D&D 5E Excluding Healing Spirit, is 5e Healing too weak?

[Seramus]

Healing is intentionally designed to be 1/2 the ratio of damage, with a few exceptions. Wizards has been toying with increasing this with HoTs, notably the failed Healing Spirit and the more successful Aura of Vitality being given to more classes.

Ironically, Sorcerers are the current Kings of Healing.

 

[Leatherhead]

So what do people think? Are the other healing spells too weak in general?

If they were strong they would be mandatory. And D&D has been trying to move away move away from having a mandatory dedicated healer for a few editions now. Mostly because such a thing lends itself to bad play experiences.

Healing is intentionally designed to be 1/2 the ratio of damage, with a few exceptions.

If you were to make a custom Healing spells, using the rules in the DMG, they are meant to be on-par with damage spells. But even if you had a Healball spell that was comparable to Fireball, you would see the real problem with healing spells is the Action Economy:
You spend one action to heal and they spend one do damage, then you are right back were you started from. Padding out combat time, and putting a huge drain on resources (which leads to the bemoaned 5min work day).

 

[Tony Vargas]

This is a significant design change from previous editions. In 5E, short rests and spending hit dice do jobs that used to be done by healing spells in previous editions. This makes the burden less onerous on characters with healing magic who would otherwise be obliged to reserve the bulk of their spell slots on healing spells and spend the bulk of their time in combat casting those spells, which often isn't very fun.

I think the design change is a major improvement.

It's worth noting that it's a design change made in 4e, that 5e has actually backed off from, a bit, reducing the between-combat healing available (HD represent less healing than Surges, and is less accessible), and increasing the 'healing burden' by returning healing spells & combat spells to the same 'slots.' (That's oversimplifying a bit.)

 

[jayoungr]

I'm curious: what was the high (or low) point for the "required dedicated healer"? In other words, when was it most vital for the party to have someone who was all heals, all the time? I'm guessing 3.X, but would like to hear from others who have more experience with earlier editions.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I'm curious: what was the high (or low) point for the "required dedicated healer"? In other words, when was it most vital for the party to have someone who was all heals, all the time? I'm guessing 3.X, but would like to hear from others who have more experience with earlier editions.

3.x had WoCLW, so there was plentiful, cheap, between-combat healing.

Low-level 1e, everyone depended on the Cleric's first levels spells (plural due to bonus spells for modest wisdom) to all be used for CLW, every day, including days off when everyone was recuperating. Height of the "Band Aid Cleric," IMHO. (Not that 2e really backed off from it, that I'm aware of, but I skipped the last few years of 2e, so there may've been something...)

Before that you couldn't depend on the Cleric, initially, as he didn't get spells until 2nd level, and didn't get enough to keep everyone going. After AD&D:

3e: Clerics could cast healing spells spontaneously using any spell level slot, so in-combat healing was always on the table & in demand, and took their full action, but could be largely eschewed in favor of cheap/plentiful WoCLW (& WoLV) between-combat healing. So there was still a 'healing burden,' but it left a lot of room to go all CoDzilla on the campaign, because clerics got a lot of spells, presumably in the expectation they'd use lot more of them for healing than actually worked out.
4e: Everyone got healing surges they could use to fully heal up between combats, and could Second Wind 1/encounter. Defenders (Fighters &c) also often got at least some self-healing. The 'leader' (Healer) role mostly triggered those surges, with a bonus, using minor-action powers compatible with any other full action, and/or riders on otherwise meaningful powers. Item healing (until late post-E) also consumed surges, so there was no WoCLW effect trivializing healing as a resource.
5e: Everyone gets HD, and can heal between combats, but not in combat. The fighter gets one self-heal feature that scales poorly. In-combat healing uses slots rather than triggering HD, and either takes your action, or takes a bonus action and restricts what you can do with your action, so the 'healing burden' is back, though writ small compared to the TSR era.

 

[CapnZapp]

Are the other healing spells too weak in general?

No.

Not having to rely on a healer is a feature, not a bug.

 

[iserith]

I don't see an issue with the healing as it stands. I mostly see it used to bring unconscious characters back up, then rests are used for getting people back into fighting strength. That seems about right to me.

I don't have a problem with healing spirit either.

 

[MonkeezOnFire]

I find that generally healing with spells isn't considered weak, it's just that players usually like to use their spell slots for more interesting things. That's why I think dedicated healing pools like the paladin's lay on hands, celestial warlock's healing light and the healer feat are more highly regarded since they take the healing burden away from your spell slots.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Not having to rely on a healer is a feature, not a bug.

You do have to rely on healers in combat, as HD are only useable out of combat, when you have a full hour to devote to a short rest.

 

[Leatherhead]

You do have to rely on healers in combat, as HD are only useable out of combat, when you have a full hour to devote to a short rest.

Only if you are aiming for whack-a-mole.

Healer's kits are very cheep and guaranteed to keep the party from bleeding out, which is the main reason why Spare the Dying is considered to be a waste of a cantrip slot.