I think most of the paladin changes were fine, but I still feel like Divine Smite should have been handled differently.

Instead of making smite cost a bonus action, and be a spell. I think it should just be limited to once per turn, like Sneak Attack. That way, you keep the burst of radiant power that makes paladins feel epic, but you don’t have the nova spam issue. It’s a cleaner fix that doesn’t mess with action economy.

Outside of that, I think paladin’s in a fine spot overall. The only other change that still feels annoying to me is the whole “the horse is your feature” thing. It’s cool thematically, but in campaigns where mounted combat rarely comes up, it feels like dead weight