Animate Dead

Level 3 Necromancy spell available to Clerics and Wizards. Raises a corpse as an undead servant that fights for you until it dies or you Long Rest. It costs one slot, once, out of combat, and then you have a permanent extra body. That is a very good deal.

Spell description: Animate a corpse to create an undead servant while not in combat.

Spell properties

• Range: 3m (10ft)
• Duration: Until Long Rest or destroyed
• Conditions applied: Summons an undead servant
• Cost: Action + Spell Slot
• Recharge: Per action
• Cannot be cast in combat

Spell upcasting

At Level 4, raise up to 3 Skeletons or Zombies instead of 1. At Level 5, raise a Ghoul or Flying Ghoul. At Level 6, raise up to 3 Ghouls or Flying Ghouls instead of 1.

How to obtain Animate Dead

• Cleric, Wizard at Class level 5

Source items: Circle of Bones, Scroll of Animate Dead

When to cast Animate Dead

Cast it before the fight, because you cannot cast it during one. Walk over a corpse, spend the slot, and go into the next encounter with an extra body that soaks hits nobody has to heal.

The upcast is where it gets silly. A Level 6 slot raises three Ghouls at once, and Ghouls paralyse. Three of them do a lot more than any single Level 6 spell you were considering.

The undead persist until they die or you Long Rest, which makes this the most slot-efficient thing a Necromancy Wizard does. Spend your leftover slots on it at the end of the day and start tomorrow with an army.

The catch is the corpse. You need one, it has to be intact, and the game will not always give you a body where you want one. Keep an eye out for a convenient graveyard before a hard fight.