to keep Bless alive through incoming hits.
Shield of Faith — ●
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Level | 1st |
| Casting Time | 1 bonus action |
| Range | 60 feet |
| Duration | Concentration, up to 10 minutes |
| Concentration | Yes |
| Components | V, S, M |
+2 AC to one creature, cast as a bonus action so it doesn't cost your Attack action, with a generous 10-minute duration if you cast it before the fight starts. Against a boss with a middling to-hit bonus, +2 AC can turn several hits into misses over a long fight. It competes with Bless for your concentration, and Bless is usually the better single pick when you can only run one, but Shield of Faith earns its own slot in any build that also has a squishier ally (a caster, a rogue) worth protecting on a turn when you're not the target.
Wrathful Smite, Thunderous Smite, Searing Smite — ●
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Level | 1st |
| Casting Time | 1 bonus action |
| Range | Self |
| Duration | Concentration, up to 1 minute (Wrathful and Thunderous); instantaneous (Searing) |
| Concentration | Varies |
| Components | V |
These three spells are a family: cast as a bonus action before your attack, and the effect triggers automatically the next time you hit with a melee weapon attack in the same turn. Wrathful Smite adds 1d6 psychic damage and frightens the target on a failed Wisdom save (Frightened is one of the most useful conditions in the game to inflict on a melee brute). Thunderous Smite adds 2d6 thunder damage and can push the target 10 feet and knock it prone on a failed Strength save. Searing Smite adds 1d6 fire damage and sets the target ablaze for 1d6 fire damage at the start of each of its turns until it makes a successful Constitution save, and unlike the other two, it doesn't require concentration.
All three compete directly with Divine Smite for the same "hit lands, add damage" moment, and none of them out-damage a straight Divine Smite of the same slot level on raw numbers. Their value is the rider: a frightened, prone, or burning target is worth more than raw damage in specific situations (frightened stops a melee brute from reaching your squishier allies; prone gives your whole party advantage on melee follow-up attacks). Wrathful Smite is the strongest of the three because Frightened is the most disruptive of the three conditions and doesn't require ongoing damage to matter.
Command — ●
One-word command (Drop, Flee, Grovel, Halt) to a creature within 60 feet; Wisdom save or it obeys on its turn. Approach is the most reliably useful word against a melee enemy positioned somewhere inconvenient, and Drop forces a weapon out of an enemy's hand for a full round. Weak against anything immune to being charmed or with a low CR-appropriate Wisdom save, but a cheap, no-concentration control option that doesn't compete with Bless for your concentration slot.
Heroism — ●
Temporary HP equal to your spellcasting modifier at the start of each of the target's turns for the duration, and the target can't be frightened while the spell lasts. Good on a squishier front-liner or on yourself before a fight you expect to include fear effects, but it only affects one creature and competes with Bless for the same slot on a support-focused turn.
Divine Favor — ●
+1d4 radiant damage on weapon attacks for the concentration duration, self-only. It sounds like a smite-adjacent pick, but it competes with Bless for your concentration and only benefits your own attacks rather than the whole party's. Skip it in any build where you'd otherwise cast Bless.
Protection from Evil and Good — ●
Disadvantage on attacks against the target from aberrations, celestials, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead, plus immunity to being charmed, frightened, or possessed by those same creature types. Excellent in a campaign built around those enemy types, close to dead weight otherwise. Worth prepping the night before a known fiend or undead-heavy encounter, not as a default pick.
Cure Wounds — ●
Solid single-target healing, but Lay on Hands does the same job for free and without touching your spell slots, and the action-economy cost of casting a spell instead of attacking matters for a martial class. Prepare it as a backup when Lay on Hands is depleted, not as a primary healing tool.
Detect Evil and Good, Detect Magic, Detect Poison and Disease, Purify Food and Drink — ●
All four are ritual-castable, which means you can cast them without spending a slot at all as long as you have 10 minutes to spare, so the cost of "preparing" them is nearly zero. None belong on a combat-focused prepared list, but any of them is worth prepping for a session you know involves investigation, a suspicious NPC, or dungeon exploration where detecting traps and curses matters.
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Start BuildingBest 2nd-Level Paladin Spells
By the time you reach 5th level and unlock 2nd-level slots, you have Extra Attack and Divine Smite is scaling to 3d8 per slot. The 2nd-level tier is where the class's most iconic non-Bless pick shows up.
Find Steed — ●
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Level | 2nd |
| Casting Time | 10 minutes |
| Range | 30 feet |
| Duration | Instantaneous |
| Concentration | No |
| Components | V, S |
Summons a spirit in the form of a warhorse, pony, camel, elk, or mastiff, bonded to you, which you can telepathically communicate with and which returns after being reduced to 0 HP rather than dying permanently. No concentration, and once summoned it stays until dismissed or killed, so this is a one-time 10-minute cast rather than an ongoing slot investment. A mounted Paladin gains meaningful mobility (most steeds have a 60-foot speed or better), and the steed can carry gear or fight alongside you. The 10-minute cast time means you plan around it rather than pulling it out mid-combat, but the actual slot cost is trivial for what it delivers.
Aid — ●
Increases max HP and current HP by 5 for up to three creatures, for 8 hours, no concentration. This is a pre-combat buff, not a reactive one: cast it before a dungeon crawl or a known fight and it holds for the whole session. Not exciting, but efficient, durable, and it stacks with every other HP-boosting effect the party has.
Zone of Truth — ●
15-foot-radius zone; any creature that enters or starts its turn there and hears you must succeed a Charisma save or be unable to speak a deliberate lie for the duration. Not a combat spell, but strong in any campaign with interrogation, negotiation, or courtroom scenes, and it fits the Paladin's frequent role as the party's moral authority and face character.
Branding Smite — ●
Same bonus-action-before-attack structure as the 1st-level smite spells: 2d6 radiant damage on your next hit, the target sheds dim light in a 5-foot radius, and (the actual reason to prepare this over a straight Divine Smite) it removes invisibility from the target for the duration. Against an invisible enemy your party can't otherwise pin down, this is close to mandatory; against a visible target, it's a worse Divine Smite.
Lesser Restoration — ●
Removes one disease or one condition from paralyzed, blinded, deafened, or poisoned. Not glamorous, but paralysis and blindness are exactly the conditions that end a party member's turn entirely, and a Paladin with this prepared is a full answer to both without spending a spell slot on Cleansing Touch (which doesn't unlock until 14th level anyway).
Magic Weapon — ●
+1 to attack and damage rolls on a nonmagical weapon, concentration, 1 hour. Useful specifically against enemies resistant to nonmagical weapons before your party has a magic weapon, and dead weight once anyone in the party has a +1 sword. A stopgap, not a long-term pick.
Locate Object, Protection from Poison — ●
Both are narrow-utility picks: Locate Object finds a specific known object or type of object within 1,000 feet, Protection from Poison cures one poison and grants advantage on poison saves plus resistance to poison damage for an hour. Prepare either the night before a session where you know it's relevant (a specific lost item, a poison-heavy dungeon), not as defaults.
Best 3rd-Level Paladin Spells
3rd-level slots don't arrive until 9th level, right around when Improved Divine Smite and higher-tier campaigns start rewarding sustained party buffs over single-target smites.
Crusader's Mantle — ●
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Level | 3rd |
| Casting Time | 1 action |
| Range | Self (30-foot radius) |
| Duration | Concentration, up to 1 minute |
| Concentration | Yes |
| Components | V |
Every weapon attack made by a friendly creature within 30 feet of you deals an extra 1d4 radiant damage, for the duration. See the Hot Take above: in a party of four martials each landing two attacks a round, that's up to 8d4 (average 20) extra radiant damage per round, sustained for up to ten rounds if you protect concentration. That total ceiling dwarfs what a single 3rd-level Divine Smite (4d8, average 18, one time) delivers. The catch is that it competes with Bless for concentration, and you can't run both at once, so pick based on whether your party needs the accuracy and save bonus (Bless) or the raw sustained damage (Crusader's Mantle) more in a given fight.
Revivify — ●
Returns a creature that died within the last minute to life with 1 HP, at the cost of diamonds worth 300gp that the spell consumes. This is the spell that turns "a party member just died" from a campaign-altering disaster into an expensive inconvenience, provided you can reach the body within the 1-minute window and you're carrying the material component. Any Paladin with a 3rd-level slot free should have the diamonds on hand at all times.
Dispel Magic — ●
Ends one spell on a target creature, object, or magical effect, with an ability check against the caster's spell save DC if it was cast by a higher-level slot than yours. Generic, always-useful utility against enemy buffs, ongoing debuffs on your party, and magical hazards. Every spellcasting class wants at least one copy of this on the prepared list.
Blinding Smite — ●
3d8 radiant damage on your next hit (a meaningful damage upgrade over the 1st- and 2nd-level smite spells), and the target must succeed a Constitution save or be blinded until the spell ends. A blinded creature attacks at disadvantage and grants advantage to everyone attacking it, which is a meaningful party-wide benefit on top of the smite damage itself, on a boss-tier target worth the investment.
Aura of Vitality — ●
Heals 2d6 to a creature within 30 feet as a bonus action on each of your turns for the duration, concentration required. The total healing over a full 1-minute duration adds up on paper, but it demands both concentration and a bonus action every single turn, which competes hard with everything else a Paladin wants to do with a bonus action (smite spells, Vow of Enmity, mounted attacks). Better in a defensive, sustained-fight build than an offensive one.
Spirit Shroud — ●
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Level | 3rd |
| Casting Time | 1 bonus action |
| Range | Self |
| Duration | Concentration, up to 1 minute |
| Concentration | Yes |
| Components | V, S |
A Tasha's Cauldron addition. Every weapon attack you land within 10 feet deals an extra 1d8 damage (radiant, necrotic, or cold, your choice on cast), and it slows enemies who start their turn nearby. It's a bonus action to cast, which puts it in direct competition with your smite spells and Crusader's Mantle for the same resource, and it eats your concentration slot on a class that already wants concentration free for Bless or Crusader's Mantle. Worth a look on a build leaning into sustained melee damage over burst smites.
Daylight, Elemental Weapon, Magic Circle, Remove Curse, Create Food and Water — ●
All five are situational utility. Daylight matters against darkness-dependent enemies (and counters magical darkness up to a 4th-level slot). Elemental Weapon is an upgrade over Magic Weapon but suffers the same "obsolete once you have a magic weapon" problem. Magic Circle only matters against the specific creature types it targets. Remove Curse is a dead slot except on the exact session a curse needs removing. Create Food and Water solves a logistics problem the party may never actually have. None belong on a default prepared list; all are worth a look the night before a session where you know the specific situation applies.
Best 4th-Level Paladin Spells
4th-level slots arrive at 13th level, the same tier where Aura of Protection, Aura of Courage, and Improved Divine Smite are all already online, so this tier is about closing out the fights those features helped you survive.
Banishment — ●
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Level | 4th |
| Casting Time | 1 action |
| Range | 60 feet |
| Duration | Concentration, up to 1 minute |
| Concentration | Yes |
| Components | V, S, M |
Charisma save or the target is banished to a harmless demiplane for the spell's duration (permanently, if the target isn't native to the current plane and the spell is maintained for the full minute). Removing the single most dangerous enemy in a fight for up to a minute, or permanently if they're an outsider, is one of the strongest single-target control effects available at this level to any class. It requires concentration and a failed save, but against the right target, this removes the encounter's biggest threat in one action.
Death Ward — ●
The next time the target would drop to 0 HP, it drops to 1 HP instead, once, for the 8-hour duration, no concentration required. Boss fights and any encounter with a save-or-die effect (a dragon's breath, a save-based instant-death spell) are exactly where this matters, and casting it pre-combat costs nothing but the slot since it doesn't demand concentration. Every Paladin build should have this ready before a known deadly fight.
Aura of Purity — ●
You and friendly creatures within 30 feet can't be diseased, have resistance to poison damage, and have advantage on saves against being poisoned, concentration, 10 minutes. A meaningful party-wide defensive buff against poison-heavy encounters, but it's concentration-locked and 10 minutes is short enough that you're often casting it right before the specific fight it matters for.
Aura of Life — ●
You and friendly creatures within 30 feet have resistance to necrotic damage and can't have their max HP reduced. If a creature in the aura drops to 0 HP (but not from instant death), it drops to 1 instead. This overlaps with Death Ward's function but covers the whole party at range instead of a single target, at the cost of ongoing concentration rather than a one-time application.
Staggering Smite — ●
4d6 psychic damage on your next hit, and the target must succeed a Wisdom save or have disadvantage on attack rolls, be unable to take reactions, and have to roll to see if it can act at all on its next turn. A strong debuff-plus-damage smite against a single dangerous enemy, especially one that would otherwise get a reaction attack of opportunity against your party's retreat.
Locate Creature — ●
Senses the direction to a known creature or creature type within 1,000 feet. Useful for a specific hunt-down quest, dead weight otherwise.
Best 5th-Level Paladin Spells
5th-level slots don't come online until 17th level, the top of the Paladin's spell ceiling. Very few characters spend meaningful time at this tier, but the payoff for the ones that do is substantial.
Circle of Power — ●
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Level | 5th |
| Casting Time | 1 action |
| Range | Self (30-foot radius) |
| Duration | Concentration, up to 10 minutes |
| Concentration | Yes |
| Components | V |
Friendly creatures within 30 feet have advantage on saving throws against spells, and if such a creature succeeds a save against a spell that allows a save for half damage, it instead takes no damage at all. Against a spellcaster-heavy encounter, this is close to a full party shield: advantage on every save, plus a chance to take zero damage from failed saves that would normally still hurt. The 10-minute duration means you can cast it before an anticipated fight and keep it running through the whole encounter.
Banishing Smite — ●
5d10 temporary HP for you immediately, and your next melee hit within the concentration duration deals an extra 5d10 force damage; if that hit drops the target below 50 HP, it's banished for a minute (permanently if not native to the current plane). This is the single biggest burst-damage smite spell on the list, and the banishment clause on a low-HP boss can end a fight outright.
Geas — ●
Charms a creature into obeying a specific course of action for up to 30 days (Wisdom save negates); breaking the geas deals 5d10 psychic damage. Long-term narrative and tactical control that outlasts almost anything else on this list, and a strong tool against a captured enemy leader or a reluctant ally you need cooperation from.
Raise Dead — ●
Restores a creature dead no more than 10 days to life, provided its soul is free and willing, and the body is reasonably intact. This is Revivify's bigger sibling: where Revivify needs a 1-minute window, Raise Dead gives you 10 full days to get the body to a safe place and cast it, which covers almost every realistic "we couldn't reach the body in time" scenario a campaign will throw at a party.
Summon Celestial — ●
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Level | 5th |
| Casting Time | 1 action |
| Range | 90 feet |
| Duration | Concentration, up to 1 hour |
| Concentration | Yes |
| Components | V, S, M |
A Tasha's Cauldron addition shared with Clerics. Conjures a celestial spirit ally that shares your initiative, fights on your command, and heals nearby allies; its stat block scales with the slot spent. A reasonable pick when you want a standing extra combatant instead of another burst effect, but it competes directly with Circle of Power and Banishing Smite for the same slot on most builds.
Dispel Evil and Good — ●
Breaks charm, frighten, or possession effects on you from a specific creature type, and can force one such creature to make a save or be unable to approach or attack you. Strong against the exact creature types it covers, irrelevant otherwise. A prep-the-night-before pick for a known fight against celestials, elementals, fey, fiends, or undead.
Oath Spells: The Half of Your List You Don't Choose
Your Sacred Oath grants two Oath spells at 3rd level and two more at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th, for ten total by max level. These are always prepared, don't count against your prepared-spell total, and this is where a huge share of a Paladin's effective spell access actually comes from. An Oath of Vengeance Paladin gets Misty Step, Haste, and Banishment for free, on top of whatever you choose to prepare from the general list above. That's a materially different effective spell list from an Oath of Devotion Paladin, who instead gets Protection from Evil and Good, Sanctuary, Zone of Truth, and Flame Strike for free.
The full breakdown for every Sacred Oath, PHB through Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, lives in the Paladin class guide's Subclasses section. The short version for spell-selection purposes: Oath of Vengeance and Oath of the Ancients both grant Misty Step, solving the Paladin's biggest structural weakness (no innate mobility) for free. Oath of Conquest grants Armor of Agathys, excellent frontline durability at every level. Oath of Redemption grants Counterspell and Hypnotic Pattern, unusually strong non-Paladin-flavored picks. Whichever Oath you choose, check its granted list before deciding what to prepare from the general list above; there's little reason to prepare a spell your Oath already gives you for free, and that freed-up prepared slot should go to whatever your Oath doesn't cover.
Spell Priority By Archetype
The offensive smite-focused Paladin (Vengeance, Conquest, most Half-Elf or Dragonborn STR builds): Bless first, always. Then Wrathful Smite or Branding Smite for the rider effects, Crusader's Mantle once available for the sustained party damage that competes with your own smites less than you'd expect, and Banishing Smite at 17th level as the finisher. Keep utility picks (Zone of Truth, Locate Object) to a minimum; every prepared slot not spent on combat is a slot you're not smiting or buffing with.
The defensive support Paladin (Devotion, Redemption, high-CHA builds leaning on Aura of Protection): Bless remains the anchor, but add Aid and Aura of Life or Aura of Purity as they unlock, plus Death Ward before any known boss fight. Circle of Power at 17th is close to mandatory for this archetype specifically, since a defensive Paladin's whole job is making saving throws succeed for the party.
The mounted or mobile Paladin (Oath of the Ancients or Glory, cavalry-themed builds): Find Steed at 5th level is close to a must-take, especially paired with an Oath that already grants Misty Step for the moments you're not mounted. Thunderous Smite (the push-and-prone rider) synergizes well with a mounted charge, since knocking a target prone after riding it down keeps it from immediately closing distance again.
The Hexblade multiclass (Paladin 6 / Warlock X): Prepared-spell slots are scarcer relative to total resources in this build, since Warlock levels add short-rest smite fuel without adding Paladin spell slots. Prioritize Bless above everything else; it's cheap, and the smite-fuel problem is already solved by the Warlock side of the build, freeing the Paladin slots for buffs and utility rather than more smite spells.
Spells to Avoid
- Purify Food and Drink — Ritual-castable, so it never costs a slot at all if you have 10 minutes. Never worth using a prepared slot on when the ritual tag exists specifically to avoid that cost.
- Divine Favor — Self-only damage buff that competes with Bless for concentration and helps only your own attacks. Bless wins this comparison in every build that has three or more creatures worth buffing.
- Locate Object — Useful exactly once per campaign, when you're hunting a specific known item. Not worth a default prepared slot outside that scenario.
Verdict
Bless anchors this entire list; there is essentially no build where it isn't worth preparing. Beyond that, the priority shifts hard by level: 1st-level slots go to Bless and the smite-family spells for their rider effects, 2nd-level slots split between Find Steed's mobility and Aid's durability, 3rd-level slots weigh Crusader's Mantle's sustained party damage against Revivify's insurance value, and the 4th- and 5th-level tiers (which most tables never reach) reward the patient Paladin with Banishment, Death Ward, and Circle of Power. The core discipline of Paladin spell selection isn't finding the flashiest spell on the list, it's recognizing which of your scarce slots are actually competing against Divine Smite and choosing the ones that pay off more than a smite would have.
FAQ
What is the best 1st-level Paladin spell in D&D 5e 2014? Bless. For a single 1st-level slot and concentration, it adds 1d4 to attack rolls and saving throws for three creatures, which over a multi-round fight outperforms almost anything else a Paladin can do with that slot, including a smite.
Should a Paladin ever use a spell slot on Divine Smite instead of preparing spells? Every slot is shared between Divine Smite and prepared spells, so the question isn't whether to smite, it's when. Reserve 2nd- and 3rd-level slots for confirmed crits or must-kill targets, and spend 1st-level slots on Bless before combat rather than smiting with them, since a 1st-level smite (2d8) is the least efficient damage-per-slot tier in the class's own toolkit.
How many spells can a Paladin prepare in D&D 5e 2014? Charisma modifier plus half your Paladin level, rounded down, minimum one. At Paladin 5 with 16 CHA, that's 3 (CHA mod) + 2 (half of 5, rounded down) = 5 spells prepared, on top of the Oath spells your Sacred Oath grants for free.
Are Oath spells always prepared for a Paladin? Yes. Every Sacred Oath grants two spells at 3rd level and two more at each subsequent odd Paladin level through 17th, and all of them are always prepared, don't count against your prepared spell total, and don't need to be swapped in on a long rest.
What is the best Paladin spell for a Divine Smite-focused build? Wrathful Smite or Crusader's Mantle. Wrathful Smite adds a frightened condition on top of your normal smite bonus damage for the cost of a bonus action before the attack. Crusader's Mantle doesn't add smite damage at all, but it gives every martial in the party +1d4 radiant on every hit for the fight, which frequently beats what a single extra smite would have done.
Continue Exploring
For the full class breakdown (subclasses, ability scores, race and feat synergy, and level-by-level builds), see the D&D 5e Paladin Guide. For which feats to prioritize alongside these spells, see Best Feats for Paladin. Or return to the D&D 5e Class Guides hub to compare every class.
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