Create Bonfire damage is crappy, but the tactical advantage and the synergy with a grappler/pusher is great, for instance. Block a small corridor to avoid enemies rushing is smart. Just throw your bonfire unto the next goblin around is a waste.
The worst thing about Create Bonfire is that it requires concentration, so you can't use it when you're concentrating on another spell.
I agree, that’s why you should be careful with spell choices and consider Create Bonfire when you are trying to save some resources. You can of course combine with things like Blindness/Deafness and obviously any other blasting AoE spells, but the main point is to provide tactical and battlefield control advantage without spending precious spells slots.
Create Bonfire really shines at low levels when you don’t have so many good Concentration spells, but it can change the game if you are able to find combinations within your party, for instance:
- If there are any sort of grappler or “mover” in the party (someone using Thorn Whip, Lightning Lure, Eldritch Blast with Repelling Blast, Thunderwave or even Pushing Attack from Battlemaster), Bonfire damage will be triggered all the time someone enters (or stay) in the square.
- If there are any good melee ally who can be a serious treat with OA, you can strategically position your Bonfire to force enemies provoke that. I’m using this a lot in my current game partnering with the Arcana Cleric who has Booming Blade and Warcaster.
- I used to combine Bonfire with Web as well, but then it was our Druid casting it and my Wizard locking down the road with Web. It was really powerful... before errata, I was even using Pyrotechnics with that.
You can measure a good Wizard by his spells. You can measure an outstanding Wizard by his cantrips.
So I ran this concept in a couple 1 shots, one at level 3 and 1 at level 10. I have to say that despite the tactical uses of ray of frost, mind sliver is much more usable especially at higher levels when big evocation spells and save or suck spells become available. The guaranteed damage of the potent cantrip is very useful at lower levels and not as useless at higher levels as one might think, thought it makes a much less of a difference than I thought it might.
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I agree, that’s why you should be careful with spell choices and consider Create Bonfire when you are trying to save some resources. You can of course combine with things like Blindness/Deafness and obviously any other blasting AoE spells, but the main point is to provide tactical and battlefield control advantage without spending precious spells slots.
Create Bonfire really shines at low levels when you don’t have so many good Concentration spells, but it can change the game if you are able to find combinations within your party, for instance:
- If there are any sort of grappler or “mover” in the party (someone using Thorn Whip, Lightning Lure, Eldritch Blast with Repelling Blast, Thunderwave or even Pushing Attack from Battlemaster), Bonfire damage will be triggered all the time someone enters (or stay) in the square.
- If there are any good melee ally who can be a serious treat with OA, you can strategically position your Bonfire to force enemies provoke that. I’m using this a lot in my current game partnering with the Arcana Cleric who has Booming Blade and Warcaster.
- I used to combine Bonfire with Web as well, but then it was our Druid casting it and my Wizard locking down the road with Web. It was really powerful... before errata, I was even using Pyrotechnics with that.
You can measure a good Wizard by his spells. You can measure an outstanding Wizard by his cantrips.
So I ran this concept in a couple 1 shots, one at level 3 and 1 at level 10. I have to say that despite the tactical uses of ray of frost, mind sliver is much more usable especially at higher levels when big evocation spells and save or suck spells become available. The guaranteed damage of the potent cantrip is very useful at lower levels and not as useless at higher levels as one might think, thought it makes a much less of a difference than I thought it might.