Necrotic Damage 5e
by Prince Phantom
The box standard “evil” damage type, necrotic damage fills the niche of soul draining, dehydration, life essence theft, transference of life force, and self damaging effects (don’t read into that last one too much. D&D, nor I, endorse or promote self harm in any way). As you might expect from such an evil way of hurting someone, a party of supposedly good adventurers going against a supposedly evil force has a good chance of running up on this damage type. Let’s dive into the numbers and see exactly what we should expect of necrotic damage in a standard campaign. Please keep in mind that these numbers are current as of the writing of this article. WOTC publishes new monsters every time I change my shirt, so use these statistics as an average to base your assumptions on.
Spells that Deal Necrotic Damage
| Spell Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| Cantrip | Chill Touch, Sapping Sting, Toll the Dead |
| 1st | Arms of Hadar, Hex, Inflict Wounds |
| 2nd | Wither and Bloom |
| 3rd | Life Transference, Spirit Guardians, Summon Undead, Vampiric Touch |
| 4th | Blight, Shadow of Moil |
| 5th | Destructive Wave, Enervation, Negative Energy Flood, Summon Draconic Spirit |
| 6th | Circle of Death, Create Undead, Forbiddance, Harm, Summon Fiend |
| 7th | Finger of Death, Symbol |
| 8th | Abi-Dalzim’s Horrid Wilting, Illusory Dragon |
| 9th | Time Ravage |
See Also: Complete Guide to Necrotic Damage Spells
How good is it to deal necrotic damage?
114 printed monsters are resistant, with 80 of those being undead. For context, there are 220 undead.
93 are immune, with 59 of those being undead.
This means that 139/220 undead are resistant or immune.
What do these numbers tell us? Well, for starters, necrotic damage is pretty heavily resisted, but mostly by undead. If you know your campaign will be filled with undead or know you will be fighting some soon, plan to avoid using this damage type. Thankfully, DMs typically make it pretty clear when you’re entering an area populated by undead. Basically if your DM ever lowers their voice, speaks in hushed whispers and points out that you feel a chill go down your spine, put the Blight spell back in the book.
2 monsters are vulnerable, and both from Eberron.
This means we should realistically never expect to deal extra damage by it being necrotic.
24 spells deal necrotic, spread evenly over spell levels. Notably, the vast majority of these spells do not deal good damage for their spell level.
Synergies:
The Death Cleric’s 6th level ability allows it to ignore resistance to necrotic damage, but does nothing for immunity. Beyond this, there are no payoffs for dealing necrotic damage in 5e.
Should we build around necrotic damage?
No. There are some characters that will incidentally do a lot of necrotic damage, namely the Undead Warlock, but there is no reason to purposefully build towards necrotic damage. It is also one of the more resisted damage types. For a spell like Spirit Guardians, where we can choose between necrotic and radiant, radiant is statistically miles better of a choice.
Should we worry about necrotic damage?
Of the Monster Manual and Mordenkainen: Monsters of the Multiverse, 87/713 can deal Necrotic damage, mostly in the mid to high CR range.
This means that on average, we can expect about 10% of monsters to deal necrotic damage. In actual play, I find it is much more feast or famine. If you play in a campaign where you are trying to stop a tyrannical dragon, you may hardly ever face necrotic damage. On the other hand, in an undead or spooky themed campaign like Curse of Strahd, you could be seeing it almost every combat.
How can we gain resistance to necrotic damage?
If you are in a campaign where you expect to see lots of spooky elements, picking an option that grants you resistance to it could be very helpful.
Aasimar, Shadar-ki, and Topaz Dragonborn have innate necrotic resistance.
Bear Totem, Undead Warlock, and Fiend Warlock (optionally) can gain resistance to necrotic damage at or before level 10.
Your best bet to gain resistance to necrotic damage is to pick it up during race selection. Thankfully, all 3 of the races that provide it are great selections, with Shadar-ki being in competition for the best race in 5e besides variant human and custom lineage. There is only one way to obtain immunity to necrotic damage other than transforming into a creature with immunity through a spell like True Polymorph. Undead Warlocks using Form of Dread at or above level 10 are immune to necrotic damage while the form is active.
Finally, let’s dispel a few common misunderstandings about necrotic damage that somehow seem to still get spread around the internet. Necrotic is simply a type of damage, it has no inherent special properties or effects unless its source specifically outlines one. You do not die instantly from being reduced to 0 hp by necrotic damage. You are not turned into an undead by death from necrotic damage. You can heal damage taken from necrotic damage.
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