Thunderous Smite: Release Your Pious Discharge

Usable By: Paladin

Spell Level: 1

School: Evocation

Casting Time: 1 bonus action

Range: Self

Duration: Concentration up to 1 minute

Components: V

The first time you hit with a melee weapon attack during this spell’s duration, your weapon rings with thunder that is audible within 300 feet of you, and the attack deals an extra 2d6 thunder damage to the target. Additionally, if the target is a creature, it must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be pushed 10 feet away from you and knocked prone.

Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold

We all know the paladin stereotypes; they’re the highschool quarterback getting straight As and aiming at valedictorian. They get that spells are useful, but also don’t really want the extra work that goes into full casting. Being a paladin lets them turn their brain off from time to time to make the big damage numbers with some head cracking while still getting some needed tools to navigate exploration with and offer support to their teammates.

In this context, Thunderous Smite is a waste of paper. It's an effect you’ll never read, a spell not worth the hassle. Why would you waste the mental effort for what is sometimes a neat upside to get some advantage on attacks when you could instead just yell DIVINE SMITE and roll the big damages?

The core problems the spell has is it both requires you prepare it when you get to prepare precious few spells and does something you already can do without preparing it. If I can already add a bunch of damage to an attack for a spell slot (divine smite), having a redundant way to do that isn’t compelling. I want a diversity of tools to help me handle a wide breadth of situations; Thunderous Smite is competing with a class feature that I always have.

To make matters worse, the reward for preparing it is an effect that requires you concentrate on it for a split second. Any other effect you’d like to concentrate on like Divine Favor, Protection from Evil and Good, Crusader’s Mantle, and Bless can’t work with it. You have to give up your ability to maintain concentration at all for a lower damage smite.

To be fair, if you both connect with it AND they fail a save, knocking a creature prone can be potentially amazing. With extra attack and other melee combatants, this can provide advantage on subsequent hits making crits way more likely. Critting as a paladin means sinking Divine Smites to get ludicrous damage rolls. In addition, if you’re looking to retreat, this can hamstring an enemy and get them off you at the same time.

The problem then lies in the circumstances around knocking them prone. If you are under 5th level, you will never get to use the prone condition to get advantage yourself as the creature can just spend half their movement and stand next turn. Even if you’re attempting a two-weapon fight build, Thunderous Smite eats your bonus action, so you can’t use an off-hand attack the same turn. Post 5th level, if you miss the first attack on your turn it's the same problem. Defensively, with how high paladin AC gets, often just attempting to run and dash away from danger is your best bet as Thunderous Smite requires you both hit the enemy and they fail a save for the prone effect to save you when you want to bail.

All things considered Thunderous Smite is too clunky to use. If you’re rolling with a group of murderous melee monsters, you can sometimes offer them advantage on some attacks if initiative order is kind. Otherwise you’re better off spending your spell slots and prepared spells on effects that offer you flexibility, protection, or that good old fashioned bursts of radiant damage.

5e Spells

Thunderous Smite: Release Your Pious Discharge