OVERALL RATING: A-TIER

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Aura of Vitality 5e

Ah, the Aura of Vitality — the spell that everyone thought would be overpowered on Clerics. The fear was ill-founded, as contemporary Dungeons and Dragons players rarely look at Aura of Vitality as too powerful for its resource cost.

Still, the option to spam heal in combat or distribute 70 average hit points to a party during a 1-minute gap in the action makes Aura of Vitality a very attractive spell indeed. Let’s go over just how it works and how to use it optimally.

What Does Aura of Vitality Do in 5e?

Aura of Vitality creates a 30-foot Emanation (an aura that moves with you, PHB 2024, pg. 366). While the spell persists, you can choose one creature inside that aura to regain 2d6 (7 average) Hit Points.

The healing triggers at two specific points:

1. Immediately: When you first cast the spell (Action).
2. Passively: At the start of each of your subsequent turns.

Over the full 1-minute duration (10 rounds), this spell triggers a total of 10 times (1 on cast + 9 starts of turns), providing a theoretical maximum of 20d6 (70 average) healing from a single 3rd-level spell slot.

Spell Rating: Aura of Vitality

Overall: 💚 A-Tier (Efficient Healing)

Contextual Performance (1-10)

• Combat: 6/10. In 2014, Aura of Vitality was slightly worse in combat because it ate your Bonus Action each turn. However, because the healing happens at the start of your turn, you can’t move to a downed ally if they’re out of range when your turn begins; they need to already be in range. Still, it’s a great tool for picking up unconscious party members without wasting any part (Action or Bonus Action) of your turn.

  Let’s compare Aura of Vitality to a standard upcast Cure Wounds and Mass Healing Word (another Level 3 option).

  Spell (3rd Level)	Avg. Healing (Immediate)	Avg. Healing (Full Duration)	Action Cost
  Cure Wounds	32 HP (6d8+4)	32 HP	Action
  Mass Healing Word (4 targets)	36 HP ((2d4+4)*4)	36 HP (9 per target)	Bonus Action
  Aura of Vitality	7 HP (2d6)	70 HP (20d6)	Action + Concentration

  Assumes a +4 spellcasting modifier and no overhealing.

  While Cure Wounds is better for saving a single ally from massive burst damage in one turn, Aura of Vitality heals for twice as much if sustained. Assuming you have 4 allies in range who are all missing ~10+ HP, Mass Healing Word might still be the better option; it also heals around half as much as Aura of Vitality, but the instant heal to multiple party members (especially if 2+ are down) is more worthy of your 3rd-level spell slot. Who knows if your concentration will be popped within 5 rounds of combat, after all? If it is, Aura of Vitality will heal less, on average, than either spell.

  Basically, I’m still not convinced that Aura of Vitality is the obvious best option for expending a Level 3 spell slot on healing, even with this minor buff.

• Exploration: 8/10. Why am I giving AoV such a high rating for exploration? Because it’s still a phenomenal out of combat heal. Sure, the 2024 version of Prayer of Healing now grants the benefits of a short rest (which may be worth more than the 2d8 HP heal per target, max 5), but Aura of Vitality will always win on raw healing (70 vs. 45 average total). Plus, Aura of Vitality can distribute the healing more flexibly (e.g., you can heal one party member for 40, one for 20, and one for 10) rather than being forced to spread 9 healing per target.

  Of course, if players use Hit Dice as one of their “benefits of a Short Rest,” then Prayer of Healing indeed has a higher max healing cap than Aura of Vitality. But it also takes 10 minutes to cast, which you might not always have. And if you’re a Druid, you don’t even have access to Prayer of Healing, so Aura of Vitality becomes the obvious best choice for out of combat healing.

  But if your party has a Warlock and/or Monk? Yea, they’ll kill you if you don’t take Prayer of Healing over Aura of Vitality.

  TLDR: I think WoTC did a great job of making all these healing spells fill a specific niche well — they’re all good options; some are just better in certain situations and with certain party compositions.

• Social: 1/10. Hhealing a party of sick NPCs over time might win favor, but, generally speaking, Aura of Vitality is not a social spell.

Core Metrics (1-10)

• Raw Power: 8/10. 70 Hit Points for a 3rd-level slot is still unrivaled efficiency in terms of raw HP recovery.

• Versatility: 6/10. It’s versatile in the sense that you total control over how you distribute the Hit Points, unlike most other healing spells in DnD 5e, where it’s either single target, or the same amount to each target.

• Efficiency: 10/10. Like I said, Aura of Vitality is seriously efficient for “Out of Combat” healing. If your party survives a fight but is battered, one Cleric casting this heals the party more effectively than a Short Rest, saving Hit Dice. That said, if you have the ability to wait an hour without fear, and you have more Hit Dice than spell slots, the Short Rest may still be the better option.

• Upcast Scaling: 1/10. Aura of Vitality does not scale. A Level 4 slot provides no benefits over a Level 3 slot.

Playstyle and Synergy

• Playstyle: Use this as your “Battery.” Cast it immediately after a tough combat to top everyone up while walking to the next room. In combat, cast it when you are facing a “Death Spiral” — where multiple allies are hitting 0 HP repeatedly. The passive healing breaks the cycle (as long you yourself don’t fall to 0 HP or have your Concentration broken).

• Synergy with “Turtle” Tactics: Because the healing is now passive (requiring no Action or Bonus Action), you are free to take the Dodge or Disengage action on every turn while the spell runs. This makes it much harder for enemies to hit you and break your Concentration, ensuring you get the full value out of the 1-minute duration. Still, you’re likely better off helping to kill enemies — that reduces incoming damage more effectively than restoring 7 HP every turn.

How to Use Aura of Vitality in 5e

Here are a few ways to use Aura of Vitality in DnD 5e:

1. Cast it out of combat. Distributing 70 hit points worth of healing amongst your party over a 1-minute rest is incredibly potent and well worth a 3rd-level spell slot if you and your allies are in bad shape and unable to take a short rest.

   The concentration requirement makes Aura of Vitality less optimal in combat situations. You can never be sure if you’ll get the full utility out of the spell (concentration breaking), and Level 3 spell slots are worth conserving.

2. Use it to counter frequent death saves. There is one combat situation where Aura of Vitality makes a lot of sense — a scenario where one or more party members find themselves in an unavoidable situation where they’re going to get knocked out pretty much every round of combat.

   The way healing and death stabilization work in DnD 5e, all you need to do is provide that fallen player with a dash of healing each round, and they’re basically just as effective as if they weren’t getting yo-yo’d in and out of consciousness by some monster.

   Aura of Vitality is incredibly efficient for this purpose, as one casting can reverse death up to 10 times (although this is unlikely, and enemies might start to focus down the gal who keeps resurrecting the ever-dying tank).

3. Prepare it when you don’t have a better use for your concentration. If you’re in a situation where spells like Spirit Guardians and Bless won’t help you or will be redundant, Aura of Vitality can be the way to go. This usually means you’re in for a more defensive encounter where the goal is survival rather than quickly blasting down an enemy force.

What Are the Rules for Aura of Vitality in 5e?

The rules for Aura of Vitality in DnD 5e are as follows:

• The aura is not visible. Aura of Vitality does not radiate light; only healing energy. This means you can use it before turning invisible without giving away your location, and enemies won’t be able to see that it is a consistent effect on you (although they may piece it together).

  This is in contrast to a spell like Holy Aura, which clearly states that it sheds dim light in a 5-foot radius.

• Aura of Vitality is no longer empowered by a Life Domain Cleric’s Disciple of Life feature. Disciple of Life provides additional hit points equal to 2 + the spell’s level each time a spell is used to restore hit points to a creature.

• Aura of Vitality is not empowered by a Life Domain Cleric’s Blessed Healer feature. Blessed Healer heals the Cleric for 2 + the spell’s level hit points only “on the turn you cast the spell” — this is a nerf from the 2014 version of that sublass feature, which boosted the healing each time you used Aura of Vitality (giving a crazy +50 healing over the duration of the spell).

  Likewise, Blessed Healer does not heal the Life Domain Cleric 5 hit points each time they use Aura of Vitality to restore hit points to a creature because that action is not “casting a spell” — it’s using a spell that’s already been cast. (That’s the same as it was in 2014).

• You can heal yourself. “An Emanation’s origin (creature or object) isn’t included in the area of effect unless its creator decides otherwise” (PHB 2024, pg. 366).

• Aura of Vitality can heal undead and constructs. Although that restriction has been removed from most other healing spells, so AoV is no longer really special in this regard

Is Aura of Vitality 5e a Good Spell?

Aura of Vitality is an okay spell that mostly shines as a discount (and sometimes superior) short rest option. If your party just needs to get topped up before the next encounter and you aren’t able to take a short rest (or are out of hit die), then Aura of Vitality is almost always your best option for an out-of-combat heal.

And in the right circumstances, Aura of Vitality can also be the perfect option for combating wasted rounds of combat as your allies languish with death saving throws. But Aura of Vitality is not an overpowered healing spell — far from it.

The big thing that keeps Aura of Vitality from being a fan favorite in combat is opportunity cost — there are just so many good concentration spells that you need to give up to use this.

Options like Bless, Spirit Guardians, and Hold Person are just too tempting to waste your time using cantrips while you slowly tick your allies back hit points equal to a smaller and smaller percentage of the enemy’s damage output as you level up.

Aura of Vitality 5e DM Tips

If a player uses Aura of Vitality in combat, remember that the healing happens at the start of their turn. If they’re not within 30 feet of an ally when their turn starts, they can’t target them with Aura of Vitality.

Additionally, don’t be afraid to let players “abuse” the spell out of combat. If the players burns a 3rd-level slot to heal the party to full, that is one less Spirit Guardians or Revivify they have for the boss fight. It is a fair trade.

2014 Aura of Vitality (Legacy Version)

The text below covers the version of Aura of Vitality found in the 2014 Player’s Handbook. I have preserved this section for players running legacy campaigns or using older modules that haven’t updated to the 2024 rule set.

If you are playing with the 2024 rules, use the guide at the top of this page.

Matt Zane

Author, DnD Lounge

Matt Zane started DnD Lounge in 2021. Matt began playing DnD 5e in 2015, and has been DMing since 2017. He loves optimization, but also enjoys looking for creative ways to use spells and abilities that follow the spirit and letter of the rules. He also eschews pure optimization in favor of a more balanced approach, where building a character is primarily about serving an interesting story arc and party dynamics rather than maxing out DPR.