Top 10 Best Paladin Spells in Baldur’s Gate 3

Paladins don’t have access to a ton of spells, and they’re mostly used for Divine Smites. However, there are some great defensive, offensive, and utility choices that are better than just smiting your foes. Here are my top 10 best Paladin spells in Baldur’s Gate 3.

What Are the Top 10 Best Paladin Spells in BG3

Bless

Bless is one of the best Level 1 spells that are viable to cast even later on mid to late-game levels, especially on Paladins. It boosts your attack rolls and saving throws by 1d4 on up to 3 allies including yourself. This will not only help you land those Divine Smites but also help your Great Weapon Master/Sharpshooter feat users and Sneak Attacking Rogues land massive hits. For a Paladin who doesn’t have that many Concentration options for spells, I used Bless even in Act 3.

Compelled Duel

While situational in most scenarios, Compelled Duel is an incredible defensive spell when you need to use it. It essentially hard-taunts an enemy to attack only you and not your allies. This is great for holding the frontline against an elite or boss enemy and protecting your mages and archers. The enemy does need to make a Wisdom saving throw against your Charisma-based spell save DC, but Wisdom saving throw bonuses are usually lower for most monsters.

Ensnaring Strike (Oath of Ancients)

While it’s only available to Oath of the Ancients Paladins, Ensnaring Strike provides superb lockdown for your Paladin. It allows you to immobilize key targets in combat, such as preventing archers and mages from running away or a melee brute from reaching your backline. Plus, all your attacks will have Advantage, and their attacks will have Disadvantage. Ensnaring Strike is a must-take on OoA Paladins.

Shield of Faith

As it turns out, Paladins have a whole bunch of useful Level 1 spells so Shield of Faith is next with a quick and effective defensive buff. You get +2 AC as a Bonus Action and you have to maintain concentration. This spell works best when you’re stacking AC with shields so you don’t get hit and therefore don’t have to roll concentration checks to maintain the spell. That said, it can also be useful with two-handed Paladin builds for some extra defense.

Wrathful Smite

Lastly, for Level 1 spells, we have Wrathful Smite as the first smite spell on this list. When it comes to smite spells, you want them for the condition they apply, not necessarily for the damage, since Divine Smite already does great damage. Among all smite spells, Wrathful Smite’s Frightened condition is by far the most powerful. The enemy you hit that fails a Wisdom saving throw will get Disadvantage on all attacks and cannot move. This is essentially Ensnaring Strike for non-Ancient Paladins and an incredible crowd-control option.

Misty Step (Oath of Vengeance and Oath of Ancients)

The only universally powerful Level 2 spell for Paladins is Misty Step, which you should always be on the lookout to use. Its mobility is incredible, especially on a slower class like Paladin since you can reach key targets that are both far away or perhaps on elevated platforms. It’s only for Ancients or Vengeance Paladins like Minthara. That said, if you are one of these subclasses, you’ll never have mobility problems again, especially if you also pick up the Amulet of Misty Step or the Disintegrating Nightwalkers.

Crusader’s Mantle

Since there aren’t any particular must-have Level 2 spells, we’re moving straight to Level 3 spells like Crusader’s Mantle. Feel free to pick your favorites with Level 2s, but I mostly use them for smiting. As for Crusader’s Mantle, it’s one of the best Paladin spells if you have multi-attacking allies in your party like Monks, Barbarians, or Fighters. Especially if the latter two have Polearm Master or Great Weapon Master feats.

The added Radiant damage for every ally attack, including your attacks, can stack up greatly to around 6d4 to 8d4 per turn. This is boosted further if you have temporary companions, summons, the Haste spell, or Potions of Speed. The more attacks you and your allies can make, the better Crusader’s Mantle becomes.

Blinding Smite

Next up, we have another smite spell, Blinding Smite, which also applies a powerful condition called Blinded. Blinded enemies cannot make ranged or spell attacks beyond 10 feet. They also get Disadvantage on all attack rolls, and attack rolls against them have an Advantage. It’s one of the best crowd-control effects you can apply as a Paladin, so be on the lookout to use this on elite and boss enemies.

Warden of Vitality

Warden of Vitality is such a drastically more powerful healing spell than in the D&D 5e tabletop version because you don’t need concentration for it. For 10 turns, it gives you a special Bonus Action to heal yourself or an ally within 30 feet for 2d6 HP. You can repeat this each turn without having to concentrate on the spell, which is great for prolonged fights. All in all, this spell potentially heals up to 20d6 HP, and I like to use it out of combat in turn-based mode to top off my party. That’s why I would avoid using it in combat too much, especially if you’re using a Polearm Master build, since your Bonus Action will be busy with other abilities.

Haste (Oath of Vengeance)

By far, the best Paladin spell in the game is Haste, which you can get through Oath of Vengeance. It perfectly synergizes with everything we want to do. You get more movement speed, +2 AC, and, most importantly, more attacks for our Divine Smites. Yes, it’s a bit of a high-risk, high-reward spell since if something breaks your concentration, you’re Stunned for a turn and cannot take action. That said, we should make sure to stack up our AC with my recommended Paladin gear and drink an Elixir of Peerless Focus to prevent this from happening. This way, with a bit of luck, we’re reaping all the benefits without risk.

That concludes my top 10 best Paladin spells in Baldur’s Gate 3. For more BG3 guides, check out the best multiclass builds and honour mode builds.