Negative Energy Flood

A
Damage

Negative Energy Flood is a Damage spell. Damage spells focus on dealing harm to enemies.

See all Damage spells →
spell that drenches a foe in necrotic power, and can also grant undead
temporary vitality

Negative Energy Flood is a Healing spell. Healing spells restore hit points and bring characters back to life.

See all Healing spells →
.

2024 Rules

Level & School
5th-level necromancy
Casting Time
Action
Range
60 feet
Components
V, M (a broken bone and a square of black silk)
Duration
Instantaneous
Classes
Warlock, Wizard
Source
Arcana Unleashed

You send ribbons of negative energy at one creature you can see within range. If the target isn't Undead, it makes a Constitution saving throw, taking 3d10 + 25 Necrotic damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful one. A Humanoid killed by this spell rises at the start of your next turn as a Zombie that follows your verbal orders for 24 hours, after which it acts according to its nature.

If the target is Undead, it gains 3d10 Temporary Hit Points.

Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. The damage increases by 1d10 for each spell slot level above 5.

2014 Rules

Level & School
5th-level necromancy
Casting Time
Action
Range
60 feet
Components
V, M (a broken bone and a square of black silk)
Duration
Instantaneous
Classes
Warlock, Wizard
Source
Xanathar's Guide to Everything

You send ribbons of negative energy at one creature you can see within range. Unless the target is undead, it must make a Constitution saving throw, taking 5d12 necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A target killed by this damage rises up as a zombie at the start of your next turn. The zombie pursues whatever creature it can see that is closest to it. Statistics for the zombie are in the Monster Manual.

If you target an undead with this spell, the target doesn't make a saving throw. Instead, roll 5d12. The target gains half the total as temporary hit points.

Negative Energy Flood 5.5e 2024 vs. 5e 2014 edition differences

Non-Undead damage changes from 5d12 to 3d10 + 25. The spell gains +1d10 damage per slot level above 5. A killed Humanoid becomes a Zombie you can command for 24 hours, rather than pursuing the nearest visible creature. Undead gain 3d10 Temporary Hit Points instead of half a 5d12 roll.

How popular is Negative Energy Flood in 5e?

Negative Energy Flood is the #64 most popular level 5 spell (of 71) and the #15 most picked level 5 Warlock spell (of 18).

Among level 5 spells, Negative Energy Flood ranks just below Mordenkainen's Lucubration and just above Temporal Shunt in popularity.

Read about how this popularity data is calculated and see Negative Energy Flood visualized with all 5e spells.

Spells similar to Negative Energy Flood