I've taken a liking to theory-crafting various builds and multiclass things, but I don't yet have the experience to know what I really miss out on by delaying spellcaster levels. So, what spells do you consider to be the "must haves"?
Or at least the "must considers", since there's always someone who will bring up the "do what you want" line.
For clerics, I’d go with guidance, healing word, bless, spirit guardians, as being things you always have prepared. also revivify and banishment.
Paladins, find steed and a bunch of other stuff you’ll never actually cast because of smites.
I know people always say hex for warlocks and hunter’s mark for rangers, but I don’t think either is that great. Of course I’ve not played either in this edition, so I’ll defer to those with more experience.
Someone in the party having light is great. Ditto fly and teleport.
Wizards, magic missile and fireball and wish if it’s allowed, and I guess there’s people who play wizards that don’t just blow stuff up, but that is outside my comfort zone.
Don't think I'll ever not take Shield on any class that can have it. It's just that good, especially at higher levels when you're not likely to spend first level slots on anything else.
Another one I always take is Haste. That (literally) goes double for Sorcerers with Twinned Spell.
As a Ranger, I take Goodberry every time. Very efficient for healing and overall survival.
Agree with everyone about Eldritch Blast. It should just be a warlock class feature that levels up with warlock levels IMO.
My cleric nearly always has Detect Magic prepared, but largely because we don't have a wizard. Somebody in the party ought to have the spell.
Absorb Elements is also a great one if it's available. I'm fond of using Locate Object to locate someone by something they have on them. And as a fan of rangers, I do regularly take Hunter's Mark, as well as Zephyr Strike.
Most have been mentioned. Spiritual weapon is another good one for clerics as it does not require concentration.
My view on hex is it is great at low levels but gets less as you level up, as you can do much more with concentration, and for a single class warlock it updates poorly. At level 7 something like banish is a much better use of concentration..
Hunters Mark can always be cast using a first level slot and rangers and paladin get high level spells much later so are more viable later in the campaign
Arcane Trickster: Find Familiar, for espionage. Artificer: Catapult for reliable damage. Bard: Bane because support. Cleric: Healing Word for bonus action support. Druid: Goodberry for healing and food. Eldritch Knight: Absorb Elements for magic defense. Paladin: Divine Favor for prolonged damage increases. Profane Soul: Hellish Rebuke for excellent reaction use. Ranger: Goodberry, for the same reason as Druid. Sorcerer: Chaos Bolt for potentially large damage. Warlock: Armor of Agathys for ridiculous level scaling. Wizard: Mage Armor for sustainable AC.
A couple of people have mentioned Goodberry. I banned it from my campaign because it's way too strong for a 1st level spell. Whilst the healing element is strong, it was more because it completely eliminated the entire "we are in the wild, struggling to survive" aspect of the campaign completely.
Polymorph is really problematic. It's the strongest healing spell in the game, it turns players into crazy damage dealing apes, and generally as long as players use it to go straight for CR7 and 8 Beasts, then it's heavily out of line with other 4th level spells. It's a shame because it clearly has some great storytelling potential, but the way it's designed makes strategies like "I'll turn you into a Giant Ape, you go in and kill all the monsters, I'll hide back here."
Arcane Trickster: Find Familiar, for espionage. Artificer: Catapult for reliable damage. Bard: Bane because support. Cleric: Healing Word for bonus action support. Druid: Goodberry for healing and food. Eldritch Knight: Absorb Elements for magic defense. Paladin: Divine Favor for prolonged damage increases. Profane Soul: Hellish Rebuke for excellent reaction use. Ranger: Goodberry, for the same reason as Druid. Sorcerer: Chaos Bolt for potentially large damage. Warlock: Armor of Agathys for ridiculous level scaling. Wizard: Mage Armor for sustainable AC.
I wouldn't say any 1st level damage dealing spell is a must have. After level 5 they don't do much more damage than a resource free attack and before that other spells are generally more important. A lot of spells are great such that one member of the party needs them, someone should have detect magic, but most spellcasters have it available.
Goodberry is down the the DM in a survival type situation it is the equivalent of a 3rd level create food and water but moany DMs don't do that at all. For healing if only really becomes OP if you are allowed to force feed unconcious people or multiclass to life cleric (optional rule and I know it goes against SAC but I have always thought goodberry isn't "casting a spell that restores hit points", it is casting a spell to create berrys, it is eating the berry that restores hitpoints)
My cleric nearly always has Detect Magic prepared, but largely because we don't have a wizard. Somebody in the party ought to have the spell.
Absorb Elements is also a great one if it's available. I'm fond of using Locate Object to locate someone by something they have on them. And as a fan of rangers, I do regularly take Hunter's Mark, as well as Zephyr Strike.
Why Detect Magic? Serious noob question here. At first glance, I feel like it's just to let us know something is magical but not do anything about it.
First off, Detect Magic not only tells you that something is magical, it also tells you what school, and that can be useful to know. Once you find out something is magical, you do something about it. You spend an hour holding it, you cast Identify on it, and so on. It's pretty handy from the get-go, because if you don't know anything is magical, how do you divide up the treasure?
I don't know about you, but if I could get it, I would absolutely take it if nobody else in the party had it.
Ensnaring Strike is OK if you have a good Wisdom score, but a fair number of folks won't try to build up their WIS as a ranger, so that's a factor to keep in mind.
The only "must haves" for me after playing a variety of spell casters and DMing even more are:
- at least one hit point recovery spell if you can learn it. It's embarrassing to have the only healer go down in a fight
- Counterspell. This has saved adventuring parties so often I now make sure all NPCs that could cast it take it. It really is that good when you get to high levels
The only other thing I'd add if you're a Wizard then stuff as many ritual casting spells as you can find into your spell book and get casting every chance you get.
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I've taken a liking to theory-crafting various builds and multiclass things, but I don't yet have the experience to know what I really miss out on by delaying spellcaster levels. So, what spells do you consider to be the "must haves"?
Or at least the "must considers", since there's always someone who will bring up the "do what you want" line.
For clerics, I’d go with guidance, healing word, bless, spirit guardians, as being things you always have prepared. also revivify and banishment.
Paladins, find steed and a bunch of other stuff you’ll never actually cast because of smites.
I know people always say hex for warlocks and hunter’s mark for rangers, but I don’t think either is that great. Of course I’ve not played either in this edition, so I’ll defer to those with more experience.
Someone in the party having light is great. Ditto fly and teleport.
Wizards, magic missile and fireball and wish if it’s allowed, and I guess there’s people who play wizards that don’t just blow stuff up, but that is outside my comfort zone.
Eldritch Knight: Shield, Protection from Evil and Good
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Don't think I'll ever not take Shield on any class that can have it. It's just that good, especially at higher levels when you're not likely to spend first level slots on anything else.
Another one I always take is Haste. That (literally) goes double for Sorcerers with Twinned Spell.
As a Ranger, I take Goodberry every time. Very efficient for healing and overall survival.
Agree with everyone about Eldritch Blast. It should just be a warlock class feature that levels up with warlock levels IMO.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
I always flip it up. Try and break tradition and try new stuff out! You’ll be surprised how often you can find novel uses for under-utilized spells.
My cleric nearly always has Detect Magic prepared, but largely because we don't have a wizard. Somebody in the party ought to have the spell.
Absorb Elements is also a great one if it's available. I'm fond of using Locate Object to locate someone by something they have on them. And as a fan of rangers, I do regularly take Hunter's Mark, as well as Zephyr Strike.
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
Most have been mentioned. Spiritual weapon is another good one for clerics as it does not require concentration.
My view on hex is it is great at low levels but gets less as you level up, as you can do much more with concentration, and for a single class warlock it updates poorly. At level 7 something like banish is a much better use of concentration..
Hunters Mark can always be cast using a first level slot and rangers and paladin get high level spells much later so are more viable later in the campaign
I’m finding that Polymorph is a must have spell.
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First-level spells
Arcane Trickster: Find Familiar, for espionage.
Artificer: Catapult for reliable damage.
Bard: Bane because support.
Cleric: Healing Word for bonus action support.
Druid: Goodberry for healing and food.
Eldritch Knight: Absorb Elements for magic defense.
Paladin: Divine Favor for prolonged damage increases.
Profane Soul: Hellish Rebuke for excellent reaction use.
Ranger: Goodberry, for the same reason as Druid.
Sorcerer: Chaos Bolt for potentially large damage.
Warlock: Armor of Agathys for ridiculous level scaling.
Wizard: Mage Armor for sustainable AC.
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Spells, Monsters, Magic Items, Feats, Subclasses.
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A couple of people have mentioned Goodberry. I banned it from my campaign because it's way too strong for a 1st level spell. Whilst the healing element is strong, it was more because it completely eliminated the entire "we are in the wild, struggling to survive" aspect of the campaign completely.
Polymorph is really problematic. It's the strongest healing spell in the game, it turns players into crazy damage dealing apes, and generally as long as players use it to go straight for CR7 and 8 Beasts, then it's heavily out of line with other 4th level spells. It's a shame because it clearly has some great storytelling potential, but the way it's designed makes strategies like "I'll turn you into a Giant Ape, you go in and kill all the monsters, I'll hide back here."
I wouldn't say any 1st level damage dealing spell is a must have. After level 5 they don't do much more damage than a resource free attack and before that other spells are generally more important. A lot of spells are great such that one member of the party needs them, someone should have detect magic, but most spellcasters have it available.
Goodberry is down the the DM in a survival type situation it is the equivalent of a 3rd level create food and water but moany DMs don't do that at all. For healing if only really becomes OP if you are allowed to force feed unconcious people or multiclass to life cleric (optional rule and I know it goes against SAC but I have always thought goodberry isn't "casting a spell that restores hit points", it is casting a spell to create berrys, it is eating the berry that restores hitpoints)
Why Detect Magic? Serious noob question here. At first glance, I feel like it's just to let us know something is magical but not do anything about it.
First off, Detect Magic not only tells you that something is magical, it also tells you what school, and that can be useful to know. Once you find out something is magical, you do something about it. You spend an hour holding it, you cast Identify on it, and so on. It's pretty handy from the get-go, because if you don't know anything is magical, how do you divide up the treasure?
I don't know about you, but if I could get it, I would absolutely take it if nobody else in the party had it.
<Insert clever signature here>
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Agree with knowing detect magic, but I wouldn’t have it prepared/ memorized and would use it as a ritual.
That depends on your class most classes except wizards have to have it prepared / memorized on order to cast it as a ritual.
Dispel magic can usually be cast as a ritual but there are times you don't want ot waste 10 minutes.
Talking about Wizards, I’ll always have Sleep at low levels, Web at intermediate levels and Polymorph at higher.
Ensnaring Strike is also a must have for any Ranger, I rather get it instead of Hunters Mark.
Ensnaring Strike is OK if you have a good Wisdom score, but a fair number of folks won't try to build up their WIS as a ranger, so that's a factor to keep in mind.
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
The only "must haves" for me after playing a variety of spell casters and DMing even more are:
- at least one hit point recovery spell if you can learn it. It's embarrassing to have the only healer go down in a fight
- Counterspell. This has saved adventuring parties so often I now make sure all NPCs that could cast it take it. It really is that good when you get to high levels
The only other thing I'd add if you're a Wizard then stuff as many ritual casting spells as you can find into your spell book and get casting every chance you get.