2024 DnD Divine Strike and Primal Strike Guide

Introduction

Clerics and Druids in the 2024 DnD rules make a binary choice between emphasizing weapon use or spellcasting when they reach level 7, choosing between Divine Strike/Primal Strike or Potent Spellcasting. Divine Strike and Primal Strike provide a +1d8 damage boost, which later increases to +2d8 at level 14. This looks like a tempting way to improve your weapon use, allowing Clerics and Druids to use weapons as their no-cost attack option rather than relying solely on cantrips. But the math has never held up to scrutiny.

We have long advocated for avoiding Divine Strike in the 2014 rules because its additional damage can’t compete with the damage bonus provided by Potent Spellcasting. The 2024 rules introduced Primal Strike as a matching option for the Druid, as well as a fantastic level 14 improvement to Potent Spellcasting for both the Cleric and the Druid, further stretching the gap between Divine Strike and Potent Spellcasting.

But the 2024 rules changes also introduced new options which change the context around Divine Strike and Primal Strike, potentially making them more viable than Divine Strike was in the 2014 rules. We’ll need to dig into the math to see if it’s worth using and if we can make it worth using.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Rules Changes
• Special Considerations for Druids
• Is Divine Strike / Primal Strike Good?
  • Updated Weapon Cantrips
  • Other Considerations

Rules Changes

In the 2014 rules, Divine Strike was tied to your subclass. Some subclasses emphasized weapon use, while others emphasized spellcasting. Your subclass also gave you whatever damage type you got from Divine Strike. Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything introduced the Blessed Strikes Optional Class Feature, which allowed Clerics to use both Cantrips and weapons equally well.

In the 2024 rules, we’re back to splitting between weapon use and Cantrips, but the choice is detached from your subclass. In addition, Clerics can deal either Necrotic or Radiant damage, but have no access to other damage types.

The Druid’s new Primal Strikes feature allows druids to deal Cold, Fire, Lightning, or Thunder damage, but mostly follows the same rules as Divine Strike.

Special Considerations for Druids

The Druid’s Primal Strike feature works with both weapon attacks and with attacks while in beast form using Wild Shape. This means that the Druid has a meaningful way to use Primal Strike which the Cleric can’t match.

This article focuses on using weapons with Divine Strike / Primal Strike. At some point we’ll have a guide for 2024 Wild Shape which will highlight the benefits of Primal Strike while in beast form.

Is Divine Strike / Primal Strike Good?

In short, no. Divine Strike and Primal Strike progress slower and later than cantrips, and Potent Spellcasting negates the ability modifier which would otherwise make weapon use viable. They also require you to increase your Strength or Dexterity at the cost of your Wisdom, which is nearly always a terrible idea for a full spellcaster.

The math from the 2014 rules has not changed. Divine Strike and Primal Strike are still less effective offensive options than

However, we have some new options which might make things a little more complicated.

Updated Weapon Cantrips

The updated version of Shillelagh and True Strike may offer a way for Divine Strike to compete with cantrips. Providing additional scaling damage and also allowing us to focus solely on our spellcasting ability score mean that the cost to use Divine Strike is also significantly reduced.

To measure the effectiveness purely in terms of damage, we’ll look at a few example builds. We’re still a full spellcaster, so I don’t expect to match the damage output of martial characters without significant investment. These are also extremely basic martial builds, ignoring feats, subclasses, and other things that make these damage progressions both better and more complicated.

• Rogue: Just a standard Rogue using a shortsword. Increases their modifier at levels 4 and 8.
• Dueling Fighter: A Fighter using a d8 weapon like a longsword with Fighting Style (Dueling). Increases their modifier at levels 4 and 6.
• GS Fighter: A Fighter using a Greatsword. Increases their modifier at levels 4 and 6.
• Sacred Flame + Potent: d8-based Cantrip with Potent Spellcasting, such as Produce Flame or Sacred Flame.
• Toll the Dead + Potent: 1d12-based Cantrip with Potent Spellcasting, such as Poison Spray or Toll the Dead.
• Str Cleric + Divine Strike: A Cleric or Druid using Strength for their weapon attacks, and increasing their Strength Modifier at levels 4 and 8. We’ll even give them a 1d8 weapon like a Longsword compared to the mace or club that every other cleric/druid is using.
• Wis Cleric + Divine Strike + True Strike: A Cleric or Druid using True Strike to attack with their Wisdom instead of Strength by using True Strike.
• Wis Cleric + Divine Strike + True Strike + Shillelagh: Our ideal build for Divine Strike / Primal Strike. This combines all of the no-cost options available to the Cleric and the Druid, which is the closest comparison we can get to casting a Cantrip with Potent Spellcasting.

Shillelagh isn’t normally available to the Cleric, and True Strike isn’t available to the Cleric or the Druid. Both are accessible via the Magic Initiate feat or from sources like the High Elf’s additional Wizard Cantrip.

Looking at these progressions, we can draw some conclusions.

• Spellcasters using Cantrips or Clerics/Druids using weapons won’t match extremely basic martial builds’ damage output.
• Weapon use is slightly more effective than Cantrips until level 5 when Cantrips get their first damage improvement. This holds true across all spellcasters. Using True Strike with a d8-based weapon gives spellcasters the benefits of that weapon’s range and base damage while also using their spellcasting ability, making this the best of both worlds, at the cost of possible secondary effects from Cantrips.
• A Strength-based or Dexterity-based build with Divine Strike will just barely compete with d8-based Cantrip damage progression. The cost to invest here is high and the benefit is basically non-existent.
• Using True Strike with Potent Spellcasting is consistently better than building around Strength or Dexterity to use weapons.
• Combining True Strike, Shillelagh, and Divine Strike beats d12-based damage Cantrips in level ranges after Divine Strike improves but before Cantrips improve again.
• d12-based damage Cantrips are usually the highest damage dealers starting at level 5.

If we only consider damage, you can combine Shillelagh, True Strike, and Divine Strike to create a reasonably effective attack option. However, Toll the Dead with Potent Spellcasting will still frequently deal more damage, so the cost to invest is high to match an option which requires almost no investment at all.

Other Considerations

But we can also look beyond damage.

Weapon Mastery offers us a rider effect when we hit with a weapon. Clubs have Slow, and quarterstaves have Topply. Both are great for keeping enemies nearby.

Combining these tactics with War Caster can make our Opportunity Attacks very powerful. We can’t use Divine Strike outside of our own turn, but hitting an enemy with Slow from a club when they try to move away will give them some trouble.

We can also add the Crusher feat, so you may need to save that until level 12.

A single level of Fighter can do a lot to add here. Proficiency in Con saves, heavy armor, Weapon Mastery, and a Fighting Style are all fantastic for a Cleric looking to swing a weapon.

Alternatively, you could just play a Paladin.