But the melee attack is not an optional thing. No matter what, if you make a melee attack, it does the damage. So it's more useful on druids, since they will probably make the melee attack.
Not a big fan of Absorb Elements for wizards. Not to say it isn't a good spell what with the whole gaining elemental resistance for a round is nice but I always feel like I'm not using half the spell since what wizard (that isn't multiclassing) is going to be in melee range to use the +1d6 force dmg on its next melee attack part of the spell
Let's say you're 14th level wizard going against an Adult Red Dragon, and you had a +2 con mod.You took average levelling up so you have a Max HP of 72.
The dragon uses its fire breath. We'll use say it does 62 fire damage for simplicity.
Scenario 1 - No Absorb Elements
Damage: 62 if you fail the save, 31 if you succeed.
Scenario 2 - Absorb Elements is Used
Damage: 31 if you fail the save, 15 if you succeed.
-
By using a simple level 1 spell you've negated between 15 to 31 damage. Without Absorb Elements, if will take 2 uses of Fire Breath to kill you if you kept failing the saves or 3 uses if you kept succeeding. With Absorb Elements it would take 3 uses to kill even if you failed them all but would take 5 uses (FIVE!) to kill you if succeeded on them all.
If the dragon rolled maximum and you failed the save: if you had used Absorb Elements you'd take 54 damage and live. If you hadn't you'd take 108 damage and be instantly dying from the dragon's first turn.
No matter how you look at it, using Absorb Elements can keep you safe and alive for much longer. It instantly halves the damage you take from a wide variety of sources. You don't have many hit points compared to most so the more damage you can easily negate the better.
Absorb Elements and Shield spells are must-haves as far as I'm considered. They've saved my characters lives many times. I don't care if I'm not using the extra 1d6 damage to my next melee attack, - just the fact it can negate half the damage from elemental sources and save your life is frankly all I need from a simple 1st level spell.
It being a 1st level spell is fantastic - because it's cheap and easy to make scrolls of it. As long as the scroll is on your person, not in a backpack or something, you can use it as the reaction - saves using slots. If you ever do get to 18th level, you can choose to use this with spell mastery and never have to use a spell slot, much like a cantrip.
Whenever I see somebody deliberately saying no to spells like Absorb Elements or Shield it's like this in my head:
Spells: Hey, here's a simple spell, easily cast, resource friendly, that could in many situations help save your life. Person: Nah, I'd rather suffer the large amount of damage to my tiny hit point pool.
Like, really? To me it's utterly whackadoodle. But, to each their own. Good luck against the traps, hazards and dragons that could one-turn-kill you without it. *shrug*
You forget that the dragon can choose to make 3 melee attacks instead, which would do more damage than a failed check with absorb elements, plus a legendary action for a tail/wing attack.
But the melee attack is not an optional thing. No matter what, if you make a melee attack, it does the damage. So it's [bold]more[/bold] useful on druids, since they will probably make the melee attack.
It's optional because it doesn't force you to make a melee attack. So, you can choose to not benefit from that small aspect of the spell but choosing to not make a melee attack which most wizard builds won't. (And you completely missed the point of that comparative scenario).
It is indeed slightly more useful to most Druid builds but seriously, who the feck cares? It's still a wizard spell and it can save your wizard from a lot of things that do acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage - which, frankly, is most of the types you're likely to come up against. Why let most dragons, a sudden bad trap, or any of the huge number of things that deal these damages do full damage when with a simple 1st level spell you can instantly negate half of it ?
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Not a big fan of Absorb Elements for wizards. Not to say it isn't a good spell what with the whole gaining elemental resistance for a round is nice but I always feel like I'm not using half the spell since what wizard (that isn't multiclassing) is going to be in melee range to use the +1d6 force dmg on its next melee attack part of the spell
Let's say you're 14th level wizard going against an Adult Red Dragon, and you had a +2 con mod.You took average levelling up so you have a Max HP of 72.
The dragon uses its fire breath. We'll use say it does 62 fire damage for simplicity.
Scenario 1 - No Absorb Elements
Damage: 62 if you fail the save, 31 if you succeed.
Scenario 2 - Absorb Elements is Used
Damage: 31 if you fail the save, 15 if you succeed.
-
By using a simple level 1 spell you've negated between 15 to 31 damage. Without Absorb Elements, if will take 2 uses of Fire Breath to kill you if you kept failing the saves or 3 uses if you kept succeeding. With Absorb Elements it would take 3 uses to kill even if you failed them all but would take 5 uses (FIVE!) to kill you if succeeded on them all.
If the dragon rolled maximum and you failed the save: if you had used Absorb Elements you'd take 54 damage and live. If you hadn't you'd take 108 damage and be instantly dying from the dragon's first turn.
No matter how you look at it, using Absorb Elements can keep you safe and alive for much longer. It instantly halves the damage you take from a wide variety of sources. You don't have many hit points compared to most so the more damage you can easily negate the better.
Absorb Elements and Shield spells are must-haves as far as I'm considered. They've saved my characters lives many times. I don't care if I'm not using the extra 1d6 damage to my next melee attack, - just the fact it can negate half the damage from elemental sources and save your life is frankly all I need from a simple 1st level spell.
It being a 1st level spell is fantastic - because it's cheap and easy to make scrolls of it. As long as the scroll is on your person, not in a backpack or something, you can use it as the reaction - saves using slots. If you ever do get to 18th level, you can choose to use this with spell mastery and never have to use a spell slot, much like a cantrip.
Whenever I see somebody deliberately saying no to spells like Absorb Elements or Shield it's like this in my head:
Spells: Hey, here's a simple spell, easily cast, resource friendly, that could in many situations help save your life. Person: Nah, I'd rather suffer the large amount of damage to my tiny hit point pool.
Like, really? To me it's utterly whackadoodle. But, to each their own. Good luck against the traps, hazards and dragons that could one-turn-kill you without it. *shrug*
You forget that the dragon can choose to make 3 melee attacks instead, which would do more damage than a failed check with absorb elements, plus a legendary action for a tail/wing attack.
This is an irrelevant argument. Should I not take the spell Comprehend Languages because it cannot blow up a house? Did I say this spell protects you from everything in existence? No, I didn't. It protects against specific types of damage and does it extremely well.
You take Absorb Elements to protect from elemental dangers like the breath attack. You take SHIELD spell to protect from ATTACKS.
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2. All you do is give the dragon an extra hit point
The transformation lasts for the duration, or until the target drops to 0 hit points or dies. The new form can be any beast whose challenge rating is equal to or less than the target's (or the target's level, if it doesn't have a challenge rating). The target's game statistics, including mental ability scores, are replaced by the statistics of the chosen beast. It retains its alignment and personality.
The target assumes the hit points of its new form. When it reverts to its normal form, the creature returns to the number of hit points it had before it transformed. If it reverts as a result of dropping to 0 hit points, any excess damage carries over to its normal form. As long as the excess damage doesn't reduce the creature's normal form to 0 hit points, it isn't knocked unconscious.
When it reverts to its normal form, the creature returns to the number of hit points it had before it transformed. If it reverts as a result of dropping to 0 hit points, any excess damage carries over to its normal form. As long as the excess damage doesn't reduce the creature's normal form to 0 hit points, it isn't knocked unconscious.
Unless you plan on quitting before level 6, Mountain Dwarf is a better deal than Tortle. Rather get the Medium Armor (15 + 2 from dex = 17, and you can get it adamantine and enchanted.
Not to mention that Tortle 's other stuff is inferior to dwarves: Claws, Survival skill, Hold Breath!, and Shell vs :Dark vision!, poison resistance!, Battle Axe!, a tool prof, plus history (stone) expertise. You are giving up 5ft of speed, but get +2 con! instead of +1 wisdom. All in all a much better deal, as soon as you can afford the expensive Half Plate.
My hilldwarf wiz found Mithral half-plate and did a dance.
Not a big fan of Absorb Elements for wizards. Not to say it isn't a good spell what with the whole gaining elemental resistance for a round is nice but I always feel like I'm not using half the spell since what wizard (that isn't multiclassing) is going to be in melee range to use the +1d6 force dmg on its next melee attack part of the spell
Again I'm not saying that Absorb Elements doesn't have its uses for the first half of the spell (the resistance to elemental dmg), it's just that there's a whole half of the spell (the +1d6 force dmg on your next melee att) that as a wizard I'm never going to use since who goes into melee range as a wizard? Just seems wasteful to me. When I cast spells I want to use as much of it as I can.
That's why I feel like A.E. feels more useful on Druids since at least they're somewhat better at going into melee if they want to
You also forgot Scenario 3: Play an abjurer who at lvl 14 would (at full) have an arcane ward with 33hp and a race that's naturally fire resistant like tielfing or fire genasi
remember, it is melee attack, not melee weapon attack, so you could use this with shocking grasp and that would then also prevent you from having opportunity attacks made from that specific target, heck you can even use your familiar to deliver the damage since it is you who makes the attack roll, it is just channeled via your little owl companion who can then immediately fly away to safety when it is necessary, so you could reasonably benefit without having to risk your own skin to do so.
That being said druids have both thorn whip, shillegath, primal savagery and wild shape, and all of those options would let you make powerful melee attacks, so they would be better at benefiting from that extra d6 damage, not that it matters much
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i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
Going to have to agree with Cyb3rm1nd here, it might not come up every session, but when it does, it’s super valuable. Just last seession, I used it twice against a remorhaze. (I was a frontline artificer though, not a wizard). Even if you argue that it’s not good, you get enough 1st level spells to afford it, and you could probably pay a npc wizard to give it to you as a spell scroll.
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Rumors of my awesomeness have been greatly unexaggerated.
"It is our choices ... that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." — Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.
About 50% of my brain power is devoted to thinking up eloquent speeches that I’ll probably never use.
Yuan-ti purebloods get magic resistance and poison immunity, which might get them banned by your dm, but if they're allowed, they have good defensive buffs, and your spells compensate for whatever's missing (ac)
A bonus to STR and WIS does not help a Wizard. This is a bad choice of race.
Sorry, I'm a bit late to the party on this, but I just wanted to point out that Mountain Dwarves don't get a wisdom bonus, that's Hill Dwarves. Mountain Dwarves get +2 to strength and +2 to Constitution. Using the standard point array, dumping strength, which is typical for wizards, would mean you get no negative numbers on your sheet. Just the fact that constitution helps with concentration spells means that the Mountain Dwarves are worth a look for wizards. Adding in the Mountain Dwarves' ability to wear light and medium armor and their natural proficiency with battleaxe and a warhammer (which both do 1d8 damage one-handed, which are tied for the most base damage by a one-handed, non-magical weapon in the Player's Handbook), and you have a wizard who is less squishy than normal with a physical weapon that can do some decent damage if the situation calls for it (especially if you decide to not completely dump strength).
=========================== Laugh at life or life will laugh at you.
Current D&D Characters: Kromen Flintfist, Hill Dwarf Order of the Scribes Wizard/Armorer Artificer Eiphrok, Half-Orc Oath of Glory Paladin/Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer
A bonus to STR and WIS does not help a Wizard. This is a bad choice of race.
Sorry, I'm a bit late to the party on this, but I just wanted to point out that Mountain Dwarves don't get a wisdom bonus, that's Hill Dwarves. Mountain Dwarves get +2 to strength and +2 to Constitution. Using the standard point array, dumping strength, which is typical for wizards, would mean you get no negative numbers on your sheet. Just the fact that constitution helps with concentration spells means that the Mountain Dwarves are worth a look for wizards. Adding in the Mountain Dwarves' ability to wear light and medium armor and their natural proficiency with battleaxe and a warhammer (which both do 1d8 damage one-handed, which are tied for the most base damage by a one-handed, non-magical weapon in the Player's Handbook), and you have a wizard who is less squishy than normal with a physical weapon that can do some decent damage if the situation calls for it (especially if you decide to not completely dump strength).
Only problem is... Your barb/fighter will hate you. Going in melee is not what wizards are for. Even with a 16 con, you only have 9 hp. Less than everyone else, other than sorcerers. You might as well have gone artificer, and then not cared. Cast spells, but focus on melee. I have heard it before, and although it can be ok, focusing on melee is not a good idea. Use the Warhammer only if you have to.
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'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
Well, yeah, I'm not saying melee is the optimal choice for a wizard. I'm just saying that having the option to melee can be very handy in a pinch, and unless the character is trying to be stealthy, having extra armor is never a bad thing. Maybe the wizard has run out of spell slots, maybe the wizard has overloaded with concentration spells and can't cast anything because they already have a concentration spell in play, maybe all the wizard has is ice magic and they are facing an enemy immune to ice damage, maybe someone ran up to the wizard for a melee attack and all the wizard has is ranged spells, or maybe they are stuck in a situation or location where, for whatever reason, magic has been negated. Being in those situations with medium armor and a battleaxe is probably better than being in those same situations with robes and a dagger.
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=========================== Laugh at life or life will laugh at you.
Current D&D Characters: Kromen Flintfist, Hill Dwarf Order of the Scribes Wizard/Armorer Artificer Eiphrok, Half-Orc Oath of Glory Paladin/Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer
My Half-Orc wizard with 18 Str and Con as well as Tough begs to disagree. I had more HP than the Fighter before they took Tough, and even after that i have more HP than anyone else in the group. But I agree that its not what wizards are for, it is just fun to run out of spell slots and then just throw your wand to the ground and go wack the dragon.
My Half-Orc wizard with 18 Str and Con as well as Tough begs to disagree. I had more HP than the Fighter before they took Tough, and even after that i have more HP than anyone else in the group. But I agree that its not what wizards are for, it is just fun to run out of spell slots and then just throw your wand to the ground and go wack the dragon.
I can just imagine gul'dan ... Please don't kill me sir.
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'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
But the melee attack is not an optional thing. No matter what, if you make a melee attack, it does the damage.
So it's more useful on druids, since they will probably make the melee attack.
There is no dawn after eternal night.
Homebrew: Magic items, Subclasses
You forget that the dragon can choose to make 3 melee attacks instead, which would do more damage than a failed check with absorb elements, plus a legendary action for a tail/wing attack.
There is no dawn after eternal night.
Homebrew: Magic items, Subclasses
It's optional because it doesn't force you to make a melee attack. So, you can choose to not benefit from that small aspect of the spell but choosing to not make a melee attack which most wizard builds won't. (And you completely missed the point of that comparative scenario).
It is indeed slightly more useful to most Druid builds but seriously, who the feck cares? It's still a wizard spell and it can save your wizard from a lot of things that do acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage - which, frankly, is most of the types you're likely to come up against. Why let most dragons, a sudden bad trap, or any of the huge number of things that deal these damages do full damage when with a simple 1st level spell you can instantly negate half of it ?
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Turn 1: Dragon uses fire breath, wizard casts absorb elements and succeeds on the check.
Dragon 256/256
Wizard 57/72
Wizard casts finger of death, 61 damage.
Dragon 195/256
Wizard 57/72
Dragon uses tail legendary action.
Dragon 195/256
Wizard 40/72
Turn 2: Dragon uses multiattack.
Dragon 195/256
Wizard 0/72
Dragon wins.
There is no dawn after eternal night.
Homebrew: Magic items, Subclasses
This is an irrelevant argument. Should I not take the spell Comprehend Languages because it cannot blow up a house? Did I say this spell protects you from everything in existence? No, I didn't. It protects against specific types of damage and does it extremely well.
You take Absorb Elements to protect from elemental dangers like the breath attack. You take SHIELD spell to protect from ATTACKS.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
You forget that the dragon is a high INT creature. It knows when it sees a Polymorph.
There is no dawn after eternal night.
Homebrew: Magic items, Subclasses
The dragon has a perception of +13, and you can't cast spells while polymorphed.
There is no dawn after eternal night.
Homebrew: Magic items, Subclasses
"When I get to the barbeque there was a freak accident and huges flames threatened but once again I cast Absorb Elements and saved the day."
You mean saved yourself?
There is no dawn after eternal night.
Homebrew: Magic items, Subclasses
1. Polymorph requires a WIS save, which the Adult Red Dragon has +7 to.
2. All you do is give the dragon an extra hit point
There is no dawn after eternal night.
Homebrew: Magic items, Subclasses
When it reverts to its normal form, the creature returns to the number of hit points it had before it transformed. If it reverts as a result of dropping to 0 hit points, any excess damage carries over to its normal form. As long as the excess damage doesn't reduce the creature's normal form to 0 hit points, it isn't knocked unconscious.
There is no dawn after eternal night.
Homebrew: Magic items, Subclasses
My hilldwarf wiz found Mithral half-plate and did a dance.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
Deck of Decks
remember, it is melee attack, not melee weapon attack, so you could use this with shocking grasp and that would then also prevent you from having opportunity attacks made from that specific target, heck you can even use your familiar to deliver the damage since it is you who makes the attack roll, it is just channeled via your little owl companion who can then immediately fly away to safety when it is necessary, so you could reasonably benefit without having to risk your own skin to do so.
That being said druids have both thorn whip, shillegath, primal savagery and wild shape, and all of those options would let you make powerful melee attacks, so they would be better at benefiting from that extra d6 damage, not that it matters much
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
Going to have to agree with Cyb3rm1nd here, it might not come up every session, but when it does, it’s super valuable. Just last seession, I used it twice against a remorhaze. (I was a frontline artificer though, not a wizard). Even if you argue that it’s not good, you get enough 1st level spells to afford it, and you could probably pay a npc wizard to give it to you as a spell scroll.
Rumors of my awesomeness have been greatly unexaggerated.
"It is our choices ... that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." — Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.
About 50% of my brain power is devoted to thinking up eloquent speeches that I’ll probably never use.
Yuan-ti purebloods get magic resistance and poison immunity, which might get them banned by your dm, but if they're allowed, they have good defensive buffs, and your spells compensate for whatever's missing (ac)
-Anders
Sorry, I'm a bit late to the party on this, but I just wanted to point out that Mountain Dwarves don't get a wisdom bonus, that's Hill Dwarves. Mountain Dwarves get +2 to strength and +2 to Constitution. Using the standard point array, dumping strength, which is typical for wizards, would mean you get no negative numbers on your sheet. Just the fact that constitution helps with concentration spells means that the Mountain Dwarves are worth a look for wizards. Adding in the Mountain Dwarves' ability to wear light and medium armor and their natural proficiency with battleaxe and a warhammer (which both do 1d8 damage one-handed, which are tied for the most base damage by a one-handed, non-magical weapon in the Player's Handbook), and you have a wizard who is less squishy than normal with a physical weapon that can do some decent damage if the situation calls for it (especially if you decide to not completely dump strength).
===========================
Laugh at life or life will laugh at you.
Current D&D Characters:
Kromen Flintfist, Hill Dwarf Order of the Scribes Wizard/Armorer Artificer
Eiphrok, Half-Orc Oath of Glory Paladin/Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer
Only problem is... Your barb/fighter will hate you. Going in melee is not what wizards are for. Even with a 16 con, you only have 9 hp. Less than everyone else, other than sorcerers. You might as well have gone artificer, and then not cared. Cast spells, but focus on melee. I have heard it before, and although it can be ok, focusing on melee is not a good idea. Use the Warhammer only if you have to.
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!
Well, yeah, I'm not saying melee is the optimal choice for a wizard. I'm just saying that having the option to melee can be very handy in a pinch, and unless the character is trying to be stealthy, having extra armor is never a bad thing. Maybe the wizard has run out of spell slots, maybe the wizard has overloaded with concentration spells and can't cast anything because they already have a concentration spell in play, maybe all the wizard has is ice magic and they are facing an enemy immune to ice damage, maybe someone ran up to the wizard for a melee attack and all the wizard has is ranged spells, or maybe they are stuck in a situation or location where, for whatever reason, magic has been negated. Being in those situations with medium armor and a battleaxe is probably better than being in those same situations with robes and a dagger.
===========================
Laugh at life or life will laugh at you.
Current D&D Characters:
Kromen Flintfist, Hill Dwarf Order of the Scribes Wizard/Armorer Artificer
Eiphrok, Half-Orc Oath of Glory Paladin/Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer
Fair enough.
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!
My Half-Orc wizard with 18 Str and Con as well as Tough begs to disagree. I had more HP than the Fighter before they took Tough, and even after that i have more HP than anyone else in the group. But I agree that its not what wizards are for, it is just fun to run out of spell slots and then just throw your wand to the ground and go wack the dragon.
I can just imagine gul'dan ... Please don't kill me sir.
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!