D&D healers receive game-changing buff in playtest 8 

Healing spells are being improved across the board, which could fundamentally change the way D&D is currently played. 

It’s something of an open secret that healing isn’t as powerful in D&D 5e as it should be. While healers are still a part of the core RPG class dynamic, players in 5e have long favored control and damage mitigation over the somewhat lackluster healing spells the game has on offer. 

Now, healing may be about to get a serious boost in 5e, thanks to the next edition player’s handbook playtests. 

Healers don’t have enough powerful options in D&D 5e 

WOTC

While the Cleric is known for filling the classic healer role in D&D, Bards, Druids, and more all have access to options for healing. Sadly, outside of specific subclasses like Life and Grave clerics that receive boosts to their healing capacity, dealing with monsters and ending the fight quicker is often the optimal method of damage reduction. 

While D&D 5e has a number of healing spells available for some of its spellcasting classes, the amount of health regained often pales in comparison to the damage that monsters can dish out. This has led to a practice known as yo-yo healing, where it’s more advantageous to let a character drop to zero HP before bringing them back up, rather than wasting resources early to keep them in the fight for slightly longer. 

D&D’s new playtests feature improved healing spells 

The Player’s Handbook playtest 8 is the latest playtest material accessible by players, and it features a significant boost to healers’ toolkits. 

With the new playtest’s changes, many of the game’s basic healing spells – including Cure Wounds and Healing Word, are rolling an improved number of dice at their base level and are still capable of being upcast. 

This change to healing is already going over well with players and could be good for party dynamics moving forward. As Reddit user miber3 states:  

‘I like when my players use teamwork and play selflessly, and healing is a great example of that, so I’m happy to see that rewarded a bit more.’ 

As we draw closer to the full revision of D&D 5e’s rules in 2024, the more likely it is that changes like this will go to print unchanged. With a little luck, healing classes will have a much better time of things in D&D’s 2024 update and beyond.