The character draws down holy power to smite the character's enemies. Only evil and neutral creatures are harmed by the spell; good creatures are unaffected.

The spell deals 1d8 points of damage per two caster levels (maximum 5d8) to evil creatures and blinds them for 1 round. A successful Reflex saving throw reduces damage to half and negates the blinding effect.

The spell deals only half damage against creatures who are neither good nor evil, and they are not blinded. They can reduce that damage by half (down to one-quarter of the roll) with a successful Reflex save.

In addition to the obvious effects, a blinded creature suffers a 50% miss chance in combat (all opponents have full concealment), loses any Dexterity bonus to AC, grants a +2 bonus to opponents’ attack rolls (they are effectively invisible), moves at half speed, and suffers a –4 penalty on most Strength- and Dexterity-based skills.