Banishing Smite

A
Control

Banishing Smite is a Control spell. Control spells restrict enemy options through debuffs or denial effects.

See all Control spells →
 spell that empowers a strike with force and, if it weakens the foe enough, banishes it to a harmless demiplane.

2024 Rules
Level & School
5th-level conjuration
Casting Time
Bonus action, which you take immediately after hitting a creature with a melee weapon or an unarmed strike
Range
Self
Components
V
Duration
Concentration, up to 1 minute
Classes
Paladin

The target hit by the attack roll takes an extra 5d10 Force damage from the attack. If the attack reduces the target to 50 Hit Points or fewer, the target must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or be transported to a harmless demiplane for the duration. While there, the target has the Incapacitated condition. When the spell ends, the target reappears in the space it left or in the nearest unoccupied space if that space is occupied.

2014 Rules
Level & School
5th-level abjuration
Casting Time
Bonus action
Range
Self
Components
V
Duration
Concentration, up to 1 minute
Classes
Paladin

The next time you hit a creature with a weapon attack before this spell ends, your weapon crackles with force, and the attack deals an extra 5d10 force damage to the target. Additionally, if this attack reduces the target to 50 hit points of fewer, you banish it. If the target is native to a different plane of existence than the one you’re on, the target disappears, returning to its home plane. If the target is native to the plane you’re on, the creature vanishes into a harmless demiplane. While there, the target is incapacitated. It remains there until the spell ends, at which point the target reappears in the space it left or in the nearest unoccupied space if that space is occupied.

Banishing Smite 5.5e 2024 vs. 5e 2014 edition differences

Changed school from Abjuration to Conjuration. The banish effect now forces a Charisma saving throw if the target is reduced to 50 HP or fewer, instead of happening automatically, and the plane-native/different-plane distinction is gone.

Banishing Smite popularity

Banishing Smite is a seldom chosen level 5 spell. Choosing it adds a unique option to your spellbook.

Spells similar to Banishing Smite

  • Banishment 4th-level abjuration

    It also forces a creature off the plane to a harmless demiplane on a failed Charisma save, matching the same transport-and-incapacitate effect.

  • Blinding Smite 3rd-level evocation

    Both are paladin bonus-action smites that add a big burst of extra damage to a hit and impose a disabling secondary effect.

  • Staggering Smite 4th-level enchantment

    This higher-level paladin smite deals heavy extra damage on a hit and imposes a potent debilitation, so it fills a similar tactical niche.

  • Wrathful Smite 1st-level necromancy

    Like Banishing Smite, it’s a paladin enchantment applied before an attack that adds damage and a control-style consequence on a failed save.

  • Searing Smite 1st-level evocation

    Although lower level, it’s another paladin bonus-action smite that augments a weapon strike with extra damage plus an ongoing or conditional effect.