Lesser Restoration 5e Spell

The Yeti’s chilling gaze paralyzes the party where they stand…except for their wily Druid hidden behind a stalagmite. The Sorcerer is just within her reach—if she can restore him, they may just have a chance. As the Yeti turns the Druid dashes from behind the stone, deftly applies Lesser Restoration, and dives for safety once more. The Sorcerer’s eyes spring to life with thanks, and revenge…

What is Lesser Restoration 5e Spell?

Lesser Restoration 5e is a life saver when party members are blinded, deafened, paralyzed, or poisoned. It’s certainly a case of Less is more! 

Lesser Restoration 5e Stats

Level	2
Casting Time	1 action
Range/Area	Touch
Class	Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Sorcerer*, Warlock** & Artificer
Components	Verbal, Somatic
Duration	Instantaneous
School	Abjuration
Attack/Save	None
Damage/Effect	Healing

The text from the Player’s Handbook reads: “You touch a creature and can end either one disease or one condition afflicting it. The condition can be blinded, deafened, paralyzed, or poisoned.“

Lesser Restoration, sometimes called Minor Restoration, was just called Restoration in the 1st edition. It was very powerful and could even restore lost levels. In 3rd edition, Restoration was broken into its Lesser and Greater versions. Now, in DnD 5e (5th edition) it can only cure blinded, deafened paralyzed, or poisoned, as well as one disease such as Sewer Plague or any of the other diseases that may come up during a campaign.

You don’t want to be stuck with any of these status effects. Make sure there’s someone who can cast Lesser Restoration.

Who can cast Lesser Restoration?

Any Divine casters can cast Lesser Restoration. Divine casters harness the power of god or nature to summon their spells.

These classes can cast Lesser Restoration:

• Artificers
• Bards
• Celestial Warlocks
• Divine Soul Sorcerers
• Clerics
• Druids
• Paladins
• Ranger

What does Lesser Restoration in 5e do?

Lesser Restoration cures one disease, or a blinded, deafened, paralyzed, poisoned, or poisoned creature. But why is this so crucial? 

At low levels, these four conditions can be brutal: 

Blinded lasts for a minute and gives attacks against you advantage, gives you disadvantage on Attack rolls, and makes you automatically fail ability checks that require sight. Blind also cancels lots of spells, makes your strikers weak, and your tanks ineffective.

Deafened lasts for a minute and makes you automatically fail any ability check with hearing. If your DM is keeping you honest, it also stops you from communicating effectively with other characters and coordinating attacks.

Paralyzed lasts for a minute and stops you from moving or speaking. You also automatically fail Strength and Dexterity Saving Throws. Attacks against you have advantage, and any Attack against you within 5 ft is a Critical Hit.

Poisoned lasts for a minute and gives you 1d4 of damage plus disadvantage on Attack rolls and ability checks. It’s also a common spell for enemies in the early game.

Don’t be fooled by the “a minute” part. A minute in a DnD battle is an eternity. One of these conditions is bad enough, but these conditions can also stack. If one of your party members has multiple status effects, they are basically out of commission. If that party member is your healer, you may be in double trouble. 

Early battles can easily get out of hand if you can’t restore these annoying status effects with Lesser Restoration. A simple disease can also debilitate you or spread to others.

Lesser Restoration only costs a level 2 spell slot but can cost you big time if you don’t take it along. Don’t question it! The Lesser Restoration questions below are ok, though.

Lesser Restoration 5e FAQ

Can Lesser Restoration remove curses?

No. To remove a curse you need Remove Curse, Greater Restoration, or some other method. Greater Restoration costs 100gp of diamond dust, so you’re better off trying Remove Curse.

Can Lesser Restoration remove madness?

Yes! You can cure short-term or long-term mental illness with Lesser Restoration. Madness is a mental illness, which counts as a disease. You need to use Calm Emotions or Greater Restoration to cure indefinite madness. Remove Curse or Dispel Evil may also work, depending on the source of the madness.

Can Lesser Restoration cure fear?

No, and neither can Greater Restoration. You can suppress the Frightened status effect with Calm Emotions or end it with Dispel Magic if Frightened is being caused by a current spell.

Can you use Lesser Restoration on yourself? 

You can cure Blinded, Deafened, and Poisoned with Lesser Restoration, but not Paralyzed. Paralyzed stops you from moving or speaking, which cancels out both the “Verbal’ and “Somatic” components of Lesser Restoration.

How good is Lesser Restoration in 5e?

Lesser Restoration can make or break your party! A good GM will have you encounter Blinded, Deafened, Paralyzed, and Poisoned here and there, so you need to be ready. If you can’t cure these status effects your campaign can go sour—quickly.

Lesser Restoration may not be flashy, but it gets the job done!  Check out our Aid 5e Guide for another indispensable and underrated DnD spell.

Curing A Disease

Disease	Source	Short Description
Blinding Sickness	Player’s Handbook, page 277 (can be inflicted through the Contagion spell)	The target’s eyes turn milky white; they are blinded and gain a disadvantage on Wisdom checks and Wisdom saving throws.
Bluerot	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, page 234	Only targeting humanoids, disgusting blue boils grows on their victim’s face and back. Its victim also becomes vulnerable to radiant damage and gains underwater breathing capability.
Cackle Fever	Dungeon Master’s Guide, page 257	Only targeting humanoids (except for gnomes), victims often suffer from fits of mad laughter. The disease can inflict exhaustion and psychic damage to its victim.
Filth Fever	Player’s Handbook, page 277 (can be inflicted through the Contagion spell)	Its victim suffers from a terrible fever; they have a disadvantage on Strength checks, Strength saving throws, and attack rolls using Strength.
Flesh Rot	Player’s Handbook, page 277 (can be inflicted through the Contagion spell)	Its victim’s flesh starts to decay; they gain a disadvantage on Charisma checks as well as vulnerability to all types of damage.
Mad Monkey Fever	Tome of Annihilation, page 40	Originating from the thin, blue, odorless mist that creeps through the jungles of Chult, its victims suffer from long-term madness.
Mindfire	Player’s Handbook, page 277 (can be inflicted through the Contagion spell)	Its victim’s mind suffers from a fever; they gain a disadvantage on Intelligence checks and Intelligence saving throws. Also, its victim behaves as if the Confusion spell was cast on them.
Seizure	Player’s Handbook, page 277 (can be inflicted through the Contagion spell)	Its victim suffers from fits of bodily shaking; they have a disadvantage on Dexterity checks, Dexterity saving throws, and attack rolls using Dexterity.
Sewer Plague	Dungeon Master’s Guide, page 257	Originating from the sewers, stagnant swamps, and other similar sources, a humanoid creature inflicted by this can suffer from exhaustion.
Shivering Sickness	Tome of Annihilation, page 40	Originating from insects living in the jungles and marshes of Chult, its victims can suffer from blurred vision, disorientation, and even lesser HP regained during rests.
Sight Rot	Dungeon Master’s Guide, page 257	Its victim’s eyes start to bleed and eventually blind them; they can suffer from penalties to attack rolls and ability checks that rely on sight.
Slimy Doom	Player’s Handbook, page 277 (can be inflicted through the Contagion spell)	Its victim starts to uncontrollably bleed; they gain a disadvantage on Constitution checks and Constitution saving throws. Furthermore, when they take damage, they become stunned until the end of their next turn.
Throat Leeches	Tome of Annihilation, page 40	Originating from parasitic leeches living in the forests, swamps, and rivers of Chult, its victim can suffer from throat inflammation, shortness of breath, and exhaustion.

Curing a Condition

Condition	Capable creatures in MM	Sample creatures	Capable creatures from other sources
Blinded	28 out of 450	Behir; Demilich; Giant Frog; Shambling Mound	120+
Deafened	5 out of 450	Adult Bronze Dragon; Androsphinx; Deep Gnome; Mummy Lord	24+
Paralyzed	36 out of 450	Beholder; Ghast; Ghoul; Mummy; Spectator	112+
Poisoned	39 out of 450	Chuul; Giant Spider; Night Hag; Sprite	120+

Which Subclasses Can Access Lesser Restoration?

Subclasses that can access Lesser Restoration	Originating Class	Subclass Source	Class Source
The Celestial	Warlock	Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, page 54	Player’s Handbook, page 105
Clockwork Soul	Sorcerer	Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, page 68	Player’s Handbook, page 99
Oath of Devotion	Paladin	Player’s Handbook, page 85	Player’s Handbook, page 82
Divine Soul	Sorcerer	Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, page 50	Player’s Handbook, page 99
Life Domain	Cleric	Player’s Handbook, page 60	Player’s Handbook, page 56

Races that can use Lesser Restoration:

Races that can use Lesser Restoration	Racial feature allowing the ability	Source
Aasimar	Celestial Legacy	Dungeon Master’s Guide, page 286
Halfling (Mark of Healing)	Spells of the Mark (needs to have the Spellcasting or the Pact Magic class feature)	Eberron: Rising from the Last War, page 43