I don't think it's worth it. The one minute duration makes it bad out of combat and I don't think it's worth an action in combat compared to attacking. Paladins also have rock solid saves once they get to 6 so it will lose a lot of its luster to redundancy.
And then there is the opportunity cost of what you're taking over it. I think one cantrip should be dedicated to an attack cantrip to fill out ranged options. From there, guidance, thaumaturgy, light, mending and a second attack cantrip are all vying for the second cantrip. I don't think resistance is worth it over any of those.
Not a big fan. Concentration, takes your action, and it only lasts one minute, and only works on one save. So maybe you put it on the rogue, because you think there’s going to be a wisdom save coming up, but then turn out it was dex, and the fighter needed it. Or nothing happened that minute, so you just need to keep re-casting it. And in combat, it takes your action to cast, and you need to be next to the person who needs it. So instead of hurting a bad guy, or helping an ally, you boost one person’s save. But then that person might get missed or not targeted by the attack, and you’ve wasted your action. There might be some edge cases, where you know someone is walking into something, or trying to shrug off an ongoing effect where it could be useful, but usually, it’s not going to help much. I’d only consider it if you really can’t see a use for other cantrips, and only after the basics (guidance, an attack and thaumaturgy or light or even mending)
I agree. I'm a big fan of using one cantrip slot for a ranged attack cantrip and the second for a utility cantrip, but guidance and thaumaturgy are more versatile and useful than resistance. Light may be as well, depending on the party makeup (though tbh if possible I'd leave light for a character who has three or four cantrips instead of just two).
You can expand a paladin's cantrip versatility by choosing a race that gets a cantrip as a racial ability, including tieflings (thaumaturgy or vicious mockery or friends or minor illusion or ray of frost or mage hand, depending on type - all keying off charisma), aasimar (light), yuan ti pureblood (poison spray), forest gnome (minor illusion), githyanki/githzerai (mage hand), or high elf (any wizard cantrip, which can be light or prestidigitation which imo is superior to thaumaturgy), etc.
In tier one and early in tier two play, a paladin with three cantrips combined with their other abilities and spells has a deep bag of tricks to draw on - and unlike almost every other paladin ability, cantrips aren't limited use.
I don't think it's worth it. The one minute duration makes it bad out of combat and I don't think it's worth an action in combat compared to attacking. Paladins also have rock solid saves once they get to 6 so it will lose a lot of its luster to redundancy.
I think it's an okay cantrip; the one minute duration isn't really a problem out of combat since it's a cantrip, so you can just keep re-casting it if you need it (e.g- for dodging traps), and redundancy isn't really an issue since it stacks for even better saves.
In combat it's very much a cantrip version of Bless with the same basic limitations; i.e- it works best when you're either not going to be able to attack in the first round anyway (enemies are too far away), or you're able to prepare for a fight before initiating it. The main drawback is that it doesn't have the more general usefulness of Bless (which also boosts attack rolls) so it's much more situational, as the only time you'd really use it is when you know saving throws are likely to happen.
For a character with three or less cantrip choices it's a tough sell, as there are others you'll use a lot more either inside or out of combat; as a cantrip in isolation it's not bad, but it makes more sense on multi-classed casters who can have 6-8 cantrips at early levels, so can afford to take a few situational options.
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I'm playing an Oathbreaker in Curse of Strahd. I leaned into CHA and have been casting a LOT of spells and using all my social skills. It's been a blast! I'm level 5 and thinking of switching to this fighting style with Guidance and either Thaumaturgy or Sacred Flame. Looking forward to adding versatility to my character
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Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their dice rolls.
That is a bold decision. Hat's off to you and your party. :p
Before or after you bury them?
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
So when combined with some third party content things Blessed Warrior can be amazing, but for the base dnd things there are some pretty solid options I think across the board especially when it can be put together with martial versatility to take defense or dueling at lower levels and then take it at level 4 or 8.
Guidance is definitely #1 of what you can take, but
If you lack dark vision and haven't found a way to get it Light can be very useful
Thaumaturgy can also get incredibly creative and fun for RP
Those 3 I'd definitely say are worth it, and these 2 are situational IN MY OPINION
Word of Radiance is a good one if you are facing lots of mobs and you are a front line tanky paladin with a shield and a one handed weapon and are getting surrounded surrounded a lot is a good way to maybe to do some damage while someone else sculpts a spell to do damage to all of them
Mending would be good if you are in a campaign where you are dealing with equipment damage as part of the campaign, especially since Chain mail is the starting equipment for a paladin
Resistance if for whatever reason you are out of first level spells or don't want to use bless to help out someone who is stun locked because they literally just can't make the save even with your aura or it is vital that whatever save they have to make is made but you aren't in combat and don't want to use bless or worried about yourself making that dex save for the dragons fire breath who is 90 feet away so you know it is going to get to you before you get to it and know that you'd drop bless if you used that for the save, but once you use resistance it is gone so no need to worry about dropping concentration - lots of reasons mostly just being overly careful really, but definitely can be used
Then there are these 3 that I just would never take
Sacred Flame because if you have an amazing Charisma modifier for the DC for higher levels dex saves you are most likely an oath of devotion paladin and if so you can also just hit it twice with the attack bonus you are getting. 4d8 IF someone doesn't succeed on a dex save, and 0 if it does, will not outflank a 2d6+4 *2 or 1d8+4 *2 to hit an AC ever
Toll the Dead while is a better option than sacred flame, because at least you can get a chance to possibly change up the damage type (for most paladins), still has all the same flaws as above. If you want to take a damage dealing cantrip that goes on a single target, for whatever reason, (the only one I can think of is if you are super hurt in combat without any healing support and need to be able to fall back and do damage) of these 2 pick this one.
Spare the Dying If you have run out emergency lay on hands for bringing downed people back up just keeping like 4 or 5 left (one for each party member), also if you are the party healer for whatever reason here as well, things have gone horribly wrong.
I would strongly consider sacred flame/TtD for a few reasons, but mostly because I have been stuck without a ranged option before and it bloooows. Yes, I have better things to do with my action usually. But not always. Now if I were playing a paladin I would most /likely/ go with a Levistus Tiefling or fire Genasi to solve that issue, but blessed warrior isn't an awful option. Utility cantrips I am probably going to leave to the full casters. For the right character I would choose it and I wouldn't think twice about it.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Yeah, it's really nice, especially in tier 1, to have a reliable way to deal magical damage for free and a ranged attack option that isn't throwing a javelin.
It's funny, after all this time talking about how good Blessed Warrior is for Paladins as a source of ranged damage, I finally roll up a Paladin and I don't take it. Just didn't feel congruent with the character. Javelins it is for me.
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How do people feel about Resistance? Adding a d4 to a saving throw seems good for dungeon crawling, especially if you're the one going out front.
I don't think it's worth it. The one minute duration makes it bad out of combat and I don't think it's worth an action in combat compared to attacking. Paladins also have rock solid saves once they get to 6 so it will lose a lot of its luster to redundancy.
And then there is the opportunity cost of what you're taking over it. I think one cantrip should be dedicated to an attack cantrip to fill out ranged options. From there, guidance, thaumaturgy, light, mending and a second attack cantrip are all vying for the second cantrip. I don't think resistance is worth it over any of those.
Not a big fan. Concentration, takes your action, and it only lasts one minute, and only works on one save. So maybe you put it on the rogue, because you think there’s going to be a wisdom save coming up, but then turn out it was dex, and the fighter needed it. Or nothing happened that minute, so you just need to keep re-casting it.
And in combat, it takes your action to cast, and you need to be next to the person who needs it. So instead of hurting a bad guy, or helping an ally, you boost one person’s save. But then that person might get missed or not targeted by the attack, and you’ve wasted your action.
There might be some edge cases, where you know someone is walking into something, or trying to shrug off an ongoing effect where it could be useful, but usually, it’s not going to help much. I’d only consider it if you really can’t see a use for other cantrips, and only after the basics (guidance, an attack and thaumaturgy or light or even mending)
I agree. I'm a big fan of using one cantrip slot for a ranged attack cantrip and the second for a utility cantrip, but guidance and thaumaturgy are more versatile and useful than resistance. Light may be as well, depending on the party makeup (though tbh if possible I'd leave light for a character who has three or four cantrips instead of just two).
You can expand a paladin's cantrip versatility by choosing a race that gets a cantrip as a racial ability, including tieflings (thaumaturgy or vicious mockery or friends or minor illusion or ray of frost or mage hand, depending on type - all keying off charisma), aasimar (light), yuan ti pureblood (poison spray), forest gnome (minor illusion), githyanki/githzerai (mage hand), or high elf (any wizard cantrip, which can be light or prestidigitation which imo is superior to thaumaturgy), etc.
In tier one and early in tier two play, a paladin with three cantrips combined with their other abilities and spells has a deep bag of tricks to draw on - and unlike almost every other paladin ability, cantrips aren't limited use.
https://cast-party.com/
I think it's an okay cantrip; the one minute duration isn't really a problem out of combat since it's a cantrip, so you can just keep re-casting it if you need it (e.g- for dodging traps), and redundancy isn't really an issue since it stacks for even better saves.
In combat it's very much a cantrip version of Bless with the same basic limitations; i.e- it works best when you're either not going to be able to attack in the first round anyway (enemies are too far away), or you're able to prepare for a fight before initiating it. The main drawback is that it doesn't have the more general usefulness of Bless (which also boosts attack rolls) so it's much more situational, as the only time you'd really use it is when you know saving throws are likely to happen.
For a character with three or less cantrip choices it's a tough sell, as there are others you'll use a lot more either inside or out of combat; as a cantrip in isolation it's not bad, but it makes more sense on multi-classed casters who can have 6-8 cantrips at early levels, so can afford to take a few situational options.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
I'm playing an Oathbreaker in Curse of Strahd. I leaned into CHA and have been casting a LOT of spells and using all my social skills. It's been a blast! I'm level 5 and thinking of switching to this fighting style with Guidance and either Thaumaturgy or Sacred Flame. Looking forward to adding versatility to my character
Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their dice rolls.
That is a bold decision. Hat's off to you and your party. :p
Before or after you bury them?
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
So when combined with some third party content things Blessed Warrior can be amazing, but for the base dnd things there are some pretty solid options I think across the board especially when it can be put together with martial versatility to take defense or dueling at lower levels and then take it at level 4 or 8.
Guidance is definitely #1 of what you can take, but
If you lack dark vision and haven't found a way to get it Light can be very useful
Thaumaturgy can also get incredibly creative and fun for RP
Those 3 I'd definitely say are worth it, and these 2 are situational IN MY OPINION
Word of Radiance is a good one if you are facing lots of mobs and you are a front line tanky paladin with a shield and a one handed weapon and are getting surrounded surrounded a lot is a good way to maybe to do some damage while someone else sculpts a spell to do damage to all of them
Mending would be good if you are in a campaign where you are dealing with equipment damage as part of the campaign, especially since Chain mail is the starting equipment for a paladin
Resistance if for whatever reason you are out of first level spells or don't want to use bless to help out someone who is stun locked because they literally just can't make the save even with your aura or it is vital that whatever save they have to make is made but you aren't in combat and don't want to use bless or worried about yourself making that dex save for the dragons fire breath who is 90 feet away so you know it is going to get to you before you get to it and know that you'd drop bless if you used that for the save, but once you use resistance it is gone so no need to worry about dropping concentration - lots of reasons mostly just being overly careful really, but definitely can be used
Then there are these 3 that I just would never take
Sacred Flame because if you have an amazing Charisma modifier for the DC for higher levels dex saves you are most likely an oath of devotion paladin and if so you can also just hit it twice with the attack bonus you are getting. 4d8 IF someone doesn't succeed on a dex save, and 0 if it does, will not outflank a 2d6+4 *2 or 1d8+4 *2 to hit an AC ever
Toll the Dead while is a better option than sacred flame, because at least you can get a chance to possibly change up the damage type (for most paladins), still has all the same flaws as above. If you want to take a damage dealing cantrip that goes on a single target, for whatever reason, (the only one I can think of is if you are super hurt in combat without any healing support and need to be able to fall back and do damage) of these 2 pick this one.
Spare the Dying If you have run out emergency lay on hands for bringing downed people back up just keeping like 4 or 5 left (one for each party member), also if you are the party healer for whatever reason here as well, things have gone horribly wrong.
I would strongly consider sacred flame/TtD for a few reasons, but mostly because I have been stuck without a ranged option before and it bloooows. Yes, I have better things to do with my action usually. But not always. Now if I were playing a paladin I would most /likely/ go with a Levistus Tiefling or fire Genasi to solve that issue, but blessed warrior isn't an awful option. Utility cantrips I am probably going to leave to the full casters. For the right character I would choose it and I wouldn't think twice about it.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Yeah, it's really nice, especially in tier 1, to have a reliable way to deal magical damage for free and a ranged attack option that isn't throwing a javelin.
https://cast-party.com/
It's funny, after all this time talking about how good Blessed Warrior is for Paladins as a source of ranged damage, I finally roll up a Paladin and I don't take it. Just didn't feel congruent with the character. Javelins it is for me.