Sacred Flame is an evocation cantrip for Clerics. Pick a creature you can see within 60 feet. It makes a Dexterity saving throw or takes 1d8 radiant damage, and it gets no bonus to that save from cover. A successful save means no damage. The damage rises to 2d8 at 5th level, 3d8 at 11th, and 4d8 at 17th.
Sacred Flame is the Cleric's ranged damage cantrip. It costs no spell slot, needs only verbal and somatic components, and reaches 60 feet. The target rolls a Dexterity save instead of you rolling to hit, so its AC does not matter.
Two things set it apart: the target gets no help from cover on the save, and radiant damage is almost never resisted. Of the 334 creature stat blocks in the 2014 SRD, none is immune to radiant damage, only four resist it (the couatl, deva, planetar, and solar), and the shadow is vulnerable to it.
The cost: a d8 is small, a successful save deals nothing, and nimble creatures pass often. Aim it at slow, armored, or entrenched enemies.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Level | 0 |
| School | Evocation |
| Casting Time | 1 action |
| Range | 60 feet |
| Components | V, S |
| Material | None |
| Duration | Instantaneous |
| Concentration | No |
| Ritual | No |
| Save/Attack | DEX |
| Classes | Cleric |
| Metric | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Slot Efficiency | No slot. You can cast it every round. |
| Action Economy | One action. It fits on the same turn as a bonus-action spell such as Healing Word in both editions (see Tip #4). |
| Opportunity Cost | Your action. The comparison is with a weapon attack, Dodge, Help, or a leveled spell. |
When worth the action: Low Dexterity saves, enemies behind cover, and undead that would otherwise get back up.
When NOT worth the action: Agile enemies, or any turn where a leveled spell changes the fight.
The expected column assumes a 60% chance the target fails (DC 15 against a +2 save).
| Character level | Damage | Average on a failed save | Expected per cast at 60% fail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–4 | 1d8 | 4.5 | 2.7 |
| 5–10 | 2d8 | 9 | 5.4 |
| 11–16 | 3d8 | 13.5 | 8.1 |
| 17–20 | 4d8 | 18 | 10.8 |
The same 5th-level caster (+7 to hit, DC 15) against a target with AC 15 and a +2 save. Attack figures include critical hits on a natural 20.
| Cantrip | Damage at 5th level | Chance to deal damage | Expected damage per cast |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sacred Flame | 2d8 radiant | 60% | 5.4 |
| Fire Bolt | 2d10 fire | 65% | 7.7 |
| Chill Touch (2014) | 2d8 necrotic | 65% | 6.3 |
| Acid Splash, one target | 2d6 acid | 60% | 4.2 |
Sacred Flame trails Fire Bolt on paper. It closes the gap when the target has cover, or high AC with a low Dexterity save, which describes most heavily armored enemies.
Why it works: Heavy armor raises AC but not Dexterity saves. A knight in plate has AC 18 but a +0 Dexterity save. Against DC 15 it fails 70% of the time, while a +7 attack cantrip hits it only 50% of the time.
This avoids the mistake of: Firing attack rolls into the highest AC on the battlefield.
Why it works: Half cover gives +2 to AC and Dexterity saves, and three-quarters cover gives +5. Sacred Flame denies the save bonus. A 2014 goblin (AC 15, Dexterity save +2) behind three-quarters cover has AC 20 against a +7 Fire Bolt, which hits only 40% of the time. Its Sacred Flame save still fails 60% of the time.
This avoids the mistake of: Trading shots with archers at arrow slits on their terms.
Why it works: A zombie's Undead Fortitude can leave it at 1 hit point after damage that would drop it, unless the damage is radiant or from a critical hit. Sacred Flame is radiant, so the zombie stays down.
This avoids the mistake of: Watching the fighter's killing blow fail and the zombie stand back up.
Why it works: The 2014 rules allow a 1-action cantrip after a bonus-action spell. The 2024 rules allow one spell slot per turn, and Sacred Flame uses none. So Healing Word plus Sacred Flame is legal in both, as is a Spiritual Weapon attack on a later turn plus Sacred Flame.
This avoids the mistake of: Following a bonus-action spell with a leveled spell, which both editions forbid.
Why it's bad: Sacred Flame never uses an attack roll. The target makes a Dexterity save against your spell save DC. It can't crit, and AC doesn't matter.
Do this instead: Announce the save DC and let the DM roll.
Why it's bad: The spell has no half-damage clause. A successful save means the target takes nothing.
Do this instead: Treat it as all-or-nothing and pick targets that are likely to fail.
The 2024 Player's Handbook keeps Sacred Flame as an evocation cantrip on the Cleric list. Range, components, damage, and scaling are the same: 1d8 radiant, rising at levels 5, 11, and 17.
One line changed. The 2014 text says the target gains no benefit from cover for the save. The 2024 text says it gains no benefit from Half Cover or Three-Quarters Cover. Total Cover already blocks targeting in both editions, so this is a clarification rather than a nerf.
Access widened. A 2024 Cleric who picks the Thaumaturge Divine Order learns one extra Cleric cantrip. Paladins who take the Blessed Warrior fighting style at level 2 learn two Cleric cantrips, using Charisma. The Magic Initiate (Cleric) origin feat, which the Acolyte background grants, gives any character two Cleric cantrips. At Cleric level 7, the Potent Spellcasting option of Blessed Strikes adds your Wisdom modifier to the damage. At level 14 it also lets you grant temporary hit points equal to twice your Wisdom modifier, to yourself or a creature within 60 feet, when the cantrip deals damage.
1d8 radiant (4.5 on average) on a failed Dexterity save, rising to 2d8 at 5th level, 3d8 at 11th, and 4d8 at 17th. A successful save takes no damage.
It ignores the save bonus from half and three-quarters cover. A creature behind total cover still can't be targeted.
No. The target makes a Dexterity save against your spell save DC, so it can't crit and ignores AC.
Yes. Undead take radiant damage normally, and the shadow is vulnerable to it in both editions. Radiant damage also stops a zombie's Undead Fortitude from keeping it at 1 hit point.
No. The spell targets a creature you can see. Neither edition's text mentions objects.
Yes. You must see the target and have a clear path to it. Whether a closed glass window blocks that path isn't covered by the text, so it is a DM ruling, not rules text.
It is the only damage cantrip on the SRD Cleric list in either edition. It averages less than Fire Bolt but ignores AC and cover, and radiant is almost never resisted. It is weak against quick creatures and Magic Resistance.
In the 2014 SRD, Clerics. In the 2024 rules, Clerics, Paladins who take Blessed Warrior, and anyone with the Magic Initiate (Cleric) feat. Among monsters, the 2014 SRD acolyte, priest, cult fanatic, guardian naga, androsphinx, and mummy lord stat blocks cast it.
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.
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.
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