by Claude Helper | Sep 8, 2026 | Spells
Level 2 Abjuration spell available to Bards, Clerics, Druids, and Paladins. Touch a creature and clear one of Disease, Poison, Paralysis, or Blindness. It does nothing on a normal day, and on the day it is needed there is no substitute for it.
Spell description: Remove one disease or condition afflicting a creature.
Spell properties
- Range: Melee: 1.5m (5ft)
- Conditions applied: Cures a creature of disease, poison, paralysis, or blindness.
- Cost: Action + Spell Slot
- Recharge: Per action
Spell upcasting
Casting Lesser Restoration at higher levels provides no additional benefits.
How to obtain Lesser Restoration
- Bard, Cleric, Druid at Class level 3
- Paladin at Class level 5
Source items: Amulet of Silvanus, Scroll of Lesser Restoration
Remove one disease or condition afflicting a creature.
When to cast Lesser Restoration
Paralysed is the one that matters. A Held or Paralysed party member is a dead party member, because everything hitting them is an automatic critical, and Lesser Restoration ends it instantly. Ghouls, ghasts, Hold Person from an enemy caster, all undone for one slot and a touch.
Blindness and Poison are the everyday uses. Poisoned means Disadvantage on everything and it comes from half the enemies in Act 1, and a Blinded archer is useless. Both are cleared in one cast.
Keep it prepared rather than learned if you can. A Cleric swaps it in on days when you expect ghouls or spiders and swaps it back out the rest of the time. A Bard who has to spend a spell known on it should think twice.
by Claude Helper | Sep 8, 2026 | Spells
Level 2 Transmutation spell available to Bards, Sorcerers, and Wizards. Opens any mundane lock from 18m away, no roll required. It is a spell slot spent on a problem your Rogue already solves for free, and it knows it.
Spell description: Unlock an object that is held shut by a mundane lock.
Spell properties
- Range: 18m (60ft)
- Cost: Action + Spell Slot
- Recharge: Per action
Spell upcasting
Casting Knock at higher levels provides no additional benefits.
How to obtain Knock
- Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard at Class level 3
Source items: Knock Knuckle Gloves, Scroll of Knock
Unlock an object that is held shut by a mundane lock.
When to cast Knock
Almost never, and that is fine. If you have a Rogue with decent Sleight of Hand and a pocket full of lockpicks, this spell does not exist for you. It exists for the all-caster party, or the Origin run where nobody put a single point into Dexterity.
Two things it does that lockpicks cannot: it works from 18m away, and it never fails. A lock behind a trap you would rather not stand next to, or a high-DC chest that is about to eat your entire lockpick supply, is the moment Knock earns its slot.
It does not open magically sealed doors and it will not beat Arcane Lock. Better to know that now than to find out with the slot already spent.
by Claude Helper | Sep 8, 2026 | Spells
Level 2 Illusion spell available to Bards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards. Turns a creature Invisible until it attacks or casts a spell. It is not really a combat spell. It is an escape hatch, a scouting tool, and the most reliable way to walk out of a fight you have decided you are not having.
Spell description: Touch a creature to turn it Invisible. The spell ends early if the creature attacks or casts a spell.
Spell properties
- Range: Melee: 1.5m (5ft)
- Duration: 10 turns
- Concentration spell
- Conditions applied: Invisible. Attacks against it have Disadvantage and its own attacks have Advantage. Breaks on attacking, casting a spell, or interacting with items.
- Cost: Action + Spell Slot
- Recharge: Per action
Spell upcasting
Affects an additional target for each spell slot level above the 2nd.
How to obtain Invisibility
- Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard at Class level 3
Source item: Scroll of Invisibility
When to cast Invisibility
The best use is leaving. Break line of sight from everything hostile and combat ends, and an invisible party member can simply stroll away from a fight that has gone badly wrong. Upcast it over two or three people and you can abandon almost any encounter, keep your loot, and come back later at a level where it is not a problem.
In combat its value is narrower than it looks, because it breaks the moment you attack. It does buy the first hit with Advantage, which a Rogue setting up a Sneak Attack will happily take, but that is a Level 2 slot for one round of Advantage and then it is gone.
Where it is quietly excellent is on whoever is rescuing a downed ally. Turn the Cleric Invisible, walk them straight through the melee, and Help the body up. Moving does not break it, and nobody can take an opportunity attack on a target they cannot see.
It is Concentration, so the Wizard holding it on a scout is not holding Web or Hold Person. The Potion of Invisibility needs no Concentration and is usually the better tool for exactly this job. Save the slot.
by Claude Helper | Sep 8, 2026 | Spells
Level 2 Enchantment spell available to Bards, Clerics, Druids, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards. One Wisdom save and a humanoid is Paralysed for ten turns: it cannot move, act, or react, and every melee hit against it is an automatic critical. This is the best control spell at Level 2 and it might be the best spell in the tier.
Spell description: Paralyse a humanoid creature, making it unable to move or act. At the end of each turn, the creature can try to free itself.
Spell properties
- Range: 18m (60ft)
- Duration: 10 turns
- Concentration spell
- Save: WIS save
- Conditions applied: Held. The creature cannot move, act, or react. Attacks made from within 3m are always Critical Hits.
- Cost: Action + Spell Slot
- Recharge: Per action
Spell upcasting
Affects an additional target for each spell slot level above the 2nd.
How to obtain Hold Person
- Bard, Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard at Class level 3
Source items: Band of the Mystic Scoundrel, Stillmaker, Scroll of Hold Person
Paralyse a humanoid creature, making it unable to move or act. At the end of each turn, the creature can try to free itself.
Duration: 10 turns
- The creature cannot move, act, or react.
- Attacks against it from within 3m are always Critical Hits.
- Attack Rolls against it have
Advantage.
- It repeats the Wisdom Saving Throw at the end of each of its turns.
When to cast Hold Person
A Held creature is a punching bag. Every attack from within 3m is a guaranteed critical hit, so your Rogue’s Sneak Attack doubles, your Paladin’s Smite doubles, and your Fighter’s three swings all crit. A single failed save usually means the target dies before it gets to roll again.
It only works on humanoids, which sounds like a limit and mostly is not. Cultists, bandits, drow, gith, goblins, most of the named villains: humanoid. Beasts, undead, and constructs are immune, so keep something else ready in the Underdark.
Upcast it and it holds an extra target per slot level. A Level 4 Hold Person that lands on three enemies is a fight that is already over. It is Concentration, so keep your caster somewhere safe and let the melee characters do the rest.
The target repeats its save every turn, so it will not stay Held forever. Go straight for the kill the turn it fails. Do not spend the free crits on a Bless.
by Claude Helper | Sep 8, 2026 | Spells
Level 2 Transmutation spell available to Bards and Druids. Pick a creature wearing or holding metal and cook it: 2d8 Fire damage with no save on the first cast, then a Bonus Action every turn to do it again. Fail the Constitution save and the target drops its weapon or fights at Disadvantage. It is one of the best single-target spells at this level.
Spell description: Cause a metal weapon or armour to glow red-hot and force the creature touching it to let go or receive Disadvantage on Attack Rolls and Ability Checks. If the creature is only wearing metal armour, it always receives Disadvantage. If the creature is still touching the metal, you can use a Bonus Action on subsequent turns to deal another 2d8 Fire damage and force the creature to let go or receive Disadvantage.
Spell properties
- Range: 18m (60ft)
- Duration: 10 turns
- Concentration spell
- Save: CON save
- Damage: 2d8 Fire
- Conditions applied: Disadvantage on Attack Rolls and Ability Checks. Can be reapplied each turn as a Bonus Action.
- Cost: Action + Spell Slot
- Recharge: Per action
Spell upcasting
Deals an extra 1d8 Fire damage for each spell slot level above the 2nd.
How to obtain Heat Metal
- Bard, Druid at Class level 3
Source item: Scroll of Heat Metal
Cause a metal weapon or armour to glow red-hot and force the creature touching it to let go or receive Disadvantage on Attack Rolls and Ability Checks. If the creature is only wearing metal armour, it always receives Disadvantage. If the creature is still touching the metal, you can use a Bonus Action on subsequent turns to deal another 2d8 Fire damage and force the creature to let go or receive Disadvantage.
Duration: 10 turns
- Takes 2d8 Fire damage each time the caster re-heats the metal (Bonus Action).
- On a failed Constitution save, the creature drops the held item or has
Disadvantage on Attack Rolls and Ability Checks.
When to cast Heat Metal
The first hit does not get a save. That alone is unusual. Then every turn afterwards you re-heat it for a Bonus Action, another 2d8, and the target either drops what it is holding or takes Disadvantage on everything it does while it burns. Over ten turns that is a frankly rude amount of damage from one slot.
It targets whoever has the most metal on them, which is exactly who you want it on: the armoured knight, the greatsword brute, anything in plate. A heated enemy in full armour is disarmed, Disadvantaged, and burning, and it cannot take the armour off.
It is Concentration, it needs a metal target, and it does nothing to a wolf, an ooze, or a naked cultist. Read the enemy before you cast. Against the right target it wins the fight on its own.
Range: Melee (1.5m)
Save: WIS save 
