Paladins are the quintessential knights in shining armor in both Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder. They are typically seen wearing heavy armor and wielding sword and shield, but are ideal on the front lines. However, since 2009, Paizo has encouraged Paladins to be more than just brilliant defenders. The divergence came from the revamp of Smite Evil – the previous iteration of D&D's Divine Smite – to activate at any distance. Compared to D&Dmany Pathfinder Paladins rely on a bow and arrow, excessive focus on casting spells, or preventing a fight from starting.
Wizards of The Cost has made some recent changes to give D&D more options, including the 2024 rules update to allow Paladins to take on the bow and arrow fighting style. However, this is a small step over almost 50 years of identical Paladin tropes. It's also too late for previously released D&D content, including the Paladin class in Baldur's Gate 3 and the character Xenk Yender from Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
Dungeon's & Dragon's Melee Divine Smite keeps archery useless for paladins
You can wield a bow, but a sword is better
Thanks to Dungeons and Dragons' open game license, Paizo made the first addition of Pathfinder using D&D 3e rules as a basis. Many features were the same, such as class names and spells, but many features were greatly changed in Pathfinder. The classic Smite Evil melee was one of the most drastic:
Once per day, a Paladin can call upon the powers of good to aid him in his fight against evil. As a swift action, the Paladin chooses a target in sight to attack. If this target is evil, the Paladin adds his Charisma bonus (if any) to his attack rolls and adds his Paladin level to all damage rolls made against the target of his strike. The smite evil effect remains until the target of the strike is dead or the next time the Paladin rests and regains use of this ability.
Several major changes occurred with this description. First, Smite remains in effect until the target is defeated, making it last much longer. But the most important thing is that the restriction on hand-to-hand combat has been removed. This meant that Smite Evil now worked with bows, crossbows, slings, guns, and anything else a Paladin could throw.
Going to D&D 5e, the two versions of Smite became even further apart. D&D still kept the melee attack requirement but now consumes spell slots to activate. This meant the Paladin would have to decide to be a spellcaster or save their magic to deal more radiant melee damage.
Although the 2024 ruleset allows for the bow and arrow fighting style, doesn't match the Paladin's core mechanic, Divine Smite. Countless times, players have maxed out Paladin with classes like Warlock and Sorcerer to make the Smite build more powerful, even if the character has no other role. By restricting Divine Smite to melee combat only, Wizards of the Coast is still apprehensive about forming full-fledged Paladin archers and spellcasters.
Even with the new 2024 rules, it will be difficult to change class stereotypes
Players will mostly replicate what they saw
In 2024, Wizards of the Coast gives very light hints about using Paladins as non-melee characters. However, Paizo has been ahead of the curve for a decade. Even two years later Pathfinderlife, they introduced the Divine Huntera paladin specializing in precise ranged attacks, searching arrows, and ranged laying on of hands.
There are even more efforts from Paizo to inform you about the many Paladin options. Among the Pathfinder The recommended generic NPC is the Holy Archer, a Paladin who uses Smite Evil with a bow and prefers to hide behind cover. Former leader of the Silver Crusade faction, Ollysta Zadrain, preferred longswords but I wasn't against using a bow for Smite Evil. More publicly, Smite was included in Pathfinder: Kingmaker and Pathfinder: Specter of the Righteous.
Compare these examples with D&D media over the last 40 years. One of the best-known Paladins is Piergeiron Paladinson of Waterdeep, who always fought gallantly with sword and heavy armor. THE Baldur's Gate the series introduced Paladins such as Keldorn Firecam and Minthara Baenre, who, if recruited, only use bows as a secondary weapon.
Until Wizards of the Coast creates an iconic Paladin Archer, few players will have the inspiration and investment to create their own for a while. Dungeons and Dragons Pen and Paper Campaign. And it can't be an obscure, unique character hidden in a single rulebook. This Paladin should be obvious in a video game, movie, show, or played by high-level talent like the cast of Critical Role or a celebrity like Vin Diesel or Anderson Cooper.