One thing to note about guidance, if you have someone in your party with that cantrip, i promise you it will be the spell you use the most throughout the entire game bar none purely due to the skill checks
@@alexanderrose1556Really? From what I've seen on the internet I thought murder hobo was the most popular playstyle to players and the bane of all DMs and role players.
@@Songfugel its very good for the early game, late game it really falls off as enemies attack 1-3 times and vicious mockery only affects one enemy, i wish i got to use it more
@@hgrenm The damage is too for how unreliable it is for an action. At lvl 1-2 when it might be useful, enemies are so weak a low chance disadvantage does nothing compared to 2d6+3-5 dam ~90% hit change weapon attack you could use instead that one shots enemies it hits. Any enemy that could benefit from a disadvantage, will be almost immune to it due to high saves and multiple attacks. Not to mention many enemies at lvl 2 are completely immune to psychic damage After lvl 3, losing and action for a wisdow save effect, you want either an AoE soft CC or a single target hard CC instead. Unlike in PnP, spellslots are very easy to come by either by leveling up/respeccing or the unlimited long rests, and spells have so much better and reliable CC. Even just throwing water is 10x better use of an action than mockery As for damage cantrips, Ray of Frost does up to 2x 2d8 damage at lvl 2 (wet+twinned) and at lvl 10 up to 12d8+40 damage with wet+twin+ability bonus item+elemental bonus item, split to two targets
In my last D&D campaign I played in, I played a half elf bard. Whenever I cast the spell, I'd wait to come up with an insult until I knew if the spell succeeded or failed. If it succeeded, I'd come up with the sickest burn I could think of. If it failed, I'd come up with the most pathetic insult I could think of. It was lots of fun.
Don't forget that Bone Chill doesn't have a projectile so you can use it when your other spells can't find a path, and unlike its counterpart Sacred Flame it doesn't have the horrific save for 0 damage downside
Just don't let the extra abilities fool you into thinking its the go to cantrip to use against undead. Some types are resistant or entirely immune to Necrotic damage.
I need to constantly remind myself to examine enemies when I can. I have pumped an absurd amount of overall action points into attacks that give me the dreaded 0, instead of taking 5 seconds to check. 🤣
@@ActivelyVacantThis wasn't intended, they have recently fixed most of the accidentally immune to necrotic to the intended poison. Sadly, the damage is still trash since it can't be easily boosted skyhigh like lightning grasp and ice ray, and even for its anti-healing properties the arrows of illmater that are available from act1 does the job better 😅
I mean it does 0 damage if it misses, which is the same as Sacred Flame. All cantrips will either do the damage they do or they will do 0 damage. Some are based on an attack roll and some are based on a saving throw, but they're all all or nothing
@@Setzer I think they didn't realize the half damage on fail is from "Potent Cantrip" that you can get at lvl 6 in some pure caster classes, and that they didn't start with that.
True shit. Advantage just mean you get the best of two rolls. But why spend a turn setting that up if you could just use both turns for attacks? Sure 2 50% attacks have lower odds of hitting than 1 75% attack. But I’d rather take the risk and potentially have 2 instances of damage delt instead of just 1. It should’ve been implemented similarly to hunters mark or hex. Both of which are amazing, but would be quite ass if they costed an action instead of a bonus action.
@@shiranuishogunsaga8451there’s still no reason to use it on eldritch knight. You’re spending an action (two potential attacks), to get advantage on an attack using your bonus action. You’re rolling the same number of attack dice for half the potential damage.
Ray of Frost is S tier for me. It doesn't just reduce speed and create icy surfaces, it also puts out fires and its damage is doubled against wet targets. I always have it on any character who can take it because it is so versatile. If it freezes a surface it can cause an enemy to fall prone which is great. But the movement speed isn't just 10 feet in that case its more like 25 feet movement speed reduction.
There are also a LOT of pieces of gear in the game that increase the effectiveness of cold damage. Making an ice mage is a lot of fun and very powerful. I agree that Ray of frost is S tier. It's probably my favorite cantrip in the game after vicious mockery
@@kaijiuiloop5872that's every cantrip, firebolt does 1 more damage on average, once you have the ice staff it's equal or better since it's more consistent
Minor illusion can help you set up very good combat initiation situations, especially with cloud of daggers. Cast the illusion to bundle people up, then cast cloud, they take damage, are surprised for first turn of combat so you get a free turn and they stay inside the cloud, they’ll take damage again on their turn ending surprise, and then when they can finally act on the following turn they’ve take cloud damage 3x times, not to mention they’ve been bundled together for other Aoe effects in the meantime. For this, I’m think A tier honestly
I had a good time in the goblin camp by picklocking the spider pit, mage handing it open, and then minor illusioning the spiders into conflict with Dror Ragzlin's party. It wasn't that useful, as Ragzlin is level five and can basically double attack either of the spiders to death in one round, but the spiders can take out one or two level one or two enemies before going down, and it was fun to get to use a bunch of cantrips I don't normally bother with and watch the enemies kill each other for me.
Mage hand's real value is outside of combat. Turning levers to turn off traps. Throwing an item on a trapped stand away. That kind of a thing. It's great for that.
TIP for Eldritch Blast: One of my favorite builds for end game is 2 Warlock/10 Wizard (Evocation). Take the appropriate Warlock Invocation that gives you Cha to Damage, level 10 Evocation Wizard will also add Intelligence to Evocation spells. So you'll have 3 rays of 1d10 + Intelligence + Charisma, and with items you can probably get one of your stats added again.
Yes, although that isn’t too hard. You can dump STR and split Dex and Con. Spoilers below: Alternatively you could dump CON and wear the end game armor from the House of Hope and get your COM boosted through that, bypassing any stat investment. You might want to respec lay game if that’s your goal, because it might be hard to play the whole game with low CON. If you are against respecs (like I have been on my playthroughs) you can still make it work with a low CON through careful strategy.
2 Warlock / 10 Sorc is also a very common build in BG3 called Sorlock. Can use EB for cantrip spam while still having access to more than 3 spells a day... and can still upcast spells to lvl 6. Both use Charisma for their casting stat and you also get Con proficiency when taking Sorc level 1. Usually how it goes in-game is you go Sorc for the first 5 levels to get 3rd level spells, then go 2 in Warlock for the EB buffing invocations, before going back to Sorc levels.
I did it too but you lose the acceleration or dual spell that is really op for a full caster and a lot of other resources. And finally you won't up too much the damage with the extra +4 on Int. Finally I preffer , 2 Warlock + 2 Wizard Evocation ( 2 wizard spell slots + your Int bonus, and Sculpt Evocation spells to protect allies ) + 2 Cleric of Storm ( Chanel Divinity that maximize the Electric damage and another allie with Guideance + Resistance and Create Water/Sanctuary ) + 6 Draconic Sorcerer of Electricy or Fire ( add +Cha to your elemental damage and 6 Sorcerer Points and +3 AC ). Feat : 2 weapons. Markoheshkir and Lighting staff + Elemental Amulete it will upgrade the EldritchBlast damage.
For Vicious Mockery - Band of the Mystic Scoundrel can be found early in act 3 and it lets you use this cantrip as a bonus action; extremely good for melee bards and warlocks
being able to cast hypnotic pattern, hold person/monster, dissonant whispers, tasha's laughter, and otto's dance as a BONUS ACTION has been such a boon
Risky ring and Vicious Mockery are for the Ascendant Vampire Astarion RogueBardWarlock !! It's amazing for a vampire to use any Enchantment ( command, charm, sleep, hold,.etc) or Ilusion spell ( Invisibility, hiptnoitic or fear ) as a bonus action. I recommend to use the Helmet of Grit too, so you'll have 3 bonus Actions.
I don't think you need to be a melee bard. Ranged attacks count as weapon attacks and should proc the band, and bards are pretty good at using bows/crossbows
Mage hand can fly to a lever and activate it by itself. It doesn't need to actually throw something at it. This is very useful to e.g. open a certain lava valve during a big fight near the end of Act 1 without having to have a character standing near / moving towards it whenever the lava needs to be replenished.
There are few extra to the ray of frost: 1. It can extingish flames. 2. there is a whole set of items that benefits on frost damage and having cantrip to trigger its effects is amazing
I didn't recognize how huge 10 feet of movement was because it's not typically a significant amount in D&D, and you almost never encounter burning surfaces in D&D but they're *everywhere* in BG3, so my tabletop experience definitely colored my choices negatively in this game.
Good decision by Larian to change the name of' Chill Touch' which is neither a touch spell or a cold-based spell (it is actually a ranged necrotic spell). Beautifully detailed vid. I can always get something from CVGs videos, despite an absurd amount of time spent on the game. for example, the vid got me thinking why have I never used 'Minor Illusion' to distract the bear Volo is talking to in the grove to turn it around and remove its vision cone around Volo, so you get a little window of opportunity to get behind Volo and steal a nice ring from him. I'll also have to test its effect to steal the Idol of Silvanus. I have resolved to use Minor Illusion more, when I have the cantrip. I also want to start using this cantrip to cluster enemies in a group for an AOE spell - a good alternative for when you run out of void bulbs to use. There probably aren't many players who are not sleeping on SOMETHING that could give them an edge, so this is a recommended video for players whether they have 1 hr in the game or 1,000 hrs. I do love CVGs thoroughness in including a cantrips value both early and later in the game and even pointing out that using the Friends spell works a little differently in Tactician mode.
Ray of frost can clean fire surfaces and have double damage on wet enemies plus it has element of control, it should be on pair with fireball at least imho.
Plus if you have the ring that immediately creates the ice surface, you can basically automatically prone anyone hit by your ray of frost. Add to that the extra cantrip damage item stacking... I've hit for over 120dmg with my rays of frost before. Not only that but I've twinned them with sorcerer.
One positive thing about Sacred Flame is that it doesn't require a direct line of sight, so you can actually put it to good use in messy situations and elevations.
I'd still rather dash if I'm in bad positioning than waste an action being in bad position for both this turn and next turn and *also* likely do no damage this turn anyway. Way too enemies have high CON to bother with Sacred Flame, imo. The only situation I would chance it is if the enemy was very low health and coming up soon in initiative in order to prevent them from getting another turn before a different party member had a chance to finish them.
@@QuesoCookies True, however, it's mostly on Shadowheart at this stage who is a Buff Tank, so you're only going to use it very rarely and Radiant is the 2nd least resisted damage type and con penalties are fairly easy to dish out, especially with hex and some items. Im not saying it is the greatest, but it does have its uses and hits a lot more than some other cantrips.
@@OldManMoko 1d8 is not good damage, it’s average, and considering how often enemies have decent dexterity and pretty high proficiency in it, it’s pretty likely it’ll fail at least half the time.
This might be an unintended interaction, but there's actually a fantastic use for Dancing Lights that bumps it up multiple tiers in my opinion: you can use it to block vent traps! I always bring Komira's Locket to the Hag's lair and it makes navigating the gas so much easier.
There’s a series of jumps you can do to avoid all the traps, you just want feather fall. So a scroll of feather fall or a few potions. Even with 8 strength.
One cool thing about Shocking Grasp is that it triggers the Storm Sorcerer's Heart of the Storm, so you deal extra damage each time you cast it. Definitely a mandatory cantrip if you play thay class-subclass combo
I get mage hand as a bonus action due to an item. The fact that you can drop endless potions without costing actions and use the mage hand as bonus heals/grandes for 10 turns is underrated. Not to mention the fact that it can set up a fight area by moving barrels/grease bottles around before you commit. Tons of utility even if not ideal with its action point cost.
@@michaelleue7594 It's a boss reward from Act 2. They are called the "Hr'a'cknir Bracers" which you get after surviving a Gythyanki ambush on the West Side of the map, towards the road to Baldur's Gate. It gives both the spell Telekenesis as a spell and mage hand as a bonus spell. The boss name is "Ch'r'ai Tska'an", she and a few others ambush you as you approach the edge of the map if you are being hunted by the Gythyanki for the relic (don't know if it works unless you follow Lae'Zel storyline but I did). Location: Reithwin Town, Act 2. The way point "Road to Baldur's Gate" is just West of the bridged pathway where she attacks you from. If you find the Raithwin Town waypoint, you can travel directly West using the main road that runs straight through the center of town and you will find the ambush point/Baldur's waypoint right at the end.
mage hand is underrated for out of combat utility, it can pull levers fly and throw things. Early on there was a chest I couldn't jump to so I had mage hand fly over there and throw the chest my way.
@Fridabina it can pull levers you can't see. Pretty sure in dnd you need line of sight, but in BG3 it's an independent flying creature. I couldn't figure out how to get into the creche building but there's a hallway almost entirely blocked by rubble, mage hand could fly in and open the door from the inside.
Dancing Lights can block a vent, for some reason, making it useful for some traps. Bladeward is great for that specific Abjuration Wizard spec with Cleric 1/Sorcerer 1/ Wizard tanking. you pop it and run around, provoking attacks so they'll kill themselves on your Armor of Agathys
A very, VERY niche use for dancing lights is if your Tav has the passive trait from the Zaith'isk that allows you to use illithid powers as bonus actions, you get to use concentrated blast without a spell slot wasted. Also, one thing not mentioned but Arcane Tricksters get a unique Mage Hand that's actually really good. You can still only cast it once per short rest but its invisible up until you take an action with it and doesn't go away in 10 turns so even in combat you can sneak it up to say an archer with a vantage point and shove them off their tower
As others have pointed out, Vicious Mockery is better in the game's later stages, because casting it becomes a bonus action. Actually, it is one of the best, since the damage difference between the cantrips, except for eldritch blast, doesn't make a difference in how many turns you need to kill an enemy.
Nevermind the fact that at later stages of the game you really don't need to use cantrips in any case (outside of Eldritch Blast Warlocks, naturally) due to having more spell slots.
@@RJWhitmore Yeah, most combat cantrips don't make much difference. Vicious Mockery, however, is an exception, for it imposes a disadvantage to the enemy's attack roll, as a 'bonus action'.
Produce Flame has a feature that a lot of people do not talk about, perhaps even know about. When a melee character has this cast on their hand, every time they crit they are capable of producing a double crit. The weapon crit and the cantrip crit as well as setting the creature ablaze. I've chunked huge damage off enemies, that don't just get one shot, from the double crit. My melee users that can cast this don't leave camp without it cast.
I can understand about dancing lights being placed at D since it does suck up your concentration slot for an effect that can be reproduced by two other cantrips as well as other more mundane equipment. However it does have some good synergy with Concentrated Blast. Allowing you to start pretty much each combat with that ability prepped for use. Its not like its the only spell that can do that but it is one of the easiest concentration cantrips to use since it offers 10 turns rather then the 2 a lot of other cantrip's offer and doesn't need to be aimed at a target like say friends. I would say Mage hand is better then C since it allows your character to effectively get a healing bot for an entire combat. Dropping potions at your feet is free so aside from the initial action cost you have the potential for 10 rounds of healing you or your allies. in a pinch it can chuck things at enemies as well. Just drop some javelins or a few of the millions of daggers you find in the game to attack with it rather then use its horrible punch attack. Ray of frost is so much an S tier spell. I won't rehash what others have said but will add that it works well with mage hand since water jugs are easy to get. Have your mage hand throw them at opponents to get them wet and freeze them with your ray of frost for double damage.
Ooh, I love this. I was wondering why water jugs were everywhere and was just not bothering with the throw mechanics almost at all, but this might make me change my mind.
Dancing lights is heavily nerfed from D&D. In the tebletopp game you can create up to four motes of light that move at will, or one more powerful one. You can change their colour and shape, and the fact that it moves basically makes it the self carrying torches for the whole party cantrip. It's still concentration so it's a contender with light, but the trade off makes me see them with roughly the same frequency as a DM, probably favoring dancing lights a little. In Bg3 I think just making the light source able to move and follow you like mage hand would be perfect, don't know why they chose not to make it like that.
The reason for uselessness of light spells in bg3 is that it does not happen at night and there is no day and night cycle. Also, for some reason, all dungeons, basements, and even Underdark are perfectly lit. I am not complaining, it makes the game more playable and shows the quality of design and graphics. But at the same time, it makes certain spells or cantrips not so useful that would otherwise be life-saving.
They could at least let you recast it for free while concentrating on it in the vein of Moonbeam or Call Lightning. Except when you recast, it'd be a bonus action.
Dancing Lights is also just really flavorful and charming as a spell in D&D, whereas Light is just... light. It's also annoying that darkness and obscurity are hard elements to play correctly in D&D because it's hard to imagine not seeing things or remembering that you can't or that you need light sources in order to fight well, but that is not the case in a video game where everything is rendered and the benefits or detriments of vision are programmed in. Like, it's hard to remember you have dancing lights or light up and are therefore a beacon for everyone around to see clearly, so your attempt to sneak around should fail horrendously, but you can literally see the light in the game and know it's there and what consequences it has. It was a perfect opportunity for the lighting mechanics of D&D to actually see some good use, but they just didn't. The dungeons are lit, everyone has dark vision, and the gameplay only takes place during the daytime. Very disappointing.
Bladeward is very fun on an eldritch knight. The class becomes very tanky and at lv 7 you can doe a melee attack after casting a spell. So for an eldritch knight i think it might be a tier higher than for all the other classes. I do think you need to put in some effort to make it shine
mage hand is actually quite useful outside of combat, it can get through small holes so you can see whats on the other side and in some instance it can go through small hole to pull lever or push button to unlock door, and in grymforge where you have the lever puzzle where you normally have to leave people behind to operate levers, instead of leaving people behind, just use a mage hand to pull the levers.
@@Johnny-rj9onIt deserves at least an A tier for sure. Although Larian really butchered Arcane Trickster's mage hand. Now there is almost no reason to play the subclass.
@@evrimenustun9548 i tried that spec not long ago, it says the hand is invisible, but I found it working just as the normal one, so after a couple of hrs I just changed class
@@DoffyDogg It's supposed to be able to pickpocket, pick locks and carry items due to having higher str than regular mage hand. Hopefully Larian will implement all of these later on so that Arcane Tricksters can return to their glorious state in 5e.
You don't actually have to leave anyone behind in the grymforge lever puzzles. You can just shoot the levers to use them. I just used Asterion to shoot it w arrows or Wyll to Eldritch blast them.
Mage Hand is great to cast before tough battles, you can drop flashbombs or healing potions as a free action for it to toss. It can also burn enemy actions or AoO reactions to protect your team. Plus it can reach some chests that are tucked away up high that would be annoying to reach and shove them for you. It's at least B-tier for the sheer versatility, only held back by the short rest limitation.
Imagine a Cantrip that well Can Trip!! (pun intended) Frost Bolt is easily S tier. Let's Compare to Flame bolt. In BG3 making stuff wet is more useful than the Burning. Cold is resisted less by enemies in my experience so far (balanced difficulty). Testing shows they would walk more likely through an ice field than a fire field. Also any control aspect like slow at range beats damage over time especially when you trying to prevent your squishies from getting Melee-ed. Also a case for Vicious Mockery (I'm a Bard proponent!) The versatility and sheer amount of lines recorded easily gives this S+! it's teaching you the art of insults lol! Good Guide CVG as usual!
One thing to note with dancing lights is that, outside of combat, it can remotely activate traps which require stepping on-top of to activate, and also block vents if placed on-top. Outside of that, it still really sucks though.
Friends became available shortly after I started playing EA, and was initially almost a must have for the Face of the party. Larian nerfed it, which I subsequently learned brought it into alignment with 5e, and I haven't used it since. I should probably get over my disappointment. As usual, well produced, and useful.
@@benkelly7182 When you use it, the target may get upset, hense "run away". Just don't use it on anyone when you want to stick around, or care what their attitude is toward you.
It's still much better than in 5e since you don't get the luxury to just "run away" in regular Dnd most of the times. They also won't forget about the spell since they know you cast it.
Firebolt can be enhanced like Eldritch blast, in bg3. There is a necklace of elemental augmentation that is basically agonizing blast for fire, cold, acid, and lightning cantrips.
The problem is 3d10+5 is less than 3d10+15. Because Agonizing blast is added to each ray, not just once. AND can be used to trigger on hit damage spells like Hex / Hunters Mark more times than Firebolt can. EB will always beat Firebolt. But for not Eldritch Blast builds, yes that necklace is quite good, and makes elemental cantrips substantially better than say.. Bone Chill.
I would like to say thank you for making these videos. There is plenty of Spell ranking videos out there but most people just sit on the tiermaker website and don't show off the spells or niche uses of it in game. I hope people will find your videos more often.
If you want guidance but dont want to bring shart or re-class anyone you can find a necklace with the cantrip at a Harper Stache in act 1, just near the entrance of the Grove. Just look it up on youtube but its in a guard tower, on a skeleton by a campfire.
Friends is definitely S tier, even on Tactician. I think people really overstate the "dangers" of using it, because it's functionally a free Eagle's Splendor you can use for Advantage on /every/ Charisma check against an NPC, and the only downside is that you need to clear out before the spell wears off the target so they don't accuse you of a crime. It's the equivalent of having an on-demand Charm Person or Eagle's Splendor without using a spell slot, and is fantastic for your PC that might not always have someone (like Shadowheart) to toss an Eagle's Splendor on them. Used correctly, even on tactician, you will NEVER have NPCs go hostile from you using it. It's 2nd-circle power as a Cantrip and IMO is absolutely S tier. The single best out of combat cantrip.
Yeah, this is one thing that having played D&D before negatively affected my experience in BG3. My DMs are all too happy to create crazy consequences for charms, so I was hesitant to ever use them in the game, but, actually, they're just overpowered win buttons with no downsides in BG3. It's actually one of the areas that really disappoints me about the game. The interpersonal consequences of bad behavior in the game is either getting away with it scot-free or getting into deadly combat with no middle ground. I get that'd be pretty much impossible to program every possible scenario, but a little more attention to social dynamics would have been nice.
No way. Tiefling camp all turned on me even Halsin. It's dumb. Clear out before effect wears off seldom is an option. Like also in the underdark unless you want to just cheese the game and immediately port out to another waypoint. Screw that. Friends goes in the dumpster.
@@leonardceres9061 Then you're using it wrong. It is straight up free advantage for CHA checks. I use it constantly on Tactician+Ironman and I've never had a problem. No need to teleport away or use any cheese. You just need to not be near the NPC when it wears off.
Mage hand is S tier if you usually prepare to fight. You can throw 10 grenades/water bottles/haste/control which is huge especially in long fights. I often spend an action for throwing something anyway and with mage hand this is free. I planned to play tempest lightning sorcerer with mage hand and water bottles. But I gave up on this idea because the game is easy and it's much funnier to fight as it is without preparation.
@@keeganbate8935 with all the game mechanics there's exceptionally low chance that this situation happens if you won't intentionally create opportunity to it.
@@keeganbate8935 dropping items on the ground is free so you don't have to throw everything on the ground at once it does work best if the initiative is together though.
Druids get Guidance. And either Ray of Frost is too low, or Firebolt is too high. I would say it's better than Firebolt for multiple reasons. Neither is as good as Eldritch Blast though. The ability to split the spell puts it above all other damage cantrips by far. Otherwise, I would say your tier list is spot on.
If you can prepare, mage hand is incredible. Drop a few healing pots/fire bombs in a high spot and you basically have artillery on call. Also, it can fit through small gaps so it makes an excellent scout, or block a hallway.
I like Blade ward, it’s incredible if you have item synergies that turn it on for free like with mass healing word, couple it with warding bond with your tank character and you’re almost unstoppable really early game.
Exactly, it's so much better in Bg3 compared to 5e. Not only is it upgraded to a 2 turn effect but a full on wizard tank can do some absurd things with it. It absolutely deserves a higher tier than acid splash which is the shittiest dmg cantrip in the game.
The effect is great, but the cantrip itself is still terrible. I would even say such items make it worse as a cantrip because why use it, if you can heal with bonus action in order to give it to everyone in your party.
@@michasokoowski6651 Try Hellriders pride gloves plus whispering promise ring, which gives all 3 of your party members blade word plus bless by using mass healing word as only a level 2 spell slot and all this as a bonus action. You get these two items near the beginning of the game and the combo is so good that you could easily use it for the entirety of the campaign. Yeah blade ward is terrible if used as your main action and benefitting only one part member, but with the right items and spells you become practically invincible.
@@michasokoowski6651 Because a tank build deals dmg by not taking any in the first place. Warlock 2/ Abjuration Wizard X was already a popular build in regular DND and since Blade Ward lasts 2 turns in BG3, it's even better in the game. The plan is to max out your Arcane Wards prefight, casting Armor of Shadows on yourself thanks to Warlock 2 giving you the eldritch invocation for it. Then you just combine Armor of Agathys + Fire Shield + Hellish Rebuke + Blade Ward and you will literally kill people by triggering nonstop opportunity attacks. The effect is obviously moot if you have a cleric that can cast Warding Bond on you but not all party comps will have a cleric or they just wanna cast it on someone that really needs the protection. Blade Ward makes you a self contained wizard tank. Healing is a pointless argument because any 5e vet knows healing is a waste of an action unless you're playing a life cleric or can cast Healing Ward on a downed player.
@@evrimenustun9548 Any healing caster does will work with these gloves, so if you pair them with any item that would give you healing you can still use your turn accordingly while still getting benefit of blade ward. Also with these gloves using bonus actions to heal solely in order to apply this buff to multiple people without need of using an action is pretty good. As i said, blade ward is a really great effect, but cantrip is pretty meh, especially that you have a better source of it.
I hope you take this as a compliment. Your voice is nice to have on in the background. It's just nice to have around even if I'm not focusing on the video
Vicious mockery works with the ring that lets you cast enchantment spells as a bonus action after making a weapon attack. It then becomes a nice little bit of bonus damage and debuff without taking your action.
6:47 "cantrips can do some damage, but they will never be the most damaging"... 10 sorc/2 warlock with agonizing+repelling blast, haste, 24 cha, potent robe (+cha bonus to spell dmg), the +2 dmg ring combo and Kereska's Favour (Lightning) from Markoheshkir and you're (realistically) looking at close to 200dmg per round just from Eldritch Blast, that additionally pushes mobs over half the map and cripples a target with up to minus 7 to attack rolls (Coruscation Ring caps at 7)... bonus points if you have Hex up on the mob... extra 9d6 dmg. Or go the extra brutal route with 2warlock/3rogue-thief/2fighter/5sorc for 15 rays of Eldritch Blast in one round... for a theoretical maximum of 2430 damage if everything max damage crits against a vulnerable target that is hexed. If you have any other cantrips in S-Tier (except maybe Guidance), then Eldritch Blast deserves its own God Tier. Yes, it's that much better than all other cantrips and any warlock that doesn't pick this cantrip should seriously think about switching classes. :) There is a reason some builds just revolve around this cantrip.
I find Blade Ward pretty useful - but only when it gets auto-applied through healing. I think there are two sets of gauntlets in the game that will do this. Using it as an action in combat ... yeah... not so much. I usually don't use most of them at all unless my characters are out of spell-slots or if it would be stupid to waste a spell-slot that round because a cantrip will do - like for killing an enemy who is down to three or four HP or to set off a smokepowder trap I've prepared or something like that.
Thanks for the video, I'd agree with most of your list with the exception of Dancing light. IMO that isn't a combat spell, it's a spell I use a LOT just out in the world to help see in the dark. If your character doesn't have dark vision this spell helps a lot. I've never even thought of using it in combat.
Mage Hand can come in clutch when you need to pull levers and even distract people. Plus throw can be coupled with grenades, which makes the mage hand a mini catapult.
@@CasualVeteranGamer Good point. I do think it would be great if Acid Splash DID lower A/C by 2 for a short while, giving it that 'something extra' that make certain cantrips worthwhile.
Blade ward should be A or S tier. When you have a turn when you can’t hit something, you can blade ward instead of just skipping turn. This ensures you don’t take much damage. Incredible actually.
thorn whip can also be used to pull an enemy away from an allie so they can move without getting an attack made on them. Pulling archers out of the rafters or pulling a goblin into a pit is pure fun.
thanks for actually writing the name of the spell on the icons! I do very much hate it when people do tier lists and its just a load of icons and you're looking at it wondering what half it is and having to look up a list of icons and names on a wiki or something to figure the damn thing out!
You have to tell us why, lmao, you can't just say "it's incredibly useful" and leave it like that. I am assuming you are referring to the shadow monsters and the curse itself, but Light is better, it does the same job but follows you around and does not cost any concentration. hell, even Daylight is great in act 2.
Ray of Frost also extinguishes fires. If you're being sneaky you can use it to take out light sources, and there's a few places in the game where a magical fire extinguisher comes in handy (the burning inn in Act 1 comes to mind...).
8:41 hey, there. You’re wrong about this one. It’s definitely A or B tier seeing as you put acid splash in b tier for sheer utility and damage. DL can trigger traps and hazards, so you’ll want to use this in dungeons to scout areas that might have an ambush or heavily booby trapped pathways. This is why it can be used in stealth and while silenced.
Havent watched it yet, but i think S tier is: minor illusion, guidance, eldritch blast (if you build have invocations). A: is ray of frost, shocking grasp, friends, and firebolt And the rest i would put in B tier or lower
Dancing Lights was a life saver for me in Act 2. My archer couldn't hit anything because of the darkness so I slapped the Locket on her and cast Dancing Lights before entering combat. The spell doesn't aggro enemies and my archer has nothing else to concentrate on so it didn't cost me anything. However I can see how this cantrip is god awful on any type of spellcaster.
Thorn whip in general is quite bad, but there are some situations where it can shine so I think it's still worth having in the mix. The few times when you're low ground and the enemy is high ground and you can pull them down to your level really make up for it. Even better if you're at opposite ends of a chasm and you can pull them in. You can also combine it with AoE hazards and pull them in or keep them in if they're trying to escape. But positioning can be tricky in that case.
I would definitely put Produce Flame above Light. If you use it purely as a light-creating spell then it's just as useful, since it doesn't take up a hand, doesn't require concentration, and lasts until long rest unless you dismiss it. While Light can be cast on objects in the environment rather than be carried, Produce Flame has the strength of adding in some of the usefulness of Fire Bolt, including being able to ignite things. In comparison to Fire Bolt it does only slightly less damage, can be used as an immediate attack with the same action cost or held as a reserve attack for later, and the only thing that makes Fire Bolt better as a utility is the fact that Produce Flame is a throw rather than a ranged shot.
Mage Hand is F for me, because it just randomly disappears after a few seconds for me, and I don't know WHY. Sometimes it lasts literal hours, sometimes I'll summon it and immediately get a "mage hand disspeared" message in the log. Negative bonus points, if you're an arcane trickster, it gets revealed by your own see invisibility. Greeaaaat.
Im only partway through, but just a quick thing to point out - you say about firebolt that it can't be enhanced, but it can. Specifically, Draconic sorcerors, if they pick a fire based dragon type, get to add there Charisma to the damage roll from level 6, and Evocation Wizards can add their Int to the damage roll from level 10 (only once though, not up to 3 times like with EB and Agonizing Blast) and there is a Feat, Elemental Adept - Fire, that ignores enemy resistance to fire damage, and rerolls 1s on the damage dice which does apply to firebolt. You wouldn't pick up that feat specifically for firebolt, but you could absolutely consider picking it up for more reliability and less resistance issues on fireball, and it still applies to firebolt when you dont want to use a spell slot
So, True Strike. I do actually have a use for it. Let's say you have an enemy with lots and lots of health, who's really hard to land a spell on. And let's say you only really need to hit him once to be effective. Say you're casting something like...I dunno, Witch Bolt? I use True Strike to land my Witch Bolt on difficult targets, because as long as you tag them with it the first time, you can keep zapping without rolling to hit again or expending any more spell slots.
Dancing lights is useful for blocking vents and is useful out of combat when you're exploring darker places and concentration isn't a thing to worry about but then again I only have it cuz I have a half drow character lol
Dancing lights blocks vent traps making it A tier. Really good in the Hag quest and other instances where poison vents are active. Also, you don't have to waste a cantrip slot on it because you get the amulet early on and can carry it in your inventory until you need it. Definitely A Tier.
A few things that strengthen blade ward: I. Clerics deal significant proportions of their damage through concentration spells-bless, and spirit guardians as an example. As such losing the action matters less. Additionally, since concentration checks are based on damage taken it helps maintain the damage from the concentration spells. II. Theives and monks deal significant amounts of their damage through bonus actions. This again reduces the effective cost. Overall blade ward is definitely a solid B tier, situational, but powerful in the right contexts.
After 300 hours of gameplay. I learnt that Sacred flame actually does damage, I thought it was just a debuff or something because it never does damage.
word on the street is that dancing lights can be used to block trap vents. i guess you can only block one at a time, but sometimes you don't have a barrel or something handy
For Thorn Whip, there's a version which appears on the Sorrow glaive (reward in the Grove Vault) which lets you cast a less damaging version as a bonus action. The damage isn't as high, but it's still more than the Polearm Master feat's bonus action (which you may not even have), and regardless has amazing utility for a melee build. It's perfect for finishing off near dead/death resistant targets or dragging ranged enemies off of ledges, and as a bonus action the pull effect basically extends your melee range by a few meters. Move as close as you can, pull them towards you, and then smack them. Eventually you'll find a better polearm, but even in Act 3 I've had several encounters where I wish I'd stuck with it. It just makes positioning so much easier.
That version being a bonus action cantrip instead of an action makes it much more valuable, especially if you don't have a good bonus action choice. I found it worked well with Wyll for a good amount of time, despite not being a melee character. Might've been better weapons, but it worked, so I didn't switch, and I tend to favour utility over stats.
I agree with this. Friendship is still broken in Tactician btw. You can basically gain advantage on every conversation and just use guidance on another character, lol.
I'd actually put blade ward into F tier since you won't out-resist the damage reduction offered by an enemy being dead so you might as well attack. One edge case for blade ward is that it's good for doorway dodging since BG3 doesn't allow for the dodge action, so you can stand in a doorway and body block enemies while your allies fling spells and ranged/thrown attacks over your shoulders.
For ray of frost, being able to use it to effectively skip an enemy's turn in combat makes it deserve to be at least in the same tier as fire bolt, if not higher. I was really surprised when you mentioned this fact in the video but still put it lower than fire bolt. Sure fire bolt can break down some doors, but in combat, ray of frost letting you effectively skip an enemy's turn (or forcing it to hit your frontline instead of your backline) at the cost of just a couple of points of damage compared to fire bolt is just a huge gap in effectiveness. If you just want to set things on fire, there are alternatives to firebolt such as throwing alchemist's fire or shooting a fire arrow, but a 10ft slow with no save is actually surprisingly hard to find (I can't think of any off the top of my head other than Plant Growth which is a 3rd level spell slot although the effect is stronger) so ray of frost could be in a sense said to be irreplaceable. Furthermore, being able to possibly inflict prone on a *cantrip* due to the surface freezing effect is kinda crazy (which you also mentioned, which made me even more shocked at the A tier placement). Bone chill seems clearly a tier below ray of frost because although the effect is also hard to replace, its usefulness is much more niche than ray of frost, since there's not that many enemies where disabling healing is relevant. I'd put ray of frost in solid S tier with fire bolt in A tier with bone chill. Ray of frost was by far my most used damaging cantrip on non-eldritch blasters. I'd move blade ward up at least one tier because it has an actually useful application in Armour of Agathys builds where the goal is to reduce incoming damage to 0 so that your AoA never breaks and kill enemies via the AoA retaliation damage. So you cast blade ward every turn and then run around provoking opportunity attacks. It's a core part of the build until Act 3 when you can get the Armour of Persistence that grants permanent blade ward. For dancing lights, I've seen people say it can be used to trigger certain traps such as the flowers in the hag lair so if that's true, it probably deserves to be at least a tier higher.
Mage Hand is A or S tier if you are using Barrelmancy. You can set up barrels before you enter a forced cutscene and have your trap ready when the dialogue ends If you're like me and try to avoid using the cheese strats though, I do agree, it's not great
Shillelagh is kinda underrated. Allows u to completely ignore a stat like strength so u can pump con and combined with arcane synergy that 1d8+5 becomes 1d8+10.. nothing to scoff at.
Quick note on dancing light. For what ever reason it has weight like a barrel or something and can be cast on top of gas vents and things to block the gas from coming out. Not super useful all the time, but in cases where you have access to it, but dont want other spells for rp reasons, it comes in handy
I’ve been experimenting a lot with SHILLELAGH. If you dual wield, you can pre cast SHILLELAGH on each of them so it benefits the full 1d8 transformation. If you have 2 clubs it transforms 2 1d4 light weapons into free 1d8s each. Another is dual wielding staffs which are 1d6 into 1d8: bonus is you gain each staffs advantages but need dual wielding feat. Fun thing about this build as well is you can opt out of STR and/or DEX and heavy spec into WIS as it scales of WIS instead. So frees up dump stat for you. Build you want to go for a dual wielding is Spore Druid, for natural access to SHILLELAGH and then bonus damage from any on hit attacks then throw in either 1 level of fighter for DW Fighting style and 3 rogue thief for Bonus Action or 5 levels of Fighter for Extra Attack. You can also opt for heavy Fighter to stack yourself with as much feats to get 20 WIS, DW feat, even option of cantrip SHILLELAGH feat. Same idea can be applied to Ranger up to Lvl 5, after that you get diminishing returns so spec into something else after lvl 5 with ranger. With this build you have heavy action economy and high value for each damage done, either Extra Attack, Bonus actions +1, spore Druid damage, hunters mark or even all of this if you build it right.
Few things 1. You shouldn't factor in the ability modifier bonus to eldritch blast from warlock unless you also factor in potent spellcasting from cleric, produce flame will do more than fire bolt in this case + more utility. 2. You don't consider ranged abilities like eldritch blast have disadvantage on attack rolls at close range while an ability like poison spray doesn't 3. If you can negate some of the opportunity cost from blade ward (e.g. eldritch knight being able to follow up with an attack after casting) it's actually an incredible spell considering all physical damage is halved and lasts 2 turns no concentration 4. Shillelagh adds wisdom modifier to attack rolls and keeps weapon bonuses as well (e.g. bonus elemental damage dice) this allows for wisdom gish divine spellcasters more freedom with stat allocation (e.g. nature cleric with heavy armour can have low str and dex, allowing high con and wis etc..). This is not just useful early game, if you combine Shillelagh with Divine Strike or multiclass for extra attack it's very powerful. Fun list though thank you
Don’t forget draconic sorcerers that take either fire or ice ancestry get elemental affinity at level 6. This is the equivalent of adding agonizing blast eldritch blast in that it also adds the charisma modifier. There’s also the necklace that adds the modifier again if you use an elemental cantrip. This puts fire bolt up quite high, doing even more damage. It still won’t out damage eldritch blast on warlocks because the 3 different beams not only have more versatility but higher damage potential. But it’s strong enough that you won’t have to waste two levels into warlock to get a very strong cantrip on a non-warlock build.
I feel you're seriously underrating utility spells. Minor illusion can be extremely useful to set up combat (enemies gather around it ready to be Fireballed), avoid combat (lure enemies away and sneak past), steal or lockpick stuff around neutral NPCs. It also has niche combat uses since you can use a character who isn't in combat without revealing them but its best uses are pre-combat and out of combat. I would rate it A And Mage hand is just awesome for utility. You can use it to trigger traps from safety if you fail perception, throw valuables from hard to reach places since it can fly, trigger fights or ambushes from safety, move stealable items to obscured places (as long as the caster isn't in view you won't be blamed for theft), the list goes on. It even has combat uses if you precast it before the fight. The only downside is the once/short rest limit, in EA it had no limit and was completely broken so I understand why they changed it (IMO the fact that it's the only cantrip that has a daily use limit should tell how good it is). I would rate it S++ if it had no use limit but as it is I'd say it's S
Ray of frost is certainly S tier in BG3 because of the magical items you can get that allow you to specifically build for that cantrip as a cold dragon sorcerer. It can be cast at two people at once, hit like a truck, add like four different rebuffs and create an ice puddle every time with the right items
I would rate mage hand a little higher, the ability to throw water or potions once a turn for 10 turns can be massive. For example, you can quicken create water and then lightning bolt, or cast mage hand (as a bonus action with a particular set of gloves) and let it throw water for the next 10 turns. No spell slot and potentially more water than create water which does cost spells with the side note that it can pick up down allies makes it worth an action either before or during battle imo. Cast a couple mage hands and let them start the fight by throwing smokepowder grenades, grease bottles etc, and you get an easy fight.
The statuses inflicted by cantrips are not good in general. Some are useful for light, or help with skill checks etc, but the spells that produce statuses worth having/inflicting are usually level 1 or higher.
stop talking trash about "true strike" it serves as a tactic against bosses. And then you saw the Counterspell. It's great the enemy mage spent 3+ level cells on a level 0 spell.✨🔮✨
Produce Flame and Light should swap. Produce Flame gives a larger radius of light than Light, so assuming you would be casting Light on yourself, Produce Flame is just a better version. Add that it can also be used for damage or setting things on fire and it has much more utility in general. The main function of the spell should be considered to be the light effect, not the damage. There are some drawbacks, pretty sure it will ignite some effects passively which could be dangerous (or beneficial, taking a bit of fire damage may be preferable to whatever the effect would be otherwise), and you can't use it on another party member or throw a lit item. But I think compared to Light, those drawbacks are outweighed by the benefits.
In my opinion, Dancing Lights: I'd tier it higher only for the utility outside of combat. Definitely not worth much in combat, but it did help me see my surroundings better when exploring. Light definitely is a little better, but range wise it's nice to drop a Dancing Lights ahead of myself before stumbling into darkness. Mage Hand: lets you reach behind gates. Minor Illusion I'd rate A cos setting up positioning in my favour, especially for thieving, is too handy for me. Product Flame: it's like Light without duration. It's okay damage wise, I'm with you on that Sacred Flame is just cursed. It's as you say. I've never needed to slot Friends cos I tend to have a CHA character available True strike... I've tried. I've really tried. Sorcerer quicken spell, Eldritch Knight cantrip+bonus action attack... Just attack twice.
16:53 the most useful use of minor illusion in combat that I have found is to turn enemies focus away from your rouge, allowing them to perform a sneak attack without passing a stealth check.
OMG stop tier listing everything jesus
Firstly, I'm not Jesus.
Secondly, you're going to be sorely disappointed in the future.
@@CasualVeteranGamer haahhaha not the pin
I like them…
@@planetcx5316 The pin of shame.😁
This, my friends, is why God invented the comma.
One thing to note about guidance, if you have someone in your party with that cantrip, i promise you it will be the spell you use the most throughout the entire game bar none purely due to the skill checks
also u can get it from the necklace in act 1
@@coffeeknight2353 If you have no one in your party that gets Guidance naturally it's literally the best necklace in the game lol
Not really i hate talking to people most of the time i just end up murdering them on sight
@@Bigbootyhootyyou are in the vast minority of playstyles then..
@@alexanderrose1556Really? From what I've seen on the internet I thought murder hobo was the most popular playstyle to players and the bane of all DMs and role players.
Vicious mockery will always be S-tier in my heart, for the simple reason that killing a big boss by calling him a rancid jelly is just *chefs kiss*
Vicious mockery is my favorite thing about my bard in my group playthrough. It always gives everyone in the party a chuckle.
S-tier for flair, utterly useless for anything else. I just wish they'd be easier to hear
@@Songfugel its very good for the early game, late game it really falls off as enemies attack 1-3 times and vicious mockery only affects one enemy, i wish i got to use it more
@@hgrenm The damage is too for how unreliable it is for an action. At lvl 1-2 when it might be useful, enemies are so weak a low chance disadvantage does nothing compared to 2d6+3-5 dam ~90% hit change weapon attack you could use instead that one shots enemies it hits.
Any enemy that could benefit from a disadvantage, will be almost immune to it due to high saves and multiple attacks. Not to mention many enemies at lvl 2 are completely immune to psychic damage
After lvl 3, losing and action for a wisdow save effect, you want either an AoE soft CC or a single target hard CC instead. Unlike in PnP, spellslots are very easy to come by either by leveling up/respeccing or the unlimited long rests, and spells have so much better and reliable CC. Even just throwing water is 10x better use of an action than mockery
As for damage cantrips, Ray of Frost does up to 2x 2d8 damage at lvl 2 (wet+twinned) and at lvl 10 up to 12d8+40 damage with wet+twin+ability bonus item+elemental bonus item, split to two targets
In my last D&D campaign I played in, I played a half elf bard. Whenever I cast the spell, I'd wait to come up with an insult until I knew if the spell succeeded or failed. If it succeeded, I'd come up with the sickest burn I could think of. If it failed, I'd come up with the most pathetic insult I could think of. It was lots of fun.
Don't forget that Bone Chill doesn't have a projectile so you can use it when your other spells can't find a path, and unlike its counterpart Sacred Flame it doesn't have the horrific save for 0 damage downside
Just don't let the extra abilities fool you into thinking its the go to cantrip to use against undead. Some types are resistant or entirely immune to Necrotic damage.
I need to constantly remind myself to examine enemies when I can. I have pumped an absurd amount of overall action points into attacks that give me the dreaded 0, instead of taking 5 seconds to check. 🤣
@@ActivelyVacantThis wasn't intended, they have recently fixed most of the accidentally immune to necrotic to the intended poison.
Sadly, the damage is still trash since it can't be easily boosted skyhigh like lightning grasp and ice ray, and even for its anti-healing properties the arrows of illmater that are available from act1 does the job better 😅
I mean it does 0 damage if it misses, which is the same as Sacred Flame. All cantrips will either do the damage they do or they will do 0 damage. Some are based on an attack roll and some are based on a saving throw, but they're all all or nothing
@@Setzer I think they didn't realize the half damage on fail is from "Potent Cantrip" that you can get at lvl 6 in some pure caster classes, and that they didn't start with that.
You’re telling me there is more cantrips then Eldricht Blast?
Hah, apparently so!
are*
There is only eldricht blast and guidance
So anyways i started blasting
@@willem2099XD Showed him!
One redeeming factor for dancing lights, surprisingly, is that you can use it to block vent traps.
It can also set off traps
It can also proc buffs from things like the Strange Conduit Ring & Thorn Blade, so it's great if you're out of spell slots.
I've used it to distract enemies enough to sneak to higher ground before too
I've only used it to cancel it immediately with the tadpole Concentration Blast thing
WAT-! WHAT THE FU~
I find True Strike ridiculously expensive it needs to be a bonus action
The only class that I can see use it decently is Eldritch Knight but there are still better options.
I think you can get it as a bonus action through one of the items in the game
True shit. Advantage just mean you get the best of two rolls. But why spend a turn setting that up if you could just use both turns for attacks? Sure 2 50% attacks have lower odds of hitting than 1 75% attack. But I’d rather take the risk and potentially have 2 instances of damage delt instead of just 1. It should’ve been implemented similarly to hunters mark or hex. Both of which are amazing, but would be quite ass if they costed an action instead of a bonus action.
True strike is basically THE worst spell in 5e
@@shiranuishogunsaga8451there’s still no reason to use it on eldritch knight. You’re spending an action (two potential attacks), to get advantage on an attack using your bonus action. You’re rolling the same number of attack dice for half the potential damage.
Ray of Frost is S tier for me. It doesn't just reduce speed and create icy surfaces, it also puts out fires and its damage is doubled against wet targets. I always have it on any character who can take it because it is so versatile. If it freezes a surface it can cause an enemy to fall prone which is great. But the movement speed isn't just 10 feet in that case its more like 25 feet movement speed reduction.
There are also a LOT of pieces of gear in the game that increase the effectiveness of cold damage. Making an ice mage is a lot of fun and very powerful. I agree that Ray of frost is S tier. It's probably my favorite cantrip in the game after vicious mockery
early game its so trash tho it regularly hits for 2-5
@@kaijiuiloop5872that's every cantrip, firebolt does 1 more damage on average, once you have the ice staff it's equal or better since it's more consistent
Wait it does extra to water???
@@thesnax9177targets that are wet receive extra damage from cold and lightning damage
Minor illusion can help you set up very good combat initiation situations, especially with cloud of daggers. Cast the illusion to bundle people up, then cast cloud, they take damage, are surprised for first turn of combat so you get a free turn and they stay inside the cloud, they’ll take damage again on their turn ending surprise, and then when they can finally act on the following turn they’ve take cloud damage 3x times, not to mention they’ve been bundled together for other Aoe effects in the meantime. For this, I’m think A tier honestly
I can dig it! I also find it fun to use. Everyone goes to check out the glowing kitty.
yeah i just used minos illusion into fireballs, great combo when you don't have access to black hole as a bonus action
I had a good time in the goblin camp by picklocking the spider pit, mage handing it open, and then minor illusioning the spiders into conflict with Dror Ragzlin's party. It wasn't that useful, as Ragzlin is level five and can basically double attack either of the spiders to death in one round, but the spiders can take out one or two level one or two enemies before going down, and it was fun to get to use a bunch of cantrips I don't normally bother with and watch the enemies kill each other for me.
Dang, 3x cloud of daggers ticks... that's just evil 😈😈😈😈
Mage hand's real value is outside of combat. Turning levers to turn off traps. Throwing an item on a trapped stand away. That kind of a thing. It's great for that.
can it fit through the bars at the end of the trapped bridge in Grymforge?
TIP for Eldritch Blast: One of my favorite builds for end game is 2 Warlock/10 Wizard (Evocation). Take the appropriate Warlock Invocation that gives you Cha to Damage, level 10 Evocation Wizard will also add Intelligence to Evocation spells. So you'll have 3 rays of 1d10 + Intelligence + Charisma, and with items you can probably get one of your stats added again.
The "appropriate Warlock Evocation" they are speaking of is called Agonizing Blast for anyone who is wondering. 🫡
That means you have to max both of them for best damage?
Yes, although that isn’t too hard. You can dump STR and split Dex and Con. Spoilers below:
Alternatively you could dump CON and wear the end game armor from the House of Hope and get your COM boosted through that, bypassing any stat investment. You might want to respec lay game if that’s your goal, because it might be hard to play the whole game with low CON. If you are against respecs (like I have been on my playthroughs) you can still make it work with a low CON through careful strategy.
2 Warlock / 10 Sorc is also a very common build in BG3 called Sorlock. Can use EB for cantrip spam while still having access to more than 3 spells a day... and can still upcast spells to lvl 6. Both use Charisma for their casting stat and you also get Con proficiency when taking Sorc level 1.
Usually how it goes in-game is you go Sorc for the first 5 levels to get 3rd level spells, then go 2 in Warlock for the EB buffing invocations, before going back to Sorc levels.
I did it too but you lose the acceleration or dual spell that is really op for a full caster and a lot of other resources. And finally you won't up too much the damage with the extra +4 on Int.
Finally I preffer , 2 Warlock + 2 Wizard Evocation ( 2 wizard spell slots + your Int bonus, and Sculpt Evocation spells to protect allies ) + 2 Cleric of Storm ( Chanel Divinity that maximize the Electric damage and another allie with Guideance + Resistance and Create Water/Sanctuary ) + 6 Draconic Sorcerer of Electricy or Fire ( add +Cha to your elemental damage and 6 Sorcerer Points and +3 AC ).
Feat : 2 weapons. Markoheshkir and Lighting staff + Elemental Amulete it will upgrade the EldritchBlast damage.
For Vicious Mockery - Band of the Mystic Scoundrel can be found early in act 3 and it lets you use this cantrip as a bonus action; extremely good for melee bards and warlocks
being able to cast hypnotic pattern, hold person/monster, dissonant whispers, tasha's laughter, and otto's dance as a BONUS ACTION has been such a boon
Risky ring and Vicious Mockery are for the Ascendant Vampire Astarion RogueBardWarlock !!
It's amazing for a vampire to use any Enchantment ( command, charm, sleep, hold,.etc) or Ilusion spell ( Invisibility, hiptnoitic or fear ) as a bonus action.
I recommend to use the Helmet of Grit too, so you'll have 3 bonus Actions.
I don't think you need to be a melee bard. Ranged attacks count as weapon attacks and should proc the band, and bards are pretty good at using bows/crossbows
Mage hand can fly to a lever and activate it by itself. It doesn't need to actually throw something at it. This is very useful to e.g. open a certain lava valve during a big fight near the end of Act 1 without having to have a character standing near / moving towards it whenever the lava needs to be replenished.
Yeah, that boss fight was a bitch.
There are few extra to the ray of frost: 1. It can extingish flames. 2. there is a whole set of items that benefits on frost damage and having cantrip to trigger its effects is amazing
I didn't recognize how huge 10 feet of movement was because it's not typically a significant amount in D&D, and you almost never encounter burning surfaces in D&D but they're *everywhere* in BG3, so my tabletop experience definitely colored my choices negatively in this game.
Good decision by Larian to change the name of' Chill Touch' which is neither a touch spell or a cold-based spell (it is actually a ranged necrotic spell).
Beautifully detailed vid. I can always get something from CVGs videos, despite an absurd amount of time spent on the game. for example, the vid got me thinking why have I never used 'Minor Illusion' to distract the bear Volo is talking to in the grove to turn it around and remove its vision cone around Volo, so you get a little window of opportunity to get behind Volo and steal a nice ring from him. I'll also have to test its effect to steal the Idol of Silvanus. I have resolved to use Minor Illusion more, when I have the cantrip. I also want to start using this cantrip to cluster enemies in a group for an AOE spell - a good alternative for when you run out of void bulbs to use.
There probably aren't many players who are not sleeping on SOMETHING that could give them an edge, so this is a recommended video for players whether they have 1 hr in the game or 1,000 hrs.
I do love CVGs thoroughness in including a cantrips value both early and later in the game and even pointing out that using the Friends spell works a little differently in Tactician mode.
Ray of frost can clean fire surfaces and have double damage on wet enemies plus it has element of control, it should be on pair with fireball at least imho.
But fireball does 6d6 in a 30ft radius.
@@Proamjoe lmao. My bad I mean firebolt cantrip
Plus if you have the ring that immediately creates the ice surface, you can basically automatically prone anyone hit by your ray of frost. Add to that the extra cantrip damage item stacking... I've hit for over 120dmg with my rays of frost before. Not only that but I've twinned them with sorcerer.
One positive thing about Sacred Flame is that it doesn't require a direct line of sight, so you can actually put it to good use in messy situations and elevations.
I'd still rather dash if I'm in bad positioning than waste an action being in bad position for both this turn and next turn and *also* likely do no damage this turn anyway. Way too enemies have high CON to bother with Sacred Flame, imo. The only situation I would chance it is if the enemy was very low health and coming up soon in initiative in order to prevent them from getting another turn before a different party member had a chance to finish them.
@@QuesoCookies True, however, it's mostly on Shadowheart at this stage who is a Buff Tank, so you're only going to use it very rarely and Radiant is the 2nd least resisted damage type and con penalties are fairly easy to dish out, especially with hex and some items.
Im not saying it is the greatest, but it does have its uses and hits a lot more than some other cantrips.
@@OldManMokoNo it isn’t, even when optimised for stats Sacred Flame is ass.
@@MayHugger I have a 90% hit rate with it and for a cantrip, it does good, radiant damage, which it almost never resisted.
@@OldManMoko 1d8 is not good damage, it’s average, and considering how often enemies have decent dexterity and pretty high proficiency in it, it’s pretty likely it’ll fail at least half the time.
This might be an unintended interaction, but there's actually a fantastic use for Dancing Lights that bumps it up multiple tiers in my opinion: you can use it to block vent traps! I always bring Komira's Locket to the Hag's lair and it makes navigating the gas so much easier.
Huh, I never even thought to try that before, thanks!
Thats hillarious! thank you, i will try that! xD
I looked for this comment as soon as I saw dancing lights in D tier
Minor Illusion can also block the vents in the hag lair. It doesn't block all vents in my experience
There’s a series of jumps you can do to avoid all the traps, you just want feather fall. So a scroll of feather fall or a few potions. Even with 8 strength.
One cool thing about Shocking Grasp is that it triggers the Storm Sorcerer's Heart of the Storm, so you deal extra damage each time you cast it. Definitely a mandatory cantrip if you play thay class-subclass combo
I get mage hand as a bonus action due to an item.
The fact that you can drop endless potions without costing actions and use the mage hand as bonus heals/grandes for 10 turns is underrated.
Not to mention the fact that it can set up a fight area by moving barrels/grease bottles around before you commit. Tons of utility even if not ideal with its action point cost.
what item and where do you get it?
@@michaelleue7594 It's a boss reward from Act 2. They are called the "Hr'a'cknir Bracers" which you get after surviving a Gythyanki ambush on the West Side of the map, towards the road to Baldur's Gate. It gives both the spell Telekenesis as a spell and mage hand as a bonus spell.
The boss name is "Ch'r'ai Tska'an", she and a few others ambush you as you approach the edge of the map if you are being hunted by the Gythyanki for the relic (don't know if it works unless you follow Lae'Zel storyline but I did).
Location: Reithwin Town, Act 2. The way point "Road to Baldur's Gate" is just West of the bridged pathway where she attacks you from. If you find the Raithwin Town waypoint, you can travel directly West using the main road that runs straight through the center of town and you will find the ambush point/Baldur's waypoint right at the end.
I saw a guy who killed a act 3 boss with 1 level 1 character, he used mage hand to throw potions on him mid fight to reapply haste and invisibility.
Id never even thought of that!
mage hand is underrated for out of combat utility, it can pull levers fly and throw things. Early on there was a chest I couldn't jump to so I had mage hand fly over there and throw the chest my way.
The one in the druid grove? I did the same.😂
If only levers didn't get pulled by just shooting an arrow or another cantrip, but yeah throwing chests is good.
@Fridabina it can pull levers you can't see. Pretty sure in dnd you need line of sight, but in BG3 it's an independent flying creature. I couldn't figure out how to get into the creche building but there's a hallway almost entirely blocked by rubble, mage hand could fly in and open the door from the inside.
Dancing Lights can block a vent, for some reason, making it useful for some traps.
Bladeward is great for that specific Abjuration Wizard spec with Cleric 1/Sorcerer 1/ Wizard tanking. you pop it and run around, provoking attacks so they'll kill themselves on your Armor of Agathys
A very, VERY niche use for dancing lights is if your Tav has the passive trait from the Zaith'isk that allows you to use illithid powers as bonus actions, you get to use concentrated blast without a spell slot wasted.
Also, one thing not mentioned but Arcane Tricksters get a unique Mage Hand that's actually really good. You can still only cast it once per short rest but its invisible up until you take an action with it and doesn't go away in 10 turns so even in combat you can sneak it up to say an archer with a vantage point and shove them off their tower
As others have pointed out, Vicious Mockery is better in the game's later stages, because casting it becomes a bonus action. Actually, it is one of the best, since the damage difference between the cantrips, except for eldritch blast, doesn't make a difference in how many turns you need to kill an enemy.
Nevermind the fact that at later stages of the game you really don't need to use cantrips in any case (outside of Eldritch Blast Warlocks, naturally) due to having more spell slots.
Wait, then does it become bonus action? :O
@@oskarszymanski6529 Yes, it does.
@@RJWhitmore Yeah, most combat cantrips don't make much difference. Vicious Mockery, however, is an exception, for it imposes a disadvantage to the enemy's attack roll, as a 'bonus action'.
@@bopple4634 That makes sense, and probably more useful than bonus action handcrossbow.
Produce Flame has a feature that a lot of people do not talk about, perhaps even know about.
When a melee character has this cast on their hand, every time they crit they are capable of producing a double crit.
The weapon crit and the cantrip crit as well as setting the creature ablaze.
I've chunked huge damage off enemies, that don't just get one shot, from the double crit.
My melee users that can cast this don't leave camp without it cast.
I can understand about dancing lights being placed at D since it does suck up your concentration slot for an effect that can be reproduced by two other cantrips as well as other more mundane equipment. However it does have some good synergy with Concentrated Blast. Allowing you to start pretty much each combat with that ability prepped for use. Its not like its the only spell that can do that but it is one of the easiest concentration cantrips to use since it offers 10 turns rather then the 2 a lot of other cantrip's offer and doesn't need to be aimed at a target like say friends.
I would say Mage hand is better then C since it allows your character to effectively get a healing bot for an entire combat. Dropping potions at your feet is free so aside from the initial action cost you have the potential for 10 rounds of healing you or your allies. in a pinch it can chuck things at enemies as well. Just drop some javelins or a few of the millions of daggers you find in the game to attack with it rather then use its horrible punch attack.
Ray of frost is so much an S tier spell. I won't rehash what others have said but will add that it works well with mage hand since water jugs are easy to get. Have your mage hand throw them at opponents to get them wet and freeze them with your ray of frost for double damage.
Ooh, I love this. I was wondering why water jugs were everywhere and was just not bothering with the throw mechanics almost at all, but this might make me change my mind.
Dancing lights is heavily nerfed from D&D. In the tebletopp game you can create up to four motes of light that move at will, or one more powerful one. You can change their colour and shape, and the fact that it moves basically makes it the self carrying torches for the whole party cantrip. It's still concentration so it's a contender with light, but the trade off makes me see them with roughly the same frequency as a DM, probably favoring dancing lights a little. In Bg3 I think just making the light source able to move and follow you like mage hand would be perfect, don't know why they chose not to make it like that.
The reason for uselessness of light spells in bg3 is that it does not happen at night and there is no day and night cycle. Also, for some reason, all dungeons, basements, and even Underdark are perfectly lit. I am not complaining, it makes the game more playable and shows the quality of design and graphics. But at the same time, it makes certain spells or cantrips not so useful that would otherwise be life-saving.
It's been paying off in the spooky forest in act 2.
They could at least let you recast it for free while concentrating on it in the vein of Moonbeam or Call Lightning. Except when you recast, it'd be a bonus action.
Dancing Lights is also just really flavorful and charming as a spell in D&D, whereas Light is just... light. It's also annoying that darkness and obscurity are hard elements to play correctly in D&D because it's hard to imagine not seeing things or remembering that you can't or that you need light sources in order to fight well, but that is not the case in a video game where everything is rendered and the benefits or detriments of vision are programmed in. Like, it's hard to remember you have dancing lights or light up and are therefore a beacon for everyone around to see clearly, so your attempt to sneak around should fail horrendously, but you can literally see the light in the game and know it's there and what consequences it has. It was a perfect opportunity for the lighting mechanics of D&D to actually see some good use, but they just didn't. The dungeons are lit, everyone has dark vision, and the gameplay only takes place during the daytime. Very disappointing.
Bladeward is very fun on an eldritch knight. The class becomes very tanky and at lv 7 you can doe a melee attack after casting a spell. So for an eldritch knight i think it might be a tier higher than for all the other classes. I do think you need to put in some effort to make it shine
mage hand is actually quite useful outside of combat, it can get through small holes so you can see whats on the other side and in some instance it can go through small hole to pull lever or push button to unlock door, and in grymforge where you have the lever puzzle where you normally have to leave people behind to operate levers, instead of leaving people behind, just use a mage hand to pull the levers.
It can also throw potions, and when potions are thrown they become AoE..... mage hand is basically free artillery
@@Johnny-rj9onIt deserves at least an A tier for sure. Although Larian really butchered Arcane Trickster's mage hand. Now there is almost no reason to play the subclass.
@@evrimenustun9548 i tried that spec not long ago, it says the hand is invisible, but I found it working just as the normal one, so after a couple of hrs I just changed class
@@DoffyDogg It's supposed to be able to pickpocket, pick locks and carry items due to having higher str than regular mage hand. Hopefully Larian will implement all of these later on so that Arcane Tricksters can return to their glorious state in 5e.
You don't actually have to leave anyone behind in the grymforge lever puzzles. You can just shoot the levers to use them. I just used Asterion to shoot it w arrows or Wyll to Eldritch blast them.
This is a great video, clear and concise, thank you for taking the time and effort to make it.👍
Mage Hand is great to cast before tough battles, you can drop flashbombs or healing potions as a free action for it to toss. It can also burn enemy actions or AoO reactions to protect your team. Plus it can reach some chests that are tucked away up high that would be annoying to reach and shove them for you. It's at least B-tier for the sheer versatility, only held back by the short rest limitation.
Imagine a Cantrip that well Can Trip!! (pun intended) Frost Bolt is easily S tier. Let's Compare to Flame bolt. In BG3 making stuff wet is more useful than the Burning. Cold is resisted less by enemies in my experience so far (balanced difficulty). Testing shows they would walk more likely through an ice field than a fire field. Also any control aspect like slow at range beats damage over time especially when you trying to prevent your squishies from getting Melee-ed. Also a case for Vicious Mockery (I'm a Bard proponent!) The versatility and sheer amount of lines recorded easily gives this S+! it's teaching you the art of insults lol! Good Guide CVG as usual!
One thing to note with dancing lights is that, outside of combat, it can remotely activate traps which require stepping on-top of to activate, and also block vents if placed on-top. Outside of that, it still really sucks though.
Friends became available shortly after I started playing EA, and was initially almost a must have for the Face of the party. Larian nerfed it, which I subsequently learned brought it into alignment with 5e, and I haven't used it since. I should probably get over my disappointment. As usual, well produced, and useful.
In tactician difficulty we still need to be careful with it i.e. run away promptly after using it, but otherwise it's back to its old ways!
Would you mind explaining how it functions currently?
@@benkelly7182 When you use it, the target may get upset, hense "run away". Just don't use it on anyone when you want to stick around, or care what their attitude is toward you.
It's still much better than in 5e since you don't get the luxury to just "run away" in regular Dnd most of the times. They also won't forget about the spell since they know you cast it.
Firebolt can be enhanced like Eldritch blast, in bg3. There is a necklace of elemental augmentation that is basically agonizing blast for fire, cold, acid, and lightning cantrips.
The problem is 3d10+5 is less than 3d10+15. Because Agonizing blast is added to each ray, not just once. AND can be used to trigger on hit damage spells like Hex / Hunters Mark more times than Firebolt can. EB will always beat Firebolt. But for not Eldritch Blast builds, yes that necklace is quite good, and makes elemental cantrips substantially better than say.. Bone Chill.
@@KatanaKamisama I never claimed it was statistically equal or superior to agonizing blast.
I would like to say thank you for making these videos. There is plenty of Spell ranking videos out there but most people just sit on the tiermaker website and don't show off the spells or niche uses of it in game. I hope people will find your videos more often.
If you’re playing as a circle of spores Druid Shillelagh is insanely OP cause you can use your symbiotic entity and add more damage to it. It’s crazy
OP is not the right word, but it is solid.
If you want guidance but dont want to bring shart or re-class anyone you can find a necklace with the cantrip at a Harper Stache in act 1, just near the entrance of the Grove. Just look it up on youtube but its in a guard tower, on a skeleton by a campfire.
I have somehow missed this necklace 3 times now.
Friends is definitely S tier, even on Tactician. I think people really overstate the "dangers" of using it, because it's functionally a free Eagle's Splendor you can use for Advantage on /every/ Charisma check against an NPC, and the only downside is that you need to clear out before the spell wears off the target so they don't accuse you of a crime. It's the equivalent of having an on-demand Charm Person or Eagle's Splendor without using a spell slot, and is fantastic for your PC that might not always have someone (like Shadowheart) to toss an Eagle's Splendor on them. Used correctly, even on tactician, you will NEVER have NPCs go hostile from you using it. It's 2nd-circle power as a Cantrip and IMO is absolutely S tier. The single best out of combat cantrip.
Yeah, this is one thing that having played D&D before negatively affected my experience in BG3. My DMs are all too happy to create crazy consequences for charms, so I was hesitant to ever use them in the game, but, actually, they're just overpowered win buttons with no downsides in BG3. It's actually one of the areas that really disappoints me about the game. The interpersonal consequences of bad behavior in the game is either getting away with it scot-free or getting into deadly combat with no middle ground. I get that'd be pretty much impossible to program every possible scenario, but a little more attention to social dynamics would have been nice.
No way. Tiefling camp all turned on me even Halsin. It's dumb. Clear out before effect wears off seldom is an option. Like also in the underdark unless you want to just cheese the game and immediately port out to another waypoint. Screw that. Friends goes in the dumpster.
@@leonardceres9061 Then you're using it wrong. It is straight up free advantage for CHA checks. I use it constantly on Tactician+Ironman and I've never had a problem. No need to teleport away or use any cheese. You just need to not be near the NPC when it wears off.
Mage hand is S tier if you usually prepare to fight. You can throw 10 grenades/water bottles/haste/control which is huge especially in long fights. I often spend an action for throwing something anyway and with mage hand this is free. I planned to play tempest lightning sorcerer with mage hand and water bottles. But I gave up on this idea because the game is easy and it's much funnier to fight as it is without preparation.
I like this idea, ty.👍
Doesn't it all go to shit if it gets hit with an area of attack spell though? breaking all the potions?
@@keeganbate8935 with all the game mechanics there's exceptionally low chance that this situation happens if you won't intentionally create opportunity to it.
@@keeganbate8935 dropping items on the ground is free so you don't have to throw everything on the ground at once it does work best if the initiative is together though.
Druids get Guidance. And either Ray of Frost is too low, or Firebolt is too high. I would say it's better than Firebolt for multiple reasons. Neither is as good as Eldritch Blast though. The ability to split the spell puts it above all other damage cantrips by far. Otherwise, I would say your tier list is spot on.
If you can prepare, mage hand is incredible. Drop a few healing pots/fire bombs in a high spot and you basically have artillery on call. Also, it can fit through small gaps so it makes an excellent scout, or block a hallway.
I like Blade ward, it’s incredible if you have item synergies that turn it on for free like with mass healing word, couple it with warding bond with your tank character and you’re almost unstoppable really early game.
Exactly, it's so much better in Bg3 compared to 5e. Not only is it upgraded to a 2 turn effect but a full on wizard tank can do some absurd things with it. It absolutely deserves a higher tier than acid splash which is the shittiest dmg cantrip in the game.
The effect is great, but the cantrip itself is still terrible. I would even say such items make it worse as a cantrip because why use it, if you can heal with bonus action in order to give it to everyone in your party.
@@michasokoowski6651
Try Hellriders pride gloves plus whispering promise ring, which gives all 3 of your party members blade word plus bless by using mass healing word as only a level 2 spell slot and all this as a bonus action. You get these two items near the beginning of the game and the combo is so good that you could easily use it for the entirety of the campaign.
Yeah blade ward is terrible if used as your main action and benefitting only one part member, but with the right items and spells you become practically invincible.
@@michasokoowski6651 Because a tank build deals dmg by not taking any in the first place. Warlock 2/ Abjuration Wizard X was already a popular build in regular DND and since Blade Ward lasts 2 turns in BG3, it's even better in the game. The plan is to max out your Arcane Wards prefight, casting Armor of Shadows on yourself thanks to Warlock 2 giving you the eldritch invocation for it. Then you just combine Armor of Agathys + Fire Shield + Hellish Rebuke + Blade Ward and you will literally kill people by triggering nonstop opportunity attacks. The effect is obviously moot if you have a cleric that can cast Warding Bond on you but not all party comps will have a cleric or they just wanna cast it on someone that really needs the protection. Blade Ward makes you a self contained wizard tank. Healing is a pointless argument because any 5e vet knows healing is a waste of an action unless you're playing a life cleric or can cast Healing Ward on a downed player.
@@evrimenustun9548 Any healing caster does will work with these gloves, so if you pair them with any item that would give you healing you can still use your turn accordingly while still getting benefit of blade ward.
Also with these gloves using bonus actions to heal solely in order to apply this buff to multiple people without need of using an action is pretty good.
As i said, blade ward is a really great effect, but cantrip is pretty meh, especially that you have a better source of it.
I hope you take this as a compliment. Your voice is nice to have on in the background. It's just nice to have around even if I'm not focusing on the video
Oh it's very much a compliment, and a big step up from comments such as "I can't understand your accent"! Thank you.
Guidance is not available to sorcs, warlocks and wizards. It is available to clerics and druids though
Surprised there isn't more people pointing this out. I was like, huh? When that part of the video came on.
Thanks, I didn't realise that mistake while editing. I must have been reading from the wrong spell when recording that section!
Same!
@@CasualVeteranGamer Actually I just realized it IS available to Warlocks with the Pact of the Tome that nobody uses.
There is one notable use for Dancing Lights: you can cast it on traps to trigger them or block vents apparently
Vicious mockery works with the ring that lets you cast enchantment spells as a bonus action after making a weapon attack. It then becomes a nice little bit of bonus damage and debuff without taking your action.
that intro to friends had me howling in laughter
6:47 "cantrips can do some damage, but they will never be the most damaging"... 10 sorc/2 warlock with agonizing+repelling blast, haste, 24 cha, potent robe (+cha bonus to spell dmg), the +2 dmg ring combo and Kereska's Favour (Lightning) from Markoheshkir and you're (realistically) looking at close to 200dmg per round just from Eldritch Blast, that additionally pushes mobs over half the map and cripples a target with up to minus 7 to attack rolls (Coruscation Ring caps at 7)... bonus points if you have Hex up on the mob... extra 9d6 dmg. Or go the extra brutal route with 2warlock/3rogue-thief/2fighter/5sorc for 15 rays of Eldritch Blast in one round... for a theoretical maximum of 2430 damage if everything max damage crits against a vulnerable target that is hexed. If you have any other cantrips in S-Tier (except maybe Guidance), then Eldritch Blast deserves its own God Tier. Yes, it's that much better than all other cantrips and any warlock that doesn't pick this cantrip should seriously think about switching classes. :) There is a reason some builds just revolve around this cantrip.
Ray of Frost is easily S tier imo. If you run either Create Water or Water Elementals you'll be dealing double damage.
I find Blade Ward pretty useful - but only when it gets auto-applied through healing. I think there are two sets of gauntlets in the game that will do this. Using it as an action in combat ... yeah... not so much. I usually don't use most of them at all unless my characters are out of spell-slots or if it would be stupid to waste a spell-slot that round because a cantrip will do - like for killing an enemy who is down to three or four HP or to set off a smokepowder trap I've prepared or something like that.
Thanks for the video, I'd agree with most of your list with the exception of Dancing light. IMO that isn't a combat spell, it's a spell I use a LOT just out in the world to help see in the dark. If your character doesn't have dark vision this spell helps a lot. I've never even thought of using it in combat.
Mage Hand can come in clutch when you need to pull levers and even distract people. Plus throw can be coupled with grenades, which makes the mage hand a mini catapult.
Something you missed about acid splash is that (I think) it also inflicts acid status effect, which lowers ac by 2.
It doesn't do that. Arrows of acid leave behind a surface that will inflict the acid condition, but the cantrip only does the damage.
@@CasualVeteranGamer Good point. I do think it would be great if Acid Splash DID lower A/C by 2 for a short while, giving it that 'something extra' that make certain cantrips worthwhile.
@@CasualVeteranGamer I think I was thinking of Acid chromatic orb (clearly the better spell here)
Blade ward should be A or S tier. When you have a turn when you can’t hit something, you can blade ward instead of just skipping turn. This ensures you don’t take much damage. Incredible actually.
thorn whip can also be used to pull an enemy away from an allie so they can move without getting an attack made on them. Pulling archers out of the rafters or pulling a goblin into a pit is pure fun.
Shillelagh gives that weapon a 1d8 of damage while still using it versatile with a shield, off setting the trade off of using a shield to increase AC.
Something that could push Dancing Lights up a bit, another video showed that it can be used to block trap vents.
the more you know. thx
Oh thats great! thats something i didnt know, that i was curious about, but im definetly are! thank you!
thanks for actually writing the name of the spell on the icons! I do very much hate it when people do tier lists and its just a load of icons and you're looking at it wondering what half it is and having to look up a list of icons and names on a wiki or something to figure the damn thing out!
Dancing lights is incredibly useful for act 2 tactician.
You have to tell us why, lmao, you can't just say "it's incredibly useful" and leave it like that. I am assuming you are referring to the shadow monsters and the curse itself, but Light is better, it does the same job but follows you around and does not cost any concentration. hell, even Daylight is great in act 2.
There is no point in making all these tier list videos but I end up watching them anyway because it passes time on a mildly interesting topic.
Ray of Frost also extinguishes fires. If you're being sneaky you can use it to take out light sources, and there's a few places in the game where a magical fire extinguisher comes in handy (the burning inn in Act 1 comes to mind...).
8:41 hey, there. You’re wrong about this one. It’s definitely A or B tier seeing as you put acid splash in b tier for sheer utility and damage. DL can trigger traps and hazards, so you’ll want to use this in dungeons to scout areas that might have an ambush or heavily booby trapped pathways. This is why it can be used in stealth and while silenced.
Havent watched it yet, but i think S tier is: minor illusion, guidance, eldritch blast (if you build have invocations).
A: is ray of frost, shocking grasp, friends, and firebolt
And the rest i would put in B tier or lower
Dancing Lights was a life saver for me in Act 2. My archer couldn't hit anything because of the darkness so I slapped the Locket on her and cast Dancing Lights before entering combat. The spell doesn't aggro enemies and my archer has nothing else to concentrate on so it didn't cost me anything.
However I can see how this cantrip is god awful on any type of spellcaster.
Not only was the list interesting but I actually learned a few things that I wasn’t aware of or had never paid attention to. Thumbs up from me.
I would drop Shocking Grasp down, just because I typically avoid having my casters in Melee range, so the use is limited.
Thorn whip in general is quite bad, but there are some situations where it can shine so I think it's still worth having in the mix.
The few times when you're low ground and the enemy is high ground and you can pull them down to your level really make up for it. Even better if you're at opposite ends of a chasm and you can pull them in.
You can also combine it with AoE hazards and pull them in or keep them in if they're trying to escape. But positioning can be tricky in that case.
I could NOT stop staring at that bugged npc during the dancing lights section haha! Highly distracting lol
I would definitely put Produce Flame above Light. If you use it purely as a light-creating spell then it's just as useful, since it doesn't take up a hand, doesn't require concentration, and lasts until long rest unless you dismiss it. While Light can be cast on objects in the environment rather than be carried, Produce Flame has the strength of adding in some of the usefulness of Fire Bolt, including being able to ignite things. In comparison to Fire Bolt it does only slightly less damage, can be used as an immediate attack with the same action cost or held as a reserve attack for later, and the only thing that makes Fire Bolt better as a utility is the fact that Produce Flame is a throw rather than a ranged shot.
Mage Hand is F for me, because it just randomly disappears after a few seconds for me, and I don't know WHY. Sometimes it lasts literal hours, sometimes I'll summon it and immediately get a "mage hand disspeared" message in the log.
Negative bonus points, if you're an arcane trickster, it gets revealed by your own see invisibility. Greeaaaat.
Im only partway through, but just a quick thing to point out - you say about firebolt that it can't be enhanced, but it can. Specifically, Draconic sorcerors, if they pick a fire based dragon type, get to add there Charisma to the damage roll from level 6, and Evocation Wizards can add their Int to the damage roll from level 10 (only once though, not up to 3 times like with EB and Agonizing Blast) and there is a Feat, Elemental Adept - Fire, that ignores enemy resistance to fire damage, and rerolls 1s on the damage dice which does apply to firebolt. You wouldn't pick up that feat specifically for firebolt, but you could absolutely consider picking it up for more reliability and less resistance issues on fireball, and it still applies to firebolt when you dont want to use a spell slot
So, True Strike. I do actually have a use for it. Let's say you have an enemy with lots and lots of health, who's really hard to land a spell on. And let's say you only really need to hit him once to be effective. Say you're casting something like...I dunno, Witch Bolt?
I use True Strike to land my Witch Bolt on difficult targets, because as long as you tag them with it the first time, you can keep zapping without rolling to hit again or expending any more spell slots.
Dancing lights is useful for blocking vents and is useful out of combat when you're exploring darker places and concentration isn't a thing to worry about but then again I only have it cuz I have a half drow character lol
I've watched many bg3 tier lists but your tier lists are the best. Great work!
Dancing lights blocks vent traps making it A tier. Really good in the Hag quest and other instances where poison vents are active. Also, you don't have to waste a cantrip slot on it because you get the amulet early on and can carry it in your inventory until you need it. Definitely A Tier.
A few things that strengthen blade ward:
I. Clerics deal significant proportions of their damage through concentration spells-bless, and spirit guardians as an example. As such losing the action matters less. Additionally, since concentration checks are based on damage taken it helps maintain the damage from the concentration spells.
II. Theives and monks deal significant amounts of their damage through bonus actions. This again reduces the effective cost.
Overall blade ward is definitely a solid B tier, situational, but powerful in the right contexts.
After 300 hours of gameplay. I learnt that Sacred flame actually does damage, I thought it was just a debuff or something because it never does damage.
word on the street is that dancing lights can be used to block trap vents. i guess you can only block one at a time, but sometimes you don't have a barrel or something handy
For Thorn Whip, there's a version which appears on the Sorrow glaive (reward in the Grove Vault) which lets you cast a less damaging version as a bonus action. The damage isn't as high, but it's still more than the Polearm Master feat's bonus action (which you may not even have), and regardless has amazing utility for a melee build.
It's perfect for finishing off near dead/death resistant targets or dragging ranged enemies off of ledges, and as a bonus action the pull effect basically extends your melee range by a few meters. Move as close as you can, pull them towards you, and then smack them.
Eventually you'll find a better polearm, but even in Act 3 I've had several encounters where I wish I'd stuck with it. It just makes positioning so much easier.
That version being a bonus action cantrip instead of an action makes it much more valuable, especially if you don't have a good bonus action choice. I found it worked well with Wyll for a good amount of time, despite not being a melee character. Might've been better weapons, but it worked, so I didn't switch, and I tend to favour utility over stats.
Dancing Lights blocks vents - makes the Spectator fight so much easier.
I agree with this. Friendship is still broken in Tactician btw. You can basically gain advantage on every conversation and just use guidance on another character, lol.
I'd actually put blade ward into F tier since you won't out-resist the damage reduction offered by an enemy being dead so you might as well attack. One edge case for blade ward is that it's good for doorway dodging since BG3 doesn't allow for the dodge action, so you can stand in a doorway and body block enemies while your allies fling spells and ranged/thrown attacks over your shoulders.
For ray of frost, being able to use it to effectively skip an enemy's turn in combat makes it deserve to be at least in the same tier as fire bolt, if not higher. I was really surprised when you mentioned this fact in the video but still put it lower than fire bolt. Sure fire bolt can break down some doors, but in combat, ray of frost letting you effectively skip an enemy's turn (or forcing it to hit your frontline instead of your backline) at the cost of just a couple of points of damage compared to fire bolt is just a huge gap in effectiveness. If you just want to set things on fire, there are alternatives to firebolt such as throwing alchemist's fire or shooting a fire arrow, but a 10ft slow with no save is actually surprisingly hard to find (I can't think of any off the top of my head other than Plant Growth which is a 3rd level spell slot although the effect is stronger) so ray of frost could be in a sense said to be irreplaceable. Furthermore, being able to possibly inflict prone on a *cantrip* due to the surface freezing effect is kinda crazy (which you also mentioned, which made me even more shocked at the A tier placement). Bone chill seems clearly a tier below ray of frost because although the effect is also hard to replace, its usefulness is much more niche than ray of frost, since there's not that many enemies where disabling healing is relevant. I'd put ray of frost in solid S tier with fire bolt in A tier with bone chill. Ray of frost was by far my most used damaging cantrip on non-eldritch blasters.
I'd move blade ward up at least one tier because it has an actually useful application in Armour of Agathys builds where the goal is to reduce incoming damage to 0 so that your AoA never breaks and kill enemies via the AoA retaliation damage. So you cast blade ward every turn and then run around provoking opportunity attacks. It's a core part of the build until Act 3 when you can get the Armour of Persistence that grants permanent blade ward.
For dancing lights, I've seen people say it can be used to trigger certain traps such as the flowers in the hag lair so if that's true, it probably deserves to be at least a tier higher.
Mage Hand is A or S tier if you are using Barrelmancy. You can set up barrels before you enter a forced cutscene and have your trap ready when the dialogue ends
If you're like me and try to avoid using the cheese strats though, I do agree, it's not great
Shillelagh is kinda underrated. Allows u to completely ignore a stat like strength so u can pump con and combined with arcane synergy that 1d8+5 becomes 1d8+10.. nothing to scoff at.
Quick note on dancing light. For what ever reason it has weight like a barrel or something and can be cast on top of gas vents and things to block the gas from coming out.
Not super useful all the time, but in cases where you have access to it, but dont want other spells for rp reasons, it comes in handy
I’ve been experimenting a lot with SHILLELAGH. If you dual wield, you can pre cast SHILLELAGH on each of them so it benefits the full 1d8 transformation. If you have 2 clubs it transforms 2 1d4 light weapons into free 1d8s each. Another is dual wielding staffs which are 1d6 into 1d8: bonus is you gain each staffs advantages but need dual wielding feat.
Fun thing about this build as well is you can opt out of STR and/or DEX and heavy spec into WIS as it scales of WIS instead. So frees up dump stat for you.
Build you want to go for a dual wielding is Spore Druid, for natural access to SHILLELAGH and then bonus damage from any on hit attacks then throw in either 1 level of fighter for DW Fighting style and 3 rogue thief for Bonus Action or 5 levels of Fighter for Extra Attack. You can also opt for heavy Fighter to stack yourself with as much feats to get 20 WIS, DW feat, even option of cantrip SHILLELAGH feat. Same idea can be applied to Ranger up to Lvl 5, after that you get diminishing returns so spec into something else after lvl 5 with ranger.
With this build you have heavy action economy and high value for each damage done, either Extra Attack, Bonus actions +1, spore Druid damage, hunters mark or even all of this if you build it right.
Few things 1. You shouldn't factor in the ability modifier bonus to eldritch blast from warlock unless you also factor in potent spellcasting from cleric, produce flame will do more than fire bolt in this case + more utility.
2. You don't consider ranged abilities like eldritch blast have disadvantage on attack rolls at close range while an ability like poison spray doesn't
3. If you can negate some of the opportunity cost from blade ward (e.g. eldritch knight being able to follow up with an attack after casting) it's actually an incredible spell considering all physical damage is halved and lasts 2 turns no concentration
4. Shillelagh adds wisdom modifier to attack rolls and keeps weapon bonuses as well (e.g. bonus elemental damage dice) this allows for wisdom gish divine spellcasters more freedom with stat allocation (e.g. nature cleric with heavy armour can have low str and dex, allowing high con and wis etc..). This is not just useful early game, if you combine Shillelagh with Divine Strike or multiclass for extra attack it's very powerful.
Fun list though thank you
Don’t forget draconic sorcerers that take either fire or ice ancestry get elemental affinity at level 6. This is the equivalent of adding agonizing blast eldritch blast in that it also adds the charisma modifier. There’s also the necklace that adds the modifier again if you use an elemental cantrip. This puts fire bolt up quite high, doing even more damage. It still won’t out damage eldritch blast on warlocks because the 3 different beams not only have more versatility but higher damage potential. But it’s strong enough that you won’t have to waste two levels into warlock to get a very strong cantrip on a non-warlock build.
I feel you're seriously underrating utility spells.
Minor illusion can be extremely useful to set up combat (enemies gather around it ready to be Fireballed), avoid combat (lure enemies away and sneak past), steal or lockpick stuff around neutral NPCs. It also has niche combat uses since you can use a character who isn't in combat without revealing them but its best uses are pre-combat and out of combat. I would rate it A
And Mage hand is just awesome for utility. You can use it to trigger traps from safety if you fail perception, throw valuables from hard to reach places since it can fly, trigger fights or ambushes from safety, move stealable items to obscured places (as long as the caster isn't in view you won't be blamed for theft), the list goes on. It even has combat uses if you precast it before the fight. The only downside is the once/short rest limit, in EA it had no limit and was completely broken so I understand why they changed it (IMO the fact that it's the only cantrip that has a daily use limit should tell how good it is). I would rate it S++ if it had no use limit but as it is I'd say it's S
Ray of frost is certainly S tier in BG3 because of the magical items you can get that allow you to specifically build for that cantrip as a cold dragon sorcerer. It can be cast at two people at once, hit like a truck, add like four different rebuffs and create an ice puddle every time with the right items
I would rate mage hand a little higher, the ability to throw water or potions once a turn for 10 turns can be massive. For example, you can quicken create water and then lightning bolt, or cast mage hand (as a bonus action with a particular set of gloves) and let it throw water for the next 10 turns. No spell slot and potentially more water than create water which does cost spells with the side note that it can pick up down allies makes it worth an action either before or during battle imo. Cast a couple mage hands and let them start the fight by throwing smokepowder grenades, grease bottles etc, and you get an easy fight.
Another BG3 tutorial said don't miss out on status spells, but apparently damage spells are the safer pick here
The statuses inflicted by cantrips are not good in general. Some are useful for light, or help with skill checks etc, but the spells that produce statuses worth having/inflicting are usually level 1 or higher.
stop talking trash about "true strike" it serves as a tactic against bosses. And then you saw the Counterspell. It's great the enemy mage spent 3+ level cells on a level 0 spell.✨🔮✨
Produce Flame and Light should swap. Produce Flame gives a larger radius of light than Light, so assuming you would be casting Light on yourself, Produce Flame is just a better version. Add that it can also be used for damage or setting things on fire and it has much more utility in general. The main function of the spell should be considered to be the light effect, not the damage.
There are some drawbacks, pretty sure it will ignite some effects passively which could be dangerous (or beneficial, taking a bit of fire damage may be preferable to whatever the effect would be otherwise), and you can't use it on another party member or throw a lit item. But I think compared to Light, those drawbacks are outweighed by the benefits.
Resistance in B tier when it's a reaction cantrip for dialogue / dice roll is wild to me. It's literally Guidance: Saving Throw edition.
In my opinion,
Dancing Lights: I'd tier it higher only for the utility outside of combat. Definitely not worth much in combat, but it did help me see my surroundings better when exploring. Light definitely is a little better, but range wise it's nice to drop a Dancing Lights ahead of myself before stumbling into darkness.
Mage Hand: lets you reach behind gates.
Minor Illusion I'd rate A cos setting up positioning in my favour, especially for thieving, is too handy for me.
Product Flame: it's like Light without duration. It's okay damage wise, I'm with you on that
Sacred Flame is just cursed. It's as you say.
I've never needed to slot Friends cos I tend to have a CHA character available
True strike... I've tried. I've really tried. Sorcerer quicken spell, Eldritch Knight cantrip+bonus action attack... Just attack twice.
16:53 the most useful use of minor illusion in combat that I have found is to turn enemies focus away from your rouge, allowing them to perform a sneak attack without passing a stealth check.