Find Familiar — Complete D&D 5e Spell Guide

Table of Contents

• •Quick Answer
• •Overview
• •Stat Block
• •Familiar Forms
• •When NOT to Use This
• •Spell Slot Efficiency
• •Pro Tips
• •Common Mistakes to Avoid
• •Usage Tips
• •Rules Notes
• •Synergies
• •Anti-Patterns
• •Tactical Modules
• •Countermeasures
• •Find Familiar in the 2024 Rules
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Quick Answer

Find Familiar is a 1st-level conjuration ritual on the Wizard list. It takes 1 hour and 10 gp of burned charcoal, incense, and herbs, and gives you a spirit in a small animal form such as an owl, cat, or raven. The familiar can't attack, but it can scout, talk to you telepathically within 100 feet, take the Help action, and deliver your touch-range spells using its reaction. Warlocks with Pact of the Chain get it free and can pick an imp, pseudodragon, quasit, or sprite.

Overview

A familiar is a spirit in animal form. It uses the stat block of the animal you pick, but its creature type is celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice) instead of beast. It rolls its own initiative, takes its own turns, and obeys your commands.

The duration is instantaneous, so the familiar stays until it drops to 0 hit points or you dismiss it forever. As a ritual it costs no slot, only 10 extra minutes and the 10 gp of materials, which you pay again every time the familiar dies and you bring it back.

It has three jobs: a scout you can see and hear through, a free Help action every round, and a delivery system that lets a wizard land Shocking Grasp from up to 100 feet away.

Stat Block

Warlocks gain it through Pact of the Chain rather than from their class spell list.

Familiar Forms

The 2014 spell lists exactly 15 forms. The 2024 spell names 11 animals and then adds "or another Beast that has a Challenge Rating of 0," which opens the list to every CR 0 beast in the 2024 rules. Stats below are from the SRD stat blocks.

Other CR 0 beasts that the 2024 wording allows include the eagle, scorpion, and giant fire beetle. In 2014 those are not legal forms.

Pact of the Chain forms

Pact of the Chain adds special forms with real combat stat blocks:

When NOT to Use This

• •You want a combat pet that deals damage. Outside Pact of the Chain, a familiar can't attack.
• •The party is in the middle of a fight. The casting time is 1 hour, so this is a downtime spell.
• •You can't afford to replace it. Every cast consumes 10 gp of materials, and most forms die to a single hit.

Spell Slot Efficiency

When worth casting: Always, for a wizard. Recast it after every death once you have a quiet hour.

Upcasting

Find Familiar has no higher-level effect in either edition, so always cast it as a ritual.

Pro Tips

Tip #1: Use the Help action every round.

Why it works: The familiar can't attack, but it can take the Help action against an enemy within 5 feet of it. The next ally to attack that enemy before the familiar's next turn has advantage.

This avoids the mistake of: Leaving the familiar on your shoulder for the whole fight.

Tip #2: Pick the owl for Help.

Why it works: The owl has Flyby. It flies in, takes the Help action, and flies back out on the same turn without provoking opportunity attacks. A hawk or raven can do the same move, but it risks an opportunity attack when it leaves.

This avoids the mistake of: Losing a familiar to a free swing every round.

Tip #3: Deliver touch spells from a distance.

Why it works: A familiar within 100 feet of you can deliver a touch spell with its reaction, so you stay in the back line (worked example below).

This avoids the mistake of: Walking a 6-hit-point wizard into melee to cast Shocking Grasp.

Tip #4: Dismiss it before area damage lands.

Why it works: As an action, you can send the familiar to a pocket dimension, then call it back to a space within 30 feet of you with another action. A dismissed familiar can't be hit by the dragon's breath you see coming.

This avoids the mistake of: Spending another hour and 10 gp after every fight.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Having the familiar attack

Why it's bad: The spell says, "A familiar can't attack, but it can take other actions as normal." The owl's talons and the cat's claws are in its stat block, but the spell overrides them.

Do this instead: Help, Dash, Disengage, Dodge, Hide, Search, or Use an Object. Pact of the Chain warlocks are the exception (see below).

Delivering spells whose range isn't touch

Why it's bad: The delivery rule covers spells with a range of touch. Vampiric Touch has a range of self, so it doesn't qualify. Chill Touch has a range of 120 feet in 2014 (it became a touch cantrip in 2024, so a 2024 familiar can deliver it).

Do this instead: Check the Range line. Mage Armor, Shocking Grasp, Invisibility, and Bestow Curse are touch spells in the SRD.

Forgetting you go blind while you look through its eyes

Why it's bad: In 2014, seeing through the familiar's eyes takes your action and lasts until the start of your next turn. During that time you are deaf and blind with regard to your own senses.

Do this instead: Scout through the familiar before combat starts, not while enemies are next to you.

Trying to keep two

Why it's bad: You can't have more than one familiar at a time. Casting the spell again while you have one changes its form instead.

Do this instead: Recast to switch forms, such as an octopus for an underwater dungeon and an owl afterward.

Usage Tips

• •Worked example (Help): A fighter with +7 to hit attacks a creature with AC 15. They need an 8 or higher, so they hit 65% of the time. With advantage from the owl's Help action, they miss only if both dice are 7 or lower: 0.35 × 0.35 = 12.25%. The hit chance rises to 87.75%.
• •Worked example (touch delivery): A wizard casts Shocking Grasp while the familiar, 40 feet away, is next to the enemy. The familiar uses its reaction to deliver it, and the wizard rolls the spell attack with their own attack modifier (2014 text). On a hit the target can't take reactions until the start of its next turn.
• •Scouting: An owl has darkvision out to 120 feet and flies 60 feet. Send it ahead and look through its eyes before the party commits.
• •Related summons: Conjure Animals for animals that do fight, Animal Messenger for one-way delivery, and Speak with Animals for talking to wild beasts. Browse the spell guide index.

Rules Notes

• •The familiar appears in an unoccupied space within 10 feet and uses the chosen form's stats, but its type is celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice).
• •It obeys your commands, rolls its own initiative, and can't attack.
• •Telepathy and touch delivery both need it within 100 feet of you. Delivery uses its reaction.
• •Seeing and hearing through it lasts until the start of your next turn (an action in 2014, a Bonus Action in 2024).
• •Dismissing it to the pocket dimension, or calling it back to a space within 30 feet of you, each take an action.
• •At 0 hit points it disappears (in 2014 it leaves no body) until you cast the spell again.

Synergies

• •Rogues and Sneak Attack: Help gives advantage, which turns on Sneak Attack for a rogue who has no ally next to the target.
• •Paladins and heavy hitters: Advantage roughly doubles the chance of a critical hit, from 5% to 9.75%, which matters most with Divine Smite dice.
• •Touch buffs before a fight: Have the familiar carry Invisibility or Mage Armor to an ally who is out of reach. You still need the familiar within 100 feet of you.
• •Pact of the Chain + Voice of the Chain Master (2014 invocation): You can communicate telepathically with the familiar and perceive through its senses anywhere on the same plane, not just within 100 feet, and speak through it while you do.

Anti-Patterns

• •Parking the familiar next to an enemy after it Helps, with no Flyby to get out.
• •Planning to recast it mid-fight. It takes an hour (Pact of the Chain in 2024 is the exception).

Tactical Modules

• •Door check: Send the cat or rat under a door or through a gap and look through its eyes before the party opens it.
• •Long-range healer (2024): A cleric with the Magic Initiate (Wizard) feat can take Find Familiar, or a druid can use Wild Companion. Either familiar can then deliver Cure Wounds to an ally up to 100 feet away.

Countermeasures

• •Threat: Area damage kills the familiar. Response: Dismiss it to the pocket dimension (Tip #4). Fallback: Recast it during the next rest.
• •Threat: Enemies target the familiar to stop the Help action. Response: Use Flyby or keep it behind cover. Fallback: Switch to a form with better AC, such as the hawk (AC 13).
• •Threat: Magical darkness blocks scouting. Response: A Pact of the Chain imp sees through magical darkness in both editions. Fallback: A bat's blindsight works without light.

Find Familiar in the 2024 Rules

The 2024 version is still a level 1 conjuration ritual for Wizards with a 1-hour casting time. What changed:

• •Forms: The list is Bat, Cat, Frog, Hawk, Lizard, Octopus, Owl, Rat, Raven, Spider, Weasel, "or another Beast that has a Challenge Rating of 0." Crab, eagle, scorpion, and the other CR 0 beasts qualify. The poisonous snake is gone, because the Venomous Snake is CR 1/8.
• •Material: Burning incense worth 10+ GP, which the spell consumes.
• •Seeing through its eyes: Now a Bonus Action instead of an action. The text no longer says you are blind and deaf to your own senses while you do it.
• •Touch delivery: The familiar takes a Reaction to "deliver the touch." The sentence about using your attack modifier is gone; you are still the caster, so using your own spell attack bonus is the natural reading (DM ruling, not rules text).
• •Dismissing and calling it back are each a Magic action.
• •Gear: At 0 Hit Points or when dismissed to the pocket dimension, it drops anything it was wearing or carrying.
• •Combat: It is now explicitly an ally to you and your allies. It still can't attack.

Pact of the Chain is now an Eldritch Invocation. You learn Find Familiar and can cast it as a Magic action without a spell slot, so you can replace a dead familiar mid-fight (the feature doesn't waive the incense). The special forms are Imp, Pseudodragon, Quasit, Skeleton, Sphinx of Wonder, Sprite, and Venomous Snake, and you can still give up one of your attacks so the familiar attacks with its Reaction. The Investment of the Chain Master invocation (level 5+ warlock) adds a 40-foot fly or swim speed, a Bonus Action command to take the Attack action, the option to swap its bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage to necrotic or radiant, your spell save DC for any saving throw it forces, and a Reaction to give it resistance to damage it takes.

Druids also get access in 2024. Wild Companion (druid level 2) lets them spend a spell slot or a use of Wild Shape to cast Find Familiar as a Magic action without material components. That familiar is Fey and disappears when the druid finishes a Long Rest.

Some familiar actions force a saving throw instead of making an attack roll: the quasit's Scare in both editions, and the 2024 pseudodragon's Sting (DC 12 Constitution). The spell only says a familiar "can't attack," so a strict reading lets it use those on its own turn. Whether to allow it is a DM ruling, not rules text, so settle it at the table before it comes up. Our pseudodragon guide walks through the Sting case.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Find Familiar do in 5e?

It gives you a spirit in the form of a small animal that scouts, talks to you telepathically within 100 feet, takes actions like Help, and delivers your touch spells with its reaction. It can't attack, and it stays until it drops to 0 hit points or you dismiss it forever.

Can a familiar attack in 5e?

Not on its own. The spell says a familiar can't attack. A Pact of the Chain warlock can give up one of their own attacks during the Attack action to let the familiar attack with its reaction.

What forms can a familiar take?

In 2014: bat, cat, crab, frog, hawk, lizard, octopus, owl, poisonous snake, quipper, rat, raven, sea horse, spider, or weasel. In 2024: bat, cat, frog, hawk, lizard, octopus, owl, rat, raven, spider, weasel, or any other CR 0 beast. Pact of the Chain adds the imp, pseudodragon, quasit, and sprite, plus the skeleton, sphinx of wonder, and venomous snake in 2024.

Can my familiar deliver touch spells?

Yes, if the spell's range is touch and the familiar is within 100 feet of you. It uses its reaction, and in 2014 you use your own attack modifier for any attack roll. Spells with a range of self, like Vampiric Touch, don't qualify.

What happens when my familiar dies?

It disappears. Casting the spell again (1 hour and another 10 gp) brings it back. In 2024, anything it was carrying drops in its space.

Can a familiar use the Help action?

Yes. Help isn't an attack. The next ally to attack that enemy before the familiar's next turn has advantage, and an owl can Help and fly away without provoking opportunity attacks.

Is Find Familiar a ritual?

Yes. Wizards can cast it as a ritual, which adds 10 minutes and uses no spell slot. Pact of the Chain warlocks can also cast it as a ritual in 2014. In 2024 they cast it as a Magic action without a slot.

Can I have more than one familiar?

No. Casting the spell while you have one changes its form instead, which is how you switch from an owl to an octopus for an underwater adventure.

Citations: SRD 5.1 (2014 rules), SRD 5.2.1 (2024 rules)

Includes material from the System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, licensed under CC BY 4.0.