Top 10 Worst D&D 5e Spells | Nerd Immersion
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- Опубликовано: 28 июн 2024
- My partons voted, and we're going to D&D 5e spells. This time however, we're talking about the worst spells in D&D 5e. This list was hard to put together, which is ultimately a good thing, meaning there aren't too many bad spells in 5e. What about you though? What do you think is the worst spell in D&D 5e?
Top 10 Worst D&D 5e Spells
00:00 Intro
10. Weird 1:19
9. Stoneskin 4:02
8. Spare the Dying 8:11
7. Crown of Madness 10:56
6. Flame Blade 14:40
5. Mordenkainen's Sword 18:38
4. Witch Bolt 22:22
3. Blade Ward 25:23
2. True Strike 27:30
1. Find Traps 29:53
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I love that ted doesnt just complain about the spell being bad. He targets exactly why it is with succinct examples of game mechanics and comparisons to other spells. It helps train someone about how to think when working in the 5e system.
Is this good.?. Well how does it stack up against things that ise a similar amount of rescources and weaker, how is it most likely to be used, what is its fun factor for the player or dm.
Agreed, I like how he backs up his choices with references to other sources
if only american presidents acted the same way.
@@benthomason3307 Dont inject your politics into something that has nothing to do with politics
💯
-Ok guys Imma check for traps [casts Find Traps]... ok there are no traps here.
*Party member goes around the corner and explodes*
-You bastard, I thought you said there were no traps here?!
-*shrugs*
"There weren't, but I never said there weren't any around the corner.
Find Traps is a great spell to find traps all you have to do is look at your spell list after taking it.
Eldritch knights get an attack as a bonus action after they use a cantrip, so if you're facing down a lot of enemies, you could be a damage sponge with blade ward while still doing some work on your enemies, but letting the rest of the party do the heavy lifting.
If you have the sentinel feat, you can really lock an enemy down.
That's an amazingly good point, I always overlooked Blade Ward as "what's the point for a wizard?" and overlooked EK's "War Magic
" as "all the attack cantrips suck, why not multi attack"
He’s also incorrect about it not working against dragons, I'm pretty sure. A dragon’s bite and tail attacks are explicitly labeled "melee weapon attacks," so Blade Ward works on them. It's the same logic behind unarmed strikes being "melee weapon attacks" but not "attacks with a weapon." I believe the official ruling on most monsters like that is they have "natural weapons." Blade ward is still pretty weak, but as a bonus action, given that correction, it's at least miles better than true strike.
I don't think me and my group ever noticed that it has the weapon attacks only stipulation. Because of this my wizards have historically used it to survive physical traps.
Something to remember about Blade Ward is that every character gets the Dodge cantrip for free :D
26:16 A clarification there: the natural weapons of creatures like dragons, bears and even unarmed attacks still count as weapon attacks. the term just differentuiates it from spell attacks, if you were to be the target of an ice knife spell. The Blade ward cantrip does not help against the piercing damage dealt by Ice knife's initial impact
True, I read a sage advice where this issue was tackled as well ''weapon attack'' is not natural language but rather a mechanics term.
My thinking exactly, it's overly specific in the stat blocks for a reason "melee weapon attack" means exactly what it says.
Weird is remnant of when (as late as 2e) illusionists had so few spells, this was their big one. There is little reason for it to exist as a 9th level spell today.
If only the illusory monsters could be made physical by your one illusionist feature. (I don't play them so idk what it's called)
I mean it would be improved if the first check caused fear for the duration with out additional check, but a save was rolled at the end of each of their turns to see if they took damage, and better make it so on a successful save they still took half.
Compare to the third(!!!) level spell Fear that doesn’t provide saving throws every turn. Weird is the only spell that is six levels too high, and therefor the number one worst spell imo.
@@bongosmcdongos4190 only works if the illusion doesn't cause damage.
Whilst I most definitely agree with everything else, Witch Bolt on a level 1 or 2 Sorcerer or Wizard or 1st level Warlock seems decent to me, since you have so few spell slots, dealing 1d12 certain damage per turn is better than casting a cantrip, and the immediate damage is fine. It definitely starts not being worth it after that though.
The main comparison is to something like Chromatic orb. Say you hit with Witch bolt. If you can keep the concentration for 1 turn, you’ve dealt almost the same amount of damage as Chromatic orb, on average. However, the person who casted Chromatic orb gets an action to use on their second turn. Only until the 3rd turn does Witch bolt deal more damage than Chromatic Orb (6 more damage, on average), but by then the Chromatic Orb user would’ve had two whole actions to do stuff, plus probably their movement, since witchbolt locks you down to be within 30 feet of the target.
I have never seen witch bolt work well enough to pick it as a spell. I would rather give my spell casting friend a heavy crossbow to shoot things with like older editions.
1d12 that always hits is way more damage per round than a 1d10 firebolt that only hits 50% of the time.
And if your opponent tries to end the effect early by taking the disengage action... good... you made them waste a turn and you can still act on your turn to cast something that works best based on how they're now far away like Sleep. Also Witch Bolt has extremely strong synergy with a Fighter that has the Sentinel feat as any enemy that thinks they can safely disengage will likely get hit with an extra attack.
I guess that's true, I wouldn't take it on a wiz since I can't do the swap thing that 'locks and sorcs can but this is a goid point.
@@Treblaine that's fine and all, but the 1d12 doesn't always hit, it needs to hit first by itself. The hit chance should be greater than 50% at this level and it definitely deals more damage than a Fire Bolt, but Toll the Dead deals the same damage (assuming the target took some damage before) and it doesn't use a spell slot for this, which you should have only 2 or 3 for the day
I like spare the dying as a "just in case" cantrip. The list of cleric cantrips is so narrow that it doesn't hurt
I like the idea of a Cleric with the Ritual Caster - Wizard feat for Find Familiar (and other goodies). Then touch spells like Spare the Dying and Cure Wounds can be cast at range
In my experience spare the dying is actually quite good. Not having to make a medicine checked or expend spell slots to keep someone alive should not be undervalued. Would it be broken to make it a bonus action?
@@PhoenixM13 Not only that, in the event of a really tough fight that drains all spell slots, you can ensure you can save someone from dying.
@@PhoenixM13 Grave domain cleric can cast it as a bonus action, and its range is increased to 30 feet. I've never seen anyone complain that it's caused any problems for them, and in my limited experience with grave cleric it doesn't break anything.
Divine soul sorc. Quicken spare the dying, twin cure wounds. At level 4 i saved the party from a tpk. I like spare the dying but i think it should just be a bonus action or get the range like grave cleric. Then allow grave cleric to target more creatures.
Witch bolt should be a bonus action to do damage again like heat metal especially since there are so many ways to break the arc of the spell. It is then up to good tactics and roleplaying. The damage would probably need to be a d10 though
I honestly thought true strike was gonna be number 1. I forgot find traps exists
Yup, I always say, True strike isn't a useless spell, in that the definition of useless is that it can't be used, but it is definitely a bad spell.
It always makes me so sad what they did to true strike. In 3.5 it was a first level spell and gave +20 to hit on your next attack. It was the spell for when you absolutely needed to hit a hail merry shot and it was fucking great at it.
@@shinrapresident7010 yeah, and it's even better with how ranged weapons worked in 3.5. They had a range increment and every increment of distance past the first would inflict a -2 penalty to hit up to -20 so with a true strike you could hit a shot 1000ft away like it's right next to you if you have a long bow
I think I know a good fix to Spare the Dying.
"You touch a living creature that has 0 hit points. The creature becomes stable. If it doesn't take any damage, it restores 1 hp after a minute. This spell has no effect on undead or constructs."
So basically, spell don't just stabilize someone but brings them back without needing to wait 8 hours. It still doesn't affect combat (unless you're fighting more than 10 rounds. Maybe make it restore hp after 10 minutes, idk), and still can be replaced with any healing spell, but now is actually useful and much more powerful than healer's kit or simple Medicine check.
I mean, I don't really see a problem with it immediately giving 1 hit point to an unconscious character.
The reason why cantrips shouldn't heal is so that you can't spam it and full heal without expending anything. That's not a problem with this, since it specifically targets an unconscious and dying character. And a spell, even a Cantrip, doing something that would happen anyway 5% of the time, I don't see as game breaking.
you can not have a healing cantrip. xD
@@Markcrazeer you know what, just to spite you, I'm going to house rule a 1hp heal into Spare the Dying in my games. So there! ;-)
This I like.
@@Markcrazeer What if it expended one of the target creature's and/or cast's hit dice?
I want to file a protest against spare the dying being on this list. Until there is an actual healing cantrip, this is the best option for spell conservation.
You can just make DC 10 Medicine check. It's 50% success even without any modifiers. If you're Cleric, you will have high Wisdom so chances will be up to 75%. If you have proficiency in Medicine, this chance can go up to 100% at higher lvls, so Spare the Dying will be a total waste of cantrip that you can't change.
Oh, and you can just buy a medicine kit and do the same thing with literally any character.
@@antongrigoryev6381 Spare is guaranteed with no way short of antimagic/counterspell to ruin it and no cost/physical object requirement like med kit tho. Perfectly solid choice as a 5~6th cantrip to upgrade your action option.
ANDELE3025 Or you spend 5 GP on a healing kit with 10 uses. It’s honestly not worth it at all. I agree and see no reason why to take this cantrip. (Oh you got robbed and got into a fight with the bandits and they knocked out your friend) is about the only scenario to which this could be used instead of a medicine check with a high success rate in the first place, and those scenarios almost never happen depending on the game you are playing.
Just because it's the best option available for magically saving your friend's life doesn't mean that it's not a shit option.
spare the dying is really only a viable option for grave clerics
A sauceror is literally a class in Kingdom of Loathing
love your content, love how the countdown bumpers are soothing now, great job all around! keep rockin
there are two kinds of attacks in dnd5e, weapon attacks and spell attacks. any attack that is not a spell attack, even if it doesn't use a weapon, is a weapon attack.
That's not true. Unarmed strikes aren't weapon attacks
Richard Ties they actually are, it’s weird - fists are not considered a weapon but an unarmed attack is considered a melee weapon attack. Source: PH errata and Sage advice
I agree that blade ward is underwhelming but do take into consideration even a dragons claws are considered melee weapon attacks.
Stoneskin has always bothered me, either it should protect against magic melee attacks, or add a minor AC bonus.
Ive always thought that barkskin, stoneskin, so on, should just be stepups from mage armour. Increase the max AC, maybe it has another effect like also adds temp hp, or targets that hit make dex save or be blinded as pieces of the armour chip off.
I think its more that the Diamond gets consumed by the spell making it a Moneysink ...
Without it i think its worth more.
I consider it a concentration trap.
One of those spells someone slapped concentration on without thinking for the sole reason that it's a control/buff spell and someone in the design team hates stacking those.
19:50 Actually, I think Bigby was Mordenkainen's apprentice.
Awesome video ted! I 100 percent agree on so many of these hahaa. I'd love a followup video on how you'd fix these spells!
I'd love a video of you analyzing how to fix these spells/cantrips and once again another great video! 🙌🏿
32:20 use Find Traps to find a Magic Mouth that says obscenities.
I didn't think Spare the Dying was so bad, but after hearing your thoughts on it I've decided I want to make a thief rogue who uses a healer's kit as a bonus action and has the healer feat. His backstory could be he was part of a job that went bad and someone close to him died, so now he must make sure no one else will die on him.
For those of you who think that it is unfair to put Flame Blade on this list due to it being Druid exclusive, please consider the following damage calcs:
The Produce Flame cantrip (Druids have access to this cantrip) deals the following dpr at the following levels:
- 3rd Level: 1d8, or 4.5 fire damage
- 5th Level: 2d8, or 9 fire damage
- 11th Level: 3d8, or 13 fire damage
- 17th Level: 4d8, or 18 fire damage
The Flame Blade spell deals the following dpr at the following levels when cast with the highest available spell slot:
- 3rd Level, using a 2nd Level Spell slot: 3d6, or 10.5 fire damage (6 more dpr than Produce Flame)
- 5th Level, using a 3rd Level Spell slot: 3d6, or 10.5 fire damage (0.5 more dpr than Produce Flame)
- 11th Level, using a 6th Level Spell slot: 5d6, or 17.5 fire damage (4.5 more dpr than Produce Flame)
- 17th Level, using a 9th Level Spell slot: 6d6, or 21 fire damage (3 more dpr than Produce Flame)
The Flaming Sphere spell (a 2nd level fire-based concentration spell that Druids have access to) deals the following dpr at the following levels when cast with the highest available spell slot:
- 3rd Level, using a 2nd Level Spell slot: 2d6, or 7 fire damage (3.5 less dpr than Flame Blade, 2.5 more dpr than Produce Flame)
- 5th Level, using a 3rd Level Spell slot: 3d6, or 10.5 fire damage (equal dpr to Flame Blade, 0.5 more dpr than Produce Flame)
- 11th Level, using a 6th Level Spell slot: 6d6, or 21 fire damage (3.5 more dpr than Flame Blade, 8 more dpr than Produce Flame)
- 17th Level, using a 9th Level Spell slot: 9d6, or 31.5 fire damage (10.5 more dpr than Flame Blade, 13.5 more dpr than Produce Flame)
Flame Blade scales SO poorly, it is closer in damage to a CANTRIP than another 2nd level fire-based spell from the same spell list. Even when "being fair", its still a horrible spell. I mean, Flaming Sphere isn't that much better, but at least that spell actually manages to outpace cantrips in damage, all the while opening up your action economy on subsequent turns of its casting (You can damage creatures with Flaming Sphere by using a Bonus Action to crash it into them, versus Flame Blade which locks you into spending your Action to deal its pidly damage).
Thank you for coming to my TEDtalk
You need two whole actions for the Produce Flame cantrip to deal damage
@@quelquundautre3292
"You can also attack with the flame, although doing so ends the spell. **When you cast this spell,** or as an action on a later turn, you can hurl the flame at a creature within 30 feet of you."
The cantrip clearly states that you can hurl the flame as part of the casting. It in fact takes a whole one action to deal damage with it.
@@toddacious07 I should have double checked :)
@@quelquundautre3292 No worries! Two-turn Produce Flame is a common misconception, though I'm not sure where it originated. It even kept me away from the spell for the longest time lol.
Ironically, Find Traps is... a trap.
I homebrewed an alternative to Blade Ward for my Eldritch Knight player. Abjurer's Anticipation - Bonus Action - 1 Round Duration - You create a ward of magical energy specifically tuned to a type of damage you expect to receive (piercing, slashing, fire, psychic, etc.). For the spell's duration, the next time you would take damage of the chosen type, roll a d4 and prevent that much damage. (Increases to d6 at level 5, d8 at level 11, and a d10 when you reach level 17.)
I think a way to fix stoneskin is brink back to the 3.x(ish) mechanics:
Stoneskin
4 abjuration
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V S M (Diamond dust worth 100 gp, which the spell consumes)
Duration: Concentration Up to 1 hour
Classes: Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Sorcerer, Wizard
This spell turns the flesh of a willing creature you touch as hard as stone. The warded creature is magic resilient attacks aren't made of adamantine. The target gains 10 temporary hit points. It ignores the first 10 points of damage each time it takes damage from a weapon attack, though an adamantine weapon bypasses the stoneskin. Once the spell has prevented a total of 10 points it is discharged.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, the temporary hit points (both initial and later) increase by 10 for each slot level above 4th.
That's somehow even worse though
That's somehow even worse though
Blade Ward can be a nice option for warlocks and abjuration wizards that like to use Armor of Agathys, I’ve had some fun builds that combine Armor of Agathys and Blade Ward.
I think Blade Ward does work against a dragon since with "weapon attack" it is referencing the game term in opposition to "spell attacks". In the dragon's stat block claws are written as melee weapon attacks. What Blade Ward doesn't protect you from for example is falling damage and other types of physical harm like caltrops and falling boulders.
Sauceror was one of the magic classes in Kingdom of Loathing waaaay back in the early 2000s. (The other was Pastamancer.)
Flame Blade is different than Shadowblade
Not fair.
Also noting that spell attack is gonna be better 99% of the time for casters
Also is a druid spell, shouldn't it be compared to other druid spells? Like how since offensive cleric spells can be weaker than wizard spells of the same level...
@@SergioLeRoux Then what about heat metal which is a bonus action on subsequent turns to auto deal 2d8 and generate disadvantage. Or Flame Sphere which is an AOE that is a bonus action to move. Or Moonbeam, an AOE that deal more damage on average, doesn't instantly require you to be in a position to constantly be taking attacks, and deals a less resisted damage type. Also, Flame Blade and Shadow Blade are similar concepts so that is probably why he chose to compare them.
I think removing concentration would make the spell much better.
Hey Ted ! Love your work! Just a heads up, if you want you can fraction your video in little segments (since I saw you put time stamps on the videos since as long as I can remember) by putting first the time with a semi colon "00:00" and then the spell.
This takes away from being able to put the ranks of each item on the list, it's a trade-off
Blade Ward has a niche on a quickened Sorcerer, but as an emergency measure. Still not good, but can help.
Honestly if they did Blade Ward as a reaction it'd be bad ass. Basically it'd be the counterpart of Absorb Elements but for weapon damage.
The 7th level Eldritch Knight feature also makes it pretty usable in my opinion, especially if you action surge. You'd be charging into a bunch of enemies, blade ward + bonus action attack, action surge, attack (however many times). At 7th level you would have done 3 attacks rather than 4, I think it's worth it for the resistance.
Also idk if this is correct RAW but I'd totally rule that something like a dragon's claw is a natural weapon that can be affected by blade ward. Probably would say the same for anything other than damage from spells or falling damage.
@@crazyscotsman9327 I think that counterpart is already shield. It's not mechanically the same, but I think that's because physical damage usually comes from an attack roll and elemental is often a saving throw.
@galion1991 that seems correct to me
I think blade ward would be better as a 1 level spell and a reaction so you can have it as another option to defend yourself if shield or absorb elements won't apply. Maybe as a cantrip it would be to powerful but it might still work
What hurts it the most is the existence of the dodge action if you ask me
Can you do a fixing video for these spells.
we changed blade ward and true strike to bonus actions for our game. they are so restrictive giving casters a good bonus action options.
RAW True Strike might only see use when you're preparing to burn a high level spell slot on something that requires an attack roll.
My interpretation of the Find Traps Spell :)
Criticism/feedback appreciated.
#### Find Traps (Revised)
*2nd level Divination*
___
- **Casting Time:** 1 action
- **Range:** 60 feet
- **Components:** V, S
- **Duration:** Instantaneous
You investigate a room or otherwise enclosed space you can see within range to detect if there are traps. Upon the casting of this spell and detection of a trap (which is defined by the spell as anything that would deal damage or be otherwise cause an undesirable event to occur), you learn 3 of the following (your choice):
- The type and amount of damage the trap does (if applicable. If not applicable, you can choose a different option). An incorporeal crest displaying an image of the damage type appears for all friendly creatures.
- The location of the trap, which is illuminated and obvious to all friendly creatures.
- The appearance of the trap, which is mentally projected to all friendly creatures within range.
- The nature of the mechanism controlling the trap (Or the school, if arcane).
- A hint as to how to destroy or avoid the trap.
I may have found a way to make True Strike "somewhat" useful: play an Arcane Trickster that always points at people. Now you have automatic advantage on the first round of combat. Take note, the only component to the spell is somatic: you pointing at your target. You don't even have to say anything. You literally only need to be pointing at someone and the spell is technically in effect lol
So from my understanding, a 10 minute duration is essentially "in case you're going into multiple back-to-back combat encounters", your DM can rule how many minutes have passed between them. So in the rare event that you're, say, rushing through a castle to get to a specific chamber, or treading across a battlefield, you wouldn't have to worry about recasting those spells over and over each encounter.
EDIT: Also the usage of all components are assumed within the same action as the spellcast. This means even if there's a material component, you're using that as part of your somatic component, they're essentially just flavor requiring you to have a focus or component pouch. Rather than saying "so that means you'll have to have the action of pulling out a component" it's better to say "so that means if you lose your component pouch or focus, you can't cast it."
My simple fix for find traps would be to make it work like detect magic and have a 10 minute duration. That way you know as soon as you walk into a trapped room that the room is trapped so to be careful. Would also debate lowering to 1st level, but the duration would make it much more useful.
I personally like blade ward for certain builds/playstyles. The first time i used it was when i built a pact of the blade fiend warlock, using my lower AC + armor of agathys to milk as much damage as i could from it. Also EK's can use it if they wanna be a tank on the battlefield. While it is true that dodging is going to be better option for defense, a creature might just ignore a big armored and unhitable tank to go for squishies. So to be a threat to a mob, it might be worth it to blade ward, war magic attack with melee, and trade dodge for resistance.
Also I do personally agree that witchbolt is kinda lame...for players! I have a ton of fun on some lower level encounters with two or more spellcasters using witchbolt to blast a melee in a brawl. The scene that plays out is typically more epic for the player to imagine as they are being blasted by concentrated beams of crackling energy. It CAN hit fairly hard, but also tickle, no static modifier so i dont feel as bad with multiple casting on one player, and it gives players options to try and break the auto hits. I had a druid in the party create cover for the barbarian (not bear) with earth mold, breaking LOS and ending the attacks that were going through the rage resistance.
I used spare the dying as a grave cleric, its was really helpful. I also used it as one of two cantrips with Magic Initiate - Cleric on my wizard. So as you said, familiar delivers spare the dying on friend.
Blade ward to me feels like it was designed to work with the eldritch Knight’s seventh level feature of being able to cast a cantrip then make a single weapon attack as a bonus action. It’s situationally useful but more of a trade off at higher levels. My main problem with it is that it feels like it wasn’t designed for the full casting classes it was given to.
On the point of weapon attacks, Sage Advice has clarified that weapon attack is one of the more poor choice of wording they've done in the game, and it essentially means "not a spell attack". Unarmed strikes are given as an example as counting as a weapon attack. To clarify, there are only "weapon attacks" and "spell attacks" that either come in "melee" or "ranged" or lack a specification, so claws, bites, etc. DO fall under "weapon attacks". To double down on this, look at a monster's stat block and it will tell you, for example from the Young White Dragon stat block "Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit..." Crawford went on to explain that if they specifically meant you needed a melee weapon, they'd use a hyphen, i.e. "melee-weapon attack."
So yes, Blade Ward does work against claws and bites. It's still bad though, this is just an important distinction to take note of.
To be fair to Blade ward, weapon attacks is just opposed to spell attacks. Dragon claws would be resisted. Still not choosable except for very specific builds.
Spare the Dying is good if the DM makes a campaign that makes it good, such as a campaign where you're rewarded for taking people out non-lethally. But the fact that it takes a cantrip slot makes it really weak I agree.
Just declare your melee attacks as non lethal.
It seems like true strike could be fixed so many ways.
1. Green flame blade and booming blade route - make it a spell attack that uses your action for 1 strike with advantage
2. Make it a bonus action - may be op on a rouge or invalidate barbarian's reckless attack
True Strike is obviously the "I'm starting the fight" cantrip. No wasted slot, advantage, and it doesn't matter that you took 6 extra seconds since nobody's attacking anyone yet until it actually hits on your next turn. Decent enough little spell.
In a similar way you miss the point of Crown of Madness. That's your far-distance thing to cast at a camp of many enemies that don't know where you are, ideally twinning it, good "cat among pidgeons" option for level 2. Enemy soldier camp full of not particularly wise grunts? Perfect. Throw one of them at them, they don't know where it's coming from, only that there exists a problem within a 120 radius (kinda like you give them the find traps trouble!). They don't find you? Neat, throw another! Maybe take a rest somewhere else, come back do it all again. If they're seiged in, even better - could put a clock on them and force them to commit earlier than they'd like. Very cool spell. Of course there's also the niche use of suddenly shouting "the king is mad, look!" and that's just hilarious.
For the Flame Blade fix, just condense the two into a spell called Elemental Blade, add the other types of damage, and give each a situation where it gets advantage (i.e. direct sunlight for fire, storms for lightning, etc.
Find Traps is like that imp Disorganizer in Discworld that could recognize handwriting. "Yep, that's handwriting alright!"
The only thing about Mordenkeinan’s Sword is most classes that get it can’t take Spiritual Weapon so it’s not really fair to compare them
Shawn Morris but they get Bigby's Hand
@@Daddylonglegs93 that's fair to compare
OnurCradible true
Esper the Bard made a video about a lot of those spells and how he would fix them. It's pretty baffling how some of them got through playtesting, even the situational ones.
Ted, you're possibly wrong about something due to your wording. Per the PHB, "The number of both is reset to zero when you regain any hit points or become stable." and "The creature stops being stable, and must start making death saving throws again, if it takes any damage." The way you worded it made it sound like the death saving throws remained and so it wasn't worth it to stabilize because they'd just take another one if they're attacked anyway, and they will, but it'll be their first one again, and honestly, using up a cantrip rather than a limited resource like a spell slot if they're likely to go down again anyway, baring specific circumstances like a monster that has a 3 hit multiattack or a crowd of multiple enemies. I do agree that a healer's kit is the better choice though, especially if you've taken the Healer feat (a good idea to consider in a campaign without a cleric or druid, especially for a monk or rogue who can disengage as something other than their action), but I find it extremely odd that they made it possible to somehow stabilize people without one. Maybe if they were suffocating or having a heart attack, there's forms of CPR, but heavily bleeding out? Excessive burns from fire or acid? Poison in the system? My belief is unsuspended.
I like Blade Ward actually. It is really thematic for some gishes/swordmages, and with my melee Storm Sorcerer/Tempest Cleric it actually has been useful, because I can quicken it to not break with my action economy, leaving my main action free for other things like a twinned Booming Blade. I still give up one Booming Blade/Green-Flame Blade attack for the Blade Ward, so I don't use it a lot, but since my character is the group's tank and primarely built for melee, he wants to stay at the front, potentially drawing in attacks - and Blade Ward can really help here, especially if there are lots of enemies wailing at him and when he gets to low HP. I know that's not what one would expect from a sorcerer, but my character has maxed constitution and really good HP rolls, his HP is more like what you would expect from a tanky fighter of his level; and with his resistances, good AC and defensive spells like Blade Ward, Absorb Elements, Shield, Haste... he is an excellent tank ;)
Hmm.... Lets see I'm gonna try to create a neat use for Blade Ward so take a lore bard, at lv6 take the cleric's Spiritual weapon, now you can use ward and sp weap on the same turn, you don't do crazy damage but you also will be a tough guy to drop, then at lv10 take the 'din's greater steed to get yourself a beefy mount, lets take a gryphon(I think those are on the list) because you cast ward on yourself your mount also gets it and you can run or fly circles around the baddies while whacking them with sp weap, I mean it's a cool image at least.
I always saw True Strike as an early role play spell. Not for the attack advantage, as much, then as a way for the PC to learn monsters stats.
Unrelated,
Your room rings out at roughly 250 Hz, very noticeable at 15:30, for example.
Definitely a thing y'can fix with a small EQ!
More importantly, thanks for another awesome video, from your local modern bard!
I know little to nothing about audio stuff, so any insight is really appreciated!
One bonus to Witch Bolt is that you don't have to keep rolling for more damage and it doesn't use up more than one spell slot if you just maintain the concentration. After the first hit, you're just guaranteed 1d12 damage for 9 more rounds, and you can still move around so it shouldn't get out of your range unless it's particularly fast or can fly. The downside is that the range is 30 ft. Essentially, Witch Bolt was someone's idea of bringing Force Lightning from Star Wars into D&D and you know what, I'm okay with that. Not quite Unlimited Power but still.
EXTRA NOTE: Witch Bolt is amazing for Warlocks as Pact Magic always does the highest upcast of a spell and you don't have to keep using spell slots. Yes, this does mean you can't use Eldritch Blast, but when you're guaranteed 2d12, 3d12, etc. damage every turn, the only reason to EB would be to fish for criticals, which also means you're chancing a miss. COMBINE THIS WITH HEX.
The problem is, most creature have 30ft or more movement so you would need to be in melee with them to actually prevent a creature with standard movement from just easily walking out of the range. And if you are in melee, you can get hit and be forced to drop concentration a whole lot easier. Also, why not just use other concentration spells that have an AOE effect?
You missed a few things that make Shadow Blade better than Flame Blade.
Because it counts as a melee weapon, you can add your strength or dexterity to the damage roll. You don't get to do that with Flame Blade. It's 2D8+Dex or 2D8+strength versus 3D6.
Also, 3D6 is slightly less damage than 2D10, so a Sorcerer or Wizard at level 5 with Firebolt (or a Warlock with Eldritch Blast at level 5) will do more damage from 120ft with a cantrip than you'll do with a melee spell attack that requires concentration.
Because it counts as a melee weapon, you can use it with extra attack. You don't get to do that with Flame Blade. So it might be (2D8+Strength)x2 compared to just 3D6x1.
Because it counts as a melee weapon, you can use it with Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade. You don't get to do that with Flame Blade. So it might be 2D8+Strength+1D8 (plus 2D8 more if the target moves), compared to just 3D6.
Because it counts as a melee weapon, you can use it for an opportunity attack even without the warcaster feat. It depends on how your DM interprets it, but I'm not sure whether or not Flame Blade can be used for an opportunity attack when you have the warcaster feat.
My Celestial Warlock is doing some nice damage with the Shadow Blade + Green Flame Blade combination (because I have 6 levels in Warlock, I get to add my Charisma modifier to the damage, and I automatically upcast the Shadow Blade and deal 3D8 psychic damage with it).
Weird: would be way better if:
1. it wouldn't require concentration
2. it would not end on a target if they make the save
3. it would ignore frightenend immunity
4. It would deal a bit more damagr
I would use it if those 4 points would be changed.
Stoneskin: I thinks its like with barkskin (although barkskin is worse IMO). It shouldn't be concentration to be useful.
Spare the dying is not bad IMO.
Its use is niche but clerics don't have a lot of cantrips to choose from, so its not bad to prevent someone from death if you have a cantrip spot to spare (pun intended).
As others said: Find familiar with cleric is really fun because of that.
Crown of madness is just bad as you said.
It should be just like a dominate person . Except that you cannot give them a command. They just start attacking the nearest target they can see.
No action to keep control either.
That would be just straight up better.
Flame blade suffers from concentration. You can have the same effect with just a flame tongue weapon wich does not require concentration. It has already the drawback to be melee only, wich isnt really the place a druid outside of wildshape wants to be.
Mordekhainens sword is just bad.
Spiritual weapon is a second level spell with a similar effect, no concentration required and better damage over time.
Remove the concentration, make it a bonus action and increase its movement.
Witchbolt just suffers from Hex.
Hex is concentration wich makes Witchbolt just bad. Also instead of the action it could be a bonus action to maintain it. Otherwise it would be fine IMO. Especially if it could proc Hex every turn.
Blade ward would be great as a reaction tbh. It wouldnt prevent a hit like shield does, but it would reduce damage in early levels which would make it atleast useful in more ways.
True strike: Grant advantage on the next weapon attack against the target. Not just your weapon attack. (so like guiding bolt without any damage). This could be great in conjunction with your rogue and make it useful, even as a full caster.
Find Traps: Should be like detect magic for traps. See them through walls, be a ritual, should tell you what kind of trap it is, where it is, whats its effect is and what save it requires to pass.
i had a player kill a boss with crown of madness, it was actually really cool
As previously noted, I too enjoy how you actually explain why you dislike the spell mechanically and compare them to spells of similar style/level. It would be cool to see a bit more of how you would change them to be worth the spell consideration. You did talk a lot about alternative spells for similar effects but maybe how you would homebrew that particular spell to make it worth it.
One thing that could fix Find Traps would be to make it concentration for an hour. Blade Ward could either be a reaction or allowed to be cast on targets within 60 feet. True Strike could be a bonus action that doubles your proficiency bonus to any attack rolls. (Edit: until the end of your turn)
The main thing for flame blade is that, for a druid, it uses your wisdom instead of strength/dexterity. For non-moon druids, 3d6 damage every round for one 2nd level spell slot isn't bad for a 3rd level character. It can even be used with the extra damage from absorb elements(only need to be a melee attack, no weapon needed).
Its not great in the late game, but it can be better than slinging cantrips at lower levels. Plus druids can swap spells every long rest, giving no commitment.
How about Astral Projection (9)?
Rules as written, it does none of the things you expect it to do, and is outshined in the thing it can do by Plane Shift (7). And if you are casting 9th level spells, take a look at Gate.
What one expects to be able to do, is project your image somewhere, possibly fight, and if the projection is destroyed... no big deal, you just wake up. But read it closely: you can only project onto the Astral plane, and if you go from the Astral to any other plane (including the outer planes, your own plane, etc.) your body is transported to that plane. That means you can't Astral Project into hell, and fight devils without a chance of dying (you know, the way they can come to the material plane and just respawn in hell). No, if you go from the Astral Plane to The Nine Hells your body gets sent to hell with you.
And the one place you can be a projection in? Is the only place where there are creatures that can kill you outright by cutting the silver thread.
Alternatively, with a 7th level spell, you can skip the Astral Plane, and just pop on over to The Nine Hells, and if your that high level, hop back home later the same day if you saved a slot. Yes, you need a tuning fork. So perhaps you need to Astral Project to explore the planes if you can't find a tuning fork locally?
Nah, because you can cast 9th level spells. Like Gate. Sure, Gate can technically be blocked by a planer ruler. But let's be real here: your party is 17th level or higher, you have access to Plane Shift, Astral Projection, and Gate. If your DM doesn't want you to go to The Nine Hells and kill some high-CR devils, using Astral Projection isn't going to subvert their plans. The whole part about planer rulers blocking Gate is just the same DM fiat that governs tuning forks and portals found in the Astral Plane. For all three spells, the DM can easily control where the party is permitted to travel, they all rely on at least one things that the characters can't influence.
Which means that for Astral Projection to be of any use, the DM needs to design an adventure around it. In which case the adventure probably isn't a 17 level adventure anyway, and some NPC or object is casting it. Or if it is 17th level, the Wizard gets the spell on a scroll so nobody has has to waste a spell selection on something that they will only be using once.
Oh right, it's really expensive to cast too.
It really feels like a 5th or 6th level spell with the wrong level assigned. At that level, before getting access to Plane Shift, it would be a cool and interesting way to deal with planer travel, and fighting the CR 8 Gith that can cut the cord would be level appropriate. Plus there would be a natural escalation here, you could travel the planes for a few levels collecting tuning forks before being able to cast Plane Shift.
Of course, even making it a lower level wouldn't fix the biggest flaw: It doesn't do what anyone expects from "Astral Projection." I would expect it to be more of a communication spell. Like a higher level version of Sending where you could have a ten minute conversation with someone.
I found Spare the Dying was useful with the grave domain cleric since its a bonus action and can be done with range. But I can't imagine using it otherwise.
I found it useful not so much for keeping allies alive but rather for keeping enemies alive for interrogation latter.
would love to hear suggestions from you about how you might house rule these spells to make them better!
My campaign’s BBEG, a warlock who missed with Witch Bolt on an attack, agreed with your assessment for the next 18 seconds or so that he was alive.
Something like true strike but for saving throws would be interesting.
I know there are options, but delaying casting a powerful spell for a higher chance to suceed sounds interesting.
I took Spare the Dying as one of my book cantrips along with Find Familiar as a ritual. It is honestly pretty good.
Hey Ted, blade ward gives you resistance against dragons claws.
Natural weapons and unarmed strikes aren’t weapons BUT their attacks are considered melee weapon attack. (In 5e an attack is either a weapon attack or spell attack.)
(Likewise a monk CAN stun people with unarmed strikes)
If you cast find traps on the players handbook it flips open to true strike.
Now i want to see a fixing it video for these
One thing to note with blade ward is that it isn't quite as bad as made out to be. Although a dragon's claws attacks do not make attacks with a weapon, they are a natural weapon attack. Meaning, you are able to resist the damage from them. This is unfortunately a flaw in the "natural language" design of 5e, in regards to the distinctions between attacks with weapons, unarmed attacks, and what constitutes a weapon attack.
As for its best use, it's amazing on a divine soul sorcerer with warding bond, using it to spread damage over the party and reduce the damage they take while using warding bond.
I've used skywrite as a ritual so much in an urban campaign. Long distance communication is soooooo useful!
You want to know the real kicker for find traps.....
DMG 211 there is an uncommon, non attuned magic item
Wand of secrets
Now it will only find traps or secret doors within 30 feet and not 120 feet and you don't learn it's nature. However they don't have to be in line of site (Also find traps doesnt find secret doors, you need 6th level true seeing for that) but the important thing is IT POINTS AT THE NEAREST ONE TO YOU...
DMG standard pricing (A horrible guide to go off) says 101-500gp
Slowly buy them for your party.
Suggested fix for Find Traps
Have it ping the closest, in a 30-120 ft aura (maybe have the area go up with higher spell casting) Concentration for 1-10 minutes
and maybe only have it detect traps with a discover DC equal to or lower than your Spell save DC... (This could also be an up casting component say +2 for each level above base) Don't tell what the trap is though.
I feel like the use case I heard given the most often for True Strike was a rogue who had gained access to the spell by whatever means giving themself advantage on an attack, but now I feel like their aim cunning action in Tasha's is just a much more simple way for them to do that.
For the record, flame blade says it's like a scimitar, which has the light and finesse properties as well.
No. It looks like a Scimitar, but it's not. It makes spell attacks, so it's technically not a weapon, and no abilities that work with weapons, like Extra Attack, will work. Unlike Shadow Blade, which is said to be a weapon.
@@antongrigoryev6381 to be fair, only druids get it and they don't have anything that interacts with weapons. However, the fact that druids aren't designed for that type of thing only makes it a worse spell
@@allenfortenberry9924 they have Primal Svagary cantrip, that, while deals a bit less damage, doesn't require concentration.
Spare the dying was something my cleric had. It was more of a personally trait as he attemted to save any non-evil creature, including animals. And since they were unconscious they wouldn't bother the party till after they move on
The only thing that comes to mind when I think of using spare the dying is if we need to track someone down and knock them out, but we don't want to kill them. A wanted live type situation, but that situation would hardly come up. Then again, you could just send a melee fighter type in to knock them out instead of killing them.
would a death domain cleric potentially get to cast spare the dying on two people using one action if the targets are next to each other using reaper?
The benefit of spare the dying is that it is a cantrip, so it doesn't use a spell slot. You said that if you get close enough to touch you can use other spells but what if you are out of spell slots and the downed player is the one with the healers kit.
Mostly agree with these, but I have a few points:
*Blade Ward* Generally agree on this, though actually there's one interesting use case for it which is being out of combat; it's a cantrip which means it can be infinitely re-cast, so technically a player can just constantly cast it outside of combat when they don't need their action for anything else. So if you're in a dungeon where there might be traps for example, it could give you protection against suddenly taking damage, or from arrows coming out of nowhere in a surprise attack and so-on. I think the problem with it is the way that it's setup which makes you assume it's for tanking in combat, but then it isn't really, or at least not for most classes. Sorcerers get a bit more mileage out of it though as they can quicken it, in which case it's like having an expensive rage on one of the tougher spellcasting classes.
*Flame Blade*
You're comparing a spell available *only* to druids with a spell that druids can't take without multi-classing or other shenanigans. Shadow Blade is definitely better for classes that can get multiple attacks (Hexblade?) or for Arcane Trickster, though they won't get access to it until quite late (level 17?). There are some extra things in favour for Flame Blade, especially for a druid; first is that it's a melee spell attack, and a druid should have max Wisdom before they max out Dexterity or Strength, so that's a better basic chance to hit, it also stacks with things like a wand of the war mage, which Shadow Blade receives no benefit from, and for an Arcane Trickster especially by the time you get Shadow Blade you probably have a magic weapon that's better than it anyway and doesn't use one of your precious spell slots.
So it's an odd one to highlight IMO, as for a Druid I think Flame Blade is fine, good actually, as in fact it's one of the few spells they have access to that only deals damage to a single target, which is a big deal for druids who otherwise have to be very careful not to hit their allies with areas of effect and so-on. Shadow Blade may indeed be better for other classes, but that's a benefit of those classes, just like Armour of Agathys for a Warlock is a bit better than False Life for a Sorcerer and so-on.
*True Strike* Like Blade Ward I think this is misunderstood; it's not really for use *during* combat, it's for use in *starting* combat. It's good for an Arcane Trickster for guaranteeing advantage on that first sneak attack, or for a sorcerer quickening it to attack with advantage on spells too expensive to fire twice. A variation for the Arcane Trickster is if they have Haste cast upon them, they could use True Strike to guarantee one attack with advantage every (next) turn, very useful if they get stuck ahead of the group and have to hold their own for a while. It can also be combined with finite abilities that boost an attack's damage up-front (i.e- before rolling to hit), so you can sacrifice a turn to reduce the risk of wasting an ability. Again it's a spell where you have to really think about how to take advantage of it, and its real problem is that it's presented in a way that makes you think one thing, then realise actually you can't do that and give up on it, but I don't think it's actually bad at all.
I can understand why people dismiss Blade Ward and True Strike, but I think they're really just misunderstood; they require a bit of ingenuity to figure out how (or if) your character can take advantage of them, but if you can then they're actually really good things to have. Flame Blade meanwhile is a good druid spell; it doesn't matter one bit that other classes have a somewhat better alternative if you're not playing one of those classes.
There are many more bad spells at the high end of the scale; I just took a look at Maze for example, it's an 8th level spell but it's basically just a variation of Banishment, except that it can't permanently banish anything, and the target gets to test *every round* to see if it comes back, so it's a Banishment that still requires concentration, but it's not up to you if it lasts for the duration. It's really, *really* bad for an 8th level spell.
Don't forget that both True Strike and Blade Ward last for 6 seconds, and both require Somatic and Verbal components. So your character will be constantly doing them if you want to hold Blade Ward constantly, which will look strange.
And if you use True strike before combat, enemies will notice it and attack immediately. If your DM allows (and he can not) you to do something right before combat, then you can cast literally any spell, which in 90% cases will be better than True Strike.
Spare the Dying has been worth it for my player playing a Divine Soul Sorcerer. Since you have a lot of Cantrips as a sorcerer and are not wisdom based it's a nice option.
Easiest way to fix find traps is to change it so it finds any trap like structure so that sinkhole won't catch you off guard, second make it a 1st level spell, and thirdly make it have a chance of failure to keep it balanced
Spare the Dying is alright on Grave Cleric since it's ranged, bonus action, and doesn't take a cantrip slot.
And that same feature also maxes that cleric's healing when the target is at 0hp, so it's really only after all the other healing spells are burnt out.
Stoneskin is kinda of a situational spell, but it works out really well on beastmaster rangers
Buffing out your companion so they're resistant to melee attacks is pretty neat
I'm surprised you didn't mention Witch Bolts super short 30 ft range & the fact that it just goes away if the target moves away. I played a Storm Sorc & used it a ton but my DM just started making all enemies move out of range after they got hit once.. 😭
Blade Ward would be a pretty cool spell-like ability for a Gish Sorcerer subclass; spend 1 sorcery point as a free action to cast the Blade Ward cantrip, but that kinda gish needs a lot more help.
How I would rework Weird: three WIS saving throw. Each one you fail is 4d10 psychic damage. Two fails and you're frightened of the caster for a day. Three fails and you're permanently frightened of everything. No concentration required.
OR, just make it like old wierd and give a guaranteed stun (no save) on cast.
A friendly reminder for everyone! That if you are just playing D&D with friends that you can 100% talk to your DM about making these spells better. Whether its something as potentially dangerous as removing concentration or something as simple as letting Find Traps also detect hidden passages, some spells are only held back by a few very fixable things
A list of worst spells that includes Crown of Madness and Witch Bolt? Take my like! I've ranted about those spells numerous times. I encourage my players to avoid them.
I’ll start off saying that I agree that Blade Ward is bad. A correction, however, is that a dragon’s claws and teeth are weapon attacks. They aren’t, however, attacks with weapons. They really needed to word this stuff better, but there are either spell attacks or weapon attacks. If it’s not a spell attack, it’s a weapon attack. That also means you can make weapon attacks with things that aren’t weapons, such as natural weapons or improvised weapons. Because natural and improvised weapons aren’t weapons, that means they can’t benefit from spells that buff weapons. I feel I’m getting off on a tangent, but Blade Ward works against weapon attacks, so it provides resistance against natural weapons.
As for why people have mentioned seeing some use with Eldritch knights, it’s because of the 7th level feature that lets them make a bonus action attack after casting a 1 action cantrip. As a tanky knight, I could see wanting to just have one attack instead of two as a trade for having resistance to incoming weapon attacks for a round. But now that we have booming blade and green flame blade, those seem like much better options. As another tangent, the Eldritch Knight elf with elven accuracy could also get a bit of use from true strike. First round, true strike and bonus action attack. Next round, true strike, and the bonus action attack now rolls with 3 d20s to allow for crit fishing (with more use if you’ve dipped Paladin for smites). Still, I’d rather just take two attacks, but it’s at least some kind of use for true strike.
Lastly, I’ve thought of a homebrew to try to fix Blade Ward, but I’ve not gotten anyone to test it. Change it to a bonus action, and have it grant resistance against bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing from the next weapon attack that hits within the next round.
I’ve heard of Blade Ward being used by a Counterattack type Warlock. Armor of Agthys then use Blade Ward to extend the durability of the temporary HP and when you’re hit use Hellish Rebuke so you deal Armor of Agthys cold and Hellish fire damage while Blade Ward halves the weapon damage. Cool concept but the ONLY time Blade Ward has ANY use.
I honestly expected *Grasping Vine* to be part of this list. What do you guys think of it?
(Sorry, my english might be terrible)
Very flavorful
Funny enough, for my first campaign in 5e I played a ranger and used Find Traps in a beneficial way. Our party was in a tower that consisted of lots of 'single event' rooms (this room has enemies, this room is a puzzle, etc.). We walk into one room that has two levers in it, one on the floor and one on the ceiling. I cast Find Traps and the dm tells me the lever on the floor will flood the room with water and the other lever will open a hidden door to the next room, the idea being that we swim up to the ceiling lever as the room floods and then make athletics checks to swim out of the room before we take suffocation damage. I remember feeling so awesome for being able to solve this problem for the group, and then we realized we couldn't get to the ceiling lever so we had to flood the room anyway.
Find traps doesn't tell you location or what happens. It's impossibly vague
Your DM gave you info that the spell doesn't give
Yeah, you don't get any information that could actually distinguish between the levers. RAW, you should have only been told that there is something in the room that would flood it.
And, I would also question if it would count as a trap since the flooding was the mechanism required to actually move on, meaning that it could be argued to be a desired effect.
Yeah I think either my dm didn't read the spell correctly or knew that the spell wasn't good and wanted to help me out, he was a very lenient dm
About the Witch Bolt the way I read it the spell causes 1d12 lightning damage and another 1d12 each round you maintain concentration. If you cast it at higher level like 3rd level spell slot, you increase the damage to 3d12 lightning damage on the first hit AND on the subsequent round that you maintain the concentration meaning that as a 3rd level spell you would cause 3d12 lighting damage on the first hit and another 3d12 lighting damage on each round you maintain this up. Potentially, if you can sustain this for lets say five rounds you would cause 15d12 lightning damage.
I could have read it wrongly since english is not my mother language but thats the way I use it in my games.
Yes, you read this wrong. Only initial damage is increased, not the damage on subsequent turns.
A 7th level EK can cast blade ward and attack with there bonus action after casting a spell
Blade Ward and True Strike just need to be 1st level Bonus Action spells imo. Also get rid of the "next turn" part of true strike.
They still wouldn't be good by any means, but they'd at least have some uses for arcane tricksters and eldritch knights.
Find traps feels like it should be just like a ranger base class feature because its vaguely similar to the paladin's divine sense ability, so it could just be tied to the ranger's WIS mod x per use so that way its more of a cool flavor ability rather than a 2nd level spell which is pretty expensive for a ranger for just an ability that seems like its just to make you ranger feel more ranger-y
Homebrew fix for True Strike:
Make a weapon attack as the somatic component of this spell. Your next attack roll has Advantage, or your next spell or ability that causes the target to make a saving throw forces that creature make the saving throw at Disadvantage. This extends to the next two attacks or saving throws at 5th level, three at 11th level, and four at 17th level.
Duration: concentration, 1 minute or until all ADV/DIS are used.
Suddenly Arcane Trickster rogues are taking this and Booming Blade and alternating for infinite sneak attacks.
The concentration part of it makes it hard to abuse crowd control spells, or takes two turns to make it happen, unless Metamagic quickened spells are flying around.
Good analysis.
You are forgetting about the War Magic feature the EK has. So you can blade ward and still attack though I would never use blade ward.