Unearthed Arcana 6: The Paladin

Exciting News! Wizard’s recently gave a sneak peak of the 2024 PHB, DMG, and MM. Check it out here for all the latest updates and insights!

Last, but certainly not least, we have the review of the Paladin, the final in my group of my UA 6 review, and the last of the classes that were part of the Priest group in the early stages of Unearthed Arcana. The original play-through had a solid set of changes that unified the class and subclass structure nicely. Besides the universal changes made to all subclasses, I am curious to see what else gets changed.

Core Class

The core Paladin class has a handful of changes made to it. Starting off at 1st level, Lay on Hands has been moved to a Bonus Action, where previously it was an Action. This will open up a lot more healing utility for Paladin characters, who previously had to choose between attacking an enemy and aiding an ally. Bonus Action enables doing both in a single turn.

Spell-casting has also had an intriguing change, similar to the Ranger. Now a Paladin can replace one spell per Long Rest, instead of previously where they could replace all their spells. So now we can consider Paladins as “Partial-Prepared Casters” or PPC. I have always made the analogy of Ranger being to Druid what Paladin was to Cleric, and it seems like Wizards had the same thoughts. This style of preparing spells, however, feels unorthodox. I am sure in practice it won’t make a tremendous impact on play style, as most players will not swap out all spells. I question the necessity of this distinction.

Paladins, like other non-full caster characters, can access Weapon Mastery to pick two weapons - the Longsword and Javelin are suggested. Again, I appreciate the mechanic, and think it will bring some interesting strategy to the game. But I feel that this ability quickly became less about a Fighter having a unique ability, and more about giving anyone capable of swinging a sword a cool ability.

At 2nd level, Paladin’s Smite replaces Divine Smite. This ability now gives Paladins access to their class-exclusive list of Smite Spells, giving a list of always-prepared options that unlock at specific levels. I like the expansion of the Smite ability. Making a list of options besides Divine Smite always available makes a Paladin much more capable in combat. Now Paladins will start off with Divine Smite and Thunderous Smite, giving them a different option for non-undead enemies.

Aura of Protection has returned to 6th level with the changes to the class’s leveling setup, and now will become inactive if the Paladin becomes Incapacitated. Previously at 7th, these fresh changes make the ability more usable but less overpowered, and I like these changes.

Abjure Foes, the 9th level class feature, has had its power reduced. In the previous play test, this ability would still Daze an enemy on a successful save. Now the feature does nothing on a successful save. The previous change felt like a great way to make sure the Paladin was not wasting an ability. We needn't worry about Paladins having nothing to do with the Lay on Hands change. On the GM side, this also makes a Paladin not completely unstoppable in combat, keeping them from always stalling out a group of enemies.

At 11th level, Radiant Strikes now works with melee weapon attacks or Unarmed Strikes. The previous changes made the ability to work on any Martial or Simple weapon and opened up the possibility of a ranged Paladin. It seems the developers have decided that smiting at a distance was too powerful an ability, and choose to remove it.

Divine Conduit, the 18th level ability that gave Paladins a Channel Divinity back when rolling Initiative, has been removed. Aura Expansion has taken its place. I liked the idea of Divine Conduit, since at this level in the game, most characters should always have one of their core abilities when starting combat. Keeping the Aura expansion means that Paladins will stay a bit more defensive, and have a high level passive ability instead of one that feeds into an active effect.

Core Class Thoughts

A pleasant mix of balance choices here with a lot to like. The idea of Paladins being the only class with access to smite spells, and gaining them for free as they level up, gives the paladin their extra damage without taking up desperately needed space for other options. This means a Paladin can freely focus on healing and utility without having to worry about making sure they have smite options. Lay on Hands moving to Bonus Action means that the ability will get much more use in combat since it won’t compete for attacking or spell casting anymore, giving Paladin players more utility.

But I dislike the new style of preparing spells. I understand why the developers introduced this Partial Prepared Caster style of swapping spells. They wanted to have a bit more distinction between full casters and partial casters. This feels needlessly restrictive and will displease more players than it satisfies.

Paladin Subclasses

Besides the Core Class, the play test provides us with updated looks at some of the Paladin Oath subclasses. We get to look at four: Oath of Devotion, Oath of Glory, Oath of the Ancients, and Oath of Vengeance. I'm curious to observe how the gameplay will be impacted by changes to these popular subclasses.

Devotion

Oath of Devotion is, in my mind, a stereotypical Paladin. These characters hold themselves to justice and order at the highest. They act as real knights in shining armor, and seek to hold themselves to high standards (as well as the rest of their party). A few significant changes have been made in this subclass.

The Paladin's 3rd level Oath Spells underwent some adjustments.. At 9th level Beacon of Hope and Dispel Magic replaces Aura of Vitality and Blinding Smite, and at 15th level Freedom of Movement replaces Staggering Smite. The latter two spells now become available to all Paladins through the Paladin’s Smite feature. Beacon of Hope, Dispel Magic, and Freedom of Movement all feel thematically appropriate for a player seeking to free themselves and their allies from the influence of evil beings. I like the change.

Smite of Protection now becomes available at 15th level instead of 6th. The ability now works with any Paladin’s Smite spells, not just Divine Smite, and provides Half Cover instead of temporary Hit Points. Half Cover means a +2 bonus to AC and Dexterity saving throws, and seems like it would provide a bit more utility than flat health.

Finally, the 20th level capstone Holy Nimbus also provides Advantage on any saving throws against Fiends and Undead. Since Devotion creates the stereotypical Paladin, this feels like a logical option. Gaining that extra protection from the fiends and undead feels right.

Glory

While Devotion created the stereotypical paladin, we could argue Oath of Glory as creating the more modern, hero based warrior. Oath of Glory Paladins focus on making sure they and their companions can achieve the greatness and heroism they will receive.

Starting off Inspiring Smite, one of the Oath of Glory’s Channel Divinities, works with all the smites provided by Paladin’s Smite. When any of those spells are used, they can activate this ability without spending an Action or Bonus Action. The other Channel Divinity option, Peerless Athlete, has had its duration increased to one hour from ten minutes. These two changes provide a lot more power and utility for the Glory Paladin. With longer-lasting abilities and fewer required actions, the Glory Paladin will have more opportunities to use them.

Aura of Alacrity now directly matches the range of Aura of Protection, giving it more range earlier on. From a mechanics standpoint, this will make determining buffs a lot easier. This also makes it easier for a Paladin to share their speed boosting ability.

Ancients

A favorite among the Paladin Oaths, the Oath of the Ancients focuses on cherishing the world around them. They swear to cherish the light of the world, and to make sure that they protect it and share it amongst those around them. These Paladins seek to be the light that illuminates the darkness for others.

The 3rd-level Channel Divinity ability, Nature’s Wrath, now affects each creature within 15 feet chosen by the Paladin, rather than just a single target. This prevents a single saved throw from making the use a dud, and increases the utility of the ability overall. I like the addition, and feel like this will keep the ability useful for longer.

The other Channel Divinity, Turn the Faithless, was made redundant by Abjure Foes, and was removed.

Aura of Warding now adds its ability to Aura of Protection instead of having its own radius. Like Aura of Alacrity, this simplifies the Paladin’s mechanics and provides a minor buff.

Undying Sentinel now also heals as well as preventing a Paladin from dropping to 0. An Ancients Paladin will now gain hit points equal to three times their Paladin level, ensuring that using this ability will put a Paladin at a minimum of 46 Hit Points instead of 0. Where Undying Sentinel previously meant, the Paladin would need to find healing immediately. This keeps them in the battle. It feels more narratively in line with the name of the ability and mechanically leans into the toughness of the Paladin.

The capstone ability, Elder champion, has had a few increases. Now, the Paladin can cast all spells in this form that have a casting time of one action as a Bonus Action. Paladins can use this ability again by expending a 5th level spell slot. By 20th level, a Paladin gets two 5th level spell slots, which means a maximum of 3 Elder Champion forms. This makes a capstone useful for any character with spells besides their classes, and keeps them using this ability more often.

Vengeance

With a goal to punish those who commit evil, Vengeance Paladins embody the class’s brutal vigilante aspect. These characters will seek to eliminate evil no matter the cost, and have a variety of offensive power to match.

They removed Hunter's Mark and replaced it with Compelled Duel at 3rd level. Since Hunter’s Mark is now a Ranger Only ability, now a Paladin can’t access it. Compelled Duel feels thematically appropriate, but it definitely stings to lose such a powerful spell. But it makes sense, especially considering that Paladins get access to a lot more ways to dish out damage.

Vow of Enmity helps patch the hole left by Hunter’s Mark. Now a Paladin can move their vow to another creature if they drop to 0 hit points before the spell is up. The range of the ability has also increased to 30 feet. This feels like a solid compromise to losing Hunter’s Mark.

Relentless Avenger now reduces a creature’s speed to 0 as well as allowing a Vengeance Paladin the ability to move. This dual strategy of reducing an enemy’s mobility while enhancing the Paladin’s own means that a Vengeance Paladin can better control enemies trying to maneuver around the battlefield or flee. It feels very close to Sentinel, so I hope that there is no accidental synergy between these two in this version of the game.

Avenging Angel now, like Elder Champion, uses a Bonus Action instead of an Action. It now lasts 10 minutes instead of an hour. Vengeance Paladins can also spend a 5th level spell slot to use this ability more than once per long rest.

Subclass Thoughts

The subclasses in the previous play test all had a uniform design, and we see that again. I particularly enjoyed seeing the aura enhancements being worked into the core class ability itself. I think this is a mild buff that will also make the class easier to run. I am also especially a fan of the 20th-level options for Oath of Vengeance and Oath of Ancients. The increase in power is nice, and giving a player a way to use their last ability multiple times is a pleasant option.

Overall Thoughts

With Unearthed Arcana 6, we seem to have arrived at a fairly solid version of the Paladin class. We see a lot of adjusting here to bring back the current layout of the class, what Wizards of the Coast calls the 2014 version, which worked so well for this class. Paladin was never a class that I found particularly lacking, so it makes sense there was no need for any large, sweeping changes. My biggest complaint here is with the new style of preparing spells. It feels like it’s trying to make partial casters have Partial Spell Preparation. The idea is reasonable, but this execution just feels odd.

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