The Holy Warrior’s Handbook
The Paladin is what happens when a Fighter discovers religion and actually commits to the bit. Half-caster, full armor proficiency, d10 hit die, and a kit that starts strong at level 1 and keeps stacking in interesting ways. If that sounds like a lot, it is. The Paladin might be the most front-loaded class in the game.
What You’re Actually Working With
Lay on Hands is the standout level 1 feature, and it earns that reputation. The key thing people miss is that it’s a pool, not a per-use ability. At level 10 you have 50 points to distribute however you want, in whatever amounts make sense. Topping someone off for exactly 7 hit points before a fight is just as valid as dumping all 50 into the downed Wizard. Five points from the pool can also cure a disease or neutralize a poison, which makes it quietly one of the most versatile healing tools in the game.
Divine Sense, on the other hand, is the feature that sounds good on paper and then promptly gets forgotten. Knowing the location of celestials, fiends, and undead within 60 feet is situationally useful, but the total cover caveat undercuts it badly. The more interesting half of the ability is detecting consecrated and desecrated places, which has real campaign utility if your DM is inclined to lean into it.
Divine Smite at level 2 is straightforward: expend a spell slot, add radiant damage. Undead and fiends take an extra die. There is not much to analyze here, and that is fine. It does what it says.
The Auras Are Where the Build Lives
Aura of Protection at level 6 is the feature that elevates the Paladin from “durable melee fighter with spells” to something more interesting. Everyone within 10 feet adds your Charisma modifier to their saving throws. That bonus scales with the same stat your spellcasting runs on, which means pouring into Charisma pays off twice. The constraint, staying within 10 feet of your party, is actually good design. It pulls the Paladin toward the center of a fight rather than letting them charge ahead and kite mobs. Aura of Courage at level 10 layers on top of that, making everyone in range immune to the frightened condition.
Both auras expand to 30 feet at level 18, which is when the Paladin stops being a zone and starts being a weather system.
Improved Divine Smite at level 11 adds a flat 1d8 radiant damage to every melee hit with no resource cost. No slot, no action, no decision. By this point your damage output has crept up steadily enough that the Paladin’s combat identity is fully formed: durable, centrally positioned, radiating buffs, and hitting reliably hard every single round.
The Roleplay Problem
The class gives you strong stage directions, which is a genuine asset. You know what you are. The downside is that “holy warrior with a strict moral code” is an invitation some players cannot resist turning into a headache for everyone else at the table. The Paladin’s certainty is baked into the fantasy, but certainty played without self-awareness is just a guy in armor telling everyone they are wrong. The class rewards players who treat the divine mandate as a responsibility, not a license.
The Sacred Oath chosen at level 3 determines your oath spells, your Channel Divinity options, and your level 20 capstone. That side of the class gets its own episode.