This article is about the reaction to trigger Divine Smite post-hit. For the action to use Divine Smite directly, see Divine Smite. For the critical-hit only version, see Divine Smite on Critical Hit.
Divine Smite is a PaladinReaction option for Divine Smite. It prompts the character to expend a spell slot for Divine Smite upon landing a melee weapon attack. It can trigger on multiple attacks within a single turn, such as when using Extra Attack or dual-wielding.
Description
Your weapon deals an additional 2d8Radiant damage, increased by 1d8Radiant damage when attacking Fiends or Undead.
+ 1d8Radiant (If the target is undead or a fiend)
At higher levels
When Divine Smite is cast at 2nd level or higher, damage increases by 1d8Radiant for each spell slot level above 1st. This damage is capped to 5d8, so using a spell slot above 4th spell level adds no further damage.
This reaction can be triggered on any melee weapon attack that is not a Divine Smite. This allows for smiting on offhand attacks, weapon actions like Cleave, or special attacks like Great Weapon Master: Bonus Attack. It can even trigger when using a Smite spell like Thunderous Smite. Using Divine Smite directly through the action is equivalent to triggering the reaction on a basic attack.
The reaction is split into one reaction for normal hits called Divine Smite and one for critical hits called Divine Smite: Critical Hit per spell slot level.
This means that with level 2 spell slots, you will have four reactions, two for each level.
By default the Divine Smite: Critical Hit reaction is set to auto-confirm and the Divine Smite is disabled.
In-game Divine Smite is listed under Class Actions in your spellbook.
Divine Smite as a reaction cannot be triggered when attacking from invisibility.
See Smite for additional details that apply to all variants of Smite.
