I think I love this spell! 3d12 on a failed dex save, half if successfuk but talke 1 minute to clear a 5 fout section. Great battlefield control.
LEVEL
3rd
CASTING TIME
1 Action
RANGE/AREA
120 ft (20 ft )
COMPONENTS
V, S, M *
DURATION
Instantaneous
SCHOOL
Transmutation
ATTACK/SAVE
DEX Save
DAMAGE/EFFECT
Bludgeoning
Choose a point you can see on the ground within range. A fountain of churned earth and stone erupts in a 20-foot cube centered on that point. Each creature in that area must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 3d12 bludgeoning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Additionally, the ground in that area becomes difficult terrain until cleared. Each 5-foot-square portion of the area requires at least 1 minute to clear by hand.
At Higher Levels.When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d12 for each slot level above 3rd.
3d12 is an average of 18 points of damage, compare that to fireball or lightning bolt (8d6=24 damage). The difficult terrain is the balancer allowing you to slow the movement thru the area afterwards. Other spells (like move earth, earth to mud etc) clear up the ground quickly but are not that likely to be available. However things like entangle and spiked growth do the same thing but better in the since that entangle basically stops movement while spike growth does the same thing with a L2 spell. Erupting earth isn’t bad but it’s not fantastic either.
Honestly, it's a relatively poor level 3 spell for damage at base level, but the rough terrain without concentration is somewhat of a save.
If you're looking for blasting as a Druid, take a look at Tidal Wave. The targets DO NOT have be relative to the ground, and it has a strength check to knock prone. Meaning, this is a fairly good spell to cast at flyers... again, damage per target isnt great, but you're looking at erupting earth for utility, you cant overlook tidal wave
One thing to note, and I don't recommend it, but updating it beyond level 5 does give out a better damage output per target (in a smaller area) in comparison to fireball, but it's not really worth it.
Comparing any damage spell to fireball based on damage is generally a poor choice, but a couple of notes: 1. Fireball is overtuned. Interviews with the designers have revealed that fireball does more damage than it should based on spell level. This is a nod to previous versions of fireball where it was also overpowered. So comparing any 3rd level spell to fireball is a mistake since it is the outlier. 2. bludgeoning is resisted by 15 monsters, while fire is resisted by 94 and an additional 73 are immune. So you are losing 10-20% of your possible damage by focusing on fire. Avg damage for EE is 19.5 vs. Fireball of 28. That difference in resistance closes the gap down to about 5 points. You sacrifice a little damage for a less resisted damage type. There are entire campaigns where fireball approaches useless based on damage immunity and resistance. 3. This is a druid topic. Druids generally don't get fireball. Erupting earth and Tidal wave are the main AOE spells at third level for a druid. Both are great. Both don't take concentration and can lay down AoE damage while you concentrate on another powerful spell. 4. Addtional effect of difficult terrain is extremely powerful. Limiting the mobility of your enemies makes managing them so much easier.
Personally I favor tidal wave, but erupting earth is excellent. For me the 3d12 damage dice is way to swingy. When you roll a 6 for damage it is really disappointing.
100% agree elfdope. Druids struggle for using combat spells that dobt require concentration. These are the best non-concentration options for most druids for a early to mid tier.
Also yes, fireball is not the ideal comparison spell, but like you said, the emphasis on Tidal Wave and Errupting Earth is they do more than just damage.
I made this chart for myself graphing how damage scales for several druid damage spells. This doesn't factor in AOE, duration of repeated use, or secondary effects, just damage per individual per round:
I think I love this spell! 3d12 on a failed dex save, half if successfuk but talke 1 minute to clear a 5 fout section. Great battlefield control.
Choose a point you can see on the ground within range. A fountain of churned earth and stone erupts in a 20-foot cube centered on that point. Each creature in that area must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 3d12 bludgeoning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Additionally, the ground in that area becomes difficult terrain until cleared. Each 5-foot-square portion of the area requires at least 1 minute to clear by hand.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d12 for each slot level above 3rd.
3d12 is an average of 18 points of damage, compare that to fireball or lightning bolt (8d6=24 damage). The difficult terrain is the balancer allowing you to slow the movement thru the area afterwards. Other spells (like move earth, earth to mud etc) clear up the ground quickly but are not that likely to be available. However things like entangle and spiked growth do the same thing but better in the since that entangle basically stops movement while spike growth does the same thing with a L2 spell. Erupting earth isn’t bad but it’s not fantastic either.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Honestly, it's a relatively poor level 3 spell for damage at base level, but the rough terrain without concentration is somewhat of a save.
If you're looking for blasting as a Druid, take a look at Tidal Wave. The targets DO NOT have be relative to the ground, and it has a strength check to knock prone. Meaning, this is a fairly good spell to cast at flyers... again, damage per target isnt great, but you're looking at erupting earth for utility, you cant overlook tidal wave
One thing to note, and I don't recommend it, but updating it beyond level 5 does give out a better damage output per target (in a smaller area) in comparison to fireball, but it's not really worth it.
Comparing any damage spell to fireball based on damage is generally a poor choice, but a couple of notes:
1. Fireball is overtuned. Interviews with the designers have revealed that fireball does more damage than it should based on spell level. This is a nod to previous versions of fireball where it was also overpowered. So comparing any 3rd level spell to fireball is a mistake since it is the outlier.
2. bludgeoning is resisted by 15 monsters, while fire is resisted by 94 and an additional 73 are immune. So you are losing 10-20% of your possible damage by focusing on fire. Avg damage for EE is 19.5 vs. Fireball of 28. That difference in resistance closes the gap down to about 5 points. You sacrifice a little damage for a less resisted damage type. There are entire campaigns where fireball approaches useless based on damage immunity and resistance.
3. This is a druid topic. Druids generally don't get fireball. Erupting earth and Tidal wave are the main AOE spells at third level for a druid. Both are great. Both don't take concentration and can lay down AoE damage while you concentrate on another powerful spell.
4. Addtional effect of difficult terrain is extremely powerful. Limiting the mobility of your enemies makes managing them so much easier.
Personally I favor tidal wave, but erupting earth is excellent. For me the 3d12 damage dice is way to swingy. When you roll a 6 for damage it is really disappointing.
Good info.
100% agree elfdope. Druids struggle for using combat spells that dobt require concentration. These are the best non-concentration options for most druids for a early to mid tier.
Also yes, fireball is not the ideal comparison spell, but like you said, the emphasis on Tidal Wave and Errupting Earth is they do more than just damage.
I haven't seen it in a play test Im worried they removed it from druid in the new ua.
Both spells mentioned above were removed from what I saw.. as well as absorb elements
Id like more nuke options for my druid. hopefully when they add land or stars they give em some fun toys.
also I think the average damage catches up eventually when upcasting .
I made this chart for myself graphing how damage scales for several druid damage spells. This doesn't factor in AOE, duration of repeated use, or secondary effects, just damage per individual per round:
Hope it comes back. i also hope they add more blasty druid options.
Would erupting earth in a room that has a 20 ft ceiling trap a creature caught in it?
No but it might slow them down unless they have flight or spider climb.