Ways to Make Your Spellcaster More Resilient in D&D 2024 (5.5e)

Loads of ways to make your spellcaster last longer in combat.

Increase your AC

Increasing your AC is probably one of the easiest and most impactful things you can do to increase your resilience.

• Increase dexterity – The obvious thing to do is increase your dexterity. If you’re a wizard though, this alone will snag you a miserly 15AC at most (and chances are, you won’t hit 20AC, at least not for a long time)!
• Use armor – Some of these classes have access to armor proficiency. If you have this, grabbing some armor is easy, though you’ll likely need to supplement this with at least some investment in dexterity. If you’re a sorcerer or wizard, then you won’t have any armor proficiency but…
• You can get armor proficiency – You could pick this up through a multiclass dip, a subclass (like the Valor bard or through the warden feature for the druid) or a feat like lightly armored. Lightly armored will also get you training with shields as well.
• Spells – Failing all of this, you could use spells to supplement your AC. Mage armor lasts 8hrs and will give you a decent AC boost and doesn’t require concentration. Barkskin is similar, but only lasts an hour. There’s also options like shield of faith or shield that can provide more temporary protection.

Increase your hit points

Another easy way to increase your resilience is by ensuring you have more hit points.

• Increase your constitution – The main way of doing this is by increasing your constitution. This will also help you maintain concentration too.
• Take the tough origin feat – The tough origin feat will increase your HP by 2 for each level you gain.
• Play a Dwarf – Dwarves get +1HP per level.
• Be a draconic sorcerer – Draconic sorcerers get an extra hit points per level too

Get damage resistances

A damage resistance will half damage from certain damage types. If you can get a resistance to a more common damage type (like fire or poison) you’re more likely to be able to reduce incoming damage. There’s a few ways to grab these:

Through a species

• Aasimar – necrotic and radiant
• Dragonborn – One of your choice
• Dwarves – Poison
• Tieflings – One of fire, necrotic or poison

From subclass features

• Abjurer wizards – Reduce incoming damage and get resistance to spell damage at level 14
• Great old one warlock – Has resistance to psychic damage
• Fiend warlock – Can choose and change a damage resistance
• Celestial warlock – Resistance to radiant damage
• Draconic sorcerer – Can choose a damage resistance
• Aberrant sorcerer – Has resistance to psychic damage
• Stars druid – Starry form gives resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage
• Sea druid – Can get cold, lightning and thunder resistance
• War cleric – Gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage at level 17

Get temporary hit points

Some spells and features will let you pick up temporary hit points for a short term boost to your resilience.

Spells

• False life
• Heroism
• Armor of Agathys
• Polymorph
• True polymorph
• Animal shapes
• Shapechange
• Aid will also increase your hit point maximum which has a similar impact, but can stack with temporary hit points

Class features

• Druids – Through their wild shape
• Moon druids – Get extra temporary hit points when wild shaping
• Warlocks – Warlocks can pick up the fiendish vigor eldritch invocation which lets them cast false life without expending a spell slot and can gain the maximum number of temporary hit points
• Glamour bards – Can dish out temporary hit points to multiple allies
• Fiend warlocks – Gain temporary hit points when they kill an enemy

Feats

You can also grab the inspiring leader feat to grant regular temporary hit points on (probably) the whole party.

Grab healing spells

If you can heal yourself on the go, then you can survive for longer. This includes spells like cure wounds, mass cure wounds and heal. While there are also spells like healing word and goodberries (which you can use with a bonus action) I’d argue that these are more about recovering allies from being knocked to 0HP than keeping you on your feet.

Some subclass features also help with healing like a land druid’s land’s aid feature. Life domain clerics have multiple healing features and trickery clerics heal when their illusory double ends. Celestial warlocks have a pool of healing dice that can be used as a bonus action to heal, and this doesn’t get in the way of casting levelled spells with your action

Be evasive

Sometimes lasting longer is less about being tough and more about avoiding danger. There are a few ways to be more evasive that can get you/keep you out of dangerous situations:

Flight

Many creatures can’t fly, but if you can, then you can be kept safe from melee attacks while you rain ranged attacks on your foes. You can probably get high enough to cause ranged attacks to need their long range too.

You can grab flight from the following options:

Species

• Aasimar – For temporary flight at least
• Dragonborn – Also for temporary flight
• Aarakockra – Will grant permanent flight if you’re using 2014 species
• Fairy – Will grant permanent flight if you’re using 2014 species
• Owlin – Will grant permanent flight if you’re using 2014 species

Spells

• Levitate
• Fly
• Gaseous form
• Any polymorphing spell (if transformed into a flying creature)
• Wind walk

Class and subclass features

• Druids – Can wild shape into a flying beast and can even cast spells in that form at level 18.
• Sea Druids – Can gain temporary flight at level 10
• Star druids – Can also gain temporary flight at level 10
• Aberrant sorcerers – Gain temporary flight at level 14
• Draconic sorcerers – Also gain temporary flight at level 14.

Teleportation

Being able to quickly and easily move around the battlefield using teleportation can help you safely escape melee range and extends the distance you can travel in a turn. Misty step (and similar features) is great for this as it only requires a bonus action.

Species

• Goliath – With Cloud Giant Ancestry can use cloud’s jaunt
• High Elves – Pick up misty step at level 5
• Eladrin – If you’re using 2014 species
• Shadar-Kai – Also if you’re using 2014 species
• Astral Elves – Also available from the 2014 rules

Subclass features

Some subclasses also have teleportation features (especially if they are some kind of fey subclass). This includes the

• Archfey warlock
• Moon druid
• Trickery domain cleric
• Cartographer artificer – It’s not yet released, but did feature in a recent Unearthed Arcana and has loads of teleportation features

Feats

The epic boon of dimensional travel will let you teleport very regularly. If you need teleportation before level 19, then you can grab the fey-touched feat which gives access to misty step.

Disengage

There are also ways to disengage more easily without provoking opportunity attacks. 2014 Goblins will let you disengage as a bonus action, as will a 2 level multiclass dip in rogue. Dance bards can use their reaction to move away from enemies. If you take the speedy feat, then opportunity attacks have disadvantage against you.

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There you have it. Loads of ways to increase the resilience of your spellcaster. Did I miss any options out? Let me know about them in the comments below.

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