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The Ultimate Guide To D&D Find Greater Steed: Creature Options, Spell Combos, And The New 2024 Rules

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The Find Greater Steed spell is one of the most iconic and powerful utility spells in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, primarily available to Paladins and Bards, that instantly transforms a character's mobility and combat potential. As of late 2024, discussions around this spell are more relevant than ever due to significant changes introduced in the latest D&D ruleset, which have consolidated and streamlined the mounted combat experience. This deep dive will explore the original, powerful 5e options, the best spell synergies, and the crucial new rules that every player needs to know to maximize their aerial advantage.

Introduced in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything (XGE), Find Greater Steed (a 4th-level spell) elevates the power fantasy of the Paladin's classic *Find Steed* spell, summoning a more majestic and formidable companion. The key to its power lies in the creature choices and the unique "Spell Sharing" feature, which allows the caster and the mount to benefit from the same buffs, effectively doubling the value of many powerful spells.

The Essential Mechanics of Find Greater Steed (5e)

To truly master this spell, you must first understand its core rules and features as they exist in the original D&D 5th Edition (XGE) before diving into the creature options and the newest updates. The spell is a 4th-level conjuration with a casting time of 10 minutes, and the steed remains until it drops to 0 hit points, you cast the spell again, or you dismiss it as an action.

  • Spell Level: 4th-level Conjuration.
  • Casting Time: 10 Minutes.
  • Duration: Until the steed drops to 0 HP or is dismissed.
  • Creature Type: The summoned creature is a Celestial, Fey, or Fiend (your choice), regardless of its original stat block. This makes it immune to effects that target specific creature types like Beasts.
  • Controlled Mount: Unlike a regular mount, the creature summoned by Find Greater Steed is controlled by you in combat. This means it acts on your initiative and you decide its movement and actions, which is a massive boost to the party's action economy.
  • Spell Sharing: This is the most powerful feature. If you cast a spell that targets only you while mounted, it also targets your steed. This effectively doubles the duration, protection, or damage of many of your best buff spells.

Top 5 Creature Options for Your Majestic Mount

The spell allows you to choose a form for your steed, typically a creature of Challenge Rating (CR) 2 or lower that has a suitable anatomy for riding. The most popular and powerful choices are those that grant you flight, fundamentally changing how your character interacts with the world and combat scenarios.

  1. Pegasus: The Aerial Standard. The Pegasus is the most common and arguably the best choice. It offers a 90 ft. flying speed, which is incredible for battlefield control, avoiding melee threats, and rapid travel. Its high Wisdom score also makes it resilient against common control spells.
  2. Griffon: The Combat Flyer. The Griffon is a formidable combatant, featuring a 30 ft. walking speed and an 80 ft. flying speed. It has a multiattack action, which, while normally not usable by a controlled mount, can be leveraged if you dismount and allow the steed to act independently, or if your DM allows it to use its action to Dash, Disengage, or Dodge.
  3. Hippogriff: The Reliable Flyer. A slightly less powerful, but still excellent, flying option with a 60 ft. flying speed. It's a great choice for earlier levels or DMs who restrict the more powerful Pegasus.
  4. Dire Wolf: The Ground Fighter. If flight is not an option (e.g., in a dungeon or cave), the Dire Wolf offers a powerful alternative. Its 50 ft. speed and ability to knock enemies prone with its Pounce attack make it a strong melee companion.
  5. Nightmare: The Fiendish Option. For characters leaning into the Fiend creature type (often Oathbreaker Paladins), the Nightmare is a powerful choice, offering a 90 ft. flying speed and a terrifying presence, though it is often considered a DM-approved option due to its higher power level.

Game-Changing Spell Sharing Combos

The "Spell Sharing" feature is what truly makes Find Greater Steed an elite spell. By applying single-target buffs to both you and your mount, you create a synergistic, highly durable, and mobile combat unit. The following spells are considered the gold standard for this mechanic:

  • Armor of Agathys (Warlock/Sorcerer Dip): This combo is legendary. You gain temporary hit points (THP) and deal cold damage to any creature that hits you in melee. With Spell Sharing, both you and your steed gain the THP. If you have the Mounted Combatant feat, you can force attacks to target your THP-laden mount, making it a defensive and offensive powerhouse.
  • Dragon's Breath (Sorcerer/Bard Access): This is a massive boost to your action economy. Cast it on yourself and your steed. As an action, your steed can now breathe a chosen element (like fire or acid) in a 15-foot cone, dealing 3d6 damage. This turns your mount into a potent, reusable area-of-effect (AoE) cannon, freeing up your own action for attacks or other spells.
  • Holy Weapon (Paladin/Cleric): A high-level, Paladin-favorite combo. This spell makes a weapon shed bright light and adds 2d8 radiant damage to its attacks. With Spell Sharing, you can apply the radiant damage to your own weapon and your steed’s natural weapons, turning a Griffon's talons into devastating strikes.
  • Haste (Sorcerer/Bard Access): Granting both you and your mount an extra action and a +2 bonus to AC is an enormous buff. The steed can use its extra action to Dash, increasing your movement speed to insane levels, or you can use your extra action for an additional attack or other utility.
  • Protection from Evil and Good: A low-level, but highly effective defensive buff. It grants both you and your steed advantage on saving throws against attacks and effects from creatures like fiends, undead, and fey, which is invaluable for high-level Paladin campaigns.

The D&D 2024 Update: Find Greater Steed is Reborn

The most crucial and up-to-date information for modern D&D players is the major revision of the mounted combat spells in the D&D 2024 Player's Handbook. The *Find Greater Steed* spell has been effectively merged into a single, scalable spell called Find Steed, which now summons an Otherworldly Steed.

In the new rules, the power of your mount scales directly with the spell slot you use to cast Find Steed. This change streamlines the Paladin's spell list and makes the spell relevant across more levels of play.

The New Otherworldly Steed Stat Block

The creature you summon no longer uses a specific monster stat block (like Pegasus or Griffon) but instead uses the generic Otherworldly Steed stat block, which has the following scaling features:

  • AC and HP Scaling: The steed’s Armor Class (AC) and Hit Points (HP) scale with the spell slot level, ensuring its survivability remains relevant at higher tiers of play.
  • Innate Healing: The steed gains an ability to heal a nearby creature, restoring Hit Points equal to 2d8 plus the spell's level, adding a new layer of utility.
  • Flight Access: The "Greater Steed" effect is now tied to the spell slot. When you cast Find Steed using a 4th-level spell slot or higher, the Otherworldly Steed gains a 60 ft. flying speed. This is the direct replacement for the old Find Greater Steed spell.
  • Controlled Mount: The 2024 rules explicitly reinforce that the Otherworldly Steed is a controlled mount, acting immediately after you in the initiative order and following your commands.

This update ensures that the power of a flying mount is accessible at the appropriate level (when 4th-level slots become available), while also simplifying the rules by removing the need to reference multiple monster stat blocks. For players in a campaign using the D&D 2024 rules, the power of Find Greater Steed is now simply the higher-level version of Find Steed, providing a consistent, powerful, and aerial companion.

d&d find greater steed
d&d find greater steed

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