Paladin Deep Dive

 Two changes to the Paladin coming in the 2024 iteration will serve, I think, to really change the way that the class plays. We're entering a brave new world, and I will caution that this is arguably a huge nerf, but it might also simply be a readjustment of what we think a Paladin should be doing.

Let's start with the bad news: Divine Smite is now a proper spell. Assuming that it looks like the UA version, its damage should be the same. But there are a couple implications:

First off, as a spell, it will likely have a casting time. In the UA, it had a casting time of a bonus action, but unlike the 2014 of the various "smite spells," this bonus action is still only chosen after you know whether you missed, hit, or crit, so you will still be able to capitalize on a critical hit to deal double damage with the smite (this design looks like it is extending to the other smites, which is a buff to them). However, because it has this casting time, it will mean that you won't have a bonus action to use on other features (though there's good news here regarding some common Paladin subclass bonus action features that we'll get to) and, crucially, it will limit you to only casting Divine Smite once on your turn, and preventing you from using it on a reaction-based attack like an Opportunity Attack or a Battle Master's Commander's Strike.

This also means that you'll be beholden to spell components. I don't think there will be a material or somatic component (which would make attacking while sword-and-boarding very tricky) but that suggests there will be a verbal component, making it impossible to use when in an area of silence. Also, by making it a proper spell, they've effectively killed Paladin/Barbarian multiclass options, as previously you could get around Rage's no-spellcasting restriction by burning your spell slots on smite.

However, let's then talk about the good news:

Paladins (and Rangers) are now, like their Artificer half-caster companions, going to get their spellcasting at level 1. To me, this suggests that they want to make a more spell-focused paladin build a bit more viable.

At level 2, when they get their Fighting Style choice, they are no longer restricted to a curated list. Thus, Paladins can now pick things like two-weapon fighting (not a bad option given the level 11 bonus d8 of radiant damage on each of their attacks). It also appears they'll be able to forgo a Fighting Style to instead learn a number of Cleric cantrips (not unlike the Divine Warrior fighting style from Tasha's) if you really want to push hard into the spellcasting side of things.

    Personally, I'm a bit skeptical that a full-caster Paladin would be quite as effective, as I don't think they have the bonuses that, say, an Alchemist or Artillerist Artificer gets to compensate for not being full-casters, but I'm sure we'll see some interesting builds).

Now, Divine Smite's bonus-action-ness might have potentially gotten in the way of subclass features like Vow of Enmity. The good news here is that both that feature and the Devotion Paladin's Sacred Weapon are now basically free actions that you take as part of the attack action. This is particularly exciting for Sacred Weapon, which had the particularly onerous speed of a full action in the 2014 game, meaning that you basically had to waste your first turn if you wanted to make use of it. Now, you'll be able to charge up your weapon as Devotion or vow your enmity as Vengeance and still get in and swing your weapon and still be able to smite on one of those attacks.

Likewise, the level 20 "paladin ults" seem to be getting changed from action to bonus action - so, no smite on that turn, but at least you can attack. Also, Vengeance's Avenging Angel will now last much longer, allowing you to make use of your flying speed beyond the few rounds of combat.

Oath of Ancients is seeing their aura changed. This is going to look like a nerf: rather than giving resistance to all spell damage, they'll now give resistance to radiant, psychic, and necrotic damage. Here's why this might be better, though: it seems that most monsters and NPCs aren't technically casting spells. It will be more situational, but the old aura with new monster design might have never really done much.

The Smite change is one that I was worried was going to make it to the PHB, but I also think that this is one of those places where a nerf isn't the end of the world. Paladins were capable of insane nova damage, and this pulls back on that by effectively forcing them to be more conservative with their resource spending. It might also incentivize Paladins to be much more cautious about smiting when they haven't landed a critical hit (at least on the first attack in their turn,) lest they lose the opportunity to do so if they crit later on.

In the playtest, this was really one of the few changes that I would consider a nerf, but I don't think it ruins the Paladin entirely.