Prayer of Healing: Kneel for a Heal
Usable By: Cleric
Spell Level: 2
School: Evocation
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: 30 feet
Duration: Instantaneous
Components: V
Up to six creatures of your choice that you can see within range each regain hit points equal to 2d8 + your spellcasting ability modifier. This spell has no effect on undead or constructs.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the healing increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 2nd.
Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold
Short rests and hit dice are an integral element of 5th edition. A big reason they exist is to allow groups to function without a dedicated healer character; you can expect to be damaged and rest some of it off as you go. With a well of extra hit points available on short rest alongside a full heal given every long rest, most healing magic feels like overkill, and none so more than Prayer of Healing.
With a cast time of 10 minutes, Prayer of Healing is only usable as a quick replacement for a short rest. 2d8+ Wis mod hit points to six creatures is a lot of hit points. That can mitigate six or seven attacks, which is a lot of future actions. The reality of it I find is more often than not, if you can cast Prayer of Healing, you can short rest. Most groups aren’t depleting their hit dice each long rest already, meaning you’re very likely going to have an abundance of hit points available there. If you need those hit points in addition to Prayer of Healing, then this spell is decent, but I have to wonder if casting another proactive 2nd level spell like Spiritual Weapon instead may have mitigated a bunch of the incoming damage while ending the damaging encounter faster.
If you’re in the early tier, you’re not likely facing down more than two or three encounters per long rest, in which case I think your spell slots are going to be a lot better spent in the fights mitigating enemy actions via death or debilitation than spent recouping post-fight. In the upper tiers, the hit points get less and less relevant as your total hit point pool increases.
Ultimately I don’t think any character ever needs Prayer of Healing. If you’re at a table running lethal encounter after lethal encounter with two or more short rests per long rest, having a 2nd level spell slot to act like a 3rd short rest’s worth of restored hit points can be decent, but so few tables are running that many encounters I wouldn’t recommend this to your average caster. If you’re looking for healing magic, Healing Word and Mass Healing Word are the only two you’ll probably ever need. Stick with those instead, and focus on proactive uses for your spells to mitigatete the hit point losses in the first place.
Prayer of Healing FAQ
Can you target yourself with Prayer of Healing?
Yes. Page 204 of the PHB says “If a spell targets a creature of your choice, you can choose yourself, unless the creature must be hostile or specifically a creature other than you.”
If I have a scroll of Prayer of Healing, can it be cast as an action instead of taking 10 minutes?
No. Errata published for the DMG says that casting a spell from a scroll requires the scroll’s normal casting time. Said errata can be found HERE.
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