Psychic Damage 5e
by Prince Phantom
Mental magic is represented pretty well in 5e, and though we don’t have a dedicated psionic class we do have plenty of methods to bring that concept to life. Most of those methods involve some amount of psychic damage, allowing us to harm our foes though the might of our mind alone. Let’s dive into the specifics, as I think you’ll find some of these numbers quite surprising.
Special Note:
There seems to be a common misconception that psychic damage can only affect creatures with a certain level of intelligence, but that is not the case. Some spells and abilities might state that they can only effect creatures who have an intelligence of a certain number or higher, but each of those only apply to those spells or abilities. There is no universal rule that psychic damage has no effect against creatures of low intelligence. If a monster is intended to take no damage from psychic attacks, it will have immunity to the damage.
Resistance, Immunity, and Vulnerability in monsters (out of 2624 printed monsters)
Resistant: 60
Immune: 109
Vulnerable: 2 (both are flumphs, and you should never hurt a flumph!)
This is one of the rare instances where we have more creatures immune to this damage type than are resistant. Thankfully, it’s normally pretty easy to tell when something is immune to psychic damage. Many mindless constructs, all Star Spawn creatures, and creatures themed around high intelligence or mental attacks like Mind Flayers are poor targets for psychic damage. Thankfully, most of these monsters aren’t something you would base an entire campaign around (besides maybe Mind Flayers) unlike fiends or undead. This means that if you base your build around psychic damage, you’ll find that you need to change things up every once in awhile, but it should be applicable for most any campaign.
Spells that Deal Psychic Damage
| Spell Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| Cantrip | Mind Sliver, Vicious Mockery |
| 1st | Chaos Bolt*, Dissonant Whispers, Wrathful Smite |
| 2nd | Mind Spike, Phantasmal Force, Shadow Blade, Tasha’s Mind Whip |
| 3rd | - |
| 4th | Phantasmal Killer, Raulothim’s Psychic Lance, Staggering Smite, Summon Aberration |
| 5th | Synaptic Static |
| 6th | Mental Prison |
| 7th | - |
| 8th | Feeblemind, Maddening Darkness |
| 9th | Psychic Scream, Weird |
| (Spells with a * can deal psychic damage, but only randomly.) | |
See Also: Complete Guide to Psychic Damage Spells
This is a banger list of spells, many of which being some of the best damage options for their level, though often not for the actual damage they deal. You’ll notice a common trend with psychic damage spells, they deal low damage but have an additional debilitating effect. For many of these spells, the secondary effect is actually the primary reason we want to cast the spell, the damage is just gravy. Wrathful Smite for example, deals a pitiful amount of extra damage but forces an extremely hard to shake fear effect that can take a melee foe completely out of the fight. Phantasmal Force is a potentially lethal save or die, the psychic damage each round is just an added bonus. Synaptic Static deals Fireball damage for a 5th level slot, but sticks the enemy with a -d6 on all their attacks, making them much less effective at hitting our party. Weird is… well okay they can’t all be winners but you get the point! For the most part, you’ll find uses for the majority of the spells on this list, often letting you deal damage and debilitate your foes all at once.
Other notable sources of Psychic Damage
Soulknife Rogue (basically the whole subclass): This subclass bases itself around these psychic blades that you can conjure and use to attack. The only note I have here is to make sure you have some normal weapons for when you inevitably run into a monster who is immune to psychic damage.
Synergies with Psychic Damage
Much to the Soulknife Rogue’s chagrin, there are currently no features that key off of or improve instances of psychic damage.
How worried should we be about Psychic Damage?
81/711 monsters in the Monster Manual and Mordenkanin’s Monsters of the Multiverse can deal psychic damage.
This is genuinely the most surprising number I’ve come across while doing these guides. Before this, I assumed psychic damage was one of the rarer damage types, but I was dead wrong. I bet you never would have guessed that more creatures can deal psychic damage than can deal fire damage! And this isn’t just a bunch of spellcasters who happen to have psychic damage spells that they may or may not cast, 71/81 don’t need spells at all to deal psychic damage. You might also assume that you’ll only encounter psychic damage at high level play against things like Mind Flayers and Aboleths, but wrong again! 28 of those creatures are found in CR 0-5, and another 28 are CR 6-10! You are more likely to run into psychic damage during low tier play than high tier! All this adds up to psychic damage being the third most common damage type for monsters to deal, behind necrotic (87) and poison (96).
How do we get resistance to Psychic Damage?
Races:
Class Abilities:
Psi Warrior Guarded Mind
Aberrant Sorcerer Psychic Defenses
Great Old One Warlock Thought Shield
Spells:
Mind Blank (Immunity)
As you can see, psychic resistance is as rare as it is coveted. The notable absence of Absorb Elements means that if you want psychic resistance you’ll need to make an effort to get it, making any option that grants it that much better. I honestly may have underrated the four races that grant this resistance, as at the time I still assumed it wouldn’t come up very often. Now, those races are a bit more tempting to me, and they should be for you as well as they are the easiest way to get psychic resistance. Martial characters with extra attack will appreciate the Emerald Dragonborn, and spellcasters who inherently lack the Shield spell will definitely be drawn to the Githzerai.
To Summarize:
Psychic damage is both fantastic to specialize in, and also something to watch out for when adventuring. Spells that deal psychic damage tend to be on the strong side, and bring along strong secondary effects that can completely shift the tide of battle when used properly. Psychic resistance is a surprisingly relevant ability, and any build that includes it will be happy to have it. Now go out and blow some minds!
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