Inflict Wounds: The Hippocratic Oath be Damned

Usable By: Cleric

Spell Level: 1

School: Necromancy

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: Touch

Duration: Instantaneous

Components: V, S

Make a melee spell attack against a creature you can reach. On a hit, the target takes 3d10 necrotic damage.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the damage increases by 1d10 for each slot level above 1st.

Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold

Attack roll based spells and I have a mixed relationship. On one hand, they reward building around them, and can take advantage of features like Guiding Bolt or just the help action. On the other hand, I hate casting a spell and having nothing happen. Spending a spell slot and watching it disappear when I roll a 3 feels so bad to me. The one exception to this I think is Inflict Wounds, and namely at 1st level, because dear god is 3d10 a LOT of damage at 1st level.

3d10 necrotic damage is 15ish on average. I have seen people roll well over 20 damage with this little 1st level spell, which can radically maim major threats in the early tiers. When I’m DMing for newer players, the looks of excitement on their faces when they roll 3d10 when they’ve otherwise been just seeing 1d6 or 1d8 represent most damage dice is massive to me. It just is the highest damage single target spell at 1st level, and that, without needing anything else, makes it exciting to use.

It requiring touch and being locked to clerics only also gives the class a much needed edge up on their wizard and sorcerer counterparts. Clerics get to have better short-ranged single target damage for spell slots than the arcane casters. Inflict Wounds defines that boundary, it separates Clerics meaningfully from other full casters.

Up-casting it with a 2nd level slot even feels pretty good. There aren’t other 2nd level spells that front load that much damage. Sure, Spiritual Weapon quickly and easily out damages this over just a few rounds. If you need a lot of damage at once, right now, Inflict Wounds is a reasonable spell to reach for.

Cantrips grow to overtake its power pretty quickly once you reach the mid tiers of play, but man, I love Inflict Wounds in the early tiers. Inflict Wounds is like Burning Hands in that any time you cast a single target damaging spell, you have to ask what you’re getting beyond damage that makes it worth it over just dealing more damage with Inflict Wounds. This is a standard setter for low tier clerics that I’d recommend almost all clerics try out if they want some big splashy damage moments in the first few levels of the game. Inflict Wounds is sweet.

5e Spells

Inflict Wounds: The Hippocratic Oath be Damned