by Claude Helper | Sep 8, 2026 | Spells
Level 3 Abjuration spell available to Clerics. Every heal your party receives rolls maximum, and everyone gets Advantage on Wisdom and Death Saving Throws. It is the spell that turns your Cleric from a healer into a very annoying problem.
Spell description: Your allies will regain the maximum Hit Points possible when healed. They also gain Advantage on Wisdom Saving Throws and Death Saving Throws.
Spell properties
- Range: Self
- Area: 9m (30ft) radius
- Duration: 10 turns
- Concentration spell
- Conditions applied: Beacon of Hope
- Cost: Action + Spell Slot
- Recharge: Per action
Spell upcasting
Casting Beacon of Hope at higher levels provides no additional benefits.
How to obtain Beacon of Hope
Source item: Till Death Do Us Part
When to cast Beacon of Hope
Maximum healing is a bigger number than it sounds. Every Healing Word, every potion, every Cure Wounds, every Lay on Hands, all rolling top of the dice. A Cleric running Beacon of Hope roughly doubles the output of your entire party’s healing for ten turns.
It is at its best in the fights that grind: the ones with waves, the ones where you are being chipped down rather than deleted. In a fight that ends in three turns it does almost nothing, so do not lead with it.
Advantage on Wisdom saves is quietly the second best thing here. Most of the nastiest crowd control in the game, Hold Person, Fear, Hypnotic Pattern, Dominate, is a Wisdom save, and Advantage on all of it for the whole party is a real defensive buff.
It is Concentration, which means it is competing with Spirit Guardians for the same slot in your Cleric’s head. Spirit Guardians usually wins. Beacon of Hope is what you cast when the fight is about surviving rather than winning.
by Claude Helper | Sep 8, 2026 | Spells
Level 1 Abjuration spell available to Sorcerers and Wizards. It sets an unarmoured caster’s Armour Class to 13 plus Dexterity until Long Rest. Near-mandatory on a robe-wearer.
Spell description: Surround an unarmoured creature in a protective magical force. Its Armour Class increases to 13 + its Dexterity modifier.
Spell properties
- Range: Melee (1.5m)
- Duration: Until Long Rest
- Cost: Action + Spell Slot
- Recharge: Per action
Spell upcasting
Casting Mage Armour at higher levels provides no additional benefits.
How to obtain Mage Armour
- Sorcerer, Wizard at Class level 1
- Arcane Trickster (Rogue) and Eldritch Knight (Fighter) at Class level 3
- Granted by features: Magic Initiate: Sorcerer, Magic Initiate: Wizard
- Source item: Moon Devotion Robe
- Warlocks can gain a permanent version through the Armour of Shadows Invocation
Surround an unarmoured creature in a protective magical force. Its Armour Class increases to 13 + its Dexterity modifier.
When to cast Mage Armour
Cast it the moment you stand up from a Long Rest and never think about it again. It sets an unarmoured caster’s Armour Class to 13 plus Dexterity, which is a big jump for a robe-wearer and lasts the whole day for a single slot.
It does nothing for anyone already wearing armour, so it is strictly a caster buff. On a Wizard or Sorcerer it is close to mandatory; on a Warlock, take the Armour of Shadows Invocation instead and save the slot entirely.
by Claude Helper | Sep 8, 2026 | Spells
Level 1 Conjuration spell available to Wizards. It slicks a 4m patch of ground, knocking enemies Prone and turning the area into flammable Difficult Terrain. One of the best Level 1 openers in the game.
Spell description: Cover the ground in grease, slowing creatures within and possibly making them fall Prone.
Spell properties
- Range: 18m (60ft)
- Area: 4m (13ft) radius
- Duration: 10 turns
- Save: DEX save
- Conditions applied: Prone. Creates a flammable Grease surface (Difficult Terrain).
- Cost: Action + Spell Slot
- Recharge: Per action
Spell upcasting
Casting Grease at higher levels provides no additional benefits.
How to obtain Grease
- Wizard at Class level 1
- Draconic Bloodline (Black, Acid ancestry) Sorcerer at Class level 1
- Arcane Trickster (Rogue) and Eldritch Knight (Fighter) at Class level 3
- Granted by features: Magic Initiate: Wizard
Cover the ground in grease, slowing creatures within and possibly making them fall Prone.
When to cast Grease
A Level 1 slot that knocks a whole cluster of enemies Prone is a superb opening move. Prone means Disadvantage on their attacks and Advantage for your melee, and crossing the grease is Difficult Terrain, so they crawl instead of charging.
It is flammable, which is the trick. Drop grease, then hit it with any fire, Firebolt, a torch, a Scorching Ray, and the whole patch ignites. For one slot it sets up an absurd amount of value on turn one.
by Claude Helper | Sep 8, 2026 | Spells
Level 1 Evocation spell available to Clerics. It fires a beam for 4d6 Radiant and hands the next attacker Advantage against the target. The hardest-hitting Level 1 nuke a Cleric owns.
Spell description: Call forth a beam of light. Deals 4d6 Radiant damage and grants Advantage on the next Attack Roll against the target.
Spell properties
- Damage: 4d6 Radiant
- Damage type: Radiant
- Range: 18m (60ft)
- Attack type: Ranged
- Conditions applied: The next Attack Roll against the target has Advantage.
- Cost: Action + Spell Slot
- Recharge: Per action
Spell upcasting
Casting Guiding Bolt at a higher level deals an additional 1d6 Radiant damage for each spell slot level above the 1st.
How to obtain Guiding Bolt
- Cleric at Class level 1
- Circle of the Stars (Druid) at Class level 2
- College of Lore (Bard) at Class level 6 via Magical Secrets
- Bard at Class level 10 via Magical Secrets
- Granted by features: Magic Initiate: Cleric
- Source item: Seraphic Pugilist Gloves
Call forth a beam of light. Deals 4d6 Radiant damage and grants Advantage on the next Attack Roll against the target.
When to cast Guiding Bolt
4d6 is a lot of damage for a Level 1 slot, and it is the best opening nuke a Cleric has for the first few levels. Radiant is resisted by almost nothing, and it scales cleanly when you cast it from a bigger slot.
The Advantage rider is the real reason to open with it. Guiding Bolt into a follow-up attack from your rogue or fighter turns a coin-flip hit into a near-certain crit setup. Fire it first, then let the melee capitalise.
by Claude Helper | Sep 8, 2026 | Spells
Level 1 Enchantment spell available to Bards and Paladins. It makes a creature immune to Frightened and feeds it 5 temporary Hit Points every turn. A rolling shield on your front-liner.
Spell description: Bolster yourself or an ally with valour and health. The target can no longer be Frightened and gains 5 temporary Hit Points each turn.
Spell properties
- Range: Melee (1.5m)
- Duration: 10 turns
- Concentration spell
- Conditions applied: Immune to Frightened. Gains 5 temporary Hit Points each turn.
- Cost: Action + Spell Slot
- Recharge: Per action
Spell upcasting
Casting Heroism at a higher level affects an additional target for each spell slot level above the 1st.
How to obtain Heroism
- Bard at Class level 1
- Paladin at Class level 2
- Granted by features: Magic Initiate: Bard
- Source item: Absolute’s Warboard
Bolster yourself or an ally with valour and health. The target can no longer be Frightened and gains 5 temporary Hit Points each turn.
When to cast Heroism
The 5 temporary Hit Points a turn stack up fast and refresh every round, so on a front-line target Heroism is a rolling shield that soaks a surprising amount of damage over ten turns. Put it on whoever is going to be hit the most.
Frightened immunity is the situational half: against the fear-heavy encounters in Act 2 it is a hard counter. It is Concentration, though, so you are trading it against your other control, and one solid hit on the caster drops it.
Range: Self
AoE: 9m (30ft) Radius
Duration: 10 turns
Advantage on Wisdom Saving Throws.
Save: DEX save 
