Enervation
2014 Rules
- Level & School
- 5th-level necromancy
- Casting Time
- Action
- Range
- 60 feet
- Components
- V, S
- Duration
- Concentration, 1 minute
- Classes
- Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard
- Source
- Xanathar's Guide to Everything
A tendril of inky darkness reaches out from you, touching a creature you can see within range to drain life from it. The target must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a successful save, the target takes 2d8 necrotic damage, and the spell ends. On a failed save, the target takes 4d8 necrotic damage, and until the spell ends, you can use your action on each of your turns to automatically deal 4d8 necrotic damage to the target. The spell ends if you use your action to do anything else, if the target is ever outside the spell's range, or if the target has total cover from you.
Whenever the spell deals damage to a target, you regain hit points equal to half the amount of necrotic damage the target takes.
Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 6th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 5th.
Enervation 5.5e 2024 vs. 5e 2014 edition differences
Enervation is currently only available in the 2014 edition.
Enervation popularity
How popular is Enervation? It is one of the rarest spells in the game, and it is almost never chosen when available. This spell is virtually unheard of in most campaigns, but you can change that.
- Bottom 10% of all level 5 spells
- Bottom 10% of all 5e spells
- Bottom 10% picked level 5 Warlock spell
- Bottom 10% picked level 5 Sorcerer spell
- Bottom 10% picked level 5 Wizard spell
Read about how this popularity data is calculated.
Spells similar to Enervation
Hex 1st-level enchantment
Both let a caster sustain extra necrotic damage against a selected target for an extended period, especially on the warlock list.
Players prefer Hex over Enervation
Blight 4th-level necromancy
A failed saving throw against either spell inflicts substantial single-target necrotic damage, with overlapping sorcerer, warlock, and wizard access.
Players prefer Blight over Enervation
Vampiric Touch 3rd-level necromancy
It is a concentration-based necrotic attack that can be repeated each round and restores your hit points from the damage dealt.
Players prefer Vampiric Touch over Enervation
Witch Bolt 1st-level evocation
The spell locks onto one target and rewards spending subsequent actions to maintain a continuous stream of damage.
Players prefer Witch Bolt over Enervation
Immolation 5th-level evocation
Both are 5th-level concentration spells for damaging one distant creature over several turns after an initial saving throw.
Players prefer Immolation over Enervation
Negative Energy Flood 5th-level necromancy
This shares the necrotic damage theme, healing benefit, 5th-level slot, and warlock-wizard class overlap.
Players prefer Negative Energy Flood over Enervation