The thing with otiluke's versus banishment is that otilukes has a size limit. A lot of your big threats at higher levels are huge or larger. That makes otilukes a good turtle shell, no doubt, but it doesn't fulfil the same function as banishment as you implied. Also unlike banishment, the target can see you, and can therefore ready its *own* actions as soon as the bubble pops.
It is a sad thing that big monkey may be a better Polymorph form than awesome looking Trex (although not always)... 14:50 DM says "He has a Legendary Resistance ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)" 23:00 People may prefer Banishment because a banished target can do nothing, while in Sphere he can heal, buff, or simply try to roll away completely immune to everything nasty. In extreme cases, we've just given the target a way to cross 100+ ft lava lake safely (so somebody needs to control this, which uses resources). Also, Banishment has a Charisma save which is better save than Dexterity
The editing keeps getting better, and your reasoning is solid! I really appreciate your deep dive into spellcasting on find (greater) steed; this has been the subject of plenty of intense thought for myself lately. On that note, J. Crawford has said that a spell like cure wounds, cast on yourself, would also work for your familiar, even though the range is touch, not self. So there are some good options; haste in itself does not effect the target of the secondary weapon attack, it effectively gives one person that action, so that works; blink works (and is one of the best ways to avoid being targeted by creatures that can see through invisibility, I think); expeditious Retreat; heroism; longstrider, certainly; mage armor (potentially huge); most “protection from…” spells, sanctuary might work (I’d allow it, even though it forces a saving throw from another target), shield of faith, barkskin, darkvision, enhance ability, enlarge (same as haste), invisibility (as long as it’s not upcast), spider climb, DEATH WARD, freedom of movement, greater invisibility… the list goes on and on. Probably not allow Polymorph, but it could be argued. Of course, the one magic item that makes this spell so much better is: The Ring of Spell Storing. You can use it to give everyone a familiar and greater steed, not just bards and paladins that only have access to some of the spells listed above. TM, when you get to talking about magic items, I hope you spend a good long time talking about that ring.
Allowing the mount to get targeted by polymorph isn't at all game breaking as when casting polymorph on a creature, you can't turn it into a creature of a higher challenge rating.
@@Adurnis yeah, but your mount is rarely the target of attacks, so healing your mount is very situational. Plus polymorph turns the target into a beast only, turning your griffen or pegasus into something arguably less useful.
Christopher McKee both excellent points. I think my original thought was not that it was game-breaking, but that it arguably effects an opponent; but as you point out, you can’t turn your griffon into a T-Rex.
It's cool to go back and see your old videos and see how comfortably you've improved and matured as a content creator. These are still good videos and your D&D analysis is brilliant as ever, but your editing, composure for the camera, and audiovisual quality control have improved amazingly! Congratulations and keep up the great work!
The Guardian of Faith spell is very good in combat and I used it on my PCs when I DM'd a group of bad guy clerics. The PC started complaining that the spell wasn't designed for that. They all stopped to re-read it. They had definitely undervalued it.
Banishment is a genuine save-or-suck spell. Yeah, if the target saves, oh well. But if they fail there's no 5e save-at-the-end-of-the-round shenanigans, they stay gone until concentration is broken or the duration ends and they weren't extraplanar to begin with. So the secret is to cast it on the right creature(s) at the right time and have a plan for when (if) they return. Also can be upcast to hit more than one foe...
Glad you put fire shield on there. Totally underrated. No concentration resistance is very handy, but it even dishes out a small amount of damage as an added bonus. Obviously you don't want to be hit as a wizard, but this gives enemies some incentive to find another target. And if you're an eldritch knight with access to this spell (or any tank with a ring of spell storing), even better.
It's good to see the face behind the handbooks I've been reading for so many years. You've worked up to a good amount of energy on camera. It's also nice to see you're being kept honest and addressing the comments regarding the rules. I will object to the random cutaway clips though, they didn't seem fitting or funny.
I'm surprised to see Greater Invisibility was not mentioned. Not only can you cast it on the fighter or rogue to have all their attacks be at advantage and all attack against them at disadvantage, it is one of the best anti-spellcaster buff. Half of the potent single-target spells have the tag: "A creature you can see". Spells like polymorph, banishment, disintegrate, finger of death, feeblemind, all of the offensive Power Words, MAZE, etc. etc. All are absolutely useless if the spellcaster cannot see you, since they can't target you. And, the most important spell of all: Counterspell. You can't counterspell a spell cast from an invisible target. Now, the downsides are that enemies with truesight or see invisibility can ignore your invisibility, and dispel magic can remove the invisibility as well, since it does not require sight. The enemy still needs to expend an action and a spell slot to even counter it. Unless it's a lich. The best part of all? It's compatible with contingency. You can prepare greater invisibility to trigger when you say a certain word, and then you can trigger it on your turn, no concentration, while you still have your action ready.
It might have made a top 10 list, but it isnt going to break into the top 3. The in combat use isn't as good as polymorph in most scenarios, and out of combat, vanilla invisibility is better.
Just a couple of points here: 1. The fact that the spell wasn’t mentioned is just a result of the fact that 4th level has a LOT of great spells! 2. Spells cast with Contingency still require concentration, as per Jeremy Crawford’s ruling in Sage Advice 3. It’s a good spell, but not the greatest; you casting it on the rogue or Warlock will instantly make you a priority target, and it won’t do you much good to cast it on yourself. That Concentration is just too much of a downside to call it a “best” spell, and it certainly isn’t underrated.
I'm really diggin these spell analysis and going really indepth on overrated/underrated spells and why you think they are the way they are. Cuz you hear the same thing over and over again from certain guides or min maxers and its nice to see people who challenge conventional thought/mob wisdom on whats good or bad.
Treantmonk's Temple Keep rockin. I also dig the cheesy comedic cutaways. I see you're doin archetype videos! Personally I'd love to hear your thoughts on like College of Swords Bard. Horizon Walker or Gloom Stalker Rangers. Maybe even Celestial Warlocks/Divine Soul Sorcerers. Pretty big list but a lot of these are archetypes I'm really interested in playing. I'm kind of unsure about how to best make them work or use to my advantage. Also just interested to see what other underrated archetypes you end up putting a spotlight on later.
When they're designing the next edition, they really should have two effects for each spell. Effect on success, and effect on failure. Before listing those two, list condition for success - saving throw or attack roll, conditions, exclusions, etc. Biff boff bozz, one two three. With that format it'd actually look weird to have a spell that does nothing if it fails, and keyly, they'd design far less spells like that! Wouldn't the game just be so much better overall if all-or-nothing spells were super duper rare? Like you'd have to be surprised to come across one. It'd fix so many problems with not wanting to take otherwise fun-and/or-powerful spells! Just plonk on a compensatory effect on a failure, the more likely the failure and the less efficient the slot-cost, the more compensation you put in. Something like "Find Traps" could have its current main effect just ported over to the failure section, and have a new success effect that actually did what it seems it should do! Crucially, the failure effect wouldn't be encouraged to be something quick-to-mention such as half damage. That's fine but it's rather bland. By giving it its own section, you encourage design to fill it with its own detail that doesn't necessarily feel like it wants to be an afterthought.
Phantasmal Killer heavily depends on the DM. With some DMs, yes, it is garbage. However, as a DM (and I have DM'd for a person who has cast this), it takes that enemy pretty much out of the fight until they pass, as in my mind they should be panicking and either focusing all their attention on either killing or running away from the phantom. I agree that the multiple saves on the first turn make it so that the spell is nowhere near good, as it is nowhere comparable to previous editions (I mean, look at pathfinder, if you fail the wisdom and the fortitude save, that's it, you're just dead).
There was an errata a while back that clarified how spells with reactions work. Casting a spell only limits your spell to a cantrip 'For your Action'. This means that even if you cast a bonus action spell, you can still cast your reaction spells like counterspell or absorb elements on your turn.
I'm still not sold that Fire Shield is an underrated spell. It seems to be appropriately rated. It's the kind of spell that seems like more on the power level of a 3rd level spell. I don't see myself using it since their are other premium options available.
stoneskin is also the worst option for 4 element monks at 17th. concentration, self only, and you get a better source of resistance at 18th as a core monk ability.
Just as a clarification, the rules limiting the number of spells you can cast on your turn are not (always) relevant to "Reaction" cast time spells. You absolutely can cast a 1 Action cast time spell AND a Reaction cast time spell both on your turn (this is explicitly confirmed in the Sage Advice compendium), this creates a situation where the rules as written don't really make sense. (You can cast two third+ level spells as long as they're action and reaction but not bonus action and reaction? Nonsensical.) Personally I'd rule that casting a bonus action cast time spell does not impact your ability to cast a reaction spell at all, ever, (Even though that goes against a Crawford ruling) and that your reaction is an entirely separate resource that is not bound by the normal rules about what happens on your turn.
Interesting point on Ottiluke's Resilient Sphere. I haven't been able to find many people who like the spell Confusion. Although it gives enemies repeated saves, unlike Ottiluke's, Polymorph, and Banishment, the advantage that it has over Banishment is that it allows you to try to debuff an entire area of enemies, regardless of their resistances. In terms of debuffing spells, this spell is like Banishment in that no monsters can be immune to it.
Here's the use for Confusion: It provides a debilitating condition without counting as a condition. Facing something (or a group of somethings) immune to everything? Facing a Golem that is immune to most conditions AND Polymorph? Confusion still works. Make those Demon Lords blow a legendary save (Banishment would be better depending on the situation, but Bards and Druids don't get that). Also in the campaigns I've been in (Out of the Abyss, a Planescape homebrew etc.), Banishment is basically an insta-win. Keep in mind that even by 9th level (which is typically before you start seeing Legendary Saves) you can already cast it 3+ times, and can upcast it, so you have a bunch of tries to instantly win any encounter, even against non-planar enemies where you just gang up on them with Readied attacks on their return. It generally forces every encounter to have 2, 3, 4+ enemies just to avoid Banishment ending things too early. Oh, and it's another spell that incapacitates the enemy regardless of condition immunities (except for very specific creatures like the Astral Dreadnought), and be combined with stuff like Polymorph to make it easier to stick on enemies with high CHA saves.
Am I understanding this correctly? RAW, It seems for Fire Shield you can pick two modes, warm shield or chill shield. But for the retributive damage portion of the spell it references damage from the warm shield or the *cold* shield. Since you can only pick 'warm' or 'chill', and not 'cold', then you never have a shield that can deliver cold damage on being hit. Again, RAW.
Banishment seems pretty hit-or-miss in my games. Our sorceror tries to use it a lot, but often it doesn't work out. The big scary things you'd like to banish are rather hard to banish (although we had one notable success with an enormous fire elemental). Our DM has let him try to banish non-creatures from time to time as well. One notable funny moment was when he tried to banish the lock on a chest, succeded, triggered wild magic, put himself to sleep and lost concentration, bringing the lock right back. One barbarian-smash later and we had the treasure, bundled him into his sleeping bag and carried the sleeping bag out in the chest like a makeshift bed. We told him he was the real treasure. A not so nice use of it was his banishing our dominated fighter as we were retreating from our position that was being overrun by zombies. He didn't think it through so I had to punch him to break his concentration so we could get the fighter away for cleric-attention. An enjoyable addition to the arsenal, but HIGHLY overrated imo.
Maybe if you only read the above brief summary by me. In practice it doesn't change how dumb it was, the clerics and their dispel magic were next in the turn and couldn't target her because of the banishment. The sorceror had forgone running away to banish her and as such was the second-closest (the closest being our banished fighter) to the zombie horde. The horde was thousands strong, and as densly packed as possible in the narrow corridor. Where the fighter was banished was a mere 10ft from the start of the horde, who on their turn would have put at least 16 zombies between her and the nearest non-zombie-occupied space. Even if politely asking him to drop the banishment would have resulted in compliance, the guy still needed to be hit XD On a positive note: I scored our group's current record for most damage and killsscored with a single spell at 174 zombies and just shy of 4000 damage done with a cloudkill, coming in ahead of the very same sorceror's wall of fire with 38 kills and about 1000 damage done. Undead are stupid. Undead spider swarms even more so.
Sickening radiance: a underestimate spell, 120' range, 30 foot radius (so it’s big). When a creature come in a circle or start its round in the circle, it gives low damage 4d10 but it gives exhaustion and it’s great, level 2 exhaustion give half movement. Also you can push enemy with repelling blast if you are a warlock. Of course your team need to shoot the ennemy from a far. To give a idea - level 1 Disadvantage on on ability check - level 2 Speed halved (If you have a friend who cast plant growth meaning 1/4 speed, use repelling blast to move your ennemy in the circle) - level 3 Disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throw - level 4 Hit point maximum halved - level 5 speed reduce to 0 (meaning death) - level 6 death
"When they could take Otiluke's Resilient Sphere instead of Banishment" I don't think it's a good comparison because Sphere has some major drawbacks in a banishment niche. 1) much lower range 2) dx saves usually higher than cha, also size requirements. 3) frankly Banishment can't be dispelled unlike Sphere or Polymorph (J.C. tweet)
Great vid! I have some amount of a resistance about Find Greater Steed. I feel the creature options themselves are a bit too squishy for the role of a battle mount. This is of course mitigated by the fact you can summon them back, but starts getting dangerous when we talk about flying mounts and (Pelor forbid) losing concentration to falling damage. That being said, its probably still a ungodly fantastic spell on a bard, ok on a pally.
@@cmckee42my mount has been collateral damage within 2 rounds of combat every time, so I stopped casting it. I only cast it end of day if spell slots left.
The one issue with polymorph on your allies is it does depend a little on how the DM rules their mental stats being replaced actually effects them. A giant Ape has just 7 int, and that's better than some, some DM's will rule that means you're not as effective at helping as you might like. Save or suck spells are pretty overrated I agree. Kind of surprised Death Ward wasn't mentioned, long duration, no concentration, pretty helpful effect.
Still playing 3.5E with one group, and my go-to opener (as wizard ofc) in a fight against melee attackers is Fire Shield, Mass (from Spell Compendium). It is so amazing I'd wish it existed in 5E.
That’s the thing that bugs me about the Transmuter’s 10th level ability, “If you don’t have Polymorph, add it to your spell book...” Of course if you’re a Wizard and you wait until 10th level to pick up Polymorph, especially if you’re a Transmuter, you need to have your head examined. But hey, enjoy that rider ability where you get to change into a goldfish once per short or long rest.
Love your videos. Banishment is a good 4th level spell. It's also one of the best 5th-level spells in the game, one of the best 6th-level spells in the game, and quite a good 7th-level spell too. You get all of these great spells for just one spell choice. Upcasting allows you to target an additional creature per level and that is what separates Banishment from other single-target save-or-disaster spells such as Polymorph and Otiluke's Resilient Sphere. Indivdually targeting the three worst enemies is a very powerful effect and greatly reduces the risk of getting nothing for your spell. When you do manage to bag multiple targets you can hold them all down with a single concentration. I have a cleric 1/diviner X who has made Banishment her signature move for many levels. Banishment combines very powerfully with Portent. It's extremenly convenient for those odd-numbered levels where you have a new high-level spell slot but you don't know any spells at that level. Banishment also has a non-combat use. When you are stranded off-plane and want to return to the material plane in the worst possible way--well Banishment is the worst possible way. But it will work and it is available to a wide range of characters that simply wouldn't have any other options.
Grasping Vine has its uses. It's a bonus action spell that works very well combo'd with another spellcaster's area of effect spells. If you're a spore druid with booming blade, grasping vine is quite good. Or if you are in the right environment, it can do wonders. Dig a pit with mold earth. Have the vine pull enemies into the pit. Or summon it on the under side of a bridge and have it pull enemies off the bridge.
I also really love fire shield as a DM for spellcasting enemies to take. If I know my party is going to surround my mage and attack them, if they set up fire shield beforehand now they have to take a bunch of extra damage, and I didn't have to use an action to do it! And it leaves the concentration free. Also makes for a good one with an archmage to use during time stop if you don't swap out that spell list.
Possible use for Elemental Bane: Facing a ginormous enemy that has fire resistance as a level 10 moon druid. Cast the spell, shift into a fire elemental. Other than maybe that, pretty useless?
The frighten condition gives the target disadvantage on attacks and ability checks while the target is in sight. They also can't move closer. Then it takes 4d10 psychic damage. Psychic is a rarely resisted damage type and the one weakness of the totem barbarian. This is the type of spell you cast on brute type creatures who are more likely to have low wisdom.
21:05 Doesn't Guardian of Faith only deal damage to a single enemy the first time it approaches within 10 ft? Meaning the same enemy can't be damaged twice
"The first time on a turn" suggests to me the limit is 1/turn not once. However, this will certainly be limited by the movement of an enemy. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to manipulate that.
Ive always been a fan of ORS since Treantmonk recommended it as part of the 3.5 guide as an emergency bunker for your wizard or others. I had a scroll of it sitting in my belt (with healing potions and other buffs) so if the SHTF I could cast it then repair myself in the sphere. Same in 5E really
Note for the mounted combat rules: "While you're mounted, you have two options. You can either control the mount or allow it to act independently. Intelligent creatures, such as dragons, act independently." It does not say when you make this choice, how it's made, whether it costs any resources to make, whether it can be changed at any time, etc. The rules don't specify that you can't change your mind. If you have an option, then the simplest tactical thing to do is to say that it's a controlled mount at the start of combat, then say it's acting independently when your turn comes along. That gives you a free-acting mount acting on your initiative, which is _far_ less headache for the DM who no longer has to place your mount in the initiative order and essentially give you two turns. It also prevents the DM from having to decide for you what your mount is going to do, which is better for both the player and the DM. Finally, since you're only taking a single turn in combat and not multiple, this is better for the table as a whole. This doesn't just benefit Paladins and Bards. A revised beast master who chooses to ride his beast (such as a kobold ranger riding a wolf) can also make great use of this tactic. To those who say the DM might not allow this: you're right. Rule 0 applies equally to the mounted combat rules, though. The DM might choose to just let the player play it however the player is trying to play it and not worry about it. That's the most common thing I've seen across multiple tables and multiple rules. I wish WotC would spend more time thinking through these features. A single player shouldn't be taking multiple turns just because they have summoned creatures, companions, etc. That's bad for the table as a whole because that one player demands more attention from the DM and monopolizes combat time.
The multiple spells a round thing only applies to bonus action spells not reaction. So you can definitely still cast a defensive shield or absorb elements after casting a fireball on your turn.
Wrath of nature is pretty under utiluzed but that spell is great it does stuff at the begining, bonus action, and end of your turn. Its no polymorph but still pretty good.
I agree about Stone skin that it is bad because of the monetary cost. BUT The number of creatures in the monster manual that deal magical melee damage is very small. It's something like, 2 devels, 2 demons, 2 slaads, 2 Sphinx, 4 yugoloth, 4 golems, and 6 celestials oh yeah and the Oni so 23 whole monsters deal magical weapon attacks
Trickery clerics are actually the best clerics. It doesn't matter that their abilities suck pretty bad overall, their spell list is fucking amazeballs. Pass Without Trace? Mirror Image? Dimension Door? Polymorph? YES PLEASE.
I think for the Banishment vs Resilient Sphere argument, you have to keep in mind Banishment is available for 5 classes while Resilient Sphere is only for the Wizard. It has its value no doubt, but when you look and compare spells with an overview like this, it's good to remember who can actually get those spells in the first place.
Do a soundtest in another room? Is there someone you can lend a good mic from? (just to test how that'd affect your video's sound). Do you use USB to connect your mic? It could be something wrong with the electronics in your mic. I don't know, there could be lot of potential problems. Swapping things out one by one tend to let you cast Locate Trouble and then kill it.
It's probably not the mic itself. The room itself could be have a lot of reverb. The strategy with that is to pad the room which can easily be done with drapes, blankets, pillows, or basically anything else you can think of that isn't a hard surface. The fact that it's a small room is probably a good thing since it will be easier to pad. This video does a way better job at explaining it than I could: ruclips.net/video/u0_X7iSmENI/видео.html
I cast haste on this video to reduce the duration to about 14 minutes. What? I have dungeons to plunder, gotta level up faster or there won't be any loot left.
Dimension door is by far my favorite spell, not just at 4th level. Admittedly, in my main campaign our dm is a sadist and we have to flee combat far too often... but oh the utility! Woe to the dm that doesn't consider this spell when designing dungeons.
Grasping vine has a niche of getting people out of grapples. The biggest niche... Banishment is too good at guaranteeing kills on spellcasters (surround the banish location and ready actions) and slippery bosses to call it overrated. It also stops concentration on the target, and prevents the target from preparing an action when it comes out. I rate it as the best single target spell in the game. Outilukes has counterplay, banishment does not. Outiluke's is probably the best contingency in this edition, as dimension door will be used in a predetermined direction. Fire shield is a tough sell, I've used it before but it's situational at best. Especially in campaigns where 10 minutes isn't going to get you to the next combat. I like Fire shield, but it's not something I prepare often. If there was a wand of fire shield it would be a must have. By the way, I have that same blue dragon poster, but as a box.
@@thetester3221 Bards have a class feature called magical secrets that allows them to take spells from other classes and add them to their own spell list, so the can learn paladin exclusive 5th level spells at level 10, which the paladin can't use until level 17.
The potential of a bard with an independant greater steed and the spells that combine with it kind of deserves a whole video by itself. The whole issue of not being where you want to be on your own turn is also reduced to a minimum for ranged characters (where 9 times out of 10 "up and away" is the right answer anyway).
Probably not. I just don't have enough to say about them to make for an interesting video I think. I will give you a quick version here, just for you! Worst: 3rd: Druidcraft. Unlike the other "can do lots of things" spells (Prestidigitation, Thaumaturgy) - this one seems to be able to do very little interesting or effective 2nd: Infestation: Bad damage, bad save, bad 2ndary effect 1st: Magic stone: Crappy damage cantrip, that for some reason, doesn't scale at 5th,11th,17th like other damage cantrips Honorable Mention to True Strike, which is terrible, but still probably underrated (because of it's use with major important "to hit" rolls) Best: 3rd: Eldritch Blast - Yeah, #1 for Warlocks, but others who get access it's solid, and the extra attacks piggyback with damage boosts like Hex or Hunter's Mark 2nd: Guidance - The thing about Ability Checks over Saving Throws (resistance) is you often know before you make an ability check, and that ends up being a lot of +1d4's 1st: Minor Illusion: - Being able to block vision at need without using concentration or a spell slot is a pretty big deal tactically, plus there are the creative uses Overrated: 3rd: Primal Savagery - People keep asking if I think this is good. It's not. D10 damage is fine, melee only is a serious restriction. I don't see the draw. 2nd: Shocking Grasp - Removing a reaction with your action (plus some crappy cantrip damage) IF you hit isn't a good trade. People tell me this is a good way to disengage, I can't help wonder why they wouldn't JUST DISENGAGE. 1st: Spare the Dying - There are SO many ways to stabalize AND recover HP - why this is considered a "must" for Clerics I don't really get Honorable Mentions to Vicious Mockery and Toll the Dead (the latter of which is a very good cantrip, but I'm hearing about it being banned from many tables - it's not that good) Underrated: 3rd: Thorn Whip: That 10' move towards you I've seen do so many useful things. 2nd: Friends: Yes, they are hostile to you afterwards, but if you don't use it to make friends, but say, use it to intimidate and threaten, then they would be hostile anyways right? Or how about using it to pick a fight? 1st: Mending: This is one of those spells that is considered "OK", but every time it's taken, it gets tons of use. A must for any archer IMO.
Great video, loving this series! There are some audio issues this episode due to your mic (I believe). I'd recommend upgrading your mic to something like a Blue Yeti, it's an affordable USB mic with great quality for the price. Keep up the great work, I'm looking forward to the rest of this series!
Great video! I have to say though, really surprised Evard`s Black Tentacles isn`t mentioned. It just screams Battlefield Control Wizard to me, but maybe I`m wrong?
@@TreantmonksTemple On the topic of Evard's, I rolled stats for a new campaign, and I got a ridiculous stat array: 18, 17, 16, 14, 11, 7; so I feel obligated to something unorthodox with it, without gimping the character. How would taking 2 levels of Warlock be on my Wizard to obtain Repelling Blast be, in order to push enemies into stuff like Evard's? This is a campaign that will go all the way to 20, and I will be an Illusion Wizard, if that helps.
@@TreantmonksTemple yeah, i figured. I could get medium armor and shield proficiency if i go hexblade. And those stats are indeed fantastic! Especially for getting them after being a forever dm for 4 years.
@@eranamter Have you considered the possibility of Bladesinger instead of Illusionist? (or have you already started). I just note with Bladesinger you avoid much of the normal MAD issues. You could go High Elf and start with Dex 20, Int 18 (Int 20 at level 4). 16 Con to round out great stats for casting and stabbing. Defense would be very solid when using bladesong.
I would add Arcane Eye as underrated or top 3. It’s one of those spells where you can’t understand how good it is until you use it. It also mostly has a lower cost as diviner’s are generally the only ones who take it. Playing a diviner with it I make sure I use a lower level spell in the first encounter just so I can use Arcane Eye at its lowest cost. Now there is situations where you can’t use it, but that just balances out when you scout out an entire complex and be ready for everything.
I like this video series. I was surprised by your pick of Fire Shield. I don't think the spell is underrated because it's a bad spell, but because wizards should work on not getting hit, rather than mitigating damage when they do get hit. Also, they shouldn't get into melee range (that's what Misty Step is for) so the Fire Shield damage should never trigger. I feel wizards almost always have better things to do with a 4th-level spell than Fire Shield.
It's OK, I think there are 2 limiting factors. The first is knowing what question you could ask that is actually going to provide measurably useful information. The second is how your DM plays with this kind of spell. Are you going to get useful information, or cryptic hints that will only make sense once the information they hinted at is actually revealed. The 25gp cost is not too much, but does prevent using it daily over extended periods of downtime. Overall, the spell is OK.
I can't believe you did not put phantasmal killer on the worst list. Worse in every way than the third level fear spell until the target fails a second saving throw to take any damage at all.
My favourite Polymorph moment: ruclips.net/video/Qw0_i9gEun4/видео.html For the record: The target was a Fire Giant, got turned into a mole, and then thrown into a corridor full of psychic damage glyphs.
Odd that Fire Shield made the list (I agree) and Shadow of Moil did not. I would think the Fire version more universally beneficial, but the Shadow version situationally even stronger. Thought?
Shadow of Moil requires concentration, so that's probably why. Yes is obscures you so you can get advantage from it, but so does greater invisibility and that didn't make this list either.
Shadow of Moil requires concentration (major) and lasts only 1 minute (minor)? (though it has another benefit of obscuring you but still it is not worth the concentration)
They are quite different I think. FS is non conc and has a longer duration. Chris is using this as a pre combat back-up spell to bolster elemental damage protection (not for the retributive damage as why would you wizard get into melee - shudder). SoM seems like more of a combat cast where the heavy obscurement works in the same way mechanically as greater invisibility and you are using this as a buff on your AC and also to hit opponents. (Again the retributive damage is nice but being hit when concentrating could end the spell early.
Good points. In reading these, it also occurred to me, a good roleplay reason to prefer FS. Being obscured doesn't warn anyone away from you, in fact there may be an instinctive draw to "find whatever is trying to hide." Fire Shield, on the other hand, gives a nice big visual warning to stay away. True, both deal damage in the same way. But fire LOOKS dangerous. Moving shadow, ominous or even mysterious, but not automatically harmful.
Grasping vine have some good uses. Move any creature could be very useful. It could save your life or your friends life or pull the wizard bad guy up to your fighter.
Okay, maybe I misunderstood you but the restriction of a Spell and a Cantrip on your turn, has nothing to do with reactions which occur another creatures turn. Absord Elements takes a reaction, so it does compete with shield.
You cast a spell as a bonus action. Someone else has used the ready action to cast a spell when you cast your bonus action spell. They are therefore casting a spell on your turn and since you cast a spell as a bonus action you can only cast spells that are cantrips wih a casting time of 1 action. So you can't cast absorb elements.
The limitation is the bonus action spell which has the rules on pg 202 PHB limiting your other spells to "cantrips which have a casting time of 1 Action". If you cast a bonus action spell on your turn (say a healing word - just for Chris) and an enemy's readied action goes off to "fireball you when any spell is cast" you can't counterspell the fireball as you are limited in the spells you can cast in the turn to "Cantrips with casting time of 1 action" so no reactions for the turn. If instead you cast Polymoph (CT 1 Action) on your turn and the same fireball goes off. Then you can counterspell it using your reaction as you have not limited the spells you can cast with a bonus action spell. And remember if you have action surge you can take two actions to cast two full action spells a turn. The limiting factor is the bonus action spell. Edited (thanks Freya I incorreclty typed round rather than turn once - now corrected)
L B Be careful of your language here. The bonus action cantrip restriction only impacts spells that you cast during your turn. It is true that by RAW you couldn’t use your reaction during your turn (in response to a prepared spell), however, the language there specifies “during the same turn”, not round. You can still use your reaction to cast a spell if it is another creature’s turn. www.sageadvice.eu/2016/05/17/does-casting-a-bonus-action-spell-prevent-reaction-spells/
Can a paladin create a pegasus and then change his prepared spells with the pegasus staying and still existing or does it disappear when the paladin changes his spells?
You misread Grasping Vine, by the way. On the turn you cast it, you get the attack for free. Also, You don't have to burn your bonus action to do it, the spell itself *is* a bonus action. You can still fire off a damaging cantrip as well in the same turn. Not that that's to say it's an amazing spell or anything, just that you made it sound even worse than it actually is. It's a situational spell, the entire point of it is to pull enemies into another AoE.
Also you can still use it in beast form or caster form using your bonus action to keep using it. Btw after the first time you cast it you may go back to casting regular spells. You only need to use a cantrip when you cast the spell. Not best but not quite as bad as you made it out
@@sakisaotome6753 True, you can use it while in beast form, but there are plenty of much better concentration spells to hold. It's far from a good spell, but it's definitely useful in certain situations.
I hear what you're saying about fire shield. The cost, of course, is the action. What about Blink? This is a spell that I think gets ignored a lot of the time, but it's the same kind of thing, where you have 50% protection from EVERYTHING (attack roll, AOE, spellcasting targeting, ANYTHING WITH A RANGE!), combined with a little bit of speed buff + non-combat utility-- and again, the cost is the action for a defensive spell. That action cost is significant, it's true. Is Blink underrated? Or is the fact that a Blink-targeted attack will just get retargeted a reason why Blink isn't as good? (Good for precasting against AOE baddies only?) Is it just the variance of blink vs. fire shield? Or maybe the duration, where Blink is 1 combat and you could run Fire Shield into 2?
@@TreantmonksTemple Apologies I misread the rule hex imposes disadvantage on one kind of ability check not saving throws. I guess if it was saving through that would be incredibly powerful. Luckily you can still select dexterity and give them disadvantage on their initiative roll which would be quite effective against 1 or 2 elite enemies.
Question for anyone about Polymorph: If I'm turning a Level 11 ally into something, can I turn him into something with a challenge rating of 11? I was told I divide his Level (11) by 4, making me able to only turn him into something with a Level 3 challenge rating. If this is the case for my party, shouldn't I take something else over Polymorph? I'm thinking Fire Shield or Dimension Door, already have Otiluke's Resilient Sphere.
Dividing by 4 is the mechanic for Wild Shape, not Polymorph. The limit is the CR of the creature you are polymorphing (or their level if they don't have a CR, like your allies). This is right from the spell description. However, although you could theoretically turn that ally into a CR 11 beast, there are no beasts over CR 9 in the official rules. (Your DM might have homebrew or 3rd party though)
I fail to see why Otiluke's Resilient Sphere is better than banishment. The only difference I see is that the creature inside (whether is an enemy or ally can move the sphere up to half its speed). But banishment targets Charisma instead of Dexterity and can be upcast to affect more than one creature. Also Banishment has double the range of Resilient Sphere So if you have to choose one or the other. One targets a saving throw it's more likely to hit, can affect more than one creature if upcast, while the other let's your ally/enemy move in the battlefield. Resilient Sphere is better to protect an ally (Since he can move out of danger) but so much worse when used on enemies
Otiluke's can protect your allies as well as harm your enemies, I tend to agree with Treantmonk's evaluation there. The flexibility makes it just a bit better than banishment IMO. I might also be thinking of that time I locked a rather powerful fighter-type enemy in that sphere when he was going to charge my wizard and then I just pushed him away from the mountain pass we were on so he'd fall to his death. Or when the enemy in the door, leading another wave of enemies was trapped in an orb and blocked the door, giving us a few turns to deal with the foes that already were in the room before handling the reinforcements separately. (one character with decent strength held the orb in place) Basically I'll always prefer the spells with more versatility. But I can see why you'd prefer banishment if your focus is just that one use case of actually removing one enemy from combat.
Huh I never considered the fact that you can move the enemy inside of the sphere or that in could block a corridor as a wall spell. I don't personally prefer banishment myself, but found a bit unfair Treatmonk's critique considering what I mentioned above. Nevertheless I definitely like Resilient Sphere a lot more due to the points you mentioned! :)
Hello, I like your guides for magic users and spells Occasionally a spell will draw your ire because it delivers low hp dmg for the spells level. In any of your guides or works is there a table or ratio of accepted spell level to damage?
Hey Synaptic Static! Heat Metal, Suggestion, Hypnotic Pattern, Polymorph, Animate Objects, Greater Invisibility, Eyebite and True Polymorph just wanted to say Hi! That said, Leomund's TIny Hut isn't concentration either...I guess I could have said "most of the best", but that just doesn't sound as good...
Synaptic static will be happy to get well-acquainted! After all, these are spells it could and should be partnering with at work. ;) And fair enough for snappiness.
Polymorph really drops off in usefulness as the game goes on due to its WIS saving throw limitation and the fact that the Polymorph form will end up weaker over time. I don't think it ever becomes a bad pick and during the sub-level 11 range (where 95% of campaigns play) it's utterly dominating. But it does lose a lot of its luster as the game goes on, unlike, say, Resilient Sphere.
Ah Polymorph. Replacing your allies int, wis and cha can be a bad thing (I think Giant Apes are still smart enough to work, but had a player polymorphed into a goat once) and unless you can deal that massive damage or get that instant kill you are just delaying the fight by using it on an enemy. I wouldn't say "most overrated" but it is easily misused or counter-acted. Banishment, I can see what you are saying. Going to add this little awesome combo though. You don't need to use your action. Banishment qualifies for Warcaster, so you can use it as an Attack of Opportunity if the chance arises. A cleric tank can really threaten an big bad with this, cause if that banishment lands it can be devastating for the opposing side. Is stoneskin really that overrated? You see, the vast majority of MM creatures deal non-magical damage. There are very few creatures whose attacks count as magical and so it can really translate to Resistance. Getting the Fighter to take 1/2 damage for the entire fight? That could be worth 100 gp to me. Guardian of Faith, gotta disagree with you. First of all, you aren't completely correct that it doesn't matter how much damage the enemy takes, damage that goes over zero is wasted. So, 3 goblins could use up an entire Guardian of Faith which is just bad. Secondly, it cannot move. This is horrible. Within 10 ft of this Guardian is space you can't enter, but if the entire fight takes place outside of that 10 ft the spell was completely wasted. Sure, it has uses. It can hit invisible enemies, it can be an area of denial, or if you are fighting in enclosed hallways or the enemy doesn't have good ranged options. But it hits three times and disappears and can never move from the location it is cast in. Those are some harsh penalties.
Turning the enemy into a useless animal is almost as useful as banishing them or trapping them is a sphere. Unlike banishment though, polymorph is way more useful.
Also, getting the fighter to take half damage in a fight is definitely not worth 100 gp when polymorphing them into a T rex with a bucket of extra hitpoints is free.
I don't understand a fair couple of WOTC's rulings. What you mentioned about mounts for example. Or why conjure woodland creatures is solely a dm thing.
On two of your "overrated" spells. Phantasmal Killer on an enemy that is being followed by a shadow hound made by a Shadow Sorcerer? GL not taking 4d10 each round. I'm sure there are other, non-conc spells, that impose disadvantage on wisdom saving throws. Banishment works on everyone when considering the permanent part, not just those that don't belong on that plane.
@@TreantmonksTemple yes, forgot which one got it and just assumed it was nature (felt like a fitting place in my head) but I remembered one cleric did get it.
Sorry treatmonk, sorc will always be the best healer. Bonus action combat heals and twin polymorphs. Ranger and driid get healing spirit or rope trick so wizard is still behind
Really now? Banishment is overrated? Unlike the vast majority of spells in 5e, if you fail the save, you're out. It scales with levels as well. How many control spells that give you just one save, and a rare save at that, on top of that, if its a fiend/fey type monster, you dont have to fight them after you kill their friends. Just banish them permenantly just by concentrating. This is the sort of spell that DM has to tailor encounters around when the party has it.
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1:05 No.3
1:45 No.2
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11:12 No.1 , yes its polymorph
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Uh spoilers on the best, geez how was I supposed to see that comming. /s
The thing with otiluke's versus banishment is that otilukes has a size limit. A lot of your big threats at higher levels are huge or larger. That makes otilukes a good turtle shell, no doubt, but it doesn't fulfil the same function as banishment as you implied. Also unlike banishment, the target can see you, and can therefore ready its *own* actions as soon as the bubble pops.
Fair point!
Sorcerer's are the best healers because they can twin polymorph
oliver neville then we twin haste Hahahah
Excellent call on Fire Shield. Any defensive spell that doesn't require concentration is a good spell.
It is a sad thing that big monkey may be a better Polymorph form than awesome looking Trex (although not always)...
14:50 DM says "He has a Legendary Resistance ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)"
23:00 People may prefer Banishment because a banished target can do nothing, while in Sphere he can heal, buff, or simply try to roll away completely immune to everything nasty. In extreme cases, we've just given the target a way to cross 100+ ft lava lake safely (so somebody needs to control this, which uses resources). Also, Banishment has a Charisma save which is better save than Dexterity
The editing keeps getting better, and your reasoning is solid! I really appreciate your deep dive into spellcasting on find (greater) steed; this has been the subject of plenty of intense thought for myself lately.
On that note, J. Crawford has said that a spell like cure wounds, cast on yourself, would also work for your familiar, even though the range is touch, not self. So there are some good options; haste in itself does not effect the target of the secondary weapon attack, it effectively gives one person that action, so that works; blink works (and is one of the best ways to avoid being targeted by creatures that can see through invisibility, I think); expeditious Retreat; heroism; longstrider, certainly; mage armor (potentially huge); most “protection from…” spells, sanctuary might work (I’d allow it, even though it forces a saving throw from another target), shield of faith, barkskin, darkvision, enhance ability, enlarge (same as haste), invisibility (as long as it’s not upcast), spider climb, DEATH WARD, freedom of movement, greater invisibility… the list goes on and on. Probably not allow Polymorph, but it could be argued.
Of course, the one magic item that makes this spell so much better is: The Ring of Spell Storing. You can use it to give everyone a familiar and greater steed, not just bards and paladins that only have access to some of the spells listed above. TM, when you get to talking about magic items, I hope you spend a good long time talking about that ring.
Allowing the mount to get targeted by polymorph isn't at all game breaking as when casting polymorph on a creature, you can't turn it into a creature of a higher challenge rating.
Not game-BREAKING, for sure, but as TM notes above, Polymorph is the best healing spell.
@@Adurnis yeah, but your mount is rarely the target of attacks, so healing your mount is very situational. Plus polymorph turns the target into a beast only, turning your griffen or pegasus into something arguably less useful.
Christopher McKee both excellent points. I think my original thought was not that it was game-breaking, but that it arguably effects an opponent; but as you point out, you can’t turn your griffon into a T-Rex.
It's cool to go back and see your old videos and see how comfortably you've improved and matured as a content creator. These are still good videos and your D&D analysis is brilliant as ever, but your editing, composure for the camera, and audiovisual quality control have improved amazingly! Congratulations and keep up the great work!
The Guardian of Faith spell is very good in combat and I used it on my PCs when I DM'd a group of bad guy clerics. The PC started complaining that the spell wasn't designed for that. They all stopped to re-read it. They had definitely undervalued it.
Banishment is a genuine save-or-suck spell. Yeah, if the target saves, oh well. But if they fail there's no 5e save-at-the-end-of-the-round shenanigans, they stay gone until concentration is broken or the duration ends and they weren't extraplanar to begin with. So the secret is to cast it on the right creature(s) at the right time and have a plan for when (if) they return. Also can be upcast to hit more than one foe...
Glad you put fire shield on there. Totally underrated. No concentration resistance is very handy, but it even dishes out a small amount of damage as an added bonus. Obviously you don't want to be hit as a wizard, but this gives enemies some incentive to find another target. And if you're an eldritch knight with access to this spell (or any tank with a ring of spell storing), even better.
Psht, the trickery cleric is the king of healing, and group stealth. In general, their domain spell list is just AMAZING!
It's good to see the face behind the handbooks I've been reading for so many years. You've worked up to a good amount of energy on camera. It's also nice to see you're being kept honest and addressing the comments regarding the rules. I will object to the random cutaway clips though, they didn't seem fitting or funny.
I'm surprised to see Greater Invisibility was not mentioned.
Not only can you cast it on the fighter or rogue to have all their attacks be at advantage and all attack against them at disadvantage, it is one of the best anti-spellcaster buff.
Half of the potent single-target spells have the tag: "A creature you can see". Spells like polymorph, banishment, disintegrate, finger of death, feeblemind, all of the offensive Power Words, MAZE, etc. etc. All are absolutely useless if the spellcaster cannot see you, since they can't target you. And, the most important spell of all: Counterspell. You can't counterspell a spell cast from an invisible target.
Now, the downsides are that enemies with truesight or see invisibility can ignore your invisibility, and dispel magic can remove the invisibility as well, since it does not require sight. The enemy still needs to expend an action and a spell slot to even counter it. Unless it's a lich.
The best part of all? It's compatible with contingency. You can prepare greater invisibility to trigger when you say a certain word, and then you can trigger it on your turn, no concentration, while you still have your action ready.
It might have made a top 10 list, but it isnt going to break into the top 3. The in combat use isn't as good as polymorph in most scenarios, and out of combat, vanilla invisibility is better.
Just a couple of points here:
1. The fact that the spell wasn’t mentioned is just a result of the fact that 4th level has a LOT of great spells!
2. Spells cast with Contingency still require concentration, as per Jeremy Crawford’s ruling in Sage Advice
3. It’s a good spell, but not the greatest; you casting it on the rogue or Warlock will instantly make you a priority target, and it won’t do you much good to cast it on yourself. That Concentration is just too much of a downside to call it a “best” spell, and it certainly isn’t underrated.
I could make the case that the spell is overrated, but again, the spell wouldn't crack the top 3 in that category either.
I'm really diggin these spell analysis and going really indepth on overrated/underrated spells and why you think they are the way they are. Cuz you hear the same thing over and over again from certain guides or min maxers and its nice to see people who challenge conventional thought/mob wisdom on whats good or bad.
Thank you!
Treantmonk's Temple Keep rockin. I also dig the cheesy comedic cutaways.
I see you're doin archetype videos! Personally I'd love to hear your thoughts on like College of Swords Bard. Horizon Walker or Gloom Stalker Rangers. Maybe even Celestial Warlocks/Divine Soul Sorcerers.
Pretty big list but a lot of these are archetypes I'm really interested in playing. I'm kind of unsure about how to best make them work or use to my advantage.
Also just interested to see what other underrated archetypes you end up putting a spotlight on later.
When they're designing the next edition, they really should have two effects for each spell. Effect on success, and effect on failure. Before listing those two, list condition for success - saving throw or attack roll, conditions, exclusions, etc. Biff boff bozz, one two three. With that format it'd actually look weird to have a spell that does nothing if it fails, and keyly, they'd design far less spells like that! Wouldn't the game just be so much better overall if all-or-nothing spells were super duper rare? Like you'd have to be surprised to come across one. It'd fix so many problems with not wanting to take otherwise fun-and/or-powerful spells! Just plonk on a compensatory effect on a failure, the more likely the failure and the less efficient the slot-cost, the more compensation you put in. Something like "Find Traps" could have its current main effect just ported over to the failure section, and have a new success effect that actually did what it seems it should do! Crucially, the failure effect wouldn't be encouraged to be something quick-to-mention such as half damage. That's fine but it's rather bland. By giving it its own section, you encourage design to fill it with its own detail that doesn't necessarily feel like it wants to be an afterthought.
Elemental bane does 2d6 per turn. If your group is stacked with one element damit's possible for it to make back its cost.
Phantasmal Killer heavily depends on the DM. With some DMs, yes, it is garbage. However, as a DM (and I have DM'd for a person who has cast this), it takes that enemy pretty much out of the fight until they pass, as in my mind they should be panicking and either focusing all their attention on either killing or running away from the phantom. I agree that the multiple saves on the first turn make it so that the spell is nowhere near good, as it is nowhere comparable to previous editions (I mean, look at pathfinder, if you fail the wisdom and the fortitude save, that's it, you're just dead).
There was an errata a while back that clarified how spells with reactions work. Casting a spell only limits your spell to a cantrip 'For your Action'. This means that even if you cast a bonus action spell, you can still cast your reaction spells like counterspell or absorb elements on your turn.
I'm still not sold that Fire Shield is an underrated spell. It seems to be appropriately rated. It's the kind of spell that seems like more on the power level of a 3rd level spell. I don't see myself using it since their are other premium options available.
stoneskin is also the worst option for 4 element monks at 17th. concentration, self only, and you get a better source of resistance at 18th as a core monk ability.
Just as a clarification, the rules limiting the number of spells you can cast on your turn are not (always) relevant to "Reaction" cast time spells.
You absolutely can cast a 1 Action cast time spell AND a Reaction cast time spell both on your turn (this is explicitly confirmed in the Sage Advice compendium), this creates a situation where the rules as written don't really make sense. (You can cast two third+ level spells as long as they're action and reaction but not bonus action and reaction? Nonsensical.) Personally I'd rule that casting a bonus action cast time spell does not impact your ability to cast a reaction spell at all, ever, (Even though that goes against a Crawford ruling) and that your reaction is an entirely separate resource that is not bound by the normal rules about what happens on your turn.
Apparently we've been homebrewing. I don't see why bonus action versus normal would cause any problems.
Interesting point on Ottiluke's Resilient Sphere. I haven't been able to find many people who like the spell Confusion. Although it gives enemies repeated saves, unlike Ottiluke's, Polymorph, and Banishment, the advantage that it has over Banishment is that it allows you to try to debuff an entire area of enemies, regardless of their resistances. In terms of debuffing spells, this spell is like Banishment in that no monsters can be immune to it.
Here's the use for Confusion: It provides a debilitating condition without counting as a condition. Facing something (or a group of somethings) immune to everything? Facing a Golem that is immune to most conditions AND Polymorph? Confusion still works. Make those Demon Lords blow a legendary save (Banishment would be better depending on the situation, but Bards and Druids don't get that).
Also in the campaigns I've been in (Out of the Abyss, a Planescape homebrew etc.), Banishment is basically an insta-win. Keep in mind that even by 9th level (which is typically before you start seeing Legendary Saves) you can already cast it 3+ times, and can upcast it, so you have a bunch of tries to instantly win any encounter, even against non-planar enemies where you just gang up on them with Readied attacks on their return. It generally forces every encounter to have 2, 3, 4+ enemies just to avoid Banishment ending things too early. Oh, and it's another spell that incapacitates the enemy regardless of condition immunities (except for very specific creatures like the Astral Dreadnought), and be combined with stuff like Polymorph to make it easier to stick on enemies with high CHA saves.
Am I understanding this correctly? RAW, It seems for Fire Shield you can pick two modes, warm shield or chill shield. But for the retributive damage portion of the spell it references damage from the warm shield or the *cold* shield. Since you can only pick 'warm' or 'chill', and not 'cold', then you never have a shield that can deliver cold damage on being hit. Again, RAW.
I'm pretty sure by "cold" they mean the chill shield, but you're right, technically they should match.
Worth noting Banishment is also a free ticket back to your home plane, at lower level that any dedicated teleports.
That's an interesting use I never considered!
You are getting better at this every vid, gj as always keep them guides coming!
Banishment seems pretty hit-or-miss in my games. Our sorceror tries to use it a lot, but often it doesn't work out. The big scary things you'd like to banish are rather hard to banish (although we had one notable success with an enormous fire elemental).
Our DM has let him try to banish non-creatures from time to time as well. One notable funny moment was when he tried to banish the lock on a chest, succeded, triggered wild magic, put himself to sleep and lost concentration, bringing the lock right back. One barbarian-smash later and we had the treasure, bundled him into his sleeping bag and carried the sleeping bag out in the chest like a makeshift bed. We told him he was the real treasure.
A not so nice use of it was his banishing our dominated fighter as we were retreating from our position that was being overrun by zombies. He didn't think it through so I had to punch him to break his concentration so we could get the fighter away for cleric-attention. An enjoyable addition to the arsenal, but HIGHLY overrated imo.
Note that you can end concentration any time you want, *even outside of your turn*! That might make the decision in this story a little smarter!
Maybe if you only read the above brief summary by me. In practice it doesn't change how dumb it was, the clerics and their dispel magic were next in the turn and couldn't target her because of the banishment. The sorceror had forgone running away to banish her and as such was the second-closest (the closest being our banished fighter) to the zombie horde. The horde was thousands strong, and as densly packed as possible in the narrow corridor. Where the fighter was banished was a mere 10ft from the start of the horde, who on their turn would have put at least 16 zombies between her and the nearest non-zombie-occupied space.
Even if politely asking him to drop the banishment would have resulted in compliance, the guy still needed to be hit XD
On a positive note: I scored our group's current record for most damage and killsscored with a single spell at 174 zombies and just shy of 4000 damage done with a cloudkill, coming in ahead of the very same sorceror's wall of fire with 38 kills and about 1000 damage done. Undead are stupid. Undead spider swarms even more so.
Sickening radiance: a underestimate spell, 120' range, 30 foot radius (so it’s big). When a creature come in a circle or start its round in the circle, it gives low damage 4d10 but it gives exhaustion and it’s great, level 2 exhaustion give half movement. Also you can push enemy with repelling blast if you are a warlock. Of course your team need to shoot the ennemy from a far.
To give a idea
- level 1 Disadvantage on on ability check
- level 2 Speed halved (If you have a friend who cast plant growth meaning 1/4 speed, use repelling blast to move your ennemy in the circle)
- level 3 Disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throw
- level 4 Hit point maximum halved
- level 5 speed reduce to 0 (meaning death)
- level 6 death
"When they could take Otiluke's Resilient Sphere instead of Banishment"
I don't think it's a good comparison because Sphere has some major drawbacks in a banishment niche.
1) much lower range
2) dx saves usually higher than cha, also size requirements.
3) frankly Banishment can't be dispelled unlike Sphere or Polymorph (J.C. tweet)
Most elementals can't dispel Banishment. All Yugoloths and the Glabrezu can dispel the effect.
Assuming they are being banished to thier home plane
Great vid! I have some amount of a resistance about Find Greater Steed. I feel the creature options themselves are a bit too squishy for the role of a battle mount. This is of course mitigated by the fact you can summon them back, but starts getting dangerous when we talk about flying mounts and (Pelor forbid) losing concentration to falling damage. That being said, its probably still a ungodly fantastic spell on a bard, ok on a pally.
In my experience, DMs rarely attack mounts unless the mount also attacks, though YMMV.
@@cmckee42my mount has been collateral damage within 2 rounds of combat every time, so I stopped casting it. I only cast it end of day if spell slots left.
The one issue with polymorph on your allies is it does depend a little on how the DM rules their mental stats being replaced actually effects them. A giant Ape has just 7 int, and that's better than some, some DM's will rule that means you're not as effective at helping as you might like. Save or suck spells are pretty overrated I agree. Kind of surprised Death Ward wasn't mentioned, long duration, no concentration, pretty helpful effect.
With a Wizard in one campaign, casting Polymorph on the party Paladin didn't change her Int at all. ;)
Still playing 3.5E with one group, and my go-to opener (as wizard ofc) in a fight against melee attackers is Fire Shield, Mass (from Spell Compendium). It is so amazing I'd wish it existed in 5E.
That’s the thing that bugs me about the Transmuter’s 10th level ability, “If you don’t have Polymorph, add it to your spell book...” Of course if you’re a Wizard and you wait until 10th level to pick up Polymorph, especially if you’re a Transmuter, you need to have your head examined. But hey, enjoy that rider ability where you get to change into a goldfish once per short or long rest.
Love your videos.
Banishment is a good 4th level spell. It's also one of the best 5th-level spells in the game, one of the best 6th-level spells in the game, and quite a good 7th-level spell too. You get all of these great spells for just one spell choice.
Upcasting allows you to target an additional creature per level and that is what separates Banishment from other single-target save-or-disaster spells such as Polymorph and Otiluke's Resilient Sphere. Indivdually targeting the three worst enemies is a very powerful effect and greatly reduces the risk of getting nothing for your spell. When you do manage to bag multiple targets you can hold them all down with a single concentration.
I have a cleric 1/diviner X who has made Banishment her signature move for many levels. Banishment combines very powerfully with Portent. It's extremenly convenient for those odd-numbered levels where you have a new high-level spell slot but you don't know any spells at that level.
Banishment also has a non-combat use. When you are stranded off-plane and want to return to the material plane in the worst possible way--well Banishment is the worst possible way. But it will work and it is available to a wide range of characters that simply wouldn't have any other options.
Grasping Vine has its uses. It's a bonus action spell that works very well combo'd with another spellcaster's area of effect spells. If you're a spore druid with booming blade, grasping vine is quite good. Or if you are in the right environment, it can do wonders. Dig a pit with mold earth. Have the vine pull enemies into the pit. Or summon it on the under side of a bridge and have it pull enemies off the bridge.
Don't forget banishment will end a creatures concentration and it can be twinned
Or upcast to hit more targets
I also really love fire shield as a DM for spellcasting enemies to take. If I know my party is going to surround my mage and attack them, if they set up fire shield beforehand now they have to take a bunch of extra damage, and I didn't have to use an action to do it! And it leaves the concentration free. Also makes for a good one with an archmage to use during time stop if you don't swap out that spell list.
Possible use for Elemental Bane: Facing a ginormous enemy that has fire resistance as a level 10 moon druid. Cast the spell, shift into a fire elemental.
Other than maybe that, pretty useless?
Yeah, in that circumstance not too bad....
The frighten condition gives the target disadvantage on attacks and ability checks while the target is in sight. They also can't move closer. Then it takes 4d10 psychic damage. Psychic is a rarely resisted damage type and the one weakness of the totem barbarian. This is the type of spell you cast on brute type creatures who are more likely to have low wisdom.
21:05 Doesn't Guardian of Faith only deal damage to a single enemy the first time it approaches within 10 ft? Meaning the same enemy can't be damaged twice
"The first time on a turn" suggests to me the limit is 1/turn not once. However, this will certainly be limited by the movement of an enemy. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to manipulate that.
Ah you are right, I was using an online text as reference but checking the actual PHB makes it more clear. Thanks!
Your def coming into your own in the videos, its nice to see. I cant believe people really underrate ORS though, esp later on with contingency...
Ive always been a fan of ORS since Treantmonk recommended it as part of the 3.5 guide as an emergency bunker for your wizard or others. I had a scroll of it sitting in my belt (with healing potions and other buffs) so if the SHTF I could cast it then repair myself in the sphere. Same in 5E really
Note for the mounted combat rules: "While you're mounted, you have two options. You can either control the mount or allow it to act independently. Intelligent creatures, such as dragons, act independently." It does not say when you make this choice, how it's made, whether it costs any resources to make, whether it can be changed at any time, etc. The rules don't specify that you can't change your mind.
If you have an option, then the simplest tactical thing to do is to say that it's a controlled mount at the start of combat, then say it's acting independently when your turn comes along. That gives you a free-acting mount acting on your initiative, which is _far_ less headache for the DM who no longer has to place your mount in the initiative order and essentially give you two turns. It also prevents the DM from having to decide for you what your mount is going to do, which is better for both the player and the DM. Finally, since you're only taking a single turn in combat and not multiple, this is better for the table as a whole.
This doesn't just benefit Paladins and Bards. A revised beast master who chooses to ride his beast (such as a kobold ranger riding a wolf) can also make great use of this tactic.
To those who say the DM might not allow this: you're right. Rule 0 applies equally to the mounted combat rules, though. The DM might choose to just let the player play it however the player is trying to play it and not worry about it. That's the most common thing I've seen across multiple tables and multiple rules.
I wish WotC would spend more time thinking through these features. A single player shouldn't be taking multiple turns just because they have summoned creatures, companions, etc. That's bad for the table as a whole because that one player demands more attention from the DM and monopolizes combat time.
The multiple spells a round thing only applies to bonus action spells not reaction. So you can definitely still cast a defensive shield or absorb elements after casting a fireball on your turn.
Wrath of nature is pretty under utiluzed but that spell is great it does stuff at the begining, bonus action, and end of your turn. Its no polymorph but still pretty good.
You're the best! I'm so glad that you started making youtube videos!
I agree about Stone skin that it is bad because of the monetary cost. BUT The number of creatures in the monster manual that deal magical melee damage is very small. It's something like, 2 devels, 2 demons, 2 slaads, 2 Sphinx, 4 yugoloth, 4 golems, and 6 celestials oh yeah and the Oni so 23 whole monsters deal magical weapon attacks
Trickery clerics are actually the best clerics. It doesn't matter that their abilities suck pretty bad overall, their spell list is fucking amazeballs. Pass Without Trace? Mirror Image? Dimension Door? Polymorph? YES PLEASE.
I think for the Banishment vs Resilient Sphere argument, you have to keep in mind Banishment is available for 5 classes while Resilient Sphere is only for the Wizard. It has its value no doubt, but when you look and compare spells with an overview like this, it's good to remember who can actually get those spells in the first place.
This list does not take class availability into account. To do that, you would need a separate video for every class.
definitely need a better mic.
He definitively do.
Keep in mind: bad room aucustics can be detrimental to recorded sound, too.
(e.g. too many naked walls, too small a room etc.)
The room I'm recording in is very small, that could be the problem. I have a Blue Yeti mic, which is supposed to be a pretty good mic.
Do a soundtest in another room?
Is there someone you can lend a good mic from? (just to test how that'd affect your video's sound).
Do you use USB to connect your mic? It could be something wrong with the electronics in your mic.
I don't know, there could be lot of potential problems. Swapping things out one by one tend to let you cast Locate Trouble and then kill it.
Thanks! I'll do some playing
It's probably not the mic itself. The room itself could be have a lot of reverb. The strategy with that is to pad the room which can easily be done with drapes, blankets, pillows, or basically anything else you can think of that isn't a hard surface. The fact that it's a small room is probably a good thing since it will be easier to pad.
This video does a way better job at explaining it than I could:
ruclips.net/video/u0_X7iSmENI/видео.html
This video conjured woodland beings to watch it, affecting them with fascination for nearly a half hour. Now that's a good spell.
I cast haste on this video to reduce the duration to about 14 minutes. What? I have dungeons to plunder, gotta level up faster or there won't be any loot left.
Dimension door is by far my favorite spell, not just at 4th level. Admittedly, in my main campaign our dm is a sadist and we have to flee combat far too often... but oh the utility! Woe to the dm that doesn't consider this spell when designing dungeons.
Grasping vine has a niche of getting people out of grapples. The biggest niche...
Banishment is too good at guaranteeing kills on spellcasters (surround the banish location and ready actions) and slippery bosses to call it overrated. It also stops concentration on the target, and prevents the target from preparing an action when it comes out. I rate it as the best single target spell in the game. Outilukes has counterplay, banishment does not. Outiluke's is probably the best contingency in this edition, as dimension door will be used in a predetermined direction.
Fire shield is a tough sell, I've used it before but it's situational at best. Especially in campaigns where 10 minutes isn't going to get you to the next combat. I like Fire shield, but it's not something I prepare often. If there was a wand of fire shield it would be a must have.
By the way, I have that same blue dragon poster, but as a box.
I'm fairly new to TreantMonk, but he's fast becoming my favourite D and D channel. Great advice and seems like a nice bloke.
Funny, never heard of "Find Steed", I need to use it one day.
Great video, I see you going places!
It is only on the paladin spell list, so it doesn't get a ton of attention.
Ah I figured, thank you.
That being said, a bard can cheat the system and poach the spell.
@@cmckee42
Elaborate?
@@thetester3221 Bards have a class feature called magical secrets that allows them to take spells from other classes and add them to their own spell list, so the can learn paladin exclusive 5th level spells at level 10, which the paladin can't use until level 17.
The potential of a bard with an independant greater steed and the spells that combine with it kind of deserves a whole video by itself. The whole issue of not being where you want to be on your own turn is also reduced to a minimum for ranged characters (where 9 times out of 10 "up and away" is the right answer anyway).
Nice update and great improvement over the first few videos. Any chance you'll do a cantrip video?
Probably not. I just don't have enough to say about them to make for an interesting video I think. I will give you a quick version here, just for you!
Worst:
3rd: Druidcraft. Unlike the other "can do lots of things" spells (Prestidigitation, Thaumaturgy) - this one seems to be able to do very little interesting or effective
2nd: Infestation: Bad damage, bad save, bad 2ndary effect
1st: Magic stone: Crappy damage cantrip, that for some reason, doesn't scale at 5th,11th,17th like other damage cantrips
Honorable Mention to True Strike, which is terrible, but still probably underrated (because of it's use with major important "to hit" rolls)
Best:
3rd: Eldritch Blast - Yeah, #1 for Warlocks, but others who get access it's solid, and the extra attacks piggyback with damage boosts like Hex or Hunter's Mark
2nd: Guidance - The thing about Ability Checks over Saving Throws (resistance) is you often know before you make an ability check, and that ends up being a lot of +1d4's
1st: Minor Illusion: - Being able to block vision at need without using concentration or a spell slot is a pretty big deal tactically, plus there are the creative uses
Overrated:
3rd: Primal Savagery - People keep asking if I think this is good. It's not. D10 damage is fine, melee only is a serious restriction. I don't see the draw.
2nd: Shocking Grasp - Removing a reaction with your action (plus some crappy cantrip damage) IF you hit isn't a good trade. People tell me this is a good way to disengage, I can't help wonder why they wouldn't JUST DISENGAGE.
1st: Spare the Dying - There are SO many ways to stabalize AND recover HP - why this is considered a "must" for Clerics I don't really get
Honorable Mentions to Vicious Mockery and Toll the Dead (the latter of which is a very good cantrip, but I'm hearing about it being banned from many tables - it's not that good)
Underrated:
3rd: Thorn Whip: That 10' move towards you I've seen do so many useful things.
2nd: Friends: Yes, they are hostile to you afterwards, but if you don't use it to make friends, but say, use it to intimidate and threaten, then they would be hostile anyways right? Or how about using it to pick a fight?
1st: Mending: This is one of those spells that is considered "OK", but every time it's taken, it gets tons of use. A must for any archer IMO.
Great video, loving this series! There are some audio issues this episode due to your mic (I believe). I'd recommend upgrading your mic to something like a Blue Yeti, it's an affordable USB mic with great quality for the price. Keep up the great work, I'm looking forward to the rest of this series!
I actually have a Blue Yeti. I think I was just getting too close.
Well there you go...shows what I know. Going back and watching your previous videos the quality difference is night and day.
Great video! I have to say though, really surprised Evard`s Black Tentacles isn`t mentioned. It just screams Battlefield Control Wizard to me, but maybe I`m wrong?
I like Evard's, but the area is a bit small.
@@TreantmonksTemple On the topic of Evard's, I rolled stats for a new campaign, and I got a ridiculous stat array: 18, 17, 16, 14, 11, 7; so I feel obligated to something unorthodox with it, without gimping the character. How would taking 2 levels of Warlock be on my Wizard to obtain Repelling Blast be, in order to push enemies into stuff like Evard's? This is a campaign that will go all the way to 20, and I will be an Illusion Wizard, if that helps.
@@eranamter I don't know if it's worth slowing down spell progression for something like that. Wow, those stats are AMAZING
@@TreantmonksTemple yeah, i figured. I could get medium armor and shield proficiency if i go hexblade. And those stats are indeed fantastic! Especially for getting them after being a forever dm for 4 years.
@@eranamter Have you considered the possibility of Bladesinger instead of Illusionist? (or have you already started). I just note with Bladesinger you avoid much of the normal MAD issues. You could go High Elf and start with Dex 20, Int 18 (Int 20 at level 4). 16 Con to round out great stats for casting and stabbing. Defense would be very solid when using bladesong.
What's your thoughts on Evards's Black tentacles?
He talks about it in his wizard guide.
I like it, don't love it.
I would add Arcane Eye as underrated or top 3. It’s one of those spells where you can’t understand how good it is until you use it. It also mostly has a lower cost as diviner’s are generally the only ones who take it. Playing a diviner with it I make sure I use a lower level spell in the first encounter just so I can use Arcane Eye at its lowest cost.
Now there is situations where you can’t use it, but that just balances out when you scout out an entire complex and be ready for everything.
I like this video series. I was surprised by your pick of Fire Shield. I don't think the spell is underrated because it's a bad spell, but because wizards should work on not getting hit, rather than mitigating damage when they do get hit. Also, they shouldn't get into melee range (that's what Misty Step is for) so the Fire Shield damage should never trigger. I feel wizards almost always have better things to do with a 4th-level spell than Fire Shield.
What is your opinion on the Divination spell?
It's OK, I think there are 2 limiting factors. The first is knowing what question you could ask that is actually going to provide measurably useful information. The second is how your DM plays with this kind of spell. Are you going to get useful information, or cryptic hints that will only make sense once the information they hinted at is actually revealed. The 25gp cost is not too much, but does prevent using it daily over extended periods of downtime. Overall, the spell is OK.
How would your familiar grapple with a polymorphed enemy when the familiar can't attack?
Catch and release...
@@einsibongo grapple is still an attack
I can't believe you did not put phantasmal killer on the worst list. Worse in every way than the third level fear spell until the target fails a second saving throw to take any damage at all.
It sucks, but it deserved a spot on my overrated list more
My favourite Polymorph moment:
ruclips.net/video/Qw0_i9gEun4/видео.html
For the record: The target was a Fire Giant, got turned into a mole, and then thrown into a corridor full of psychic damage glyphs.
Odd that Fire Shield made the list (I agree) and Shadow of Moil did not. I would think the Fire version more universally beneficial, but the Shadow version situationally even stronger.
Thought?
Shadow of Moil requires concentration, so that's probably why. Yes is obscures you so you can get advantage from it, but so does greater invisibility and that didn't make this list either.
Shadow of Moil requires concentration (major) and lasts only 1 minute (minor)? (though it has another benefit of obscuring you but still it is not worth the concentration)
They are quite different I think. FS is non conc and has a longer duration. Chris is using this as a pre combat back-up spell to bolster elemental damage protection (not for the retributive damage as why would you wizard get into melee - shudder).
SoM seems like more of a combat cast where the heavy obscurement works in the same way mechanically as greater invisibility and you are using this as a buff on your AC and also to hit opponents. (Again the retributive damage is nice but being hit when concentrating could end the spell early.
Good points. In reading these, it also occurred to me, a good roleplay reason to prefer FS. Being obscured doesn't warn anyone away from you, in fact there may be an instinctive draw to "find whatever is trying to hide." Fire Shield, on the other hand, gives a nice big visual warning to stay away. True, both deal damage in the same way. But fire LOOKS dangerous. Moving shadow, ominous or even mysterious, but not automatically harmful.
@Fireshield >Fiend packers get DR from their 10th level ability why would you use a slot on fireshield?
I would never disagree with the authority of the mighty treantmonk!
Polymorph into a slug. Then put the slug into your bag of holding. In 10 minutes, if he breathes, he is dead.
Grasping vine have some good uses. Move any creature could be very useful. It could save your life or your friends life or pull the wizard bad guy up to your fighter.
Even bad spells aren't necessarily useless. I'm just saying they aren't as potent as other spells of the level.
@@TreantmonksTemple True story :)
Okay, maybe I misunderstood you but the restriction of a Spell and a Cantrip on your turn, has nothing to do with reactions which occur another creatures turn. Absord Elements takes a reaction, so it does compete with shield.
You cast a spell as a bonus action. Someone else has used the ready action to cast a spell when you cast your bonus action spell. They are therefore casting a spell on your turn and since you cast a spell as a bonus action you can only cast spells that are cantrips wih a casting time of 1 action. So you can't cast absorb elements.
The limitation is the bonus action spell which has the rules on pg 202 PHB limiting your other spells to "cantrips which have a casting time of 1 Action".
If you cast a bonus action spell on your turn (say a healing word - just for Chris) and an enemy's readied action goes off to "fireball you when any spell is cast" you can't counterspell the fireball as you are limited in the spells you can cast in the turn to "Cantrips with casting time of 1 action" so no reactions for the turn.
If instead you cast Polymoph (CT 1 Action) on your turn and the same fireball goes off. Then you can counterspell it using your reaction as you have not limited the spells you can cast with a bonus action spell.
And remember if you have action surge you can take two actions to cast two full action spells a turn. The limiting factor is the bonus action spell.
Edited (thanks Freya I incorreclty typed round rather than turn once - now corrected)
L B Be careful of your language here. The bonus action cantrip restriction only impacts spells that you cast during your turn. It is true that by RAW you couldn’t use your reaction during your turn (in response to a prepared spell), however, the language there specifies “during the same turn”, not round. You can still use your reaction to cast a spell if it is another creature’s turn.
www.sageadvice.eu/2016/05/17/does-casting-a-bonus-action-spell-prevent-reaction-spells/
Can a paladin create a pegasus and then change his prepared spells with the pegasus staying and still existing or does it disappear when the paladin changes his spells?
You misread Grasping Vine, by the way. On the turn you cast it, you get the attack for free. Also, You don't have to burn your bonus action to do it, the spell itself *is* a bonus action. You can still fire off a damaging cantrip as well in the same turn.
Not that that's to say it's an amazing spell or anything, just that you made it sound even worse than it actually is.
It's a situational spell, the entire point of it is to pull enemies into another AoE.
Also you can still use it in beast form or caster form using your bonus action to keep using it. Btw after the first time you cast it you may go back to casting regular spells. You only need to use a cantrip when you cast the spell. Not best but not quite as bad as you made it out
@@sakisaotome6753 True, you can use it while in beast form, but there are plenty of much better concentration spells to hold.
It's far from a good spell, but it's definitely useful in certain situations.
Why can't you cast banishment on an ally? I mean, ORS is good, but you don't gain an advantage there
I'm assuming you can. Is there a possibility that they could be in danger or not wanting to be incapacitated?
I hear what you're saying about fire shield. The cost, of course, is the action. What about Blink? This is a spell that I think gets ignored a lot of the time, but it's the same kind of thing, where you have 50% protection from EVERYTHING (attack roll, AOE, spellcasting targeting, ANYTHING WITH A RANGE!), combined with a little bit of speed buff + non-combat utility-- and again, the cost is the action for a defensive spell. That action cost is significant, it's true. Is Blink underrated? Or is the fact that a Blink-targeted attack will just get retargeted a reason why Blink isn't as good? (Good for precasting against AOE baddies only?) Is it just the variance of blink vs. fire shield? Or maybe the duration, where Blink is 1 combat and you could run Fire Shield into 2?
Hex also works well with polymorph as you can give them disadvantage on the roll.
On which roll?
@@TreantmonksTemple Apologies I misread the rule hex imposes disadvantage on one kind of ability check not saving throws. I guess if it was saving through that would be incredibly powerful.
Luckily you can still select dexterity and give them disadvantage on their initiative roll which would be quite effective against 1 or 2 elite enemies.
You can also polymorph your familiar... haha, you got me with dimension door.
I mean you can.
Not really ever gonna be worth a fourth level spell slot.
Question for anyone about Polymorph: If I'm turning a Level 11 ally into something, can I turn him into something with a challenge rating of 11? I was told I divide his Level (11) by 4, making me able to only turn him into something with a Level 3 challenge rating. If this is the case for my party, shouldn't I take something else over Polymorph? I'm thinking Fire Shield or Dimension Door, already have Otiluke's Resilient Sphere.
Dividing by 4 is the mechanic for Wild Shape, not Polymorph. The limit is the CR of the creature you are polymorphing (or their level if they don't have a CR, like your allies). This is right from the spell description. However, although you could theoretically turn that ally into a CR 11 beast, there are no beasts over CR 9 in the official rules. (Your DM might have homebrew or 3rd party though)
@@TreantmonksTemple Thanks! You're the man.
Stoneskin seems like it was changed from a combat spell to an environment/trap survival. Still good against mundane creatures esp in larger groups.
I fail to see why Otiluke's Resilient Sphere is better than banishment.
The only difference I see is that the creature inside (whether is an enemy or ally can move the sphere up to half its speed).
But banishment targets Charisma instead of Dexterity and can be upcast to affect more than one creature.
Also Banishment has double the range of Resilient Sphere
So if you have to choose one or the other. One targets a saving throw it's more likely to hit, can affect more than one creature if upcast, while the other let's your ally/enemy move in the battlefield.
Resilient Sphere is better to protect an ally (Since he can move out of danger) but so much worse when used on enemies
Otiluke's can protect your allies as well as harm your enemies, I tend to agree with Treantmonk's evaluation there. The flexibility makes it just a bit better than banishment IMO. I might also be thinking of that time I locked a rather powerful fighter-type enemy in that sphere when he was going to charge my wizard and then I just pushed him away from the mountain pass we were on so he'd fall to his death. Or when the enemy in the door, leading another wave of enemies was trapped in an orb and blocked the door, giving us a few turns to deal with the foes that already were in the room before handling the reinforcements separately. (one character with decent strength held the orb in place)
Basically I'll always prefer the spells with more versatility. But I can see why you'd prefer banishment if your focus is just that one use case of actually removing one enemy from combat.
Huh I never considered the fact that you can move the enemy inside of the sphere or that in could block a corridor as a wall spell.
I don't personally prefer banishment myself, but found a bit unfair Treatmonk's critique considering what I mentioned above.
Nevertheless I definitely like Resilient Sphere a lot more due to the points you mentioned! :)
@@etherios_ It's all about what the rules don't say you CAN't do, sometimes :P
Hello, I like your guides for magic users and spells Occasionally a spell will draw your ire because it delivers low hp dmg for the spells level. In any of your guides or works is there a table or ratio of accepted spell level to damage?
"All the best bard spells are concentration." -- Synaptic static will just have to pretend it didn't hear that.
Hey Synaptic Static! Heat Metal, Suggestion, Hypnotic Pattern, Polymorph, Animate Objects, Greater Invisibility, Eyebite and True Polymorph just wanted to say Hi!
That said, Leomund's TIny Hut isn't concentration either...I guess I could have said "most of the best", but that just doesn't sound as good...
Synaptic static will be happy to get well-acquainted! After all, these are spells it could and should be partnering with at work. ;)
And fair enough for snappiness.
I disagree with celestial guardian as an underrated spell. I have seen it often used to get effect on combat. So I can't imagine it is underrated
Would Dragon's Breath work on your steed?
According to Jeremy Crawford, no. He says that the breath "targets" all the creatures in the AOE
@@TreantmonksTemple ah, so same reasoning behind why it cant be twinned. Thanks treatmonk!
So in actuality yes it can. Crawford's word isn't official unless it's printed (at the very least digitally) as Errata or in a Book.
Polymorph really drops off in usefulness as the game goes on due to its WIS saving throw limitation and the fact that the Polymorph form will end up weaker over time. I don't think it ever becomes a bad pick and during the sub-level 11 range (where 95% of campaigns play) it's utterly dominating. But it does lose a lot of its luster as the game goes on, unlike, say, Resilient Sphere.
Where would you rate Summon Greater Demon?
I rate all the Xanathar's spells here: docs.google.com/document/d/1bZj3Xbzh-LuPiYcfK02S-uHqu-3ibxQlKonTJ9a5g48/edit
oh man! You got me good when you said "Dimension Door" as overrated! You're a monster for joking about that!
hehe, yeah, I'm a stinker. ;)
Ah Polymorph. Replacing your allies int, wis and cha can be a bad thing (I think Giant Apes are still smart enough to work, but had a player polymorphed into a goat once) and unless you can deal that massive damage or get that instant kill you are just delaying the fight by using it on an enemy. I wouldn't say "most overrated" but it is easily misused or counter-acted.
Banishment, I can see what you are saying. Going to add this little awesome combo though. You don't need to use your action. Banishment qualifies for Warcaster, so you can use it as an Attack of Opportunity if the chance arises. A cleric tank can really threaten an big bad with this, cause if that banishment lands it can be devastating for the opposing side.
Is stoneskin really that overrated? You see, the vast majority of MM creatures deal non-magical damage. There are very few creatures whose attacks count as magical and so it can really translate to Resistance. Getting the Fighter to take 1/2 damage for the entire fight? That could be worth 100 gp to me.
Guardian of Faith, gotta disagree with you. First of all, you aren't completely correct that it doesn't matter how much damage the enemy takes, damage that goes over zero is wasted. So, 3 goblins could use up an entire Guardian of Faith which is just bad. Secondly, it cannot move. This is horrible. Within 10 ft of this Guardian is space you can't enter, but if the entire fight takes place outside of that 10 ft the spell was completely wasted. Sure, it has uses. It can hit invisible enemies, it can be an area of denial, or if you are fighting in enclosed hallways or the enemy doesn't have good ranged options. But it hits three times and disappears and can never move from the location it is cast in. Those are some harsh penalties.
Turning the enemy into a useless animal is almost as useful as banishing them or trapping them is a sphere. Unlike banishment though, polymorph is way more useful.
Also, getting the fighter to take half damage in a fight is definitely not worth 100 gp when polymorphing them into a T rex with a bucket of extra hitpoints is free.
Polymorph loses a lot of its luster in high-magic campaigns where too many magic items are taken out of play when a PC turns into an ape.
Yeah, but when you have a handful of hit points, it's still nice to go up to 130+
I don't understand a fair couple of WOTC's rulings. What you mentioned about mounts for example. Or why conjure woodland creatures is solely a dm thing.
Polymorph op.... needs to be reworked or banned...
On two of your "overrated" spells. Phantasmal Killer on an enemy that is being followed by a shadow hound made by a Shadow Sorcerer? GL not taking 4d10 each round. I'm sure there are other, non-conc spells, that impose disadvantage on wisdom saving throws. Banishment works on everyone when considering the permanent part, not just those that don't belong on that plane.
At least Confusion lives up to its name?
Ootelukes spell is a wizard only spell. Divine casters and non wizard arcane casters can't use it. So it's very limited.
Also monsters typically have more trouble making CHA saves than they do DEX saves
Giant ape stands sooo far above all other beasts, would be nice if there was another beast on equal footing to it so there was some variety.
I agree
I know the video is a year old but just heads up, clerics do have access to polymorph via the nature domain
I'm 100% sure the Nature domain does not provide polymorph. Are you confusing the Nature and Trickery domain maybe?
@@TreantmonksTemple yes, forgot which one got it and just assumed it was nature (felt like a fitting place in my head) but I remembered one cleric did get it.
Trickery Cleric with a ring of Twinned Spell!
Sorry treatmonk, sorc will always be the best healer. Bonus action combat heals and twin polymorphs. Ranger and driid get healing spirit or rope trick so wizard is still behind
Really now? Banishment is overrated? Unlike the vast majority of spells in 5e, if you fail the save, you're out. It scales with levels as well. How many control spells that give you just one save, and a rare save at that, on top of that, if its a fiend/fey type monster, you dont have to fight them after you kill their friends. Just banish them permenantly just by concentrating. This is the sort of spell that DM has to tailor encounters around when the party has it.
what would happen if you stuffed a polymorphed enemy in a bag of holding?
Why would you do that if you could stuff them into a bag of devouring?
there are explicit rules for escaping one of those, and they are much rarer!