On the worst attack spell, viscous mockery says “disadvantaged on the next *ATTACK ROLL*” while frostbite says “Next *WEPON* attack roll”. Meaning that frostbite might be worse because it’s situational while only doing one more average damage. 😘
@@Rayne42069 and let's not forget the facts that frostbite deals a commonly-resisted damage type (which logan stresses is important with the shillelagh cantrip), targets constitution as opposed to wisdom, and isn'teven accessible to bards in the first place, so even if it were a technical direct upgrade that wouldn't even be relevant to the people who would take vicious mockery
Okay, you can actually use true strike in a scenario in which its you and a rogue, and for rp purposes u want HIM to get the kill, so you do it so he gets advantage (and thus snek atk) on the targett to guarantee the kill, otherwise, let a cleric bless the dude.... PS: personally if I'm dming I let the wizard/artificer craft a simple enough magic item that make those cantrip that be useless cause theyre action into bonus action...
Worth noting that they attack different saves, too. Frostbite is a CON save, where Vicious Mockery is a WIS save. Cons is usually a good stat for opponents. Also, damage type: cold vs psychic damage. Cold is one of the more resisted damage types, where psychic is rarely resisted. Finally, there is the type of damage it gives disadvantage on. Frostbite gives disadvantage on the next weapon attack (emphasis on the WEAPON), so any attack without a weapon doesn't have disadvantage. Something basic like a troll or a bear that doesn't attack with a weapon is not affected. Vicious Mockery applies the debuff on the next attack roll, without specifying that it must come from a weapon. So, in conclusion, while Frostbite has a larger damage die, Vicious Mockery is still good (possibly better).
I think the only thing really saving vicious mockery is the fact that it does psychic damage, which is barely resisted, vs cold which is pretty highly resisted
You take it because you are a bard and frostbite is not a spell you can learn without magic initiate. Besides unless the cantrip you are using is named fire bolt, eldritch blast, or toll the dead (really underrated, toll the dead is) you are not likely using it for damage, you are probably using it for the additional effect.
I _adore_ prestidigitation. One time, a thief was making off with some of my party's valuables, and I gave chase. He ducked into a crowded market and threw up his hood. Problem: It was raining that day, and everyone in the crowd had their hood up. This was a poorer part of town, so everyone's cloak was more or less the same drab material and brownish color. I was about to lose him and we'd never see our stuff again. Prestidigitation to the rescue! I simply made a patch on the back of his hood bright orange, and was able to follow at such a distance that he thought he'd lost me. Yeah, he was really surprised when me and my party showed up at his door demanding our stuff back.
One of our groups had a Druid, a Warlock, and an Arcane Trickster Rogue; we combined Thaumaturgy, Prestidigitation, and Druidcraft to spook the bandit leader's right-hand man and his "elite" guards into scattering to be picked off one by one because of the "ghost" that suddenly appeared over the table they were sitting around.
I used it to convince a bugbear that I was a god in mortal form (He asked me to prove it and I made the symbol of the god I was pretending to be on the cave wall and making a shower of sparks over him) He believed me and let me take my only other party member, who was unconscious, the hostage, and his treasure. (I stayed I was the god of justice, and that for his crimes he would give me these people and things to make up for his crimes)
Guidance isnt a cantrip you should use in combat. It is entirely a out of combat spell. In the game I play in, almost all ability checks get the extra 1d4 from guidance
Right? It is like the phrase "Utility" Only applies when it is something that never uses a die itself. 1d4 roughly equals a utility value of 2.5, or gaining 12.5% more successes when used than fails.
I've also had 1 time when we were stuck in a situation with a big spellcaster we needed to stop, me and the cleric cast concentration buff spells and then turtles, cleric guidancing me and me counterspelling the spellcaster. guidance works on those checks
Yeah, like how the Bear Totem Barbarian resists everything BUT Psychic That and VM has better effects, being able to hit without line of sight (you can kill hiding targets since they can hear you) and being able to disadvantage any attack roll, not just frostbite's pathetic weapon attack rolls only. Even Necrotic damage is more resisted than Psychic
@@CleopatraKing disadvantage is much better than 1d4 subtraction later on. Earlier though you will feel a lot of good things from Mind Sliver, like how it increases the odds of hitting with mind sliver again. But potentially preventing a target from hitting an ally or getting a spell off is still something I would take over a 1d4 penalty to one saving throw. That is likely just preference there though. Mind Sliver does do more damage though, which is good and is Psychic which is great. Though the bigger difference is how Vicious Mockery is still a subtlecast spell and Mind Sliver is not, so a target will know they were hit by mind sliver versus nobody realizing you just hit someone with vicious mockery (insert everyone talking about insulting NPCs to death or dealing damage to opponents before combat starts and giving them disadvantage.) It is definitely a case of close enough for the situation to determine the better spell for the moment, not at all the Case of VM is total Dogshit that nobody should ever use because Frostbite or Mind Sliver. You are basically trading the chance of doing on average 1-4 more damage and 2-8 max damage and the slight increase in landing an effect on a target for the ability to drastically reduce the odds of a spell attack or weapon attack landing and the ability to harm people without realizing you harmed them and without anyone realizing you just slung a spell. I will say though that Mind Sliver is wonderful for Sorcerers with how they have a metamagic that increases their spell DC by like 5, being able to make that a 6-9 bonus is really good with them to the degree that not running Mind Sliver on a Sorcerer is probably a bad idea. To that extent Vicious Mockery really fits the Bard's ability to deny opponents opportunities and progress. Mixing enemy disadvantage with Bardic Inspiration (particularly cutting words from Lore Bards) can get really messy. Makes me want to run an Eloquence Bard with Mind Sliver and Vicious Mockery though so I can mix MS and Unsettling Words or use Vicious Mockery and other abilities as the situation desires (Magical Secrets is how that is possible). Also; what are the much better cantrips? Firebolt is useless compared to Vicious Mockery against a huge amount of the monster manual, frostbite is a worse damage type and effect. Unless you are talking specifically Eldritch Blast from specifically a Warlock (cause Bards can also get it) then sure, but no Attack Cantrips but specifically Eldritch Blast and as you said Mind Sliver are really comparable to a Psychic Damage mental attribute saving throw debuff attack. The only other ones I can even think of are Word of Radiance and other Radiant Damage Cantrips if you are looking for Raw Damage or Chill Touch for anti-healing or to deny undead. Unless you are talking utility cantrips of course which can be absolutely busted depending on your creativity. But trading a small amount of damage (realistically 1-4 in most cases if you factor in resistances outside of radiant cantrips which usually lack effects and eldritch blast) for the ability to prevent anywhere between 10-40 or even 50+ damage on yourself or a teammate depending on the creature. A lot of creatures also have much lower wisdom scores than Constitution, Dexterity, Strength, etc so it lands more reliably than all but maybe Mind Sliver which is an intelligence Save
@@shadedergu9921 cold dmg is a worse dmg type than psy, but its not a bad dmg type. its def worth the higher die. mindsliver is great for most casters bc while yes, its a -d4 mod, it does more dmg, is an int save, and i still belive a d4 is better than disadv even at higher levels. theres a lot of ways to get adv and just nullify the effect of mockery, while mindsliver helps in all situations. also best dmg cantrips are magic stone, toll of the dead, and eldritch blast. firebolt aint half bad with elemental adept either
@@CleopatraKing Toll of the Dead is great, but I still would run Cold Touch instead just because undead would not be impacted otherwise, is good if your DM doesn't run undead though. It may just be my addiction to other effects that makes me avoid raw damage cantrips but I will definitely say that 1d4 penalty or disadvantage comes down to the situation. I will say though that disadvantage also cancels advantage; which is definitely worth reducing the odds of things like a crit from 1/10 to 1/20 alongside overall halving the chance they hit. Discounting it cause enemies can have advantage to cancel isn't really a big deal when you realize it is negating their advantage. I also am not saying 1d4 is bad in anything; 1 point is usually the difference between hit or miss and this can be 4; exactly why I main Bard on the rare occasion I am not the DM (DMing is fun), Bardic Inspiration can turn the tides of any battle when used right; that and a Lore Bard using Guidance and Peerless skill getting a +5 to +19 on Counterspell based on inspiration and guidance rolls is just cheesy. I just get a lot more use out of a 50% reduction in a chance to hit over a 5-20% increased chance for them to fail a saving throw. I am by no means a blaster so I do understand the value of saving throw penalties (Eloquence Bard for the win) and I can see the penalty's benefits, much like how disadvantage can save a lot of health in earlier and later levels (especially early on but still very much so later) saving throw penalties are good for increasing the odds of the attack hitting again and locking in a successful use of phantasmal force early on or getting bosses to blow Legendary Resistances at increased odds (just don't forget that boss monsters can still have advantage on saving throws; which still doubles their chance of success). I can definitely see how Magic Stone is good for blasters, especially since I recall bludgeoning damage resistance only being to weapon attacks where magic stones are specifically spell attacks so... It can still hit pretty hard later on if I remember correctly; I just again have an addiction to abusing spell effects (Psychic Scream, Phantasmal Force, Feeblemind (which combos insanely well as a follow up to Psychic Scream or the like), etc; which again would see use from Mental Spike provided an ally does not burn their penalty first). If anything this just makes me want to run a Lore Bard, Eloquence Bard, and Sorcerer Combo where the Lore Bard shuts out casters and other opponents, the Eloquence Bard uses a Magical Secrets spell to Mind Spike and Unsettling Words, and the Sorcerer adds a further DC increase of 5 to spells like Psychic Scream and the like to see what is basically a +7 to +21 Bonus to DC (if we count the saving throw penalties as DC bonuses instead in this). It just seems super cheesy, a 35 to 105% reduction in chance to succeed. Yes without Mind Spike it is 30 to 85% but that extra little sauce is always nice. It think for me it is ultimately just the flat percent Reductions that helps me decide what I would prefer. If 1 to 4 is a flat 5 to 20% reduction and disadvantage is a relative 50% reduction then for a low success scenario like 35% success or less (provided you roll max) is better, but until success rates hit 35% or lower you will always get better or equivalent results from disadvantage. If an opponent has to roll 13 or higher (40% success) then rolling a 4 on 1d4 is equivalent to disadvantage. Since rolling 13 or higher twice and rolling 17 or higher are both 20% chances, but as soon as they need 12 or lower disadvantage is always statistically better, even if it is to negate advantage. If an opponent needs to roll 14 or higher though, then 1d4 penalty is better provided you roll max (otherwise disadvantage is still better) If you roll average of 3 (2.5 rounded up) then 15 is the threshold of 1d4 being better always If 2 that is 16 If 1 then 17 And those are the penalty thresholds where no matter what 1d4 penalty is better than disadvantage, otherwise disadvantage is and will always be a better effect. Again, it is not entirely fair to compare a saving throw penalty and a general attack disadvantage since saving throws can range from the most detrimental things ever to just whether or not you take full damage, but in general even when factoring in advantage cancelling disadvantage disadvantage is usually far preferable. Of course there are scenarios where if the DC is high enough 1d4 can make it impossible (if you have it so only attack rolls crit); those are a roll of 17 or higher needed at 4, 18 or higher needed for 3, 19 or higher needed for 2, and a natural 20 needed to pass for 1. Sorry for the second essay, but I believe this is thorough enough to show why I believe what I do, but again 1d4 saving penalty is really good, just not nearly good enough in comparison to attack disadvantage to say VM is dogsh@t, especially when which is better is a matter of preference and disadvantages are significantly more likely to have an equivalent or greater impact than a 1d4 penalty to an immense extent. I also believe that this chance of effect is why Mind Spike is 1d6 to 4d6. Directly halving odds of success is more impactful than an average 2.5 penalty (75% of the time if you round down to 2, 70% of the time if you round up to 3) over twice as often. And as much as I would not quite call DnD 5e perfectly balanced; I can definitely see the devs balancing Mind Spike to Vicious Mockery by considering both the statistical chance of altering a result but also by considering how a saving throw is usually better than an attack roll (why it is 1d6 and not 1d8 as the difference in odds would suggest). Oh yeah, and the inherent Subtlecast that VM can do but that is only really beneficial to creative players who can factor subtlecasting in, but VM is by no means a bad Cantrip unless you are either a Blaster who only values by big damage and ignores secondary effects or you do not really value how statistically powerful imposing disadvantage is even if just to cancel advantage. For every moment that Mind Spike gives you that crafty edge and ends an encounter early, Vicious Mockery saves your allies health possibly every turn, prevents making death saving throws, and even prevents death And for 1d6 to 4d6 yeah; 1-4 average damage and 2 to 8 max damage each round adds up over the rounds, so does the easily 10 to 40+ damage every round you could end up saving an ally with attack disadvantages. The thing that makes Mind Spike a runner up for better is exclusively whether or not you are running and banking heavily on nasty saving throws; which is a lot more situational and comes much more down to your party comp and what you are fighting. It can be game breaking, Bardic Inspiration abilities bring DMs who play against their players (which is generally frowned upon) a lot of pain when a good Bard is at the table and one such ability is a 1d6 to 1d12 penalty to saving throws. Guidance is amazing with its 1d4 bonus (counting counterspell) if you are at a table with a DM who has you make important ability checks. Also; the only thing that prevents VM is if the target is deaf or deafened, immunity to being charmed is not something that impacts VM. There are not too many enemies that are deaf from what I can recall, and counting how this is inherently subtlecast a target identifying that VM is a spell to begin with and trying to deafen themselves in some way is also improbable and borders on metagaming from the DM (which is far worse than player metagaming) Sorry about the rambles, I just get carried away when I get to have fun talking about DnD mechanics
You can not convince me that Vicious mockery isn't the best spell. Dealing damage and causing a disadvantage by insulting somebody opens up the best RP moments period
This really happened to me. DM: He failed his save against Vicious Mockery and took the 4 psychic damage. What do you say? Me having not thought of something clever: Uh... "F*ck your father." DM: The thug shouts "NOOOOOO!!!" and dies.
@@ceazer6857 That doesn't work, since the same spell can't stack with itself; "The effects of different spells add together while the durations of those spells overlap. The effects of the same spell cast multiple times don't combine, however. Instead, the most potent effect - such as the highest bonus - from those castings applies while their durations overlap, or the most recent effect applies if the castings are equally potent and their durations overlap. For example, if two clerics cast bless (or guidance, in this case) on the same target, that character gains the spell's benefit only once; he or she doesn't get to roll two bonus dice." -PHB p.205
@@ceazer6857 Actually it can't its the same spell so it should not do that. However it can combine with someone else casting enhance ability on the same target.
Vicious Mockery is one of my favourite cantrips for one reason....the style! Small D&D Story: In this world, to be an adventurer you needed a group and a license. We got our group together in, classically, the local tavern and set out to pass our Adventuring Licence exam which consisted of a small dungeon that we had to clear. In the final room we came up against an animated suit of heavy plate armour and an animated greatword, both independent of each other. The suit of armour got rusted away, but not until I, the lowly 6HP Human Bard, was the only party member still conscious. I couldn't roll high enough to cause physical damage to the Greatsword and, being the actor that I am, I had no cantrips or spells that could do damage other than Vicious Mockery. After rolling a natural 20, I went on a tirade against the Greatsword, pointing out its flaws, it's knicks and dents and how it was abandoned here because it "wasn't good enough for a real adventure." I then shouted that it should be ashamed because it's "mother was a butter knife!" The sword stopped at that. It contemplated what I had said. Although it could not speak, it looked almost sad...almost. It turned around, floated towards the nearest fire and threw itself in, melting to nothing. TL:DR I insulted a floating Greatsword about his mother being a butter knife until it decided to kill itself. I love D&D.
@@BansonOfficial yeah it has the target make a will save as opposed to you attacking. It is fine if that is how you have been playing, ultimately it boils down to the same thing really and at the end of the day RPG table tops are all about having fun so as long as a misread rule doesn't make a game not fun, it doesn't really matter. The best game I've ever been in was almost purely roleplay with roll only occurring if you know what you want to do but can't describe it well enough.
@Milan Marković No, it actually sucks when you use it that way because recharge abilities ALMOST NEVER deal piercing /ing or bludgeoning damage. BA spells makes it so the only other spell you can cast is a cantrip w/ 1a casting time.
@@Zerpderp0 Haha! A great way to think about it. 😄 That happened with an elf barbarian in one of my games. She got fireballed and rolled a 20 for the save, a few city guards were incinerated though. The next turn was hers and her attack roll on the cultist sorceress was also a natural 20, which ended up killing her. Madness! I described it as the barbarian walking out of the explosion of flames and staring the cultist in the face just long enough to let it sink in (the player was kind of shy and would get bashful about RP), then with a savage battle cry hacking the top of the sorceress' head off at the jaw with her greatsword, the sorceress tried to put her hands up to deflect the blow, but those got sliced off as well. And she fell to the floor of the cistern amidst spurts of blood and sickly gurgles, as Rysha the barbarian elf stood over her slain foe, still steaming with heat from the fireball, her eyes burning with rage and feral triumph.
@Rubedo Alaberti because some creatures or enemies can take half damage when they fail a save or take no dmg when they succeed a save, there are enemies certain campaign runs that can redirect attacks that they save. Of which why risk having your own attack redirected at you. Spell save attacks are amazing in most situations , but are not always the the right answer And lastly is dmg potential, some spell save spells fall short in comparison to attack roll spells in low levels at least
@@fluffball6142 There's actually a few videos where I've seen the "weapon attack" claimed, and I frankly have no clue where this idea has come from. Far as it's usefulness. It's a touch silly to claim it as useless. Sure it will give a character overall less DPS in most situations. But for example. If you are a mage who is using some leveled spell that needs an attack roll instead of a save (Sometimes it's better to target an enemy's AC than their Dex save). Guaranteeing advantage on that roll can prevent oneself from "wasting" a slot on a miss. Similarly, I have played with a ranger who picked it up with Magic Initiate feat (they chose druid for Mold Earth and Snare, and the DM let them add Truestrike because it fit the "wilderness hunter/sniper" idea the player had) and would use while they were doing ranger shit out ahead of the party, to guarantee that they could land hits on enemy scouts and such. Naturally not the best thing at high levels... but it was fun while that campaign lasted.
Yes vicious mockery is pathetic. However, when one of your players kills an enemy by saying "Updog." And it dies as it tries to say "What's up-". You're definitely going to rememeber that more than eldrich BEEEAAAAAARGH Edit: remember
@@sinnerthesinful552 Sure, but two things. 1. Psychic > Cold damage. Cold is one of the more resisted damages, psychic is one of the most. 2. Frostbite only gives disadvantage to weapon attack rolls, and VM is all attack rolls. IMO a 1 point average difference isn't a big deal and VM wins out over all.
Cyclopian Flock But bless isn’t for ability checks only attacks and saving throws. Now if u were saying it’s better then resistance it definitely is (obviously lol). Hell even out of combat bless is amazing, if the whole party is about to make a saving throw or two just cast it on everyone and your good (bless is op lol).
Bandit Guard: "Bastards are probably taking my cut of the loot." Angel: *suddenly appears* "I AM THE ANGEL STEPHEN, SENT FROM AKU TO GIVE YOU THE MESSAGE OF THE ONE TRUE GOD!" Meanwhile, around a corner. Barbarian: "Are you sure you should be using an illusion to start a religion?" Wizard: "I'm not starting a religion! He is! Now while he's having his epiphany we can walk in the front door!"
@Ela Pierce considering actual angels are terrifying and assuming the wizard knows what one looks like. I doubt the bandit cares that it's within a 5ft cube
Spare the dying is still perfect for doing what it says though: Sparing your enemies from dying. Saying it's not great for healing your party members is kinda beside the point IMO since that's not really what it's for.
its still perfect to stop a dying player from actually dying. sure, it costs you an action but you ensure that your parties healer wont die when they got knocked out by a crit again while you deal with the enemy (extra usefull if you got it as a part of your classchoice) also not every party has always healing potions on them, especially early on, ESPECIALLY ESPECIALLY if they dont get a herbalists kit to produce them during long rests/downtime. it has its uses in "Shit, our healer is down!"-scenarios
Vicious mockery : bards can't learn Frost bite, WIS save is BY FAR less common than CON save in monster stat blocks Guidance : works on initiative rolls !
the 'works on initiative rolls' is really only applicable when you expect combat... and when you are visibly casting a spell, an already hostile creature might just initiate combat anyway, so... it may not be as useful. And if you attack first on a creature that can't see you anyway, loudly proclaiming you are there will not be a good thing to do. I would not allow it to work like that as a DM.
Ya gotta touch somebody to use Guidance unless you're playing with UA Spirits Bard and/or Bilgewater's Wild Card Rogue at 9th level from D&D Beyond. That might set off some mental alarm bells.
SO i'm playing a Warlock and my friend is playing an arcane trickster, and we keep using our mage hands to Greet and high five one another when we get good rolls xD hahahah
@@Jakkgusa well fighting a lich....unless someone has royally fucked up should mean they are at least 5th more probably 11th level or higher....i.e. its 2/3d4 :P and yes im always this fun
Aside from the roleplaying value of Vicious Mockery, saying it’s bad because “Frostbite is better” is dumb because Bard CANNOT LEARN frostbite. It will always have value in a Bard build. Also, Guidance basically means your whole team has a 1d4 bonus to ALL ability checks. Yeah it ain’t much, but remember to use it and your team will thank you, trust me!
It is funny he says guidance is bad because in my play group we kinda banned it as adding a d4 to every single skill check is nuts. In the early levels it makes you proficient in every skill and the +2.5 on average is a ton for the dnd system. It pushes checks half a level down in difficulty. Also frostbite isn't better because it has a far worse saving throw.
@@swiftdragonrider we rule that you can only use guidance if you anticipate the roll (e.g. "I'm gonna try to jump over the ravine" [Athletics] or "I wanna sneak past the guards" [Stealth]). Ability checks that just sorta happen (i.e. Perception, History, Nature, etc.) you can't add a d4, since you wouldn't know to cast Guidance for those. Makes it a bit less annoying, and kinda makes sense
@@CalculusPhysics with these rolls it is one of the best cantrips in the game. As a d4 is around a +2 in early levels it makes everyone in the party proficient in all skills.
"Vicious Mockery" > "Frostbite" Frostbite require a Con save, but Vicious Mockery a Wis save... 99% of all creatures have high Con, but many more creatures have low Wis (or at least lower than their Con)! Also, if your DM like the joke they may give them disadv on the save, so be funny and creative!
@@emmanuel8679 I mean the difference between a d4 and a d6 is somewhat negligible so the save type can be important. Vicious Mockery is a fun spell at least.
Not to mention the incredibly important detail that it's a hard exclusive Cantrip and other than vicious mockery the /only/ damaging Cantrip bards get is Thunderclap, which is equally garbage in its own ways.
There are like 50 time as many monsters resistant/immune to cold as there are those r/i to psychic. And while it is not _that_ significant, Vicious Mockery also doesn't require somatic components. But of course, Vicious Mockery is only for bards, or magic initiates/pact of the tome-warlocks.
@@The3rdFist true, those defensive spells are pretty good, but they are also reactions, while resistence or blade ward are a whole action. But I also think that they are nice additions and can be pretty cool for roleplay
I feel like people who think defensive abilities are trash are those that don't give shit about their team. I literally saved few of our entire campaigns because I'm the gods damned cleric/tank/main support. Imagine tanking 4 enemies all at once while all your friends are dead, with the last other person being just 2 hp left with a 13 AC? I hate it when people don't appreciate supports smh
For real, if you are someone who remembers to use it, everything gets a 1d4 bonus, what's not to like? Side note: one of our players had it for a small two-session story and used it ALL THE TIME, and it saved our asses in those moments where we were just barely shy of succeeding
Last campaign I played as a druid, I would cast guidance on myself or any PC before they did any ability check. Including shit like jumping across a cavern. I would cast it one by one as they went to leap over the cavern.
Guidance has a vocal and somatic component and takes 6 seconds to cast, so if your DM is on top of things, you should never be able to use Guidance when: 1) You are trying to be quiet or stealthy in any way, so no stealth or slight of hand 2) You are trying to be deceiving or persuasive, because casting spells in conversation is generally a no-no. So no charisma checks 3) You are caught by surprise or making a passive check. The spell takes time and forethought to cast, so it wont help you spot the trap you're about to step on or the figure darting by your vision. Guidance is great for when you need to make any kind of non-stealth, non-social check like intelligence for deciphering or medicine for stabilizing. But in any high-intrigue campaign or stealth/rogueish campaign it sees far less use.
@@thegreatestpepe Virtually none of that is true. Since when does Guidance take six seconds to cast? It's casting time is one action, meaning no longer than a few seconds at most like any other typical action. 1.) Guidance is easy for stealth. Why are you assuming that you're always in vocal distance of the person you're attempting to hide from? Say it's a bustling environment and I'm trying to blend with the crowd, or say I'm already a good distance away but need to get closer. These are common scenarios and Guidance works perfectly in both of them. 2.) Guidance is easy for charisma. Why are you assuming that I have to cast the spell right in front of their face? It may only last a minute, but that can be plenty of time for the 18 - 20 charisma bard to get something of value from someone as it can easily be cast in advance in any number of circumstances. 3.) Guidance is easy for traps, and even for some passive checks. Do you or anyone else at your table never anticipate traps? If I'm already anticipating and spotting for the presence of traps (and who the fuck doesn't?), then I can literally have this spell active at all times. I re-cast it every time it ends. A high-wisdom PC with this spell active can and will render any door-based traps obsolete, since those are some of the most common items that PCs search. As a DM I could never just casually gimp a spell like this. It all ultimately comes down to player creativity and I can easily see this spell being used in every type of situation. It doesn't really require much imagination.
Spare the Dying comes packaged with grave clerics, has 30ft. range, can be used as a bonus action & when grave clerics heal unconscious people they get max health. Good for at least one cleric class.
@@Brokensnowball I play a grave cleric and it's good for situations in difficult boss fights where two of your party members are downed. You use Healing Word to bring one back up, but as per RAW, if you cast a spell as a bonus action, the only other spell you can use on your turn has to be a cantrip. So you stabilize the other party member.
They're part of different spell lists - eldritch blast is basically locked to Warlock (unless feats) and Shillelagh is in both druid and wizard spell lists, making it slightly easier to get your hands on (again, unless feats). Eldritch Blast is literally an OP cantrip, but it's OP because Warlock.
@@JF-di9yh well its not a cantrip you get it with first level spell slots i believe but taking that over better spells like shocking grasp magic missle etc its kinda bad
@@giosmack49 Shillelagh is a druid cantrip and only a druid cantrip. Nature clerics can take it too with a class feature but it is not innately on any other spell list nor is it a leveled spell
Frankly, EB isn't a cantrip. It's a class feature that WotC wanted to pretend you have a serious choice not to take. (I say this as someone who mostly plays warlocks with no EB. It's intentionally handicapping yourself for barely any gain and a bunch of your class features [invocations] directly refer to EB when they should just say "damaging cantrip" or something.)
The dislikes come from many angry bards. Dude, the fun of vicious mockery is making up insults for your foes and actually hurting their feelings with it.
Ashley s or you could reflavor yourself as a bard who practices the art of puns and viscous mockery could just be really bad puns and they take crindge damage
They can create small effects that make them seem much more powerful, like a fake magic weapons overlaying their real ones. Or making it look like any gaps in their armor are somewhere they aren't
Have a halfling sorcerer that used minor illusion while fleeing down a hallway to project a wall behind him as he ran. The one guy chasing comes around the corner, saw the wall and stopped... shouted, "WHAT THE FUCK?!" and stared at it for a second, then turned around and ran back the way he came. The second guy coming to investigate was smart enough to actually inspect it, but that was one round and a full dash action too late.
We were playing an evil campaign. Once we murdered a bunch of guys (they attacked us first) and there was only an halfling left, he was quite scared an couldn't move because of it. He wasn't really wise either. I casted minor illusion in a sphere around his head of such dimension and structure that it didn't matter how he moved it: it would always be in direct contact with his pupils, than made it so that anywhere he looked he could only see his friends' bloodied, chopped off heads piled, forming a single spherical wall around him, he couldn't see anything else, no matter what he tried, even closing his eyes was useless because of the structure of the illusion, then we started whispering in his ears and stuff, he stabbed himself to death with his own sword, screaming and crying as he descended into madness.
Lol, it depends on your DM. Our DM can be annoying sometimes because he plays fully optimally, meaning minor illusion would easily be perception checked. However, having intelligent enemies can make combat much more fun.
@@burgscratch6301, twinned spell allows you to choose 2 targets rather than just 1, and has been clarified by WotC to NOT make 2 objects, as with mage hand and flame sphere. Creative, though.
Minor illusion: cast it to make a dragon in front of a farther background, but distort the depth perception on it so that the 5ft illusion looks like an enormous dragon coming right at the target.
I've seen a player who uses it to create a barrel around him and duck inside, giving him full cover, as far as the enemy knows, leading most decently intelligent creatures to attack other targets instead.
@@jebkerman5422 or if you crouch down you can create a five foot by five foot cube of invisibility for you or anyone else to hide in, it will annoy any dm but its fun because it works within spell parameters and is completely broken.
@@the_duck_watching_you9153 yeah but how usefull is invisibility, if it requires you to not change your position which is already known to the enemy. Of course the enemy doesn't know that you are still there though.
Vicious Mockery and Frostbite are actually more comparable than you think. Vicious Mockery does less damage with a damage type that is rarely resisted/immune (Psychic), targets a rare saving throw (wisdom), and gives disadvantage on 'any' attack roll, while Frostbite does more damage with a damage type that is more commonly resisted/immune (cold), targets a more common saving throw (constitution), and gives disadvantage on any 'weapon' based attack roll. This means that both see their uses against different enemy types, but vicious mockery is more commonly successful due to its rare save and damage type and frostbite is most successfully used against less beefy, weapon wielding combatants.
Cheap Tactics Yeah, allow me to better phrase what he meant: Wisdom is a stat your opponent is far less likely to have a high modifier for, compared to Constitution
@@thesouphour8426 that's not true, I just went through all the constructs from the mm, volo's, and mordenkainen's and there's 9 immune to psychic, 1 resistant to psychic, and 18 that are neither resistant nor immune
Me and my party were trapped in a prison after we were wrongfully accused of treason. All the characters were super depressed since we were going to be sent to the gallows the next morning. I used prestidigitation on our bowls of cold porridge while we were eating so we can at least have good tasting food. Our DM wasn’t a jerk and he let me use one action to keep all of our food warm. We managed to escape the next day but I thought it made the situation just a bit better. It’s not like we knew we were escaping, we sneaked our during a riot a NPC started.
Flavouring random things is just funny. "I shoot him with a bacon flavoured arrow." is just a funnier sentence than "I shoot him with an arrow." DnD should always be fun. Plus maybe that is just a thing with me, but when my character gets dirty, like after crawling trough the sewers, I myself am digusted, having an insta-clean ability just makes me way more comfortable.
"Wrongfully accused"? Yeah, buddy, you an' every other murderous cut-throat in here! Prestidigitation is my favourite spell. It can keep you clean and warm, it can confuse and delight the uneducated, and it can remove bloodstains from clothing and surfaces before the Neverwinter CIS turn up.
@@strionic770 you can even use it on yourself. You basically buff up all your skill checks. Also that 1d4 difference could decide whether you sneak past a dangerous guard or not
I am currently playing in two campains. In one, if you kill an enemie with vicious mockery, their head explodes or their brain gets squished due to the psychis demage. In the other one, enemies commit suicide as the insults hurts them that deeply
@@swiftdragonrider Exactly this. That difference alone gives mockery approx a 10 to 15% higher chance to hit, in early levels even 20%. Dont forget that successfully applying the secondary effect of hitting is most important when using either one! Mockery also affects ANY attack roll, frostbite only a weapon attack making it even more situational. Another advantage of Mockery is its psychic damage, frostbite is cold dmg. Mockery is V only, compared to V,S of Frostbite. All of that for 1 damage on a hit. An average of ~0.6 dpr... great. One of many examples (and not even close to the most egregious ones) where this video is so incredibly uninformed that it hurts.
agreed, though to be fair IN combat it is pretty terrible... OUT of combat it's amazing and BEFORE combat however you can use it to give someone extra initiative... which can be AWESOME!!!
I mean... dnd isnt just combat, guidance is in all sessions i’ve played in, the most used SPELL, not just cantrip, and i’ve never seen anyone forget that they have the cantrip in their spell list...
@@manuelyausaz2976 Dare I say, I _overuse_ it to the point where I can't imagine having a character without it. I'm playing Artificer on my next campaign and I was glad to see that Guidance is part of the class's cantrip list. The number of times I rolled a 2 but then had a 4 on Guidance and made it past 10 with my bonuses, thus resulting in a decent roll, is too high!
Issue is, like most spells with verbal components, it’s obvious when you are using it. Using it in a social situation? Probably automatic disadvantage as unlike many charm spells it doesn’t mentally dominate and they harden their resolve. Picking a lock under the gaze of a watchman? Have him roll a perception check against the check. Using it to enhance an initiative check? Might work in a surprise round but starting that mantra might start battle immediately. In many situations, Guideance is a extra step that requires delay. One of the reasons why magic is broken is that GMs hand wave very important limiters on magic, which is what makes subtle metamagic incredibly useful or terrible on sorcerers depending on the GM. Magic is basically akin to a bearded guy calling on a word of power or an anime character going through a short mantra, casting spells should by large be fairly obvious if it has verbal and/or somatic components, which most people in a high fantasy setting would have some awareness of. That being said, it’s still pretty useful in a lot of situations, just I don’t believe it’s that fantastic either.
So one time I as the wizard was doing some scouting(Yes I was the most stealthy person in the party) and when I came back I decided to be a bit creative and use minor illusion to create 3d map of the area I saw.
I have many problems with the disparagement of Spare the Dying, mostly because it assumes ideal conditions and mistakes. 1) No one can predict when they'll be in a situation where they're out of spell slots, potions, healer's kits, etc. A person is not stupid for getting into that situation, nor is it helpful to insult them for it. You take Spare the Dying so they always have the option. Unlike spell slots, healer's kits, or potions, Spare the Dying never runs out. 2) "Planning for Failure" is a poor objection for anything. You could use the same logic to say that home-owners should never insure their houses against fire, flood, or accident. Failure is inevitable. Having contingencies in place to deal with unexpected problems is not defeatism, it's smart planning. 3) Saying players shouldn't invest in Spare the Dying because potions/healer's kits/healing spells exist is like saying the Light cantrip is useless because torches can be used. Torches run out, do not work underwater, etc. Taking a magical spell that can do it for you, with perfect success rates, is a completely valid choice in character creation/advancement. 4) Sometimes the party might want to keep NPCs alive. Not just fallen enemies, but non-hostile ones. Quest givers, PC loved ones, friendly folk, or even randos. No one is going to expect the PCs to use their precious healing spells, potions, or healer's kit charges on non-player characters. 5) Low level games are highly dangerous to player characters. More so, because characters who CAN heal have, as yet, very few opportunities to do so. A 1st level Cleric has exactly _TWO_ spell slots to get her through the whole adventuring day. Those healing spells need to compete with other spells the Cleric might want to cast, as well, making them all the more precious. And NO ONE is likely to have potions, unless the DM is being very generous. That Spare the Dying cantrip is by no means flashy, but it's the best way to keep a PC from biting it before they even really started their adventure.
#4 is so accurate... In the campaign I play in as a cleric, we were level 2 and had a quest to explore this cave and clear out the goblins. We found the goblins' leader and two hostages they had taken. When we started combat the goblins killed one of the hostages right off. The only reason he survived was my cleric running by and hitting him with Spare the Dying in the middle of combat until we finished off the enemies and she had a chance to heal him with a potion because she was out of spell slots. (We were level 2 at the time.) Saving *that* NPC made the other NPC we saved trust us even more, and she ended up joining our party and now is the caretaker of our small village we've founded. Plus I was able to use my cleric's big girl spells for heals on the party, keeping everyone up and alive.
I agree with the part of not having potions, in most games you rarely have a potion unless A. Your rich, B. You have a herbalism kit, or C. Your DM was generous enough to give you one as a treasure or reward for completing a quest.
Not even to mention that HEALING POTIONS ARE ALMOST ALWAYS FUCKING EXPENSIVE. I don't know why, but every time I have ever seen health potions for sale I don't have much more than the starting gold and a few copper and they are anywhere from 20-30 gold. Unless you are a dragon killing machine with a foolproof method to kill them without you taking damage, having something to protect you from death saving throws is almost always welcome. Not to mention the other glaring problem with what he said about it. He mentioned the Healer feat. An optional rule. An optional rule that is only given at 1st level if your DM is generous, and otherwise requires one of the 4 Ability Score Improvements you get in the whole fucking game just to use a piece of equipment that functions like this cantrip, but not guaranteed. An optional rule that he admitted to saying that Novice Caster could be in the exact same fucking spot. Unless he thinks that we dont need ability score improvements for the first 8 levels (which we do, unless we are taking a feat for special purposes), he is essentially a Sorceror of gatekeeping. "Why not just take (insert really expensive thing here) instead of (insert cheap, easy to use thing)? It is sooo much better." Also, agreed with #3. like half of the spells in this game are redundant in one way or another, in addition to also being created in other forms too. Why use Goodberry? Just pack enough rations. Why use levitate? Just use ropes and/or ladders. Why bother with Wish when you can just be a Wizard and have all of the spells?
In defense of Blade Ward: Eldritch Knights gain the ability to make one weapon attack after casting a cantrip. So you can resist 3 damage types for an entire combat while still dealing damage
Oh shit, I guess that is also a case for True Strike in a way? Actually not, just looked it up. You get one attack as a bonus action. So you could be attacking 2-4 times on one turn as a Fighter. Or you could do Green flame blade/booming blade.
One of my favorite uses of prestidigitation was when my party and i entered hades and made us do a saving throw, everyone but me succeded so i became a larva. Anyways, as a larva i was supposed to make everyones life worse without harming them, so for the rest of the session i hurled many insults and made plenty of riddles (as a larva i knew everywhere of hades, so i was the only source of information for my party), then when they annoysd me back or failed a riddle i would cast prestidigitation to soil their clothes and make the smell lile rotten eggs. Now that i think about it, i shouldn't of been able to cast the spell, but the spell made this session much more fun. At the end if the session my party disintegrated me, that was my favorite session ever.
John Siddons, LoH isn’t a cantrip; it’s a class ability. It also cannot he used at will. It’s a finite resource and once all uses have been expended, they only come back after a long rest (much like spell slots for all but warlocks).
Spare the Dying is a lot more useful for Grave Domain clerics, who get to cast it as a bonus action and with a range of 30 ft. It's uses are still a bit limited, but there's nothing wrong with a contingency plan.
I have a grave domain cleric in the works who's going to function like a combat medic. If someone goes down spare the dying and then beeline to them to slap them up with some healing and then go back to smashing faces in.
Yeah. I dig the idea of being a Cantrip Caster. You can create a variety of effects with spells like Presdigitation, Thaumaturgy and Druid Craft. You can come up with a variety of illusions with Minor Illusion (an Illusion Cantrip so good that you won't bother with any other Illusion spells). You can have so much fun with Mage Hand. You can bend the 4 elements with Shape Water, Mold Earth, Control Flames and Gust. You can wound your foes with a string of insults. Then there is Eldritch Blast which sends out blasts of forceful energy which can be improved with Warlock invocations. Also very few creatures are immune/resistant to Force damage. Best pick a backup damage Cantrip just in case the DM is feeling cruel.
Debatable, since you throw a construct their way and they take no damage. I agree on you with the constitution part though, isnt it like the most common saving throw call?
Also vicious mockery is bard exclusive and bards can't learn frostbite. Also also, the difference between the two is really negligible, and is even pretty likely to not matter at all since its a slightly higher die and not slightly higher damage, making the extra stuff that mockery has over frost (better damage type, better saving throw, better disadvantage) all the more significant
@@theenduriangamer5509 That's a fun way to argue. The OP makes a general statement which is to be interpreted over the amalgam of monster statistics and you respond with a narrow specific case which is outside the intent of the OP's argument. We can all be pedants. For example, "just throw a Yeti [or any other cold immune monster] at the caster with Frostbite and they take no damage." To dissuade the OP one might discuss the number of monsters immune to psychic versus cold or the relative strength of Con vs. Wis saving throws between all published monsters (which can also be pretty situational. I know many GMs who don't use published monsters or they do with different statistics to keep it fresh). 11/10 for being an indefatigable troll (or woefully ignorant but still coming off as a troll). You have as they say, "made me mad bro" and that entitles you to a false internet victory.
Guidance is actually great for any non combat roll you have a turn to prepare for. At lower levels it's about as good at having proficiency or expertise. It's basically infinite bardic inspiration just slow and with a smaller bonus. You can spam it like the help action. Guidance the rouge before they sneak off, pick a lock, or disarm a trap. Guidance the face before an important conversation. Guidance people before they have to make a jump or climb. Guidance before investigating a room. Guidance to help a knowledge roll. Did you know that initiative is an ability check? Guidance to go first in combat.
@@Kreadus005 thank you! There's a huge difference between being prepared for shit to go wrong and actually investing in that possibility. Invest in good prospects, not against bad ones
I think spare the dying is good because sometimes people run out of spell slots and it's good to at least have something that can save your stupid sorcerer who got downed every round of combat because they insisted on using True Strike
The only downside to guidance is having a verbal component. Otherwise you can literally guide yourself for deception checks, persuasion, intimidation, perception, insight and any physical or knowledge skill. Unless you only have dungeon crawls and even do traps and puzzle on a combat round timer, guidance is awesome.
I ran a game where the whole party just followed our wizard with a passive perception of 17, as he groped everything in the dungeon with mage hand, nothing got past this guy.
DMs have to realize passive perception does not pick up everything, just because you have a dude with a 24 passive does not mean he will notice everything. It is best to tell the players at the outset how you use passive perception and investigation. For instence if you don't want your players to instantly notice every trap in a dungeon just because one of them has high passive, you can just rule that some traps are more subtle than others (like a pressured tile or a trapped door) and they may have to actively search for traps. Of course if you don't really care if your party has the god of perception with them and will never be surprised that is fine too.
If a trap is a perception check DC of 15, the trap should be a passive perception check of 25. Thats how passive perception works. Things are easier to find if you're actively searching. Groping everything in a dungeon shouldn't set off all traps either. Some traps are pressure sensitive, some traps are light sensitive, some traps require almost 200 lbs of pressure, etc.
Vicious mockery also isnt really creative, the joke always just boils down to "ha ha he said funny thing" vicious mockery isnt creative because the joke is set up for you. It's like the knock knock joke of spells.
@@mikeockhurts904 I am sorry you are too uncreative to utilize the full potential of the spell. Like using presidigitation to create sparkles only. Vicious mockery is an amazing way to flavor something and can even create a character around it as a premise. Are you aware of Court Jesters? Not those fools you see in those funny clothes at faires. Those are amateurs. A true Court Jester was a well educated and intelligent person who, in court, was legally allowed to commit lesse majeste and mock the king. The jester was the only person in court honest enough and can be counted upon to speak the truth while others lie and scheme. What better way to use vicious mockery than to build a powerful Bard whose employed by the King and is an intelligent and charismatic jester whose scathing words literally kills his enemies. Also a jester was usually a messenger and fighter, and was used to draw out hotheaded soldiers and knights during a battle. So yeah, get more creative you fool.
I made a bard that specialized in illusions, and the DM was so mad at me. I would fool almost every creature I encountered, and with proficiency in deception, intimidation, persuasion, and performance, I was unstoppable.Thank you, prestidigitation.
I had the same build and died to a fireball making a building fall on the party Me and the rogue died instantly, having the least hp and being lvl 4. I made another spell caster that specialize in damage and dexterity saving throws.
Minor illusion some fog over your Caltrops. Minor illusion your paladin on fire Minor illusion a ballista to pull dragon aggro Minor illusion a bribe _wine, gems, alchemic ingredients_ Minor illusion an exposed spiked pit for area denial.
Two mages could only shoot a bow with a 10 pound (minus the weight of the bow) draw weight. You'd need 10 or 12 Wizards to shoot a reasonable hunting bow and possibly as many as 36 to shoot a full powered war bow.
Hopefully you don't have a DM that knows anything about archery then....10 pounds of draw weight is only enough for a children's practice bow...maybe, if they are malnourished.
@@ShiningDarknes The spell itself is not good when you forget to cast it, though. Same goes for *literally* all other spells, abilities, weapons and items in D&D - fuck, in real life, too. Forgot to use something? Well shit, guess it's not useful
"Two Mages can combine their power and fire a floating bow" What lame ass bow has less than 10 pounds of pull? 30 pounds of pull is considered a light bow RL
Once I used minor illusion to create a fake double to sit outside an NPC’s window and act like I was watching them. After they realized it was an illusion, I simply switched places with the illusion. I don’t think they were expecting an illusion to punch them in the face that hard.
@@danielluc4433 No, but it can create objects. Objects such as the hooded cloak my character wore, making a convincing enough silhouette. ...also why are you posting on a year old comment just to play rules lawyer?
And also do the best damage type in the game when it comes to not being resisted at all Also does better disadvantage and does not need line of sight, so you can kill someone who is hiding from you with it
@@e4ehco21 force has exceptions though, such as Bear Totem Barbarians. Though Psychic having trouble against most constructs (not all) kinda outweighs that. You are correct about force being better though. But there are still cases where you would probably prefer to use Psychic (bear totem barbarians and a few other things). Basically, yeah I was wrong but psychic is definitely second place.
@@e4ehco21 hrm, depends. If resistance alone I would say Radiant If we branched into secondary effects then I would move Necrotic and Radiant to about tied and have Force and Psychic tied cause Psychic is absolutely brutal when secondary effects are considered (probably why I made the initial mistake), so force for hitting almost everything for full damage and psychic for hitting a bit less and doing less damage but having some of the most broken effects (Psychic Scream, Phantasmal Force if the player or DM is intelligent about using it, etc). Resistance and immunities alone though, I would say radiant is third
It's not even that bad mechanically. The reason is because it's a Bard only cantrip, and if you look at the Bard cantrip list, they don't get many that are useful in a fight.
@@jhinpotion9230 not only that but on average its more likely to have viscous mockery be effective over frostbite due to resistances/immunities and con vs wis saves. Plus, frostbite is only weapon attacks while viscous mockery is all attack rolls.
Shouting out “Your mother was a hampster, and your father smelt of elderberries!” while casting Vicious Mockery is usually one of the first things I do with the spell. I like to prepare a list of insults when playing with a bard that uses it.
My mage once used Prestidigitation to "soil" an unreadable set of words scratched into stone. It caused the letters to stand out in high relief, allowing her to clearly see it provided a magic way through the wall. She used the cantrip again to erase all traces after she and her party had climbed through the escape rout. She uses the clean/soil aspect of the cantrip every...single...game. Sometimes multiple times per game.
Easily the best RP cantrip. Your character is always dry, food/drink always tastes good and is warmed/cooled to desired temp. I've kept my party warm in cold temps by heating their clothes, instantly dried when climbing out of a pool, cleared a room with the smell of skunk, provided myself with a scented mask while moving through a sewer, and on and on.
Yeah just say to your DM "I'm pretty much constantly casting guidance on myself..." boom free d4 on all your checks. It (on average) cancels out half the debuff of disadvantage!
@@MrRtkwe Depends on DM. I have tried casting it constantly, but also tried not being allowed to cast it, but our party always use it whenever we can have any time to prepare for any activity that requires checks.
I agree but he framed the list as combat-specific in which case it isn't useful. It's more about the combat framing, otherwise this is so useful its probably broken.
I balance guidance and resistance by making them quick-play spells so they don’t have to waste a turn rolling a d4 And I make true strike a level 1 spell and a quick play spell I could all level 1 quick play spells if balancing requires it
Eh, if you're casting it all the time, which have verbal and somatic components, then every single minute you're making a commotion that others can notice, so hey, no stealth and people know you're doing magic. Also just the weird looks you get from allies when they just hear you constantly cast guidance every single minute while talking to them or walking past them. I really dislike players treating it as a passive ability that's always on. It's just the assumption that people can do so without consequence, even in high danger situations.
Was playing Ravnica. A group of goblins threw a bomb at us. I, a little Level 1 goblin Wizard, just straight up threw it back at them with Mage Hand. The DM didn't even make me roll to catch it. That's how good Mage Hand is.
I spam Guidance like it's my job. Come to think about it, it is my job. And I'd switch Cure Wounds for Healing Word for the Druid Magic Initiate. But yeah, otherwise, that's a pretty sweet list. Keep it up!
Creative uses for Minor Illusion: - Turn pebbles into coins and bribe NPC's. - Cover your body in fake wounds to fake your death. - Start a bar fight by making a sound saying something insulting. - Scare someone away by making a sleeping bear appear. - Haunt people by constantly making them hear voices.
@@_ion04 but prestidigitation can make a nonmagical trinket or an illusory image that can fit in your hand and that lasts until the end of your next turn. As long as they pocket it within 6 (12?) seconds, you should be fine.
It specifically says that physical interaction reveals it to be an illusion because stuff can pass through it, not that it vanishes on touch. It's basically like a hologram, so one use is to create scenery you can hide behind or inside. Like a box or a big rock.
For the coin thing, I just found a way to create "infinite" money. If you're a school of transmutation wizard, you can use Stone shape to makes pebbles looks more like coins, and then use Minor alchemy which allows you to: "perform a special alchemical procedure on one object composed entirely of wood, stone (but not a gemstone), iron, copper, or silver, transforming it into a different one of those materials." Allowing you to turn those stone coins into silver coins for an hour. Which is more than enough to spend them. And the best part is, there will be no trace of magic on the "silver coins". So no matter how hard the shopkeeper examines them, they'll always be "legitimate". And so, they won't be able to tell why an hour later, all of the coins are turned into stone.
I have used Dancing Lights every time my party has gone anywhere since I got it. It's a surprisingly useful and fun cantrip. My character juggles them when he's bored.
Wait what? Guidance on a 'bad cantrip' list? Are we talking about the same spell? OK, I'll give you that it's kinda boring, but I would almost rate it as the best cantrip, even above the damage ones.
Exactly. Guidance is an average of +2.5 to every skill check made out of combat. As if everyone in the cleric’s presence just gets some level of the bard’s Jack of All Trades feature to everything
What I mean is in checks like Perception that are meant to notice something that pops up suddenly and for a short time, in those one cannot hope to cast Guidance. Some checks made for activities might consider Guidance "cheating".
One of my players (an eldritch knight) uses blade ward and then runs into the middle of as many opponents as possible. Its annoyingly quite effective when he's taking for example 6 attacks. I dislike the spell but i have grudgingly accepted that both that cantrip and his approach to just not getting hurt can work. He just wants to tank, he's doing it.
Also, once an Eldritch Knight reaches level 7, they can make an attack as a Bonus Action if they cast a cantrip as an action. So they're still doing _some_ damage per turn.
i really like that tasha's cauldron actually makes spells like blade ward and true strike actually slightly viable with the bladesinging subclass for wizards, and the ability to switch out cantrips on a long rest with wizards makes experimenting with different spells safe
Obligatory yelling at you for having a different opinion. I personally love Guidance. Does it fail even on a bad roll? Yes. Does it become redundant on a good roll? Yes. But it's the kind of spell you'll wanna spam to make extra sure you fail checks as little as possible.
The warlock in my campaign remembers to cast guidance on skill checks for himself and allies all the time and it has really helped them. Like you said for spare the dying. Don't plan for failure. Not taking it because you think you'll never remember to use it is planning for failure.
Okay since I don't think I have seen anyone mention one of the best combat uses of Minor Illusion is giving yourself Advantage or one enemy attack Disadvantage. You make a box around yourself. You can see through it since you know it is an illusion and enemies can't since they need to either make a check or interact with the illusion.
Not a snake but your self in an illosanary box and the pepepol chasing you have to pause the check to realize it an illusion or Interact with it. Most likely just run on by the box. More we if you did a stealth check to remain quit in your imaginary I mean illsonary box...
@@hinamiravenroot7162 yes is America land. You get fined every time you file taxes without having insurance. It's a federal law, and the penalty for breaking it is a fine. Because it's against the law to not have it. Therefore fine. Because is law. Law break if have not. In America USA town.
At lower levels fairly reilalbly giving enemies disadvantage is huge, seeing as most enemies don't have high wisdom. Frost bite has slightly better damage but its not going to go off a lot of the time because enemies often have higher constitution.
I have to disagree on Spare the Dying. You won't always have spell slots or healing items available, and Medicine checks have a chance of failing. Spare the dying guarantees that you stabilize the person
Whenever someone goes down in a stressful encounter, my group often panics that they might die. An unconcious party member is super scary especially if you can't heal them and they have 2 failed saves which happens WAY too much to us. Spare the dying saves their life.
I agree, OP. This whole "just buy a healer's kit" totally disregards what you're saying. Read it again everyone. Not everyone is going to have a healer's kit. Not... everyone... is going to have a healer's kit. The point of saying that is to show why spare the dying can be useful in certain situations. Because if you don't have a healer's kit, your options are limited. It's comical to me that this guy in the video knocks the "creative" power of some people when his entire series, from what I can tell, is about min/maxing combat encounters and ignoring all other imaginative aspects of D&D.
@@Turd_Rocket " Read it again everyone. Not everyone is going to have a healer's kit. Not... everyone... is going to have a healer's kit." They cost 5 gold. Everyone can quite easily get a healers kit.
Everyone always shits on True Strike for typical attacks but nobody ever seems to give attention to three scenarios where it's pretty advantageous: 1) You have a particular attack you NEED to land to avoid wasting it. 2) The enemy isn't attackable yet. They could be coming around the corner. 3) Overcoming disadvantage.
You could, instead: 1) Flank for advantage on both turns, shove to knock them prone so everyone gets advantage, cast faerie fire to get advantage on multiple opponents, or do one of the million other things that give advantage on more than just a single attack 2) hold your attack action until the enemy is visible so that you can attack as a reaction 3) see 1
Yeah.... If you're not able to see the enemy yet, then why are you casting True Strike? Are you that super paranoid of every corner housing an enemy that you keep it permanently on?
I found one of the coolest spells combo,get to level 2 wizard/sorcerer, use alter self, make yourself small and weigh less than 10lbs, then use mage hand lift yourself up and voila, unlimited flying till 1 hour
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On the worst attack spell, viscous mockery says “disadvantaged on the next *ATTACK ROLL*” while frostbite says “Next *WEPON* attack roll”. Meaning that frostbite might be worse because it’s situational while only doing one more average damage. 😘
@@Rayne42069 and let's not forget the facts that frostbite deals a commonly-resisted damage type (which logan stresses is important with the shillelagh cantrip), targets constitution as opposed to wisdom, and isn'teven accessible to bards in the first place, so even if it were a technical direct upgrade that wouldn't even be relevant to the people who would take vicious mockery
I met one of my best friends on amino a couple years ago, and she killed herself (aka im not returning to amino)
9:55 so you are Poulty man? i knew it
Okay, you can actually use true strike in a scenario in which its you and a rogue, and for rp purposes u want HIM to get the kill, so you do it so he gets advantage (and thus snek atk) on the targett to guarantee the kill, otherwise, let a cleric bless the dude....
PS: personally if I'm dming I let the wizard/artificer craft a simple enough magic item that make those cantrip that be useless cause theyre action into bonus action...
Runesmith: “Spare the Dying is trash. Just use a healer’s kit.”
Also Runesmith: “Healer’s kits are worthless. Just use Spare the Dying.”
Sensable person: Just get healing
"Take the healer feat ... shit's broken."
the moral of the story, dont heal. let your allies die because screw them.
Duality of man
@@Venislovas brother?
Most importantly, two wizards with mage hand can high five from 60 feet apart.
Social distancing high five!
I just think it’s funnier to use mage hand to flip someone the bird. XD
@@funnyblog100 Social distance insult!
if they both have the telekinetic feat and mage hand, you can double that.
Also a relatively light wizard can cast reduce on them selves to make them lighter than 10 lbs and fly with mage hand.
Sure Vicious Mockery doesn't do the best damage, but killing a major antagonist by insulting his mother makes it the best spell in the entire game.
This comment now has 69 likes
@@2_salty884 Wrong it has 70
69 again
@@tigert2092 You wish its 70
*71
No one cares if vicious mockery is a weak frostbite, they just love it because they want to see their GM describing someone dying from an insult.
GM, "The Dread Lord of Doom, Doomlord Dread, clutches at his pearls, says, "Oh, sire, your words hath cut me to ye quick!" and faints dead away."
Worth noting that they attack different saves, too. Frostbite is a CON save, where Vicious Mockery is a WIS save. Cons is usually a good stat for opponents. Also, damage type: cold vs psychic damage. Cold is one of the more resisted damage types, where psychic is rarely resisted. Finally, there is the type of damage it gives disadvantage on. Frostbite gives disadvantage on the next weapon attack (emphasis on the WEAPON), so any attack without a weapon doesn't have disadvantage. Something basic like a troll or a bear that doesn't attack with a weapon is not affected. Vicious Mockery applies the debuff on the next attack roll, without specifying that it must come from a weapon. So, in conclusion, while Frostbite has a larger damage die, Vicious Mockery is still good (possibly better).
"Hey, Ygrithgar the Devourer.... Bitch."
I think the only thing really saving vicious mockery is the fact that it does psychic damage, which is barely resisted, vs cold which is pretty highly resisted
So once I made an arrakocra commit suicide with vicious mockery soon to make a dragon do the same
Ok, I just want to throw out there that you don't take vicous mockery for the damage.
You take it for the style points.
I took it for the Disadvantage. And the style.
You take it because you are a bard and frostbite is not a spell you can learn without magic initiate. Besides unless the cantrip you are using is named fire bolt, eldritch blast, or toll the dead (really underrated, toll the dead is) you are not likely using it for damage, you are probably using it for the additional effect.
I take it so I can make ogres cry. That happened once.
"HEY YOU BIG DUMMY!"
The best bard. Rest his soul.
Fucking mind games.
Imagine an aboleth or a character able to create multiple sounds using it.
I _adore_ prestidigitation. One time, a thief was making off with some of my party's valuables, and I gave chase. He ducked into a crowded market and threw up his hood. Problem: It was raining that day, and everyone in the crowd had their hood up. This was a poorer part of town, so everyone's cloak was more or less the same drab material and brownish color. I was about to lose him and we'd never see our stuff again. Prestidigitation to the rescue! I simply made a patch on the back of his hood bright orange, and was able to follow at such a distance that he thought he'd lost me. Yeah, he was really surprised when me and my party showed up at his door demanding our stuff back.
One of our groups had a Druid, a Warlock, and an Arcane Trickster Rogue; we combined Thaumaturgy, Prestidigitation, and Druidcraft to spook the bandit leader's right-hand man and his "elite" guards into scattering to be picked off one by one because of the "ghost" that suddenly appeared over the table they were sitting around.
I used it to convince a bugbear that I was a god in mortal form (He asked me to prove it and I made the symbol of the god I was pretending to be on the cave wall and making a shower of sparks over him) He believed me and let me take my only other party member, who was unconscious, the hostage, and his treasure. (I stayed I was the god of justice, and that for his crimes he would give me these people and things to make up for his crimes)
You were about to lose him but you were close enough to cast prestidigitation? It's only 10 foot range.
Steven Bonnell It was a pretty small cave, I was backed against the wall and he was about 5 or so feet from me
@@nightfall598 Yours seems more realistic, the question was towards the original commenter who seems to have misread the range of the spell
Guidance isnt a cantrip you should use in combat. It is entirely a out of combat spell.
In the game I play in, almost all ability checks get the extra 1d4 from guidance
Right? It is like the phrase "Utility" Only applies when it is something that never uses a die itself. 1d4 roughly equals a utility value of 2.5, or gaining 12.5% more successes when used than fails.
@@gingerinajacket8519 exact reason why I always pick up bless if I can. 1d4 to EVERYONE on attacks and saving throughs.
I was very surprised to see that in here. Guidance is very often the difference between failing and succeeding on a check in my experience
You can use it on initiative rolls so if you have time to prep it can make a difference.
I've also had 1 time when we were stuck in a situation with a big spellcaster we needed to stop, me and the cleric cast concentration buff spells and then turtles, cleric guidancing me and me counterspelling the spellcaster. guidance works on those checks
For "vicious mockery", remember Psychic damage is way less resisted than Cold damage tho
Yeah, like how the Bear Totem Barbarian resists everything BUT Psychic
That and VM has better effects, being able to hit without line of sight (you can kill hiding targets since they can hear you) and being able to disadvantage any attack roll, not just frostbite's pathetic weapon attack rolls only. Even Necrotic damage is more resisted than Psychic
it still sucks tho. theres much better cantrips. besides mindsliver has a better effect and does more dmg
@@CleopatraKing disadvantage is much better than 1d4 subtraction later on.
Earlier though you will feel a lot of good things from Mind Sliver, like how it increases the odds of hitting with mind sliver again. But potentially preventing a target from hitting an ally or getting a spell off is still something I would take over a 1d4 penalty to one saving throw. That is likely just preference there though.
Mind Sliver does do more damage though, which is good and is Psychic which is great. Though the bigger difference is how Vicious Mockery is still a subtlecast spell and Mind Sliver is not, so a target will know they were hit by mind sliver versus nobody realizing you just hit someone with vicious mockery (insert everyone talking about insulting NPCs to death or dealing damage to opponents before combat starts and giving them disadvantage.)
It is definitely a case of close enough for the situation to determine the better spell for the moment, not at all the Case of VM is total Dogshit that nobody should ever use because Frostbite or Mind Sliver. You are basically trading the chance of doing on average 1-4 more damage and 2-8 max damage and the slight increase in landing an effect on a target for the ability to drastically reduce the odds of a spell attack or weapon attack landing and the ability to harm people without realizing you harmed them and without anyone realizing you just slung a spell.
I will say though that Mind Sliver is wonderful for Sorcerers with how they have a metamagic that increases their spell DC by like 5, being able to make that a 6-9 bonus is really good with them to the degree that not running Mind Sliver on a Sorcerer is probably a bad idea.
To that extent Vicious Mockery really fits the Bard's ability to deny opponents opportunities and progress. Mixing enemy disadvantage with Bardic Inspiration (particularly cutting words from Lore Bards) can get really messy.
Makes me want to run an Eloquence Bard with Mind Sliver and Vicious Mockery though so I can mix MS and Unsettling Words or use Vicious Mockery and other abilities as the situation desires (Magical Secrets is how that is possible).
Also; what are the much better cantrips?
Firebolt is useless compared to Vicious Mockery against a huge amount of the monster manual, frostbite is a worse damage type and effect. Unless you are talking specifically Eldritch Blast from specifically a Warlock (cause Bards can also get it) then sure, but no Attack Cantrips but specifically Eldritch Blast and as you said Mind Sliver are really comparable to a Psychic Damage mental attribute saving throw debuff attack.
The only other ones I can even think of are Word of Radiance and other Radiant Damage Cantrips if you are looking for Raw Damage or Chill Touch for anti-healing or to deny undead.
Unless you are talking utility cantrips of course which can be absolutely busted depending on your creativity. But trading a small amount of damage (realistically 1-4 in most cases if you factor in resistances outside of radiant cantrips which usually lack effects and eldritch blast) for the ability to prevent anywhere between 10-40 or even 50+ damage on yourself or a teammate depending on the creature. A lot of creatures also have much lower wisdom scores than Constitution, Dexterity, Strength, etc so it lands more reliably than all but maybe Mind Sliver which is an intelligence Save
@@shadedergu9921 cold dmg is a worse dmg type than psy, but its not a bad dmg type. its def worth the higher die. mindsliver is great for most casters bc while yes, its a -d4 mod, it does more dmg, is an int save, and i still belive a d4 is better than disadv even at higher levels. theres a lot of ways to get adv and just nullify the effect of mockery, while mindsliver helps in all situations.
also best dmg cantrips are magic stone, toll of the dead, and eldritch blast. firebolt aint half bad with elemental adept either
@@CleopatraKing Toll of the Dead is great, but I still would run Cold Touch instead just because undead would not be impacted otherwise, is good if your DM doesn't run undead though.
It may just be my addiction to other effects that makes me avoid raw damage cantrips but I will definitely say that 1d4 penalty or disadvantage comes down to the situation.
I will say though that disadvantage also cancels advantage; which is definitely worth reducing the odds of things like a crit from 1/10 to 1/20 alongside overall halving the chance they hit. Discounting it cause enemies can have advantage to cancel isn't really a big deal when you realize it is negating their advantage.
I also am not saying 1d4 is bad in anything; 1 point is usually the difference between hit or miss and this can be 4; exactly why I main Bard on the rare occasion I am not the DM (DMing is fun), Bardic Inspiration can turn the tides of any battle when used right; that and a Lore Bard using Guidance and Peerless skill getting a +5 to +19 on Counterspell based on inspiration and guidance rolls is just cheesy. I just get a lot more use out of a 50% reduction in a chance to hit over a 5-20% increased chance for them to fail a saving throw. I am by no means a blaster so I do understand the value of saving throw penalties (Eloquence Bard for the win) and I can see the penalty's benefits, much like how disadvantage can save a lot of health in earlier and later levels (especially early on but still very much so later) saving throw penalties are good for increasing the odds of the attack hitting again and locking in a successful use of phantasmal force early on or getting bosses to blow Legendary Resistances at increased odds (just don't forget that boss monsters can still have advantage on saving throws; which still doubles their chance of success).
I can definitely see how Magic Stone is good for blasters, especially since I recall bludgeoning damage resistance only being to weapon attacks where magic stones are specifically spell attacks so... It can still hit pretty hard later on if I remember correctly; I just again have an addiction to abusing spell effects (Psychic Scream, Phantasmal Force, Feeblemind (which combos insanely well as a follow up to Psychic Scream or the like), etc; which again would see use from Mental Spike provided an ally does not burn their penalty first).
If anything this just makes me want to run a Lore Bard, Eloquence Bard, and Sorcerer Combo where the Lore Bard shuts out casters and other opponents, the Eloquence Bard uses a Magical Secrets spell to Mind Spike and Unsettling Words, and the Sorcerer adds a further DC increase of 5 to spells like Psychic Scream and the like to see what is basically a +7 to +21 Bonus to DC (if we count the saving throw penalties as DC bonuses instead in this). It just seems super cheesy, a 35 to 105% reduction in chance to succeed. Yes without Mind Spike it is 30 to 85% but that extra little sauce is always nice.
It think for me it is ultimately just the flat percent Reductions that helps me decide what I would prefer. If 1 to 4 is a flat 5 to 20% reduction and disadvantage is a relative 50% reduction then for a low success scenario like 35% success or less (provided you roll max) is better, but until success rates hit 35% or lower you will always get better or equivalent results from disadvantage.
If an opponent has to roll 13 or higher (40% success) then rolling a 4 on 1d4 is equivalent to disadvantage. Since rolling 13 or higher twice and rolling 17 or higher are both 20% chances, but as soon as they need 12 or lower disadvantage is always statistically better, even if it is to negate advantage.
If an opponent needs to roll 14 or higher though, then 1d4 penalty is better provided you roll max (otherwise disadvantage is still better)
If you roll average of 3 (2.5 rounded up) then 15 is the threshold of 1d4 being better always
If 2 that is 16
If 1 then 17
And those are the penalty thresholds where no matter what 1d4 penalty is better than disadvantage, otherwise disadvantage is and will always be a better effect.
Again, it is not entirely fair to compare a saving throw penalty and a general attack disadvantage since saving throws can range from the most detrimental things ever to just whether or not you take full damage, but in general even when factoring in advantage cancelling disadvantage disadvantage is usually far preferable.
Of course there are scenarios where if the DC is high enough 1d4 can make it impossible (if you have it so only attack rolls crit); those are a roll of 17 or higher needed at 4, 18 or higher needed for 3, 19 or higher needed for 2, and a natural 20 needed to pass for 1.
Sorry for the second essay, but I believe this is thorough enough to show why I believe what I do, but again 1d4 saving penalty is really good, just not nearly good enough in comparison to attack disadvantage to say VM is dogsh@t, especially when which is better is a matter of preference and disadvantages are significantly more likely to have an equivalent or greater impact than a 1d4 penalty to an immense extent. I also believe that this chance of effect is why Mind Spike is 1d6 to 4d6. Directly halving odds of success is more impactful than an average 2.5 penalty (75% of the time if you round down to 2, 70% of the time if you round up to 3) over twice as often. And as much as I would not quite call DnD 5e perfectly balanced; I can definitely see the devs balancing Mind Spike to Vicious Mockery by considering both the statistical chance of altering a result but also by considering how a saving throw is usually better than an attack roll (why it is 1d6 and not 1d8 as the difference in odds would suggest).
Oh yeah, and the inherent Subtlecast that VM can do but that is only really beneficial to creative players who can factor subtlecasting in, but VM is by no means a bad Cantrip unless you are either a Blaster who only values by big damage and ignores secondary effects or you do not really value how statistically powerful imposing disadvantage is even if just to cancel advantage. For every moment that Mind Spike gives you that crafty edge and ends an encounter early, Vicious Mockery saves your allies health possibly every turn, prevents making death saving throws, and even prevents death
And for 1d6 to 4d6 yeah; 1-4 average damage and 2 to 8 max damage each round adds up over the rounds, so does the easily 10 to 40+ damage every round you could end up saving an ally with attack disadvantages. The thing that makes Mind Spike a runner up for better is exclusively whether or not you are running and banking heavily on nasty saving throws; which is a lot more situational and comes much more down to your party comp and what you are fighting. It can be game breaking, Bardic Inspiration abilities bring DMs who play against their players (which is generally frowned upon) a lot of pain when a good Bard is at the table and one such ability is a 1d6 to 1d12 penalty to saving throws. Guidance is amazing with its 1d4 bonus (counting counterspell) if you are at a table with a DM who has you make important ability checks.
Also; the only thing that prevents VM is if the target is deaf or deafened, immunity to being charmed is not something that impacts VM. There are not too many enemies that are deaf from what I can recall, and counting how this is inherently subtlecast a target identifying that VM is a spell to begin with and trying to deafen themselves in some way is also improbable and borders on metagaming from the DM (which is far worse than player metagaming)
Sorry about the rambles, I just get carried away when I get to have fun talking about DnD mechanics
You can not convince me that Vicious mockery isn't the best spell. Dealing damage and causing a disadvantage by insulting somebody opens up the best RP moments period
Vicious mockery isnt funny, the joke is set up for you, it's like the knock knock joke of spells.
@@mikeockhurts904 no, that's magic stone or Shilali, this is more close to a pun.
This really happened to me.
DM: He failed his save against Vicious Mockery and took the 4 psychic damage. What do you say?
Me having not thought of something clever: Uh... "F*ck your father."
DM: The thug shouts "NOOOOOO!!!" and dies.
If it hits you can basically just say anything tbh, it's hilarious
"I also cast a minor illusion of a very unfriendly crab"
My bard killed a dragon with Vicious Mockery. Fun moment to DM
Honestly one should make their players say something first, then see if it affects the enemy
My DM ask me yo say something first, if it's really clever, he give me adventage, if it's dumb, disadvantage.
I love Guidance, it's basically: everyone in the party has +2 to all ability checks
My party has +5
@@ceazer6857 how? Advantage?
@@isaiahwilson8119 guidance can stack. 5 casters who all know guidance
@@ceazer6857 That doesn't work, since the same spell can't stack with itself;
"The effects of different spells add together while the durations of those spells overlap. The effects of the same spell cast multiple times don't combine, however. Instead, the most potent effect - such as the highest bonus - from those castings applies while their durations overlap, or the most recent effect applies if the castings are equally potent and their durations overlap.
For example, if two clerics cast bless (or guidance, in this case) on the same target, that character gains the spell's benefit only once; he or she doesn't get to roll two bonus dice."
-PHB p.205
@@ceazer6857 Actually it can't its the same spell so it should not do that. However it can combine with someone else casting enhance ability on the same target.
Imagine thinking being able to add a d4 to virtually every single ability check you or your party members will every make is bad.
Yeah, his reasoning was pretty spotty.
If you take guidance your imaging it constantly. The bards d6 + a d4 is an 5 average. That's a capped spark of genius right there.
Guidance is ranked the best cantrip in the entire game on every website I checked.
Thank the lords, I have an extra 1!
@@purpleisdebeste you will when it saves you
Vicious Mockery is one of my favourite cantrips for one reason....the style!
Small D&D Story:
In this world, to be an adventurer you needed a group and a license. We got our group together in, classically, the local tavern and set out to pass our Adventuring Licence exam which consisted of a small dungeon that we had to clear.
In the final room we came up against an animated suit of heavy plate armour and an animated greatword, both independent of each other. The suit of armour got rusted away, but not until I, the lowly 6HP Human Bard, was the only party member still conscious.
I couldn't roll high enough to cause physical damage to the Greatsword and, being the actor that I am, I had no cantrips or spells that could do damage other than Vicious Mockery.
After rolling a natural 20, I went on a tirade against the Greatsword, pointing out its flaws, it's knicks and dents and how it was abandoned here because it "wasn't good enough for a real adventure." I then shouted that it should be ashamed because it's "mother was a butter knife!"
The sword stopped at that. It contemplated what I had said. Although it could not speak, it looked almost sad...almost. It turned around, floated towards the nearest fire and threw itself in, melting to nothing.
TL:DR I insulted a floating Greatsword about his mother being a butter knife until it decided to kill itself.
I love D&D.
but you do not roll for vicious mockery...they do
@@ShiningDarknes That is news to me 😂 That's how we've been playing 😂
@@BansonOfficial yeah it has the target make a will save as opposed to you attacking. It is fine if that is how you have been playing, ultimately it boils down to the same thing really and at the end of the day RPG table tops are all about having fun so as long as a misread rule doesn't make a game not fun, it doesn't really matter.
The best game I've ever been in was almost purely roleplay with roll only occurring if you know what you want to do but can't describe it well enough.
>Adventuring License
Was this campaign set in 21st century Britain ?
@@timothymuscat1728 Sadly it wasn't, but we are all British 😂
*Bard used vicious mockery*
Bard: "your dad lesbian"
*goblin explodes*
Milan Marković that’s the joke
Milan Marković and bi’s pan’s and aro’s
Balse ward is great if you also know haste
@Milan Marković Blade ward, sorry
@Milan Marković No, it actually sucks when you use it that way because recharge abilities ALMOST NEVER deal piercing /ing or bludgeoning damage. BA spells makes it so the only other spell you can cast is a cantrip w/ 1a casting time.
I appreciate that everyone universally agrees that Vicious Mockery, if anything, is the best spell
For real. We're not all meta-gamers. Some of us actually play to have fun, and that's why spells like Vicious Mockery exist.
@@Turd_Rocket I mean, all movie action stars use vicious mockery. Why do you think attacks rarely hit?
@@Zerpderp0 For real. They rock it so hard, even explosions can't quite reach a true action hero. Not even when they walk away in slow motion.
@@Turd_Rocket that's what we in the business call a nat 20 on the Dex Saves for fireball
@@Zerpderp0 Haha! A great way to think about it. 😄 That happened with an elf barbarian in one of my games. She got fireballed and rolled a 20 for the save, a few city guards were incinerated though. The next turn was hers and her attack roll on the cultist sorceress was also a natural 20, which ended up killing her. Madness! I described it as the barbarian walking out of the explosion of flames and staring the cultist in the face just long enough to let it sink in (the player was kind of shy and would get bashful about RP), then with a savage battle cry hacking the top of the sorceress' head off at the jaw with her greatsword, the sorceress tried to put her hands up to deflect the blow, but those got sliced off as well. And she fell to the floor of the cistern amidst spurts of blood and sickly gurgles, as Rysha the barbarian elf stood over her slain foe, still steaming with heat from the fireball, her eyes burning with rage and feral triumph.
Logan: “Don’t plan for failure!”
Me: Dude, have you played D&D?
If your a warlock with 4 spells, you want to make those attacks rolls count, make sure they land, true strike
@Rubedo Alaberti because some creatures or enemies can take half damage when they fail a save or take no dmg when they succeed a save,
there are enemies certain campaign runs that can redirect attacks that they save. Of which why risk having your own attack redirected at you.
Spell save attacks are amazing in most situations , but are not always the the right answer
And lastly is dmg potential, some spell save spells fall short in comparison to attack roll spells in low levels at least
@@fluffball6142 good thinking but true strike can only be used for weapon attacks, not spell ones
@@camerontroscianiec5320 where does it say "weapon atttack" it says "Attack roll" . Read your spells before you try to correct someone
@@fluffball6142 There's actually a few videos where I've seen the "weapon attack" claimed, and I frankly have no clue where this idea has come from.
Far as it's usefulness. It's a touch silly to claim it as useless. Sure it will give a character overall less DPS in most situations. But for example. If you are a mage who is using some leveled spell that needs an attack roll instead of a save (Sometimes it's better to target an enemy's AC than their Dex save). Guaranteeing advantage on that roll can prevent oneself from "wasting" a slot on a miss.
Similarly, I have played with a ranger who picked it up with Magic Initiate feat (they chose druid for Mold Earth and Snare, and the DM let them add Truestrike because it fit the "wilderness hunter/sniper" idea the player had) and would use while they were doing ranger shit out ahead of the party, to guarantee that they could land hits on enemy scouts and such. Naturally not the best thing at high levels... but it was fun while that campaign lasted.
Yes vicious mockery is pathetic. However, when one of your players kills an enemy by saying "Updog." And it dies as it tries to say "What's up-". You're definitely going to rememeber that more than eldrich BEEEAAAAAARGH
Edit: remember
Is that a "Crap Guide to D&D" reference?
reMEMEber
@sum body it's not that. Vicious mockery does 1d4 + disadvantage
Frostbite(another cantrip) does 1d6 + disadvantage
@@sinnerthesinful552 Sure, but two things.
1. Psychic > Cold damage. Cold is one of the more resisted damages, psychic is one of the most.
2. Frostbite only gives disadvantage to weapon attack rolls, and VM is all attack rolls.
IMO a 1 point average difference isn't a big deal and VM wins out over all.
You should get a crit if the DM laughs.
"A d4 should never be rolled for anything besides Magic Missile, a thrown dagger..."
But Bane and Bless tho.
The Great Goblin Wizard Kazamaraz and tavern brawler/monk punches
And caltrops.
In my humble opinion, I think bless is the better of the two.
Cyclopian Flock But bless isn’t for ability checks only attacks and saving throws. Now if u were saying it’s better then resistance it definitely is (obviously lol). Hell even out of combat bless is amazing, if the whole party is about to make a saving throw or two just cast it on everyone and your good (bless is op lol).
Cyclopian Flock Wait I just realized, we’re u talking about how u think bless is better than bane? I feel stupid if so 😂
Bandit Guard: "Bastards are probably taking my cut of the loot."
Angel: *suddenly appears* "I AM THE ANGEL STEPHEN, SENT FROM AKU TO GIVE YOU THE MESSAGE OF THE ONE TRUE GOD!"
Meanwhile, around a corner.
Barbarian: "Are you sure you should be using an illusion to start a religion?"
Wizard: "I'm not starting a religion! He is! Now while he's having his epiphany we can walk in the front door!"
@Ela Pierce considering actual angels are terrifying and assuming the wizard knows what one looks like. I doubt the bandit cares that it's within a 5ft cube
Spare the dying is still perfect for doing what it says though: Sparing your enemies from dying. Saying it's not great for healing your party members is kinda beside the point IMO since that's not really what it's for.
Yeah, turning a potential murder rap into simple robbery-with-violence is a useful trick, and your opponents might return the favour one day.
Just make a medicine check
@@LilyAphelion a medicine check has a chance at failing though.
@@LilyAphelion Unskilled there's a 50% chance of failing that check. And depending on your DM, that might mean immediate death of someone.
its still perfect to stop a dying player from actually dying. sure, it costs you an action but you ensure that your parties healer wont die when they got knocked out by a crit again while you deal with the enemy (extra usefull if you got it as a part of your classchoice)
also
not every party has always healing potions on them, especially early on, ESPECIALLY ESPECIALLY if they dont get a herbalists kit to produce them during long rests/downtime.
it has its uses in "Shit, our healer is down!"-scenarios
Vicious mockery : bards can't learn Frost bite, WIS save is BY FAR less common than CON save in monster stat blocks
Guidance : works on initiative rolls !
Guidance in general is just freaking amazing.
@@jonathanshi9367 Guidance has a +2.5 average value to a roll, or succeeding 12.5% more often.
the 'works on initiative rolls' is really only applicable when you expect combat... and when you are visibly casting a spell, an already hostile creature might just initiate combat anyway, so... it may not be as useful. And if you attack first on a creature that can't see you anyway, loudly proclaiming you are there will not be a good thing to do. I would not allow it to work like that as a DM.
Don't forget psychic damage is resisted far less often than cold is.
Ya gotta touch somebody to use Guidance unless you're playing with UA Spirits Bard and/or Bilgewater's Wild Card Rogue at 9th level from D&D Beyond.
That might set off some mental alarm bells.
SO i'm playing a Warlock and my friend is playing an arcane trickster, and we keep using our mage hands to Greet and high five one another when we get good rolls xD hahahah
But his is invisible :| How do you know he's high fiving and not trolling you?
(+Leonardo Raele) They have the option to be invisible. If they want it can be visible. It’s just usually more useful invisible.
Dap me up
DM: "The Lich is close to death."
Tom: "How close if I may ask?"
DM: "2 HP, the attack from Samuel almost killed it."
Me: "I cast Vicious Mockery"
"you look like my mom, she died 20 years ago"
lich proceeds to burst into flammes
Rolls one for damage
@@Jakkgusa oof
"You're such an assless chap that I should be wearing you right now!"
The lich withers into dust.
@@Jakkgusa well fighting a lich....unless someone has royally fucked up should mean they are at least 5th more probably 11th level or higher....i.e. its 2/3d4 :P
and yes im always this fun
Aside from the roleplaying value of Vicious Mockery, saying it’s bad because “Frostbite is better” is dumb because Bard CANNOT LEARN frostbite. It will always have value in a Bard build.
Also, Guidance basically means your whole team has a 1d4 bonus to ALL ability checks.
Yeah it ain’t much, but remember to use it and your team will thank you, trust me!
If this guy was good he’d know True Strike is objectively (and I will fight to say it is objectively ) the most useless cantrip in 5e.
It is funny he says guidance is bad because in my play group we kinda banned it as adding a d4 to every single skill check is nuts. In the early levels it makes you proficient in every skill and the +2.5 on average is a ton for the dnd system. It pushes checks half a level down in difficulty. Also frostbite isn't better because it has a far worse saving throw.
10/10 comment
@@swiftdragonrider we rule that you can only use guidance if you anticipate the roll (e.g. "I'm gonna try to jump over the ravine" [Athletics] or "I wanna sneak past the guards" [Stealth]). Ability checks that just sorta happen (i.e. Perception, History, Nature, etc.) you can't add a d4, since you wouldn't know to cast Guidance for those. Makes it a bit less annoying, and kinda makes sense
@@CalculusPhysics with these rolls it is one of the best cantrips in the game. As a d4 is around a +2 in early levels it makes everyone in the party proficient in all skills.
Prestidigitation: You mean Level 0 Wish? (srs though this cantrip has saved the life of my entire party)
I burnt down a Druid Village with this cantrip... :) Tada!
May i create poison in my hand that is covering someones mouth whyle its asleep?
@@debreczeniarpad9956 No. You can make a harmless sensory effect (so like a squirt of bitter liquid) or make an illusion, but not poison.
@@debreczeniarpad9956 You can make poison taste amazing really. Like some sort of juice or whatever.
You can make a vial of Poison or poison needle with the handheld object feature
3:50 Y'all Paladins gotta watch where you Lay your Hands.
Lol
"Vicious Mockery" > "Frostbite"
Frostbite require a Con save, but Vicious Mockery a Wis save...
99% of all creatures have high Con, but many more creatures have low Wis (or at least lower than their Con)!
Also, if your DM like the joke they may give them disadv on the save, so be funny and creative!
Ehhhh like all spells they can be better or worse depending on your game or DM
@@emmanuel8679 I mean the difference between a d4 and a d6 is somewhat negligible so the save type can be important. Vicious Mockery is a fun spell at least.
Not to mention the incredibly important detail that it's a hard exclusive Cantrip and other than vicious mockery the /only/ damaging Cantrip bards get is Thunderclap, which is equally garbage in its own ways.
There are like 50 time as many monsters resistant/immune to cold as there are those r/i to psychic.
And while it is not _that_ significant, Vicious Mockery also doesn't require somatic components.
But of course, Vicious Mockery is only for bards, or magic initiates/pact of the tome-warlocks.
@@patathatapon Vicious mockery is not a bonus action
"Nobody uses defensive abilities anyways"
Shield spell: Am I a joke to you?
Absorb Elements spell: I am shocked and appalled.
@@VidGamer123 ikr
@@The3rdFist true, those defensive spells are pretty good, but they are also reactions, while resistence or blade ward are a whole action. But I also think that they are nice additions and can be pretty cool for roleplay
I feel like people who think defensive abilities are trash are those that don't give shit about their team. I literally saved few of our entire campaigns because I'm the gods damned cleric/tank/main support. Imagine tanking 4 enemies all at once while all your friends are dead, with the last other person being just 2 hp left with a 13 AC? I hate it when people don't appreciate supports smh
@@jerryalbus1492 ah, a man of true culture
Vicious Mockery is the worst damage cantrip in the game?!
What?!
Name one other spell in the game that deals damage for saying 'yo mama' jokes.
Have killed someone by calling someone shrimp dick in German with this spell
Words do hurt apparently
Power word kill?
@@LemonMoon It's one word. :^(
zombieteenager007 just imply it very heavily with one word
Guidance is busted. Everyone constantly has 1d4 outside of combat for every single skill check
For real, if you are someone who remembers to use it, everything gets a 1d4 bonus, what's not to like?
Side note: one of our players had it for a small two-session story and used it ALL THE TIME, and it saved our asses in those moments where we were just barely shy of succeeding
Absolutely. If anything guidance should be in top 5. It's fucking incredible. It's like he's rated it as if it'll be used in combat.
Last campaign I played as a druid, I would cast guidance on myself or any PC before they did any ability check. Including shit like jumping across a cavern. I would cast it one by one as they went to leap over the cavern.
Guidance has a vocal and somatic component and takes 6 seconds to cast, so if your DM is on top of things, you should never be able to use Guidance when:
1) You are trying to be quiet or stealthy in any way, so no stealth or slight of hand
2) You are trying to be deceiving or persuasive, because casting spells in conversation is generally a no-no. So no charisma checks
3) You are caught by surprise or making a passive check. The spell takes time and forethought to cast, so it wont help you spot the trap you're about to step on or the figure darting by your vision.
Guidance is great for when you need to make any kind of non-stealth, non-social check like intelligence for deciphering or medicine for stabilizing. But in any high-intrigue campaign or stealth/rogueish campaign it sees far less use.
@@thegreatestpepe Virtually none of that is true. Since when does Guidance take six seconds to cast? It's casting time is one action, meaning no longer than a few seconds at most like any other typical action.
1.) Guidance is easy for stealth. Why are you assuming that you're always in vocal distance of the person you're attempting to hide from? Say it's a bustling environment and I'm trying to blend with the crowd, or say I'm already a good distance away but need to get closer. These are common scenarios and Guidance works perfectly in both of them.
2.) Guidance is easy for charisma. Why are you assuming that I have to cast the spell right in front of their face? It may only last a minute, but that can be plenty of time for the 18 - 20 charisma bard to get something of value from someone as it can easily be cast in advance in any number of circumstances.
3.) Guidance is easy for traps, and even for some passive checks. Do you or anyone else at your table never anticipate traps? If I'm already anticipating and spotting for the presence of traps (and who the fuck doesn't?), then I can literally have this spell active at all times. I re-cast it every time it ends. A high-wisdom PC with this spell active can and will render any door-based traps obsolete, since those are some of the most common items that PCs search.
As a DM I could never just casually gimp a spell like this. It all ultimately comes down to player creativity and I can easily see this spell being used in every type of situation. It doesn't really require much imagination.
Spare the Dying comes packaged with grave clerics, has 30ft. range, can be used as a bonus action & when grave clerics heal unconscious people they get max health. Good for at least one cleric class.
The Sea Of Thy Soul i have attacked a fellow pc who had 1hp just to heal them after with max roll
@@mort0303 the only correct use of a Grave Cleric 😂
but spare the dying doesn't heal them, so they just stabilize as normal, even as a grave cleric
@@Brokensnowball the range is nice though
@@Brokensnowball I play a grave cleric and it's good for situations in difficult boss fights where two of your party members are downed. You use Healing Word to bring one back up, but as per RAW, if you cast a spell as a bonus action, the only other spell you can use on your turn has to be a cantrip. So you stabilize the other party member.
Idea: Create a male character with children and convince your DM to give you vicious mockery to kill people from cringe from your dad jokes
Shillelagh over eldritch blast? Bold move, Cotton
They're part of different spell lists - eldritch blast is basically locked to Warlock (unless feats) and Shillelagh is in both druid and wizard spell lists, making it slightly easier to get your hands on (again, unless feats).
Eldritch Blast is literally an OP cantrip, but it's OP because Warlock.
@@TheOneMiffy92 Shillelagh is a wizard spell? Are you sure about that?
@@JF-di9yh well its not a cantrip you get it with first level spell slots i believe but taking that over better spells like shocking grasp magic missle etc its kinda bad
@@giosmack49 Shillelagh is a druid cantrip and only a druid cantrip. Nature clerics can take it too with a class feature but it is not innately on any other spell list nor is it a leveled spell
Frankly, EB isn't a cantrip. It's a class feature that WotC wanted to pretend you have a serious choice not to take.
(I say this as someone who mostly plays warlocks with no EB. It's intentionally handicapping yourself for barely any gain and a bunch of your class features [invocations] directly refer to EB when they should just say "damaging cantrip" or something.)
The dislikes come from many angry bards.
Dude, the fun of vicious mockery is making up insults for your foes and actually hurting their feelings with it.
Ashley s or you could reflavor yourself as a bard who practices the art of puns and viscous mockery could just be really bad puns and they take crindge damage
Our bard does his very best to come up with appropriate insults for any foe, and it is actually so much fun
You can use Shakespearean insult generators or just quote lines from Monty Python.
Anase Skyrider but it’s also fun to tell an Ankheg „No wonder you’re underground all day, I wouldn’t want for anyone to see this face either“
It actually mechanically makes up for it as well since it does physic damage and is only a verbal component
The best use of minor illusion: Make a large box. Metal Gear your way around, 1 round at a time
You cant move it tho?
Recast each round
Too bad A: it can’t move. B: verbal components to recast
You can always make some movement mechanism
@@terrariangamer5335 Not with a MINOR illusion. You can rule it like that, but it is not in the spell description.
No one ever remembers to cast guidance? That’s practically half of what my group’s cleric does outside of combat!
My College of Spirits bard gets it with a range of 60 ft. It's our party's most used spell.
Same here lol
The kids I DM for frequently use minor illusion to create ‘walls’ and confuse enemies
They can create small effects that make them seem much more powerful, like a fake magic weapons overlaying their real ones.
Or making it look like any gaps in their armor are somewhere they aren't
Have a halfling sorcerer that used minor illusion while fleeing down a hallway to project a wall behind him as he ran. The one guy chasing comes around the corner, saw the wall and stopped... shouted, "WHAT THE FUCK?!" and stared at it for a second, then turned around and ran back the way he came. The second guy coming to investigate was smart enough to actually inspect it, but that was one round and a full dash action too late.
We were playing an evil campaign.
Once we murdered a bunch of guys (they attacked us first) and there was only an halfling left, he was quite scared an couldn't move because of it.
He wasn't really wise either.
I casted minor illusion in a sphere around his head of such dimension and structure that it didn't matter how he moved it: it would always be in direct contact with his pupils, than made it so that anywhere he looked he could only see his friends' bloodied, chopped off heads piled, forming a single spherical wall around him, he couldn't see anything else, no matter what he tried, even closing his eyes was useless because of the structure of the illusion, then we started whispering in his ears and stuff, he stabbed himself to death with his own sword, screaming and crying as he descended into madness.
Lol, it depends on your DM. Our DM can be annoying sometimes because he plays fully optimally, meaning minor illusion would easily be perception checked. However, having intelligent enemies can make combat much more fun.
@@Row. holy shit too much.
Well no, two floating hands can't fire a bow. No bow with 10 pounds of draw strength is going to do any damage.
A crossbow on the other hand...
Crossbow still requires two wizards.
A sling on the other hand...
Well with so many other hands they can spread the weight among themselves qnd thus fire the bow (badum-tsh)
Now see, you can get two wizards to coordinate.
But. My friends.
You know that Twinned Spell can be used on Mage Hand, right?
@@burgscratch6301, twinned spell allows you to choose 2 targets rather than just 1, and has been clarified by WotC to NOT make 2 objects, as with mage hand and flame sphere. Creative, though.
@@carsonrush3352 Darn.
Runesmith: Says druidcraft is exclusive to druids
Me: *laughs in nature cleric*
Me: Laughs in Magic Initiative.
Me: Laughs in tomelock
Cries in "nature cleric has features that center around it using melee for some reason so you should pick up shillelagh instead I guess?"
Laughs in lore bard
Laughs in warlock Pact of the Tome.
Minor illusion: cast it to make a dragon in front of a farther background, but distort the depth perception on it so that the 5ft illusion looks like an enormous dragon coming right at the target.
Or you could create a noise so loud it ruptures eardrums and causes internal bleeding because SCIENCE
I've seen a player who uses it to create a barrel around him and duck inside, giving him full cover, as far as the enemy knows, leading most decently intelligent creatures to attack other targets instead.
@@jebkerman5422 or if you crouch down you can create a five foot by five foot cube of invisibility for you or anyone else to hide in, it will annoy any dm but its fun because it works within spell parameters and is completely broken.
@@the_duck_watching_you9153 yeah but how usefull is invisibility, if it requires you to not change your position which is already known to the enemy. Of course the enemy doesn't know that you are still there though.
@@jebkerman5422 that is fair I usually use it when sneaking up on people, slowly moving up on them and trying to be quiet
Bigby's Hand is actually master hand
don't forget maximilians earthen grasp
@@mentallychallengedpokemon57 Dirty Hand
Vicious Mockery and Frostbite are actually more comparable than you think. Vicious Mockery does less damage with a damage type that is rarely resisted/immune (Psychic), targets a rare saving throw (wisdom), and gives disadvantage on 'any' attack roll, while Frostbite does more damage with a damage type that is more commonly resisted/immune (cold), targets a more common saving throw (constitution), and gives disadvantage on any 'weapon' based attack roll.
This means that both see their uses against different enemy types, but vicious mockery is more commonly successful due to its rare save and damage type and frostbite is most successfully used against less beefy, weapon wielding combatants.
Pretty much Every construct is immune to psychic damage but ik what you mean
Wisdom is hardly a rare save.
Wisdom and con are the most common saving throws
At least in the games I've played
Cheap Tactics Yeah, allow me to better phrase what he meant: Wisdom is a stat your opponent is far less likely to have a high modifier for, compared to Constitution
@@thesouphour8426 that's not true, I just went through all the constructs from the mm, volo's, and mordenkainen's and there's 9 immune to psychic, 1 resistant to psychic, and 18 that are neither resistant nor immune
Me and my party were trapped in a prison after we were wrongfully accused of treason. All the characters were super depressed since we were going to be sent to the gallows the next morning. I used prestidigitation on our bowls of cold porridge while we were eating so we can at least have good tasting food. Our DM wasn’t a jerk and he let me use one action to keep all of our food warm. We managed to escape the next day but I thought it made the situation just a bit better. It’s not like we knew we were escaping, we sneaked our during a riot a NPC started.
Flavouring random things is just funny. "I shoot him with a bacon flavoured arrow." is just a funnier sentence than "I shoot him with an arrow." DnD should always be fun. Plus maybe that is just a thing with me, but when my character gets dirty, like after crawling trough the sewers, I myself am digusted, having an insta-clean ability just makes me way more comfortable.
"Wrongfully accused"? Yeah, buddy, you an' every other murderous cut-throat in here!
Prestidigitation is my favourite spell. It can keep you clean and warm, it can confuse and delight the uneducated, and it can remove bloodstains from clothing and surfaces before the Neverwinter CIS turn up.
To be fair, Spare the Dying is really useful on a Grave Domain Cleric. Being able to be 30 feet away and cast it as a bonus action is really helpful.
I find it funny that our party warlock will proclaim "Guidance!" whenever anyone she can see/reach uses a skill. She's on it. XD
everytime there's a character with guidance in my table that happens lol. But how does she have guidance as a warlock?
@@kzeriar25 pact of the tome maybe?
@@ratscnaccs7046 yeah that's what I thought
Honestly, mood. If you remember to use it Guidance can be broken lol
@@strionic770 you can even use it on yourself. You basically buff up all your skill checks. Also that 1d4 difference could decide whether you sneak past a dangerous guard or not
Hey come on-
You literally cause physical harm to your enemies by insulting them hard enough.
How can you not love that??
Atom Sorcerer psychic not physical
Flavor over effectiveness
I am currently playing in two campains. In one, if you kill an enemie with vicious mockery, their head explodes or their brain gets squished due to the psychis demage. In the other one, enemies commit suicide as the insults hurts them that deeply
It is also probably better then frostbite as frostbite is a con save and mockery is a wisdom save.
@@swiftdragonrider Exactly this. That difference alone gives mockery approx a 10 to 15% higher chance to hit, in early levels even 20%. Dont forget that successfully applying the secondary effect of hitting is most important when using either one!
Mockery also affects ANY attack roll, frostbite only a weapon attack making it even more situational. Another advantage of Mockery is its psychic damage, frostbite is cold dmg. Mockery is V only, compared to V,S of Frostbite.
All of that for 1 damage on a hit. An average of ~0.6 dpr... great.
One of many examples (and not even close to the most egregious ones) where this video is so incredibly uninformed that it hurts.
You completely lost me after saying guidance is one of the most useless spells.
agreed, though to be fair IN combat it is pretty terrible... OUT of combat it's amazing and BEFORE combat however you can use it to give someone extra initiative... which can be AWESOME!!!
I mean... dnd isnt just combat, guidance is in all sessions i’ve played in, the most used SPELL, not just cantrip, and i’ve never seen anyone forget that they have the cantrip in their spell list...
@@manuelyausaz2976 Dare I say, I _overuse_ it to the point where I can't imagine having a character without it. I'm playing Artificer on my next campaign and I was glad to see that Guidance is part of the class's cantrip list. The number of times I rolled a 2 but then had a 4 on Guidance and made it past 10 with my bonuses, thus resulting in a decent roll, is too high!
Issue is, like most spells with verbal components, it’s obvious when you are using it. Using it in a social situation? Probably automatic disadvantage as unlike many charm spells it doesn’t mentally dominate and they harden their resolve. Picking a lock under the gaze of a watchman? Have him roll a perception check against the check. Using it to enhance an initiative check? Might work in a surprise round but starting that mantra might start battle immediately. In many situations, Guideance is a extra step that requires delay.
One of the reasons why magic is broken is that GMs hand wave very important limiters on magic, which is what makes subtle metamagic incredibly useful or terrible on sorcerers depending on the GM. Magic is basically akin to a bearded guy calling on a word of power or an anime character going through a short mantra, casting spells should by large be fairly obvious if it has verbal and/or somatic components, which most people in a high fantasy setting would have some awareness of.
That being said, it’s still pretty useful in a lot of situations, just I don’t believe it’s that fantastic either.
Guidance + inspiration = good
So one time I as the wizard was doing some scouting(Yes I was the most stealthy person in the party) and when I came back I decided to be a bit creative and use minor illusion to create 3d map of the area I saw.
I have many problems with the disparagement of Spare the Dying, mostly because it assumes ideal conditions and mistakes.
1) No one can predict when they'll be in a situation where they're out of spell slots, potions, healer's kits, etc. A person is not stupid for getting into that situation, nor is it helpful to insult them for it. You take Spare the Dying so they always have the option. Unlike spell slots, healer's kits, or potions, Spare the Dying never runs out.
2) "Planning for Failure" is a poor objection for anything. You could use the same logic to say that home-owners should never insure their houses against fire, flood, or accident. Failure is inevitable. Having contingencies in place to deal with unexpected problems is not defeatism, it's smart planning.
3) Saying players shouldn't invest in Spare the Dying because potions/healer's kits/healing spells exist is like saying the Light cantrip is useless because torches can be used. Torches run out, do not work underwater, etc. Taking a magical spell that can do it for you, with perfect success rates, is a completely valid choice in character creation/advancement.
4) Sometimes the party might want to keep NPCs alive. Not just fallen enemies, but non-hostile ones. Quest givers, PC loved ones, friendly folk, or even randos. No one is going to expect the PCs to use their precious healing spells, potions, or healer's kit charges on non-player characters.
5) Low level games are highly dangerous to player characters. More so, because characters who CAN heal have, as yet, very few opportunities to do so. A 1st level Cleric has exactly _TWO_ spell slots to get her through the whole adventuring day. Those healing spells need to compete with other spells the Cleric might want to cast, as well, making them all the more precious. And NO ONE is likely to have potions, unless the DM is being very generous. That Spare the Dying cantrip is by no means flashy, but it's the best way to keep a PC from biting it before they even really started their adventure.
#4 is so accurate... In the campaign I play in as a cleric, we were level 2 and had a quest to explore this cave and clear out the goblins. We found the goblins' leader and two hostages they had taken. When we started combat the goblins killed one of the hostages right off. The only reason he survived was my cleric running by and hitting him with Spare the Dying in the middle of combat until we finished off the enemies and she had a chance to heal him with a potion because she was out of spell slots. (We were level 2 at the time.) Saving *that* NPC made the other NPC we saved trust us even more, and she ended up joining our party and now is the caretaker of our small village we've founded. Plus I was able to use my cleric's big girl spells for heals on the party, keeping everyone up and alive.
Agreed with everything on this comment
I agree with the part of not having potions, in most games you rarely have a potion unless A. Your rich, B. You have a herbalism kit, or C. Your DM was generous enough to give you one as a treasure or reward for completing a quest.
Finally voice of reason!
Not even to mention that HEALING POTIONS ARE ALMOST ALWAYS FUCKING EXPENSIVE. I don't know why, but every time I have ever seen health potions for sale I don't have much more than the starting gold and a few copper and they are anywhere from 20-30 gold. Unless you are a dragon killing machine with a foolproof method to kill them without you taking damage, having something to protect you from death saving throws is almost always welcome. Not to mention the other glaring problem with what he said about it.
He mentioned the Healer feat. An optional rule. An optional rule that is only given at 1st level if your DM is generous, and otherwise requires one of the 4 Ability Score Improvements you get in the whole fucking game just to use a piece of equipment that functions like this cantrip, but not guaranteed. An optional rule that he admitted to saying that Novice Caster could be in the exact same fucking spot. Unless he thinks that we dont need ability score improvements for the first 8 levels (which we do, unless we are taking a feat for special purposes), he is essentially a Sorceror of gatekeeping. "Why not just take (insert really expensive thing here) instead of (insert cheap, easy to use thing)? It is sooo much better."
Also, agreed with #3. like half of the spells in this game are redundant in one way or another, in addition to also being created in other forms too. Why use Goodberry? Just pack enough rations. Why use levitate? Just use ropes and/or ladders. Why bother with Wish when you can just be a Wizard and have all of the spells?
In defense of Blade Ward: Eldritch Knights gain the ability to make one weapon attack after casting a cantrip. So you can resist 3 damage types for an entire combat while still dealing damage
ALso good if the enemy fighter/archer/what have you is focussing on the wizard. He can be resistant while the rest of the party kills the bastard.
Blade Ward is also a beast for Boss Monsters who have Legendary Actions.
@@SeanUlam BBEG: I channel all my power into that swing of my deadly sword of killing death
cleric: I'm about to ruin this man's whole career.
Oh shit, I guess that is also a case for True Strike in a way? Actually not, just looked it up. You get one attack as a bonus action. So you could be attacking 2-4 times on one turn as a Fighter. Or you could do Green flame blade/booming blade.
You can use it with metamagic too but you need to use sorcery points
Wow. Shitting on Guidance? Bold move bro lol
One of my favorite uses of prestidigitation was when my party and i entered hades and made us do a saving throw, everyone but me succeded so i became a larva. Anyways, as a larva i was supposed to make everyones life worse without harming them, so for the rest of the session i hurled many insults and made plenty of riddles (as a larva i knew everywhere of hades, so i was the only source of information for my party), then when they annoysd me back or failed a riddle i would cast prestidigitation to soil their clothes and make the smell lile rotten eggs. Now that i think about it, i shouldn't of been able to cast the spell, but the spell made this session much more fun. At the end if the session my party disintegrated me, that was my favorite session ever.
"Spare the dying is crap, every heal spell is better" ok show me the cantrip that restores HP, I'll wait.
Lay on Hands
John Siddons, LoH isn’t a cantrip; it’s a class ability. It also cannot he used at will. It’s a finite resource and once all uses have been expended, they only come back after a long rest (much like spell slots for all but warlocks).
@@briangronberg6507 my mistake. You are right. Since it is an automatic ability, and doesnt take a spell slot I thought it was a cantrip.
John Siddons, no worries. I confuse things like that all the time!
Bloodbridge?
Spare the Dying is a lot more useful for Grave Domain clerics, who get to cast it as a bonus action and with a range of 30 ft. It's uses are still a bit limited, but there's nothing wrong with a contingency plan.
I really like it as a flavor spell, especially in a war heavy campaign where the medic can stabilize allied soldiers for free
I have a grave domain cleric in the works who's going to function like a combat medic. If someone goes down spare the dying and then beeline to them to slap them up with some healing and then go back to smashing faces in.
I should point out that Vicious Mockery affects ALL attacks including spells, while Frostbite is limited to Weapon attacks. So it's not THAT bad.
And deals psychic damage. Very few creatures have resistance or immunity to that
@@WaveShock007 And its a wis save instead of Con
And the damage avg difference is 1.
3:38 to be fair, I don't think there are any cantrips that actually heal in 5e, so it's sort of an "actually heal" vs "cast at will" thing
Warlocks be like "no eldritch blast, dislike"
Haha yeah... I'm multi classing into warlocks and taking chill touch instead of eldritch blast because it fits better lol
Yeah. I dig the idea of being a Cantrip Caster.
You can create a variety of effects with spells like Presdigitation, Thaumaturgy and Druid Craft. You can come up with a variety of illusions with Minor Illusion (an Illusion Cantrip so good that you won't bother with any other Illusion spells). You can have so much fun with Mage Hand. You can bend the 4 elements with Shape Water, Mold Earth, Control Flames and Gust. You can wound your foes with a string of insults.
Then there is Eldritch Blast which sends out blasts of forceful energy which can be improved with Warlock invocations. Also very few creatures are immune/resistant to Force damage. Best pick a backup damage Cantrip just in case the DM is feeling cruel.
Frostbite is worse than vicious mockery because it is a con save instead of wis. Also psychic damage is better
Debatable, since you throw a construct their way and they take no damage. I agree on you with the constitution part though, isnt it like the most common saving throw call?
Also vicious mockery is bard exclusive and bards can't learn frostbite. Also also, the difference between the two is really negligible, and is even pretty likely to not matter at all since its a slightly higher die and not slightly higher damage, making the extra stuff that mockery has over frost (better damage type, better saving throw, better disadvantage) all the more significant
also Frostbite can't roast your enemies to death
@@elsquisheeone That is another incredibly important factor
@@theenduriangamer5509 That's a fun way to argue. The OP makes a general statement which is to be interpreted over the amalgam of monster statistics and you respond with a narrow specific case which is outside the intent of the OP's argument. We can all be pedants. For example, "just throw a Yeti [or any other cold immune monster] at the caster with Frostbite and they take no damage." To dissuade the OP one might discuss the number of monsters immune to psychic versus cold or the relative strength of Con vs. Wis saving throws between all published monsters (which can also be pretty situational. I know many GMs who don't use published monsters or they do with different statistics to keep it fresh). 11/10 for being an indefatigable troll (or woefully ignorant but still coming off as a troll). You have as they say, "made me mad bro" and that entitles you to a false internet victory.
I disagree with Guidance and your thoughts on 1D4 being useless other than daggers or magic missile. Bless/Bane, OP 1st level spell
Level 20 fighter laughs maniacally as they get a d4 on everyone single roll they do
Walking into an arena, my warlock used minor illusion to play an intro theme.
Guidance is actually great for any non combat roll you have a turn to prepare for. At lower levels it's about as good at having proficiency or expertise. It's basically infinite bardic inspiration just slow and with a smaller bonus. You can spam it like the help action.
Guidance the rouge before they sneak off, pick a lock, or disarm a trap. Guidance the face before an important conversation. Guidance people before they have to make a jump or climb. Guidance before investigating a room. Guidance to help a knowledge roll. Did you know that initiative is an ability check? Guidance to go first in combat.
Runesmith: No one remembers to cast guidance.
My players: I beg to differ!
Guidance is actually one of the best cantrips
"Don't plan for failure" I consider this to be terrible advice
Here's a better one: don't expect failure, but always plan for it.
@@THEPELADOMASTER Fortune always favors the prepared.
Don't optimize for failure.
@@Kreadus005 thank you! There's a huge difference between being prepared for shit to go wrong and actually investing in that possibility. Invest in good prospects, not against bad ones
I think spare the dying is good because sometimes people run out of spell slots and it's good to at least have something that can save your stupid sorcerer who got downed every round of combat because they insisted on using True Strike
One of the players in my group uses guidance every single time anybody makes an ability check. If you remember to use it, it can really help
I do this
The only downside to guidance is having a verbal component. Otherwise you can literally guide yourself for deception checks, persuasion, intimidation, perception, insight and any physical or knowledge skill. Unless you only have dungeon crawls and even do traps and puzzle on a combat round timer, guidance is awesome.
I ran a game where the whole party just followed our wizard with a passive perception of 17, as he groped everything in the dungeon with mage hand, nothing got past this guy.
DMs have to realize passive perception does not pick up everything, just because you have a dude with a 24 passive does not mean he will notice everything. It is best to tell the players at the outset how you use passive perception and investigation. For instence if you don't want your players to instantly notice every trap in a dungeon just because one of them has high passive, you can just rule that some traps are more subtle than others (like a pressured tile or a trapped door) and they may have to actively search for traps. Of course if you don't really care if your party has the god of perception with them and will never be surprised that is fine too.
If a trap is a perception check DC of 15, the trap should be a passive perception check of 25. Thats how passive perception works. Things are easier to find if you're actively searching.
Groping everything in a dungeon shouldn't set off all traps either. Some traps are pressure sensitive, some traps are light sensitive, some traps require almost 200 lbs of pressure, etc.
Runesmith: I like creativity and don't focus on flat damage
Also Runesmith: ViCiOuS mOcKeRy Is BaD bEcAuSe It DoEs 1D4 gUys!
Someone stole all his d4's, that's why he's so salty about em.
Also (Hi several months late here) psychic damage is WAY less commonly resisted than cold
And there are more monsters with high constitution than high wisdom.
Vicious mockery also isnt really creative, the joke always just boils down to "ha ha he said funny thing" vicious mockery isnt creative because the joke is set up for you. It's like the knock knock joke of spells.
@@mikeockhurts904 I am sorry you are too uncreative to utilize the full potential of the spell. Like using presidigitation to create sparkles only. Vicious mockery is an amazing way to flavor something and can even create a character around it as a premise. Are you aware of Court Jesters? Not those fools you see in those funny clothes at faires. Those are amateurs. A true Court Jester was a well educated and intelligent person who, in court, was legally allowed to commit lesse majeste and mock the king. The jester was the only person in court honest enough and can be counted upon to speak the truth while others lie and scheme. What better way to use vicious mockery than to build a powerful Bard whose employed by the King and is an intelligent and charismatic jester whose scathing words literally kills his enemies. Also a jester was usually a messenger and fighter, and was used to draw out hotheaded soldiers and knights during a battle. So yeah, get more creative you fool.
I made a bard that specialized in illusions, and the DM was so mad at me. I would fool almost every creature I encountered, and with proficiency in deception, intimidation, persuasion, and performance, I was unstoppable.Thank you, prestidigitation.
I had the same build and died to a fireball making a building fall on the party
Me and the rogue died instantly, having the least hp and being lvl 4.
I made another spell caster that specialize in damage and dexterity saving throws.
Minor illusion some fog over your Caltrops.
Minor illusion your paladin on fire
Minor illusion a ballista to pull dragon aggro
Minor illusion a bribe _wine, gems, alchemic ingredients_
Minor illusion an exposed spiked pit for area denial.
Or pull a solid snake and put a nonsuspiscous illusory box in the same space as you or a party memeber.
Balistae are too big for minor illusion.
Oh these are good.
The minor illusion is not mobile and the size of a box. You might be thinking of silent image.
@@AndrusPr8 Size of a 5ft cube at maximum. Could still probably manage a lot of these for the small windows of time they'd be useful.
I have one nitpick about this video....... ALWAYS PREPARE FOR FAILURE!!!
@Lamune Baba I applaud your reference
Remind yourself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.
@@Peptuck Hah References!
That's even dumber than regular planning! Morty!
prepare for it, dont plan for it
here me out... secret mage handshake
Secret mage rock paper scissors.
@@trondordoesstuff that happens during the secret mage handshake
OMFG. I REALLY WANNA STEAL THIS. HELL, FUCKING. YEAH!
In a game I played in, our Gnomish Spellcaster used mage hand to literally FLY since he was less than 10 pounds.
“I’d pelt them with eggs.”
“Two mages can combine their powers and shoot a floating bow.”
Legit want to do both of these.
Two mages could only shoot a bow with a 10 pound (minus the weight of the bow) draw weight. You'd need 10 or 12 Wizards to shoot a reasonable hunting bow and possibly as many as 36 to shoot a full powered war bow.
@@xthebumpx totally worth it. 36 level 1 wizards are basically only worth a longbow anyway.
Hopefully you don't have a DM that knows anything about archery then....10 pounds of draw weight is only enough for a children's practice bow...maybe, if they are malnourished.
Lmao yeah plus you couldn’t really aim with that.
However, if you happen to get say a flintlock pistol...
😏
@@Tooterbooter Gun mage.
Guidance is great its no cost to have +1d4 on 90% of checks.
if your casters remember to cast it which they never do
if you remember it
@@ShiningDarknes name a spell that is good if you forget to cast it
@@TheGruspastej Wish. Dms hate it so you are better off not casting it.
@@ShiningDarknes The spell itself is not good when you forget to cast it, though. Same goes for *literally* all other spells, abilities, weapons and items in D&D - fuck, in real life, too. Forgot to use something? Well shit, guess it's not useful
"Two Mages can combine their power and fire a floating bow" What lame ass bow has less than 10 pounds of pull? 30 pounds of pull is considered a light bow RL
That and Mage Hand specifically cannot be used to attack. Firing Bow = Attack.
20 pounds actually
Since its two mage hands
@@thesatelliteslickers907
They're pulling against each other, not together. It would still be 10 pounds.
@@cameronmccoy5051 um, yeah, thats uh, thats how a bow works, you uh, pull the string and grip 'Apart' not 'towards you at the same time' so, yee
It would be 20 lbs of pull because there are two hands.
Once I used minor illusion to create a fake double to sit outside an NPC’s window and act like I was watching them. After they realized it was an illusion, I simply switched places with the illusion. I don’t think they were expecting an illusion to punch them in the face that hard.
Minor illusion cannot create creatures
@@danielluc4433 No, but it can create objects. Objects such as the hooded cloak my character wore, making a convincing enough silhouette.
...also why are you posting on a year old comment just to play rules lawyer?
Vicious Mockery: Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can literally kill you.
And also do the best damage type in the game when it comes to not being resisted at all
Also does better disadvantage and does not need line of sight, so you can kill someone who is hiding from you with it
@@shadedergu9921 no that would be force
@@e4ehco21 force has exceptions though, such as Bear Totem Barbarians.
Though Psychic having trouble against most constructs (not all) kinda outweighs that.
You are correct about force being better though. But there are still cases where you would probably prefer to use Psychic (bear totem barbarians and a few other things).
Basically, yeah I was wrong but psychic is definitely second place.
@@shadedergu9921 alright fair also what would 3rd place be ? Radiant ?
@@e4ehco21 hrm, depends.
If resistance alone I would say Radiant
If we branched into secondary effects then I would move Necrotic and Radiant to about tied and have Force and Psychic tied cause Psychic is absolutely brutal when secondary effects are considered (probably why I made the initial mistake), so force for hitting almost everything for full damage and psychic for hitting a bit less and doing less damage but having some of the most broken effects (Psychic Scream, Phantasmal Force if the player or DM is intelligent about using it, etc).
Resistance and immunities alone though, I would say radiant is third
Vicious Mockery is bad mechanically, but boy is it fun.
It's not even that bad mechanically. The reason is because it's a Bard only cantrip, and if you look at the Bard cantrip list, they don't get many that are useful in a fight.
@@jhinpotion9230 not only that but on average its more likely to have viscous mockery be effective over frostbite due to resistances/immunities and con vs wis saves. Plus, frostbite is only weapon attacks while viscous mockery is all attack rolls.
Shouting out “Your mother was a hampster, and your father smelt of elderberries!” while casting Vicious Mockery is usually one of the first things I do with the spell. I like to prepare a list of insults when playing with a bard that uses it.
My favorite moment in d&d is when I called a dragon a “giant fecking blueberry”
Funnily enough, Bless was just what I needed for my Rogue to beat the DC 25 lock during early level 1-5 adventuring.
You mean Guidance?
@@Awoken0 it's a d4 either way
DeltaJugg Bless doesn’t apply on ability checks. Only attack rolls and saving throws
@@Mega2chan oh right, my bad.
My mage once used Prestidigitation to "soil" an unreadable set of words scratched into stone. It caused the letters to stand out in high relief, allowing her to clearly see it provided a magic way through the wall. She used the cantrip again to erase all traces after she and her party had climbed through the escape rout. She uses the clean/soil aspect of the cantrip every...single...game. Sometimes multiple times per game.
Easily the best RP cantrip. Your character is always dry, food/drink always tastes good and is warmed/cooled to desired temp. I've kept my party warm in cold temps by heating their clothes, instantly dried when climbing out of a pool, cleared a room with the smell of skunk, provided myself with a scented mask while moving through a sewer, and on and on.
Guidance is like the best cantrip in the whole game. It's free, it gives you bonus to everything except combat roles and there is no risk in using it.
Yeah just say to your DM "I'm pretty much constantly casting guidance on myself..." boom free d4 on all your checks. It (on average) cancels out half the debuff of disadvantage!
@@MrRtkwe Depends on DM. I have tried casting it constantly, but also tried not being allowed to cast it, but our party always use it whenever we can have any time to prepare for any activity that requires checks.
I agree but he framed the list as combat-specific in which case it isn't useful. It's more about the combat framing, otherwise this is so useful its probably broken.
I balance guidance and resistance by making them quick-play spells so they don’t have to waste a turn rolling a d4
And I make true strike a level 1 spell and a quick play spell
I could all level 1 quick play spells if balancing requires it
Eh, if you're casting it all the time, which have verbal and somatic components, then every single minute you're making a commotion that others can notice, so hey, no stealth and people know you're doing magic. Also just the weird looks you get from allies when they just hear you constantly cast guidance every single minute while talking to them or walking past them.
I really dislike players treating it as a passive ability that's always on. It's just the assumption that people can do so without consequence, even in high danger situations.
Was playing Ravnica. A group of goblins threw a bomb at us. I, a little Level 1 goblin Wizard, just straight up threw it back at them with Mage Hand. The DM didn't even make me roll to catch it. That's how good Mage Hand is.
Roll an intelligence check dc 2 to see if you know how to catch
I spam Guidance like it's my job. Come to think about it, it is my job. And I'd switch Cure Wounds for Healing Word for the Druid Magic Initiate. But yeah, otherwise, that's a pretty sweet list. Keep it up!
Creative uses for Minor Illusion:
- Turn pebbles into coins and bribe NPC's.
- Cover your body in fake wounds to fake your death.
- Start a bar fight by making a sound saying something insulting.
- Scare someone away by making a sleeping bear appear.
- Haunt people by constantly making them hear voices.
@@_ion04 but prestidigitation can make a nonmagical trinket or an illusory image that can fit in your hand and that lasts until the end of your next turn. As long as they pocket it within 6 (12?) seconds, you should be fine.
It specifically says that physical interaction reveals it to be an illusion because stuff can pass through it, not that it vanishes on touch. It's basically like a hologram, so one use is to create scenery you can hide behind or inside. Like a box or a big rock.
Thank you for your service
@@_ion04 Slip the "coin" straight into their pocket.
For the coin thing, I just found a way to create "infinite" money. If you're a school of transmutation wizard, you can use Stone shape to makes pebbles looks more like coins, and then use Minor alchemy which allows you to: "perform a special alchemical procedure on one object composed entirely of wood, stone (but not a gemstone), iron, copper, or silver, transforming it into a different one of those materials." Allowing you to turn those stone coins into silver coins for an hour. Which is more than enough to spend them. And the best part is, there will be no trace of magic on the "silver coins". So no matter how hard the shopkeeper examines them, they'll always be "legitimate". And so, they won't be able to tell why an hour later, all of the coins are turned into stone.
I underestimated prestidigitation until I had it. Turned my DnD campaign into a goddamn anime with constant sparkles and rose petals.
Oh my god yes!
@Jett Lucas Hayes Arcane Dickbag: I use invisible mage hand to smack the guard on the ass
I have used Dancing Lights every time my party has gone anywhere since I got it. It's a surprisingly useful and fun cantrip. My character juggles them when he's bored.
Wait what? Guidance on a 'bad cantrip' list? Are we talking about the same spell?
OK, I'll give you that it's kinda boring, but I would almost rate it as the best cantrip, even above the damage ones.
Exactly. Guidance is an average of +2.5 to every skill check made out of combat. As if everyone in the cleric’s presence just gets some level of the bard’s Jack of All Trades feature to everything
It's good if and only if you remember to use it. It might also be useless in situations that require quick reactions.
@@goncalocarneiro3043 True, but it's just a buff to anything that you or your party actively want to do
@@goncalocarneiro3043 trust me it comes up a lot. Most skill checks are not made in a combat scenario, so there is almost always time to cast it.
What I mean is in checks like Perception that are meant to notice something that pops up suddenly and for a short time, in those one cannot hope to cast Guidance. Some checks made for activities might consider Guidance "cheating".
One of my players (an eldritch knight) uses blade ward and then runs into the middle of as many opponents as possible. Its annoyingly quite effective when he's taking for example 6 attacks. I dislike the spell but i have grudgingly accepted that both that cantrip and his approach to just not getting hurt can work. He just wants to tank, he's doing it.
Also, once an Eldritch Knight reaches level 7, they can make an attack as a Bonus Action if they cast a cantrip as an action. So they're still doing _some_ damage per turn.
There are like a dozen spells that are trash for most classes, but amazing for eldrich knights, and I love them all.
J
i really like that tasha's cauldron actually makes spells like blade ward and true strike actually slightly viable with the bladesinging subclass for wizards, and the ability to switch out cantrips on a long rest with wizards makes experimenting with different spells safe
What if your enemy is strong against ice?
Vicious Mockery: 1
Frost Bite: 0
What if your enemy is strong against psychic?
Vicious mockery: 1
Frostbite: 2
What if the enemy has good con stats?
Vicious Mockery: 2
Frostbite: 2
What if you wanna kill a monster by saying okay boomer
Vicious mockery: 3
Frostbite: 2
What if your opponent is deaf?
Vicious Mockery: 3
Frostbite: 3
What if your enemy is an impressionable, psyonic, dire gopher?
Vicious Mockery: 4
Frostbite: 4
Power word kill: 2
Obligatory yelling at you for having a different opinion. I personally love Guidance. Does it fail even on a bad roll? Yes. Does it become redundant on a good roll? Yes. But it's the kind of spell you'll wanna spam to make extra sure you fail checks as little as possible.
*Sees Message in the top 5*
*Laughs in level 1 Great Old One warlock*
The warlock in my campaign remembers to cast guidance on skill checks for himself and allies all the time and it has really helped them. Like you said for spare the dying. Don't plan for failure. Not taking it because you think you'll never remember to use it is planning for failure.
"Guidance is bad"
Roll 20 players declaring "auto-guidance" : :^)
Okay since I don't think I have seen anyone mention one of the best combat uses of Minor Illusion is giving yourself Advantage or one enemy attack Disadvantage. You make a box around yourself. You can see through it since you know it is an illusion and enemies can't since they need to either make a check or interact with the illusion.
So, now you're Snake.
Not a snake but your self in an illosanary box and the pepepol chasing you have to pause the check to realize it an illusion or Interact with it. Most likely just run on by the box. More we if you did a stealth check to remain quit in your imaginary I mean illsonary box...
"Don't plan for failure"
I'm guessing you've never bought insurance.
Well that's not as much planing for failure. More like plan for a certainty with an uncertain timing. But yeah sort of
@@luiseescartin8026 Failure is a certainty with uncertain timing, yes.
Forgive me if I’m wrong but Isn’t it illegal to not have insurance?
@@GameSpider-db7ly not in merica land
@@hinamiravenroot7162 yes is America land. You get fined every time you file taxes without having insurance. It's a federal law, and the penalty for breaking it is a fine. Because it's against the law to not have it. Therefore fine. Because is law. Law break if have not. In America USA town.
At lower levels fairly reilalbly giving enemies disadvantage is huge, seeing as most enemies don't have high wisdom. Frost bite has slightly better damage but its not going to go off a lot of the time because enemies often have higher constitution.
I have to disagree on Spare the Dying. You won't always have spell slots or healing items available, and Medicine checks have a chance of failing. Spare the dying guarantees that you stabilize the person
Whenever someone goes down in a stressful encounter, my group often panics that they might die. An unconcious party member is super scary especially if you can't heal them and they have 2 failed saves which happens WAY too much to us. Spare the dying saves their life.
Healer’s kit has 10 uses and coasts 5gp
Spare the dying has infinite uses and costs nothing
@@dandereninja4750 But replace a cantrip slot with 5gp is cheap enough
I agree, OP. This whole "just buy a healer's kit" totally disregards what you're saying. Read it again everyone. Not everyone is going to have a healer's kit. Not... everyone... is going to have a healer's kit.
The point of saying that is to show why spare the dying can be useful in certain situations.
Because if you don't have a healer's kit, your options are limited.
It's comical to me that this guy in the video knocks the "creative" power of some people when his entire series, from what I can tell, is about min/maxing combat encounters and ignoring all other imaginative aspects of D&D.
@@Turd_Rocket " Read it again everyone. Not everyone is going to have a healer's kit. Not... everyone... is going to have a healer's kit."
They cost 5 gold. Everyone can quite easily get a healers kit.
Everyone always shits on True Strike for typical attacks but nobody ever seems to give attention to three scenarios where it's pretty advantageous:
1) You have a particular attack you NEED to land to avoid wasting it.
2) The enemy isn't attackable yet. They could be coming around the corner.
3) Overcoming disadvantage.
You could, instead:
1) Flank for advantage on both turns, shove to knock them prone so everyone gets advantage, cast faerie fire to get advantage on multiple opponents, or do one of the million other things that give advantage on more than just a single attack
2) hold your attack action until the enemy is visible so that you can attack as a reaction
3) see 1
Yeah.... If you're not able to see the enemy yet, then why are you casting True Strike? Are you that super paranoid of every corner housing an enemy that you keep it permanently on?
You can't cast True Strike if you don't have line of sight to a target within 30 feet.
Or you can just use your Familiar spell, and essentially have infinite advantage on your attacks.
I found one of the coolest spells combo,get to level 2 wizard/sorcerer, use alter self, make yourself small and weigh less than 10lbs, then use mage hand lift yourself up and voila, unlimited flying till 1 hour
If for a hour that is still limited