Cure Wounds | Baldurs Gate 3 Wiki

Protip, pick healing word instead. I know what you're thinking; "healing words is a d4, this is a d8, why pivk the weaker one?"

Let me give you the actual numbers:
A die yields an average result equal to half it's max plus 0.5 (because it starts counting at 1) in other words increasing a die's number of faces by 2 increases it's average output by 1. So 1d4 is 2.5, while 1d8 is 4.5

This is abysmal healing in either case, thankfully you also add your spell modifier, which should start at +3, and for a healer should then ideally increase to +4 at 4th, and +5 at 8th level.

So the new values untill 4th level casting with 1st level slots, are 5.5 and 7.5, which are both signifficantly better, around the average per turn damage output of a character (damage is usually higher, but factoring in the chance to miss the average per round is lower).

Now comes the reason to pick word over cure, word is a bonus action ranged spell, and cure is an action and requires touch. The difference is 2 hp, and with your action as any of the healing casters you can do way more.

Here are the situations where you want to have cure wounds:
• If you already have healing word and want to be able to heal twice on a turn, good for when you have just one healer.
• If you play moon druid, as you can't cast in wildshape anyways, meaning you may want just the one cast to do before you wildshape, and between fights.
• If you plan on using it predominantly on yourself, or exclusively out of combat (here goodberry is better if it's an option)
• If you have a specific combo in mind such as cure wounds and a powerful bonus action like spiritual weapon or a clutch shield of faith.
• For rp reasons, not super aplicable to bg3, but sometimes the touch and heal feels more right than the fast and distant heal.

As a general rule though, as far as first level healing spells are concerned, healing word is the default, cure wounds is a niche tactical alternative, and goodberry is an out of combat option.

Submit

Life clerics memorize the spell automatically. Other clerics can still select it from the pool of cleric spells. Some spells are subclass specific, but not this one.

Submit

Can you do it on yourself?

Submit

Where does Shadowheart get Cure Wounds from? It says the spell is for Life Domain Clerics, but she is Trickster Domain

Submit

Good for level 1-2, around early level 3 it might prevent a single action taken on someone,but after 4 mobs and especially 5 the damage being dished out per turn is way more then what you can heal. Healing is generally a trap in DnD 5e, action prevention is the best healing.

Lets look at cure light wounds 1d8+spell modifier (lets say 3), is 4-11 Average 7.5.
Now guiding bolt 4d6, 4-24. Average 14 + advantage on the next attack OR Inflict wounds, which is average 16.5

Lets look at level 2 spell slot

2d8+3 5-19 = 12, vs GB 5-30 = 17.5, vs IW 4-40 AVG 22

Cure light wounds is horrible for the action economy and resource economy, damage prevention is stronger then healing even as a cleric of life (trap class, pick light as granting disadvantage to enemies is better then healing.) Cure light wounds would need a base 1d8 increase to be be a good main action move. Cleric is better seen as a buffer/single target damage dealer at low levels (bless is a 5-20% more hit rate spell and + and guiding bolt adds advantage, leading to shorter fights with the damage you dish and less damage taken.

Then you have the healers conundrum and why healing word is the superior heal. Lets say I heal you constantly wasting my spell slots trying to keep you at tip top health. Congratulations, one fight and you have no spells (to be fair by act 2, you do have like 2000 supplies.), if someone goes down instead think, I can healing word them, they can disengage+jump+run making them chase and possibly dash, wasting THEIR turns. Also the second healers conundrum, you've figured out healing word + health potions is better, but why is it mathematically.

Mob does 15-30 damage a turn, you could possibly heal someone @ 15 hp, and possibly save them, but if you did that heal after the hit its as if you healed the extra damage.

15->2-16 = 2-16 healed. possibly saving them from the next hit. but leaving them low and the next hit will down them no matter what.
Let the hit go through, they're downed and leave them with 2-16, any bonus over kill damage is technically added to your heal as all the damage stopped. So instead of being at 1-5 hp, healing word would leave them at 4-7 and a turn to do damage back

Submit

Cure wounds, Healing word, Prayer of Healing add your WISDOM ability modifier to the dice roll to determine the amount of HP restored.

Submit