I'm curious to see what everyone's go-to set of AoE spells are. In particular, which ones would you always want to have available within your party that offer the best combination of versatility, power, and efficiency? Obviously, most people are likely to place fireball high on the list, due to the way the spell is designed, but I wanted to see if there are any unexpected or unique takes on this.
As my favorite class has been Warlock, I've always been partial to Shatter. You get it earlier than stuff like Fireball, yes it's a smaller radius than Fireball but sometimes that's a good thing. And Thunder damage is resisted far less often than Fire damage. With the release of XGtE, I've become a big fan of Thunder Step. It's a great way to get out of a melee furball, and you can take a friend with you. More than once I've been in a fight where one of my party was nearly surrounded, so I walked up next to them and Thunder Stepped both of us away, smiting the monsters on our way out. Larger-scale full-on blasting is certainly nice, but there's also something to be said for controlled detonations :)
For a non-damage AoE spell, Faerie Fire. Seriously, if you can nail some of the bad guys with it and give your whole party advantage on attacks for a minute you can WRECK an encounter. The fact that it's a 1st-level spell just makes it all the more awesome. I would also say Slow, but that's more "multi-target" than "AoE".
I'm partial to Synaptic Static. It's a big puff of Psychic damage (same as Fireball) but it also applies a slightly better version of Bane on the targets if they fail. It's particularly nasty for casters because it applies the -d6 to Concentration saves too.
I'm partial to Synaptic Static. It's a big puff of Psychic damage (same as Fireball) but it also applies a slightly better version of Bane on the targets if they fail. It's particularly nasty for casters because it applies the -d6 to Concentration saves too.
I've had bad luck with spells that allow a save every turn to break out of the effect :(
I've gotten a lot of use out of fear... If you've got a decently high Spell DC it can eliminate a big group from combat for at least 1 turn... and the fact that they automatically drop whatever's in their hands can be a huge factor. If you can be sure not to hit your own party members, it's also a good way to trigger Attacks of Opportunity.
Another vote for Shatter, here. Been playing a Tempest cleric in my latest game, and maximizing a Shatter deals almost as much damage as an average Fireball in a smaller spell slot. Even better though, Shatter explicitly affects things as well as critters; it's a demolition charge I can and have used to knock down walls or blast open Whoops-I-Trapped-You-Again locks-behind-you doors. You do have to be careful with it because of that, you can't light it off in tight spaces freely the way some folks do with other AoE spells, but being able to point to the wording on Shatter that says "inanimate objects also take the damage" and using it to attack terrain as well as critters makes it a splendidly versatile spell in my book, especially at second level.
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I'm curious to see what everyone's go-to set of AoE spells are. In particular, which ones would you always want to have available within your party that offer the best combination of versatility, power, and efficiency? Obviously, most people are likely to place fireball high on the list, due to the way the spell is designed, but I wanted to see if there are any unexpected or unique takes on this.
As my favorite class has been Warlock, I've always been partial to Shatter. You get it earlier than stuff like Fireball, yes it's a smaller radius than Fireball but sometimes that's a good thing. And Thunder damage is resisted far less often than Fire damage. With the release of XGtE, I've become a big fan of Thunder Step. It's a great way to get out of a melee furball, and you can take a friend with you. More than once I've been in a fight where one of my party was nearly surrounded, so I walked up next to them and Thunder Stepped both of us away, smiting the monsters on our way out. Larger-scale full-on blasting is certainly nice, but there's also something to be said for controlled detonations :)
For a non-damage AoE spell, Faerie Fire. Seriously, if you can nail some of the bad guys with it and give your whole party advantage on attacks for a minute you can WRECK an encounter. The fact that it's a 1st-level spell just makes it all the more awesome. I would also say Slow, but that's more "multi-target" than "AoE".
I'm partial to Synaptic Static. It's a big puff of Psychic damage (same as Fireball) but it also applies a slightly better version of Bane on the targets if they fail. It's particularly nasty for casters because it applies the -d6 to Concentration saves too.
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I've had bad luck with spells that allow a save every turn to break out of the effect :(
I've gotten a lot of use out of fear... If you've got a decently high Spell DC it can eliminate a big group from combat for at least 1 turn... and the fact that they automatically drop whatever's in their hands can be a huge factor. If you can be sure not to hit your own party members, it's also a good way to trigger Attacks of Opportunity.
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Another vote for Shatter, here. Been playing a Tempest cleric in my latest game, and maximizing a Shatter deals almost as much damage as an average Fireball in a smaller spell slot. Even better though, Shatter explicitly affects things as well as critters; it's a demolition charge I can and have used to knock down walls or blast open Whoops-I-Trapped-You-Again locks-behind-you doors. You do have to be careful with it because of that, you can't light it off in tight spaces freely the way some folks do with other AoE spells, but being able to point to the wording on Shatter that says "inanimate objects also take the damage" and using it to attack terrain as well as critters makes it a splendidly versatile spell in my book, especially at second level.
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