Searing Smite

A
Damage

Searing Smite is a Damage spell. Damage spells focus on dealing harm to enemies.

See all Damage spells →
 spell that ignites your strike, burning a foe now and again at the start of its turns until it shrugs off the flames.

2024 Rules
Level & School
1st-level evocation
Casting Time
Bonus action, which you take immediately after hitting a target with a melee weapon or an unarmed strike
Range
Self
Components
V
Duration
1 minute
Classes
Paladin

As you hit the target, it takes an extra 1d6 Fire damage from the attack. At the start of each of its turns until the spell ends, the target takes 1d6 Fire damage and then makes a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the spell continues. On a successful save, the spell ends.

Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. All the damage increases by 1d6 for each spell slot level above 1.

2014 Rules
Level & School
1st-level evocation
Casting Time
Bonus action
Range
Self
Components
V
Duration
Concentration, 1 minute
Classes
Paladin

The next time you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack during the spell’s duration, your weapon flares with white-hot intensity, and the attack deals an extra 1d6 fire damage to the target and causes the target to ignite in flames.

At the start of each of its turns until the spell ends, the target must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, it takes 1d6 fire damage. On a successful save, the spells ends. If the target or a creature within 5 feet of it uses an action to put out the flames, or if some other effect douses the flames (such as the target being submerged in water), the spell ends.

Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the initial extra damage dealt by the attack increases by 1d6 for each slot above 1st.

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

Searing Smite no longer requires Concentration. The burn now deals its 1d6 damage before the Constitution save, and a success ends the spell only after that damage is dealt. Upcasting now increases all of the spell’s damage by 1d6 per slot above 1st, not just the initial hit.

Searing Smite popularity

Searing Smite is a seldom chosen level 1 spell. Choosing it adds a unique option to your spellbook.

Spells similar to Searing Smite

  • Thunderous Smite 1st-level evocation

    Like Searing Smite, it’s a paladin bonus-action self-buff that adds extra damage to your next hit and shapes melee attacks for extra effect.

  • Wrathful Smite 1st-level necromancy

    This is another low-level paladin smite that enhances a single weapon strike with extra damage and an ongoing secondary effect tied to the hit.

  • Shining Smite 2nd-level transmutation

    It’s a paladin self-buff with a duration that augments your attacks and provides extra radiant damage in a similar sustained-melee style.

  • Divine Favor 1st-level transmutation

    Though simpler, it’s a paladin self-buff that grants extra damage on your weapon attacks for a minute, matching the same tactical use of boosting melee output.

  • Hunter's Mark 1st-level divination

    This ranger spell also marks a target to deal extra damage on your hits for up to an hour, functioning like a sustained single-target damage amplifier.