Warding Bond

Level 2 Abjuration spell available to Clerics. You bind yourself to an ally: they get Resistance to all damage and a +1 bonus to Armour Class and Saving Throws, and every point of damage they take is dealt to you as well. No Concentration, lasts until a Long Rest. Read that second half again before you cast it.

Spell description: Ward an ally. They gain Resistance to all damage, and a +1 bonus to their Armour Class and Saving Throws.

Spell properties

• Range: Melee: 1.5m (5ft)
• Duration: Long Rest
• Conditions applied: Warding Bond (Target): +1 Armour Class and Saving Throws, Resistance to all damage. Warding Bond (Caster): takes the same damage the warded ally takes.
• Cost: Action + Spell Slot
• Recharge: Per action

Spell upcasting

Casting Warding Bond at higher levels provides no additional benefits.

How to obtain Warding Bond

• Cleric at Class level 3

Source items: Viconia’s Walking Fortress, True Love’s Embrace

When to cast Warding Bond

The maths is not what you think it is. The ally takes half damage thanks to Resistance. You take the full original amount. A 20-damage hit becomes 10 on your Paladin and 20 on you. Cast this carelessly and you have not protected the party, you have booked your Cleric a funeral.

So it is not damage reduction, it is damage relocation. What you are buying is where the damage lands: off the fragile body that keeps getting focused, and onto a Cleric with the armour and the HP to absorb it. That is a good trade in a boss fight and a terrible one everywhere else.

Which means it goes on the squishy companion the boss keeps picking on, cast by a Cleric who is standing at the back and staying there. Do not put it on the character who is about to walk into a Fireball, and do not leave it running while your own HP quietly drains. It lasts until Long Rest, so it is very easy to forget it is on.