Hey guys! So, I and my friends just hit Lv 10 in the Strahd campaign and I was looking through the spells and I saw Summon Celestial. Me personally, I LOVE summoning, so I was thinking about grabbing this. However, I am not sure if this will be effective for me. I play a Grave Cleric and I do not fight up close in melee range. I do however been grabbing Spirit Guardians and it has been my MVP spell ever since I hit Lv 5 to learn it (This is mainly because no one else has any AoE spells except our Sorcerer, who is new and RARELY cast Fireball, so I grab it).
I know that I add the spell attack modifier to the Celestial attacking and I believe it is neat. However, I am not sure how effective this spell would be. If I cast this spell, then I give up Spirit Guardians the AoE damage regardless of the enemy passes or fails. I'm not really sure at all and I was thinking of taking Dawn as well since I can just move the sunlight as a bonus action. Really want some advice and input.
Just to clarify, you know you can change your spells prepared at the end of a long rest? So if you take it a few times, and don’t like it, you can always switch back.
But to answer the question. Any of those spells will be effective in some situations but not in others. Some times you might have the wrong one ready, but that’s just the way of things.
I believe the consensus is that the new summoning spells are mechanically inferior for one reason or another, but are more versatile and improve action economy.
Radiant damage is obviously important in Curse of Strahd, but with low level spells like Sacred Flame and Guiding Bolt filling the role of single target regeneration blocking, AOEs are likely to be more valuable.
As Xalthu mentioned, you're not locked into one choice or another. If you expect to be indoors, lean on Spirit Guardians; if you expect to encounter a horde, prepare Dawn; and if you don't know what you're getting into, summon celestial to help you overcome obstacles, trigger traps, and grant advantage on skill checks and attack rolls. With a fly speed and STR 16, it can carry other players, and with Healing Touch, it can save one player from unconsciousness.
Most claims of mechanical inferiority stem either from attempted cheese with the summons/conjures or the fact that they don't have hit dice so they don't work with some of the more interesting summoner style subclasses special abilities.
Other than that. Like was said. Use the one that's useful to the moment and maybe consider trying different ones at different times. They are all three good spells but they fit somewhat different niche's So you may find that one is more useful over the others at different times since they are all rather good spells. Specially in something like Curse of Strahd.
The applications of the spells are different. Dawn is best when sunlight is needed (e.g. fighting vampires). Spirit Guardians is best with lots of melee targets in a small area. Summon Celestial is best when enemies are spread out. I think Dawn is the most situational, as sunlight is not usually required. The other two should be prepared normally as Clerics get limited ranged options.
That’s what summon celestial is. There’s no “lesser” per se, though using a higher level spell slot does summon a stronger celestial. So the base 5th level slot could be considered the “lesser” version.
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Hey guys! So, I and my friends just hit Lv 10 in the Strahd campaign and I was looking through the spells and I saw Summon Celestial. Me personally, I LOVE summoning, so I was thinking about grabbing this. However, I am not sure if this will be effective for me. I play a Grave Cleric and I do not fight up close in melee range. I do however been grabbing Spirit Guardians and it has been my MVP spell ever since I hit Lv 5 to learn it (This is mainly because no one else has any AoE spells except our Sorcerer, who is new and RARELY cast Fireball, so I grab it).
I know that I add the spell attack modifier to the Celestial attacking and I believe it is neat. However, I am not sure how effective this spell would be. If I cast this spell, then I give up Spirit Guardians the AoE damage regardless of the enemy passes or fails. I'm not really sure at all and I was thinking of taking Dawn as well since I can just move the sunlight as a bonus action. Really want some advice and input.
Just to clarify, you know you can change your spells prepared at the end of a long rest? So if you take it a few times, and don’t like it, you can always switch back.
But to answer the question. Any of those spells will be effective in some situations but not in others. Some times you might have the wrong one ready, but that’s just the way of things.
I believe the consensus is that the new summoning spells are mechanically inferior for one reason or another, but are more versatile and improve action economy.
Radiant damage is obviously important in Curse of Strahd, but with low level spells like Sacred Flame and Guiding Bolt filling the role of single target regeneration blocking, AOEs are likely to be more valuable.
As Xalthu mentioned, you're not locked into one choice or another. If you expect to be indoors, lean on Spirit Guardians; if you expect to encounter a horde, prepare Dawn; and if you don't know what you're getting into, summon celestial to help you overcome obstacles, trigger traps, and grant advantage on skill checks and attack rolls. With a fly speed and STR 16, it can carry other players, and with Healing Touch, it can save one player from unconsciousness.
The best spell is the one you need in the moment.
Most claims of mechanical inferiority stem either from attempted cheese with the summons/conjures or the fact that they don't have hit dice so they don't work with some of the more interesting summoner style subclasses special abilities.
Other than that. Like was said. Use the one that's useful to the moment and maybe consider trying different ones at different times. They are all three good spells but they fit somewhat different niche's So you may find that one is more useful over the others at different times since they are all rather good spells. Specially in something like Curse of Strahd.
The applications of the spells are different. Dawn is best when sunlight is needed (e.g. fighting vampires). Spirit Guardians is best with lots of melee targets in a small area. Summon Celestial is best when enemies are spread out. I think Dawn is the most situational, as sunlight is not usually required. The other two should be prepared normally as Clerics get limited ranged options.
Where's "Summon lesser angel" at?
That’s what summon celestial is. There’s no “lesser” per se, though using a higher level spell slot does summon a stronger celestial. So the base 5th level slot could be considered the “lesser” version.