True Strike — Complete D&D 5e Spell Guide

Table of Contents

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

Quick Answer

True Strike is a divination cantrip for Bards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards, and the two editions are different spells. In the 2014 rules you spend your action pointing at a creature within 30 feet, concentrate for 1 round, and get advantage on your first attack roll against it on your next turn. In the 2024 rules you make one attack with a weapon you're proficient with, using your spellcasting ability for the attack and damage, and you can make the damage radiant. The 2024 version adds 1d6 radiant at level 5, 2d6 at 11, and 3d6 at 17.

Overview

The 2014 True Strike costs your whole action this turn to improve one attack next turn. Two normal attacks always produce more expected hits than one attack with advantage, so the 2014 version is a cantrip you can skip. The proof is in Usage Tips.

The 2024 Player's Handbook rebuilt it as an action that makes a weapon attack powered by Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma. A wizard with a mace or a bard with a dagger now attacks with their best ability score, and can switch the damage to radiant against creatures like shadows. Check which edition your table uses before you pick it.

Stat Block

This table is the 2014 SRD version. The 2024 version has Range Self, Components S, M (a weapon you're proficient with that is worth at least 1 cp), Duration Instantaneous, no concentration, and makes a weapon attack.

When NOT to Use This

• •2014: Whenever you could attack or cast a damage cantrip instead, or while you're concentrating on another spell (casting it ends that spell).
• •2024: When you have Extra Attack or the Thirsting Blade invocation. True Strike is a Magic action, so you get one attack instead of two.
• •2024: When the target is out of reach and your only weapon is a melee one.

Spell Slot Efficiency

When worth it (2024): A caster who wants a melee option, radiant damage, or a weapon attack that uses their casting stat.

Cantrip Damage (2024)

The 2024 version adds radiant dice at levels 5, 11, and 17. This table assumes a mace (1d6) and a casting modifier of +3, +4, +5, +5 at those tiers.

True Strike wins at levels 1–4 because it adds your modifier, ties at 5, and falls behind after that. What it adds is the damage-type choice and anything that triggers on a weapon hit.

Pro Tips

Tip #1: In 2024, pick the damage type per attack.

Why it works: The weapon's damage can be radiant or its normal type, your choice. The upgrade dice are always radiant. A skeleton is vulnerable to bludgeoning, so a mace stays bludgeoning. A shadow is vulnerable to radiant, so you switch.

This avoids the mistake of: Choosing radiant every time out of habit.

Tip #2: In 2024, use it for features that care about weapon hits.

Why it works: You attack "with the weapon used in the spell's casting." A character who has Sneak Attack (through multiclassing) can trigger it with a dagger, since the attack uses a Finesse weapon. A character who has the Weapon Mastery feature for that weapon can use its mastery property, since the property applies to attacks made with the weapon.

This avoids the mistake of: Forgetting that weapon features apply to this attack.

Tip #3: Keep the weapon in hand.

Why it works: The 2024 spell has a Material component, the weapon itself, and it lists a cost (1+ cp). A component pouch or spellcasting focus can't replace a material with a listed cost. You need the actual weapon.

This avoids the mistake of: Sheathing your dagger to hold a wand, then finding you can't cast the spell.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Thinking advantage beats two attacks (2014)

Why it's bad: It doesn't, ever. Two attacks at hit chance p land 2p hits on average. One attack with advantage lands 1 − (1 − p)² = 2p − p². The gap is p², so the better your odds, the more you lose.

Do this instead: Attack twice.

Using Extra Attack with it (2024)

Why it's bad: Extra Attack works when you take the Attack action. True Strike is cast with the Magic action. You make one attack, not two.

Do this instead: On Extra Attack levels, use the Attack action unless you specifically need the radiant damage or the casting stat.

Adding the radiant dice to only the weapon type you chose (2024)

Why it's bad: The spell says the extra radiant damage applies whether you dealt radiant or the weapon's normal type.

Do this instead: Add the upgrade dice on every hit from level 5.

Usage Tips

• •The 2014 math, with numbers: A 1st-level wizard with 16 Intelligence casts Fire Bolt at +5. Against a knight (AC 18 in both 2014 and 2024), Fire Bolt hits on a 13 or higher: 40%. Two Fire Bolts over two turns average 0.8 hits. True Strike, then one Fire Bolt with advantage, hits 1 − 0.6² = 64% of the time: 0.64 hits. Against an ogre (AC 11), the gap widens: 1.5 hits against 0.9375.
• •2024 worked example: A 5th-level sorcerer with 18 Charisma and a mace attacks at +7 (+3 proficiency, +4 Charisma). A 2024 shadow has AC 12, 27 HP, and vulnerability to radiant. The sorcerer hits on a 5 or higher, 80%. With radiant chosen, the hit deals (1d6 + 4 + 1d6) × 2, an average of 22.
• •Choosing the type, worked: Against a skeleton (vulnerable to bludgeoning in both editions), the same sorcerer leaves the mace bludgeoning: (1d6 + 4) × 2 + 1d6 radiant averages 18.5. Choosing radiant would deal 11.
• •Critical hits (2024): A crit doubles all of the attack's damage dice, so the radiant upgrade dice double too. Your modifier does not.
• •Roll it in the dice roller. Browse other cantrips in the spell guide index, including Fire Bolt and Eldritch Blast.

Rules Notes

• •2014: On your next turn you have advantage on your first attack roll against the target, if the spell hasn't ended. Any attack roll counts: weapon, unarmed, or spell attack.
• •2024: The weapon must be one you're proficient with and worth at least 1 cp. Bards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards in the 2024 SRD are proficient with Simple weapons.
• •2024: The glossary defines a spell attack as an attack roll made as part of a spell, and a weapon attack as an attack roll made with a weapon. True Strike's attack fits both definitions as written.
• •2024: The spell says "one attack with the weapon," not "one melee attack," so thrown and ranged weapons work.

Synergies

• •Faerie Fire (2024): Advantage on the True Strike attack raises your hit chance like any other attack.
• •Pact of the Blade (2024): A warlock has proficiency with the bonded pact weapon, which can be a Simple or Martial melee weapon. Whether a conjured pact weapon counts as "worth 1+ CP" isn't addressed by either text. That is a DM ruling, not rules text.
• •Undead with Undead Fortitude (2024 spell): A zombie can't use Undead Fortitude against radiant damage. Both the 2014 and 2024 zombie stat blocks say so.

Anti-Patterns

• •(2014) Casting it on turn one of a fight instead of attacking, or while concentrating on a better spell.
• •(2024) Casting it at a level where your Attack action makes two attacks.

Tactical Modules

• •Zombie cleanup (2024): Choose radiant so the hit that drops a zombie to 0 can't be saved by Undead Fortitude.
• •Caster in melee (2024): When an enemy closes to 5 feet, a mace attack with your casting stat avoids the disadvantage a ranged attack would have.

Countermeasures

• •Threat: The creature resists the weapon's damage type. Response (2024): Switch the damage to radiant. Fallback: Use a cantrip with a different damage type.
• •Threat: You're disarmed (2024). Response: Carry a second simple weapon. Fallback: Cast a cantrip that doesn't need a weapon.

True Strike in the 2024 Rules

The 2024 Player's Handbook keeps True Strike as a divination cantrip for Bards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards. Everything else changed.

The 2014 spell targets a creature within 30 feet and grants advantage on your next turn, with concentration. The 2024 spell has Range Self and is instantaneous. Its Material component is a weapon you're proficient with that is worth 1+ cp, and you make one attack with that weapon as part of the casting. The attack and damage rolls use your spellcasting ability. The damage can be radiant or the weapon's normal type. At levels 5, 11, and 17 the attack deals an extra 1d6, 2d6, and 3d6 radiant damage.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does True Strike do in 5e?

In the 2014 rules it gives you advantage on your first attack roll against one creature on your next turn. In the 2024 rules you make one weapon attack using your spellcasting ability, with radiant damage as an option and extra radiant dice from level 5.

Is True Strike good in 5e?

The 2014 version is not. Two normal attacks always produce more expected hits than one attack with advantage. The 2024 version is a solid attack cantrip: ahead of Fire Bolt at levels 1–4, even at 5, behind after that.

Does True Strike work with Extra Attack?

No. In the 2024 rules True Strike is cast with the Magic action, and Extra Attack applies to the Attack action. You make one attack.

Does 2024 True Strike work with Sneak Attack?

Yes, if you meet Sneak Attack's conditions. The attack is made with a weapon, so a Finesse or Ranged weapon qualifies, and you still need advantage or an ally within 5 feet of the target.

Can you use True Strike with a bow?

In the 2024 rules, yes. The spell makes one attack with the weapon used in the casting, and doesn't say it must be a melee attack. You need proficiency with the bow, and a Two-Handed bow needs both hands to attack.

Does True Strike require concentration?

The 2014 version does, for up to 1 round. The 2024 version is instantaneous and doesn't.

Does True Strike deal damage?

Only the 2024 version. It deals your weapon's damage plus your spellcasting modifier, and radiant dice from level 5.

Can a wizard use a quarterstaff with True Strike?

Yes, in the 2024 rules. Wizards are proficient with Simple weapons, and a quarterstaff costs 2 sp, which meets the 1 cp minimum. The attack uses Intelligence.

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.