Class is back in session. This week, we have the opportunity to take a look at one of D&D’s greatest defenders: the Oath of Devotion paladin. Those who follow this path are warriors who have pledged themselves to a noble cause, such as the ideals of justice and altruism, or to a god whose tenets embody those ideals. As such, paladins who swear an Oath of Devotion become archetypal knights in shining armor, smiting evil wherever it may be found and protecting those in need.
Story of the Oath of Devotion
“I grant you the opportunity to gloat once more, villain,” the paladin said. A swashbuckling smirk danced upon her lips—perhaps the result of spending too much time jesting with the rogue that gallivanted with her party. “I speak no jest! You are fond of proclaiming my doom, cur, so why not boast once more? Enjoy your empty word, for I swear I shall make them last.”
Across the room, from behind a veritable army of shambling skeletons, a red-robed necromancer tried to meet the paladin’s steely gaze. Sweat beaded upon his cadaverous brow, and he thumbed frantically through his tome of spells—in search of some profane miracle.
The paladin’s jocular threat soured in the presence of the necromancer’s panic. “Your spells will not avail you, cad,” the knight said with a scowl. She took a step forward towards the skeletons, and with a simple stroke of her longsword cleft its skull from its spine. “If your well of hubris has run dry, I offer you a chance at mercy.” With every step she took, her words seemed to echo louder and louder. “I admit, it would please me to separate your own head from your bony shoulders,” she said, striking another animated skeleton down, then another. “But I am a believer in justice. I believe that you can set this evil path behind you and walk once more in the light of righteousness.”
The paladin held her blade aloft, and it glinted as if it caught the light of the sun, even in this shadowed tomb. Then, she swung the radiant blade wide, and a coruscating wave burst from its edge, catching all but the furthest undead warriors in its frightful radiance. The ancient bones were buffeted by the light, and a look of terror seemed to cross their expressionless faces. They turned and ran, abandoning their master.
The necromancer looked at the paladin. His gaze trembled, but he couldn’t seem to avert his eyes from the terrifying splendor before him. “I can’t,” he stammered. “I can’t stray from this path now. I’ve sacrificed so much for this. For immortality. For power. There’s nothing for me to go back to now!”
“I understand,” the paladin said. She offered the necromancer a solemn, almost sympathetic nod, but didn’t slow her gait. She pointed the tip of her blade at the wizard and said, “Then you too understand why I can’t show mercy to those who will not accept it.” She swung her sword.
Paladins of the Oath of Devotion defend their allies and their ideals with equal fervor. If their ideals include mercy, they offer it to those who are willing to accept it. In their eyes, necromancers, demon-summoners, and all those who infringe upon the sanctity of life deserve no such mercy.
Oath of Devotion Features
Paladins who swear an Oath of the Devotion are archetypal sacred warriors. They strike a fine balance between offense, defense, and support, crushing evil with their Divine Smites, protecting allies with spells and auras, and healing their wounds and ailments with holy magic. The paladin gains five subclass features starting at 3rd, 7th, 15th, and 20th level. You can read all of the Oath of Devotion abilities for free in the D&D Basic Rules. In summary, your subclass features allow you to:
- Channel your oath’s divine power in order to imbue your weapon with magic, or to strike fear into the hearts of undead and fiends.
- Gain permanent access to spells that define your oath.
- Project an aura of devotion that steels your nearby allies against supernatural charms.
- Purify your spirit, making it harder for supernatural creatures to attack you, and impossible for them to frighten, charm, or possess you.
- Enwreathe your mortal frame in a holy nimbus, radiating divine light that sears your foes and bolsters your defenses.
Benefits of the Oath of Devotion
The Oath of Devotion best suits paladins who wish to balance their abilities between smiting evil and protecting their allies. The abilities of the paladin class as a whole are likewise split between offense, defense, and support, making this an archetypal and well-rounded subclass for an already well-rounded class. Because of this, paladins who follow this oath tend to excel in parties that already have sufficient offense and defense, but lack support. Or who have defense and support, but lack offense—and so on. Even in parties that are already well-rounded, an Oath of Devotion paladin can lend their versatility to wherever it’s most needed.
Drawbacks of the Oath of Devotion
Because of the Oath of Devotion’s versatility, however, paladins who swear an Oath of Devotion often fail to stand out or excel in a way that sets them apart from other paladins. They don’t excel in offense like paladins who follow the Oath of Vengeance, nor do they thrive as defenders like those who follow the Oath of the Ancients or the Oath of Redemption. In parties that already have a strong healer (like a Life cleric or Circle of the Land druid), a high burst-damage-dealer (like an Assassin rogue or School of Evocation wizard), and a tanky defender (like a Path of the Totem Warrior barbarian), then you could find yourself feeling superfluous.
If you want to feel more essential to your party’s success, you may need to carve out a niche for yourself by choosing specific feats or spells. On the other hand, feeling like you don’t have a clearly defined role can be a blessing if you want to be a team player and support the party wherever they need it.
Suggested Build
If you’re building an Oath of Devotion paladin from 1st level, be aware that you won’t gain your subclass until 3rd level. When creating your character, you should choose a race that gives you a bonus to Strength, Constitution, or Charisma—ideally at least two of the three. For this reason, dragonborn make excellent offense-focused paladins, thanks to their bonus to both Strength and Charisma. Half-elves likewise make good paladins, as do half-orcs, tieflings (particular tieflings of Zariel's bloodline, as described in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes), and humans.
While all paladins are well-suited towards wearing heavy armor and using powerful, strength-based weapons, you can also forgo heavy armor and use finesse weapons instead by prioritizing your Dexterity score instead of your Strength score. Dexterity-focused paladins are fairly uncommon, especially compared to Dexterity-based fighters and rangers, but it does happen. If you want to be an offensive striker, make Strength or Dexterity your highest ability score. If you want to be a tanky defender, place your highest ability score in Constitution. No matter what, make Charisma your second-highest score. It’s important, but you’re a warrior first and a spellcaster second.
As usual, your character’s background is up to you. Paladins are often acolytes who have received martial training, or soldiers who have found a sacred calling, but paladins from other backgrounds can make for exciting unlikely heroes. A reformed criminal or cultist serving a higher power by eliminating their former allies is a compelling story, as is a hermit who began training in isolation after receiving an apocalyptic vision from a mysterious deity.
Select EQUIPMENT when creating a character. You should probably choose a martial weapon and a shield, even if you’re a Dexterity-based paladin—for reasons that will be explained below. If you’re playing a Strength-based paladin, you can’t go wrong with an iconic longsword and shield, and a Dexterity-based paladin can use a rapier and a shield in tandem. Choosing five javelins is your best bet, since you’ll want a way to fight from range.
Fighting Style
At 2nd level, you can choose a Fighting Style. You have four choices, each of which makes you slightly better in a certain type of combat role, but doesn’t preclude you from taking alternative tactics. The Defense style is a good, passive buff; you gain +1 AC while in armor. Great for surviving, but not very proactive. The Dueling style is great if you fight with a one-handed weapon, and improves your damage even if the other hand is using a shield. Great Weapon Fighting is useful if you like to fight with two-handed weapons, and can improve your damage even if you’re wielding a one-handed versatile weapon —like a longsword—in both hands. Finally, the Protection style helps make you a formidable tank, allowing you to deflect incoming blows if you stand next to your allies.
Notably, the Archery and Two-Weapon Fighting styles are absent from this list, though they’re both usable by fighters and rangers. Consider asking your Dungeon Master if you can use one of these styles if you’re playing a Dexterity-based paladin. These options aren’t game-breaking, so as long as you’re playing in a campaign where strict adherence to the rules isn’t required (such as in D&D Adventurers League games), I highly recommend that your DM allow houseruling these fighting styles into the paladin class.
Spells
The paladin also gains access to spells at 2nd level, drawing from their own unique spell list. While your spell selection is more limited and you gain access to more powerful spells more slowly than “full caster” classes, you balance it out with your robust combat arsenal. Take this time before you gain your subclass at 3rd level to feel out what your role in the party is. That way, when you do gain your subclass (as well as the host of permanently prepared Oath Spells that come with it), you’ll know what spells your party needs you to have access to on a regular basis.
Fortunately, you can choose a different set of spells at the start of each new day, just like a cleric. The entire paladin spell list is available to you, so you can adapt your spell selection to whatever challenges you think you’ll be facing. Either way, choosing a “standard loadout” of spells that you can rely upon on an average adventuring day is useful. You can prepare a number of paladin spells equal to half your level (rounded down) plus your Charisma modifier. So, if you’re a 2nd-level paladin with a Charisma score of 14 (+2), you can prepare three spells from the paladin spell list. I recommend having one spell labeled OFFENSE, one labeled DEFENSE, and one labeled SUPPORT. Note that this list only includes some spells from the Player's Handbook, so if you want to choose more unusual spells, or have other sources like Xanathar's Guide to Everything, you'll have to do a little self-directed research. This list is just here to get you started if this is your first time playing an Oath of Devotion paladin.
- Bless (SUPPORT)
- Compelled duel (DEFENSE)
- Cure wounds (SUPPORT)
- Divine favor (OFFENSE)
- Searing smite (OFFENSE)
- Shield of faith (DEFENSE)
- Wrathful smite (OFFENSE)
Feats
The last main method of character customization available to you as a paladin are your feats. You gain your first feat at 4th level, unless you’re playing a variant human, in which case you gain a feat at 1st level. While many feats are useful to paladins, there is one feat that no paladin should be without: War Caster. This feat suits the paladin playstyle perfectly by making it harder for their concentration to be broken in the heat of battle. Since paladins only gain a few precious spell slots, concentration spells are a good way to stretch their magic as far as possible—so it feels terrible when you cast a concentration spell, only to be hit by a goblin or two next round and lose your concentration from some meager damage.
The War Caster feat mitigates this by granting you advantage on saving throws to maintain concentration, as well as allowing you to cast spells with somatic components with a shield in your hand. Once you’ve gained this feat, feel free to use your future Ability Score Improvements to pump up your primary ability scores—or to take other good defensive feats like Sentinel or Heavy Armor Master. Paladin is a great class to multiclass out of, but it’s also a great class to go all the way to 20th level with, for your Sacred Oath’s explosive capstone. If you want to multiclass out of paladin, think hard before you do so!
If you want more advice for building a paladin, check out Paladin 101. Have you ever played an Oath of Devotion paladin? What advice would you give to players that want to play this subclass?
James Haeck is the lead writer for D&D Beyond, the co-author of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and the Critical Role Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, the DM of Worlds Apart, and a freelance writer for Wizards of the Coast, the D&D Adventurers League, and Kobold Press. He lives in Seattle, Washington with his partner Hannah and their animal companions Mei and Marzipan. You can find him wasting time on Twitter at @jamesjhaeck.
I made a fallen aasimar paladin who is going for oath of redemption and I am thinking of him having a few levels of warlock because he has an innate binding to a demon prince.
You can engrave your holy symbol into your shield
I like the suggestion of making a Dex-based paladin (I have been thinking of making a drow paladin of conquest for a while now) and think that suggesting the two-handed fighting style to the DM is a good idea, but a paladin should never have to use ranged weapons if they have to, since Divine Smite specifically says that you must hit with a melee weapon attack.
Good post, but I would love to see a D&DBeyond Feature that allows us to edit the base classes slightly to do something minor, like to allow a class to select a different fighting style beyond what is normally available to them. As it stands, it is really quite annoying to add on a distinct fighting style option onto the digital character sheet.
Likewise, almost all the smite spells do too. However, branding smite and banishing smite simply require you to hit with a "weapon attack." I wonder why these two are different!
It's likely just a use case that WotC never gave full consideration. Personally, I'd allow a Paladin to use all of their smite spells on ranged attacks. The only exception is I'd say they have to call it before hand if they want to use the Divine Smite feature on a ranged attack. I'm probably biased as I play a dex paladin (oath of Devotion) in my brother's Storm King's Thunder campaign.
Good idea. Thank you.
It's in the equipment section (page 150-151 of the PHB) under Holy Symbol (Emblem) 5gp: "inlayed as an emblem on a shield" "a cleric or paladin can use a holy symbol as a spellcasting focus".
On page 203 it says " a spell caster must have a free hand" "to hold a spellcasting focus" "but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic components".
A very literal reading of the rules would suggest that you would need to free up a hand if a spell had somatic components but no material components, but that gets a bit silly.
Why on earth would you recommend War Caster, especially after recommending Con be high? Why not Sentinel or Mage Slayer, or even Heavy Armor for the DR3, which is particularly effective at low lvls for survivability in a tank? My lvl 5 Devotion pally has Hvy Armor and Sentinel, she stands in the middle and is as a PITA to all enemies, the pinnacle of tanking :)
Hey James! I really enjoyed reading your post. Any advice on how to role play a paladin as a new player? Thanks!
My favorite paladin oath! When people think of offensive power their first thought is usually the oath of vengeance, but the oath of devotion is arguably just as potent, here's why:
The "sacred weapon" channel divinity that oath of devotion paladins get access to lets them add their Charisma modifier to attack rolls for a minute WITHOUT requiring concentration, what this means is that Oath of Devotion Paladins that choose to use a two handed weapon such as a Maul will be able to increase their chances of hitting enemies, which is an especially attractive option when you factor in the great weapon master feat.
Devotion paladins can use the GWM feat with their channel divinity to almost ensure they get the damage bonus every time, throw in the Bless spell and the likelihood of getting the bonus damage will shoot through the roof.
If you're rolling a paladin and are of a mind to swing at monsters with a big ol' sword/axe/hammer, the oath of devotion will definitely enable you to do so to great effect.
I think my favorite aspect of the oath of Devotion is how versatile they are, they are the absolute middle ground for paladins, with a powerful support network in auras, and powerful offensive bonuses with options such as Sacred Weapon. If I had to pick one thing to change about devotion though it would be making Sacred Weapon a bonus action or adding the bonus to damage against the undead as well. As it is right now, wasting a full action on a buff seems like it isn't really worth skipping out on two attacks.
I am also unsure why Warcaster is listed as an essential feat, I would most definitely recommend Shield Master or Sentinel in it's place. A paladin can use their shield as their spellcasting focus so that is really a non-issue for the most part, and while the Paladin does have many great concentration spells, many of them are self buffs or spent on the attack such as Smite abilities. Shield Master (or various other weapon master feats) and Sentinel however are pretty essential game changers towards your style of play. Sentinel ensures the enemy remains locked with you, and Shield Master allows the Paladin to lay down massive crowd control when you attack, and most importantly, give advantage to your team.
Maybe James is unaware that paladins can use their shield as a focus?
This is the reason why paladins don't get the dual wielding fighting style after all - they are better with a shield than trying to juggle an extra weapon with spells.
They don't get archery because you can't smite with ranged weapons.
Both fighting style restrictions are to try and discourage inexperienced players from making poor choices.
That isn't quite true though. A paladin could use a Ruby of the War Mage and be able to dual-wield. It's an edge case and you need a DM who's happy to allow you one but it works. https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/ruby-of-the-war-mage.
Oh yes, sure, there are ways to manage it (you can always drop a weapon for one thing - carry a spare), but it sure gives paladins a good reason to prefer a shield over a second weapon (especially if they are inexperienced).
As a Paladin, if you naturally have a Con save of +0 (meaning 10 or 11 Con and 10 or 11 Cha) you would need to have a proficiency bonus of +5, i.e. 13th level character, in order for the proficiency from Resilient (Con) to be universally better than the advantage granted by War Caster. Even at that level, if you're only rolling for 11+ (which is often the case for concentration checks) you're still at 75% to save. You will almost always see more benefit from War Caster, especially when you consider: (1) Paladin is a melee class which will require higher-than-average Con, probably minimum 14 to be safe, and (2) once you hit level 6 you'll be adding your Cha bonus to all your saving throws as long as you aren't unconscious. Cha is your spellcasting ability so a minimum 14 is probably expected there as well.
For reference, my 10th level Paladin has a +6 Con save and I took War Caster at level 8. In order to pass a "Hard" Concentration save (D.C. 20) I need to roll a 14, with advantage. Had I taken Resilient (Con) instead, I would need a straight 10. I'm about 2.5% more likely to make that save with War Caster than Resilient (Con).
It is worth noting that with Resilient (Con) you get the proficiency on all Con saves, not just Concentration checks. In addition, my Paladin would automatically save on all Concentration checks caused by damage sources of 20 or less. (It's important to note that RAW there is no fumble rule for saves and ability checks, only attack rolls. If your table has fumble rules for saves and ability checks, you always have a 5% chance of failure, which is further offset by advantage)
TLDR; I disagree, and am convinced War Caster is better than Resilient (Con), without considering the secondary benefits of War Caster.
However, because I already wrote out this long post, for anybody still reading this:
1. War caster also allows you to perform the somatic components of spells even when you have weapons or a shield in one or both hands. This is important when you consider the action economy requirements of being a melee spellcaster. In order to cast a spell with somatic components, you normally need a free hand. You can drop or sheath your weapon as a free action on your turn, but in order to pick it up, or draw it again in the same turn you would need take the "Use an Object" action, which means that you wont have a weapon out for opportunity attacks, or in the case of Divine Favor or similar Bonus Action spells, make an attack with a weapon. You're a melee caster, so you probably want to have your weapon out most of the time when you're fighting.
2. War caster allows you to cast a spell in lieu of an opportunity attack as a reaction, provided that spell (a) has a casting time of 1 action, and (b) only targets that creature. The "control" spells on the Paladin spell list are some of the most unique and powerful in-slot spells, and guess what? They're all single target! We're talking about casting Command, Compelled Duel, Dispel Magic, Banishment, and almost all of your Oath spells on your opponent's turn. Talk about action economy!
To clarify: while it's true that a paladin can use a shield emblazoned with their holy symbol instead of material components, the War Caster feat allows you to cast spells that require somatic components without a free hand while holding a shield. The following paladin spells require somatic components, to say nothing of spells found on a subclass's Oath Spells list: https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/class/paladin?filter-search=&filter-verbal=&filter-somatic=t&filter-material=&filter-concentration=&filter-ritual=&filter-sub-class=
In order to cast these spells without War Caster, you need to sheath your weapon or stow your shield to free up at least one hand to perform the somatic components. You can only stow or draw one weapon or shield per turn, leaving you without a weapon to make opportunity attacks or without a shield to defend yourself until your next turn. However, if you stow your shield, you suddenly remove your holy symbol and thus your material components. The following paladin spells require both somatic and material components: https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/class/paladin?filter-search=&filter-verbal=&filter-somatic=t&filter-material=t&filter-concentration=&filter-ritual=&filter-sub-class=
Take care when observing your spell components!
RAW a hand holding a spell casting focus (in this case for Paly's, a shield with a holy emblem on it) can be used for the somatic components too. If there is an exception for shields it isn't written in the phb.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/equipment/holy-symbol
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/spellcasting#MaterialM
A spellcaster must have a hand free to access a spell's material components -- or to hold a spellcasting focus -- but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic components.
I stand corrected! However, there is an additional wrinkle to the rules as written here. Spells that require material components can be used fine with a shield. Spells that require material AND somatic components can be used fine with a shield.However, spells that require somatic but have no material components require you to put the shield away—unless you have War Caster. See the "Components" section of the Sage Advice Compendium. Paladin spells that include somatic (and possibly verbal) but no material components include: https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/class/paladin?filter-search=&filter-verbal=&filter-somatic=t&filter-material=f&filter-concentration=&filter-ritual=&filter-sub-class=
A lot of these spells show up on the Oath of Devotion's oath spell list, such as cure wounds, lesser restoration, beacon of hope, and dispel magic. I maintain that War Caster is a useful feat for paladins, especially Oath of Devotion paladins.
And RAW Warcaster doesn't let you cast spells that do have material components.
But in practice I have never played at a table that has enforced this bizarre quirk.