Though they are only low-level magic, cantrips can make the difference between your character leaving combat alive or dead, so – even as a cleric – having at least one damaging cantrip to fall back on is a good plan. Excellent in a pinch where spell slots are depleted, Word of Radiance is a true “Hail Mary” cantrip, allowing you to deal radiant damage to multiple enemies when you’re up close and personal.
Word of Radiance – The Basics
- Spell level: cantrip
- Range: 5-foot radius area of effect from self
- Casting time: 1 action
- Attack/Save: Constitution saving throw
- Components: verbal (a divine word) and material (your holy symbol)
- Duration: instantaneous
- Damage: 1d6 radiant (increasing as your character levels up)
- Available to: clerics
You utter a divine word and burning radiance erupts from your form. Each creature that you choose within 5 feet of you, (as long as you can see them) must make a Constitution saving throw. If they fail they are blasted with your light, taking radiant damage.
What Is Word of Radiance?
Word of Radiance is an evocation cantrip. Evocation is the school of magic associated with raw, elemental magic and is therefore essentially the school of damage. Big area of effect spells belong to this school (think Thunderwave, Lightning Bolt, and the ever-popular Fireball). Though Word of Radiance is just a cantrip, and cantrips don’t deal huge amounts of damage, it is essentially an AoE-lite.
Spell slots are a precious resource for casters and choosing how to use them effectively often takes a good amount of consideration – there’s nothing more frustrating than burning a spell slot to little effect. Especially at earlier levels when spell slots are scant, having a cantrip under your belt that can inject a little damage without costing a slot is really valuable.
As a rule of thumb, clerics are healers and so they don’t tend to be the heavy hitters of the party when it comes to damage (unless you’re fighting a hoard of undead). But clerics’ natural association with the divine makes their damaging spells really useful, as cleric spells like Word of Radiance deal (rather obviously) radiant damage. This is handy as there aren’t many creatures that are naturally resistant to radiant damage within D&D.
On top of this, the damage dealt by Word of Radiance increases as you level up. When you reach 5th level, the cantrip deals 2d6, at 11th level it deals 3d6, and at 17th level the damage goes up to 4d6. Now sure, by 17th level you are unlikely to be relying on cantrips to do much for you in combat, but this little spell scaling up means that it is more likely than other damage-dealing cantrips to stay in your repertoire throughout your whole campaign.
Word of Radiance requires a Constitution saving throw from the creatures you wish to affect. Unlike larger AoE spells, if the creature succeeds on their save they will take no damage, rather than half damage, but for a cantrip this makes sense. A downside to this cantrip using a Constitution saving throw is that as you level up you are more likely to come across beefier monsters – beefier monsters tend to have beefier Constitution so they are more likely to succeed against this cantrip. But as is the way in D&D, no one spell covers all bases, and if you were to find an enemy that looks suspiciously hale and hearty you could simply put this cantrip to the bottom of the deck.
When Is Word of Radiance Useful?
The radius of Word of Radiance is 5 feet. This means the cantrip can affect any creature you can see that is within your melee range. Most importantly, the spell doesn’t put a limitation on the number of creatures you can affect. Word of Radiance is therefore most useful when you are being swarmed by enemies. If you were to be overwhelmed on all sides in combat – i.e., on a standard battle map against standard corporeal creatures, you could have up to have 8 enemies all within your melee range – you could attempt to damage all 8 of them, with just this little cantrip.
Though this spell has been designed to be most effective when being overwhelmed by enemies, Word of Radiance can also still be useful against just one or two opponents. It can be a good way to deal a small amount of additional damage in a round when your bonus action has actually been your most significant move on your turn. For example, if you have already used your bonus action in a turn to cast a spell, such as Spiritual Weapon or Healing Word, you can then use your action to cast Word of Radiance and blast any enemies within melee range – even if it’s just one.
Another useful element to this cantrip is that it doesn’t require somatic components. As long as you have the ability to speak and you have your holy symbol on you, it’s possible to cast this spell. Another scenario this could therefore be useful in is if you were being held down and Restrained by another creature or multiple creatures. For a spell that requires somatic components, you would either have disadvantage or your DM may even rule you would be unable to cast if you aren’t able to move your hands. However, with Word of Radiance you don’t need to worry about this. You could simply mutter your divine word and watch as those holding you down get hit in the face with your holy fury.
Though 1d6 doesn’t sound like a lot of damage, this is the same damage die you would deal hitting with a mace or handaxe. The upside to casting Word of Radiance instead of using a melee weapon to attack is that you deal magical radiant damage instead of non-magical weapons damage (i.e., piercing, bludgeoning, or slashing). If you are up against a creature that is resistant to non-magical weapons damage, having them take radiant damage instead is a good work around. Similarly, if your foe has a high AC, having them make a saving throw against Word of Radiance, rather than having to roll to hit to them, can often be a better route to go to deal damage. Plus as a spellcaster, your spell casting modifiers (i.e., your spell attack modifier and your spell save DC) are likely to be better than your weapon attack modifiers. Because of this Word of Radiance is often a better alternative to using a normal weapon to attack. Plus, the visual of having radiant light burst from your body in a holy aura and sear your enemies is cool as heck.
Though Word of Radiance would also not necessarily be very effective against creatures with a high Constitution, the chaotic nature of dice rolls means that even sturdier creatures have the chance of rolling poorly. As using a cantrip doesn’t cost a spell slot, if you’ve used your bonus action to cast a spell then there’s nothing to lose by using your action to try to hit them with Word of Radiance and keeping your fingers crossed that the dice gods are feeling merciful.
If you are in combat where the creature’s Constitution is causing you a problem, you can always stack the odds in your favor. If you were to Bane a creature before using Word of Radiance, they would have to subtract a d4 from their save each time you were to hit them with the cantrip. That d4 can make a huge difference, so this combo can be really effective – and even if they consistently roll well and their Constitution is still too high for Word of Radiance to be effective, no one ever regrets Bane-ing an enemy.
Is Word of Radiance Good?
Word of Radiance does not use a high damage die, but it is undeniably a good cantrip. There are only three damage-dealing cantrips for clerics: Word of Radiance, Sacred Flame, and Toll the Dead. All three of these cantrips are cool in their own right. They all require saving throws rather than attack rolls. Word of Radiance deals the lowest damage of 1d6, whereas Sacred Flame, which requires a Dexterity save, does 1d8 and Toll the Dead, which forces a Wisdom save, also does 1d8 damage at its base or 1d12 if that creature has already taken damage. Though these damage dice are higher than Word of Radiance, both of these cantrips can only target one creature at a time.
The main upside to Word of Radiance is that it is the only cleric cantrip that can hit multiple creatures with one casting. Though the damage of 1d6 is lower than the other two damaging cantrips, it is unlikely you are going to rely on a cantrip being your main damage-dealer so having the ability to target several creatures at once, without expending a spell slot, is arguably more attractive.
Another really cool element of Word of Radiance is the ability to shield your allies from its effects. A lot of AoE evocation spells are denoted by their indiscriminate blasting of an area, meaning that they will hit everyone in their range – including your party-mates. This can either make people reluctant to use their AoE spells in crowded combat, or can mean the cleric has a lot more work healing party members not just from enemies’ attacks but also from friendly fire. As you choose everyone who is hit by Word of Radiance, unlike the big damaging AoE levelled spells (like Fireball), this cantrip doesn’t pose a risk to your own party so there doesn’t need to be any hesitation about using it in tight spaces.
Even in comparison to other AoE cantrips, such as Sword Burst – available to artificers, sorcerers, warlocks and wizards – which also does 1d6 damage, Word of Radiance’s feature of not harming those you don’t want it to makes it far superior. This feature speaks to how this spell has been flavored to suit the cleric class. Clerics at their core are designed to aid, bolster, and heal their party, so it makes sense that this cleric cantrip would have the added quality of not dealing friendly fire.
Should I Take Word of Radiance as One of My Cantrips?
Choosing whether or not to take Word of Radiance as one of your cantrips really comes down to what type of cleric you want to be.
Though there is no rule to say you have to take a damage-dealing cantrip it is always useful to have at least one in your arsenal as magic to fall back on – and there is of course nothing stopping you from taking more than one!
Whereas the necrotic damage inflicted by Toll the Dead could be well-suited flavour for clerics of the Grave Domain or Death Domain, the burning bright radiant damage of Word of Radiance could be more suited to the likes of the Light Domain or Peace Domain clerics. However these are generalisations and any cleric can find use and fun with Word of Radiance. If you think it would be cool for your glum, goth Grave Domain cleric to be able to burst with radiant light then go for it.
One point to note is that at 8th level, divine domains grant either the Divine Strike feature or Potent Spellcasting feature. Divine Strike allows you once per turn to infuse a weapon attack with divine energy and deal an extra 1d8 radiant damage (this also increases to 2d8 at 14th level). Potent Spellcasting allows you to add your Wisdom modifier to the damage dealt by any cleric cantrip. Word of Radiance is therefore more likely to stay consistently useful past 8th level if the domain you choose has Potent Spellcasting as opposed to Divine Strike. However it wouldn’t necessarily be sensible to choose your whole domain around the longevity of one cantrip, so though a domain that has the Divine Strike feature doesn’t pair as well with Word of Radiance, this doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be done.
Regardless of the domain you choose, if you feel Word of Radiance thematically suits your individual character then it’s worth taking.
How Do You Roleplay Word of Radiance?
Aside from how functionally good this cantrip is, just picture it: “…burning radiance erupts from you”. For clerics, who are often focused on aiding their allies and being party buffs rather than dealing flashy and theatrical damage, it is an awesome visual for their divine power to be channelled to physically burst from them, turning them into a glorious beacon of hope for their party and a terrifying ball of energy to their foes.
You can really lean into describing how your character appears when casting this cantrip, using it as an opportunity to demonstrate just how badass clerics are and a chance for the radiance to reflect who your cleric is. Is your cleric unassuming and gentle, but you want the radiance to shoot out from them in one violent burst as a rare display of their raw power? Do you think your cleric would start to gently glow, with it growing brighter and brighter until it is blinding to behold? Would the radiance sparkle out of them like streaks of glitter that penetrate into the flesh of your enemies?
Even when you’re not in combat, situationally Word of Radiance could be used as a show of holy power. It could be used to intimidate evil forces or to inspire fearful villagers who need something to bolster their hope. The fun thing about cantrips is as they don’t cost you spell slots you can use them pretty indiscriminately for flavoring your roleplay.
Roleplay inspiration
A small gnome is surrounded by zombies. Their undead claws rake over her and she is pushed down and hidden from view. She curls in on herself beneath the waves of undead, looking as though she is about to be overwhelmed. She clutches her holy symbol and mutters a divine word. A searing, white, radiant light bursts from her tiny form and her head and arms are thrown back. The light burns through the zombies starting to peel the rotting skin from their bones.
—
A group of Shadows loom over a terrified lost adventurer. The tiefling trickster cleric conjures her illusory duplicate. The duplicate silently runs into the group of shadows and as it reaches the center bursts like a grenade of warm sunlight, tearing holes through the Shadows.
—
A vampire smirks, looking at the party. She gathers herself, ready to regenerate her health. The dwarf war cleric lowers his warhammer and instead throws his arms around the vampire, enveloping her with his strong embrace as he glows with a gentle, glorious light. The brightness increase and she has to squint and turn from the radiance. Her smirk changes to a look of fear as she realizes she is no longer able to heal herself.
—
A huge orc runs through a room of enemies trying to reach one of his dying allies. As he runs, the creatures close in on all sides. He utters his divine word and filaments of bright light shoot out of him as he passes through a tight cluster of enemies. The filaments burst as he moves and the filaments of light fling onto the skin of his foes, leaving small sear marks in their flesh.
—
FAQs
Word of Radiance has a 5-foot range. It is an area of effect centred on yourself. The cantrip extends out from your body so the magic reaches out 5 feet on all sides of you simultaneously. Essentially this means that on a standard battle map Word of Radiance would hit every one of the eight squares within your normal melee range.
Radiant damage is one of the rarest immunities or resistances for creatures to have within D&D. In the Monster Manual there are only 4 creatures with resistance to radiant damage and 0 with immunity. That being said there are many sources from which you can get your monsters, from the official sources to homebrew creators, so if you are looking for creatures with radiant damage resistance or immunity you can find it.
Vampires are not technically vulnerable to radiant damage but it is particularly useful against them. Vampires regain 20 hit points at the start of each of their turns (unless they are in sunlight or running water). However if a vampire takes radiant damage this trait doesn’t work at the start of their next turn. Therefore if they are hit with radiant damage each turn they are unable to regain any hit points in combat. On top of this, if vampires start their turn in sunlight they automatically take 20 radiant damage. Vampires also transform into a mist when they drop to 0 hit points, but sunlight prevents this and instead they are destroyed outright.
Then my partner bought me a starter set for 5e and my friend ran us a mini-dungeon to give us a feel for the game play and I was immediately hooked. Since then, I have lost countless hours to playing, DMing, and creating homebrew.
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