Chromatic orb is one of the most powerful 1st-level spells in Dungeons and Dragons, with the power to do a whopping 3d8 damage of your choice of acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage at a range of 90 feet. If you’re a 1st-level wizard or sorcerer, you should definitely consider learning this mighty damage dealing spell, especially if you plan on joining the School of Evocation or playing a damage-focused character.
Chromatic Orb’s Competition
How does chromatic orb stack up against other 1st-level damaging-dealing spells available to 1st-level wizards and sorcerers? It has a few rivals for damage-dealing potential, but all come with significant drawbacks.
Burning hands deals 3d6 fire damage in a 15-foot cone. As far as game balance is concerned, D&D’s balancing math assumes that this hits two creatures in an average casting. Assuming one creature succeeds on its Dexterity saving throw and one fails, this deals an average of 15 fire damage. That’s pretty good, but its drawbacks hurt it. If you’re close enough to enemies to cast this spell, you’d better make sure this spell kills them. If it doesn’t, now you’re in the line of fire, and most 1st-level wizards don’t have sturdy enough defenses to take very many counterattacks. Also, fire is one of the most commonly resisted damage types in the game. Your garden-variety kobolds and goblins won’t resist this magic, but there are a handful of low-level foes that easily resist fire, like fiends, oozes, and incorporeal undead like shadows and specters.
Magic missile is a spell in almost every 1st-level wizard’s spellbook, and it’s easy to see why. Its missiles always hit, can be spread across multiple targets, can be fired from long range, and deal hard-to-resist force damage. This spell’s biggest drawback is its relatively low damage output; only an average of 10 damage. This is enough to kill some of the weakest monsters with a single casting, but only enough to inconvenience any creature stronger than challenge rating 1/4 or so.
Ice knife is an attractive spell that can be fired from long range and do some area-of-effect damage. If the spell hits its target, the target takes 1d10 cold damage. Then, regardless of if the attack hits or not, the ice knife explodes, forcing the target and all creatures within 5 feet to succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 2d6 cold damage. Assuming the spell hits and its area-of-effect affects two creatures and one of those creatures succeeds on its saving throw, this spell deals an average of 12 cold damage.
The spell’s damage type, cold, is resisted by many of the same low-level foes that resist fire damage. Fiends and incorporeal creatures laugh at elemental damage like fire and cold.
The Power of Chromatic Orb
Chromatic orb is a single-target damage-dealing spell best used from long range. For wizards and sorcerers, the power to be far away from enemies is a huge boon. When you cast this spell, you make a ranged spell attack against the target. If this attack hits, the target takes an average of 13 (3d8) damage. The type of damage this spell deals can be chosen from a list of five: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder. This flexibility is chromatic orb’s greatest strength, though its high average damage is impressive, too.
Other high-damage spells like burning hands and ice knife suffer from a restrictive damage type that make them hard to use against certain foes like fiends. Fiends are often resistant or immune to cold, fire, and lightning damage, and with Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus promising some fiend-fighting action, being able to overcome those damage resistances early is a huge boon. In order to get around those resistances, just use acid or thunder damage.
Another treacherously resistant monster type are oozes, and their resistances are hard to predict. Gray oozes are resistant to cold, fire, and lightning, just like fiends—so use acid or thunder! Ochre jellies are weirdly resistant to acid alone, but also immune to lightning—so use fire, cold, or thunder! And black puddings are immune to acid, cold, and lightning, so use fire or thunder!
The reason this flexibility is so important is because the number of spells you can prepare as a 1st-level wizard (or the number of spells you can know as a 1st-level sorcerer) is at a premium. You could learn a different evocation spell dealing a different damage type for every occasion, but chromatic orb allows you to pack all of these different damage types into a single spell, saving your spells prepared list space for more niche spells like detect magic or levitate.
The Cost of Greatness
Chromatic orb isn’t perfect. It comes with one significant drawback: its cost. Unlike most basic evocation spells, chromatic orb has a costly material component. Namely, a diamond worth 50 gp. Fortunately, casting the spell doesn’t consume the diamond—you can use it to cast this spell as many times as you want. Still, 50 gp is a lot to ask a 1st-level character to spend, and you just won’t have this kind of money if you take the equipment and gold offered by your class and background. If you’re a wizard, the Starting Wealth by Class table (in chapter 5 of the Player’s Handbook) starts you off with an average of 100 (4d4 × 10) gp, so this diamond costs half of your starting gold!
This is a bit tricky. If you’re a wizard and roll the average starting gold, you’ll only have enough for your diamond and your spellbook, since both cost 50 gp. You don’t want to go adventuring naked, or without an arcane focus. In order to make this really work for you as a wizard, you’ll need just a little bit extra. 110 gold should do, so a slightly above-average roll will work. If you’re a creating a new wizard and roll at least 110 gp of starting wealth, use this equipment list to outfit your character:
- Small diamond for chromatic orb (50 gp)
- Spellbook, for recording your all-important spells (50 gp)
- No armor (use mage armor instead)
- A staff as an arcane focus (which Jeremy Crawford rules can be used as a quarterstaff in combat!) (5 gp)
- Traveler’s clothes; can’t go adventuring naked! (2 gp)
- Ink pen; no need for ink yet, since you’ll need special arcane ink to scribe spells in your spellbook anyway (2 cp)
That’s just over 107 gp worth of gear. If you roll your starting wealth and get 100 gp or under, or just don’t want to take that chance, consider waiting until you complete an adventure or two. Hopefully you’ll have gained a few extra gold pieces from those adventures, and you can buy a 50 gp diamond in town. If you take the starting gear from your class and background and choose the [background]Noble[/background], you’ll only need to get 25 more gp to afford that diamond.
Things are a bit different if you’re a sorcerer. You only get an average of 70 (3d4 × 10) gp to start, but without that 50 gp spellbook to buy, you can get your 50 gp diamond, a staff as an arcane focus, traveler’s clothes, and an explorer’s kit for all your basic adventuring gear, all for just 67 gp. However, as a sorcerer, you have access to one spell that gives chromatic orb a run for its money—one that wizards will never be able to learn.
The Power of Chaos Bolt
Chaos bolt, a sorcerer-exclusive spell introduced in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, is powerful enough to make chromatic orb look like small potatoes, especially because it doesn’t force you to buy a pricy material component. When you cast this spell, you make a ranged spell attack against the target—and with a range of 120 feet, you have 30 feet more range than chromatic orb. If this attack hits, the target takes an average of 12 (2d8 + 1d6) damage. This attack can deal any type of energy damage, except for radiant or necrotic, based randomly on whichever numbers turn up on the d8s you rolled for damage. You get to choose which number you like best.
However, if the numbers on the d8s turn up doubles, the spell jumps to a new target, potentially doubling your damage. If those d8s from the new bolt turn up doubles, it jumps again, and keeps jumping until it stops showing double d8s. You don’t have control over what damage type this spell deals, which can make it troublesome for dealing with damage-resistant fiends or undead, but the potential for the chaos bolt to leap to a new target is tantalizing.
If you’re a sorcerer and just want to choose starting gear or grab a potion of healing with your starting wealth rather than buying an expensive diamond, chaos bolt may be your best option.
Is Chromatic Orb Right for You?
If you have the money, you can’t go wrong learning chromatic orb. Its single-target damage is practically unrivaled among 1st-level spells, and its flexibility allows you to prepare it as your only damage-dealing spell, giving you room for more interesting utility spells. If money is tight, consider waiting until you’ve completed a few adventures and gained some gold, and then buying its requisite material component.
Have you ever used chromatic orb in D&D? What’s your favorite damage-dealing spell at low levels? Let us know in the comments!
James Haeck is the lead writer for D&D Beyond, the co-author of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and the Critical Role Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, the DM of Worlds Apart, and a freelance writer for Wizards of the Coast, the D&D Adventurers League, and Kobold Press. He lives in Seattle, Washington with his partner Hannah and their animal companions Mei and Marzipan. You can find him wasting time on Twitter at @jamesjhaeck.
Ah yes, my favorite enemy. Tooltip not found. I've spun many a tale around them.
Thank you for the article. As always it's top notch!
I use Chromatic Orb A LOT as a Wizard or a Sorcerer (Chaos Bolt much less, but only because of the unpredictability of its damage and the fact it can't be twinned).
If I play a non-arcane spell caster (my favorite being the Cleric), than my go-to spell is Guiding Bolt. Few things are resistant to radiant damage and with a 4d6 damage output (average of 14), it is on par with Chromatic Orb damage wise. With an average of 16 (3d10), Inflict Wounds does packs a punch, but the fact that it's melee makes me hesitate a bit.
As a conclusion: Chromatic Orb is, indeed, one of the greatest spells for low-level spell casters.
Divine Soul + Distant Spell = Inflict Wounds 30' range.
And grab Guiding Bolt too, in case you need to hammer some undead.
Have to agree. Also it’s average damage is not 13. You need to account for missing, which as Tom pointed out is 0 damage that round. Plus force works in every situation mentioned.
Right! Didn't thought at that... and what is worse, I am playing a Divine Soul Sorcerer currently in one of my home games. As I just became level 10, I can choose a third Metamagic option (Distant Spell it is). Also, I can swap spells when gaining levels. I think Magic Missile will be replaced with Inflict Wounds.
Thank you!
Guiding Bolt is not just great for dealing with undead, though. It's also a great support spell, as well, since the next attack against the target gets advantage. In the big, climactic battles, my Divine Soul and our group's Battle Master usually end up chaining advantage off of each other with Guiding Bolt and Distracting Strike, respectively. It gets pretty nasty, pretty quick.
You first spell book is free comes with the class even if you multi class in to wizard.
True, but I was more thinking along the lines of Cause Wounds is ineffective against undead, rather than Guiding Bolt only being useful against undead.
For 5E, it is a decent spell but unfortunately, It is a shadow of the original 1E Unearthed Arcana spell (p66-67.)
It started off at first level with the humble pearly orb, and then as the Illusionist leveled up--this was an illusionist-only spell--they gained access to more orbs.
Level Orb Color Damage Special Powers
You could use any gem of the proper hue for the individual orbs or a clear one like a diamond with a minimum value of 50gp. So the 5E simplification is good in that aspect. Old-school Illusionists could be quite nasty with some of their unique spells that other casters didn't have access to.
I know my 1E Illusionist loved this spell since it just got progressively nastier as she leveled up. At higher character levels, it was simply brutal and it just took up a 1st level spell slot per casting.
My main toon still uses Chromatic Orb, it is her main twined spell when i need to blast two targets at range. She has been using it her whole career.
I must agree with you Tom, Chromatic Orb is a very expensive spell for starting levels. Of course having the possibility to choose damage type is good, but at start you wont have a big bonus to hit your enemies so i usually invest on utility spells.
I really don't like Cromatic Orb. Having played a Sorcerer with it, wasting spell slots to only miss at low levels is the worst feeling. At least with Ice Knife and Burning Hands you're still dealing some kind of damage, even if it's resisted.
It was the first spell I got rid of when I leveled after it failed me so much.
At early levels, I personally will not use a precious spell slot on a spell that has a duration of instantaneous.
What about catapult ( in XGTE) deal 3d8 force providing you pick up a rock before the game starts. Additionally, clerics posses inflict wounds (3d10 necrotic [ avg. 17 dmg] and will kill most foes, being Melee is ok because clerics are tanks) and guiding bolt (4d6 lightning) gives adv against who is hit gives them 1/10 chance auto hit critical and better hit as well. Your clerics and fighters at 1st lv will only struggle against the hoards, which burning hands, thunder wave, etc giving you balance and taking out the real threats to a first level team. If you are fighting one enemy, your two slots will prove futile against a tank or evasive creature making witch bolt a value spell ( which is normally weak). But once again, catapult is easy and just as strong. It is the overall best damage type and costs nothing! Chromatic orb is good but is also used early on and becomes useless later, so setting up for one spell is a bad late game decision. I have nothing against this spell, but catapult and one area effect plus niche spells is useful later saving you the 50gp to not need to add them later. Wizards are weak 1st lv and no matter the damage, a 4d6 crit from a fighter after a 4d6 guiding bolt is way stronger and more reliable. I appreciate this article but find chromatic orb only useful if you posses great knowledge of the monsters you fight ( which at that point DM’s get pissy about you meta gaming that far). I find chromatic orb or catapult interchangeable as your snipe spells.
Thank you.
Save spells (catapult) are generally better against heavily armored targets, which tend to have lower dex scores, while attack spells are better against lighter armored targets which tend to have lower AC.
The trick with Catapult is clearly to line up your targets so if the first one saves you have a chance of hitting another.
Also: "Don't try and frighten us with your sorcerous ways, Lord Vader".
[TL;DR: I accidentally get condescending and give unsolicited advice but hey I end with something vaguely funny.]
To be fair, if you prioritise targeting elemental weaknesses, your character should have a high enough Arcana and Nature scores to determine those weaknesses pretty quickly. Of course, checks can be failed, but then you just roll with your best intuition. If you happen to know exactly the monster anyway because you ate the Monster Manual once, try to resist the urge to just pick the right type and go with whatever the foe looks like they'd be resistant to. So, if the foe is bright red and chucking fire around, Cold damage is probably a decent bet and your character would prooobably assume that (and most good DMs would be like "yeah fair" and prepare some ice-resistant burny bois for later). It might feel like crippling your character, but remember that DMs will likely reward good skill use and (even subconsciously) punish metagaming by making the whole experience harder.
Unless, of course, that's the appeal, or you like to live or die by your meta-knowledge. That's totally fair, but you've reaaaally gotta play at that sorta table. Don't metagame with a bunch of roleplayers and don't expect clever skill use with a group of old-school murderhobos. You do you, but also keep your mates in mind when you're messing with meta, or the 'Master might mash your mettle with a miscellaneous and mysterious menagerie of multitudinous massive monster-men... maybe.
I'm still twinning it and rerolling four damage dice with it now at 14th level... :)
As has been mentioned, this is an especially potent spell for a storm-themed caster with a couple of levels of tempest cleric dip. At level 3 (with 2lvl tempest), on a crit, your character can do 64 damage on crit (32 without), which is very fun for the few times you'll ever pull it off. And the scaling of this combo will serve you all the way to level 20 as it becomes inceasingly difficult to deal damage that isn't halved by saves.
Quote from JamesHaeck >>
Well then, here's the seed of one (feel free to use any and all of this):
Chromatic Orb & Chaos Bolt are good, work-a-day spells, but they are also pretty direct and obvious; you shoot energy out of your hand or arcane focus, and off it goes. One spell that is just as hard-hitting and underappreciated in its side effect (and just plain fun) is Catapult. It is another 1st-level spell that deal 3d8 (Bludgeoning in its case) and has some excellent side effects.
First off, Catapult chooses an object within 60 feet, and makes it fly up to 90 feet in a straight line, giving it a bit of an edge as far as distance is concerned, and its Dexterity Saving Throw works again higher AC and with the Sorcerer's Heightened Spell metamagic. Second, since you are choosing an object, you can choose anything from a random rock to a bottle of oil or a creepy idol you want to destroy. Third, it requires neither material nor verbal components, and its only visual effect is to send an object flying (no easily-traced energy bolts) so you can gesture at a rotten tomato to silently fly over and pummel a rival hard. Lastly, while this is a matter of DM's ruling, if there are two creatures lined up, if the first succeeds at its Dexterity Saving Throw, the object might just keep going. While it can't be twinned like Chromatic Orb, the object can just keep flying.
And what's worse than having an enemy having her sword knocked out of her hand by the party's Battle Master? Seeing it return to her at high velocity!