Best Magic Items for Paladin in D&D 5e
The Paladin is a class whose identity is closely tied to magic items. It’s honestly hard to imagine a holy knight clad in full plate who doesn’t have a sweet magic sword. That being said, I’m not going to mention many weapons in this article, as you’ll likely be fine with any magic weapon your DM decides to give you. I’ll more focus on items that fix some of the problems of the class, or ones that expand the scope of what the class is capable of.
Amulet of the Devout (Attunement, Rarity Varies): This item is specifically for Clerics and Paladins, increasing their spell save DC and granting an additional channel divinity each day. Paladins aren’t as reliant on their spell save DC as Clerics are, but the bonus will still come up consistently, especially with subclasses like Crown who get spells like Spirit Guardians. The extra channel divinity will likely be an even bigger deal, as there are some really good Paladin channel divinities, many of which you’ll be glad to have more uses of.
Uncommon:
Gauntlets of Ogre Power (Attunement)This item and the various Belts of Giant Strength set your Strength score very high, which can potentially help the Paladin invest their scores more heavily into Charisma and Constitution. If you can guarantee this item at character creation, you can dump Strength entirely. Do keep in mind that your natural Strength score (and Charisma) needs to be at least 13 to multiclass out of Paladin. Having this or another item artificially set your Strength score does not qualify you for multiclassing.
Hat of Disguise (Attunement): Paladins really struggle with traditional stealth, so why not give them a different angle to tackle that problem? I like this option because it doesn’t just fix the problem outright, but rather asks your player to find a unique way to overcome the problem. Of course, stealth can’t always be solved by this item, nor is stealth the only problem this item can solve. Just a great item to give to a player for letting them be creative.
Saddle of the Cavalier: This is an item for the mount you summoned through Find Steed. It helps your mount survive longer in combat, and doesn’t require attunement or anything. All upside with this one.
Wand of Web (Attunement): Paladins lack great control spells with only a few subclass-exclusive exceptions, and this item grants one of the strongest in the game many more times per day then you will ever need. This item stays good for a long time, and really helps your Paladin conserve their slots for Smites.
Winged Boots (Attunement): Flight is busted, and this is the best low rarity means of obtaining it. Paladins especially appreciate flight, as they otherwise struggle to combat flying enemies.
Rare Items:
Butcher’s Bib (Attunement): This is a simple way to add damage every round that stacks with any other magic weapon you’ve got.
Cape of the Mountebank (Attunement): Paladins lack almost any teleportation options, and this item fixes that. There are a few subclasses that grant Misty Step, but aside from those, this item will be fantastic on any Paladin.
Devotee’s Censer (Attunement): As a weapon, this flail will likely be lacking in comparison to a heavy weapon backed by Great Weapon Master, however the 10d4 healing for your entire party once per day will definitely come in handy.
Horn of Valhalla: A free summon of a bunch of buff dudes every day? Yes please, in the least sexual way possible.
Wand of Fireballs (Attunement): Mass AoE damage is another area Paladins struggle with, and there’s no better spell to fix that than Fireball. This item is a fantastic option for your action any time you can’t reach a foe or you can catch many opponents in one blast.
Very Rare Items:
Animated Shield (Attunement): The best Paladin builds are holding a heavy Polearm in both hands, leaving no room for a shield. This item circumvents that problem, helping us live up to the defensive tank that everyone thinks a Paladin is.
Antimagic Armor (Attunement): This item is great for shutting down spellcasters and other magical effects, but there’s a specific reason why it might be best for Paladins. The Antimagic Field spell states that any magical effect or spell that targets a creature or is currently effecting a creature, any AoE of magic that extends into the area, and any summoned creatures are nullified while in the area of the spell. Do smites count as any of those? Personally, I don’t think so. If that means you can still smite while in this area, that’s amazing, but even if you can’t, this item is still amazing.
Ghost Step Tattoo (Attunement): This item is great for getting through barriers, increasing your durability, and helping you escape any form of restraints. These are all areas that this class can struggle with, making this a perfect filler item for any Paladin.
Horseshoes of a Zephyr: Another item for your mount, this one lets it avoid dangerous terrain, walk on water, and ignore difficult terrain. It basically takes away nearly all the downsides of having a mount.
Legendary Items:
Holy Avenger (Attunement): I mean, of course this is the best Paladin item. It’s literally the dream of every Paladin player to get a chance to swing this thing around. It’s been around since the original DMG, and it’s still one of the best magic items in the whole game.
Thank you for visiting!
If you’d like to support this ongoing project, you can do so by buying my books, getting some sweet C&C merch, or joining my Patreon.
The text on this page is Open Game Content, and is licensed for public use under the terms of the Open Game License v1.0a.
‘d20 System’ and the ‘d20 System’ logo are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
and are used according to the terms of the d20 System License version 6.0.
A copy of this License can be found at www.wizards.com/d20.
