Lesser Restoration 5e D&D Guide

Having the ability to instantly cure any number of debilitating effects in the middle of combat is exactly what Lesser Restoration is designed for. It is a single-action spell that can get allies back into the fight instantly.

The rules for Lesser Restoration can be found in the Players Handbook on page 255.

Lesser Restoration 5e

2nd-level Abjuration

Casting Time: 1 Action

Range: Touch

Components: V, S

Duration: Instantaneous

You touch a creature and can end either one disease or one condition afflicting it. The condition can be blinded, deafened, paralyzed, or poisoned.

The rules for the Lesser Restoration clearly define its purpose. The spell can instantly remove a disease or condition affecting one creature. This is a niche circumstance but often of great significance, especially in the middle of a dangerous conflict.

What Does Lesser Restoration Do?

Lesser Restoration can instantly end one disease or one condition affecting a creature.

The spell description provides a list of what conditions are affected: Blinded, deafened, paralyzed, or poisoned are conditions that can be removed.

Anything outside of these conditions or diseases is unaffected and would require a stronger restoration spell to remove.

Can Lesser Restoration Cure Curses?

Lesser Restoration does not remove or cure curses, only conditions. The idea is that it can be brought over from previous editions.

The Lesser Restoration spell has reduced functionality in 5e. It may be able to provide temporary relief from a condition that is caused by a curse. This would be a DMs decision.

Lesser Restoration doesn’t prevent the condition from taking hold again via additional casting. Advanced magic such as Remove Curse and Greater Restoration are required for dealing with more advanced conditions.

Having Lesser Restoration in the prepared spell column can seem like such a waste for the majority of encounters.

The conditions listed usually seem few and far between, but they can literally be a lifesaver. The conditions either make hitting the enemy significantly harder or make it easier for the enemy to hit you or your companions.

Can You Use Lesser Restoration on Yourself?

If you are affected by one of the conditions Lesser Restoration can remove, you can use the spell on yourself.

The spell doesn’t require sight, so even if you are blinded, you can still use it. The only way you would not be able to benefit from the spell is if you are unable to cast spells at all.

Lesser Restoration is available pretty early on for casters. That does not mean the service isn’t available sooner from NPCs.

Spells like Lesser Restoration are great for temples to provide since the spell is not available to everyone and is unlikely to be prepared daily. It should be relatively cheap (for adventurers) as an available service.

Lesser Restoration, Greater Restoration, and Remove Curse

The Lesser Restoration spell is the first opportunity casters have to cure afflictions. As described previously, the list of afflictions covered by Lesser Restoration is small.

It can be cast quickly to remove impairments that most frequently occur in the heat of battle as the negative effects of spells and attacks.

If the afflictions are longer lasting or more severe, chances are more powerful magic would need to be used to remove those ailments. This opens the need for spells such as Greater Restoration and Remove Curse.

Remove Curse is a specialized spell that functions exactly as the name implies. Available at 3^rdlevel, the impact it can have is significant.

It allows the caster to break a curse, allowing a character to remove a cursed item they are attuned to. It also allows the caster to remove all curses affecting a creature.

Greater Restoration is available at the 5^th level. Through positive energy, you can undo a debilitating effect.

Greater Restoration can cure a point of exhaustion, petrification, charm, and break attunement to cursed items, along with removing one Curse.

You can also repair damage to ability scores and hit point totals. As the spell increases, so does the cost; to cast Greater Restoration, you need 100GP of diamond dust for each casting.

Lesser Restoration 5e FAQs

Can Lesser Restoration Cure Sleep in 5e?

There are two aspects to this question, 1. Can Lesser Restoration cure the Sleep spell? and 2. Can Lesser Restoration make it so that you don’t have to sleep?

Firstly, reading the description of Lesser Restoration, it’s made apparent that it can cure one disease or one condition (if the condition is Blinded, Deafened, Paralyzed, or Poisoned).

The effect Sleep creates is considered a charm, not a disease or condition, which means it cannot be cured with Lesser Restoration.

Secondly, if Lesser Restoration is tweaked a bit, it could immediately remove the fatigued condition from a lack of sleep, but it wouldn’t reset the time you’ve gone without sleep, so you’re body could suffer from certain effects.

While this isn’t stated directly if the spell is tweaked a bit by your DM, a reasonable advantage and disadvantage could be figured out, but if we only use the vanilla Lesser Restoration, lack of sleep wouldn’t be able to be cured by the spell.

Can Lesser Restoration Regrow Limbs in 5e?

The description of Lesser Restoration states, “You touch a creature and can end either one disease or one condition afflicting it.” 

Unfortunately, losing a limb is neither a condition nor a disease, and nowhere in the spell does it state the ability to regenerate any physical members.

A good spell for restoring body parts would be Regenerate, but I wouldn’t worry too much; dismemberment doesn’t occur often, and it’s not even applied in many campaigns.

Final Thoughts

The Lesser Restoration spell serves the purpose when there is a need. Depending on the circumstance, the spell is a must-have or a never-need type spell. This makes it hard to determine how important or good it actually is.

If it is possible to prepare the spell without major sacrifices, such as at higher levels, it probably isn’t a horrible idea. At low levels, the effects suffered are more debilitating, but spell slots are also significantly more restricted.