Bless vs Shield of Faith

[Expected]

I just recently leveled to level 2 Paladin and have 4 spells I can prepare from the Paladin list. I chose Bless, Cure Wounds, Protection from Good and Evil, and Shield of Faith. Which is better a better use of my concentration, Bless or Shield of Faith? I have +2 Con, I'm wielding a shield, I took Fighting Style: Defense, and I'm donning heavy armor for a total of 19 AC. I sometimes take the dodge action when I am low on health (I am the only one capable of healing).

[Nikushimi]

I guess it would depend on what you're wanting to do.

Both of those spells do different things.

Bless grants you a d4 that you can give to up to three other creatures that they can use for attack rolls and saving throws. So it's useful for when you want to give your allies the edge they need to be able to hit and survive.

However, Bless does take up your action on the turn you use it so you have to give up any other action you want to do on that turn.

Bless is used for more aggressive play in my opinion when you want that edge to be able to take down an enemy easier.

Shield of Faith on the other hand requires a simple bonus action to cast which allows you to still use your action for anything else and grants +2 bonus to AC.

Used on yourself you can give yourself an AC of 21 which is nice if you're on the frontline trying to be the defender or just the shield for your allies.

So if you want to be a bit more defensive and harder to hit Shield of Faith is really good.

In the end it all depends on what you need at the moment.

Shield of Faith: Defensive option for yourself or an ally, requires a bonus action, can still use your action.

Bless: Give yourself and 2 allies, or 3 allies an edge in combat with their attacks and saving throws, requires an action though for the round it's cast. More of an offensive option.

[HiveStriker]

Hi OP!

I overall agree with Nikushimi's points, still I'd like to add bits from a different point of view.

I'd say both of them are situational, in that they are "just simple buffs" but not adding any new capability. In that way, you should decide to use them only if you feel upcoming fight would be significantly harder without.

As for Bless VS SoF... I'd say first one is the best "in general" because it affects both saving throws and attack rolls and it affects 3 people instead of just one. It does take your action though.
So to decide...
1. Do I feel fight is less than hard? --> Go straight into fight.
2. Do I have high enough Initiative to buff my pals and me before we all scatter --> advantage Bless.
3. Do I feel enemy has high AC or will be likely to use magical effects? --> advantage Bless.
4. Am I tasked with aggroing as much heat as possible or to draw one dangerous enemy away to take care of it "solo"? --> advantage Shield of Faith.
5a. Would using my action on Attack in that initial round possibly make a huge difference in encounter difficulty? --> definite advantage Shield of Faith.
5b. Am I in the impossibility to Attack because I'm simply too far away? --> advantage Bless.

Those are the main criterions I'd use to decide. It may seem overly complex at first glance, but in fact those are small thinks you probably do already without even realizing it, in general, when deciding what to do with your action and where to move.
Those bits are just about a specific use-case of "what to do with my initial turn" (of course, sometimes it may be worth casting mid-fight, but that's a rarer occurence imx ;)).

[djreynolds]

I just recently leveled to level 2 Paladin and have 4 spells I can prepare from the Paladin list. I chose Bless, Cure Wounds, Protection from Good and Evil, and Shield of Faith. Which is better a better use of my concentration, Bless or Shield of Faith? I have +2 Con, I'm wielding a shield, I took Fighting Style: Defense, and I'm donning heavy armor for a total of 19 AC. I sometimes take the dodge action when I am low on health (I am the only one capable of healing).

There is your answer, you cannot die. Shield of Faith

It is all dependent. And you choose 4 really good spells.

Who else is in your party?

But how HiveStriker breaks this down is awesome!!!! It is very situational at times.

Hi OP!

I overall agree with Nikushimi's points, still I'd like to add bits from a different point of view.

I'd say both of them are situational, in that they are "just simple buffs" but not adding any new capability. In that way, you should decide to use them only if you feel upcoming fight would be significantly harder without.

As for Bless VS SoF... I'd say first one is the best "in general" because it affects both saving throws and attack rolls and it affects 3 people instead of just one. It does take your action though.
So to decide...
1. Do I feel fight is less than hard? --> Go straight into fight.
2. Do I have high enough Initiative to buff my pals and me before we all scatter --> advantage Bless.
3. Do I feel enemy has high AC or will be likely to use magical effects? --> advantage Bless.
4. Am I tasked with aggroing as much heat as possible or to draw one dangerous enemy away to take care of it "solo"? --> advantage Shield of Faith.
5a. Would using my action on Attack in that initial round possibly make a huge difference in encounter difficulty? --> definite advantage Shield of Faith.
5b. Am I in the impossibility to Attack because I'm simply too far away? --> advantage Bless.

Those are the main criterions I'd use to decide. It may seem overly complex at first glance, but in fact those are small thinks you probably do already without even realizing it, in general, when deciding what to do with your action and where to move.
Those bits are just about a specific use-case of "what to do with my initial turn" (of course, sometimes it may be worth casting mid-fight, but that's a rarer occurence imx ;)).

[stoutstien]

I just recently leveled to level 2 Paladin and have 4 spells I can prepare from the Paladin list. I chose Bless, Cure Wounds, Protection from Good and Evil, and Shield of Faith. Which is better a better use of my concentration, Bless or Shield of Faith? I have +2 Con, I'm wielding a shield, I took Fighting Style: Defense, and I'm donning heavy armor for a total of 19 AC. I sometimes take the dodge action when I am low on health (I am the only one capable of healing).

You seem to have a handle on your abilities which is great. Don't forget paladins are prepared casters so you can switch spells out everyday to fit what you think is needed.
Everybody has hit dice they can spend during rest to heal so think of your healing as emergency stoppage or to keep someone upright. Lay on hands starts slow but is a huge pool of healing that is flexible. don't worry about healing someone to full.
If you are really the only combat healing In the party they will have to play accordingly.

On the question at hand, generally bless is better because it effects all attack rolls and saving throws for three party members but if the enemy is hitting only you and need to stay alive SoF is a pretty significant boost. Every game has unique nuances so which spell is better will vary.

Side note: if you have a good cha score inspiring leader is some of the best healing in the game.

[Chronos]

Yes, Inspiring Leader is great, but paladins are already pretty starved for ASIs, what with wanting to max both Cha and their combat stat (Str or Dex), as well as whatever fighting feats they might want. You might still take it, but there are good reasons not to.

How good Bless is depends on your party and what you're fighting. If you're fighting something that forces a lot of saving throws, it's great, and stacks with the aura you'll get later, which is even better. Having a paladin along makes a fight against a beholder, say, trivial. Also of note, both Bless and the aura are among the few things that boost death saves, which is useful if you can't get to them quickly to heal them. And if you've got three people in your party who depend upon attack rolls, it's a significant boost to your offense. On the other hand, if your party-mates are mostly casters, and you're fighting nonmagical brutes like orcs or ogres, it won't do much for you.

[Keravath]

If you are the only healer then it is likely that the others on your team deal damage in one form or another. Bless will cause the opponents to go down faster and make your own team more resilient to spells and effects. In addition, bless benefits your own concentration saving throws.

Bless makes three of your party 5% to 20% (likely including yourself) more likely to hit and damage opponents. Shield of Faith makes you 10% less likely to get hit by attack rolls.

The main cost to bless is that it takes your action on the first round of combat if you can't pre-cast it just before combat starts.

[Expected]

@HiveStriker: Hello, again! Your flowchart is very useful in helping me decide when to use Bless or Shield of Faith.

@djreynolds: To counter being the only healer, I gave my Potions of Healing to our Fighter who usually has my back on the frontlines (he's built for damage so PAM and GWM).

Thank you all for your excellent advice! I will consider switching out my prepared spells depending on what we'll face each day (e.g. I don't need Protection from Good and Evil if we're fighting humanoids), but I'll definitely keep either Bless and SoF as they are useful in different situations, at least until later levels.

At level 6, I am going to multiclass into Divine Soul Sorcerer and eventually take Quickened, Subtle (for Subtle Counterspell/Dispel Magic), and Twinned (for Twinned Healing Word and Haste). I love the idea of taking Inspiring Leader, however, my feats are all accounted for unfortunately. I will be taking Elven Accuracy at level 4 for 18 Cha and triple advantage when using Faerie Fire/Darkness (with Devil's Sight)/VoE from Vengeance Paladin, War Caster, Resilient: Con, and +2 Cha.

We have a Warlock in the party who's going to cast Darkness for his concentration and we thought it'd be strategic for him to cast it on me so we both get advantage and I can focus on Haste or Spirit Guardians.

We do have a Ranger in the party who can cast Cure Wounds, but they insist on using spell slots for RP/useless spells and will refuse to help me if I'm down (the Fighter and I have each other's backs).

[nickl_2000]

My 2 cents.

Verses a caster or a monster with saves: bless
Verses a melee monster: SoF

[Tanarii]

(I am the only one capable of healing).

Cure Wounds. Unless you guys are finding HD healing on Short Rest, and Lay on Hands, sufficient.

[Chugger]

As a lvl 2 Pal I probably never cast a spell at all. I save my slots for divine smites during important battles. I use LoH to heal others, one point at a time, and if I go down I have a healer's kit on my belt - anyone can use it to automatically stabilize me, no roll needed.

My ac is probably either 18 or 19 already, depending on f.s. SoF is okay to cast, but anything that rolls a 20 still hits me - with a 1/3 chance or so I lose conc. I would not cast bless unless it was before a combat starts, which is rare in a lot of 5e games.

Look at the action economy of 5e. Fights are short. In a 3 round fight, if I cast bless on rnd 1, I've spend 33% of my time in the fight not hurting badguys. Maybe a couple of people hit instead of missing because of bless; maybe someone saves because of bless - but maybe not. I'd rather fight and smite if the creature needs a smite.

We're doing Avernus t1 mods - the last fight my lvl 3 pal used every slot he had on devils - went nova on a bearded devil. At lvl 2 I used my last slot on a hell hound before badly saving on its breath weapon and dropping to zero health - would have failed it even w/ a 4 from bless. But my 4d8 + str damage so hurt the hellhound that the rest of party was able to take it down quickly and heal me back. Smite does an extra 1d8 on fiends and undead. I usually prefer smite.

And yeah, other players arch an eye brow and go "you heal me to ONE point?" And I go "yeah". And they ask "don't you have 10 LoH points?" And I say I'm down to six, and it just hit you for 8 - so one h.p. or six h.p. is pretty much the same - and they say "you're turning me into a whackamole game" - and I say if I burn my last six and they do 8, how can I bring you back up? If you hit you do the same damage whether you have one or six hp - you get _one_ hit point, deal with it. They hate this, but 1 hp from Loh pretty much equals a healing word spell.

[Makorel]

I took both on my Paladin and practically speaking Shield of Faith gets more use. I don't feel unsure about throwing it on at the start of combat because every monster has an attack but not every monster throws out a saving throw (or a significant saving throw) and also when I cast bless I need to sacrifice my action on turn one. It's a lot easier to be reactive with Shield of Faith, or even proactive with Protection from Good and Evil. I feel confidant throwing PG&E on before combat starts because of the 10 minute time span.

[Keravath]

...

At level 6, I am going to multiclass into Divine Soul Sorcerer and eventually take Quickened, Subtle (for Subtle Counterspell/Dispel Magic), and Twinned (for Twinned Healing Word and Haste). I love the idea of taking Inspiring Leader, however, my feats are all accounted for unfortunately. I will be taking Elven Accuracy at level 4 for 18 Cha and triple advantage when using Faerie Fire/Darkness (with Devil's Sight)/VoE from Vengeance Paladin, War Caster, Resilient: Con, and +2 Cha.

We have a Warlock in the party who's going to cast Darkness for his concentration and we thought it'd be strategic for him to cast it on me so we both get advantage and I can focus on Haste or Spirit Guardians.
...

I'm just curious but I don't see where you are getting devil's sight unless you are also taking two levels of warlock in there somewhere before multiclassing into sorcerer? Otherwise, darkness will just prevent all forms of advantage or disadvantage for you.

[HiveStriker]

@HiveStriker: Hello, again! Your flowchart is very useful in helping me decide when to use Bless or Shield of Faith.

@djreynolds: To counter being the only healer, I gave my Potions of Healing to our Fighter who usually has my back on the frontlines (he's built for damage so PAM and GWM).

Thank you all for your excellent advice! I will consider switching out my prepared spells depending on what we'll face each day (e.g. I don't need Protection from Good and Evil if we're fighting humanoids), but I'll definitely keep either Bless and SoF as they are useful in different situations, at least until later levels.

At level 6, I am going to multiclass into Divine Soul Sorcerer and eventually take Quickened, Subtle (for Subtle Counterspell/Dispel Magic), and Twinned (for Twinned Healing Word and Haste). I love the idea of taking Inspiring Leader, however, my feats are all accounted for unfortunately. I will be taking Elven Accuracy at level 4 for 18 Cha and triple advantage when using Faerie Fire/Darkness (with Devil's Sight)/VoE from Vengeance Paladin, War Caster, Resilient: Con, and +2 Cha.

We have a Warlock in the party who's going to cast Darkness for his concentration and we thought it'd be strategic for him to cast it on me so we both get advantage and I can focus on Haste or Spirit Guardians.

We do have a Ranger in the party who can cast Cure Wounds, but they insist on using spell slots for RP/useless spells and will refuse to help me if I'm down (the Fighter and I have each other's backs).

My pleasure, glad it helps people. :)

On Sorcerer's metamagics. I'd really vote against Twin because it's an expensive metamagic AND since you're going Divine Soul you get great spells to Extend, with Aid (upcast) and Death Ward as primary candidates. Since you seem to be the guy keeping party alive, those are by far your best options. Top that with Inspiring Leader and only by being stupid should your party die. :)
Now with that said, if you pick it at level 10 Sorcerer, SP count is not that big a deal for Twin.
Still think the Subtle / Extend / Quicken tryptic is the best though, but none is a bad choice anyways. :)

[Corran]

As a lvl 2 Pal I probably never cast a spell at all. I save my slots for divine smites during important battles. I use LoH to heal others, one point at a time, and if I go down I have a healer's kit on my belt - anyone can use it to automatically stabilize me, no roll needed.

Agreed. The risk of losing concentration is too big at these levels, and attacks have a good chance to bring enemies down to 0 hp, so spending actions and/or resources on concentration spells will be tricky and only sth to be done when it's really worth it (eg, use shield of faith if all the enemies are focusing on you).

@OP: Bless will work better when you hit level 5-6. That is, when your fighter buddy will have extra attack and GWM and when you'll have boosted concentration. Also when your warlock or ranger will have something worth concentrating on or will have increased their dpr as well. At this point (ie when you'll have your own extra attack and a better concentration), you'll want to start preparing wrathful smite. Till then, thunderous smite can be a high risk - high reward smite spell you might want to have prepared, cause the forced movement can be situationally useful when there is dangerous terrain, or when it means that the enemy will get to waste a turn after you shove them and move away. Command is excellent turn denial against (low wis) enemies who hit hard, and becomes even better if your DM rules that the enemy's movement provokes OA's.

[djreynolds]

1 side note.
Do not skip aura of protection at 6th level paladin. Get there ASAP
Its basically the saving throw portion of bless... permanently

[Pex]

The +1d4 to hit with Bless is gravy. What's important is the +1d4 to saving throws. When you know you're fighting an enemy where party members can't afford to fail a save cast Bless. When facing lots of range attack foes cast Shield of Faith. Anything else whatever suits your mood at the time (+1d4 to hit is still very nice) or use the slot for a smite.

[Expected]

I'm just curious but I don't see where you are getting devil's sight unless you are also taking two levels of warlock in there somewhere before multiclassing into sorcerer? Otherwise, darkness will just prevent all forms of advantage or disadvantage for you.

I forgot to mention that I'll be taking 2 levels of Hexblade Warlock for Shield, Eldritch Blast, Hexblade's Curse, and Agonizing Blast+Devil's Sight. I'm playing a Half-Elf (Drow) so I get to cast Darkness x1/LR at level 5.

My pleasure, glad it helps people. :)

On Sorcerer's metamagics. I'd really vote against Twin because it's an expensive metamagic AND since you're going Divine Soul you get great spells to Extend, with Aid (upcast) and Death Ward as primary candidates. Since you seem to be the guy keeping party alive, those are by far your best options. Top that with Inspiring Leader and only by being stupid should your party die. :)
Now with that said, if you pick it at level 10 Sorcerer, SP count is not that big a deal for Twin.
Still think the Subtle / Extend / Quicken tryptic is the best though, but none is a bad choice anyways. :)

I will definitely consider taking Subtle, Extend, and Quicken. I was going to see if the DM would allow me to take the last watch during a long rest to cast Aid and Death Ward to get 7 hours of it. I only wanted Twin for Twinning Haste for me and the Fighter, but Extend does seem more worthwhile.

1 side note.
Do not skip aura of protection at 6th level paladin. Get there ASAP
Its basically the saving throw portion of bless... permanently

I wouldn't dream of it. I like the idea of a sword and shield gish with decent HP (15-> 16 Con), high saves (+3-5 Cha modifier), and high AC 19 (20 when I can afford plate) with shield and Fighting Style: Defense. I would like to get a Cloak of Protection, Ring of Protection, and Cloak of Displacement. I'd concentrate on Spirit Guardians or Haste and be hard to kill while smiting on crits (we use flanking rules and I'm taking Elven Accuracy and Hex Warrior for Cha SADness). I plan on leveling as follows: Vengeance Paladin 6 -> Hexblade Warlock 2 -> Divine Soul Sorcerer 12.

[HiveStriker]

I will definitely consider taking Subtle, Extend, and Quicken. I was going to see if the DM would allow me to take the last watch during a long rest to cast Aid and Death Ward to get 7 hours of it. I only wanted Twin for Twinning Haste for me and the Fighter, but Extend does seem more worthwhile.

Well, actually, if your DM would allow that, it may somewhat diminish the value of Extend for you. Because allowing that would make you have the same effect in practice which is "benefitting from buffs for the day while starting with all slots".
(On that point, don't forget about Mage Armor, especially for familiars/companions/scouts).
While you may fancy the idea of Twinning some utility spells of 1st/2nd level (ex making 2 pals that scout in tag-team Invisible) or turning magic-emptied allies into powerful beasts with Twin Polymorph (great example of hefty cost XD).
Yet again, an Extended Invisibility may also be great for a solo scout on unpredictable missions. And Invisibility as well as several others like Fly and Enhance Ability can target more people when upcasted.
Extended control spells can also be useful when you don't actually want to kill but simply debunk a situation or sneak around, like Extended Sleep / Hypnotic Pattern. Or if you want to get more flexibility and easiness of use, like doubling the time for a Suggestion to take act... Or make Spirit Guardians possibly last one more encounter with the same slot (very nice when you upcast it ^^).

In fact, I'd suggest you ask your DM if he'd houserule that you can change Metamagic at best when gaining a level, at "worst" when gaining an ASI. That way you can experiment without too much pressure what you feel is the best for you and your party while still being "anticipable" enough by DM designing encounters. ^
If that is off the table, then maybe think about the spells you want to use the most from Sorcerer, and/or the ones that would be most useful to your party, then decide on which metamagics to pick.

And don't fret too much about it: there is no real bad choice here. Just make sure metamagic and spells are coherent with each other. ^^

[Aussiehams]

I think Warcaster and resilient: Con is probably overkill. You will probably be better off with an ASI instead. Remember, +2 to Cha will mean a +1 to ALL saves.
Definitely get 1, but not both.

[Expected]

I think Warcaster and resilient: Con is probably overkill. You will probably be better off with an ASI instead. Remember, +2 to Cha will mean a +1 to ALL saves.
Definitely get 1, but not both.

I have enough ASI's to to get Elven Accuracy (lv 4), War Caster, Res: Con, and 20 Cha. I'll just be taking Res: Con last at character level 20 (which most campaigns never see).

[stoutstien]

I think Warcaster and resilient: Con is probably overkill. You will probably be better off with an ASI instead. Remember, +2 to Cha will mean a +1 to ALL saves.
Definitely get 1, but not both.

Depends on how deadly your table plays. Once Cha is maxed a Paladin that grabs both warcaster and Reis con is practically immune to losing concentration due to damage or failure of a ST. Keeping circle of power or banishment up is a bigger impact than a few points of damage.

[Expected]

Depends on how deadly your table plays. Once Cha is maxed a Paladin that grabs both warcaster and Reis con is practically immune to losing concentration due to damage or failure of a ST. Keeping circle of power or banishment up is a bigger impact than a few points of damage.

My DM makes combat challenging and homebrews pack tactics and other useful features onto enemies and buffs their scores. I plan on concentrating on Spirit Guardians/Haste depending on if there are one or few enemies (Haste) or many enemies (Spirit Guardians). I will be upcasting SG and need to maintain concentration especially since I'll be the party tank, hence the need for both Res: Con and War Caster.

[Keravath]

My DM makes combat challenging and homebrews pack tactics and other useful features onto enemies and buffs their scores. I plan on concentrating on Spirit Guardians/Haste depending on if there are one or few enemies (Haste) or many enemies (Spirit Guardians). I will be upcasting SG and need to maintain concentration especially since I'll be the party tank, hence the need for both Res: Con and War Caster.

You won't get spirit guardians or haste until level 13 though unless I missed something in your build?

[Expected]

You won't get spirit guardians or haste until level 13 though unless I missed something in your build?

You're correct. I know I get them a little late, but I'll concentrate on Bless, Shield of Faith, or Darkness until then. When I do have Haste/SG, it will be nearly impossible to deal with me because of my high AC, good saves, and decent HP.