Cast Aid more in Dnd 5e! - Advanced guide to Aid

[@PackTactics]

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[@amelio7737]

Aid op

[@Sawtooth44]

i used to play mech arena back when you could only move left and right

[@mariocole8104]

Too bad the ads can’t be related to the content

[@yotuel9064]

it sounded like "macarena" 🤣

[@dtczyk8976]

This link doesn’t work. I downloaded the game, all it did was open the App Store and got nothing

[@jamiedorsey4167]

I played in a game as a sorcerer with a support bard in the party who would upcast aid and inspiring leader the party. Effectively increasing my hp by 30-40%!

[@wdyd_masterattwitch4956]

Sounds similar to my campaign.

[@tawumpas]

I run artificer + temp HP Turret

[@zacharyschulz560]

Played a dwarven divine soul sorcerer and did this combo. Super fun support caster

[@davidstratton696]

Speaking of sorcerers if your a divine soul sorcerer or a Bard/cleric with metamagic adept u can get extended spell and double the duration of spells like Aid and Death Ward. And do it before your about to take a long rest and use your highest lv slot to cast Aid and the give someone Death Ward. Because those spells last for 16 hours with extended spell u still have the spell in effect when u wake up for 8 hours. Basically u just got a free casting of it for that day. I’m surprised that wasn’t mentioned in this video.

[@orelyosif5852]

Man, I never thought about casting Aid in combat and restoring turns for 3 people. That's actually busted

[@chrisvossler8795]

My Divine Soul Sorcerer has Aid and Extended Spell, and I always cast it on 3 of the melee combatants before a long rest; more when I have the spell slots for it.

[@marcdavis4509]

Combine Aid with inspiring leader it’s a lot of hp

[@chrisvossler8795]

@@marcdavis4509 I'm absolutely planning to take Inspiring Leader at some point. I would have taken it at level 1 if I hadn't wanted Ritual Caster to lean into the support/utility side.

[@marcdavis4509]

@@chrisvossler8795 Ask your dm about creating and producing magic items like scrolls it takes time so rp how you and another character that is proficient in arcana are making them take into consideration the time and cost to produce them. Just don’t spam them make one or two at a time or you might find that curtailed quickly.

[@chrisvossler8795]

@@marcdavis4509 I'm actually the DM for that particular campaign (the lead DM; we rotate, so we all have our own characters). Unfortunately, my character doesn't have Arcana proficiency. Plus, the unfortunate thing about scrolls is that, IIRC, they can only be cast at the lowest level. But I've seen how ridiculous scroll-making can get: the warlock in another campaign started a scroll business spanning 2 continents!

[@lucasramey6427]

@@chrisvossler8795 that can easily be homebrewed since it's such a simple thing and besides its just more gold price

[@felixrivera895]

Aid is such a Beautiful buff spell. We Always upcast Aid up to 5th level (or as close as possible). We've never played at high enough levels to have multiple 6th levl slots, else it might be 6th level Aid and Heroes Feast together

[@LastAmongEquals]

A small but neat additional interaction: Aid increases the threshold a life cleric's channel energy can bring you up to, giving you a more comfortable margin between what they can replenishably heal you up to and death.

[@saqvobase4301]

Aid being used like a triple healing word is always fun.

[@eliasgevaert6978]

if only one party member is down, healing word is always better as it is only a first level spell and its a bonus action

[@y2kafka472]

@@eliasgevaert6978 Exactly, but if you want to get 3 allies up and you had to choose between Mass Healing word (3rd level spell) or Aid (2nd level spell) I would go with the cheaper option. Your allies might not like it as much BUT you can still upcast Aid to 3rd level to bring their sorry asses up a second time. Even though the effects don't stack the stronger 3rd level Aid will override the weaker 2nd level one and still give your downed allies +5 more HP (and 10 Max HP). Edit: Granted Healing Word is a better level 3 spell for getting people on their feet and more flexible, but with this you don't have to worry about preparing 2 spells and can consolidate that into one spell and save that for something like Silence (Massively underutilized spell BTW. It's a ritual you can hold as an action and release into a room in response to an ally opening a door in a dungeon. Enemies can't call for backup when their allies can't hear them, and it neutralizes any potential spellcasters.)

[@tyree403]

As a Bard, I really don’t like picking up Mass Healing Word. I’d rather use Aid for emergencies. I think people don’t cast it because if you use your highest spell slot to apply aid, they cannot receive the healing again unless you upcast it. If you have people in your party who can cast healing word, then it should be okay to cast aid with your highest spell slot at the beginning of the adventuring day!

[@SpaceVentura69]

Once you lose that increase in "current" HP (IE unconscious) you don't really have that portion of the spell anymore do you? Negative HP isn't a thing in 5e.

[@Chris3s]

the spell still increases current HP, even if the creature already had Aid applied

[@felixrivera895]

Exactly! It benefits everyone and everyone can benefit More from aprty heals

[@tyree403]

@@Chris3s OH! So you still get the HP even if you cast Aid at the same level? I need to ask my DM to be sure! There's a rule about buffs where you cannot receive double the effect unless you upcast it to replace the weaker version.

[@vsevolodnikolaev4428]

​@@tyree403 I think that u actually can't get HP from not higher than casted slot. Because: "But when two or more game features have the same name, only the effects of one of them-the most potent one-apply while the durations of the effects overlap." This means, that if u cast aid with 2nd slot on ur buddies with 3rd slot applied nothing happns at all.

[@chrismoore8177]

Sorcadin with Oath of Conquest and Divine Soul uses Armor of Agathys and Aid a lot to boost themselves and the party. Aid can be used to pick up fallen party members too, while fortifying the others during combat.

[@TheKabukimann]

Aid is amazing with the Twilight cleric. Mine casts Aid on the group and the Twilight sanctuary channel divinity gives so much temp hp while in the Globe. And it saved the life of a stray dog we met that helped us against a bounty hunter.

[@datalysjr3339]

Now THATS winning dnd, doggo secured 🥹

[@thornangel16]

If you want to make friends quick at your new D&D table, be sure to cast Aid on the Ranger’s companion. They really seem to appreciate their pets not dying.

[@bloodboughtsaint777]

Extended Spell will double it, and basically guarantee Aid will last the entire adventuring day. It also pairs well with Inspiring Leader at the start of the day. I built a Lore Bard with Inspiring Leader & Meta Magic Adept (to get Extended Spell), with a 1 level dip into Life Cleric. The support/healing from this Bard was off the chain!

[@bloodboughtsaint777]

@Pack Tactics I see a reply to my comment from 2 weeks ago, and it seems like a scam.

[@davidstratton696]

U can also extend it and then take a long rest and still have the benefits for 8 hours after u wake up. So u basically got a free casting of it when u wake up.

[@joshuatran1556]

The best aid caster is Clockwork Soul Sorc, who can pick it up as a domain spell, then Extended cast it the day before. Raising your max hit points is also crucial for encounters where death by massive damage is a potential, as the massive damage Threshold is your current max hit points.

[@kristiandahl1310]

Shit I never thought to extend that spell. Good thing I can switch up meta magics

[@prasiolite]

Yes! My Clockwork Soul has this and it's incredible.

[@ThatGuyMontag]

To put Aid's upscaling into even clearer context, 5hp is WotC code for 1d8 of damage. That means Aid scales at *3d8* per spell level, or 3 times the scaling of most spells in the game. It is absolutely one of the best spells in the game if you happen to be MCing 2 casters and therefore have high level spell slots without corresponding spells as there is nearly no spell in the game with better scaling. Top tier spell that I never avoid getting.

[@tyandy1424]

I love Aid. Great on a multiclass with pact magic slots.

[@Billchu13]

When I play my Aid/ Inspiring leader build, I warn my GM and fellow players that it's broken and we might need more monsters or stronger ones to make up the difference. Upcast aid on 6 party members- 10hp x 6= 60hp Inspiring leader (Cha+level) for example a level 5 cleric with +1 cha would be 6hp x 6 PCs= another 36 hp That's 96 HP at 5th level

[@phreakedout1]

The energy you bring to the sponsor ad is impressive. They should pay you more :D

[@entropy11]

upcasting aid at 4th level as a twilight cleric while giving everyone 11 temp hitpoints every round on top of that with twilight sanctuary is absolutely stupid strong.

[@Godzillawolf1]

I'm playing a Grave Cleric right now in Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen, and ever since I got Aid, I've not passed up the oppertunity to cast it on the team tanks and its squishiest memory before every mission. It came in handy during a mission where we decided to exploit our Barbarian's Rage resistance to Bludgeoning Damage to weaponize multiple long falls, and he didn't even burn through the extra hitpoints.

[@scotthuff271]

Artificer/Wizard multiclass: Contingency cast aide at 5th level if you go to zero HP. Abjuration wizard subclass gets a recharge on it's arcane ward to boot.

[@TheHorribleCreature]

Wizard who got a 40% increase in hp: happy squishy noises.

[@nonamegiven202]

yep aid with Divine Soul does make Extended Spell Meta magic is neat too, sure it's not the most meta use of your meta magic but that's 16 hours of aid there is nice.

[@evandmarlow]

My Gloomstalker/Twilight Cleric would start every morning with Aid on at least them self the barbarian and the wizard. They also gave everyone treats from the chef feat(which was mostly flavorful) for temp hp since they were also the main source for temp hp for most of the party as well. Combined with Twilight Sanctuary the party was staying up longer.

[@clarkside4493]

_Aid_ saved my bard last session. I used a 6th-level slot on _aid._ Then I failed a save against a _disintegrate_ and if I hadn't had _aid_ I would have been dust.

[@wwade7226]

I do it all the time in my party at the beginning of the adventuring day. I always upcast it to like level 4 or 5. Worth it!

[@chaoscommentary2179]

Aid is also one of the only spells that can heal undead and constructs

[@minaly22]

I played a Glam Bard, and this was my bread, while Mantle of Inspiration was my butter. Just casually give your party a 40HP boost in a single turn. At lv3. (with +5 cha, give five people +5 temp hp, total 25. Then Aid to boost 5 max hp for three people, total 15. Add them together for 40) And you can scale this with stronger spell slots later. While I loath to spend 3rd spell slots to cast Aid and not slow or hypnotic pattern, if I use 3rd level Aid with Mantle of Inspiration (+8 temp hp at lv5) I can boost 70 HP in one turn.

[@LunarFoxfyre]

as an artificer I always have aid, it is an awesome spell!

[@aaroncoffman7267]

Aid is one of my favorites! Especially because I multi class spell casters so often. I often use my highest level spell slot every day to give myself and 2 others a bunch of extra hp. Pair it with heroes feast!

[@lucketmi1]

I was playing ROT with friends as a cleric. I took Aid, my DM and friends were like... Why?, After a couple sessions, they all think its broken now lol!!

[@MrCactuar13]

Seeing that Mech Arena ad just makes me sad we haven't had a new Armored Core since V-Day

[@christhiancosta1844]

Aid + inspiring leader is great, played a paladin in a CoS campaign with the slower healing optional rule and this made us have 2+ levels in additional hp

[@crownlexicon5225]

Last combat, my pally/sorcerer had to cast aid mid combat. Only 1 player was down, but having popped up once already from unconscious (and me being nigh impossible to hit) started getting attacked while downed by multiple enemies. I Quickened aid as it was my only healing spell, and Grappled and threw the player off a 20 foot cliff to safety. I upcast it to 3rd to give him 10 hp and hoped that 2d6 fall damage wouldn't knock him unconscious again. It worked. I wasn't able to save a couple of the NPCs, but I was able to keep PC character deaths to 0. That's a win for this paladin tank.

[@kilo3989]

I love Aid. I have Extended Spell, and in the mornings I'm able to just juice up all my allies!

[@exqueue3813]

If you extend aid before a long rest you get your slot and sorcery points back. If you have to cast it again you just break even from getting the slot back, and if you don't recast you're up a spell slot.

[@Grorl]

>.> aid is amazing! Played a lv 3 twilight cleric in a 3 man party. Me, gloomer, and vengeance pally. Single handedly kept the group up as we were pretty much being seiged upon by gnolls. Cast aid, then twilight sanctuary, game over! Lol

[@Trumpeter42]

My Paladin is the party healer, and I always cast Aid! I love it!

[@sixoffcenter80]

Would like to add that you can still use Aid if you have an Autognome in your party even though it isn't listed as one of the healing spells that still work on the race. Healing spells only don't work on Constructs if that limitation is mentioned in the spell itself, and Aid doesn't say anything about not working on Constructs.

[@floofzykitty5072]

Rest casting is great because you don't lose anything when rest casting it, but the duration is only 8 hours. You would have to take the last watch and cast it in the last hour of it. If your party members wake up around 8 AM, then it will only last until 2 PM. Although you don't lose anything, you should be mindful of when you cast it and how much time has elapsed until combat begins.

[@judia10]

a little of metamagic from multiclass or tasha feat let you solve that, with "extender spell" who double the duration of that, even if the dm make you waste 8 hour of the spell duration by casting it before initiate the rest, you can keep it 8 hours more, even with dm who dont allow rest casting

[@lloydlineske2642]

You mean 4pm. Sorry but I can't take your advise as expert opinion if you fail at basic math.

[@judia10]

@@lloydlineske2642 the math he intend probably was wrong, but if he cast it to the start of his watch turn in the rest, the buff would end around the 2 PM, knowing the time of the rest to watch are 2 hours, making being cast at 6 AM

[@malkomalkavian]

'advice'

[@happyhappyist8171]

Our clockwork soul sorcerer casts it and uses extended spell before a long rest so he hasn’t consumed any resources when he wakes up and we have his highest remaining spell slot of aid for the majority of the day

[@Reac2]

Because its not temp HP, does Aid stack with other temporary increases in max HP? It definitely doesn't stack with itself, but what about other things? Are there any rulings for +Max HP property?

[@goodgulfgas]

My favorite thing about Aid is that you don't need to see the targets and they don't need to hear you. If someone in your party is out of view but you know they are within range, Aid works.

[@thegreatvalamir]

I have a build that uses extended Aid as a daily upkeep with rest-casting. It has saved my party a few times. I have a really weird bs build with the entire point swinging between Extended Aid, Extended Mage Armor, Extended Aura of Vitaliaty for support. I also have access to Goodberry and a single level in Life Cleric. Also took a few levels in Dao Genie Warlock for Spike Growth/Repelling Blast shenanigans. Did I mention my party also likes Moonbeam, so extra synergy?

[@marcdavis4509]

It’s an amazing buff spell!

[@1ntelligentDiscourse]

I have a high level cleric, and everyone is so used to having a 25 point Aid all the time that they're surprised on days when resources are super tight and I can't do it.

[@Madwand99]

Aid is great, but you were wrong that it is "always useful" -- in fact, the opposite is true. Aid is only useful if, at some point during the duration of the spell, the extra HP provided actually help somehow, i.e. by preventing a target from falling unconscious due to having more of a HP buffer, or preventing an "emergency heal" due to low HP. Aid is otherwise USELESS, which is most of the time. But those times when it matters... it matters A LOT, so it's still worthwhile.

[@benry007]

If you cast aid at 3rd level and then later in the day those allies go down in combat. Would a 2nd level aid work on them? Or would it have no effect because there is a stronger version of aid already on them?

[@thesilvanalyst6880]

Story time: Our DM likes to do larger army battles, in this one, we were trying to capture a merchant ship (giant one with military guards) with a pirate crew we had joined for the time being. I was playing a forge Cleric in the frontlines and kept using aid to keep our numbers up which ended up with our outnumbered and worse equipped pirate crew crushing the military troops with basically no losses. Our Bard sleeping entire groups of soldiers and our 'Halfling' (Yordle) Rogue tripping the enemy commander off the ship helped there too of course. So, if you ever have a fight with larger groups of NPC allies, you can also use it on those to keep your numbers up (and probably throw off any balancing system your DM planned on using xD)

[@rodquilitz7250]

I had a character with 2nd level Aid buff who went to 0 hp Ranger cast 1st level Aid which replaced the previous Aid so current HP went up to 5, total max HP went to normal max HP plus 5 (so 5 hp less than while under effects of 2nd level Aid) and duration reset. I believe that was the correct interpretation- it is important to clarify this with your DM of course

[@laschicvalisca2481]

I really surprised my DM with this spell from my paladin, who had become the party's healer because the DM didn't help the new player properly choose spells for their Divine Soul Sorcerer (they only had Prayer of Healing.) When someone went down, and the Bear Totem Barbarian was low on HP, I didn't have to pick who to help. I cast Aid on our Warlock who was down, the Barbarian, and the Sorcerer. DM: "So you're raising their max HP, but not healing them to get them to stand up? Ok..." Me: "Actually, this spell does both. It says it raises max HP by 5, and then restores the same amount." DM: *reads the spell* "Wait... What?! That's even more broken than Healing Word!" Me: "And I've followed all rules as written and intended."

[@boangherrazvan3977]

chose house of hospitality halfling you get goodbery and aid for in the list . then 1 lw in life cleric , then go full celestial warlock . at lw 3 chose chain for warlock boon and you have an invisible imp that can give a berry that heals 4 hp . Aid + inspiring leader + gift of alacrity if you chose magic initiate feat . You can permanently keep them on considering you get everything back on a short rest .

[@ActivelyVacant]

Playing Baldur's Gate 3 and this is my favorite Cleric buff so far. It's even better than this version since it has no limit on targets as long as they're in range and lasts until you go take a Long Rest. I have an extra Cleric follower whose only job is to stay in camp and cast Aid on all of my allies when we wake up.

[@booleah6357]

I played in a game where my friend took aid and upcasted it frequently because he didn't like the higher level cleric spells. It's was very strong. So strong it made him like clerics a bit more.

[@judia10]

An extra thing of aid who i learn from one of my dm in the past: aid dont count as "healing" to the meaning of being affect by things like the life domain feature of increase your healing "disciple of life". But that mean it can let you "increase the current hit points" to party member affect for enemy abilities who stop them to be heal, or have attack/abilities who are trigger when somebody is heal, that dm trying to counter my healing cleric, teach me a lot of ways of heal trough anti heal features XD I even double down and use metamagic(of multiclass sorcerer and feat) to double the duration when i cast it with rest casting, making them work even if the dm wait those 8 hours before initiate the combat

[@1stCallipostle]

Considering healing isn't all too strong in 5e as a whole, it's interesting that you've been hit with so many countermeasures

[@judia10]

@@1stCallipostle I need to confess, i earn it. I build an cleric/sorc very inefficient who all his focus was in heal multiple targets, making any damage make by the enemy worthless. I remember one occasion when with another party member who was full healing cleric like me but he was focus on heal a lot in single targets, we manage to get back in full hp the everybody in the party when everybody get hit by a banshee scream in only two turns. After that Matt Mercers monster or homebrew monster with Matt Mercer abilities where all around all day. Two examples i remember where, one who have an aura who damage any creature who receive healing, not attack roll not reaction spend, only automatically damage. And the other one was counterspell at will, at least that was limit by his reaction, but was the most annoying for me, because only focus that on me, practically i don't was allow to cast that game.

[@dxjxc91]

IMO there are 2 reasons to cast Aid: 1) The DM allows rest casting. Free is free. Always cast at highest level. 2) as a low level mass cure wounds to res multiple downed allies. Not that likely for multiple allies to be downed in the same round and healing word is strictly better for one at a time resing. A few more HP will not usually be worth the spell slot. At level 3 it could proactively stop a character from going down, but as you level up that becomes increasingly less likely even factoring upcasting. And you should never up cast it except for rest casting, level 3 and higher spells are much more effective at preventing HP loss by simply ending an encounter.

[@joshbecker4214]

It's especially good if you multiclass into warlock, you can cast aid, rest, and gain just free max hp for up to 6 creatures at the start of a day. Makes for a very tanky crew.

[@boangherrazvan3977]

chose house of hospitality halfling you get goodbery and aid for in the list . then 1 lw in life cleric , then go full celestial warlock . at lw 3 chose chain for warlock boon and you have an invisible imp that can give a berry that heals 4 hp . Aid + inspiring leader + gift of alacrity if you chose magic initiate feat . You can permanently keep them on considering you get everything back on a short rest .

[@devin5201]

I'm playin' an Order Cleric in an upcoming game with a friend playing a Rogue, I think I will cast Aid in combat.

[@kawaisoubaka1942]

Doesn't the upcast just say the heal effect raises by 5 not the max HP? So aid lvl 3 would increase the max hp by 5 and heals a damaged target by 10?

[@FourthRulerEntity]

Holy crap I need this right now. Good video

[@cmoore6547]

Selesnya guild background gives you Aid as a 1st level spell for some reason. I see it everywhere, the books and everything and NOONE is talking about how good amazing that makes the spell. Seriously check out the Selesnya Guild if Ravnica is allowed.

[@adamjustus3766]

I agree aid’s for everyone!

[@Satchel_Gizmo]

I always, ALWAYS upcast Aid before big fights, and if I need to resurrect multiple teammates on the fly. We're at 17th level and I've saved our less tanky members from being power word killed and disintegrated more than a few times

[@EnfermeiroPensador]

I think people don't like use Aid that much because at 2nd lvl slots and beyond there's other (better) defensive/control options. To me (and the majority of my friends) seems like control is better then healing; why you should think in heal if the enemy is debuffed and can't hit or reach you? Why upcast Aid when you can cast Hypnotic Pattern, or Sleet Storm, or Wall of Fire, or Wall of Force, or Resillient Sphere, or Slow, or Darkness, or Evard's Black Tentacles, or Bigby's Hand? And the list goes on and on... The only superb use of Aid (to me) is when 3 alies go down and you can help them with a 2nd lvl slot to get alive again.

[@nikomnion]

A thing to consider about Aid is that it does not heal you, it gives you current hp, so when it ends you always lose hp. If upcast on a puny NPC, Aid can actually instakill them once it ends (given they were injured in the meantime). EDIT: I was wrong! @theuncalledfor here made a great point. In the "Hit points" section of PHB it's said current HP can only go as low as 0. But still, RAW, the given current HP is subject to the lasting effect of the spell, so you either lose the same amount or you hit 0 (or both) once it ends. Furthermore, RAW you don't fall unconscious, as it is not "damage" that took you to 0 HP (see "Falling Unconscious"), but you do have to start making Death Saving Throws (see section of the same name). Hilarious!!! 🤣

[@theuncalledfor]

That's a messed up ruling. I would argue that aid does not injure you, you merely lose HP without "taking damage", so it should always let you fall unconscious already stabilized if it drops and you go below 0 HP. No death saves and especially no instant death. I can't say it's "wrong" because it seems to be a valid interpretation of the rules, but it definitely seems overly hostile.

[@Iceyia]

See, I'd always ruled that when the duration of the spell ends, you only remove the 5 max hp, so your current hp would not change if you were at or below your normal max hp, and i was about to argue it that way. But raw, the spell literally doesn't say. it only states "maximum and current hit points increase," which could easily cause someone to infer that at spell end, both would decrease as well. rai doesn't really help here either, since both ways, the spell still performs the intended function of temporarily increasing hit points, and spell end just wasn't covered. I'd still never use this ruling, cus punishing a player for casting the right spell just isn't exactly what i want out of my games, but i can understand why someone might use this ruling.

[@theuncalledfor]

@@Iceyia It does say, though. "Each target’s hit point maximum and current hit points increase by 5 for the duration." It clearly states that both increase by 5 _for the duration._ That is not ambiguous.

[@Iceyia]

@@theuncalledfor Yes, as you have pointed out, in raw, as i have pointed out, it does say that both increase, and you can infer both decrease. However, i prefer to use rai over raw, as raw kinda sucks, and as the intent of the spell is to further a creature's longevity, it seems pretty stupid to rule that ending the spell could kill said target creature, and it also punishes a player for using the correct resource, as in this extremely specific scenario we are describing, clearly the spell has kept them alive, as intended, because they must be in a state where without aid they would have died, but they did not, otherwise aid would not have been what killed them. I now see that i mis-assumed that what i said would be read the way it was written. i will restate, i will use the ruling i made, as it seems to be how the spell was intended to function, and you may choose differently. I will still think you're stupid, that will not change. But i will not attempt to stop you from doing as such.

[@sealedtugboat9965]

Wait by that ruling does that mean monsters who have max hp lowering attacks effectively deal double damage?

[@rodquilitz7250]

If you are playing a Ranger without other healing options and even one PC falls to zero hp, Aid is totally worth casting to bring them back to 5 hp plus minor buff to 2 other party members within 30 feet. Sometimes you can’t wait for the cleric’s turn. Sometimes the cleric is the one who is down

[@brycewade5703]

aid also can prevent instant death because thats determined by max hp

[@kawariam]

I am a artificer battlesmith, usually a need to save aid for healing downed pc because we dont have a healer, its working

[@much7395]

My DM curses my spirit guardians casts, as he should. Soon he will find my Aid to be just as good

[@mirkofraccastoro7573]

When does it become worth upcasting? Like for example when I get my 3rd level slots I'd probably rather keep em for Spirit Guardian and when I get my fourth lvl one/s I might wanna save it for a fight swinging banishment or an upcast spirit guardan... Also is it ever worth casting w a slot higher than fourth if you have decent options like as a bard? What about as a cleric, who notably had terrible 7th and 8th level spells on their list, would you consider a 7th or 8th level aid?

[@lloydlineske2642]

I'm not sure, BUT I do know you should probably use the highest level spell slot available at the end of a long rest. Won't cost the slot and you get the benefits for half the adventuring day.

[@mirkofraccastoro7573]

@@lloydlineske2642 yeh, if rest casting Is allowed always do

[@theuncalledfor]

It's worth upcasting if: 1. Your enemies deal more than 5, but less than 10 points of damage each round. 2. You are out of second level slots and either don't have Mass Healing Word, or less than 4 of your allies are down.

[@TheGreatSquark]

The main thing that kept me from casting this more when I played a high level cleric was that half my party couldn't figure out how to apply this spell in D&D Beyond... And the other half including me was getting it free from a magic shrine in the dungeon every day. And that extra... 80 hp? Split amongst our large party really saved our butts when Imix was summoned.

[@bsseb2914]

I often have it ready as a backup - if shit hits the fan this can save the entire party.

[@federicopalacios7439]

Idk why people pretend rest casting is a thing. Casting a spell is not light activity, no matter how short the casting time of the spell is. You can't buff yourself before a long rest ends.

[@Linguinex]

From the PHB: "If the rest is interrupted by a period of strenuous activity-at least 1 hour of walking, fighting, casting spells, or similar adventuring activity-the characters must begin the rest again to gain any benefit from it." I understand not allowing rest casting, or thinking it is unintended. But if you are going purely by RAW, it is allowed as long as you spend less than 1 hour casting stuff.

[@nyxislost553]

That makes no sense given that you can have an entire combat and not interrupt a long rest, unless you genuinely believe that the moment the wizard casts firebolt, the 7 hours of sleep they had beforehand are suddenly forfeit

[@Yoshi6851]

Is there an errata that means you can’t just stack aid on your party since it’s not temp HP?

[@neljx]

mass healing word is still a lot better in larger parties/with hirelings, especially for getting people off the ground

[@Saibrock]

Interestingly, the “current hit points” part of the spell’s effect is not an instantaneous effect, like it would be for healing. It has an explicit duration. Consequently, it seems like those current hit points last until the spell ends, and so a creature under the effects of Aid cannot be reduced to fewer than 5 hit points. 5E rules writing is amazing!

[@achillesa5894]

It also means that if you have less than 5 hp at the end of the 8 hours you just suddenly drop dead lmao

[@Spiceodog]

But kobald! That’s only 15 hp for a 2nd level spell. A life berry gives 40 with a 1st level spell. It should only be used to raise multiple downed players

[@SpaceVentura69]

If more Max HP keeps you standing for an extra round that is a benefit that Lifeberry can't really replicate. Also, why not both?

[@daneiltherat2327]

Life berry?

[@Spiceodog]

@@daneiltherat2327 life cleric and good berry so it makes 10 berries that heal 4 hp each

[@1stCallipostle]

Aid is (largely) a before combat measure when not being used to raise Lifeberries are (largely) a post combat measure Spending those 1st level slots on both regularly sounds like a good formula for allowing everyone to continue to breath

[@theenbee8222]

In D&D, at level 3 you'll have approximately anywhere from 11 to 38 HP (-1 con wizard/sorcerer to +3 con hill dwarf barbarian, maybe more if variant human barbarian who took the tough feat) without any other factors accounted for. With this in mind, the Aid spell with a 2nd level slot adds +5 hp to your total health (and heals the same so you don't just have 5 more potential HP), which applies to 3 party members. It is legitimately such a good spell; giving your players anywhere from around half a level up worth of health, to a little over a level up worth of HP in some cases. To end this random sleep deprived rant off succinctly, use the Aid spell if you have it, because having more total health for the party can mean the difference between a close encounter and a TPK

[@margaretmyklebust2577]

Where was Gator today?

[@punkasaurian3055]

Does it stack with itself? Does anything stop you casting it a dozen times?

[@0_Body]

Shout out to Aid for being an Artificer spell. How about the time our rogue decided to trigger 2 boss fights in a room filled to the brim with Glyphs of Warding. This is how the Artificer is good at solving practical problems. I had Aid prepared in Spell-Storing Item already used 2 for the 6 in our party. They even had my temp HP from Protector Eldritch Cannon. People were down by the time it got to me in the first round. Proceeds to use a bonus action to command homunculus servant to aid on downed people. Shortly after they are not at 0 an explosion is triggered. Repeat for some time. We survived?

[@AgentForest]

Rules as written, you cannot benefit from more than one instance of a spell effect at a time, HOWEVER, this spell has two parts, and it's worth knowing the difference. While you can receive max HP from multiple sources, like Hero's Feast and Aid, at the same time, you cannot have more than one Aid max HP buff at a time. That said, healing isn't a persistent spell effect. So the increase to current HP can technically affect the same person in one casting. What this means is that you can, in a pinch, upcast Aid on one person for a bulk heal in an emergency, like if you know the enemy gets its turn before they do, so just picking them up from being downed won't cut it. And it's actually pretty good for this purpose compared to similar spells. A 6th level Heal spell immediately grants someone 70 HP. Upcasting Aid and throwing all three on one person grants them +25 to their max HP for 8 hours, but heals them for 75 current HP. However, you can cast one of those to raise a downed ally, and put 50 HP into the front line as well if necessary. It's an incredibly versatile spell.

[@g3neralrevan27]

Do note that you can't stack aid with itself unless you upcast it. If friends already have Aid on them, even if they're down, you can't cast it again on them without upcasting it since spells don't stack with themselves if they provide the same bonus.

[@michaelangelomaimone3181]

Wouldn’t the new Aid overwrite the old aid because identical effect, but later end time?

[@erikkesler1739]

You are incorrect it would take precedent if it is the same level as there would be more left on the duration.

[@g3neralrevan27]

@@erikkesler1739 ahhh, RPGBot letting me down. That makes sense honestly

[@g3neralrevan27]

@@michaelangelomaimone3181 I guess you're right, I was led astray elsewhere

[@michaelangelomaimone3181]

@@g3neralrevan27 glad I could be of assistance :)

[@adirosstime1774]

As paladin, and any class that can cast it. I pretty much always Cast aid.

[@eugenecarter8701]

After 8 hours, dont you lose 5 hp, as well as having max returned to normal?

[@nats_many_things1324]

It's quite late in the game, but an 11th level artificer can store the Aid spell in an object and distribute up to 150 hp to the party over the course of a minute if I'm interpreting the spell correctly. Pretty good even when the full casters are getting their 6th level spells

[@nats_many_things1324]

Realized this doesn't work bc you cant stack spells of the same name on a single target

[@RenoKyrie]

Kobold, can you talk about how Lightning Arrow Work? Because Lightning Arrow according to Jeremy Crawford himself only changes the Weapons Normal Damage Type(Any weapon that is thrown and any ammo) and they get their Dex Modifier, Sharpshooter Boost, and can CRIT Doesnt this mean throwing a Net is the best Lightning Arrow Weapon?

[@blitheringape5321]

it's wild to me that people prioritize spiritual weapon over aid. I think they're just not thinking about it outside of "spiritual weapon doesn't require conc"

[@brianmyklebust9924]

Kobold says the same thing actually lol.

[@OneKnightGaming]

I've always struggled to utilize this in my games due to the online sheets that I'm using not being very friendly towards random temporary increases in maximum HP. Also 5-30 HP once you're past level 13 can feel like literally nothing.

[@emperorxander666]

aid+ heroes feast

[@under20over40]

ayyyyyyy Mech Arena! lol Great bit!

[@kaemonbonet4931]

It's basically a second level mass healing word.

[@SharklordZerato]

Two of the DMs I have ruled that you lose the HP at the end of the duration even if you're way below max HP, making it much less useful as a spell, which is why I stopped taking Aid in those groups

[@datalysjr3339]

I’m just lazy bro, I pick any support with the spell get meta magic initiate getting extended duration, cast it at my highest spell slot that day then go sleep call it a day with guaranteed big hp for the gang

[@zacharylona]

I'm surprised you didn't mention that you can - per RAW - make Aid into a 2nd level Spellwrought Tattoo, and spam it for 8 hours straight. It's a full party heal between combats for a whole adventuring day. Pair that with somebody who can create it (likely a 2 level artificer dip will do, as it's Uncommon rarity) and you have infinite healing!

[@EnfermeiroPensador]

No man, Spellwrought Tattoo is an consumable item. Once the bearer activates the tattoo the symbol vanishes from the skin and the spell take effect normally. So... no infinite casts by tattoos.

[@dtczyk8976]

That link doesn’t work

[@lloydlineske2642]

How long we got to play that mech game to get you paid buddy?

[@NobodyDungeons]

Alight lets say your a 20th level charisma full caster with aid and the inspiring leader feat. That is 25 Hp from inspiring leader, and an additional 40 max Hp from a 9th level aid spell for a total of 65 additional Hp across 3 characters. That an additional 195 Hp per day which at 20th level is like having to work threw an additional PC which is insane.

[@zaifir8119]

Works at low levels too. At level 3 (16 Charisma, 2nd lvl spell slot) you can get 11 additional Hp on 3 characters for 33 total, which is about 1 decently tanky character worth of extra hp. Inspiring Leader also gets better in bigger parties, so it could be a bit more.

[@danban9305]

"Aye, mech-arena" You just had to go there lol

[@richardusspqr6955]

What is the math on casting Holy Weapon on a 11th level fighter? More accurately how does it compare to 6th level Spirit Guardians, I know it is probably less optimal, but I have rolled very bad hp for my cleric and DM tends to make enemies target those who do damage and has used "particle effects" for lack of a better term for who enemies pick and so spirit guardians clerics tend to eat a lot of aggro and Barbarian player and Fighter player are not playing aggro pulling subclasses. (Also going to do holy weapon anyways because in that game the tables fun and my fun are slightly different, so I have found fun in boosting their fun for better table dynamics.)

[@secretsmith813]

You are missing one small detail. There is bookkeeping with this spell. If you don't remember to let everyone know to decrease their max after the spell ends, you can accidentally cheat by making a player have more max hp than they should. In an organized group this is fine, but can make a big mess with just 1 disorganized party member.

[@AvangionQ]

Why isn't Aid a ritual cast spell?

[@crowhaveninc.2103]

I did not realize that Aid could stack with itself. That's a mind-blown moment right there :O EDIT: I'm an idiot. No spells stack with one another, as mentioned in the replies.

[@nikomnion]

No spell can stack with itself in 5e though. Look up "Combining magical effects".

[@crowhaveninc.2103]

@@nikomnion Ah, my bad. I think I might've misheard Kobold in the video. Thanks for pointing it out :)

[@renatocorvaro6924]

Aid with rest casting is really great. Aid without rest casting is eh. Yeah you get a few more hit points per person but for it to really matter you also have to recover those hit points. You'll get in one or two short rests in its duration, and probably have to use an extra hit die to make use of those hit points. For a 2nd level spell, there are usually better options; something that takes an enemy out of the fight on the first round is worth more than the extra hit points. Using it to pick more than one person up is handy though, so it's often worth preparing.