Analysing the Smite Spells in D&D 5e

Helping paladins smite harder!

What smite spells are available?

One of the challenges of the smite spells is knowing what they all do at a glance. The problem being that their rules and effects are all spread across various pages in the Player’s Handbook. To help you out, I’ve summarised them all in one table so you can easily compare what each can do.

I’ve also focused on the effects of the 2024 versions of the smite spells. There are some differences though, which I’ve detailed later in the article.

Smite spell	Level	Damage	Damage type	At higher spell levels	Other effects
Divine smite	1	2d8	Radiant	+1d8 per level	+1d8 against fiends and undead
Searing smite	1	1d6	Fire	+1d6 per level for all damage caused	Damage dealt each turn for the duration
Thunderous smite	1	2d6	Thunder	+1d6 per level	Push 10ft and knock prone on failed save
Wrathful smite	1	1d6	Necrotic	+1d6 per level	Frightened on a failed save
Shining/ branding smite (concentration)	2	2d6	Radiant	+1d6 per level	Advantage on attack rolls against the creature and they can’t benefit from being invisible
Blinding smite	3	3d8	Radiant	+1d8 per level	Blinded for a minute or once they pass a saving throw
Staggering smite	4	4d6	Psychic	+1d6 per level	Stunned for a turn on a failed save
Banishing smite (concentration)	5	5d10	Force	N/A	Banished for a minute on a failed save if below 50HP

How do smite spells work?

2024 rules

Smite spells work by casting them as a bonus action when you hit a creature with an attack. They then add damage and other effects to that attack. You can only use smites on melee weapon attacks and unarmed strikes.

2014 rules

This was a little different in the 2014 rules. They used to require a bonus action to cast, but this was done ahead of the attack, causing the effects the next time you hit. They also required occupying your concentration more often.

Analysing the different smite options

There are 8 different smite spells to choose from. So understanding which are best at what things and what tactics you can use with them is important for getting the most out of your paladin.

To start to answer this, I’ve put together a power scaling table that shows damage per level and how this scales to make a clearer comparison of power when different smites are upcast. To help with comparisons of d6s and d8s, I’ve used average damage.

Smite spell	Lv1	Lv2	Lv3	Lv4	Lv5	Additional effects
Divine smite	9	13.5	18	22.5	27	+1d8 against fiends and undead
Searing smite	3.5	7	10.5	14	17.5	Damage dealt each turn for the duration
Thunderous smite	7	10.5	14	17.5	21	Push 10ft and knock prone on failed save
Wrathful smite	3.5	7	10.5	14	17.5	Frightened on a failed save
Shining/ branding smite	N/A	7	10.5	14	17.5	Advantage on attack rolls against the creature and they can’t benefit from being invisible
Blinding smite	N/A	N/A	13.5	18	22.5	Blinded for a minute or once they pass a saving throw
Staggering smite	N/A	N/A	N/A	14	17.5	Stunned for a turn on a failed save
Banishing smite	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	27.5	Banished for a minute on a failed save if below 50HP

What’s immediately obvious is that at every level, divine smite is the most powerful, single turn damage dealer.

However, searing smite will always deal at least 2 turns worth of damage. This is even at its minimum number of turns of damage, it will deal more damage than divine smite when cast at level 2+. And the higher the the level, the more the damage outperforms divine smite. When you add in the potential for more turns of damage, this damage disparity increases further. It also doesn’t require concentration to achieve this (at least not the 2024 version).

There are a couple of drawbacks to searing smite. One is it’s inferior damage type (fire is more commonly resisted than radiant or any other smite damage type). The other is that it takes time to achieve these damage levels. If you want to kill something quickly, divine smite will do this better, but if you expect an enemy to last a little while, then searing smite will often, eventually do more damage.

While the other smite spells are weaker in damage at their respective levels, they do have other effects. I’ve analysed these in a bit more detail below:

Divine smite (Lv1)

Damage: 2d8

Damage type: Radiant

At higher spell levels: +1d8 per spell level

Additional effects: +1d8 against fiends and undead

Changes from D&D 2014: This is now a spell in the 2024 rules rather than a paladin class feature so is subject to the usual rules around spells. It also requires a bonus action to cast now whereas it could previously just be invoked without this expense.

Tactics: Your highest damage smite spells. Use this when you want to go for the highest, instant damage you can.

Best for killing things quickly.

Searing smite (Lv1)

Damage: 1d6

Damage type: Fire

At higher spell levels: +1d6 damage per spell level to all damage from this spell

Additional effects: Deal 1d6 damage at the start of the target’s turn for the duration. Lasts a minute or once they pass a constitution saving throw, taken after taking damage.

Changes from D&D 2014: Previously required concentration, upcasting only affected the initial damage, saving throws would occur before damage is taken rather than after and the flames could be doused. This smite has improved a lot in D&D 2024!

Tactics: While it doesn’t initially deal as much damage as divine smite on the first turn, it will deal more damage across at least 2 turns when upcast. The damage becomes more profound as you achieve more turns of damage and cast with higher spell slots.

Best for dealing damage against high hit point enemies over multiple turns.

Thunderous smite (Lv1)

Damage: 2d6

Dage type: Thunder

At higher spell levels: +1d6 damage per spell level

Additional effects: On a failed strength saving throw, is pushed 10ft and knocked prone.

Changes from D&D 2014: It no longer requires concentration.

Tactics: A mid-tier damage dealer when it comes to smites. It felt more profound before weapon masteries could do similar things each turn. The interesting thing about knocking prone is you often want to be next to the target of the prone conditions (for advantage on attack rolls), but this pushes the target away.

Still, 2 weapon mastery effects in one is decent and frees you up for using other weapon mastery properties (or combining push for extra big pushes). I’d use this when you need to maneuver enemies into AoE spells or knock them off high places. It’s also great when fighting with friendly martials so they can get advantage on their attack rolls.

Best for moving enemies around and supporting allies with temporary advantage or for grapple builds.

Wrathful smite (Lv1)

Damage: 1d6

Damage type: Necrotic

At higher levels: +1d6 per spell level

Additional effects: Causes the frightened condition on a failed wisdom saving throw.

Changes from D&D 2014: No longer requires concentration and saving throws on subsequent turns occur automatically without needing to expend an action.

Tactics: A low damage option with opportunity to inflict a condition for up to a minute. This is best against higher hit points enemies that will take multiple turns to kill. Instead, you can try and nullify them a bit.

You’ll need a decent spell save DC to make this work though.

Best against high hit point, low wisdom enemies that need nullifying for multiple rounds.

Shining/branding smite (Lv2)

Damage: 2d6

Damage type: Radiant

At higher levels: +2 per spell level

Additional effects: Target sheds light, attacks against it have advantage and it can’t benefit from the invisible condition. Requires concentration.

Changes from D&D 2014: This is the new name for branding smite. It previously didn’t grant advantage on attacks and only ended invisibility rather than preventing it.

Tactics: Advantage against a creature for a minute is powerful, especially against tough foes with a lot of hit points that will need a lot of attacks against them. Unlike the prone from thunderous smite, not only will this last a minute, but it also has no saving throw. This means it works automatically and can’t be defended against using legendary resistance making it excellent for BBEGs.

Theres also the bonus of it being a great way to deal with invisible and hiding enemies.

There is a drawback. To stop an enemy benefitting from the invisible condition, you do have to hit them first, which can be challenging. The other is that it occupies your concentration. But this is an excellent smite so I think it’s worth it.

Best against really tough enemies and creatures that can turn invisible.

Blinding smite (Lv3)

Damage: 3d8

Damage type: Radiant

At higher levels: +1d8 per level

Additional effects: Blinded for a minute. Can take a saving throw at the end of each turn to remove the effects.

Changes from D&D 2014: No longer requires concentration and previously blinded could be prevented when hit, now saves only start at the end of the first turn being blinded.

Tactics: This is one of the better damage dealing smites, but only barely. Blinded is less debilitating than a lot of other conditions, but it works automatically for at least a turn. This means advantage on attacks against the target and disadvantage for their attacks. It’s always good to have some automatic conditions available in your repertoire, especially for tough creatures with legendary resistance.

Best for tough enemies that will last a while and need their effectiveness reducing.

Staggering smite (Lv 4)

Damage: 4d6

Damage type: Psychic

At higher levels: +1d6 per level

Additional effects: Stunned for a turn if the target fails a wisdom saving throw.

Changes from D&D 2014: Previously required concentration and instead of stunning for a turn, prevented reactions and caused disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks.

Tactics: Great for completely nullifying an enemy for a turn. Just be aware that the price is high (a 4th level spell slot) for something that only lasts a turn and might not work. Stunned is potent as conditions go though so the risk can be worth the reward.

Best for short term, but complete, nullifying of enemies; especially those with low wisdom.

Banishing smite (Lv5)

Damage: 5d10

Damage type: Force

At higher levels: Nothing

Additional effects: Banish the target on a failed saving throw and if they have less than 50HP.

Changes from D&D 2014: Now the creature can save against being banished rather than having this work automatically if knocked below 50HP.

Tactics: Excellent option against really tough enemies that you just need to separate while you sort everyone else out. It does require a saving throw, so could be passed, but there are no repeat saves.

My main issue with this smite is the HP requirement. Once enemies get this low, the party should be able to finish them off fairly quickly, especially at level 17 when you get access to this spell. That’s not to say it’s not useful, allowing you to send attacks elsewhere. And some enemies might have been above 50HP when first hit. But you’ve also got to guess the HP of the enemy too, which is also problematic.

Best against really nasty creatures that you want to remove from the fight while you deal with the rest of the enemies.

Which smite spell is best?

Well that kind of depends on what you want to do. Different smites are good under different circumstances, and there are no bad smite spells. Having said that, I do think some are better than others:

• Divine smite – Your best option for high, single turn damage, and really hurting fiends and undead.
• Searing smite – Your best option for total damage against anything that isn’t resistant to fire damage. Particularly good against really tough enemies that will take a while to defeat.
• Shining smite – The best option for effects that will always work and will help your allies out. Really great against tough enemies that will need a lot of attacks to take them down.
• Blinding smite – At least one turn of blindness will not only mean the target is easier to hit, but is worse at hitting too. Another great option for tackling nasty enemies that have been causing you problems.

How can you gain access to smite spells?

Well, the obvious answer here is by being a paladin. Paladins can use all the smite spells available in the rules. But there are a few other ways that other classes can also access smite spells:

• Hexblade warlock – Hexblades get several smite spells including; wrathful smite, branding smite (now called shining smite), staggering smite and banishing smite.
• Forge domain cleric – They get searing smite as one of their subclass spells.
• Battle smith artificer – They get branding smite (now called shining smite) in their list of spells.
• Shadow touched feat – This feat lets you choose a 1st level necromancy or illusion spell meaning wrathful smite is an option if you take this feat.
• Multiclass as a paladin – In D&D 2024, paladins get spells at level 1 so you only need a 1 level dip into paladin to get access to 1st level smite spells (including divine smite and searing smite which are both top options). In the 2014 rules, spellcasting kicks in at level 2 for paladins so you’d need to take a 2 level dip in paladin for this to work.

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That’s everything to know about smite spells in D&D 5e. Which smite spell do you prefer to use? Let me know about it in the comments below.

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