D&D 5E (2014) Healing spirit has been updated?

[GlassJaw]

Gotta be April Fool's. I'd be shocked if WotC implement a change like this.

 

[DND_Reborn]

First, most of the complaints about Healing Spirit are out of combat. That is why I compared it to Prayer of Healing (also an out of combat spell).

As it is now, HS heals 2-6 times, for d6 each time. What is all this massive healing people are thinking to get out of this in combat? You can only affect a target once per round, and now up to 6 targets (i.e. uses). So, in your party of 4, suppose you want to heal the other three, they each get 1d6 hp over two rounds. Big deal. If you have a full complement of 6 targets (and the WIS 20), you can heal them all for a pathetic 1d6 each. If you want to focus on one target, they are still only getting the d6 once per round (which is how we play it given my suggestion above). Sure, you can heal that single target slowly (over 6 rounds), but to 6d6 (average 21), but it takes 6 rounds! A 2nd-level Cure Wounds (2d8+5) heals only 14, but at least it is in 1 round.

Unless you are completely desperate for minor healing in combat, save the slot for after the battle and use Prayer of healing instead, where the +5 mod could heal up to 6 targets 14 points each.

In combat, Healing Spirit was not overly powerful (1d6 per target per round is hardly crazy). If you are worried about the conga-line of healing, limit the per round use to modifier + 1. We are fine limiting it to only one target per round. It is how we have used it from the beginning. Out of combat it is big, even that way, because it can heal 35 points on average in a minute. We find it very useful. If we have more time and need to share the love (so to say), we use Prayer of Healing.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Gotta be April Fool's. I'd be shocked if WotC implement a change like this.

I hope it is, because this is a horrible "fix".

 

[GlassJaw]

I just limit the healing to 1/round which I think was the original intention.

Agreed. The "fix" is overly complex and actually makes it worse than Cure Wounds in some situations.

 

[Fanaelialae]

It is apparently an official change, there is another post on these forums about. Crawford posted about new printings of XGtE including errata and an errata document will be release soon.

Maybe. It's possible I'm being excessively skeptical, but it is April Fools.

 

[Prakriti]

Since most of the complaints are about out of combat, prayer of healing can heal an average of up to 54 points, not even adding in the modifier. Healing spirit averages only 35 if you allow it to only heal one target per round (which would have been a much better fix IMO and easier to implement).

Your numbers are waaaay off. Healing Spirit averages 35 points of healing on a single target. On a typical 5-character party, it heals 175. Prayer of Healing, meanwhile, only averages 60 points of healing on a 5-character party, and it takes 10 minutes to cast.

Healing Spirit was a blatant example of power creep and it needed to be fixed for the good of the game.

 

[Bolares]

In combat, except in completely ideal cases, the spell will probably heal you for about the same amount. It's concentration, combats are quick, and not always the party is all close up to receive a lot of healing at the same time. The fix fixes (ha) the real problem that this spell was outside of combate. 10d6 of healing for the whole party for a 2 lvl slot was to much. (I know healing doesn't break the game, but this spell made higher level healing spells useless)

 

[Mistwell]

It's official. And I think the fix is fair.

It's official on April Fools, from the guy who has posted an April Fools joke pretty much every year since he arrived at WOTC.

Still not buying it until this is actually official.

 

[Ashrym]

You can only affect a target once per round, and now up to 6 targets (i.e. uses).

It wasn't once per round. It was once on each character's turn. It takes a move on each turn to accomplish.

The updated version posted is not any different.

Unless you are completely desperate for minor healing in combat, save the slot for after the battle and use Prayer of healing instead, where the +5 mod could heal up to 6 targets 14 points each.

Prayer of healing is a cleric spell. Healing spirit is a druid spell. Neither typically has option to save the slot for one or the other.

In combat, Healing Spirit was not overly powerful (1d6 per target per round is hardly crazy).

Compared to aura of vitality or mass healing word it was. Mass healing word of d4+mod to up to 6 targets is worse than move to heal repeatedly. Aura of vitality is once like you suggest.

Healing spirit was better in-combat and out-of-combat spells of the same and higher level spells. What was posted is much more in line with a 2nd level spell.

It might just be an april fool's joke but it's a much better implementation either way. It's still worrhwhile to prep over mass healing word because it's similar healing and similar number of targets in the same slot.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Your numbers are waaaay off. Healing Spirit averages 35 points of healing on a single target. On a typical 5-character party, it heals 175. Prayer of Healing, meanwhile, only averages 60 points of healing on a 5-character party, and it takes 10 minutes to cast.

Healing Spirit was a blatant example of power creep and it needed to be fixed for the good of the game.

My numbers are not off. Re-read the post carefully.