The number of people who sleep on Conjure Animals makes me sad.
If you summon a small army, you can cause utter mayhem on the battlefield. Even if they don't have a ton of HP, adding 8 of anything onto the combat field is bound to help your party by causing distractions or eating up attacks. And if you choose to conjure beefier animals (like two dire wolves), you get some great tanking and offensive opportunities. And this spell just gets better as you upcast.
I've used Conjure Animals to med-evac the party out of a collapsing dungeon. I've used it to play keep away with a roc. Any spell that effectively gives you anywhere from 1-8 extra actions in a round at its base level of casting is worthy of respect.
You have good taste my friend, it can do defence, damage, intimidation and mobility, it's the best spell anyway I look at it.
The number of people who sleep on Conjure Animals makes me sad.
If you summon a small army, you can cause utter mayhem on the battlefield. Even if they don't have a ton of HP, adding 8 of anything onto the combat field is bound to help your party by causing distractions or eating up attacks. And if you choose to conjure beefier animals (like two dire wolves), you get some great tanking and offensive opportunities. And this spell just gets better as you upcast.
I've used Conjure Animals to med-evac the party out of a collapsing dungeon. I've used it to play keep away with a roc. Any spell that effectively gives you anywhere from 1-8 extra actions in a round at its base level of casting is worthy of respect.
You have good taste my friend, it can do defence, damage, intimidation and mobility, it's the best spell anyway I look at it.
The question was for favorite 3rd level spell not most powerful 3rd level spell which is why I did not vote for it.
It really slows combat down, As written you don't get to choose the creature only the number, technically the DM could decide the creatures are CR0 with no offensive abilities at all but if they don't do they you can not plan what you will do with them until you know what they are. Even then you might need to take time to read the description to find out all their features and ascertain whether they are best used a strikers or tanks. If they come fairly soon in the initiave order after you you might then take a long time
It really slows down combat. You having what is essentially an extra turn in combat does slow things down a lot. All the newer summoning spells now have the sunmmoned creatures act immediately after your turn for this reason
It really slows combat down, the most powerful use of this spell (at third level) is to summon 8 creatures and it is rarely used for anything else. This means often have as many creatures to control as the rest of the party and the DM combined
Summoning 8 creatures breaks the action economy making this spell overpowered, especially if you get to choos what creatures you summon. You will be far more powerful than the rest of the party and that can ruin the game for them. Noboby does but in theory you can summon 32 creatures with this spell imagine how long that would take to go through their turn in combat. For this reason the newer summoning spells are only for a single creature
In a campaign where you do not know what spells are being thrown Counter spell is not as usable. Counter spelling anything less than a 3rd level spell costs you more than the attacker in spell slots. Countering anything less than you cast counter as, costs you more. And against anything higher it takes an ability check. Not 100%.
In a campaign where you do not know what spells are being thrown Counter spell is not as usable. Counter spelling anything less than a 3rd level spell costs you more than the attacker in spell slots. Countering anything less than you cast counter as, costs you more. And against anything higher it takes an ability check. Not 100%.
That statement is partially true... for a low level campaign where the highest spell you cast is 3rd level. Maybe still true at 7th. But by 9th level it has little to no validity. The tiny risk of you countering a meaningless spell is not worth thinking about.
But one person with arcana and another with counterspel should mean it never happens. One figures out the spell, the other counters. Even if it does...
If people are routinely casting 5th level spells, then even in campaigns where you don't know what is being cast, odds are it is 3rd or higher level. If people are routinely casting 7th level spells,, then you are practically guaranteed to come out ahead. And nobody casts 1st or 2nd level spells in combat anymore once you hit 9th level. I use 1st for detect magic, identify, etc. 2nd for Knock, Invisibility, etc. One exception is Misty Step in combat, often to get out of a grapple type situation.
And at 9th level you are likely int 20, +4 proficiency, so +9 to Counterspell. Need a 6 or higher to counterspell. Easily worth the small risk.
And nobody casts 1st or 2nd level spells in combat anymore once you hit 9th level. I use 1st for detect magic, identify, etc. 2nd for Knock, Invisibility, etc. One exception is Misty Step in combat, often to get out of a grapple type situation.
It depends on the campaign but I would say this is generally not true.
At 9th level you have 7 spell slots of level 3 or higher. If you cast one level 3 or higher spell per round you will be out of spell slots in about 2 combats, if you are also using your reaction to cast spells like counterspell you will run out even quicker. If campaigns where you tend to only have one combat a day that miht not be a problem but in my games that somtimes happens but is generally not the case.
Situationally low level spell can be very powerful. I am in a campaign as a 10th level druid. In the last session we had an encounter against an iron golem being controlled by an invisible creature, I cast fearie fire both so attacks against the golum were at advantage and to get to make the fey visible. (Fearie fire is a spell I usually have prepared as it is great in low threat encounters where the objective is to save resources for the big fight (be that spell slots or hit points). The session before we knew we were going to fight a high level sorcerer, I prepared hold person that day, we managed to surprise him so he couldn't counterspell which meant the fight was trivial. There are lots of other low level spells that I use in high level combat, though admittedly a lot are reaction spells (which given the circumstances it might be obvious what I am casting), examples are shield, absorb elements, silvery barbs, healing word and (as mentioned) misty step.
Comparing resources is also more complex than than saying what level spell slot both sides consume, a reaction is usually less of a resource than an action, what is the impact of allowing the spell to go through (the sorcerer in the instance above would have definately traded a third level spell slot to avoid hold person getting through). How many spell slots (and other resources) does each side have.
And nobody casts 1st or 2nd level spells in combat anymore once you hit 9th level. I use 1st for detect magic, identify, etc. 2nd for Knock, Invisibility, etc. One exception is Misty Step in combat, often to get out of a grapple type situation.
Shield, Absorb Elements, Blindness, Hold Person, Bless if you don't have something else to Concentrate on...
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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.
Most DMs let the PCs know what spell is being cast for free and that makes counterspell incredible powerful. If, as Jeremy Crawford suggests, it takes one PC to use their reaction to to attempt to identify the spell being cast you are left with either casting it "blind" possibly agaist a firebolt or burning one reaction and if it goes badly either casting it blind or not using the spell. In this circumstance counterspell becomes a lot less useful especialy at lower levels when 3rd level spells are precious and ability modifiers ar elow making a failure on the arcana check more likely.
I hate Conjure animals not because it isn't powerful (it isn't great when the enemy has AoE attacks but plenty of enemies don't) but because adding another 8 combatents into the fray slows things down so much.
Fireball, Hypnotic Pattern and Spirit Guardians are all up there for offensive spells, though all have their strengths and weaknesses. Sprit guardians is weak against a single enemy or enemies who spread out and use ranged attacks, Hypnotic pattern is a save or suck spell so can potentially do nothing, if a character not affected by the spell had magic missile it also becomes less powerful, fireball does more damage than any other spell of similar level though is less useful if the players and enemies are all in the same area, Fire damage is also the most resisted / immuned (if that is a word).
Revivify is very rarely required but when you need it is absolutly fantastic (unless you are out of diamonds!)
I think the best utility spell (I consider revivy a healing spell rather than utility) is tiny hut. It didn't quite make my top 3 but the ability to be certain on getting a long rest unless something with dispel magic notices you is a huge boon, and if you are trekking accoss hot deserts or an arctic waste being able ot rest at a comfortable temperature can also be a lifesaver..
This mirrors my thinking quite a bit. As a DM I don’t reveal what spell is being cast, so counterspell is a lot less useful in campaigns I DM.
Conjure animals sucks eggs. Is it powerful? Technically yeah, but the bog down is terrible. All in all the juice just isn’t worth the squeeze.
I generally agree with everything else you’ve written here too.
I went with the ones I find myself casting most often: tiny hut, mass healing word, & spirit guardians, and I would like to put in summon shadowspawn too as an honorable mention since I think it’s a heck of a lot better than people realize it is.
And nobody casts 1st or 2nd level spells in combat anymore once you hit 9th level. I use 1st for detect magic, identify, etc. 2nd for Knock, Invisibility, etc. One exception is Misty Step in combat, often to get out of a grapple type situation.
Shield, Absorb Elements, Blindness, Hold Person, Bless if you don't have something else to Concentrate on...
There's plenty of 1st & 2nd level spells that are still useful in combat at that point. Anyone who says "nobody/everybody does X when playing D&D" is just begging to be proven wrong.
Fizban the Fabulous has said all that ever needs to be said about 3rd level spells.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
And nobody casts 1st or 2nd level spells in combat anymore once you hit 9th level.
My 20th level 2 Death Cleric/18 Bladesinger was casting Blur, False Life, Shield, Sanctuary and Protection from Good and Evil regularly at the end of the campaign when she was 19th and 20th level.
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You have good taste my friend, it can do defence, damage, intimidation and mobility, it's the best spell anyway I look at it.
The question was for favorite 3rd level spell not most powerful 3rd level spell which is why I did not vote for it.
In a campaign where you do not know what spells are being thrown Counter spell is not as usable.
Counter spelling anything less than a 3rd level spell costs you more than the attacker in spell slots. Countering anything less than you cast counter as, costs you more. And against anything higher it takes an ability check. Not 100%.
That statement is partially true... for a low level campaign where the highest spell you cast is 3rd level. Maybe still true at 7th. But by 9th level it has little to no validity. The tiny risk of you countering a meaningless spell is not worth thinking about.
But one person with arcana and another with counterspel should mean it never happens. One figures out the spell, the other counters. Even if it does...
If people are routinely casting 5th level spells, then even in campaigns where you don't know what is being cast, odds are it is 3rd or higher level. If people are routinely casting 7th level spells,, then you are practically guaranteed to come out ahead. And nobody casts 1st or 2nd level spells in combat anymore once you hit 9th level. I use 1st for detect magic, identify, etc. 2nd for Knock, Invisibility, etc. One exception is Misty Step in combat, often to get out of a grapple type situation.
And at 9th level you are likely int 20, +4 proficiency, so +9 to Counterspell. Need a 6 or higher to counterspell. Easily worth the small risk.
We have never played were one character can use their reaction to skill check arcana and then the next character can choose to use counter spell.
It depends on the campaign but I would say this is generally not true.
At 9th level you have 7 spell slots of level 3 or higher. If you cast one level 3 or higher spell per round you will be out of spell slots in about 2 combats, if you are also using your reaction to cast spells like counterspell you will run out even quicker. If campaigns where you tend to only have one combat a day that miht not be a problem but in my games that somtimes happens but is generally not the case.
Situationally low level spell can be very powerful. I am in a campaign as a 10th level druid. In the last session we had an encounter against an iron golem being controlled by an invisible creature, I cast fearie fire both so attacks against the golum were at advantage and to get to make the fey visible. (Fearie fire is a spell I usually have prepared as it is great in low threat encounters where the objective is to save resources for the big fight (be that spell slots or hit points). The session before we knew we were going to fight a high level sorcerer, I prepared hold person that day, we managed to surprise him so he couldn't counterspell which meant the fight was trivial. There are lots of other low level spells that I use in high level combat, though admittedly a lot are reaction spells (which given the circumstances it might be obvious what I am casting), examples are shield, absorb elements, silvery barbs, healing word and (as mentioned) misty step.
Comparing resources is also more complex than than saying what level spell slot both sides consume, a reaction is usually less of a resource than an action, what is the impact of allowing the spell to go through (the sorcerer in the instance above would have definately traded a third level spell slot to avoid hold person getting through). How many spell slots (and other resources) does each side have.
Shield, Absorb Elements, Blindness, Hold Person, Bless if you don't have something else to Concentrate on...
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.
This mirrors my thinking quite a bit. As a DM I don’t reveal what spell is being cast, so counterspell is a lot less useful in campaigns I DM.
Conjure animals sucks eggs. Is it powerful? Technically yeah, but the bog down is terrible. All in all the juice just isn’t worth the squeeze.
I generally agree with everything else you’ve written here too.
I went with the ones I find myself casting most often: tiny hut, mass healing word, & spirit guardians, and I would like to put in summon shadowspawn too as an honorable mention since I think it’s a heck of a lot better than people realize it is.
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There's plenty of 1st & 2nd level spells that are still useful in combat at that point. Anyone who says "nobody/everybody does X when playing D&D" is just begging to be proven wrong.
Fizban the Fabulous has said all that ever needs to be said about 3rd level spells.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
My 20th level 2 Death Cleric/18 Bladesinger was casting Blur, False Life, Shield, Sanctuary and Protection from Good and Evil regularly at the end of the campaign when she was 19th and 20th level.