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Deva 5e: The Angel You Meet in Disguise
A deva is a CR 10 Medium celestial (an angel in the 2024 rules) with AC 17, 136 hit points (229 in 2024), a 90-foot fly speed and a mace that adds 18 radiant damage to every hit. It is the lowest-CR angel in the SRD and the one most likely to walk among mortals: it can take the shape of a humanoid or beast, it reads lies and motives with Insight +9, and it can heal, cure and even raise the dead. Its 2024 version nearly doubles its hit points and turns its healing into a bonus action, which makes it a sturdier enemy and a better ally.
Angelic Weapons.The deva's weapon attacks are magical. When the deva hits with any weapon, the weapon deals an extra 4d8 radiant damage (included in the attack).
Innate Spellcasting.The deva's spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 17). The deva can innately cast the following spells, requiring only verbal components: At will: detect evil and good 1/day each: commune, raise dead
Magic Resistance.The deva has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Actions
Multiattack.The deva makes two melee attacks.
Mace.Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage plus 18 (4d8) radiant damage.
Healing Touch (3/Day).The deva touches another creature. The target magically regains 20 (4d8 + 2) hit points and is freed from any curse, disease, poison, blindness, or deafness.
Change Shape.The deva magically polymorphs into a humanoid or beast that has a challenge rating equal to or less than its own, or back into its true form. It reverts to its true form if it dies. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying is absorbed or borne by the new form (the deva's choice). In a new form, the deva retains its game statistics and ability to speak, but its AC, movement modes, Strength, Dexterity, and special senses are replaced by those of the new form, and it gains any statistics and capabilities (except class features, legendary actions, and lair actions) that the new form has but that it lacks.
Stat block from the SRD 5.1 (2014 rules) by Wizards of the Coast, licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Check an encounter with this monster in the encounter calculator.
The deva's 2014 kit splits into three roles:
•Warrior. Two mace attacks at +8, each dealing 7 bludgeoning plus 18 (4d8) radiant from Angelic Weapons. Its weapon attacks count as magical.
•Healer. Healing Touch (3/day) restores 20 (4d8 + 2) hit points and ends any curse, disease, poison, blindness or deafness on the target. Innately it casts Detect Evil and Good at will, plus Commune and Raise Dead once a day each.
•Spy. Change Shape turns it into a humanoid or beast of CR 10 or lower. It keeps its own mind, hit points and ability to speak, but takes the new form's AC, movement, Strength, Dexterity and senses.
Defenses: resistance to radiant damage and to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical attacks; immunity to charmed, exhaustion and frightened; Magic Resistance; Wis and Cha saves at +9; passive Perception 19.
The Deva in the 2024 Rules
The 2024 deva (SRD 5.2.1) is a Medium Celestial (Angel), still CR 10 and 5,900 XP.
Deva
Medium Celestial (Angel), Lawful Good
Armor Class 17
Initiative +4 (14)
Hit Points 229 (27d8 + 108)
Speed 30 ft., fly 90 ft. (hover)
STR
18 (+4)save +4
DEX
18 (+4)save +4
CON
18 (+4)save +4
INT
17 (+3)save +3
WIS
20 (+5)save +9
CHA
20 (+5)save +9
Skills Insight +9, Perception +9
Resistances radiant
Immunities Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened
Senses Darkvision 120 ft.; Passive Perception 19
Languages All; telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 10 (XP 5,900; PB +4)
Traits
Exalted Restoration.If the deva dies outside Mount Celestia, its body disappears, and it gains a new body instantly, reviving with all its Hit Points somewhere in Mount Celestia.
Magic Resistance.The deva has Advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Actions
Multiattack.The deva makes two Holy Mace attacks.
Holy Mace.Melee Attack Roll: +8, reach 5 ft. Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) Bludgeoning damage plus 18 (4d8) Radiant damage.
Spellcasting.The deva casts one of the following spells, requiring no Material components and using Charisma as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 17):
At Will: Detect Evil and Good, Shapechange (beast or humanoid form only, no temporary hit points gained from the spell, and no concentration or temporary hit points required to maintain the spell)
1/Day Each: Commune, Raise Dead
Bonus Actions
Divine Aid (2/Day).The deva casts Cure Wounds, Lesser Restoration, or Remove Curse, using the same spellcasting ability as Spellcasting.
Stat block from the SRD 5.2.1 (2024 rules) by Wizards of the Coast, licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Check an encounter with this monster in the encounter calculator.
Change Shape action (humanoid or beast, CR 10 or lower)
Shapechange at will (Beast or Humanoid of CR 10 or lower, no Concentration, no Temporary Hit Points)
Resistances
Radiant; nonmagical B/P/S
Radiant only
Death
Normal
Exalted Restoration: reforms on Mount Celestia if killed elsewhere
Fly
90 ft.
90 ft. (hover)
What it means at the table:
•It lasts much longer. 229 hit points at CR 10 makes it one of the toughest creatures at its CR. A party that could burn down a 136-HP 2014 deva in two rounds needs three or four for the 2024 one.
•Healing no longer costs the deva its attacks. Divine Aid is a bonus action. A 2024 deva can swing twice and cast Cure Wounds (2d8 + 5, about 14) on an ally in the same turn. The 2014 Healing Touch heals more (20) but costs the whole action.
•Weapons work fully. The 2024 deva lost its resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical attacks.
•It always comes back. Exalted Restoration means killing a 2024 deva on the Material Plane sends it home to Mount Celestia, where it reforms. Killing one is a statement, not a solution.
How Devas Fight
A deva hits less hard than most CR 10 creatures. Against AC 18, +8 hits on a 10 or better (55%), so two maces average about 27 damage a round (2 × 25 × 0.55). Its strength is that it is hard to kill, hard to fool and hard to escape.
It knows who the threat is. Insight +9, Perception +9, darkvision 120 feet and at-will Detect Evil and Good. A deva sent after a specific person finds them. A deva the party meets as an enemy may already have watched them in another shape.
It fights from above. With a 90-foot fly speed it can stay out of reach of characters without ranged attacks, drop to strike, and lift away. In 2024 it hovers, so knocking it prone doesn't drop it from the sky.
It saves its allies, then itself. A deva fighting alongside mortals spends bonus actions (2024) or actions (2014) to remove blindness, poison and curses from them. As an enemy, have it heal a fallen companion before finishing a downed hero. That choice tells the players what it values.
It is not a fanatic by default. Devas are lawful good. Unless it has been deceived or given a hard order, a deva that sees the party is not evil may stop the fight and talk. Make it hard to fool, though: Insight +9 against a character's Deception is usually a loss for the liar.
Running a Deva Encounter
A deva is 5,900 XP. With the 2024 budget for four characters:
Party (4 characters)
Low / Moderate / High budget
One deva is...
Level 7
3,000 / 5,200 / 6,800
High
Level 8
4,000 / 6,800 / 8,400
Moderate
Level 10
6,400 / 9,200 / 12,400
Low (just under the 6,400 budget)
Under the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (used by our encounter calculator), one deva is Hard for four level 7 characters (4,400 Hard, 6,800 Deadly) and Medium for level 9.
The XP numbers undersell the 2024 deva's staying power and oversell its damage. Expect a long fight with modest damage, not a short deadly one. If you want a real threat at level 10, give it allies: a pair of pegasi as mounts or wingmates, or a mortal paladin it is protecting. The planetar (CR 16) is the next angel up, and the solar (CR 21) sits at the top.
As an ally. A deva makes an excellent temporary NPC companion: it heals, cures and fights, but it has its own orders and won't break its alignment for the party. Its Raise Dead (once a day) is a reward the party has to earn, not a service.
How Players Beat Devas
•Use its weaker saves. Wis and Cha are +9 with Magic Resistance. Its Int +3 and Str/Dex/Con +4 are the softer targets, but Magic Resistance still gives Advantage. Attack-roll spells and weapon attacks are more reliable.
•Avoid radiant damage. It resists radiant in both editions, so Spirit Guardians and Guiding Bolt do half. Bring necrotic, force, fire, cold or lightning.
•Don't try fear or charm. It is immune to charmed, frightened and exhaustion. Hold Person can't target it (it's a Celestial), even when it looks like a humanoid: 2014 Change Shape keeps its game statistics, and 2024 Shapechange keeps its creature type.
•Send it home.Dispel Evil and Good covers celestials: Disadvantage on its attacks, and Dismissal returns it to its home plane on a failed Cha save. With +9 and Advantage, that save is hard to fail.
•Talk. The deva is lawful good. A party that can show it has been misled (with evidence, not Deception rolls) has a real way to end the fight.
Deva Encounter Ideas
The beggar at the gate. For three sessions, a quiet old beggar has been sitting outside the city gate. The party gave him coins, or didn't. He is a deva in Change Shape, sent to judge whether a member of the party should be trusted with a holy relic. How the party treated a stranger decides how the deva treats them.
The wrong target. A deva hunts a party member whose patron is a fiend. It has a lawful order, a 90-foot fly speed and 229 hit points, and losing one fight won't end the hunt. The party can't easily kill it, and killing it wouldn't keep it away. They need to find out who gave the order, and why.
The last raise. A beloved NPC dies. The party learns that a deva guards a mountain shrine and can raise the dead once a day. The deva agrees to help, but only after the party completes a task, and it uses Commune to check that they did it honestly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What CR is a deva in 5e?
A deva is CR 10 (5,900 XP) in both the 2014 and 2024 rules.
Can a deva heal?
Yes. The 2014 deva's Healing Touch (3/day) restores 20 hit points and ends curses, diseases, poison, blindness and deafness. The 2024 deva's Divine Aid (2/day, bonus action) casts Cure Wounds, Lesser Restoration or Remove Curse. Both can cast Raise Dead once a day.
Can a deva change shape?
Yes. The 2014 deva's Change Shape turns it into a humanoid or beast of CR 10 or lower. The 2024 deva casts Shapechange at will, limited to Beast or Humanoid forms of CR 10 or lower, with no Concentration needed. It takes the form's stat block but keeps its own hit points, creature type and mental scores.
Is a deva an angel?
In the 2024 rules, yes: it is a Medium Celestial (Angel). The 2014 SRD groups it under Angels with the planetar and solar, but its type line is just "Medium celestial" with no subtype.
What is the difference between a deva and a solar?
The deva (CR 10, Medium) is the lowest-CR SRD angel, a messenger and agent with a mace. The solar (CR 21, Large) is the highest, with legendary actions, a slaying bow and a flying sword. A deva can be a mid-level ally or obstacle; a solar is an endgame event.
Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.
This page includes material from the System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Loreify is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.