Guiding Bolt is a powerful first-level evocation spell that packs a wallop and sets up an ally with an advantaged attack. It is natively available to Clerics and requires a vocal and somatic component and takes an action to cast. The damage for a cleric’s guiding bolt is 14 (4d6), but it requires a hit on a spell attack roll. The damage for a wizard’s magic missile is 10.5 (3d4+3), but it never misses.
Guiding Bolt is only good in tier 1, and it wastes a spell slot for damage that martials or cantrips can do for free. It is considered slightly underpowered because it requires a successful attack roll or it’s wasted. A flash of light streaks toward a creature of your choice within range, making a ranged spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes 4d6 radiant damage.
Guiding Bolt is only good in tier 1, and it wastes a spell slot for damage that martials or cantrips can do for free. It is also considered slightly underpowered because it requires a successful attack roll or it’s wasted. It is much better used to help melee classes land a hit. The ~9 damage of Spiritual Weapon is very lackluster.
The Bard spell list in Baldur’s Gate 3 combines healing, buffing, debuffing, and utility spells, for a well-rounded list that lacks significant damage options. Fire Bolt is classified as a damaging cantrip in the evocation school of magic. Casting time is 1 action, range is 120 feet, and duration is 1 round.
📹 Top 10 Best Debuff Spells to Help Your Party DnD 5e
Debuff spells in Dungeons and Dragons 5e can apply debilitating effects to your enemies that can turn unfavorable matchups into …
Does guiding bolt take a spell slot?
The application of this spell at the 2nd level or above results in an augmentation of damage by 1d6 for each additional slot level above the 1st. Please be advised that JavaScript may be disabled or blocked by extensions, and that your browser does not support cookies.
Is guiding bolt worth upcasting?
Guiding Bolt is a spell that can be used to support in combat, but it does not require sight. Instead, it is chosen within range and attacks on unseen targets (via invisibility or darkness) are made at disadvantage. This means that targeting around corners or behind full cover is not possible. The spell requires a direct path to the target, making it an effective choice for clerics.
The damage output of Guiding Bolt is high, making it a good attempt at a knockout punch or setup for one. It may also give an advantage to the next attack on an enemy that survives, providing a better chance at a critical. Using the spell at the presumed end of the fight is important because it draws away potential healing spell slots.
Optimizing the spell to get the most out of it in combat makes it even better. It is not recommended to use it on low-level minion type enemies, as they may not present a big bad that can be one-shot with this spell. Instead, focus the spell on the big bad when they appear, and consider the initiative order to set up the next ally to do some damage.
When casting Guiding Bolt, it is important to follow the rule for “Unseen Attackers and Targets”. When attacking a target that you can’t see, you have disadvantage on the Attack roll, regardless of whether you guess the target’s location or target a creature you can hear but not see.
Does uncanny dodge affect spells?
The tool is effective against a variety of attacks, including those of a magical nature. However, it is not effective against spells or effects such as fireballs that inflict damage after a saving throw. It is possible that the tool may be disabled or blocked by third-party extensions, such as those designed to block advertisements, or by browser settings that do not allow cookies.
Is guiding bolt a druid spell?
Guiding Bolt is a spell belonging to the druid spell list that can be cast without requiring a spell slot and does not count against the number of prepared spells.
Does guiding bolt negate invisibility?
The text posits that the deployment of a guiding bolt to target an invisible stalker or other invisible creature can serve to counteract the disadvantage inherent to the stalker’s invisibility. This is due to the fact that the spell’s intrinsic advantage effectively cancels out the disadvantage associated with the stalker’s condition of invisibility. Additionally, the text notes that JavaScript may be disabled or blocked by extensions and that cookies may not be supported.
Is guiding bolt radiant damage?
A luminous phenomenon is directed towards a creature within the designated range, resulting in 4d6 radiant damage upon impact. The subsequent attack roll against the target is made with an advantage due to the mystical dim light that glitters on it. As the caster’s level increases, the damage inflicted by this spell rises by 1d6 for each slot level above 1st. This makes it a particularly potent option when used against creatures of one’s choosing.
Does guiding bolt work in magical darkness?
It is possible to negate the advantage effect of guide bolts by ensuring that a creature enters an area of darkness before any attacks are launched. This is because the initial damage is not affected by the presence of darkness. This is feasible if the guiding bolt is rendered inoperable or obstructed by an extension, or if the browser is incapable of supporting cookies.
Which is better guiding bolt or inflict wounds?
Guiding Bolt is a ranged spell attack that provides an advantage for the subsequent attack against the target, thereby making it arguably a superior spell to Inflict Wounds. Nevertheless, its average damage is 15. 5, compared to 14, and it may be rendered inoperable or obstructed by an extension.
Does dodge work on spells?
In D and D 5e, PCs can use the dodge action to avoid enemy attacks, imposing disadvantage on all attack rolls against them. This action also gives PCs an advantage on Dexterity saving throws to avoid hostile spells or effects. However, dodging only works if PCs can see the attack coming. In combat, PCs can choose to take the dodge action instead of using an action, casting a spell, or using their abilities.
Attack rolls against them are made with disadvantage, as long as PCs can see the attack coming. Additionally, PCs have an advantage on Dexterity saving throws, which measure their ability to avoid harmful effects and are often forced by hostile spells or enemy abilities.
How many times can I uncanny dodge?
It should be noted that the feature in question is only permitted once per round. This excludes any special effects or features that grant additional reactions. It is not permissible to utilize this feature in the context of multiple attacks. The feature is inapplicable in instances where JavaScript is disabled or blocked by an extension, or in cases where the browser does not support cookies.
Does Blindsight cancel invisibility?
The rules stipulate that if an individual is rendered invisible through the use of an Invisibility spell or Greater Invisibility and a creature possesses the abilities of Blindsight, Truesight, or Wizard, they may perceive the invisible individual’s presence but still possess an advantage in initiating an attack. This is attributable to the fact that JavaScript is either disabled or blocked by an extension or browser that does not support cookies.
📹 Treantmonk’s Guide to Wizards: 4th level spells (5e)
00:00 – Intro Abjuration: 2:14 Banishment (green) 3:52 Mordenkainen’s Private Sanctum (orange) 4:47 Stoneskin (orange) …
As someone that played a Fiend Blade Warlock from 6-20, Spell Sniper for Shocking Grasp can be absolutely devastating against any creature with Counterspell. Either you can bait it out with casting a spell, or you can hit and eat their entire reaction, and in either case you still have your Bonus Action and movement. The only trick is that the DM has to have the monster predict that you’re going to open your turn with a cantrip instead of something big possibly followed by a cantrip.
I’ve recently gained access to and used storm sphere on my war wizard. Setting up is nice and becomes a decent bonus action use while concentrating. I also noticed that the spheres center can be “a point in space” so if you are fighting big creatures then you can put the storm 25 ft over the party. This is because it’s not required to be placed at ground level like some other spells. Medium creatures are safe on the ground but large or bigger creatures have to take the secondary damage and deal with difficult terrain.
Again I always love learning through your articles! It really helps that you put up graphics and the rating systems for us. And driving home the volume was great! Thanks for fantastic content! I am starting to run two campaigns a week and I sent your articles as reference to those who want to do spellcasting
CONFUSION (Caveat – i mainly run Sorcerers with Careful Meta and tend to upcast for Area) I think you are missing some of the upside of Confusion. Its an Un-typed effect, its not a charm or illusion, hence it works vs Undead, Low-Int monsters, etc. People poo-poo the lost effect of enemies attacking other enemies, but thats the wrong way to look at it. It is more a way to disrupt enemy Action Economy and movement. Gains more value if your DM uses minions. as do most AoE spells. 80% chance to keep the following from happening: Casters cant cast or MUST use melee only. If no one is in range, they do nothing Ranged attackers, same as above Same for Spell-like effects Like Slow, it has more value vs enemies with Multiple Attacks Getting flanked? Buy some time. USE OUT OF COMBAT – for those Subtle Sorcerers Disrupt a crowd Remove some guards (Dis)Order in the Court! Disrupt some business dealings/gambling Distractions …etc. Now, im no Wizard expert, but im sure some of those effects add more value.
As a tactical note on Greater Invisibility; it is a generally POOR idea to cast on a PC like a GWF Fighter or Paladin with GWM. Yes, it really helps them get their damage in, however is removes a tank type PC and reduces the visible targets for the enemies, so they will then just target everyone else. Its fair for the DM to do this and ignore the invisible PC.
Am finding your spell discussions really useful for selecting spells for a tenth-level sorcerer that I’m bringing into the game in a few sessions, adjusting for metamagic and the specific theme I’m going for. Would be cool to see some more sorcerer-centric articles discussing metamagic and subclass bonuses and how those change things up in your opinion.
I definitely can’t wait to see your take on 5th level spells like bigby’s (I’m guessing it’ll be green while animate objects is blue) and much moreso afterwards once you’re on wizard subclass builds, especially since I’ll be a bit into my bladesinger, I’d really like to see how your guide differs from my character
In your watery sphere on a roof example, regarding the huge creature occupying a large space, I’d argue that the “squeezing into a smaller space” rules should apply since that’s basically what it’s doing. For reference: “Squeezing into a Smaller Space: A creature can squeeze through a space that is large enough for a creature one size smaller than it. Thus, a Large creature can squeeze through a passage that’s only 5 feet wide. While squeezing through a space, a creature must spend 1 extra foot for every foot it moves there, and it has disadvantage on attack rolls and Dexterity saving throws. Attack rolls against the creature have advantage while it’s in the smaller space.” Overall, it’s a pretty great effect to put on a boss.
I personally like Sickening Radiance. Especially when my fellow party members are helping keep those within its radius within or pushing creatures into it. More than once has my Evocation wizard put it up on herself as a defense versus a bosses minions while blastign away with various wands or spells. Summon Greater Demon, Sickening Radiance, Banishment, Dimension Door, Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere all make great traps if combined with Glyph of Warding. Especially for a DM. Throw Hallucinatory Terrain over them and the party has to Investigate before they can find the actual glyphs, maybe triggering them before actually finding them. If you have time at the start of a long rest, setting up a Glyph of Warding with either Stone Skin or Polymorph can be useful; you get the spell slots back after the rest. All circumstantials but useful uses. 🙂
One significant point about Web vs. Black Tentacles is that Web only allows strength checks after the initial saving throw is failed, while Black Tentacles allows strength OR dexterity checks. That opens up a whole new category of creatures against which Web is better and Black Tentacles is worse. To me, that is a massive difference, and enough that after playing several Wizards, I feel that Web is the best battlefield control spell at its level in the game. I can’t imagine playing a Wizard without Web again. Therefore, I would rate Web as blue and Black Tentacles as orange. Thanks for your wonderful guides and articles.
Something I wanted to mention about Mordenkainen’s Private Sanctum: There’s another condition to it that could potentially make it viable for the campaigns in which you are being spied upon and especially those that are in the long term. If you cast it in the same spot for a year, then the effect becomes permanent to that area. It’s one of those spells you would likely be casting in between adventures.
One argument in favor of Conjure Minor Elementals: At level 14, Conjurers add 30 temp hp to every conjured creature. So you can litter the battlefield with a fairly reasonable amount of meat with mephits or other small elementals. Is that worth a fourth level slot? I think that’s going to depend a lot on whether your enemies have big AOE attacks. But you can really gum up the works for enemies with more traditional attacks.
“The damage isn’t terrible” is a funny way of saying that wall of fire has the highest per-instance damage of any AoE concentration spell cast at 4th level or higher, with the conditional exceptions of cloud of daggers and incendiary cloud. Wall of fire also does an automatic 5d8 whenever a creature enters the wall itself. Combined with the automatic damage for a creature ending its turn within ten feet of the hot side, that gives the spell the potential to deal 10d8 in one turn, with no save allowed. This is especially achievable in difficult terrain and narrow hallways.
Played an evil Abjurer in a one shot recently, and it came down to a free for all over who would be the new king of hell. Ended up capturing both the other living party members in a force cage, and then dropped a sickening radience on top of them. Doesn’t matter how tanky you are when you need to make 95/100 con saves or you straight up die. Plus having an Abjurer sitting there with counterspell ready means they don’t have a lot of options. The Rogue almost made it out by shoving a haversack into a bag of holding, but he failed the save and got KO’d
Sickening Radiance + Evocation Wizards Sickening Radiance lets you throw it out in a room, and thanks to the huge area it covers the entire room. Thanks to Sculpt spell and that Sickening Radiance is an Evocation spell, you can let your allies automatically succeed on their saving throws, which means only enemies get afflicted by it. Say the fight lasts… 4 rounds, that can easily stack up to about 12d10 damage to each enemy creature in a huge area, which is nothing to scoff at, especially with the secondary effects. And the longer the fight goes on, the better it gets as Exhaustion stacks up.
In addition to Secret Chest being niche, the cost of the material component represents an opportunity cost compared to just buying more scrolls or making your own collection of scrolls, especially since if there isn’t already a chest ready to go off the shelf, the default crafting rules mean it takes something like 1000 days to make the 5000 gp chest and the xanathar’s rules of 50 gp per week still takes 100 weeks. 5000 gp can become an entire campaign’s worth of scrolls of 1st to 3rd level, especially if you can work together with other party members to make scrolls of non-Wizard spells. Of course it does require proficiency in Arcana, but you’re a Wizard and only benefit from taking it if you get any Downtime.
Control Water has fantastic potential for naval battles. Part Water – boom, a 100x100x100 hole below the enemy ship, down it goes. Following round you throw a wave in while they are slowly coming back up over the course of the next round. Repeat. Unless it’s a massive boat, it will likely be wrecked quite fast, and a lot of the crew will be thrown out, take constant “fall” damage being thrown around, or even drown. It has a good 300 ft range so with some prep you can be pretty well protected as well. Just try not to leave any survivors or the next time you might be facing some counter measures like Dispel Magic or their own Control Water 🙂 Surprise factor can do a lot here.
Here’s the rankings in text format for quick reference. Red (*) – Not Recommended Orange (**) – Too Circumstantial to warrant preparation Purple (***) – Ok Spells Green (****) – Good Spells Blue (*****) – Must Have Spells Ab – Abjuration Conj – Conjuration Enc – Enchantment Evo – Evocation Ill – Illusion Necr – Necromancy Tran – Transmutation Conc – Concentration Arcane Eye (Div, Conc) (****) or (*****) for Diviner (24:52) Banishment (Abj, Conc) (****) (02:17) Blight (Necr) (*) (45:37) Charm Monster (Enc) (**) or (***) for Enchanters (27:40) Confusion (Enc, Conc) (*) (29:05) Conjure Minor Elementals (Conj, Conc) (**) (21:27) Control Water (Tran, Conc) (**) (50:35) Dimension Door (Conj) (****) Redundancy with Thunder Step (05:48) Elemental Bane (Tran, Conc) (*) – Joint worst 4th Level Spell in Treantmonk,s opinion (53:14) Evard’s Black Tentacles (Conj, Conc) (***) (18:53) Fabricate (Tran) (**) (52:45) Fire Shield (Evo) (****) (32:58) Greater Invisibility (Ill, Conc) (****) (41:53) Hallucinatory Terrain (Ill) (**) (43:06) Ice Storm (Evo) (*) (41:08) Leomund’s Secret Chest (Conj) (*) (23:48) Locate Creature (Div, Conc) (**) (26:46) Mordenkainen’s Faithful Hound (Conj) (*) (22:50) Mordenkainen’s Private Sanctum (Abj) (**) (03:54) Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere (Evo, Conc) (****) (30:50) Phantasmal Killer (Ill, Conc) (*) – Worst 4th Level Spell in Treantmonk’s opinion (44:18) Polymorph (Tran, Conc) (*****) Doesn’t scale well, loses potency at 10th/11th level (47:32) Sickening Radiance (Evo, Conc) (**) (37:37) Stone Shape (Tran) (**) (50:04) Stoneskin (Abj, Conc) (**) Costly components (04:50) Storm Sphere (Evo, Conc) (***) (35:51) Summoner Greater Demon (Conj, Conc) (****) (12:58) Vitriolic Sphere (Evo) (**) (39:32) Wall of Fire (Evo, Conc) (***) (34:58) Watery Sphere (Conj, Conc) (****) – Not great at high levels (06:42)
About the volume : your articles are still on the lower side, but it’s nothing dramatics, and unless I’m imagining thing you’ve synced the intro volume with the rest of the article, which was the biggest issue. So great!And good idea about the star system. It’s nice that you’re thinking of erveryone. So, thanks for your articles! I look forward to them and you’re awesome.
Just a Note on Sickening Radiance, Skeletons animated from Animate Undead are immune to Exhaustion but here’s the better thing. Both Zombies and Skeletons are expendable and if you’re an Evocation wizard you can summon those and have them grapple your target, whilst using Sculpt Spells to stop 5 of them from being targeted. Just a Pro-Tip for those of you who want to kill creatures in 6 rounds that aren’t immune to exhaustion and can’t fly or teleport away.
My best use of Fire Shield was actually on a Fiend Pact warlock with heavy armor proficiency from Fighter. He was a front line fighter that took lots of hits and used the fiend pact’s temporary hit points to mitigate it, so Fire Shield output a LOT of damage without risking being dropped due to concentration. And of course, it doubled if energy resistance if needed.
Vitriolic sphere is inferior to fireball? It has the highest raw damage of any instantaneous AoE spell cast out of a 4th-, 5th-, 6th-, 7th-, or 8th-level slot. In fact, there are only five such spells (erupting earth, fireball, lightning bolt, cone of cold, and Abi-Dalzim’s horrid wilting), or six if you want to count chain lightning, which outdo vit sphere’s INITIAL damage. Two of those are Con saves, and all but erupting earth have a worse damage type. Vitriolic sphere turns fireball into one of your spells that looks good in a vacuum, but it is really only worth having at one spell level.
I only think fabricate is good because it can create wealth. At least situationally. You grab jeweler’s tools proficiency, now you can double the worth of raw gems, and increase the value of gems somewhat by setting them in some gold. Gems and jewelry count currency of their worth. Start a line of credit and get as many hirelings as you want… until you break the economy… which is a potential plan for a villainous npc.
Tasha’s Mind Lash used on something in this effect (or web, or anything like it) will lock something down. Because they only get an action, move or bonus action.. So if they use an action to break free, they can’t move out, and will have to save or be restrained again. Quite a nasty new combo with the release of Tasha’s.
> Dimension Door I’ve talked a lot about so I don’t want to keep repeating myself. However this is the first place viewers will come to for specific Wizard spells. The whole point of making a level-by-level spell guide is one-stop viewing utility for, say, new viewers who haven’t watched every build article and won’t know which one(s) to pour through just to find your tips on a spell, such as Dimension Door.
In the case of Charm Monster, it’s a not concentration spell. I have used it very effectively with my bard. The key is to talk the charmed creature into help you, with the advantage in charisma checks isn’t that hard. Of course it’s much better for the bard because the common persuasion/deception expertise bonus, plus is a spell benefited from the instrument of the bards. For a wizard I find it decent.
My sorlock picked up Greater Invisibility at my recent level up. Character 11, 3 of which are warlock and the rest are sorcerer. I have Agonizing Blast with a 22 Charisma stat. Advantage on 3 Eldritch Blasts bolts per casting (6 if I Quicken spell) seems like it should stack up some solid damage while helping me stay alive.
Sickening Radiance is absolutely brutal when combined with a Sleet Storm. Both are concentration but there are ways around that, namely another caster or a Ring of Spell Storing or a Svirfneblin Spell Gem for your familiar. Very likely to fall prone and difficult terrain makes it hard for enemies to get out of the AOE (both of which are absolutely massive at 30′ radius and 40′ radius). And if they get 2 levels of exhaustion for 1/2 speed to stack with prone/difficult terrain? They’re dead ducks.
I have played with the idea of 1) banishing myself.. yeah goes away, but might save you in from “1 action to avoid x”. Would be up to dm, what resolves first mg return or the “damage/effect”. But there shouldn’t be any issue I’m with, well ” I will banish the cleric so he can stay Alive”. Also should be able to banish party if we get stuck on another plane? I like the spell but the cleric can get it in demand. Also it’s a lot of fun to banish a target with subtle spell and tell the party… “ack he went Invisible”
Mordekainen faithful hound has some quarks to it that make it a little better than first glance. It’s invisible to all creatures except you, which gives it advantage when it uses its attack. While it is required to be in an unoccupied space, that space is not required to actually be on the ground. It can be placed directly over you in thin air. It lasts for 8 hours, it’s a decent defense while resting. It’s an offensive alarm spell. If you are surprised, the hound can still attack even if you cant. The barking would be enough to wake you and your party, but you still unprepared if sleeping. Leomunds hut and alarm are better for being rituals, but perhaps your DM doesn’t appreciate the effectiveness of these spells and sends casters to dispel them. And while wizards typically want to be mobile and move to mitigate potential damage, any wizard that has gotten armor proficiency and can stay in the same place for a while gets access to 4d8+int with advantage as basically a free action at the beginning of their turns. It’s better damage at that slot level than spiritual weapon. It doesn’t cost actions of any kind after casting. Non concentration. War wizard hobgoblin with medium armor feat would do well I think. if there is a choke point, put it above the big stupid fighter to help out with operation meat shield.
Your description of a barbarian using fire shield reminded me of a build I’ve been meaning to try. Bear Barbarian3 Hexblade Warlock 9+. Basically you use Armor of Agathys before raging to get twice the effectiveness out of the spell. reckless attacks plus hexblades curse gives you a fairly good chance to crit, which lets you use your remaining spell slots for high damage eldritch smites. Also using a polearm would give you three attacks per round all benefiting from rage bonus, hexblade curse bonus and later on life drinker damage
Stoneskin is just a straight up red tier spell for me, if not lower. It is a concentration spell with a costly component the workings of which ONLY work when you get damaged, so your concentration gets tested, and that’s the only way in which the spell is effective. You’re asking for your concentration to be broken here and for that valuable material component to get wasted! Not to mention, it’s damage types are limited as hell. Non magical bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage? At the level you’ll be getting this it’s not unlikely you’ll be fighting enemies that do magical damage of any kind to you. This spell is honestly a trap!
Very good article and I saw very few blue recommendations, is it because level 4 spells don’t have that high of an impact that 3th level spells had when you first recieved them? P.S 51:25 at you say that you can copy water walk, but water walk isn’t a wizard spell so you can’t copy it unfortunatly. Just a thing that I noticed.
Wall pf Fire has been used on Critical Role very effectively a couple times. The ability to block line of sight makes this helpful against ranged attacks and many spells, in addition to melee. It is definitely a divide and conquer type spell that can help restrict the number of enemies you fight at one time. It also can be used to slow an enemy pursuing you while you run away unseen
I consider confusion a DM spell. When this spell hits a party it can REALLY mess them up. I’ve rolled bad and critted on the Rogue I was teaming in melee with. Came close to kill8ng her. Other folk missed the chance to hit the r8ght targets and 8n general people hate the loss of control WAY more than NPCs.
once again, love the vid and it did make me rethink a few spells though I have to correct you on Leomund’s Secret Chest. The chest required to cast the spell is not consumed. Hence you can simply Dispel the effect before the 60 days are up and cast the spell on the same chest again, thus basically maintain it forever with that one-time investment without ever getting into that area where you might lose the chest and its content permanently. That should at least make it Circumstantial (Orange**) if not outright OK (Purple***) … Elemental Bane has a very nice synergy with multi-hit spells like Scorching Ray or Storm Sphere since it’s extra damage is added to every single time those spells hit the subject. That is a rather specific setup & build though and of cause works best if there are multiple sources of elemental damage of the same type in the party. All in all I’d consider it a Circumstantial spell (Orange**), not a Bad (Red*) one though.
Addendum to Conjure Minor Elementals: Chwingas exist, and if you choose CR 0 and a 5’x5′ space, these are the only option in published material (Tomb of Annihilation, Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, and Candlekeep Mysteries) that fits the CR and space parameters, as they’re Tiny. Eight of these is a FANTASTIC choice.
What do you think of Sickening Radiance combined with Tidal Wave, for a no-concentration way of keeping enemies down (literally, ha) inside the zone? Two not-so-great spells by themselves, but I was thinking about taking that combo when I get there with my Shadow Sorcerer. The hound and our Open Hand Monk would help keep them in there too. Am I trying to hard to make lemonade out of lemons here?
I’m disagreeing about Sickening Radiance. The area of the spell is enormous, so by some of the same logic where you said Erupting Earth would never catch up with Fireball, so too Sickening Radiance hits more creatures and affects a bigger area than Fireball. It creates a zone of battlefield control that exists as a concept in the real world as “area denial” weaponry: the initial delivery of the weapon can damage or kill enemies, but it creates a lingering zone that is too hazardous to traverse (examples include landmines and some chemical weapons). Rather than slowing enemies down, we are cutting them off from a swath of battlefield 60 feet in diameter, and it can flush enemies out of cover by spreading around corners into their area. Radiant damage is a good damage type, especially against undead. In terms of resistances and immunities, it may only be second to force damage. One round of exposure deals about 22 damage, 2/3rds that of a 4th-level Fireball, but for the investment of concentration you create a massive terrain hazard that threatens far greater value. I’ll admit the Con save for no damage isn’t ideal, but a party of adventurers that is on-board with battlefield control should see the value in helping you to lock enemies into this area by setting up their own control spells to layer with this one (Entangle from your druid ally, Web from the sorcerer, etc.). 2 rounds of exposure rates as good, solid damage at a potential 44 radiant damage. 3 or more rounds, and your foes are probably done for.
Voice is better. Star ranking is a good idea. Removing sources is a terrible idea. Banishment: Ranked too high. Hypnotic Pattern also renders creatures incapacitated, but it is a level lower Summon demon: Vrock is not a good option. It is not terrible, but nothing great. Especially for upcasting. It has +2 Charisma, and advantage on saves, so it will quickly break your control. He has some nice abilities, but at 9th level Constitution DC 14 is not a big deal (especially if you are fighting monsters, not humanoids). Leomund Secret Chest: The focus is a one-time cost, so after 60 days you can simply recast it during downtime. And sometimes a way to keep your stuff away and secure is very important. Of course, if you have Demiplane it is worse, but this is a spell 4 levels lower. It may not be the best spell, but definitely, it does not deserve a red rating. Polymorph: T-Rex is much cooler! Even on higher levels, it may be good for Contingency (e.g. when your HP drop).
I do agree on a red rating for your standard dungeon encounter where enemies pop out, you gotta deal with them ASAP before immediately moving on to the next encounter. But….I can think of a circumstance where Phantasmal Killer is a spell I’d want. Lot of hate for PK, but it’s very good in assassination/espionage games when you have plenty of time to stalk/harass a single target. Nobody saw or heard anything. No attackers. No wounds, no poisons, no flashy spells. The guy just started running and screaming for 6-12 seconds then just dropped dead.
Great job again on Wizard stuff. Would love to see you focus on strictly which spells are good for pumping up. I don’t think enough people talk about how situational that can be. Ie. if you have the perfect moment. Like your enemies are all lined up. Is that not the perfect time to max out Aga Scorcher or lightning bolt? The other day I used shadow blade at level 3 and it seemed great. Although it was only an extra d8 per round at least I got 3 or 4 rounds of extra damage for only one slot at one level higher
While I like Banishment, it has a couple of issues to take note of. 1) You don’t control the endpoint if the target isn’t native to your current plane. So while you can use this to get your party out of Avernus (gradually), there’s no telling where on the Prime Material they’ll end up. Reuniting might become an adventure all on its own… 2) If you banish a non-native big bad, you’ve technically won, but there’s probably no loot left behind.
Conjure minor elementals has a combo with a crapton of steam mephits that all use breath and then explode (1d8 each, DC10 is low but half of that is still ok). If you put together all the d8s, even half of the damage these mephits will deal is pretty damn great on average. But, of course, try to get the freakin mephits in the first place 😛
There’s a player in my current campaign who is in love with all of the spells that are named after people, and he recently found an excellent use for Mordenkainen’s Faithful Hound. We were spending the entire day in a coliseum where we had to do ten rounds of combat with no long rests. He cast the hound round 1 of the first battle, and it just sat there doing some damage, every round, all day. It’s normally a pretty terrible spell, but the eight hours non-concentration duration makes it a cool source of damage in that circumstance.
Fire shield? There are some close combat classes, who can cast this spell. Bladesinger, Eldritch Knight, maybe Arcane Trickster too. And i think Fire Wall’s main attraction is not the fire, but the wall. It is the first useful wall spell, as it is opaque, and yes, it can be crossed, but tbh, as a living being, i wouldn’t willingly go any near to a roaring wall of hot flames.
Hi Chris, I would argue that black tentacles should be ranked higher than purple. The main argument for its ranking is that it is very similar, from a certain perspective even weaker, than web. While this is true, and the additional damage is not that relevant in itself, there are a couple of things that I think makes it better. First, the damage entails a conc check dc 10 for affected spellcasters, every round: not amazing but still nice. Second, and more important, this spell isn’t useless against all enemies capable of dealing fire damage. With my level 10 wizard I would be tempted to prepare both spell to save a higher slot when not necessary, but the increased reliability of black tentacles makes it the one that I want to prepare every day and makes me think it deserves a green ranking. Just my 2cp, love your work, have fun 👍
Based on my experience, I have a different opinion on three spells: Storm Sphere: Incredibly good. The difficult terrain it creates is amazing for slowing down enemies and it comes with potential damage. At the same time, the bonus lightning attack is not a casting of a spell! So, you have a bonus ranged attack every single round while you can still cast Action spells. Assuming a spell like Hypnotic Pattern isn’t a must for survival, Storm Sphere is an incredible choice, combining control and damage. I’m very surprised you do not value it more. Polymorph: In theory, it sounds as great as you say. In reality, it is useful very rarely. Why? Most of the times, characters aren’t in such a danger that they need it cast on them; just because someone is on low hit points, doesn’t mean they are about to die. Second, not every player wants to be polymorphed; many feel they have a better chance as their characters or just want to do something cool or think it’s boring to be a giant ape. Third, not every place will have space enough for huge beasts; sometimes even large beasts will not be an optimal choice in tight spaces. And fourth, the wizard should not prepare a spell just in case of catastrophic failure, which makes it circumstantial. It can sometimes be cast on weak but intelligent pets or summons, so that’s a bonus but not every party has such options. In a two year campaign, I used it only once to save someone. I’d give it purple Blight: OK sure, definitely not a great spell but if you’re building a damage dealer, there aren’t that many options for single target damage, if you need to avoid hitting your allies.
5e has really limited the spells that are useful for wizards. So now wizards have a few useful spells throughout their levels. Now they’re kind of like warlocks were they’re really only casting a few spells fireball, haste, greater and visibility, firebolt. So they’re like fighters that just have a few different actions that can take every combat. Imagine in sixth edition don’t make it even worse where they have just a couple spells they can use and they’re just basically glorified fighters.
As the DM i used ice storm to good effect against the party once. The party was fighting two hobgoblin wizards and a healthy compliment of cr 1/2 hobgoblins. The party knew hobgoblins would be attacking the village and had time to prepare trenches and somewhat fortify the place. The archer and sorcerer camped on the roof of a building with cover that they would drop prone behind every round, and the thief decided it was a good idea to stockpile barrels of oil to drop into the trench, anticipating a zerg rush. I had one of the hobgoblins cast fireball, hitting them and igniting the wooden house they were on, and damaging the roof. Then the other hobgoblin wizard cast ice storm, doing enough bludgeoning damage to finish destroying the roof, hurting the party more, and trapping them due to difficult terrain in the burning building for an extra round.
Well, it’s a 2 year old article, so someone has to have pointed it out already, but with summon greater demon, if combat has ended and the demon is still under control, you don’t have to issue a command to “try to get it out of your way”. You can simply drop concentration and the demon will instantly vanish The demon only sticks around after you drop concentration if it’s uncontrolled
The one thing I do like about phantasmal killer as a DM is the roleplaying implications of seeing your greatest fear made manifest. That’s basically irrelevant as a PC casting it but does pose an interesting question to the PC as to what that is and what they see and have to deal with seeing. Still terrible for the mechanics but it’s one of the reasons I like throwing it and weird at PCs since it’s super weak so fine to throw at them, but has interesting implications.
I think Mordenkainen’s Faithful Hound is actually a solid source of damage early on vs. non flying creatures. i think it’s a much better offensive spell than you give it credit for. 4d8 a turn w/ no concentration, attacks invisible creatures, INDESTRUCTIBLE, and a 30ft range seems somewhat decent. It’s no polymorph, but it is a solid damage dealer. am i wrong?
Does anyone has already used polymorph on his familiar ? It seems it could be really interesting, because it should be possible to combine both effects for greater use ! For exemple, you can still speak with it while transformed, and see throught its eyes. You can put it into the dimension space, and then make it get out later (as long as the hour is not finished), to use it several times, though you casted the spell only once… and during the pause time, you don’t have to maintain concentration. So you are free to do anything ! It could be usefull to use Polymorph in different places, make it appear behind a door, go throught little corridors between 2 big rooms with your hidden giant ape…
I’m just really glad I decided to play a wizard just before you come in with these spell guides, super useful stuff, the most I ever disagreed with you is back on your bladesinger guide, and it’s not even a disagreement per sey, more just wishing you mentioned why multiclassing them for melee damage is a little of a trap, but you also still linked another guide you read and liked and it did go over why not to multiclass, so my disagreement was a neutral point that you linked what I did agree with anyhow.
Blight: the only good reason I can think of to take this spell is if you want to be a jerk to some wood elves. Even then, if your DM has elves living in a big tree (like in Warcraft or EverQuest), I wouldn’t put it past a DM to just say that the tree is magical and thus your spell has no effect. Man, I would be ticked if I took this spell just to kill a tree and then it didn’t even work. So, I’m thinking the only purpose of this spell in a typical campaign is if you want to be disappointed.
I think a good ruling about being in a space less than what you would normally occupy might be to use the squeezing rules. Typically it would be used for a creature to go through perhaps a door or a tunnel, but I think it might also be useful for this situation by representing the creature trying to focus on not falling. While squeezing through a space, a creature must spend 1 extra foot for every foot it moves there, and it has disadvantage on attack rolls and Dexterity saving throws. Attack rolls against the creature have advantage while it’s in the smaller space.
Summon Greater Demon: you can just magic circle and planar bind them for 24 hour to have a concentration-free demon slave. Hmm, maybe a succubbus. 😀 Anyway, it says, it must do anything you say, and then, it has disadv on save, if you know it’s true name. Well, first command: tell me your real name.
I have to disagree with his opinion in blight, for a 4th level spell 8d8 is a lot of damage, combined with that you will always do at least some damage when you cast it because of the half damage CON save. I think CON is usually the best save you can get because it’s no ones main stat. Combined with the MAX damage and disadvantage for plants, I think it’s a great spell (This is a little skewed tho because I’m currently in a game of Curse of Strahd which has a lot of plant monsters.)