Revivify is a 3rd-level necromancy spell. You touch a creature that died within the last minute, and it returns to life with 1 hit point. It costs an action and consumes diamonds worth 300 gp. It cannot revive a creature that died of old age, and it does not restore missing body parts.
Revivify is a 3rd-level necromancy spell that undoes a death if you reach the body within 1 minute. In combat, 1 minute is 10 rounds. Clerics get it at 5th level and Paladins at 9th. In the 2024 rules, Druids and Rangers can cast it too.
It is the cheapest and fastest way to bring a character back in 5e. Raise Dead takes an hour and a 500 gp diamond. Revivify takes one action and a 300 gp diamond, with no lingering penalty. The two limits are the clock and the component. If the party has no diamond, the spell cannot be cast. If more than a minute passes, Revivify is no longer an option.
Every party with access to it should keep a diamond in reserve. It is the spell that turns a character death into a bad round instead of the end of a character.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Level | 3 |
| School | Necromancy |
| Casting Time | 1 action |
| Range | Touch |
| Components | V, S, M |
| Material | Diamonds worth 300 gp, which the spell consumes. |
| Duration | Instantaneous |
| Concentration | No |
| Ritual | No |
| Save/Attack | None |
| Classes | Cleric, Paladin |
| Metric | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Slot Efficiency | Excellent. One 3rd-level slot undoes a character death. |
| Action Economy | One action, at touch range, within a 10-round window. |
| Opportunity Cost | The 300 gp diamond is the real cost. Without it, the slot is useless. |
When worth the slot: Any time an ally dies and you can reach them within a minute.
When NOT worth the slot: When the ally is only unconscious, or when you can wait until after the fight and still be inside the minute.
Why it works: The 300 gp diamond has a cost, so a component pouch or holy symbol cannot replace it. The spell consumes it on casting.
This avoids the mistake of: Preparing Revivify and then discovering the party has no diamond.
Why it works: 1 minute is 10 rounds of combat. If an ally dies on round 2, you have until round 12 to cast it. That often leaves time to finish the fight first.
This avoids the mistake of: Running into danger to revive someone the moment they fall.
Why it works: A creature dies when it fails three death saving throws, or instantly from massive damage. Until then it is unconscious at 0 hit points and a 1st-level heal brings it back up.
This avoids the mistake of: Spending a 3rd-level slot and a diamond on someone who only needed Healing Word.
Why it works: The creature comes back with 1 hit point and is usually still prone from when it fell. Any damage drops it again.
This avoids the mistake of: Reviving an ally right in the line of fire with no follow-up.
Why it's bad: In the 2014 rules, if you cast a spell as a bonus action, the only other spell you can cast that turn is a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action. In the 2024 rules, you can expend only one spell slot per turn. Either way, a leveled Healing Word cannot follow Revivify on the same turn.
Do this instead: Revive on your turn and let an ally heal or shield the target on theirs.
Why it's bad: Material components with a listed cost must be provided. A focus or pouch only replaces components that have no cost.
Do this instead: Carry at least one diamond worth 300 gp. Whether a shop sells them is up to your DM.
Why it's bad: The 2014 text only returns the creature to life with 1 hit point. It says nothing about curing poison or disease, unlike Raise Dead. It also cannot restore missing body parts.
Do this instead: Plan to cast Lesser Restoration or Remove Curse after the revival if the cause of death is still affecting the body. How such effects carry over in 2014 is a DM call.
The spell text is almost the same. The target must have died within the last minute and returns with 1 hit point. The component is now a diamond worth 300+ GP, which the spell consumes. The class list grows: Clerics, Druids, Paladins, and Rangers can all cast it. Druids reach 3rd-level spells at character level 5, and Paladins and Rangers at level 9.
The 2024 rules glossary adds general rules for coming back from the dead. When a revival spell is cast, the dead creature's spirit knows who is casting it and can refuse. A revived creature keeps any conditions, magical contagions, or curses that affected it at death if their durations are still running. It returns with one fewer level of Exhaustion, and it loses attunement to any magic items.
| Revivify | Raise Dead | |
|---|---|---|
| Level | 3rd | 5th |
| Casting time | 1 action | 1 hour |
| Time limit | Died within 1 minute | Dead no longer than 10 days |
| Component | 300 gp of diamonds, consumed | 500 gp diamond, consumed |
| Penalty | None | −4 to attacks, saves, and checks, reduced by 1 per long rest |
| Extra effects | None | Neutralizes poisons and cures nonmagical diseases |
Revivify is the in-combat answer. Raise Dead is the answer when you could not reach the body in time.
You use an action to touch a creature that died within the last minute. It returns to life with 1 hit point, and the spell consumes diamonds worth 300 gp. It cannot help a creature that died of old age or replace missing body parts.
One minute from the moment the creature died. In combat that is 10 rounds. The clock starts at death, not when the creature dropped to 0 hit points.
No. A creature at 0 hit points that is making death saves is still alive, so Revivify has no dead target. Any healing, even 1 hit point, brings it back up, and Spare the Dying stabilizes it.
Yes. A creature killed outright by massive damage is dead like any other, so Revivify works if you cast it within the minute and the body is still there. It does not work on a creature turned to dust by Disintegrate.
Yes. The 2014 spell needs diamonds worth 300 gp and the 2024 spell needs a diamond worth 300 or more GP. The spell consumes it, and a component pouch or spellcasting focus cannot replace a component with a cost.
You can cast it with a higher-level slot, but nothing improves. The target still returns with 1 hit point.
Yes. It is on the paladin spell list in both 2014 and 2024, and paladins can cast 3rd-level spells from 9th level. Clerics get it at 5th level. In 2024, Druids and Rangers also have it.
The 2014 Revivify text has no rule for refusal, so that is up to the DM. The 2024 rules say the spirit of a dead creature knows who is casting a revival spell and can refuse.
Citations: api:spells/revivify; SRD 5.1; SRD 5.2.1
Includes SRD content per CC BY 4.0. Sources: dnd5eapi.co, System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1.
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