Hello everyone, I've been playing Paladin and my DM and everyone in my group are telling me I can't. Does any Creator or ruler have post anything about it? I just wanna make sure I'm not *******. Thanks a lot everyone.
As stated by Lunali you can use one spell slot per attack. The divine smite damage is 1d8 plus 1d8 per level of the spell slot used to a total maximum damage of 5d8 and this increases by 1d8 against creatures that are undead or fiends. There is otherwise no other limit. You have 2 attacks from 5th level onwards and you achieve the maximum damage with a spell slot of 4th level or higher. Let's say you were 18th level Paladin and 2nd Level Fighter. You will have 2x 4th level spell slots and 1x 5th level spell slots. You could use action surge to make 4 attacks, each attack spending a 4th or 5th level spell slot dealing 5d8 damage each for a total of 20d8 divine smite damage (24d8 versus undead or fiends).
This damage is stackable with weapon damage and anything you do to add to attack damage like from certain bonus action spells, Holy Weapon, the effects of a magic weapon, and so on. Everything is an automatic critical if the target is paralysed such as from a Hold Person or Hold Monster spell which doubles all damage. Sorcadins (Paladin and Sorcerer multiclass) are particularly brutal because you get better spells and more spell slots to burn. Hexblade Paladins are also really good since they get to recover 5th level spell slots every short rest so you can divine smite a lot more.
TL;DR: other than "1 spell slot per attack" and "max 5d8 damage or 6d8 versus undead/fiends per use of divine smite" there are no limits.
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(Maybe consider actually finishing your sentences, unless your group is actually telling you you can't play paladin, in which case you have bigger problems than number of smites.)
Let's say you were 18th level Paladin and 2nd Level Fighter. You will have 2x 4th level spell slots and 1x 5th level spell slots. You could use action surge to make 4 attacks, each attack spending a 4th or 5th level spell slot dealing 5d8 damage each for a total of 20d8 divine smite damage (24d8 versus undead or fiends).
I'm new so forgive me if I'm overlooking something. Could you unpack this a little? How do you end up with enough spell slots to spend on this?
Let's say you were 18th level Paladin and 2nd Level Fighter. You will have 2x 4th level spell slots and 1x 5th level spell slots. You could use action surge to make 4 attacks, each attack spending a 4th or 5th level spell slot dealing 5d8 damage each for a total of 20d8 divine smite damage (24d8 versus undead or fiends).
I'm new so forgive me if I'm overlooking something. Could you unpack this a little? How do you end up with enough spell slots to spend on this?
It was a typo. Paladins at 18th level have 3x 4th level spell slots - not 2 - so they would have enough. Whenever you're unsure - consulting the class table is always a good first step.
Divine Smite (p. 85). “Paladin spell slot” has been changed to “spell slot.” The following text has been appended to the last sentence: “, to a maximum of 6d8.”
This errata shows that you no longer "waste" a 5th level slot, treating it as a 4th for the purposes of divine smite. Apparently this is Rules as Intended.
Can somebody please tell Travis WIllingham this; I know Fjord has been using warlock slots for this, but I just want all my Paladin brothers and sisters to be getting full mileage out of this.
Divine Smite (p. 85). “Paladin spell slot” has been changed to “spell slot.” The following text has been appended to the last sentence: “, to a maximum of 6d8.”
This errata shows that you no longer "waste" a 5th level slot, treating it as a 4th for the purposes of divine smite. Apparently this is Rules as Intended.
Can somebody please tell Travis WIllingham this; I know Fjord has been using warlock slots for this, but I just want all my Paladin brothers and sisters to be getting full mileage out of this.
Happy Smiting!
As the errata says it only applies to the final sentence. DNDBeyond uses the latest wording and it is specifically in-full:
Divine Smite
Starting at 2nd level, when you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can expend one spell slot to deal radiant damage to the target, in addition to the weapon’s damage. The extra damage is 2d8 for a 1st-level spell slot, plus 1d8 for each spell level higher than 1st, to a maximum of 5d8. The damage increases by 1d8 if the target is an undead or a fiend, to a maximum of 6d8.
That is to say it is a maximum of 5d8 to most creatures and 6d8 to fiends or undead. Travis is doing it properly.
Well... I ... it seems you're right. I apologize, I suppose I should delete this in a day or so, or if an admin wants to, I have no objection. Thank you for setting me straight. Drat :(
I clearly misread that... i do appreciate the "in-full" text, that's so much more helpful.
I apparently misunderstood what the word "appended" meant and subsequently ignored "to the last sentence." I was thinking appended meant that it was replacing "to a maximum of 5d8" or some such and was reading it how i wanted it to.
My bad.
(edit: maybe it's better to leave it up to correct misunderstandings someone might have in the future like i had)
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Hello everyone, I've been playing Paladin and my DM and everyone in my group are telling me I can't. Does any Creator or ruler have post anything about it? I just wanna make sure I'm not *******. Thanks a lot everyone.
You can use a single spell slot per attack that hits to divine smite.
Also of note, you can cast one of the bonus action smite spells in advance, then use divine smite on the same attack that triggers the spell.
As stated by Lunali you can use one spell slot per attack. The divine smite damage is 1d8 plus 1d8 per level of the spell slot used to a total maximum damage of 5d8 and this increases by 1d8 against creatures that are undead or fiends. There is otherwise no other limit. You have 2 attacks from 5th level onwards and you achieve the maximum damage with a spell slot of 4th level or higher. Let's say you were 18th level Paladin and 2nd Level Fighter. You will have 2x 4th level spell slots and 1x 5th level spell slots. You could use action surge to make 4 attacks, each attack spending a 4th or 5th level spell slot dealing 5d8 damage each for a total of 20d8 divine smite damage (24d8 versus undead or fiends).
This damage is stackable with weapon damage and anything you do to add to attack damage like from certain bonus action spells, Holy Weapon, the effects of a magic weapon, and so on. Everything is an automatic critical if the target is paralysed such as from a Hold Person or Hold Monster spell which doubles all damage. Sorcadins (Paladin and Sorcerer multiclass) are particularly brutal because you get better spells and more spell slots to burn. Hexblade Paladins are also really good since they get to recover 5th level spell slots every short rest so you can divine smite a lot more.
TL;DR: other than "1 spell slot per attack" and "max 5d8 damage or 6d8 versus undead/fiends per use of divine smite" there are no limits.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
1 divine smite per attack, but no limit per turn.
(Maybe consider actually finishing your sentences, unless your group is actually telling you you can't play paladin, in which case you have bigger problems than number of smites.)
I'm new so forgive me if I'm overlooking something. Could you unpack this a little? How do you end up with enough spell slots to spend on this?
It was a typo. Paladins at 18th level have 3x 4th level spell slots - not 2 - so they would have enough.
Whenever you're unsure - consulting the class table is always a good first step.
Mega Yahtzee Thread:
Highest 41: brocker2001 (#11,285).
Yahtzee of 2's: Emmber (#36,161).
Lowest 9: JoeltheWalrus (#312), Emmber (#12,505) and Dertinus (#20,953).
YO... everybody. check this out: https://media.wizards.com/2018/dnd/downloads/PH-Errata.pdf
Divine Smite (p. 85). “Paladin spell slot” has been changed to “spell slot.” The following text has been appended to the last sentence: “, to a maximum of 6d8.”
This errata shows that you no longer "waste" a 5th level slot, treating it as a 4th for the purposes of divine smite. Apparently this is Rules as Intended.
Can somebody please tell Travis WIllingham this; I know Fjord has been using warlock slots for this, but I just want all my Paladin brothers and sisters to be getting full mileage out of this.
Happy Smiting!
As the errata says it only applies to the final sentence. DNDBeyond uses the latest wording and it is specifically in-full:
That is to say it is a maximum of 5d8 to most creatures and 6d8 to fiends or undead. Travis is doing it properly.
Mega Yahtzee Thread:
Highest 41: brocker2001 (#11,285).
Yahtzee of 2's: Emmber (#36,161).
Lowest 9: JoeltheWalrus (#312), Emmber (#12,505) and Dertinus (#20,953).
Well... I ... it seems you're right. I apologize, I suppose I should delete this in a day or so, or if an admin wants to, I have no objection. Thank you for setting me straight. Drat :(
I clearly misread that... i do appreciate the "in-full" text, that's so much more helpful.
I apparently misunderstood what the word "appended" meant and subsequently ignored "to the last sentence." I was thinking appended meant that it was replacing "to a maximum of 5d8" or some such and was reading it how i wanted it to.
My bad.
(edit: maybe it's better to leave it up to correct misunderstandings someone might have in the future like i had)
"can" so i can use 1 "or" use moree
You can use one slot per attack.
Can doesn't imply more than this.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
You can use one or not. Effects that let you use "one or more" of a resource for stronger effect all clearly say so.