How to Cast the Healing Spirit Spell in D&D 5e (Plus Pros & Cons)

Are you choosing druid or ranger spells and wondering if Healing Spirit is worth picking up? We can help! Healing Spirit is a healing spell that summons a spirit capable of moving around the battlefield and healing multiple creatures over the course of a battle, giving it plenty of utility for characters trying to specialize in healing. Read on for a complete guide to the Healing Spirit spell and how it works, complete with tips on using it in your D&D game.

Healing Spirit: Overview

Healing Spirit is a 2nd-level conjuration spell that summons a nature spirit. When a creature moves into the spirit’s space or starts its turn there, you can choose to heal that creature for 1d6 hit points. Before the spell ends, you can heal a number of times equal to 1 + your PC’s spellcasting modifier.

Section 1 of 8:

What is the Healing Spirit spell?

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Healing Spirit is a 2nd-level conjuration spell with healing properties. It was introduced in 2017 with Xanathar’s Guide to Everything as a spell capable of summoning a friendly nature spirit that healed creatures. However, the spell was altered in 2020 to be more balanced. Even after the changes, Healing Spirit remains a handy low-level healing spell unique to druids and rangers. ^{[1]
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- Casting time: 1 bonus action
- Range : 60 feet
- Components : Verbal and somatic
- Duration : Concentration, up to 1 minute
- Available for : Druids and rangers only

Section 2 of 8:

How does Healing Spirit work?

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1
The spell conjures a nature spirit that appears within 60 feet of the caster. The spirit is intangible and occupies a 5-foot cube of space, appearing like some sort of transparent beast or fey creature. For the spell’s duration, when a creature (or your character) moves into the spirit’s space or starts a turn there, you can have the spirit restore 1d6 hit points to that creature without using an action. ^{[2]
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- You can also use a bonus action on your turn to move the spirit up to 30 feet—but you can only move it to a space your PC (player character) can see.
- Remember: Healing Spirit won’t work on constructs (like Warforged and golems) or undead creatures.
- Although the rules state that the spirit looks like an animal or fey, you can choose your nature spirit’s exact appearance.
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2
The spirit can heal a limited number of times before the spell ends. You can trigger your nature spirit’s healing ability a number of times equal to 1 + your PC’s spellcasting ability modifier, with a minimum of 2 heals per casting of the spell. After healing that many times, the spell ends, and the nature spirit vanishes. ^{[3]
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- Healing Spirit is also a concentration spell, which means your PC will have to maintain concentration while casting it—and taking damage might end the spell early.
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3
Healing Spirit restores more hit points when cast at higher levels. Though it’s a 2nd-level spell, you can choose to upcast Healing Spirit if you have a higher-level spell slot. When cast using a spell slot of 3rd-level or higher, Healing Spirit restores an extra 1d6 hit points for each slot level above 2nd. ^{[4]
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- For example, Healing Spirit restores 2d6 hit points at level 3, 3d6 hit points at level 4, 4d6 at level 5, and so on.

Section 3 of 8:

How to Use Healing Spirit

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Cast Healing Spirit to restore allies’ health in and out of combat. Healing Spirit really shines if there’s no cleric around to cast Mass Healing Word (or a similar healing spell not available to druids and rangers). Consider using it to restore allies’ health (or your own PC’s health) during emergencies, when multiple characters desperately need healing, or the entire party needs to recover after a fight. For example: ^{[5]
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- If an ally (or multiple allies) falls unconscious, use Healing Spirit to revive them.
- Follow party members around the battlefield by moving your Healing Spirit as a bonus action.
- Use it to restore the party’s health before they take a short rest.
- Cast Healing Spirit at higher levels when you want multiple creatures to receive substantial healing.

Section 4 of 8:

Healing Spirit vs. Other Healing Spells

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Healing Spirit is surprisingly efficient compared to other spells. There are many healing spells available to players in D&D 5e—and while Healing Spirit might not be the strongest, it has its uses. It’s especially efficient considering it only costs a level 2 spell slot to cast but can heal multiple creatures. It also heals creatures at the start of their turns, which gives revived allies a chance to act before potentially taking damage again. ^{[6]
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- Healing Spirit has a decent average healing rate next to other spells. For example:
- Cure Wounds heals a number of hit points equal to 2d8 + your PC’s spellcasting modifier at level 2 (for an average of 12 hit points).
- Healing Word heals a number of hit points equal to 2d4 + your PC’s spellcasting modifier at level 2 (for an average of 8)
- Mass Healing Word heals a number of hit points equal to 1d4 + your PC’s spellcasting modifier (for an average of 6) to 6 different targets at level 3.
- Healing Spirit heals 1d6 hit points per target at level 2—which isn’t much, but if you heal 4 different creatures, that’s still healing roughly as many hit points cumulatively as other spells give to a single creature.