Blessed Warrior Fighting Style in DnD 5e: Rules and Uses

Last Updated on December 15, 2023

Your choice of fighting style can meaningfully alter the way your D&D 5e character performs in battle. Is this one right for your character?

We’ll explain this style further and give you our take on the options it makes available below.

What is the Blessed Warrior Fighting Style?

Instead of enhancing your ability to fight with weapons or resist enemy attacks, the Blessed Warrior fighting style increases your character’s versatility and capacity to harm their enemies with magic. 

The Fighting Style gives you access to two cleric cantrips, and also allows you to swap these cantrips out whenever you gain a level—meaning you’re going to be able to experiment with some potentially less-than-optimal choices and not end up getting too badly punished.

Is Blessed Warrior a Good Option?

This fighting style can add a huge amount of versatility to the Paladin class, and make spellcasting a more central part of your character. If that appeals to you, BW is something to consider.

Typically, Paladins can only cast leveled spells, and don’t have too many spell slots going spare (especially as you’ll mostly be using them to power your Divine Smites), so having access to a couple of magical effects you can constantly spam is definitely going to come in handy. 

What Cantrips Are Available for Blessed Warrior?

There are nine cantrips available to the cleric, and you get to add two of them to your Paladin’s spell list when you choose the Blessed Warrior fighting style. 

Guidance. Touch a friendly creature (yourself included) and they can add 1d4 to the total of their next ability check before the spell ends (1 minute, concentration). Averaging a +2 bonus for every use, there is absolutely no reason you shouldn’t be using this cantrip on everyone all the time to make your whole party just that bit more effective.  

Light. Probably not the most valuable cantrip in the current edition, what with the prevalence of darkvision and the cheapness of torches, but Light still has its uses. In an all-human party, or in situations where everyone needs a free hand, it’s undeniably useful. However, unless you’re the only spellcaster in your party, someone else will probably have picked this up first. 

Mending. Thematically interesting, but not super useful, Mending allows you to repair a single break or tear in an object you touch, such as a broken chain link, two halves of a broken key, a torn cloak, or a leaking wineskin. There are certainly going to be situations where this is useful, but they’re likely to be few and far between.  

Resistance. Touching a willing creature allows them to add a d4 to the result of their next saving throw. While this certainly fits into the mold of a protective paladin keeping their allies safe, this cantrip is hard to set up and there are certainly better uses for your concentration. 

Sacred Flame. A solid ranged damage cantrip that forces a Dexterity saving throw to avoid 1d8 Radiant Damage. Paladins often lack a way to deal ranged damage, so this is a strong choice.  

Spare the Dying. This cantrip allows you to to touch a living creature that has 0 hit points. The creature becomes stable. This spell has no effect on undead or constructs. At lower levels, this can be a very literal life-saver. There’s nothing quite as bad as running out of spell slots right as the party fighter gets dropped and realizing no one is proficient in the Medicine skill.

That being said, Paladins all have Lay on Hands, and should probably keep a few points in their back pocket for this purpose anyway, so taking this cantrip feels a little redundant—unless your fellow party members seem really committed to dying young, that is. 

Thaumaturgy. A versatile social interaction aid, as opposed to a combat effect. Thaumaturgy allows you to manifest a minor act of miraculous supernatural power within 30 feet, creating one of the following effects: 

• Your voice booms up to three times as loud as normal for 1 minute.
• You cause flames to flicker, brighten, dim, or change color for 1 minute.
• You cause harmless tremors in the ground for 1 minute.
• You create an instantaneous sound that originates from a point of your choice within range, such as a rumble of thunder, the cry of a raven, or ominous whispers.
• You instantaneously cause an unlocked door or window to fly open or slam shut.
• You alter the appearance of your eyes for 1 minute.

If you cast this spell multiple times, you can have up to three of its 1-minute effects active at a time, and you can dismiss such an effect as an action.

Considering the broad applications of this spell in social settings, and the fact that paladins often end up being their party’s face, this can be a great addition to your spellcasting repertoire. 

Toll the Dead. The target of this spell must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or take 1d8 necrotic damage. If the target is missing any of its hit points, it instead takes 1d12 necrotic damage. As one of the game’s best damage cantrips, Toll the Dead is an excellent way to finish off enemies you’ve just nuked with your divine smite. 

Word of Radiance. A rare cantrip with an area of effect, Work of Radiance each creature of your choice that you can see within 5 feet of you must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or take 1d6 radiant damage. Not only does this cantrip synergize excellently with the paladin’s role as a melee tank, but if you take it alongside Toll the Dead, you can use it to easily set yourself up for a flurry of d12 damage bursts. 

Should I Learn the Blessed Warrior Fighting Style?

Whether or not to choose the Blessed Warrior fighting style depends both on the type of character you want to play, and your fellow party members. If you’re surrounded by spellcasters, this probably isn’t a necessary fighting style, and you can focus on something like Defense to boost your AC and protect your allies.

However, if your party lacks utility, and you’re being forced to also serve as a semi-spellcaster and even healer, the added utility of a few cleric cantrips can make a huge difference.