Cure Wounds 5e

Cure Wounds at a glance

Cure Wounds healing by slot level (2024 rules)

Cure Wounds healing by slot level (2014 rules)

Add your spellcasting ability modifier to each total.

How Cure Wounds works

How it works: You touch a creature and it regains hit points right away. Roll the dice and add your spellcasting ability modifier once (Wisdom for clerics, druids and rangers, Charisma for bards and paladins). There is no attack roll and no save, so the healing always lands.

Upcasting: In the 2024 rules each slot above 1st adds 2d8, so a 2nd-level slot heals 4d8 + modifier (average 18 + modifier). In the 2014 rules each higher slot adds only 1d8. The modifier is added once no matter which slot you use.

What changed in 2024: The 2024 version doubled the dice and moved the spell from Evocation to Abjuration. The 2014 text said the spell has no effect on undead or constructs; the 2024 text drops that line.

Tactics: Cure Wounds needs touch range and your action, so it competes with attacking. Healing Word is the ranged bonus-action option for picking up a fallen ally at 0 hit points; Cure Wounds is the better choice when you can reach the target and want more hit points back.

Cure Wounds: 2014 vs 2024 rules

Cure Wounds FAQ

How much does Cure Wounds heal in 5e?

In the 2024 rules it heals 2d8 plus your spellcasting modifier, an average of 9 plus your modifier. In the 2014 rules it heals 1d8 plus your modifier, an average of 4.5 plus your modifier.

How does Cure Wounds scale with higher slots?

Under the 2024 rules it adds 2d8 for each slot level above 1st, so a 3rd-level slot heals 6d8 plus your modifier. Under the 2014 rules it adds 1d8 per slot level, so a 3rd-level slot heals 3d8 plus your modifier.

Do you add your modifier to each die when upcasting Cure Wounds?

No. You add your spellcasting ability modifier once to the total, whatever slot you use.

Is Cure Wounds or Healing Word better?

Cure Wounds heals more but needs touch range and your action. Healing Word works at range as a bonus action, which makes it better for getting a downed ally back into the fight.

Related

• Roll a d8
• Death Saving Throws 5e Explained
• Inflict Wounds 5e
• What Changed in the 2024 D&D Rules
• All spell damage rollers

Other 1st-level spells

• Alarm
• Animal Friendship
• Bane
• Bless
• Charm Person
• Color Spray
• Command
• Comprehend Languages
• Create or Destroy Water
• Detect Evil and Good
• Detect Magic
• Detect Poison and Disease

Rules are summarised in our own words; monster stat blocks are reproduced from the SRD. This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2 ("SRD 5.2") by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Card icons by Lorc and Delapouite from game-icons.net, licensed under CC BY 3.0.