The new Spelljammer campaign setting for Dungeons & Dragons has turned one of the worst D&D cantrips into one of the best, as the mending cantrip is now a must-have spell for any party to possess. Cantrips (formerly known as zero level spells in older editions) aren't as powerful as the leveled slots, but they can be used an infinite number of times, whereas regular spells are tied to a limited number of slots. There are some powerful offensive cantrips, like eldritch blast, fire bolt, and sacred flame, while others are intended for use outside of combat.
The mending cantrip can be taken by artificers, bards, clerics, druids, sorcerers, and wizards. The spell takes one minute to cast and it repairs tears and breaks in objects, so long as it's not bigger than a foot in diamater. Mending can also fix broken magic items, but it won't resore any shattered enchantments. The mending cantrip belongs to D&D's school of transmutation and it requires all three component types, so it's nothing something that can easily be used in a rush or when in captivity.
The situational nature of mending, coupled with having a casting time longer than an action, means that it's one of the worst cantrips in D&D. It's not necessarily a terrible spell: it just doesn't find much use compared to the attacking or buffing cantrips. The era of mending is here, however, as Spelljammer: Adventures in Space has turned mending into one of the best cantrips in the game.
Mending Can Fix Spelljammer Ships For Free In D&D
Spelljammer is a D&D campaign setting that involves sailing ships that have been enchanted to be able to fly through space, with a magical aura that provides a breathable atmosphere and gravity. The players aren't the only people with a spelljammer, however, and the Spelljammer setting has 16 different ship types, some of which belong to the monster races. This means a ship to ship battle is inevitable, and when it happens, the players' spelljammer is going to take some damage.
The Astral Adventurer's Guide provides rules for fixing a spelljammer. It takes one day and 20 gp while the ship is berthed to repair 1 hit point of damage to the vessal, while it only costs 10gp to heal one 1 hit point of damage to a weapon. By far the fastest way to fix a spellhammer ship is through the mending cantrip, which restores 1d8 hit points + the spellcasting modifier of the user, though the ship only benefits from the spell once per hour. This is still a drastically quicker and cheaper method of fixing a ship, to the point where every spellcasting character in a Spelljammer campaign that can have it take should have mending in their repertoire. The D&D mending cantrip went from a bad choice to a vital part of any Spelljammer Dungeons & Dragons campaign.