Hello all! I think that one of my favorite aspects of D&D are all the spells available to players and just how much range/variety there is ^-^ Would you say that primary spells are more vital than utility spells? Maybe vice versa? Either way, I wanted to share this article on a few awesome utility spells and what makes them so cool! Feel free to share your favorite utility spells in the comments, I'd love to hear about them!
Hello all! I think that one of my favorite aspects of D&D are all the spells available to players and just how much range/variety there is ^-^ Would you say that primary spells are more vital than utility spells? Maybe vice versa? Either way, I wanted to share this article on a few awesome utility spells and what makes them so cool! Feel free to share your favorite utility spells in the comments, I'd love to hear about them!
What do you mean by "primary" spells? In my experience, the divide (which is grey and blurry) is between utility and combat spells. There can be a lot of overlap.
As a corollary, I disagree with the article's list, because Dawn is very much a combat spell. It's no more "utility" than Spirit Guardians.
How useful utility spells are vary heavily, and are influenced by many factors. For example, Alarm is absolutely excellent - but you usually want it on a wizard specifically, because they can cast it from their spellbook, without needing to spend a finite resource on it - they don't need the spell prepared, and they don't need to permanently spend a spell known on it, like a Ranger does. A Tomelock also qualifies, of course - not saying wizard is the only way to get your hands on ritual Alarm. Meanwhile, Catnap is usually worthless, because usually you either have a full hour on hand or you don't even have ten minutes - the speed-up isn't helpful. However, under a DM that limits your party to 2 short rests per day, you can use it to force a third short rest, which is at its most useful on a short rest-powered class/subclass. For the classes that have direct access to Catnap, the only one where that's really helpful is Bards and costing both a spell known and a daily spell slot is a big ask, but if you managed to get the spell on a Warlock (for example, a Warlock with 5 Bard levels; I don't know of any way using just feats, races, backgrounds, and subclasses to do it, but a future way might open up), it would be easily worth it - you'd get the slot you spent on the spell back as soon as the rest was over, along with your other slot. So it all depends.
It kind of depends on what you are looking for. When I'm serious, I go for damage spells, and when I'm looking to do something fun? I love Vicious Mockery for Bards, because it's delightful to use Harsh Language and do damage with it. Most casters can get Prestidigitation. Druids can get Druidcraft. Cleric can get Thaumaturgy. They don't have a lot of utility, but they are also great fun. I like Mind Sliver when I can pick it up, Psychic damage is nice, messing with saves is a bonus, and there's no better damage cantrip than Eldritch Blast.
Wish is the most powerful spell in the game, and I can't imagine why anyone who could take it wouldn't do so. Magic Missile has no save, and doesn't require a hit roll.
They list Dawn as their number one pick, and that's really remarkable to me, since it hasn't got a whole lot more use than the Light spell unless you're fighting undead, few of whom actually take damage from it, or Vampires. They call that Utility? I think the Shield spell is generally more useful than that.
I don't know why they didn't list Contingency, it's pretty handy sometimes; an Assassin sneaks up on you, Poof, Misty Step. Or then, maybe use Glyph of Warding, because there's all kinds of shenanigans that you can do with that one.
Not sure what the difference between "primary" and "utility" spells are and the article needs a good deal of proof reading, but my favourite utility spell is prestidigitation.
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Hello all! I think that one of my favorite aspects of D&D are all the spells available to players and just how much range/variety there is ^-^ Would you say that primary spells are more vital than utility spells? Maybe vice versa? Either way, I wanted to share this article on a few awesome utility spells and what makes them so cool! Feel free to share your favorite utility spells in the comments, I'd love to hear about them!
What do you mean by "primary" spells? In my experience, the divide (which is grey and blurry) is between utility and combat spells. There can be a lot of overlap.
As a corollary, I disagree with the article's list, because Dawn is very much a combat spell. It's no more "utility" than Spirit Guardians.
How useful utility spells are vary heavily, and are influenced by many factors. For example, Alarm is absolutely excellent - but you usually want it on a wizard specifically, because they can cast it from their spellbook, without needing to spend a finite resource on it - they don't need the spell prepared, and they don't need to permanently spend a spell known on it, like a Ranger does. A Tomelock also qualifies, of course - not saying wizard is the only way to get your hands on ritual Alarm. Meanwhile, Catnap is usually worthless, because usually you either have a full hour on hand or you don't even have ten minutes - the speed-up isn't helpful. However, under a DM that limits your party to 2 short rests per day, you can use it to force a third short rest, which is at its most useful on a short rest-powered class/subclass. For the classes that have direct access to Catnap, the only one where that's really helpful is Bards and costing both a spell known and a daily spell slot is a big ask, but if you managed to get the spell on a Warlock (for example, a Warlock with 5 Bard levels; I don't know of any way using just feats, races, backgrounds, and subclasses to do it, but a future way might open up), it would be easily worth it - you'd get the slot you spent on the spell back as soon as the rest was over, along with your other slot. So it all depends.
It kind of depends on what you are looking for. When I'm serious, I go for damage spells, and when I'm looking to do something fun? I love Vicious Mockery for Bards, because it's delightful to use Harsh Language and do damage with it. Most casters can get Prestidigitation. Druids can get Druidcraft. Cleric can get Thaumaturgy. They don't have a lot of utility, but they are also great fun. I like Mind Sliver when I can pick it up, Psychic damage is nice, messing with saves is a bonus, and there's no better damage cantrip than Eldritch Blast.
Wish is the most powerful spell in the game, and I can't imagine why anyone who could take it wouldn't do so. Magic Missile has no save, and doesn't require a hit roll.
They list Dawn as their number one pick, and that's really remarkable to me, since it hasn't got a whole lot more use than the Light spell unless you're fighting undead, few of whom actually take damage from it, or Vampires. They call that Utility? I think the Shield spell is generally more useful than that.
I don't know why they didn't list Contingency, it's pretty handy sometimes; an Assassin sneaks up on you, Poof, Misty Step. Or then, maybe use Glyph of Warding, because there's all kinds of shenanigans that you can do with that one.
<Insert clever signature here>
Not sure what the difference between "primary" and "utility" spells are and the article needs a good deal of proof reading, but my favourite utility spell is prestidigitation.