2024 D&D Player’s Handbook nerfs one of the best Cleric spells (but that’s actually for the best)

2024’s D&D Player’s Handbook is set to deliver plenty of refreshes and rebalances of our Fifth Edition favorites, with new options that aim to enrich the processes of character creation and play. However, despite the fact the OneD&D PHB is set to upgrade your experience as a player, that doesn’t (and shouldn’t) translate to a hike in your character’s power level. 

Sure, it’s fun to have a character that’s so OP they cut through dungeon encounters like a hot knife through butter, but the best tabletop RPGs don’t just offer players an unbridled power fantasy. For the sake of the game’s balance (and your Dungeon Master's sanity), there has to be far more thought put into the limits of what D&D player characters are capable of.

When it comes to magic, the upcoming core rulebooks will re-spec and reimagine almost 400 spells from various Dungeons & Dragons sources like the 2014 PHB, Xanthar’s Guide to Everything, and Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. Among these, there are some spells like Cure Wounds and Cloud of Daggers that are getting a welcome buff. On the other hand – much to the chagrin of battle Clerics everywhere – Spiritual Weapon is getting cut down a peg or two. But before any salty healer launches their mace through the windows of the Wizards of the Coast office, I think it’s worth hearing the game designers out on why this debuff actually means good things for Clerics and their party members.

According to previous rules for Spiritual Weapon, this second level evocation can be cast as a bonus action and lasts for a minute or until recast. It creates a floating, spectral weapon which you can use to make a melee spell attack on a creature within 5ft of it. Provided you land the hit, your spooky ghost weapon deals out force damage equal to 1d8 + your spellcasting modifier. You can then use your bonus action in subsequent turns to move the weapon or strike again. Given that even all but the most battle-hardened Clerics tend to be a little on the weedier side, Spiritual Weapon is one of the most viable ways to dish out damage to your opponents. It can even be upcast to provide an extra 1d8 for every two slots above the 2nd level. Beyond the quality of damage, you also have the opportunity to deal an impressive quantity. Given that one minute equates to 10 rounds of combat, you can go for the attack with your spiritual weapon up to 10 times before having to recast it. Let me remind you again, this is done as a bonus action, so you can be bonking foes with your phantom hammer while dashing around the battlefield or healing your party members.

2024’s Spiritual Weapon differs in one crucial way: it’s now a Concentration spell. So, instead of defaulting to a minute’s duration, your weapon will poof out of existence if you fail the requisite check or cast another spell that requires your concentration. This slightly limits your ability to juggle other spells on your turn. For example, under these new rules, Spirit Guardians (another must-have spell for a killer Cleric) can’t be used in tandem with your Spirit Weapon to maximize your damage output.

You may be thinking, “Do the team at Wizards hate Clerics? Are they deliberately trying to squash my dreams of becoming the ultimate war priest?” Nope. As explained at a recent Q&A at GenCon, Spiritual Weapon was simply too good for its own good – so much so that it was actively disrupting the pacing of combat. Jeremy Crawford, Dungeons & Dragons’ Lead Rules Designer describes how “one of our biggest concerns is things that bog down play. We’ve noticed over the last decade and in a lot of our own play tests how many rounds of combat can grind to a halt when you get to the Cleric's turn. The Cleric takes an action then a bonus action [...] and so we needed to tighten that up.”

Even OG Spiritual Weapon’s most devout defenders have to admit that doing two extra dice rolls in your bonus action for 10 rounds seriously adds up. So, to prevent your fellow adventurers scrolling on their phone while they wait for you to finish, you might just be in your best interest to accept that the previous magical mainstay of your aggro Cleric build is just a tad more delicate now.

To start diving into these and other changes made in the 2024 Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook, you can pre-order it now on Amazon for $49.99. It’ll release September 17, so be sure to book in session zero for your next campaign shortly after that.

This isn't the only big announcement coming out of Gen Con 2024; as it happens, you can use Baldur's Gate 3 characters in new D&D virtual tabletop to continue the party's story. As for recommendations on what adventure to try next, don't miss the best D&D books.