Piercing Damage 5e: Weapons, Resistance, and Spell Rules
Piercing damage sounds straightforward until someone asks whether a rapier ignores armor or whether every pointed weapon works underwater. I find it helps to separate the damage type from the weapon properties and features attached to it.
This guide uses 2014 D&D 5e rules, with revised weapon examples labeled separately.
Piercing Damage 5e: Quick Answer
Piercing damage represents puncturing and impaling injuries. Arrows, spears, rapiers, and many monster bites deal it. Piercing damage does not automatically ignore armor, cause bleeding, or penetrate several targets.
Resistance halves applicable piercing damage, immunity prevents it, and vulnerability doubles it. The source of the damage matters whenever a defense specifies nonmagical attacks, weapon attacks, or another restriction.
Which Weapons Deal Piercing Damage?
These are common 2014 examples, before ability modifiers and other bonuses:
| Weapon | Damage | Useful distinction |
|---|---|---|
| Dagger | 1d4 | Finesse, light, and thrown |
| Spear | 1d6, or 1d8 with two hands | Thrown and versatile, without finesse |
| Rapier | 1d8 | Finesse, without the light property |
| Shortsword | 1d6 | Finesse and light |
| Morningstar | 1d8 | Piercing despite its heavy striking head |
| Shortbow | 1d6 | Ranged weapon using ammunition |
| Longbow | 1d8 | Ranged weapon with heavy and two-handed properties |
| Light crossbow | 1d8 | Ranged weapon with the loading property |
Monster attacks can also deal piercing damage, especially bites and stings. If an attack includes venom, its piercing and poison components remain separate damage types.
Does Piercing Damage Ignore Armor Class?
No. A rapier, arrow, or spear attack normally needs to hit the target’s AC. Piercing does not grant a general armor-penetration bonus.
An effect resolved through a saving throw can avoid an attack roll against AC, but that comes from the effect’s procedure. It is not a benefit granted by piercing damage. Compare Spike Growth, which deals piercing damage through its movement-based hazard rather than ordinary weapon attacks.
Armor also does not automatically grant damage resistance. Use the actual armor, feature, and stat block rules rather than assumptions about how easily a point could pass through metal.
How Does Piercing Resistance Work?
Assume a longbow attack deals 13 piercing damage. A creature with applicable resistance takes 6 damage, rounding down. With immunity, it takes no piercing damage.
Now suppose a bite deals 9 piercing plus 7 poison damage against a creature resistant only to piercing. It takes 4 piercing + 7 poison = 11 damage, assuming no other relevant defenses or saves.
A defense against piercing from nonmagical attacks may be bypassed by a qualifying magical attack. Unrestricted piercing resistance still applies to magical piercing damage. See damage resistance for the general rules.
Does Sneak Attack Deal Piercing Damage?
Sometimes. The 2014 rogue’s Sneak Attack adds damage of the same type as the weapon. A rapier or shortbow normally makes that piercing; a scimitar makes it slashing.
Sneak Attack requires a finesse or ranged weapon and its other conditions. Piercing damage alone does not qualify an attack. A normal spear lacks finesse, so a melee spear attack does not qualify just because it punctures the target.
As an example, a qualifying rapier hit dealing 7 weapon damage plus 9 Sneak Attack damage produces 16 piercing damage before defenses. Applicable resistance reduces the combined piercing damage to 8.
Are Piercing Weapons Better Underwater?
Some are, but the 2014 underwater rules name specific weapons rather than granting an exception to the whole damage type.
A creature without a swimming speed has disadvantage on underwater melee weapon attacks unless using a dagger, javelin, shortsword, spear, or trident. A rapier is piercing but is not on that exception list.
Underwater ranged weapon attacks automatically miss beyond normal range. Within normal range, they have disadvantage unless made with a crossbow, net, or a weapon thrown like a javelin, including a spear, trident, or dart.
For the full distinction between melee and ranged attacks in water, see underwater combat.
When Is Piercing Damage a Good Choice?
Piercing weapons support several different plans: ranged pressure with a bow, a finesse attack with a rapier, or a thrown spear. Those options are valuable because of their complete weapon rules, not because piercing receives a universal damage bonus.
Choose a weapon your character can use effectively, then consider the enemy’s actual defenses. Keep another damage type available when practical, but do not assume that a creature’s appearance establishes a resistance its stat block never grants.
Piercing Damage: 2014 vs. 2024 Rules
The revised equipment rules materially change some piercing weapons. For example, the trident increases from 1d6 to 1d8 damage, with its two-handed versatile damage increasing from 1d8 to 1d10.
The 2024 rules also introduce weapon mastery: a rapier has Vex, while a spear has Sap. Using a mastery requires an appropriate feature. Neither property belongs to all piercing attacks, and neither applies to the 2014 weapon simply because its name matches.
Piercing Damage FAQ
Can one arrow damage enemies in a line?
An ordinary bow attack targets one creature. Passing through that creature into another requires a separate feature or a DM ruling; piercing damage does not grant it.
Does a piercing wound cause damage every turn?
No. Bleeding damage needs an explicit effect or a house rule. It is not part of the default damage type.
Can I use a longsword’s point to deal piercing damage?
The normal longsword entry deals slashing damage. Changing that through an unusual use is a question for the DM, not a free damage-type switch granted by the weapon table.
Rules Sources
This guide uses the official 2014 combat rules, including underwater combat, 2014 equipment rules, and the rogue and spell rules in SRD 5.1. Revised weapon details come from the official 2024 equipment rules.