OVERALL RATING: B-TIER

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Shield of Faith 5e

Shield of Faith is about as straightforward as a spell can get in Dungeons and Dragons — a straight-up bonus to the target’s Armor Class. But this simple little support spell is quite effective at what it does.

What Does Shield of Faith Do in 5e?

Shield of Faith gives the target a +2 bonus to their AC for up to 10 minutes, concentration permitting. Its casting time is 1 bonus action, so you can still use an action on the same turn as casting Shield of Faith. You can even cast a cantrip (but not another leveled spell) on the same turn (PHB 2024, pg. 236).

Spell Rating: Shield of Faith

Overall: 🛡️ B-Tier (Reliable Defense)

Contextual Performance (1-10)

• Combat: 7/10. In DnD 5e’s “Bounded Accuracy” system, every point of AC matters. A +2 bonus is mathematically significant at level 1 and remains significant at level 20. Because it is a Bonus Action, it rarely conflicts with your main game plan.

  Many players underestimate how much damage +2 AC actually prevents. While it always reduces the chance to hit by a flat 10% on the D20, the relative damage reduction is much higher for characters who already have high AC.

  Scenario	Base Hit Chance	With Shield of Faith	Relative Damage Reduction
  Standard AC	65%	55%	15.4% Less Damage
  High AC	55%	45%	18.2% Less Damage
  Very High AC	45%	35%	22.2% Less Damage
  “Tank” AC	35%	25%	28.6% Less Damage

  As you can see, casting this on a tanky character (who enemies already struggle to hit) provides nearly double the defensive value compared to casting it on a squishy character.

• Exploration: 2/10. Very limited. You might cast it before triggering a trap if you suspect it involves an attack roll (like a dart trap), but that’s niche.

• Social: 1/10. No real social utility.

Core Metrics (1-10)

• Raw Power: 6/10. +2 AC is good, but it isn’t game-breaking like the Shield spell (+5 AC). However, Shield only lasts one round, whereas Shield of Faith lasts for an entire combat (or even two, if the fights are back-to-back).

• Versatility: 2/10. It does exactly one thing. It does not help with Saving Throws and it eats up your Concentration — both of which become a bigger issue at higher tiers of play. That said, it is versatile in the sense that you still have your action to use on the turn you cast it.

• Efficiency: 8/10. It costs a Level 1 slot and a Bonus Action. It is incredibly cheap for the value it provides over a long fight. Even at higher levels, it’s good for low-threat fights where you want to minimize damage while conserving higher-level spell slots. I do knock it some efficiency points for taking your Concentration, though.

• Upcast Scaling: 1/10. Shield of Faith does not scale. Casting it with a 5th-level slot still only gives +2 AC.

Playstyle and Synergy

• Playstyle: This is a “set it and forget it” spell. Cast it on turn 1 (or right before combat starts) and your target can enjoy being 15-30% harder to kill for the rest of the fight.

• Party Synergy: High. You can cast this on allies. Putting this on a Barbarian using Reckless Attack helps mitigate the advantage enemies have against them. Putting it on a Wizard concentrating on a game-winning spell helps them avoid the Concentration checks entirely by causing attacks to miss. As already stated, it’s highest value comes when cast on an already-high AC target, but don’t let that dominate your thinking of who to target — play to the situation!

If you’re interested in learning more about how bounded accuracy works in DnD 5e, check out my video above

What Are the Rules for Shield of Faith in 5e?

The rules for Shield of Faith in DnD 5e are as follows:

• Shield of Faith cannot stack with itself. If a creature is targeted by two separate castings of Shield of Faith, they can both be active — however, the target will still only gain +2 AC.

  That’s because “the effects of the same spell cast multiple times don’t combine. Instead, the most potent effect—such as the highest bonus—from those castings applies while their durations overlap” (PHB 2024, pg. 238).

• Shield of Faith can stack with other AC bonuses from spells, magic items, etc. “The effects of different spells add together while their durations overlap” (PHB 2024, pg. 238).

  This means that a player can benefit from the effects of a spell like Shield or Mage Armor at the same time they benefit from the bonus AC from Shield of Faith.

• You cannot Ready Shield of Faith, because it’s casting time is 1 bonus action. And “you can take only one Bonus Action on your turn” (PHB 2024, pg. 15, emphasis added). Here’s additional confirmation from Sage Advice that you cannot ready a bonus action.

• You can target yourself with Shield of Faith.

• You cannot target objects with Shield of Faith. Sadly, the spell specifies that it must target “a creature,” so you can’t use Shield of Faith to boost the AC of a door to reinforce it.

How to Use Shield of Faith in 5e

While Shield of Faith is obviously a defensive support spell, there are some ways to get extra utility out of the spell:

1. Protect your concentration. The most important element to consider before casting Shield of Faith is “how am I going to protect my concentration?” Because this 10-minute spell becomes a whole lot less potent if you get clipped after one round of combat and lose your concentration.

   From a tactical perspective, this could mean keeping safe in the backlines, out of the line of sight of hostile creatures. It could also mean your party does things to protect your position.

   From a character build point of view, this means improving your concentration checks via choosing Constitution ASIs or picking up feats like War Caster or Resilient (and choosing Constitution).

   Also, remember that you’re only forced to make a concentration check if you actually take damage from the attack, so having a high AC and being good at common saving throws can help ensure that Shield of Faith lasts the full duration.

2. Cast it on familiars, pets, or NPCs you’re escorting. Sometimes your party needs to send a familiar or pet into a dangerous position to scout things out, and some of these creatures have pretty pathetic ACs. Shield of Faith can help your little buddies get in and out safely.

   It’s also good for helping the squishy noble you’re escorting survive so that you can actually get paid for your time.

3. Consider your most valuable target. In some cases, Shield of Faith is best used on an already tanky party member — if they’re able to actually draw the attacks of most of the enemies. But other times, it’s best to cast it on the low-AC Sorcerer who’s concentrating on a twinned Haste spell.

   Different situations will call for different priorities, which is where the real nuance of this simple spell comes into play.

Is Shield of Faith 5e a Good Spell?

Yes, Shield of Faith is a good spell. In DnD’s system of bounded accuracy, +2 AC is just as valuable at 20th level as it is at first.

I’m sure a more math-savvy person could provide a bit better breakdown of the spell’s relative strength through the levels, but I think it’s safe to say that Shield of Faith remains relevant throughout any campaign.

The big downside to Shield of Faith is that it requires concentration. If you can find a way to consistently protect your concentration and boost a target’s AC by +2 for a full 10 minutes, it’s an incredibly powerful and efficient spell.

There’s also opportunity cost to consider; 46% of the game’s spells require concentration, so you also won’t have access to those spells while concentrating on Shield of Faith. Ultimately, if you’re trying to be a consistent support character, you really can’t go wrong with Shield of Faith.

Shield of Faith 5e Compared to Sanctuary

If you really want to protect allies and you’re a Cleric or Paladin, you have another 1st-level abjuration option: Sanctuary. When a creature attacks a creature affected by Sanctuary, they first must pass a Wisdom saving throw, or else switch targets/lose their attack.

The big downside to Sanctuary is that whoever is affected by it can’t attack, cast a spell that affects an enemy, or deal damage, or else the spell breaks early. Sanctuary lasts for only 1 minute compared to Shield of Faith’s 10 minutes, but it does not require concentration — a huge boon.

Both spells are bonus actions, so they’re even on that point.

Ultimately, Sanctuary will prevent more attacks from landing on a target than Shield of Faith will; however, it also completely removes the target’s offensive options.

Long story short, if you want to protect active party members like your tanky Fighter, always-concentrating-on-a-spell Bard, or your own frontline Paladin/Cleric self, then Shield of Faith is the better option.

But if you want to protect a pure utility/support player (yourself included) or a useless person you have to escort, Sanctuary is probably the stronger choice. Additionally, as my article on Sanctuary covers, the spell has a whole lot of extra niche utility, so consider checking that out before making a decision on which spell to learn/prepare.

Shield of Faith 5e DM Tips

As a DM, Shield of Faith is a fairly easy thing to deal with — go after whatever player is concentrating on it and try to break their concentration.

Experienced players will exercise tactics to prevent you from doing this or create bigger threats than +2 AC to challenge your priorities, but protecting concentration is an important lesson that apprentice-level players (not total newbies) ought to learn.

Remember: every time that you use a certain tactic against players, you’re also teaching them how to use that tactic themselves — savvy players will thank you for the lesson.

Other than that, you can consider (alongside the player using it) what sort of cosmetic effect Shield of Faith produces.

What color is the “shimmering field” and how does it react to getting hit? Is it like a bubble-shaped force field that stops attacks immediately upon contact? Or is a thin layer of protection that hews close to the creature’s body, and only intervenes when the sword is literally millimeters from their flesh?

It’s also fun to consider the flavor of your descriptions when Shield of Faith’s +2 AC makes the difference between a hit or a miss, as well as how you describe an attack that breaks though and lands despite the bonus.

DnD 5e Shield of Faith FAQ

1. Does Shield of Faith stack with Mage Armor? Yes. Mage Armor sets a creature’s base AC calculation (13 + Dex mod). Shield of Faith provides a flat +2 bonus to AC. These two effects interact perfectly fine.

2. Does Shield of Faith stack with Shield (the reaction spell)? Yes. Because they are two different spells with different names, their bonuses stack. A player with Shield of Faith active on them who also casts Shield would gain a total +7 AC for that round.

3. Does Shield of Faith stack with a Shield (the item)? Yes. A physical shield provides a +2 bonus to AC. Shield of Faith provides a magical +2 bonus. A character holding a shield and affected by the spell gets +4 AC total from those two sources.

2014 Shield of Faith (Legacy Version)

The text below covers the version of Shield of Faith found in the 2014 Player’s Handbook. I have preserved this section for posterity. Luckily, the spell’s mechanics haven’t changed at all in the 2024 rule set, so you can use whichever wording you prefer.

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.