Very well done. Some good humour in there. :)
One thing to add, Dhamphirs have different bloodlines that were not mentioned.
'Eyyy ^_^
Ok quick note:
Heals 1d6 damage per odd level (or does the same damage to undead)! What makes it better, significantly so in fact, is that the paladin can heal THEMSELVES as a swift action, meaning that you can affect yourself with any mercies you like, while full attacking your brains out. It’s also an important part of the legendary healer, the Oradin.
Lay on hands increases at even levels, not odd.
Beginning at 2nd level, a paladin can heal wounds (her own or those of others) by touch. Each day she can use this ability a number of times equal to 1/2 her paladin level plus her Charisma modifier. With one use of this ability, a paladin can heal 1d6 hit points of damage for every two paladin levels she possesses.
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just coming to plug the gunslinger dip for a paladin, particularly with saddle surge spell.
A mysterious stranger 1/paladin 7 (soonest you get 2nd level spells)
With smite and the focused aim deed, you can get +20ish damage before Deadly aim/magic etc on a full attack vs touch.
This also opens up more spell options since, your primary stat is now charisma.
For even more fun, take a level of monk(scaled fist).
I think you are giving too much credit for the spells. Some of them are quite good, but I would put the rating at 4/5 instead of 5/5 for a paladin. The Tempered Champion trades out spells for feats and increases the damage of the weapon like the warpreists sacred weapon. This is a pretty good trade but if spells are a 5/5 by your definition you would not trade them.
The antipaladin’s spell list is actually worse than the paladins. They don’t get any cure spells, including any condition removal spells. This means they cannot use wands or scrolls of these spells. It also lacks a lot of the buff spells the paladin gets. Many of the unique paladins spells like bless weapon or litany of righteousness are not on the list and do not have an equivalent spell. They do have a couple of spells like invisibility that the paladin does not get but they lose more than they gain. I would rate a antipaladin’s spells as 3/5.
You also give channel energy a 5/5 rating. I think that is also too high. Channel energy uses up two lay on hands which means a paladin who is using channel energy is going to run out of lay on hands pretty quick. Swift action healing is in my opinion a better use of lay on hands than channel energy. The Oath of Vengeance replaces the ability to convert lay on hands to channel energy to converting lay on hands for more smite evil. That is a very good trade off that makes the paladin stronger.
Haven't had a chance to read this yet(*) (probably going to have to wait at least until the weekend), so apologies if what I am about to say is hidden somewhere in the guide already, but I wanted to add to Mysterious Stranger's post: When the Tyrant Antipaladin archetype came out, they forgot to update the spell list to exchange Chaotic Antipaladin spells with Lawful Antipaladin spells. This is pretty easy for a GM to fix by houserule, but it's still an annoying bug.
(*)Except that in the course of confirming that I had access, I did notice that the very first paragraph has a name typo copied and pasted from one of your other guides.
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You rate channel energy as 4/5 but put channel energy as 5/5. I would reverse those. Lay on hands is probably about the only in combat healing in the game that is worth using. Add to that the fact that the paladin gets to apply ALL of their mercies when they use lay on hands makes it one of the best class features of a paladin. What level would you rate a spell that did the following? Swift action to heal 7d6 points of damage and removes the fatigued and exhausted condition, and dispels any magical effect reducing one target ability score, and heals 1d4 ability damage to one attribute and grants fast healing 3 for seven rounds. That is what the lay on hand of a 15th level paladin can do. Even at lower level lay on hands can keep a paladin fighting long after everyone else is down.
Channel energy uses up two lay on hands per use. Not only does this reduce the amount of channels available to the paladin, it reduces their ability to heal in combat. Since it takes a standard action to channel energy it also prevents a paladin from making any attacks that round. So to channel energy the paladin is giving up lay on hands and forgoing all attacks.
I must be missing something because I don’t see why the variant channel is so good. Most of the buffs are short lived and in a standard campaign the harmful effects are only going to affect undead. This means channel energy for a paladin is rarely going to be able to add any negative conditions. An Antipaladin would be able to impose negative conditions so I can see this would be stronger for them, but for paladins I just don’t see the big benefit.
Bless equipment is also not that good. First of all it is based on the caster level so a paladin does not even qualify for it until 6th level. It also takes multiple channels each time. So a single use is going to require 4 lay on hands, and its duration is extremely limited. So a 6th level paladin would need to spend a standard action and 4 or his lay on hands to gain ghost touch for 3 rounds. He can do that once and that will use up most if not all of his lay on hands. At 15th level he can probably do it twice and it will last for 7 rounds. This feat looks good in theory but is a trap.
Channel smite is also not as good as it looks. First of all it takes a swift action so you cannot active it in the same round you declare a smite evil. Smite evil is defiantly the better option here. On the first hit smite evil give you a damage bonus of twice your level and also gives CHA to hit and to AC vs the target of your smite. The damage is also not multiplied and a critical hit, which is another reason why smite evil is much better. In later rounds it is competing with lay on hands for your swift action. So you are spending a feat for something that is not going to be used in the first round of combat, and even if the fight lasts multiple rounds is going to be rarely used. This feat is not a good choice for a paladin. For an anitpaladin it may be worth it because it affects any living creature.
For a paladin using channel energy comes at a pretty high price. Channel energy is actually a better option for the antipaladin. For one thing he is not giving up the ability to heal himself, and the damage affects a lot more creatures.
Your guide is pretty good and it was a pleasure reading it.
Good to have some free 2021 Paladiny/Anti-paladiny stuff out there for PF1e, IluzryMage. ;)
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Okay, finally got a chance to start reading this. So far, got through Mercies & Cruelties.
Class Overview:How to Play a Anti/Paladin:The Chassis:Alignment: "For Antipaladins: I would HIGHLY suggest looking into the god Hei Fang . . ." -- nothing to change here, but deserves a shoutout for Antipaladins that are noticeably less Evil and even slightly less Chaotic than normal Antipaladins.
Class Overview:How to Play a Anti/Paladin:The Chassis:Skills: For Class Skills, I would add Sense Motive (Wis) as important, if you can somehow cram it in. For a Paladin, since you have to be an upstanding upholder of a moral code, you don't want to be easy to trick. For an Antipaladin, given the crowd you're running around with, you don't want to fail to detect a plot against you.
Class Overview:How to Play a Anti/Paladin:The Chassis:Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Given how much a Tower Shield hinders you if you aren't a Tower Shield Specialist or Phalanx Soldier Fighter with too many levels for a Paladin or Antipaladin to dip into, the lack of Tower Shield proficiency really isn't a concern at all, except that it's weird that the Sacred Shield Paladin archetype didn't get Tower Shield proficiency (and a way to mitigate the attack penalty).
Class Overview:How to Play a Anti/Paladin:The Chassis:Smite Evil/Good: GM note: Do keep in mind that when you're in a Good campaign up against an Antipaladin, the Antipaladin and their allies are effectively in an Evil campaign, so Smite Good is very worthwhile for them.
Class Overview:How to Play a Anti/Paladin:The Chassis:Lay On Hands:Touch of Corruption: For an Antipaladin who has Negative Energy Affinity, this gets better. Unfortunately, not a LOT better -- unlike a normal Paladin, you can't use it on yourself with a Swift Action, and you can't use it to remove debuffs from yourself or your other allies having Negative Energy Affinity (Undead or otherwise).
Class Overview:How to Play a Anti/Paladin:The Chassis:Aura of Courage/Aura of Cowardice: Aura of Cowardice even overrides the fear immunity a Paladin gets from Aura of Courage, but it doesn't override the +4 bonus to Saves against Fear that it gives (which cancels the -4 penalty from Aura of Cowardice), so in a Paladin-Antipaladin battle, the Paladin is still in decent if not outstanding shape, as long as they have a decent Charisma bonus and didn't dump Wisdom (and note that later on when the Antipaladin gets Aura of Despair, that doesn't stack with Aura of Cowardice, so the Paladin is still potentially okay).
Class Overview:How to Play a Anti/Paladin:The Chassis:Divine Health/Plaguebringer: Immunity to disease may not come up very often as a high threat, but some disease effects are super-nasty, like Mummy Rot, Ghoul Fever, or Vargouille's Kiss (and you can expect the last 2 of these to come up at low levels, even before your 9/9 divine spellcaster or Witch can get Remove Disease, and Ghoul Fever is even fairly common, so having immunity to them isn't as niche as you might think). Also, typo in Urgathoa's name.
Class Overview:How to Play a Anti/Paladin:The Chassis:Mercies/Cruelties: I would rate Cruelty a lot lower, since not only do you only get to apply 1 at a time, but most of them don't last very long, and you usually need a Conductive weapon to get good use of them, and if you get one of these conditions on yourself, you can't use this ability to get rid of it even if you have Negative Energy Affinity. So, give it the same rating as Touch of Corruption, including the boost if you manage to get a Conductive weapon.
Class Overview:How to Play a Anti/Paladin:The Chassis:Channel Energy: I'd downgrade this to Green, because Channel Feats are competing with the Combat Feats and possibly with Mercy Feats, in the very limited pool of feats that you have. Would be better if Paladin/Antipaladin got a few bonus feats.
Class Overview:How to Play a Anti/Paladin:The Chassis:Spells: Actually, it's Lesser Restoration (not regular Restoration) that Paladins get at a lower spell level, but since they get 1st level spells 3 levels late, this just puts them even with a spontaneous 9/9 caster or any variety of 6/9 caster, and they're actually behind with regular Restoration. That said, many Paladin/Antipaladin spells that affect enemies are No Save (such as many of the Litany spells), so it's still not terrible. But an archetype that trades out spellcasting is not automatically bad for doing so.
Class Overview:How to Play a Anti/Paladin:The Chassis:Divine Bond: For the Fiendish Servant option of Fiendish Boon, do note that the Fiendish Servant is subject to Banishment, and Antipaladin strangely has no Fiendish Steed option. Normally, I wouldn't bring up 3rd party options, but somebody decided to fill in the Variant Fiendish Boon gap with a bunch of options in The Antipaladin's Almanac, which are helpfully spelled out on the www.d20pfsrd.com Antipaladin page but not the Archives of Nethys Antipaladin page (Archives of Nethys generally doesn't do 3rd party stuff, although I wouldn't absolutely swear that it doesn't have 1 or 2 exceptions).
Class Overview:How to Play a Anti/Paladin:The Chassis:Aura of Resolve/Despair: Charm effects will be pretty common if you're up against non-Blaster spellcasters or some types of Fey (and I've seen it come up a few times in PbPs on these messageboards), so Aura of Resolve isn't so niche -- I'd rate it Green (3/5), although the failure to include Domination effects keeps me from rating it any higher (that's what Aura of Righteousness/Depravity is for, but that's WAY LATE). For Aura of Despair, note that it doesn't stack with Aura of Cowardice, although it does have a much broader application, so it's still worthwhile for an Antipaladin to have (even with the smaller bonus than what Aura of Resolve gives).
Class Overview:How to Play a Anti/Paladin:The Chassis:Aura of Justice/Vengeance: GM note: Do keep in mind that when you're in a Good campaign up against an Antipaladin, the Antipaladin and their allies are effectively in an Evil campaign, so Aura of Vengeance is very worthwhile for them, especially if they have a lot of minions and the PC party has actual members (as opposed to Summons) that depend upon Damage Reduction. Suddenly, the Neutral/Chaotic Good Invulnerable Rager Barbarian isn't so Invulnerable any more.
Class Overview:How to Play a Anti/Paladin:The Chassis:Aura of Righteousness/Depravity: This would have been pretty good if only it didn't come so late.
Races:5/5 Races:Human: I want to point out an excellent alternate racial trait: Powerful Presence, which trades out the Human Bonus Feat for the Persuasive skill feat AND treating your Charisma score as 2 points higher for the purpose of meeting feat prerequisites. The latter is very useful if you need some feat such as Greater Eldritch Heritage or Ultimate Mercy that has a very high Charisma prerequisite, and you want to be Charisma-focused but not SO Charisma-focused that you have to dump your other ability scores.
Races:5/5 Races:Half-Elf: The Half-Elf Favored Class Bonus for Paladin is very good for a Paladin that doesn't trade out Auras (or only trades them out for other Auras): +1 foot radius to all Auras each level (sadly only takes effect after you take this 5 times). If you multiply this further with the Widen Auras spell, your Auras will eventually exceed the radius of even an enemy's Widened Fireball. In addition, Half-Elf Paladins (but strangely not Antipaladins -- seems like an oversight) get access to Paragon Surge, although this is a 4th level spell for them instead of the normal 3rd level. Need Extra Mercy (some really situational Mercy)? You got it.
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1st level Spells
Add Animal Purpose Training. Seems like decent utility for before you get an Animal Companion (or if you don't go that route at all).
Add Bane (Antipaladin only). A decently wide area debuff, and since neither Aura of Cowardice nor this spell are labeled as Morale effects, they stack (unlike Aura of Courage and Bless).
Add Bless (Paladin only, mainly for archetypes that don't have Aura of Courage, although the +1 attack bonus works even if you have this). A decent low-level buff for your whole party, and even has a good radius.
Add Conditional Favor. If you have to do something for somebody you can't trust, this will make them a bit more trustworthy.
Add Death Knell (Antipaladin only). Snuff out a dying creature's life force to give yourself +1 caster level, a +2 Enhancement Bonus to Strength, and a small amount of Temporary Hit Points.
Add Detect Charm (Paladin only). If you suspect that someone has had their mind messed with, this will let you find out.
Add Fabricate Disguise (Antipaladin only). For working undercover. Still requires that you have the Disguise skill (and you still have limited skill points), but greatly speeds up making a disguise, which could mean the difference between success and failure of your evil mission.
Add Face of the Devourer (Antipaladin of Rovagug only). Pretty good buff to your Intimidate skill for a 1st level spell, and since it gives a Circumstance Bonus, it stacks with Enhancement Bonuses and Morale Bonuses. Also gives you a Bite attack. Normally I wouldn't rate spells specific to one religion or race, but see Savage Maw below.
Add Funereal Weapon (Paladin only). If you are up against too many Undead to use Smite Evil on, this will help you get through their Damage Resistance.
Add Ghostbane Dirge (Paladin only). This could save you if you come up against Incorporeal enemies at low levels, but watch out for their Will Save.
Add Haunting Reminder (Antipaladin only). For lingering coercion by Intimidation.
Add Hedging Weapons. Uninspiring at low levels, but at later levels actually becomes decent self-protection.
Add Hide Weapon (Antipaladin only). For when you need to sneak a weapon into somewhere where it isn't allowed, and even to sneak it back out after you've done your dirty work, and even get a +5 CMD against being disarmed while you're using it. If you're the Two Weapon Fighting type or for some reason need two different types of weapons for different dirty work, you can even use two castings of this spell at once.
Add Inner Focus. In case you need to cast spells that have a Divine Focus requirement while working in a place hostile to your religion.
Add Knight's Calling (Paladin only). Like Challenge Evil, but doesn't give them the option to run away if they fail their Save, and like Compel Hostility but single target and locks them in to you if they fail their Save.
Add Litany of Duty. If you are up against something that can somehow bypass Protection from Evil, this could save you from being mind-controlled.
Add Litany of Sloth (Paladin only). If you have multiple Rogues in your party, and you are going up against a martial battlefield control type, this will help your allies get into flanking position. This seems to have been stealth-errata'd -- it used to be No Save, but now it has a Will Save, so it has a low probability of working on an enemy Reach Cleric.
Add Murderous Command (Antipaladin only). Use this on an enemy Rogue when they are next to one of their allies.
Add Murderous Crow (strangely for Paladin as well as Antipaladin). As a Paladin or Antipaladin, you probably can't afford feats for Improved Dirty Trick or Improved Steal, so summon a Celestial/Resolute/Fiendish/Entropic Crow to do these for you. (The Eye Rake attack isn't actually Improved Dirty Trick, but it might as well be, except that its effect lasts longer.)
Add Oath of Anonymity (strangely Paladin only). If you need to go undercover, this will help make up for your lack of skill ranks that you can afford to spend for such things.
Add Protection from {Opposed Alignment}. Keep an ally from being mind-controlled by a fair subset of opponents, and protect them from attacks by a fair subset of summoned opponents.
Add Savage Maw (Antipaladin Half-Orc only). Never mind the Bite attack with Bleed -- you can dismiss this spell for a Swift Action Area of Effect Intimidate. If you are a Half-Orc Antipaladin of Rovagug, you can stack this with Face of the Devourer (see above) for a really high DC on your Swift Action Area of Effect Intimidate.
Add Shadow Trap (Antipaladin only). Keep a target with a poor Will Save from getting away.
Add Shield of Shards (Paladin only). Smite Evil attack multiplier, as long as your target isn't too heavily armored (and if it is, your Iterative attacks after the first are going to suffer even more).
Add Steady Saddle. If you need to be a horse archer for a bit but can't afford the Mounted Archery feat chain and its feat tax, this is for you (although its effect stacks with the feat and, if your mount is running, also with Improved Mounted Archery).
Add Touch of Blindness (Antipaladin only). If you have a free hand, you can use this to keep blinding one or more targets who have poor Fortitude Saves. Unlike some multi-touch spells, this one has no limit on how many times you can use it per round, apart from how many successful Touch Attacks you can get off; potentially, against targets that have poor Touch AC, you could succeed at multiple Touch Attacks per round even if you don't have the Two-Weapon Fighting feat.
Add Unbreakable Heart (Paladin only). Some more protection in case something that controls minds is able to bypass Protection from Evil.
Add Wartrain Mount. The combat version of Animal Purpose Training, for before you get an Animal Companion (or if you don't go that route at all).
Add Weapons Against Evil (Paladin only). Useful for bypassing small amounts of Damage Reduction of Evil creatures that are too numerous for Smite Evil. Unlike Funereal Weapon, it quits working altogether if their Damage Reduction is more than 5, so this will drop off in effectiveness at higher levels; even so, some things will still have small amounts of Damage Reduction, like a horde of Barbarians that aren't Invulnerable Ragers, or a horde of enemies wearing Quilted Cloth Armor if you like to attack from range.
Add Word of Resolve (Paladin only). Like Litany of Duty but for an ally, and depends upon you actually having not traded out Aura of Courage (and later, Aura of Resolve).
Going to have to do higher level spells later.
Wow, in doing the reading to post the above, I learned that Paladin/Antipaladin actually has quite a lot of spells of around Green (3/5) rating. Mostly not spectacular, but not too shabby either.
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(Limited time, so instead of trying to cram in the 2nd level spells, I'll go back and put in my take on the 1st level spells that are already listed in the guide.)
1st Level Spells Addendum
Barbed Chains (Antipaladin only). Never mind the damage -- what you want is the Combat Maneuver that you get to make without needing to spend one of your scarce feats on Improved Combat Maneuver (and much more flexible since Improved Combat Maneuver is actually a feat tax plus one feat for each Combat Maneuver you want, and this does them all with no feats); the potential to add the Shaken condition is gravy on top. Gets better once you get enough caster levels to call up multiple chains; your negative caster level offset hurts this by delaying when you get more chains, but your full BAB helps, since the CMB for the spell depends upon your Base Attack Bonus and your spellcasting primary ability score; once you hit level 13 (11 if you have Magical Knack), you will be maxed out on number of chains.
Challenge Evil (Paladin only). Sickens the target creature for up to 1 minute per your caster level if it doesn't attack you, although if it's willing to put up with that, it can do whatever it wants even if it fails its Will Save and Spell Resistance.
Compel Hostility (Paladin only). Doesn't last as long as Challenge Evil (only 1 round per your caster level), but you can affect multiple creatures with it as long as you can see them. Note that if they make their Will Save or Spell Resistance once, they don't become immune, so if they try to attack one of their allies again, they have to make another Will Save or Spell Resistance roll to do that instead of attacking you. Overall, this is the stronger spell than Challenge Evil, but you might want Challenge Evil if you expect a really long battle with a single enemy. Nothing says you can't use both spells at once, so you could use Compel Hostility, and cast Challenge Evil on the boss, whose Sickened condition (if they fail their Will Save and Spell Resistance against Challenge Evil) will debuff them on their Will Save against Compel Hostility.
Interruption in this sequence to downgrade Knight's Challenge (Paladin only, posted earlier) after I read it again: This only lasts for 1 round is almost strictly inferior to Challenge Evil and Compel Hostility, although it does make the target do nothing but move for that 1 round. The spell text says "On its turn, the target moves its speed toward you, avoiding any other dangers along its path (including any movement that would provoke attacks of opportunity)", but it doesn't say that the target will avoid Difficult Terrain, so you could bait it into Difficult Terrain and make it waste additional time getting back out after the spell finishes. Technically, you could bait the target into a trap that it can't see, but for a Paladin, that might be considered questionable (and an Antipaladin doesn't get this spell).
Divine Favor (Paladin only). A decent buff; note that since it gives a Luck Bonus, it gives immunity to Pugwampi's Unluck Aura (which even explicitly lists this spell).
Grace. Swift Action, so it doesn't eat into the time you have for the move you are about to make under its protection. Amazing. In most cases, you probably want to avoid the need for this by making sure you don't need to move through an AoO zone, but if you need to run in, grab a hostage or important item, and run back out, this is for you (once on the way in, and once on the way out; or if you are already under Mythic Haste or if you have a Hero Point to spare, you may be able to do what you need under just 1 casting).
Hero's Defiance (Paladin only). This could save your life. Too bad it only triggers on hit points going to 0, as opposed to something like getting Nauseated, which would prevent you from using Lay On Hands altogether unless you had some Immediate Action like this to stave it off.
Magic Weapon (both Paladin and Antipaladin). Decent low-level buff for a weapon if you run up against too many things having DR/Magic to use Smite Good/Smite Evil on, but in that case, you probably don't want to prepare this, but instead get it on a Wand. Having this on your spell list means that you can use the Wand without having to invest in Use Magic Device, which you probably don't have the skill ranks for.
RestorationLesser Restoration[/url] (Paladin only). This takes 3 rounds to cast, so you aren't going to want to cast it in a fight, so you probably don't want to prepare this even though you get it as a 1st level spell instead of a 2nd level spell. But even so, having it on your spell list is a good thing, because it means you can use a Wand of Lesser Restoration without needing to Use Magic Device, which you probably don't have the skill ranks to invest in.
Downgrade Summon Minor Monster and Summon Monster 1 (Antipaladin only). With your negative offset to caster level (only 2/3 mitigated by Magical Knack) and your delayed spellcasting progression, summoning spells are irrelevant by the time you can do anything with them. And no good on a Wand either. Poop (0/5).
Tactical Acumen (Paladin only). A decent buff for your party, as long as they know what they're doing (it generally won't help in a party of Leroy Jenkins). Gives an Insight Bonus, so it stacks with the Morale Bonus of Bless (you or the Cleric), Inspire Courage (usually your Bard), or Inspired Rage (your Skald).
If you love channeling. Holy Vindicator, Personally the most powerful Paladin I've ever played. Adding your Channel dice to your AC and/or Damage? Yes Please!
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So, the last paladin I played, I wasn't in the mood for managing the spell-casting aspect of it, and I wasn't thrilled with any of the archetypes that were available, so I decided to only select spells that had swift or immediate actions. It was very satisfying! This mainly just limited me to grace, hero's defiance, and the litany spells. It eliminated the decision paralysis aspect of spell selection, and supported the decision to focus on melee combat, but I could still throw some useful magic around in the midst of combat.
The one exception to this rule was picking up Linebreaker (a 1st level spell). I leaned heavily into charging/bull-rushing/etc. with my mount, and this was useful.
Grace. Swift Action, so it doesn't eat into the time you have for the move you are about to make under its protection. Amazing. In most cases, you probably want to avoid the need for this by making sure you don't need to move through an AoO zone, but if you need to run in, grab a hostage or important item, and run back out, this is for you (once on the way in, and once on the way out; or if you are already under Mythic Haste or if you have a Hero Point to spare, you may be able to do what you need under just 1 casting).
Another really great use for grace was to be able to quickly get at spellcaster or BBEG in the back of a line of mooks.
Hey team, so It took me a while because this is not the class that I am used to playing but ya know, it seemed like people wanted it and jesus Christ, most of the guides for these classes are either incredibly outdated or straight up broken.
So is the first draft of Ilzury's Guide to the Pathfinder Paladin and Antipaladin
Thanks for writing an updated guide!
I saw your note about equipment shopping at the end of your guide (and hard agree), but one note that might be useful to add is to tell players to consider barding and magic items for their mounts, if applicable. A player may be only thinking about the Big 7, but there's some great options for a mount out there. If you want a few suggestions to list, I like horseshoes of a zephyr, horseshoes of speed, and the Advancing armor quality for barding.
Even if you don't want to get into the specifics of magic items for mounts, a quick note reminding a reader to look at those options could be helpful.
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So, the last paladin I played, I wasn't in the mood for managing the spell-casting aspect of it, and I wasn't thrilled with any of the archetypes that were available, so I decided to only select spells that had swift or immediate actions. It was very satisfying! This mainly just limited me to grace, hero's defiance, and the litany spells. It eliminated the decision paralysis aspect of spell selection, and supported the decision to focus on melee combat, but I could still throw some useful magic around in the midst of combat.
The one exception to this rule was picking up Linebreaker (a 1st level spell). I leaned heavily into charging/bull-rushing/etc. with my mount, and this was useful.
{. . .}
How did I miss THAT spell? That's really good. And a Magus can get it too, so I am definitely running with this spell. And if you are a Paladin, nothing says you can't have Grace and Linebreaker running at the same time, if you can manage to get the time to cast both of them (Linebreaker first, since it lasts much longer).
2nd Level Spells A - G
Add Abeyance (Paladin only). You probably don't want to prepare this unless you have reason to believe that somebody in your party is at high risk to get hit with a powerful curse (including Lycanthropy), but it's probably good to have one or more Scrolls of this, so just having it on your spell list is a good thing (since as previously noted, you probably can't afford to spend skill ranks on Use Magic Device).
Add Angelic Aspect (Paladin only). Since this subsumes Protection from Evil but adds some additional buffs, it gets much better if you have a Mount that you can cast it on via the Share Spells class feature (or via Improved Share Spells, if you manage to get that feat). This spell has 2nd, 3rd, and 4th level spell versions that correspond to 9/9 (and in 1 case 6/9) spellcasters' 2nd, 5th, and 8th level spell versions, so you start out behind them and end up ahead of them except with regard to spell duration. The additional buffs scale dramatically with the spell level for you, so always use the highest-level version if you can. The highest level version is the only way for a Paladin to get a Lesser Globe of Invulnerability on themselves.
(Already mentioned in guide) Aura of Greater Courage (Paladin only). As long as you aren't up against an Antipaladin, and as long as you don't have an archetype that traded out Aura of Courage, this makes the rest of your party immune to fear. The only downside is that it is hard-coded to a 10 foot radius instead of the radius of your Aura of Courage, since even though that is normally the same, methods do exist to widen that.
(Already mentioned in guide) Bestow Grace (Paladin only). Do you love your Divine Grace class feature, giving you your Charisma bonus to all Saves? Do you have an ally or ward who has a strong and virtuous personality but a poor metaphysical immune system? Now you can give them Divine Grace too!
Add Blade Tutor's Spirit. Do you like the damage bonus of Power Attack but hate the accuracy penalty? This is for you, even though it's somewhat hurt by your negative caster level offset.
Add Blindness/Deafness (Antipaladin only). Blindness is a huge debuff for most creatures, so the use of this is self-explanatory. The Deafness option is for targets that have some kind of echolocation instead of normal sight. Unlike Touch of Blindness, you can cast this at Medium range instead of needing a Touch Attack, although the downside for you is that this spell is single target only.
Add Bull's Strength. This may be obsoleted by magic items by the time you get this, but if you couldn't get one of those magic items, this will help you out, especially if you couldn't pump your Strength very high due to MADness. The 9/9 and 6/9 casters get this before you, so it might be better to leave it to them, but if you don't have any, it's good to be able to do it yourself, even if late. It's also good to have this on your spell list in case you can't get a permanent Strength boost magic item but you can get a Wand of it.
Add Carry Companion (strangely, Paladin only, even though several non-Paladin/Antipaladin casters also get it). So you went with Mount for your Divine Bond, and you couldn't choose a Giant Gecko because you are Medium, and now you have to go into a dungeon with a bunch of narrow twisting stairs? This is for you. If you are going to use your Mount in the dungeon, you may have to use this so many times that you might actually want a Wand of it instead of preparing it yourself; fortunately, it has absolutely no dependence upon caster level.
Add Corruption Resistance. For the Paladin going up against an Antipaladin, or for the Antipaladin going up against a Paladin. Also reduces damage of alignment-specific nuke spells, but doesn't get rid of their rider effects.
Add Darkness and Darkvision (Antipaladin only; the latter spell needed if you don't already have Darkvision as an innate ability). Make creatures in a whole area unable to see unless they also have Darkvision. This is best to leave to the 6/9 or 9/9 casters, but if you don't have one, you get the benefit of having this on your spell list for using a Wand of each of these. A lot of opponent creatures will have their own innate Darkvision, but a lot of them won't.
Add Delay PoisonDelay Poison[/url] (strangely, Paladin only, even though several non-Paladin/Antipaladin casters also get it). Normally best to let the 6/9 and 9/9 casters do this, but if you don't have one, it's good to have on your spell list. If you are going to be fighting a lot of poisonous creatures or assassins, you might want to get a Wand.
Add Detect Anxieties and Detect Desires (Antipaladin only). At first glance these seem like just narrower versions of Detect Thoughts (which you don't have on your list); however, they have the benefit of letting you know the targets' Wisdom or Charisma scores, respectively if you manage to scan them for at least 2 rounds, which can be important Complements to Detect Thoughts in determining what their abilities are (including narrowing down what classes they are likely to have, as well as a decent idea of how strong their Will Saves are in the former case), which is great for letting you know how to defeat them or corrupt them, if you can manage to scan them from a safe hiding place. Normally this would be best left to the 6/9 and 9/9 casters, but even if your party has 1 of these, you might not have 3 or even 2 of them, so your party will have to divide up the task in order to be able to cast them simultaneously (which will be needed since the alarm the feeling of the spells will incite in the targets will probably force you to skedaddle in short order), and the casting of one of these spells will fall to you. Since you probably won't be able to afford the feat for Conceal Spell, you will need to find a ventilation grille or something to cast these spells through.
Add Eagle's Splendor. Like Bull's Strength above, but for Charisma.
Add Effortless Armor (strangely, Paladin only, even though several non-Paladin/Antipaladin casters also get it). Armor Training in a spell. Target is "You", so unfortunately you can't Wand this onto the rest of your party.
Add Enchantment Sight (strangely, Paladin only, even though several non-Paladin/Antipaladin casters also get it). A more advanced version of Detect Charm (see 1st Level Spells); works on many more types of Enchantment, and if you somehow managed to afford the skill ranks of Spellcraft, you might even be able to figure out what specific Enchantment the targets are under. You will probably want to leave this one to the 6/9 or 9/9 spellcasters (especially the Intelligence-based ones), but if you don't have one, this is good to be able to do yourself.
Add Fire of Entanglement (Paladin only). Works through your Smite Evil attack, which means that it even works with ranged attacks, but works best if you can get adjacent to the target before you cast this (Swift Action cast, so no Attack of Opportunity for them unless they have some really weird ability), since if you do, it anchors them to you if they fail their Reflex Save (and even if they make their Save, it still anchors them for 1 round, even giving you another chance to cast this on them if you prepared it more than once or have the right size of Pearl of Power); only Spell Resistance can get them off the hook completely. Note that a lot of very powerful creatures have relatively poor Reflex Saves. This is borderline busted good.
Add Flesh Puppet (Antipaladin only). If you want to gaslight somebody with the animated corpse of their relative or friend that you murdered and now control literally like a puppet (including having them say stuff), this is for you. A Cleric or Oracle can do this more ably than you, but other 9/9 casters and 6/9 casters can't. The downside for you is that you have to invest skill ranks in Disguise to make this work.
Add Garrulous Grin (Antipaladin only). If you want to frame someone, this makes it harder for them to clear themselves, if they fail their Will Save.
At this level, the Paladin spells start getting really good, and the Antipaladin spells start getting really EeeeEeEEEeeeevil.
2nd Level Spells H - J
Add Hag's Seasoning (Antipaladin only). If you've got an ally that can summon Animals, Vermin, or Swarms, or even an ally with an Animal Companion or Vermin Companion, this spell buffs them against the target. This spell is not only Permanent, but No Save (although Spell Resistance still applies).
Add Healing Touch (Paladin only). This lets you Lay On Hands or cast a Beneficial Necromancy Conjuration (Healing) spell at range as an Immediate Action. This is WAY better than an Oracle's Life Link, since its capacity is only limited by the size of your Lay On Hands. The only thing keeping this from being busted good instead of just very good is that it only works on healing hit point damage, and doesn't conduct rider effects like Mercies. Note that the alignment of the deity of each target creature's holy symbol doesn't impede the spell; while for most Paladins, doing this through an Evil holy symbol would probably be anathema, a Redeemer Paladin, a Gray Paladin, or a Vindictive Bastard could probably get away with targeting holy symbols of Evil deities.
Add Hidden Blades (Antipaladin only). This is a specialized version of Invisibility that works only on weapons, but lasts 10 times longer than normal Invisibility, and it doesn't go away when you attack with the weapon. If you are into Feinting (or have an ally that is), this is for you; but you could also use it to sneak weapons into somewhere they aren't supposed to be, or to brace an invisible spear against a pesky charging Good Cavalier or Paladin and trick them into impaling themselves on it. Unlike normal invisibility, it even works on a pack of ammunition. Just don't drop your weapon (or ammunition), or you might have trouble finding it again.
(Already in guide) Hold Person (Antipaladin only). Take their big dumb martial out of the fight temporarily. Hurt by the fact that they get a new Save every round, and you had to use a Standard Action to cast this. Best left to the 6/9 or 9/9 casters. Orange (2/5).
Add Inflict Pain (Antipaladin only). An alternative to Hold Person that you can use to severely debuff strikers; in contrast to Hold Person, it doesn't completely take them out of the fight, but on the other hand, they only get one Save against it, and even if they pass, it still debuffs them for a whole round.
Add Inheritor's Strike (Paladin of Iomedae only). Normally I wouldn't put in a deity-specific spell, but this is specific to Iomedae, so it is relevant for an unusually large subset of Paladins. Only 1/4 of the bonus of True Strike and it's a higher level spell, but it's Swift Action cast, and if it hits, you get to do a Bull Rush along with the damage, and you're off the hook for the Attack of Opportunity that would normally result.
Add Instant Armor (strangely, Paladin only). Useful if you don't have Glamered or water-adapted armor and you have to be in some situation (social or water-borne) where you can't take your armor and you might get ambushed. Also works against Incorporeal creatures. And Rust Monsters can't eat it.
(Already in guide) Invisibility (for use in air) and Invisibility Bubble (for use in water) (Antipaladin only). Self-explanatory for sneaking around.
Add Ironskin (Antipaladin only). Pretty good armor buff, and you can dismiss it as an Immediate Action to negate a Critical Hit or Sneak Attack, which is good if you are up against a Rogue (including one of your own Rogue allies turning on you).
Add Jealous Rage (Antipaladin only). A cheapo Lesser Confusion, but it lasts a long time. Normally not very impactful, but if you're up against a party that you know likes to use actions like Aid Another frequently, this could be a killer. Best cast by 6/9 or 9/9 casters, but the more common types don't have this on their list, so you might be the one that has to do it.
2nd Level Spells K - O
Add Light Lance (Paladin only). It's a Lance Light Saber and a Twentieth Century Fox searchlight in one convenient package. The times when you are without your weapon but have access to a Mount are probably pretty limited, but you might need to use this occasionally for its military signaling (or even distress beacon) applications.
(Partially already in the guide) Litany of {Whatever}. The Litany spells at this level aren't very good, because even though some of them have good effects, such as increasing your Smite damage or giving you more Attacks of Opportunity, these are the kind of good effects that need more than 1 round to be really good. Even though they are Swift Action cast, if you try to use them for the multiple rounds that you need, you will be very quickly out of 2nd level spells, and even in just the spells before this point, you've got better things you would want to spend your limited spell slots on. You might be able to make situational exceptions in which you are able to get your spell slot's worth in just one round with one of these, but overall, these are Orange (2/5).
Add Mortal Terror (Antipaladin only). Cause cascading failure in whatever you are beating on next if they fail their initial Save, and they have to make further Saves just to keep this from getting worse. Your spell duration and spell slot efficiency won't be as good as for the 6/9 and 9/9 casters that also get this, but your Aura of Cowardice more than makes up for that, and your full BAB makes you more likely to score the required hit. The hits and the Aura of Cowardice don't have to come from the caster of this spell, so if you do have a 6/9 or 9/9 caster that can do this, let them do it, and use your round to whack or shoot the target.
Add Lesser Nondetection (Andipaladin only). Situational, but you'll want it if you need to avoid surveillance; since it is only 1 minute per level, you need to have a good idea of where and when you are going to encounter surveillance. Synergistic with Invisibility (see above).
Add Open Book (Antipaladin only). For when you want to keep tabs on somebody indefinitely rather than killing them. If you are infiltrating a community, as long as you can do this without raising a general alarm, you could get quite a lot of people to be effectively under your surveillance. Of obvious use for the Antipaladin who wants to run an extortion racket.
Add Owl's Wisdom (strangely, Paladin only). See Bull's Strength above, but for Wisdom. Normally only somewhat useful to a Paladin (the boosted Will Save is good in case you are up against something that is able to get through your Auras, like for instance an Antipaladin), but gets better for a Wisdom-based Paladin archetype (Tortured Martyr, I'm looking at you, until you get a Wisdom-enhancing magic item).
(Partially already in the guide) Litany of {Whatever}. The Litany spells at this level aren't very good, because even though some of them have good effects, such as increasing your Smite damage or giving you more Attacks of Opportunity, these are the kind of good effects that need more than 1 round to be really good. Even though they are Swift Action cast, if you try to use them for the multiple rounds that you need, you will be very quickly out of 2nd level spells, and even in just the spells before this point, you've got better things you would want to spend your limited spell slots on. You might be able to make situational exceptions in which you are able to get your spell slot's worth in just one round with one of these, but overall, these are Orange (2/5).
Curious that you feel this way, because in the swift-action-paladin I talked about above, I used litany of entanglement numerous times to prevent someone from fleeing or charging allies. Even with a one round duration it still made a difference in terms of battlefield control.
I guess I see how your points above apply to litany of righteousness, but on the second round that I was smiting a dude, double damage from me and my allies and possibly even dazzling the target felt really good.
^The 2nd level Litany spells disappoint relative to the 1st level Litany spells, some of which are pretty good for 1st level spells. Yes, I can see how some of the 2nd level Litany spells could be situationally good enough for just 1 round, but those situations are going to be hard to get and difficult to anticipate for the average Paladin.
Now, if you are some kind of buzz-saw Two-Weapon Fighting Paladin or some kind of machine-gun Archer Paladin, and/or you have an Angel Summoner, that's different -- then you can have reasonable assurance that Litany of Order or Litany of Righteousness will be useful. I probably should have given those two spells a separate mention for that. Those two spells are better on a Monster Tactician Inquisitor, who IS the Angel Summoner (or Archon/Inevitable/Devil Summoner, in the case of Litany of Order).
Since my ability to post is going to be spotty at best for the next week, I'll temporarily skip ahead to a situationally awesome spell among the 2nd level Paladin spells:
2nd Level Spell Sneak Preview: Shared Training
Add Shared Training (strangely Paladin-only, although several non-Antipaladin/Paladin casters get it as well). Share out a Teamwork Feat like you were a Cavalier! For the average Paladin, this sounds great but is unlikely to be usable in practice, because you probably won't be able to afford a Teamwork Feat in the first place. For a Holy Tactician Paladin, you get Bonus Teamwork Feats, and you also get a busted good ability Battlefield Presence that lets you share out one Teamwork Feat for free, but if you need to share out another Teamwork Feat at the same time, this spell lets you do it! For a Paladin who can cast Paragon Surge, use Paragon Surge to snag the Teamwork feat, and use this spell to share it out! (Paragon Surge usually means being a Half-Elf, but Sacred Servant Paladins of a few deities can get the Self-Realization Subdomain of Liberation or Strength, including the spells of Levels 1 - 4, and this unlocks Paragon Surge without needing to be a Half-Elf. More about Paragon Surge later, of course.)
Okay, got a bit of time on the weekend, let's keep going:
2nd Level Spells P - R
Add Peerless Integrity (Antipaladin only). For when you need to go undercover. When your party is together, better to let your 6/9 or 9/9 caster do this, but sometimes you'll need to cast it yourself so that you can have your own emanation to cover your Aura of Evil.
Add Protection from {Opposed Alignment}. Good for the same reason the 1st Level version is good, but keep multiple allies from being mind-controlled by a fair subset of opponents, and protect them from attacks by a fair subset of summoned opponents. Better to let your 9/9 or 6/9 caster do this if you've got one, but if you don't, make sure to have this in your repertoire; or at the least, carry a Wand of the 1st Level version.
Add Qlippoth Appearance (Antipaladin only). If you're into Intimidation, but you aren't a Half-Orc and you aren't a worshipper of Rovagug, this is the next best thing to the Mask of the Devourer + Savage Maw combination above.
Add Quick Throwing (Antipaladin only). This is the first time I have heard of a way to grant essentially Quick Draw (in all but name) for thrown weapons to your party. A Magus or Hunter can do this earlier than you can, but you might not have one of those in your party. Also works for your rock-throwing Giant allies.
Add Remove Paralysis (Paladin only). While it is normally better to have your 9/9 or 6/9 divine caster handle this, you'll be glad to have this on your list so that you can use the Wand of Remove Paralysis without needing the UMD that you probably can't afford, in case they get paralyzed.
Add Righteous Vigor (Paladin only). Give yourself or an striker ally a mini-Vampiric-Touch, as well as an attack bonus that increments with each successful hit. A miss resets the attack bonus, but not the temporary hit points.
2nd Level Spells S - T (also includes 1 1st level spell that I missed above because Archives of Nethys has its description packed in with that of a 2nd level spell)
Add Sacred Bond (Paladin only). This sounds awesome . . . for the Cleric or Oracle. Since you aren't doing most of your healing through casting spells, you should pass on this as a Paladin. Orange (2/5).
(Already in guide) Saddle Surge (Paladin only, and strangely even Ranger and Druid don't get this). For your average horse-mounted Paladin, this is just a decent to good buff that is competing with your other limited spellcasting, but if you have a Mount with Pounce, this could be quite the buzzsaw.
Add Sea Steed (Paladin only, although at least Ranger/Druid/Hunter also get it). If you are mounted venture into the water on occasion, but not often enough to justify an Aquatic/Amphibious Mount, this is for you (potentially on a Wand, since the duration will be decent even with low caster level).
Add Sense Madness (Paladin only). Best left to the 9/9 or at least 6/9 casters, but if you don't have one, this could be useful in the right campaign. The campaign doesn't even have to be horror, since this works for detecting spells like Confusion and Insanity, but you probably won't be able to afford the Spellcraft ranks to make that work.
Add Sense Vitals (Antipaladin only.) Get somewhat short of 2/3 strength Sneak Attack, and it stacks with precision damage you get from other sources! Most non-Antipaladin/Paladin casters will get closer to actual 2/3 strength Sneak Attack, but you will be better able to land the hits than most of them, as well as better able to survive the retaliation than most of them. Your main competition would be Arcane Tricksters (since they can Sneak Attack on Touch Attack spells and already have some Sneak Attack to stack with this spell), or Rangers (since they are also full BAB and usually have Ranger Combat Style), but you still have the survivability edge over them. Blue (4/5).
Add Shadowmind (Antipaladin only). For when you want to use Darkness to control the battlefield, but don't want it to work against you; it even works on creatures with Low Light Vision and Darkvision. It's an Illusion (Phantasm), so it targets their Will Saves. Better left to the Witch or Inquisitor, but if you don't have one, this is for you, if you can get the right prevailing light conditions to make this work, which is the finicky part that hurts this spell, downgrading it from Blue to the Orange to Green range, depending upon where and when you operate most often, and depending upon what kind of Low Light Vision and Darkvision you and your party have.
(For convenience, copied and pasted from sneak preview above.) Add Shared Training (strangely Paladin-only, although several non-Antipaladin/Paladin casters get it as well). Share out a Teamwork Feat like you were a Cavalier! For the average Paladin, this sounds great but is unlikely to be usable in practice, because you probably won't be able to afford a Teamwork Feat in the first place. For a Holy Tactician Paladin, you get Bonus Teamwork Feats, and you also get a busted good ability Battlefield Presence that lets you share out one Teamwork Feat for free, but if you need to share out another Teamwork Feat at the same time, this spell lets you do it! For a Paladin who can cast Paragon Surge, use Paragon Surge to snag the Teamwork feat, and use this spell to share it out! (Paragon Surge usually means being a Half-Elf, but Sacred Servant Paladins of a few deities can get the Self-Realization Subdomain of Liberation or Strength, including the spells of Levels 1 - 4, and this unlocks Paragon Surge without needing to be a Half-Elf. More about Paragon Surge later, of course.)
Add Shield Companion (Animal Archive, 1st level) and Shield Companion (Advanced Class Guide, 2nd level) and Shield Other (2nd level) (Paladin only, except Antipaladin also gets the Animal Archive = 1st level version of Shield Companion). Since you can heal yourself as a Swift Action (Paladin and Insinuator Antipaladin only), this method for you to keep your ally or companion alive (as long as you have Lay On Hands uses remaining) is efficient with respect to action economy. Unfortunately for Insinuator Antipaladin, the archetype can't cast the spell. It would be a reasonable GM house rule to allow Antipaladins who have Negative Energy Affinity to use Touch of Corruption to heal themselves as a Swift Action the same way as Paladins use Lay On Hands on themselves, thereby making the subset of those trying to keep a companion alive to do so with efficient action economy.
Add Silence (Antipaladin only). For when you need to make that self-righteous enemy caster just shut up. Don't cast it on them, since they normally have good Will Saves -- cast it on a point in space or an unattended object next to them, and then they don't get a Save, making this borderline busted good. You can also cast it on yourself or some cheap object you are carrying for stealth purposes. You can dismiss the spell, but if you unexpectedly need to cast spells yourself, it is normally quicker to throw away the object than it is to dismiss the spell (and at higher levels you could even conceivably retrieve the object after doing the spellcasting you need, thereby restoring your sonic stealth without having to recast the spell).
Add Slave to Sin (strangely, Paladin gets this, and strangely, Antipaladin doesn't). This seems more like an Antipaladin spell than a Paladin spell, but see above. Anyway, decent enemy action economy waster for targets with a poor Will Save, but best left to the 9/9 or at least 6/9 casters, and just skip it if you don't have one. Red (1/5).
Add Soothing Word (Paladin only). This is a low-level spell that can reduce the severity of several conditions that your Mercies could remove, but at levels lower than those at which you could get the Mercies to remove the severe versions. If your party gets hit with a wide variety of bad conditions, it might be reasonable (although inefficient with respect to action economy) to use your Mercies to cover all of the lower level versions of these first even when you are at a level at which you could get the higher level version, and use this spell to reduce the severity to one which you can remove. Better yet, use a Wand of this spell. Actually even better yet, let the Pei Zin Oracle of Healing (THE single-class Oradin) handle this, but you probably won't have one, so you'll be stuck with it. Do note that with the Frightened condition and the need for a Standard Action cast, you'll have a hard time catching the victim you need to relieve of that condition, but you would have the same problem with the actual Frightened Mercy.
Add Spiritual Squire. This could be of use if you need something to hold Metamagic Rods for you and you don't have a Familiar (which in most cases you won't), and when it isn't doing that it can Aid Another for you or one of your allies, although since that uses your Wisdom modifier, that is best left to your Wisdom-based 9/9 or 6/9 divine caster, unless you are a Tortured Crusader Paladin. Unlike a Familiar, the Spiritual Squire is immune to physical attacks, although conceivably an enemy could steal an object from it.
Add Stave off Corruption (Paladin only). See Abeyance, above, but works on Corruptions that aren't Curses, and lasts longer. Really should have been the same spell, but Abeyance came from a specific AP, so it's easy to see how the near-duplication would have been missed.
2nd Level Spells T - Z
Add Undeath Sense (Paladin only, packed in at the end of Detect Undead). This might be of some use for your party scout to get an idea of where Undead are without having to slow down to use your Detect Evil ability, but since that is free except for time expenditure, it will usually be better. A 9/9 or 6/9 caster would be better for casting this, but if you don't have one, it's good to have this on your list. It lasts a decent amount of time even at a low caster level, so consider Scrolls or a Wand.
Add Umbral Weapon (Antipaladin only). Since this is effectively a weapon attack reroll buff (which strangely is No Save even though Illusion), it actually gets MORE effective as you have more trouble hitting, which you will get as your Base Attack Bonus goes up and you get more iterative attacks, you'll get a few misses in to trigger it, since your later attacks in each round have greater penalties. You could even use Rime Spell with it (I went back and looked at the wording of Rime Spell to be sure, and it looks to me like this combination works) -- Antipaladin doesn't have enough Cold spells to be worth getting the feat for, but you could reasonably consider getting a Lesser Metamagic Rod of Rime Spell.
Add Undetectable Alignment. For when you need to go undercover.
(Already in guide for Antipaladin but not Paladin) Vestment of the Champion. Basically self-only Magic Vestment, cast by 6/9 and 9/9 divine casters -- if you have one, let them take care of this for better results, but if you don't, you may need to do this yourself. Not very good at low levels, but slowly gets better at higher levels.
Add Vine Strike (Antipaladin only). If you are an Antipaladin with Natural Weapons (probably gained from your heritage), you can use this to make them entangle your targets. In principle, this also works with Unarmed Strikes, but you probably won't have Improved Unarmed Strike. The base duration is 1 minute/level, so if you just happen to have Improved Eldritch Heritage (Shapechanger), this eventually becomes an all-day buff for you.
Add Weapon of Awe (Paladin only). The +2 damage bonus is nice but not huge, but if you have a good Crit-fishingn weapon, you could get some mileage out of making your targets Shaken.
(Already in guide) Widen Auras. This gives you a way to make your Auras have a decent area. The spell text doesn't say anything about diminishing returns, so it multiplies the effect of the Half-Elven Favored Class Bonus for Paladin (sadly for Antipaladins, only Drow Antipaladins get a Favored Class Bonus at all, although it would be a reasonable house rule to give them the same Favored Class Bonuses as Paladins, reversed as needed for reversed class features). The downside is that it has a duration measured in rounds per level, and your caster level is impaired.
(Finally finished 2nd Level Spells!)
Some thoughts:
Alignment: I get that this makes the rounds, but—in my humble opinion—it’s an overstated, even misstated, problem.
Per the class description, the Paladin cannot willingly commit an evil act, but by definition that simply means they can’t do things that are “profoundly wicked,” or that cause deliberate harm and suffering. Per the Core Rulebook, “a lawful good character acts as a good person is expected or required to act. She combines a commitment to oppose evil with the discipline to fight relentlessly. She tells the truth, keeps her word, helps those in need, and speaks out against injustice. A lawful good character hates to see the guilty go unpunished.
Lawful good combines honor with compassion.”
The above obviously gets more restrictive as you apply the code of conduct associated with a given deity (e.g.Iomedae and “I am the first into battle, and the last to leave it”), but that’s not a “s##* show;” it’s role-playing. The larger point being, Alignment is at once a game mechanic but also something really subjective. You make really good points later on about the utility of only being able to affect good creatures with your key powers, but I don’t think it makes sense to rate how someone will act.
Hit Die: In my humble opinion, this is a purple. The only class that gets more is the Barbarian, and this translates to an extra hit point (on average)—at the cost of not being able to wear heavy armor.
Mercy: It’s worth pointing out that a Mercy doesn’t just suppress the associated condition for an hour; it removes the condition altogether if it also removes the affliction that caused it to begin with.
Channel Energy: This should probably be green, at best. To get the most out of channeling, a Paladin needs to invest in one or more feats—either to keep living enemies from benefitting from the healing and/or to make offensive applications less situational.
^For the record, Armored Hulk Barbarian is d12 with Heavy Armor. I think a Blue rating for d10 hit dice is fine.
Also, minor correction for what I posted about Umbral Weapon above (but doesn't make it any less cool) -- it isn't actually a weapon reroll, since if your weapon misses but it hits you get half your level as damage bonus instead of your Strength bonus; otherwise still works as above. Also works with Chilling Amplification, but you won't be able to afford the feat, and since that isn't technically Metamagic, you can't get a rod of that.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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Also, minor correction for what I posted about Umbral Weapon above (but doesn't make it any less cool) -- it isn't actually a weapon reroll, since if your weapon misses but it hits you get half your level as damage bonus instead of your Strength bonus; otherwise still works as above.
It isn't "half level instead of strength bonus". The spell completely ignores your weapon damage, enchantments, power attack, and so forth; and deals a flat 1d8 instead, plus half level. That makes it decidedly less powerful than, say, Sense Vitals.
^You're right, I read it wrong the first time. BUT, Sneak Attack is harder to set up in many cases, so Umbral Weapon isn't out of the running; also, looking again at the text for both, it looks like you even can use them together (nothing in the text of Umbral Weapon says it doesn't work with Sneak Attack), if you can manage to get both spells off shortly before battle. (A Magus would have an easier time of this, since they could use Spell Combat to get in whichever one(s) they didn't already have up at the start of the fight, although whether that's worth it is situational.)
^Now you've got me trying to think of how to make a Tricksterish Antipaladin . . . (yes, I know, the skill ranks per level will be absolutely awful).
Since my ability to post is still spotty in this time of pestilence, but I haven't forgotten about reviewing stuff for this guide, and I'm still in the Spells section, here's another sneak preview:
3rd Level Spell Sneak Preview: Litany of Dependability (yes, 3rd level has some more good Litany spells)
Add Litany of Dependability (Paladin only). This can be used as a buff or a debuff, but is more likely to be useful as a buff: If somebody in your party is has to try something that would be disastrous if they fail, but they are in danger so that they can't Take 10, and you know that they will succeed on an average roll, this could save them. Least risky to use on yourself, since you know best what you are capable of, but if you've gotten a good handle on what your teammates can do, go ahead an use it as insurance for them. As a debuff, if you know that on average a target would fail to accomplish something that would be disastrous for you if it succeeded, you can use this to make them fail, but they get a Will Save against this use of the spell. Note that unlike most Litany spells, this spell is Immediate Action cast.
Okay, I'm back for a bit. Wow, Antipaladin sure has a lot of Intrigue/Social spells. Antipaladin even has most of the right class skills to go with these, but is very deficient in skill ranks per level, meaning that an Antipaladin really needs to invest in boosting skill ranks (and you know what that means) to get the best use of these. This seems to call for a Rogue or Vigilante archetype with partial Antipaladin class features, including Antipaladin spellcasting (but without the caster level impairment, although retaining the 4/9 spellcasting). (I could also envision a corresponding Rogue or Vigilante archetype that has partial Paladin class features, including Paladin spellcasting, for when Good has to work undercover.)
Sanctify Armor appears here out of order because it is paired with Defile Armor (Paladin and Antipaladin, respectively).
3rd Level Spells A - K + Sanctify Armor
Add Accept Affliction (Paladin only). In some cases you would rather just remove the bad condition, using one of your Mercies, or have one of your 9/9 or 6/9 casters (usually divine) use one of their spells to remove it outright, which is less risky -- but what if somebody has a bad condition that you don't have the Mercy for, AND your 9/9 or 6/9 caster (if any) doesn't have the right spell, AND you are immune to that bad condition? This sounds like a corner case -- but if you haven't taken an archetype that traces out Divine Health, you are immune to Disease! Disease isn't the most common problem, but it isn't exactly rare, and it can be really nasty, so if you're up against it, this is for you. Some Pathfinder spells and other abilities have text that keeps you from using them if you are immune to the bad condition they impose, but this spell isn't one of them. You get a chance to save against the bad condition if you aren't immune, so you could also consider using this if one of your allies just has a much worse Save than you (or if they just got unlucky).
(Werebat-specific, but already in guide -- twice) Accursed Glare (Antipaladin only). This lets you apply a monstrously extended Misfortune Hex in all but name. The only downside for you is that you have to be a Werebat.
Add Adjustable Disguise (Antipaladin only). If you need to be an evil version of Fletch, this is for you.
Add Angelic Aspect (Paladin only). Like the 2nd level version (see earlier post), but better, including giving you flight. Since this is a Transmutation spell with a base duration of 1 minute/level that you cast on yourself, it gets a LOT better if you have Improved Eldritch Heritage (SHapechanger). This version doesn't have the Protective Aura yet (you need the 4th level version for that).
Add Animate Dead (Antipaladin only). Normally you would want to leave this to your 9/9 or 6/9 caster, but if you don't have one, and you want to make minor Undead, this is for you. Antipaladins get Channel Negative Energy, and thus can get the Command Undead feat, but they do not get the Command Undead spell, so this is doable, but not great. If you're going to do this, better to have it be a side practice, not your main shtick.
Add Archon's Aura (Paladin only). Getting almost an Archon's Aura of Menace to debuff your enemies' offense and defense is good. The fact that they can make a Will Save to negate it OR make a successful attack on you to negate it is not so good. So (assuming you are properly armored up) this is good if you are up against hordes of minions with poor Will Saves and poor Base Attack Bonus (such as a horde of Rogues), but usually not good against bosses. Note that this spell also debuffs them against hitting your allies, not just you.
(Already in guide) Bestow Auras. Note that you explicitly don't lose the personal benefit of transferred auras -- this just moves the center. You normally wouldn't want to use this every day, but if for some undercover kind of reason you need to be not found with the rest of your party, this is a way to sort of be there for them.
(Already in guide) Bestow Curse (Antipaladin only). If you can't get Accursed Glare (see above), this is your go-to single-target debuff.
Add Blade of Bright Victory (Paladin with Divine Bonded Weapon only). If you are up against Incorporeals and you couldn't get a weapon with Ghost Touch, this is for you.
Add Blessing of the Mole (Paladin only). For a party of Humans or other creatures lacking Darkvision, this is serviceable -- get Darkvision and a +2 Competence Bonus to Stealth. Hurt by the Darkvision being only 30 feet.
Add Claim Identity (Antipaladin only). For the identity-stealing Antipaladin; great for framing somebody. Targets Fortitude, so you have a decent chance of pulling this off against many types of non-divine spellcasters.
(Already in guide) Contagion (Antipaladin only). Casting it on yourself to spread mayhem by way of your Plague Bringer ability works; however, to actually use this in a fight, you need to apply directly it to the target in order to be able to skip the onset period that would apply if you cast the disease on yourself and then transmitted it to them via Plague Bringer. Targets Fortitude, so you have a decent chance of pulling this off against many types of non-divine spellcasters.
Add Darkvision Communal Edition (Antipaladin only). See Darkness and Darkvision above.
Add Daybreak Arrow (Paladin only). If you are an archer Paladin who is Knee Deep in the Dead, and they are too many to use Smite Evil on, this will get you some Smiting mileage.
Add Daylight (Paladin only). If you are up against enemies that try to use darkness to rob you of your sight, this counters many of them. But your 4/9 spellcasting progression means that you should leave this to your 9/9 or 6/9 casters -- if you can.
Add Deceitful Veneer. For framing somebody by making them appear to be lying. Hurt by your impaired caster level, but if you can't send a Wizard to do the job of an Antipaladin, you'll be stuck with it. Works best as a follow-up on somebody you have already framed using Claim Identity (see above). Has a Will Save instead of a Fortitude Save, so you could use one as an alternate to the other, depending upon the weaknesses of the target, although this won't be as good as the one-two punch of both.
Add Deeper Darkness (Antipaladin only). Prevents even creatures with Darkvision from seeing through it, if the originally existing illumination level was not too bright. Even counters Daylight (see above), although Daylight also counters Deeper Darkness, depending upon who cast their spell last. Starts out not very good because you can't see through it yourself, but gets much better once you can cast the 4th level spell Eyes of the Void, which DOES let you see through Deeper Darkness.
Add Defile Armor (Antipaladin only) and Sanctify Armor Paladin only). A decent buff to your armor once you get to higher levels, including DR 5/Good or DR 5/Evil when you are using your Smite ability. If you are in Intrigue/Social situations frequently, this is only partially obsolete once you get armor that has its own Enhancement Bonus, because you can use it for defense even when you are just wearing regular clothes (of course, in such situations, it is even better to get Glamered Armor so that you don't have to be without your armor in social situations, although even then especially capable guards might see through that and not let you in with it).
Add Detect Anxieties and Detect Desires (Paladin only, but the Antipaladin got these as 2nd level spells). See these spells above under 2nd level spells, but Paladin gets mostly hurt on these by getting them as 3rd level spells (although this does increase the Save DCs by +1).
Add Dispel Magic. You really want to leave this to a 9/9 or 6/9 spellcaster if you can, but if you don't have one, you'll be stuck with doing this. With your impaired caster level, you won't be very good at it, but sometimes you can't avoid the need for this.
Add Divine Transfer (Paladin only). If you didn't become an Oradin, this is a way to fake it, and it adds a Damage Resistance buff to whoever you just healed with it. The problem with this spell is that it is Standard Action cast and still Touch range, which considerably hurts its usefulness -- this is one of the things that makes in-combat healing usually not good. Bumped up to Orange (2/5) by the DR buff.
(Draconic-creature-specific or Apsu-specific, but maybe this was the recommendation meant for Paladins when listing Draconic Malice) Draconic Ally (Paladin only). Get sort-of-an-Improved-Familiar (but it's a Summon) for 1 day/level, which is excellent even with your impaired caster level.
(Draconic-creature-specific or Dahak-specific but already in the guide, and partially mislabeled, so I'll cover it here) Draconic Malice (Antipaladin only -- mislabeled as also being for Paladins -- maybe that was supposed to be Draconic Ally?). A decent amplification of your Aura of Cowardice. Works better if you can also widen your auras.
Add Fire of Judgment (Paladin only). Swift Action cast this to make a creature you used Smite Evil on to make it take damage over time and take damage every time it attacks a creature other than you (even if it misses). Best used on creatures with poor Will Saves and that do a lot of attacks per round.
Add Flesh Puppet Horde (Antipaladin only). See Flesh Puppet (2nd level spell) above, but you get multiple Zombies, and you can order them to attack -- this drops the disguise, but increases the horror factor for whoever you were gaslighting with them.
Add Ghostbane Dirge Mass Edition (Paladin only). See the 1st level version above, but works on multiple creatures. Due to the Will Saves many of these creatures will have by the time you get this, not as good a pick as the original, but still, if for some reason you couldn't all get Ghost Touch weapons by now, this could save your party -- at least let them clean up some of the Incorporeals while those who could get Ghost Touch weapons clean up the ones that saved against this spell. If your party is really hurting for getting Ghost Touch weapons, use both this spell and (if you qualify to use it) Blade of Bright Victory (see above).
Add Gullibility. For when you want to start spreading the Big Lie among the Commoners. Better left to your 9/9 or 6/9 casters, but if you don't have any (or don't trust them), this is for you. Targets Will Save, but in many social situations, many of your potential targets won't have very good Will Saves.
Add Heal Mount (Mount Divine Bonded Paladin only). Heal not only restores a monster amount of hit points, but also gets rid of some very nasty conditions, but it's a 5th level spell that Paladins don't get. Heal Mount is a 3rd level spell that you can get that is specific to your Mount.
Add Heroic Fortune (Paladin only). Hero Points are good, but scarce. This lets you give a temporary Hero Point. Short duration and somewhat expensive material component means you usually want to save this for fights with the boss. Also hurt by Standard Action cast. Best to leave this to your 9/9 or 6/9 caster, unless you don't have one (Green 3/5 for them, at best Orange 2/5 for you).
Add Holy Whisper (Paladin only). Cheapo Holy Word.
Add Hunger for Flesh. For spreading horrific mayhem among the Commoners. Better left to your 9/9 or 6/9 casters, but if you don't have any, this is for you. Targets Will Save, but in many social situations, many of your potential targets won't have very good Will Saves.
Add Illusion of Treachery (Antipaladin only). Another spell for framing people, but since it is an Illusion that doesn't actually affect your target, it doesn't depend upon the Will Save of your target, but on the Will Save of observers, as well as your ability to make your own attacks unobserved (the next higher level version of this spell helps with that).
More spells. Before I started reading your guide, I didn't realize just how many spells the Paladin and Antipaladin spell lists have that are Green (3/5) (when not otherwise noted above and below) even after considering the delayed spellcasting progression and impaired caster level (with a few standouts and only a few stinkers, the latter of which I have generally omitted -- take that, 9/9 and 6/9 casters!). Magical Knack will help with some of them (noted as being especially hurt by impaired caster level), but it isn't an overwhelming requirement -- if you need a different Magic trait or just can't fit it in, go ahead, and just avoid those spells.
3rd Level Spells L - R
Add Litany of Dependability (Paladin only). See Sneak Preview of this above -- Blue (4/5).
(Already in the guide) Litany of Escape. Self-explanatory, but Swift Action Cast, so Purple (5/5). Note that it is No Save, so you can use it on your Superstitious Barbarian ally without risk of it fizzling, unless they somehow also got Spell Resistance.
Add Magic Circle Against {Alignment}. This is both better and worse than the Protection from {Alignment} spells (1st level) and their Communal Editions (2nd level). Better, because for 1 casting, you get protection of everybody in an area for a long time. Worse, because the area is small (and you never get an easy/cheap way to Widen it), and anyone who moves out of the area is at risk of being compromised. Having your party stick together close enough to fit within the 10 foot radius might actually be physically difficult if some are on Large Mounts and/or somebody is Enlarged, or if the party is moving fast, and even if the party does stick together like that, this serves as a big sign to the enemy Sorcerer/Wizard/etc. that says PLANT FIREBALL/BLACK TENTACLES/ETC. HERE.
(Already in guide) Magic Weapon Greater Edition. A decent weapon buff, but only just barely decent, hurt by its explicit inability to overcome any Damage Reduction other than DR/Magic even when you get to high caster levels. Orange (2/5).
Add Mantle of Calm (Paladin only). Debuff Barbarians and similar enemies that hit you.
Add Moonrise Arrow (Paladin only). Overcome DR/Silver and confer semi-Bane against Incorporeal Undead and Shapechangers. Too bad it ONLY works on ammunition, so your party will need to have good ranged attacks to benefit from this.
Add Nondetection (Antipaladin only). Wow, they really expect Antipaladins to work undercover. Hurt by your impaired caster level, so leave this to your 9/9 or 6/9 spellcasters if you can. Orange (2/5) for you, Green for them.
Add Prayer (Paladin only). Simultaneously Bless your friends and Bane your enemies in a decent-sized area, in one convenient package. Normally you want to leave this to your 9/9 or 6/9 divine caster, but if you don't have one, this is for you, although it is hurt somewhat by your impaired caster level.
Add Remove Deafness/Blindness and Remove Curse (Paladin only). Normally you want to leave this to your 9/9 or 6/9 divine caster, but if you don't have one, at least you have this on your spell list so that you can use a Scroll of it without needing Use Magic Device, which you probably can't afford the skill ranks for.
^Note for Remove Deafness/Blindness and Remove Curse: Since bad status condition removal often involves a caster level check against whatever put the bad condition on, these are hurt by your impaired caster level.
I'm back for some more!
3rd Level Spells S - Z
(Already in guide) Sanctify Armor (Paladin only, but paired with Defile Armor, so this appears with 3rd Level Spells A - K). See above.
Add Sanctify Weapons (Paladin only, and strangely it ISN'T paired with a corresponding Defile Weapons spell for Antipaladins). This doesn't align your party's weapons or give them an Enhancement Bonus -- instead it just lets you specify an area and an Evil Outsider type, and all the weapons in the area get to bypass the Damage Reduction of that Evil Outsider type for 1 round/level. This is competing with Aura of Justice, but it is different enough that you can make a case for both. You can cast Sanctify Weapons 1 level earlier than you can use Aura of Justice; it uses *1* spell slot (that you could conceivably recharge with a Pearl of Power) instead of **2** of your precious uses of Smite Evil (that you can't recharge); Sanctify Weapons lasts a shorter time at first (remember that your caster level is impaired), but lasts a longer time at high levels; Sanctify Weapons does not care about the alignment of the users of the sanctified weapons, whereas Aura of Justice doesn't work for Evil allies co-belligerents; Sanctify Weapons only works on manufactured weapons whereas Aura of Justice also works on natural attacks; Sanctify Weapons works even for allies that couldn't attack by the start of your next turn (as long as they manage to attack before the spell expires), whereas Aura of Justice fails for them. Blue (4/5).
Add Second Wind. The amount of damage this heals is inferior to the amount of damage that Lay On Hands heals, although the Immediate Action cast option saves it from being total trash. Most Antipaladins don't have any equivalent of Lay On Hands that they can use on themselves, so this spell is a bit better for them. Red-Orange (1.5/5) for Paladins; Orange-Green (2.5/5) for Antipaladins. Either way, if you needed to use this, you need some way to bail right after doing so.
Add Selective Invisibility (Antipaladin only). Make yourself invisible to all but 1 creature, which you can attack (or gaslight) without ending the spell. Also useful if you want to give visual signals to an accomplice without anybody else seeing you. Some non-Antipaladin casters also have this spell, but it is self-cast only, so if you want to make use of it, you have to cast it yourself. Great concept, but seriously hurt by short duration (1 round/level). Orange (2/5).
Add Shadow Jaunt (Antipaladin only). Short-range effect like Dimension Door, but shadow-dependent, while not requiring feats to avoid ending your turn after you use it, and giving you Stealth benefits.
Add Shield of Darkness (Antipaladin only). Give yourself Total Concealment by way of darkness without hindering your own vision.
Add Silverlight (Paladin only). Situational, but better than it seems at first when you get the right situation. Dazzles and potentially Sickens creatures susceptible to Alchemical Silver -- and has No Spell Resistance. Take that, Devils!
Add Sky Steed (Paladin only). This spell specifies as its target "a creature you are mounted upon" -- this means that technically, you don't have to be a Mount Divine Bonded Paladin to use this, although training a non-Bonded mount to make good use of it might be tricky.
Add Spindrift Spritz Mass Edition (Paladin only). Immediate Action cast Fortune effect for your party against the Staggered condition and a few moderately nasty conditions is not bad. A 1st Level version of this also exists, but didn't make the cut for rating; the multitarget aspect of this spell pushes it into rating-worthy territory. Orange-Green (2.5/5); goes up to Green (3/5) or Blue (4/5) if you are up against a spellcaster (spontaneous or prepared, respectively) who casts Slow.
Add Stage Fright (Antipaladin only). A -4 debuff to ability checks, Concentration checks, and skill checks is nothing to sneeze at. Gets better if you have a Reach weapon and are up against opponents that would try to use Acrobatics to tumble through threatened areas. Also can debuff spellcasters, but they usually have good Will Saves, so this will be on average less effective against them.
Add Stunning Barrier Greater Edition (Paladin only). Even with your impaired caster level, being able to stun a number of creatures that hit you equal to your caster level is quite good, especially with the +2 bonus to Armor Class and Saves. The Spell Resistance field says "no and yes (see text)", but the corresponding text is missing; however, it is reasonable to infer that this means that this spell is not hosed by any Spell Resistance you may have, but may fail to stun some creatures if THEY have Spell Resistance. A 1st Level version of this also exists, but didn't make the cut for rating; the multitarget aspect of this spell pushes it into rating-worthy territory. Blue (4/5).
Add Talisman of Reprieve (Paladin only). The first part of this spell is very situational, but if you are going into a plane that has hostile properties that impair checks based upon mental abilities scores, this is for you. The second part of this spell gives a hefty buff to one skill based upon a mental ability score (if you can't think of which skill to specify, choose Perception). The area of effect is centered on an item, not you; the duration is not too shabby.
Add They Know (strangely, Paladin only). If you are having to do the job of the Inquisitor, this is for you. Cast this spell on a suspect when YOU are the nearest creature to them, and insist that they tell you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Not so great on creatures with high Will Saves. Best left to your Bard, Inquisitor, Mesmerist, Psychic, Shaman, or Witch, but if you don't have one, this is for you. Ask your GM if you can get a Circumstance Bonus on the Save DC if you can get your Sorcerer or Wizard to make Ghost Sounds of a Tell-Tale Heart.
Add Titanic Anchoring. Become VERY resistant to some common combat maneuvers (especially those performed by a horde of minions), and despite the name, this spell DOESN'T slow you down. Gets better if you can get Enlarged. This would be even better on a Bloodrager, Cleric/Warpriest, or Strength-based Magus, who would be more likely to be able to Enlarge themselves (not necessarily with the spell of the same name); but since it is self-cast only, even if you have these in your party, you need to cast this yourself to be able to benefit from it. Blue (4/5).
Add Unhallowed Blows (Antipaladin only). Enhancement Bonus for your Undead; has a good duration. Hurt by your impaired caster level, so best to leave this to your 9/9 or 6/9 casters, but if you don't have any, and are dabbling in Necromancy yourself, this is for you.
Add Unholy Ward (Antipaladin only). For when you are going up against a Paladin and need to cut down their Smite damage. Hurt by your impaired caster level (but has a decent duration anyway), so 9/9 and 6/9 casters will be better at this than you, but since it is self-cast only, you have to cast it yourself to benefit from it. Strangely NOT paired with a Holy Ward for Paladin.
Add Untold Wonder (Paladin only). A good duration buff that doesn't just protect you or your ally from emotion-based debuff spells, but partially inverts their effect, turning them into buffs for you or your ally.
Add Utter Contempt (Antipaladin only). Make a creature hostile with this when it is among your enemies, and pull out the popcorn -- just be ready to run before it gets done with them. Could also be used to wreak havoc in a social situation if your target has a weak enough Will Save.
Add Vampiric Touch (Antipaladin only). Damage your enemies and give yourself temporary hit points at the same time. Hurt by your impaired caster level, but since most Antipaladins don't have the equivalent of Lay On Hands, this is still good for them.
Add Vigilant Rest. Be able to sleep while retaining your wakeful Perception, and get the benefit of almost your full rest even if you had to fight in the middle of it. Not too shabby. If you can leave a 3rd level spell slot open to fill with something later, and then you end up not needing to use it by the end of the day, this is an excellent choice.
Wrapping up the review of Antipaladin and Paladin spells.
4th Level Spells
Add Absolution (Paladin only). Sort of a cheapo Atonement and Break Enchantment in one convenient package that takes only 1 round to cast, but hurt by only being reliable on targets of your exact same alignment and only working unreliably on targets of slightly diverging alignment (and not working at all on anything else). Even if your target qualifies, this is better on a Cleric, Oracle, or Warpriest, and Orange (2/5) for you.
Add Alaznist's Jinx (Antipaladin only). Permanently debuff an enemy spellcasters so as to make it hard for them to cast spells or use spell-like abilities.
(Already in guide) Angelic Aspect Greater Edition (Paladin only). See the lower level versions of this above; this is a really good self buff that gets you the same or better buffs as the lower level versions, some nice Immunities and Resistances, an excellent buff to your AC, saves against attacks/effects from Evil creatures, and poison, better flight speed and maneuverability, Magic Circle Against Evil, Lesser Globe of Invulnerability, and Truespeech, all in one convenient package. This is normally Purple (5/5), but since this is a Transmutation spell with a base duration of 1 minute per level, if you have Improved Eldritch Heritage (Shapechanger), this becomes Purple-Pink (6/5), and is better than all the feats you would have to spend by being an Aasimar and upgrading yourself to have Angelic Wings -- less duration, but does a lot more for you.
(Already in guide) Archon's Trumpet (Paladin only). Paralyzation of targets in the target cone for 1d4 rounds can let you clean up; since it targets Fortitude, it will be good against many spellcasters, although if you have 9/9 or 6/9 spellcasters, you should let them handle this, since they (especially the 9/9 spellcasters) will get better Save DCs.
Add Ban Corruption (Paladin only). Suppress abilities associated with Corruptions; better to leave this to your 9/9 or even 6/9 spellcasters, but if you have to use this yourself, ignore the Concentration part of the duration and just use the 1 round/level part of the duration. Orange (2/5).
Add Banishing Blade. Give a melee weapon the ability to make a free Bull Rush on whatever creature it hits the first time each round, with no need to worry about Attacks of Opportunity even if you couldn't afford the feats for Improved Bull Rush, and with better action economy anyway. Normally you would want to cast this on one of your own weapons (or even your shield, if you are into Shield Bashing), but if you have another striker, you could cast it on their weapon. This spell doesn't depend upon the Strength of the weapon wielder, just your caster level, so it is hurt by your impaired caster level (and is better if cast by a 9/9 or 6/9 spell caster), but it is effectively a greater buff on a low Strength weapon wielder than a high Strength weapon wielder. Note that if it hits an Evil Outsider who fails their Spell Resistance roll, it ends after attempting to banish them (and they get a Will Save against this), so this spell is often better when used against some other type of creature. Almost strictly superior to Forceful Strike -- the latter does give you a better CMB if you have a positive Strength bonus, but only for 1 attack instead of for 1 attack per caster level.
Add Bestow Grace of the Champion (Paladin only, and only works on Lawful Good creatures that are not already Paladins). Give a target (if you can find one that qualifies) Paladin abilities at half your caster level for a few rounds; a great buff hurt by your impaired caster level and the alignment requirement for the target to be valid.
Add Blade of Light (Paladin only). An excellent buff for a melee weapon (which explicitly does not have to be of a bladed type), hurt by your impaired caster level only with respect to duration. Note that the attack roll bonus is a Sacred Bonus instead of an Enhancement Bonus, so it will stack with weapons that already have an Enhancement Bonus. Normally you would want to cast this on your own weapon, but if you have a powerful striker that isn't you, go ahead and cast it on their weapon. Blue (4/5).
Add Blaze of Glory (Paladin only). Acts as a combination of a cheapo Mass Cure Light Wounds for Good creatures and cheapo Mass Inflict Light Wounds for Evil creatures and a Prayer spell for your allies (regardless of alignment). The Standard Action option reduces you to -1 hit points, so it is Poop (0/5), but the Immediate Action option, which works when you have been reduced to negative hit points anyway, could potentially get you back in the fight, so it is Green (3/5).
Add Blood Tentacles (Antipaladin only). This is effectively a super version of Vampiric Touch as long as you aren't attacking something with high Damage Reduction (and remember that Smite Good gets through that, but won't work on all targets), with total damage up to 2d6/level, and giving you the same amount of Temporary Hit Points, while (if you choose the Standard Action attack option) leaving you able to move. Blue (4/5), kept from being Purple (5/5) only by the possibility for Damage Reduction to shave it down on creatures that are not valid targets for Smite Good.
(Already in guide) Bloodsworn Retribution (Paladin only). This is specific to worshippers of Dranngvit, so normally I wouldn't cover it, but it's already in the guide. You damage yourself to get bonuses to rolls related to the oath of retribution you have sworn in the process, but the conversion ratio is 1/4, and you can't heal the damage while under the oath, so you need to have a LOT of hit points to make this work for you. Depending upon how tough you are, this ranges from Red (1/5) to Green (3/5) -- Paladins who have let their Constitution remain in just slightly above average territory to invest in their other ability scores should skip this, but Paladins who have really pumped their Constitution and gotten Toughness and used their Favored Class Bonus on hit points could get good use of this. Most worshippers of Dranngvit are going to be Dwarves, so this is a good start.
Add Break Enchantment (Paladin only). A specialized magic removal, hurt by only working on spells of 5th level or lower unless Dispel Magic could also remove their effects.
Add Brightest Light (Paladin only). See Daylight, above, but lasts longer, and gives you some chance to dispel a Darkness effect of even higher level (although your impaired caster level hurts this particular use).
(Already in guide) Chains of Light (Paladin only). Paralyzes target and prevents dimensional travel, but they get a Reflex Save every round to end it. Best to leave this to your 9/9 or 6/9 spellcasters, who will achieve a better Save DC, but if you have 6/9 spellcasters but no 9/9 spellcasters, you will have this 3 levels before your 6/9 spellcasters. No Spell Resistance brings this up into solid Green (3/5) territory.
Add Claim Identity Greater Edition (Antipaladin only). Like the lesser version for performing identity theft, but you also turn the target into a porcelain mask (still targets Fortitude), thus taking the target out of the fight with a Touch Attack. Being able to put the mask on a minion is gravy. Purple (5/5).
Add Conditional Curse (Antipaladin only). For extortion (even if the target doesn't understand your language), and difficult to remove even with your impaired caster level.
Add Crime Wave (Antipaladin only). This is effectively a super version of Confusion, being potentially even more effective in sowing mayhem among your enemies. The 9/9 (especially) and even 6/9 spellcasters will be better at this, having higher Save DCs, but this is too Evil to pass up if you don't have any.
Add Crusader's Edge (Paladin only). Gives a melee weapon Bane against Evil Outsiders, and if you confirm a Critical on them, they are Nauseated. The spell heading has an error (assuming that the text is correct): It says "Fortitude negates", but in the text it says that even if they save, they are still Nauseated for 1 round (and No Spell Resistance). Usually you would want to cast this on your own weapon, but if you have a striker who is better at hitting things than you are, go ahead and cast it on their weapon. The duration is also not too shabby. Blue (4/5) by itself, but Purple-Pink (6/5) in combination with Eaglesoul (see below), because Eaglesoul makes your Criticals auto-confirm, thus allowing you to lock down an Evil Outsider, assuming you have a weapon with a wide Critical range.
(Already in guide) Death Ward (Paladin only). Major protection from Negative Energy and Death effects. Your 9/9 and 6/9 spellcasters will do this better, but if you don't have any, this is for you. Note that this spell appears to be a complete superset of Daemon Ward, while not having an expensive material component.
Add Dispel {Alignment}. Getting a +4 Deflection Bonus against creatures of the specified alignment is not too shabby. Being able to automatically dispel any of their spells that can be dispelled by Dispel Magic, but with no Caster Level Check, is pretty good (although this ends the spell). Being able to banish an extraplanar creature of the specified alignment (although they get a Will Save) with a Touch Attack has its uses (although this also ends the spell).
Add Die for Your Master (Antipaladin only). Make your Fiendish Servant, Animal Companion, or Familiar intercept attacks (including spells) for you, even if they do not have an attack roll. Technically does not require you to be a Fiendish Servant Divine Bond Antipaladin, but the other possibilities are impractical. The lesser version (Bleed for Your Master, on the same page) did not make the cut for reviewing, but in retrospect might be worth considering at lower levels; that version does not work against spells that do not have attack rolls. These spells can be partially bypassed by iterative attacks, multiple natural attacks, or Flurry of Blows, but not by spells that generate multiple attacks from one casting.
(Already in guide) Eaglesoul. Get a decent long-lasting defensive buff until you fully activate this spell, and then get an awesome set of buffs for a short time. Activation is automatic when you need it, although a clever opponent who knows you are using this spell could bait the activation by sending a trash Evil Outsider against you and then waiting out the remaining short duration. Note that the buffs include automatically confirming any Criticals (as well as a +4 Sacred Bonus to Strength, thus making you more likely to hit in the first place if you aren't a Finesse type), and that Crusader's Edge (see above) depends upon Criticals. Blue (4/5) by itself, but Purple-Pink (6/5) in combination with Crusader's Edge (see above) or Resounding Blow (see below) when you are using your Smite Evil ability, assuming you have a weapon with a wide Critical range.
Add Eyes of the Void (Antipaladin only). A super version of Darkvision (except with regard to sight range) that works even in Deeper Darkness, which is a 3rd level spell for you that becomes a good deal more useful when you can also use this spell. Since this is a Transmutation spell with a base duration of 1 minute/level that you cast on yourself, this gets much better if you have Improved Eldritch Heritage (Shapechanger); hurt only by the fact that you get it so late (13th level, as opposed to 7th or 8th level for Arcanists/Sorcerers/Wizards and Psychics, and 10th level for Alchemists/Investigators), and by the fact that you can't cast it on allies. Green (3/5) by itself; Blue (4/5) in combination with Deeper Darkness; in either case, add 2 rating ranks if you have Improved Eldritch Heritage (Shapechanger).
Add Fear (Antipaladin only). At first glance, this looks terrible compared to when the 9/9 and 6/9 spellcasters get it. But as an Antipaladin, you have an ace up your sleeve that none of them have: Aura of Cowardice (although this is awfully cramped unless you have first cast Widen Auras, which is a 2nd level spell for you). Yes, you can send even that pesky Paladin fleeing. Blue (4/5). Of course, if you have a 9/9 or 6/9 spellcasters in your service, then by all means have them cast it while you're hanging around, and then on them it becomes Purple-Pink (6/5) or Purple (5/5), respectively (assuming that you have first cast Widen Auras).
Add Flame Steed (Paladin only). Like Phantom Steed, but enough better to be worth the higher level spell slot. This is inn case you need a temporary Mount when you went the Divine Bonded Weapon route.
Add Flash Forward. If you need to charge something that is somewhere you really can't afford to hang out after you are done, this is for you. It is also a bit of an action economy booster, because it is Standard Action cast, and you do the charge as part of casting the spell.
Add Forced Repentence (Paladin only). This can be used to take an enemy with a low Will Save out of the fight, or to interrogate someone.
Add Foster Hatred (Antipaladin only). For creating general mayhem.
Add Harvest Knowledge (Antipaladin only). For interrogation as well as for more general knowledge theft. You get it much later than the 9/9 (especially) and 6/9 spellcasters, but if you don't have any, you can still make Evil use of this.
Add Hasten Judgement (Antipaladin only). For when you need to make sure someone stays dead. Can be defeated by the Reincarnate series of spells or by the victim's allies managing to use their life restoring spells within the vastly shortened time limit. Best left to the 9/9 or 6/9 spellcasters, if you have any.
(Already in guide) Holy Sword (Paladin only) and Unholy Sword (Antipaladin only). Despite the name, you can use this on any (non-artifact) melee weapon. A very solid weapon buff, although it replaces any enchangments that your weapon has on itself rather than stacking with them, so this ranges from Red (1/5) if you already have a Holy/Unholy Weapon to Purple (5/5) if you somehow just couldn't get your hands on a magic weapon by the time you can cast this spell. Since uses of Smite {opposed alignment} are limited and you can't get more per day, this is a good backup (that you could conceivably recharge with a Pearl of Power) that works even after you run out of Smites. Also, you can cast it on somebody else's weapon if you have a striker who is better at hitting stuff than you are, or if you want to do both this and Smite {opposed alignment} to double up against enemies.
Add Illusion of Treachery Greater Edition. Like the 3rd level version, but also hides you, so even better for framing people.
Add Inflect Pain Mass Edition (Antipaladin only). Like the 2nd level version, but works against a whole party of enemies instead of just a single target.
(Already in guide) Insect Scouts (Antipaladin only). You get this terribly late compared to every other spellcasters than gets it at all (you get it at 13th level, and some of them get it as early as 3rd level, and only need a 2nd level spell slot to cast it!). Indisputably useful for scouting, but you really need to have another spellcasters do this. Red (1/5).
Add Inspring Recovery (Paladin only). Like Breath of Life (that you can't cast anyway), but strictly better except for healing slightly less damage during the first 2 levels that you can cast it, including potentially buffing the allies of whoever you revived, and including being cartable from a 4th level spell slot. Also, unlike the (unavailable) Breath of Life, you can cast it from Medium range instead of needing Touch. Purple (5/5). (Note that for the 9/9 and 6/9 spellcasters, Inspiring Recovery is a 6th level spell, so Breath of Life does have a place for them for 2 or 3 levels, when they can cast Breath of Life as a 5th level spell but can't cast Inspiring Recovery yet. In contrast, Paladins and Rangers get Inspiring Recover as a 4th level spell, and don't get Breath of Life at all.)
(Already in guide) Invisibility Greater Edition (Antipaladin only). Self-explanatory, although hurt by how late you get it -- 9/9 and 6/9 spellcasters are considerably better at this. But sometimes they won't be available to cast it on you, so it's good to have the option to do it yourself.
(Already in guide) Invoke Deity. Invoke effects tied to one of the Cleric Domains your deity offers, with decent duration, and you can even expend 10 minutes of duration to change which Domain you invoke. Rating varies by Domain (range Orange = 2/5 to Purple = 5/5); I didn't see any outright stinkers, but some Domains such as Weather might not work well with the abilities of a Paladin or Antipaladin, while others are generally good and some are really excellent.
Add King's Castle (Paladin only). Get an ally out of trouble and make yourself be trouble for whatever was troubling your ally. Unlike the chess move of the same name, this spell has no limitation on teleporting through a threatened area, and unlike Dimension Door, you don't have to have feats to keep from ending your turn after using this spell. Blue (4/5).
Add Life of Crime (Antipaladin only). For when you want to ruin an individual, and especially difficult to remove even if recognized. The 9/9 and 6/9 spellcasters are much better at this than you are, but you actually get this earlier than they do.
Add Litany of Madness (Antipaladin only). The first Litany spell that has the potential to have an effect for more than 1 round without the use of Metamagic; still Swift Action cast. Since the Litany-series spells render their targets immune to other Litany-series spells, not only is the target Confused, but also potentially harder to rescue if it doesn't quickly throw off this spell.
Add Litany of Vengeance. The Litany spells at 4th level are back to being lackluster, but you might be able to get good use out of this one if you have a harde of allies all attacking your target with multiple attacks (this works best with ranged attacks). No Save, but Spell Resistance applies.
Add Magic Siege Engine Greater Edition. Best to leave this to your 9/9 or 6/9 spellcasters, but if you don't have any, you could get good use of this if you are in an Age of Empires military campaign. Has a much better duration than the lower level version, which didn't make the cut for rating.
Add Malediction (Antipaladin only). Sends someone to the Evil Outer Plane that you are aligned with. Works best with Hasten Judgement (see above). But the 9/9 and 6/9 spellcasters are much better at this than you are, so leave it to them if you have any.
Add Mark of Justice (Paladin only). Not the spell you want to prepare every day, but one to use in preparation for releasing a prisoner for whom recidivism is a concern. Best left to your 6/9 or 9/9 spellcasters (who will have a better Save DC and caster level), but if you don't have any, you might end up needing to do this yourself.
Add Mark of the Reptile God (Antipaladin only; despite the name, it is not actually specific to worshippers of one deity). So those pesky do-gooders have wised up to your use of Hasten Judgement to make sure your victims stay dead? Well, then, instead of killing them, you're going to transform them into lizards! But the 9/9 and 6/9 spellcasters are much better at this than you are, so get them to do it. Or better yet, just get them to cast Baleful Polymorph -- it's much faster-acting, and despite its being 5th level instead of 4th level, the 6/9 spellcasters get it at the same time you get this, while the 9/9 spellcasters get it even earlier. Red (1/5).
Add Masochistic Shadow (Antipaladin only). A target that fails its Will Save is guaranteed to die if ti can't get this spell removed before its Strength is sucked down to nothing, unless it is immune to Strength Damage. Hurt by the slow action of this spell and the fact that the lowest Strength targets usually have the highest Will Saves; also, the 9/9 and 6/9 spellcasters are better at this than you are, so leave it to them if you have any.
Add Neutralize Poison (Paladin only). Self-explanatory; whether you prepare this or just carry Scrolls of it depends upon how many and what kind of poisons you are going to be running up against. Hurt by your impaired caster level, so best left to your 9/9 and 6/9 spellcasters, but if you don't have any, it's good to have the option to do it yourself. However, note that at a certain point of poison frequency, it becomes worthwhile to choose Poisoned as one of your Mercies, which you can get 4 levels earlier, and use with a higher effective caster level. Of course, if you are REALLY getting hit with a lot of poison, especially poison not accompanied by other hit point damage (such as you might encounter in Intrigue situations), then you might actually need both, since Lay On Hands uses are limited.
Add Nondetection Communal Edition (Antipaladin only). Wow, they REALLY REALLY expect Antipaladins to work undercover, but now you can divide it up among your team. Hurt by your impaired caster level and by how late you get this, so leave this to your 9/9 or 6/9 spellcasters if you can. Orange (2/5) for you, Blue (4/5) for them.
Add Oath of Peace (Paladin only). This could be useful if you need to talk down somebody who is attacking you because they are crazy rather than Evil -- it gives you a good Sacred Bonus to your Armor Class and DR 10/Evil. It doesn't last very long, so you had better talk them down fast. Orange (2/5).
Add Overwhelming Poison (Antipaladin only). Make a poison much more poisonous (including making it harder to remove) and defeat Delay Poison. No Save, No Spell Resistance, and boosts the DC of low DC poisons, although the 9/9 and 6/9 spellcasters will be better if that is needed. Works best if you or an ally have innate poison, especially if it already has a decent Save DC.
Add Paragon Surge (strangely, Paladin only). Even with getting this at 4th level instead of the usual 3rd level, this spell is very good -- since as a Paladin, you get no bonus feats at all (except for the one at first level if you are Human), having the ability to give yourself a temporary feat is very good; the +2 enhancement bonus to Dexterity and Intelligence is just icing on the cake. Normally only Half-Elves get this spell, but a few Paladin archetypes grant a Cleric Domain and the first 4 Domain spells, and the Self-Realization Subdomain of Liberation or Strength has this as its 4th Level Domain Spell even if you are not a Half-Elf, and a few deities that are Paladin-compatible offer the Self-Realization Subdomain. Since this is a Transmutation spell with a base duration of 1 minute/level that you cast on yourself, this gets much better if you have Improved Eldritch Heritage (Shapechanger), which boosts it to 1 hour per level by the time you can cast this, meaning that you could use it to snag an Item Creation feat and do your daily magic item crafting without ever having to invest one of your actual feats. Other potential uses (not an exhaustive list) are situational combat feats (including Teamwork Feats), Extra Mercy ({some really situational but really necessary Mercy}), and Cunning (give yourself a whole stack of temporary skill points for some skill you don't have, although your GM might require that you have at least one point invested in the skill to start with). Blue (4/5) normally, or Purple-Pink (6/5) with Improved Eldritch Heritage (Shapechanger).
Add Planeslayer's Call (Paladin only). Help your spellcasting allies overcome Spell Resistance and Energy Resistance or Outsiders that have an alignment subtype. Although your impaired caster level means that 9/9 and 6/9 spellcasters will be technically better at casting this spell than you are, the demands of action economy will probably leave you with the duty of casting it.
Add Poison (Antipaladin only). So you want to use Overwhelming Poison (see above), but you don't have anybody on your team who has innate poison? This will do, although the 9/9 and 6/9 spellcasters will be much better at this than you -- Orange (2/5) for you, Blue (4/5) for them, assuming use in combination with Overwhelming Poison (don't even bother if you can't do both).
Add Profane Nimbus (Antipaladin only) and Sacred Nimbus (Paladin only). This ends up doing a large amount of damage to enemies of the opposing Good/Evil alignment that don't have Reach or a ranged attack (especially if they do a lot of little attacks), but is bypassed by enemies that have those.
Add Purify Body (Paladin only). This removes physical Ability Damage, Pain effects, and Blinded, Dazzled, Deafened, Nauseated, Paralyzed, and Sickened. Your choices of Mercies can cover many of these, but you won't be able to get enough Mercies to cover all of them (especially since some of the heavier-duty Mercies have Mercy Taxes), and the Restorative Mercy only removes 1d4 points of Ability Damage from a single ability score (although it does cover mental Ability Damage, so it's still good to have even when you have this spell), so you definitely want to have this spell in your arsenal. The modest hit point damage healing and/or Temporary Hit Points are just icing on the cake. Purple (5/5).
Add Raise Animal Companion (Paladin only). A highly discounted Raise Dead that you can use on an Animal Companion or Familiar (these do not have to be yours). Best kept on a Scroll, but if you don't have one, at least you have the option to prepare it the next day (or even the same day if you managed to leave a spell slot open), assuming that you can keep the corpse safe in the meantime. Note that the spell headings do not quite match the text.
Add Red Hand of the Killer (Paladin only). Put a long-duration mark that is very hard to remove (spells like Remove Curse or Greater Dispel Magic won't work, although presumably Wish or maybe even Limited Wish would) on the killer of a corpse you find. The downsides are that a Will Save or successful Spell Resistance can negate it, and that a killer who uses an indirect means of murder is immune (the example of trapping a victim in a room filling with water is explicitly given). Hurt by your getting this so late (by the time you get this, the killers you encounter might be able to go to another plane, which also defeats this spell); 9/9 and 6/9 casters are better at this. Orange (2/5).
Add Remove Radioactivity (Paladin only). In case somebody is contaminated with something like Polonium-210. In a campaign like Iron Gods or maybe even a future Numeria campaign (or even one in far future Irrisen, depending upon who takes over), you may actually need this, although 9/9 and 6/9 spellcasters will be better at this than you (especially with your impaired caster level).
(Already in guide) Resounding Blow. The weapon buff isn't much by itself, but if you confirm a Critical while using your Smite {opposed alignment} ability, the target is Stunned for 1 round and Deafened for 1d6 rounds. For Paladins, this spell competes with Crusader's Edge (see above), which doesn't need Smite Evil to make it good, but only works once per round, whereas this spell works on every hit. And what makes you auto-confirm Criticals? Eaglesoul does (see above). Green (3/5) without Eaglesoul (which Antipaladins can't use); Purple-Pink (6/5) with Eaglesoul, assuming you are using a weapon with a wide Critical range.
Add Restoration (Paladin only). This is partly competing with Purify Body (see above) and the Restorative Mercy, both of which lack the expensive Material Component, but Purify Body can't fix mental Ability Damage, and neither one of those can fix Negative Levels, so this has a place. Not what you would want to prepare every day, but it's good to have the option (especially if you can leave a spell slot open). Note that unlike the Lesser version of this spell, you DON'T get early access to this, so if you have 9/9 or 6/9 spellcasters, let them handle it.
Add Sea Stallion (Paladin only). Like the 2nd level spell Sea Steed, but your melee attacks work as if you were benefiting from Freedom of Movement, thus cutting out the massive penalties that an aquatic environment imposes on most attacks. Has good duration. Purple (5/5) for aquatic environments; even if you are in a mostly non-aquatic campaign with the occasional aquatic foray, it is good to be able to prepare this spell.
(Already in guide) Shadowform (Antipaladin only). An excellent protective buff, seriously hurt by how late you get it compared to the 9/9 and 6/9 spellcasters, and by your impaired caster level. Purple (5/5) for the 9/9 spellcasters and Blue (4/5) for the 6/9 spellcasters, but only Orange (2/5) for you.
Add Slay Living (Antipaladin only). Use to nuke targets that have low Fortitude Saves. The 9/9 (especially) and 6/9 spellcasters are better than this, so if you have any, leave it to them.
Add Speak with Soul. This is a super version of Speak with Dead: Unlike Speak with Dead, you don't need an intact body (or even a body at all, if you can find something else to get a connection to the soul) to get this to work, and you can actually have a real conversation with the soul (instead of just asking questions and getting impaired answers), if it is willing and able.
Add Stay the Hand (Paladin only). Immediate Action cast to prevent a creature from making an attack against its target, and debuff its attacks (especially the initial attack) against that target even if it makes its Will Save. Blue (4/5) normally, but goes to Purple (5/5) if combined with an effect that gives penalties if the enemy doesn't attack that creature. You can't protect yourself with this spell, but 2 Paladins could protect each other with it.
Add Torpid Reanimation (Antipaladin only). You won't be great at controlling Undead, but if you just want to let them loose to make general mayhem, you can use this delayed-effect Animate Dead (see this 3rd level spell for more information) repeatedly over several days to prepare a monster army of Skeletons and/or Zombies that you activate all at once. Best left to the 9/9 or 6/9 spellcasters if you have any.
Add Transplant Visage (Antipaladin only). For identity theft from people who are already dead, and you can stack as many of these as you can obtain (only limited by your rate of renewal of spell slots) for layers of disguise. The 9/9 and 6/9 spellcasters are better at this, but since it is self-cast only, you will have to cast it yourself to make use of it.
Add Wall of Bone (Antipaladin only). Antipaladin's battlefield control spell. Hurt by how late you get it compared to the 9/9 (especially) and 6/9 spellcasters and by your impaired caster level, but even so at least borderline Orange-Green (2.5/5).
6th Level Spells (Huh, What?)
(What, Huh?) Plague Bearer (Antipaladin only). I don't know how Antipaladins ended up with a 6th level spell on their list when they don't have 6th level spells, but both the Archives of Nethys page for Plague Bearer and the www.d20pfsrd.com page for Plague Bearer agree that Plague Bearer is a 6th level Antipaladin spell. So if you somehow managed to get a 6th level Antipaladin spell slot, would it be worth using for this? No, you would be better off picking up Metamagic feats and using it to cast Metamagic versions of regular Antipaladin spells. Now, supposing that this was a typo in the Paizo source material and they meant to make it a 4th level Antipaladin spell? Then, it could be worth using a 4th level spell slot for in an intrigue situation in which you need to start a disease outbreak, although note that the 9/9 and 6/9 casters will do this better, since they will get a higher Save DC; if you don't have any, then this becomes Orange (2/5). This spell is (not surprisingly) specific to worshippers of Urgathoa, so normally I wouldn't include it, but its listing as a 6th level Antipaladin spell got my attention.
Finally done with the spells -- now I can get to reviewing the rest of the guide. Next: the Archetypes section.
I searched around the forums and did a basic Google search, and numerous people have noticed that plague bearer is antipaladin 6, but I couldn't find anything explaining why. My guess would be that it's an oversight or typo, which is not particularly helpful, I realize.
^. . . Or I wonder if Antipaladin was originally conceived as a prestige class (like a hybrid of D&D 3.x Blackguard and D&D 3.x Prestige Paladin) but being able to advance existing spellcasting to get 6th level spells with a somewhat expanded list(*), and then they switched it to being an alternate class and forgot to change the header of this spell?
(*)D&D 3.5 Blackguard has 4/9 spellcasting like Antipaladin, but D&D 3.5 Prestige Paladin (RIP) progresses existing spellcasting at half speed, which could get you to casting 6th level spells (actually just barely to 7th level spells), so a hypothetical analogous Prestige Antipaladin could also do this. Note that D&D 3.5 Prestige Paladin was also a 15 level prestige class . . . and I don't know about the development of the Pathfinder 1st Edition Antipaladin, but reportedly (according to somebody somewhere else on these boards) Hellknight was originally a 15 level prestige class before being changed to 10 level at some point in development.
Edit: After doing all the above reviewing of spells and needing many days for it(*), I understand why Iluzry didn't do an extensive review of the spells. I don't regret having done this -- it was an eye-opening learning experience with respect to how good Paladin/Antipaladin spellcasting is(**).
(*)Of course, this would have not been stretched out over so much time if not for changes in my work caused by this time of pestilence.
(**)Now I would have liked to see some kind of Rogue or Vigilante archetypes with some Paladin/Antipaladin class features including the 4/9 spellcasting.
"Assassaldin"
^That's sort of the concept they had with Red Mantis Assassin, but they just gave them a limited subset of Sorcerer/Wizard spells without adjusting the levels(*), whereas somebody put a LOT of thought into the Paladin and Antipaladin spell lists(**). No wonder Iluzry listed spells as so important in the guide -- before doing all the above reviewing of spells, I used to think that trading out the spellcasting for other stuff wasn't too shabby. It's still not as bad as trading out Alchemy/Extracts on an Investigator (yes, an archetype does this without replacing them with some other type of spellcasting), but still, you had better get something really good in exchange.
(*)Very similar deal for Prophet of Kalistrade, but that prestige class is just bad even before considering the limited spellcasting.
(**)These do have a few strange oversights like Restoration not being reduced 1 level even though Lesser Restoration is, but overall they're pretty good -- ratings mostly Green (3/5) with only a few stinkers and only a few busted good spells.
Now I'm going to have to go back and look at the other 4/9 spellcasters: Bloodrager, Medium, and Ranger (yes, I know about Child of Acavna and Amaznen Fighter, but that's just bad for reasons other than the 4/9 spellcasting). But that's for other guides . . . .