The Aid Spell

Let’s take a look at the Aid spell and why you should be using it.

Aid

2 abjuration 

• Casting Time: 1 action
• Range: 30 feet
• Components: V S M (A tiny strip of white cloth)
• Duration: 8 hours
• Classes: Cleric, Paladin
• Your spell bolsters your allies with toughness and resolve. Choose up to three creatures within range. Each target’s hit point maximum and current hit points increase by 5 for the duration.
• At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, a target’s hit points increase by an additional 5 for each slot level above 2nd.

Cleric’s heal. That’s pretty much the mantra of all players, especially at lower levels, that aren’t the cleric. I’ll be the first to admit that I just as guilty as the next person of feeling that way. The ironic part is that I usually play the cleric and when I do, I get frustrated with people telling me that I’m supposed to be a healer 1st, 2nd and 3rd, and hit things only when I’m not not healing. 

Problem with this is that the cleric has so many great spells that get overlooked and the rest of the party questions why you wasted a spell slot that you may need for Cure Wounds. I understand where players are coming from at lower levels, when some characters have single digit hit points and one hit can be deadly. But many of the cleric’s lower level spells assist in ways that can help the character either not get hit or reduce the damage when they do.

The Aid spell is one of those spells, and arguably the most powerful of these spells at lower levels.  As stated in the spell description above, the cleric can increase the current and maximum hit points of three creatures by 5. It gets even better, as the duration of the spell is 8 hours! These are not temporary hit points that protect you from one hit and then are gone forever. You can regain all these hit points via any method of healing for the duration of the spell. This is huge for some of the squishier characters who have just gained access to some of their more powerful abilities, but still don’t have the HP to use them effectively. 

Take the Ranger for example. Our friendly 3rd level ranger, with 21 HP, has decided to go the Hunter archetype, and is looking forward to wading into battle and getting to hit things. She decides to go Horde Breaker, on which each of her turns when making a weapon attack, she can make another attack with the same weapon against a different creature that is within 5 feet of the original target and within range of your weapon. Two attacks per round! Fighting the evil hordes at the front lines and taking no prisoners! It’s everything she‘s dreamed of doing for the past two levels. Now, would you rather go into the fray with 21 or 26 hit points? I‘ll take a 23.8% increase on my HP every day of the week! 

The drawbacks are minor and neither one is that big of a deal if you are playing your cleric as a support and not as a tank or DPS. First, which three of your party members to choose? The barbarian may say they don’t need the extra hit points, but your tank can always use them. Sure the wizard stays in the back and tries to avoid getting hit at all costs, but those 5 points could easily be the difference between life and death when a creature slips through your lines and goes straight for the spell caster. Second, for this spell to be most effective, the cleric will normally cast it right after a long rest, especially if you’re dungeon diving and don’t know what lurks around the next corner. It’s hard to burn one of you 2nd level spell slots right after you regained it, but it‘s a mental hurdle you need to overcome. 

Don’t overlook the Aid spell. Surprise your party and “heal” them before they even need it!