Many spells were changed in the2024Dungeons & DragonsPlayer’s Handbook, notably including many of the healing spells. Improvements made to the spells' range and dice rolls make them better at both lower and higher levels. It’s a much-needed change, sincehealing in 5th editionD&Dwas rarely worth it with the old rules.
However, alongside the enthusiasm players have had for these new healing rules, there has been some trepidation about what it means for the game’s balance. If Wizards of the Coast is making healers better,might they also be planning to make fights more dangerous?D&Dat low levels is already fairly deadly, and if the new spell rules are anything to go off of, it might be getting even deadlier.
D&D’s 2024 Player’s Handbook Has Big Buffs To Healing
Healing Spells Are Now Much More Worthwhile
But first, the good news. Spells for healing and buffing allies have generally been improved across the2024 PHB, includingcure woundsandhealing word.These are the bread-and-butter healing spells for most support classessince they’re available early on and don’t cost much to cast.Healing wordin particularhas always been great for quickly bringing a downed ally back into the fight. Thanks to the new rules, both are now doubly effective, with twice as many dice to roll to restore hit points.
The 2024 Player’s Handbook Will Completely Change How You Use Scrolls & Potions In D&D
New rules offer D&D players more detailed ways of creating their own spell scrolls and healing potions, as well as improved methods of using them.
The jump from 1d4 to 2d4 forhealing word, and especially from 1d8 to 2d8 forcure wounds, is monumental at early levels. But these new rules also make upcasting these spells much more worth it,increasing in increments of 2 dice every time.In addition, the mass versions of these spells start at one die level higher than they used to.
The mass versions of these spells don’t get as much out of upcasting, and their utility will depend on the size of one’s party.
There are a few other notable changes, likespare the dyinggaining extra range, and theaddition of high-level spellslikepower word fortify. Overall, it seems like WotC is putting significant effort into making healers and support casters feel more powerful. Anyone who played 5th editionD&Dknows how much healing could often feel like a waste of time. It provided such a minimal number of hit points, especially at higher levels of play, andit was often better to just try and defeat the enemies as fast as possible.
Monsters Could Hit Harder In The 2025 Monster Manual
Changing The Balance Of The TTRPG
With all that being said, theextra healing might simply have been necessary to compensate for new threats. It’s pretty typical for games to buff healing right around when enemy damage gets buffed as well, and with the 2025Monster Manualon the horizon, that may be exactly what’s happening.
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Not that 5th edition monsters were weak, but fights could often feel easy once players passedthe 10th level mark.The existing monsters usually either didn’t have the power to stand up to high-level playersor their powers relied on chance to a degree that they weren’t very fun to run.D&Ddesigners have confirmed thathigh-level monsters will get some buffsin the new book, and if those come in the form of damage, there could be a significant new counter to the upgraded healing.
What D&D Combat Could Look Like In 2025
Big Hits Could Make Fights Faster
This may not necessarily be a bad thing, though. Combat in 5th editionDungeons & Dragonswas simultaneouslyone of its strongest and weakest points, with a ton of options for players but fights that could drag on for hours. WotC has been trying to make the tabletop game more approachable for new players, and those long fights can be a major roadblock for people trying to develop an interest.
It is worth noting that long combats are often more attributable to the turn-based nature ofD&D, technical or communication difficulties, or just people needing time to decide what to do. Changing the game’s balance may help, but it will not solve the problem entirely.
Making both sides of fights stronger could be a great way to make rounds of combat quicker and more dynamic, but of course, that could lead toplayers dying a lot. Thus, the improvements to healing spells,so that party members can keep each other alive despite a greater difficulty.Whether or not this is true won’t be revealed until theMonster Manualis released next year, but it will be exciting to see how new enemies change the flow of combat inDungeons & Dragons.
