Circle of death is a healing spell for necromancers that don't have friends. Walk into the local tavern, cast circle of death to heal up, cast animate dead, and then walk out with all new friends.
With that range, it is the tavern, the guests upstairs, and the adjacent shops. It would only heal 18 hp though, so not an effective way to do that either.
Agreed. It's only 18 HP healed. Regular characters get that from a short rest with their friends. Necromancers get it from killing people and making them into skeletons. It's part of why necromancers aren't considered nice people. They also never park within the lines at the supermarket or return their carts.
You can't really say Drawmij wrong. It is literally Jim Ward spelled backwards. Jim Ward was one of Gary Gygax's regular players, and Drawmij was Jim Ward's character.
14:40 Except that the spell for contingency has to be self targeting, so you will do what actually Wild Magic Sorcerers are famous for: Fireball on yourself. A better phrase for this would be "You will never get me alive!"
I seem to rate Disintegrate a little higher than you do. For me at least, the damage is secondary. What I find myself using it for most often is putting holes in things. Many traps cease to function when they suddenly get a 10ft cube hole punched in them. Likewise, if you've done your scouting right, it can give you an easy way through a dungeon by punching a hole in the wall, or by letting you circumnavigate that magical door by punching a hole in the non magical wall beside it. Combining disintegrate with Polymorph is also a fun way to get around a tough enemy, since if disintegrate drops any creature to 0hp they straight up die (also useful vs druids). Obviously, this is a risky strategy, and won't be all that effective vs something with legendary resistances. But it is rather satisfying to turn your DM's eternal Zealot Barbarian champion into a snail and then snap it out of existence. The final use I've found for it really depends on the DM, and involves disintegrating an enemies gear. Technically, if you target an object it is disintegrated, no roll required. Things like spellbooks, armour and weapons will often not be magical in and of themselves, and removing them from a combat will make your job that much easier. Removing a set of plate from the equation will cut an enemies AC by at least 8, which is straight up better than permanent advantage vs them, and requires no concentration. I agree that it is a circumstantial spell, but if you are clever, those circumstances seem to come up a lot.
This is for anyone reading this for the poly and disintegrate combo. There was a sage advice saying it does not work, it reduces creatures to 0 hp so it turns them back before disintegrate kicks in. Works with power word kill and divine word, though.
I agree Create Homonculus is really circumstantial. One cool circumstance where it pays off is if you have a stronghold of some type including a large reference library. Your homunculus can be safe from the dangers of your campaign and you can call in ask it to perform research, use sending stones, scry with magic items, etc. If a wizard is Batman, a good homunculus is like Oracle.
@@highlinked943 Keep pouring your HP into it at the long rest, keep in mind, you have to be level 11 to be immune to the reduction of MAX HP. You'll end up with something that dwarf the Tarrasque in the HP department.
It's a good way to give an orphan a tragic backstory when everything they love conveniently fits in a 60' radius. Or to make an orphan with such a backstory, even.
Plus, the necromancer would get like... 18 HP from casting it on the peasants if they are a necromancer. Damn, grim harvest really should be per creature killed. Way cooler.
when I played a necromancer in dnd 3.5 I used circle of death to instantly kill whatever I summoned with gate. giving me resources to build an army with
I think it is a spell designed for clearing out minions by the dozens, or even houndreds. 9x the area of a fireball if you target ground only, or 30 times the volume in an aerial or underwater circumstance is nothing to scoff at, even if the damage is. Siege, and attacks on warcamps. For groups playing with the 1hp minion house rule, this might be the best spell for dealing with them. But if your DM stops sending weak enemies at you when you reach a certain level, this spell will not be useful in your campaign. I still like it for the flavour.
You’re seriously underestimating Create Homunculus. The real trick with it is: 1. It has 10 int (as smart as a typical human) and 4 str (enough to carry something significant). 2. It’s got opposable digits. 3. It’s got a fly speed. 4. It can attune to its own magic items. This means that it can attune to things like cube of force, wand of magic missiles, rings of spell storing, etc. It can concentrate on its own spells. The use item action is as potent when your homunculus uses it as when you use it yourself. 5. It has its own actions. 6. 1000 gp is piddling at level 11. 7. It’s a construct. It doesn’t need to breathe, and can be stuffed safely in a bag of holding or haversack for when you need it.
@@undrhil No, Magic Jar only works on humanoids. Although I *suppose* the spell doesn't capitalize it as Humanoid or specify "creatures with the humanoid type." or anything along those lines, but I don't see that as a winning argument very often. I wouldn't be surprised if Sage Advice has addressed that, though, and confirmed that it's something with the humanoid creature type, not just anything with a humanoid body shape.
Yeah, no. Point 6 doesn't apply to a wizard. You have the power of capitalism, but you keep needing money. You are always the poorest member of your party.
Regarding Create Homonculus, I play in a game where we have ample downtime and ability to get spells, so my character picked up Create Homonculus because why not? After I did, I realized that as a Necromancer the sacrifice of HP isn't nearly as bad for me, since my maximum HP can't be reduced (it's still not great, because you spend the hit dice, but it's at least something you might want to do in the right circumstances now). After getting myself captured by the badguys, I spent half a game session playing my Homonculus, communicating with the group, leading them toward me, and actually having a blast. :D
An idea for a video would be the best Upcasts, which is different from level to level based on options that are available as you unlock higher level spells, and so on.
@@TreantmonksTemple "Upcastability" is something i'm also very interested in. It's good to know for a Wizard of course. But it would be essential for a Sorcerer, due to very few Spells-known. And it would also be of super-high importance for a Warlock, due to very few Spells-known AND automatic Upcasting of all Spells (up to Spell-Level 5) AND very few Spells per short rest. (In Fact, i am interested in a Control-Style-Warlock, because of Invocations for "At-Will Silent Image" and "At-Will Push-Pull-Slowing Eldritch Blast")
This is a minor point, but you mentioned using a diamond for Magic Jar for its durability. Unfortunately diamonds (especially big ones) are really easy to destroy--they are brittle and shatter very easily--they're just nearly impossible to scratch. Don't confuse hardness with strength/durability. Glass is harder than iron, but iron is a lot more difficult to break.
Also, a humonculus is the perfect spellbook. Dimension door somewhere inaccessible, perform the ritual, leave a spellbook there, never have to worry about a large number of your spells ever again as you simply study your spellbook through the humonculus?
Wouldn't the dispel magic have to be of at least 6th level? If the enemy has already spend their spell slots of 6th or higher than they wouldn't be able to dispel this right? If you had an innate fly speed and found 9th lvl Globe of Invulnerability it would require at least a 9th lvl dispel magic right? Or otherwise you can't be hit by spells.
@@jugglejunk Unfortunately not. The globe isn’t *inside itself*, and only what is inside the barrier is protected from lower level spells. So you could dispel even a 9th level globe with a third level dispel if you rolled high enough. Amazing how a spell seemingly designed to help with fighting spell casters has a weakness that most spell casters can exploit. I’ve seen this spell be good in the hands of a DM who had a powerful bad guy npc wizard cast this spell on himself, but the dm didn’t specify what the spell was. So the player characters were struggling to figure out what was going on in the first few rounds of combat when none of their spells were working, wasting their actions in the meantime.
@@JaxonBurn I later read that among the comments too, still a bit of a jerk move to be that nitpicky about the wording. But I guess I can see the pro's and the cons of this interpretation.
@@JaxonBurn Ugh, I hate when DMs do this. Whether they're being obscure to misled veterans or even if it's just a newer player, they should not exploit the discrepancy between what your character would know and what you would know. Unless they're saying that you're just totally unfamiliar with the spell (in which case at least give me an Arcana check or something) then not simply telling your players what it is is awful.
Hey Treantmonk, after finishing level 9 (and perhaps a break after), you might want to consider doing the spells: Chaos Bolt, Enhance Ability, Water Walking, Daylight, Dominate Beast, Insect Plague, Fire Storm, and Earthquake. These are the only spells that are on the Sorcerer spell list that are not on the Wizard spell list-that way you'd have just about two class list rated for the price of 1.01. I know that the spells you rate might rate differently as a sorcerer spell (quicken sunbeam with quickened spells is a lot of resources but generally seen as useful, or telekinesis), but would still be very useful as a general help to players I think.
Glad you're feeling better. Your health is more important that a video, but I'm still very appreciative that you make these. I've gotten a lot of good advice from you over the past 6 months since I started watching.
Caveat is “Cah-vee-ott”. For Irresistible dance the wording is the dancing creature makes a wisdom saving throw as an action. They don’t get the choice not to make that save so you’ve basically locking them down for 2 turns guaranteed. That’s not horrible and it can be many more turns. Sure they have a bonus action but it’s still potentially encounter ending.
That’s actually interesting. I’m just looking into it now and can’t seem to find any consensus about whether the creature is forced to use their action to save, or can simply choose to. The spell says “As an action, a dancing creature makes a Wisdom saving throw…” The wording of the spell is unique in that it specifies neither “may” nor “must” which most other similar spells do and which would clarify the issue. On a strict reading, I’m inclined to agree with you that the creature must use its action to save. It’s stated as a fact about what will happen on the creatures turn: it uses an action to save from the spell. This actually matters quite a lot. If you cast it on a spell caster, they might prefer to cast dispel magic as their action rather than chance the wisdom save. But on a strict reading of this spell they are not able to do that. Fascinating!
When my warlock hits 11th lv. I want to take soul cage and yhrn try and sell important souls to a dummoned devil. The 8 hour duratuon might be a problem but i think they might have a way of dealing with that.
Heronius Napalm V while that is a good idea, trafficking in souls is an inherently evil act which would have vast implications in some games...In my game I would clearly mark you as an evil person subject to watching from the Lords of the Nine with long term repercussions. They are the masters of the soul trade, and since you agree with their mode of exchange central to their existence you can’t be too far removed from their philosophy. Of course in others it has no implications and is purely a benefit to the players.
smile444 it’s the DMs job to make sure he cares about it. The PC is by definition an important person in the game world, and to be noticed by a greater devil through soul trading is an invitation for the DM to build plot points around repercussions, such as being captured by said Devil and forced into servitude unbeknownst to the other players. A player losing control of their PC through play decisions and forced into figuring out an escape path is just great for adventure.
@@mistersolace265 it does have some circumstantial uses where it is the only solution (like forcecage), so it can be worth having in some circumstances.
Here are 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 Gate (Conj, Conc) (**) (07:10) Chain Lightning (Evo) (***) (18:09) Circle of Death (Necr) (*) Possibly the worst 6th Level Spell in Treantmonk's opinion. (39:03) Contingency (Evo) (****) (14:02) Create Homunculus (Tran) (**) (42:54) Create Undead (Necr) (**) (37:27) Disintegrate (Tran) (**) (40:14) Drawmij's Instant Summons (Conj, Ritual) (*) (08:11) Eyebite (Necr, Conc) (****) (34:41) Flesh to Stone (Tran, Conc) (*) (48:50) Globe of Invulnerability (Abj, Conc) (***) (02:31) Guards & Wards (Abj) (*) (04:26) Investiture of Flame (Tran, Conc) (**) (44:52) Investiture of Ice (Tran, Conc) (**) (45:57) Investiture of Stone (Tran, Conc) (**) (47:00) Investiture of Wind (Tran, Conc) (*) (47:55) Mass Suggestion (Enc) (*****) (10:34) Magic Jar (Necr) (****) (26:20) Mental Prison (Ill, Conc) (****) or (**) if your DM is going to have monsters test the illusion. (22:22) Move Earth (Tran, Conc) (*) (55:04) Otiluke's Freezing Sphere (Evo) (***) (16:29) Otto's Irresistable Dance (Enc, Conj) (**) or (****) for Enchanters (11:33) Programmed Illusion (Ill) (***) Similar issue to Mental Prison (24:19) Scatter (Conj) (****) (05:52) Soul Cage (Necr) (****) (32:29) Sunbeam (Evo, Conc) (**) (19:54) Tenser's Transformation (Tran, Conc) (*) (50:13) True Seeing (Div) (**?) I may be wrong on this. He gave it 3 asterisk's, but also coloured it orange (08:52) Wall of Ice (Evo) (*) (21:21)
The wording on chain lightning seems to imply that each creature takes the same instance of lightning damage (10d8, I think). So if your 10d8 is 50 lightning, each creature will take 25 on a save or 50 on a fail. Empowered evocation would improve those numbers to 27 and 55 respectively (assuming a +5 to int). It should effect everyone, but the specific evasive nature of chain lightning is way less appealing to evocation wizards, who don't worry about hitting party members anyway. Love the videos as always!
Guards and Wards is hurt more by the lack of high/mid level adventure variety. Any sort of castle or stronghold defense (not your own, you show up to defend your lord's castle, etc. etc.) it will be useful in. That's still in the niche range, but not red range, imho.
Eh, even in that situation I'd probably prefer to spend some GP and get a bunch of mid-level Glyphs of Warding all over the place. The Web effect of G&W is probably the best part, but a well-placed Glyph can get you Web, Suggestion, Fireball, Black Tentacles, Polymorph - the list goes on...
SUNBEAM HAS A BLIND EFFECT. Did you forget? You had Sunbeam as a good spell before. I really like this. It lasts the whole encounter, its a damage, debuff and area effect each round, advantage vs undead.. a lot here to like. Its even better as a magic item. Give it to your best minion and he has useful combat actions all day. `
The wizard in my group likes to couple sunbeam with crown of stars, using her action and bonus action to cause sustained damage throughout some of our long battles. The blindness effect is an added bonus. Granted our combats seem to run longer than those in other campaigns. So far, the longest fight ended in the 34th round of combat. Because of that, the players know they need to continue their offense for a long time. Sunbeam is good for that. So, I think if you can couple it with other effects in that way, you can use one or two spells to inflict significant damage.
@@saytr4 there were loads of enemies in confined spaces, so the PCs couldn't use area effects to target more than a handful. As they attacked one group, they would have to move into line of sight of another group that would begin attacking at range. When they closed with the next group, they'd move into line of sight of a third group. This repeated several times until they finally battled through all the defenders, confronted and killed the leader at the end, and destroyed the minions to the last. After a two or three groups, they realized that they wouldn't be able to retreat without exposing themselves to significant ranged attacks from the remaining enemies. So, there was nothing left but to push through and use their resources as surgically as possible.
I should add that this spell gets really good with elemental wild shape. Moving up to 90 feet in one round, or just burrowing, really opens up positioning opportunities for spellcasting, but the problem arises that you cant cast spells in wildshape. This spell allows you to do that, giving you the ability to pretty much cast lightning bolt every round, with an extra debuff thrown in, get anywhere you need to be to use it, and get in and out of the frontline with ease. It's probably the best spell for moon druids in the game, especially as you get to later levels and spellcasting becomes more powerful and the power of beasts for their challenge rating becomes lesser. I've been thinking about this for a character I've been creating. The build is an orc moon druid, and I'm trying to make the most of aggressive and it's benefits in combination with wild shape. It really works with charge/pounce attacks and the greater movement speeds many beasts get up to, and in this situation, for positioning with sunbeam.
I agree that Tener's Transformation is a trap for the majority of Wizards. However, if you design a build so that it can make use of it, it is a very potent spell. A bladesinger gets some use out of it. First off, the useless: Extra attack. Bladesingers already get this 5 levels earlier at 6th. Proficiency in all armour. This is useless because you can't use it with blade sing. However, this prevents the issue of being in armour you aren't proficient in and then losing concentration. Now the not useless, but far from great. Getting proficiency in Strength saves is situational. There is a reason it is a "Weak" save. The Good. Advantage on both of your attacks is quite nice, especially when combined with the +13 average force damage. This also makes your level 14 ability more useful. Now, assuming you are wielding a rapier, your attacks deal (1d8 + Dex + Int) piercing + (2d12) force, and this isn't including any other benefits. Personally, I think a flame tongue is nice for this. Since you get advantage, having a bonus to hit isn't as big a deal, however getting 7 average fire damage on a hit is nice. With a flame tongue, assuming 18 Dex & 20 int, you'd have a +8 to hit with advantage, dealing (1d8 + 9) piercing + (2d12) force + (2d6) fire. This averages 33.5 damage PER HIT, without expending any resources beyond tensers & one use of blade sing. 50 Temp HP helps a bit with survivability as well. Getting proficiency in Con saves is good, because it stacks with the blade sing ability. At 11th level (when you get the spell), assuming a Con of 14 & an Int of 20, your Con saves would be +11 (+2 from Con, +5 from Int, +4 from proficiency). With war caster, this is made at advantage. This means you are rather unlikely to lose concentration on the spell. Now, where I think this spell really shines is a War Wizard, when you have proficiency in Medium or Heavy armour normally. My favourite build is to start with Paladin, and end with Wizard 18/Paladin 2. This is the build that gets a lot out of it. Proficiency in all armour is useless. However, again this stops the trap of losing concentration and having to take armour off. As said above, proficiency in Strength saves isn't fantastic. Getting advantage on attacks, adding 2d12 force damage and getting extra attack are all good. However, with smites, this is even better (especially with how many spells slots you have). The 50 temp hit points are again, good for some survivability. Now, one of the big things for War Wizards is when they are concentrating on a spell, they gain a +2 bonus to AC and all saving throws. So now, on top of the normal benefits, we add this on. This helps with Con saves. With the build I'm using, you'd have this spell at 13th. This means your Con save would be +9 assuming the same stats as above (+2 from Con, +5 from proficiency, +2 from concentrating on a spell). Additionally, you can use your arcane deflection reaction to gain a +4 bonus to saves, taking this to a +13 where needed. Assuming you are in plate and have a +1 shield, you have an AC of 22 (20 from plate and shield, +1 from +1 shield, +1 from defence fighting style from paladin). This AC goes to 24 with Tenser's. Now, with this build, I'd dump dex (especially since you add your Int to initiative). Absorb elements can help alleviate this weakness, and you may actually get some use out of the extra damage. TL;DR Tener's is a trap unless you make a build that accommodates it. However, when you do, you truly get a Wizard that can really dish out some front line punishment.
Out of interest, I compared these to the original ratings. Several spells moved up or down a grade. Spells that moved MORE are: *Sunbeam (good to circumstantial) *Flesh to stone (Moderate to bad) *True Seeing (Good to circumstantial)
I think the big draw of Sunbeam is that it's repeated damage. It's very efficient spell slot usage if all you want to do is blast, over multiple turns. You're basically spending a 6th level spell to be able to upgrade your basic resource-free attack from a 3d10 Fire Bolt to a 6d8 Sunbeam. I think baseline damage at 11th level was 3d10+15 = 31.5. 6d8 is 27 damage on average, but it's a save for half instead of an attack on AC so I forget how you factored that in. Bottom line is it makes the wizard do close to average damage against a single target using a single spell slot, and it's a line so you should be able to hit at least two targets per turn. Oh and the blindness rider is pretty nice too, it can possibly shut down a spellcaster for a turn if they depend on spells that require seeing the target. Compare to Cone of Cold: a 5th level spell doing 8d8, once. Obviously if you're fighting a ton of mooks, the big cone is going to be preferable to a line, but if you're just fighting one or two guys then it's probable that the line will be better anyway because it's less likely to hit your allies. Radiant is much better than cold, too. And the 6th level spell is going to just keep motoring through damage turn after turn while you need to keep spending resources to blast otherwise. And it's also worth pointing out how, like an attack or cantrip, you can still cast bonus action spells with this up. Best use for this is obviously on a sorcerer with quicken spell, but even a wizard should have a few options for bonus action spells (misty step at the very least to position the line well).
I agree it works well with quicken spell. Wizards don't have good non concentration bonus action spells (Misty step I guess, but most rounds you don't need a Misty step)
@@TreantmonksTemple I just looked up all non-concentration bonus action spells in the game. There are only 8: Magic Stone, Shillelagh, Healing Word, Sanctuary, Misty Step, Spiritual Weapon, Mass Healing Word, and Divine Word. Only Misty Step is on the wizard list. I think I realized why I like the idea so much though: I play my wizards with a 1 level dip in cleric (generally knowledge) so I always have access to Healing Word or Sanctuary for a bonus action without concentration, which is very nice for an emergency button. For a pure wizard, there really isn't much you can do for a bonus action if you're already concentrating.
Aside from 5th level, a Bladesinger’s weapon attacks are as good or slightly better than a Cantrip. I look at the weapon attacks as a substitute for a Cantrip and not as the main Action you want to be doing every round. BTW, congratulations on your channel’s growth. I always try to remember to Like all of the videos because some people claim that helps with the RUclips algorithm.
Tenser's Transformation i find works much better as a magical secrets for bards. For dealing with magically immune creatures bards are in quite the pickle even more so than the wizard because the buffs that bards can do are more geared towards inspiration. College of Whispers would be a good one because you are far more likely to hit if you have two attacks at advantage. plus you can stay at range, advantage on martial and simple weapons (no need to get up close) you can still use your bardic inspiration, and it provides Proffencinecy (you said advantage) to strength and Constitution saves. so lets say long bow for a d8, 2d12 force from TT and 8d6 Psychic Blades (15th level) plus crits. if we go for multi classing you have two choices (hexblade, charisma to hit) or Paladin (use bard slots to smite).
I agree, Tenser’s Transformation is best on Hexblade Bards. I have tried it on a Sword Bard 14/Hexblade 1/Paladin 2/Battlemaster 3 with Polearm Master/Staff/Shield in several one shots and it is very strong both defensively and offensively, and plays like a souped-up Paladin without the auras but with tons of killer spells. Alternatively I have also tested Bard 15/Hexblade 3/Paladin 2 for PAM+GWM, but find it less consistent and more difficult to play when Tenser’s isn’t up, as well as being slower without Action Surge.
Great video! These are becoming the highlight of my week. Especially with these higher levels. One thought, if you are looking for ideas for another series I would like to see some ideas for magically securing a homebase. Something my current group is struggling to do. It's hard to work with the current spell lists and keep a villainous group from stealing your gold or the mcguffin you worked so hard to get.
The best high level Bladesinger tactic is called "Sing and Sling". You kinda dance and sorta move like an elf flailing your arms and being a normal wizard with way higher AC and better concentration saves. Bullshit, but I ain't crazy to jump in with my... whip or some shit.
Re Tenser's Transformation, my point is rather niche in a discussion about wizard spells and may be more appropriate for a Bladesinger discussion, but: a full wizard Dex-based bladesinger with mobile + elven accuracy (the superior form of a bladesinger IMO, fight me) makes very good use of TT. First of all, it's 3 attacks per turn b/c you can not cast spells you draw an off-hand b/c why not. Three attacks at 3d20 per attack roll (kinda crit-fishing and hitting most of the time) for 6d12 force damage + (1d6+2d8)+10 weapon damage per turn. The 50 temp. HP (equivalent to a 9th level False Life or a 10th* level Song of Defense) is going to do work over the 10min duration as you're able to avoid being in melee w/ mobile. Prof. in CON saves + bladesong means auto-saving on any damage that is less than ~20-26 dmg per hit (and Song of Defense can be used during TT to reduce damage into an auto-save if necessary). Stand near your paladin and ask someone for an inspiration when you're ending the spell. P.S. Yes, shapechange at 17th level is way better than TT.
For me I tend to multiclass bladesinger with barbarian. I'll then use defensive spells that don't require concentration. At 10th level of bladesinger I would be reducing damage cause that's not considered casting a spell (just like smite) so I would end up with 14 bladesinger and 6 barbarian. With that said, tenser's transformation is a concentration spell so it's still no good
The most Mileage I ever got out of Tenser’s Transformation (not to say it’s all that amazing), was in a oneshot as a level 2 Paladin, the rest as War Magic wizard (I think it was 14 more levels but can’t recall). Where I already had the armor proficiency, and not being able to cast spells was not as big of a drawback because I was planning on using smites on my attacks anyway, while it would do a similar job as haste to boost me to 2 attacks per turn + I’d still get the reaction for saves/AC. Worked pretty well and dished out good damage. But it was also prior to Tasha’s release, so stronger stuff can probably be achieved now.
Sunbeam gets 10 uses for 1 spell slot doesn't it? True, the first one isn't going to be as strong as a different spell blast, but if your going to be in combat for more than 1 or 2 rounds, you can keep throwing this spell as your action without using any more spell slots. normally, using more spell slots to re-blast would be fine when using 4th or 3rd level slots since you are going to have several of them, but you only get one 6th level slot for a huge portion of the campaign, so having it last for an entire combat encounter sounds good to me. Seems like it would be good against any enemy you know you cant just kill outright in 1 round with a more bursty spell which, if were being honest, is never going to happen if the DM is having you fight creatures appropriate for your level.
42:29 - I remember reading somewhere (Sage Advice, maybe?) that Wall of Force actually blocks (most) teleportation, because it blocks line of effect. Spells need line of effect to work. I might be wrong about this, but that's what I've read. I need to do a bit of research on that topic.
@@TreantmonksTemple I did a bit of digging, and it seems that Wall of Force cannot block teleportation IF, for example, the target of teleportation spell is on the same side of the wall as the caster. For example, a wizard casting Misty Step (range of self, targets oneself) can teleport through the Wall of Force. However, if, say, the wizard's friends were trapped behind the Wall of Force, he wouldn't be able to use Scatter to get them out, because Scatter targets creatures within 30 feet, and that means those creatures should not be behind total cover. Wall of Force provides total cover, despite being invisible and transparent. So a wizard should use Dimension Door to get his buddies out, but not Scatter or Arcane Gate (because Arcane Gate needs to target a point in space, and the targeting rules for spells state that the target of a spell cannot be behind total cover). So, in short, the answer to the question whether Wall of Force can block teleportation is "depends". Like with many things in D&D.
I know one quite nice use for Drawmij's Instant Summon. It's on higher levels, when you already have your own demiplane, and your own Clone(s). Suppose, you die for some reason, your sole will be RickSanchez'd to your clone. And what about your shiny Robe of Archmage and Staff of Power? Exactly, you left them to your killer. Except you just crush the sapphire what you keep in your demiplane, near your clone vat.
You should really play a PC Necromancer, I think you would be shocked how much you are missing synergy wise between all the spells. No one making videos covers any of the stuff I learned actually playing the class. Stuff like TruePoly + Command undead, rolling over your animate spells like goodberry/wish, magicjar/sim, demiplane/portable hole full of monsters, undead servant (best necromancer sig spell flavorwise imo), and other thematic things which just make you a lot more useful and powerful than you think. Everyone just talks about how to waste spell slots on animate dead, but no one talks about all the stuff you can do as a Necromancer. They just talk about how lame, as a Wizard, the Necromancy stuff is comparatively. Not the place, I know. But just sayin. Love your stuff, you taught me how to be God Necromancer.
Great video as always, but just one thing, I'd like to be able to just listen to the audio (for example, on my drive home from work) so if you could say the ranking of the spells out loud I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!
Something to note about Sunbeam - its concentration for 1min. Meaning it's not just 6d8 burst, you can use an action to do 6d8 in a line of 60ft for 10 rounds IF you can keep up concentration. If you are talking spell economy I actually think it's pretty good. If you can manoeuvre around the battlefield so you can hit at least 2 enemies you can do 12d8 dmg for 10 rounds at the cost on 1 level 6 spell.
One upside to Wall of Ice (which I've ended up casting a lot from a Staff of Frost) is that it does damage when it appears, so you can often get both a wall and a blast with one action. The damage is not amazing, but it's decent, and it's usually easy to hit a lot of enemies without friendly fire by making the wall into a jaggedy shape.
in the defense of tenser's transformation, the melee thing might not be the optimal thing to do as a wizard at high levels but if it's what you pick for a character, you get 3 attacks with advantage on which 2d12 apply if you dual wield, and the nice thing of this is the 10 minute duration vs. 1min for shadowblade. It could be nice in a campaign that forces you to do a lot of encouters in a row rather than 2-3 and then rest and forces you to use resources sparingly and therefore you can get a lot done with a single spell slot. Basically 1 single spell slot for the whole fight and even multiple fight is a good resource economy in the right circumstance.
I think a 1 level dip into wizard is amazing for EK and AT, you get ritual spells, the 6 low level spells you really wanted but couldn't get from AT, and more cantrips.
It largely depends on how much you want to focus on attacking for damage in combat. Wizard multi really doesn't help with that at all, but instead adds other things (greater versatility in spells, rituals, subclass abilities).
52:58 I play a War Wizard and have to say that Tenser's transformation works well with War Wizard's features. 1) During the spell's duration I can't cast spells, so using the Arcane Deflection doesn't matter, it just is either a bonus to AC or to your concentration. 2) A passive bonus to AC and Saving throws. low damage numbers like most weapon attacks can't break my concentration just because my bonus is that high. 3) I have a decent dexterity, which means that i could use a longbow or rapier. 3b) On that note, I am working towards a scimitar of Speed for that 3rd attack.
If you don't mind using the bonus action to use a Scimitar of Speed, you can also TWF in the meantime, although the scimitar will mean you can also use a shield at the same time, especially if there's a magical shield available, hand-me-down or otherwise.
Five questions I occasionally ask souls trapped by me: 1. Are you angry that I trapped you in there? 2. Is it uncomfortable in there? 3. Do you want me to let you out? 4. Do you want revenge against me? 5. Would you like angry if told you I'm never letting you out?
So some thoughts about Tenser’s Transformation. This is hyper specific but it also is a character I have for an upcoming campaign so I’d love your thoughts. Basically a Githyanki Abjurer who specializes in melee. Unlike Bladesinger this character doesn’t get 2 attacks so they get even more benefit from this spell. Now not being able to cast still sucks but I can see it being moderately effective in this build. Also I believe TT gives proficiency not advantage for Str and Con saves. Love your content.
Ring of spell storing + find steed + tensers transformation = war horse proficient with Battle axes making two attacks per round. 😈 Pretty specific, but really funny.
I don’t if you considered this as a use for Arcane Gate, but it sounds like you could use it to launch attacks from it. Thought it was a neat use. Let me know if you think of any interesting combos for that!
Irresistible Dance also makes the target use up all of its movement to "dance in place". So if you're up against something that is fast and you want to give your sticky fighter a chance to lock it down, Irresistible Dance is the spell you want.
Ken Livingston Right, but given that you’re not casting it on BBEGs anyways due to legendary resistance, is that bump in consistency for functionally the same effect worth the 6th level slot?
Just had an idea... *** THE RED WIZARD *** Just like a normal Wizard except that he can only cast Treantmonk Red spells. Can he still be an effective class? CANTRIPS 1st level 2nd level 3rd level 4th level 5th level 6th level ..to be continued ..
I think if you were careful it would be bad, but not useless. Spells like Confusion, Wall of Ice - still have their uses if you lack the superior spells.
Guess ill just make a new post.. ahem.. *** THE RED WIZARD*** The Spellbook CANTRIPS True Strike(phb), Mold earth, Thunderclap(ee) 1st level (Phb) Witch bolt, Burning Hands, Illusory Script, Cause Fear, Jump (EE) Earth Tremor 2nd level (Phb) Arcane Lock, Melfs Acid Arrow, Ray of Enfeeblement (EE) Dust Devil, Mind Spike, Aganazzars Scorcher, Snillocs Snowball Swarm, Skywrite 3rd level (Phb) Magic Circle, Bestow Curse, Feign Death, Vampiric Touch (EE) Erupting Earth, Wall of Sand (Xan) Summon Lesser Demons, Catnap 4th level (Phb) Mortys Faithful Hound, Confusion, Ice Storm, Phantasmal Killer, Blight (EE) Elemental Bane 5th level (Phb) Cloudkill, Legend Lore, Dominate Person, Dream, Creation (EE) Control Winds, Immolation (Xan) Dawn, Wall of Light, Negative Energy Flood, Enervation, Skill Empowerment, Far Step 6th level (Phb) Guards and Wards, Drawmijs Instant Summons, Wall of Ice, Circle of Death, Flesh to Stone, Move Earth. (EE) Inv of Wind (Xan) Tensers Transformation He's 11th level, 20 int, 17 DC on saves. You have 16 spells to prepare. How good can you make him? What's your school? What are your tactics? We will name him Edwin ,
Binge watched all of your wizard spells vids thus far. I did leave a couple of comments on some of your other vids. For the most part I find you very informative. Being an avid fan of necromancy though I am a little taken a back by all the red necromancy spells. I honestly just want to share some of my thoughts on why the necromancy spells are the way they are. This is just my opinion after putting a lot of time into pondering how to use necromancy. I think the reason why necromancy spells are "weaker" than the spells of other schools is because they are either specialized towards dealing with specific problems. Spells like ray of sickness, ray of enfeeblement and blight fall into this category. Or the spells have several different effects. These are spells like cause fear, blindness deafness, vampiric touch, enervation and animate dead as examples. another part of the reason why Necromancy spells are "weaker" is because they are balanced to be used with undead minions and other party members. Necromancers seem to be in this odd state of being selfish, due to some of their spell effects only benefiting themselves, and reliant on minions and parties to round out their damage. What I find most odd is the Necromancers ability to generate hp. They have several spells and a class feature geared towards self healing on a class that is not supposed to be taking a lot of damage in the first place. I think a lot of the problems with the class can be mitigated by just being a good wizard and planning a head. While I understand and somewhat share your view on save or suck spells you can improve their effectiveness by making sure that you target enemies that may not have a strong save for that stat. Necromancy is full of con saves so it makes more sense to target enemies with low con. Things like magic users and certain ranged and stealth fighters tend to have low con where as front line fighters have low wisdom. The key to using anything that is high risk high reward is to never put yourself in a position where it has to work or where there is a high consequence for failure. I think Necromancy is best for people who know the rules quite well and know how to take advantage of all the little things from the apparent weakness of your minions to the odd nature of your spells. Anyways Im sorry for the text wall. Necromancy is a complex subject. My question is how would you most effectively use those red necromancy spells if you had to use them? You don't have to answer its just something I often think about.
Red spells don't necessarily mean I think those spells are useless, I just don't think they are good enough to recommend given the other options. If you give me a specific red spell, good chance I can give you some examples.
@@TreantmonksTemple Thanks for the reply. How about enervation? There are plenty of ways to gain advantage or auto success on dex saves. A party members hold person/monster or ghoul paralysis for example. once you hit the damage happens automatically so they do not need to be paralyzed for the entire duration of the spell. I feel that Enervation is best for longer fights as you can do reliable damage with a single 5th level spell slot and maintain your hp at a high value. Since it is a dex save it can be used to bypass certain high armor classes as well. I believe max damage for enervation at 5th level is 320 damage over ten rounds to a single target. You get half of that in self healing. Its a very resource light spell as it saves spell slots and healing items. You only used the one spell, that can can get back with arcane recovery, and your not injured so no potions or spells have to be used to heal you. I'd take it for any long drawn out fight or dungeon crawl. Especially where you have another spell caster that can cast battle field control spells that combo well with it. How would you use it?
Well, the biggest problem with eyebite is that when a creature saves against it it becomes immune to its effects until you cast it again. Other than that it's thematically cool and just got a lot of payoff for its cost.
Tensor's is also a trap for Bladesingers. It stops you casting shield. That is a big problem. If it gave you an armour bonus and maybe 3 attacks or 3 d12 damage, I could see the Bladesinger taking it. Otherwise, you are better using your concentration on a different spell, while using shield and Booming Blade (thanks to Tasha's).
In regards to wall of ice, I did have a frost staff that just happened to drop, so at that point, that was a fantastic use of half my charges once a day or so.
Glad you've recovered from your cold and i hope you are well! :) Great video like always. Some idea popped into my mind as i listened to you talking about Otiluke's Freezing Sphere: Seems to combo quite well with a Druid casting the 5th Level Spell: Maelstrom. The Maelstrom will provide 30ft-radius of 5ft-deep Water (and deals some minor damage) of which 30ft squared can be frozen by Otiluke's Freezing Sphere. And because only the top 1/2 foot is frozen, the Maelstrom should still whirl under the "icing", dealing damage and sucking creatures of medium size or smaller into the frozen Dome, if they use their action to break free from the ice ^^ But i do have some issues with the aspect of Otiluke's Freezing Sphere that let's you give it a friend "for later"... It explodes in a 60ft Radius! But you can throw it up to only 40 ft from you... ouch...
I think the real strength of True Seeing is on a Diviner casting it on a party member. Reduced cost in the form of getting a 5th level back. No reduced benefit because of redundant abilities and you can cast it on your scout or most observant member or if the campaign is currently focused on a particular members backstory then it can be really powerful.
Hey man appreciate your efforts! I thought your Druid guides back in the day were a godsend and you transitioning to RUclips and me finding your page have been great for me! Faithful follower. Question...do you have a twitch campaign or participate in any streaming campaign I can watch?
Would you now rate Disintegrate higher for a Sorcerer with a quickened Mind Sliver, or do you still think it’s not really worth the choice with limited spells? Also, TY for being SO AMAZING! ♥️
Thank you as always, sir! I'm writing to go to bat for create homonculus. I think you missed a very key thing about the spell: It requires a dagger worth 1000 (that you use to bleed yourself upon creation) but it doesn't consume that dagger! Let me cite the components verbatim if you doubt me. reading fromy my Xanathar's pg. 152: "Components: V, S, M, (clay, ash, and mandrake root, all of which the spell consumes, and a jewel-encrusted dagger worth at least 1000 gp)." I think that sentence is pretty clear; you're consuming the component pouch stuff and *not* the dagger. No? Does that impact your take on it? To me, there's nothing wrong with having a familiar AND an amazing familiar that's capable of much more simultaneously. And if a DM is "meh" about letting familiars deliver berries or potions (which I think is a fair take tbh) I don't think there's much room to feel similarly to an intelligent creature with hands. I think it's really a terrific spell altogether.
One use I read about which I LOVED is that you can leave the homonculus with a pile of books back at your base or wherever to study while you adventure. You two share all knowledge, so it logically follows your wizard can stand to become *much* more learned without having to use a single lick of his own time. Being a construct, I don't think the homonculus needs any sleep, either?
I agree on your interpretation of the wording after looking again. Yes, that improves my opinion of the spell. Also getting some cool ideas from other comments
Arcane Gate: I agree that in combat it's not great. Out of combat, seems like it would be useful. Good for a heist scene. I wish the spell was a little bit less restrictive (On a ground, where you can see). It's the closest thing we have to a portal gun!
Ask my pal Ed how that combo worked for him. (On the campaign end fight he wasted his action, 6th level slot, and portent to figure out the enemy he was targeting had legendary resistance)
Would you ever make a guide like this for sorcerers? They have roughly the same types of spells, but a very different situation with the limited amount.
Another interesting point about Magic Jar: you maintain your class hit points in addition to the creatures hit points. According to the spell, you retain any class features you possess, and Jeremy Crawford on Twitter confirmed that hit points were a class feature when asked about this. That being said, I'm sure most DMs are probably going to force you to pick one health pool or the other, just to maintain game balance. But RAW you get both.
I'd love to see a whole video on Magic Jar. I'm also curious about how you get to retain your "Class Features." Hit Points are the first thing mentioned under Wizard class features so RAW wouldn't you take the humanoids hit points from their stat block and then add your wizard HP from the wizard class feature? If so, this widens the selection of potential hosts greatly without having to worry about survivability as much as you would without your wizard HP being added.
It requires a home base, 1 year of down time, and then it requires you to be attacked within the walls of your home base. The circumstantiality puts it as orange, but then the weak effect slides it to red. If you have a fortress and a year of downtime, do it, but it probably won't be what wins you the fight, if you are under siege from a serious threat.
That being said, during that if you are given a year of downtime and a fortress, go for it. It will make a nice addition to the other spells that require a year of castings to be made permanent.
@@cmckee42 It doesn't require a home base. You could cast this in an enemy base or a dungeon, too. You just have to have the opportunity to take 10 minutes to do so and enough knowledge of the terrain to use the spell effectively. In other words, you need the ability to get at least partway through a Short Rest before enemies show up and you'd be using the spell after getting partway through a dungeon. Now, how useful having a pair of Stinking Clouds that don't affect the party but does affect enemies OR a Suggestion spell that doesn't require concentration but does require an enemy to enter a specific 5-foot square in addition to locking a whole bunch of doors so that only the party can use them might actually be, there's plenty of room to debate that.
@@Coid why would want one suggestion without concentration when I could have 12 suggestions without concentration for a fraction of the casting time. 11 suggestions are generally alot more effective than 2 sinking clouds. Guards and wards is an okay spell defensively, but it is next to useless offensively.
Why is sun beam bad though? 6d8 not great but it last a whole minute and against undead it rocks that light isn’t the most helpful but it’s not a detractor and round after round you can redirect the beam to other enemies.
Globe of invulnerability is a great way to avoid being counterspelled if you are facing one or more enemy spellcasters! One similar feature is the sorcerer's subtle spell, as there is no way to counterspell a spell cast without verbal or somatic components. Subtle spell + silence could be a nice way to disable an area of a spellcasting boss's lair and force them to move.
I agree that GoI blocks counterspell, but on the other hand, since you can't cast concentration spells, you have a lot less casting options in the first place. They probably should have countered the GoI
@@TreantmonksTemple I did not understand the last sentence. You mean that as they should have counterspelled the GoI? It's ok if you can't answer to this comment. Keep up the good work though, I've been converting players to the god wizard for some years now.
@@guilhermemonocores4872 there were 2 points on my last comment: 1) once globe of invulnerability is up, it does block counterspell, but there is a lot less effective spells you can cast because of concentration. 2) if you are facing someone with counterspell, globe of invulnerability isn't necessarily the answer since it can also be counterspelled.
Too bad the sphere itself can be targeted with Dispel Magic. Sage Advice confirms this. This, to my mind, makes this spell too costly and unreliable to spend a 6th level slot.
magic jar makes you retain your class features; your hit points are class features...so no cheeky super-health combos from jarring an anarch :(. that said, a target with higher con than you would give you a hp boost [similarly for lower con taking away from your normal health], so you can still use esoteric humanoids like the weretiger and not fall behind by much
Know this is late, but RAW you would combine both your class hit points and the creature's hit points. The creature's hit points aren't a class feature, only yours are. That being said, I don't know any DMs that wouldn't make you choose one pool or the other, just to prevent exactly these shenanigans. Still, Magic Jar is awesome.
@@isabelled.4799 you know, i think you've got a point there... on magic jar though, here's another potential RAW exploit: if you use nystul's magic aura on a non-humanoid to treat it as a humanoid, you could possess a dragon or demogorgon or whatever
@@borisdaanimal4014 Oh wow I'm surprised I got a response! Nice to see that haha. Also, on an unrelated note, unfortunately that wouldn't work in that way. Nystuls Magic Aura only affects how things are treated by Divination magic, but Magic Jar is a necromancy spell. However, Nystuls is GREAT for another purpose. Cast it on whatever you use as your "jar", and it helps hide it from potential threats, since it no longer registers to stuff like identify or detect magic. Alternatively, you could do this and also cast it on another gem, to fool people into thinking the "fake" jar is actually your real one.
@@borisdaanimal4014 And there's some merit to the idea that you could use the Clone spell on a stronger body that you've possessed, to give you a permanent body upgrade. But that one is a little outside the realm of what the rules were intended to cover, so a DM might overrule it.
*Arcane* *Gate* - I don't think there's anything stopping you from bifurcating targets with this spell if you were to close the portal while they were halfway through. Also, if you happened to have a large column of stone or something no more than 10' wide, you could use this spell to drop it on someone at great distance. I still agree with your rating, but just wanted to share these possibilities. It might be useful for dealing with a tarrasque. *Eyebite* - cool spell. As written, it would not break stealth or regular invisibility. As a result, there are some cool applications of this spell for specific character builds.
People get distracted by all the wording in Otto’s irresistible dance. Let’s see what it actually does. You use all of your movement to dance in your space (for ease, let’s just say that means your speed is 0). You have disadvantage on attack rolls. Creatures that attack you have advantage. You have disadvantage on dex saves. You know what we call this? The RESTRAINED condition. That’s all this spell is: a 6th level spell that restrains a single creature. I don’t think even the creators caught this or they wouldn’t have wasted all that wording to just define the restrained condition again. The only functional difference seems to be that if you make your save on your turn you’ve still used up all your movement whereas if you did the same while restrained you’d have your movement back. There still remains, of course, the confusion over whether or not you HAVE to use your action each turn to attempt to save or if you can just forego. Poor wording with no clear answer I’ve found.
chain lightning is NOT a blastspell. its a controllspell. see that fighter over there? with plate, sword and shield? well chainlightning says TARGET, not CREATURE. Ans also doesnt specify that it cant be worn or carried. So that fighter is now basicly out of the fight, without spending concentration or the ability to succeed on a spell
I would like to see these same kinds of lists made by you for sorcerers. I know almost all of the Sorcerer spells are in the wizard lists, but with metamagics and other factors; the recommendations might be different. Like, maybe Disintegrate would rank better when considered with Twin Spell or Heightened Spell.
Disintergrate I think works on a Forcecage, but I think it only destroys a 10foot portion of it. The specific wording on Wall of Force says that Disintegrate "destroys it instantly", so you don't just cut a 10foot hole, you destroy the entire Wall of Force with Disintegrate.
All of the Investiture spells are crap, however I love the theme of them. As a DM (or beg my DM as a player), I would give these spells to a character as an innate ability. Have a player that is a Wildfire Druid? Run a special mission for them, maybe defeating a powerful fire elemental, and they subsume that elemental and gain the abilities of Investiture of Fire. Have a player this is a cold spell focused sorcerer? Let them find a shard of True Ice that they can make into a trinket that replicates the Investiture of Ice spell at will. It's hardly game-breaking, as cantrips do more damage than this, but lets the player feel thematically rewarded for their investment in the character. I mean, this is literally the definition of the word "investiture"
(create homunculus) is blue for the effect range is unlimited on the same plane. it is permanent scry which you have a telepathic bond leave it town at a library and you have infinite reading and research time whilst you quest. want it near leave it in a bag of holding with books. knowledge is power. have your simulacrum use create humunculus know you have a duo gathering information. double speed knowledge gather yes more power.
Disintegrate says you point to a target you can see. Wall of force and forcecage are invisible. What do people think of the argument that you must also cast See Invisibility first before using disintegrate to destroy a wall of force or forcecage?
I think it is more than reasonable to point at an object the caster can see outside the wall or cage upon casting and disintegrate gets intercepted by the wall or cage destroying it in the process.
How come you skipped over the blinded condition you add to all creatures in the line of a Sunbeam? That is up to 10 chances to blind several creatures and the damage on top of that debilitating condition?
For circle of death I used this in dead in Thay as a red wizard. It was very effective against the party as the dm. They all had a hard go with the con save. The rogue didn’t get to use evasion. I guess it’s more a spell for dm’s.
My players wish they were high enough to get guard and ward. They got a base and then made a bunch of powerful enemies in the city. Had one attack and one attempted break-in
Flesh to Stone is great if someone else casts polymorph on the boss. Turn the boss into a spider and turn the spider to stone. Once polymorph ends they will still be under the effects of Flesh to Stone.
Circle of death is a healing spell for necromancers that don't have friends.
Walk into the local tavern, cast circle of death to heal up, cast animate dead, and then walk out with all new friends.
savage
With that range, it is the tavern, the guests upstairs, and the adjacent shops.
It would only heal 18 hp though, so not an effective way to do that either.
Agreed. It's only 18 HP healed.
Regular characters get that from a short rest with their friends.
Necromancers get it from killing people and making them into skeletons.
It's part of why necromancers aren't considered nice people. They also never park within the lines at the supermarket or return their carts.
Flesh to stone a peasant. Animate object. Stone golem bro.
You can't really say Drawmij wrong. It is literally Jim Ward spelled backwards. Jim Ward was one of Gary Gygax's regular players, and Drawmij was Jim Ward's character.
Lol, I thought it was some Dutch guy
14:40 Except that the spell for contingency has to be self targeting, so you will do what actually Wild Magic Sorcerers are famous for: Fireball on yourself. A better phrase for this would be "You will never get me alive!"
I seem to rate Disintegrate a little higher than you do.
For me at least, the damage is secondary. What I find myself using it for most often is putting holes in things. Many traps cease to function when they suddenly get a 10ft cube hole punched in them.
Likewise, if you've done your scouting right, it can give you an easy way through a dungeon by punching a hole in the wall, or by letting you circumnavigate that magical door by punching a hole in the non magical wall beside it.
Combining disintegrate with Polymorph is also a fun way to get around a tough enemy, since if disintegrate drops any creature to 0hp they straight up die (also useful vs druids). Obviously, this is a risky strategy, and won't be all that effective vs something with legendary resistances. But it is rather satisfying to turn your DM's eternal Zealot Barbarian champion into a snail and then snap it out of existence.
The final use I've found for it really depends on the DM, and involves disintegrating an enemies gear. Technically, if you target an object it is disintegrated, no roll required. Things like spellbooks, armour and weapons will often not be magical in and of themselves, and removing them from a combat will make your job that much easier.
Removing a set of plate from the equation will cut an enemies AC by at least 8, which is straight up better than permanent advantage vs them, and requires no concentration.
I agree that it is a circumstantial spell, but if you are clever, those circumstances seem to come up a lot.
This is for anyone reading this for the poly and disintegrate combo. There was a sage advice saying it does not work, it reduces creatures to 0 hp so it turns them back before disintegrate kicks in. Works with power word kill and divine word, though.
I agree Create Homonculus is really circumstantial. One cool circumstance where it pays off is if you have a stronghold of some type including a large reference library. Your homunculus can be safe from the dangers of your campaign and you can call in ask it to perform research, use sending stones, scry with magic items, etc. If a wizard is Batman, a good homunculus is like Oracle.
When the circumstance is “whenever you wish your familiar had hands and nigh-unlimited range” I’d note that comes up all the time.
Someone didn't look at the necromancer's school.
Do you want an homunculus with 4 digit HP?
You can have it!
@@WexMajor82 explain please
@@highlinked943 Keep pouring your HP into it at the long rest, keep in mind, you have to be level 11 to be immune to the reduction of MAX HP.
You'll end up with something that dwarf the Tarrasque in the HP department.
@@WexMajor82 daamn ok Ill look Into it, thankyou :)
*Sees Treantmonk in notifications*
*clicks immediately*
Thanks for all you do.
Circle of Death feels more like a BBEG spell for killing massive amounts of peasants. Just murderizing half a village.
It's a good way to give an orphan a tragic backstory when everything they love conveniently fits in a 60' radius. Or to make an orphan with such a backstory, even.
Plus, the necromancer would get like... 18 HP from casting it on the peasants if they are a necromancer. Damn, grim harvest really should be per creature killed. Way cooler.
when I played a necromancer in dnd 3.5 I used circle of death to instantly kill whatever I summoned with gate.
giving me resources to build an army with
I think it is a spell designed for clearing out minions by the dozens, or even houndreds. 9x the area of a fireball if you target ground only, or 30 times the volume in an aerial or underwater circumstance is nothing to scoff at, even if the damage is.
Siege, and attacks on warcamps. For groups playing with the 1hp minion house rule, this might be the best spell for dealing with them. But if your DM stops sending weak enemies at you when you reach a certain level, this spell will not be useful in your campaign. I still like it for the flavour.
You’re seriously underestimating Create Homunculus. The real trick with it is:
1. It has 10 int (as smart as a typical human) and 4 str (enough to carry something significant).
2. It’s got opposable digits.
3. It’s got a fly speed.
4. It can attune to its own magic items. This means that it can attune to things like cube of force, wand of magic missiles, rings of spell storing, etc. It can concentrate on its own spells. The use item action is as potent when your homunculus uses it as when you use it yourself.
5. It has its own actions.
6. 1000 gp is piddling at level 11.
7. It’s a construct. It doesn’t need to breathe, and can be stuffed safely in a bag of holding or haversack for when you need it.
Can you Mind Jar into a Homunculus?
@@undrhil No, Magic Jar only works on humanoids. Although I *suppose* the spell doesn't capitalize it as Humanoid or specify "creatures with the humanoid type." or anything along those lines, but I don't see that as a winning argument very often.
I wouldn't be surprised if Sage Advice has addressed that, though, and confirmed that it's something with the humanoid creature type, not just anything with a humanoid body shape.
@@Coid actually I wonder if he means if you can use the homonculus as the focus for the spell to hold your soul in. Which would be really dope tbh.
Yeah, no.
Point 6 doesn't apply to a wizard.
You have the power of capitalism, but you keep needing money.
You are always the poorest member of your party.
@@Eyro_Elloyn yeah, this. Can you use your Homunculus as the jar?
Regarding Create Homonculus, I play in a game where we have ample downtime and ability to get spells, so my character picked up Create Homonculus because why not? After I did, I realized that as a Necromancer the sacrifice of HP isn't nearly as bad for me, since my maximum HP can't be reduced (it's still not great, because you spend the hit dice, but it's at least something you might want to do in the right circumstances now).
After getting myself captured by the badguys, I spent half a game session playing my Homonculus, communicating with the group, leading them toward me, and actually having a blast. :D
Whoa, is that legit? Hadn't thought of that Necromancer ability. This blows my mind!
Also, create an homunculus and make arrangement to have it stay into a library.
Free bonuses to your lore checks.
Jordan Fultz sure. The benefit is small but appropriate so I wouldn’t even think about not allowing it.
An idea for a video would be the best Upcasts, which is different from level to level based on options that are available as you unlock higher level spells, and so on.
That's a great idea!
@@TreantmonksTemple "Upcastability" is something i'm also very interested in.
It's good to know for a Wizard of course.
But it would be essential for a Sorcerer, due to very few Spells-known.
And it would also be of super-high importance for a Warlock, due to very few Spells-known AND automatic Upcasting of all Spells (up to Spell-Level 5) AND very few Spells per short rest. (In Fact, i am interested in a Control-Style-Warlock, because of Invocations for "At-Will Silent Image" and "At-Will Push-Pull-Slowing Eldritch Blast")
This is a minor point, but you mentioned using a diamond for Magic Jar for its durability. Unfortunately diamonds (especially big ones) are really easy to destroy--they are brittle and shatter very easily--they're just nearly impossible to scratch. Don't confuse hardness with strength/durability. Glass is harder than iron, but iron is a lot more difficult to break.
Also, a humonculus is the perfect spellbook. Dimension door somewhere inaccessible, perform the ritual, leave a spellbook there, never have to worry about a large number of your spells ever again as you simply study your spellbook through the humonculus?
When I understood that Globe of Invulnerability could be dispelled by Dispel Magic, I grew extremely disappointed with the spell.
Wouldn't the dispel magic have to be of at least 6th level? If the enemy has already spend their spell slots of 6th or higher than they wouldn't be able to dispel this right? If you had an innate fly speed and found 9th lvl Globe of Invulnerability it would require at least a 9th lvl dispel magic right? Or otherwise you can't be hit by spells.
@@jugglejunk Unfortunately not. The globe isn’t *inside itself*, and only what is inside the barrier is protected from lower level spells. So you could dispel even a 9th level globe with a third level dispel if you rolled high enough. Amazing how a spell seemingly designed to help with fighting spell casters has a weakness that most spell casters can exploit.
I’ve seen this spell be good in the hands of a DM who had a powerful bad guy npc wizard cast this spell on himself, but the dm didn’t specify what the spell was. So the player characters were struggling to figure out what was going on in the first few rounds of combat when none of their spells were working, wasting their actions in the meantime.
@@JaxonBurn I later read that among the comments too, still a bit of a jerk move to be that nitpicky about the wording. But I guess I can see the pro's and the cons of this interpretation.
@@JaxonBurn Ugh, I hate when DMs do this. Whether they're being obscure to misled veterans or even if it's just a newer player, they should not exploit the discrepancy between what your character would know and what you would know. Unless they're saying that you're just totally unfamiliar with the spell (in which case at least give me an Arcana check or something) then not simply telling your players what it is is awful.
Hey Treantmonk, after finishing level 9 (and perhaps a break after), you might want to consider doing the spells: Chaos Bolt, Enhance Ability, Water Walking, Daylight, Dominate Beast, Insect Plague, Fire Storm, and Earthquake. These are the only spells that are on the Sorcerer spell list that are not on the Wizard spell list-that way you'd have just about two class list rated for the price of 1.01. I know that the spells you rate might rate differently as a sorcerer spell (quicken sunbeam with quickened spells is a lot of resources but generally seen as useful, or telekinesis), but would still be very useful as a general help to players I think.
Glad you're feeling better. Your health is more important that a video, but I'm still very appreciative that you make these. I've gotten a lot of good advice from you over the past 6 months since I started watching.
Heh, Treantmonk being an arcane caster did not have access to *Cure Disease* when he needed it most.
Caveat is “Cah-vee-ott”. For Irresistible dance the wording is the dancing creature makes a wisdom saving throw as an action. They don’t get the choice not to make that save so you’ve basically locking them down for 2 turns guaranteed. That’s not horrible and it can be many more turns. Sure they have a bonus action but it’s still potentially encounter ending.
That’s actually interesting. I’m just looking into it now and can’t seem to find any consensus about whether the creature is forced to use their action to save, or can simply choose to.
The spell says “As an action, a dancing creature makes a Wisdom saving throw…” The wording of the spell is unique in that it specifies neither “may” nor “must” which most other similar spells do and which would clarify the issue. On a strict reading, I’m inclined to agree with you that the creature must use its action to save. It’s stated as a fact about what will happen on the creatures turn: it uses an action to save from the spell. This actually matters quite a lot. If you cast it on a spell caster, they might prefer to cast dispel magic as their action rather than chance the wisdom save. But on a strict reading of this spell they are not able to do that. Fascinating!
In addition to the debuffs you mentioned, the target loses their move.
soul cage is necessary to face high level ennemy wizards : you can use eyes of the dead to find their clones and philactery
When my warlock hits 11th lv. I want to take soul cage and yhrn try and sell important souls to a dummoned devil. The 8 hour duratuon might be a problem but i think they might have a way of dealing with that.
@@heroniusnapalmv6990 maybe the the only real way to do that is the 9 level spell imprisonnement
Heronius Napalm V while that is a good idea, trafficking in souls is an inherently evil act which would have vast implications in some games...In my game I would clearly mark you as an evil person subject to watching from the Lords of the Nine with long term repercussions. They are the masters of the soul trade, and since you agree with their mode of exchange central to their existence you can’t be too far removed from their philosophy.
Of course in others it has no implications and is purely a benefit to the players.
@@smbakeresq if he is willing to deal with devils he probably doesn't care if it is an evil act.
smile444 it’s the DMs job to make sure he cares about it. The PC is by definition an important person in the game world, and to be noticed by a greater devil through soul trading is an invitation for the DM to build plot points around repercussions, such as being captured by said Devil and forced into servitude unbeknownst to the other players.
A player losing control of their PC through play decisions and forced into figuring out an escape path is just great for adventure.
almost tenth level in Curse of Strahd. Was thinking Guards & Wards on Strahd's castle would be funny
I would think Disintegrate would be good for a Diviner that uses Portent.
Yup - but Legendary Resistance will ruin your day
And if the foe does not have legendary resistances, you can force their surrender with a second level suggestion.
That's very true about Suggestion. I think the 3.0 player in me just wants it to be good again. *Sigh*
@@mistersolace265 it does have some circumstantial uses where it is the only solution (like forcecage), so it can be worth having in some circumstances.
That's what my friend thought. Then the Dragon used a legendary resistance.
Here are 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 Gate (Conj, Conc) (**) (07:10)
Chain Lightning (Evo) (***) (18:09)
Circle of Death (Necr) (*) Possibly the worst 6th Level Spell in Treantmonk's opinion. (39:03)
Contingency (Evo) (****) (14:02)
Create Homunculus (Tran) (**) (42:54)
Create Undead (Necr) (**) (37:27)
Disintegrate (Tran) (**) (40:14)
Drawmij's Instant Summons (Conj, Ritual) (*) (08:11)
Eyebite (Necr, Conc) (****) (34:41)
Flesh to Stone (Tran, Conc) (*) (48:50)
Globe of Invulnerability (Abj, Conc) (***) (02:31)
Guards & Wards (Abj) (*) (04:26)
Investiture of Flame (Tran, Conc) (**) (44:52)
Investiture of Ice (Tran, Conc) (**) (45:57)
Investiture of Stone (Tran, Conc) (**) (47:00)
Investiture of Wind (Tran, Conc) (*) (47:55)
Mass Suggestion (Enc) (*****) (10:34)
Magic Jar (Necr) (****) (26:20)
Mental Prison (Ill, Conc) (****) or (**) if your DM is going to have monsters test the illusion. (22:22)
Move Earth (Tran, Conc) (*) (55:04)
Otiluke's Freezing Sphere (Evo) (***) (16:29)
Otto's Irresistable Dance (Enc, Conj) (**) or (****) for Enchanters (11:33)
Programmed Illusion (Ill) (***) Similar issue to Mental Prison (24:19)
Scatter (Conj) (****) (05:52)
Soul Cage (Necr) (****) (32:29)
Sunbeam (Evo, Conc) (**) (19:54)
Tenser's Transformation (Tran, Conc) (*) (50:13)
True Seeing (Div) (**?) I may be wrong on this. He gave it 3 asterisk's, but also coloured it orange (08:52)
Wall of Ice (Evo) (*) (21:21)
The wording on chain lightning seems to imply that each creature takes the same instance of lightning damage (10d8, I think). So if your 10d8 is 50 lightning, each creature will take 25 on a save or 50 on a fail. Empowered evocation would improve those numbers to 27 and 55 respectively (assuming a +5 to int). It should effect everyone, but the specific evasive nature of chain lightning is way less appealing to evocation wizards, who don't worry about hitting party members anyway.
Love the videos as always!
Guards and Wards is hurt more by the lack of high/mid level adventure variety. Any sort of castle or stronghold defense (not your own, you show up to defend your lord's castle, etc. etc.) it will be useful in. That's still in the niche range, but not red range, imho.
Eh, even in that situation I'd probably prefer to spend some GP and get a bunch of mid-level Glyphs of Warding all over the place. The Web effect of G&W is probably the best part, but a well-placed Glyph can get you Web, Suggestion, Fireball, Black Tentacles, Polymorph - the list goes on...
27:12 - it is a one-time use, unfortunately. The last line in the description of Magic Jar says: "When the spell ends, the container is destroyed".
It's a one time use per spell, but you can jump back and forth between the container and different possessions as much as you like.
SUNBEAM HAS A BLIND EFFECT.
Did you forget? You had Sunbeam as a good spell before.
I really like this. It lasts the whole encounter, its a damage, debuff and area effect each round, advantage vs undead.. a lot here to like.
Its even better as a magic item. Give it to your best minion and he has useful combat actions all day.
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The wizard in my group likes to couple sunbeam with crown of stars, using her action and bonus action to cause sustained damage throughout some of our long battles. The blindness effect is an added bonus. Granted our combats seem to run longer than those in other campaigns. So far, the longest fight ended in the 34th round of combat. Because of that, the players know they need to continue their offense for a long time. Sunbeam is good for that. So, I think if you can couple it with other effects in that way, you can use one or two spells to inflict significant damage.
@@shamuswilliams 34th round of combat? Ive never seen a fight last 10 rounds, much less 34. How does this happen?
@@saytr4 there were loads of enemies in confined spaces, so the PCs couldn't use area effects to target more than a handful. As they attacked one group, they would have to move into line of sight of another group that would begin attacking at range. When they closed with the next group, they'd move into line of sight of a third group. This repeated several times until they finally battled through all the defenders, confronted and killed the leader at the end, and destroyed the minions to the last. After a two or three groups, they realized that they wouldn't be able to retreat without exposing themselves to significant ranged attacks from the remaining enemies. So, there was nothing left but to push through and use their resources as surgically as possible.
@@shamuswilliams6422 Sounds pretty epic
I should add that this spell gets really good with elemental wild shape. Moving up to 90 feet in one round, or just burrowing, really opens up positioning opportunities for spellcasting, but the problem arises that you cant cast spells in wildshape. This spell allows you to do that, giving you the ability to pretty much cast lightning bolt every round, with an extra debuff thrown in, get anywhere you need to be to use it, and get in and out of the frontline with ease. It's probably the best spell for moon druids in the game, especially as you get to later levels and spellcasting becomes more powerful and the power of beasts for their challenge rating becomes lesser.
I've been thinking about this for a character I've been creating. The build is an orc moon druid, and I'm trying to make the most of aggressive and it's benefits in combination with wild shape. It really works with charge/pounce attacks and the greater movement speeds many beasts get up to, and in this situation, for positioning with sunbeam.
I agree that Tener's Transformation is a trap for the majority of Wizards.
However, if you design a build so that it can make use of it, it is a very potent spell.
A bladesinger gets some use out of it.
First off, the useless:
Extra attack. Bladesingers already get this 5 levels earlier at 6th.
Proficiency in all armour. This is useless because you can't use it with blade sing. However, this prevents the issue of being in armour you aren't proficient in and then losing concentration.
Now the not useless, but far from great.
Getting proficiency in Strength saves is situational. There is a reason it is a "Weak" save.
The Good.
Advantage on both of your attacks is quite nice, especially when combined with the +13 average force damage. This also makes your level 14 ability more useful. Now, assuming you are wielding a rapier, your attacks deal (1d8 + Dex + Int) piercing + (2d12) force, and this isn't including any other benefits. Personally, I think a flame tongue is nice for this. Since you get advantage, having a bonus to hit isn't as big a deal, however getting 7 average fire damage on a hit is nice. With a flame tongue, assuming 18 Dex & 20 int, you'd have a +8 to hit with advantage, dealing (1d8 + 9) piercing + (2d12) force + (2d6) fire. This averages 33.5 damage PER HIT, without expending any resources beyond tensers & one use of blade sing.
50 Temp HP helps a bit with survivability as well.
Getting proficiency in Con saves is good, because it stacks with the blade sing ability. At 11th level (when you get the spell), assuming a Con of 14 & an Int of 20, your Con saves would be +11 (+2 from Con, +5 from Int, +4 from proficiency). With war caster, this is made at advantage. This means you are rather unlikely to lose concentration on the spell.
Now, where I think this spell really shines is a War Wizard, when you have proficiency in Medium or Heavy armour normally. My favourite build is to start with Paladin, and end with Wizard 18/Paladin 2.
This is the build that gets a lot out of it.
Proficiency in all armour is useless. However, again this stops the trap of losing concentration and having to take armour off.
As said above, proficiency in Strength saves isn't fantastic.
Getting advantage on attacks, adding 2d12 force damage and getting extra attack are all good. However, with smites, this is even better (especially with how many spells slots you have).
The 50 temp hit points are again, good for some survivability.
Now, one of the big things for War Wizards is when they are concentrating on a spell, they gain a +2 bonus to AC and all saving throws. So now, on top of the normal benefits, we add this on.
This helps with Con saves. With the build I'm using, you'd have this spell at 13th. This means your Con save would be +9 assuming the same stats as above (+2 from Con, +5 from proficiency, +2 from concentrating on a spell). Additionally, you can use your arcane deflection reaction to gain a +4 bonus to saves, taking this to a +13 where needed.
Assuming you are in plate and have a +1 shield, you have an AC of 22 (20 from plate and shield, +1 from +1 shield, +1 from defence fighting style from paladin).
This AC goes to 24 with Tenser's.
Now, with this build, I'd dump dex (especially since you add your Int to initiative). Absorb elements can help alleviate this weakness, and you may actually get some use out of the extra damage.
TL;DR
Tener's is a trap unless you make a build that accommodates it. However, when you do, you truly get a Wizard that can really dish out some front line punishment.
Out of interest, I compared these to the original ratings. Several spells moved up or down a grade. Spells that moved MORE are:
*Sunbeam (good to circumstantial)
*Flesh to stone (Moderate to bad)
*True Seeing (Good to circumstantial)
I think the big draw of Sunbeam is that it's repeated damage. It's very efficient spell slot usage if all you want to do is blast, over multiple turns. You're basically spending a 6th level spell to be able to upgrade your basic resource-free attack from a 3d10 Fire Bolt to a 6d8 Sunbeam. I think baseline damage at 11th level was 3d10+15 = 31.5. 6d8 is 27 damage on average, but it's a save for half instead of an attack on AC so I forget how you factored that in. Bottom line is it makes the wizard do close to average damage against a single target using a single spell slot, and it's a line so you should be able to hit at least two targets per turn. Oh and the blindness rider is pretty nice too, it can possibly shut down a spellcaster for a turn if they depend on spells that require seeing the target.
Compare to Cone of Cold: a 5th level spell doing 8d8, once. Obviously if you're fighting a ton of mooks, the big cone is going to be preferable to a line, but if you're just fighting one or two guys then it's probable that the line will be better anyway because it's less likely to hit your allies. Radiant is much better than cold, too. And the 6th level spell is going to just keep motoring through damage turn after turn while you need to keep spending resources to blast otherwise.
And it's also worth pointing out how, like an attack or cantrip, you can still cast bonus action spells with this up. Best use for this is obviously on a sorcerer with quicken spell, but even a wizard should have a few options for bonus action spells (misty step at the very least to position the line well).
I agree it works well with quicken spell. Wizards don't have good non concentration bonus action spells (Misty step I guess, but most rounds you don't need a Misty step)
@@TreantmonksTemple I just looked up all non-concentration bonus action spells in the game. There are only 8: Magic Stone, Shillelagh, Healing Word, Sanctuary, Misty Step, Spiritual Weapon, Mass Healing Word, and Divine Word. Only Misty Step is on the wizard list.
I think I realized why I like the idea so much though: I play my wizards with a 1 level dip in cleric (generally knowledge) so I always have access to Healing Word or Sanctuary for a bonus action without concentration, which is very nice for an emergency button. For a pure wizard, there really isn't much you can do for a bonus action if you're already concentrating.
Aside from 5th level, a Bladesinger’s weapon attacks are as good or slightly better than a Cantrip. I look at the weapon attacks as a substitute for a Cantrip and not as the main Action you want to be doing every round.
BTW, congratulations on your channel’s growth. I always try to remember to Like all of the videos because some people claim that helps with the RUclips algorithm.
Thank you!
I think Create Homunculus is amazing only if your DM allows you to leave it in a library and have Advantage via help action for every knowledge check.
Tenser's Transformation i find works much better as a magical secrets for bards. For dealing with magically immune creatures bards are in quite the pickle even more so than the wizard because the buffs that bards can do are more geared towards inspiration. College of Whispers would be a good one because you are far more likely to hit if you have two attacks at advantage. plus you can stay at range, advantage on martial and simple weapons (no need to get up close) you can still use your bardic inspiration, and it provides Proffencinecy (you said advantage) to strength and Constitution saves. so lets say long bow for a d8, 2d12 force from TT and 8d6 Psychic Blades (15th level) plus crits. if we go for multi classing you have two choices (hexblade, charisma to hit) or Paladin (use bard slots to smite).
I agree, Tenser’s Transformation is best on Hexblade Bards. I have tried it on a Sword Bard 14/Hexblade 1/Paladin 2/Battlemaster 3 with Polearm Master/Staff/Shield in several one shots and it is very strong both defensively and offensively, and plays like a souped-up Paladin without the auras but with tons of killer spells.
Alternatively I have also tested Bard 15/Hexblade 3/Paladin 2 for PAM+GWM, but find it less consistent and more difficult to play when Tenser’s isn’t up, as well as being slower without Action Surge.
Great video! These are becoming the highlight of my week. Especially with these higher levels.
One thought, if you are looking for ideas for another series I would like to see some ideas for magically securing a homebase. Something my current group is struggling to do. It's hard to work with the current spell lists and keep a villainous group from stealing your gold or the mcguffin you worked so hard to get.
The best high level Bladesinger tactic is called "Sing and Sling". You kinda dance and sorta move like an elf flailing your arms and being a normal wizard with way higher AC and better concentration saves. Bullshit, but I ain't crazy to jump in with my... whip or some shit.
Re Tenser's Transformation, my point is rather niche in a discussion about wizard spells and may be more appropriate for a Bladesinger discussion, but:
a full wizard Dex-based bladesinger with mobile + elven accuracy (the superior form of a bladesinger IMO, fight me) makes very good use of TT. First of all, it's 3 attacks per turn b/c you can not cast spells you draw an off-hand b/c why not. Three attacks at 3d20 per attack roll (kinda crit-fishing and hitting most of the time) for 6d12 force damage + (1d6+2d8)+10 weapon damage per turn. The 50 temp. HP (equivalent to a 9th level False Life or a 10th* level Song of Defense) is going to do work over the 10min duration as you're able to avoid being in melee w/ mobile. Prof. in CON saves + bladesong means auto-saving on any damage that is less than ~20-26 dmg per hit (and Song of Defense can be used during TT to reduce damage into an auto-save if necessary). Stand near your paladin and ask someone for an inspiration when you're ending the spell.
P.S. Yes, shapechange at 17th level is way better than TT.
Just a heads up: the spell True Seeing got an orange rating, but it also got three stars.
Whoops, good catch! I originally had it purple, but gave it a last minute downgrade
@@TreantmonksTemple Happy to help!
For me I tend to multiclass bladesinger with barbarian. I'll then use defensive spells that don't require concentration. At 10th level of bladesinger I would be reducing damage cause that's not considered casting a spell (just like smite) so I would end up with 14 bladesinger and 6 barbarian. With that said, tenser's transformation is a concentration spell so it's still no good
The most Mileage I ever got out of Tenser’s Transformation (not to say it’s all that amazing), was in a oneshot as a level 2 Paladin, the rest as War Magic wizard (I think it was 14 more levels but can’t recall).
Where I already had the armor proficiency, and not being able to cast spells was not as big of a drawback because I was planning on using smites on my attacks anyway, while it would do a similar job as haste to boost me to 2 attacks per turn + I’d still get the reaction for saves/AC.
Worked pretty well and dished out good damage. But it was also prior to Tasha’s release, so stronger stuff can probably be achieved now.
Sunbeam gets 10 uses for 1 spell slot doesn't it? True, the first one isn't going to be as strong as a different spell blast, but if your going to be in combat for more than 1 or 2 rounds, you can keep throwing this spell as your action without using any more spell slots. normally, using more spell slots to re-blast would be fine when using 4th or 3rd level slots since you are going to have several of them, but you only get one 6th level slot for a huge portion of the campaign, so having it last for an entire combat encounter sounds good to me. Seems like it would be good against any enemy you know you cant just kill outright in 1 round with a more bursty spell which, if were being honest, is never going to happen if the DM is having you fight creatures appropriate for your level.
42:29 - I remember reading somewhere (Sage Advice, maybe?) that Wall of Force actually blocks (most) teleportation, because it blocks line of effect. Spells need line of effect to work. I might be wrong about this, but that's what I've read. I need to do a bit of research on that topic.
If you find something, let me know!
@@TreantmonksTemple I did a bit of digging, and it seems that Wall of Force cannot block teleportation IF, for example, the target of teleportation spell is on the same side of the wall as the caster. For example, a wizard casting Misty Step (range of self, targets oneself) can teleport through the Wall of Force. However, if, say, the wizard's friends were trapped behind the Wall of Force, he wouldn't be able to use Scatter to get them out, because Scatter targets creatures within 30 feet, and that means those creatures should not be behind total cover. Wall of Force provides total cover, despite being invisible and transparent. So a wizard should use Dimension Door to get his buddies out, but not Scatter or Arcane Gate (because Arcane Gate needs to target a point in space, and the targeting rules for spells state that the target of a spell cannot be behind total cover).
So, in short, the answer to the question whether Wall of Force can block teleportation is "depends". Like with many things in D&D.
That's what I figured. Misty step for example, has a range of self, which shouldn't be affected by a blocked line of effect.
Thank you very much, and put me down for the desire to see a Magic Jar video.
I know one quite nice use for Drawmij's Instant Summon. It's on higher levels, when you already have your own demiplane, and your own Clone(s). Suppose, you die for some reason, your sole will be RickSanchez'd to your clone. And what about your shiny Robe of Archmage and Staff of Power? Exactly, you left them to your killer. Except you just crush the sapphire what you keep in your demiplane, near your clone vat.
You should really play a PC Necromancer, I think you would be shocked how much you are missing synergy wise between all the spells. No one making videos covers any of the stuff I learned actually playing the class. Stuff like TruePoly + Command undead, rolling over your animate spells like goodberry/wish, magicjar/sim, demiplane/portable hole full of monsters, undead servant (best necromancer sig spell flavorwise imo), and other thematic things which just make you a lot more useful and powerful than you think. Everyone just talks about how to waste spell slots on animate dead, but no one talks about all the stuff you can do as a Necromancer. They just talk about how lame, as a Wizard, the Necromancy stuff is comparatively. Not the place, I know. But just sayin.
Love your stuff, you taught me how to be God Necromancer.
Great video as always, but just one thing, I'd like to be able to just listen to the audio (for example, on my drive home from work) so if you could say the ranking of the spells out loud I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!
Anthony Castanza that would be so useful
Something to note about Sunbeam - its concentration for 1min. Meaning it's not just 6d8 burst, you can use an action to do 6d8 in a line of 60ft for 10 rounds IF you can keep up concentration. If you are talking spell economy I actually think it's pretty good. If you can manoeuvre around the battlefield so you can hit at least 2 enemies you can do 12d8 dmg for 10 rounds at the cost on 1 level 6 spell.
One upside to Wall of Ice (which I've ended up casting a lot from a Staff of Frost) is that it does damage when it appears, so you can often get both a wall and a blast with one action. The damage is not amazing, but it's decent, and it's usually easy to hit a lot of enemies without friendly fire by making the wall into a jaggedy shape.
in the defense of tenser's transformation, the melee thing might not be the optimal thing to do as a wizard at high levels but if it's what you pick for a character, you get 3 attacks with advantage on which 2d12 apply if you dual wield, and the nice thing of this is the 10 minute duration vs. 1min for shadowblade. It could be nice in a campaign that forces you to do a lot of encouters in a row rather than 2-3 and then rest and forces you to use resources sparingly and therefore you can get a lot done with a single spell slot. Basically 1 single spell slot for the whole fight and even multiple fight is a good resource economy in the right circumstance.
Have any advice for an arcane trickster rogue? Is it worth multiclassing into wizard at all (War wizard options seem good)?
I think a 1 level dip into wizard is amazing for EK and AT, you get ritual spells, the 6 low level spells you really wanted but couldn't get from AT, and more cantrips.
It largely depends on how much you want to focus on attacking for damage in combat. Wizard multi really doesn't help with that at all, but instead adds other things (greater versatility in spells, rituals, subclass abilities).
If you dip into wizard then you might as well go two levels of divintion for the class feature.
@@RokuroCarisu archetype is at level 2. Still want Wizard level 3? Why not 4 for the ASI?
@@jand.4737 Thanks for correcting me. 2 levels should be enough. If you take 4, you can't get Spell Thief and Elusive anymore.
52:58 I play a War Wizard and have to say that Tenser's transformation works well with War Wizard's features.
1) During the spell's duration I can't cast spells, so using the Arcane Deflection doesn't matter, it just is either a bonus to AC or to your concentration.
2) A passive bonus to AC and Saving throws. low damage numbers like most weapon attacks can't break my concentration just because my bonus is that high.
3) I have a decent dexterity, which means that i could use a longbow or rapier.
3b) On that note, I am working towards a scimitar of Speed for that 3rd attack.
If you don't mind using the bonus action to use a Scimitar of Speed, you can also TWF in the meantime, although the scimitar will mean you can also use a shield at the same time, especially if there's a magical shield available, hand-me-down or otherwise.
The create undead spell is actually best used by upcasting it and making wights that can make up to 12 zombies under their own control each
I love Bladesingers and play them every chance I get and I have no desire to ever cast Tenser’s Transformation.
Five questions I occasionally ask souls trapped by me:
1. Are you angry that I trapped you in there?
2. Is it uncomfortable in there?
3. Do you want me to let you out?
4. Do you want revenge against me?
5. Would you like angry if told you I'm never letting you out?
lol, awesome. ASK ME THE SIXTH QUESTION!
So some thoughts about Tenser’s Transformation. This is hyper specific but it also is a character I have for an upcoming campaign so I’d love your thoughts. Basically a Githyanki Abjurer who specializes in melee. Unlike Bladesinger this character doesn’t get 2 attacks so they get even more benefit from this spell. Now not being able to cast still sucks but I can see it being moderately effective in this build. Also I believe TT gives proficiency not advantage for Str and Con saves. Love your content.
Ring of spell storing + find steed + tensers transformation = war horse proficient with Battle axes making two attacks per round. 😈 Pretty specific, but really funny.
Just as I was trying to figure out which 6th lvl spell to choose for my diviner, you post this video. Coincidence, I think not!
It was portent
I don’t if you considered this as a use for Arcane Gate, but it sounds like you could use it to launch attacks from it. Thought it was a neat use. Let me know if you think of any interesting combos for that!
Hope you feel better man! Thanks for your dedication to the greatest class of all time.
Irresistible Dance also makes the target use up all of its movement to "dance in place". So if you're up against something that is fast and you want to give your sticky fighter a chance to lock it down, Irresistible Dance is the spell you want.
Why not just cast Tasha’s Hideous Laughter in that scenario?
@@M0ebius because Tasha's requires a save to fail to get started. Irresistible dance does not.
Ken Livingston Right, but given that you’re not casting it on BBEGs anyways due to legendary resistance, is that bump in consistency for functionally the same effect worth the 6th level slot?
@@M0ebius who says I'm not casting It on BBEGs?
Just had an idea...
*** THE RED WIZARD ***
Just like a normal Wizard except that he can only cast Treantmonk Red spells. Can he still be an effective class?
CANTRIPS
1st level
2nd level
3rd level
4th level
5th level
6th level
..to be continued ..
I think if you were careful it would be bad, but not useless. Spells like Confusion, Wall of Ice - still have their uses if you lack the superior spells.
cant seem to edit the post
Guess ill just make a new post.. ahem..
*** THE RED WIZARD***
The Spellbook
CANTRIPS
True Strike(phb), Mold earth, Thunderclap(ee)
1st level
(Phb) Witch bolt, Burning Hands, Illusory Script, Cause Fear, Jump
(EE) Earth Tremor
2nd level
(Phb) Arcane Lock, Melfs Acid Arrow, Ray of Enfeeblement
(EE) Dust Devil, Mind Spike, Aganazzars Scorcher, Snillocs Snowball Swarm, Skywrite
3rd level
(Phb) Magic Circle, Bestow Curse, Feign Death, Vampiric Touch
(EE) Erupting Earth, Wall of Sand
(Xan) Summon Lesser Demons, Catnap
4th level
(Phb) Mortys Faithful Hound, Confusion, Ice Storm, Phantasmal Killer, Blight
(EE) Elemental Bane
5th level
(Phb) Cloudkill, Legend Lore, Dominate Person, Dream, Creation
(EE) Control Winds, Immolation
(Xan) Dawn, Wall of Light, Negative Energy Flood, Enervation, Skill Empowerment, Far Step
6th level
(Phb) Guards and Wards, Drawmijs Instant Summons, Wall of Ice, Circle of Death, Flesh to Stone, Move Earth.
(EE) Inv of Wind
(Xan) Tensers Transformation
He's 11th level, 20 int, 17 DC on saves.
You have 16 spells to prepare. How good can you make him? What's your school? What are your tactics?
We will name him Edwin
,
Binge watched all of your wizard spells vids thus far. I did leave a couple of comments on some of your other vids. For the most part I find you very informative. Being an avid fan of necromancy though I am a little taken a back by all the red necromancy spells. I honestly just want to share some of my thoughts on why the necromancy spells are the way they are. This is just my opinion after putting a lot of time into pondering how to use necromancy. I think the reason why necromancy spells are "weaker" than the spells of other schools is because they are either specialized towards dealing with specific problems. Spells like ray of sickness, ray of enfeeblement and blight fall into this category. Or the spells have several different effects. These are spells like cause fear, blindness deafness, vampiric touch, enervation and animate dead as examples. another part of the reason why Necromancy spells are "weaker" is because they are balanced to be used with undead minions and other party members. Necromancers seem to be in this odd state of being selfish, due to some of their spell effects only benefiting themselves, and reliant on minions and parties to round out their damage. What I find most odd is the Necromancers ability to generate hp. They have several spells and a class feature geared towards self healing on a class that is not supposed to be taking a lot of damage in the first place.
I think a lot of the problems with the class can be mitigated by just being a good wizard and planning a head. While I understand and somewhat share your view on save or suck spells you can improve their effectiveness by making sure that you target enemies that may not have a strong save for that stat. Necromancy is full of con saves so it makes more sense to target enemies with low con. Things like magic users and certain ranged and stealth fighters tend to have low con where as front line fighters have low wisdom. The key to using anything that is high risk high reward is to never put yourself in a position where it has to work or where there is a high consequence for failure. I think Necromancy is best for people who know the rules quite well and know how to take advantage of all the little things from the apparent weakness of your minions to the odd nature of your spells. Anyways Im sorry for the text wall. Necromancy is a complex subject. My question is how would you most effectively use those red necromancy spells if you had to use them? You don't have to answer its just something I often think about.
Red spells don't necessarily mean I think those spells are useless, I just don't think they are good enough to recommend given the other options. If you give me a specific red spell, good chance I can give you some examples.
@@TreantmonksTemple Thanks for the reply. How about enervation? There are plenty of ways to gain advantage or auto success on dex saves. A party members hold person/monster or ghoul paralysis for example. once you hit the damage happens automatically so they do not need to be paralyzed for the entire duration of the spell. I feel that Enervation is best for longer fights as you can do reliable damage with a single 5th level spell slot and maintain your hp at a high value. Since it is a dex save it can be used to bypass certain high armor classes as well. I believe max damage for enervation at 5th level is 320 damage over ten rounds to a single target. You get half of that in self healing. Its a very resource light spell as it saves spell slots and healing items. You only used the one spell, that can can get back with arcane recovery, and your not injured so no potions or spells have to be used to heal you. I'd take it for any long drawn out fight or dungeon crawl. Especially where you have another spell caster that can cast battle field control spells that combo well with it. How would you use it?
Do you know that if a target of Enervation moves behind cover or out of range it ends the spell automatically?
Well, the biggest problem with eyebite is that when a creature saves against it it becomes immune to its effects until you cast it again. Other than that it's thematically cool and just got a lot of payoff for its cost.
Tensor's is also a trap for Bladesingers. It stops you casting shield. That is a big problem.
If it gave you an armour bonus and maybe 3 attacks or 3 d12 damage, I could see the Bladesinger taking it.
Otherwise, you are better using your concentration on a different spell, while using shield and Booming Blade (thanks to Tasha's).
Tasha's otherworldly guise is pretty much what tensers transformation should be, bonus action, gives you tons of movement, more AC and more attacks
Disintegrate not only gives you that get out of jail free card.. but it also enables force damage for 6th circle spells on a Scribes Wizard.
In regards to wall of ice, I did have a frost staff that just happened to drop, so at that point, that was a fantastic use of half my charges once a day or so.
Yes, obviously if you can use it without expending the spell slot, it's fantastic to have.
Glad you've recovered from your cold and i hope you are well! :)
Great video like always.
Some idea popped into my mind as i listened to you talking about Otiluke's Freezing Sphere:
Seems to combo quite well with a Druid casting the 5th Level Spell: Maelstrom.
The Maelstrom will provide 30ft-radius of 5ft-deep Water (and deals some minor damage) of which 30ft squared can be frozen by Otiluke's Freezing Sphere.
And because only the top 1/2 foot is frozen, the Maelstrom should still whirl under the "icing", dealing damage and sucking creatures of medium size or smaller into the frozen Dome, if they use their action to break free from the ice ^^
But i do have some issues with the aspect of Otiluke's Freezing Sphere that let's you give it a friend "for later"...
It explodes in a 60ft Radius! But you can throw it up to only 40 ft from you... ouch...
Wow, I hadn't noticed that. Your friend better have a sling!
I think the real strength of True Seeing is on a Diviner casting it on a party member.
Reduced cost in the form of getting a 5th level back. No reduced benefit because of redundant abilities and you can cast it on your scout or most observant member or if the campaign is currently focused on a particular members backstory then it can be really powerful.
Read the last line of Magic Jar. It destroys the container when the spell ends.
Hey man appreciate your efforts! I thought your Druid guides back in the day were a godsend and you transitioning to RUclips and me finding your page have been great for me! Faithful follower. Question...do you have a twitch campaign or participate in any streaming campaign I can watch?
Yes. On Monday evenings I play in a group on the goblin cave. I have a link and post updates on my WordPress site: treantmonk.wordpress.com/
Would you now rate Disintegrate higher for a Sorcerer with a quickened Mind Sliver, or do you still think it’s not really worth the choice with limited spells?
Also, TY for being SO AMAZING! ♥️
Thank you as always, sir! I'm writing to go to bat for create homonculus. I think you missed a very key thing about the spell: It requires a dagger worth 1000 (that you use to bleed yourself upon creation) but it doesn't consume that dagger!
Let me cite the components verbatim if you doubt me. reading fromy my Xanathar's pg. 152: "Components: V, S, M, (clay, ash, and mandrake root, all of which the spell consumes, and a jewel-encrusted dagger worth at least 1000 gp)."
I think that sentence is pretty clear; you're consuming the component pouch stuff and *not* the dagger. No?
Does that impact your take on it? To me, there's nothing wrong with having a familiar AND an amazing familiar that's capable of much more simultaneously. And if a DM is "meh" about letting familiars deliver berries or potions (which I think is a fair take tbh) I don't think there's much room to feel similarly to an intelligent creature with hands. I think it's really a terrific spell altogether.
One use I read about which I LOVED is that you can leave the homonculus with a pile of books back at your base or wherever to study while you adventure. You two share all knowledge, so it logically follows your wizard can stand to become *much* more learned without having to use a single lick of his own time. Being a construct, I don't think the homonculus needs any sleep, either?
I agree on your interpretation of the wording after looking again. Yes, that improves my opinion of the spell. Also getting some cool ideas from other comments
Arcane Gate: I agree that in combat it's not great.
Out of combat, seems like it would be useful. Good for a heist scene. I wish the spell was a little bit less restrictive (On a ground, where you can see). It's the closest thing we have to a portal gun!
Disintegrate would be good in a diviner's hands.
Ask my pal Ed how that combo worked for him. (On the campaign end fight he wasted his action, 6th level slot, and portent to figure out the enemy he was targeting had legendary resistance)
@@TreantmonksTemple oh I wasn't saying overpowered, just good.
Would you ever make a guide like this for sorcerers? They have roughly the same types of spells, but a very different situation with the limited amount.
I've done a couple build guides for Sorcerers, but no level by level spell guide.
Another interesting point about Magic Jar: you maintain your class hit points in addition to the creatures hit points. According to the spell, you retain any class features you possess, and Jeremy Crawford on Twitter confirmed that hit points were a class feature when asked about this. That being said, I'm sure most DMs are probably going to force you to pick one health pool or the other, just to maintain game balance. But RAW you get both.
Getting my illusionist to lvl 11 soon, so i will grab contingency. I plan to use it with Mislead, suits the flavor of my character.
I'd love to see a whole video on Magic Jar. I'm also curious about how you get to retain your "Class Features." Hit Points are the first thing mentioned under Wizard class features so RAW wouldn't you take the humanoids hit points from their stat block and then add your wizard HP from the wizard class feature? If so, this widens the selection of potential hosts greatly without having to worry about survivability as much as you would without your wizard HP being added.
i would have ranked guards and wards orange. It is fairly useful in the narrow circunstance it can be used. Sounds like what this rank is about no ?
It requires a home base, 1 year of down time, and then it requires you to be attacked within the walls of your home base. The circumstantiality puts it as orange, but then the weak effect slides it to red. If you have a fortress and a year of downtime, do it, but it probably won't be what wins you the fight, if you are under siege from a serious threat.
Red to orange usually comes down to how likely I assume the circumstance will come up. Admittedly it's a subjective system
That being said, during that if you are given a year of downtime and a fortress, go for it. It will make a nice addition to the other spells that require a year of castings to be made permanent.
@@cmckee42 It doesn't require a home base. You could cast this in an enemy base or a dungeon, too.
You just have to have the opportunity to take 10 minutes to do so and enough knowledge of the terrain to use the spell effectively. In other words, you need the ability to get at least partway through a Short Rest before enemies show up and you'd be using the spell after getting partway through a dungeon.
Now, how useful having a pair of Stinking Clouds that don't affect the party but does affect enemies OR a Suggestion spell that doesn't require concentration but does require an enemy to enter a specific 5-foot square in addition to locking a whole bunch of doors so that only the party can use them might actually be, there's plenty of room to debate that.
@@Coid why would want one suggestion without concentration when I could have 12 suggestions without concentration for a fraction of the casting time. 11 suggestions are generally alot more effective than 2 sinking clouds. Guards and wards is an okay spell defensively, but it is next to useless offensively.
Chain lightning can target enemy equipment(I’m think) so it could really mess up a couple enemies
Why is sun beam bad though?
6d8 not great but it last a whole minute and against undead it rocks that light isn’t the most helpful but it’s not a detractor and round after round you can redirect the beam to other enemies.
Just a question, can I use animate dead to create a zombie, them cast a contigency fireball to make the zombie explode when he dies?
Globe of invulnerability is a great way to avoid being counterspelled if you are facing one or more enemy spellcasters! One similar feature is the sorcerer's subtle spell, as there is no way to counterspell a spell cast without verbal or somatic components. Subtle spell + silence could be a nice way to disable an area of a spellcasting boss's lair and force them to move.
I agree that GoI blocks counterspell, but on the other hand, since you can't cast concentration spells, you have a lot less casting options in the first place. They probably should have countered the GoI
@@TreantmonksTemple I did not understand the last sentence. You mean that as they should have counterspelled the GoI? It's ok if you can't answer to this comment.
Keep up the good work though, I've been converting players to the god wizard for some years now.
@@guilhermemonocores4872 there were 2 points on my last comment:
1) once globe of invulnerability is up, it does block counterspell, but there is a lot less effective spells you can cast because of concentration.
2) if you are facing someone with counterspell, globe of invulnerability isn't necessarily the answer since it can also be counterspelled.
@@TreantmonksTemple thanks for the answer! Keep up with being acessible and whatnot, its really great! Kudos from Brazil :)
Too bad the sphere itself can be targeted with Dispel Magic. Sage Advice confirms this.
This, to my mind, makes this spell too costly and unreliable to spend a 6th level slot.
Sunbeam is also good for dealing radiant damage if your enemies are resistant to elemental effects or vulnerable to radiant
magic jar makes you retain your class features; your hit points are class features...so no cheeky super-health combos from jarring an anarch :(. that said, a target with higher con than you would give you a hp boost [similarly for lower con taking away from your normal health], so you can still use esoteric humanoids like the weretiger and not fall behind by much
Know this is late, but RAW you would combine both your class hit points and the creature's hit points. The creature's hit points aren't a class feature, only yours are. That being said, I don't know any DMs that wouldn't make you choose one pool or the other, just to prevent exactly these shenanigans. Still, Magic Jar is awesome.
@@isabelled.4799 you know, i think you've got a point there...
on magic jar though, here's another potential RAW exploit: if you use nystul's magic aura on a non-humanoid to treat it as a humanoid, you could possess a dragon or demogorgon or whatever
@@borisdaanimal4014 Oh wow I'm surprised I got a response! Nice to see that haha.
Also, on an unrelated note, unfortunately that wouldn't work in that way. Nystuls Magic Aura only affects how things are treated by Divination magic, but Magic Jar is a necromancy spell.
However, Nystuls is GREAT for another purpose. Cast it on whatever you use as your "jar", and it helps hide it from potential threats, since it no longer registers to stuff like identify or detect magic. Alternatively, you could do this and also cast it on another gem, to fool people into thinking the "fake" jar is actually your real one.
@@borisdaanimal4014 And there's some merit to the idea that you could use the Clone spell on a stronger body that you've possessed, to give you a permanent body upgrade. But that one is a little outside the realm of what the rules were intended to cover, so a DM might overrule it.
*Arcane* *Gate* - I don't think there's anything stopping you from bifurcating targets with this spell if you were to close the portal while they were halfway through. Also, if you happened to have a large column of stone or something no more than 10' wide, you could use this spell to drop it on someone at great distance. I still agree with your rating, but just wanted to share these possibilities. It might be useful for dealing with a tarrasque.
*Eyebite* - cool spell. As written, it would not break stealth or regular invisibility. As a result, there are some cool applications of this spell for specific character builds.
Arcane Gate has to have both portals on the ground and perpendicular to the ground...makes dropping things on targets pretty hard. 😭
@@jsherman5178 oh, well that's lame. Guess you'd have to finagle the definition of "ground." Probably not worth the effort.
@@stranger6822 yeah the spell had potential but they put some weird constraints on it.
People get distracted by all the wording in Otto’s irresistible dance. Let’s see what it actually does. You use all of your movement to dance in your space (for ease, let’s just say that means your speed is 0). You have disadvantage on attack rolls. Creatures that attack you have advantage. You have disadvantage on dex saves. You know what we call this?
The RESTRAINED condition. That’s all this spell is: a 6th level spell that restrains a single creature. I don’t think even the creators caught this or they wouldn’t have wasted all that wording to just define the restrained condition again. The only functional difference seems to be that if you make your save on your turn you’ve still used up all your movement whereas if you did the same while restrained you’d have your movement back.
There still remains, of course, the confusion over whether or not you HAVE to use your action each turn to attempt to save or if you can just forego. Poor wording with no clear answer I’ve found.
This video is in a way Mass Suggesting the Mass Suggestion spell...
chain lightning is NOT a blastspell. its a controllspell. see that fighter over there? with plate, sword and shield? well chainlightning says TARGET, not CREATURE. Ans also doesnt specify that it cant be worn or carried. So that fighter is now basicly out of the fight, without spending concentration or the ability to succeed on a spell
I would like to see these same kinds of lists made by you for sorcerers. I know almost all of the Sorcerer spells are in the wizard lists, but with metamagics and other factors; the recommendations might be different.
Like, maybe Disintegrate would rank better when considered with Twin Spell or Heightened Spell.
Disintergrate I think works on a Forcecage, but I think it only destroys a 10foot portion of it.
The specific wording on Wall of Force says that Disintegrate "destroys it instantly", so you don't just cut a 10foot hole, you destroy the entire Wall of Force with Disintegrate.
All of the Investiture spells are crap, however I love the theme of them. As a DM (or beg my DM as a player), I would give these spells to a character as an innate ability. Have a player that is a Wildfire Druid? Run a special mission for them, maybe defeating a powerful fire elemental, and they subsume that elemental and gain the abilities of Investiture of Fire. Have a player this is a cold spell focused sorcerer? Let them find a shard of True Ice that they can make into a trinket that replicates the Investiture of Ice spell at will. It's hardly game-breaking, as cantrips do more damage than this, but lets the player feel thematically rewarded for their investment in the character. I mean, this is literally the definition of the word "investiture"
Great to have you back! Great video like always.
(create homunculus) is blue for the effect range is unlimited on the same plane. it is permanent scry which you have a telepathic bond leave it town at a library and you have infinite reading and research time whilst you quest. want it near leave it in a bag of holding with books. knowledge is power.
have your simulacrum use create humunculus know you have a duo gathering information. double speed knowledge gather yes more power.
Tensor transformation is good on bards however because they can also get find greater steed
You forgot sunbeam blinds people, which is pretty good on top of it. Definitely not the best don’t get me wrong , but it really isn’t bad
Disintegrate says you point to a target you can see. Wall of force and forcecage are invisible. What do people think of the argument that you must also cast See Invisibility first before using disintegrate to destroy a wall of force or forcecage?
I hadn't noticed that, but I think by RAW you are correct!
I think it is more than reasonable to point at an object the caster can see outside the wall or cage upon casting and disintegrate gets intercepted by the wall or cage destroying it in the process.
How come you skipped over the blinded condition you add to all creatures in the line of a Sunbeam? That is up to 10 chances to blind several creatures and the damage on top of that debilitating condition?
For circle of death I used this in dead in Thay as a red wizard. It was very effective against the party as the dm. They all had a hard go with the con save. The rogue didn’t get to use evasion. I guess it’s more a spell for dm’s.
My players wish they were high enough to get guard and ward. They got a base and then made a bunch of powerful enemies in the city. Had one attack and one attempted break-in
Flesh to Stone is great if someone else casts polymorph on the boss. Turn the boss into a spider and turn the spider to stone. Once polymorph ends they will still be under the effects of Flesh to Stone.
Welcome back! You were missed, but you already have a massive library of content, so watching reruns pulled me through 😋
Steve Smith truth!
Same here
I was today years old when I realized that 8:06 Drawmij is ..Jim Ward, backward.