Has True Strike Improved Enough in D&D 2024?

Analysing how good the new version of true strike is.

Is true strike in D&D 2014 any good?

We’ll start by looking at the 2014 version of the spell. Here are the spell rules:

Cantrip divination

Casting Time: action
Range: 30ft
Components: S
Duration: 1 round concentration

You point a finger at a target in range. Your magic grants you a brief insight into the target’s defenses. On your next turn, you gain advantage on your first attack roll against the target, provided that this spell hasn’t ended.

Available for: Bard, sorcerer, warlock, wizard

PHB 2014, p284

Problems with 2014 true strike

Essentially, it’s a cantrip that sets you up for your next turn to make an attack with advantage. Sadly, there are several problems with 2014 true strike. These include:

• Setup – It requires a turn to setup.
• Concentration – It may not be for a long period, but you can only concentrate on one spell at a time so this will end other concentration spells you might have in place.
• Size of benefits – Advantage is simply another chance to land the d20 roll you were making. In most cases, you could have tried to do that with the action you spent on casting true strike anyway.
• Wasted with a miss – The spell is wasted if you miss on your first attack.
• Limitations on which attack it affects – You can’t benefit from it on the turn you cast it, and you must take the benefits on the first attack of your next turn.

Can 2014 true strike ever be useful?

So are there any use cases for 2014 true strike? Yes, there are, but they’re quite limited. For instance, you might use it ahead of an attack roll that’s high damage and you really need to land. An arcane trickster might do this before a sneak attack for instance.

The problem here is that there are other ways to gain advantage without spending a whole action. For instance, a rogue could use a bonus action to hide, you could flank, knock prone or do a bunch of other things.

You could also choose to cast it right before you charge into combat (it doesn’t have verbal components) for advantage on your first attack.

The other use case is if you have disadvantage on an attack roll, in some instances, cancelling this out with true strike for a single attack roll will be mathematically better than 2 attacks rolls with disadvantage. But again, there are better ways to gain advantage.

So is true strike in D&D 2014 any good? No, it’s rubbish and one of the worst spells in the game in my opinion! Fortunately, it was completely changed for D&D 2024.

Is true strike any good in D&D 2024?

Here’s the altered version of true strike in D&D 2024:

Cantrip divination

Casting Time: action
Range: Self
Components: S, M (a weapon with which you have proficiency and that is worth 1+ CP)
Duration: Instantaneous

Guided by a flash of magical insight, you make one attack with the weapon used in the spell’s casting. The attack uses your spellcasting ability for the attack and damage rolls instead of using Strength or Dexterity. If the attack deals damage, it can be Radiant damage or the weapon’s normal damage type (your choice).

Cantrip Upgrade. Whether you deal Radiant damage or the weapon’s normal damage type, the attack deals extra Radiant damage when you reach levels 5 (1d6), 11 (2d6), and 17 (3d6).

Available for: Bard, sorcerer, warlock, wizard

PHB 2024, p336

This is a completely different spell to the 2014 version. It’s more akin to typical damage dealing cantrips like firebolt. But there’s a big difference. It uses a weapon attack, changing the ability score you make the attack with, altering the damage type to radiant (if you want) and increasing the damage with levels.

Damage output

But with the extra damage being d6s, is it actually better than other damage dealing cantrips? Well, that depends. Let’s start by comparing it to a couple of other cantrips for damage output. I’ve used a few different weapons to show how damage changes depending on the weapon being used:

Level	True strike (shortsword)	True strike (longsword)	True strike (greataxe)	True strike (greatsword)	Firebolt	Poison spray
1	6.5	7.5	9.5	10	5.5	6.5
5	11	12	14	14.5	11	13
11	15.5	16.5	18.5	19	16.5	19.5
17	19	20	22	22.5	22	26

As can be seen. True strike outperforms 2 of the higher damage dealing cantrips up to level 10 while having a better damage type and more reliable levels of damage (so long as you have a good spellcasting ability score).

From level 11, it depends on the weapon you’re using with true strike, but damage becomes comparable, though poison spray will do a decent amount more damage from level 17 onwards (but poison damage is often resisted).

Additional benefits

But, there’s even more benefit to true strike. That’s because it gains the benefits of other aspects of a weapon attack. This means it combines with sneak attack to give bonus damage for a rogue, it combines with weapon masteries to let you push, topple, vex, can combine with fighting styles and so on.

However, true strike will not combine with the extra attack feature (unless you have a specific feature for this). This means that it works best for martials with a single attack (like rogues), martials with extra attacks before they hit level 5 and classes with features that let them combine cantrips with extra attacks (like eldritch knights and valor bards). It also happens to be one of the better damage dealing cantrips available, making it a good option for pure casters too.

Getting access to true strike

It’s worth pointing out how to get true strike, as I’ve mentioned some classes using it that wouldn’t normally have access to it. Below are some ways you can gain access to it:

• Have it on your spell list – Bards, sorcerers, warlocks and wizards all have it on their spell list.
• Multiclass – If you aren’t one of those classes, you could take a one level dip into any of them to get true strike.
• Magic initiate – At level 1, you can take this origin feat and choose from the wizard list to grab true strike.
• Being a High Elf – High Elves can take a wizard cantrip of their choice. You could choose true strike.

Magic initiate is your easiest way to grab true strike if you don’t have it on your spell list, and means it’s accessible to all classes.

The verdict

The answer is yes, true strike is a good spell now. D&D 2024 has completely overhauled it into a worthwhile option that is generally more powerful than most other cantrips (with minor optimisation) and has a better damage type. It also benefits from general add ons that weapon attacks get.

This doesn’t mean it’s always the best choice. Some cantrips like mind sliver have other useful effects, cantrips like toll the dead will do more damage at later levels and spells like eldritch blast benefit from a warlock’s eldritch invocations in more powerful ways.

You may also find that against some enemies, a saving throw is more effective than an attack roll (like against heavily armoured enemies). It’s also worth bearing in mind that most non-martials won’t have access to top damage dealing weapons like greatswords so you won’t always get the top damage from this spell.

However, it’s easy to make this a go to cantrip for straight forward damage dealing. And it will usually be a good option.

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What do you think of the new version of true strike? Let me know in the comments below.

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