Poison Damage 5e
by Prince Phantom
Commonly considered the worst damage type in the entire game, poison gets a really bad rap, but does it deserve it? Well, yeah mostly. That being said, should we immediately dismiss any option that deals poison damage, and how concerned should we be of our enemies using it against us? Let’s dive in.
Resistance, Immunity, and Vulnerability in monsters (out of 2624 printed monsters)
Resistance: 104
Immune: 681
Vulnerable: 1
These are not good numbers. No damage type has nearly this many monsters be completely immune to it. It’s also notable that ignoring resistance to poison damage through something like the Poisoner feat isn’t very effective, as immunity is what is really hampering us. Also, a lot of those 104 resistant monsters are unique enemies specific to certain pre-written campaigns, meaning you’ll likely run into even less poison resistant enemies than that number suggests. Thankfully, it’s pretty easy to tell when a monster is immune to poison, as long as you think it through logically. Does the creature have blood for the poison to flow through? You’re probably in the clear. This means most undead (especially spectral ones), all constructs, most fiends, most celestials, most elementals, and a few plants who themselves are already poisonous. If your campaign is going to involve mostly those types of monsters, you won’t get much use at all out of poison. That sounds like a lot of monsters, and it is, but thankfully you shouldn’t ever be dealing poison damage and hoping that the enemy won’t resist it, as you’ll already know ahead of time. There’s also still a large amount of enemy types that frequently don’t resist poison, so you will have opportunities to use it if you want. Still, this means you definitely should not base an entire build around poison damage, but don’t immediately dismiss any spell or ability that uses it.
Poison Damage vs. the Poisoned Condition
To clarify, this article is about poison damage, not the poisoned condition. The two are closely linked, but wholly different. Poison damage has no inherent differences to any other damage type, and has no lasting effects like it frequently does in many video games. The poisoned condition is a status condition that imposes disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks, though again, has no continual damage like you’d find in video games. Many times when poison damage is inflicted, you may also be subjected to the poisoned condition, though that only happens if the monster stat block explicitly says so. If it helps, you can rename the poisoned condition to the “sickened” condition, as I believe it more accurately describes what the condition does and more cleanly separates it from poison damage.
Spells that Deal Poison Damage
| Spell Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| Cantrip | Infestation, Poison Spray |
| 1st | Chaos Bolt*, Chromatic Orb, Ray of Sickness |
| 2nd | Dragon’s Breath |
| 3rd | - |
| 4th | - |
| 5th | Cloudkill |
| 6th | - |
| 7th | Prismatic Spray* |
| 8th | Illusory Dragon |
| 9th | Prismatic Wall |
| (Spells with a * can deal poison damage, but only randomly.) | |
Yikes, this is pitiful. Cloudkill isn’t terrible, but that’s about it. Pour one out for the Draconic Sorcerers who picked green and wanted to make a poison based caster.
See Also: Complete Guide to Poison Damage Spells
Other sources of Poison Damage:
This list is not comprehensive, but I did want to highlight some of the most common and best sources of Poison damage.
Poisoner feat
Trickery Cleric Divine Strike
Warlock’s Cloak of Flies invocation
The Grung is the big standout of this list, dealing incidental poison damage (the best kind) each time we hit with a piercing weapon. Yes, it’s on a DC 12 Constitution save, but you can inflict that save so many times that the enemy will fail occasionally. The Poisoner feat is a decent consideration for builds that have no use for their bonus action and plenty of gold.
Harvesting Poisons
The DMG has rules for harvesting poisons from a defeated, willing, or incapacitated enemy, usually requiring a DC 20 Nature check. This gives an actual mechanical reason to invest in Nature (and that skill needs all the help it can get), and is another great way for a DM to add rewards for a tough encounter. A Poisoner’s Kit is also usually required, so make sure you pick one up along with proficiency in it. Check out Xanathar’s for expanded rules and uses for the Poisoner’s Kit. There are a number of poisons that have actual item descriptions detailed in various books, but if you harvest poison from a monster whose poison doesn’t have defined rules, it actually very simple. Just have your DM look at the monster stat block and look at the part where it deals poison damage on a hit. Copy the damage, save DC, and additional effects of the poison and you’re all set! Don’t believe that this is worthwhile? Purple Worm Poison deals 12d6 damage with a DC 19 save for half damage. Applying poison to a weapon usually takes an action, though Thief Rogues and those with the Poisoner feat can apply it as a bonus action. Either way, you’ll want to apply the poison before combat begins ideally, as taking a turn off to coat your weapon is not worth it. Poisons also frequently come with an additional effect like the poisoned condition, so watch out for stuff like that to really put the hurt on your foes.
How worried should we be about Poison Damage?
Of the 711 printed monsters in the Monster Manual and Mordenkainen’s Monsters of the Multiverse, 96 can deal poison damage. The vast majority (53/96) are monsters of CR 0-5, meaning once you exit low tier play you’ll be less likely to see it. Still, this makes Poison one of the best damage types to have resistance to, and thankfully there are a ton of ways to get that resistance.
Ways to get Poison Damage Resistance
Races:
Class features:
Bear Totem Barbarian
Alchemist Chemical Mastery
Artificer Resistant Armor Infusion
Land Druid Nature’s Ward (Immunity)
Rune Knight Hill Rune
Monk Purity of Body (Immunity)
Drakewarden Bond of Fang and Scale
Draconic Sorcerer Elemental Affinity
Spells:
As you can see, there are a ton of ways to get resistance to poison damage, and even a few ways to get immunity. Notably excluded from this is Absorb Elements, a spell that usually makes resistance to the types it covers less valuable. This means poison resistance is a big deal to pick up, and a big boon to any race or class that grants it.
Synergies with Poison Damage:
Alchemist Alchemical Savant
Draconic Sorcerer Elemental Affinity
Again, do not base your character solely around poison damage. To put extra salt in the wound, both of these features are on some of the worst subclasses in the game.
In Summary:
Poison damage should be seen as a very legitimate threat, especially at low level play. It is also a neat little trick you can throw on a build, but is not something you should base an entire build around. An optimized Fighter can do a lot of damage, but an optimized Fighter who coated their weapon with poison before combat began can deal even more. That’s how you should view poison damage, a great little cherry on top of whatever your character is already doing. Use it where applicable, and you’ll find a whole new axis of potential power.
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