Arcane Trickster: Web. Do you know how fun it is to always have advantage, and thus sneak attack? Very, even if it’s just for one round. Remember everyone else also gets advantage. Artificer: Heat Metal. You already know why. Bard: [Tooltip Not Found] for area or creature control if UA is allowed, if not then Hold Person because paralysis is OP. Cleric: Spiritual Weapon because why not? Free bonus action attack with no concentration. Druid: Hold Person for paralysis Eldritch Knight: Blur for constant defense. Paladin: Find Steed for a free mount and mobility. Profane Soul: Shadow Blade. Fun fact: you can use crimson rite on shadow blade and it counts as light. Level scaling is also convenient Ranger: Spike Growth for area control. Sorcerer: [Tooltip Not Found] if UA is allowed for damage and movement control, otherwise Misty Step to get out of melee range. Warlock: Shatter for mass damage and level scaling Wizard: Mirror Image for arguably the best additional defense you’ll get.
A lot of times which spell to take depends on what your building. A wood elf ranger doesn’t really need longstrider it would actually endanger them by putting them way out in front with no backup, a dwarf ranger would find that 10’ speed boost potentially essential just to keep with the party in a moving fight. Same kind of thing for a lot of other spells. What if your in a party without a Druid or cleric (BTDT) the ranger and bard HAVE to have cure wounds. About the only two I see as really required are mage armor - especially for low level mages, and some sort of healing spells - again especially at low levels. im not really a fan of good berry - 1 HP restored isn’t much even at level 1 and your ranger/Druid/scout rogue/outlander background character should have survival so you should be able to scrounge up food and water without resorting to magic. Detect magic should be available but doesn’t have to be memorized. If it’s in the wizard’s spellbooks he can caste it as a ritual after you’ve collected things or are taking a breather after combat. If it’s from some one else that can change spells on a long rest you just collect all the well made stuff (really is anyone going to enhance a cheap badly made piece of junk?) and detect away later when you have time.
Hunters mark vs ensnaring strike: both are bonus actions and both do the same damage, ensnaring strike does it every round till they save ( typical low level DC of. 11/12) so they save quickly, HM only does it when you hit but your to hits are probably better than your DC so …; both are concentration but ensnaring strike is 1 minute, HM is 1 hour (+) and transferable as a bonus action. Over all I think hunters mark is a better spell for a L2+ ranger. above level 1-3 it’s much more about character story than must haves.
Bless rules. Love it as a cleric, where it's a widely-acknowledged go-to move. But I also really appreciated it as a paladin in a recent short-arc campaign I was in; I never really had to worry about losing concentration on it thanks to my good aura, and the number of misses it turned into hits resulted in more damage than if I'd used the slot on a smite.
Breaking down the list of spells into specific classes might be a bit much as many spells cross between them. Here's a list of spells per level that I would say are worth looking into IF they are available to a particular class.
General 1st Level:
-Feather Fall: <If you have the option to take it, do so. One of the fastest ways of getting you or a party member killed is falling damage.
-Shield: <If you can take it, it will almost always come into play in any battle. May not always work, but will always be worth taking.
-Detect Magic: <You might as well have this going 24/7.
-Witch Bolt: <When you combine this spell with Sorcerer abilities, it can ruin anyone's day. At level 20, using all that the Sorcerer has to offer and a level 9 spell slot (give or take some feats), this thing can just destroy a enemy.
-Protection from Evil and Good: <Because screw ghosts. And the other things that it protects against I guess.
-Faerie Fire: <When you are trying to find that one invisible enemy and/or need advantage hitting someone. <Upgrading to "See Invisibility" doesn't exactly help your allies even if it's better at helping you specifically.
-Any Form of Healing Spell: <Preferably one that can heal at range such as Healing Word. This is for when a party member goes down. You may not be able to heal them much with this 1st level spell, but you can at least give them 1hp and get them back up. You may not use this spell when you reach higher levels, but it could make all of the difference even at such levels.
-Bless: +1d4 to attacks and all that, especially at level one, has saved my party many times.
General 2nd Level:
-Lesser Restoration: <If you can take it, it will eventually (and many times) come into play at some point in time during your adventures.
-Heat Metal: <Weak damage? maybe. A typically resisted element? sure. But as long a the target isn't immune to fire, this spell will ruin any enemy that wears metal armor and/or wields weapons.
-Invisibility: <Will be used often no matter what, so you might as well take it now. Optionally, you can get rid of it later for Greater Invisibility though this one still has its benefits of being used on multiple people at once.
-Alter Self: <Honorable mention for this one. Water breathing and swimming speed equals running speed, change appearance and voice, and gain magic 1d6+1+strength unarmed attacks... plus you can alter between these options on your turn for 1 hour.
-Enhance Ability: <advantage on a specific ability check works wonders for accomplishing a particular task.
-Pass Without a Trace: <+10 to stealth checks. Enough said.
-Silence: <Telling a magic user to shove their spell casting up their backside is great. Also perfect for those moments when you don't want to alert anyone else to something you probably shouldn't be doing.
General 3rd Level:
-Fireball: <I mean... come on. Lighting Bolt is another option but by default, Fireball should be the go-to for any damage-dealing spell at this level.
-Fly: <Yeah... You you're probably going to want this one no matter what.
-Intellect Fortress: <If there is one thing that can kill a character or destroy the perfect strategy, that would be a failed Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma save. It may not be all that impressive compared to many other spells, but this spell might make all the difference.
-Revivify: <If you are a healer and you don't have this spell prepared and on-hand at all times, you deserve the eternal damnation and torturous afterlife that the spirits of your dead comrades are going to inflict upon you.
-Haste: <Naturally worth considering for use on yourself or another, it's only downside is that you lose a turn after haste wears off but that pales in comparison to what you gain for that brief amount of time.
-Slow: <Maybe not as impressive as Haste, but shouldn't be overlooked.
-Dispel Magic: <It's no Counterspell, but still worth carrying around.
-Counterspell: <Always Take This! No, there is no "But". Take this and save you and your parties lives! (Also, It's a widely known fact that using this spell is the same as giving the DM the middle finger. Just don't be surprised when the DM returns the favor.)
-Leomund's Tiny Hut: <Great for map control and protection. It can block a enemies path and/or shield the players within. Being a ritual and not a spell like the "mansion" makes it a must have for any adventure.
General 4th Level:
-Freedom of Movement: <Very good for what it does. One of those, "It's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.". Kinda like Feather Fall.
-Polymorph: <Look, if you have access to this spell, take it. It is so friggin' versatile that you have no real reason not to take it.
-Greater Invisibility: <It's another one of those spells that you will always find a use for in some way or another.
-Otiluke's Resilient Sphere: <Great for many applications both in and out of combat and potentially open to creative uses.
-Banishment: <It can completely remove a threat and potentially alter the course of a battle. Also, if you really want to kill the enemy, its basically a cheap "Time Stop" spell that allows you to get situated before you return the enemy back to where it was standing.
-Dimension Door: <get out of life-threatening situation free card.
General 5th Level:
-Bigby's Hand: <Technically it's a Levitate spell and such a versatile spell that you can't really go wrong with it.
-Greater Restoration: <You might want to hold onto this one for the duration of your adventuring career.
-Mass Cure Wounds: <It's the 2nd most important healing spell you can ever take. You only have one turn and pretty much one action. With this spell, you can heal still-standing allies and rescue those that are near death all in one turn.
General 6th Level:
-Heal: <70 HP straight up. Kinda optional at higher levels, but at 70HP with no questions asked, kinda hard to beat it at this level.
-Hero's Feast: <It's good if you know what you're about to encounter and you really need the benefits that this spell offers. Lasts a long time and can make a huge difference during an engagement.
-Any of the "Investiture Of" spells: <Immune or resistant various types of damage and/or gaining many other additional benefits for a short time.
General 7th Level:
-Finger of Death: 18-86 damage and if it kills the target, you get a free ally for life... or unlife?
-Plane Shift: This can either get rid of a enemy outright (or for a time until it finds a way back), or help get your party out of danger... or into danger if you go to the wrong plane.
-Prismatic Spray: <An enhanced version of fireball with a bit of gambling mixed in.
-Teleport: <Someone's going to need a transport spell eventually. If not this one, then Transport via Plants or something.
General 8th Level:
-Feeblemind: You want to destroy the life of a Wizard... or anyone really for 30 days? Use this spell. If you want to make a battle, where the enemies strategy just annoys the heck out of you, become simply ganging up and resorting to a bare-knuckle beatdown, Use this spell. Also, we all know what happened to that one Green Dragon on that show...
-Antimagic Sphere: Will ruin any and all magic users day. It'll ruin anyone's day that relies heavily on magic items. It'll ruin the day of any summoned creature, It'll ruin the day of your party when they realize that they can't heal themselves or use their own magic items... plainly put, this can potentially ruin a lot of peoples day. Unless you are battling a god or some natural disaster, it is very useful for a lot of things.
General 9th Level:
-Wish: obviously...
-Almost every 9th level spell has its specific thing that it does and so you cannot really say that there is one better than the others. Wish just happens the be the most powerful if you consider what it can potentially do.
Added Notes:
-7, 8, and 9th level spells are so useful in combat and in general that you can't really go wrong with any of them. It largely depends on your style of play and the adventure in question.
-Most of the Command, Dominate "Monster/Humanoid", and Suggestion Spells are all worth looking into in order to control an encounter. In most cases, if polymorph or banishment aren't options, these types of spells can potentially remove a enemy from the fight should they fail their save.
-Paladin-specific spells such as the Smites and Aura's are all worth looking into and potentially investing in.
-I intentionally left out a lot of the "Walls" as they all mainly serve the same purpose. I'm sure there's one that's "The Best" but there is enough variety there that I don't think I could pick one specifically.
-I also left off a lot of damage-dealing spells. Disintegrate is a top-notch killer, but also destroys loot. Also there's a lot of variables that would affect damage numbers so I'd have to make that a separate list altogether.
Bless seems a bit useless at higher levels. I prefer casting Blindness/Deafness if the bard dosen't commit about it. Or, instead of using the Eldritch Blast, why we don't use the spell Feeblemind ???
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.
Bless seems a bit useless at higher levels. I prefer casting Blindness/Deafness if the bard dosen't commit about it. Or, instead of using the Eldritch Blast, why we don't use the spell Feeblemind ???
I can't agree with that. Average +2.5 to hit is adding +12.5% chance to hit for three people, plus a +12.5% chance they will make their saving throws. That's very useful all the way up to level 20, and it's a 1st level spell.
Eldritch Knight: Shield, Protection from Evil and Good
Yeah, I will always take shield if it's available. It's an absolute must if you're a front-liner, etc. Hexblade, Bladesinger, Eldritch Knight, Arcane Trickster, etc.
I can't agree with that. Average +2.5 to hit is adding +12.5% chance to hit for three people, plus a +12.5% chance they will make their saving throws. That's very useful all the way up to level 20, and it's a 1st level spell.
For typical hit probabilities that start in the 60% range, Bless is about a 20% increase in effectiveness, so it pays for its own action cost with 5 character-turns of action; with 3 targets, that means it's better than just attacking if it lasts for two rounds. In a lot of fights that's actually pretty marginal. OTOH, it's a first level spell and it certainly beats Bane hands down, since Bane is the same magnitude of effect except that targets can save...
This isn’t organized at all, just a bunch of the spells most of my characters take most often. If you can cast spells and don’t have Eldritch Sight or Eyes of the Runekeeper, detect magic and comprehend languages are awesome. Not to be underestimated.
Thorn whip, ray of frost, mind sliver, chill touch, and word of radiance are my favorite combat Cantrips (other than the obvious ones that everyone else will put up). I’ll almost always trade a little DPR for some control effect attached to it. Keep hitting them with Mind Sliver so the cleric’s Turn Undead (or whatever) gets through, or Ray of Frost so they can’t get away. But to be honest I will go out of my way to grab all of those control/utility cantrips as I can sometimes. All of those are “must haves” and can’t get them all. Oh well.
2nd-level:
Arcane Trickster: Web. Do you know how fun it is to always have advantage, and thus sneak attack? Very, even if it’s just for one round. Remember everyone else also gets advantage.
Artificer: Heat Metal. You already know why.
Bard: [Tooltip Not Found] for area or creature control if UA is allowed, if not then Hold Person because paralysis is OP.
Cleric: Spiritual Weapon because why not? Free bonus action attack with no concentration.
Druid: Hold Person for paralysis
Eldritch Knight: Blur for constant defense.
Paladin: Find Steed for a free mount and mobility.
Profane Soul: Shadow Blade. Fun fact: you can use crimson rite on shadow blade and it counts as light. Level scaling is also convenient
Ranger: Spike Growth for area control.
Sorcerer: [Tooltip Not Found] if UA is allowed for damage and movement control, otherwise Misty Step to get out of melee range.
Warlock: Shatter for mass damage and level scaling
Wizard: Mirror Image for arguably the best additional defense you’ll get.
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Spells, Monsters, Magic Items, Feats, Subclasses.
I am an Archfey, but nobody seems to notice.
Extended Signature
A lot of times which spell to take depends on what your building. A wood elf ranger doesn’t really need longstrider it would actually endanger them by putting them way out in front with no backup, a dwarf ranger would find that 10’ speed boost potentially essential just to keep with the party in a moving fight. Same kind of thing for a lot of other spells. What if your in a party without a Druid or cleric (BTDT) the ranger and bard HAVE to have cure wounds. About the only two I see as really required are mage armor - especially for low level mages, and some sort of healing spells - again especially at low levels.
im not really a fan of good berry - 1 HP restored isn’t much even at level 1 and your ranger/Druid/scout rogue/outlander background character should have survival so you should be able to scrounge up food and water without resorting to magic.
Detect magic should be available but doesn’t have to be memorized. If it’s in the wizard’s spellbooks he can caste it as a ritual after you’ve collected things or are taking a breather after combat. If it’s from some one else that can change spells on a long rest you just collect all the well made stuff (really is anyone going to enhance a cheap badly made piece of junk?) and detect away later when you have time.
Hunters mark vs ensnaring strike: both are bonus actions and both do the same damage, ensnaring strike does it every round till they save ( typical low level DC of. 11/12) so they save quickly, HM only does it when you hit but your to hits are probably better than your DC so …; both are concentration but ensnaring strike is 1 minute, HM is 1 hour (+) and transferable as a bonus action. Over all I think hunters mark is a better spell for a L2+ ranger.
above level 1-3 it’s much more about character story than must haves.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
I'm going to focus on low level spells since that's where most campaigns stay.
In no particular order: magic missicle, fireball, haste, slow, tasha's mind whip, knock, healing word, invisibility, augury, spiritual weapon, detect magic, goodberry.
Cantrips: Mind sliver, Eldritch Blast, Shape water, mage hand, prestidigitation, minor illusion, toll the dead, booming blade, green flame blade,
Bless rules. Love it as a cleric, where it's a widely-acknowledged go-to move. But I also really appreciated it as a paladin in a recent short-arc campaign I was in; I never really had to worry about losing concentration on it thanks to my good aura, and the number of misses it turned into hits resulted in more damage than if I'd used the slot on a smite.
Breaking down the list of spells into specific classes might be a bit much as many spells cross between them. Here's a list of spells per level that I would say are worth looking into IF they are available to a particular class.
General 1st Level:
-Feather Fall: <If you have the option to take it, do so. One of the fastest ways of getting you or a party member killed is falling damage.
-Shield: <If you can take it, it will almost always come into play in any battle. May not always work, but will always be worth taking.
-Detect Magic: <You might as well have this going 24/7.
-Witch Bolt: <When you combine this spell with Sorcerer abilities, it can ruin anyone's day. At level 20, using all that the Sorcerer has to offer and a level 9 spell slot (give or take some feats), this thing can just destroy a enemy.
-Protection from Evil and Good: <Because screw ghosts. And the other things that it protects against I guess.
-Faerie Fire: <When you are trying to find that one invisible enemy and/or need advantage hitting someone. <Upgrading to "See Invisibility" doesn't exactly help your allies even if it's better at helping you specifically.
-Any Form of Healing Spell: <Preferably one that can heal at range such as Healing Word. This is for when a party member goes down. You may not be able to heal them much with this 1st level spell, but you can at least give them 1hp and get them back up. You may not use this spell when you reach higher levels, but it could make all of the difference even at such levels.
-Bless: +1d4 to attacks and all that, especially at level one, has saved my party many times.
General 2nd Level:
-Lesser Restoration: <If you can take it, it will eventually (and many times) come into play at some point in time during your adventures.
-Heat Metal: <Weak damage? maybe. A typically resisted element? sure. But as long a the target isn't immune to fire, this spell will ruin any enemy that wears metal armor and/or wields weapons.
-Invisibility: <Will be used often no matter what, so you might as well take it now. Optionally, you can get rid of it later for Greater Invisibility though this one still has its benefits of being used on multiple people at once.
-Alter Self: <Honorable mention for this one. Water breathing and swimming speed equals running speed, change appearance and voice, and gain magic 1d6+1+strength unarmed attacks... plus you can alter between these options on your turn for 1 hour.
-Enhance Ability: <advantage on a specific ability check works wonders for accomplishing a particular task.
-Pass Without a Trace: <+10 to stealth checks. Enough said.
-Silence: <Telling a magic user to shove their spell casting up their backside is great. Also perfect for those moments when you don't want to alert anyone else to something you probably shouldn't be doing.
General 3rd Level:
-Fireball: <I mean... come on. Lighting Bolt is another option but by default, Fireball should be the go-to for any damage-dealing spell at this level.
-Fly: <Yeah... You you're probably going to want this one no matter what.
-Intellect Fortress: <If there is one thing that can kill a character or destroy the perfect strategy, that would be a failed Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma save. It may not be all that impressive compared to many other spells, but this spell might make all the difference.
-Revivify: <If you are a healer and you don't have this spell prepared and on-hand at all times, you deserve the eternal damnation and torturous afterlife that the spirits of your dead comrades are going to inflict upon you.
-Haste: <Naturally worth considering for use on yourself or another, it's only downside is that you lose a turn after haste wears off but that pales in comparison to what you gain for that brief amount of time.
-Slow: <Maybe not as impressive as Haste, but shouldn't be overlooked.
-Dispel Magic: <It's no Counterspell, but still worth carrying around.
-Counterspell: <Always Take This! No, there is no "But". Take this and save you and your parties lives! (Also, It's a widely known fact that using this spell is the same as giving the DM the middle finger. Just don't be surprised when the DM returns the favor.)
-Leomund's Tiny Hut: <Great for map control and protection. It can block a enemies path and/or shield the players within. Being a ritual and not a spell like the "mansion" makes it a must have for any adventure.
General 4th Level:
-Freedom of Movement: <Very good for what it does. One of those, "It's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.". Kinda like Feather Fall.
-Polymorph: <Look, if you have access to this spell, take it. It is so friggin' versatile that you have no real reason not to take it.
-Greater Invisibility: <It's another one of those spells that you will always find a use for in some way or another.
-Otiluke's Resilient Sphere: <Great for many applications both in and out of combat and potentially open to creative uses.
-Banishment: <It can completely remove a threat and potentially alter the course of a battle. Also, if you really want to kill the enemy, its basically a cheap "Time Stop" spell that allows you to get situated before you return the enemy back to where it was standing.
-Dimension Door: <get out of life-threatening situation free card.
General 5th Level:
-Bigby's Hand: <Technically it's a Levitate spell and such a versatile spell that you can't really go wrong with it.
-Greater Restoration: <You might want to hold onto this one for the duration of your adventuring career.
-Mass Cure Wounds: <It's the 2nd most important healing spell you can ever take. You only have one turn and pretty much one action. With this spell, you can heal still-standing allies and rescue those that are near death all in one turn.
General 6th Level:
-Heal: <70 HP straight up. Kinda optional at higher levels, but at 70HP with no questions asked, kinda hard to beat it at this level.
-Hero's Feast: <It's good if you know what you're about to encounter and you really need the benefits that this spell offers. Lasts a long time and can make a huge difference during an engagement.
-Any of the "Investiture Of" spells: <Immune or resistant various types of damage and/or gaining many other additional benefits for a short time.
General 7th Level:
-Finger of Death: 18-86 damage and if it kills the target, you get a free ally for life... or unlife?
-Plane Shift: This can either get rid of a enemy outright (or for a time until it finds a way back), or help get your party out of danger... or into danger if you go to the wrong plane.
-Prismatic Spray: <An enhanced version of fireball with a bit of gambling mixed in.
-Teleport: <Someone's going to need a transport spell eventually. If not this one, then Transport via Plants or something.
General 8th Level:
-Feeblemind: You want to destroy the life of a Wizard... or anyone really for 30 days? Use this spell. If you want to make a battle, where the enemies strategy just annoys the heck out of you, become simply ganging up and resorting to a bare-knuckle beatdown, Use this spell. Also, we all know what happened to that one Green Dragon on that show...
-Antimagic Sphere: Will ruin any and all magic users day. It'll ruin anyone's day that relies heavily on magic items. It'll ruin the day of any summoned creature, It'll ruin the day of your party when they realize that they can't heal themselves or use their own magic items... plainly put, this can potentially ruin a lot of peoples day. Unless you are battling a god or some natural disaster, it is very useful for a lot of things.
General 9th Level:
-Wish: obviously...
-Almost every 9th level spell has its specific thing that it does and so you cannot really say that there is one better than the others. Wish just happens the be the most powerful if you consider what it can potentially do.
Added Notes:
-7, 8, and 9th level spells are so useful in combat and in general that you can't really go wrong with any of them. It largely depends on your style of play and the adventure in question.
-Most of the Command, Dominate "Monster/Humanoid", and Suggestion Spells are all worth looking into in order to control an encounter. In most cases, if polymorph or banishment aren't options, these types of spells can potentially remove a enemy from the fight should they fail their save.
-Paladin-specific spells such as the Smites and Aura's are all worth looking into and potentially investing in.
-I intentionally left out a lot of the "Walls" as they all mainly serve the same purpose. I'm sure there's one that's "The Best" but there is enough variety there that I don't think I could pick one specifically.
-I also left off a lot of damage-dealing spells. Disintegrate is a top-notch killer, but also destroys loot. Also there's a lot of variables that would affect damage numbers so I'd have to make that a separate list altogether.
Any blue, sky blue or gold spells in Class Guides such as Bless, Sleep etc ☺
Bless seems a bit useless at higher levels. I prefer casting Blindness/Deafness if the bard dosen't commit about it. Or, instead of using the Eldritch Blast, why we don't use the spell Feeblemind ???
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I can't agree with that. Average +2.5 to hit is adding +12.5% chance to hit for three people, plus a +12.5% chance they will make their saving throws. That's very useful all the way up to level 20, and it's a 1st level spell.
Yeah, I will always take shield if it's available. It's an absolute must if you're a front-liner, etc. Hexblade, Bladesinger, Eldritch Knight, Arcane Trickster, etc.
For druids, I've found Moonbeam to be pretty amazing as a level 2 spell.
I haven’t tried it but it sure looks good
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
For typical hit probabilities that start in the 60% range, Bless is about a 20% increase in effectiveness, so it pays for its own action cost with 5 character-turns of action; with 3 targets, that means it's better than just attacking if it lasts for two rounds. In a lot of fights that's actually pretty marginal. OTOH, it's a first level spell and it certainly beats Bane hands down, since Bane is the same magnitude of effect except that targets can save...
This isn’t organized at all, just a bunch of the spells most of my characters take most often. If you can cast spells and don’t have Eldritch Sight or Eyes of the Runekeeper, detect magic and comprehend languages are awesome. Not to be underestimated.
Thorn whip, ray of frost, mind sliver, chill touch, and word of radiance are my favorite combat Cantrips (other than the obvious ones that everyone else will put up). I’ll almost always trade a little DPR for some control effect attached to it. Keep hitting them with Mind Sliver so the cleric’s Turn Undead (or whatever) gets through, or Ray of Frost so they can’t get away. But to be honest I will go out of my way to grab all of those control/utility cantrips as I can sometimes. All of those are “must haves” and can’t get them all. Oh well.
Unseen servant, polymorph, animate objects, Bigby’s hand, enthrall, detect thoughts, spirit guardians, misty step, haste, enlarge/reduce, invisibility, pass without trace, Nondetection, magic missile, pretty much any spell with the word “find” in the name, and most of the “summon” spells in Tasha’s. I don’t care what people say, bane is alright in my book, and blindness/deafness, and Tasha’s uncontrollable hideous laughter (goin’ OG on that one). Because everyone else grabbed stuff like bless, and spells don’t stack with themselves. So while 3 people take turns blessing everyone each session, my PC can Bane or blind every fight.
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If most of the party depends primarily on weapon attacks in combat, Crusader's Mantle is amazing.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.